Consensus Breaking (The Auran Chronicles Book 2) (36 page)

At first he had just let himself go. He had
blurred
at the same moment he’d pressed the detonator. The blast had destroyed the portal chamber, but not before the Manyway had welcomed him into its depths.

The lines before him and after him were familiar, taking him to wherever the Manyway had been directed. Sedaris’ screams died in his ears as he braced himself for his arrival in a place where the sheol had gathered, readying to invade his world.

They would be sorely disappointed.

He was going to die, that much was certain. He had readied a Script for himself. A jolt of electricity that would fry his mind in an instant, saving him from the agonies that would surely come.

But then something else had happened. Something was there, with him, in the portal. Not a creature, something else.

No, not something else.

It was him. He was different. He
sensed
out, at once the magic of the portal flowed into him. Runic Script, ancient but recognisable all the same. The patterns flowed into his mind. He drank it in, not sure what was happening, only that the new patterns were being absorbed into his mind, complementing those he already had.

Then he saw it. The destination.

It wasn’t a place, not yet, anyway. Instead it was a series of symbols, similar to Runic Script, but not quite the same. On some instinctive level he just knew they were a location. A place.

The sheol horde.

He took them into his mind. As he stared at them, a memory came. Not his own, not quite, but something from before.

Centuries before.

Another Script came to mind. It was similar to the one before him – the same language, nine characters in a line – but some of the symbols were different.

Another location.

He didn’t have time to think. The lines were thinning out now, the end location of the Manyway coming up. He tapped into the Manyway’s magic again. Could he do it? Could he alter it, just like that?

He focused on the location Script. He forced his will upon it.

The Script vanished. A new one appeared.

His own.

Then he was out, the portal spitting him out into the air, screaming as he landed face down on warm sand the colour of rust.

He looked up. He was in a cave. No, some kind of basin. A red sky loomed above. The air smelled of sulphur.  Behind him the portal shimmered and then vanished into nothing.

At that moment the pain returned, the wound from Kranor’s blade burning with a ferocity unlike any he’d ever experienced before. His physical body had been tested to the limits of his endurance and he sank to his knees, before falling face forward into the sand.  As his mind slipped away, seeking sanctuary in unconsciousness, he thought of Sylph and Cade and the others. Sylph at least had survived. She would make it back, as would Caleb, and many others. Without the magi to pursue them then perhaps they would have a chance.

His final thought was of Cade.

See you in the Great River, Brother.

Just as his mind slipped away, a faint tug on the Weave pricked at the edge of his
sense
. His eyes fluttered open.

From nowhere, someone,
something
, appeared next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two massive feet, encased in red, burnished armour. A familiar voice spoke then; one he’d only ever encountered when he’d journeyed from his body.

‘Welcome home, little brother.’

The End

I hope you enjoyed Consensus Bearing, and if so, you’ll be pleased to hear that the third book in the Auran Chronicles is scheduled to arrive by Winter 2016.

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Mike

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