Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2)

by Garrett Robinson

  “What’s she saying?” said Sarah.

  “She’s thinking about it,” I said. “I told her about the dream state.”

  Who are you? came the voice.

  “She wants to know who we are,” I said.

  “Don’t tell her the truth,” said Sarah. “Tell her we’re just travelers.”

  “I already told her I’m a wizard,” I said. “I can’t just tell her we’re a bunch of random travelers.”

  Do you seek to deceive me? The voice rang in my head, harsh and angry. I can hear your every word, fools!

  I shook from the force of her rage. There was nothing for it. I had to tell her the truth.

  We’re the Realm Keepers, I blurted out. We’re traveling to Wyrmspire in secret, because Terrence is trying to find us and kill us. We have to keep our identities a secret. But I guess, if you find out, you’re not going to tell the people who are trying to kill you.

  The Realm Keepers? the voice said, shocked. Impossible. I have seen nothing of you.

  I’m telling you the truth, I thought desperately. Look into my mind if you want. I’m the Keeper of Mind. The others are here with me, along with our bodyguards.

  I tried to open myself up, making sure there were no walls keeping her out. Then I felt a presence slip into me, poking around in my head. It wasn’t aggressive, necessarily, not harsh like when Terrence had attacked me in the camp outside of Morrowdust. But it wasn’t super gentle, either. It was like some secretary rifling through a desk drawer—she wasn’t trying to hurt the drawer, but she wasn’t considering its feelings, either.

  How have you kept yourselves hidden from my sight? she demanded when she was done.

  I don’t know, I said earnestly. We didn’t even know who you were. We still don’t, really. We just received this message yesterday.

  I can see that, she said. There was some more digging. Chaos below, Aurora sent you?

  I blinked. Yes. Why? What does she have to do with this?

  That meddlesome little witch. Very well. You may come.

  How do we find you?

  Instead of an answer, I heard a rumble. Then out of the walls around us, erupting from the stone mosaics on the walls, came a staircase. It wound all around the outside of the tower, stretching up into a single hole in the ceiling above.

  That had to lead to the upper floor, I suddenly realized. We’d seen two rows of windows from the outside. We were on the lower of the two floors, and Meridia had opened the way to the top.

  “She’s allowing us upstairs,” I said. “We should go. And…watch your manners. She’s not super patient.”

  “Come on,” said Sarah, leading the way.

  We climbed the stairs to find another floor just like the one below. On this new floor, the stone carvings everywhere were even more intricate, more beautiful, if that was possible.

  In the center of the room’s roof was a small, man-sized hole. It threw a single shaft of light down into the center of the room, landing in a small pool in the center. In the center of the light sat a woman clothed all in white, sitting cross-legged upon a single threadbare cloth. The scene was eerily familiar, and I didn’t have to think hard to realize where I’d seen it before.

  Blade got it at the same time. “She looks just like the Oracle.”

  Meridia glanced up, her eyes fixing on Blade in a hard glare. “You mean Aurora, you fool. And of course I do. We are sisters. Are you all so truly ignorant?”

  My head was spinning. “You’re…Aurora’s sister?”

  “I know you are not deaf,” Meridia said with a sniff. “That is what I said.”

  I gave Sarah an uneasy glance. Sisters they might be, but Meridia was a whole heck of a lot ruder than Aurora had been.

  Sarah met my glance with a vague shrug—what can you do?—and took a cautious step forward.

  “Stop,” said Meridia, and Sarah’s foot froze in midair. “You don’t need to come closer. Explain to me why you are here. I shall destroy you all if you lie.”

  All of the Runegard placed hands on their sword hilts at that. I put a calming hand over Nora’s, holding her hand firm. Meridia only smirked.

  “We were told by a messenger in the dream state—or rather, Tess was told—that we had to save you from the hooded lady and her army,” said Sarah. “They’re searching for you. Apparently it would be really, really bad if they found you. That’s all we know.”

  Meridia’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this hooded lady? What army does she possess that I could possibly fear?”

  “We don’t know,” said Sarah.

  “How did they find me?” demanded Meridia. “What do they want with me?”

  “We don’t know,” said Sarah again, an edge creeping into her voice. “Listen, I already told you all we know. We were hoping you’d have more answers than we do.”

  Meridia laughed a harsh, mocking laugh. “Do you think I am Aurora, then? Sitting idly by and dispensing wisdom whenever another asks for it? She toys with the fabric, never caring for the repercussions as she twists and turns it in her simple-minded fingers.”

  I felt a little surge of anger at that. “She helped us,” I said, unable to stop myself. “She wants to stop Terrence as much as we do.”

  Meridia snorted. “Terrence will be stopped,” she said. “Or he will not. It is not her place to influence the outcome. The fabric. The fabric is all.”

  Our conversation with Aurora drifted back into my mind. “She mentioned the fabric a lot, too,” I said. “What is it? Is it, like, the fabric of reality?”

  “Do you explain the spinning of the stars to the ant?” said Meridia with a smirk. She said nothing more.

  Blade stepped angrily forward, deliberately turning his back on Meridia as he faced the rest of us. “Okay, I’ve had about enough of this. We gave it a good try, but this chick clearly doesn’t want to be rescued. Do we have to keep listening to her telling us what idiots we are, or can we move along?”

  “The Watcher said it was important, my Lord,” said Samuel.

  “I don’t give two farts what Greystone said,” said Blade. “What are we going to do? Drag her out of here after us?”

  “As if you even could,” said Meridia haughtily behind him.

  Blade turned and pointed a finger in her direction. “You keep it zipped, lady. I’m fed up enough with you as it is.”

  “Blade, can you try not to make the situation worse?” said Sarah, her voice heavy with resignation.

  “I’m just saying, why should we put ourselves out trying to—” Blade began.

  THOOM

  The sound of a terrible explosion sounded from the bottom of the tower. The whole chamber fell silent around us.

  I glanced at Meridia. She was staring at the windows behind us with an expression that was a mixture of a variety of emotions—but the strongest one I saw was fear. The fear spread into me like a contagion. What could unnerve this woman, who was so arrogant and sure of herself?

  “How…” she stammered. She cleared her throat and composed herself. “How have you done this? How are you shielding them from me?”

  “We’re not shielding anything,” Sarah said angrily.

  Cara ran to the east window and leaned out, staring down. She whirled away from it, her face hard and stony.

  “They are here,” she said. “An army of figures dressed in black. I see a hooded figure upon the ground.”

  We all ran to see. I peeked timidly out, suddenly afraid of the hundred-foot height that stretched down to the ground before me.

  Surrounding the base of the tower was a host of figures, all of them shrouded in black cloth. Their faces were hooded and masked, none of them visible from here. At the back, near the rocky cleft that looked like a keyhole, stood a hooded and cloaked figure. Even from here I could see who it was. It was the hooded woman from the vision.

  WHY CAN I NOT SEE THEM? Meridia’s voice screeched in my mind. I winced and saw the others do the same. Meridia seemed to have forgotten herself, speaking with
her mind instead of her mouth in her agitation. Her cheeks had risen to crimson, her breath coming hard and fast as she looked around wildly. I couldn’t tell if she was more angry or more scared, but she was definitely plenty of both.

  “These people work for Terrence,” I pleaded. “They’re here to capture or kill you. They must have some kind of magic that stops you from seeing or hurting them.”

  “That’s impossible!” Meridia cried, more composed now that she could focus her anger on me. “They could not, unless…”

  Her eyes went wide, and she looked away from me suddenly as though hearing a call that I couldn’t. Her eyes darted back and forth, closed, then opened again. She turned the other direction, looking out a window, though I saw only the blank stone of the mountain through it.

  “Curse him,” she breathed. “Curse him, and may his overlords drench his soul in pain and fire when he fails them.”

  “What?” said Miles, turning back and forth as though not sure where he should be looking. “What is it?”

  Meridia shot to her feet. I didn’t see her push with her arms or even with her legs. It was as though her body rose of its own accord, and her legs dropped to support it as an afterthought.

  “I see it now,” she said in a low, angry voice. “I see what he has done. And I see now that I must leave with you.” She gave an exasperated snort. “I will see him flayed for this, I swear it.”

  “Sounds like an awesome plan,” said Sarah. “Now, any idea what to do in the more immediate future?”

  “It is imperative that they do not realize who you are,” said Cara. “We must fight this battle for you. They are inside, but we can fight them at the lower staircase. If they push us back, we can retreat to the higher one. The six of us can hold them.” She started to turn her words into action, and the other Runegard leapt to follow.

  “No!” cried Meridia. “Stop!”

  The Runegard paused, looking at her.

  “These foes are not of this world,” said Meridia flatly. “Your blades will be nearly useless. The Realm Keepers must drive them back with their powers. It is the only way.”

  “They cannot reveal themselves,” said Cara flatly. “If even one of our foes were to escape, they will carry word of the Realm Keepers’ presence straight to Terrence. That would spell the doom of us all.”

  “You speak as if you had a choice,” said Meridia, snorting. “It was hidden from me, but no longer. I have seen the two outcomes of this fight. Blades and armor will lead you to death. Only the Realm Keepers can save themselves—and me.”

  “What about Terrence?” said Sarah. “He’ll find us.”

  “Do you wish to die now, or will you take your chances evading him on the road?” snapped Meridia. “I know the path that I would choose.”

  Sarah sighed, then looked up as she came to a decision. “Let’s do it.”

  “My Lady…” said Cara.

  “We’ve got no choice,” said Sarah. “She’s an oracle like Aurora. She knows what we’re up against. If she says we’ve got to use magic, I believe her.”

  Cara’s jaw clenched. “Very well. What would you have us do?”

  “You’re the last line of defense,” said Sarah. “If they get through our magic, keep them away from us until we can deal with them.”

  Cara turned to the Runegard. “You heard Lady Sarah. Form up.”

  Sarah turned to Blade, Miles and Raven. “I’m going to seal the doors. You two rain hell on them from the windows. Calvin and Tess, do your best to hit them from here.” She turned “Meridia, seal the staircase.”

  Meridia started. I expected her to snap back with something rude and sarcastic. But she smirked slightly, and with a nod the stone stairs we’d climbed from the lower floor sank into the walls with a rumble. The hole in the floor where the stairs had been disappeared.

  Sarah ran to the window and held a hand out through it. I heard a groaning far, far below us as the door we’d come through sealed.

  “That will not stop them,” said Meridia. “These are no humans you fight.”

  “What are they, then?” said Calvin. “Elves? Something else?”

  “They are the undead,” said Meridia.

  I felt a chill seep through me. “Undead? Like, zombies?”

  Blade, Raven and Miles stepped to the windows to either side of Sarah. Then they both stopped at the same time, looking back at us in confusion.

  “Where did they go?” said Blade, looking to Meridia.

  “What?” I asked. I stepped to the window beside him. The ground below the tower, teeming with figures in black not a minute ago, was now empty. Only the hooded lady remained on the ground, still looking up at us from the darkness of her cowl.

  “Where did they go?” said Sarah. “Did they leave?”

  “There!” cried Darren.

  I turned to see him looking up. There in the center of the roof, where the hole still cast light upon Meridia, I saw sudden movement. Black figures streamed from the hole, crawling down toward us. They didn’t drop through the air—they crawled like ants. My stomach turned at the sight.

  “They’re like freaking ninjas!” said Calvin.

  “Get them!” shouted Sarah.

  Raven struck first with a blast of lightning that flung two of the figures from the ceiling. They struck the hard stone floor to either side of Meridia. Immediately, they pushed off from the ground and leapt to their feet. They were inhumanly fast, and from within their black masks I saw the yellow glow of their eyes.

  “My Lady, behind you!” cried Nora. She leapt forward and flung me back from the window. As I fell away, I saw a black figure leap from outside at me. Nora’s shield leapt up to block its first attack, but I saw another flash of silver as a dagger leapt forward, held in its other hand. The dagger sank into Nora’s shoulder between the plates of armor, and she grunted in pain. Its yellow eyes gleamed brighter for a moment.

  “Nora!” I screamed. I flung out a blast of power, and the figure was flung back through the window, spinning out into empty space as it fell to the ground.

  I dragged Nora back from the window, but it wasn’t the only one. The soldiers were pouring in through all twelve windows in the chamber, and still more came in from the hole in the ceiling.

  “In the center!” said Sarah. “Form up facing outward!” As she ran to stand by Meridia’s side, she poured her magic into the walls and ceiling of the room. The hole above us sealed up. Then each of the windows slid shut, one by one, forming into a solid wall of blank, expressionless stone.

  But dozens of the things had already made their way into the chamber with us, and they leapt forward to attack. Blade swept wide with a vast swath of fire that charred the figures where they stood. Miles sucked water from the air, wrapping it around them and freezing it solid to send them crashing immobilized to the floor. Raven struck with bolt after bolt, but as each figure was flung away from her it only rose to attack again.

  Once I’d gotten Nora to safety next to Meridia, I tapped into Mind. I put up a ring of force around us, keeping the figures from getting in. But then Raven fired a bolt of lightning, and it impacted harmlessly against my solid wall of Mind.

  “You’re blocking our powers, Tess!” she said.

  “What should I do then?” I cried. I dropped the ring of power, trying to find an opportunity to strike. The figures were almost too fast to see. Every time I swung at them with a club or blade of mind, they dodged it as if they could see the invisible weapon coming for them.

  “Grab them!” said Sarah. “Hold them up so we can finish them off!”

  Right. I wrapped force around one of the creatures before it could twist away, holding it aloft. One of Raven’s bolts slammed into its face, and when the bright flash of light died away, the creature’s yellow eyes had dimmed to nothing.

  “My Lady,” grunted Nora. “Your bow.”

  “You’re too weak to fire it,” I said. “Just sit tight.”

  “Not me,” she said with a humorless gr
unt of laughter. “You.”

  “I don’t think arrows will stop these things,” I said.

  “Use it.” I was shocked to hear Meridia back Nora up. “She is right.”

  Perplexed, I whipped the bow off my back and drew an arrow. I sent one arrow at the chest of one of the creatures, but it ducked the shot. Grimacing, I plucked another from my quiver. This time I snatched the creature up with my mind before planting a shaft straight into its neck.

  Screeeak!

  An unholy cry of pain ripped from the creature’s inhuman throat, and it thrashed within its invisible bonds. Shocked, I dropped it to the stone floor. It shuddered and clutched at the arrow in its neck as it died, writhing a few seconds more until it went still, its eyes’ glow dying out.

  The figure’s mask fell off in its death throes, and I went pale as I was transfixed by the sight of its wasted face. Its skin was mottled green, most of it rotted away. Its lips had disintegrated to nothing, leaving its teeth totally visible. No blood poured from its neck where I had shot it.

  I realized I’d seen something like it before. In the siege of Morrowdust, a terrible figure had approach the walls of the Runehold. The creature had used magic, pouring water into the stone walls of the Runehold and breaking a hole in them with ice. Had that creature, too, been undead?

  KROOM!

  Three windows erupted with noise at the same time, shards of rock whizzing by us like shrapnel. Blade cried out as a sizable chunk of stone hit him in the chest, knocking him on his butt. Samuel pulled him to his feet. From the now-open windows streamed more of the creatures, roaring like the one I had shot.

  “Dude, seriously?” said Miles.

  “We must flee!” said Meridia suddenly, her eyes flashing. “You cannot hold against them!”

  “You couldn’t have told us that before the fight started?” Blade grated, holding his chest where the rock had hit him. One of the undead leapt through the air toward him. He held up a hand and shot a fireball at it. The creature flew back, disintegrating to ash before it hit the wall.

  “I cannot come with you,” said Meridia. “Not in this form. I must transfer into an object, one of great power.”