Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1)

by Brittany Comeaux

  Elias sat down in his chair again, and stroked his chin. “This city hasn't changed much in my lifetime, and I've never noticed anything that would even resemble the entrance to a secret library.”

  Casimir grew restless. “Think harder...it may not seem important now, but--”

  Casimir was cut off when a loud crash came from the foyer. Muffled voices followed, and then the doors to the library flew open and a crowd of people entered the room. It didn't take Casimir long to spot Kaina right in front.

  “Kaina?” Roland said. “What the—why aren't you in your room?”

  Kaina stared at him. “It's been over an hour and you still haven't noticed that I escaped? Typical.”

  Before Roland could scream at her again, Hugo stepped closer to her and pointed at the others.

  “You...you've been working with the Azure Riders!” he shouted.

  Everyone gasped again, and Roland said, “Azure Riders? You mean the rebels that you've been trying to get rid of?”

  “The very same,” Hugo said. “I'd know that uniform anywhere.”

  Matilde yelped as though someone tossed a spider onto her lap and cried, “Oh heavens, it's worse than we thought! Now she's conspiring against the crown!”

  “I'd like to think that it's the other way around,” Tristan remarked.

  “Enough of this,” Casimir said. “By order of the crown, I am placing you all under arrest.”

  Kaina looked around. “Really, and how do you plan on doing that? With your wizard?”

  She looked directly at Azemar, who blatantly stated, “I don't know what you're talking about, girl. I'm no wizard.”

  Casimir scoffed. “She's simply trying to cast blame on us again.”

  Kaina said nothing more, even as the chattering of her family resonated in the air, and simply trained her gaze onto Azemar and edged closer to him. He noticed her, and at that point she focused her energy and waved her hand at him, and his natural instinct kicked in.

  Kaina shot an energy bolt at Azemar and out of instinct, he created a barrier to stop it. Though the attack was nullified, Kaina got her point across. A moment later, Azemar's expression fell as he realized what she had done.

  Hugo stared at Azemar and said, “He...he IS a wizard!”

  Casimir froze, then stared daggers at Kaina and said, “This is a trick. She did this on purpose.”

  Matilde shrieked once more and the other Haventhorns exchanged frantic expressions.

  “But...surely she...made the barrier herself...to frame him!” Roland sputtered.

  Azemar stepped forward and said, “It matters not. I work solely for King Torald, and I won't allow this insolent girl to ruin everything the crown stands for.”

  Almost on cue, another crashing sound echoed from the foyer, and a few seconds of hurried footsteps later, and Nilas and several other Disciples appeared in the doorway to the library.

  Azemar scowled. “You had but one task, Nilas.”

  Nilas sneered at Kaina. “The wizards gave us some trouble, but now we're gonna make them pay.”

  Nilas produced a small bead from his pocket, and Kaina studied it in an attempt to figure out what it was. That ended when Aldis turned to her wide-eyed and said, “Kaina run!”

  Before Kaina could react, however, Nilas threw the bead on the floor in between them. It exploded upon impact and a red mist began to form from it. Within seconds, the mist rose above their heads, and Kaina's eyes burned from whatever infernal substance was being produced. Her lungs protested and she began to cough, and she could hear the others reacting the same way. Within seconds, she felt several hands grabbing her, but before she could pull away from them, at least three men tackled her to the ground, cutting off any attempt to flee.

  “Get them into the chairs!” Azemar ordered, and Kaina wondered how in the world he or the others weren't affected by the smoke.

  Kaina could no longer fight as the men dragged her across the room and sat her down in a chair, then they wrapped her arms around the back of it and secured her wrists with a rope. As the smoke began to clear, Kaina could see the Haventhorns recovering from the effects, and that each of her comrades had been captured.

  “Well, that was a valiant effort,” Casimir said, “but your criminal ways are over.”

  He then thought for a moment, then said, “Hold on a minute...why did you come specifically to the manor?”

  Kaina remained silent, but even then she spoke volumes.

  “It's in here, isn't it?” Casimir said. “The entrance to the library is in Haventhorn Manor.”

  Casimir retrieved the key from his pocket and everyone gasped. The blue pieces embedded in the metal pulsated with a gentle light. The prince chuckled and said, “It's close...very close.”

  Casimir walked around, and every now and then the glow would grow brighter and weaker wherever he went, and finally he made his way to the hearth, where the glow grew the brightest. It was then that a spot on top of the heart began to glow, a spot that was shaped like a key hole. The glow on the key and the spot on the hearth vanished, leaving behind a freshly carved key hole.

  “There it is...the entrance to the Lost Library,” Casimir said.

  Kaina watched helplessly as the prince then placed the key in the hole, and the key disintegrated. The fire raging in the hearth vanished as though a gust of wind blew it out, leaving only a cloud of smoke in its wake. The hearth slowly began to vanish until all that was left was a staircase that led down into darkness.

  Casimir laughed, and said, “Finally, after four hundred years, Roric's legacy has come to pass. This is the day that those who would dare call themselves wizards will wish that they never cast a single spell.”

  Casimir turned to Azemar and Hugo, and said, “You two, follow me, and as for the rest of you...”

  Casimir looked around the room at the Disciples and said, “Make sure that no one follows us this time.”

  Kaina pulled against her bindings until she felt blood trickle out from underneath them, but she was unable to do anything but watch helplessly as Casimir, Azemar, and Hugo descended into the newly formed stairwell.

  Chapter 29

  “Well I certainly hope you're proud of yourself, Kaina” Roland said. “You have caused nothing but trouble for this family since the moment you were born.”

  Kaina didn't even look at him when she retorted in the most monotone way she could, “I'll be sure to keep that in mind every time I take a breath.”

  She then grinned with satisfaction when she heard Froki snickering from behind her.

  The entire group had been bound together back to back in two rows of chairs: Tristan was directly behind Kaina, and Abigail sat to her right, and from what she could tell Froki, Emir, and Aldis were on the side with Tristan and Melchior was sitting on the other side of Abigail. Kaina couldn't help but smirk at the way her mother stared in horror at Melchior, who now had his face revealed.

  “Have I offended you?” he asked.

  Matilde jumped at the sound of his voice and hurriedly backed away.

  Roland grabbed Kaina's face and forced her to face him and said, “Look at me when I'm talking to you! You have been a thorn in my side for too long. I should have know when you were growing up that you would turn out this way.”

  “What about what Casimir said?” Hamelin said. “He told us that Aldis brainwashed her.”

  “Did I now?” Aldis replied. “If by 'brainwash', the prince meant that I educated her and showed her that she was capable of more than you wanted for her, then I suppose that's the truth.”

  Kaina jerked her face away from Roland and he said, “Bah! I don't believe that for a moment. The sad truth is that she's worthless, plain and simple.”

  Despite knowing her entire life that Roland cared nothing for her, hearing it from his own mouth was the final nail in the coffin. Out of instinct, she turned to her mother, who simply stuck up her nose and turned her head away. It was a gesture that not even Gabriel's snickering could overshadow. K
aina bowed her head to avoid looking at anyone else, but she could still feel their judging eyes piercing her skin. She tried in vain not to imagine her uncle's snide grin or her grandfather's cold stare, but not even the greatest stories she had read could help her escape those images that had been permanently etched into her heart.

  “You...son of a bitch!”

  Kaina's head shot up to her right, where she could see Agibail's green eyes flashing with blind fury at Roland. Her flaming red hair became dulled by the bright red color forming in her cheeks as she continued, “How can you say such a thing to your own child?”

  “Shut your mouth, rebel,” Roland spat.

  Abigail ignored him. “You sit here and talk about how she's caused you embarrassment, but if you ask me, you're the embarrassment--”

  Abigail was interrupted as Roland's hand flew across her face, knocking her head to the side and sending her braid flying over her shoulder.

  “Stop!” Kaina screamed. “Don't take your insecurities out on her!”

  Roland responded by landing another slap on Kaina's face.

  “Both of you need to learn respect,” Roland shouted.

  Kaina wasn't done yet. “I don't respect anyone who doesn't show the same respect to me.”

  Roland slapped her again.

  “STOP!” Tristan yelled.

  Roland ignored their pleas and raised his hand again, but before it could make contact, a noise echoed through the room, halting everyone in their tracks. The room fell silent as everyone searched around in an attempt to discover the source of the noise, but to no avail.

  Thump!

  The sudden noise made everyone in the room jump, but despite their best efforts, no one could figure out the culprit.

  THUMP!

  Even louder this time, but there was a direct source. Roland turned to the windows that overlooked the courtyard, where it was fairly clear the noise was coming from. He lowered his hand and approached the windows, his body a mere silhouette against the moonlight pouring in, and watched for whatever caused the mysterious noise.

  Even Kaina never imagined that he would receive more than he bargained for.

  Seconds passed in agonizing silence, until a silhouette appeared at the top of each window. The figures swung downward towards the windows until they made contact, shattering the glass and hurling themselves inside.

  Matilde and Gabriel shrieked as though someone had set them on fire and threw themselves under the nearest table as three Azure Riders landed on their feet on the library floor. Seconds after the initial impact on the windows, several other rebels poured into the openings and then more came in through the doors, both on the first and second floor. They swarmed the family and in turn, the Disciples. The latter group attempted to fight, and some even attempted to flee, but the rebels swarmed everyone who wasn't tied to a chair.

  After securing the room, one of the rebels approached Tristan and said, “Sorry we're late, Boss. We heard the commotion from outside of town, so we made a plan to get inside and get everything under control.”

  Tristan nodded. “Better late than never. Untie us, will you?”

  After the other rebels untied Kaina, Tristan, and the others, Froki stood up and marched straight for Roland.

  “You know,” the pale giant said to him, “before I lost my Pa to your precious king, there was one thing he taught me that I never forgot.”

  Froki grabbed Roland by the collar and growled, “'Never hit someone who can't hit back.'”

  Froki raised his fist to strike Roland, but Kaina ran up to him and grabbed his arm with both hands.

  “Stop!” she cried. “He's not worth it. We have more important things to worry about.”

  Froki pulled Roland closer and growled, “You're lucky your daughter has more sense than you do.” He then lowered Roland, who then proceeded to back away to cower into the corner next to his wife.

  “Now then,” Kaina said, “let's go.”

  She went to go towards the entrance to the library with the others following her, when all of a sudden Gabriel stepped in her way.

  “Not so fast,” he said. “If you want to go in there, you'll have to go through me. No one threatens our father like that.”

  Froki walked up to Gabriel, whose knees began to shake at the sight of the mammoth of a man, and the former began to laugh.

  Froki turned to Kaina and said, “You didn't tell me your family had a jester.”

  Kaina couldn't hold back a laugh, but she still covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to remain serious.

  Before Gabriel could say another word, Froki delivered him a swift headbutt. The former yelped as he fell backwards and collapsed onto the stone floor. Matilde shrieked and rushed to her son's aid, while Devon and Hamelin picked him up. They then dragged him away and set him down where he could collect his bearings.

  Froki returned his attention to Kaina and said, “You should be the first one in.”

  He then gestured for the opening, and Kaina nodded and walked forward. Just before she reached the entrance, however, she heard Elias say, “You walk through that door, Kaina, and you will forever be disowned by the Haventhorn family.”

  Kaina looked back to her grandfather, met his gaze, and he added, “Make your choice.”

  Kaina's gaze shifted to the rest of her family, all of which save for Gabriel stared her down with utter disdain, daring her to make her next move.

  Kaina turned back to Elias, looked him in the eye, and said, “I already have.”

  She then proceeded to walk right into the darkness as she heard her mother cry out once more.

  “Those people made me sick,” Abigail said as they continued further down the stairs.

  Already they had gone far enough down the stairs, which coiled downwards in a perfect spiral, so that they could no longer see the dim lighting from the floor above and both Aldis and Melchior had to use small orbs of light in their hands for anyone to see where they were going. Aldis also taught Kaina how to cast the same spell, so she too held a ball of light out in front of her.

  “Thank you for defending me back there, Abigail,” Kaina said, “and...I'm sorry my father hit you.”

  “He's not the first man who hit me,” Abigail said, “and he probably won't be the last. We women have to look out for each other.”

  “I owe you an apology, Kaina,” Emir said, “I thought I had a rough family, but I honestly didn't think your family would turn out to be that bad.”

  “It doesn't matter now,” Kaina said. “It's time to put that chapter behind me and focus on the future, and that involves putting a stop to Casimir's plans.”

  “How far down do you think this goes?” Froki asked. “We've been walking for at least ten minutes now.”

  Melchior, who was near the back, said, “I know for a fact that Zion would have hidden the library well, probably even left a few twists and turns to confuse those who wouldn't know what they were doing.”

  “We don't know what we're doing...” Emir remarked.

  “Then I suppose we'll get lost,” Melchior replied.

  “That's not helping,” Kaina said.

  “You'll have to forgive Melchior,” Aldis whispered to Kaina. “Merunians were always known to be, well, brutally honest. It's a good thing at times, but in other situations it's not exactly called for.”

  “I see,” Kaina said.

  After a few more rounds down the stairs, Kaina finally found that the floor leveled out, and she assumed that they reached the bottom.

  “Ah, here we are,” Aldis said. “Now let us see what we have to see.”

  Kaina walked through a tall archway that led into a wide, long corridor. It resembled something like a grand entryway into a castle, and in this instance it was to pave the way to whatever secrets that Zion had hidden away. As Kaina walked forward, she could see statues caked in dust lining the wall, and dividing each section of wall where a statue stood was another archway that led down further. It was so dark that Kaina coul
dn't see more than ten feet in front of her, but it didn't take her long to realize that she had seen this hallway before.

  It was the same corridor she ran through during her test back in Undercliff. Kaina figured this was Zion's doing, fashioning her surroundings like his library, and she wondered where she might find the chamber where she defeated Mareth. Panic rose inside if her as she relived the terror, but a few deep breaths later and she was able to keep it at bay.

  “This architecture is fascinating,” Aldis commented. “So precise and perfect down to every last detail.”

  “This is Merunian architecture,” Melchior explained. “We should keep moving, because these statues look angry.”

  “What can they do?” Froki said. “They're statues.”

  “Merunians had a way of placing spells on statues to act as guards and would come to life at the slightest sign of an intruder. I suspect that the only reason they haven't attacked us yet is because of Kaina,” Melchior explained.

  “Me?” Kaina asked.

  “They sense Zion's familiar power within you, and they know that you are welcome here,” Melchior explained. “What I don't understand is why they didn't attack Casimir and the others.”

  “Maybe because of Azemar,” Kaina offered. “He could have shielded them with magic.”

  “Perhaps,” Melchior said, “Although I fear there may be a more sinister reason.”

  The corridor opened to a large antechamber with an enormous knight statue standing in front of a double staircase that curved around the room to a doorway on the top. Kaina approached with caution, and if she didn't know any better, she would have thought the knight scowled when he noticed them.

  “That...is one big statue,” Emir said.

  The statue stood over a hundred feet tall, at least, and was covered head to toe in stone armor with only his face showing. His two hands rested on the hilt of an enormous sword, the blade of which was as wide as Kaina was tall, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it could carve through intruders like butter.

  “Be on your guard,” Melchior said. “That is the Arcane Guardian, a statue that Zion used to keep on the outskirts of his city to deter invaders. It's incredibly powerful and deadly, not to mention unstoppable...”