Dominion Rising: 23 Brand New Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

by White, Gwynn

  A blade shot out of Dominik’s hand. It flew straight for Elion’s heart.

  He ducked—and the blade thudded hilt-deep into his shoulder.

  The light from the Bone veered, now on a trajectory for Dominik’s stomach.

  “No!” She swung Soul-Forged into the angry red stream. They collided with a bang that sent her flying backward into a hedge.

  Snow piled on her as thorns tore at her clothes and ripped into her skin. The red light scattered around the maze. Driven by the blue, it shot up, only to explode high above them among the falling snow.

  Better than a flare. She could have hugged Soul-Forged.

  Instead, she rolled onto her knees and scrambled to her feet with Soul-Forged raised.

  Across from her, Dominik and Dain wrestled with the Nyhans.

  Pointless, but they tried. It was no wonder that she loved them both.

  Now she had to do what she could to rescue her two heroes before the Nyhans slaughtered them.

  Elion stormed down on her. “You never learn. The fighting is over. Now, you’re coming with me.” Another bolt of red light shot out of the Bone.

  This time it was aimed at her. Didn’t the idiot know that it would kill her?

  “Not my Soul Reaper!” Blue light smacked into the Bone’s magic. They joined, a blue and a red stream, snarling and clawing, but never mixing. Locked in a primordial battle, they zigzagged across the courtyard, knocking snow off the hedges onto the blood-stricken ground.

  Sudden darkness spilled around her like ink in water.

  The Nyhan shouted. It sounded panicked, as if they too were blinded. She lost track of Dominik and Dain.

  The only light in the endless darkness came from the Sword and the Bone.

  It illuminated Elion.

  Lip curled back in a snarl, he strained to hold the Bone. Like a living thing, it seemed to struggle to escape from his arms.

  “Our Bone wants us, Nasty Reaper!” Soul-Forged sounded frantic. “Use my darkness. Attack Evil Fae. Rescue our Bone.”

  She hefted him, raced through the darkness he had cast toward Elion—and stopped.

  Did Elion know enough about the Bone’s power to control it?

  Doubtful. Only Soul-Forged’s timely intervention had stopped Elion from killing her with the Bone.

  He could destroy them, the maze, and the entire Round Palace if she attacked him and he discharged it.

  Soul-Forged wailed at her.

  Something streaked through the darkness and flew into Elion.

  Dominik.

  They crashed into the slush.

  Dominik rammed his fist into Elion’s jaw.

  Elion’s head snapped back. He smiled through bloodied teeth. “Is that how you want to play, brother?” He rammed the Bone into Dominik’s stomach.

  He buckled, and the stench of burnt flesh filled the air.

  All light extinguished and darkness swallowed them up.

  She screamed, “Dominik!” and dove to help him, cursing that she’d lost an opportunity to attack Elion through over-thinking.

  Rough hands grabbed her arms. She drove back Soul-Forged’s pommel with all her strength.

  It hit solid flesh.

  An oomph, followed by, “Caeda, it’s me!” Dain. “We have to get you out of here. Right now.”

  “We’re not leaving Dominik behind!”

  “We had a deal!” Standing behind her, his big hands locked around her wrists.

  “Go, Nasty Reaper, go!” Soul-Forged shrieked. “Our moment has passed. My darkness can’t last forever. Our Bone is too strong. But we can’t let Evil Fae have us and our Bone. It’ll be the end of your world.”

  “But Dominik—”

  Dain tugged her arms and started to back out of the courtyard. “He can handle himself.”

  They both knew that was a lie.

  Against the Bone, Dominik didn’t stand a chance.

  But he was smart. Maybe, just maybe, he could get the better of Elion and take the Bone from him. Maybe he could survive.

  But she couldn’t leave him to fight alone. She had to help—“I can’t leave—”

  A steel pommel smacked into the side of her head. She crumpled, and the courtyard disappeared.

  23

  Caeda’s head throbbed. Her eyes ached behind their closed lids, and her limbs dragged down like leaden weights on the impossibly soft surface below her back. Silk rubbed her skin.

  Footsteps rasped on the floor.

  Two voices, whispering. One male, the other female.

  “—might never forgive me when she finds out,” the male voice rumbled. Dain.

  The female snorted. Zella.

  Her muscles locked. She still wasn’t sure if Elion had gotten to Zella. Had she betrayed her and Dominik to the Nyhans by sending them to that tavern? If so, what were she and Dain doing here? This wasn’t a safe house. And what had happened to Dominik and the Bone? She lay still to assess the situation without them knowing she was awake.

  Zella spoke. “You obviously don’t know Caeda like I do. She’ll march right into the Round Palace and slaughter everyone in her path if she has to. Even if it’s the stupidest decision she could possibly make.”

  “I’ve seen her cut through soldiers like she’s swatting flies. Believe me, I know how she can get. Even if she ends up hating me for it, I did the right thing.” He sounded doubtful even as he convinced himself. “Or I hope I did the right thing. With the Bone gone, and Dominik…” A long sigh. “She’s going to kill me, isn’t she?”

  She sat bolt upright. “That depends. Where’s Dominik? And why are we here?”

  Filthy from battle, Dain scratched the back of his head. So much dirt and blood crusted his hair that it was impossible to tell that he was blond. “I didn’t know where to take you. Soul-Forged’s blue light guided me here.” He gestured to Zella.

  Dressed in her working clothes, her sister stood with her arms folded tightly around her chest. Her face gave nothing away.

  “Is Dominik alive? And what happened with the Bone? I assume Elion has gone off somewhere with it.”

  “One thing at a time.” Dain held out his hands. “Dominik is alive.”

  Then why did he sound so bleak? And what made Zella chew on her thumbnail?

  Ignoring the throb in her head, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “What happened?”

  Dain sat heavily next to her.

  Zella flitted to her dresser and poured three glasses of wine. She held one out to Caeda and one to Dain.

  She took hers numbly but didn’t drink.

  Dain took a swig of his. He wiped his mouth with a filthy hand. “Everyone in Upper Whaivag is talking about it. Garrik and his guards arrived after I got you out of there. They killed all the Nyhans.” He drained his glass. “My only guess is that Taliesin is more influential than we thought. Either that, or someone else higher up is helping her and Elion.”

  Her brow knitted. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

  “Dominik was arrested for stealing the Bone,” Zella blurted, harshly.

  She blanched and dropped her wine glass onto the carpet. She jumped to her feet. “That’s crazy. He was injured twice trying to free it. And why am I here, instead of fighting to free him? And what happened to my Bone?”

  “Our Bone, Nasty Reaper. And I like Sad Fae, too, so that makes him mine as well.”

  Dain glowered into his empty glass. “Apparently, Elion handed the Bone over to Garrik. It’s been returned to King Kaist.” He waved his hands around Zella’s workspace. “And we needed a place to regroup. To plan. To hide you and the Sword.”

  Hide her and Soul-Forged.

  Did that mean she was now a fugitive? She guessed it did. The moment she set foot in the Round Palace, they could capture her and force her into submission. Not only did they hold her Bone, but her love, too.

  Dain’s broad shoulders shook. “It’s not just Dominik. Everyone in the Round Palace seems to believe that he worked
with Sundamar and Izanna.”

  She gnawed her cheek—it ached. It was almost impossible to ward off the futility threatening to swamp her.

  She had set out to find the thief and to destroy the Bone. She had succeeded in her first task—she knew who the bastard was who’d stolen it, but what did it help her?

  The Bone was back in King Kaist’s hands. And a web of lies seemed to build around Dominik, Sundamar and Izanna. Lies she had helped create by implicating Izanna and sharing unfounded suspicions about Sundamar with Garrik. Would anyone even remember that Izanna had been spirited into the Round Palace on King Kaist’s instructions?

  She shook her head. None of it made sense.

  Why would Elion have masterminded this whole heist, killed guards and the Soul-Reaper, enlisted the help of the Nyhans to sneak the Bone out of the Round Palace under cover of the ball, paid the owner of the Ivory Hawk to hide the Bone, and then lured her and Dominik into the maze just to hand the Bone back to the king?

  He could have killed Garrik’s troops and fled with the Bone. He wasn’t stupid. He’d have known that she and Soul-Forged would come looking for him and their Bone. If he defeated them, he could still “own the world,” as he so aptly put it.

  It had to be linked to the million or so gold coins. How, she didn’t know. But Elion had made it clear that he wasn’t willing to lose his wealth and status.

  And Taliesin, of course.

  Hadn’t he said that it always came back to Taliesin? Was she the “world” he wanted to own, and this all just a grand ploy to win her hand?

  “I said it was all about jealousy and love, didn’t I, Nasty Reaper?”

  That you did. So all that disdain covered a roaring passion between Taliesin and Elion.

  “The make-up sex must have been—” Sparks flew. “Phew, phew, phew.”

  Urgh. Stop it.

  The sparks spluttered and died without protest. Soul-Forged’s heart clearly hadn’t been in it.

  But how had Elion and Taliesin convinced everyone that Dominik was involved? Sundamar and Izanna she could understand. But Dominik? After everything he had suffered, only a fool would think he was in cahoots with Sundamar and Izanna.

  Taliesin’s role was even more unlikely. She was hated and ignored by almost everyone in the palace. It would have been near impossible for her to wrap the nobles so thoroughly around her finger.

  That left the king.

  Dain must have seen her recognition flare. “I think we’re on the same track. Elion has been named a victor for returning the Bone. And he’s been granted Taliesin’s hand in marriage. The king had to be part of this.” His nose scrunched. “It’s the why I don’t get.”

  “A million or so gold coins!” Hot, angry tears spiked. Had Kaist allowed Elion to pretend to sell the Bone to the Nyhans, pocketed the gold, then had Elion return the Bone back to him? Sleight of hand on the grandest scale to solve his bankruptcy. “What do they plan to do with Dominik?”

  Dain’s throat clicked as he swallowed. “The royal wedding is happening on the Winter Solstice. Dominik, Sundamar, and Izanna’s executions are the main event.”

  She staggered back. “That’s three days away. How are we—”

  Dain stood up and wrapped her in a grimy bear hug, while Zella watched. He whispered deep in her ear, “You never once mentioned a sister to me in all the years I’ve known you. Do you trust her?”

  She stiffened. Her teeth locked, clenching so tight that her jaw ached.

  Still Dain hugged her.

  He was right; until she knew whose side Zella was on, her sister couldn’t know of her thoughts or plans. Plans that did not just end with rescuing her love and destroying the Bone.

  She might have been a warrior, a tool honed by Garrik to serve her king, protect the Bone, and revere the Sword and the Soul-Reaper who wielded it, but she had a choice.

  She chose to destroy Yatres and King Kaist who ruled it.

  She pulled him closer and whispered, “I’m rescuing Dominik and my Bone. Freeing Izanna and Sundamar, too. Then I’m destroying everything I can in this benighted kingdom. You with me? Against me?”

  “With you,” he whispered deep into her ear. “Always. Until the end of time.”

  Soul-Forged sniffled, like he was trying to hold back tears.

  She leaned into him with her mind. If you care about me—and him— then help me get him back.

  He hummed. “Will you destroy my Bone when you destroy this benighted kingdom?”

  If I say yes, will you leave me?

  Soul-Forged welled inside her. “I will not leave my Nasty Reaper until she leaves me.”

  Tears streaked down her cheeks. Then we have a rescue to plan. And a Bone to steal.

  “Then let’s get going!” Soul-Forged whistled a marching tune. “We have kingdoms to level and cities to squish.” A giggle. “After your reign, Nasty Reaper, the world will never be the same.”

  THE END

  * * *

  Thank you for reading Caeda, Dominik, and Dain’s story. We hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll stick around for the next (and final) book in the series. To find out when it will be released, please sign up for our newsletter: http://www.gwynnwhite.com/rosb And to say thank you for becoming a subscriber, we’ll send you a link to download a chapter in Dominik’s point of view of when Ayda died and Caeda was chosen as Soul-Reaper, as well as a map of the city of Upper Whaivag, showing all the spots where the action happened.

  To find out more about our books, please visit our website: http://www.gwynnwhite.com/

  About the Authors

  Gwynn White is a New York Times bestselling author of epic steampunk fantasy novels set on distant planets. All of her stories have an adventure at the heart, mixed with a liberal sprinkling of romance and intrigue. To confuse things, she also writes adventure travel books set firmly on planet Earth. Weird, but it makes her tick. She lives in Western Australia with her husband, Andrew, three daughters, a yapping Toy Pomeranian, and a fantastic farm cat called Pixel. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, traveling, herding kids around, taking dogs for walks, and avoiding all cooking. You can contact her via her website: http://www.gwynnwhite.com/

  Erin St Pierre is an author, actress, and world traveler. South African born, she has lived in three different countries on three different continents. Still, that is not enough. She wants to travel the world, writing, drinking hot chocolate, and eating cheesecake. She currently lives in Western Australia (who knows how long that will last) with the best cat in the world. She started writing at around fifteen or sixteen, and Reign of Bone and Steel is her third published work, co-authored with Gwynn White. And it will definitely not be her last. You can find her on Instagram and YouTube: https://www.instagram.com/between.stars.and.pages/

  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC02XD3Dw0w9yn_3nvcckZcg

  Mind Raider

  The Kalamatra Rebellion Book One

  S.M. Blooding & P.K. Tyler

  One weapon to re-write everything.

  One team to stop it all.

  Codex Syndicate agent Keva Duste is an ex-military engineered human with a score to settle. Together with a renegade space captain, an Elite refugee, and two sentient AIs, she must race to locate the weapon and stop the genocide of the human race before it can begin. Can Keva save Red Sky from destruction before the Elite turn this weapon on the rest of the settlements? And if she does, will she ignite a revolution?

  1

  The mission is on an asteroid?” Keva pushed her long dark braid out of the way and peered at the navscreen. She wasn’t surprised… exactly. The asteroids surrounding Kalamatra Jump Port were plentiful and an easy place for pirates to hide. It was also a great place to die in about a million different ways.

  Captain Hale Reeve looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his dark skin reflecting the green sheen from the lights on the control panel. “You thought I was taking you someplace nice?”

  No. He never did, but that wasn’t the issue.


  Keva had been out of the military for over three years. She’d been less-than-honorably discharged after being spaced.

  That’s how she knew the asteroid belt around Kalamatra. She’d practiced maneuvers in the belt as part of her training since she was old enough to hold a stick without tripping on it. She knew what resided in the belt, knew what hid in the rocks and ice.

  A hell of a lot more than pirates.

  A system of military posts and supply stations, it also housed the birthing place for engineered soldiers. Like her. If Hale got too close to a secret lab or a hexium warehouse, unwittingly or not, they could be blown into the Black. And that was the best-case scenario. Worse case? While they were out on their scavenger run, the military could just flip a switch and turn the atmo off.

  The thing with asteroid stations was they didn’t come with an atmosphere, and you couldn’t terraform an asteroid. She didn’t know if it was a failure of technology or that those in charge considered it a waste of resources. So, the people posted out there generated an electromagnetic force field and used chemical reactions to create breathable air. A false atmosphere.

  And one of the things the military loved to do to people found in the wrong place was to turn that force field off. Anything not tied down drifted into space along with all the air.

  Keva kept her expression neutral. “I was hoping you’d at least take me somewhere exotic.”

  “Asteroids are exotic.”

  She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic. “Asteroids are rocks and ice.”

  Hale shot her a roguish grin over his shoulder. “That’s exotic.”

  So, sarcasm. Thank goodness. “Only if you like rocks and ice.”

  He ignored that comment and plugged coordinates into his navigation system.

  She’d met Captain Reeve over two years ago when she’d hitched a ride while on a mission for the Codex Syndicate. It was supposed to have been a one-time thing, but for as big as the Black was—and it was—it somehow managed to be a small universe. Few large haulers took on passengers, and Hale Reeve was one of them.