Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy Read online

  Ultimately calculating Abbey and Louie as the easiest prey, he appeared to stare them down. The Hsi slowly raised a talon and pointed it directly at Abbey.

  “No!” Lourdie let out a blood curdling scream that echoed around the lake.

  The Nevra-Hsi twitched his head and looked at Lourdie. All that was visible under his hooded mask was his frosty death rattle breath. The Hsi waved his hand dismissively and the hunter next to Abbey fell to the ground dead.

  Louie!! Lourdie’s head screamed.

  Remnants of his blonde hair and lifeless body lay on the snow wrinkled and shriveled as though all the moisture had been sucked out. The fallen guardian’s ashen skin started to blow away like dust. Grey ash coated the crisp white snow around the hunter’s powdery remains. Abbey’s face contorted into anger as she and the surrounding hunters focused all their fire on the Hsi with no effect.

  Still in slow motion, battles raged around Lourdie as the Nevra-Hsi honed in on her, his new prey. Her rage welcomed the Hsi’s approach. Eagerly, with her heartbeat pounding in her ears, she took a deep breath and readied the most powerful orb she had ever conjured.

  With the dead guardian’s entire life essence swelling in the Hsi’s decrepit veins, the creature appeared stronger, his ancient armor less tattered, glossier. Under the blue moon’s glow the Hsi seemed reborn anew. Cocking his head from side to side, he studied Lourdie intently and laughed. The Nevra-Hsi raised a talon towards her and flicked his wrist.

  A translucent ribbon of power passed through Lourdie’s body. The force that emanated from the Nevra-Hsi’s assault caused her to stumble backwards. She felt as though he was leeching the marrow from her bones. Lourdie moaned in agony and threw her orb at the Hsi, willing it to surround the creature as she fell to her hands and knees. Immobilized by the Hsi’s immense assault, the hunter could hear her heartbeat slowing beat by beat. Thump. Her chest tightened. Th-thump. The blood coursing through her veins slowed to a crawl. Th-th-thump. She was certain her organs would slowly wither and crumble like tender sun baked seedlings on the surface of the sun, easily blown away with the solar winds. Lourdie instinctually reached under the snow and grasped at the frozen earth as she labored to breathe.

  Temple barked incoherent orders around from beside her, his voice seemed to be everywhere, surrounding her with a comforting blanket of strength and courage as death threatened to consume her. Lourdie didn’t know what would give out first, her heart or his voice, but she would will the orb to encase the Hsi until her last dying breath. The creature was somehow stopping her heart and suffocating her while trying to take every drop of life essence she had. The Nevra-Hsi was devouring her, but she would resist until the inevitable end, giving her brothers and sisters any advantage she could before she died.

  With great effort, Lourdie looked once more at her fellow guardians battling for their own lives against the ravenous netherwalkers. Trying to take one last desperate breath, she gasped for air. A metallic taste coated the back of her throat and warm blood dripped from her nose. She looked at Louie, still lying on the ground like the creature’s discarded trash. She knew she would join him soon and so would countless more of her brothers and sisters.

  Digging her bloody nails into the ground, Lourdie stared the Nevra-Hsi down. “No more,” she spat. Her nails splintered as she made fists around the frozen ground in her grasp, “You first!”

  The Hsi screamed and hissed. He seemed unable to escape the cage Lourdie had created, but her orb had not banished him either. She had somehow imprisoned the Hsi, slowing his otherwise fatal assault.

  “Now!” Temple’s voice boomed from somewhere beside her again.

  Hundreds of orbs and stun pulses flew hitting the fracture and cocoon in which she had encased the Hsi. Reinforcements from the castle had arrived, hundreds of them. Hunters and novices alike had joined forces against the evil invading their home.

  ‘Together we are stronger.’ Ryan Kapoi’s words rang loud and true in Lourdie’s ears.

  The creature continued to hiss as spheres imploded around him and stun pulses ricocheted off of his cage, but they seemed to be nothing more than a nuisance to him.

  Unexpectedly the Hsi broke his connection to Lourdie and looked back at the golden fracture that suddenly appeared to have a faint purple glow.

  With the Hsi’s attention diverted, Lourdie was able to get to her feet. She moved cautiously so no one would know just how shaky she really was, or how close to death she had been. Anger and fear, remorse and joy, love and hate all stirred inside her, driving her to act. One by one, she whispered a word against her relics and created an orb, then another, then another, each encasing the last, each coated in the blood dripping from her thrice kissed relics. Kapoi’s words still echoing in her head, ‘Together we are stronger.’ She let the creation grow slightly, not knowing what good it would do, but knowing she had to do something. Each of the three orbs buzzed and hissed separately. Then, finally linking together, they hummed deeply in unison. Lourdie could feel them resonate all the way down into the marrow of her bones.

  The fracture turned a deep purple and the hissing from the Nevra-Hsi stopped as if something had finally frightened him. The creature cocked his head once more at Lourdie and gave such a high pitched screech that all the guardians in his presence had to cover their ears before their eardrums ruptured. Uncontrollably, they all fell to the ground. The Hsi’s scream was incapacitating.

  Dropping the triple layer orb, Lourdie was also forced to cover her ears before they burst. The Hsi’s scream was more of a word than noise, albeit an incomprehensible, alien word. The fracture seemed to pulsate with angry energy and the remaining golden strands of ethereal light were replaced with hundreds of tiny, purple explosions. Through her tears of pain, Lourdie could just make out a blur of tornadic fury that was separating itself from the fracture. The Vaelosh a’Rue, she thought in wonder as a vortex of thousands of darters whipped furiously around the Nevra-Hsi. The spectacular flashes of light and explosions from the swarm was beautiful. Despite the chaos surrounding her, a sense of peace and tranquility washed over Lourdie.

  All sound from the Hsi abruptly stopped as the darters dissolved back into the fracture almost as quickly as they had appeared. Though she had no explanation for it, Lourdie thought she could sense that the gravity within the Chiarshadrin itself had just shifted.

  The Hsi finally appeared to be defenseless, but Lourdie had also lost control of her sphere that had been surrounding the creature. As the sphere dissipated, the Hsi paused and laughed at the stunned guardians. Without warning, giant gossamer wings pierced the fracture and began wrapping tendrils of smoke around the Hsi. With another sonic boom the Hsi dove through the waning fracture into its embrace.

  Like a swimmer taking one last life sustaining breath before diving into a watery abyss, the fracture abruptly snapped shut with the departure. All the Hsi’s remaining krims and shadowskins vanished in puffs of ash and shadowy smoke. An eerie silence hung in the air. The birds had stopped singing long ago and the wind no longer whispered through the pine trees. Even the ocean’s waves and the lake’s lapping water against their icy shores could no longer be heard. They were in the vacuum of space, the silence was deafening. No one dared to breathe, afraid they would no longer see their breath in this black hole in the universe. As they helped each other off the ground, the bloody and broken guardians stood dumbfounded, staring at the empty void that had moments ago been occupied by the deadly Nevra-Hsi.

  “Something’s wrong, that couldn’t have been-- That was not random. We need answers, now!” Trista’s face had a look of confusion mingled with concern. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. That shouldn’t have been possible.” She brought out her phone prepared to dial when it started to ring. “Gilroy,” she answered then listened for a moment, “Yes, we’ve...”

  Lourdie barely glimpsed the concern and confusion on Trista’s face before they were replaced by disbelief and horror as Trista looked past Lourdie.<
br />
  “Secure this line, now!” Trista demanded, quickly turning around and walking away. Her personal guards fanned out, still ready to protect the Vicereine from any residual threat. Snow began to crunch under their feet as sounds once again returned to the realm.

  “What the hell was that?” Abbey was visibly shaken. She directed her question to no one in particular, finally letting out her breath. The young girl was kneeling beside Louie, standing vigil, trying to protect what was left of his fragile shell.

  No. That’s not Louie. That’s… Quintin’s silhouette and facial details were still intact, but a strong wind could simply blow his remains away. Lourdie’s grief mingled with shame. Shame for being relieved that the shell lying on the ground wasn’t Louie. Shame that she had begged that the Hsi take someone else, anyone else besides Abbey. As the remnants of Quintin’s fingers crumbled away from his relics she wondered if a gloaming funeral was even possible when all that was left was dust.

  Luke and Louie joined Abbey. Louie touched her shoulder while standing guard over her, weapon still aimed towards the fracture point. Abbey reached up and held his hand.

  “Come to me, child,” Mum B ushered Scarlett further away from the gruesome scene.

  Bishop groaned from the wind being knocked out of him, “How the devil did a Nevra-Hsi get through?” He had been bulldozed into the snow at some point during the fray and was unaware that the battle had claimed a victim. A somber Kern offered him a hand up. The Scotsman quietly told Bishop about the fallen hunter, Quintin Sinclair, his best friend. Bishop put a hand on Kern’s shoulder. “Bloody hell man, I’m so sorry.”

  Temple’s phone began to ring, but his attention was elsewhere. “Lourdes?”

  “I’m fine,” she wiped the cold blood from her nose and brushed off the questions lingering on his lips. Lourdie knew he had more important things to do than focus on one bruised hunter.

  “Reese?” he said in a sterner tone as his phone rang again.

  “I’m fine,” her eyes pleaded. She needed time to process what had happened.

  Still on full alert, Lourdie looked at the war zone in front of her as more of her fellow guardians got back on their feet, all but Quintin.

  Kelen and Kern led Scarlett, Mum B, and several injured and unconscious guardians back to the castle. The twins briefly glanced at the fragile shell that had once been their friend. Bowing their heads they walked away in sad silence. Abbey and Louie remained with the hunter’s body. Abbey! The reality hit Lourdie like a battering ram in the gut. The Hsi meant for Abbey to fall, to die. Was he just toying with us? Killing Quintin instead? Was he playing with our lives in some sick sadistic game for his own enjoyment? Lourdie struggled to swallow, fighting back the thick taste of anger, bile, and blood. The remnants of blood under her nose already drying, the edges becoming a thin crust of ice.

  I should be dead. How am I not dead? Her hands were slightly trembling, but other than her frazzled nerves and bruised body she felt fine. Lourdie felt better than fine actually. She felt… power. The strong thick tree trunks holding up thousands of pounds of iced branches, their infinite roots penetrating solid earth seeking nourishment, the heat and seductive flicker of every hearth fire in the castle, the pull and release of each crashing wave, Lourdie felt it all. ‘Together we are stronger.’ Kapoi’s words lingered in her thoughts. She shook her head in disbelief, shying away from the powers that slumbered deep in the earth and somehow, deep within her. A streak of red caught her eye. She looked down at the blood splattered snow where her triple orb had dissipated. How did I do that? And the Hsi’s deafening word, what the hell was that? As the darters’ presence subsided, she began sensing a great loss, a void of some kind. Lourdie started to look behind her.

  “No, don’t turn--” Temple warned.

  And there it was, the source of that emptiness she felt. Fanning out behind her were dozens of dead bodies. Husks, ashen shells of what had once been guardians lay in waste from the tidal wave of death that had passed through Lourdie’s body. And there she was, unharmed and alive.

  Temple growled with frustration and finally answered his phone. He was aggravated at the caller’s timing, but something about the origin made him answer. “Yes? Yes… Bogdan Novokoff, I know who you are. We’ve had a bloody mess here. What can I help you with, Bane?” he turned to look at Lourdie as he said the man’s name. “What!? Say that again. Hello? Bane, what’s going on?” Temple’s frustration was quickly replaced by concern.

  Lourdie’s heart stopped beating. She shifted all her attention to Temple. His face was stoic as he listened to the caller. He shook his head, “I don’t understand. How--”. Temple quickly glanced at his phone then placed it back to his ear. “Hello? Bane?” After a few agonizing moments he dropped his phone to his side, a look of disbelief on his face.

  It was at that exact moment, nearly every guardian’s phone began to ring. A chorus of chimes, chirps, and songs echoed around the lake. Dozens of phones created a symphony of noise in the unnatural vacuum. Most answered their calls, others stared in disbelief.

  Lourdie’s own phone began to ring, but she tuned it out. All sound began to muffle as if she were headed down an infinite tunnel. Her reality balanced precariously on the precipice of despair and uncertainty. She looked solely to Temple for answers, “What is it, what’s going on?”

  “There’s been a similar incident in New York,” Temple said, his voice full of feeling. “It’s Marcus. He’s been taken through a fracture. Lourdes, he’s gone.”

  The End

  The gloaming has found you. Will you answer the call?

  Available Books by CK Dawn

  Sign up for CK Dawn’s Newsletter and continue the Netherwalker series FREE!

  https://www.instafreebie.com/free/OwbUe

  About the Author

  Have you ever watched a cat stare at a wall, tracking something’s movements-- something invisible that sent shivers down your spine? Did it seem as if they were able to sense dark shadows lurking where the veil between worlds and reality thins? That’s precisely where the idea for the Netherwalker Series came from for CK Dawn!

  Readers' Favorite award winning author, coffee loving gamer girl, and Sci-fi enthusiast, CK Dawn always loved to snuggle up with her cat Hagrid (the shadow-seer) and read. But found writing was her bliss. So, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away CK let her unique modern tale of knights and Camelot dancing in her head take form and fly with Cloak of Shadows, her award winning debut novel. Now, you can find CK writing in the witching hours with Hagrid by her side while being distracted far too often by social media. There's more to come in the Netherwalker Series so stay tuned. Seriously, the story has only just begun.

  Read More from CK Dawn

  WWW.CKDAWN.COM

  Deep Waters

  Alicia Rades

  Deep Waters © 2017 Alicia Rades

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission from the author except in brief quotations used in articles and reviews.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Edited by Emerald Barnes.

  Deep Waters

  Bree Waters thought she knew all of Sea Haven's secrets, but she was wrong.

  The residents of Sea Haven have spent generations hiding the fact that they're descended from powerful creatures of the deep. Their ancestors are supposed to be extinct—at least, that's what Bree's been told. When Bree finds a merman washed ashore after a harsh storm, she begins to uncover secrets the city council is determined to keep hidden.

  Banished from the town she thought she knew and stripped of her beloved magic, Bree must team up with a man from her past if she has any
hope of restoring her powers. But fighting back only sends Bree on a quick course toward deep waters—and deep waters are never easy to escape.

  One

  Thunder cracked outside my window, startling me awake for the third time that night. I groaned and folded the pillow over my head. A few curse words I’m not exactly proud of slipped past my lips, and my face grew hot in anger. All I wanted to do was sleep. Clearly that wasn’t in the cards tonight.

  Another crack of thunder reverberated throughout the house. The crystals hanging from my lamp shade jingled together as if the storm was mimicking a minor earthquake. Then, just like that, the rain pelting against my window slowed to a light, quiet drizzle. The lightning vanished as if someone turned off the switch to a strobe light.

  Finally, I thought to myself. Now I can get back to sleep. I wasn’t entirely sure I’d actually slept at all in the last two hours.

  Though I welcomed the quiet, I still couldn’t bring myself to fall asleep. By the time the rain completely stopped tapping against my window, I was still staring hopelessly across the room at my dresser. It wasn’t like there was anything interesting to look at there; it’s just that it was in direct line of sight from my bed. At some point, the clouds cleared, and the moonlight shone in through my window to illuminate the silhouettes of my furniture.