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Chapter 31
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I woke up the next morning with a blinding headache. Sitting, I found myself in the middle of the village. Others were scattered around as if they'd fallen asleep in the middle of the party..
John was sprawled not ten feet away, his snores echoing in the quiet morning. I forced myself to my feet and walked down to the river. I sat on the river bank and splashed cool water on my face. It didn't ease the pain in my head completely, but it did help. The sun was glaringly bright off the water, so I closed my eyes against it. Sleep threatened to roll me under again, but I fought it. Instead, I sought comfort in meditation. My talent was restored from yesterday's fight, and it itched to be used.
I calmed my thoughts, focusing on the exercises Poe taught me. Those days in the Vault felt like they were years ago-
My eyes shot open.
The Vault had brought me here the first time, not Poe. Could there be another place like it?
I rushed back to Tamner's hut, ba
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I avoided Tamner's hut most of the day. Poe had made it clear that he wouldn't talk about trying John's way of getting home any further. Which made absolutely no sense to me at all. Wasn't getting home and warning the others of what the Witches were planning more important than some side effect that 'might' happen? What was he afraid of me seeing?The villagers were starting to clean up, some moving slower than others. I pitched in and helped, picking up abandoned rough-cut cups and lost items, before moving on to help pack supplies for the refugees that would be returning to their village over the next few days.Soun and I met with the other warriors in the training clearing late that afternoon, stretching and doing easy drills. John even joined us, surprising me when he easily tossed Suon into the dirt multiple times.By the time we'd eaten the evening meal with the rest of the village and made it back to Tamner's, the stars were well and bright above us. I fo
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 33
"Close your eyes and clear your minds," John said softly.I fell into the meditation easily, breathing in the humid afternoon air and fighting to keep my emotions in check."Ezra, focus on your connection with Poe. Reach for him with your power and mind."Doing as John said, I focused on Poe's presence beside me. I remembered the first time I felt the weight of his power. The time I saw him standing in the Vault. I remembered playing games with him as a kid. Extending a metaphysical hand, I reached for Poe, inviting him into my mind. A drop of his power reached for me in a similar fashion, and when our powers met, the sensation was different from anything else I've ever felt before.Images flashed through my mind, like thinking about old memories except they weren't mine. I saw people I didn't recognize in places that looked vaguely familiar. I remembered the feeling of holding my children close, even though I didn't have any. I remembered fighting to my
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 34
I stumbled out of the portal, catching myself with the staff Suon had gifted me with a gasp. Feeling very tired and drained, despite how ready I'd felt on the other side, I tried not to collapse. John fell to the grass next to me with a soft thud and a groan. We'd come through in one of the pastures, just as Poe and I had pictured it in my mind. The sun was bright overhead and the early summer heat was already building.In the distance I could see people running towards us, and one of them was Avery. Her excitement and anxiety filtering through the connection made her hard to miss.We need to close the portal. Poe's voice sounded strained in my mind. I turned my attention to the portal as John picked himself up. The task of closing the link between the two worlds was much easier than it was to create. The summoning circles closed in on themselves, folding over and over in their intricate patterns until there was nothing left."Ezra!"I turned as Avery sla
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 35
"Sit, I'll fix you something," Avery said."We could fix it ourselves," I said, moving to grab a plate.Avery glared at me and pointed at the table. "Sit. You look like you're about to fall over."I took a seat at the kitchen table as Avery opened the fridge. John sat next to me."What happened that night after you got away from the warehouse?" I asked her.She paused her search in the fridge and glanced back at me. "I wanted to go back, and find you but Poe had already created a portal and Liam pulled me through before I got to say two words."I sighed, relief and release of tension that I didn't know I'd been holding on to left. "I'm just glad you made it out of there."She came over and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm the one who should be saying that." Avery kissed the top of my head."Perhaps I should leave the two of you alone to catch up." John said and started to rise from his seat.Avery straighten. "Oh no, don
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 36
Poe called out weakly from his perch on the stable's roof as we made our way out the door. We didn't make it far before I spotted Liam in the courtyard talking with Collen. They glared at John as we passed by and broke off their conversation. Liam followed us into the stable."Ezra!"I turned and John paused beside me."Dad told me you'd returned. I didn't believe him when he said you were friends with a witch." Liam's hostility caught me off-guard, though I shouldn't have been surprised. He'd hated witches ever since he learned what they'd done to the Families."John saved my life, multiple times, and I've no doubt that he'd do it again. I don't care what side he's from."Liam pointed violently at John. "But you brought him here! He could be a spy! "I wouldn't put it past a witch to double cross us." Liam spat on the ground."I don't even know where 'here' is," John mumbled as he shifted behind me."Liam
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Dad and Lyssa turned to leave, disappearing through the trees. Avery paused only a moment to squeeze my hand. "I'll find Thea. Meet you back here?"I kissed her. "Sure."Following her to the tree line of the grove, I stood next to John as she left."Who's Thea?" he asked."Avery's younger sister. She'll be Head of the Manser Family one day, once she's old enough. She has the strongest gift of Sight that any Necromancer has had in centuries." I smiled, remembering what she'd said only a few months ago. Finding my power and being betrothed to Avery, it was all her doing. "I owe her quite a lot."John looked back over my shoulder. "Is he going to be ok?"I turned to follow his gaze. Poe had sat back on the ground again, resting against the altar with his eyes shut, his breathing labored. He even looked a little pale in the growing darkness.
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 38
John helped me down the hall to the kitchen, where we had to play guess which door was the basement. We found the large walk in pantry and the garage before finding the stairs leading down into darkness. The waves were coming faster, stronger. I could barely stand as John guided me down the stairs.The basement was nearly bare. Flickering candlelight revealed a concrete floor, exposed wooden framework, and unfinished drywall. A cluttered table was pushed into the far corner, next to a old mantle and a large old mirror, covered with a drape so that only the bottom left corner reflected in the light.A large design was painted in white on the floor. The circles and sigils looked familiar, like the ones from my summoning spell. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I knelt down and held a hand out over the painted lines. Power pulsed from them, sending the waves out and through me like a tidal wave. I looked out across the designs on the floored.They weren't li
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 39
Doubling over, pain - that had nothing to do with the physical kind - ripped at my heart. I set Poe down carefully, ignoring the dampness on my cheeks."I should have realized it sooner," Nathan said. "You never did look like a Stanwood." He gave a halfhearted laugh and wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.I struggled to breathe. Poe was gone. My great-grandfather.Rage flooded through me. Standing, I turned towards Natham as the smirk wilted from his face. He took a step back, and another, trying to keep the distance between us as I walked towards him. Throwing my hand out before me, Kastem appeared with a mere thought. I didn't have to say the incantation, or struggle for control. He just materialized."You think a demon is going to stop me?" Nathan forced a laugh, but I could see the fear in his eyes. He knelt, slapping his blood covered hand covered hand on the painted circle. His expression hardened. "Two can play at that game. "
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EZRA I stepped out onto the deserted street, looking both ways. Plowed snow had been pushed aside into small mountains on the edge of the sidewalks. Steam rose from manhole covers, a car rolled past at the end of the street. I'd never been to New York City before, and even with all my traveling between the worlds, I'd never seen a city like this. Vasco shifted his weight on my shoulder, and let out a soft caw. "It's alright," I said, reaching up to steady him. The crow-like demon had nearly doubled his size since I'd first found him weeks ago. Now, he was nearly the same as a full-grown raven. I hoped he didn't get too much larger, or carrying him around on my shoulder was going to be a problem in a number of different ways. "Settle." Taking a deep breath of the cold air, I focused on the last of my missing family, turned, and started walking. I'd wanted to do this weeks ago. I needed to have it done months ago. But things kept getting in the way. I turned a corner, pulling my jac
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HENRYEverything was harder back then. I was young and naive, and I didn't get along well with the other children my age. I remembered the day when everything changed, even though it was years ago nothing could make me forget. The day had started like any other. There was morning work to do on my family's patch of land but by the time the afternoon sun was burning up her head, I'd slipped into the woods. Often, I tried to find a hollow or a stream to explore on my own, just to avoid the others, but the peace never lasted long.I was not favored among the small group of my peers. I was the smallest of the boys, and therefore I was usually the one most picked on. Francis had a flair for creating games that often ended in me being humiliated for the other's enjoyment. And everyone had always had a good laugh. Except for Mary. She was nicer and would try to defend me when she could.But that day was different. Most of the others had trave
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 93
JOHNBreaking the surface of the water, I gasped for breath before pushing back my hair. The stone room was brighter than before. Brackets were added to the cave walls while we were gone, allowing more torches for light. And that wasn't the only change. The monks of the Temple had added more storage chests, another bench, and a rug. There was even a table and chairs. And yet, despite the attention to detail, it still felt off. Wrong.I felt wrong.Sinking into the water's embrace again, I concentrated on the way it drew the feeling of death from my body, the way it tried to leech the chill that had set into my bones. The night had been long, our escape from the camp nearly flawless, or so I overheard Benji tell Ezra.I was like I was disconnected from reality. I could remember parts of the last six hours. Hunter pulling me away from the greenhouse. Anissa fighting hand to hand with a witch I didn't recognize. Going through Benj
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EzraLiam could have dropped an 'F' bomb and caused less shock than that sentence. I glanced at my Dad. His expression was stern.This wasn't right, Liam going against Dad. What the hell had happened to him while we were gone? What nonsense had Nathan convinced him of now? Thinking of the war camp on the other side, waiting for Nathan to bring them over, the Gods only knew what that mad man wanted to do next."Oh, don't look so worried, Ezra. I've plans for you, too," Liam said, bringing my attention back to him.Kastem growled and was echoed by another roll of thunder. The wind was howling through the trees now, and it was only a matter of time before the rain fell with force."I'm not worried about that," I lied to him. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to tell Mom."Surprise flickered over Liam's features. He lifted the knife and pointed it at me. "You won't be telling her anything."Before I could figure out what to
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 91
JOHNMy power spread from one plant to the next as it wove its way through the connected root system. Then, like a wave of death, the plants shriveled and fell, decayed and useless, to the earth in a spreading circle around me."No!"My father's scream echoed through the plastic enclosure."John!" Hunter's voice was a relief to hear. In my rush to grab the plants, I hadn't cared about the roar or what had pulled my Dad off me. Now, I could clearly see as I sat up, Mai, Hunter's panther-like demon growling over my father."Are you hurt?" Hunter knelt down in the dirt next to me, reaching to help me up.Shaking my head, I took stock of myself. Besides the dirt on my hands and clothes, and the relative trauma of physically fighting my dad, I was fine. I still had the power Poe had given me. Still could feel the essence of the plants I'd killed.In the skin of my hands, the dark designs appeared, the swirling patterns tracing their way up
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 90
EZRAThe portal opened exactly where I'd pictured John earlier. Unfortunately, it'd taken longer than I'd wanted to get everyone together. Hunter and Benji stepped through first, then Dad, Anissa, and Tessa. Once the six of us were through, I closed the portal down and looked around, trying to get a bearing of where we were and which way John had gone."It's too dark. I don't see anything," Benji commented.Hunter didn't waste time, summoning his demon there on the spot. Anissa and Tessa did the same. I focused first on which way John had gone, knowing he still had to be here, and sure enough, as soon as I'd opened up to my power, he was there on the web, easy enough to find now that I knew what to look for."He's east of here, not too far-"I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I was tempted to leave it, but the thought of Avery home with our moms and as well as Thea and Kaylee had me pulling it out of my pocket. If there
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 89
JOHNThe forest was dark as ink as I came through the portal. I'd opened it right on the edge of the camp I'd spent many summers at when I was younger. Camp Meadow Creek was a compound of over one hundred acres in the Cumberland mountains outside of Louisville.In front of me were the main entrance, the Community Hall, and the fifteen smaller cabins the earth witch trainees stayed in when they were here.The main area was lit up with outdoor lighting attached to the buildings, showing off the yard. Memories made me pause. The hot summers eating popsicles on the lake dock. That time I fell off the top bunk and sprained my wrist. The first time I made a tree grow from a pine cone to a full towering pine in a matter of minutes. The nostalgia rocked me hard, but it was all bittersweet now. The friendships, the lessons I'd learned. They all seemed tainted by what I knew now.A whisper of feeling brushed by, and I turned, expecting E
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 88
EZRAThe house was quieter when we returned. Benji and the others had yet to come back, but I found Kaylee and Thea curled up together on the couch in a nest of blankets with the baby demon between them. Kaylee had offered to look after it while we investigated Lyssa's house and I'd let her.It chirped softly at me, flapping its wings in a way that could only be described as a 'pick me up' motion. I obliged, before the demon decided it was upset and screeched."Shh," I whispered to it, cradling it in my arms. There was no need to wake the entire house."William, is that you?" Mom's voice called softly from the kitchen. Avery and I followed Dad as he went to find Mom. Her eyes watered as soon as she set eyes on us, as if she already knew what we'd found."How bad is it?" Mom whispered."We think Nathan took her-""No, we're p
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 87
JOHNThere was none of the dizzy vertigo like when I travelled through Ezra or Benji's portal. It was more like a long step through a doorway that led me right back where I was only weeks ago. The freshly cut grass left a thick scent in the air that brought back many memories of family barbecues and parties.I turned back to the portal. Cameron and the other Witches still appeared awestruck, but Hunter looked as though he wanted to jump through after me, the pain clear on his unhappy face."I'm sorry," I said, and shut down the portal.My chest throbbed. Part of me had wanted Hunter to come, because I didn't want to face this alone. What if we were caught? On my own, I would at least have a chance to escape again, but after what'd happened after they'd caught Ezra, they probably would kill Hunter on the spot.Facing the house, I distracted myself by focusing on the details. New cushions covered the patio furniture and ne
