The Willbreaker (Book 1) (49 page)

             
I have to find the source of her power. This is getting out of control. Time is running out. If I can break it, she will no longer be a threat.

              Brandon’s head whipped towards the stairs simultaneously with Aurora’s, as the noise of running feet approached. Jasmine, Edward, and Blue burst from the stairwell, entering the floor with Brandon and Aurora. Brandon’s heart hit the floor.
Jasmine, you were supposed to wait an hour. You are not supposed to be here. This will ruin everything.
Brandon quickly glanced back to Aurora, whose gaze left the oncoming party and focused back on Brandon. Her smile told him she already knew she had the upper hand. His expression conveyed all loss of hope that he built up.

              “I’ve got you…” she whispered to herself.

              Fear hit Brandon like a landslide.
I said an hour! You were supposed to wait an hour damn you!
Aurora immediately turned her attention to the three standing at the top of stairs; Brandon still had not found the cord connected to her power. With a whip of her hand, Blue left the ground and flew through the air, hitting the side of the tower with enough force to break completely through the one-foot thick marble wall, falling helplessly a hundred and sixty feet to the ground below. With a flick of her other hand, Edward and Jasmine smashed into each other with devastating force, knocking the wind out of both of them and then another twist of her wrist sent them crashing across the marble floor towards the throne. Brandon flinched as they hit; the force was extreme and fierce.

              Brandon’s head straightened and his eyes locked onto Aurora. Her mind lit with activity, a giant and glowing ball of energy. The strands within her mind, highways for energy and mana, pulsed and beat with a hypnotic rhythm. Chaotic, yet beautiful, Brandon lost his focus as concern about his friends took over. With a mighty yell, Brandon planted his right foot and ran towards the Empress. If he could not stop her with his power, perhaps he could throw her off balance and subdue her.

              Arkam and the Ice Lancers crept out of the city through a split in the outer wall. They moved quickly and quietly, avoiding all confrontation. Their payloads had been delivered and all seemed to be on track. From this side of the city, the Ice Lancers could not see the primary battlefield, but the sounds of war echoed all around them. With a glance at his men, each giving an approving nod, Arkam reached into the small, black leather pouch around his waist and withdrew the device.

              The device, small enough to fit in the grip of a hand, had copper wire wrapped around a hollow wooden dowel. Inside of the dowel, suspended by more copper wire, the small fragment of trexalite irradiated its eerie redness through the wiring. Copper wire wrapped tightly around the fragment’s base, while the top of the fragment was uncovered and easily accessible from the outside of the dowel. Arkam rested his thumb on part of the outer wire which ran through the top of the dowel and formed a small cap that floated above the exposed trexalite fragment. Any pressure to the wire underneath his thumb and the wire would bend, moving the cap down onto the fragment, creating an energy circuit. The circuit, powerful enough to ignite fuse if wired right, duplicated the ones connected to the barrels filled with black powder that the Ice Lancers planted throughout the city.

              With a final glance at the other Ice Lancers, Arkam pressed his thumb against the wire, and as the copper cap connected with the fragment, it instantly heated up, sending trexalite energy waves rippling out from him.

              Whispering confidently, a voice like frost on the wind, he said, “Time to rattle this city.”

Pressure ripped through the throne room like a bomb as the entire tower violently shifted and shook. The floor underneath Brandon and Aurora jolted sideways, throwing both of them to the floor. A billow of smoke and fire blew up the stairway. The deep bellow of cracking stone rang out and the tower began to tip.

Boom!  Boom!  Boom!
  Three more earth-shaking explosions sounded in the distance as Arkam’s bombs detonated. Brandon glanced over to Edward and Jasmine as he slid across the slanted floor. Edward, still sprawled across the ground, moved chaotically trying to grab ahold of something as he and Jasmine slid downward. Jasmine, however, did not move.

Dammit, Jasmine, why couldn’t you just listen? You wouldn’t be in this mess if…

Brandon slid faster and faster, the wall of the tower coming up beneath his feat. With a mighty crash, the tower collided with another building, launching everyone and everything inside through the air. Thick cracks splintered up the tower, joining at the roof which burst into massive falling pieces. Parts of the tower wall cracked and broke outward upon impact. Brandon turned his body sideways before colliding with the tower wall, hitting hard on his shoulder and head, before sliding down to where the wall and floor met. He looked across the room, trying to find Edward and Jasmine.

Edward sat prone at the edge of a hole where the wall had broken out, one arm extended through it. Jasmine, unconscious, swung limply from his grasp. Edward moaned and struggled against her weight. He would not be able to hold her long. Brandon’s heart raced. Fire and smoke grew from the stairwell.

              Looking up, Brandon caught the last glance of Aurora crawling out of one of the window ports. As she exited, she peered down at him and glared. In another instance, she had vanished.

The room quickly filled with smoke. Brandon scooped up his swords, sheathed them and then ran towards Edward.

              “Don’t let her go! I’m coming! Hold on! Hold on!”

              Edward peered up at him, fear and despair blanketing his eyes, as his grip began to fail.

              “Edward! No!”

              Edward moaned loudly. He was shaking and sweating.

              “Arrrhhhhhhh!” he moaned loudly. He did not have the strength. Jasmine’s weight pulled at him and would soon take him with her. His fingers began to release. He strained to hold her but it was more than he could manage. He looked down at the street below. There would be no way anyone would survive a fall from that distance. The base of the tower had crumpled, toppling it over, bringing it down upon the building next to it. Edward gauged them to be at least a hundred feet up in the air.

              With a final moan, the strength in his hand gave out and Jasmine’s fingers slipped out from his grasp.

Time seemed to slow as Edward looked at Jasmine. Her hand, soft and petite, slipped like silk through his fingers. He yelled in disbelief as despair and anguish instantaneously washed over him.

Brandon, in flight from his last leap, reached for her, eyes focused like daggers on her arm. He hit the ground and slid up to the edge of the hole, almost flying out himself. His arm arched outward, fingers quickly and tightly wrapping around hers. He moaned as her falling weight nearly pulled his shoulder out of its socket.

“Got her! Edward, help! Help me!” he cried, trying not to go over.

Edward stood hastily as tears poured down his face. He moved swiftly over to Brandon and together they pulled Jasmine up inside the tilted and burning tower. Smoke drifted thick and heavy as the crackling of fire grew closer.

“What are you doing here? I told Jasmine to give me an hour!” Brandon barked.

Edward said nothing, but the sadness in his eyes told Brandon how sorry he felt.

“We have to get out of here. This place isn’t safe. We need to move.”

Brandon wrapped his hand underneath Edward’s arm and helped him to his feet. Brandon reached down and scooped Jasmine up in his arms and then moved towards the next window porthole away from the fire. A giant hole split the distance between them and the next window. As they approached, Brandon noticed the roof of another building through the hole, but it spanned a gap twenty feet wide.

“Edward! Can you move Jasmine to that roof top with your power?”

The smoke made breathing difficult. Edward studied the gap, glancing down at Jasmine as if to judge her weight and then answered, “I can do it. I won’t let you down. I’ll get her there, in one piece.”  He looked at Brandon, eyes wide and confident, nodding with assurance.

Brandon set her down gently on the edge of the wall and floor, stepping away afterward. Edward moved up towards the hole, made note of the building’s roof and then stepped back to make room. Slowly, he closed his eyes. Edward had not moved anything this large in years. The last time he tried, the barrel of pig slop he picked up ended spilling all over the road as he lost control, but today, Edward would not fail. He would not lose Jasmine after already thinking she would die as his grip failed him. He would get her across the gap no matter what.

He released his power, letting it overcome him. It swept up his back and over his neck, a cool ocean breeze, sweeping over his face and throughout his body. His heart beat like a drum, pounding against his chest. Every pump of the blood in his veins felt like magic, stimulating every sense, igniting his livelihood, and invigorating his connection with his power. Jasmine’s body elevated as if someone scooped her up in invisible arms.

Her body floated mystically towards the opening. Brandon watched, still amazed at the sight of telekinesis in action. Her body drifted out into the open, inching carefully across the span, hovering a hundred feet over the ground. Brandon’s nerves were on edge from the anticipation and anxiety of the feat. Her body drifted across the space, slowly but steadily. Inch by inch she floated across until she gently rested on the other rooftop. Edward’s body slumped, exhausted from the concentration. They knew she would be safe there so they could continue their escape.

“We have to get out of here, and I have to find Aurora.” Edward nodded.

Brandon leaped across the hole, moving towards the next window port. After helping Edward across, they hurried as the fire and smoke thickened. At the next porthole, Brandon could see a balcony on the next building, not too far out.

“There. We have to jump,” he said. Edward gave him a look of doubt. “We’ve got this Edward, I don’t see any other way.” Edward gave him a deeper look of doubt.

Brandon grabbed Edward’s wrist and lead him up into the window. Edward stepped up into the hole. “On the count of three, jump, you can make it. It’s not that far and we are running out of time.” Edward looked terrified but after looking back at Brandon and seeing his confidence, he committed to it. Brandon counted.

“One… two…”

As he hit three, Edward moved forward and Brandon pushed him through the hole, landing him safely, albeit awkwardly, into the recess of the balcony.

“Go! I’ll meet you on the ground!” Brandon yelled out. Edward turned and looked back at him, ready yell at him for not coming through, but Brandon already moved back inside the tower towards the porthole that Aurora escaped from. He had to find her. He had to finish this.

Running through the smoke obscured Brandon’s vision and it sat in his lungs like molasses, thick and unforgiving. He coughed and choked, but he could see the light beaming down through the grey smog like a beacon from the heavens. Brandon spit on his hands and took off his shoes and socks. He rubbed his hands together vigorously before slapping them against the marble floor. Pushing with his legs and pulling with his upper body, Brandon scaled up the slanted floor towards the window. After some minor slips and falls, a final leap landed Brandon’s outstretched hand the edge of the porthole. With a slight swing, Brandon pulled himself up out of the window.

Stepping aside as to not stand in the exhaust, Brandon looked out across the city. All five of the towers, bent like fingers, burned and reached towards the helpless sky. He peered down the broken tower under him. The base of the tower had broken and split, crushing into the next building. He could see Aurora on that building as she marched down the stairs towards the street. The tower slanted intensely. Brandon could only see two ways down if he wished to catch Aurora.

What are you doing? You are an idiot. I hope this works.

With a small run and a leap, Brandon jumped outward, flying off the tower towards the street close to Aurora. As the tower disappeared beneath his feet, the ground below came up to meet him faster than he expected. He released his power, creating a bubble of intense energy around him. In mid-air, the feeling of freedom seemed to intensify his power. He let it loose. In a solid blow, Brandon crashed onto the street, crushing the bones in his legs as his body mashed them into the solid ground. His upper body crumpled as his head recoiled off the cobblestones, spraying blood across the road. His mind, overcome with pain, entered a state of blackness.

Blackness surrounded him and he seemed to stood in the middle of it. Light shined on him but he could not see the source. He looked around into nothingness.
Power.

I will not die today. I must get up. I must heal and recover. There are no other options.

He closed his eyes, peacefully, as he raised his arms outward, palms facing up. Deep breathe. In. Out.
Peace
. Serenity washed over him; a breeze of tranquility and safety. His power transcended this world, and his body, a tool to harness that power, became enveloped in it. Broken bones shook as they moved and reconnected together, ruptured arteries and organs regrew and reformed, his skin sealed up, and the cuts and bruises on his body faded away.

Brandon opened his eyes. The cobblestone street stared back at him.
I did it.

He placed his hand out to brace himself.
Not broken.
Pulling his leg forward, he stood and looked around, trying to get his bearings. As he turned his head, he caught Aurora exiting the building in front of him. The look on her face made Brandon smile as she stopped.
Surprise. You can’t get rid of me that easy.

Aurora strolled into the center of the street and turned to face Brandon. She looked angry.

“We did not have the chance to finish our conversation,” he said, again opening up his mind and releasing his power. With renewed purpose, he searched for her power strand.

Aurora looked at the man in front of her and as she stared, she noticed something that sent chills into her soul. Brandon’s skullcap laid on the ground next to his feet and his feathered hair brushed over a visible tattoo; the tattoo of a red star.

What she said next baffled him.

“Join me.” Aurora placed her fists on her hips.

“Um, what?”

“Join me. I will make you head of my personal guard. You refuse to die, and in a manner I have never seen. There is something special about you.”

Brandon stated the obvious answer. “Well, I
am
your son.”

Aurora’s head tilted and she squinted her eyes as she examined him. She looked at the arc in his brow, the way his lips touched together, and the wave in his eyes. As she looked close, her eyes opened as she saw the familiarity within his face. She had seen those curves, those same arcs, and the same wave in the eyes many times. She saw them in her sister, and in the mirror.

Brandon thought he heard her gasp.

“I cannot join you, but we can work together. We can stop the fighting. We can end the death. You and I, together.” Brandon held an open hand out to her.

“Join me. Mother and son. Together we can rule this world!” Excitement elevated her voice with visions of grandeur and reign. “No one will be able to stop us! We can shape the world in our image! I can love you like no one else. I can be there by your side as we rule this world. Our bloodline will be supreme!”

Although it seemed absurd, the thought of being with his mother appealed to Brandon. He wondered if being with her would change her mind about things.
Maybe I can get her to love again. Maybe I can help her recover. She is my mother. Mother and son, reunited.

“We will destroy all those who oppose us and shape this world into the world
we
want it to be!” She raised a clenched fist into the air.

Brandon looked into her face. Sadness overtook him as he realized that he could not change her. There would be no saving her. Aurora only wanted death. Brandon sighed, heart heavy.
I have to cut her power off.

As he attended his search, he rounded a large node of considerable power, and spotted what he was looking for: the source of her magic. Like a beacon of electric intensity, it pulsed and throbbed, sending out waves of substantial energy. The strand connected to countless other nodes, unique in Brandon’s experience. He sent his power to surround it. It moved like liquid, fluid and smooth. As the blue energy of his will approached the strand, an electric force radiated outward, throwing his power into disarray. He tried again, focusing his attention to it. He pushed and tried to overtake the immense power but the resistance proved to be too much. His power waned and retracted.
I have to distract her. I have to get her thinking of something else.
A single idea came to mind. Would it be too much? Would it even be possible?

Brandon opened up the dark corners of his mind, accessing a power that he never used this way; Death. Death users could manipulate the spirit after life. Its power resided in the absence of life and the ability to see and control those manipulations. With Death, Brandon could see and speak to restless spirits, as well as alter their connection of life to the afterlife. Brandon could think of only one spirit he wished to talk to. Closing his eyes, he reached into the dark haze of the power within him.

His mind opened up onto an infinitely large grey plain. Ghostly figures stood like cattle on top of it. He knew who he wanted and it did not take him long to find the spirit he sought.
Got him.

Aurora looked at Brandon, aware something stirred within him.

“What are you doing?” she asked, concerned.

Brandon’s eyes opened, slowly, as he stared knowingly at Aurora. The image of a man, cloudy and transparent, appeared through a shimmer in the street.

Aurora gasped loudly, eyes filled with terror as she nearly fell over backwards. Tears burst from her eyes as she screamed, “No! No! It can’t be! What are you doing?”

The head of the man turned towards her, watching her with those eyes. He floated a foot off the ground, and the burning city could be seen right through him, but his eyes commanded her attention. She had seen them before; the night he raped her. The ghost of Korgen Kitadal eyed her hungrily.

Brandon’s hopes of distracting her long enough to break her power hastily burned to ash. The strand of energy she controlled grew and engulfed his power, soaking it up and blocking him out of her mind completely. Aurora screamed in terror. She stood, shoulders broad and arms outward with clenched fists, and screamed. She looked to the sky and screamed and screamed, the most blood-curdling, deathly scream Brandon ever heard.
Oh no. What have I done?
Looking up at her, Brandon noticed Edward and Jasmine taking cover in the doorway of the building across from him. 

As Aurora screamed, the earth itself trembled. Buildings shook violently and windows exploded in a flurry of flying glass. Brandon tried to enter her mind but failed as the ground shifted suddenly beneath him. Loose stones and other small objects bounced on the street like hot, bubbling oil. The water shook out of the horse troughs and shutters and doors flapped and slammed into the walls. Brandon felt something he had not felt in quite some time: sheer, utter
terror
.

Buildings shook loose from their foundations, snapping and breaking the marble structures like dried clay. The ground shook aggressively, making it impossible for Brandon to stand. Korgen had disappeared but Aurora still screamed, losing any control that she may have had. The buildings rose from the ground, slowly at first, but continued their climb into the air as her power washed over the world. As the building floated upward, Edward and Jasmine leapt from the doorway and fell onto the street. Horse carriages, barrels, crates, and other small objects floated randomly in the air, tumbling and spinning out of control. The colossal circular disk that rested underneath the city splintered and cracked as it too began to rise upward.