When Heroes Fall Page 3

  The battle outside Trellham also convinced Kel to speed up Farrell’s training. They decided to visit Rastoria to recover the Blood of Arritisa. In need of a ship, they stopped at Trag to request a vessel. Farrell was surprised to learn that his first love, Cameron, had been with the navy since their ill-fated tryst twelve years prior. Cameron had risen through the ranks and was now an admiral. His was also the only ship ready to sail, so he agreed to take Kel and Farrell to Rastoria.

  The sea voyage was uneventful until the third day. A vessel flying a neutral flag was spotted acting suspiciously. Using the Eye of Honorus, Farrell learned the “merchant” vessel was stuffed with soldiers, several powerful wizards, and nothing else. At Kel’s suggestion, Cameron moved to intercept the vessel.

  As the two ships approached, Farrell used the skills he learned from Master Teberus to intercept the enemy vessel. He halted the ship in the water and used the ocean to attack their enemy. With Kel and the Yar-del ship closing in, Farrell flooded the ship with seawater. Three wizards escaped the sinking vessel, one of which Kel recognized as grand master Carifa, Meglar’s cousin.

  Kel and the Yar-del wizards engaged Carifa and her underlings. On alert for a long-range attack from Meglar, Farrell used his new abilities to collect energy from the water to counter Meglar’s attempt to save his cousin. Unable to get help from Zargon, Carifa was soon defeated and killed by Kel. The battle caught the attention of the Arlefors, and they agreed to help Farrell and Kel travel to Rastoria.

  Kel used the visit to speak to Master Teberus while Farrell was taken to the temple of Arritisa. Before he could explain to Mother Burcia why he was there, Arritisa appeared before them. She refused to give Farrell the Blood unless he could explain to Her why he needed it. Frustrated, Farrell agreed to think about the situation and come back. Arritisa touched Farrell and dissolved his protective spells. Farrell struggled to get free to save himself, but Arritisa kissed him. To his and Burcia’s surprise, Farrell could now breathe and move about like an Arlefor.

  Farrell requested they go back to Trag to reflect on the day’s events. He wanted to answer Arritisa before he went home. Kel also didn’t want to go back to Haven. He used his time in Rastoria to raise an army so he could make a raid on Yar-del City. After a night in Trag, the pair headed to Agloth and enlisted Mother Jolella’s help in getting an appointment with Father Lingum, High Priest to Falcron.

  In Bowient, the city Falcron’s priests founded to house their main temple, Farrell met with resistance when he asked Lingum to help him answer Arritisa. It is only after Farrell showed Lingum Falcron’s Gift that the high priest offered his help. Although Lingum wasn’t able to help Farrell answer the question, he did agree to search the vast library for any information. Before they left, Farrell and Lingum paid a visit to the main temple. When they got up to leave, Lingum and Jolella realized Falcron had now chosen Farrell.

  On the way back to Seritia’s temple in Bowient, Cendreth, Amelt Randgar’s eldest son, encountered a young girl fleeing an angry man. He stopped the man from grabbing the girl and in the process incited a small riot among some of Bowient’s citizens. Within a short time, the riot had turned into a full-blown revolt. Farrell detected the involvement of one of Meglar’s wizards and advised Father Lingum to prepare for something.

  Farrell escorted Lingum back to his temple, while Kel escorted Jolella. On the way back, Farrell’s party was attacked by a small group of Chamdon. Fighting their way to the temple, Farrell noted that thousands of citizens were converging on Falcron’s home. Soon after they arrived back, Meglar’s wizard and a priestess of Neldin showed up.

  The priestess asked for Lingum to surrender and when he didn’t, she released a Brakken, a spark of dark energy from Neblor. Farrell called for Kel’s help, and he took over Farrell’s mind to deal with the threat. With help from Father Lingum, Kel destroyed the Brakken, to the shock of the priestess.

  Their Brakken defeated, the priestess and wizard turned the crowd into Chamdon and sent them toward the temple to cover their retreat. Farrell and Father Lingum cut the pair off, and a fight ensued. Joining forces with Father Lingum, Farrell killed the wizard and defeated the priestess. He urged Father Lingum to kill the priestess, but Lingum hesitated. Only when the priestess tried to curse them did Lingum kill her. Once the wizard and priestess were defeated, Farrell helped defeat the Chamdon attacking the temple.

  Following the battle in front of the temple, the Belcin, the secular leader of Bowient, arrived, and Farrell confronted him. Meglar had paid the Belcin to allow his priestess to use the people of Bowient for his attack on the temple. When Kel told Farrell that the Belcin also sold young women and babies to Meglar, something snapped, and Farrell charged the Belcin intending to kill him. Seritia and Falcron worked through Jolella and Lingum to stop Farrell. When he realized what he’d almost done, Farrell flew off into the city.

  The import of what he’d nearly done overwhelmed him, and he landed just before he threw up. It took a few minutes to regain his composure and when he did, Neldin appeared.

  The Dark God told Farrell that he had nothing to fear, He only wanted to talk. Neldin told Farrell that as Meglar’s son, He had the right to speak to him. Suspicious of what Neldin wanted, Farrell had no choice but to listen. Neldin accused Farrell of being like his father and provided examples of times Farrell did things he shouldn’t have, like trying to kill the Belcin.

  Neldin tried to convince Farrell that the Six were using him to fight Meglar and once he defeated Meglar, they would make sure he died too. Farrell laughed, but Neldin persisted, providing a different slant on events. Although Farrell rejected Neldin’s version, Neldin seemed confident Farrell would eventually join him.

  After Neldin disappeared, an older woman, Anoria, appeared and was concerned that Farrell looked distressed. She insisted he come home with her and made him tea. She told Farrell about herself and her family. She lost her son when the caravan he was guarding was attacked, but they never found his body. Farrell tried to use the Eye of Honorus to find her son, but fell asleep during the effort. Anoria took that to mean Farrell, like the others who’d tried before, had failed. Before he could try again, Jolella arrived with a company of Ze’arderian guards to retrieve Farrell.

  Back at Seritia’s temple, Farrell did not tell anyone about Neldin’s visit. He used the Eye again and was able to find Anoria’s son, Hendris. He was chained to an oar and the ship was in the Kessan Ocean. He convinced Kel to go to Dumbarten to get King Markus’s help. Markus provided Farrell with a ship and Penelope joined them.

  When they found the ship, Farrell used the ocean to stop the vessel. With the help of the Arlefors, Farrell subdued the ship. He learned that this was the flagship of the Prince of Spagrom. Since Spagrom was known as a haven for pirates, Farrell declared the ship property of Dumbarten. He found Hendris and freed him.

  Kel and Farrell met up with Clayden’s army and headed for Yar-del. They found the city surrounded by a strong shield. With guidance from Kel, Farrell destroyed the shield. He and the Arlefor wizards then flooded the city with seawater. While the Arlefors attacked the Chamdon, Farrell and Kel recovered the cache of secret weapons Kel had left behind.

  Before leaving Yar-del, Kel took them to the central tower to confront the wizard in charge of the city. Meglar’s underling was contacting his master when the pair arrived. Kel interrupted the conversation and told Meglar he had returned. After the pair traded insults, Kel told Meglar he could find Kel on the Plains of Gharaha if he wanted to speak again.

  From Yar-del, Kel and Farrell returned to Dumbarten. They learned from Penelope that the ship they recovered had been sent to buy ships and sailors. Farrell used the Eye to provide Markus with information on Meglar’s plans. Satisfied he’d given Dumbarten all the information he could, Farrell decided to go home.

  Back in Haven, Farrell used the time to review Kel’s books hoping to find an answer for Arritisa. He and Miceral also agreed to Father Aswick’s request that they set a date
for their coronation as Kings of Trellham. As part of the ceremony, they agreed to pay a visit to all the other temples in Trellham.

  The visits, however, were a ruse so Farrell could search the ruins of Seritia’s temple without arousing suspicion. He used the Eye and found a chest hidden under the rubble that might help him recover the Blood of Arritisa. After the visits were complete, Farrell returned to the broken temple to scan backward through time. He found the moment when the chest was placed in the temple. Before he returned to the present, the image from the past told him it is not time to know what is inside the chest.

  Following the coronation, Farrell spent the next several weeks learning from Kel. At a meeting to discuss the preparations to defend Honal, Farrell drifted out of the conversation and used the Eye to check on Meglar’s troop strength. The vast number of soldiers Meglar had surprised Farrell. He realized something needed to be done or else Meglar would overrun the world. Without telling the others what he had seen, Farrell left the meeting and headed to Zargon.

  Hovering over the ocean, Farrell used the knowledge he’d gleaned from his time with Kel to pry open the shield guarding Meglar’s capital city of Kentrish. His goal was to flood the city with seawater and kill as many of the Chamdon as possible. Initially his attempts met with some success, but then Meglar and his wizards counterattacked. Farrell’s efforts to disengage from the fight were not successful. As the attacks grew in intensity, Farrell feared he wouldn’t be able to leave. Meglar’s attacks began to wear down Farrell’s defenses, but before his shields failed, Kel rescued Farrell.

  Kel and dozens of Arlefor wizards pulled Farrell from the fight and succeeded in flooding Kentrish as Farrell had planned. Back in Haven, the healers worked on Farrell’s injuries.

  Once Farrell was healed, Kel showed Farrell how close he came to destroying Kentrish. Because of that, Meglar might speed up his plans to attack; otherwise his underlings would think he was afraid of whomever destroyed his city. Kel announced that he and Farrell would be leaving Haven so he could complete Farrell’s training. He told Farrell to rest up because they would leave soon.

  Chapter 1

  INTENSE PAIN woke Farrell from a deep sleep. He opened his eyes and drew a ragged breath. The throbbing assault on his mind ended an instant later, leaving only a dull echo. A scan of his burns showed no distress or pain. Still, the sensations had been too vivid to be a dream.

  He lay back and stared at the ceiling as his head sank into the soft pillow. The need to rest had nearly pulled him back to sleep when his head erupted in pain. The powerful scream lacked the mind-searing agony Nerti’s exuded when Nordric had died, but it still made him wince. When he closed his eyes, he saw nothing but bright white light. Unlike the grief that fueled Nerti’s outburst, this radiated terror.

  A sheen of cold sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to assess the threat. How had someone slipped past his shields? Even Nerti and Rothdin couldn’t get in and out that easily. Only Miceral had this much access to him and the scream wasn’t from him.

  He held his breath, ready to pounce. When the mental shriek came, he grabbed it. It hadn’t gotten into his mind; it was calling to him with such force it hurt. The unknown caller was scared beyond words, almost like a child….

  “Geena!”

  Farrell jumped off the bed and ran to the nursery. When she’d been scared at Trellham, he’d dispelled her fear. She must have instinctively reached for him again, only this time it was more intense.

  He burst into the suite without thinking and startled Urana, who sat knitting in the common room. Her scream should have woken the children, but Farrell doubted it would. Geena’s spillage was so strong he wasn’t sure he could wake her at the moment.

  Urana dropped her knitting and clutched at her chest with both hands. “Your Majesty, what’s happening?”

  “Sorry, but Geena is… is having a bad dream.”

  “She’s what?” The way she steadied herself surprised Farrell.

  “I can feel her… her emotions. I think she’s having a nightmare.” A bad one.

  He slowly opened the door. Geena moved around as if someone were poking her. She had a look of pain that mirrored her shouts. He tried to probe her mind, but the jumble of thoughts kept him from reading much. If he pushed harder, he might see more, but he didn’t want to risk damage to her mind.

  “Nerti?”

  “You should be sleeping, not calling me.” Her reproachful tone didn’t help his mood.

  “I would be, except something is wrong with Geena.”

  “Then you should call the healer, not me.”

  “Nerti, please. You know me well enough that I’d do that if that were needed. It’s her mind. Fear is emanating from her and the projections are painful. It must be terrible considering how much it hurts me.”

  “What’s causing it?” She reached out a link and Farrell grabbed it.

  “I don’t know. She’s fighting something, and I’m afraid if I try to push through I’ll hurt her.” Another stab of pain struck his unprotected mind. “Nerti, help me!”

  “Open your eyes and let me see her.” Despite her calm tone, he sensed her unease.

  Farrell did as instructed and had to force himself to breathe. The silence lingered longer than he expected, but he knew better than to disturb her.

  “The source of her discomfort is coming from Bren,” Nerti said.

  Her words struck him like a war hammer to the face. “Bren? How’s… it can’t be.”

  “I don’t know, but Klissmor has a link with the child and is checking to see what bothers him.”

  “His dream is of death and fear.” Klissmor’s voice was full of anger. “It is not a natural dream. Someone is feeding his mind images of his parents’ death.”

  “Who?” Farrell imagined the ways he would make that person suffer for hurting his son. When he found them, they’d—

  “Be calm, Little One,” Nerti said in a soothing voice. “We will find the source and end the threat.”

  Geena’s screams left a dull ache in his mind, and he couldn’t stop his heart from pounding. Nerti and Klissmor alone would be a match for anyone; together, he didn’t know what could stop them.

  He walked over to his son’s bed to calm himself. Bren clutched the sheets with his tiny hands, and his anger burned hotter.

  “Who’s doing this?”

  He reached for Bren. At the least he could wake his son and end his terror.

  “Stop!” Nerti said.

  Farrell froze with his hand nearly on Bren’s cheek. “But I can end his nightmare.”

  “And we’ll lose our link to whoever is doing it.” The urgency in her tone made him retract his hand. “This way we can end it for good.”

  “The link is buried deep, but I see it,” Klissmor said.

  Farrell didn’t like what he’d heard. “Miceral!”

  “Farrell! What’s wrong?” Fear oozed from Miceral’s question.

  “Get Kel and my mother.” Farrell tried to contain his fear. “Someone is feeding Bren nightmares.”

  “What!” Farrell heard his fear reflected back in Miceral’s voice. “How…? Who…?”

  “Klissmor and Nerti are trying to find out now.” He took a deep breath and held it. “Can you find Kel and my mother?”

  “Yes. Of course. I’ll—”

  “I’ve already summoned them,” Nerti said. “They’ll be there soon.”

  “I’ll wait for them and let them in,” Miceral said. “Father and I are in the study.”

  Farrell watched his daughter’s little face contort as if she were living what Bren saw in his mind. Twice her mouth opened as if she would scream, but only a small moan came out. He couldn’t stand to see Geena suffer, but he didn’t break the link. Nerti and Klissmor needed the connection to stay open to find the source.

  “Urana?” He waited until she looked at him. “Can you find Master Heather and tell her I need her best healer trained in empathy immediately?”

  She
stared at him for a moment and then glanced at Geena. “At once, Your Majesty.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

  He wanted an update, but asking would get him a rebuke. Geena’s fear had taken a darker tone and her face contorted into a scowl. “Nerti, something’s changed. She’s gone from afraid to angry.”

  “She’s fighting back in her dream,” Nerti said. “The soldiers are coming for Bren and her. She’s trying to defend them.”

  “How can I help her… them?”

  “Remaining calm is the best thing right now.” She sent a soothing touch through their link. “We’re trying to trace the connection back without announcing ourselves. Whoever is doing this will sever the link if they detect us.”

  “Be….” He nearly told her to be careful. “Let me know how I can help.”

  “You can bring us to their room in a moment. We’re moving toward the Door outside our quarters.”

  Before he answered, the front-door spell alerted him to someone’s arrival. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

  “We’re waiting for Rothdin. He is better at this than we are.”

  Farrell raised an eyebrow at the admission. His adopted father had a formidable mind, but for Nerti to admit he surpassed her spoke to how serious she considered the matter.

  Miceral and Horgon appeared in the doorway with Zenora, Kel, and Heminaltose behind them. Judging by their expressions, Nerti must have briefed them.

  “Have you shielded her from Bren’s thoughts?” Zenora asked.

  “I would have, but Nerti said not to.” He held up his hand to stop her and Miceral’s objections. “They need the link open to find the source. If we alert whoever is doing this we know what’s happening, we may lose the chance to stop them.”

  “I agree,” Kel said. “If we catch them unaware now, we can sever their link for good. If they know we’re watching, they’ll take precautions to try to hide their presence next time.”