Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2)

by Garrett Robinson

  “You want to mess with someone, you mess with me!” I shouted with a bravado that I was in no way feeling.

  Sirinia’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, it would be my absolute pleasure,” she hissed.

  She raised a hand. I gulped and braced myself for another impact.

  Instead, a fountain of earth shot up from the ground at Sirinia’s feet, engulfing her. She was knocked back to land on the ground hard. Sarah leapt between us, and before Sirinia could even recover her balance, Sarah had shot up a column of earth that launched her into the air.

  “Keep it up!” I shouted. If Sirinia got even a second to collect her thoughts and focus, she could turn off Sarah’s powers. Taking my own advice, I leapt up and ran as fast as I could for Sirinia’s flailing body. I unfurled my whip, letting it drag along the ground behind me.

  Just in time. Sirinia used Mind to right herself in midair and prevent a nasty landing. But just as her feet touched grass again, I slashed forward with my whip. It cracked mere inches from her face, making her flinch.

  For a moment I thought I felt her hold on my mind slip, and I could feel my powers just out of reach, like a lighthouse half-glimpsed through a fog. Then the magic vanished again, leaving me in the dark.

  Sarah struck with Earth again and again, keeping Sirinia dodging and weaving just enough to prevent her from concentrating on a lock. But try as she might, Sarah couldn’t seem to entrap Sirinia in the ground. Darren, Barius and I attacked again and again, trying to get at her with our weapons, but she was always just out of reach.

  Then Sirinia gave a mighty leap and flew far beyond the reach of my whip. In the three seconds it took me to rush forward and attack again, she closed her eyes, concentrating, and then her eyes opened with a flash.

  An invisible wall struck me, and once again I found myself sailing through the air, experiencing a disorienting moment of zero gravity. I was only vaguely aware of Barius and Darren in the air beside me. Then I went crashing to the ground.

  I groaned, sitting up. Sarah was still on her feet. She brought her arms forward in a wide sweeping gesture, and my gaze shifted to Sirinia, expecting to see stone erupt on either side of her.

  But nothing happened.

  “No,” said Sarah.

  Sirinia’s mouth twisted in a cruel smile. “And now our pathetic little dance comes to a close,” she said, her voice haughty.

  She flicked her fingers upward, and I felt myself jerked up as if on a string. Sarah, Darren and Barius joined me in suspension, and as we floated together in a neat row, Sirinia took several long, slow steps toward us.

  “Lord Terrence has only ever given passing thought to his alliance with the Elves,” she said calmly, like she was talking about her weekend plans. “What delicious irony it is that we are who will bring an end to his great nemeses, the Realm keepers. For rest assured: once you are dead, I will spare no resources in the search for your companions. Soon they, too, will be lifeless at my feet. And then your precious kingdoms shall fall.”

  “Fat chance, lady,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’ve got no idea who you’re dealing with. And it’s not like your people are just going to forget what you’ve done here today. Your days are numbered.”

  “Oh, but I am not alone here,” she said with a smile. “We are everywhere. There are many of us who saw wisdom in an alliance with the side that is clearly destined to win this fight.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “Destiny is on our side on this one. Ever heard of someone named Aurora?”

  Sirinia laughed. It was a vicious, mocking laugh. “You speak of the witless words of an ancient soothsayer? I give less than a moonbeam for the prophecies of humans. There is only victory and defeat—and your defeat shall ensure our victory, now and forever.”

  She stepped closer, her face less than a foot from mine. I struggled against the invisible bonds that held me, but they were too firm.

  “Your kingdoms will fall, Realm Keeper,” she hissed. “And once Midrealm is under our sway, True Earth shall be the next to fall.”

  “Maybe,” I said, my lip curling. “But you won’t be there to see it. Tess!”

  There was a crack, and I felt the bonds holding me in the air disappear. At the same time, I felt my magic swarm back into my mind as Tess tore Sirinia’s lock away.

  Sirinia’s face barely had time to change to an expression of horror. My hand leapt forward, seizing her neck.

  “Good-bye, seer,” I said.

  Lightning poured through me, and she dropped to the ground, dead.

  I turned to see Tess standing by the great hall’s front door. Her arm was thrown around Nora’s shoulders, and Nora was supporting nearly all of her weight. As I watched, Tess’ eyes went from pure white to their normal brown.

  “Good timing,” I said.

  “I’m just glad you saw me get up,” Tess said in a weak voice. “I wasn’t strong enough to take her on.”

  “I had a feeling,” I said, stepping forward. “Here. Let’s get you somewhere where you can rest.”

  I took Tess’ other arm and put it across my shoulders, taking some of the weight from Nora. Together we led her to a nearby tree and set her on the ground where she could lean against its trunk. The fighting had died away in the open space before the great hall, bodies lay about to mark the fact that only minutes before, Elves had been fighting for their lives there. The clash of metal still sounded out from a few scattered locations throughout the town, but for the most part it seemed that this battle was over.

  “You certainly have made quite a mess of things,” said a warm voice.

  I turned to see Yinnilith standing behind me, his hooded cowl raised once more, half of his face hidden in shadow. The sun was just beginning to rise in the East, and the sky above us was painted in a thousand hues between grey and pink.

  “We’re truly sorry about that,” said Sarah, who had slumped to the ground beside Tess. “We didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

  “For the record, I’m totally not sorry,” I said immediately. “We didn’t start this.”

  “No, you did not,” Yinnilith admitted. “I think rather that it is a mark of the times. We are in the midst of the greatest war against Chaos that we have seen in many thousands of years, and wherever the Realm Keepers are, there shall be great turmoil and strife. It is your doom. But take heart. You cannot see the tale of your life until you have lived it, but I do not think that it will be an entirely unhappy one in the end.”

  “Another prophet? Please, spare me,” I said, only half joking. “The last prophecy we heard didn’t exactly brighten up my day.”

  Yinnilith laughed. The laugh’s high, clear notes were a welcome relief from the cacophony of clashing steel and the screams of the wounded that had formed the soundtrack of our last half hour. I found myself smiling despite myself.

  “In any case, the truth is that you have done our people a great service,” said Yinnilith. “I have long felt the influence of a great darkness growing in our lands. Now that we know its nature, we can weed it out in all places where it raises its head. It will be a painful process, but the cure for any disease usually is.”

  “So you think Sirinia was telling the truth when she said there were others?” asked Tess.

  “I would bet your lives on it,” said Yinnilith, smiling at his own joke. “But we know what to look for. The darkness cannot hide for long once a light is cast into the corners.”

  “And yet all lights go out eventually, leaving only darkness behind,” said Barius gravely.

  Yinnilith clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps. But come. Enough of these gloomy thoughts. You are no doubt weary. It was a hard fight, and from what I hear, you were not accorded a proper night’s rest beforehand. Come with me, and I will find you suitable accommodations where you may rest.”

  “We appreciate it, but we have to get going,” said Sarah. “This little journey already took us way longer than it should have, and we have to find our companions and
get back on our road.”

  Yinnilith nodded. “Very well, if that is your wish. I can escort you to the borders of the Elven lands and back to the path you strayed from in the first place. From there, you can resume your journey.”

  “What about finding our friends?” said Tess. She blushed a little as Yinnilith turned his gaze on her.

  “I do not think you need worry for them just yet,” said Yinnilith mysteriously. “Regain your path, and allow them to regain theirs, and I believe the rest shall work itself out.”

  “Do you know where they are?” I asked in surprise.

  Yinnilith waved a hand vaguely. “Nothing so exact as that,” he said. “But you may trust me in this matter.”

  Sarah sighed a deep, weary sigh. “Fine. I’m more than willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. And again, thank you.”

  “You are most welcome,” said Yinnilith, bowing low—I suddenly realized that he was the only one who’d bowed to us the whole time we’d been here.

  “Oh, here, I should give you this back,” said Tess. She reached down and picked up the bow she’d taken from the great hall earlier. She held it up for Yinnilith to take.

  Instead of reaching for it, Yinnilith’s pale grey eyes widened almost imperceptibly. He looked from the bow up into Tess’ face. “You took this from my hall.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Um, yeah,” said Tess. “My sword broke, and I wanted something to fight with. I mean, besides my magic.”

  A slow, creeping smile spread across Yinnilith’s face. Then he threw his head back and laughed. The laugh grew and grew, swelling like a symphony and ringing out among the trunks and branches of the forest. All sounds of battle had finally died away in the town. And just as he laughed, the sun crested the eastern horizon and all of the songbirds of the forest burst out into song. For almost a full minute, the only noise was Yinnilith’s laughter and the music of the forest.

  At last the laughter subsided, even though I thought I could hear its echo in the voices of the birds all around us. Yinnilith looked down at Tess with genuine warmth and surprise.

  “Of course you wanted something to fight with,” he said. “And you could not have chosen a better weapon for it. You must keep it.”

  “What?” said Tess, shocked. “I can’t. I mean, it’s like an heirloom or something, isn’t it? It looked important.”

  “It will not be missed,” said Yinnilith. “And it will serve you well. You may leave it strung as often as you wish, and the string will never break. And you need never worry about the bow breaking like your poor sword. You found it quite an agreeable weapon, did you not?”

  “Absolutely,” said Tess with an eager nod. “It’s a fantastic bow.”

  “Then it could not be in better hands,” he said. “Take it and remember the Elves with fondness.”

  “I will,” said Tess. “Thank you.”

  Yinnilith reached down and pulled Tess and Sarah to their feet. “Very well! If leave you must, then leave you must. No sense in delay with a quest such as yours. I shall have my people refill your saddlebags with water and food—food taken from a willing forest, that is, which I think you will find most sustaining.”

  “Thank you,” said Sarah, stretching out her hand. “Sincerely. It seems we owe you a lot.”

  Yinnilith’s curious smile returned as he reached out to shake her hand, cocking his head. “The Elves have a saying. ‘No gift is too grand, no solace too precious, no road too hard to travel for an old friend.’” He smiled again at Tess, who ducked her head.

  “Well then, I hope that one day we can call each other that,” said Sarah.

  Yinnilith’s smile shrank a bit, but seemed to grow warmer at the same time. “I can see a time when we shall,” he said.

  In less than an hour, the Elves had resupplied us and we were ready to go. Our horses were brought forth, and Snowy whinnied repeatedly as she nuzzled my shoulder. Fortunately I hadn’t lost her apple slices in the fight, so I slipped her a few when the other horses weren’t watching. No need for them to get jealous.

  I’d thought that Yinnilith would take a group of Elves with him to lead us from the forest, but instead he chose to accompany us alone. He led us directly along paths that were easy for the horses to travel, across shallow streams and low fallen logs that we stepped over cautiously. The sun climbed higher and higher in the sky above, and the very air seemed to glow green with the filtered light through the leaves above us.

  Contrary to how he’d acted back in the town, Yinnilith hardly said a word as he guided us along. But it was enough to walk with him through the woods. I didn’t know how long he must have wandered them, but he seemed to know the location of every rock and root, not just the paths that led through the trees. He would alternate between walking on the ground ahead of us and leaping from tree branch to tree branch, nimble as a squirrel.

  After several hours, Yinnilith finally broke his silence. “You’re making decent time, for humans,” he declared. “At this rate we should make the path just before sundown. You can camp in the woods at its edge for the night. But once you move on, do not enter our woods again. I will spread the word of your passing and ask that you not be harmed. But I can make no promises. The other clans will do with outsiders as they wish, and if you meet another like Sirinia, your lives will be in grave danger.”

  “We’ll keep it in mind,” said Sarah. “I don’t think we’ll need to dive off of the path again, unless we run into another guy in a tree who needs to be rescued from a troll.”

  Yinnilith laughed. “You are most humorously ill-informed if you think I needed to be rescued,” he said. “But I thank you for the effort.”

  “Will you stay the night with us?” asked Tess eagerly. “Or will you leave us to camp in the woods?”

  “I have not yet decided,” replied Yinnilith. “But of course I will not stay if it would make your bodyguards uncomfortable.” He eyed Barius in particular as he said it, and it was easy to see why—Nora and Darren looked just as eager as Tess did at the prospect of Yinnilith staying with us for the night. Only Barius seemed to regard the idea with some reservation.

  But to my delight, Barius shrugged noncommittally. “I would not be concerned,” he said. “I am not overly trusting of your people in general. You in particular, however, seem to have earned a marginal degree of faith.”

  “Words of high praise from a mighty Runegard,” said Yinnilith. “The spirits have truly blessed this day.”

  I laughed. He was so cheerful. So unlike all of the other Elves. I wondered what his story was. Why was he so unlike his kin?

  “What’s that?” asked Nora curiously.

  Jerked from my thoughts, I looked to the east. The trees were thin here, and we were on a hill that afforded us an excellent view east. And beyond the edge of the eastern horizon, like an erratic mistake in a painting, there was a brown smudge against the bottom of the sky. It rose up in a single column, weaving its way back and forth across the bright blue of the sky.

  “That is smoke,” said Barius heavily. “And unless my eyes deceive me, based on the color and amount of it, that is the burning of a town.”

  The forest grew quiet around us.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN…

  THE COLONY

  MILES

  MY NAME IS MILES GRAVE, and I’m living a double life.

  I can’t tell anyone about the other half of my existence, the things I do when the rest of Earth thinks I’m asleep. If I tried to tell my family or most of my friends about it, I’d get locked up in a mental institution faster than you can say “crazy eyes.”

  But there is another world out there. A world where all of humanity’s legends and fairy tales come from. A world called Midrealm. And as long as anyone can remember, long before history started, there have been six warriors from Earth who have fought in Midrealm to save not only the lives of the people living there, but the lives of everyone on Earth.

  They’re called the Realm Keepers. And it just so happene
d that I was one of them. A powerful wizard, master of Water, charged with protecting the lives of millions in Midrealm, and billions more on True Earth. I was responsible for not only their lives, but my own, and I’d already had to defend myself from the attacks of Shadows, crows and hellions.

  And now, from goblins.

  I’d never seen a goblin before. Even though they’re all over geek culture, in books and movies, we’d never encountered them in Midrealm. But there was no mistaking what they were. They were short, squat and ugly, with mottled green skin and large, pointed ears.

  There’s no telling what I would have done if I’d run into one in the woods instead of Calvin. But he’d attacked it on sight, and now we were fleeing for our lives from a whole goblin hive. We’d been split up when they crashed into us on the forest path, and now it was just me, Calvin and Blade, and our Runegard. I had no idea whether the girls were even still alive.

  If the goblins don’t catch Calvin and kill him, I thought briefly, I might just do it myself.

  Calvin was ahead of us, riding with Cara and clutching to her tightly as he tried not to fall off the back of her horse. Blade and Samuel were in front of them, Blade keeping a ball of orange flame lit in the air above us to light the way. Melaine and I were bringing up the rear.

  “Faster, my Lord!” called Melaine from the back of her horse. “They are nearly upon us!”

  “Working on it,” I growled. I knew full well how close the goblins were. They made a chittering noise as they chased us, and it filled the air of the forest. It grew louder the closer they got, and right now it was plenty loud. They were practically nipping at my heels.

  “Lord Blade!” called Cara. “Burn the forest down around them!”

  “Barius said that would just tick them off more,” Blade called back.

  “It’s that or die,” said Cara. “If you set enough of the trees ablaze, they might run. They’ll think it’s a forest fire.”