A Thunder of War (The Avalon Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Zamek ran up the stairs as fast as he could, shouting for everyone to wait where they were. He returned a few minutes later. “We’re safe. I just wanted to check everything was holding. I don’t know what caused that mist, but let’s leave and figure it out somewhere else.”

  “Is the realm gate working?” Remy asked.

  “Yes,” Tarron said. “We managed to figure out a way to incorporate a dwarven and elven rune into one symbol. It’s frankly another level stuff.”

  “Can we all geek out later?” Irkalla asked from the center of the room. “You ready, Layla?”

  Layla nodded and stepped into the center of the room with Tarron standing beside her. “Mordred, we’ll need your blood now, please.”

  Mordred removed a dagger from his belt and cut his hand. An instant later, his eyes turned blood-red as he activated his blood magic. Blood poured out of his wound as tendrils of magic snaked up his arm. “I haven’t done this to myself in a long time,” Mordred said between clenched teeth as his blood fell onto the stone floor, creating a puddle.

  “That’s enough,” Tarron said.

  Mordred stopped his magic and sagged back against the wall. Irkalla stepped up beside him a moment later. “You okay?” she asked.

  “The cut has healed,” he told her. “It’s just the rush of the magic. Using blood magic with someone else’s blood is one thing, but doing it to force me to bleed, and then refusing to allow the magic to use that blood to power itself . . . that’s a whole different level of control. And not one I enjoyed. Or enjoyed too much. It’s hard to tell with blood magic.”

  Tarron used the blood to draw several lines around the writing he’d already put there, and there was suddenly a low hum of power.

  “Realm gate is powering,” Zamek said. “This hasn’t been done before.”

  Tarron looked at Layla. “This might feel weird,” he said.

  He wasn’t wrong.

  Everything flashed white, and then Layla had the sudden urge to vomit up every organ inside her. An instant later she was on her knees in another room with people shouting all around her. Layla shook her head, trying to clear it, which was difficult with the noise everyone in the room was making.

  She took a deep breath. “Will everyone please shut up?” she bellowed as she was helped to her feet by a familiar man she’d never been happier to see.

  “You okay?” Tommy asked her.

  “That was not fun,” Layla said as she left the realm gate, her head no longer feeling like it was full of cotton wool. With Tommy’s help, she sat down and was grateful that the room stopped spinning.

  Chloe sat beside her and rested her head on Layla’s shoulder as Tommy went off to talk to the guards inside the realm gate room. “That sucked donkey ass,” Chloe said.

  “Let’s not do that ever again,” Layla agreed, looking around the cavern. “We should move.”

  “We’ll wait for everyone to come through,” Chloe said. “Also, I don’t want to.”

  “What happened in Greenland?” Layla shouted to Tommy.

  “We haven’t heard from everyone,” he told her. “But most got away. A lot have scattered and are making their way here. And some didn’t make it.”

  “How many dead?” Chloe asked.

  Tommy shook his head. “No idea. Not everyone has arrived. A lot of them fled Greenland and went into hiding. They’re taking their time to reach us. It’s a good thing we were able to get here as quickly as we did. We let the people who live here know about what’s going on, and we managed to prepare the realm for visitors. How bad is it in Norumbega?”

  “We don’t know,” Layla said. “At our guess, thousands died there. Felicia Hale is dead too.”

  “We heard,” Tommy said softly. “She was one of the good ones. She’ll be missed.”

  “Her people who betrayed her won’t be,” Layla said, allowing the anger to flood her. “They’re going to be dealt with.”

  Tommy stared at Layla for a few seconds. “You sound like Mordred.”

  “That’s because I’m awesome,” Mordred said after he came through the realm gate and sat next to Layla. “Did that suck ass for you too?”

  Layla and Chloe nodded.

  Over the next few minutes everyone came through the realm gate one at a time, each of them sitting next to those who had come before. The sight of Dralas raised a few eyebrows, but no one said or did anything to cause a problem.

  “I forgot to tell Tommy about Tarron,” Layla said aloud as Dralas sat beside the group. She was about to shout out to him when the realm gate flashed.

  “Blood elf,” one of the guards shouted. There was a mad rush toward Tarron as Layla tore metal out of the rock around them to put a barrier between him and those who saw him as an enemy.

  “Not a blood elf,” Layla shouted as Zamek stood in front of Tarron, his battle-ax in hand.

  “I’m a shadow elf,” Tarron said.

  “He’s on our side,” Zamek said.

  “The dwarf is protecting a shadow elf?” Tommy asked, utterly shocked. “I don’t think I ever even considered that might happen. Aren’t shadow elves extinct?”

  “Apparently not,” Chloe said, getting to her feet.

  Remy walked over to Layla and Chloe. “You both okay?”

  They nodded. “You?” Layla asked just before Chloe.

  “Not great,” he admitted, for once not trying to mask his pain with humor and smart-mouth replies.

  The entire group followed Tommy through the cavern and down a tunnel until they reached the exit and stepped out into the sunlight beyond.

  “Solomon,” Mordred said. “That’s the name of the city. Galahad ruled this place, and then Arthur had his people murder him when they attacked.”

  Layla blinked a few times, getting used to the light, and looked down on the city two hundred feet below. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “The attackers were driven off, but only because they got what they came for.”

  “And that was?” Tarron asked.

  “Nate Garrett,” Mordred said. “This was the beginning of the end for everything we used to believe in. Magic here works differently than on the Earth realm. It’s hard to control, hard to switch off. It’s why Arthur didn’t want a proper battle here. Too many chances for a few sorcerers to destroy a large part of his army.”

  Layla remembered Nate from her time when she’d first joined Tommy’s group after she’d become an umbra. He’d been one of her trainers, helping her get used to her new powers. She’d liked him and found him to be a fairly easy-going man who knew what he was talking about. But she also recognized the power and darkness that lay inside him, and knew that anyone who crossed him would do best to run as far and fast as they possibly could. He’d died not long after Arthur had declared his true intentions to the world, and a lot of people had mourned his passing.

  “Besides, Avalon have bigger problems,” Tommy said.

  “Like all of the Norse realms,” Irkalla finished. “Until they turn their attention to clean-up duty, this is as good a place as any to hide out.”

  The city of Solomon was gigantic and stretched further than Layla could see. A lot of the houses were nothing but rubble now and she saw no evidence of life in the city. The massive palace at the far end was in ruins, with large parts of it having crumbled onto the grounds surrounding it. An aqueduct circled the entire city, although part of it had also been destroyed at some point. A tram line sat beside it, a hundred feet in the air. The forest was at the far end of the city, which Layla couldn’t see the end of, and plains came up to the base of the mountain range she stood on. A huge fort hunkered down next to one of the mountains a short distance away.

  Two huge metal elevators had been built next to the large platform everyone found themselves standing on. One was coming back up toward them, while the other reached the bottom.

  “How do we get to the city when we reach the bottom of the mountain?” Layla asked.

  “There will be carriages waiting bel
ow,” Tommy said. “It’s not a long ride, but we’re all stationed at the fort just over there. No one lives in Solomon anymore. Too many people died there, and most of the population was evacuated to another realm, leaving a lot of their things behind. Those who have settled here thought it wrong to move in to their houses, so they live in the forest. Makes it easier to come and go from the fort. Besides, the other realm gate is just inside the mountain there, and it’s nice to be close to it in case of emergencies.”

  “The other realm gate?” Tarron asked. “You have two elven realm gates?”

  “Sorry, no,” Tommy said. “There were two dwarven gates here, but . . . well, one of them is no longer used. We routinely break it to ensure that no one can use it on the other end. The elven gate is guarded around the clock too. It’s been used by Avalon’s people before.”

  “Aren’t you worried about the second gate?” Layla asked.

  “The second realm gate was a secret,” Mordred said. “It goes to a church in Maine. The entire town there is full of people we can trust. It’ll be how most of these people came to be here.”

  The gothic-looking elevator reached the group, and everyone got on with room to spare. Layla noticed that Chloe was looking a bit green and went over to her. “You okay?”

  Chloe nodded slowly. “I glanced over the edge of the lift.”

  Layla took a step to the side, and looked over the metal railing that was all that stood between her and several hundred feet of air. She moved away from the edge, back toward Chloe.

  “See?” Chloe asked.

  Layla nodded. “This whole thing is made of metal. I promise you it’s not going to fall while I’m here.”

  Chloe nodded again. “I don’t think it’s going to crash—we’re just so high up, I had a little moment of panic.”

  When Layla had first found herself in the world she now occupied, she was amazed that sorcerers, umbra, werewolves, and the like could still have utterly mundane fears. It was probably the one thing that had made her realize how similar everyone was, despite the power at their disposal.

  “Wanna go back to the good old days?” Chloe asked. “Where we would go out for a drink and not have to worry about someone trying to kill us.”

  Layla smiled. “They were good times. I wanted to try to figure out what I was going to do with my life when I’d finished my degree. Superhero was not on the list of life choices.”

  “Oh, you’re a superhero now?”

  “I’m going to start wearing a cape. Not my underwear on the outside of my clothes though—I think that would be a weird look for me.”

  “I could see you in a cape. Something dark and foreboding. With skulls. The Punisherette.”

  “The what?”

  “I couldn’t think of the female version of the Punisher.”

  “It sounds like I punish people with dance.”

  Chloe pointed a finger at Layla. “That could be your thing.”

  Layla laughed. “Anyone seeing me dance has probably had enough punishment.”

  “If nothing else, that has TV show written all over it.”

  “A very short-lived TV show.”

  “Something, something, Firefly,” Chloe said with a smile that quickly dissolved when the elevator shuddered. “I’m worried about Piper.”

  “We’ll find out,” Layla said. “But I’m sure she’s fine.”

  Chloe nodded, but didn’t say anything, and Layla knew there was no way of telling if this was actually true. It was just a waiting game. And that worried her.

  Thankfully Chloe’s concerns about the elevator were short-lived as it softly bumped onto the ground. One side of the elevator lowered, and they walked off.

  It was a short distance from the mountain to a large fort that was roughly the size of a football stadium, but without the super-high walls. That’s not to say the walls weren’t impressive in their own right. The fort’s three walls were fifty feet high, and had ramparts occupied with armed patrols. The fourth wall, set back from where they were standing, was a mountain, which rose hundreds of feet above the fort. It meant that any falling rocks wouldn’t bury the place, as grooves in the face of the mountain ensured that landslide and avalanche debris would fall away to either side of the fort.

  Behind Layla was a huge gate made of metal and wood with runes adorning the inside. Layla guessed that those runes would stop magical attacks. A door opened nearby and a soldier stepped out, the smell of cooking meat following him into the courtyard making Layla’s stomach grumble.

  A siren rang out across the fort, and the whole place went from calm to busy in an instant.

  “What’s going on?” Layla asked Mordred and Irkalla, who were moving toward the closest fort gate.

  “Realm gate has been activated,” Mordred said, pulling open the fort gate and running out onto the plains beyond.

  “Probably just more of our people,” Tommy said, although his tone suggested that he couldn’t be certain of it.

  “Let’s go make sure,” Mordred said, and set off in a jog toward the nearby cavern.

  Everyone followed and they were soon in the cave, which had been turned into a base, with even more personnel ready for whomever came through the gate. The realm gate at the end of the cave glowed light blue, before it ignited and Sky, Diana, and two dozen others appeared. Most looked exhausted and were immediately helped by the staff inside the cave. Layla ran over to the newcomers.

  “Sky, Diana,” Layla said. “Are you okay? What happened? Where’s everyone else?”

  “We got away,” Sky said. “But my parents stayed behind to help us escape.”

  “Where are Hades and Persephone now?” Mordred asked.

  When it became obvious that Sky couldn’t say the words, Diana spoke for her. “Avalon took them.”

  5

  LAYLA CASSIDY

  Several hours had passed and, after discovering that most of the people in Greenland had managed to escape, Layla had found herself becoming increasingly snappy at the lack of progress, so had left the higher-ups in the Rebellion to their plans. It wouldn’t help anyone if she started to get angry. Besides, they were all very keen to talk to Dralas and Tarron, who had received more than one angry glance. Tarron might not have been a blood elf, but he was what they originally were, and that would be enough for some.

  Piper had arrived, making Chloe considerably happier, and the pair had gone to find somewhere quiet so they could talk. Layla was glad that her friend’s partner was okay. Layla hadn’t said much to Piper since she’d started dating Chloe, and she knew that was her own fault. She had been isolating herself from her friends, and after talking to Chloe about it in Norumbega, she hoped that was the first step to making sure it didn’t happen again. Layla had also discovered that Kase had managed to escape Greenland, and was in Shadow Falls, so she would need to talk to her and Harry too and apologize for being a thoroughly crappy friend over the last few months, but she had no idea of their exact location inside the city.

  So, instead of being around the people of the fort, Layla had gone outside to a nearby tree and tried to relax, although thoughts of her father, Caleb, kept intruding, making it difficult. Tommy had told her that he and Diana had brought him to Shadow Falls from Greenland, and that he was currently being guarded by several soldiers who had orders to shoot him should he become an issue. Layla had been okay with this. He was being kept in a nearby cabin that was adorned with enough runes to stop Odin himself being able to escape, or at least that’s what Mordred had told her.

  Most of the refugees from Greenland had been moved into the town of Solomon, and several alchemists, who had remained in Shadow Falls after Avalon had first attacked it two years earlier, were busy repairing some of the buildings to house them. She knew that she wanted to go after those who had been taken by Avalon, but she had no idea where they were. She needed to have patience until it was time to act. Unfortunately, being patient was never something she’d been all that good at.

  She had her e
yes closed, hoping to get a little rest, so hadn’t noticed anyone approach until they cleared their throat.

  Layla opened her eyes and saw Lucifer standing in front of her. For a long time everyone had known Lucifer as Grayson, the head doctor in Tommy’s organization. Since that organization no longer existed, thanks to Avalon, Lucifer had revealed his real identity as one of the seven devils—the same group of ancient warriors that included Abaddon. Thankfully Lucifer and Abaddon were very much opposed when it came to their views on the slaughter of everyone who didn’t agree with them.

  “Would it be really stupid of me to ask how you are?” Lucifer asked. He was a short man with a long, white beard and long, white hair, which he wore in a ponytail. Harry had taken to calling him Young Gandalf. Lucifer wore a white shirt, dark jeans, and black boots. He looked like he was going to work on a casual Friday.

  “Thought I’d just sit and smell the freshness of this place,” Layla said with a slight smile. “This tree smells like orange blossom. It’s pleasant.”

  “I haven’t been here in a few years,” Lucifer said. “It’s a relaxing place to be, but not somewhere I’d want to live. You saw Abaddon again?”

  Layla nodded. “She does not like me.”

  “I can’t think of many people she does like. But she got Mammon. That is bad news.”

  “Yeah, I know. Sorry.”

  Lucifer waved his hand to dismiss her apology. “We were set up.”

  “And thousands of people died because of it,” Layla said with more than a little anger.

  “Not your fault. No one’s fault but Abaddon and her people. If you’d have intervened, you’d be dead too. We’re going to gather everyone together to discuss how to move forward. Right now, everyone is just helping out the refugees. I assume you’d like to be part of this conversation.”

  Layla’s expression told him that she was going to be involved in those conversations whether or not she was asked.

  “Good,” Lucifer said. “We need to find Hades, Persephone, and the others who have been taken, but we also need to regroup and prepare for whatever Avalon has planned next. This weapon they used . . . I am unsure what it is, or how it works, but Irkalla says it needs sacrifices. I plan on looking into it and hopefully will discover more information.”