The Gray Tower Trilogy: Books 1-3

by Alesha Escobar

  I enveloped myself with Zaman’s Fire and spread the blaze like a halo around me. The Wolves carrying me in the air shrieked and lit up like torches. As soon as they released me, I cast a Circadian Circle over myself. I plummeted toward the forest below, crashing into tree branches on my way down, but because of my Circle, going down at a slower rate to avoid injury.

  As soon as I touched the ground, I stood on wobbly legs and ran over to a large tree. My head throbbed in response to the amount of residual magic flowing past me and swirling around the trees. Tendrils of energy from elementals, nature wizards, and alchemists all swept past me like a cool breeze. There had been a battle here--and it was a big one.

  I pressed myself against the trunk of the tree and held my knife ready, layering Circadian Circles over myself. Ice-cold fear made me stiffen when I heard the Wolves swooshing in the air above me and speaking to one another in their garbled language. I had heard their voices a dozen times, so that didn’t frighten me. What I found unsettling was the fact that I could actually understand them. A slight buzz tickled my ears whenever they spoke, and the odd language spilling from their mouths became intelligible. Was this a result of that night at Nuremberg, when Ammon made me speak to the Black Wolves in this language? Was this something that would come and go, or was it a part of me now?

  “I can smell the Time Wizard.” A dark figure landed opposite my tree. Its voice was ugly and grating. I crouched and spun around to the other side so I’d at least have something between us. I heard another thump against the ground and leaves being trampled. A second Wolf had landed.

  “Octavian wants her alive.”

  I shuddered. The second voice was so deep and inhuman that I didn’t even want to see which Wolf it belonged to.

  “I can taste her magic,” the first Wolf continued. “She is strong. I’ll sink my teeth into her bowels.”

  “We cannot eat her--we must take her to Octavian,” the scary deep voice reaffirmed in their infernal language.

  I heard more Wolves land nearby. I needed to get out of here quickly, but how would I find the entrance to the Den? And where was everyone? I slowly turned to peek from behind the tree at the two Wolves, but they were gone. It didn’t make me feel any better. I carefully rushed over a few feet to my left and hid behind another tree. I heard a group of Wolves calling to each other like a pack of jackals.

  I fed more energy into my Circles and moved again, hoping that one or some of them would go near the Den’s entrance. I went toward the left again, and I stumbled and fell over something on the ground. I recoiled and stifled a shout when I felt a human face, shoulders, and arms. I peered into the dead eyes of a young man--one of our wizards. I touched his cheek, still slightly warm, and forced myself to stand. There was nothing I could do but move on.

  I stubbed my toe against another body, and another, and as I snaked my way through the forest, I began wondering how much of my army had perished in this place before they could even make it inside the Den. My heart sank. Then it rapidly pumped in my chest when three Black Wolves came running toward me.

  I unleashed a Circadian Circle for each of them, pouring magical energy into the Circles and disrupting their bodily functions. Two of the Wolves roared and vomited blood. The third began making unnatural jerking movements with its arms and legs. They all fought against the Circles; they strained their muscles and continued expelling blood and saliva. I raised my right hand, and the magical energy flowing within and around the Circles felt like the warmth of sunlight. I laid hold of the energy and clenched my hand. I made a forward punching movement, which sent a blast of disruptive magic toward all three Wolves. They howled in pain until their heads made crunching noises. Their bodies fell to the ground.

  I began running. I heard more Wolves calling to each other and saw some flying right above me. I stumbled over a few more bodies. It hurt that they were even there, but I knew it would hurt more if I had known them personally. Could it have been someone I spoke with tonight? Or was it a Vatican wizard like Thierry? I refused to believe Brande, Neal, or Father Gabriel was lying dead in this forest.

  Branches slapped my face and spider webs clung to my skin as I rushed through the dark forest. When I saw a clearing just ahead, I brought forth my Fire and wrapped it around me like a cocoon. Two Wolves crashed against me and screeched when the flames charred their skin. I rolled across the ground and jumped back onto my feet. The two Wolves were still alive, but they cowered and stepped backward. They called for the other Wolves to come.

  I glanced around to see if there were any escape routes. The trees in this area made a wide circle around the patch of leaves I stood in. In the center of this circle was a tall statue on a pedestal--it was the image of the pagan god Asclepius. The talisman we had used to teleport here was an Asclepius wand. There must’ve been a connection between the two. This statue would somehow lead me to the Den’s entrance.

  But first, the monsters.

  I could see pairs of yellow and red eyes staring back at me from among the trees. I glanced and saw that the beasts surrounded me in a circle. I cast a Circle of Protection and readied myself. In unison, the Black Wolves leapt forward and straight toward me--from the front, sides, and from behind. I closed my eyes and fought through the fear and anxiety, pouring my energy into my pulsations. As the beats of my heart slowed, so did time. Everything fell into slow motion, until the world around me became quiet and still.

  I opened my eyes and gasped. The Black Wolves were frozen in mid-air, surrounding me in a circle. They were just feet away, and there were nearly a hundred of them. Their mouths hung open with ferocity, and their deformed bodies were stuck in mid-jump. I gathered my will and made sparks appear and crackle in mid-air. They turned into flames, and I sent sheets of Fire crashing into the Black Wolves with a flow strong enough to rival that of the river below.

  The flow of fire caught them all, and they lit up like torches. The Wolves were a ring of fire, hanging in mid-air around me. The smell of putrid, burning flesh filled the air, and the blaze began spreading to the forest around me. I heard a peal of thunder--the sound of a powerful rift tearing open in the sky above. It was a sliver of light that almost looked beautiful--except something deadly hid behind it and was ready to claw its way through. As it expanded, I saw a shadowy hand emerge from the rift, and I cast a Circadian Circle. I shut the rift with precise bursts of magical energy, taking the imbalance present and setting it straight.

  I let go of the pulsations, and time returned to normal. The blackened bodies of the Wolves fell and crashed. I reached out with my senses and felt the last two Black Wolves lurking in the forest beyond the charred bodies. My arms shook from exhaustion, and the muscles in my back spasmed. I slipped behind the Asclepius statue when I heard one of the Wolves approach.

  “Come out!” It screeched in its garbled voice. “Come out, so I can tear you to pieces!”

  Great. It was the one that wanted to eat me. I stepped out from behind the statue and saw it--a cloaked figure with bright green eyes, abnormally long teeth, and skin that reminded me of a severe burn victim. The Black Wolf snarled when it saw me, lunging toward me in a single leap.

  I cast a Circadian Circle and sent a tendril of energy straight toward its dark aura. The Wolf faltered as it felt its magical aura disrupted, and it crashed next to me instead of landing on me. I was just about to hit it with another spell when an eerie blue flame erupted around the Wolf and it began howling. The odd blue flames consumed the Wolf within seconds, and its bright green eyes faded.

  I jumped behind the statue again and held a spell ready in my mind. The final Black Wolf from the group addressed me from the darkness of the forest. “He can’t eat you now, but I will call more Wolves if you continue to fight. I must take you to Octavian. You will go with me.”

  I shuddered, and my chest tightened. The Wolf’s tone was unnaturally deep, and the vibrations of his voice were laced with magic. He actually spoke to me in German. For him to still use human lan
guage meant that he hadn’t been a Black Wolf for very long. Well, at least I could reason with this one, somewhat.

  I responded in a loud voice, in German, from behind the statue. “It just so happens that I want to see Octavian as well. Tell me how to open this entrance, and I’ll go.”

  I heard the Wolf trampling leaves underfoot. He slowly approached. “I will take you to Octavian. I will not eat you.”

  “Tell me how to open the entrance, and I’ll go in. But I don’t want you with me or for you to follow me.”

  He kept walking forward, snapping twigs and crunching dead leaves underfoot. “I’ll open the door, Time Wizard, and you will go in to Octavian.”

  “Yes! That’s it. Open the door.” I stepped out to get a view of the Wolf--then I started shrieking. He was six feet tall with a human male body--and he was stark naked with a large goat’s head. His eyes glinted with intelligence, and fresh blood dripped from his mouth and landed on his chest--no doubt, from a recent victim. He bared his pointed, bloodstained teeth. I could’ve sworn it was an attempt to smile. He calmly observed me as I forced my hands over my mouth to stifle my screams.

  He paused. “Come here, Time Wizard.”

  I backed away. “Go away!”

  He cocked his head to the side, the horns on his head gleaming in the moonlight. “I grow impatient with you. Come to me.”

  My stomach churned, and I thought I would vomit. I stepped behind the statue just enough so that I had an obstacle between us, but I still wanted to keep him in view--I was too afraid to lose sight of him. I cast a Circadian Circle, but when I felt my body quiver with weariness, I let it go and began carving alchemical symbols with my knife. I hadn’t even made it inside the Den yet, and I was getting tired. I needed to make sure I’d have enough energy for the real battle inside.

  I charged my alchemical symbols--Air and Fire. “Leave me!”

  He growled. “I said I would open the door, but first you will come to me.”

  I unleashed both Air and Fire, directing the blaze toward his head. A shield of eerie blue flames erupted around the Wolf and swallowed the orange-red fire from my alchemical spell. The Wolf darted to my left and slipped into the protective cluster of trees. I sent another razor thin line of fire toward the area where I saw him run. The leaves on the tree glowed like embers and curled up, but I didn’t see him stir.

  I swung around to my right when I felt a menacing presence in that direction. I saw nothing. I raised my hand and began casting a Circle of Protection when a pair of bare arms shot down from above and grabbed me by the shoulders. I looked up and screeched, flailing my legs as the goat man lifted me into the air, propelling us upward with his extended wings.

  We were just above the trees when I stabbed his left hand with my knife. He snarled and threw me down, sending me plummeting through tree branches and hitting the ground. I let out a painful gasp as the air was knocked out of me. My right leg throbbed, but I got back onto my feet and limped toward the clear area with the Asclepius statue in the middle.

  The goat man glided and landed in front of me, his wings still extended. I assumed I had angered him beyond patience--he no longer spoke of taking me to Octavian. He sped toward me with a growl, his pointed teeth glistening. I imbued my silver knife with Zaman’s Fire, making the blade glow a deep orange. I pointed the tip of the knife straight for his right eye just as he crashed against me. He let out a groan as we both fell to the ground. I pushed his dead body off me and retrieved my knife, wiping the bloodied blade against the earth.

  I limped toward the statue, examining it as I tried looking for any signatures, graffiti, hidden buttons or clues. The statue of Asclepius stood tall, its figure typical of the Greek statues depicting the pantheon. The only odd thing about this one was that its eyes were disproportionately large compared to its other facial features. Each hand held a stone serpent at chest length, and the serpents faced inward, looking at each other. When I circled the statue and saw the back, I noticed that the head of the statue had been hollowed like a mask. My back stiffened when a cool breeze blew my way, carrying the scent of death.

  “You have to put your face inside the hollow part.” Ammon appeared. He wore a black hooded robe, along with his human angular face and mud brown eyes.

  I gathered my will and responded with three Circadian Circles--one encircling me for protection, and the other two layered right above Ammon. He must’ve felt the Circles, because his face contorted with rage. I suddenly went blind, and an invisible force threw me backward. I commanded my Circles to crash down on the demon and heard him shriek. My vision went from black to hazy, and it slowly began returning to normal. I thanked the stars that the Circle over me had taken the brunt of Ammon’s attack.

  I rose to my feet and honed the energy of the two layered Circles over Ammon. I ignored my burning muscles and aching hip as I tightened tendrils of energy around the demon. His angular jaw quivered as he knelt to the ground across from me. His body stiffened, and his arms curled inward. It looked as if he were trying to claw his way out of something.

  I cast another Circadian Circle and launched it at him, making precise movements with my right hand as I struck him with fiery tendrils of energy. Ammon let out a ferocious howl as his black hood fell to the ground in ashes. His figure darkened, and he melted into the ground in a pool of blackness until he disappeared.

  “You’re stronger.” His surprised voice echoed throughout the forest. It sounded as if he could be anywhere. I spun in a circle, looking in every direction and tensing in anticipation of another attack.

  I may have been stronger, but it seemed that casting a few Circadian Circles over him wasn’t getting the job done. How could I tear him apart and banish him from this world? I hoped Father Gabriel was still alive and would be able to help me find the answer before it was too late.

  I drew in a deep breath and looked left and right. “I just want you to know that whatever offer you’re going to make--it’ll be in vain. You’ll have to kill me in order to take my body.”

  I felt something cold brush against the back of my neck, and I immediately lit up with Zaman’s Fire. I ran toward the Asclepius statue and prepared another Circadian Circle, but Ammon was nowhere to be seen.

  A mocking laughter echoed throughout the area. “I’m the one who told Moreau to go pick you and your father up from the police station that day. He liked talking to me.”

  I shook my head. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “What may surprise you is the fact that I also had Moreau report to Octavian your plans of attack. Half of your army is destroyed.”

  My stomach tightened, and I tried calming the rage building inside me. “And I’ll destroy you for all you’ve done. I promise.”

  I climbed up the statue until I reached the back of the hollowed head. I peered through the large holes for eyes, but didn’t press my face into it. A strong breeze stirred up the leaves and dry twigs on the forest floor, and I felt Ammon’s presence withdraw.

  “I’ll see you down below, Isabella.”

  I ignored his comment and examined the hollowed statue head. Was I really supposed to put my face in? I raised my knife and tilted the blade where my face would go inside the hollowed head. A second blade shot up from the neck and knocked my knife out of my hand. The shock of it made me falter and sent me tumbling off the statue and onto the ground. After mumbling a few choice curse words, I climbed the front this time, ignoring the sharp burn shooting through my hip. I grabbed the hands of the statue and twisted--they were frozen in place. I slid my hands up toward the snakes in each hand. When I tried them, the snakes’ heads moved. I began twisting them clockwise until they stopped. There was a rumble, and I quickly climbed down from the statue. It began rotating until the dead earth beneath it shifted, revealing an underground entrance.

  I started down the dark stairs that led to the entry area, looking over my shoulder and half-expecting Ammon to jump out at me. When I saw and felt nothing, I continued down the stair
way, repeating the same words to myself, as if doing so would magically make them come true: “I won’t accept another offer from him. No matter the cost.”

  72

  The strange inner courtyard with the pool in the center was just as Praskovya had described it. A long, arched, stained-glass window stood to the left, and a matching one was to the right. Just ahead, on the opposite side of the pool, stood the hallway leading to the main control room and the canteen. I noticed markings on the floor, similar to the ones we had used with the talisman. It gave me a boost of confidence; at least the others had paved the way for their teleportation back to the embassy. I turned my gaze toward the enchanted pool. The water swirled and shimmered, waiting for the burden of blood and magic to seep into it.

  I drew in a deep breath and waded in. The swirling water seeped through my clothing and clung to my skin, though it didn’t soak me like normal water would. The burning in my hip became a dull ache, and the throbbing in my leg faded. The fatigue weighing me down was suddenly lifted, and I felt stronger and more alert. I moved forward until I made it out of the pool, and I stepped into the hallway.

  My heart began pounding in my chest when I heard a spray of gunfire and a few shouts. I didn’t recognize the voices, but I did recognize the sounds of a battle going on around the corner. The rancid, prickly taste of dark magic wafted toward me, alerting me to a warlock nearby. I also sensed spells cast by an elemental wizard and an alchemist.

  I rushed toward the main control room, which stood on the right. A rectangular glass window stood next to the door, allowing the room to be viewed from outside, as well as those inside to watch who entered and left. I opened the door and stepped in. Two warlocks lay dead in the far left corner. I checked the control panel for the alarm, and it had been disabled. I also noted the controls for the ventilation system running throughout the Den, but I left them untouched. As much as I would’ve liked to sabotage this place, my wizards and I needed the ventilation in this underground facility as much as the other side did.