Available Darkness Box Set | Books 1-3

by Platt, Sean

  “Yeah,” Abigail said, hoping not to offend their walking tree companion.

  If she had offended it, the Druwan didn’t respond. Just kept leading them along the curving hallway.

  Abigail looked down, embarrassed.

  Talani teased, “It’s okay. It’s a cute scrunched-up face.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It’s good to see you happy.”

  “It’s good to feel happy, even if it isn’t going to last.”

  “It doesn’t have to be temporary. You can come back here. I’ve talked to the Druwan, and they said you could stay.”

  “Don’t you mean we could come back?”

  Talani frowned. “They won’t let Judith stay.”

  “Because she’s a vampire? We all are.”

  “But you’re just a kid, Abigail. They’ll let you stay.”

  “How do they know I’m not a thousand years old in a kid’s body?”

  “They can tell. And Judith has a reputation from when she was on this world before. She isn’t welcome.”

  “Why not?”

  Talani shook her head. “I don’t want to get into it. Let’s just say that you were the only reason we were even allowed here.”

  “Can we stay? While Judith goes to the Town of Jonah?”

  “That’s not how it works.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Talani looked up at the Druwan, subtly requesting privacy, but the Druwan didn’t take the hint. “Could we have a minute, please?”

  The Druwan nodded then left them in a long curving hallway that seemed to be a transition point between two more populated areas.

  “Not how what works?” Abigail asked.

  “The bond between you and your Master, the person who turned you, is forever, until that person dies. It’s like a parental thing, but with the parasites inside us.”

  “And?” Abigail asked, not yet putting two and two together.

  “I’m tied to Judith because she turned me. I can never leave her.”

  “Why not? What will happen?”

  “There’s a psychic bond that must be maintained. It makes me weak if I go too far away from her for too long. I can get sick. I can die. But you can stay here. She’ll let you. We can visit and make sure you’re okay, that you don’t get sick.”

  Something clicked in Abigail’s head.

  “Wait a second. You persuaded me to come here, and leave John on Earth. Does this mean that I will get weak, that I will die?”

  “No, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You can accept Judith as your Master.”

  “What?”

  “There’s a ceremony where you renounce your Master. Do that, and you can take Judith as your new Master. She will put her Darkness inside you. It will kill John’s and break his connection. Then you’ll be bonded with her, and me, forever.”

  Talani smiled as if to suggest this was something that Abigail should want.

  Abigail backed away.

  “What?”

  “You tricked me!”

  “No, I didn’t. I swear.”

  “You didn’t tell me that if I came with you I’d have to accept Judith as my Master!”

  “You were miserable with John! He hadn’t been around in ages. He was working with The Guardians, killing our kind! You were moments from ending your life. Do you remember, Abigail? Remember how sad you were?”

  Abigail nodded but refused to meet Talani’s eyes. She was angry, and clinging to her rage.

  “You couldn’t trust anyone!”

  “I had Larry!”

  “But he didn’t understand you like I do. He isn’t one of us. And he isn’t a girl. We have a bond that you can never have with him, John, or anyone else. We’re like sisters. You’re the first person I’ve felt like that about since Raina.”

  “Who?” Abigail asked, looking up.

  “Never mind.”

  “What happens if I don’t accept Judith as my Master? Will I die?”

  “I … don’t know. I’ve never seen someone go that long without eventually returning to their Master.”

  “How long does it take?”

  “It’s a while. Months, maybe a year, before things get too bad. It’s different for everyone.”

  “What about John? Does he get sick when I’m not with him? Or if I were to let Judith become my Master?”

  “It doesn’t work that way. His is the dominant organism. It’s not negatively affected by yours.”

  “So, I’m dead if I don’t accept Judith? You basically tricked me, and now I’m going to die if I don’t do what you want?” Abigail stared at Talani, wanting the girl to feel her anger, to know how deeply she was hurt by the betrayal.

  “I didn’t mean to trick you.”

  “But you didn’t tell me.”

  “It felt like too much was happening at once. Telling you would’ve only given you reason to doubt what you needed to do — get away from John, and those other humans.”

  “It’s not fair. You can’t expect me to make a decision like this.”

  “You don’t have decide now. We can wait until you show signs.”

  “Wait, you said that you couldn’t stay here because Judith is your Master. So how could I stay?”

  “I could have her come back from time to time to visit. That should be enough to renew the connection, so to speak.”

  “So why can’t she do that for both of us then? You stay here with me?”

  Talani shook her head. “She would be lonely without me.”

  Abigail wanted to say, What about me? I’ll be lonely without you. But she didn’t want to admit to it. Instead she asked, “What if I don’t want Judith as my Master?”

  Talani met Abigail’s eyes. There was something in them that Abigail couldn’t read. And she wasn’t powerful enough to enter Talani’s mind and read her thoughts without discovery.

  “Will I die?”

  “There are other options.”

  “Like what?”

  “You can return to Earth, but I don’t know what’ll happen if we cross back through the portal after leaving all those soldiers dead. They might have something set up to capture us, or worse.”

  “What’s the other option?”

  “I can have Judith send a message home and ask them to … take care of John.”

  Abigail felt slapped in the face.

  “Take care of? Do you mean kill him?”

  Talani nodded. “If you kill the Master, then your bond is broken also. You won’t get sick.”

  Abigail turned on her heel and walked away.

  “Abigail!” Talani cried out.

  Abigail kept walking, not knowing where to go but desperate to set distance between them.

  How can Talani suggest such a thing?

  Tears streamed down Abigail’s cheeks. She picked up her pace, hating the thought of Talani seeing her crying.

  She walked fast, not wanting to run and draw attention to herself. She passed two more tree people and an old man, ignoring them all, keeping her head down, hair covering her face as she went.

  Talani ran after her, and because Abigail was still recovering and hesitant to run, she quickly caught up.

  “Wait!” Talani grabbed Abigail’s shoulder and spun her around.

  Abigail’s face was full of tears.

  She hated people seeing her cry. Not just because it made her feel like a stupid little kid, though it did. She didn’t want Talani to see the depth of her pain, or how much she cared for her.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest we —”

  “Why don’t you kill Judith?”

  Talani’s hand wound back and slapped Abigail, hard.

  Abigail stood, stunned.

  Eyes unable to believe what they were seeing.

  She ran.

  Now uncaring of who might see.

  As Abigail ran, tears continued to stream down her freshly smacked cheek, somehow making the pain th
at much worse.

  Talani followed.

  Abigail turned down a hall, making sure to keep her hands to herself as she ran past two animal-women things. They weren’t human, but she wasn’t sure what her touch might do, and didn’t want any more innocent blood on her hands.

  Her eyes seized on an open window at the far end of a long hall. Beyond it lay freedom, the Sacred Woods.

  It was light out, but the woods were cloaked in clouds. She could probably avoid direct sunlight until nightfall.

  Abigail wasn’t sure how, but she’d find a way back the way they’d come. Find the portal and get back home.

  If she ran into soldiers on Earth, she’d tell them who she was, and that she knew John who worked for them. She’d lie and say that Judith and Talani had kidnapped her.

  Maybe they’d even believe her.

  Then she could be reunited with John and Larry.

  Why did I ever leave?

  She reached the window and was about to leap out but got slammed by a blast of something before she could.

  She hit the wall hard and fell to the floor.

  She turned in time to see Talani approaching, fingers clenched, arcing with blue electricity. People, and other creatures, began to clear out, crying for help as they scattered.

  Talani looked angry, coming closer to Abigail, like she might blast her again. Abigail was afraid, but not about to fight her friend, despite the betrayal.

  Instead of hurting her, Talani dropped to the floor in front of Abigail and whispered, “Don’t ever say that again.”

  “Say what?” Abigail asked, not remembering what caused Talani to smack her.

  “Suggesting I kill Judith. If she hears you, she will end you.”

  Abigail had never seen such a serious look in Talani’s eyes. Nor such fear. Her eyes were welling up. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

  Talani pulled Abigail into a hug.

  Abigail was confused by so much, but Talani’s hug felt true.

  The girls cried, embracing for some time before two Druwan approached with a girl who looked no older than seven, and seemed to be human.

  Her skin was paler than Abigail’s, her hair long and white, her eyes big and violet. She wore a long green dress and a wooden necklace with an orange stone.

  “Is something wrong?” the girl asked.

  “Just a sisterly squabble,” Talani said, standing up and helping Abigail to her feet.

  The girl looked at Talani as if trying to determine the truth of her words. The child’s expression was so serious, and the Druwan stood behind her as if she was in charge.

  “Who are you?” Abigail asked.

  “I am Mother. The one who saved you.”

  “You’re the witch?” Abigail said, surprised.

  “That’s a Humkoer word, not mine.”

  “Then what are you?”

  “Mother. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  The girl opened her arms, inviting Abigail to embrace her.

  “I … um, I can’t. I’m a Valkoer. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t hurt me,” the girl said, coming closer.

  Abigail hugged the girl called Mother.

  A warmth spread from the girl to her, to her skin, to her heart, to everywhere inside her mind.

  Then, to Abigail’s surprise, she realized it wasn’t warmth but something else entirely: love.

  Twenty-Four

  Abigail

  Abigail and Talani stood looking down at the clouds, above them the purple sky.

  “This is beautiful,” Talani said, except it came out more like bee-yoo-ti-ful.

  They were standing with Mother atop a platform on one of the Sacred Woods’ main trees. While Abigail had initially thought the trees were thousands of feet high, they weren’t nearly as tall as their width suggested.

  Despite the sun, neither she nor Talani were affected — thanks to some sort of protection within the Sacred Woods, the Druwan told Abigail before their ascent.

  “So, are you as young as you look?” Abigail asked after Mother had told them a bit about the Sacred Woods and given them a tour of the Axis — the central tree where many of the people worked and lived.

  “I’m four thousand cycles in age,” Mother said.

  “Are those like years?” Abigail asked. “Three hundred and sixty-five days?”

  “Our cycles are different from year to year. It’s essentially three seasons, which measure anywhere from one hundred to two hundred days.

  “Still, you’re way older than you look. Are you a Valkoer?”

  “I don’t know what I am. I was found as a baby by the Druwan in the First Tree, the tree that all others in these woods were born from. It was at a time when the Sacred Woods were dying. They took me in and cared for me, the first non-Druwan allowed to live among them. They planned to keep me alive until my mother returned, but she never came.

  “Soon, the Woods flourished again. Legends say it’s because of me, but I don’t know if that’s true.”

  “You healed me. And when I hugged you, I felt something I’d not felt in forever. I felt … love. Is that why they call you Mother?”

  “I think so. They all come to me for healing, to alleviate their pain. And I guess now I’m known as a witch out there. Which is fine if it scares people away.”

  She pointed out at the world beyond the woods, though Abigail couldn’t see anything through the clouds.

  “Do you have another name?” Abigail asked.

  “The Druwan named me Mother. I don’t know if it was an honor or if they were confusing daughter with mother. The common tongue isn’t natural to them.”

  Mother moved her hands, and the wind picked up, dispersing the clouds around them.

  As the clouds parted, Abigail got her first glimpse of the Sacred Woods from a bird’s eye view.

  Talani was right. It was bee-yoo-ti-ful.

  Woodlands swallowed the entire mountainside in every direction, with one side mostly lush greens and the other white with snow.

  She also saw the bright violet river they’d followed from the valley. From this distance it sparkled like diamonds in sunlight.

  “This is the only land untouched by The Great Purge,” Mother said, then went on to explain how The Northern Realm had changed over the years, becoming a more advanced civilization while forcing out non-Humkoer, including the Valkoer, Were-Beasts, magick users, elves, and anyone else who didn’t fit in with their new society.

  There was a great war between The North and South with much blood spilled. Nobody thought it would ever end, until The Hand of the Seven Gods brokered a treaty between North and South.

  “But I fear the peace will not last.”

  “Why is that?” Talani asked.

  “Because of the portals.”

  “You know about the portals?” Abigail said, surprised. “How?”

  “I’ve seen things since as long as I remember. The future, the present, and the past, it all arrives in my sleep. I spend most of my waking hours trying to decipher which is which on the grand time line. I saw you all coming through.”

  Abigail wondered if the bad guys could see them, too.

  “I also saw King Zol’s son, bringing with him a terrible threat.”

  “What sort of threat?” Talani asked.

  “Something powerful. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something that could bring the war back. And this time, I fear it will consume our world and yours. If there is a war, the men will come here to destroy the Sacred Woods, and craft better weapons against The North’s advanced military. The North, seeing this, will destroy everything and everyone here.”

  “Oh my God,” Abigail said.

  “How can you stop it?”

  “That’s why I asked you to kill the craftsman.”

  “That will stop your vision coming true?” Abigail asked.

  “No, but it will put you in place for what’s coming next.”

  “What’s next?” Talani aske
d.

  “I don’t know yet. I only have the bits She shows me.”

  “She?” Abigail asked.

  “The Goddess of Fate, one of The Seven Gods.”

  “As in The Hand of the Seven Gods?” Abigail asked.

  “Yes, she is one of The Seven. But she doesn’t speak to The Hand. They are a church of zealots who believe they’re led by divinity, who use force to do their Gods’ will. Of course that just so happens to coincide with their own.”

  Talani asked, “Why don’t you tell this Hand of the Seven Gods to kill the craftsman?”

  Mother looked up at Talani as if she hadn’t been listening. “Because if they discover that this power is here, the war might come sooner.”

  “So, we’re all screwed, either way,” Talani said.

  Mother’s eyes closed and fluttered.

  “Mother?” Abigail said. “Are you okay?”

  “Another vision,” she said after a moment. “There is a third option.”

  “What?” Talani asked.

  “That you find the power. So neither the Valkoer or The Hand gets it.”

  “Us?” Talani asked.

  Mother shook her head and pointed at Abigail. “No. Her.”

  “Me? What am I supposed to do?”

  “You’ll know when it’s time.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me now?”

  “Because I have not seen it, and felt it only now. There is a reason you’ve been brought here. Both to this world, and to us.”

  “Why?” Abigail asked.

  “To save us all.”

  “Me? I’m just a kid. What can I do?”

  “More than you know. But first you must kill the craftsman. Can you do that?”

  “How long will it take to reach Jonah?”

  “A few days on foot. But I have a shortcut.”

  “A portal?” Talani asked.

  “A portal between planes, yes, though not between worlds. Travel is faster, but I must warn you: There will be danger. You’ll need to pass through the In-Between.”

  “What’s that?” Abigail asked.

  Mother met her eyes. “All of your fears and a lot of nothingness.”

  Twenty-Five

  Jacob

  Crow’s Nest was one of several small agrarian communities living in the Freelands south of Golden Cove. It had been around for as long as anyone could remember, but had never blossomed beyond two hundred or so citizens.