The Gray Tower Trilogy: Books 1-3

by Alesha Escobar

  “It’s complicated, Gordon. I’m not sure you’d understand...” I lost my train of thought. I paused when I felt the air surrounding me grow dense, and the tips of my fingers tingle. In the tiny office above us, an elemental wizard was doing magic. What was going on out there?

  An explosion erupted in the adjacent room, and Joran came flying backward, surrounded in flames. He landed on the floor right in front of us. He sprung to his feet and quenched the fire around him, but an invisible force lifted him in mid-air. His throat constricted as he lost his breath. He tore at his collar as his face turned red and he struggled to breathe. Brande stepped through the doorway and wore an expression of rage. Joran still fought for air, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  “Don’t kill him!” I screeched.

  Brande released him, and Joran fell to the floor in a slump. He stepped over the unconscious man and yanked the key ring from his belt. Brande opened the cell door, and I flew into his arms. I pressed my lips against his and took hold of his hand, trying to ignore the grim odds of a successful escape.

  “Are you hurt?” He pressed the hilt of my golden knife into my hand.

  “I’m okay.” I slipped the knife into my belt.

  Brande quickly broke the enchantment on the imperium collar and freed me. “Ekwueme told me that Master Priya convinced the Head of the Order to revoke the High Council meeting two hours ago. Master Bazyli left me instructions to an exitway in the old Tower. We’re leaving.”

  “What about me?” Gordon screamed. “Help!”

  I paused when Brande tried to pull me along. ”Free him.”

  Brande hesitated at first, but then went over and unlocked his cell. “If you can’t keep up with us,” he warned Gordon, “then we’ll leave you behind.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice, mister.”

  We ran up the stairway and through the tiny office, onto Tower grounds. When a few Elites and Apprentices saw us, they immediately launched into action. Fire rained down on us, but I enclosed Brande, Gordon and myself in a Circle of Protection. Brande caused the earth to cave beneath their feet, and they plummeted down into a dark, gaping hole.

  We ran south, past the bank and tailor shop, and made it to the Courtyard of Light. We only needed to make it past the guests’ residences and manor house before reaching the old Tower. We heard a few people yelling behind us, and someone calling for the alarm to be sounded. To our left, we saw the Master Physician, Dr. Lan, coming out of the general store with a box of medical supplies. As soon as he spotted us, he gazed at us with a look of horror.

  “Stop! Stop! What are you doing?” His supplies tumbled out of his arms and he ran straight toward us.

  Brande sent a razor sharp line of fire blazing toward Lan as a distraction, and when the Master Wizard pivoted in order to evade it, Brande struck him with a blast of wind and sent him flying backward. However, Lan caught hold of a lamppost mid-flight, swung around, and propelled himself forward, landing on his feet.

  “Take Gordon to the Tower,” Brande told me. “I’ll meet you there.”

  “No, Brande.”

  “Come on!” Gordon pulled me along.

  I looked back to see Brande intercept Lan. They shifted their feet quickly, parrying each other’s strikes and trying to land blows. Lan shouted for Brande to yield, and when he refused, Lan paralyzed him with a spell, and Brande collapsed to his knees. The alarm sounded, and Lan sped toward Gordon and me. I pulled away from Gordon’s grasp, gathered my will, and called forth Zaman’s Fire. Gordon hid behind me, breathing heavily, and reminding me that we needed to get to the Tower.

  “Not without Brande,” I said.

  Lan slowed his pace and wearily approached when he saw the Fire surrounding me. I really didn’t want to use it, but I wasn’t going to lie down and let him capture me. Suddenly, the cobblestone pathway beneath Lan shifted, and the ground opened like a hungry mouth. Lan rose into the air to avoid sinking into the earth, flipping into a roll. The doctor must’ve lost his concentration on the paralyzing spell, because Brande was on him again.

  Cathana and Master Ovidio came from the south, the direction we were supposed to be headed in. The two closed in on us, though they kept a gap between themselves and us as a precaution. I turned to see how Brande was doing, and my heart nearly stopped in my chest. He was unconscious on the ground, and Dr. Lan stood over him, breathing heavily. I couldn’t tell if Brande was dead or alive. A cry of frustration escaped my lips as I fed the blazing fire around me. I couldn’t unleash it against Lan without hitting Brande.

  “It’s getting kind of tight here,” Gordon said, as I hastily cast a Circle of Protection. With a single gesture, Master Ovidio broke my Circle, and it dissipated like hot steam.

  Father Gabriel rushed toward me from Ovidio’s direction, and, to my surprise, Kiaran Luka, the English professor, came running behind him. Father Gabriel gestured for Cathana to halt and not cast any spells, and he approached Ovidio and spoke with him, their voices barely audible over the blaring alarm system which still resonated throughout Tower grounds.

  Ovidio and the priest exchanged a few heated words, and Kiaran slipped through, approaching Gordon and me. I wanted to yell to the professor and turn him away before he got caught in the middle of our fight and got himself killed. However, before I could say anything, Gordon slipped off his wedding ring and held it in the air. A high-pitched noise engulfed the entire Tower grounds, everyone paused and covered their ears.

  “Hi,” Gordon said to Kiaran, once the screeching noise ceased. “Hey there. I think you have the other half of this.”

  Kiaran pulled the chain from around his neck and held up his ring. “Yes, it appears I do. You’re the special person I’m supposed to give this to.”

  They were drawn to each other like magnets. Kiaran closed in and stood in front of Gordon, handing him his ring, then took off running. Gordon snapped the two pieces together, and they made an almost musical sound. I immediately thought of the two silver triangles Cathana had shown me during training. The two rings activated some type of spell or enchantment.

  A flash of light nearly blinded us.

  The sky above us began swirling with colors, and a sound that reminded me of falling trees engulfed the entire area.

  An Anomos spell, the most powerful enchantment breaker, unraveled the spells protecting the Gray Tower.

  Suddenly, the old Tower, along with the Elite residences and the Main Gate, erupted in explosions, as if bombs had been dropped on them. People began scrambling out of the other buildings, and chaos ensued. Men and women from the Grand Hall and eating area ran for cover, a group of ambassadors followed Practitioners through emergency exitways that would lead into Stromovka forest. Several Elites, Apprentices, and Masters joined up to meet whatever force was launching the attack--some went north, toward the dungeon area, and others headed south, toward the Main Gate.

  When the sky folded and tore above us, a ball of fire came hurtling into the Courtyard of Light. Master Ovidio and Father Gabriel ran toward it and braced themselves to absorb the flames. I trembled, and my thoughts turned toward Brande, as I ran over to him. I knelt down and pulled him into my arms, checking for a pulse. He was alive.

  I kissed him and sent a tendril of energy through his body, jolting him awake. He stared into my eyes, and then turned his gaze to the right, toward the center of the Courtyard, where the statue of Sophia--Divine Wisdom--stood with a golden sword held high. I looked up, and witnessed the sight that I’ve been dreading.

  Beata, the Master Wizard who wore the White, plummeted from the second story window of the Grand Hall and landed on the golden sword of the Sophia statue. The broken body just lay there, impaled, and the pristine white clothes quickly became drenched with blood.

  “This isn’t what I wanted,” I said in almost a whisper. How could this have happened?

  Brande grunted and sat up. I helped him rise to his feet, and then I saw Gordon walking toward us with a smirk.
r />   My lips quivered. “What did you do, Gordon? Did my father give you that ring?”

  Gordon paused and grimaced as if in pain, and then his face changed. His teeth became more pronounced, especially his canines, and his skin took on a pale tinge. His facial features became more chiseled, and his shaggy hair receded to a cropped cut. He shed his Veil and uncloaked his true self.

  It was Octavian.

  “Go, Isabella. Now!” Brande shoved me behind him.

  Dr. Lan, Cathana, Ovidio, Father Gabriel, and Brande stepped toward Octavian and unleashed attacks. Sparks of fire crackled in the air around Octavian, and even I could feel the heat radiating toward me like a hot furnace. The flames rushed toward Octavian like missiles, and he rotated his upper-body with inhuman speed, producing a misty aura of ice to nullify the fire that did manage to hit him. The left side of Octavian’s head fractured into a thousand pieces, and the particles floated in the air like a dandelion seed head. I knew it was Cathana working with Lan to deconstruct his body. The Cruenti Master quickly enacted a counterspell, and the fractured pieces began flowing in reverse until his head became whole again.

  Octavian spoke in a grating voice, using the language of the Black Wolves. In response to his call, ten Black Wolves swooped in toward Brande and the other wizards. A blur of magic, earth and fire, whooshed in front of me as they all launched into action with their spells. I caught a glimpse of Father Gabriel calmly drawing his sword, he struck down a Black Wolf and parried an attack from another.

  If there was ever a time for me to prove to the Tower that I wanted to fight against Octavian and not the Order, then this would be it. I gathered Zaman’s Fire and gazed at Octavian, who stood across from me. He began walking toward me again, without impediment, since the other wizards who were near me were now fighting Black Wolves. I sent a halo of fire into the sky, with red-orange tendrils of flames hanging down. It looked like a lightning sprite, and I commanded it to hang right above me.

  Octavian halted just a few feet away, staring into my eyes as if it would tell him what move I’d make next. I commanded one of the fire-halo’s tendrils, hanging above me, to shoot toward him, and he dove to the right. It hit him in the shoulder, and he fell into a roll. He got to his feet and rushed toward me with such speed that, when I called down more fire tendrils to shield me, he was just inches away from my face. He fell back with a roar as his skin burned and sizzled from hitting my shield. He began regenerating.

  I wanted to seize on the opportunity and continue weakening him, so I tried hitting him again with more tendrils, but he sped out of each tendril’s reach, almost literally dancing circles around me. I sent a blaze of fire toward him like a streak of lightning, and he moved so quickly out of the way that I didn’t even see him when he reached me again. I immediately took a step back and steadied my mind, focusing on the pulsations. If I could slow Octavian down, then it’d be easier to kill him. However, when I did begin the pulsations and time started to slow, I saw a dark hole in the air; it looked like a horizontal rip in the sky, and the dark hole formed an oval shape, which then pulled itself upward to reveal a large iris. It was a dark gold color with red flecks, and a pitch-black pupil. A chill ran down my spine, and I knew I had to release the pulsations or risk another dark creature entering into the world. I let go of the pulsations, and gritted my teeth when Octavian pulled me into his grasp.

  I called my entire halo of lightning and fire to crash down on us both. I knew I’d survive it, but I doubted he would. I pulled the halo down toward us with the power of my will, and closed my eyes in anticipation of the explosion engulfing us, but suddenly I felt an odd pull in my stomach area, and the entire world seemed to spin. I opened my eyes and saw that Octavian flew, with me in his grasp, to the roof of the Grand Hall. My halo, with its tendrils, had crashed and burned into the ground below.

  I let out a low cry when I saw that a few men and women, non-wizards, had been caught in the halo crash, their scorched bodies lay on the ground. I felt ill to my stomach, and, as Octavian’s toxic power radiated toward me, my neck and shoulders stiffened with fear. He stood behind me and gripped my right arm with his right hand, had his left hand on the back of my neck. When I tried to break free, he squeezed down hard and made me grunt in pain.

  “I could kill you for what happened to my brother in France,” he said in a dark, full-toned voice. He had discarded his false American accent and spoke with an Austrian one. “But Marcellus had grown reckless and arrogant. He did not want to listen to me.”

  In a quivering voice I asked, “Are you any better?”

  “Didn’t you play a role in all of this, Drifter? In seeking to save the Tower, you instead guided its demise.”

  He motioned for me to take in the horrific view below. I twisted and flailed again, but he pressed down on my neck once more, as if warning me that he’d snap it if I continued fighting. I glanced down below, at the Tower grounds. I could no longer see Brande, or the others who were with me when the attack began, and I could only hope that they were still alive. I saw the bodies of over twenty Practitioners in their simple sweaters, strewn across the lawns and walkways. They never had a chance. I almost fainted when I saw some of them were half-eaten. Staff workers and teachers who hadn’t the opportunity to escape through the exitways were running in every direction, some of them getting caught in the crossfire of magical battle, and a few were seized by Black Wolves. Apprentices and Elites fought for their lives against warlocks who had now joined the fray, and I saw a dozen Cruenti corner two Master Wizards who were bloodied and exhausted.

  “Okay, you have the Tower now, like you always wanted.” My voice was unsteady and hoarse with grief. “So call off your warlocks.”

  Octavian said nothing as he gripped my right arm with one hand and the back of my neck with his other, as he stood behind me. I almost jumped when I felt his hot breath, just beneath my right ear, and I used my left hand to grab my golden knife. As he drew in a deep breath, I slid the knife from my belt. When he parted his lips and pressed his open mouth against my neck, I swung and thrust the blade into his chest.

  He gasped and released me, then drew back. He dislodged the knife, and blood flowed down his shirt, but he didn’t collapse. I must’ve missed his heart by a centimeter. I backed away when he glared at me, but froze in place when I saw him slit his left wrist. Why would he do such a bizarre thing?

  “Stop!” I screeched when he grabbed me and tried to press his wounded wrist to my lips. This disturbed me more than him trying to bite me or drink my blood--why would he want me to drink his?

  I would’ve screamed again, except I didn’t want to open my mouth. I sank to my knees in an effort to keep my distance, but he pulled me in. I sent a shield of fire bursting forth, and he recoiled. I rolled to the right and off the roof of the Grand Hall, and fell, crashing into a ledge just above the first floor. My right shoulder burned with pain and my hand shook as I held on. My Fire burned through my center and I brought it out, using it to break the window in front of me. I propelled myself forward and rolled inside.

  Another earthquake shook the Tower grounds, and two more explosions sent fire and black smoke leaping into the air. I hissed in pain as I forced myself to stand, and I could feel fatigue and soreness tear through my body. I glanced around the dim room and immediately recognized it; I was in Master Serafino Pedraic’s study, with its tribal masks and artistic displays. I started toward the exit when Octavian came crashing through the same way I had, but he landed on his feet. I called forth my Fire again, but the building shook and a large black creature with wings glided down from above, seizing Octavian from behind with its black talons. It pulled him outside.

  Black Dragon, I thought. I hoped that Master Skye would eviscerate Octavian.

  I stumbled out the door and into the hallway, which was hollow and silent. I kept telling myself that it was best that everyone inside the Grand Hall had already vacated. A part of me wished, however, that at least someone ran at my side. My
pulse quickened and my body began trembling, but I pushed myself forward, because I knew I had to reach Brande, though I didn’t know what happened to him or where he was. When I reached the first floor, I walked past a few learning rooms and almost slumped to the floor with exhaustion. I pressed my right palm against the wall for support, and made a right turn into the lobby and out of the building.

  I glanced around as I made my way toward the Courtyard of Light. Smoke still billowed everywhere, a few voices could be heard, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood as currents of dark magic broke down any last magical defense latent in Tower grounds. I had to pass over the bodies of several more Order members, some of them unrecognizable. I sprinted past the Courtyard when I thought of Octavian and whether or not he had escaped the Black Dragon’s grasp.

  I felt the faint whisper of elemental magic being let loose, and my chest tightened as I thought of Brande. The magic I detected seemed to be coming from behind the general store, where an emergency exitway stood. I made a right turn and ran toward the building. When I made another right and went behind the store, I froze in my tracks. Though I could see the weakened, faint glow of the enchanted exitway emanating from the brick wall just across, Hotaru stood there, blocking my path. I wasn’t going to leave without Brande anyway, but nothing good would come of Hotaru standing sentinel at one of the last exitways.

  His arms and face were bruised and bloodied, but he looked otherwise intact. He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at me, and positioned himself directly in front of the exitway. “Trying to escape after you’ve brought ruin upon us?” he asked.

  “Master Priya brought Octavian into the Tower, not me.” I brought forth my Fire and concentrated it in my hands.

  Hotaru charged and made a strike with his left hand, but I blocked it and reciprocated with a strike of my own. My hand lit up with a flame from my Fire and I spun and landed a blow on his shoulder. He fell back and grimaced from the pain, then wore a shocked expression. As an elemental, he had been used to absorbing and creating fire, not being harmed by it. He could’ve easily buried me in an earthquake or commanded the air to leave my lungs, but it looked like he had already exhausted himself in battle. He gritted his teeth and rotated his shoulder, then drew a knife.