He’d beaten him.
Over the years, Gavin had wanted nothing more than to defeat Tristan when he had been training. He had wanted nothing more than to crush him, overthrow him, and prove to him that he was enough, but had never succeeded. Gavin had landed a punch, had even bloodied Tristan a time or two, but he had never defeated him.
How had I done so now?
“Are you going to hold me, or are you going to control them?” Tristan said.
“I think I’ll do both. Why are you targeting the Fates?”
“If you had paid attention, you would know.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Even as Gavin said it, he could feel the shadows starting to swirl around him. The creatures were getting closer, near enough that he would have to try to find a way to overpower them.
“I don’t think so,” Tristan said. “You see, they will not react well unless you determine the key to their control.”
Gavin pressed his knee down on Tristan’s chest again and forced Tristan to look at him. “How do I control them?”
“I’ve already told you that I am not going to provide the answers to you. If you want to know, you’re going to have to come up with them on your own. Much like you have come up with everything else on your own, Gavin Lorren.”
Gavin slammed his fist into Tristan’s head. A smile came to Tristan’s face as his eyes rolled up, and he went limp.
Gavin jumped to his feet, turning to face the creatures. He held on to the dark egg. The enchantment still repelled the smoke creatures, though he wondered how much longer that would be effective.
He trembled and tipped the last of the powder down his throat, knowing that he needed the rest of the power. Gavin looked down at the dark egg. There was something within it that he needed to do, to find some way to overpower what had been done in the way the smoke creatures were controlled.
What if he pushed his core power into it much like he had with the jade egg and the enchantments? If he did that, he would be connecting to it, and he worried that it would somehow change him.
Gavin had to try. He summoned that strength, which required that he abandon the power he pushed through the magical barrier. Instead, he pushed it into the dark egg. It started to glow, taking on a deep purple hue.
Something shifted.
The semarrl were called to the dark egg.
He held it up, letting power flow from him into it.
A smoke creature flowed into the dark egg, and Gavin shuddered. The sensation was disturbing, almost a slithering feeling of a snake gliding past him. The creature filled the dark egg with its strange power.
Then another and then another and then another. One by one, the semarrl flowed into the dark egg.
Gavin held on to the power, letting that connection form between him and the egg, between him and the creatures. The energy from him flowed outward, reaching the power of the egg. He tried not to think about what was happening.
As the egg glowed with that purplish power, the shadows were drawn into it. Finally, everything around him cleared. There were no more semarrl.
His core reserve faded. He sagged, dropping to his knees. He held the dark egg and then slipped it into his pocket. “You won’t win this time. I’ve stopped them. I’ve stopped…”
Gavin glanced over, but Tristan was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gavin climbed down from the rooftop and stood in the square. His fatigue came with a throbbing headache that left him needing to rub his eyes, his neck, everything to ease that sensation. But nothing could take away much of that pain.
What if this was nothing more than a test? Tristan shouldn’t be so easy to defeat. Not that he had been easy, per se, but he had not been nearly as difficult as Gavin remembered him to be.
If this was more testing…
Gavin shook those thoughts away. He needed to reach Anna.
He touched the marker, and he pulsed some of his core reserves, all that he thought he had remaining, into it.
There was no response.
When he reached the center of the square, something started to crawl around his ankles. A familiar power.
The Fates.
Gavin looked around. He was exhausted and didn’t think that he could handle the Fates as well. He reached into his pocket, touching one hand to the dark egg. He didn’t like the idea that he might have to use it, but if the Fates came to him and attacked, then what choice would he have but to defend himself?
If he were right, then it was how the Triad had intended to use the dark egg, only Gavin didn’t intend to use it to gain more power. Just to keep the city safe from a dangerous power.
He couldn’t fight. Everything within him was overwhelmed. Gavin stood in place and looked around, waiting for them to reveal themselves. The air took on a shimmering quality, and it started to glow.
It was as if everything tilted around him, and where there had been nothing, suddenly there was something. Someone.
Several of them.
Not just one Fate.
The Fates.
The Fates were older-looking sorcerers, though they seemed almost ageless. One of them strode ahead of the others, a dark-bearded bald man he had fought before. The others were an older woman with pale eyes and graying hair and a thin man with a severe smile. Their crimson robes flowed down to the ground as they watched Gavin.
Gavin had only faced one of the Fates before. He had not seen the others. Much like Zella had suspected, three were here. That might be all there were.
And they wanted the egg.
Given his weakened state, he doubted that he would be able to face them, and he certainly didn’t think that he would win.
The lead Fate was dressed in a flowing crimson robe, and he was not the man Gavin had fought before. The robe reminded Gavin of what he had seen when he had headed into the sorcerer’s lair. The only advantage Gavin had was that he had to believe the Fates could be divided. If they wanted the same item, maybe he could leverage it against them.
“You have been most difficult here, Gavin Lorren,” the nearest one said.
Gavin grunted. “And you have been most annoying coming into the city.”
“You have created quite a dilemma for us.”
“Really? And what is that?”
“The question of what to do with you.”
“I don’t think you get to do anything with me,” Gavin said.
“That would be unfortunate. You could be of much use.”
Gavin tried not to think about how he could be of much use or why. It was the same way that he had tried not to think about why Tristan had trained him to use his magic. Eventually, he was going to have to face those questions and find those answers.
“I don’t want to be of use to the Fates.”
“Then you would prefer an alternative arrangement?” the leader asked.
The three Fates took up positions around him. The strange magical energy he had detected when they’d attacked continued to sneak up and around his ankles. He could feel it sliding up along his legs, working around his chest.
“Release me, or you’d better be prepared to face me,” Gavin said.
The Fate smiled at him. “You have already seen how little you can do to us. Even one of us.”
“I have,” Gavin agreed.
“What makes you think this will be any different?”
“Because I have something you do not.”
The bearded Fate smiled and walked toward him. “And that something is what we will take from you.”
The female Fate flashed irritation as the bearded Fate came toward him.
“I’m not talking about the jade egg,” Gavin said.
The Fate paused, watching him. “What is it, then?”
“Something else.”
Gavin squeezed the dark egg. He didn’t have much power left within him. The only thing he thought he had left was the chance of releasing the semarrl upon the Fates.
“Y
ou’re going to leave the city,” Gavin said.
The Fates shared a look. “This city has been without the proper guidance for long enough,” the leader said. “There are many such places, though perhaps not so difficult as this. The others thought to extend their power beyond what we would have permitted. It required a firm correction.”
Could the Fates have known what the Triad had planned and how they would have used the egg?
“This city already decided that it had enough of sorcerer influence. Or don’t you remember what happened?”
“Oh, we know quite well what happened. Those who were involved were punished most severely.”
Gavin suspected what happened to the rest of the Triad, not that it mattered to him. “You would come in here and offer your guidance, then?”
“Perhaps,” the Fate said.
“No,” Gavin said again.
The woman started to chuckle, her voice slightly pinched and a hint of shadow swirling around her. Not smoke. Maybe there had been more of the Fates here than he’d realized. “What makes you think you can defy us?”
“Because I can.”
“Unfortunately for you, you have already proven incapable of countering our strength. You are formidable, but you lack focus, and you lack training,” the lead Fate said.
Gavin smirked at him. “I lack training?”
“The kind of training that would make you dangerous.”
Gavin grunted. “Interesting.”
“Why is that interesting?”
“Because it is,” Gavin said with a shrug. “Anyway, I grow weary of this conversation.” He looked at the Fates. He could feel the energy they were using around him, and it started to constrict, making it so that he wouldn’t have much longer.
“We will take the jade egg back. It belongs to us.” This came from the angry-looking female Fate.
“It didn’t always,” Gavin said.
“Correct,” he replied.
“What will you do when the El’aras come for it?”
The Fate laughed derisively. “The El’aras pose no challenge to us.”
“Are you so certain of that?” Gavin asked.
The Fates watched him. “Yes,” the Fate Gavin had stabbed said. There was an irritation in his tone that matched the way he’d seemed when Gavin had faced him in the Dragon.
The energy flowing around him started to constrict.
“We will have the jade egg,” the first said.
Gavin didn’t know if any of them was their leader—or if they were all here to make certain the others didn’t succeed. Maybe he could use that against them. “I don’t have it.”
The power constricted.
Gavin focused, staring at them. “If you keep at this, I will release the semarrl.”
The pressure on him eased for a second. He could see tension within their faces.
“You recognize that term,” Gavin said.
“He’s bluffing,” the woman said. “Somebody like him could not control the creatures. He would not have the necessary power.”
“I’m not bluffing, but if you’d like to take that chance, that doesn’t trouble me one bit. I can only imagine what would happen if the semarrl were released near the Fates. How hungry do you think they would be?”
He suspected the Fates would have a way of fighting off the semarrl, but it would likely take power and preparation. Given what Gavin had seen, as many as there were, he doubted they could fight them all off.
“The Triad thought they could control them, as well.” Gavin tried to sound casual. “They used the egg to create the means.” This time, he saw the tension in each of them increase. “Perhaps I should direct them at one of you, rather than all of you.” Gavin smiled darkly. “Which would I choose? Perhaps you,” he said, nodding to the woman. “Or you?” He nodded to the older of the men. “Or you,” he said, looking to the man closest to him, the one he’d fought before. He’d attacked the Dragon, so maybe he was the one Gavin should release the semarrl upon. “Or perhaps all of you. As many as there are, they will likely have little difficulty with you. I’m sure you’ve heard they are active in the city, unless you don’t fear them.”
“All with power fear the semarrl.”
They no longer squeezed him the way that they had, which Gavin felt was a small victory. It wasn’t much, but enough that he could push against what they were doing, the way they were trying to hold him. He resisted, sending power out from him, holding on to that core reserve.
As he connected to that, he could feel the energy within him starting to wane. He didn’t have much left. Before long, he wouldn’t have enough strength to be able to release the semarrl. Instead, Gavin used just a bit, enough for him to resist that pressure upon him, little more than that.
Gavin scanned the distance.
Where was Anna? He’d called her after defeating Tristan. She’d promised she would help with the Fates. All he needed was to find a way to bide his time.
“You seem to be waiting for something,” the Fate said. “Do you believe that help is coming?”
“I do.”
The older Fate smiled at him. “Do you believe she will come?”
Gavin tensed. They knew about Anna. The comment about the El’aras had meant something. “Where is she?”
The Fate chuckled. “Did you really think that one of their kind would be able to challenge us? We are the Fates. We are those who lead. She is nothing.”
Gavin resisted the urge to give in to his rage. She was more than nothing. She was the Risen Shard, even if he didn’t know what that meant.
She was Anna.
“What did you do to her?”
The Fate smiled tightly. “We removed her as a threat.”
Anger built up within him. He let that simmer, filling him with that agitation, the sense of what he had felt before. They had attacked Anna? The only reason she was here was because of him. The only reason she had gone after the Fate was because of him.
But she’d thought she would be facing a single sorcerer. Not all the Fates.
“You will release me,” Gavin said.
“I think not. If you no longer have the jade egg, then you are of no use to us.”
Power started to snake around him, even more than before. It wrapped around his throat, squeezing. Gavin could feel his strength waning as he drew upon a hint more of his core power.
He pushed outward, resisting the way that they constricted him, trying to fight back. He needed only a little bit more. Just a hint of power. As he held on to that, he could feel the pressure around him beginning to release. The energy started to ease.
If they had Anna, Gavin had little choice as to what his next step would be. Although it was what he had to do, it wasn’t what he wanted. None of this was what he wanted.
He glared at them, and he let himself be filled by that power within him. He embraced the core power, and for the first time, he recognized and could feel its limit. The energy wasn’t going to last long. If he lost that, then he would not be able to do anything more. He had to act quickly.
He didn’t want to release the semarrl, and if he did, Gavin worried that he wouldn’t have the strength to summon them back to the dark egg. It was possible that another could do so, though he wondered if there was somebody in the city who could. Better yet, if there was somebody who should…
Who would he trust to release and hold the power of the dark egg?
“I will give you only a few more moments to undo the magic around me,” Gavin said. “If you don’t, I will unleash the semarrl, and then you will discover which of you I targeted.” He locked eyes with each of them.
Finally, the power began to ease.
“Good,” Gavin said. “Now, you and I will have a conversation. You may want to believe that I don’t have the power of the semarrl, but I can assure you I do. Where is she?”
“You do not get to direct us,” the bearded Fate said.
Gavin swung his gaze from one to the other. “Actual
ly, I do. You’ve already proven that I do. If you didn’t fear the semarrl, you wouldn’t have released the power around me.” Invisible bands of magic started to snake around him, and Gavin clenched his fists. He pulled the dark egg out of his pocket and held it out. “Do you question me now?”
The Fates stared at the dark egg, and Gavin held it up close to his face, forcing their eyes up. He needed them to know that he was the actual threat, not the dark egg.
“The Triad created this to control them. Do you doubt that it’s effective?” No one answered. “I didn’t think so. If you don’t want it used against you, then you’ll release me.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” the older Fate said.
“I would if you continue what you’re doing. Release the power around me now.”
The pressure eased.
“You will release her as well.”
The bearded Fate shook his head. “That is not going to happen.”
“It is going to happen.”
The Fates stared at him and did nothing.
Gavin shrugged. “It’s your choice.” He started to push power into the dark egg, and it took on a purplish glow.
The Fates stared at it, and Gavin couldn’t tell if it was a look of hunger in their eyes, anger, or fear. They were skilled at maintaining their neutral expression. He continued to push power into the egg, using as much as he had. All he wanted was for the egg to glow, nothing more than that, and he certainly didn’t want to release the semarrl, as Gavin had no idea if he would have enough power to contain them again, but he could use this as a way to scare them.
The egg continued to glow, increasingly brightly.
“Fine,” the bearded man said.
“We should not—”
“We have no choice,” the bearded Fate said, cutting off the woman. “We have not readied the protections. We would be a feast, and you know it.”
There came another shimmer, a tilt. Within that was another figure.
Anna.
He waited, and she strode quickly across the ground toward him. Her skin almost glowed, and she had a determined step to her. She looked as if she had not been confined by the Fates. The tension in her eyes was profound, though, and her anger evident. Gavin was thankful he was not the source of her anger.
The Fates of Yoran (The Chain Breaker Book 3) Page 26