Third Earth, page 31
“Why did Pyranathos want it?” Temnon asked.
We believe he hoped to gain an advantage over Agnes, but like most dragons, he found the science too tiresome to follow. Judging by Agnes’s miraculous manner of incapacitating him, science may be more useful than he anticipated.
Kymm will love that. Inside the box, my fingers brushed a cold, hard surface. I stood up to see what it was. A spherical diamond with a zillion facets reflected rainbows all over my dress.
“What’s this?”
I wrapped both hands around the enormous gem and hauled it from the box. Within the clear diamond, wisps of light drifted like ghosts around an intensely burning flame of yellow dragon fire.
A gift from the regent. That is the fire of a traveler.
A gasp of disbelief rose from Claude. Others leaned in, awe on their faces, as they marveled at the dancing flame. Like usual, I stood there like an idiot, in total confusion.
“Agnes,” King Odric said, “this is a rare gift of incredible value. You know of travelers?”
I nodded, entranced by the glittering flame.
“This is how they communicate with Third Earth when they land on another world.”
I still didn’t get it. Claude explained further.
“Mage doors are based on the concept of traveler’s fire. Envision the person you wish to speak with, activate the flame with your magic, and the traveler’s fire will connect you to them, no matter how far across the universe they might be.”
An intergalactic cell phone? Cool!
“The glittering circle,” I said. “This is how you are talking to us right now. And how Menneth contacted me in my Apex that no one knows about. Can I connect with anybody?”
There are limitations. You can only contact people with whom you have an alliance. The regent was able to contact you because of your position as arch mage of an allied planet. He would not be able to reach anyone else on your planet without a meaningful, personal relationship.
“That would have been useful when we were trying to reach Phar Sekmet,” Dame Maudine hinted.
The phar’s eyes narrowed, and her dark-tipped, Siamese tail twitched in irritation. “I have already commissioned an Aether Stone to my quarters,” she said, her s’s hissing in irritation. “You’ll have no more difficulty telling me you’ve endangered my loved ones.”
“Please thank the regent for me, Kyprios,” I said quickly, trying to distract the phar.
My regent sends you his praise and eternal gratitude, as well as his regrets for how you were treated during your stay. We will gladly take on any task to make up for the hardships you endured at our hands.
“I don’t expect anything. I’m glad my awkward efforts helped in the end. My best wishes to him as well. When the time comes, I’ll call on your strength.”
Everyone shot concerned glances at each other. I supposed since I didn’t stumble over the words, they were bound to come true. After what I saw in the tainted magic vortex, it might be sooner rather than later.
“I’m guessing you’d like to hear about the vortex?” I said to everyone. “I’ve organized a report of what I’ve figured out.”
“If you would be so kind,” responded Odric.
I collected my memory of the human-faced storm in the Nia Nega Abyss and placed it gently into their minds. I included my impression of the tainted magic and showed them the dream I witnessed in the sun larva of Earth 22. I tied in how I separated Vi Lorina from the tainted magic during our battle last summer.
“I don’t understand,” Grandmaster Shume exclaimed as I finished. “What is that dark glitter?”
“It’s tainted magic,” I explained. “Planets are formed when a solar phoenix mother lays her egg in raw matter and magic. Over time, the magic becomes a part of the planet’s nature. Here on First Earth, you have dual magic rings. On Second Earth, the magic looks like butterfly wings. On Third Earth, the magic flows below the crust and forms the clear lava in the Source of Dauthaz.”
Fascinating, remarked Kyprios.
“The sun larva’s dream showed the birth of a planet full of tainted magic. I think that storm cloud person figured out how to control the tainted magic of his world.”
I guessed I explained it clearly enough. Everyone muttered concerns and questions. Nemantia had a good one.
“Then why could Vi Lorina use it?” she asked me.
“I had the same question myself. When I ask my gift of truth, I don’t get a clear answer, so maybe my questions aren’t covering the whole story.” I got up and walked over to the king. “You were possessed by Vi Lorina’s henchman, the wolf demon. Do you remember what he said after I separated you, King Odric?”
The horrible memory darkened his expression. “Yes. His words still haunt me. He told us the demons of Sixth Earth were ordered to follow her. At the time, we thought it meant Nemantia, but now we know it meant Vi Lorina. So, who gave the orders? Who told the demons to follow her?”
Pyranathos also acted on the orders of another, added the Vice Regent. He and Violet Lorina both destabilized the government and then attempted to take over. The similarities are staggering.
“Too staggering to be coincidental,” I said. “That storm guy is the mastermind we’ve been looking for. He ordered Vi Lorina and Pyranathos to wreck everything and lent them tainted magic to do it. That’s how they both used spells beyond their own abilities.”
“So, which planet formed from the tainted magic?” demanded Chattaway. “Where does this mastermind live?”
“The only planet that makes any sense. The demon world, Sixth Earth. That’s where Vi Lorina met him, but he isn’t there now. The dead forest I showed you is in the Nia Nega Abyss.”
Impossible. Kyprios shook his head and his spikes rattled. One cannot travel to the Nia Nega Abyss without the Treaty of Dominath.
“And that,” I said, pointing to Serene, “is why Lumi and I nearly got sucked into space on the way to First Earth. When Lumi kicked my big light ball into space, it triggered the vortex of tainted magic because Pyranathos just traveled there as Syran. When Captain Malon escorted me to Earth 22, I tossed another ball and thought it changed direction. It probably did because Pyranathos used the vortex to get there before me and pose as Ranah.”
Odric’s eyes widened in understanding. “When we searched the Jent Path for the tear you described, the vortex had already closed. I see, now. The vortex was intentionally placed where Pyranathos could follow the outside of the Jent Path down to the planet while evading planet security.” He scowled in fierce concentration. “That is extremely clever, and it requires an exhaustive understanding of magic and interplanetary relativity physics. This is no common enemy.”
“Vi Lorina also used those dark vortexes,” Temnon said. “That’s how she appeared in the throne room and drained Dame Maudine.”
Maudine shrunk, almost as if remembering the pain. “That’s an experience I’d not choose twice. Or once, if I had a choice.”
I gave her an empathetic nod. I felt that pain too. “The vortexes also explain how she came to Second Earth to kill me at the start of all this. Storm guy can travel anywhere with that dark vortex. But I don’t think it works for large numbers. Vi Lorina had to tear a hole in the Fulcrum to move her demon armies. It probably took months to bring demons a few at a time with the vortex until she possessed all sixty paladins and citizens.”
Chattaway banged a hand on the table. “He can travel across space without a Jent Path? So, what kind of demon is he? Does he have regular demon magic on top of this tainted stuff? How can we strategize if we know nothing about him?”
King Odric nodded, his fingers thoughtfully rubbing his chin. “And why is he after Agnes? What about her is he afraid of?”
I shrugged. The generals and leaders all launched into their own speculations about the potential threats to the universe. I was proud of making all those connections, but each of my answers created twenty more questions. The discussions increased in fear until they were all shouting. I felt like I only made it worse.
In the midst of the shouting match, the thick door opened a crack. Jenz trotted over to speak to the sentry on guard, then turned back with a weird, confused expression.
“King Odric,” he announced, and everyone quieted to listen. “Someone, or thing, is requesting entrance.”
With a musical jangle, a small object wobbled unevenly between Jenz’s boots. I recognized it immediately. It was the silver rattle from Dame Maudine’s room.
“What is that?” Arch Mage Claude jumped up, and magic pooled in his hand.
“Wait,” Nemantia cried, “let her be. She might know something.”
“She? That thing is alive?”
The rattle rolled along the cement floor until it stopped at my shoe and tapped insistently at my toes.
Inside my throat, a truth swelled until it popped out my mouth. “Kinza of Sixth Earth,” I said. “I summon you by the power of the Light of Truth. Answer my call.”
Purple smoke drained from the rattle and poured into a cloud above our heads. The air energized with power, and my skin tickled as all my hairs stood straight up. The light fixtures in the ceiling pulsed, as if interrupted by the power. Little licks of smoke curled around everyone present. Most tensed in fear.
“Kinza,” Nemantia breathed, purple smoke weaving through her dark hair, “you came out of your rattle?”
“Not entirely, Princess,” her voice, young and full of energy, echoed against the hard cement walls. “If I do, he will know immediately.”
“He who?” I asked.
A little bolt of blue lightning streaked within the smoke. “Sharir,” she replied, “the master of demonkind and my fiancé.”
Clouds, lightning, Kinza being promised in marriage—my brain finally added up the clues. “He’s a genie! Cloud guy is a genie!”
The purple smoke darkened to a deep plum color. “A genie?” Kinza’s voice rose in intense fear. “No, Agnes. He’s the genie. Sharir the Endless, Overlord of Demonkind, Master of Time and Space, Ruler of Magicks. He’s as close to a god as one can get in this existence.”
“Genies?” shouted Rufus. His dark skin paled like coffee with too much cream. “They are omnipotent! They can’t be beaten! We might as well abandon the planet and find a new place to live.”
“Nice courage for a general of First Earth,” Northbert chastised, his double chin trembling.
“I’m being practical.” Rufus stood and huffed in Northbert’s face. “We can’t stand against that kind of power.”
“Genie girl.” Chattaway stood and slammed her hands on the table. “Why is this all happening now? What did Agnes do to upset this Master Genie?”
A sphere of liquid electricity pooled in the cloud and sent a thin bolt of blue lighting into the table inches from Chattaway’s hand. She yelped and jerked away, her salt and pepper hair standing on end.
“Agnes did nothing but enter her world.”
“Why did he send Pyranathos to kidnap her?” Chattaway pouted, still holding her hand, hair standing up like the bride of Frankenstein.
“Because she is fore-destined to save all the worlds on the Jent Paths.”
“We’re aware of the prophecy, Miss Kinza,” Maudine said with kindness and respect. “That is why we brought her here from Second Earth. Agnes fulfilled the prophecy when she stopped the invasion of the demon army.”
A tendril of smoke billowed along the table and rose to Maudine’s eye level. “Uff, no. You are mistaken, Warrior Queen. Vi Lorina was but the first section of the prophecy. Sharir is the true threat.”
Whoa. That took a few minutes to sink in. I had to save all the worlds—again? Only for real this time? Crap. My butt slid down the seat of my chair until my head rested against the short back.
“Oh.” Maudine’s eyes darted through her memory. “That explains—and that other part—oh, and the section where…” She nodded in certainty. “Yes. It all makes more sense now.”
What was she talking about? None of this made any sense at all!
“Sharir is not completely all-powerful,” Kinza said. “Delphinium has seen his fall.”
“Who is Delphinium?” Maudine asked, suddenly confused.
I suddenly remembered all those waking dreams with a voice as large as a world asking, “Has the future changed?”
“Holy crappola, Kinza,” I shouted to the jiniri. “The waking dreams—they’re messages from Delphi, aren’t they? That’s why Sharir is targeting me. He’s trying to change the future, and he’s using the Seer to do it.”
The room fell silent.
“The Seer?” Maudine whispered. “She’s alive?”
The smoke turned a sad, cornflower blue. “Alive is an overstatement. My dear childhood friend has been reduced to a living corpse. The prisoner and slave of Sharir.”
No wonder my eyes and mouth felt so dry during the visions. Poor Delphi. What an awful fate.
“We have to save her,” I yelled. “Maudine, we need that prophecy!”
“Ooo,” squealed Maudine, jumping up from her chair and dashing for the door. “I’ll fetch it at once. I feel my entire life has been spent preparing for this moment,” she called, her voice trailing off as Jenz held the door open for her.
“I’ll leave the prophecy to my grandmother,” Odric proclaimed. “The rest of us will begin preparations for war on Sixth Earth.”
“Feel free to do so,” Kinza said, then a wisp of smoke descended and curled around my hand. “But the Wielder of Truth must travel to the mystical world first.”
Mom groaned. “So much for a month with no missions.”
“Mystical world? Which Earth is that?”
“Pack a swimsuit,” Temnon said with an excited grin. “We’re going to visit Rein.”
It’s all-out war on Fourth Earth, where ancient feuds are stoked to a frenzy by the insane, dethroned siren queen. Click the link below.
Join Cami’s newsletter for the latest updates on her writing: https://sendfox.com/camimurdockjensen
Preview of Book Four
Agnes Ann Cavanaugh is growing in ability and strength as a Wielder of Truth, but “experienced Inter-tribal Mediator” isn’t on her arch mage resume. With new information concerning the Seer’s prophecy, Agnes and her allies embark on their next mission to Rein’s home planet, Fourth Earth, where they must unite the mystical tribes under a single high king. This will not be an easy task. The stubborn centaurs, elves, pixies, and other unique species have been warring since time began. If that weren’t challenging enough, Suelta, the dethroned queen of the sirens, somehow gains magical power while everyone else starves for the depleting resource.
With the siren clan’s false-reality magic weakened, the powerful siren prince, Rein, struggles to stand against his mother and her hordes of aquatic monsters’ rapid-fire attacks. First Earth’s allied armies frantically dash from battle to battle, sick and weak from constantly transporting through Fourth Earth’s mystical atmosphere. Even Temnon, the most powerful matter shaper in centuries, finds his magic lagging. What is sucking up the magic of Fourth Earth? Is it Suelta, the twisted siren bent on revenge? Or is it connected to the Master of Demonkind and his looming desire to destroy the universe?
Can Agnes and her truth tilt the balance of war to their favor? Or will it take a bit of science? Either way, something must be done, or Fourth Earth and the universe will be swallowed by a storm of evil.
Pronunciation Guide
Some readers have requested a pronunciation guide for the various people, places, and things in the Arch Mage series. I have dutifully tried to outline how I pronounce the various words; however, I am no linguist and encourage readers to pronounce words as benefits their own reading experience.
* * *
Ademic — /uh-DEM-ik/
Adrina Cispius — /Uh-DREE-nuh SIHS-pee-uhs/
Agnes Ann Cavanaugh — /AG-ness / AN / KAV-uh-naw/
Agnostus — /ag-NAWS-tuhs/
Arch Mage — /ARK MAYJ/
Aridin — /EHR-ih-duhn/
Bandlash — /BAND-LASH/
Buchanan — /byoo-CAN-nuhn/
Chiri — /CHIH-ree/
Claude — /KLAWD/
Colucci — /kuh-LOO-chee/
Coralis — /kohr-AL-ihs/
Dauthaz — /DAW-thaz/
Delphinium Trendicles — /dehl-FIHN-ee-uhm/ TREHN-dih-kleez/
Djinn — /JIHN/
Dominath —/DAW-mih-nath/
Foras na Gaelige — /FOR-uhs nuh GAY-gluh/
Galdor — /GHAL-dohr/
Glaydn — /GLAY-duhn/
Grimmal — /GRIHM-uhl/
Halja — /HALL-yah/
Hawkins — /HAW-kihnz/
Iloress — /EYE-lor-EHSS/
Jenz Nighting — /JENZ/ NAHIT-ing/
Jiniri — /JIHN-ih-ree/
Jolo — /JOH-loh/
Kinza — /KIHN-zuh/
Kyprios — /KIE-pree-ohs/ (KIE rhymes with fly)
Lillian — /LIL-lee-uhn/
Lumi — /LOO-mee/
Lord Chevlin — /LORD/ SHEV-lihn/
Magnus Dux — /MAG-nuhs DUKES/
Maudine — /maw-DEEN/
Nemantia — /nuh-MAN-chee-uh/
Odric — /AW-drihk/
Odonata — /oh-duh-NAW-tuh/
Paewr — /PAY-wer/
Paladin — /PAL-ih-duhn/
Phar Sekmet — /FAR/ SEHK-MET/ (Both syllables are accented equally)
Philomanth — /FAHI-loh-manth/
Po Lan — /POE-LAWN/
Pyranathos — /Pie-RAN-uh-thohs/
Ranah — /RAH-nuh/
Regent Menneth — /REE-juhnt/ MEN-eth/
Rein — /RAYN/
Rowan — /ROH-wuhn/
Sadie — /SAY-dee/
Sciftan — /SKIFF-tuhn/
Sempira — /sem-PEER-uh/
Serene — /suh-REEN/
Sharir — /Shuh-REAR/
Suelta — /soo-WEHL-tah/
Syran — /SEAR-uhn/
Temnon — /TEM-NAWN/ (Both syllables are accented equally.)
