Five Kingdoms: Book 07 - Wizard Falling Read online

  Wizard Falling

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Lorik Excerpt

  Lorik Chapter 1

  Lorik Chapter 2

  Lorik Chapter 3

  Read all of Toby Neighbors’ books at amazon.com/author/tobyneighbors

  Wizard Falling

  by Toby Neighbors

  Wizard Falling

  © Toby Neighbors, 2014

  All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Cover Design by Camille Denae

  Copy Editor: Violet Pheonix www.theScribesBestFriend.com

  Books By Toby Neighbors

  Wizard Rising

  Magic Awakening

  Hidden Fire

  Crying Havoc

  Fierce Loyalty

  Evil Tide

  Lorik

  Lorik The Protector

  Third Prince

  Royal Destiny

  The New World

  The Other Side

  Dedication

  This book was a labor of love,

  and I dedicate it to my great love, Camille.

  And to all the readers who love these stories as much as I do,

  thank you for helping me tell them.

  Prologue

  Gwendolyn was angry. She sat on a throne of bones, her sunken eyes closed, her skeletal arms folded across her emaciated chest. She shivered with cold despite the fires all around her. She was a wretched looking creature now. Any beauty and sensuality had been swept away, replaced by dark power so great even she had not been prepared for it. That power had become her sustenance in the dark caverns deep beneath the earth. The demon she had summoned from another dimension had filled her with power, but also with a fierce hatred for the very world she sought to control. She loathed the people who had been carried to her lair by the Leffers. She had bent thousands to her will, each trading their souls in exchange for life. Her power had mutated them; made them stronger physically, but also totally dependent on her will. She controlled them now, sending them north with only one command: to kill. Those who refused her power she had killed and now she knew it was simply a matter of time before the entire width and breadth of the Five Kingdoms were under her control.

  Only the young wizard of the north had thwarted her plans. She couldn’t feel his power, but she could see him through the eyes of her mutated subjects. He flew upon a dark green dragon, moving ever closer to her lair. The foolish boy was coming to confront her, but he had no concept of her power. He could not fathom the depth of her abilities as the demon fed power to her from a dimension beyond the grave. She was truly a queen, even if hell was her palace and death her servant. Still, the fact that Zollin was coming angered her. She had not expected such boldness. When they had fought at the time of her changing, he had shown himself to be resourceful, with a raw, unrefined power that was breathtaking. But she had won that exchange and sent the young wizard running north. Now that he was back, she felt a shiver of fear. Why would he return, what new weapon had he discovered with which to battle her?

  She was stronger than ever, but the faceless demon who now channeled power into her withering physical form never shared the secrets to that power. She wielded it blindly and that had been enough at first. She was in control, at least she thought she was. Control had always been her desire. She needed to be in control of everyone and everything around her. When she had enchanted men she was able to control them because of their lust for her, but eventually they went mad and killed each other. Now her control over the vast horde the Leffers had brought to her made victory over the Five Kingdoms all but inevitable. The fact that Zollin resisted made her wonder if she were overlooking something. There was no way to know until her power was tested, but before then she would make certain reaching her lair was no easy thing. Her demented mind began to plan; her will kindled magic, making her every thought a reality.

  Though fury burned within her, she smiled wickedly. Even her fear fuelled her power, its frosty wind blew through her, making her quiver uncontrollably as she wielded it. The demon paced, oblivious to her or the danger approaching. Its focus was far away on things Gwendolyn could not see or comprehend. Her concern focused on the Five Kingdoms and the world she would soon bend to her will. She would kill the young wizard, her horde would sweep away any resistance in the north. The Five Kingdoms would be hers alone. That thought was the only thing that warmed her shivering frame. Total domination was her destiny, she had only to reach out and take it.

  Chapter 1

  Zollin was so tired his body hurt. Despite the fact that he and Ferno had slept through the day, he was still exhausted. The small grove of trees, and perhaps Ferno’s deep green coloring, had hidden them from the view of any of stragglers from Gwendolyn’s mutated army. Zollin stood at the tree line, looking out across the grassy plains of Falxis. He imagined a herd of wild horses galloping past. The sun turned the sky orange and pink. He wished Brianna were there to see it with him.

  As night fell, Ferno roused slowly. Zollin had decided to wait until the dragon woke on his own. He had foregone building a fire and kept the personal containment around his magic closed tightly. The last thing he wanted was to attract the unwanted attention of the witch’s foul monsters.

  Ferno was hungry, so they took to the sky, scouring the land for something the dragon could eat but nothing larger than small rodents survived on the vast plains. They flew south, toward Osla and the ruins of the Grand City, where Gwendolyn had worked her dark magic and cracked open the earth with some terrible spell. They were still several days away from their destination and Zollin knew they wouldn’t endure much longer without food.

  Hours passed and still there was no sign of any living creature other than the mutated stragglers of the witch’s hideous army. It was an hour before dawn when Ferno finally swooped down toward the bloated corpses of a small herd of sheep.

  “What are you doing?” Zollin asked.

  A mental image of Ferno eating filled Zollin’s mind.

  “What?! Are you really going to eat those sheep? There’s no telling how long they’ve been dead. They’re rotting by now.”

  Ferno’s stomach rumbled in reply and Zollin decided to remain quiet. The sheep had been killed, but not butchered. Their carcasses lay close together, the smell of rotting meat was palpable and turned Zollin’s stomach. Ferno landed near the sheep and Zollin levitated himself away from the starving dragon. Fern
o then blasted the carcasses with his fiery breath. The dragon didn’t stop until the wool and blood had been burned away. What was left was burned meat, organs, and bone. Zollin guessed that any parasites or maggots would have been incinerated. The meat was too burned for human consumption, but Ferno gobbled it down.

  “I hope that doesn’t make you sick,” Zollin said.

  Ferno growled playfully and then belched.

  “Okay, let’s get out of here before I have to smell that,” Zollin said.

  They flew to a swift stream not far away. Ferno landed again allowing both dragon and rider to drink. Zollin refilled his canteen and then, moving downstream from Ferno, he pulled off his clothes and bathed in the stream. The sun was rising by the time he finished. He scrubbed the blood and smoke out of his clothes and laid them on the bank to dry in the sun while they slept for a few hours. Zollin knew it was dangerous to sleep out in the open, but they had little choice. He still had a few bites of dried meat in his pack, along with some stale bread. He ate and drank from the stream, then they took to the air again.

  They saw abandoned towns, most had demolished buildings, or structures with roofs caved in by the Leffers. They stopped at one such abandoned village as the sun set. Zollin searched the ruined inn and found some ale that had gone flat, along with stale bread and mouldy cheese. He cut off the mould and toasted the cheese and bread with a touch of his magic. The meal didn’t have much flavor, but it was a welcome change to the meagre supplies in his pack. He wrapped up what remained of the cheese and filled a water skin with ale, before they set off again.

  Ferno flew until midnight. The landscape slowly changed. The green grassy plains of Falxis transitioned into the more arid landscape of Osla. The southernmost kingdom was not a desert, but water was more difficult to find and the temperatures remained high throughout the year. Once they landed, Zollin was surprised to find that it was rather hot despite the late hour. He wondered what Brianna and Quinn were doing? Probably sitting by a fire, trying to stay warm. It was winter and the Walheta mountains would soon be covered with snow.

  They slept until dawn and then resumed their journey. It took five more days to reach their destination, and they decided to wait a few miles from the city for darkness to hide their approach. It was quiet, and Zollin was feeling paranoid. He and Ferno stayed close to one another, watching vigilantly for any sign of threat. The time passed without incident and Zollin couldn’t help but wonder how so much evil could be wielded in such a peaceful place.

  When night fell, they took to the air again; Ferno flew high into the sky where the wind was icy cold and the dark shadows of the city ruins below them blended into the black landscape. Zollin couldn’t see in the dark, but the dragon could so Ferno watched the city for both of them. The beast’s eyes could see farther than an eagle and Ferno studied the ground, sending mental images of what he saw back to Zollin. Many of the buildings in what had once been the Grand City were now little more than rubble. Zollin saw the remains of the tower that had once housed the Torr, the cadre of wizards that had sought to force Zollin into their ranks. All that remained was the circular base of the tower, sticking out of the rubble like broken bone.

  The city was divided by the dark crack in the earth that ran east and west as far as Ferno could see. The crevasse was wider than the broad streets of the once glorious Grand City. Inside the abyss was a darkness that even the dragon’s eyes couldn’t penetrate.

  “There,” Zollin said, visualizing a three story building that was partially destroyed.

  Ferno circled slowly, cautious of any danger. Both dragon and rider felt some horrible monster could come rising out of the abyss at any second. But nothing moved, there was nothing alive in the abandoned city. The top story of the ruined building was one large open room, big enough for Ferno to hide in, despite nearly half the building having been smashed. As Ferno settled into it, the wooden floor groaned and popped. Ferno moved quickly to the stable side of the structure and the building seemed to steady itself.

  “Good job,” Zollin said.

  He climbed slowly down off the dragon’s back. He didn’t want to use even the simplest spell that might alert the witch of his coming, or draw some dark creature from the depths below.

  “I’ll rest here until just before sun up,” he said softly. “Then I’ll make my way down to the crevasse. When the sun rises, I’ll climb down.”

  Ferno looked at Zollin with pleading eyes and Zollin felt the fear and uncertainty from the huge beast.

  “I have to,” Zollin said. “It’s the only way to end this madness. We’ve known that all along. I should have gone before Gwendolyn mutated all those people. I should have stopped her long before. You should go. Fly north again and rejoin the pride.”

  This time Ferno shook his head from side to side and a growl rumbled from his chest. An image of Ferno watching over Zollin while he slept flashed in the wizard’s mind.

  “Fine,” Zollin said. “But you don’t need to stay here once I go down. You know the odds of me returning aren’t good. And if I am able to get out, there won’t be a danger any more. Brianna and the others will need you in the north.”

  Ferno snorted but didn’t respond.

  “Just think about it,” Zollin said. “That’s all I’m asking.”

  He knew the dragon’s stubborn nature would not bend easily. Still, he felt better that he had at least tried to free Ferno from the his natural sense of loyalty. Zollin felt a deep sense of dread about his future. He didn’t want to die, but he didn’t feel there was any choice for him. He had to fight Gwendolyn, he was the only one who could. He had to stop her rise to power, and he had to do it now before she grew any stronger and before her army could destroy the other kingdoms.

  He lay down, wrapping his cloak tightly around his shoulders and tucking his hands beneath his arms. He felt cold, even though the winter night in Osla was as warm as a summer day in Yelsia. He lay down on the rough, wooden floor. Ferno curled around him, keeping watch as Zollin struggled to fall asleep. He knew that sleeping whenever he could was wise. He didn’t expect that he would get a better chance to sleep before his battle with the witch, so he closed his eyes and forced himself to relax.

  In his mind he saw Brianna, the wind fluttering her hair and the sun glinting in her eyes. He had felt nothing but pain since she told him of her plans to marry Prince Wilam. But now that he was facing what he expected to be certain death, thinking of her no longer made him sad. In fact, thinking of Brianna was his only comfort. Her wild beauty, her strong will, her fierce loyalty, all seemed to calm him. She was still loyal to him, after all. She had been forced into accepting the Prince’s offer of marriage, and forced to keep silent about the late King Felix’s treacherous scheme to control her pride of dragons. He knew she loved him and that thought, above all others, gave him comfort; despite the fear that seemed to be gnawing its way into his mind and heart.

  Sleep eventually came, and he rested well. No dreams haunted his sleep. Then Ferno was nudging him. It was almost dawn and Zollin needed to get as close to the abyss as possible while he could still move unseen.

  He climbed slowly to his feet and stretched. He took a moment and leaned into Ferno, stroking the dragon’s long neck.

  “You are a fine, noble dragon,” he said. “And you are my friend.”

  Ferno’s reply was a deep growl and then a hiss that sounded like the word friend.

  “Thank you,” Zollin said.

  Tears stung his eyes, but he held them back. After a few moment of silence, Zollin left the dragon. He took the stairs leading down to the lower levels of the building and made his way outside, weaving through the rubble and debris that littered the city streets. The abyss wasn’t far away and he waited for sunrise behind a broken section of a rock wall. He ate the last of the salted meat from his pack and drank the rest of the ale. He had a full canteen of water left, and a few small loaves of stale bread. As he waited for dawn he went through his pack and discarded everything
he didn’t absolutely need, including his long cloak.

  The sun was just peaking over the horizon when Zollin realized the time had come. He looked up into the pale sky overhead. Then, moving quickly so that he didn’t lose his nerve, he ran quickly to the lip of the abyss and started his journey down into the bowels of the earth.

  Chapter 2

  Brianna had cried all the tears she thought she had. Flying north with Selix she felt more alone than ever before. She wanted to believe that Zollin would come back to her, that he would somehow survive his battle with the witch, but she knew that was just wishful thinking. She had seen the strength of the sorceress’ army. She couldn’t even fathom the amount of power it must have taken to mutate that many people and hold them under her evil spell. She had seen Zollin do incredible things, but she had seen him exhausted and weak too.

  The thought of returning to the mountains did little to comfort her. She knew that soon Prince Wilam would return. He would be devastated by the news of his father’s murder and would expect her to give him comfort in his grief; but she had no comfort to give. She was empty, broken, little more than a living wraith and completely without hope.

  She had seen the vast army as Selix flew over them. She had wanted to stop and heal Tig, but there was no way to use her fiery powers on board a ship without setting it ablaze. So they flew north, bearing the ill tidings back to the frail lines of defense.

  The trip took three days. Brianna’s grief seemed to leach into Selix, and the mighty golden dragon moved slowly through the clouds. Finally, the landscape below them became familiar, even through Brianna’s blurred vision. She could see the Walheta mountains in the distance. The land below seemed empty, but welcoming.

  “Land here,” Brianna told Selix. “I’m not ready to get back just yet.”

  Selix circled a few times as he descended. Brianna could have just jumped from the massive beast’s back, twirling and skipping on the thermal updrafts and air currents, but the freedom Brianna felt as she moved through the air simply made her too happy. She didn’t want to be happy, she wanted to feel the pain of her grief, to ache from the absence of her greatest love. Zollin was gone and she didn’t want to get over it or put on a brave face. She wanted to die, to simply lay down on the ground, close her eyes, and slip away into the darkness, but that wasn’t an option. She had to go back, to report what had happened and what was coming. If she was going to die, she would die fighting the horrible army the sorceress had unleashed across the land. That way her life would count for something, and her death would have meaning.