Mended Throne Read online

  Table of Contents

  Mended Throne

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Epilogue

  What Next?

  About the Author

  Table of Contents

  Mended Throne

  Copyright

  Mended Throne

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Epilogue

  What Next?

  About the Author

  Mended Throne

  by Jamie Davis

  Copyright © 2017 by Sterling & Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

  Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  The authors greatly appreciate you taking the time to read our work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help us spread the word.

  Thank you for supporting our work.

  CHAPTER 1

  Nils Kane got up from his bed, leaving his plaything in the tangled sheets. He glanced back at Jane Margolis, his former Director of Magical Research. Her bruises, burns, and other marks might have been considered signs of abuse by another person, perhaps even a past version of himself. But now Nils saw them as evidence of the artist he’d become.

  The magic was now a constant presence inside him. He pulsed with its power and that power craved use. It pressed against his mind, wanting to surge free.

  Nils smiled and left the exhausted woman to sleep. He’d return soon enough to exert his newfound powers on her again.

  He turned and shuffled to the bathroom to relieve himself. He should probably have someone look at his right leg. Its misshapen, twisted form wasn’t painful, but it was a nuisance. Nils couldn’t remember when it had changed.

  He scratched his head with elongated, pointed fingernails, brow furrowed in thought. After a moment, he gave up trying to remember what had changed and when. He felt better than he ever had, nuisance leg and all. That was all that mattered.

  Emerging from the bathroom a few moments later, Nils crossed to the open corner of the bunker’s bedroom and closed his eyes. Opening himself to even more power, he summoned the black sphere that connected him to the Fell.

  The lights seemed to dim as if there was a sudden draw on the electricity feeding the bulbs, then the sphere swirled into being.

  “It has been a while since you summoned me,” the voice boomed in his brain.

  “I have been celebrating,” Kane admitted. “The past few months have offered some pleasant diversions after the trials of defeating the girl and her most loyal followers. But I’ve not squandered the time. The Capital is now fully cleansed of unnecessary human interference. All have been consumed or altered to more fully meet my needs. The city is fully mine in every way.”

  “That is good to hear. But you should not have taken so much time. Remember, I cannot yet connect directly to this world without your assistance, even with so many of my beasts roaming within it.”

  “There was no need to call you before. Only now am I ready to start retaking the other cities. Those holdouts won’t be able to withstand my forces. I’ve spent the past months readying everything so I may squash all who defy me. Now, I am ready to unleash the Chimera on my enemies.”

  “A bold plan. My servant, Gorim, told you the limitations of control that you can expect once the Chimera is freed?”

  “He did. I care not what it will do to those who stand in my way. They brought this on themselves.”

  “There is something else you must know … something you will not be happy to hear.”

  Nils hated the sound of that. The Fell’s voice dripped with anticipation. as if it relished the coming revelation.

  “What is it? Is there something about the beast that Gorim neglected to tell me?”

  Nils felt a wicked smile from the Fell, though it possessed no face.

  “The victory you thought you had a right to claim is not as complete as you had imagined. Now that I am peering through this window into your world again, I sense something new since I was last summoned.”

  “I assure you, the defeat of Winnie Durham and her companions was complete. There was nothing left of the valley when Couch and the demons were finished with it.”

  “Did you ever see her mangled corpse? Did it never occur to you that what you saw was only that which you wished to see? Winnie Durham is alive. And worse, she has discovered her destiny.”

  “What are you talking about?” A shiver crept up his spine. “Winnie was killed. I was assured that there was nothing left in that valley.”

  “Then how did she manage to summon the Fae serpents to her cause? I can sense them in your world. It is a feeling I have not had since I last battled there. They are here. That means that your foe is still breathing.”

  “Serpents? There have been no reports of anything unusual since her defeat. I—”

  “You let her live long enough to summon them to the world. Now everything has changed. Winnie Durham not only lives, but she is gathering her strength even now. The serpents surround her, shielding her from my gaze, but I can promise you that she exists despite your assurances. She’s used the ultimate power of the talisman and is preparing to counter you now.”

  His mind reeled trying to comprehend what the Fell was telling him.

  He’d been so sure of Winnie’s defe
at, he couldn’t fathom a way she could still be alive, let alone building forces against him yet again.

  “It doesn’t matter what she might have done to escape destruction in that valley. I defeated her once and I’ll do so again.”

  “You fool,” said the Fell. “You do not understand what you face. This is a lesson you must learn for yourself, before you can achieve the next level of my power. Wait and see. You will comprehend what is before you soon enough.”

  The sphere of darkness shrunk until it winked out of existence.

  Then the lights in the room brightened again.

  It made no sense. The girl was alive?

  He couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it.

  But the Fell had been sure, and the creature had never lied to Nils before. If anything he had sensed something new from the being on the other side of the dark portal.

  Fear.

  The Fell feared whatever it was that Winnie had done to survive, as if she might possess the power now to conquer Nils and his plans.

  Nils limped across the room and into the bunker’s outer chamber. It was time to summon General Couch. If Winnie was alive, this was the General’s fault.

  Nils had been acting on incorrect information. He needed to step up his plans before she could get in the way.

  Winnie might have found some power, some way to counter him back in the valley. But she still didn’t know about the Chimera and his plans to unleash the beast on his enemies.

  Nils might have been ignorant of her, but she was ignorant too.

  It was time to move forward with his final plans for the rebels. That would flush Winnie out of hiding and bring about the final confrontation required to defeat her once and for all.

  Beware Winnie. Daddy’s coming.

  CHAPTER 2

  Winnie stood in the cave’s open mouth, staring out at the snow-covered peaks all around her. The bitter mountain air raised goose bumps on her exposed arms, but she dispelled the cold, drawing in magic from around her to warm her from the inside.

  There was so much that Winnie could do now that hadn’t been possible just months before. Summoning the dragons had been both terrible and joyous. Their return to the world awakened the Fae magic in a way that hadn’t been felt for millennia.

  Winnie and her friends had been able to extricate themselves from the ruins of Fort Brick and retreat to this mountain stronghold to the west. The dragons themselves had revealed it, and she’d managed to open a portal to the network of caverns deep in the Rockies.

  An enormous form flew past the opening, its great wings blasting cold air into the cave. Winnie watched with a smile. The dragon banked in the air before diving back into the high valley below.

  Winnie could sense the rush and joy of the hunt in the dragon’s mind. It must have spotted a mountain goat or maybe an elk in the wooded valley far below.

  “Good hunting, my friend,” Winnie whispered.

  The dragons were everywhere in the mountains, hundreds, all waiting for Winnie’s command to attack. While they awaited her orders, they reveled in the cold mountain air, playing hunt and battle, chasing each other around the peaks surrounding the Dusters’ mountain hideout.

  Winnie gave one last look down into the valley. The dragon was gone. Walking back into the network of tunnels, Winnie headed to their command center—a cavern in the back—to check on the status of those cities still in rebellion again Kane and his forces.

  Nils still thought she was dead and that was important. Winnie and the Dusters were biding their time, waiting until they had enough power to take the battle to Kane. The longer they could keep her survival a secret, the longer they had to consolidate the strength that continued to grow by the day.

  Winnie passed a group of children using magic to power their toy cars in a race down the passage.

  The reawakening of magic here in the mountains had affected each new arrival. Every chanter could feel it, even those with little magic ability.

  Her most powerful, those with abilities approaching her own, were able to open portals to rebel cities and bring in more supplies and recruits every day, growing their army beyond what had existed at Fort Brick. As new chanter and middling forces arrived, all marveled at the magical creations that operated the mountain fortress.

  Winnie had Tris and her techs to thank for managing the logistics of continuously expanding their stronghold’s capabilities. Every room had electricity, light, and heat. The mountain interior was comfortable enough for even those without the magical ability to warm themselves without coats.

  The passage opened ahead of Winnie, revealing the large command center cave. She glanced at the far wall as she entered. It was, by far, the most noticeable thing about the cavern.

  Against the twenty-foot wall was a series of open magical communication and surveillance windows allowing the staff to view ongoing operations and talk with supporters around the country. At least thirty of the windows were open, stacked and layered in a framework three high and ten wide, like a giant wall of monitors.

  Maria De Santos and Garraldi were staring at the wall of moving images. The two had grown close since joining forces to become the co-leaders of her security team at Fort Brick, then closer still in the months since their flight here. Winnie approved of the budding relationship; they deserved to be happy.

  They never let the new relationship interfere with their work and the troops under their command seemed to take it as a sign of their leaders’ solidarity for them that they were a couple.

  Maria looked up from her clipboard when Winnie walked up. The security officer was dressed in her characteristic black leather jumpsuit with twin pistols hanging from each hip. Since the battle at Fort Brick, Maria never went anywhere unarmed.

  “Oh, hello, boss,” Maria said. Her boyfriend was rubbing off on her. “Garraldi and I were just following up on the operation to gather all the military tech in one place in Chicago so we can pick it up.”

  Garraldi smiled and nodded at Winnie. “We should be able to have Parnell or one of the other elites open a portal. Then we can roll the trailers full of supplies right into the storerooms below.”

  “Excellent,” Winnie said. “How are we coming on our supply goals. I’m itching to get back out there. Start taking the fight back to Kane. He’s been strangely quiet lately and I want to know what he’s been up to.”

  Maria gestured to one of the open windows on the wall. “We’re still able to view parts of the capital. Though we haven’t been able to locate Kane or get our surveillance inside their headquarters, we have scanned most of the city. It’s bad. Everyone there is either dead, or somehow changed.”

  “Changed how?” Winnie asked.

  “It’s like they’ve been turned into one of the creatures we saw at Fort Brick,” Maria said. “We weren’t sure when we first started looking. The people weren’t there but more of the monsters were. Then one of the surveillance techs noticed the scraps of cloth on some of the Garbarians—pieces of human clothing clinging to the scaly bodies. The tech proposed that Kane had somehow turned the people into monsters like those that he summoned. I agree. It makes sense, and tells us where all the people might’ve gone.”

  Winnie shook her head, her lips pressed together. Every time Kane rose to a new level of depravity she thought he’d gone as far as he was going to go.

  But each time she’d been wrong.

  “So, that’s one city lost,” Winnie said. “I guess there’s no need to worry about rescuing any survivors there.”

  “It also gives us an idea of what to expect from Kane once he expands his control outward and starts taking other cities,” Garraldi said. “I’m particularly worried about Baltimore. It’s likely next on his list of targets, especially since it was your home base.”

  “I’ll have to reach out to Artos,” Winnie said. “He’s been reluctant to leave his hideout there but creature comforts won’t protect him if the city is taken. Kane’s creatures will root him out if he st
ays. We need to get him here.”

  “Maybe it’s time for us to move. Let the country know you’re still alive,” Garraldi proposed. “We could reclaim the occupied parts of Baltimore, set up a defense there against Kane’s forces.”

  Winnie considered. She wanted to be back out there as much as everyone else, especially because of the effect it would have on morale in all the rebel cities around the country.

  She shook her head.

  “It’s not time. We’re close, but we still have to gather all the supplies we need for our first few planned excursions. First and foremost, we need to liberate one of the safety camps and collect the chanters there.”

  Winnie pointed to a cluster of image windows in the wall showing the work camps and rail-thin chanter inmates. They had to be the first priority before any more of them died. Kane hadn’t been able to move forward with his larger scale Harvester program thanks in part to the destruction of the prototype and radio tower at the mid-Atlantic camp.

  She remembered the raid and her heart grew heavy. Winnie missed Cait whenever she started thinking about taking one of the camps. Her friend’s sacrifice that night still weighed on her. As did all the ghosts who’d given their lives at Fort Brick.

  Garraldi knew exactly where her head was at. “Cait would be proud of everything you’ve accomplished here. Look around you, Winnie. This is a magical utopia. We’re doing things that we never dreamed were possible.”

  “I know,” Winnie said after clearing her throat. “But it still hurts to think about. That’s why I don’t want to move until the time is right. We have to be ready to take the fight to Kane. And we can’t afford to jump the gun. When we move, we’ll take the fight to him everywhere. We’ll overwhelm his soldiers in every occupied city then take on his summoned monsters wherever he puts them into play. My return to the world of the living must be perfect. People need someone to believe in, someone to follow. And for better or worse, that someone is me.”

  “Well, at least you still have your humility,” said a new voice behind.

  Winnie turned and smiled back at Danny. “Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated.”