Approaching Storm (Alternate Worlds Book 2)

by Taylor Leigh

  Tollin’s brows hunched lower over his eyes. ‘Ah, so I should suppose you are the one responsible for the power outage?’

  Sam grinned despite herself. ‘Darius, actually. Got him to help me…hope he’s all right.’

  Tollin’s expression turned to a strange mixture of disbelief and amusement. ‘Darius, aye?’ He looked away from her, quirky smile pulling at his lips, making Sam’s heart give an inexplicable flutter. ‘Good old Darius…’

  Sam studied him. He looked tired. She didn’t blame him. He was bruised, bloody. She wondered what they had done to him, if she’d ever find out. Thinking to that brought back the horrible image of Roth; twisting on the floor in his own sick, body chequered with black lines, the dark smoke pouring off of his skin like he was on fire.

  Even thinking of it sent her heart beating faster. The Darkness. The monster inside of him more powerful than anything Tollin had ever faced. The one thing he couldn’t remember. It choked at her. But he’d survived, hadn’t he? Tollin hadn’t been defeated by Roth.

  ‘D—did you speak with Roth at all?’ she finally squeaked out.

  Tollin glanced down at her, expression already closing off. ‘Yeah.’

  Sam gnawed on her bottom lip. ‘I spoke to the Daemons, like you told me to…’

  Tollin turned a little more interested. He shifted to face her. ‘How did that go?’

  Sam shut her eyes. If she mentioned the Darkness, would he even hear her words? Would he simply dismiss them? ‘They said that whatever is possessing Roth is very powerful. They’re all terrified of it. They think of it as a god.’

  ‘Ah,’ Tollin said. ‘Well, that makes sense.’ His jaw tightened.

  Sam wanted to ask what had happened. The question burned in her mind, but she kept her mouth shut. He had to know she was dying to interrogate him over it. He was going to keep it close. He must have his reasons. He’d blocked his mind off firmly from any prying.

  They both sat still for a time. The idea of getting up and returning back to Scottorr didn’t seem very appealing at the moment.

  Sam watched the ocean, Erikson’s boat growing smaller and smaller, despite the lack of wind. There must be a current.

  It was so overwhelming, breathing in alien air. Seeing an ocean stretch on for ever. It made her feel so small…they were the only life. How long since the last person had been here?

  Gradually she became aware of Tollin watching her. She glanced back to him. Being in this void of life, Sam wasn’t sure she’d ever felt so appreciative of someone else. All she wanted to do was tell him how glad she was that he was back.

  Tollin touched her face. ‘You’ve got some…’ he gently rubbed at the spot. ‘Guess we’re both a bit of a mess.’

  Sam nodded, not wanting to look down at her clothes. They both were covered in Erikson’s blood. Soon enough the significance of that would sink in. She hadn’t known the man, but he’d saved her life and she hadn’t been able to return the favour. It simply wasn’t fair.

  ‘I’ve never seen a man die before,’ she muttered. ‘I mean, there was the Blaiden man, but I was so…I mean it wasn’t like this.’

  Tollin didn’t answer.

  Sam swallowed, the noise punctuating the absolute silence. ‘Don’t even think I’ve ever seen a dead body before, not like that…besides my mum…but that was a long time ago.’

  Tollin plucked at a few grains of sand on his sleeve. Sam took in his face, desperately trying to read his expression. It was impossible. He was stoic and dark as ever.

  ‘You seemed to know what you were doing. Seemed like you’ve been in that situation a hundred times before, like it doesn’t…affect you the way it should.’

  Tollin avoided her gaze, his jaw hardening.

  Sam shook her head. ‘Can’t help but wonder what kind of life you live where that becomes…normal.’

  Tollin sighed heavily. ‘It never becomes normal,’ he said morosely. ‘Never becomes easy. It just becomes something you have to live with. A burden you can’t shake off. It never leaves you. I suppose I’ve just learned to accept it.’

  His words dropped into her like a heavy stone. ‘Tollin…how many people have you seen die? How many people have died in your arms?’

  He glowered. ‘That’s not something I’m going to talk about, Sam. Ever. I’ve lost more people than I ever want to remember, I’ve seen things…done things that I can’t take back. That kind of guilt isn’t something I want to breathe life into. Just leave it alone and never ask me again.’

  Sam bowed her head. ‘Sorry,’ she whispered.

  He let out a deep breath and another stretch of silence grew between them. Sam spent most of it kicking herself for her stupid questions. She was going to push Tollin away just as soon as she got him back if she wasn’t careful.

  ‘Time we returned,’ Tollin sighed after a long moment. ‘Need to explain your brave heroics to everyone.’

  To her relief, Tollin’s voice was lighter than before. Whatever ghosts had been tormenting him had left.

  ‘I think you’ve had more to do with it than anything.’

  He smiled wryly and stood, holding his hand out to her. ‘Well then I shall continue to be an irresistible influence on you! Come on!’ He started walking away from the shore.

  Sam hurried after him. ‘So what now?’

  ‘Scottorr!’ Tollin cried. He stood still, planted his feet and held out his hand again for Sam to take. ‘It’s time to save the world!’

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Marus’s near visible anger at Sam’s disappearance—and of her stealing his bike—turned to sheepish relief the moment his brother stepped behind her through the door.

  ‘Tollin! You’re alive! I thought for sure they would have dissected you by now!’ He flashed a weak grin, all teeth. ‘Blow me, you look terrible.’

  Tollin frowned. ‘Your concern is overwhelming, brother.’ He adopted a thoughtful look. ‘Strange, I don’t recall overhearing any news about a great, black dragon trying to break into the Myrmidon headquarters. Seems like that would have been something worth mentioning!’

  Marus coughed into his hand. ‘I was in the middle of developing a plan to rescue you! It just needed a little more fine tuning…’ He flopped down in a chair.

  Sam rolled her eyes.

  Arkron swaggered into the room from the opposite end and stopped dead. ‘Good stars, she actually did it.’

  By the astounded way of their tones, Sam’s entire rescue sounded all the more insane now that it was over.

  Tollin sat down, eyebrows raised. ‘Of course she did! She’s brilliant, after all.’

  Sam blushed.

  Arkron made a face. ‘Wouldn’t have put my money on that one. Either way, good show.’ She toasted Sam with the drink she was holding.

  Sam glanced around, anxiety nicking inside of her. ‘Darius?’

  Arkron smiled knowingly. ‘He’s here.’

  As if on cue, Darius staggered into the room. He pushed past Arkron and swept Sam up into a hug. ‘You’re back! Sam, I was so worried.’ He pulled free and looked her over. ‘Oh my gods, you’re covered with blood, are you hurt?’

  Sam shook her head. ‘I’m fine, stop fussing.’

  Tollin caught her eye, eyes laughing. She tightened her lips into a knock it off look of warning. He flashed her a charming smirk and looked away.

  ‘So,’ Marus said. ‘We’re all back, one big happy family. What now? Just hop off to some nice little secluded Realm and wait this out?’

  Arkron shrugged. ‘As long as there’s alcohol and more company than just you.’

  Marus scowled, affronted.

  The ground shook in warning, making the light fixtures swing.

  Darius took Sam’s hand and pulled her down to a sofa. Sam reluctantly sat next to him and let him brush at her hair. She didn’t much care for the attention at the moment. All she really wanted was a shower; get out of her stiffly stained clothes. No time. And Darius didn’t seem to realise the full gravity of t
he situation. She leaned forward on her knees and looked to Tollin for his take on what to do.

  ‘Oh, no, you’re not getting off that easy,’ Tollin turned to look at Arkron. ‘First, Arkron, I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’

  ‘About what?’ she challenged.

  Tollin leant back in his chair, eyes dark. Sam could feel something dangerous about him. He wasn’t happy, he was hiding it well, but his eyes shone. ‘About the gateway. You helped design it, after all.’

  Marus gave Arkron a narrow-eyed, crocodile look. He certainly was not happy with that.

  Arkron sighed and perched on a desk, long legs crossing. ‘I am not to blame for it. I only got involved to make sure they didn’t do anything too stupid. I know it wasn’t for the right reasons, but it was so fascinating, actually making a device that could span Realms. And for the record, I didn’t come up with it, Andrew did, but I’m sure you know that. He modified the basic blueprints of the Time Realm device for a gateway that could connect to other Realms without the time flux involved.’

  ‘Wait, what? Time?’ Darius frowned, looking up. Everyone ignored him.

  ‘He thought up the plans here, but while we were away on a different mission someone broke into the keep. The plans were gone. Not long after that I got a request from the Head Minister to infiltrate the base and spy from the inside; they’d been under suspicion for quite a while. So that’s what I know.’

  Tollin nodded. ‘Roth led me to believe Andrew gave them the stone. I thought it was hidden after the last anniversary, wasn’t it?’

  Arkron nodded irritably. ‘Yes, by me. The ring was buried as well, as Reginald requested. I had trapped several Daemons inside of it—the Daemons that were possessing Sinsetun because I couldn’t send them back to whatever hole they crawled out of. I didn’t think burying it was the best idea but the King was fairly insistent on it.’

  ‘That’s how I found it!’ Sam cried. ‘I heard them calling to me!’

  Arkron shrugged. ‘Maybe, oddly enough, that’s why Reginald wanted it buried. Maybe it was meant to find someone. You. Maybe he knew somehow that all of this had to happen.

  ‘Anyway, the stone was put in the treasury after that. I think during the First Myrmidon Uprising that dreadful dragon Noel may have gotten his hands on it. They were using Andrew like some sniffer dog for all their supernatural needs. That’s when it was lost. I suppose they must have had it all these years, tucked away somewhere safe.’

  Tollin scowled. ‘They’d have to have known where it was hidden. There’s a better chance of lightning striking twice than the Myrmidons picking the right stone. But I don’t believe they knew what its significance was. I think someone told them. The same person who was responsible for bringing it to this Realm in the first place.’

  Sam turned to him. ‘Who?’

  Tollin’s brows raised pointedly.

  Arkron exhaled. ‘All right! Yes. When Andrew started growing interested in creating a device I reminded him of it, but we never had a chance to nick it from them. We had a traitor working for us. They found out about us and stole his plans before we could steal the stone from them. Just the way things played out.

  ‘But you can’t blame me for any of this. I picked it up a long time ago when a team of mine Realm jumped to Murkfin. Back then it was a mess, I can’t imagine what it is now. It was just a sting operation; jump in and out, just to let the Daemons know we could.

  ‘The problem with Murkin is that it was infested with Daemons hundreds of years ago thanks to a stone that could somehow generate random links between Realms. That was how the Daemons got through to Murkfin in the first place. Obviously, we couldn’t let it continue. Who knew how many more Realms would become quick gateways for the Daemons unless we intervened?

  ‘When I found the stone—it’s called Sahabra, by the way—I didn’t know what to do with it. The stones are so rare I didn’t want to destroy it and it’s next to impossible anyway, so we just cut off some big shards of it.’

  Tollin nodded, as if he’d expected this much. ‘But it didn’t have the intent you wanted, did it? Those split stones could create a solid gateway between Murkfin and wherever its missing piece was. And that’s what let the Daemons through to Scrabia all those years ago.’

  Arkron hung her head. ‘Yes. Once I found out, I cut the larger stone again. That broke the connection. I took the smaller piece and made Sam’s ring. The rest of the stone is stuck up in the gateway they created. I don’t know what happened to the others. The stone in the gateway along with Sam’s ring were used by the Denizens during the Anniversary about five-hundred years ago. That’s the last they were seen, till now.’

  ‘That was very long time ago,’ Tollin muttered. ‘And the other stones that your companions had are still missing, probably scattered throughout different Realms. But with these two shards so close to each other, a massive power source and the anniversary so near it’s starting to create activity. So far it isn’t able to make a complete connection—it needs a Realm Jumper or the last bit of rock in Sam’s ring, doesn’t it?’

  Arkron whirled around. ‘Yes, yes. You know all of this!’

  Sam tried to understand what Tollin was saying. Her ring wasn’t the only missing piece. There were others out there, in different Realms. Would they all connect?

  The anniversary was in less than twenty-four hours. How many portals would open then?

  ‘Well, let’s get rid of the ring, then!’ Marus said.

  She spoke hesitantly. ‘But if there are other stones scattered through different Realms, then this isn’t an isolated incident, is it? Even if we destroy the ring, it won’t do any good because this stone, Sahabra, can still connect with other Realms that we don’t even know about.’

  Tollin nodded darkly. ‘I’m afraid you’re right, Sam.’

  ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Darius cried, voice almost a high-pitched whimper. ‘Other Realms? Daemons?’

  ‘Shhh, not now!’ Sam hissed.

  Tollin shook his head. ‘Our best bet is to destroy the chair—which means we have to break into the headquarters yet again. Unfortunately, that only solves this world’s problem, but at least we’ve done something.’

  Sam licked her lips. ‘Well, there’s just one thing to do then, isn’t there?’

  They all looked at her.

  Tollin shook his head slowly, a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

  Marus blinked. ‘What?’

  Sam looked to him. ‘Obvious, isn’t it? We’ve got to go to this Realm, Murkfin or whatever it’s called and destroy the stone for good! If it’s going to keep trying to connect with other stones like this one then sooner or later it’ll open up another doorway, won’t it?’

  Marus shook his head. ‘Are you out of your minds?’

  Darius was gaping like a fish, still looking confused, but clearly getting enough of what was going on to be against it. ‘No way! I’m not letting you go off to some other dimension and get killed!’

  Sam crossed her arms. ‘Why? Arkron did it!’

  ‘To be fair, that was hundreds of years ago. There could be thousands more that have gotten through,’ Arkron interjected. ‘Not to mention, I didn’t destroy the stone, that’s why we’ve still got this problem. I don’t know how to destroy it. They’re indestructible, for all I know.’

  Sam turned to look at Tollin. He was regarding her with something close to awe. His thin lips tugged up and Sam couldn’t help but return the smirk.

  ‘You just can’t help but stay out of trouble, can you?’ he queried.

  Sam leaned forward, his smile sparking her own to grow. ‘Everything I’ve learned, I learned from you.’

  Tollin looked away in thought. ‘It could work. After all, all we need to do is find the stone and use something powerful that can destroy it. That would stop the stone from trying to connect with its missing pieces, or randomly jumping from Realm to Realm.’

  Marus grunted. ‘Yeah, right. And just what is powerful enou
gh to destroy these stones? Arkron said it was next to impossible!’

  Arkron and Tollin both shared a look, then directed it at Marus. The dragon threw his hands in the air, shaking his head. ‘Oh, no, don’t even think about it!’

  ‘What?’ Sam cried.

  Tollin leant back in his chair, arms crossed, still fixing his brother with a stare. ‘Dragon fire. One of the most destructive things in the universe. Reason I brought him along in the first place.’

  Marus started to pace. ‘It’s not that I mind going along. I don’t care about danger or any of that; I just don’t want to waste my life pointlessly. We don’t know anything about this Realm! No sane person has been there since it was overrun.’

  ‘It won’t be pointless and you won’t die—not if this is as quick an operation as we can make it,’ Tollin said. ‘We just need to jump in, find the stones and destroy them. Pop in and out, that’s it. Once Sahabra is destroyed all the other stones will go dead. Kind of like turning off the internet.’

  Marus huffed. ‘Right. Things never go that smoothly with you. May I remind you of what we attempted at the base which was essentially the same mission? And they didn’t even have Daemons!’ He stood still for a moment. ‘Well,’ he shrugged. ‘I guess I’m game. What will it be, then? You and me? Arkron, you joining this suicide mission?’

  Sam straightened. ‘Oi! You can’t just forget about me!’ She cast Tollin a hard look. ‘Not like you can go without me, anyway.’

  Marus frowned in confusion. ‘What’s she talking about? You can’t jump anymore?’

  ‘Well,’ Tollin stretched himself out, avoiding Marus’s eyes. ‘Technically, I can. I just need a bit of…help. Sam and I are rather…split. The Daemons in Sam’s ring tried to get clever. Didn’t quite work, though. It’s like all the power in me,’ he made a sucking noise, ‘got pulled into her!’

  Marus stared. ‘What? So this another freaky side effect from your mental connection thing?’

  Sam shrugged. ‘Search me. We didn’t figure it out till about three hours ago. Who knows what else went wrong.’