Descent (Unbound Prophecy Book 2) Read online

  Sinow ran his hand across his face in frustration. Everything they said was true; he could refute none of it. He and Violissa had left the door open for Tynan’s treason, and he had taken that opening and widened it while they had played games with the prophecy.

  He sighed and looked back up at them. “Violissa and I are both to blame for our situation. You are correct, and if I could go back and undo it all, I would in a heartbeat. But that is beyond even your power, so I have come to ask that you let me bring her back. I need her, and our world needs her. Our world is out of balance; I feel it deep in my core, and that balance is shifting every day. Even the sun and moons reflect it. The days have shortened, you must know that.”

  He saw pity in the eyes of the female Fate but knew he couldn’t be proud right now. Everything was riding on convincing the Fates to help him. She sighed and began to speak, but the male Fate spoke first.

  “You are bold, child.” He stood taller, arms crossed over his chest, eyes daring Sinow to push back. It took all his force, but Sinow kept himself in check, knowing if he crossed the Fates, he would never obtain that for which he had come.

  “You think we don’t know these things. There is no question the balance is tilted to the Dark, and that tilt worsens with each passing century. Have you not noticed her Lightbearers grow weaker? No, of course you wouldn’t have. Instead you lock yourself away from the gifts we’ve given, from the world you rule, pitying your situation and mourning what you’ve lost. The balance shifts because their queen is gone; the Dark slowly fills the void and will continue until this world lives in total Darkness.”

  “Then you have even more reason to send me after her. The balance can be restored. Let me find her, and I promise it will be.”

  The two Fates looked at each other for a prolonged time. Were they speaking enaigne? Silently debating what they should do with him? The length of time that passed led Sinow to believe they were.

  “We will send you,” the female spoke first. He let out a sigh of relief before realizing he’d done so prematurely.

  “He needs to be punished, Orlaina. They both do. We cannot make this easy,” the man said through clenched teeth. Clearly, he was the one who was holding out on sending Sinow after her.

  “They’ve both been punished enough. We have all decided that.”

  “Not enough. I told you I would not agree to this unless there were conditions.”

  The female sighed and nodded.

  “As you and several of your kin noted before we came here,” she answered him. Turning back to Sinow, she continued, “We will send you after her, but it will not be easy.”

  “Fine, I’ll take any challenge you give me. Where is she? Is she in another realm?” Sinow asked hastily.

  “You may regret that with which you have just agreed. She is in another world, far from ours and not within our reach.”

  “Another world?”

  “Another world within an entirely different dimension. There are others like us who created their own worlds with their own rules. Not all of our kind were as generous as we have been.”

  “She is in the human realm. It is a place much different than ours and one ruled by a being who does not trust his people with magic as we do. His world is a place where no magic exists and as so, you will be beyond our powers. I have managed to bargain at least some access for you, but it will be brief, and it is all he will allow.”

  “That should be enough. All I need to do is find her, and I can bring her home.”

  She shook her head sadly. “She is powerless in this world. Mortal yet immortal. She lives and dies as a mortal of their world would. Stuck living life after life. The spell that hit her has taken advantage of her weakness and weaved its way into her mind, warping it as it has. She has no memory of who she is or was. It will not be as easy as you think.”

  “Enough, Orlaina,” the male Fate spoke. “Here are your conditions. We will send you to this world. You will be linked to her lifeline, mortal just as she is, dying when she dies, reborn when she is reborn. Your memories taken just as hers are. We can only give you one chance every lifetime during which you will both meet. That is all the magic he will allow. Once you have both awakened, you will have three days from that time to convince her to return with you. If you fail, she will be gone from your grasp until the next life. You will not find her, and she will not remember.”

  “I don’t understand why that would be a problem. She will return with me the moment she realizes who I am and who she is. I agree, now send me.”

  “You do not wish to hear the rest, Dark child?”

  “I wish to find her and bring her home so we can set things right. Time is slipping as we stand here.”

  “Fine, but let me warn you, you have until her thousandth year in that world to return with her. If you fail, you give up everything.”

  “Everything?”

  “Your throne, your power, your immortality. All of it, lost.”

  He looked down to consider what they had said. He had known they would bargain, known he would need to give them something in return, had told Keary he was willing to give up everything. Now that the words had been spoken, the weight of the choice seemed heavier than he had anticipated. Could he live without his power, without his throne? Live a mortal life? He closed his eyes and thought about her. His heart leapt in reaction, and he knew he would give it all up for even a moment to hold her in his arms again, feel the softness of her lips, and smell the scent of lilac that sat so delicately on her skin.

  He opened his eyes and answered, “Yes. All of it for her.”

  “Then so be it,” the male Fate answered. He walked toward Sinow and stood so that they were almost touching. Sinow could feel the power emanating from him. “Be warned. Things will not come as easily as you think. Good luck, heir of mine.” With that, he vanished from the room, leaving Sinow with only the female.

  Sinow looked over at her. For a moment, she reminded him of Violissa. The wisp of white locks that glanced over her cheek did so just the way Violissa’s would. His heart lurched at the memory, and the pain washed through him once more. The Fate smiled a sad, knowing smile.

  “Your heart aches for her. You are tied to her in ways that you never could have imagined but that you now understand all too well. Your souls are entwined, and no distance can undo the need you have for one another.” She had walked over to him, and her hand moved to lie on his chest just over his heart.

  “Dark child, that you would risk everything to find her comes as no surprise to any of us. Your every breath is as one with hers and so it shall be in the other world. Know that the deal you have made is one you may come to regret. For all our sakes, I do hope it will not.”

  He smiled and grabbed her hand, a bold move considering she could strike him down in an instant even given all his powers. Thankfully, she did not move. “I will bring her back, and together, we will make things right. We will follow the path you have written for us without hesitation this time.”

  “You may come to regret saying that as well for the path my brothers have set for you will be the hardest test you’ve faced. Stay true to your quest and do not give up on her, no matter what she may do.”

  She moved away before he could respond. “Now, Dark child. Close your eyes and clear your mind. May the blessing of the Fates follow you to your new world. Good luck, Sinow.”

  With her final words, Sinow felt the weight of her hand lighten, the air around him stir until it was a strong gust pushing against him. He tried to open his eyes, but they stayed closed, resisting his every attempt. The air grew heavy and then he felt nothing. It was as if he were floating, weightlessly, until suddenly he was jerked backwards from his midsection. Doubled over with the force, he felt the world around him fall away until there was nothing.

  Three

  The boy looked around. He stood alone in a field, but w
hy was he here? He ran his hand along the tall stalks of wheat that surrounded him and thought hard about it. He needed to find something, no, someone. Her. That’s all he could remember. He ran his hand through his hair. Why couldn’t he remember anything? He wasn’t even sure who he was, but he knew in his heart he was someplace foreign to him. Glancing around the field, he tried again to remember why he was standing here. Finding something? What was it he had remembered just a moment ago about finding something? Try as he might, he just couldn’t remember.

  He began walking, not sure what direction to go but feeling the need to move forward. The Fates only knew if he was right. Fates? Where did that term come from? It didn’t seem right for where he was standing. Walking on through the field of tall wheat, he saw a farmhouse in the distance. Was this where he belonged? He wasn’t certain, but something was driving him toward it.

  “You there! Boy! What are you doing in my field?”

  He looked around to find an old man standing behind a plow. The old mare to which it was strapped was panting from the strain. The boy could tell the poor thing had seen its last days.

  “I asked you a question. What are you doing here, boy?” The old man was trying to look authoritative, but his age and the shake of his hand gave away his fear.

  The boy looked around again. There was nothing within miles of the farm. Was this why the man was so frightened or was there something else? He decided to answer honestly.

  “I don’t know,” he stated simply.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing in my field?” the man asked.

  “No, I don’t know what I’m doing here or how I got here.”

  The man relaxed a little but stayed on edge. “You’re a far cry from town, boy. Did you hit your head and lose your way? What’s your name?”

  “I’m not sure,” he paused. He could sense his name, it was right there in the corner of his mind, but he couldn’t quite reach it. “S….S….Si….” he gave up, defeated.

  “Simon?” the man guessed.

  “Maybe,” he answered with a shrug.

  “Well, Simon it is then. Where’s your family, Simon?”

  He thought about it. Family? He knew what a family was, understood the concept, but had no idea if he had one.

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember a family.”

  The man brought his arm up and wiped the sweat from his brow with it. “Well, do you at least know where you’re going?”

  He had known a moment ago. Remembered that there had been a destination, a reason he was wandering this field, but the memory had fled. He looked around the field and shrugged. “I guess I’m heading here.”

  The man looked at him oddly. “Here? You were coming to my farm?”

  “I truly don’t know, sir, but it seems like a good place to be right now.”

  Patting his horse gently, the old man walked over to him and looked him up and down. “So, you’ve no friends, no family, no place you call home, and no memory if you do?”

  He nodded.

  The man looked back at his mare then over toward the dilapidated farm house. “Simon, my horse is tired and so am I. My back is old as is hers, and our legs don’t hold up to the strain of work like they used to. My home is old as well and in need of some good young arms to help her keep us warm and dry. My wife is barren, so we have no children to help us with the work. If you’re as strong as you look, you can stay on with us as long as you prove useful.”

  “I think I’d like to do that, sir,” he said, a feeling of contentment washing over him. He walked over to the mare and laid his hand on her back. “Yes, this is where I need to be,” he said absently, knowing in his heart that whatever he had been searching for, he would find here.

  Four

  Tynan stopped abruptly. In doing so, the woman squirming below him warily waited to see if he would continue or simply kill her for fighting him so much. He paid her no mind as he snapped her neck and rose to his feet. Pulling his pants up, he stood to his full height and let the power wash over him. Power unlike anything he’d felt before coursed through his veins. He looked over to where the book lay. It pulsed, seeming to almost breathe. He threw a hand out and squeezed it, not bothering to even look at the second woman as she collapsed to the ground, her heart now mere ashes within her. She didn’t matter, none of this mattered anymore. He’d made his camp here ever since that day he’d found it populated, but now he was free.

  “What have you done, big brother?” A maniacal laugh slipped from his throat as he asked the question. He knew exactly what that love-struck moron had done, exactly what Tynan had been waiting for him to do. He had finally found a way to go after Violissa and left his precious kingdom unprotected. He ran his hand along the cover of the book, and his eyes flew open. Every spell he’d repeatedly read for the last two hundred years flowed through his head, the magic of them spreading into his blood. He not only understood them, but he now owned them. The book had become part of him, and as so, the spells were now under his control. He laughed again and threw his hand out, ripping the wall of the cottage off in one quick move. He grabbed the book, shrinking it down so that he could hide it under the dark cape he now wore, drew up the hood of the cape and walked out to the terror of the villagers who’d learned quickly to fear him. They ran as dark tendrils of power swept around him. He held his left hand out and fire erupted in the building across from him. Sweeping his hand along in an arc around the village, he moved the fire from building to building, catching villagers and animals in his path. He pulled his hand up, and the flames rose to meet the clouds above. As people ran, he killed them in their place, no longer needing them and wanting no survivors. Soon, nothing remained but ashes.

  Looking to the northwest with the smile of a man lost to madness, he said, “I’m coming home boys,” before shifting to claim what he’d fought so hard to obtain for far too long.

  “Your pacing will do nothing but wear a hole in the stone beneath your feet, Keary,” Kanine said as he rubbed his eyes in weariness.

  “I can’t sit still, Kanine. I have this dreaded sense that this will not turn out well.” He stopped and looked out the window. Dusk was just beginning to settle in, and the pink flush of the descending sun cast an ominous red glow across the land. No, this didn’t feel right to him. “I should have stopped him. There has to have been another way.”

  “Keary, we went through everything. He knew that as well as we did. This was his last resort, and I just pray to the Fates that they listen to his plea. We need Violissa back, all of us need her back.” Daneele stood and stretched then turned back to Keary. “The hardest part will be waiting for them to return.”

  “If they even send him. I haven’t felt…” Keary stopped and looked at Kanine. “Did you feel that?”

  Cyric answered instead, “I felt it, the powers are in balance again. It must have worked. They must have sent him.” He let out a long sigh. “Our prayers have been answered.”

  “Don’t be so quick to assume that, Cyric,” Keary said. He rubbed his arms at the absence of his king’s power. There was an emptiness there that felt unnatural. “We don’t know where they are, and we don’t know how long…” He stopped abruptly. Pain tore through him as the emptiness filled again, although this time it was filled with a force so vile that he thought he might be sick.

  “Keary?” Daneele asked in concern. “Kanine?”

  Kanine had doubled over and was clutching his chest. He looked up at Daneele. “Run” his only response.

  “What?” Daneele and Cyric passed a look between each other.

  “It’s Tynan,” Keary said. “There’s no one else it could be.”

  “But Tynan is in the Banished Realm, and his powers are bound.”

  “No, they were bound.” Keary fell to his knees as a wave of nausea swept through him. Tynan was murdering innocents, and he could feel every ounce of pleasure
he was taking from it. “Tynan has king’s blood running through him. If there is no other reigning king in our world…”

  “His binding is undone, and he inherits the throne. Only one person can move between the borders of the Banished Realm, the king,” Kanine continued for him.

  “Sinow would not have known, just as we did not until now,” Keary said, struggling to catch his breath as he felt Tynan’s reach even more deeply now. “You need to go, he will be here soon.”

  “His power is contaminated. I’ve never felt anything this bad. He’s worse than his grandfather ever was,” Kanine said. “Go and protect your people as best you can. We will be subject to his will, required to do his bidding as our king.” He looked over at Keary. “It takes an unbelievable amount of strength to resist a king’s call. Now go.”

  Daneele and Cyric bowed their heads in respect then quickly shifted. Keary prayed they took the warnings to heart. He knew Cyric would, but would the rest of the Lightbearers. He didn’t have time to ponder it as he felt Tynan shift to the courtyard with a thunderous landing. The ground bellowed from the impact, and the castle shook around him. How had he come to so much power without an ascension? There was no explanation Keary could find, it went beyond anything they had ever been taught about king’s blood. He felt a shiver down his spine then a few seconds later, the entire side of the keep was ripped from its bearings and in its place stood Tynan.

  “Hello, boys, miss me?”

  “What have you done, Tynan?” Kanine asked suspiciously.

  “I don’t think that’s the question you need to ask right now, Kanine,” he bit back as he walked across the room, black cape stirring the dust from the demolished wall as his feet crunched the debris below. “The question is, what has my brother done?”