Vankara (Book 1) (32 page)

“Why haven’t you
ever told me this before?” Gabriel questioned.

Dracen looked at
Gabriel sadly.  “I didn’t want anyone to know it was here.  I’ve never told
anyone about it or what it can do until now.  I was being a selfish,
egotistical bastard, Gabriel.  But I also knew if the wrong person were to
harness the crystal’s power it could mean the end of the world.”

“Well it seems as
though the wrong person
is
controlling it,” Aleksander took a
threatening step towards Dracen.

“I don’t know how
it happened,” Dracen said, completely ignoring Aleksander.  “Nothing I’ve done
here should have caused such a side effect.  It doesn’t make any sense.” 
Dracen walked in front of the wingback chair he was standing behind and sat
down heavily.  The weight of the situation seemed to be more than he could
bear.

“How could I have
killed so many and not known it?”  He said more to him self than to anyone in
the room.  Then his head lifted sharply as he looked at me once more.  “That’s
why they all came here.  Damn it, I should have known then!”

“Who are you
talking about?” I asked.

“The souls of
those who have died in the plagues,” he said as if I should have known where
his rambling was leading.  “They all came here because of the crystal.  They
were drawn here by its power because it not only killed them but trapped their
souls as well.”

“Isn’t there
anything you can do to help them?” I asked, realizing my father could very well
be one of the souls trapped inside the mountain.

“I tried to figure
out something,” Dracen said.  “But there was no way to make them move on to the
next realm of existence.  So, I did the only thing I knew how and gave them new
lives here.”

“What do you mean
‘gave them new lives’?” Fallon asked warily.

Dracen looked at
Fallon and answered, “I made them new bodies.”

The implication of
Dracen’s words was immediately clear to me.

“They’re the
automatons,” I said, finally understanding why the automatons seemed more human
than they should have been.

“I trapped the
most stable souls inside small portions of the crystal and placed it in the
heart of the automatons to power them,” Dracen explained.  “It was the only way
to give them a second life.  You can’t imagine what it was like to have them
all here.  Their sorrow was overwhelming at times.  After I received the Queen’s
note for help, Karis and I worked night and day building the automatons.  I
couldn’t think of a better way to help them.”

Dracen leaned
forward, elbows on thighs and head in his hands.  His shoulders began to shake
as he sobbed quietly.  I couldn’t imagine the guilt he must have felt in that
moment as he fully realized the impact of what he had done.

“Stop.”

The command was
faint.  I almost didn’t hear it. 

Dracen’s quiet
sobs ceased instantly and he looked frozen into place as he sat in the chair,
like a statue.

I looked up at
Karis and saw undeniable compassion on his face as he looked down at his
mentor.

“What did you do
to him?” I asked.

Karis looked at me
with his startling blue-green eyes.  “I made him stop crying.  He has nothing
to feel sorry about.  He shouldn’t feel guilt over killing you people.”

“What did you do
to him?” I asked again more stridently, not satisfied with the answer I had
just received.

“I have the
ability to make people do what I want,” Karis finally answered.  “People are
just puppets for me to control.  It’s one of my powers as a mage.  I’ve been
able to do it since I was a small child.  I can even make them forget what
they’ve done for me so they have no memory of me controlling them.”

“You made Dracen
cast the spell for the plagues,” Gabriel accused.

Karis shrugged. 
“I did what I had to do for my people.”

“But your people
were affected by it too,” I argued.

“Not as many as
yours,” he taunted.  “I was able to adjust the spell over the years so the fae
eventually became unaffected.”

“But why do it at
all?”  Fallon asked.  “What could you possibly gain from killing people at
random?”

“Power for my Queen,”
Karis answered proudly.  “Now she can do what she wants.”

“What does she
want to do?” I asked, holding my breath awaiting his answer.

“She wants what
was rightfully ours before you vankarans came and stole it from our ancestors.” 
Karis smiled.

“And
our
ancestors
fought for what is
ours
,” I said, feeling my temper begin to get the better
of me.  “The treaty drew a line between our two peoples.”

“Treaties are
easily broken.  My Queen has promised us that a new day is dawning.  All we had
to do was bide our time and the time for us to reclaim our birthright has
come.”  Karis smiled, this time the emotion shown brightly in his eyes.  “As we
speak she is heading towards Iron City to take control.”

“Well you won’t be
joining her,” Aleksander said as he charged towards Karis.

Karis held out his
hand and Aleksander was frozen in mid-stride.

Fallon drew his
sword but the sound of it sliding from its sheath was enough to warn Karis of
his intentions.  Karis held out both his hands as he froze Fallon and Inara in
place, leaving me the only one unharmed.

“Why didn’t you
freeze me too?” I asked.

“Because my Queen wants
me to deliver a message to you,” Karis said. 

“How do you know
that?”

“I believe you met
my sister Lorenna?”  He asked.

“Yes, she’s the
one who gave me the vial of melted snow.”

“We’re twins,” he informed
me.  “Among the fae we’re considered quite rare since we’re also mages.  Fae
mage twins are able to connect telepathically.  I can see and hear what she
sees and hears when I connect with her.”  Karis closed his eyes and I knew he
was reaching out to his sister in that moment.  “She is with the Queen.  They
are on one of the dragon platforms which are carrying our soldiers towards Iron City right now.  I see the Queen,” he said reverently.  “She wishes me to tell you
something word for word.”  Karis was silent as he listened to his Queen speak
to him.  “She says, “If you dare to return home, you will be killed on sight. 
I have made a pact with someone in your parliament who will help me reclaim the
lands which belonged to my ancestors.  Hopefully, there will not be much
bloodshed in the transition.  I promise to not kill anyone who doesn’t oppose
me but I will protect what rightfully belongs to my people.  You and all
vankarans must leave the island or there will be blood shed.”

“You can give your
Queen this message from me,” I said, feeling my temper begin to get the better
of me.  “I will not stand idly by as she threatens my people.  She has started
a war I intend to finish itand win.”

Karis opened his
eyes.  “You will regret your words, Queen Emma.”

“Is that you
speaking or her?” I asked.

“They are my
words.  And they are true.”

“Then we are at
war, sir.”

“So be it.” 

That was the last
thing I remembered before hearing Inara scream my name.

I’m not sure how
much time passed between my last words with Karis and finding myself being
shaken to death my Inara.

“Emma,” Inara
breathed a sigh of relief as I blinked at her in confusion.  She hugged me
tightly before releasing me.

“What happened?” I
asked as I looked around the room and saw Gabriel, Fallon and Aleksander
arguing about something.

“The little
bastard froze us all and escaped,” Inara informed me.  “The men are arguing on
whether or not we should go after him.”

“Gentlemen,” I
said loud enough to gain their attention.  Once all three were looking at me, I
said, “We go back to Iron City.  Karis was just a pawn used by Nuala.  We can
not allow ourselves to be distracted from the bigger picture.  She is on her
way to Iron City as I speak.  We must go back home.”

“I’m ready to go with
you.”

We all turned and
saw Dracen standing in the entrance to the room with a traveling bag in his
hands.

“You’re coming
with us?” Gabriel asked in disbelief.

“I helped cause
this mess,” Dracen said with a painful sigh of regret.  “If you’ll let me, I
would like to try and help you.  Perhaps I can find some small redemption for
my acts.”

I shortened the
distance between Dracen and myself, keeping my eyes locked with his.  “You are
most welcomed to accompany us back to Iron City.  We would appreciate anything
you can do to help us.”

Even as the words
left my mouth, I knew we would not arrive in time to stop Queen Nuala’s
invasion.

Epilogue

Our first glimpse
of Iron City was distorted by smoke and flames.  From the air, we could see
dozens of fires burning all over the city in what looked to be a random pattern. 
The acrid stench emanating from the chaos below quickly permeated the cabin of
the airship trapping us in a maelstrom of death and destruction. 

Dragons of varying
colors and sizes sat perched on the highest buildings of the city, scanning the
streets below them as though they were ready to pounce on anyone who might want
to start trouble.  As the airship drifted nearer the palace, tears of despair
trickled down my cheeks.  In the twilight of day, we saw that the palace, home
of generations of Vankar, had been transmuted from iron to gold.

A single word
escaped my mouth as I felt my heart collapsed in on itself, “Dena.”