Furious Flames (Elemental Book 3) (24 page)

“Over time, it was forgotten about by all but the
most powerful wizards. It was written about in fiction and changed forms over
time in literature. Then, around 1865, a German man named Heinrich Baldauf
experienced a metaphysical attack, which quickly led to an obsession with the
supernatural. By 1866, when his second wife died with child, he was certain
that he had fallen prey to a demon.”

“That was common back then, though, wasn’t it?”
Vincent asked.

“Not drastically. Unfortunately for him, he was
correct. I have thoroughly scrutinized his accounts and those who knew him. It
was real. Worse yet, this demon led him to a key. The actual events were lost
to time. He was told that this key would give him infinite power over the
entire world, but that he would have to sacrifice that which was most precious
to him. He believed he had nothing precious.”

“The key was to the tower?”

“To one of its four doors. Almost immediately after
attaining this key in 1870, he moved to the United States, where he began
building a castle of the most unorthodox nature right above the cave. Here
enters Leara Kingling; a demon Baldauf summoned to protect him. While Leara Kingling
did agree to protect Baldauf, the German wizard soon came to regret his pact.
Kingling was much more interested in finding the tower than protecting Baldauf.
He would tease his master by letting Baldauf face death, come inches from the
brink, only to be saved at the last possible second by the amused demon.”

“Did they ever get to the tower?”

“They built traps in the castle and all the way down
through the cave. One day, he wrote that he had made it; that they would break
through the final barrier in the morning and reach the tower. He believed that
the tower was a gateway to paradise and that each door opened to a different
one, including Elysium, Heaven, and the like. That was his last entry. He was
found dead the next day, as was his family.”

To settle his nerves, Vincent finally picked up the
cup and sipped his now lukewarm tea. Although he wanted to believe this was
fiction, he hadn’t read enough of the genre and his imagination wasn’t that
broad.

His father had taught him magic, his mother had taught
him religion, and he taught himself science, since he had a voracious appetite
for reading. He believed it made him a well-rounded person until Arthur tried
to poison his mind against his mother after she left.

“What happened to the tower?”

“His traps prevented anyone from reaching it.
Kingling had also disappeared and no one could recall his existence. It was
written, but Baldauf’s books were hidden. However, in 1894, Kingling returned
and took over the castle, seemingly unknown to the construction workers he had
worked around before.”

“Did he change his appearance?”

“That is possible. I doubt that is the case, though.
I believe the demon erased himself from their minds. For unknown reasons, he
was reportedly killed in 1897 of causes unrelated to the castle or tower. I
found it very suspicious, but he has not been seen since. The council then
attained it, not knowing what was under it.”

“And you know all this from reading books?”

Hunt grinned. “No. I know all this because I was
offered a key.”

Vincent choked on his tea, which earned an unpleased
expression from Hunt, and used the excuse of trying to clear his windpipe to
process Hunt’s words. “So you made it to the tower?”

“Yes, but not by besting Baldauf’s traps. There are
two ways to get to the tower; by going through the caves or via the shadow
pass.”

“What is the shadow pass?”

“A religious man would call it Purgatory, though I
would not go so far as to call it that. If you have a key, you can learn to
pass through space like no living person can. You can also use the shadow pass
to get to the tower.”

“So it’s a shortcut?”

“If you will. With a key, I can also take someone
with me as long as they are touching me, but there is a degree of danger. It
was given its name because this place is dark. I can find my way after years of
practice and natural instinct. When I first started, I could only ever find the
tower. I was never alone, either. Something hides in the dark and reaches out
for anything that makes a sound. I have been bitten, scratched, and speared
because I walked too loudly or spoke in the shadow pass. There is a condition,
though. Only one who has killed can enter the shadow pass.”

“What happens if someone who hasn’t killed anyone
tries?”

“Something horrific, but I never asked for the
details. Now, have I intrigued you enough for you to be honest with me?”

Vincent gaped. “I’ve been honest!”

“That mark on your chest says otherwise.” Vincent
tugged on the caller of his shirt to cover the scar over his heart. “Your
father may have forced you into it, but magic like that requires blood, and a
lot of it.”

“We used each other’s blood. It’s a protection
spell.”

“Your face is so sincere, which makes me wonder if he
lied to you or if you lied to yourself,” Hunt mused.

Vincent tried to recall the event; to find proof that
he didn’t hurt anyone, but he remembered very little about what exactly
happened or how it happened.

Hunt looked like he was considering something
strongly for a moment before nodding. “That is also a possibility. Perhaps your
father coerced you with magic to complete that spell and then made you forget
the life you took.”

Vincent felt suffocated. “He was my father! He
wouldn’t do that!”

“Do you know how many lives Arthur took while he was
a member of the council?”

“He wouldn’t have forced me! Why would he do that?”

“Because he could not risk one of you killing the
other. Either one of you could carry on your unique and powerful gene. I assume
he married your mother without knowing she had magic. She was probably unaware
as well. Knowing him as I did, I suspect he would have forced you both to marry
human women and procreate as soon as possible, had he lived long enough. He
might have already found a wife for you and was waiting for the right moment.
With his power, you never would have known. He might have even made you think
you loved her.”

Vincent stood. “Stop it!” Rosin was instantly in
front of Vincent with his mouth wide open in a ferocious snarl. He growled a
sound so unearthly that it would send any sane man running for the hills.
Vincent sat back down, shaking slightly, for he realized the beast was not from
this world. If he had to guess, he would agree with the council in calling it a
hellhound.

“Rosin!” Hunt admonished sharply. The wolf relented
instantly and backed up until he was beside his master. “I apologize, Vincent.
My own father was a man I was glad to wipe my hands of, so perhaps I was being
insensitive.”

“You think?!”

Hunt paused, confused by Vincent’s sarcasm. “I do
believe so, that is why I said so.”

Vincent reached for his tea again and found that it
was refilled and hot. “I don’t really like tea,” he said, drinking it anyway.
It gave him something to do with his hands.

“Get used to it. You will learn that image is
everything on the wizard council. When you hear something you do not like, pick
up your tea, sip it slowly, and smile while you quietly plot their painful and
inevitable demise. If they drink something as well, poison is always a good
call.” Vincent spit his mouthful of tea back into the cup to avoid choking.
Hunt grimaced. “Although that might deter anyone from drinking around you
anyway.”

“If you’ve used this shadow pass… does that mean you
killed someone?”

“I have. Never believe a wizard who tells you he is a
good man.” A mug of tea appeared in his hand and he drank it elegantly.

“You’re a lot more powerful than my father. Is it
because of the key, or because you killed?”

“I have leached quite a lot of magic from others, but
it is also a combination of genetics and the key I attained. You could say I
have a mind for it.”

“By your tone when you said Baldauf believed the
tower doors led to paradise, I assume they don’t. What is in the tower?”

Hunt stood. “I will show you.”

“First, where is the demon who gave you the key?”

Hunt grinned. “Right behind you.” Vincent turned and
flinched, barely restraining a startled shout when he saw a man… naked, by the
way. “Meet Rosin Flagstone.”

“I’m not a demon,” the man growled, almost as
guttural as the wolf.

“You’re a shifter?” Vincent asked, realizing that the
wolf had changed into this man.

“He is here,” Hunt said. “Where he is from, his kind
is called varug.”

Vincent shook his head. “I don’t think I want to
learn anything else. I’m going home to think about this for a few days.” He
backed away from the shifter and didn’t realize Hunt was right behind him.

Darkness swirled around him, getting thicker and
thicker with every passing second until he was in utter blackness. Suddenly,
although he couldn’t see, he could feel cold air, which seemed to weigh him
down. It was unnaturally silent, like the moment before something goes horribly
wrong. Hunt’s firm hand on his shoulder guided him in the dark, over a pliant,
irregular ground. While hands reached for him in the dark, only the natural
instinct to go unnoticed kept his mouth shut.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, his feet
found solid ground, the weight lifted, and the darkness dispersed… or, at least
most of it. Hunt let go of Vincent and he saw Rosin next to him as well. He was
in a dark, dry cavern. The light source came from five torches forming a circle
around a stone tower. The tower was about fifteen feet in diameter and forty
feet in height. Spaced evenly on it were massive wooden doors, each carved with
peculiar symbols and designs. While none of the doors had any obvious locking
mechanisms, they also had no doorknobs.

“What could fit inside there that’s so important?”

“Everything. That was what the demon promised
Baldauf. In exchange for what is most precious to you, each key can give you
all the power of the world. Just not the one you thought.” Hunt held out his
hand to one of the doors as if he was pushing against it. The door opened on
its own, just a fraction of an inch.

Hunt pushed the door open a few inches and revealed
only a dark interior. There was a mild swirling in the air, an impression of
phantom movement. Rosin pushed him lightly towards the door, forcing him to
take several stumbling steps forward. The wind sprang up behind him as if it
were trying to push him into the darkness. It became stronger, and he realized
that it was something in the tower that was pulling at him, forming some sort
of vacuum, attempting to force him in.

He caught hold of the smooth stone of the tower wall,
but couldn’t gain a grip. He felt himself slipping further in. There was
nothing to see, not the faintest scrap of light inside. He fought with all his
strength to pull himself out, pushing against the stones and door and ground.

Vincent was suddenly in the air, twisting and
tumbling in the dark, falling. At any instant, he expected the crushing impact
of a stone floor or wall. The wind shrieked around him. His body felt as if it
were being torn apart and turned inside out.

Then the utter darkness filled his head, and he knew
no more.

Vincent woke to water
dripping in his face. As he wiped his face with his sleeve, he saw Logan and
Rosin standing over him. He climbed to his feet and looked around. Logan
studied him. From the massive trees and hot, humid air, Vincent knew it was
definitely a jungle, but he wasn’t familiar with every square inch of Earth’s
terrain.

A creature that looked like a beetle but was the size
of a house cat scuttled towards him. He took several steps backward until he
was stopped by solid stone.
The tower
. He reached for the door, but it
wouldn’t open. With all of his strength, he tried every door. Not one of them
would budge. “Give me the key!”

“I cannot do that.”

“I’m not going to lock it; I just want to go back!”

“I understand. I literally cannot give you a key to
that door.” Logan held out his hand and Vincent saw his palm for the first
time. There were symbols inside a circle, burned into his palm. “Once you
accept a key, you become the key. The only way to take the key from me is to
take my life.”

“The tower… It was a portal to a jungle? Where are
we?”

“A portal, yes. Not just to any old jungle, though.
As for where we are, the name will do you little good. This is where Rosin came
from. Ten years ago, I summoned my familiar. Rosin answered the call,
reluctantly. After much aggression and several close calls, he relented and
gave me the key to his homeland, Skrev.”

“It was the only way to stay on Earth,” Rosin added,
irritated.

“On… Earth?”

“He acts as if he doesn’t like me,” Logan said,
smirking. “The tower is indeed a portal. Each door, with its own separate key,
is a portal to a different world.”

Vincent swallowed, suddenly worried that he finally
met someone more insane than his brother. “There is no such thing.”

“That is why I brought you here; I knew you would
never believe me if I told you. You came face-to-face with a monstrous wolf of
the likes Earth has never met and you still doubted your eyes. See for
yourself. To my knowledge, you are only the second being in all of Earth who
has seen these lands.”

“What if…” He looked up at the tower. “What if
something else gets in?”

“With the right magic, a being can be summoned to
another world for a short amount of time. The only way for a being to cross
between worlds permanently is to walk through the door. It is possible that if
someone with a key fails to watch their door, a being could escape.
Fortunately, I am very careful to close my door behind me. Besides, my door is
not the one that should worry you.”

“Baldauf. What world does his key open?”

“I have no idea, and that worries me. Skrev is a
beautiful and incredibly dangerous world. I have never dared to venture here
without Rosin to guide and guard me.”

“How do you know the other worlds aren’t all rainbows
and butterflies?”

“What did you think Rosin was when he changed into a
man?”

“A shifter.”

“And you are correct. Rosin is a shifter, or
changeling, as they were once called. Everyone on Skrev can shift, just like
Rosin. They are not all varug, though.”

“So this place isn’t that different from Earth?”

“Many thousands of years ago, Earth only had humans…
humans and this tower. The same tower is also on each world. The only
connecting world is Earth and at one time, the doors were all open. Some of the
shifters of Skrev escaped to Earth, and they were not the only ones. Vampires,
shifters, fae, and wizards are all descended from the beings of these different
worlds.

“The doors were sealed by someone and the keys were
made, but how, who did it, and why, I have never discovered. Most likely, it
was done by a being of one of these worlds to protect their own lands. All I
know is that if a key falls into the wrong hands, Earth as we know it could be
destroyed in a matter of days.

“One of the doors leads to a world inhabited by the
original vampires, while another leads to the original wizards. I believe the
demon that Baldauf summoned was in fact a wizard on his own world. It makes
sense to me, in that case, that the wizards of that world are so far superior
to the wizards of this world that we would never survive an invasion.”

“Why are you coming to me with this? You should go to
the council.”

“For two reasons. One of which I will tell you
someday when I feel I would not ruin the course of events. The second reason is
that I want your help. I want you to take the second key, help me get the
tower, and some day, help me destroy that tower.”

“How do we destroy it?”

“We need all four keys.” Logan looked up at the
tower. “Unfortunately, the fourth door is still sealed and so the key is
unobtainable. Furthermore, I have no idea how to retrieve Baldauf’s key. Until I
figure it out, I need you to take the third key.” He started walking through
the jungle, followed closely by Rosin, so Vincent had no choice but to follow.

“Where are we going? What if we lose the tower?”

“I know my way back to it. You still have doubts, so
I will show you.”

They walked for over an hour. Vincent was tired,
sweating, and dehydrated, yet Rosin stopped him from resting at a small pond.
“It looks so clear,” he complained.

“Everything is deceptive in the jungle, especially
water. Most water is a trap. Small prey animals during migration will see the
water and be drawn to it despite the known danger. Many bodies of water, such
as that one, have poisons that will stop your heart in minutes, leaving you the
easy meal of predators that are immune to the poison.”

Rosin suddenly stopped in his tracks and held out his
hand to prevent Logan from taking another step. “What is it?” Logan asked.

“Raduma.”

“Please tell me you’re making this up,” Vincent said.
Before Rosin could answer, a cat landed on the ground in front of them. Vincent
looked up and saw that the lowest branch of that particular tree was at least
thirty feet high. This cat was also not like anything he had ever seen.
Definitely feline, it had a massive and extremely athletic body. It was a
little larger than a male lion, black as coal, and had saber fangs.

Logan made a motion with his arm and static sparked
from his hand. “No,” Rosin said. “We are in his territory.”

“Why would you lead us into his territory?”

Rosin scowled at the wizard. “I was distracted trying
to avoid the three traps you were heading straight for.”

The raduma hissed, baring teeth vicious enough to
make Vincent feel sick. Rosin growled back. His hands began to shift into claws.
The cat in turn raised two wings. These wings were absolutely dangerous weapons
and they absolutely hadn’t been there a moment before. They were leathery, not
furry like his body, and looked similar to a bat’s wing. However, where a bat
would have a “thumb,” the cat had a spike.

“Why the hell does a cat have wings?!” Vincent asked.

“The main use is to make its landing smoother,” Logan
answered. “They also use them to scare other males from their territory.”

“Weakness is death on Skrev,” Rosin said, still
snarling at the raduma. “An injury is a death sentence. Therefore, most of the
top predators avoid fighting their own kind. Unlike the varug, raduma are
solitary hunters. Usually, a display of wings and teeth is as far as it needs
to go.”

“Then growl louder!”

The raduma glanced at Vincent, but quickly returned
his eyes to the only one he saw as a threat. “That’s not going to work. We’re
in his territory and it is mating season.”

“Then shouldn’t he be looking for a female?”

“Female raduma find the males who have the best
territories. Therefore, the males claim their territories and only bother to
fight if another male comes too close. Skrev has three moons, which affect the
mating and spawning of the raduma. Thus, males can have multiple females. The females
will usually fight for the top position until they have their cubs.” The cat
made a fake lunge, but Rosin didn’t flinch.

“I believe you, Logan. Please get us out of here.”

Logan reached out slowly and grabbed Vincent’s arm.
“You can take care of this, right?” Logan asked Rosin.

“Leave me here and I will claw your eyes out, shove
them down your throat, and then chew your wizard staff into splinters.”

Logan grabbed his arm as well and darkness surrounded
them, closing Vincent off from his surroundings. When the darkness cleared,
they were standing in front of the tower. The door opened as Logan approached
it.

*          *          *

A year later, Vincent was preparing for bed when his
familiar appeared. He grinned brightly at the white cat. “Hello, Star,” he
said.

The friendly cat purred. “
I have brought a letter
from the dark wizard.
”

Just as Logan had planned, the council welcomed
Vincent into their ranks with the “decimation” of the hellhound. This turned
out to be one of the best decisions Vincent ever made. In just a year, Vincent
brought about many changes in the way the wizards ran things. He was making
progress in building a real community of paranormals. Logan was also invaluable
in this matter. Between his innovative ideas, extraordinary skills in magic,
and diplomatic approach, Logan was able to use Vincent’s position to sign more
treaties and create more alliances between wizards and the other paranormals
than the council had in the last hundred years.

“You really should stop calling him that. You know
his name is Logan. He tries to be friendly with you.”

“
That’s why I brought you his message instead of
shredding his nose along with it. That man will be the death of you
.”

“He’s eccentric.” Vincent gently yanked the envelope
out from under the cat. Star had a sweet nature and could never stay angry with
him, but she hated his friend.

“
You were a better man before you met him
.”

Dear Vincent,

The situation has become more urgent. Apparently,
if a key is unclaimed, it creates instability between the worlds. I suspect you
have had a recent increase in paranormal disturbances in the human community.
This is a serious matter of mortal consequence. You must decide now whether or
not you will accept the key.

Remember; to gain the key, you must sacrifice what
is most precious to you. If you choose not to follow this path, I will
understand.

Your friend,

Logan Hunt

He set the letter down slowly. Star watched him with
sad eyes. “
What is most precious to you
?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

She shook her feline head. “
Don’t do this. Please
don’t do this. No power is worth sacrificing something you love
.”

“This isn’t about gaining power; it’s about keeping
that power out of the wrong hands. You know how many deaths there have been
lately. I don’t have a choice. I will contact Logan tomorrow and let him know.
You shouldn’t have to do it.”

“
Please. Use your visions. This is wrong
.”

“I know.” He turned out the light.

*          *          *

The burning sensation was extraordinary, yet Vincent
thought that he sort of deserved it. Fire burned in a circle around him. When
it turned blue, the young wizard tore his eyes from the designed burned into
his palm. The fire died then and left him in Logan’s office in the middle of
the day.

The strength drained from him suddenly and Logan
barely caught him before he hit the floor. “It’s okay. The sickness will fade
shortly,” Logan said, setting Vincent down.

“What did you lose?” Vincent asked him, sweating and
holding his wrist. The pain was severe enough that he wanted to just cut off
the hand.

“Nothing. I have vowed to never fall in love, marry,
or have children, so nothing can ever be so precious to me.” He held out his
hand to help Vincent back up and Vincent took it without thinking.

The vision of a woman screaming flooded his mind. He
watched the panic fill her eyes when she stopped screaming and, after a moment,
she closed her eyes and prayed. She prayed for several minutes while crying,
bleeding, and dying.

Then a baby cried out, she gasped with relief, and
was gone.

Vincent yanked his hand back, but the damage was
done. He knew that Logan would lose someone precious to him. Someone he hadn’t
met yet. The curse of the keys was not limited to what was precious in the present;
he could lose something he didn’t have yet.

“I don’t want to be alone my entire life.”

*          *          *

Vincent wasn’t alone for long. He tried to protect
his heart for many years. His only real friends were Logan and Star. The tower
was their secret and Vincent never once visited the tower or the world he had
access to.

He did marry a woman, but he learned that she was too
interested in the power that being married to a council member gave her.
Although it was fun for a while, it didn’t last more than a couple of years. He
chalked it up to youth and didn’t let it leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Then he got quite the shock one day when a young
woman barged into his office and said that she was being stalked by a white cat
that randomly appeared and disappeared. When it appeared in her shower, she
said she had enough. Vincent could only stare in shock as the beautiful woman
ranted for several minutes without stopping for a breath. She was really
disturbed by the cat.

“Do I know you?” he was finally able to ask when she
paused.

It turned out he did. Maria Williams, known as “Mary”
to him, had been five when he first met her at Logan’s home. At twenty, the
woman stopped men in their tracks. She had the soft complexion and innocent
face that drove actresses to stardom and beyond throughout their entire lives.
Iconic was the exact word Vincent used.