Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4)

by Kristen Pham

  “Run. I’m right behind you,” she lied.

  Cyrus left the cave, but instead of following him, Valerie stabbed Pathos into the ground. The entire cave rumbled as Pathos pumped its own magic, intertwined with hers, into the earth.

  The shuddering increased, and the exit to the cave became blocked as several boulders broke loose.

  Pathos was dimmer after having expended its magic, and Valerie fought her attackers in near darkness. Still, a combination of magic and adrenaline coursed through her full force, and she was a whirlwind of energy. The darkness had the advantage of disorienting her enemies. Valerie wasn’t relying on her sense of sight, so her fighting ability wasn’t impeded.

  The Fractus were tripping over the unconscious bodies of their comrades, but still they kept coming. How many were there? Eventually, even her energy would run out. Before it did, she had to act.

  In one swift move, Valerie sheathed Pathos, and the cave became pitch black. She curled into a ball and rolled, and she could hear the Fractus grunting as they bumped into each other, searching for her.

  A flash of light in the corner caught her attention. She squinted, and realized that the light formed a message.

  This way.

  The handwriting was Cyrus’s, and Valerie followed the glimmer of light, no more than a speck on the ground. It led her into a side tunnel of the cave. She could tell that she was headed up, away from the Fractus fumbling in the river below.

  Finally, she emerged in a cavern that was glowing from light pouring from Cyrus’s hands. She expected to see rage on his face, but found only determination and relief.

  He was surrounded by the Groundlings they had saved. They were dirty and tired, their jewel-toned hair stained with the Carne they had been scraping from the walls, but alive.

  “Listen to me,” Valerie said. “The Fractus who have invaded your land do not represent all of the Conjurors in the world above. I lead the Fist, and we will send help to drive the Fractus out of your land.”

  The Groundlings murmured, absorbing her words.

  “Tell your people to look for Conjurors with weapons that have been embedded with light. They will help you. Those wielding the black weapons are the Fractus,” Cyrus said.

  “Even below, we have heard of you, vivicus,” a low voice said. “And you do not disappoint.”

  The Groundlings had Cyrus and Valerie back in the cavern that led out of Plymouth faster than either of them had anticipated. When they were finally alone, Valerie stole a glance at Cyrus.

  “Don’t you want to yell at me for not listening to you and getting out of there before we had to fight?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Okay, then don’t you want to tell me that we saved a couple dozen Groundlings today, but what was the point, since the Fractus surely have hundreds more working as their slaves, mining Carne somewhere in Plymouth?” Valerie asked.

  “No,” Cyrus said. He stopped, and so did she. “As a girlfriend, you suck. As leader of the Fist, you did the right thing, and saving those people today was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.”

  Valerie bit her lip.

  “And even though I can’t be around you right now, as your best friend, I’m proud of you for doing what was right.”

  Chapter 25

  When Valerie and Cyrus emerged from Plymouth, Chisisi was pacing by the door. It was the first time Valerie had seen him on the Globe.

  “Miss lives,” Chisisi said, briefly shutting his eyes in relief.

  Valerie saw that Skye was also waiting for her. Willa and Steven were watching the scene, eyes wide with curiosity.

  Chisisi brushed dirt off of his wrinkled shirt before he spoke. ”The attacks on Earth have increased dramatically. The Fractus have switched focus from targeting specific individuals or groups, presumably for information, to attacking major seats of power, such as Washington, D.C., Beijing, London, and Singapore.”

  “Why the change in strategy?” Cyrus asked.

  “Perhaps they found the information they were seeking, and are now beginning their plan to conquer Earth,” Chisisi suggested. “The Fractus are occupying all of our forces, and we cannot protect everyone. People are dying by the hundreds.”

  “I don’t think the Fractus attacks on humans are really about taking over their governments, at least not yet. Right now, they’re distracting us,” Valerie guessed. “They must be close to finding the charm that binds magic on Earth, and they don’t want us in their way.”

  “That may be,” Chisisi said. “My sources are scouring the Atacama Desert, but we are no closer to finding the flame.”

  “We have to send reinforcements,” Valerie said.

  Skye nodded. “Chisisi and I came to the same understanding. But it will mean weakening our protection of Arden.”

  “We don’t have a choice. We can’t let people die,” Valerie said, and then turned to Cyrus. “Get Henry and tell him to check in with Sanguina on Earth. The prophecy I read in the Roaming City said that we’re at our strongest when we’re working together. Even if we can’t be next to each other, maybe if we’re both on Earth, we’ll have a better chance of driving back the Fractus.”

  “There’s another matter,” Chisisi said. “One of the battles is raging around the home of young Ming.”

  Valerie fought the urge to instantly go to Ming’s side, but she knew she had to organize everyone before she left to fight. She’d sent Chrome to Ming for a reason, and she had to trust him now.

  Valerie and Skye identified which Conjurors would be best utilized on Earth, given the rules binding magic, and Skye left with Chisisi to determine where on Earth the soldiers should be sent.

  Valerie turned to Cyrus.

  “After you find Henry, I need you to update Thai,” she said. “He’s watching Emin, and he needs to know what’s happening. I’m sorry to ask you this, but–”

  Cyrus shook his head. “I get it. First, give me Pathos.”

  Valerie handed him her weapon, and he concentrated, weaving a light pattern into her blade, which was dim after using it in Plymouth. The pattern embedded itself in her sword, and it glowed brighter than ever.

  “Now go,” Cyrus said.

  Valerie took off as fast as she could, running to the mirror in Kanti’s dorm room. Kanti had set it up to call her at the palace whenever Valerie needed her.

  As soon as Valerie tapped the mirror, an image of Kanti’s ice palace appeared. Peach, Kanti’s middle sister, was passing by and saw her.

  “Get Kanti, now,” Valerie said. “And come back with her. We need all the help we can get.”

  Peach must have run, because Kanti was in front of the mirror in less than a minute. Valerie filled them in on what was happening.

  “How can we help?” Kanti asked.

  “Those soldiers in Elsinore, the mercenaries we talked about hiring—are they ready to be deployed?” Valerie asked.

  “I’ve formed a guard of a hundred soldiers I trust, up to a point. I’ll work with Chisisi on where to send them,” Kanti said.

  “Can you do that, Peach?” Valerie asked. “I have another job for Kanti.”

  Peach paled, but when she spoke her voice was firm. “I can do it.”

  “Kanti, find Henry. He’s not stable, and we need his help on Earth,” Valerie said.

  “I’ll try. But when I tried to talk to him at the fundraiser, he avoided me. He would barely look me in the eye,” Kanti said.

  “You’re still my best hope for getting through to him, since I can’t do it myself,” Valerie said.

  “Consider it done,” Kanti replied.

  Valerie wasted no time gripping a chipped piece of brick from Ming’s home so she could transport to her friend’s side.

  Ming’s apartment complex was a war zone. Valerie counted no fewer than twenty Fractus around the building. They had smashed in all of the windows on the bottom floor, but the thick metal bars in front of the glass must have prevented them from getting inside. Now five of
the Fractus were trying to break through the front door. People were screaming inside the building.

  Another fifteen or so Fractus were battling with soldiers from the Fist. Valerie recognized two Knights from her guild by sight, but not by name, and Elisabeth, one of Chisisi’s guardians on Earth. The three of them were barely fending off the attacks from the Fractus, and Valerie saw the bodies of two of her soldiers on the ground, both bleeding, the light in their weapons extinguished.

  There were no police, and Valerie guessed that the Fractus who were skilled at manipulating electronics had taken the precaution of disabling the police cars and phones in the area. Still, it would just be a matter of time before human help came on foot.

  Elisabeth saw Valerie first, and gave her a nod. Valerie was impressed by how much better Elisabeth’s fighting skills were since she’d seen her last.

  Valerie unsheathed Pathos, which blazed brighter than ever, thanks to Cyrus, and it caught the attention of the Fractus who weren’t trying to break down the door.

  Pathos flashed as she encountered the first weapon, a black staff. She cut it cleanly through, and it shattered from the impact. The Fractus backed up a fraction, glancing at each other in surprise.

  “Their weapons are stronger than the others we’ve encountered,” one of the Knights gasped as he dodged a blow from another Fractus’s black sword. Valerie guessed that the sword was sucking at the Knight’s powers.

  She turned Pathos on the man’s attacker, and her blade met his with a sharp clang. This Fractus was a better fighter than average, and Valerie feinted before twisting her blade so it caught him in his ribcage. With a flick of her wrist, she’d cut the armor protecting his chest.

  Valerie waited to see if he would bare his heart to her, asking her to kill him as Reaper had ordered his soldiers in the past, but he didn’t.

  Instead, he thrust at her arm, almost grazing her skin. He’d leaned in for the blow, and Valerie kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him backward with enough force that he slammed into the wall of the apartment complex and was knocked out.

  The Fractus who had been trying to break down the front door succeeded, and the door gave way with a splintering of wood. Valerie was about to leap past three Fractus to make her way to the door when Chrome shot out, his face twisted with rage.

  He leaped onto the nearest Fractus and dug his teeth into the man’s arm. The man screamed when Chrome yanked his head back with his mouth full of bloody flesh.

  “Chrome, no! Protect Ming!” Valerie yelled, but Chrome was blind to everything but his enemies in his bloodlust.

  Chrome tore through two more Fractus, slicing the tendon of one and the muscle in the arm of another, maximizing his damage.

  Valerie was set upon by three Fractus wielding staffs that she knew could shoot lightning. She blocked the first bolt with Pathos, and the lightning rebounded and hit her attacker. A hole in his leg from the wound was smoking, and the other two Fractus backed away from her.

  Around her, Valerie saw that the attack was ebbing. Eleven Fractus were on the ground, unconscious or severely wounded. The rest were looking around them, gauging the best exits.

  When there were only five Fractus left, they turned tail and ran. Chrome bolted after them, and he tackled one of the Fractus to the ground. His teeth were on the man’s throat, ready to rip it out, when a little form raced out of the doorway and jumped onto Chrome’s back. Valerie almost choked with fear when she realized it was Ming.

  “Hush, hush now,” Ming crooned, stroking Chrome’s fur, which was standing on end.

  The tension in Chrome’s body eased at the sound of her voice.

  “Jet wouldn’t want this, and neither do you,” Valerie said, moving closer to the wolf.

  Ming slid off his back and knelt before Chrome.

  “He’s okay,” she said, her eyes staring into his.

  Chrome’s eyes were wet, and he gave Ming’s cheek a little lick. Then he flashed an image of a mother wolf guarding her pups in Valerie’s mind. At first, the image was tinged with red, but the haze faded, and the colors of the blue sky, green grass, and purple mountains seemed brighter than ever.

  Valerie understood that Chrome was letting go of his hatred. Right now, he was choosing to protect something precious that would grow into something truly great and good. Ming.

  “You’re right, she’s special,” Valerie said.

  A sensation tickled the back of her mind, and she recognized Henry. He was inviting her into his mind, something he almost never did, even before his dad had died.

  “Is there somewhere I can be alone?” Valerie asked. “Henry needs me.”

  “My room,” Ming said, pointing to a window on the bottom floor of the apartment complex.

  “I’ll get things in order out here,” Elisabeth said, her voice ringing with authority as the sound of police sirens became clear.

  Chrome gave a little growl at her tone, but it didn’t hold any menace. After a quick circuit around the block, Valerie hurried to Ming’s room before the cops could stop her, satisfied that all was calm.

  As soon as Valerie reached for Henry’s mind, it opened for her. He was eager for her to witness what he was seeing. Valerie didn’t understand where he was at first. She was expecting to find him fighting on Earth with Kanti at one of the locations Chisisi had identified as needing the most help.

  Instead, he was in the throne room of the Black Castle. Valerie understood why Henry wanted her to be with him now. Zunya was unconscious on the floor in front of him, blood trickling from wounds on his forehead and a gash on his arm.

  “Henry, what’s going on?” Valerie asked.

  A jumble of images came to her mind, of Henry finding a portal in his bedroom that led to the throne room. He’d gone through the portal alone, hoping to fight Reaper and maybe even die. Instead, he’d found Zunya, tied up in magical rope and left like a gift.

  The wounds Zunya had now were from Henry, Valerie saw with shock. Her brother, who had never raised a weapon in anything other than self-defense, had taken full advantage of Zunya’s defenselessness and had beaten him. And now he intended to kill him. Reaper must have been distracting her with the battle at Ming’s apartment, hoping to draw out Henry’s hatred while she was mentally disconnected from him.

  “No! This isn’t who you are. We don’t execute people,” Valerie said.

  “You don’t execute people. But isn’t a part of you glad that I will?” Henry asked.

  Valerie cursed her inability to travel to her brother’s side. Tan burst into the throne room.

  “What are you doing here? Get out, before I have to hurt you,” Tan said, and he saw Zunya. “He’ll kill you when he wakes up.”

  “Piss off,” Henry said, and gave Tan a mental shove.

  Henry used more magic than he’d meant to, and Tan flew across the room, crashing into the throne. Tan screamed and then fell to the ground, silent.

  “What are you doing?” Kanti’s voice made Henry whip around.

  Kanti and Sanguina were both standing at the doorway to the throne room. How had they found him?

  “Get out of here, Kanti!” Henry said. “You don’t want to see this.”

  “The hell I don’t,” she said, coming closer.

  “Reaper handed Zunya to you?” Sanguina asked Henry.

  “He owed this to me,” Henry said through gritted teeth.

  “Reaper doesn’t do anything without a reason. He wants you to murder Zunya because it will change you, make it easier for him to use you,” Sanguina said.

  Henry snarled, reaching for his machete, which lay next to him on the ground. But as much as he hated Sanguina, Valerie could see that he also didn’t dismiss her words.

  “Murder,” Valerie echoed Sanguina. “That’s what this would be.”

  “Fine,” Henry said.

  He knelt next to Zunya and shook him. Zunya’s yellow eyes opened, and Henry cut the magical rope binding his wrists and ankles with his light-infused machete.


  “What are you doing? He’ll kill you!” Kanti said.

  Zunya sucked in a breath and smiled. Kanti’s fear was giving him energy. And if he tapped into Henry’s fear, he’d have a feast, Valerie knew.

  “You don’t want me to murder him. Fine. I’ll kill him in a fair fight. Now stand up,” Henry ordered Zunya.

  “I’ve been yearning to take your life for years. If I had to listen to you whine one more time, I’d have killed myself and saved Reaper the trouble,” Zunya said with a little grin.

  Zunya reached for Henry’s arm, but Henry dodged his touch. Still, even Zunya’s presence was sucking in all of the magic in the room. Zunya produced a little sunflower blossom, an echo of Kanti’s magic.

  “Useless, like the princess who wields this power,” Zunya said.

  Henry lashed out with a wild swipe of his machete, and Zunya easily danced out of its path.

  Kanti passed out on the floor from the effect of Zunya sucking at her powers.

  “Not her, me!” Henry said, and his rage focused on him.

  Sanguina moved to enter the fray, but Henry pushed her back with his telekinesis, and she stumbled awkwardly, her prosthetic leg twisting under her.

  “Stay out of this, for once!” Henry yelled at her. “I’ll slit my own throat if you get in the middle of this fight, I swear it.”

  Sanguina nodded, her lips white, and stepped back.

  Zunya didn’t pause during Henry’s interaction with Sanguina, and instead, launched himself at Henry, tackling him to the floor.

  Valerie was blinded by pain as Zunya made contact with Henry’s skin and ripped away his magic. But Henry fought back with a strength that seemed inhuman. He managed to nick Zunya with his machete, and Zunya screamed.

  It was the first time Valerie had heard him make a sound of pain, and it was a terrible thing to hear.

  Someone yanked open the door of Ming’s room, and Valerie came back to her own reality.

  Sanguina stood in the doorway.

  “How are you here? Don’t leave Henry with Zunya!” Valerie said.

  “Good, you know what’s happening. Come with me,” Sanguina said.