Thunder Rattles High (Unweaving Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  THUNDER RATTLES HIGH

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  Copyright © 2017 by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Interior design by Pronoun

  Beta reading by Curt Crowe

  Proofreading by Sarah Brown

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty- Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  More by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  About the Author: Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Acknowledgments

  Thunder Rattles High

  Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Wheel the wild dance

  While lightnings glance,

  And thunder rattles loud,

  And calls the brave

  To bloody grave,

  To sleep without a shroud.

  -Sir Walter Scott

  CHAPTER ONE

  “At least two thousand,” Rusk said, lowering the telescope from his eye.

  “Are you certain,” I asked.

  “You can count for yourself if you like, but this isn’t my first battle. I can draw up force estimates that are as accurate as any.” He looked more like he was laughing at me then offended.

  “I can’t believe Catane ripped a hole in space and just marched them through. Why was he so adamant about getting the code from us if he was just going to use a rip like that?”

  Rusk looked out across the jagged Canderabai wilderness and cleared his throat, before laying a hand on Graxx. The Eaglekin made a throaty sound like a horse’s whicker and shook his feathers out.

  “You suspect something that you aren’t telling me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t need protecting or wrapping in soft wool. If anyone needed protecting, it was my enemies.

  He smiled slightly, running a hand over his head like he always did when he was feeling awkward. “He saw you do it. And he’s a fast learner. The two of you are too much alike for him not to repeat what he saw you do.”

  “We aren’t the only people in history who have been able to unweave reality with our magic.” I missed my guide, An’alepp. If she were still alive she’d be able to tell me what to expect and what all those other unweavers were like.

  “No you aren’t the only ones, but you’re so alike in temperament – unstoppable. If you want something you make it happen, one way or another.”

  I bit my lip. There was truth in that.

  Rusk turned his attention from Graxx and took me by the waist so he could look in my eyes. Beyond us, the murmurs of people talking and working were just loud enough to form a background buzz at the same level as the desert flies and the wind.

  “Why don’t you look more worried?” I asked.

  “Because I have you. Whatever Catane can do, you can do, too.”

  He kissed me gently and I melted into his affection, but only for a moment.

  “I’m helpless. I burned up An’alepp and all the ancestors near here. I can’t touch the Common – I can’t do anything.”

  He shrugged, “Well, then neither can he. He’ll be as helpless as you are.”

  I nodded, still scanning the rocky terrain. Tension crawled under my skull.

  “Except he has two thousand soldiers and we have civilians to guard and no place to take them to.”

  Rusk nodded, his own eyes scanning the terrain as if he could find a place to stash our dependants in the hills there. He was still rubbing his head, tension in every muscle.

  “We need to find somewhere for them soon. There’s water here, but no food and no towns or villages within sight.”

  “I don’t even know where we are,” I said. I guess that was the downside to being cloistered in the Silken Gardens all my life. “I think that for now, the best idea would be to go in the opposite direction of wherever Catane is headed.”

  “Hmmm.” He was still scanning the landscape. “What happens now that An’alepp is gone?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Will another ancestor adopt you and let you link to the Common?”

  I shrugged, and my arms wrapped protectively around myself. Why did An’alepp have to die? I missed her. I’d grown used to her constant nattering. I reached into my pocket and gripped the scintellex. She’d better be right that this could save our world, or her sacrifice had been for nothing. Nothing except saving all the Landers, that is.

  They were spread out in the valley below us; children ran and shrieked, adults scolded them. Eaglekin, huge and other-worldly, preened themselves beside the creek that ran through the valley and Astrex and the Tribe Leaders stood in a make-shift pavilion. Their glowing ko looked strange now that we were in my homeworld again. We’d need to go down there soon with a plan for them. I sighed.

  “Maybe you should try to see if you can convince an ancestor to help you,” Rusk said. “We’ll have to tell the Black Talon our plan soon, and it would be nice to know if you have any power to wield before we settle on something. After all, we’re going to need your link to the Common to mend the cataclysm here or the same fate will destroy them here in Everturn that they just escaped from.”

  “Yes. You’re right, of course.”

  I sat down at the edge of the rocky outcropping we stood on and closed my eyes. Could I access Ra’shara? I hadn’t tried since last night when we left Axum. I swallowed and entered the meditation. I arrived in the spirit world and almost gasped at how familiar it felt. After so long in the tainted version in Axum, it felt good to see that colors and movements were back to normal. But could I find any ancestors?”

  “Ancestors?” I called “Are any of you here?” No one responded. Had I destroyed them all in my foolhardy attempt to transport a whole people to our world from another?

  “Is it working?” Rusk asked.

  “Shhhhh.” I entered again, skipping from one hill to the next, searching for someone, anyone. I was careful not to go in the direction of Catane’s troops. I dove over one hill and up another. Why did Canderabai wilderness have to look so much the same that it was imposs
ible to tell where you might be? I followed the creek until it came to a river and the river until…Sweet Penspray! The Silken Gardens!

  I was home! I ran into the gardens, down the trail, past the pagoda where we meditated and the stables where my best hours were spent with Alsoon, and into the wide doors. There wasn’t an ancestor in sight, but there was the old plaque that was written about An’alepp. I felt a twinge of pain thinking about her. I would have like to show her this part of the Silken Gardens. She would have been irritated about it, of course, but that would have been fun. I followed the stairs up to our sleeping quarters.

  “Ancestors! Show yourselves!” If they didn’t show up I was going to hunt them down.

  I ran down the hall and into my old bedroom. In Ra’shara it looked the same as it always had. I opened the walk-out windows, stood on the wrought-iron balcony and let the scent of lemon trees fill me with anticipation. There was something rich and round and whole about returning home after a long time away. It filled the heart to brimming. I let myself enjoy the moment, closing my eyes and letting the wind blow through my hair. In the distance, thunder rattled in the sky.

  A hand seized me and spun me around. Before I could protest, I was being kissed by a spirit. My heart hammered in my chest, my breath caught in my throat. Who-?

  He stepped back and my jaw dropped.

  “Kjexx?!”

  No one else had such a saucy grin or a wink like that one.

  “Hello, wife.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “I THOUGHT I SAW YOUR ko running over the horizon. You’re the only one with such a fierce one!”

  “Kjexx.” My eyes stung. It couldn’t really be him, could it? My mother had never come to me in Ra’shara. I’d always thought that it meant that the recently deceased couldn’t show themselves, but here he was.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already.” He leaned casually against the wall, a picture of ease, but his expression was tight. What did you say to someone who had died for you?

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He nodded. “It was my pleasure.”

  “It was too much … your sacrifice … the gift of your people.”

  “I thought you were thanking me for the kiss.” He winked like it was a big joke.

  “You aren’t angry with me?”

  “For kissing me? Of course not! Wives tend to do that.”

  I frowned. “Be serious, Kjexx. Aren’t you angry that you gave your life for me?”

  His face hardened. “It was mine to give.”

  “I don’t mean-”

  “You don’t get to act now like it was an accident or like I’m a victim. I gave my life for a reason, and by the look of things in this world, my plan worked. You got my people here.” He pointed to the edge of the scintellex sticking out of my pocket. “You have the scintellex. You’re doing exactly what was needed.”

  I nodded, looking down. I was embarrassed to be alive when he was dead because of me- no matter what he said about it.

  I looked up when his hands went around my waist. His eyes twinkled, and then he kissed me again.

  “Who thought the after-life would be so much fun?” he said.

  I spun a lock of hair around one finger. “Ummm. About that whole married thing.”

  “You hurt me, Tylira. Are you saying you don’t want to be married to me just because I’m dead?”

  “I’m saying that your people decided I should produce an heir with your name.”

  He laughed and looked over at my bed. My cheeks heated instantly.

  “Well, I’m not sure if I can do that now that I’m dead, but I’m game to try.”

  “No,” I said, too quickly. “They married me to Rusk, and he’s supposed to produce an heir for you … with me.”

  He laughed, scratching at the stubble on his chin in a way that was charmingly boyish.

  “It sounds like you’re going to be a busy girl, Tylira. One husband in the living world, another here in the meditation world …”

  My eyes widened. Did he expect …? Did he really think …? He couldn’t!

  “Ummm. I think I should lay bare my intentions.”

  “Yes. Why don’t you,” he said, eyeing me from head to toe.

  I struggled on. “I’m a one-man kind of girl. If you were still alive, you’d be my one man, but now …”

  “So, if I hadn’t died for you I’d be enjoying your affection, but now I’m cut off.”

  What did he think? That he could share me with Rusk? I colored at the thought. Worse, I liked the thought and that was certainly not acceptable.

  “I’m Rusk’s wife, now.”

  “Ah, but I can offer something he can’t.”

  I licked my lips. I was so far out of my depth. I didn’t even know where to look. I settled for the waving leaves of the lemon trees out the window. That seemed like a safe place to look, definitely not at Kjexx. If I looked at him I wouldn’t be able to help imagining- I cut off my own thought.

  “What would that be, exactly?” My voice sounded choked.

  “Access to the Common. I can give you your magic back. You can draw on my spirit force the way you did with your ancestor.”

  My eyes snapped back to him.

  “I thought you wanted-”

  His smile was chagrined. “I was just teasing you. Can’t a dead man still joke?”

  I could have my access to the Common back! I’d be able to heal the cataclysm and throw Catane out of Canderabai. I needed that. Even if I could find another ancestor there was no guarantee that she would agree to let me tap her spirit to use the power here. But what would Rusk say if he knew that I’d be spending half my time in the spirit world with a man who was still clearly in love with me? A man who was- I shivered with pleasure- kissing the back of my neck as I was thinking it through. I whirled around.

  “Kjexx! You said you were teasing.”

  “One last kiss and I won’t ask for another.”

  I considered his offer. “One might be too many.”

  His grin widened. “Promise me you’ll take up my offer. I want to fight this battle with you.”

  “Agreed, “I said, with a repressive expression, “but no more kisses.”

  “No more kisses after this last one.”

  I hesitated.

  “Please,” he said, his ice-chip eyes melting me. “You owe me something. I did fall to my death for you.”

  “I’m worried about falling, myself,” I muttered.

  He laughed, holding out his arms to me. I swallowed. I hadn’t been joking about one kiss being too many, but I took a step forward, and he took my face delicately in his hands and kissed me, bitter-sweetly and with a feeling of finality. It felt like goodbye all over again.

  When we broke apart his lop-sided smile broke my heart.

  “And now,” he said, “we defeat Catane and find a home for my people.”

  I smiled.

  “And apparently you need to provide me with an heir. But spare my feelings and don’t tell me about it.”

  This time I laughed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  My eyes snapped open as I fell out of the meditation world.

  “You found something,” Rusk said with an easy smile. He was sitting beside me, so close that our shoulders and thighs touched. Whenever we were that close he seemed to be more relaxed.

  “I found someone to channel the Common through. And I have a plan.”

  I leaned over, looked deep into his eyes and kissed him. I tried to put all my possessiveness and commitment into that single kiss.

  “What was that for?”

  “To remind you that I’m yours.” I stood up, shaking the dust out of my worn clothes. I was going to need new ones as soon as possible.

  “I need reminding?”

  When Rusk stood, Graxx whickered gently and rolled his back like he was preparing to follow.

  “You will when you hear who is helping me,” I said, scrambling down the rocky outcropping towards the pavili
on below. Even from here I could see Astrex’s hands waving as she argued with the Clan Leaders of the Black Talon. They stood in a rough ring and barely seemed to take turns when they spoke. What kinds of chaos did they allow in their people? The High Tazmin- Wait. Did I really want to start judging people by what the High Tazmin allowed?

  “Amandera?” he asked.

  “I don’t think she’s dead.” I quickened my pace, avoiding his gaze. The Black Talon, at least, should be happy to hear my news.

  His face was pale when he asked, “Is it your mother?”

  I didn’t like seeing him worried, but I was just as worried about what he was going to say about my new ‘ancestor.’ At least he didn’t kill Kjexx. He wouldn’t have to worry about feeling guilty.

  “It’s Kjexx,” I said.

  His eyes went wide and then turned speculative, but he didn’t say anything.

  “You called?” Kjexx asked. I could see him in the meditation world as we walked in this one, and hear him speak to me, though no one else in this world would hear him. He flickered in and out of my vision as my ability to focus on meditation waxed and waned.

  “You seem to have adapted quickly to Ra’shara, Kjexx.”

  “It’s nice enough here, though I’m pretty lonely. Hey! There’s the Black Talon. You got them out! Are they safe?”

  “Not yet. Now, hush and let me talk to them and Rusk. We need to make a plan. Catane followed us here.”

  Kjexx cursed but fell back a few steps.

  “So he’ll be in your head all the time now. Talking to you. Telling you where to go and what to do.” Rusk was taking it exactly as I’d suspected he would.

  “It’s not like that. He’s there when I’m in the meditation world … sometimes.”

  Rusk nodded, and I could tell he was getting a grip on himself. “We need your power back. Especially with Catane here.”

  “I thought you liked Kjexx,” I said, keeping my voice pitched low. We were getting close to the pavilion and I didn’t want to be overheard.

  “It’s one thing to feel comradery and gratitude. It’s another to want a rival whispering in your wife’s mind every hour of the day and … night.”

  Kjexx was laughing beside me in Ra’shara.