Lair of the Deadly Twelve (Storm Phase #2)

Prologue

Why this child? Why today? It didn’t matter. One had faith the prophecies were correct, or one did not become a qengai.

The blade trembled in Iniru’s hand. This was her purpose in life. She had no other. For twenty-three generations her family had kept the prophecies from their chapter of the Sacred Codex. The good book said this girl, the Winter Child, must die. So die she must.

One swift cut. Silent, painless. 

Iniru squeezed the dagger hilt tight. 

A tear streaked down her mask. 

Suddenly, a guard deep within the temple cried out an alarm. 

The girl woke. Her ice-blue eyes flew open. 

Iniru clamped a hand over the girl’s mouth and glanced back at the door. The guard right outside drew his sword but didn’t enter.

What in Torment was going on?

Other guards rushed toward the room, their shoes clacking on the stone floors. The Winter Child tried to squirm away, but Iniru pressed her down. If she didn’t kill the child ... Disgrace. Dishonor. Failure was one thing, but refusing the mission ... The words of the prophecy in their chapter of the codex would turn crimson, and the clan would know. She would have no home to return to.

“I’ve got to see this through.”

With a sigh, the child sank down into the bed and closed her eyes. Iniru stopped breathing. Her muscles twitched. The blade touched the child’s skin.

Bile rising, Iniru gasped and drew away. 

“I can’t — I can’t do it.”

The Winter Child started to cry out, but Iniru shook her head. “Shhh! Someone else is coming.”

The guards in the hallway screamed and fell, gagging and coughing. Iniru’s nostrils flared. A sulfurous scent seeped in from under the door. She took a breath and stifled a cough. It felt like a clawed hand had gripped her lungs. 

The door rattled, but the lock held.

“They’re here!” the child whispered. 

An assassin holding a knife to the girl’s throat hadn’t scared her at all. But now her eyes were wide and wild with terror.

“The ones from my nightmares have come. You’ve got to help me.”

The door rattled again.

Iniru dashed into the corner, between an armoire and the door. She drew from a pocket the *Talisman of the Unseen*, a bloodstained shard of onyx in the shape of an improbably thin woman. Her clan had stolen the artifact from the Keshuno centuries ago. She held the talisman in front of her face.

*I am not here. I cannot be heard. I am not here. I cannot be smelled. I am not here. I cannot be seen. Where I am, I do not know, but I am not here.*

She disappeared into the corner, perfectly camouflaged.

The child chewed on the rabbit’s only remaining ear and wept.

The door exploded, blasted off its hinges and split into pieces. Four of the tallest beings Iniru had ever seen strolled into the room. Her fur stood on end. Sorcerers … wraiths maybe. They were baojendari, but with skin far paler than most, as if they had never been in the sun before. Bone white hair hanging in greasy tangles framed their gaunt faces. They wore crimson robes belted at the waist. Kenja currents swirled around them. She hadn’t experienced anything that powerful before, except near Turesobei, and only after he had absorbed the Storm Dragon energy. This power, whatever it was, stank of blood magic and decay. 

The first ... wraith ... through the doorway had a tattoo of an eight-pointed star on his forehead. His mouth split into a gaping, toothless smile, save for a pair of fangs. Glee danced in his purple eyes. The second lifted her slender hands, long fingers splayed out. Tendrils of silken webs shot out from her fingertips and wrapped around the Winter Child. With eyes like those of a wolf, the third wraith stopped and looked right at Iniru. His nose and mouth elongated into a muzzle. Fur sprouted from his skin. He sniffed toward her then scowled at the fourth wraith. This one had a gaseous green haze dripping from his hands, and patches of mold dotted his sallow skin.

The tattooed wraith towered over the girl. 

“It is time to fulfill your destiny, Winter Child. You will open the gate for us.”

“What — What if I don’t?”

The wraith chuckled. “I think you will find—”

A commotion erupted in the hallway — armor clanging, the thudding footsteps of at least a dozen men. Orders were shouted. 

The wraiths turned, and the child mouthed at Iniru: “Help me!”

The apparent leader touched the tattoo on his forehead and a matching iron amulet that hung from his neck. The air shimmered in the hallway and eight more crimson-robed men appeared suddenly. They were identical to the leader, except for clawed hands and blank faces: no eyes, noses, or mouths. 

Iniru’s skin crawled, ruffling her fur.

“Kill them,” he said.

The copies marched out into the hall. Iniru waited for the sounds of fighting as the temple guards reached the top of the stairs. Instead, all she heard were screams. The female wraith jerked her webs and pulled the girl up on her feet.

“Time to go.”

The girl’s rabbit fell.

“Boppy!”

The leader picked up Boppy and gave it to her. 

“You see, I am not uncivilized. If you cooperate with us, child, you will become a powerful queen, the Queen of Winter. Millions and millions shall worship you. Anything you want shall be yours.”

He reached a blanket out toward her.

“I don’t get cold.”

The leader, the poisoned one, and the spider departed. The wolf-eyed wraith hesitated. He glanced at the open window, frowned, and scanned the room. He looked right at Iniru and tilted his head. 

Her pulsed raced. She took deep, calming breaths and emptied her mind of everything but the talisman mantra.

Wolf-eyes shrugged and moved on.

Minutes passed before she dared to move. She rushed to the window. In the courtyard, the leader touched his forehead, and the copies disappeared. With the girl in tow they stalked away, heading deeper into the valley.

Iniru collapsed against the windowsill. She couldn’t go home in disgrace. Whatever these wraiths were up to, they needed the child to do it. And it was bad. And whatever happened as a result was her fault.

Iniru clenched her fists. She had to finish this mission. She had to kill the Winter Child.

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I will post one chapter each week, but there are 70 chapters, so this may take a while. If you just can't wait, you can buy the complete book and the rest of the STORM PHASE series at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, and Smashwords.

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