The Compass Key (Book 5) (15 page)

“I’m never going to talk to you,” Sari venomously spits. The hand carries her down to the base of the waterfall where the curtain parts. She hops onto the slick rocks and lets the rhythmic pounding of the
water relax her.

“Funny thing about hate is that you can’t avoid it,” Kayn
says with a chuckle. His voice cuts through the roaring waterfall, so Sari can clearly hear him. “I’ll sit here and fester like an open wound. One day you’ll wake up bitter, angry, and ready to slit the throat of the first person that looks at you funny. By then you will have driven your friends away, including your precious big sister.”

The waterfall explodes and sends bubbling droplets of
liquid everywhere. The deer retreat into the forest while the fish dart back upstream. Kayn yawns before getting to his feet and diving off the cliff. He gracefully lands on the lagoon, standing a few feet away from Sari, who is covered in whirling water. Before he can speak, she waves her hand and slashes Kayn across the chest with a blade of ice.

Sari scowls when her former partner’s wound disappears.
“I’m not playing games with you. You betrayed me and left Luke for dead. I will despise you until the day I forget you ever existed.”

“
But you played so nicely with the others.”

“I never wanted to kill them,” Sari contends with a cruel smile. She jumps across the stones to reach the shore. “What do I have to do to make you go away? I obviously can’t kill you and you’re not going to leave.”

“Stop talking like I’m in control,” Kayn states as he jumps to the shoreline and grabs Sari by the wrist. “This is your mind. Everything that is happening is controlled by part of you. All you have to do is take full control.”

Sari focuses on Kayn, struggling to will him out of existence. A wave of nausea rips through her stomach and she falls to her knees. Kayn continues to grip her wrist, but he loosens his hold enough to let her arm relax. She takes advantage of his light touch and yanks her arm free. Sari rolls into the lagoon, emerging an instant later with fists of hardened water surrounding her
hands. Lunging forward, she smashes Kayn into the ground and continues wailing on him with her water fists.

“I want you out of my head!” Sari shrieks at the top of her lungs. She stops when the ground cracks under Kayn’s body. Gasping for air, Sari lets the water slough off her and back into the lagoon. “Please let me out of here. I’m done facing my demons. I want to go back to my friends now.”

“Not until you learn,” the male gypsy says, his crushed body rising from the ground. The forest fills with the disturbing sounds of mending bones and inflating organs. “If we let you out now, you would freeze all of your friends to death. You need to control your emotions before you are returned to the waking world.”

Sari charges at Kayn with daggers spinning in her hands. She is nearly on top of him when the hilt of his bastard sword strikes her in the face. Sari stumbles forward in blinding pain, her nose broken and bleeding. She screams when she feels Kayn’s bastard sword slice up her back. Whirling around, Sari tries to block the next attack, but is sent hurtling into a tree by a brutal kick to her stomach. Her knees quivering, the defiant gypsy remains standing and stares at her enemy.

“If you kill me, you’ll die too.”

“I’m not really alive,
my love,” Kayn hisses. He gets within reach of Sari and grabs her by the hair, his sword pressing against her neck. “You’re a worthless, pathetic, whining child. No courage to face your demons and strengthen your spirit. The world will be a better place without a champion like you. I’m sure Gabriel will be able to make a replacement that can surpass you in every way.”

“I guess you’re my self-loathing too.”

“Hate covers a lot of ground.”

Sari closes her eyes and waits for the feel of steel slicing into her throat. She tenses when a choked cry erupts from Kayn and the sword falls away. The blade smacks her foot, causing her to open her eyes in surprise. She smiles when she sees Luke standing in front of her, his sabers still embedded in Kayn’s back. For a moment, she is ready to rush to
the half-elf and tackle him into the lagoon. Then she remembers that she is still in her mind and decides to take a few steps away from him.

“Things are going to get worse, aren’t they?” she groans while Luke removes his blades from Kayn’s corpse. The body sinks into the ground, but she can still fe
el its presence lingering on the foul breeze.

“You failed to face your hate,” Luke whispers in a distant voice. He looks up at Sari with eyes of pure white. “Now things get interesting.”

7

“I’m not one to question the master, but why did he give you his pet?” Nyder Fortune asks when Trinity and the visionaire walk into the quiet tavern. He grins at the disheveled look of
the chaos elf’s hair. “You’ve returned to us by wave teleportation. The master must be in a playful mood if he’s doing that.”

“It’s either that or he’s in a sadistic mood,” Trinity groans as she takes a seat. She signals to the bartender for an ale a
nd runs her hand over her hair to fix it with her magic. “He might not want to lose two minions in one day. If you haven’t heard, the Lich is no more.”

“That’s a shame. I liked him as long as he wasn’t complaining,”
the gnome says, pushing his glasses up his bulbous nose. The visionaire touches him with its crystal snout until he shocks it with a zap from his blue gloves. “What is it doing, Trinity?”

“Maybe it thinks you’re shirt is a banana or your pants are limes. Seri
ously, Nyder, get some handle on fashion before you blind us all with those hideous colors,” she taunts with a mischievous smile. She flips a coin to the approaching barmaid, who shies away from it and nearly drops the mug of ale. “Don’t worry, dear. I have no intention of hurting anyone who doesn’t deserve it. We’re not out for war this time. The coin is just a coin.”

The barmaid places the mug of ale on the table and timidly bends down to pick up the
piece of silver. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Nyder reaching out toward her. The young blonde freezes in terror, her eyes locked on the sparks running along his fingers. She is about to close her eyes and brace herself for pain when Trinity’s arm lances out to grab Nyder by the wrist and hoist him into the air.

“Do not hurt anyone here,” Trinity growls at the dangling gnome. She drops
him back in his seat and watches the barmaid retreat to the kitchen.

“This is why I despise being out of my lab. I
need test subjects for my experiments,” the bald gnome states. “Why am I needed here? Why is this touchy creature here? I hate questions with no answers, Trinity! This is unacceptable.”

“Silence!” bell
ows a loud voice from the door.

Everyone turns to see an armored halfling storm over to Trinity and Nyder. He takes a seat and takes his gauntlets off to flex his sore fingers.
General Vile ignores the glare from his allies while he lifts his silver eye-patch to reveal a gaping hole. He scratches at the itchy flesh until it bleeds before dropping the eye-patch back into place.

“That’s disgusting,” Trinity hisses before dri
nking some of her warm ale. “So is this, but it’s better than what my people brew.”

“I still can’t believe your son got the drop on you, Vile,” Nyder says, trying not to laugh at the halfling’s injury. He coughs and swallows hard when a shortsword slams into the table in front of him. “You brought it on yourself, old friend. You trained Nimby far too well.”

“I know,” the seasoned warrior replies. “Have either of you eaten yet?”

“I just returned with the master’s pet,” Trinity answers. She waves to the bartender and
signals to him for a plate of whatever is fresh. “Are we making any progress?”

The roar of Vile’s stomach echoes throughout the tavern, causing the halfling to blush slightly. He refuses to talk until a plate of hot turkey and slightly stale bread is placed on the table. With a ravenous appetite, he
devours the food and snatches Trinity’s remaining ale. She is about to say something when the barmaid returns with three decanters of wine. The young woman smiles at Trinity before rushing off to wait on a table of bored, elven sailors.

“See how far you get being nice to people?” Trinity asks with a grin
aimed at Nyder. “We don’t always have to be evil and mean.”

“I’m never evil and mean. Just sadistically curious,”
the gnome defiantly argues.

“We have investigated very little of the sewers,” Vile reports
as he builds a sandwich now that his initial hunger is gone. “It is a maze down there, so we keep getting lost. This has required that we come out on the surface to check our location, which has led to several skirmishes. We are continuing to follow your order to fight in self-defense, but it is getting tougher. Another way is needed to find the Compass Key or we are going to be forced to burn Gaia down.”

“That’s a little drastic,” Trinity
mentions. She hands a piece of bread to the visionaire, which happily sucks it up through its snout. “This little thing is supposed to help. The master claims it can detect magical items. I’ll put it in the sewers and follow it to the Compass Key. We should be out of here by tomorrow if this creature actually works.”

Nyder gets to his feet and
circles the creature, which nervously watches the bald gnome. Reaching out, he knocks on the visionaire’s solid hide and pulls back when it snarls at him. Losing himself to his curiosity, Nyder pulls out a pair of thick goggles and straps them to his head.

“Well, he’s distracted for a while,” Vile says in a happier voice
while scanning the tavern for potential threats. “I hope the master’s pet is useful because I do not want to be in this city for very long. The champions will arrive and that will force us into a confrontation. Do you know if Stephen is being sent?”

“I doubt it,”
the chaos elf answers. Waving her hand, she removes the cork from one of the decanters and floats the bottle over to the halfling. “His daddy knows it’s a bad idea to let him play in the big cities. Hero’s Gate was allowed only because it was already in chaos and he had already created the krypters. Stephen would make a mess of this situation and blame us. I’d rather be forced to listen to Yola Biggs explain why mushrooms have hats.”

Vile chuckles and reaches out to take the floating decanter. He takes a long
pull of the tart alcohol while Trinity claims the second decanter. The pink wine snakes out of the bottle and into her mouth as she leans back in her chair. Her eyes are beginning to close when the halfling slams his empty decanter on the table and burps.

“
So elegant,” Nyder says from underneath the visionaire. The creature is shaking in fear from the gnome’s constant poking and touching. “I believe the master is correct that his pet can sense items with potent magic. It has dense aura pockets in its snout and they shift toward the side when they sense magic. Though, it doesn’t look very efficient.”

“It won’t be, but it’s better than nothing,” Vile replies
while stroking his grizzled chin. “Back when Trinity was a child, the master had two of these creatures. He sent me out with one to locate . . . it really doesn’t matter what I had to look for. I never found it and the master lost interest.”

“Get to the point. I have an invention to make!” Nyder exclaims, jumping to his feet and snatching the last decanter.

“The visionaire was distracted by every magical item that it came near. It was bad enough that the creature raced into a trap spell without a second thought. The reason these beasts are nearly extinct is because they’re too stupid to know danger when they sense it.”

“So, this one
might bring us into Rainbow Tower’s basement,” Trinity groans, placing her head on the table. She feels the visionaire pat her on the back and fights the temptation to blast it to pieces. “I guess there is only one way to proceed.”

“I have an experiment to run,” Nyder states before rushing out of the tavern.
His decanter reappears on the table where it crumbles into dust.

The Queen of the Chaos Elves
touches the puddle of dust and wine, licking the residue off her fingers like a bored child. “Why is he here, Vile? That gnome is useless in the field and will only bring us trouble.”

“The master has his reasons for everything
.”

“Baron Kernaghan never makes mistakes.”

“Are you sure you should say his name out loud?”

“People will hear it as darkness or master anyway.”

“I guess the times of caution are behind us.”

Trinity stretches her arms and
loudly snaps her fingers to make part of the building fade away. The chaos elf licks her lips as she stares at the distant Rainbow Tower, its colorful bricks shimmering in the dwindling sunlight. A grin grows on her face when she sees a trail of smoke float out of the building’s side. With a wide wave of her hand, the tavern’s missing piece reappears.

“Our enemies are like nothing we’ve fought before. This is definitely the end of the game,” Trinity states, her voice filled with excitement. She strokes the visionaire’s snout and points to the door. “My little friend and I will explore the sewers
immediately. I might be able to keep it focused. You handle our defenses and make sure a war doesn’t break out. I’m not in the mood to deal with that type of headache.”

“You have my word that nothing will escalate in your absence. Good hunting, Queen Trinity.”

*****

The magical foam erupts from the ceiling, covering Nyx from head to toe and dousing the fire running along her body. She sputters and gasps for air while the smoke from her flame is sucked out a window. With her eyes blinded by the foam, she drags herself out of the mess and lies on her stomach. The warm floor of the library is soothing to her chilled skin. She chuckles until the soun
d of booted feet approaching causes her to pause. The footsteps stop a few inches from her hair and the sound of fluttering wings briefly fills the air before a dull thud hits the ground next to her head. Nyx refuses to look up at Timoran and Fizzle, who have been watching her scan through books for the last four hours.

“Why are you two still hovering over me?” Nyx asks, her voice partially muffled by the floor.

“Worried,” Fizzle responds, licking at some of the foam. He violently shakes his head and flaps his wings. A strong gust of air scoops up the foam and carries it out the window. “Nyx get mad. Not good. Fizzle help.”

“What happened?” Timoran asks, his eyes cautiously watching the ceiling.

“Anti-Nyx spells in the ceiling,” the caster mutters, wiping the remaining foam off her face as she stands. “Willow put reactionary foam spells in the rooms that hold valuable, flammable items. It’s a defense made specifically for my temper and reflexive fire magic. I always forget how sensitive they are. I won’t be able to cast another spell for another five minutes.”

“You still have not learned to control your temper,” Willow says as she steps through the doorway. The elegant woman glides across the floor, the trail of her dress remaining an inch off the floor. “I take it your search is not going well.”

“There’s nothing about a Compass Key in here!” Nyx exclaims, stamping her foot on the ground. She runs a hand through her hair and turns back to the rows of books. “Using the invisible keepers didn’t get me anything. Searching magic did nothing. I went through the oldest texts and every book on Gaia. I found nothing. I don’t even know what it looks like!”

“That is a problem,” Timoran politely
interjects. “It is entirely possible that the Compass Key is only here in picture form. Without knowing what it looks like, you could have already been staring at it.”

“Fizzle agree,” the drite chimes in. He scampers behind Timoran when Nyx glares at him.
“Fizzle sorry.”

“Don’t be mad at them, little volcano,” Willow whispers, putting a gentle hand on Nyx’s shoulder. She can feel the half-elf relax under her touch, but her hand can feel a flowing warmth come off the young caster. “You’re a lot stronger than when you left us. Your powers have already recovered from the foam.”

“I’ve had a lot of battles and experiences,” Nyx says as she turns back to the bookcases and searches for anything that catches her eye. “There has to be a way to find out where the Compass Key is. I refuse to believe that the information isn’t in here. Everything is in this library.”

“Well, don’t forget to eat something soon,” Willow whispers into Nyx’s ear. She giggles at Nyx’s groan of mild embarrassment before turning to
the patient barbarian. “I’m sure you’re bored here, Timoran. We have prepared a room for weapons training if you’re interested. There are various golems that you can fight in safety.”

The towering warrior
looks at Nyx, who is ignoring him. “I am not doing anything useful here. I will take you up on your offer. Thank you for your hospitality and taking the time to prepare a room for a warrior like me.”

“You’re welcome, young man.”

“Fizzle go too!” the drite announces, darting through the open door.

“Sure. Have fun,” Nyx mutters absent-mindedly.

The half-elf barely notices the door clicking shut behind Willow. She wanders around the bookcases, her hand gently gliding over the books. She shivers when she touches a book that sends a chill through her body. Glancing at the cover, she rolls her eyes at the title ‘Theories on the Ice Crown’ and turns the corner. She pauses when a swarm of books pass by her and they slowly float into the shelves. Examining each of the new books, Nyx sighs and leaves the stacks to take a seat in a plush chair. A step stool scuttles over to her, shimmying under her feet and reaching up with a clawed foot to remove her boots. The stool grows warm and shakes, making Nyx moan in relief.