Approaching Storm (Alternate Worlds Book 2)

by Taylor Leigh

  ‘Tollin, what’s happened? Where’s everything gone?’ Sam asked in a whisper, barely audible.

  Tollin relaxed his grip slightly on her. ‘I’m not entirely sure…’

  ‘What the hell…’ Marus breathed.

  No sound. Tollin was honestly surprised they could breathe at all. The gentle flap of a feeder somewhere, calling softly, nervously.

  Gradually, Tollin became of a faint red glow. He peered around what he assumed was Sam’s shoulder and reached his hand toward the light. His fingers brushed against her arm and he pulled up her hand. The red stone on the ring was glowing with a brilliant, bloody light.

  ‘Well, that’s interesting.’

  ‘There’s something disturbingly familiar about this,’ Marus grumbled, flapping laboriously in the dead air.

  ‘What does it mean?’ Sam asked him, voice echoing. He assumed she meant the ring.

  Tollin’s brain raced. He ticked through all of the possible theories. This was not part of a natural storm. This wasn’t part of Scrabia, either. Yet, how could they be nowhere, when they had moments before been somewhere? Had they Realm jumped? That didn’t seem possible, he would have known. He was the only one capable out of the three of accomplishing such a feat and he certainly would been aware he was doing so. And yet, here they were: somewhere else. Nowhere else. In a void. This was not a Realm. This was nothing. A hollow space between Realms where nothing existed. And something was there. Out in the nothingness.

  The ring had to have something to do with it. It was a connection between Realms. It was the only thing showing any signs of life here, anyhow.

  ‘I think we’re in the bridge; the bridge between the worlds that isn’t complete yet.’ He swallowed. ‘Basically, we’re nowhere.’

  ‘Perfect,’ muttered Marus.

  That just about summed it up.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Darkness.

  Complete, crushing, all-powerful darkness.

  Finally free.

  And what a time to be free!

  Locked away for a thousand years. Locked away by that hated man. The Traveller. And now he had been spotted, in this Realm, with the stone, the shard of stone that would span the Realms and it was the anniversary. The gap between the conquered and the harvest would be opened soon enough. Then the Darkness could feed.

  Yet, with all of the Darkness’s expansion, all of its footholds, all of its conquests, it was not satisfied. Growing across the void, leaking into each Realm, little tendrils coiling around worlds, swallowing them whole, ever-growing, ever-expanding, always hungry, there was still one goal it obsessed over. There was still something it wanted.

  If the Darkness could have identified with the idea of personal then it would have acknowledged its obsession as such. This was about revenge. This was about finally defeating the Traveller. The tiny thorn in the Darkness’s side that, while completely obtuse to the Darkness’s true face, had caused it more trouble than any one being should be allowed to exact. Whole Realms had been devoured by the Darkness without the faintest signs of resistance, yet the Traveller was always a resistance in his own, dim-witted way. It was high time he was dealt with. And the Darkness wasn’t about to pass up another opportunity.

  Avery Roth was gone, his soul completely crushed, devoured by the Darkness. It was hardly a satisfactory meal. Roth’s soul had been unsubstantial, so weak and lifeless it provided nothing more than tasteless fuel. It was not one of those souls that shone, one of those souls that practically glowed with life and purpose and conviction. Souls like the Traveller’s. Oh, what a feast that would be. The Darkness practically ached from the desire of it.

  The Dark stood Avery Roth to his feet, rolling his neck, appreciating the feeling of tendons and muscle. With some care, he placed the empty lamp back on the shelf in the artefact room. A smile pulled at his lips. Oh, it felt good to be free.

  No time for revelry, however. He needed to move fast. The Traveller was no longer on Scrabia, and neither was the ring, which meant it was completely pointless for Roth to be there as well. His insides ached from the tearing feeling it gave him.

  He spun on his heel and strode from the artefact room with purpose.

  ‘Amy!’ Roth barked, pushing into the computer monitoring room. Vocal chords were something to get used to. The fat cow was there, stuffing her face with a wrap. She gazed up with him with her glazed, stupid eyes.

  ‘Avery, what’s got your knickers in such a twist?’

  Roth swallowed his rage, forcing his impatience back down inside of him. He’d been imprisoned for a thousand years. A few moments wouldn’t make much difference. ‘I need a shuttle. Immediately.’

  Amy let out a humourless laugh. ‘Right. Good one.’

  Roth paced deeper into the room. ‘I don’t care how difficult it is, just get me one here.’

  Amy eyed him suspiciously. ‘You know we can’t do that. It’s completely impractical. We’ve got people on Scottorr who can handle this better than us. The price to fly there is far beyond our budget and we don’t even have access to one—much less the launch codes! We’d be shot out of the sky by Scottorr’s drones.’

  Roth turned away, unconcerned. ‘I don’t give a damn how much it costs, or what problems you run into. I want it here in two hours.’ He strode towards the doors again, but stopped. ‘I wouldn’t disappoint me, Amy, if I were you. You are not that well liked around here, there are plenty of people who want your job. Plenty of people who are willing to do what I want. Many people think you’re too close to the Crown. I wouldn’t do anything that might convince our co-workers you’re a danger. It might not end well for you. I’ll be back in two hours.’

  He let the door thump pointedly behind him. Let her ruminate over that for a while. Let her worry. And if she failed him? Well, there were always other ways.

  * * * * *

  For a long moment, all Sam could concentrate on was the deep breaths of her and her companions. Marus was sounding rather put out. She didn’t know how he’d managed to keep up the strength.

  There was something else with them in the dark. The feeling had slowly been growing in her as they hovered in the black, and now she was quite sure of it. There was something out there, circling like a shark, something huge and hungry. And it shook her to her core.

  ‘Do you sense that? Or is it just me?’ she whispered to Tollin.

  He leaned closer to her, chin almost resting on her shoulder. ‘Sense what?’

  Sam strained to see anything in the blackness. ‘I dunno. Something out there. Just watching.’

  Tollin sighed heavily. ‘Yeah. I picked up on that when we arrived.’

  Sam nodded slowly, knowing Tollin probably couldn’t see. ‘What do you think it is? Daemons?’

  Tollin growled slightly in thought. ‘No. I don’t think so. This is something new.’

  His words sent her stomach aflutter. ‘I bet that doesn’t happen very often.’

  ‘Nope,’ Tollin said, making light of the word.

  Somewhere below them, Marus gasped in exhaustion. ‘I can’t keep this up for ever. We have to find the way out of this and land. I don’t think I can make it to Scottorr. Tollin, which way do we go?’

  Tollin didn’t answer for a very long moment. ‘I don’t think there is a way out. We’re like flies in a trap.’

  Marus swallowed loudly. ‘What?’

  ‘This place doesn’t exist. It’s not a proper place. A limbo, basically.’

  Marus let out a strange whine. ‘How the hell did we get here? Did you jump us? Can’t you just…jump us back?’

  ‘I don’t think so…not all three of us, anyhow.’

  Marus blew fire, but it didn’t light up the gloom. ‘Well, what if I turn human and free-fell? Could you jump us then?’

  Tollin sighed. ‘I can’t get a fix on anywhere, Marus. I’m lost.’

  Sam ran her tongue along her teeth, fighting back fear, tuning out the brothers’ discussion. Was absolutely everything possible in the
company of Tollin? It didn’t do any good to panic at the moment, and to be honest, she was more fascinated with this black nothingness than anything else. What she found baffling was how helpless Tollin was. He was the bloody Traveller, wasn’t he? Well, why wasn’t he figuring something brilliant out? If only they had a little…

  Light!

  Sam blinked, which didn’t really do much good in the pitch blackness, but she could hardly believe her eyes. Something was flickering out there in the black.

  There was a light out there. A sparkling, golden light like sparks from a fire. It drifted about with seemingly a will of its own, moving like a swarm of fireflies.

  She wondered if that’s what it was. Had fireflies been caught here? Were they just flying about in a little group, looking for a way out? Whatever it was, it was slowly dancing closer.

  Sam watched it for a long moment, mouth agape.

  ‘D’you see that?’

  ‘What?’ Tollin and Marus both asked in unison.

  ‘That light! Just there!’ Sam realised neither of them could see. ‘To my left.’

  The light was close enough now that it illuminated Marus’s iridescent scales. It would be absolutely impossible for them to not see it. It did certainly look like firebugs, but it most certainly was not. Not the normal kinds, at least.

  ‘There’s nothing there, Sam,’ Marus grunted, exhausted.

  Sam clenched her teeth in frustration. ‘Tollin?’

  ‘Just to your left? I’m sorry, I don’t see anything.’

  Sam felt crushed. She was staring right at it! It was shining well now, so bright and alive that it was lighting the three of them in a gentle, happy glow and they couldn’t see it? She must be going mad.

  ‘Follow me…’

  A voice whispered from nowhere.

  The light started to gently bob away. Sam felt alarm fill her at the thought of losing it. They could not, under any circumstances, do that. She wasn’t entirely sure why, she just knew. ‘Oh, it’s starting to drift off! Don’t you see?’

  ‘Sam,’ Tollin’s voice was quiet, but urgent. ‘Sam, if you see a light, I believe you.’

  She shut her eyes, thanking him again and again. ‘It wants us to follow it.’ A sudden horrible thought hit her. ‘Do you think it’s a lure? You know, like in those documentaries about sea creatures and stuff?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Tollin said thoughtfully. ‘What does it look like?’

  Sam peered at it. ‘Golden-ish, like fire, but not. Maybe like a swarm of fireflies. It’s beautiful.’

  Tollin straightened. ‘That’s not bioluminescence! Samantha Turner you are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. Can you direct us towards it, do you think?’

  Sam shrugged. ‘I should think so, bit hard not to spot.’

  Tollin loudly kissed the side of her helmet. ‘Then by all means, off we go! Follow that light!’

  ‘What light?’ Marus griped. ‘I don’t see a bloody light! Will-o’-the-wisp, that’s all you see!’

  Sam sucked in a breath. ‘Just to your left, Marus!’

  And with that, they were off, chasing after a light only Sam could see. Completely mental, but Sam was filled with a strange surge of hope. It was clear Tollin felt the same way. He was elated, cheering on the light and Sam, showering all kinds of praise that Sam wasn’t sure were completely necessary. As far as she knew, he had no way of knowing if they were headed towards anything good. They could be flying straight into the mouth of the beast, as it were.

  Still, on they pressed, Marus diving and rising and twisting at Sam’s instruction until in one blinding moment, they rocketed through the blackness and were suddenly back!

  Marus went tumbling, the sudden air currents catching him off-guard.

  Far, far below them was the red surface of Scrabia, up above was Scottorr, the storm was off to the west and they were free!

  Tollin stood up as best he could on Marus’s back and let out a wild cheer. Sam couldn’t help but shriek with happiness as well. She was sad to see the guiding light was gone, but it had gotten them free! Marus swung his neck wide, suddenly full of energy, and spewed flames out in a wide arc.

  ‘Samantha Turner, you did it!’ Tollin cried.

  Sam smiled to herself. ‘Wasn’t me…’ But no-one seemed too interested in thinking of the strange fireflies now that they were back in reality. She leant over and wrapped her arms around the great, muscular neck of the dragon. ‘You did brilliant back there, Marus. I’ve never seen anyone fly like you.’

  Marus grunted. ‘That’s ‘cause no-one can.’

  They passed through the last layer of clouds and Sam let out a gasp. The world beyond was something she was not sure anyone had ever seen in such a way. Certainly not on the back of a dragon.

  It was true that it was not the first time Sam had passed between the worlds, but this was different. She sat up and subconsciously let go of Marus’s spines.

  They were between the planets.

  Stars shone from all around the border of Scottorr. Light and rain hit her from everywhere in weaving curtains. Scottorr hung in front of her, filling up her entire vision as a big white, green and blue orb, all colours mixed together.

  Tollin chuckled behind her. ‘Never gets old, does it?’

  Marus whooped and brought on a burst of speed, flying towards the giant green planet, working hard against the sparse atmosphere left. ‘Hang on!’ he laughed.

  They were in the thin strip between the two worlds. No planet, simply space. Sam, was in awe and didn’t know where to look. Stars, spaced far apart, yet glowing brightly specked the black like gems. Shades she never would have noticed painted through the night like some strange skin separating the two planets.

  Cautiously, experimentally, trusting Tollin still had a secure hold on her; Sam raised her arms out to her sides. A thrill washed through her. There were few things in life, she decided, that were more enjoyable than flying on the back of a dragon.

  The dragon twisted through the empty space between the planets and burst through Scottorr’s atmosphere in a shattering blast.

  Colour exploded around them. The rare golden light which only appeared in the sky of Scottorr during the Passing wove around them. Sam raised her fingers to it, letting the light drift through her fingers like water. She only saw this sort of thing in pictures. Oh, how those photos misled. This was so much more beautiful than any photograph could possibly show.

  ‘Here,’ Tollin said. ‘This might make things a bit better.’

  With a twist, he released her waist and put his hands to her helmet. Tollin gently twisted the helmet to the side and pulled it free. Sam sucked in a deep breath of freezing, thin Scottorrian air. She hadn’t realised how stale the air was beginning to feel inside the helmet till she drank in the wet freshness of Scottorr again. Her hair blew back in the chill wind. She laughed, heart racing. Everything wrong that had happened before, it didn’t seem to matter right now. Now everything was just exhilaration and beauty.

  The land before them grew steadily clearer. Green landscape, cities, ocean. She could name them all. Flotsen, the great thriving city, Miol Mor and onto Druid land.

  Marus avoided it all and instead pulled away towards the forest. Sam watched deep, dark trees race by beneath them in a rush. Sam scanned the green blur, wondering where the dragon could be heading. Finally she saw something ahead that made her grin because she realised it was the only place a dragon would go.

  A grey castle stood out in the middle of the forest like a gem in the rock. It was huge and old, from a different age. Sam could see a great yard out front with a circling gravel drive that snaked off into the wood. In back was a stone-walled garden of dark bushes; this is what Marus was circling down towards.

  Marus landed in the garden with a heavy crash! causing Sam to slip from his back and fall to the soft grass. Tollin landed lightly beside her with an energetic bark.

  Sam took in a deep breath of fresh air, relishing it.

  The great dragon let
out a low moan and spread out his great wings. Sam managed to scoot far enough out of the way to keep from getting knocked aside.

  ‘I am,’ Marus sucked in a wheezing breath, ‘absolutely knackered.’

  Tollin swaggered over to her and held out a hand, helping Sam up. He embraced her in an enthusiastic hug. ‘Everything went all right, didn’t I tell you? You were brilliant!’

  Sam tried to regain control of her galloping heart. ‘That was the most intense thing I’ve ever done! Is it always like that with you?’ She desperately gasped for air.

  ‘Always!’ Tollin growled happily, clearly pleased with himself.

  Marus snorted. ‘Glad you two had such a lovely time.’

  Sam turned to the dragon ashamedly. He did indeed look completely knackered.

  ‘You try flying for almost two hours straight while being attacked by feeders and lost in a bloody void, see how well you feel,’ Marus grumbled in a tight voice. His long neck twisted round and he pulled at some of the creatures’ spines that had lodged there. His great teeth couldn’t quite grasp the spindly stingers but he did a spectacular job of destroying his scales.

  Sam sighed. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s just been so much to take in. Are you all right?’

  ‘Those feeders have some nasty bites,’ Tollin conceded. ‘Be glad you missed out.’ He struggled and pulled a long, thin fang out of his arm, whilst making an impressive array of expressions.

  Sam frowned. ‘Well now I just feel guilty.’

  ‘Don’t be. Their venom is enough to make people go mad,’ Marus muttered, spitting a spine out of his mouth.

  Sam let out an exasperated breath and walked towards him. ‘Why don’t you just do that as a human? Wouldn’t hands be easier?’

  Marus eyed her from beneath a wing. ‘The poison would be too strong for me, obviously. I’ve got about three-hundred of these things stuck in me.’ He went back to his scratching.

  Sam huffed her breath, wondering if all dragons were so sulky. ‘Fine, let me help you, then.’