Reality Falling (The Book Wielder Saga 2)

by Davies, Sean

  “I had considered that,” Alice said wistfully, “but I doubt Winston will believe you. He’ll think that we’re forcing you to speak out against the Archmage. I also think that it works better with the Archmage believing you to be dead; he won’t see you coming.”

  “Good point,” Brooke said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

  The security door opened and a normal Inquisitor guard walked in. “Ma’am, I have an urgent message-”

  “It can wait,” Alice replied. “Now if you don’t mind.”

  “But your escort from the Trinity of Old is here,” the woman stammered. “He said he needs to talk to you now. It’s about…” The guard looked towards Brooke and stopped herself before divulging too much.

  Alice sighed with frustration and got up. “This had better be good,” she muttered to herself before turning to the guard. “Sort Miss Sienna and her partner out with some nicer, secure accommodation on the Isle.” Alice looked at Brooke. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Brooke saluted half mockingly as Alice left the room.

  Before leaving the facility, Alice went to the guards’ changing room within the detention centre and got back into her power armour. She unlocked her private locker and took out her submachine gun and her war hammer, just to be on the safe side.

  She hitched a ride on the back of a troop truck to the outskirts of the amphitheatre ruins where the secret Catacomb entrance was located. The weather on the Isle was calm and peaceful, the sky was cloudless, but the sun was warm and not too hot. The pleasant breeze smelled faintly of the sea and gulls cawed cheerfully overhead. Alice hoped that whatever news the Trinity had for her wouldn’t dampen her spirits, especially considering they had only just risen with the recent tide of good events. She made her way through the guard outpost to where Jonathan was waiting for her; he seemed rather fidgety, like he couldn’t stand still for some reason.

  “What is it?” Alice asked, almost dreading the reply.

  “More good news,” Jonathan blurted out excitedly. “Well, potentially. We have to go now.”

  Alice walked quickly with him down the old stone steps to the portal. She felt a wave of relief wash over her, but her curiosity was spiking dramatically. “Are you going to tell me or is it a surprise?”

  “It’s Kaine from the Dogs of War gang, one of the Shadow Circle’s close allies,” Jonathan explained. “He wants to defect to our side!”

  They moved through the portal and into the Catacombs. “For real?” Alice asked surprised.

  Jonathan nodded rapidly. “Yeah, he even killed one of the other big gang leaders from the Desem side of things. I came to get you as soon as I could. The Trinity want you there when they speak to him more thoroughly.”

  Alice smiled. She was glad they got in contact with her so soon. Maybe after getting them the Sanctium formula they regarded her with respect.

  They quickly made their way through the network of tunnels and portals until they arrived at the Trinity’s sanctum. Cherriesa, Silvario and the gruff grey haired Werewolf Kaine were waiting around in awkward silence.

  “Ah, Alice.” Silvario began putting even more diplomatic flourish on his words than normal for their guest. “Thank you for your prompt arrival. This is Kaine of the Dogs of War,” he said gesturing to the defector.

  “So you’re the leader of the Inquisition, huh?” Kaine said eyeing her up. “You’re a Book Wielder too? You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  Alice looked at the long haired, scruffy dressed, muscular man. It was strange to see a Supernatural dressed so casually, especially considering his powerful position, after the amount of formally dressed or half naked Supernaturals that she had seen.

  “I get that a lot,” Alice replied dryly. “Let’s just say I didn’t realise until after I took the job.”

  Kaine chuckled. “Well you’ve got balls lady, I’ll give you that.”

  “Can we get to the point?” Cherriesa snapped.

  “Sure thing, cheery,” Kaine said back snidely.

  “Why don’t you explain your recent actions for Lord Inquisitor Alice’s sake, before we decide on what will happen next, Kaine?” Silvario asked politely.

  Kaine shrugged. “Sure, if you want. I didn’t like where things were going under the Archmage’s leadership. He only cares for his own position, and he has no respect for all those who help him get it. I don’t like how he treats the humans either. I have far more honour than those whack-job Anarchy’s Ascendants and I can’t stay on the same side as people who condone such cowardly murderous actions. Ripping Kitaria Catawowski’s pretty little head off her angry shoulders was just an added bonus of my change of heart.”

  “So you and your gang will fight for us?” Alice asked eagerly.

  “Maybe,” Kaine grizzled. “I’m not here lightly. Me and these two don’t have the best of histories, do we?”

  “Stop wasting our time,” Cherriesa said angrily. “If you are not with us then you can face Omniosis on your own, or go and hide in the trees like your kind used to.”

  Kaine growled loudly at the Supernatural equivalent of a racist remark.

  “Cherriesa!” Silvario chided. “I’m sure we can work something out Kaine, please calm down.”

  Kaine shook his shoulders as if he was physically shaking the aggression off of his back. “Fine.”

  “What’s the situation with your people?” Silvario asked.

  “We’ve cleared out of Industria City. Some people have dispersed but most of us are back at our HQ in Rigorton. We won’t be able to stay there long though. Word of my actions will spread fast.”

  “So you will need access to the Catacombs?” Silvario hedged.

  Kaine looked slightly ashamed. “Yes, we will.”

  “Think of the security risk!” Cherriesa hissed at her Mage colleague. “How do we know that they are truly with us?”

  “Do I need to get you another severed head?” Kaine asked sarcastically. “Your Bloodmage abilities must be getting rusty in your old age if you can’t discern my intentions.”

  Alice laughed inside her mind. She was glad to see someone else clashing with Cherriesa as much as she did.

  “Let’s just say for now that we do let you and your people into the Catacombs, despite the obvious security risk,” Silvario continued. “What will you do for us?”

  Kaine pondered the point. “We’re not fighting the Shadow Circle,” he said bluntly. “We’ll fight the others, but not them. I’ll give you all the tactical information you want though. Use it however you wish.”

  Silvario looked at Cherriesa, and the two seemed to engage in a brief silent conversation. After living together for so long the two would be able to read each other very well, and Cherriesa would be able read some of the Mage’s thoughts.

  “It would rally more support to your cause having me and my people here too,” Kaine added. “If they see that the Dogs of War are pulling out of the Archmage’s cause, more are bound to follow.”

  “So apart from safety in the Catacombs, what else would you want in return?” Silvario asked coyly, knowing that there would be more.

  Kaine looked towards the yellow portal within the sanctum. “You’re still a member down.”

  “Not a chance,” Cherriesa said softly in her sweet voice.

  “Kaine’s bringing a lot of benefits to the table,” Alice began. “Surely he could have some part of the Trinity?” She’d only just met the Werewolf, but he did have a likable quality. It was hard to put her finger on precisely, but she just had a good feeling about him.

  “He is talking about one of the three leadership positions,” Cherriesa spoke back in a know-it-all manner. “Not just some ‘part’.”

  “With the amount I’d be adding to your organisation it’s the least you could do for me,” Kaine said back. “You could use some fresher blood around here.”

  Silvario said nothing; instead he racked his brain thinking of all the possibilities and outcomes. Eventually he looked up. “Wo
uld there be any other terms?”

  Cherriesa’s jaw dropped and she stared wide eyed at Silvario.

  “We can consider the request at the least,” Silvario said to her.

  “I don’t want any harm coming to the boy,” Kaine firmly. “Winston, he’s a good lad, and it’s not his fault they’re filling his head with bullshit. I also want to speak to him before anything is final. I owe him an explanation, and I want to try and sway him as far away from Omniosis as possible. I doubt the Archmage has anything good lined up for Winston once he’s outlived his usefulness.”

  Alice’s eyes went wide and her brows rose. “When were you planning on talking to him?” she asked quickly.

  “Today,” Kaine said, confused by the Lord Inquisitor’s eagerness.

  “I want to go with you. I need to speak to Winston urgently,” Alice said.

  “Why?” Kaine asked guardedly.

  “She has a divine mission,” Cherriesa explained mockingly.

  Kaine looked at Alice confused, waiting for the Inquisitor to explain.

  “Long story short,” Alice began, “when I first learnt that I was a Book Wielder, the Twin Goddesses dragged me far above the Gloom sky. It turns out they were Archmages that opposed Omniosis when they lived in our world. The Twins are responsible for draining the magic from the world and they accidently created the Gloom in the process. Omniosis was trapped there and now he’s talked Winston into merging the two plains back into one, but all he really wants is the source of magic all to himself so that he can rule the world like a god.”

  Kaine looked like he’d been hit in the face. “Okay... there are about a million questions I need to ask you about that story of yours sometime soon, but I’ll bring you along if it’s to help out Winston. Just behave yourself, alright? Try anything dodgy and I’ll consider you a hostile.”

  “You two may be the best of friends now, but we have yet to make a decision,” Cherriesa reminded them.

  “If I’m taking the Inquisitor to see Winston then I want an answer now,” Kaine said defiantly.

  Silvario and Cherriesa once again engaged in a silent debate, and the ever increasing scowl upon the Vampire’s beautiful face told Alice all she needed to know before anything was said out loud.

  “We agree to your terms,” Silvario said. “Welcome to the Trinity of Old, Kaine. Your people may enter as soon as they are ready. We will talk more when you return.”

  “If you or your gang try anything, I will have you all sealed in a Catacomb section for the rest of time,” Cherriesa added in a sweet yet threatening tone.

  Kaine nodded at Silvario and winked at Cherriesa. “I take it you guys have a portal that exits somewhere near the outskirts of Rigorton?”

  “We have one that will bring you out in a little village called Fallowne that’s to the west of Rigorton. Jonathan can escort you both,” said Silvario.

  “Okay, well we best be off then,” Kaine said, looking at Alice.

  “Thank you,” Alice replied warmly. With his help she was finally going to be able to pass on her message from the Twins. The chaotic times would soon be over – that was, if Winston could be convinced to correct the damage he’d done to the world. Alice would worry about bringing him to justice afterwards, whether the Supernaturals liked it or not.

  “Follow me please,” Jonathan said to Kaine.

  Just before leaving the room through the main portal, Kaine stopped and looked back. “There is one other thing, a query really, but I want an honest answer. I don’t care if you did it or not – well, I do, but we’re at war. These things happen.”

  “What are you babbling on about?” Cherriesa asked impatiently.

  “Lucius,” Kaine began slowly. “Did you have him assassinated?”

  Silvario looked at Cherriesa confused. Clearly he had not ordered the attack, but was unsure if Cherriesa had done without telling him.

  Cherriesa shook her head. “No, the Capital has become untouchable. We have not had anyone operating there for weeks.”

  “Are you being one hundred percent truthful?” Kaine asked unsure. It was strange, but he seemed more afraid of the idea of them not initiating the attack on his former partner. “If we’re going to be working together I need to know if you did.”

  “I told you, we are not responsible,” Cherriesa said angrily.

  Silvario nodded. “She’s right, Kaine. As much as it embarrasses me to admit it, we cannot get anyone near to Imperia City and haven’t been able to for quite some time. Their defences are too strong and they have blocked off most of our portals, even the ones we considered to be secret.”

  “And besides, I would not have assassinated Lucius,” Cherriesa added evilly. “I would have brought him here and publically burnt him at the stake... slowly.”

  Alice expected Kaine to flare up. From what she’d gathered and been told, he and Lucius had been long-time friends, or at least partners in a mutual arrangement for quite some time. Instead, he looked towards Alice with fear in his yellow Werewolf eyes.

  “We need to hurry,” Kaine said to Alice. “Winston is in even more danger that I thought.”

  They left the sanctum, and Alice and Kaine followed Jonathan through the underground network. They exchanged the facts that they had gathered about both sides, and Alice was amazed at how normal Winston sounded. Apparently he had a natural talent for tactical planning, but the rest seemed like he was in the right place at the right time. More and more, Alice got the sense that they were all being guided by something. There were far too many coincidences popping up, and it was starting to feel like they were actors playing their parts on the stage. She quickly dismissed the thought; even if they were being manipulated by some force truly divine, she wouldn’t be able to discern its will, so there was no point trying. For better or worse, they were stuck on this roller coaster until the ride was over.

  “Have you heard anything about a Lewis Thorne?” she asked Kaine.

  “Lewis? Yeah, he’s Winston’s friend. A bit odd though,” Kaine said casually. “How do you know about him?”

  Alice went to tell him, but realised he might be angered by Brooke and Alexander’s incarceration. They all seemed to know each other. “Oh, I’ve just heard things.”

  Kaine looked at her sceptically. “I may be a bit rough around the edges but I’m no idiot, lady. Who you got?”

  Alice hesitated before owning up. “Alexander and Brooke told me. They’re pretty sure he set them up.”

  Kaine exposed his teeth and growled. “Then I bet that little shit had something to do with Lucius’ death too. If he’s in Winston’s ear then that explains why the kid is so eager to go along with the Archmage’s plan.” Kaine scratched his chin and put his long wild grey and white hair into a loose ponytail. “You better be taking good care of Brooke and Alexander.”

  “I am,” Alice replied honestly. She was glad she’d just made them a deal. “Brooke is actually going to do some work for us, once I work out the details.”

  “Good, see that it stays that way,” Kaine said gruffly. “And don’t forget about Alex. He’s one hell of a Mage, he was with me when we when we first started fighting in the Great War. We used to call him the Artillery, or Alexander the Art,” Kaine chuckled as he reminisced.

  Alice just nodded. She was always so surprised at how much secret history existed beneath the world she once knew, and the Supernaturals had so many interesting and exciting stories about those times.

  “We’re almost there,” Jonathan said to his followers.

  He led them through a portal into a bar’s cellar. It was dusty and a little bit dingy but it was still clearly in use. Wooden kegs of beers and ciders lined the walls piled upon one another, beneath the shafts of light from the small surface level windows near the stony ceiling. Wine racks, shelves of spirits, and chillers packed with glass bottles of both alcoholic and soft drinks filled the spaces in between.

  Kaine opened one of the chillers, grabbed a bottle of beer, removed the cap with his
teeth and took a nice long drink. Alice looked on disapprovingly.

  “The bar above is Trinity owned,” Jonathan explained, “so it’s okay.” He seemed to be saying it more for Alice’s benefit than Kaine’s.

  Kaine pulled out his mobile phone. “There’s a ghost town to the south-west, near the mountains. I’ll message Winston now and ask him to meet me there urgently. I’ll leave you out of it to begin with ‘cos he might get the wrong idea.”

  “That’s fine,” Alice said, following Jonathan up some wooden stairs.

  The three of them made their way into the main bar, which was relatively deserted apart from some Supernaturals with assault rifles and few old hard-core regulars who were drinking steadily at the bar uncaringly. They gave Jonathan a nod of acknowledgement but gave Alice and Kaine disapprovingly curious looks.

  Alice pulled her handheld computer device out from the opposite thigh compartment that she kept her minimised book in as they left the bar.

  “What you doing?” Kaine asked.

  “Just looking up this ghost town,” Alice said, tapping at the screen. “Is it this one?” she asked showing Kaine a blue and black aerial view of the old deserted town.

  “Yeah, that’s the one,” Kaine said. His phone beeped and he read Winston’s reply.

  As Kaine was busy reading the message and then typing his reply, Alice sneakily brought up a tactical overview of the area. There were some Auton patrols nearby and some agile types doing recon. She selected all of the local agile types and then tapped on the ghost town’s location. There were only fourteen of them, but they would be able to make it there ahead of them, whereas the normal heavier armed Autons wouldn’t. Kaine and the Trinity may have made an arrangement, but Alice was going to stop Winston even if it meant dragging him off to Central Isle and convincing him the hard way.