Rayna's Sacrifice (The Katori Chronicles Book 3) by A. Lombardo (intellectual books to read .TXT) 📗

Iver spoke, but the words were lost to his ears. Blood leaked from his father’s ribcage. A silver-and-gold-handled blade with blue gems glinted in his eyes—his recent birthday gift, covered in blood. Queen Nola screamed. Bells rang. The word traitor echoed in his ears. He had killed Iver with his own hands.

Crack, pop. Kai sobbed, clutching clumps of dirt. He screamed, “Rayna.”

Shake. Shake. Something tussled him.

“Kai, wake up,” Ryker prodded.

“Dang it, man! Why did you wake me?” Kai’s voice thundered louder than he’d intended.

“It is time to go.” Ryker’s tone was firm, but then he softened. “Did you have a vision?”

Frustrated, Kai sat up. Visions can be a good thing when they show you happiness or offer the solution to a problem, but more often than not, they never reveal what you really want to know. He hated how they came in jumbles or snips, more riddle than truth.

“I had the worst possible vision.” He knew it came from this place; this cavern rich with Alenga’s power. But the scenes were sharp. They came quick like a punch to the face. He packed quietly while he gathered the threads of his vision. He needed to remember every fragment, no matter how small.

There was no way to know in what order they would happen. Or how long he had. The only thing he knew —he would find his mother. Months from now, the manta rays would migrate around the Mystic Islands. After all, he was meant to bring her here.

He grabbed his blade, the one he had plunged into Iver’s chest in the vision. An ache welled in his heart. He felt the weight of it in his hand. He pulled the knife from its jeweled sheath, studying the ornate design. Devastated, he turned away, unwilling to face the idea. “No, I’d never…” He shook his head.

Ryker grabbed Kai’s shoulder. “We need to move.”

Kai gathered the rest of his things, and they departed out the back of Alenga’s cavern. They ran through the trees fast and hard, Smoke at their side. It felt good to run, to pound through his frustration. His vision had to be wrong. He would never kill his own father.

Still, the vision was clear: his blade, covered in his father’s blood. How could he possibly stop it from happening? Distracted, he stumbled and crashed in a heap of ferns. Ryker plucked him from the vegetation and continued. “No time to waste. Keep up.”

All the landscape looked the same. Greenery, rocks, and rivers. Kai did his best to take note of where the cavern was in relation to where they were going now. The power of that place was important. The magic behind his vision swirled in his head. There had to be a reason Alenga would show him these things. The vivid nature of this vision enhanced by the location caught in his chest. Focus. I must remember.

Chapter 15

The Maze

“Here, this is the entrance to the maze.” Ryker motioned to a set of thick pine trees blocking a pile of boulders.

The staggering rock face towered overhead. In the distance, Kai felt a rumble in the mountain. “Stay close and glean the path. They are making changes now. During the day, they make changes every few hours. At night, there are fewer changes. Search the path. Find your way. If we hurry, we will be through before they change it again.”

“Why so elaborate?”

Ryker pushed through the pines, and his chuckle echoed off the rocks. “Because they can. They train to shape the mountains. Where do you think the Katori mountain range came from? Alenga did not make it. Her original mountain hides inside—the place where you claimed your crystal. The Katori of old made the expanse. They covered her original place with their own.”

He knew that. Davi and his group had told him as much. “I’ve heard the story.”

“Well, the next generation of Stonekings is always stronger than the last. They practice in these hills. They practice along our coast. The Mystic Islands exist because we made them. Land plucked from the sea. Towers of land pushed up into the sky shrouded in mist.”

“But why change the path? Why have one to begin with?”

“We need to maintain a route to Diu without taking a ship around, and not all of us can fly. But even though we need easy access to Diu, we do not want to allow strangers to find their way here. The quakes help keep people away, but make no mistake, they are keen to find a way to Katori. Imagine a trade route with Katori that did not involve the sea? Thankfully, a foolish few search for a way through the Zabranen Forest.”

Water trickled through pebbled soil. Kai hopped across, keeping pace with Ryker. “I’ve met your Guardians. There is no doubt they could stop anyone.”

“They are not as heartless as they once were, killing all who enter. Beastmasters must be careful. If we are killed in beast form, we return to our physical body. That is a secret we don’t want out.”

“What do you mean they change back?”

“You saw for yourself when you cut the wing of the eagle—the man’s arm fell to the ground. We believe our last thoughts are of our true form, which results in transforming out of our beastly bodies.”

Kai had forgotten that part.

“Better to use Weathervanes, Kodama, and Stonekings to make the route impossible to navigate.” Ryker continued. “With a Weathervane creating fog or harsh weather, most turn back.”

“Yes, I’ve witnessed their handiwork.” Kai wondered if they genuinely wanted to stop him, would they have crossed a line to kill him?

“Over the years, a few outsiders have found the corridors. There is another pass far to the north, but the Stonekings sealed it. Once two travelers from Diu were caught up there for days, but they finally found their way back out. Both men nearly died of starvation.”

Kai contemplated the choices the Katori had to make to keep their home safe