Marie Harte - [Storm Lords 4] - Aftershocks (NCP).pdf

(479 KB) Pobierz
Microsoft Word - Aftershocks.rtf
AFTERSHOCKS
Marie Harte
1
AFTERSHOCKS
By
Marie Harte
146829904.001.png
AFTERSHOCKS
Marie Harte
2
© copyright October 2006, Marie Harte
Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright October 2006
ISBN 1-58608-975-7
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s
imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or
events is merely coincidence.
AFTERSHOCKS
Marie Harte
3
Prologue
The muted glow of everdark hovered over the deep blue grasses of Foreia’s rich
fields. The black bark and flaming red leaves of giant firn trees framed the surrounding
area, the scent of sweet scythia flowing through the warm air like a blessing of welcome.
Jonas Chase, leader of the rebel Djinn army, grinned with pleasure. Lavender clouds
covered the pink-red sky, a sight that never failed to impress him, and made him want to
bask in his homecoming.
A muffled curse and angry words, unfortunately, drew his attention. Jonas stared
at his responsibility, Prince Cadmus Storm, the Earth Lord, and uttered a loud, drawn-out
sigh. Surrounded by a dozen Djinn warriors and the Dark Lord who’d promised them
freedom, Cadmus nevertheless made an impressive sight as he commanded Foreia’s
terrain to aid him against his “enemy.”
Why couldn’t the damned Light Bringer do anything the easy way?
Golden soil erupted, crushing navy grass into muddied chaos. Quakes of rock
shifted, and the air reverberated with the threat of Storm Lord vengeance.
“Fine, be a dick.” Cadmus snarled over his shoulder, catching Jonas in a brown-
eyed glare he found impressive for its sheer ferocity. “Kill me if you want. But I’m
taking as many of you to the Next with me as I possibly can.”
Of the remaining Storm Lords, the Royal Four--more commonly referred to as
The Tetrarch--promised a life that Jonas’ people had been dreaming about for centuries.
The princes didn’t know it yet, but once one of the Royal Four became overking of
Tanselm, life in their rich, magical world would change, and for the better.
Tanselm, a realm of infinite power and splendor. In addition to the fruitful fields,
pastures of green and forests of rich trees and earth, Tanselm housed a sentient majesty,
an overwhelming center of magic that called to Light and Dark beings with equal
intensity. The few times Jonas had been privileged enough to “visit,” i.e. spy, he’d felt
vastly more powerful standing in that magical plane of existence, even more so than in
his home world of Foreia.
Surprised at Tanselm’s acceptance of himself, a Darkling, he’d begun to
recognize his Dark Mistress’ words as truth that Tanselm existed to accommodate more
than just Light Bringers. Which wasn’t to say the future Tetrarch wasn’t needed to
destroy the evil ‘Sin Garu and his hated minions, the Netharat . Those vile wraiths, ice
demons and monsters would happily feast on creatures of Dark and Light, if only to
perpetuate the chaos that salved their undying hunger. The Dark only knew how many
overlapping worlds in existence would fall should ‘Sin Garu take Tanselm. Such pure
magic in evil hands would destroy Foreia, Aelle, Earth, and so many other worlds not
able to withstand such power.
No, despite the differences between the Djinn and the Storm Lords, Jonas knew
they shared a common purpose--to live and prosper without Dark Lord oppression.
AFTERSHOCKS
Marie Harte
4
Studying Cadmus, Jonas shook his head. Four identical princes with the power to
command the elements. Light Bringers and Storm Lords all, yet each brother was
decidedly different. Darius, the Prince of Fire, had a temper and little patience. Marcus,
the River Prince, possessed an annoying tendency toward arrogance, but thankfully his
affai, his new bride, was wearing him down. Aerolus, the Wind Mage, controlled the
winds as easily as he ruled magic, a young sorcerer with the potential of his legendary
uncle, Arim, Tanselm’s notorious Killer of Shadow.
And Cadmus. Jonas still wondered at the Earth Lord, a brown-eyed royal who
could charm the scales off a dragon. Keeping an eye on Marcus had been tedious but
easy in comparison. Cadmus, on the other hand, protested the measures to keep him safe
at every turn. While Jonas could feel for the independent royal, he found Cadmus’
quirky sense of humor and annoyingly clever escape attempts vexing, not to mention
exhausting.
He watched Cadmus take on more than he knew he could handle and had to hand
it to the Storm Lords. They had been born to royalty, but their parents had not raised
whiny and weak monarchs. These men, and especially Cadmus, possessed strength and
stubbornness in spades. From what Jonas’ cousin had affirmed, Cadmus’ reputation as a
charmer and ladies’ man had been well-earned. Lighthearted but kind, he had seemed to
be the easiest of the four brothers to turn.
Staring at him now as he tried to bury half a dozen Djinn under Foreia’s life-
giving earth, Jonas found it hard to reconcile the easy-going Cadmus with the Light
Bringer warrior before him.
“Enough,” the Dark Lord, the Djinn’s Dark Mistress, said in a soft voice. She
took several steps closer to Cadmus but shook her head when Jonas attempted to
intervene. “Earth Lord, the vision you saw was a message from me.”
“Bullshit. I saw you die, you and your bastard brother, B’alen.”
Her ice-blue eyes narrowed, and her smile, when it came, was as effective a
weapon as her dark flame. “B’alen is indeed dead. And you Storm Lords owe me a debt
of gratitude for it.”
“Gratitude?” Cadmus snorted and threw several approaching Djinn from him with
bursts of energy that visibly swelled from the ground. “If not for you Dark Lords,
Tanselm would be in one piece.” Cadmus blasted another group of Djinn, his power
growing with his rage. “My father, my uncles and aunts and cousins, would all still be
alive.”
A large tree groaned as it shuddered under a massive force, its roots reaching
through the ground for the Dark Mistress’ legs.
She glided as if on air, stopping a few feet from Cadmus. Jonas could feel the
tension filling the space between them with chaotic power. Tendrils of negative energy
snarled at him, and he flashed into the natural form of the Djinn, in truth , unable to help
himself. He didn’t even try to fight it, knowing he was much more powerful in his
energetic state. His physical form blurred, keeping a man’s outline while consisting not
of flesh, but of white, blazing energy surrounded by a black aura that danced like flame.
He was Djinn. He was powerful. And he had been born to return his people to
their home world, to Tanselm, where they rightfully belonged.
AFTERSHOCKS
Marie Harte
5
“Hear me, Earth Lord,” the Dark Mistress uttered in a low voice filled with bleak
promise. “You know nothing of true pain, of torture and worse at the hands of those you
love. So carry the regret of your loved ones’ passing close to your heart, and be content
that you will once again join them in the Next.”
The Earth Lord stared at her, quiet but wary, his eyes fixed on hers. Jonas
expected her to thrall him, at the very least, to punish him for his disrespect. But she
surprised him.
“You look so much like Arim.”
Cadmus blinked, puzzled but cautious. “What do you know of my uncle?”
“I know everything about Tanselm’s greatest sorcerer ,” she said with disdain. “A
pity he still breathes when a fine man like your father is dead, hmm?”
Cadmus stilled, but Jonas could see the fury pooling in his gaze as he stepped
closer to her . “I owe you my thanks, you said? Then allow me to thank you for my
father’s passing.” He looked around him, his glare hot enough to burn. “You and all
your Djinn friends. Without their poison, my father would still be alive.” He glared at
the Dark Mistress, his gaze as black as night, and raised his arms, his fingers reaching for
her. “Accept my gratitude, on behalf of the Storm Lords.”
“Cadmus, no!” Jonas yelled, alarmed at the inviting expression on his Dark
Mistress’ face. Cadmus had no idea of the power she wielded, and Jonas had come too
far to lose the Storm Lord because of his rash temper. Unfortunately, he couldn’t aid
Cadmus because she wouldn’t allow it. She held him still with a thought, welcoming
Cadmus’ touch.
The minute Cadmus’ finger touched her shoulder, the very second his power hit
hers, he froze. The Dark Mistress, Lexa Van Nostren, ‘Sin Garu’s sister and traitor to his
cause, froze, as well. Together they stood like statues, locked in a war of wills, a soft
blue nimbus of light blanketing them together. And then Lexa took a deep breath and
pulled away, leaving Cadmus in a frozen haze.
“Very good work, Jonas.” She turned to him and smiled, her grin sincere and
dangerously alluring. “He’s filled with a Darkness that compliments his Light. I believe
this Storm Lord will solve all your problems.”
Jonas brightened, his aura black with joy. “Truly, Lexa? This one would see the
Djinn welcomed back to Tanselm?”
“The Sarqua Djinn, yes,” she corrected softly, and he nodded. “Those who fight
alongside my brother, ‘Sin Garu, are too tainted to appreciate Tanselm’s grace.”
Jonas bowed his head in deference. “Unfortunate, but true.” He looked up,
willing her to read the sincerity in his soul. “But we won’t make those same mistakes.
We may live in the Darkness of existence, but our hearts are pure.”
She nodded. “Light and Dark are sides of the same coin. It has ever been about
balance. In time all will see what you and I know.”
“And Cadmus?”
She smiled, a grin that would have looked quite menacing had Jonas not
understood and supported its cause. “He’s one of us already. He just doesn’t know it
yet.”

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin