The War for Ezryn - Books 1-2 E-Book

R.S. Penney

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The first two books in R.S. Penney's 'The War for Ezryn', a series of science fiction novels, now available in one volume!
The Ancient Gate: Seeking peace after their heroic adventures, Desa Kincaid and Anna Lenai find themselves thrust into another extraordinary ordeal. Desa, yearning for a tranquil life with her family, is interrupted by a cosmic menace descending upon her world. Meanwhile, Anna, weary of fame, is drawn into a fresh adventure when a stranger from a parallel dimension arrives. United by a common enemy that imperils both their realms, the two must join forces to confront the looming threat that could obliterate everything they hold dear.
A Pillar Of Light: As the Justice Keepers arrive on Ezryn to combat the Overseer menace, their journey is but a prelude to the challenges that await. Jack Hunter and Kalia Troval must embark on a perilous mission to recruit the powerful Field Binder, Tommy Smith, while Anna Lenai and Desa Kincaid lead the team deeper into enemy territory. However, the quest to liberate captive Field Binders proves more formidable than imagined, culminating in a pivotal conflict that will shape the destiny of two universes. The Justice Keepers face their greatest test yet, and they have to risk everything in order to save their world.

Leseprobe

THE WAR FOR EZRYN

BOOKS 1-2

R. S. PENNEY

CONTENTS

The Ancient Gate

Author’s Note

Prologue

I. Desa

1. Endings

2. The Very Fine Investigative Techniques of Kalia Troval

3. In Desperate Need of a Translator

4. To Set Our Sky on Fire

5. Why Is It Always Me?

6. The Road Already Taken

7. Foolish Risks

Interlude 1

II. Anna

8. Fame and Its Disastrous Consequences

9. Nagging Mothers: a Comprehensive Guide to Surviving Maternal Displeasure

10. You Were Waiting for It

11. How to Make Friends through Aeronautics

12. Coping with Adversity in Unfamiliar Settings

13. Slashing Through Red Tape Like a Pro

14. Hashtag, “Not All Overseers:” Confronting Prejudice in the Digital Age

Interlude 2

III. Jack

15. Unbroken Vigil

16. Jerkass Gods

17. Space Battle

A Pillar Of Light

Author’s Note

Prologue

I. Where’s Tommy?

1. Creepy Cave

2. Overshadowed by Awesome

3. Escalating Brawl

4. After These Messages…

5. …We’ll Be Right Back

6. Toppled Statue

Interlude 1

II. The Gang’s All Here

7. Things that Make You Go Boom

8. She Ain’t Coming

9. The Science of Magic

10. Plans

11. The Last Night

12. Operation Distractification

13. The Way In

14. The Way Out

Interlude 2

III. To Make the Stars Weep

15. Now, What We’ve Got Here Is…

16. Looking Death in the Eye

17. Twelve-Dimensional Calculus

18. The Obligatory Climactic Trope

19. Horde Mode

20. It’s Never Too Late for Redemption

21. All Debts Eventually Come Due

22. Meet the New World…

23. Small Mercies

24. Beginnings

Epilogue

Coming Soon:

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

About the Author

Copyright (C) 2023 R.S. Penney

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2023 by Next Chapter

Published 2023 by Next Chapter

Cover art by Lordan June Pinote

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

THE ANCIENT GATE

THE WAR FOR EZRYN BOOK 1

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “This is a crossover of the Justice Keepers and Desa Kincaid novels? And it takes place after both series? Goodness, that is a lot of books to read!”

So, you know how Marvel structured its universe so that you don’t have to watch Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk and Black Widow to enjoy an Avengers movie? They specifically made the big team ups accessible to the casual viewer? It’s like that.

All of the relevant characters are introduced and developed in this novel. Anything you need to know about fancy tech or superpowers will be explained as if you have never read one of my books before. And on the off chance that you need a little extra clarification, I’ve provided some helpful appendices at the back of the book. Which are also nice for those of you who feel like you just don’t have enough Tolkien wannabes in your life. (I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Sheesh!)

All of which is to say that you are perfectly free to start your journey in this shared universe right here.

Enjoy!

You know the story. You’ve heard it a thousand times by now. Time and space came into being in a brilliant flash. The universe expanded from a hot, dense state into an endless expanse of galaxies, stars and black holes.

What you don’t know is that it happened more than once. Time and space did not “come into being.” They are eternal. Your universe is but a single bubble in an ever-expanding Cosmos.

And sometimes – just sometimes – two bubbles intersect.

PROLOGUE

THE CRUELEST OF SMILES

Elizabeth, West Virginia

August 13, 1966

Michael swung the bat as hard as he could, striking the baseball with a sound like thunder, sending it flying to the outfield. Billy looked up, desperately trying to track it, but the glare of the setting sun got in his eyes. Sweat made his glasses slide down his nose; he had to adjust them.

All the other kids kept shouting for Billy to get the ball, but he didn’t even know where to start looking. Finally, he heard a soft rustle in the bushes. That could only mean one thing: Michael had knocked it out of the park. Literally.

At thirteen years old, Michael Bateson was a few inches taller than most of his peers. He had a strong chin and thick, blonde hair. Susie Jenkins kept insisting that he was the most kissable boy in their class, though Billy had no idea how she had reached that conclusion.

Rounding second, Michael slowed down just long enough to show Billy a smirk. The others were cheering him on, urging him to run for home -- not that it made any difference. He could take a leisurely stroll, and there was nothing that Billy or his teammates could do to stop him from scoring a run.

Sighing softly, Billy turned his back on home plate and pounded his fist into his glove. He trudged across the field to the bushes at the edge of the park. “Get the damn ball, Miller!” James shouted.

“Watch your mouth,” Billy muttered under his breath. He was already on his way to do just that. The bushes formed a line at the edge of the park. Behind them, the trees that surrounded Tucker Creek stood tall and proud.

Billy wasn’t supposed to go in there. His mother had told him many times that he wasn’t allowed to play near the creek. She kept insisting that some kids had drowned in there a few years back. Billy had asked around, and no one seemed to know what she was talking about.

It didn’t help that the story kept changing. The first version took place in 1953. Two boys were playing in the stream when one of them got swept under by the current. Then it was 1957, and one of those boys was now the other one’s sister. Billy was pretty sure the whole thing was made up.

He was smaller than the other kids, and because of that, his mom seemed to think he needed extra protection. Well, that was fine. He didn’t want to play in the creek anyway. He had a bunch of comics that his father had bought on his last trip to Parkersburg, and he would much rather be reading those than searching for some stupid baseball. But his dad wanted him to spend time with the other kids; so, here he was.

Billy turned sideways, slipping between two bushes. Some of the needles scraped his skin, and he hissed from the sting. Wincing, he scooted out the other side, into the trees. The ball had to be around here somewhere. He just had to…

Something made him freeze.

There in the distance, partially hidden behind a tree trunk, a man in a shiny, blue suit stood looking at the creek. He was much taller than he should have been with huge, broad shoulders and a bald head. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

The man’s skin was white!

Not pale or pink but white like snow. He seemed to notice that Billy was watching because he turned around and smiled. It was the most terrifying smile Billy had ever seen, made all the worse by the fact that this stranger’s eyes were just a little too far apart. His nose was broad and flat, and his mouth! Those teeth were sharper than they should have been. “Don’t be afraid,” he said in a slow, droning voice.

Billy backed away, tripping over an exposed root and falling backward into the bushes. He tried to pick himself up, but the bald man was suddenly standing over him. There was no way that anyone could have crossed that distance so quickly.

“What is this place?”

Billy blinked. “It’s Tucker’s Creek.”

“Tucker’s Creek.”

Billy should have been crying; he should have been screaming. But all he could do was stare up at the strange man in wide-eyed amazement. “Are you an alien?”

Ignoring the question, the bald man glanced up to the heavens. That sickening grin never wavered. “How many people live here?”

“In Elizabeth?” Billy spluttered. “Seven hundred and twenty-seven.”

“No,” the man said. “Here!” He stamped his foot down on the earth several times. “How many of your kind are there?”

Billy’s mouth fell open, a ragged breath escaping him. “My kind?” he whispered. “You mean humans? You’re going to invade us, aren’t you?”

“Heldrid!” the man shouted, twisting around and peering deeper into the forest. “Heldrid, you’ve brought us to the wrong coordinates!”

Another alien emerged from behind a tree. This one was shorter than the other – though not by much – and slimmer as well. His skin was gray instead of white. His suit was green instead of blue. But the one thing they had in common was that demonic, rictus grin.

“There are billions of them here!” Heldrid protested.

“This world is claimed,” the first alien replied. “Can you not feel it?”

Heldrid turned his head, directing that hideous smile toward Billy for a moment. “A few missing souls out of billions. They will never even know we were here!”

“Sha tak Inzari! We do not need a war!”

“War…” Billy whispered.

The first alien glanced at him. Something behind those large, dark eyes changed. “Be at ease, child. You will not be harmed.”

“Not by us,” Heldrid remarked. “They have all sorts of nasty plans for your species.”

It was only then that Billy realized their mouths never moved. They weren’t communicating with words. Somehow, they were forcing the thoughts into his mind, making him hear things.

He was so distracted by the revelation that he barely noticed when Heldrid turned away and shuffled off toward the creek. “Where are you going?” the first alien demanded. “Heldrid!”

But Heldrid wasn’t listening.

The world seemed to twist around him, light bending so that everything was a blur. A whirlpool of colour formed: tree trunks, roots and mud all bleeding together in a swirling funnel. Heldrid walked through it without looking back, disappearing into the portal. And when he was gone, everything snapped back to normal.

The first alien stared after him. “You would abandon me here! Fool…It will take years to calculate his vector.”

Billy chose that moment to slip away, scrambling backward into the bushes. But he must have made too much noise. The alien flinched and twisted around, reaching for him with a pale hand.

Billy flinched when those spindly fingers touched his cheek. The alien’s skin was frigid! “You…You’re cold,” he stammered.

“Yes,” the alien replied. “I am cold.”

The Planet Ezryn

Eight Years Ago

The crimson sun hovered over the horizon, leaving the sky a deep, twilight blue. The air was warm and muggy with the lingering heat of late summer. After a long day of riding, Desa was ready for sleep. Sadly, that wasn’t an option.

She sat atop her white mare, lightly patting the animal’s neck. Tommy was right beside her, riding a dappled gray that he had named Hank of all things. Hank! Well, it was the sort of name Tommy would think of.

On her left, Kalia waited atop her golden palomino. Sunset nickered, backing up instinctively. None of the horses wanted to be here. They knew that a predator lurked in this place.

“No more stalling,” Desa said. “Let’s get this done.”

A menacing forest stood before them, ancient trees standing tall with leaves fluttering in the evening breeze. She had passed through those woods once, and the things she had encountered therein had left her with nightmares that lingered to this day.

“It’s time!” Desa shouted.

Green eyes appeared between two of those twisted trees, staring out at her from the darkness. She held that unearthly gaze, refusing to blink or look away. At long last, the eyes darkened, receding into the forest.

A moment later, Heldrid emerged from the thicket, perhaps a hundred feet to her left. He stepped into the light of Kalia’s glowing ring, cocking his head and greeting them with that hideous, unwavering grin. “Curious,” he murmured. “I’m quite certain that I warned you about disturbing me again. Time for what, Desa Kincaid?”

“Time for you to go back to your own world,” she said coldly. “This one is under my protection.”

“Is that so?”

Starlight danced backward as the creature drew near, but that was all right. A gentle pat stilled her. “I have no quarrel with you,” Desa said. “I would be more than happy to let you stay. But the legends say that those who pass this region never return. And I suspect that you are the root of many of those tales. I can’t have you killing innocent people. Or doing whatever it is you do to them.”

“Mmm,” Heldrid said. “Very noble of you.”

“I don’t want a fight, Heldrid.”

He slithered up to them, undulating as he inspected their horses. That rictus smile sent shivers down Desa’s spine. “Do forgive my bluntness,” he purred. “But I think I can handle three Field Binders.”

Resting a hand on the grip of her pistol, Desa set her jaw as she studied him. “We are but the first of many,” she assured him. “It’s a new day, Heldrid. Humanity will flourish on this world. And we have grown weary of outsiders preying on us.”

He chuckled, covering his mouth with one hand. “Perhaps.” And then, of all things, he bowed to her. “Until we meet again, Desa Kincaid.”

He faded away, growing more and more transparent until he was gone. The forest went with him, leaving a clear, unobstructed path across the grasslands of the Halitha. She hadn’t expected such a drastic change.

Kalia let out a breath that she had been holding for some time, blinking several times in confusion. “So, what does that mean?”

“I think it means we won,” Tommy mumbled. “Right?”

“Don’t jinx it,” Desa said.

Earth, Austin Texas

One Year Ago

The security office had a TV, a tiny flatscreen positioned up near the ceiling, in the corner between two yellow walls. On any other day, Rob would be using it to watch the Rangers’ game. But today was Friendship Day. So, it didn’t matter what channel he put on; they were all playing the same thing.

Jack Hunter, the skinny Canadian kid who had become the first of Earth’s Justice Keepers, stood behind a podium. He was dressed all in black: pants and a shirt with the collar left open. It made him look ridiculous, and that stupid, messy, hipster hair wasn’t helping matters. “Well,” he began, “it’s been quite the decade, hasn’t it?”

Everybody laughed.

“And it’s only half over!”

Rob would give just about anything to get a break from this bullshit, but Jack’s speech was everywhere. All the major news networks were running clips of it; the damn thing was trending on Twitter. Rob was half tempted to unplug the TV, shut off his phone and open the novel that Sarah had left here at the end of her shift.

It was some stupid piece of chick-lit: the kind with a James Bond lookalike on the cover and some wide-eyed girl clinging to his arm. Rob was tempted, but he wouldn’t be caught dead reading something like that. If one of the other guys saw him…

Seated at the security desk, Rob folded his arms and tossed his head back. “Can you believe this?” he muttered, swivelling his chair back and forth.

Alejandro, the lanky, olive-skinned young man who had been assigned as Rob’s partner for the evening, was busy flipping through the pages of some magazine. He was a handsome guy: tall with a thick beard and even thicker brown hair. “Believe what?”

“This!” Rob exclaimed, gesturing to the TV.

“What about it?”

Rolling his eyes, Rob let out a heavy sigh. “How long are we going to listen to this idiot prattle on? Don’t people have anything better to do?”

Alejandro looked up from his magazine. “It’s the anniversary of the most important day in human history. You really think people aren’t gonna be talking about it?”

Five years ago, Earth had made contact with aliens for the first time. Only, they weren’t aliens. They were humans whose ancestors had been taken to another world thousands of years ago. They developed spaceships and eventually found their way back to Earth.

Some of them – the extremely liberal, ultra-woke types – became Justice Keepers: superheroes with badges who went around imposing their ideology on everybody else. Watching people fawn over the commies with ray guns sickened Rob to his core.

He was grateful when the phone rang.

Snatching the receiver off its cradle, Rob brought it to his ear. “Yeah?”

“Hi, this is Christine at 32 Jefferson.”

“What can we do for you, Christine?”

“Would you mind sending someone to take a look at the Andersons’ place? I thought…I thought I saw someone skulking by the house.”

“Could it be one of the Andersons?”

“No, no!” Christine insisted. “They’ve been on vacation since the Fourth.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you. Number 35.”

Rob hung up and climbed out of his chair. Alejandro was already checking his supplies – his radio, his sidearm – but Rob stopped him with a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I could use the walk.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s probably just a raccoon.”

He exited the guardhouse, peering through the metal gate that protected this little community. On the other side, half a dozen cars went whipping up the street. Everyone wanted to party, to celebrate the arrival of their distant cousins from another planet. The Fourth of July was nothing compared to Friendship Day. The sun had gone down hours ago, but that didn’t mean anything. Most of those idiots would still be partying when it came up again.

Turning away from the gate, Rob jangled his keys as he sauntered up a suburban street lined with houses that all looked the same to him. Most of them had two stories and a big garage, well-manicured front lawns and the occasional tree.

He turned the corner onto Jefferson, noting how the only streetlight on this little cul de sac left the houses on the right side in darkness. No wonder Christine had thought that someone was lurking outside her neighbour’s place.

Retrieving his flashlight, Rob lifted it, but his finger hovered over the switch. He thought he heard something from the darkness. Muffled voices. It was the content of their conversation that made him freeze.

“So, they finally released you.”

“Yes.”

“And they sent you back to this world…as penance.”

If he squinted, Rob could just make out a flicker of movement in the darkness between two houses. Someone was lurking, but he had the distinct impression that these weren’t common thieves. For one thing, thieves rarely used words like ‘penance.’

For another, the speaker claimed to have come from another world. That was certainly possible; there were over a dozen planets in this galaxy with human inhabitants. But criminals from other worlds usually had advanced technology. As much as he hated to admit it, this was exactly the kind of situation that Justice Keepers were made for.

His first instinct was to radio in and request backup, but curiosity got the better of him. The two trespassers didn’t seem to have noticed him. He crept over to the Mitchells’ lawn, hiding under the branches of their willow tree, and strained to pick up more of the conversation.

“Four cycles! They held me for four cycles!”

“What did you expect, Heldrid? Abandoning me on this world should have earned you a painful death.”

“I thought you would leave. Return to the Origin. You said it yourself. We have no business here.”

“Ah, but these humans present us with an interesting conundrum. Did you know that they have colonized multiple planets in this galaxy? We have encountered their species over a dozen times across thousands of universes. But in only three other instances did they ever leave their homeworld.”

“The Inzari played a role in that.”

“Yes, but do not discount human ingenuity. These humans are aware of their benefactors. They call them Overseers. An accurate, if unimaginative, name. They have even learned to duplicate some of the Inzari’s technology. In every iteration of their species, humans have proven themselves to be quite adaptive. Just look at the little world you left behind. What a curious place. The humans of 76848 should be studied. As should those who reside in this universe.”

“The Inzari have laid claim to them. If we interfere with their experiment, we risk a war.”

“So, we will simply have to maneuver the Inzari out of the way. Have you completed your assignment? Did you allow them to trace your dimensional vector?”

“I made my arrival in this universe as obvious as possible without arousing suspicion.”

“Excellent. Then I have every confidence that the Inzari will find Universe 76848. We must move the key players into position, and we must do so with the utmost care. Humans are an inquisitive species. Consider how easy it was to lure one of them here.”

Rob perked up at that.

He turned to run but was immediately confronted by a tall, imposing figure in a shiny, blue suit. The alien – a genuine alien with a pale face, misshapen eyes and a grin that just would not relent – pressed a hand against Rob’s chest. “Would you come with me, please?”

He whirled around and nearly crashed into the other one. This fellow was slimmer, shorter and wrapped in some strange, green material that reflected the streetlight. “No! No! No!” Rob whimpered. A portal opened only a few feet away: a whirlpool of colour that distorted the trees and houses behind it.

Creeping up behind him, the first alien laid an eager hand on Rob’s shoulder. It leaned in close, practically purring in his ear. “I’m afraid I must insist.”

He screamed as the alien threw him into the vortex.

PARTI

DESA

1

ENDINGS

The Planet Ezryn

The City of Bekala

Desa Nin Leean was happy.

Basking in the warm sunlight that came through her living room window, she watched her son Brendan crawling across the hardwood floor. The child had a smile that melted her heart, and he giggled as he scampered up to her feet. With black hair and slightly tilted eyes, Brendan resembled her partner Kalia, though, in truth, neither she nor Kalia had carried the boy to term.

Sometimes, she wondered what she would say when her son started asking about his birth parents. It wouldn’t take long for Brendan to realize that he and Desa looked nothing alike. She had a darker, olive complexion and features that were more common among people from the east coast. Brendan, on the other hand, would fit right in here on the western plains.

Seated in her mother’s old rocking chair with a blanket folded over her lap, Desa leaned forward to greet her son with a smile. “Hi there,” she murmured, picking him up. “I’m going to have to start locking all the cupboards. Pretty soon, you’ll have the run of the house.”

Brendan pawed at her nose.

Chuckling, Desa shook her head violently, strands of brown hair whipping across her face. “Agh, no!” she said, blinking. “We don’t grab Mama’s nose.”

Desa held the boy close with his head resting on her shoulder, and he mumbled as she bounced him. Any moment now, he would drift off, and she would put him down for his afternoon nap. She never had a hard time putting him to sleep. Kalia kept insisting that she must have a magic touch.

Thinking of the other woman made her appear.

Kalia emerged from the bedroom in a simple, white dress with short sleeves. After nine years together, she was still every bit as ravishing as she had been the day they met. Long, brown hair framed a perfect face with a delicate nose and eyes that sparkled. “You’ve got him settled?” she asked, checking the clock on the wall.

“He’ll be fine,” Desa promised. “Go to your meeting.”

Shuffling across the room, Kalia bent to retrieve a leather bag full of documents. Ten years ago, she had been the sheriff of a backwater town in the middle of a desert that no sane woman would visit even if you paid her a wagon full of gold. Now, Kalia sat on the council of a bustling metropolis. Some people believed that, within twenty years, Bekala would become the largest and most influential city in the Northern Hemisphere. The schematics that Kalia carried in that bag were a big part of why.

“You think they’ll approve the plans?” Desa asked.

Standing up straight, Kalia brushed the hair out of her face. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “They keep talking about charging people for access to the electric grid.”

Desa frowned. “I thought we agreed that electricity would be free for all of our citizens.”

“Yes, but then the Dawnchaser Coalition decided that our fair city would be the perfect venue to conduct their research into new transportation technology. They want to replace the steam engine with some kind of electric version. They built a track out on the plains, and they keep trying to run their new train. The southwest quarter experiences brownouts every time they do.”

Slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder, Kalia shot a glance toward Desa. “Mr. Tormun insists that we should expand the grid, but that costs money. So, we get into these debates about whether we should charge people.”

“I assume you told him that the wellbeing of our citizens takes precedence over any…technological research.”

Exhaling roughly, Kalia spun on Desa with a frown that said they would be having an uncomfortable conversation. “You need to be on the Council! I’ve been saying it for years!”

“I have no desire to be a politician.”

“I’m pretty sure you had no desire to spend fifteen years hunting down a murderer, but you did that without complaint.”

“Those were different circumstances.” The murderer in question had used Field Binding to commit his crimes. The Great Art of Aladar, the legacy of Desa’s people, was the ability to Infuse inanimate objects with the power to manipulate the fundamental forces of nature.

Desa had taught Bendarian to harness that power, and thus it became her responsibility to stop him when he misused it.

Kalia bent over, pressing a soft kiss to Desa’s forehead. She pulled away, batting her eyes, and then caressed Brendan’s cheek. “Just think about it.”

She turned to go, disappearing into the kitchen. “And eat something before you go to class!”

The baby was sound asleep now. Desa carried him back to his bedroom, setting him down in his crib. He barely made a sound as she pulled a blanket over his tiny body. What she wouldn’t give to just stay here in her quiet little house, to spend an afternoon reading and listening to Brendan sleep. But she had obligations to fulfill.

Founding a town with the specific intention of providing a better life for everyone who lived there was somehow enough to convince people that you should be in some kind of leadership position. She was just glad that they were willing to let her teach Field Binding at the Academy instead of forcing her into a political role. Kalia wasn’t the first person to suggest that Desa should serve on the Council.

The kitchen was a small room with an electric stove in the corner and a table that supported a vase full of colourful flowers. The sink had been acting up recently. Kalia insisted that it took too long to drain. Well, maybe it did, but after fifteen years in the wilderness, Desa was still grateful to have running water.

Checking the clock, she noted the time. Sali, the young woman she had hired to watch Brendan while she was at work, should be here any moment now. A positively fiendish idea occurred to Desa.

She made herself one with the Ether, the universal energy field that gave a Field Binder their power. The world transformed before her eyes, solid objects becoming a sea of vibrating particles.

Wrapped in the Ether’s embrace, she could see through walls and track the people walking past on the street. She could sense Brendan in his crib and know with perfect certainty that he was safe. She could even scan the pipes for whatever might be causing the sink to malfunction. Sure enough, she found a blockage in the drain.

Hmm…

If she could Infuse the pipe with an excess of kinetic energy, it might be enough to clear the obstruction. On the other hand, it might cause the pipe to burst. Perhaps it would be best to consult a plumber first.

She let her mind drift to the sidewalk and found Sali climbing the steps that led to her porch. Excellent.

Desa released the Ether, turning on her heel and marching to the door. She pulled it open before Sali could knock, causing the young woman to jump. “Almighty! Mrs. Kincaid! You startled me!”

It rankled Desa that people still called her by her late husband’s name. Not that she bore any ill will toward Martin. He had been a good man, but the marriage had been one of convenience, a means for him to leave his assets to her after he passed.

Desa’s people did not use surnames; so, anyone who did got flustered when they realized that they didn’t know what to call her. If anything, she should be Desa Troval, but the ridiculous customs of Eradia insisted that a woman should take her husband’s last name and not the other way around. What did you do when there was no husband?

“It’s all right, Sali. Come in.”

The young woman was somewhat plump with a pale face and blonde hair that she wore tied back. “Thank you,” she said, shuffling through the door. “How is the little angel?”

Shutting the door, Desa leaned against it with her arms folded. “Sleeping,” she said with a shrug. “He should be down for most of the afternoon. Kalia will be back in a few hours; so, you’ll have the evening to yourself.”

Pausing in the middle of the kitchen, Sali spun around to favour Desa with a smile. “Oh, I never mind spending time with Brendan! He’s such a good boy! Enjoy your day, Mrs. Kincaid. I’m sure the students are looking forward to their lesson.”

Desa sighed. “Of course they are.” It was the first day of a new term, and she just so happened to be saddled with the most popular – and most dangerous – course at the Academy. Every year, it was the same thing: two dozen adolescents gathered in her classroom with far too much enthusiasm and ridiculous dreams about going on adventures.

Well, it was time to disabuse them of such foolish notions.

* * *

“Combat Field Binding,” Desa said, pacing a line in front of her students. She had taken them to the yard behind the Academy. The sun was shining bright in the blue sky, its light reflecting off the enormous crystal at the pyramid’s summit. Anyone who had learned to contact the Ether would feel the pulses emanating from that crystal. Among other things, it was a teaching tool, a means of helping the students to harness their power.

They were gathered in the grass, standing in neat little rows of three and watching Desa with that avid fascination young people always showed whenever they thought they were about to witness something destructive. She knew a few of them by reputation – troublemakers who had been sent to the headmistress once or twice – but most of them were strangers to her.

They were a motley group: Some pale, some dark, some tall, some short. She counted two girls for every boy, but that ratio was unique to this lot. Sometimes, it was the other way around, but more often than not, the genders were equally represented.

Not just anyone could take this class. You had to apply for an apprenticeship with the City Watch and receive permission from the headmistress herself. Nari was very selective about who she allowed into this course. She wanted to make sure that each student had the right temperament.

The students were eager; she could see it on their faces. Many of them had spent years dreaming of the day when they would finally learn the intricacies of combat from the master herself.

Desa continued to pace, folding her hands behind her back. With her short stature, her slender build and her bob of brown hair, she must have looked rather unintimidating to them. “What can you tell me about combat Field Binding?”

Several hands shot up.

Spinning on her heel, Desa thrust out her chin and snorted. “That was a trick question,” she said. “The correct answer is ‘nothing.’ Because you haven’t learned a damn thing yet.”

She drew her revolver, holding it up in front of her face, tilting it this way and that so that her students could examine it. “Now, this is a gun,” she went on. “And as we all know, the first rule of gun safety is, ‘Never point your weapon at anything you don’t intend to kill.’”

She aimed the pistol at a pudgy, young man with curly, red hair. The poor kid stumbled, tripping over his own feet and forcing the people behind him to catch him.

“Relax, it’s not loaded.” She opened the cylinder to prove her point. “But I want you to remember that fear. You will feel it every time someone points a gun at you, every time someone pulls a knife. No matter how skilled you become, the fear is always there. Because the danger is always real.”

One of the girls – a pretty lass with dark, brown skin and black hair that she wore in a multitude of braids – leaned sideways to whisper something to her friend.

“Stephanie!” Desa barked. “What would you do if someone pointed a gun at you?”

“I…”

Pursing her lips, Desa nodded once. “That’s correct,” she said. “And for future reference, admitting ignorance is always the right answer in this class. There is no exam, no final evaluation, but you will find that my expectations are higher than any other…”

She noticed one of the boys snickering. The kid was tall and skinny, with messy blonde hair. At first, Desa would have said that he reminded her of Tommy. But Tommy had never been so snide.

Striding up to him, Desa stared directly into his eyes. “Something to say? Some tidbit of wisdom that you’d like to share?”

The young man blushed, clearing his throat and looking down at his shoes. “No, ma’am,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“What would you do?”

“Excuse me?”

“If someone pointed a gun at you,” Desa clarified.

“I…I’d use a Force-Sink to sap the kinetic energy from his bullets, rendering them harmless.”

Desa turned away from him, sauntering through the grass at a leisurely pace. “A clever solution.” One she had employed herself on countless occasions. “Let’s put it to the test, shall we?”

She retrieved an empty, green wine bottle from her bag and placed it on a wooden table that she had set up in the middle of the field. “The bottle has been Infused with a connection to the Ether,” she explained. “Once activated, it will drain kinetic energy from any object that gets within range. Everybody, stand back.”

Her students were quick to obey.

Desa positioned herself in front of them, loading her pistol with four fresh rounds. “Let’s see what happens.” A thought was all it took to trigger the Force-Sink that she had placed within the glass.

Lifting her weapon in both hands, Desa narrowed her eyes.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

A single bullet came to a halt about two inches away from the bottle, then another and another. All three of them hung in the air, their movement stilled by the power of the Ether. Not even gravity could pull them down.

“Quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Several students murmured their agreement.

CRACK!

The fourth slug tore through the bottle, sending shards of glass flying in all directions.

Sighing softly, Desa returned her gun to its holster. She turned around to face her students. “What happened?”

They all stood before her in bug-eyed bewilderment, unsure of what to say. Finally, Stephanie raised a hesitant hand. “The…the Sink ran out of power?” she stammered. “I mean it absorbed all the energy it could handle.”

“Correct.”

“So…So…”

Crossing her arms, Desa held the young woman’s gaze. “A Force-Sink can absorb a limited amount of kinetic energy. A Force-Source can release a limited amount of kinetic energy. Once an Infusion is depleted, the object it was attached to becomes an ordinary piece of junk.”

Desa started to pace again. “It takes about fifteen minutes to make a Sink that will stop six bullets. Another ten if you include the modifiers that will prevent it from turning you into a statue in the process. Just how many of them do you think you can carry on your person?”

The golden-haired young man looked particularly sheepish right then. The others weren’t doing so well either. Now that they were suitably chastened, Desa could start molding them into Field Binders who wouldn’t get themselves killed five seconds after they ran into battle. “So, the lesson for today is…”

“Don’t use Force-Sinks?” one of the girls chimed.

“No!” Desa snapped. “The lesson is to use all the tools at your disposal. In battle, your Infusions are precious resources that cannot be replaced until you have adequate time to renew them. Once they are depleted, you are nothing but an ordinary rube who will be gunned down by the first enterprising soldier who gets you in his sights.”

She stepped forward, standing toe to toe with the blonde boy, staring up at him with a frown that made him flinch. “Field Binding is just a tool,” she went on. “You must rely on your wits and your training. So…”

She drew her pistol and thrust it into the young man’s hand. Seizing his wrist, she pressed the revolver’s barrel hard against her chest. “If you can subdue your opponent by conventional means…”

A quick twist of the boy’s forearm made him yelp and drop the gun. Desa stepped forward, locking hips with him and cranking his arm to throw him down on his backside. The kid landed with a grunt, wincing on impact. “I strongly suggest that you do so.”

“You’re working them hard, I see.”

When Desa looked up, she saw an older woman descending the shallow slope from the pyramid’s back entrance. Sula was a matronly woman, with wrinkles around her eyes and a bun of steely-gray hair. She specialized in two subjects – mathematics and crystal theory – and her dedication to each was absolutely unwavering. “Some of them are lagging behind on their assignments. Which means their permission to take your class might be revoked.”

Desa bent over, offering her hand to the young man and pulling him to his feet. “You heard her. I think we’ve covered enough for one day. The rest of you are dismissed to attend to your studies.”

“But, Mrs. Kincaid,” Stephanie protested.

“No ‘buts,’” Desa shot back. “Random dismissals are my purview as an eccentric professor. Complete your assignments. We’ll resume at this time tomorrow. Go.”

The students scattered. Many of them hurried into the pyramid, no doubt intending to follow her instructions to the letter. Others ran for the outbuildings. Perhaps they had other classes.

Grimacing behind her spectacles, Sula shook her head. “This course of yours should be disbanded,” she said, resuming a one-sided argument that she had been having for the better part of a year now. Desa’s attempts to ignore her prodding or change the subject had no effect on her persistence. “They shouldn’t be learning such things, Desa. I know that your skills have served you well in the past, but Field Binding was never meant to be a weapon.”

Slinging the strap of her satchel over her shoulder, Desa shut her eyes tight. “It’s nice to see you, Sula.” She started up the hillside, hoping to Mercy that the other woman would take the hint.

“You’re teaching them to kill,” Sula pressed.

Desa froze, twisting around to answer the other woman with a sneer. “I’m teaching them to defend themselves!” she snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, our city is surrounded by enemies who hate the fact that many of our citizens can manipulate light, heat and gravity.”

“The Eradian Empire is no threat to us.”

“They are if they send all their armies against us!” Desa insisted. “Even a hundred Field Binders can’t do much against ten thousand soldiers!”

This was a mistake. Desa knew that she shouldn’t let the other woman get to her. The best response was silence, but Sula’s bluntness had struck a nerve. After fifteen years in the wild, fifteen years spent hunting the very thing that Sula feared – a Field Binder who used his power to kill – Desa had a long list of regrets.

There was blood on her hands; she knew it. She had worked hard to change, to become the sort of person who took pity on her enemies, but it didn’t assuage her guilt. A man was dead because Desa had trusted her instincts instead of thinking things through. She would have to live with that for the rest of her life.

Turning her back on the old woman, Desa closed her eyes and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Forgive me, Sula,” she mumbled. “I…I am not in the right frame of mind for this discussion.”

A snort of derision was the only response she received.

* * *

Sliding her key into the deadbolt, Desa jiggled it a few times and found that she needn’t have bothered. The door was unlocked. Was Sali still here? She got her answer when she stepped into the front hall and found her mother standing there with Brendan in her arms.

A short and rotund woman in a plain, blue dress, Leean had a smile that always made Desa feel safe. Her gray hair was pulled back with a few thin strands flying wildly. “Home already?” she exclaimed. “Aren’t you a little early?”

After many years of gentle needling, Desa had finally convinced her mother to make the journey from Aladar to Bekala. For a long time, Leean had insisted that she was too old to be travelling across the continent. It was the arrival of a grandson that had changed her mind.

“Class ended early.”

Leean continued to bounce Brendan, but her scowl took Desa back to the days when she used to slip out in the middle of the night. “You didn’t injure one of the students, did you?”

“What? No!”

“Don’t be so aghast. It happened before.”

Desa slammed the door shut, falling back against it. “The only time that happened is when Kal Broshnan pulled a muscle after trying – and failing – to put me in a hold.”

She strode past her mother, into the kitchen, and set her satchel down on a wooden chair. “The children had assignments to complete,” she went on. “And I had no desire to chat with the other teachers.”

It startled her to realize that Kalia was already home and stirring a pot of bubbling soup with a wooden spoon. There had been a time when Desa would have never missed the sound of boiling water. Or the scent of Kalia’s delicious chicken soup! But no longer. A decade in Bekala had dulled her senses.

Dipping her spoon into the pot, Kalia tasted the broth and nodded approvingly. “Sula?” she asked.

“Who else?”

Now, it was Kalia who scowled, but her sudden snarl wasn’t meant for Desa. “Pay her no mind, my love. Your students are learning a valuable skill.”

“I’m not so sure,” Desa mumbled, claiming the other empty chair. “How many recruits does the City Watch need?”

“The town where I grew up is less than a day’s ride from here. We had no electricity, no running water and plenty of bandits who raided us for supplies. As sheriff, it was my job to keep the people safe, and I would have fallen on my knees and begged the Almighty Himself for a few more deputies. Bekala is a bastion of civilization in a vast and hostile wilderness.”

“Yes, but all of that is changing.” There were days when Desa felt like a relic of a bygone era. No one needed a gunslinger with magic bullets anymore. Not in this new world they were building. Sometimes, she wondered if teaching the tricks of her trade was just a sad attempt to relive her glory days.

Abandoning her soup, Kalia sauntered over to the kitchen table. She kissed Desa tenderly on the forehead. “The world needed Desa Kincaid eight years ago,” she insisted. “It still needs Desa Nin Leean.”

“It will always need Desa,” Leean chimed in.

Blushing, Desa shut her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at them. “All right, all right!” she said, spreading her hands to bring an end to this conversation. “Mama, will you be joining us for dinner?”

“No, I will not. Brendan is going to spend the night at Grandma’s house.”

“Is he now?”

“It’s been forever since we’ve had a night off,” Kalia explained. “I thought we could use a little time to ourselves.”

Desa grinned as she rose to kiss her partner’s lips. “A splendid idea.”

* * *

The first thing Desa noticed upon waking was the warmth of Kalia’s body. It was still dark – a few hours past midnight unless she missed her guess – and her partner was still sound asleep. The steady rhythm of Kalia’s breathing was almost enough to lull her back into a peaceful slumber, but her attempts to drift off proved fruitless. She was restless, her legs filled with the need to move.

Climbing out of bed, Desa found her cotton robe and wrapped it around herself. Her movements had not disturbed Kalia. But then nothing could.

Kalia was the sort of woman who liked to sleep in whenever the opportunity presented itself. A bit of a nuisance, given that Desa had always been an early riser, but there it was. Just one of the many quirks of their relationship. Desa loved her partner more than life itself, but there were days when the other woman made her want to pull her hair out.

Sighing softly, she belted the robe and left the bedroom. By habit, she glanced into the room across the hall, but of course, Brendan’s crib was empty. The romantic evening had been lovely, but she still felt her son’s absence.

Her bare feet padded across the living room floor and through the narrow doorway that led to the kitchen. It was painfully dark with only the ticking of the clock to hold back the silence of the wee hours.

Desa’s first instinct was to reach for a light switch. Then it occurred to her that she had come to rely too heavily on modern conveniences. Once upon a time, she had been forced to provide her own light.

She still felt the Infusion that she had made over a year ago – strands of the Ether connecting the molecules of a brass plate that Kalia had hung up on the wall. Why the other woman wanted such a thing was beyond her. The plate was gaudy and garish, but Kalia liked the engravings along the edge. And truth be told, Desa had never cared much about the décor of her living space. She had spent most of her twenties hopping from inn to inn and sleeping rough in the nights between. She had never really developed a nesting instinct.

With a thought, Desa triggered the Light-Source that she had Infused into the plate, ordering it to emit a soft, yellow glow. Her eyes needed a moment to adjust, but once they did, she had no trouble finding her way around the kitchen. Her mother had brought a loaf of her famous spice bread when she came to pick up Brendan. There might still be some left-

Something was off.

A strange tingle on the back of her neck, the feeling of hair standing on end. She wasn’t alone. All those years of comfort and safety hadn’t completely killed the instincts that saved her life a thousand times over. She could feel the intruder’s eyes on her back.

Snatching the carving knife off the counter, Desa turned around with a snarl. “Who are you? Show yourself!”

A shadow flowed out of the living room, coalescing into the form of a tall and slender man in a wide-brimmed hat. “You had to do it, didn’t you?” a familiar voice grated. “You couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

The stranger stepped into the light, revealing a face of slate-gray skin, soulless eyes and a demonic grin that sent shivers down Desa’s spine. Heldrid wore the same poncho, trousers and boots that he had donned on their last encounter. “I’m impressed, Desa. I took you for the sort of woman who would die in the saddle, but it seems you carved out a pleasant existence for yourself. Here in this echo of your people’s former glory.”

“I told you to leave this planet!” Desa hissed.

“Yes. And therein lies the problem.”

Stepping forward, Desa shoved the knife in Heldrid’s face. He didn’t flinch or react in any way. “What do you want?”

Chuckling softly, Heldrid nudged the knife aside with a slender finger. That hideous grin remained fixed in place. “No, no, no! It’s not about what I want! No one cares what I want! This is about what you want. Or more precisely, what you can’t have.”

“What are you talking about?”

He leaned in close, his broad nose almost touching hers. “The doting wife, the loving child: you could have had it, Desa. But you had to interfere! You told me to go! You forced me to cross dimensions!”

Standing up straight, he slowly backed away from her. “They found me, Desa. And in so doing, they found you. Things are about to get a lot more complicated. I’m afraid your pleasant existence is at an end.”

2

THE VERY FINE INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES OF KALIA TROVAL

Desa narrowed her eyes. “Complicated,” she said, striding toward her unwanted guest. “What do you mean?”

He giggled, shaking his head in dismay. “You know, I’m getting tired of giving you all the answers,” he sneered. “The last time I helped you, you betrayed me and forced me to flee this world.”

“Heldrid! Don’t toy with me!”

Raising a hand to silence her, he cocked his head like a bird inspecting its dinner. “I think I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the show. It should be quite entertaining. Good luck to you, Desa Kincaid.”

A flash of rage made Desa throw the knife, but Heldrid vanished before it could pierce his flesh. It sank into the wall instead, vibrating on impact.

Falling to her knees, Desa shut her eyes as tears spilled over her cheeks. She covered her face with both hands. “No, no, no, no, no! He’s lying! He’s lying!”

“What’s wrong?” Kalia gasped, rushing into the kitchen.

“Heldrid…”

The other woman skidded to a stop, her jaw dropping at the utterance of a name she didn’t expect to ever hear again. “The grinning creature from the forest?” she spluttered. “I thought you told him to leave this world.”

“He’s back. And he says our family is in danger.”

Kalia dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around Desa. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve faced danger before.” Resting her head on the other woman’s chest, Desa sobbed so hard she thought she might tear herself in half.

“We weren’t mothers then,” she whimpered.

“You think he’ll go after Brendan?”

Sitting up, Desa blinked and sniffled. “I don’t think it’s him,” she explained. “Heldrid spoke of someone else. Enemies who found us through him. I don’t…I don’t know what he means.”

“Perhaps he’s just playing with you.”

“I don’t think so. There was a…vindictive glee in his demeanour. Like a man taking pleasure in his neighbour’s just desserts.”

Kalia was quiet for a very long while. At long last, she sighed and hugged Desa again. “Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”

“Yes. Yes, we will.”

* * *

Needless to say, Desa had very little sleep that night. Every time exhaustion claimed her, she found herself trapped in fitful dreams where some grinning menace chased her son through a labyrinth.

When the sun finally poked through her bedroom window, she was already wide awake. She had considered the possibility that Heldrid might be making empty threats. If that were the case, the best course of action would be to go about her life and ignore him. But no, the grinning man didn’t strike her as the sort of creature who bluffed.

She resolved to speak with Nari. The headmistress had been a goddess not so long ago – the goddess Mercy, no less. For thirty thousand years, she watched over this world from the safety of this city, only resuming her mortal form when her power was stripped away. If anyone knew about this mysterious nemesis that Heldrid had alluded to, it would be her.

Desa threw on a pair of gray pants, a blue blouse that she left untucked and her old, brown duster. The coat made her feel safe, reminding her of a time when she had saved this world from a threat far worse than Heldrid.

Setting her wide-brimmed hat atop her head, Desa pursed her lips and nodded. “It’ll have to do,” she said, turning away from the closet and rushing out the bedroom door.

She found Kalia in the kitchen, standing over a pot of oatmeal. The other woman still wore her robe. “I thought you didn’t have a class until later this morning,” she remarked.

“I want to talk to Nari,” Desa explained.

“You think she’ll know something?”

“She’s our best hope.”

Turning away from the stove, Kalia shambled across the kitchen and threw her arms around Desa’s neck. She had to remove the hat to kiss Desa’s lips. “Remember, you bested an alien that threatened to rip this planet apart.”

“Alien?” Desa said, her eyebrows climbing. “You used to call it a demon.”

“I’ve since expanded my understanding of the universe.”

Closing her eyes, Desa breathed deeply. “You’ve been reading too many of those old texts,” she muttered. “Our ancestors had a lot of bad ideas.”

“You think their conception of metaphysics was one such?”

“I don’t know,” Desa admitted. “But their attempts to harness forces they didn’t understand nearly resulted in the extinction of humanity.”

Nari had lived during the time of the Ancestors. Her experiments with something that she called particle synthesis allowed her to merge with the Ether, extending her life indefinitely and allowing her to manipulate matter on a molecular level. It might have been hailed as one of her people’s greatest achievements if their attempts to visit other universes hadn’t resulted in the downfall of their society.

Years ago, Desa had asked about Heldrid. Nari claimed that she knew of his people, but she would say nothing more on the subject. That didn’t bode well.

Cupping Kalia’s face with both hands, Desa kissed her forehead. “Be careful when you study those texts,” she pleaded. “We don’t need a repeat of past events.”

Her partner nodded.

Desa was out the door before the other woman had a chance to force that oatmeal down her throat. Not that she disliked Kalia’s cooking, but her partner was a stickler for eating three meals a day. And she was in no mood to eat anything.

No sooner did she close the door than she noticed an older gentleman standing at the foot of the porch steps. Marlon Tanner was a handsome fellow with a bit of a paunch and a thick, silver beard. Aside from a pair of bushy eyebrows that stood out against his dark complexion, the rest of his head was bald.

Marlon looked up at her with pure terror in his brown eyes.

“Marlon?” she said, descending the porch steps. “What’s wrong?”

He shuddered, turning his face away from her. “Sula,” he choked out. “She’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“I woke up this morning, and she was missing.” Marlon shook his head forcefully. “I should have known something was amiss. I was so groggy.”

“Is it possible she went to school early?”

Backing away from her, Marlon waved a hand to dispel that notion. “No, no, no!” he insisted. “I just came from there! No one has seen her.” His breathing was hoarse, ragged. “Sula never leaves without joining me for tea each morning.”

Heldrid’s words were suddenly blazing in Desa’s mind. Things were about to get a lot more complicated. She couldn’t help but think that Sula’s disappearance was somehow connected to all of this.

It was a beautiful morning in Bekala. The sun was shining; people were milling about on a street of small buildings with tiles on their slanted roofs, going about their business as if it were just an ordinary day. And yet Desa felt cold inside. “We should speak to the City Watch,” she declared.

“Do you think they can help?”

“If someone’s missing, they’re our best bet.”

Marlon grimaced, unsatisfied with that answer. “I came to you because you’re a hero,” he mumbled. “And everyone knows that you’re an expert in these otherworldly matters.”

Desa frowned down at her feet. “That was a long time ago, Marlon.” Eight years had passed since her triumph over the creature that had tried to destroy this city. And slaying one alien – no matter how large – hardly made her an expert. “Besides, we have no reason to think that anything otherworldly is going on.”

Now was not the time to tell him about Heldrid’s proclamation. Her suspicions aside, Sula’s disappearance might be entirely unrelated. “Come on. We’ll talk to the watch captain.”

* * *

“Another one,” Captain Hans Broller said, staring out his office window. He was a tall and muscular man: broad-shouldered with a thick, golden beard and flowing locks that fell past his shoulders. “That makes three.”

Desa and Marlon sat side by side in front of his desk, both sharing a nervous look. “You mean Sula wasn’t the first?” Desa inquired. “There were other missing persons?”

Dropping into his chair, Broller folded his hands on the desk and answered her with a flat stare. “Roland Sykes was the first. He took a job working on that train project with the Dawnchaser Coalition. Had an apartment in the northwest quarter. Three days ago, he didn’t show up for work, and no one’s heard from him since.”

“And the other?”

“Talia Sharp,” Broller grumbled. “She’s-”

“The daughter of Councillor Trevor Sharp,” Desa cut in. “And a vocal member of the Expansionist Movement.”

As an independent city-state, Bekala had its fair share of enemies, the most dangerous of which was the nearby Eradian Empire. The Eradians were distrustful of Field Binding. Many of them still saw it as some kind of black magic. The ability to manipulate the forces of nature stood in direct opposition to the tenets of their religion, which said that only the Almighty could do such things.