An explosion ripped forth, a combination of fire, wind, and electricity. It broke the cobblestones beneath and cracked the castle’s walls. It crumbled and burnt the buildings surrounding the square, everything engulfed in a fiery blaze.
Riley hit the ground hard, bouncing on her back before skidding to a stop.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow.
Moments passed as the world burnt around her.
And then her brain forced her body up. She rose to her feet, her eyes flashing open. Her body ached, and her skin was singed. She saw only fire and smoke around her, yet Mason had to be somewhere.
“MASON!” she shouted, not caring if Rendal heard her. Not caring if he was hunting for her in this hell. “MASON!”
She rushed forward. The heat and flames tried to kill her, but she kept going. Her eyes watered and her body hurt, yet she had to find him.
“Riley...”
It was a soft whisper, nearly drowned by the sound of flames engulfing the world.
She turned in the direction it came from.
“Riley...” It was Mason.
She ran over, finding him crumpled on the ground. His arm was bent in a way it shouldn’t be, as was his leg. His body was badly burnt, his neck a painful mix of black and red flesh.
“Come on.” She reached down, grabbing him gently under his arms.
“No. You’ve got to run,” he told her. “You’re not going to make it carrying me.”
Riley shook her head, grabbing her leader and lifting him. “You’re as dumb as William if you think I’m leaving you, Mason. I didn’t burn this kingdom to the ground just to let you burn with it.”
Her muscles cried out as she started walking, the Assistant Prefect in her arms.
“You won’t make it.” He started coughing, the smoke filling both their lungs.
“We’re both going to make it, now shut up, Mason.”
Riley went forward, step after step. She saw no one. Heard no one. She had to turn back from certain pathways, the fire too hot.
The world began to grow hazy, but not from smoke. Mason had passed out in her arms, and Riley felt her knees start to buckle.
Forward, she thought. Keep going forward.
She went another ten feet and then fell to the ground. Blackness overtook the Right Hand.
Chapter Thirteen
“She’s too stubborn to die.”
Riley heard the words, the first she could remember hearing in... Well, what seemed like forever.
She opened her eyes.
“Told you. Way too stubborn to die.”
It was William, and he was looking down at her.
“Mason?” she asked, her vocal cords feeling like someone was rubbing sandpaper over them.
“Quiet, my Savior,” Thomas said. “Quiet now. You need rest.”
“The bastard is still going on about you being his savior.” William chuckled.
Riley reached out, unsure where she was or what was happening. She gripped William’s arm as tight as she could. “Mason?” It was the only word she could get out.
“Calm down, skinny. He’s alive. Hurt, but he’s gonna make it. Now listen to your little lackey here and get some sleep.”
Riley stared at William for a moment, searching for any sense of falsehood in his face.
She saw none. He was telling the truth. Wherever she was right now, whatever was happening, Mason was alive.
She closed her eyes, and yet again, darkness overtook the Right Hand.
William hated being underground. To him, the entire place felt too small, like he was trapped.
Probably because he was a damned giant.
Yet, right now they had no choice. He’d spoken to Riley briefly, but they couldn’t move her any farther. Making it this far across the desert had been hard enough. Going all the way to New Perth in such a state?
She would have died, as would Mason.
They’d been here five days, and while William talked bullishly, he didn’t feel that way. Not about Riley, at least.
Mason was already awake. His arm and leg had been set, and while he wouldn’t be walking on his own anytime soon, the Assistant Prefect was doing well.
Riley was not.
William and Mason had been summoned to the queen’s chambers. Her name was Alexandra, and while William knew she was only the queen of a few underground tunnels, he was beginning to trust her.
Everyone in here had an almost slavish devotion to Riley.
They truly believed her to be some kind of savior; they believed her magic would grow that powerful.
William didn’t know about all that, only that his friend was sick and not getting better.
Mason was in a type of chair William hadn’t seen back in New Perth. The thing had wheels on the sides and William was pushing it from behind, ensuring that Mason could get wherever he needed.
“How are you feeling, sir?” he asked the Assistant Prefect.
“Please cut that shit out, William,” Mason directed. “I feel awful, but there’s no reason for us to continue with the sirs and such, given how far you’ve come for me. We’re friends.”
“Yes, sir,” William responded before snapping his teeth shut. It didn’t matter what Mason wanted; he wouldn’t be able to stop etiquette.
They reached the queen’s chambers. William stepped around the chair and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Alexandra called.
William opened the door and rolled Mason through. He closed the door after they entered, pushing Mason to the middle of the room. The queen sat on a couch opposite him.
William and Riley had been in charge for a long time, both of them given free rein to do what was necessary to return Mason to the kingdom. Now, though, Mason was back and in charge.
William moved to the corner of the room, placing his hands at his sides as he looked on.
“Thank you for coming, Mason,” the queen said.
“Again, we’re grateful you’ve given us refuge,” Mason answered.
The queen nodded. She had shown great respect to Mason’s entourage, most likely because she knew how Riley felt about them all.
“We’ve been studying your Right Hand carefully. You know how important she is to us, as she is to you.”
Mason nodded in silent agreement.
The queen continued, “Her wounds are not physical, at least not in the same way yours are. The mage hurt your body, but we think he did more to her. We think he hurt her…” the queen’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know the word. I’ve thought about it quite a bit, but I can’t figure out how he did it.”
She stared at Mason for a second, then said, “You might think I’m crazy, but his wounds are inside her. Her mind. Maybe her very soul, if such a thing exists.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Mason responded, “but that doesn’t do anything to help me fix her. That’s all I care about—getting her healthy.”
The queen nodded. “Me too. I’m saying soul and mind, but that’s because I lack the knowledge to diagnose her.”
“Who has the knowledge, then?”
“Well,” the queen answered, “the dark mage does, clearly. Other than that, I can only think of one person.” She looked away almost wistfully.
“Who?” Mason asked.
“Her name was Linda. I don’t even know if she’s alive anymore. I actually doubt it. She’d be... Well, as old as this mage of yours, if not older.”
“Who is she?”
The queen stood and walked behind the couch. She remained with her back to Mason. “She’s the one who started magic here. She’s the one who taught the originals. She might even have taught that dark mage. If anyone knows what’s happening to Riley, it’ll be her—if she’s alive.”
“Where would she be?” Mason asked, his voice edged.
“It’s hard to say,” Alexandra murmured. “The last time anyone saw her, she was leaving the continent.”
“Why?”
Alexa
ndra turned around, a slight smile on her face. “How old do you think I am?”
“I...I’m sorry. I just thought you might know,” Mason answered.
Alexandra’s smile widened. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not sure why she was leaving, but legend has it that she was heading to the reef. If there are any clues to finding her, that’s where we should start.”
“And you think this Linda can save Riley? You think she’ll know what’s going on with her?” Mason asked.
“I think that if anyone knows, it’ll be her. The Chosen are extremely adept at magic, but I can’t touch what is going on with her. None of my people can either.” Alexandra’s face grew grave. “As much as you want to save Riley, understand I want it at least as much. She is our Savior, whether you believe it or not. She will change mankind. It’s important that we go west again.”
William felt the need to speak up then, although he didn’t want to. This was a meeting between leaders, but William had a duty to New Perth, even before his duty to Riley.
“I apologize, sir, but I feel I must say something.” He stepped away from the wall. “What about New Perth? What if Rendal survived? He will surely still be coming for our kingdom.”
Mason didn’t turn around to look at William, only nodded his head. “You’re right. We cannot forget our obligation, and I appreciate you reminding me.” He focused again on the queen. “I’m going to head back to New Perth. I have to warn my father and help prepare the kingdom. William will go with you and your Chosen to find this woman, Linda.”
The queen nodded in agreement. “We’ll have to bring her with us. Whatever is happening, it’s getting worse, not better. If we find Linda, we won’t have time to return here. It’ll be too late.”
Mason turned his chair around and looked at William. “You keep her safe, you understand? Not just because we love her, but because she’s the only fucking person who can stop Rendal.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll give my life for her.” William was solemn in his promise.
“All right,” the queen interjected. “Let’s go find this woman and get Riley healed. I’m ready to see her kick some serious fucking ass.”
FINIS
Author Notes - Jace Mitchell
December 20, 2018
That was intense!
I honestly had no idea how this book was going to end. I could see Riley winding her way to Rendal, learning more and more about her powers, but I didn’t understand what would happen when they met. Was she strong enough yet?
Turns out, no. But to me, that feels a lot like real life. How many times do we have to try something over and over again before we’re finally able to master it, or to move past some obstacle? The thing I love about Riley is that as long as there is breath in her lungs, she’s going to keep trying. Rendal will have to kill her to make her stop hunting him.
Full disclosure, I haven’t started Book 4 yet, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen. We know the mythology of Arcadia and how the Founder spread the use of magic there, but we don’t yet know how it happened in Australia. I’m really, really excited to explore the mythology and how New Perth and Sidnie came to be.
It looks like things are grim for Riley; I’ve said this before, but I don’t really know what is going to happen to characters. They lead me and I just describe what I see. I do believe, however, that Riley’s going to rise. There’s a lot of fight left in her, and while she may be down, she’s not nearly out.
Okay, back to the salt mines for me. I hope you’re ready for book 4!
All the best,
Jace
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
December 25, 2018
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
You know, I suggest that if a certain author (*cough* *JACE* *cough*) keeps making my poor Riley get in these situations, I’m going to have to put their email address (or at least a forward email address) in these author notes so the fans can have a few words with them.
And I will ratchet it up from there.
If Jace didn’t live so far away from me, I could be a little more personal in my application of subjective collaboration disagreement force.
But, alas, I cannot (and I am FAR too lazy to actually get on a plane to do anything.)
Although, the story comes through here (digitally) for editing…
HOW TO MARKET FOR BOOKS YOU LOVE
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Merry Christmas, 2018!
We are in our La Puente (California) home for the first time on Christmas. This also means that we have (had) NO Christmas decorations.
After many years of having a much larger home (with a LOT of storage space, and this house is neither that large, nor does it have much storage space) I am trying to keep our decorations down.
BUT, I still was sulking because we had NONE here. (I’m an author, so I’m allowed to sulk. It helps the empathy of my stories come out. You know, I have to feel them, right?)
Hey, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
So, back to the Christmas stuff. We purchased two big red wreaths (front door and what turned out to be for the mailbox), two boxes of lights (they went around the fireplace) and six little tree decorations (three little angels, and three little stockings that say ‘JOY’ with a green wreath about 3” around. No, seriously, these are tiny little things.)
It took about ten minutes to put everything up, and it is JUST enough holiday’s for me to feel good about having the holiday.
Now I need cookies… (See you later, I’m starving!)
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Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Magic Unchained
Chapter One
“This is bullshit,” William growled. “Five days to get here, and this is all there is?”
William dismounted from his camel and looked at the water before him. Worth, Alexandra, and Eric were all behind him, still sitting atop their own camels.
Riley lay inside a small wagon that was attached to Eric’s camel. It was covered, and Riley was silent, still unconscious.
“I knew this was bullshit,” William told the group. “I knew it from the beginning. There’s no sorceress here.”
The group had headed northeast, making their way to the shore of the Great Barrier Reef. Or what was left of it. The World’s Worst Day Ever pretty much killed all the coral.
No one in the group had ever been this far, and as they looked over the beach, it was clear very few others had as well.
“Not even a hut. No one is here. This was a waste of time.”
“Big man always mad,” Worth said as he got off his camel. “Always angry. Need drink more.” He walked up next to William, stopping at his side.
Alexandra, the Chosen’s queen, came next. Only Eric remained on his camel, keeping watch over Riley though it appeared no one lived here.
The three stood looking at the ocean, waves lightly curling onto the shoreline.
A dead city lay behind them. Natur
e had taken its course, however, and the city was crumbling.
“This is where the rumors said she went,” Alexandra commented. She meant the woman who had brought magic to this continent. The woman who trained Rendal. She was talking about a woman named Linda.
“Well, clearly they were just rumors, and now I got Riley in a wagon. And if ya ain’t noticed, she’s not getting any better.”
“Wish Lucie here,” Worth responded. “She make him shut up.”
“Yeah, William, what did you expect to find here? Linda sitting on the beach crocheting or something?” Alexandra asked. “I never guaranteed she’d be here. I only said that if anyone can understand what’s happening with Riley, it’ll be her.”
“And what if we can’t find her?” William asked. “What if this damned sorceress doesn’t exist?”
“Just calm down,” Alexandra said. “Worth’s right. We should have brought Lucie and Erin. If Lucie didn’t shut you up, maybe Erin’s kisses would have. Either way, we’re here now. We haven’t found her in the first five minutes, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to.”
Alexandra looked at the city.
“If she’s here, she’s most likely going to be in one of those buildings.” She glanced at William, grinning. “I really thought our savior’s partner would be smarter than this. You’ve been silent for much of the trip. Were you just hiding your stupidity?”
William raised one eyebrow, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He turned to Worth. “You hearing this?”
“She right. Big man dumb. Plenty room to look around here. No need panic.”
William chuckled and looked at the ground, shaking his head. “You’re right. I just...I feel responsible. Riley is getting worse, and we’re running out of time.”
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