Approaching Storm (Alternate Worlds Book 2)

by Taylor Leigh

  ‘Darius, it’s me, Sam!’

  ‘Sam!’ his voice dropped to a hushed whisper and the deafening background noise of the pub grew fainter as he made his way to a quieter spot. ‘All right?’

  Sam cast a furtive glance around her, peering through the warped, smudged glass of the booth. No-one seemed particularly interested in her. ‘I’m fine, fine. Look, can you meet me?’

  ‘Uh, yeah, sure. Where are you?’

  ‘Miol Mor, by the library.’

  Darius was quiet for a moment, thinking. ‘Right. I’ll be there in half an hour; I’ll catch the next train.’

  Sam nodded, feeling her spine relax slightly. She hadn’t realised how tense she’d been. She needed that to stop. She hadn’t done anything dangerous yet. ‘Great, I’ll see you then.’

  Sam ended the call and exited the booth as nonchalantly as possible. The streets were still busy, but the library was, of course, closed for the day and so most people were simply passing through the square instead of hanging about. Sam made her way over to the illuminated fountain and sat down beneath one of the great stone lions to wait.

  The ground trembled slightly with another earthquake. Several teens down the street cried out in mock horror.

  Things were getting worse. And she had to save her hero.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The door was thrown wide and Tollin was hauled up by strong hands. He hardly got a chance to get his feet under him as he was dragged across the floor towards the stairs. Defiantly, he struggled out of the Myrmidon’s grasp and marched up the steps on his own steam.

  When he reached the top he was greeted by more guards. Erikson stood behind the men and Tollin locked eyes with him briefly. There was no time for words. If this was the end, well, at least Erikson had saved some lives, if not his own.

  As Tollin was led back to the room with the chair, he wasn’t worried. He was quite sure he was being led to his death, but he had been in this situation more times than he could count on his fingers. Maybe if he added on his toes…Yet there was still time and that was what kept his spirits high.

  He doubted Erikson had a plan for getting him free. He’d only had a day, after all, hardly time for the normal human to get any real planning done. Tollin, however, had had plenty of time, just not much luck.

  Tollin was led into what he’d dubbed the “Doom Room” and was unceremoniously dumped back into the chair. Tollin didn’t try to escape. After eyeing the four armed Myrmidons in the room, he figured his chances weren’t that good—even if he was clever.

  ‘So, uh, where’s Roth?’ he asked as he was clamped into place.

  One of the other guard’s expression turned slightly green. Tollin raised his eyebrows in question.

  ‘I’m afraid he’s not feeling well,’ the guard replied. Tollin could have sworn the man looked ready to be sick.

  ‘Oh? That’s a pity.’

  ‘Shut up!’ the other guard barked. He whirled to one of his companions. ‘Go and tell him the chair’s all set.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘NOW! Unless you want to end up like David!’

  The guard stumbled from the room with a loud swear.

  Tollin watched him go. A cold stone of something disturbingly close to dread settled inside of him. Something was very, very wrong.

  The room shook again.

  Too soon for Tollin’s liking the door slid open and Roth staggered in. Tollin had to admit, he was shocked by his appearance. The man looked terrible. His face was a pale, pasty white; black eyes bloodshot and cloudy now. Mucus trailed from his nose and slimy sick stuck to the front of his lab coat. The smell hit Tollin’s keen nostrils with surprising force and for once he wished he had dulled human senses. Cold trepidation twisted in Tollin’s gut. What could possibly have happened to him?

  Tollin watched as Roth dismissed the other Myrmidons, voice a shaky rasp, and then approached Tollin. Tollin noted, a bit smugly, that Roth wouldn’t come near him till he was secured tightly in the chair. The smell of sick was enough to make him cough dramatically.

  ‘Might want to try a breath mint,’ he wheezed. ‘Bit overwhelming, there.’

  Roth’s blackening lips pulled back over his stained teeth. ‘It appears, Traveller, that your mind is not as impressive as once believed.’

  Tollin blinked. ‘Really? Well, that is quite a disappointment! And here I was thinking I was so clever! What makes you say so?’

  Roth narrowed his burning eyes. ‘Your head doesn’t seem compatible with all of this fancy equipment, does it? I’m beginning to wonder if you might be defective…or perhaps just being shy?’

  ‘Quite,’ Tollin agreed. ‘Well, you know, I don’t really like showing that skill in public. Makes others rather jealous.’ He felt a tad satisfied with how he’d managed to keep from breaking against the power of the chair.

  ‘Indeed,’ Roth grinned, voice a hoarse whisper.

  He took a step closer and before Tollin could blink, Roth slammed a syringe into Tollin’s neck with brutal force. Tollin grunted in discomfort. He’d never liked needles.

  Coppery, sparkling blood filled up the phial. Tollin watched Roth pull it free, the tip of the needle spitting a few drops of blood to the floor. Tollin glowered. His blood was a valuable substance, something he’d always guarded, and here Roth was, stealing from him like a hungry leech. Like Roth knew the potential it carried.

  Then, to Tollin’s shock and revulsion, Roth plunged the needle into his own forearm, pressing the plunger down till none remained. Tollin gaped at him, watching as Roth’s eyes fluttered closed, as if he’d just shot up with some drug. He wrinkled his nose is disgust. Roth—or the Daemon inside of him—must have completely lost his mind.

  He found himself unable to come up with a good comment about the whole incident. He could only stare and swallow. What the hell was Roth playing at?

  Roth rolled his head around in a circle, tendons in his neck straining and he tossed the now empty syringe to the floor. ‘I’m afraid I’ll need a lot more of that before all of this is over.’

  Tollin watched him warily. ‘What happened to you? What did that Daemon do to you?’ was all he could choke out.

  Roth ignored the question, but erupted into a huge fit of phlegm-filled coughs, his chest wracking so hard Tollin was slightly worried he’d burst something. He couldn’t help but cringe backwards as the coughing worsened. When Roth finally raised his head again, there were spots of red decorating the floor.

  He let out an almost inhuman growl. ‘Human bodies are so overrated.’ He sniffed. ‘But they are easily modified, aren’t they?’

  Tollin lowered his brows into such a low hunch he could almost see them. ‘All right, cut out the creepy Daemon nonsense, Roth. What do you want with me?’

  Roth seemed somewhat recovered from his exhibition. He straightened and walked towards Tollin. Tollin braced himself, no longer trusting Roth to behave in a somewhat rational way. ‘Traveller, do you know anything about this rock?’ He tapped the glowing, chipped rock above Tollin’s head.

  Tollin mulled over the question for a moment. ‘It can bridge openings between Realms, as I gather. That’s why you’re so desperate for that ring.’

  Roth nodded. ‘In a way. But that’s not all it can do.’

  Tollin had to admit that caught him off guard. He raised his left eyebrow to abnormal height noncommittally.

  Roth chuckled. ‘You see, my dearest Traveller, as well as being able to bridge between this Realm and the stone’s original Realm, it can also record information. Directly from your mind, to the crystal.’ Roth ran his hand across Tollin’s jaw, sending his skin prickling. ‘That’s what the original stone’s purpose was. Did you know?’

  Tollin rolled his eyes, yanking his head free from Roth’s caress. ‘Well that’s lovely! What good does that do you? You can’t speak rock—well, you are rather hard-headed, maybe you can.’

  Tollin’s mind whirled. What could the Daemons possibly gain from that? Roth didn’t
want to possess him—or couldn’t—even though he was strong. Tollin couldn’t jump—for some reason—but Roth was still interested in consuming his blood. Since Tollin couldn’t operate the chair, or be possessed to jump, was Roth somehow…synthesising his blood to fit a new body, and somehow downloading his memory from the stone? Was that even possible?

  If his memory was downloaded, so to speak, to a rock that could bridge to the other Realm…did the rock really need the fragment from the ring to help it to make the connection? Would Tollin just make up for it?

  In theory, with his massive intellect, it could be possible for a jump to happen without the ring. He would be the missing link instead—as Roth had originally intended, but it would be his memories and not his DNA. So why not do that to begin with? Did DNA work better? Surely.

  His memories might be able to give the stone fragment in the chair all the information it needed. The stone was just sustaining a void, unable to find a connection. If Tollin had the information to what Realm the stone was from—which he did know, or at least thought he knew—then maybe it would finally be able to settle on the right signal. Right now it was stuck without coordinates, but if it had coordinates—which the ring would have been able to give it, or Tollin’s mind—it could create an open bridge that was safe to walk through.

  That’s what the chair was for. It offered someone who knew the way, or had the power to randomly jump, a way to connect with the stone. Like him.

  But…if Tollin’s memories were all stored into a crystal, what did that mean for his mind? His memories would be on a device but could they even be read? Some Realms used crystals as storage devices, yes, but not this one…However, with all of the computers Roth had in the next room…he might have the technology to simply download all of Tollin’s memories to a hard drive. He could read them, if he could break into them. But implementing them? Again, Tollin had always thought of jumping as a physical process. That still left the problem of no DNA…

  That’s why Roth was taking his blood. Roth actually thought he could somehow recreate Tollin’s blood into something he could use. Change Roth’s DNA into Tollin’s, since he didn’t seem willing to possess Tollin’s own body. That was this sick bastard’s last ditch effort to open a portal.

  Was that even possible?

  Tollin worked it all out in less than a second. Roth was already beginning to gloat about the same thing.

  ‘It would have been more convenient to have the ring, since it is such an easy way to open the gate, and the whole of ourselves is trapped within. We wanted to re-join before the anniversary hit. It would have been nice for us to share it together, it’s been so very long…but we’re out of time, aren’t we? You aren’t jumping on your own, that’s well too clear, so I say it’s time to make final use of that big head of yours.

  ‘We’ll have every Realm at our use, all thanks to you! Crystals can be read, Traveller. They’re the greatest data-storage devices known to man. And we’ve got a system all set up, just for you.’

  Roth pulled free the helmet from the top of the chair. Huge wires ran off from it, which then raced across the ceiling and into the next room, where all of the computers were stationed. Tollin found it rather insulting that his whole consciousness would be treated in such a manner.

  Roth placed the helmet on Tollin’s head. ‘I’ll be able to read you like an open book, and it won’t even be a struggle like my last invasion. You won’t be there to put up a fight. Pity it’s such a final solution.’

  ‘Not if I don’t let you have my memories,’ Tollin growled through clenched teeth. ‘You’re messing with a mind you shouldn’t underestimate. I’m famous among you lot. I’ve destroyed armies by thought alone. I beat the Game Master at chess. I outthought the Controller and won.’

  ‘And yet I still managed to crush you.’ Roth grinned nastily. ‘Well, if it doesn’t work you’ll be dead and we’ll have the ring.’ He flipped the machine on. ‘Have fun.’

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Sam pushed herself up from the paws of the stone lion and smiled timidly as Darius jogged over to her. He’d arrived sooner than she had expected and seeing him now sent her stomach fluttering with nerves. Now that he was here, her plan felt like reality. Dangerous.

  Not to mention she could sense something was terribly wrong with Tollin. He was fighting hard; she could feel all of his concentration focused on something. If she needed any more proof, that was it. Time was running out.

  Darius enveloped her into a tight, strong hug.

  When they finally pulled free, Sam could see the worry shining behind his eyes. She knew she must be driving him mad, leaving him, suddenly calling him out of the blue, leaving him again without telling him what was going on.

  ‘You all right?’ he asked gently. ‘What’s wrong?’ He frowned, glancing around. ‘Where’s your new friend?’

  Sam pressed her lips together, fighting back an unexpected rush of emotion that hit her like a blow. Whatever was happening to Tollin, as distant and distracted as he was right now, scared the hell out of her. He was in pain.

  ‘Darius, I need your help.’

  Darius stared at her in surprise. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked again. ‘Sam?’

  ‘Tollin’s been captured.’

  Darius didn’t seem to get it. He was still staring at her with the same confused expression on his face. ‘What?’

  Sam briefly, numbly, laid out the basics. She told him who the Myrmidons were, why they broke into the base and how Tollin was captured. Sam decided it was best to leave out the bits about Daemons and other Realms for the moment.

  ‘We’re running out of time,’ she said in conclusion. ‘You’ve noticed the tremors, you had to have done, and I know for a fact that there’s going to be an explosion at that base that will wipe Tartiland’s coast off the map!’

  Darius ran his hands through his hair. ‘Bloody hell…’ He fixed her with an alarmed expression. ‘Look, Sam, this is terrible and all—and I’m sorry about your friend, I really am—but why did you call me here? What can I possibly do about it? We should be getting well clear of this place!’

  Sam shook her head. ‘I’m not leaving, Darius, and I need your help.’

  He gaped at her for a moment; the real reason Sam had called him finally setting in. ‘You’re going to try and break him out, aren’t you?’

  Sam nodded.

  ‘That’s mental!’ Darius cried, a bit too loudly, she thought.

  Sam pressed her lips together. ‘I don’t care. I have to try. Look, Darius they’re hurting him. If I don’t get him out then he’ll die in that explosion along with a lot of other innocent people. He’s the only one who can stop it. If I don’t, then we can just kiss this city and Flotsen and all of our friends goodbye.’

  Darius paced back and forth across the wet pavement, huffing his breath. ‘This is insane,’ he stated. ‘But how are you planning on going about it? I mean, if he’s as well protected as you say—’

  ‘I’ve got the plans to the base,’ Sam cut him off. ‘And I know for a fact that most of the Myrmidons have fled. Tollin won’t be as well guarded. I’ve been in the base before. I can find him.’

  ‘But how?’

  Sam shook her head. ‘Just trust me on that.’

  Darius sat down on the stone lip of the fountain. ‘Okay, just for a moment I’ll pretend your plan is actually feasible—which I don’t—again, why do you need me?’

  Sam held her breath. This was the part she didn’t really want to get to. ‘I need a distraction so I can get inside.’

  Darius threw up his hands. ‘Oh, brilliant!’ His voice was thick with sarcasm.

  Sam glowered at him. ‘Look, it won’t be that difficult, you just have to get their attention off of the building so I can slip inside.’

  ‘Right, you’ll just slip inside, just like that!’ He was angry now. ‘Who do you think you are, Enchantress? You’re not some amazing superhero, Sam, you’re you: Samantha Turner, the poor girl from Flotsen
who gossips and eats chips and goes out clubbing on the weekends. You’re just you! You can’t just break into some high security base and hope it will all turn out right! You’ll get caught!’

  His words were an ugly slap of reality. He was completely right, of course. And Sam would have believed him, but not after all that had happened to her recently. Not after all she’d seen, all she’d done. The Guide had told Sam it was her destiny to save Tollin and she wasn’t about to turn her back on him now, even if Darius’s words were completely sensible. ‘It doesn’t matter. With or without you, I’m going.’

  He grabbed her arm. ‘I could stop you, you know.’ His countenance had shifted to one of miserable determination.

  Sam glanced down at his hand wrapped around her arm. She squared her jaw. ‘No, you can’t.’ She put her hand over his, gently extricating her arm from his grasp. He offered no resistance. ‘I have to do this, Darius. And I know it sounds mental, but I know that I can. I’ve got a plan and it’s going to work. It has to work, if it doesn’t then we’re all dead anyway, and I’d rather die knowing I tried to save him than running the other way. I can’t do that.’

  Darius’s expression softened ever-so-slightly. ‘You love him, don’t you?’

  The question caught Sam off-guard and sent a strange, twisting pang through her. The words felt odd, filling her with warmth, making her excited, nervous, confused, all at the same time. Slowly, she shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I just know that I can’t live without him.’

  Darius nodded slowly in acceptance. ‘Then I’ll help you. If you can’t live without him, then I can’t really just sit by, now can I?’

  Sam stared up at him. His words lifted an incredible weight off of her shoulders. The first part of her plan was going to work. Darius was going to help her. She could actually do this. A grin twisted at her lips and she gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him close into a kiss. His lips were familiar, comforting, and for a moment, she wasn’t too keen on letting him go. But the urgency of Tollin’s struggle was still pressing at the back of her mind, fighting for survival. It was a distraction she couldn’t ignore and Sam reluctantly ended the embrace.