Kastori Tribulations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 3) (30 page)
Read Kastori Tribulations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 3) Online
Authors: Stephen Allan
“Why did you do it? Why did you destroy everything and everyone we loved?” she said, her voice weak and frightened.
Typhos sighed, cast his head down, and turned away from the girl he once could barely talk to.
“Because nothing and no one on Anatolus loved me, and I felt the only way forward was to destroy what scarred me.”
“And have you moved forward?”
Typhos said nothing.
“You assume that no one there loves you. I take it it is safe to assume you believe no one will ever love you?”
Typhos again said nothing, but his glance at Hanna answered her question in the affirmative.
“It’s a shame you are an only child, Typhos. If you don’t have the love of a parent, the love of a sibling can help carry you beyond all sad thoughts. My older sister. Celina. She loved me. She helped me before… Before…”
Hanna could not continue and whirled around, her lips quivering. Typhos did not turn, even as he heard Hanna bursting into mourning tears. But her touching words had reached Typhos in a way nothing had since their arrival.
Sister.
“Not just…”
The memory of one of his mother’s last words to him rang in his head.
She meant… Yes.
I have a sister too.
If ever there is anyone who could show me unconditional support… It would be her. It’d be like a second chance with a strong woman in my family.
What I would give for that.
Preview of "Kastori Restorations"
The following is an excerpt from the next book in the series, “Kastori Restorations,” the series finale for “The Kastori Chronicles.”
Celeste walked ahead of Cyrus and Crystil at the peak, both eager to see her father and to get away from her brother.
He’s letting his anger get the best of him. We can’t go down that route. That’s exactly how it all started with the other brother.
At the peak, she found her father looking out on the far side, by the statue which once held the sword now in the possession of Typhos. She slowed her walk to avoid startling him, and stood next to him with a sigh.
“Are you fighting with your brother again?” he asked with a gentle smile.
The familiar question brought a nostalgic laugh from Celeste, one so genuine it made her forget the perceived severity of Cyrus’ actions for a few moments.
“I wish it was over who got to sit where at the dinner table,” she said, turning back to see Crystil and Cyrus bantering as they usually did. “Dad, he killed an enemy in frustration. That’s disturbing to me. I don’t want him to end up like Typhos.”
Emperor Orthran gave a short laugh and hugged his daughter tight.
“Your brother may not have the greatest self-control, but he’s not about to turn into the villain of all living things,” he said.
“I’m going to have to disagree,” Celeste said, bringing a quick “huh” from her dad. “My brother does have good self-control but he’s just so consumed by hatred that he takes it upon himself to hurt anyone associated with Typhos.”
“Celeste, he’s not necessarily in the wrong,” her father said, followed by a quick raised hand to let him finish his thought. “We do not torture our enemies, it is true. We do not kill without cause, that is true also. But with Typhos, we have good reason to hate him. He nearly killed both of us, and you, and enslaved Monda and Anatolus for years. He is not a man that I would show mercy to.”
It’s not a question of mercy. It’s a question of whether he’ll always be the villain that he enjoys being.
“As long as you keep him alive and give him a chance to repeat.”
“Celeste,” Emperor Orthran said, taking on a tone Celeste recognized immediately.
The tone a parent takes to their child when they think the child won’t understand what’s going on.
“I said it before, we will not kill without cause. But Typhos has provided plenty of causes.”
Celeste bit her lip and said nothing more. She knew ultimately, the fate of Typhos did not lie in her father’s hands. It essentially lied in the hands of her generation—her, Cyrus, and Typhos himself. Not even Crystil would play a role.
“In any case, tell me what happened on Monda.”
“I can do that,” Cyrus said as he approached, and he relayed all of the information, from rescuing Hanna to running down the magicologist to seeing Typhos possess the body of the weakened enemy. Celeste watched as her father expressed no overt reaction even as he acknowledged some situations as frightening or close to dangerous. She took mental notes on his leadership, knowing with her powers she would have to assume such a role soon.
“Typhos is on Nubia now,” Cyrus said. “He said when he’s going to take the magic. I think we need to head over there.”
“And by we, you mean you and I,” Celeste said, which led to the wide eyes of Crystil. “Crystil, it’s just Typhos on there. You can’t take out anyone from afar. And if things get messy, we can teleport out. If you’re trapped there…”
The soldier sighed but acknowledged her limitations.
“Are you sure that he is alone?”
“He has some Kastori healing him, but he treats them terribly. They’re all weakened and if any are capable of fighting when we arrive, I don’t think it will much matter.”
“So then maybe I could help.”
She’s too good at her job
, Celeste thought with an appreciative smile.
“Stay with me, Crystil, we’ll go to Monda,” her father said, much to her relief. “We can oversee the reconstruction of the temple. We should also plan for a way to rebuild our factories so we can rebuild our army in turn. I believe some old factories might be largely intact.”
Crystil still didn’t look like she loved the idea, but Celeste knew the girl would follow the commands on her old boss, no matter how far removed he had gotten from the role of emperor.
“Understood, sir,” she said as she gently ran her hand over the rifle on her hip.
“Also, think of it like this,” Celeste added. “If Typhos escapes, he’s not going to go to Monda. But he might come here, especially when he knows we’ve come to Nubia to try and find him. He’ll know the planet is open. Ideally, we can quell him on Nubia and take him captive, but if we can’t, and he escapes, well, a weakened Typhos is still going to beat any human one-on-one.”
“Good thing Crystil’s not human,” Cryus joked, which made everyone laugh once they saw the grin on his face.
“Only the two Orthrans, surprising me as they always do,” Crystil said with a wink specifically directed at Cyrus.
You two. I swear…
“We’ll try and surprise you once more,” Cyrus said. “We’ll come back with our prized captive.”
“So it’s settled then,” Celeste said, mindful of wasting time. “Crystil and Dad, are you two good with—no, no, hold on. Let me say it. You two will go back to Monda. Rally all of the troops we can and get our technology back up. Hopefully, it’s just for maintenance and not for an upcoming war, but we have to assume a massive battle is coming. Cyrus and I will go to Nubia and try and stop Typhos. Good?”
Everyone around her nodded.
“Celeste,” her father added. “Nubia once had a human settlement. If Typhos is there, it’s long gone, but you may want to see what information you discover from that settlement. You never know what you’ll find.”
Celeste nodded with a grin.
“All right guys, we got a plan. Let’s do it.”
Crystil and her father stood side by side, bringing Celeste back to her younger days, when a better-dressed dad walked the palace with Crystil never too far behind. She, too, seemed more relaxed in those days, able to focus on protecting her father from people who wanted to hug him, not people who wanted to kill him with magic.
No one I’d trust more with my Dad than her.
She closed her eyes, told her she loved them both, and then teleported them to Monda, leaving just her and her brother on the peak.
“You’re trying to usurp the title of emperor from Pops, aren’t you,” Cyrus deadpanned.
“We do need more empresses and less emperors in our lineage,” Celeste joked. “I just know that with what I have, I need to be comfortable taking charge.”
Cyrus smiled at his sister, moved beyond words.
“Don’t worry, I won’t boss you around. Besides, we know who the real leader of this group is. Your little lady friend.”
“Oh whatever,” Cyrus said, his eyes rolling. “We’re just—”
“Working your way up, I know,” Celeste said. “What are you waiting for, anyways?”
Cyrus shrugged a couple of times, unable to produce a good answer.
“If you’re waiting for this battle to end, don’t. What if you die on Nubia? What if she dies on Monda? Don’t waste time on that, Cyrus. You don’t need to wait for peace or the end of Typhos.”
“OK,” Cyrus said, but the growing grin on his face suggested devious intentions when he next saw Crystil.
“All right, I’m going to prepare to teleport us. Are you ready?”
“Always, sis.”
“I haven’t taken us to Nubia before, so we may have to teleport a few times. I can see it, though, so we should get close to the source of the energy. And Cyrus.”
She made sure his eyes locked with hers before she resumed speaking.
“Don’t do what you did on Monda. If you have a chance to kill Typhos, don’t.”
The laughter and jokes faded from Cyrus, but Celeste had no time to analyze his attitude.
As long as he listens, it’s good.
She closed her eyes, held her brother’s hand, and seconds later, she felt a blazing heat far hotter than anything she’d ever experienced.
***
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Bibliography
~~The Kastori Chronicles~~
Kastori Revelations
(March 2016)
Kastori Devastations
(May 2016)
Kastori Tribulations
(July 2016)
Kastori Restorations (Coming Soon)
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2016 by Stephen Allan
Cover art copyright © 2016 by Mirela Barbu
Edited via
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All rights reserved. Published by Sypha Entertainment, Inc.
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