Stolen Heart

chapter 2




Kieran didn’t waste any time. He performed a cleansing spell on himself as he walked back into the bedroom and lightly swatted Kayla (or was it Kara?) on the hind end to wake her up. He got her out of his apartment with a minimum of fuss. She wasn’t expecting anything more than a quick kiss, and he was only too happy to deliver it. Changing into casual clothes of jeans, a black t-shirt and black biker boots, he walked to Carrick and Ava’s apartments.

Looking down at his clothes, he gave a nod of thanks for his ability to travel back and forth to The First Dimension. He so much preferred their clothes to what was available here in Vyronas. He couldn’t help it if fashion interested him.

The First Dimension was the original place of inhabitance on Earth. Vyronas was an alternate dimension that co-existed, along with many other dimensions, upon the same planet. Travel between the dimensions had become possible during the time of the ancient Egyptians when a massive stone was discovered that had strange, magical properties.

The stone, which was as large as a building, had eventually been chipped at and whittled away by those curious to experiment with its properties. Those sorcerers in ancient times didn’t take long to discover the stone could tear openings--or Veils--between the dimensions. These Veils allowed for First Dimension inhabitants to travel to new worlds, which eventually became colonized. A new world was called an AltVeritas, which meant Alternate Truth. The various AltVerita ranged in size, population, societal norms, climate and whatever else you could think of that would make up a dimensional world.

Because those early travelers that settled the AltVerita were sorcerers, magic became the sole means by which people attained progression in their societies. The first inhabitants of each AltVeritas used their magic to create the world the way they wanted it. While The First Dimension went on to advance in industrialization and technology, settlers of the AltVerita progressed magically. Those things they needed to prosper and survive were procured through incantations or potions, not through mechanization. It left most AltVerita leading a slightly antiquated lifestyle, but there wasn’t much they were lacking. And in some things, they were more advanced.

For example…bathing. Kieran enjoyed a hot bath or shower from time to time, and he could summon one forth easily by manipulating the elements of water and fire. But why waste the time when he could incant himself clean within a few seconds.

Another example…travel. Every inhabitant of the AltVerita with any degree of magical ability could transfer their body from one place to another incanting the spell known as evanesce recreo. Should Kieran want to transfer, he would merely say a spell over a grounding object--such as a rock or other small item he could easily hold in his hand. The magic would transfer him to any place in his current dimension, as long as he had traveled there before. It wasn’t the same type of travel as inter-dimensional travel, but it was quite handy indeed. The only limitation was he could only transfer with the clothes on his back and his grounding object. Thus, it was best used for short trips.

In fact, Kieran could have transferred right to Carrick and Ava’s apartment, but he wanted to have the extra few minutes to walk so he could think about the stolen Scepter. The Scepter was a magical object created three years ago after Ralina was destroyed. Ava had used blood magic to incant the most powerful spell ever seen in Vyronas.

The Scepter was not what you would normally envision. Kieran knew that many monarchs carried scepters made of gold, encrusted with expensive and shiny jewels, as a symbol of their status and authority. The Scepter Ava created was actually quite ugly. It was an iron bar about a foot long. It had no markings and had a person seen it lying on the ground, he would probably pick it up and put it in a junk pile. But that is what Ava wanted. She wanted it to look innocuous.

Making it of iron would also help to ensure most people with magical abilities would shy away from it, because iron actually nullified magic. Well, iron actually harnessed magic. It was thought for centuries that any contact with iron would render a sorcerer’s abilities useless. Ava actually discovered, through trial and error, that iron didn’t cancel out magic, it merely captured it.

Ava knew a lot of things. She was, without argument, the strongest sorceress in their entire AltVeritas. She was descended from the Royal House of Clairmont, which was the oldest lineage of magic in all of Vyronas. The older a familial line becomes, the more potent their magic. Ava, as the only child to King Jaron and Queen Selena, had the mother lode of all magical abilities. Forced to learn blood magic as a way to defeat Ralina, Ava’s powers had grown phenomenally over the years. The difference between Ava and Ralina was that Ralina used blood magic for nefarious purposes. Ava used it only to protect her people and for the good of all.

At any rate, wanting to avoid the years of war that had ravaged Vyronas, Ava created The Scepter with her own powerful blood, forging a magical instrument that would do its owner’s bidding. Whatever was asked of it, The Scepter would grant. Luckily, Ava had a heart of the purist intent, and only asked one thing of The Scepter…to keep Vyronas peaceful. It was an amazingly dynamic object, and in the wrong hands, could wreak havoc that would make Ralina look like a fluffy bunny. Stars, if that happened, he’d have to come up with a sweet nickname for Ralina. Something like Sugar Britches or Honey Lamb. Our world would be doomed.

Lost in his thoughts, Kieran found himself standing outside of Carrick and Ava’s apartment. After a quick knock, Ava called for Kieran to come in and he opened the door. He knew they didn’t expect him to knock but just walk right in. But he never wanted to catch those two doing the naked tango so he always used prudence.

Walking into the kitchen, Kieran found Ava sitting at the table with Emma in her lap, feeding her bits of bread sopped in milk and honey. Carrick was puttering at the stove, putting heaps of eggs and bacon on his plate. Kieran walked up to Carrick and took the plate from his hand, nabbing an extra piece of bacon from the pan.

“Hey! That was mine.”

“And now it’s mine.” Kieran brought his plate to the table and sat down next to Ava. He reached over and stroked his hand across Emma’s head, then turned to his breakfast. Carrick grabbed another plate and piled it with food. Sitting down across from Kieran, he didn’t start eating but watched Ava feeding Emma.

Kieran smiled. The look on Carrick’s face was priceless. Who would have thought this once gruff, surly warrior would be such a slave to love? His heart was lost to Ava and Emma. Kieran didn’t know if that made Carrick a lucky man or a lucky fool. Regardless, he was happy for his brother.

Kieran waved his hand in front of Carrick’s face to get his attention. Carrick’s stare at Ava and Emma didn’t change, although he moved his head from side to side to see around Kieran’s waving hand.

“So, when do I leave to find The Scepter and thrash the thieves that took it?”

Carrick, still gazing at Ava and Emma, replied, “What makes you think we are going to send you to get it?”

“Because if you don’t I’m going to die of boredom.”

Ava snickered. “I heard you had a date with Kayla Marsden last night. I seriously doubt you could be that bored.”

So, her name was Kayla. He’d have to remember that.

“I am more than just a gorgeous man that can lure any willing female to my bed, my dear sister-in-law.” Kieran tried to make his tone sound recriminating but it was hard. He merely had no qualms with his morals and more than enjoyed his lifestyle.

“Don’t get your panties twisted Mr. God’s-Gift-To-Women. We fully intend to have you spearhead the recovery…” Ava trailed off.

“But?”

“But, we want you to work with someone to help get it,” Carrick replied for Ava.

Kieran looked over at Carrick, who was now meeting his gaze in return. “I don’t need help.”

“Do,” Carrick replied.

“Don’t.”

“Do.”

“Don’t!”

“But we want you to take it anyway,” Ava cut in.

“Why?” Kieran asked.

“Because it’s being held in another AltVeritas under heavy protection. You are going to need someone with special skills to help you get it.”

“Special skills? Why don’t you first tell me where it is and then let me be the judge of what I can or cannot do for you?” Kieran certainly didn’t want to work with a partner, but he definitely needed more information first before he could make that statement confidently.

Ava got up and handed Emma over to Keiran to hold. He looked down at the rest of his uneaten breakfast with desire, but then decided holding Emma was better. Ava walked over to the stove and poured herself a cup of tea that had been brewing. She turned to Kieran, leaning one hip against the counter.

“I scried the minute we found The Scepter missing. Its magical trail is still clear to me. As its creator, we have a symbiotic relationship, but that will diminish the longer The Scepter remains gone from Vyronas. I’ve been able to determine that it is resting in an AltVeritas known as Balvraine.”

“Balvraine? I’ve never heard of it.”

“I have but I don’t know much about it. I had to consult with our Conclave to learn more.”

The Conclave was a group of advisors that had descended from a magical line known as the Scrinia. For hundreds of years, each family’s Conclave advised the ruling monarch on the histories and uses of magic within the Royal family’s line.

The Clairmont Conclave was comprised of fairly new members, as it had been found out that their predecessors had been keeping the secrets of blood magic away from Ava. Years of war could have been avoided had they been truthful with their knowledge of it, but whether it was from fear or from a self-serving purpose, they refused to disclose it.

After Ava had discovered the Scrinia knew of blood magic but had not revealed it to her, she had them arrested before the war had ended. Once Ralina was defeated, she culled out those that had knowingly withheld the information and banished them from Vyronas. The current Conclave had been re-built from a pool of trusted loyalists.

“And what did the Conclave reveal?” Kieran inquired. Emma was cradled in his arms and had fallen asleep. He rocked her gently back and forth.

“Balvraine is a very small AltVeritas. You are well traveled in The First Dimension. They say it is about the size of Rhode Island. There’s only one ruling family, the Moldevines. They’re the ones that have The Scepter.”

“Were you able to determine why they want it?”

Ava shook her head and then took a sip of tea. “I have no clue. But regardless of their reasons, every day it is gone from Vyronas, we are risking danger. Every day they have it, they could cause major damage with it. It needs to be recovered.”

Kieran nodded his head in agreement. “So why is it you think I need a partner?”

“Well….” Ava began, but Carrick interrupted.

“Because it’s very heavily guarded and strength alone isn’t going to do it. It’s going to take someone with exceptional magical skill to get in. And let’s face it, bro, you tend to neglect your magical training.”

Kieran had to concede that point. It’s not that Kieran was without magical ability. Descended from the warrior caste, his magic was quite potent. But he tended to favor might over magic. Kieran had assumed he’d be able to storm his way through to recover The Scepter. It appeared it would take a little more finesse.

“I think I know the answer, but let me ask. If it takes someone with exceptional magical skill, why doesn’t Ava just breeze in and take it back.”

“You do know the answer,” Carrick smoothly replied. “Because I’m not letting her out of my sight and we also have a daughter that needs us here. Our adventurous days are over.”

“And,” Ava added, “this could be just the thing to bring you from the back from the brink of boredom. You can go ahead and fall at my feet in worship at any time that I’m giving you this opportunity”

Kieran snickered. As if. But he wouldn’t argue.

“I’m your man. So, tell me… who do you want to partner me up with?” Kieran was looking down at Emma as he asked the question. He missed the quick look that Ava and Carrick gave each other before answering.

“Annika Foss.”

Kieran’s head snapped up. “What? No way.”

“Don’t discount her Kieran,” Ava chided. “She’s had her issues but when it boils down to it, she has one of the strongest magical glamours that exists. You’re going to need stealth to get into the palace in Balvraine and disguise is the way to go.”

Kieran thought about Annika Foss. He had not seen her since they were kids and he had heard that she now spent most of her time in The First Dimension. He didn’t know her well but she was known as the black sheep of the Royal House of Foss. They were located in Myridian, a neighboring country and strong ally to Kestevayne. Rumor had it that she had a falling out with her father and had left Vyronas for good. Which was quite the scandal as she was the only heir to the royal line. Rumor also had it that it would now go to her stepbrother.

“I’ll take your word that she’s the best when it comes to glamours, but why do you think she’ll even help us out?”

“We don’t know for sure but I’m sure you can find some way to convince her,” Ava replied.

“Let me get this straight. You want me to go track her down and convince her to help me? I would be wasting valuable time.”

“We have a bit of a grace period. Because my blood was used to create it, the Scepter will not give its allegiance over easily to its new owner, particularly since it was stolen. I’m sure they are working hard to garner its magic, but we have time.”

Carrick added, “But we still want you to move quickly. We want you to leave for New York to find Annika now.”

“She’s in New York?”

“New York City to be exact. I have some contacts that can get a message to her for a meeting,” Ava supplied.

Kieran leaned down and kissed Emma’s head. He stood up and handed her over to Carrick. “I’ll go pack now.”

Ava set her cup down and walked up to Kieran. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck Kieran. I have all the confidence in the world in you.”

Kieran gave her a quick squeeze, clapped Carrick on the back and headed back to his apartment to pack.