Tower of Horn and Blood

Book 3: The Order of Merlin

by Thomas K. Carpenter

Genres: Arthurian; Epic Fantasy; Horror

Synopsis

The battle for the Hundred Halls begins now.

Trapped in the city as a horde of demons invade, our team of mages have one last chance to save the world. With the city in chaos, and friends and family in peril, difficult choices multiply at every turn. The mages of the Order of Merlin and their allies must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to defeat the demonic invasion before their overwhelming advance puts an end to their world.

 

Read more

Release date: March 21, 2023

Publisher: Black Moon Books

Print pages: 238

Sample

Chapter One

 

A door opened in the darkness.

Moriganne stumbled to a stop in the middle of the square, surrounded by tourists who were trying to process the rumble that had rattled glass and caused a few accidents on the street. The regular quivers that hit the Undercity never made it to the light. Whatever had happened below had been big, and everyone seemed to sense that something significant had happened even if they didn't know the cause.

She'd lost the others in the sprint from the taxi towards the Korean grocery store. The urgency that had driven her forward had evaporated, so she'd stopped. A feeling of awakeness radiated from the bridge tattoo on her elbow. The anticipation of what came next made her leery.

"What's wrong?" asked Aurie, coming up through the crowd.

The statue of Invictus loomed over the square, looking disapprovingly at everyone beneath his feet. Moriganne felt cold and distant as if a ghost had passed through her.

"I don't know," she answered eventually. "Something happened."

Aurie looked around. The earthquake had frightened the tourists, but now everyone was moving again. They kept looking around as if they could see what was happening.

"The tattoo?"

Moriganne touched the sleeve of her shirt reflexively and was surprised she didn't come away with burnt fingers. She'd felt the door open in the darkness, a yawning pit that left her shaken.

"I think so. That wasn't an earthquake, that much I know. It's like there's a great crack in the earth. When I summoned the mija, it felt like that, but bigger." She looked around. "Where's Pi? And Alex?"

"I don't know."

"We need to get everyone together," said Moriganne. "I fear we're too late and what happens next...I fear that more."

The trickle of ache in her elbow turned to a full conflagration of pain. Moriganne didn't remember falling to the ground, but she caught occasional glimpses of faces staring down at her through the unrelenting agony.

After a time, she heard Aurie's voice through the haze. "She's fine. She has epilepsy. It was just another event."

"That didn't look like epilepsy," said someone in the small circle surrounding her.

Moriganne pushed herself into a sitting position. Her whole body hurt as if she'd done a dozen intense workouts in a matter of a few minutes.

"I'm okay. It's a thing that happens."

She tried to smile at the people, but the earthquake had already worried them. Random fainting and convulsing had only made their fears worse. No one returned her smile.

Once she was standing, she gripped Aurie's elbow to remain that way, grimacing as wave

s of throbbing pain continued to assault her.

"It's open," she told Aurie once the tourists had moved away.

"The portal?"

Moriganne nodded. "Every cell in my body is on high alert. I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust. We need to go somewhere. Fast."

"To the grocery store. The others are there," said Aurie, checking around them. "Hopefully."

Even the balls of her feet in her shoes were tender. Her flesh was raw. Her mind was in a state of panic. Moriganne struggled to walk and only made it across the square with Aurie's help. The old Korean woman behind the counter pointed to the back when they arrived.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Pi when they reached the stainless steel elevator. Alex was examining the edges of the doors and barely gave a glance back.

"It's open," said Moriganne weakly.

"Open? As in the gate?"

She nodded. "We're too late."

"It's never too late," said Alex without turning around. "They were headed down when the explosion happened. I don't know how far they got—the electronics are fried, none of the lights work. They could be stuck."

"The elevator goes all the way to the Undercity. They had a good head start. They could have reached the bottom before it went off." Moriganne leaned against the seeping concrete, not caring about the grimy feel against her palm. "Or they could be dead."

No one spoke for thirty seconds.

"We don't know that," said Aurie.

"Can anyone find a crowbar? I want to open this door," said Alex, tapping on the stainless steel.

Aurie stepped in front of it. "I can bust it open. Make room."

"No," said Alex, holding her hands out. "We need a functioning door. If the elevator starts working again, we need the shaft to be open."

The flinch from Aurie was painfully visible, but she nodded. "You're right. Stupid of me. Magic isn't an answer for everything."

"Let me ask the lady at the counter," said Alex, jogging back the way they came.

"We need to figure out what's going on," said Aurie, bunching up her lips. "If it's happening, if the invasion is really happening, then we need to get people out of the city."

"Three million people, sis? An evacuation like that would be a nightmare," said Pi.

"Better than the nightmare of them staying."

Pi lifted her shoulders. "For all we know it could be a small group like in Montanhas. We might not have anything to worry about."

"It's not like Montanhas," said Moriganne heavily.

"How do you know?"

Moriganne held up her arm. "I know. It's like standing on the edge of an abyss. If I had the means to cut it off, I might. I feel like someone doused me in blood and dropped me into shark-infested waters."

Alex came running into the hallway, but stopped at the far side and waved them toward her. "You gotta come see this."

They glanced amongst themselves but followed Alex into the grocery store, and then when they didn’t see her, moved outside. Moriganne saw a sea of faces pointed upward and an eerie bluish glow permeating everything.

"The Spire," said Aurie.

The top of the building at the center of the city had a strong bluish light emanating out like a beacon. Moriganne expected to feel something through the tattoo, but it hadn't changed, nor did she sense anything different when she pulled back the sleeve of her shirt and the light cascaded over it.

"What's going on?" asked Moriganne.

"I don't know." Pi frowned and shook her head. "Invictus never told us."

"

 is him?"

"Yes. I think so." Then after a pause, she said, "I'm not a fan of this timing."

"Me neither," said Aurie.

Something passed between the sisters, a previous conversation, or shared concerns. Moriganne didn't like it, but she was too exhausted from the tattoo to bother asking.

The intensity of the bluish light grew until it was hard to look at it. Moriganne held her hand above her head to block her eyes even though it took all her effort. The second odd event in a short matter of time had caused more unease. Tourist families were glancing back at the Spire while they headed away as fast as they could on foot, because the streets were clogged with vehicles stopped and looking at the light.

Gasps erupted from the crowd before Moriganne noticed the difference. At first it looked like a stronger version of the light, slowly growing from the tip of the Spire like the spreading of spilled frozen water. Then she realized it was a tangible, shimmering object, much like a force shield. The disc expanded out, rapidly gaining speed. Within ten seconds, the field had passed over the square.

Curiosity turned to panic when someone shouted, "It's going to trap us in the city."

Half the people continued to stare upward, while the others started moving en masse towards the streets that led outward.

"They're not going to be fast enough," said Alex calmly.

Pi nudged her with her elbow. "Getting anything with the tattoo?"

"No."

She turned. Pi's forehead was knitted. "You were in a lot of pain a short time ago."

Moriganne nodded.

"I could feel it." She touched her elbow as the blue light grew stronger and the disc expanded outward. It was past the inner wards and curving downward. "It was faint, but it was as if I had the tattoo as well."

Moriganne didn't know how to answer Pi. She didn't seem to know what she was trying to say either, ending with a shrug.

"I guess we're connected somehow."

"We should find a crowbar and get back to the elevator," said Alex, heading towards the grocery store. The owner was standing at the door, staring upward with everyone else.

After they entered, the woman shut the door and locked it, sliding an accordion fence over the front. The act made Moriganne realize what she was seeing in everyone's faces: barely restrained panic. A hair-trigger fear was lurking beneath the surface. If something more happened—a car backfire, a few too many people running, anything—it would turn into a stampede. The city was a lake of gasoline waiting for the first spark.

 

Chapter Two

 

When the emergency lights in the elevator failed to energize, someone brought a magelight into existence. The pale illumination cast a pallor on the small space. Kitty had a cut on her forehead from getting thrown into the control panel that leaked blood into her eye. She looked like she was ready to punch through the floor and continue into the society space.

Zayn, on the other hand, was examining the interior while manually checking himself for injuries.

"Okay?"

Pax nodded.

"How about you, Miss Kali?" he asked with a pained grin.

Kali let out a barking huff at the same time Pax sensed a bitter taste in the back of her throat. She knew it translated to concerned, but also ready to act. The emotions traveling across Zayn's face made it clear that her companion had sent those emotions to everyone in the elevator.

Kitty knelt, punched the carpeted floor. "How far did we get?"

"Two-thirds," said Zayn, craning his neck towards the ceiling. The small space was growing hotter as the air conditioning was no longer running. Beads of sweat formed on all their foreheads. Kali was panting.

"We need to get down there," said Kitty.

"We need to get out of here," replied Zayn as he stretched upward to unlatch the trapdoor that led to the roof of the elevator. The opening provided a small rush of cool air that was quickly swallowed by the swelling heat.

Pax crouched down with her companion and rubbed her neck for solidarity. Kali leaned into her, bringing emotional warmth to Pax's chest.

"Can you sense what's down there?" she asked her companion, speaking for the other's benefit.

<One mind confused>

"One? Maybe the others died in the explosion."

<Hole in darkness>

"Explain? I don't understand what a hole in darkness means."

Kali whined. The hurt nature of the sound made the other two pause their actions and look to the callidus.

<Many minds in darkness>

The reaction on their faces was devastation.

"It's begun," said Kitty with a pinched expression. "Just like Montanhas."

<Many many>

Her companion used the image of ants spilling out of a hole in earth, forming a carpet of critters. Pax felt sick to her stomach.

"Fuck!"

Kitty punched the floor hard enough to dent it. Her knuckles were bleeding but she didn't seem to care.

"We need to get out," said Zayn as he pulled himself up and looked around the top of t

he elevator.

"I'm not the climber that you two are," said Pax. "Neither is Kali."

"How'd you do that at Phoenix Corp?" he asked as his bottom half stuck through the hole.

"I borrowed some climbing ability from the lizards. I don't have that here, and even if I did, I can't get Kali out."

"Can you borrow from one of us?" asked Kitty.

"Your abilities aren't natural, so no."

Zayn dropped back in. "We need a harness."

Kali whined again.

<Climbers>

"Shit."

"How far are we above the bottom?" asked Zayn.

Kitty blinked. "I'm not sure how deep the shaft goes, but I think the main sections of the Undercity are around a thousand feet beneath the surface of the city. Big Dave's Town is at six hundred or something like that, which is why it's not as hot as some other areas. It also pumps in air from above. There are other areas that can be much deeper, like the canyons around the fire well."

"The deepest I've been was in the sewers," said Pax.

"I saw where we were on the board when the lights went out," said Zayn. "We're probably two or three hundred feet above the bottom."

"Or seven hundred feet from the top," said Pax. "If it's a thousand."

A noise that sounded like the bending of metal reverberated through their feet. The hairs on Kali's back stood at attention.

"I'm taking a look," said Zayn, leaping through the hole in the ceiling, landing lightly on the roof. He moved out of sight, and she assumed he was peering around the edge.

Kitty gave her a pinched frown. "Sorry." She followed Zayn.

"I can see too, you know," said Pax as she crouched next to Kali. "How many are there? Ar

e we in trouble?"

A picture of a small group of ants appeared in her mind. Maybe ten, maybe fifteen, the number shifted hazily. Kali wasn't great at counting, except in general terms.

Zayn stuck his head into the hole. "They're moving quickly, a hundred feet from the elevator."

"What are they?"

He looked pained. "Hard to tell, but I saw long black limbs. Or spines. They're not friendly, that much is sure."

"I feel like someone left us in a lion's cage without a door."

"The car blocks the shaft at least," said Zayn.

"How thick is the floor?" she asked.

Zayn screwed up his face. "No idea."

A thump against the bottom of the car made Pax jump. She backed against the wall.

"There's something below," shouted Kitty.

Pax hated that she'd be

"Could someone help—"

The words were barely out of her mouth when a shiny black appendage split the center of the floor, narrowly missing Kali, who'd jumped back at the last moment. It looked like a blade made out of thick black stone. Pax kicked it at the base, bending it slightly and causing a horrific screech from below.

"Come on, Kali," she said, grabbing her companion around the midsection and helping her up towards Zayn and Kitty, who were leaning through the hole to grab her. Once they had her forward paws, she rose through the hole.

Pax leapt up, grabbed the edge, and hauled herself through as a second and then third appendage burst through the floor. The creatures below were puncturing the steel as if it were cardboard.

"We don't have a harness," said Pax.

"I can carry Kali on my back," Zayn said. Do we have something to tie her to me? I've got a belt but it's not long enough."

Kitty reached for her waist, sliding a belt out. They hooked the two belts together and then after Kali put her forelegs on Zayn's shoulders, hooked the belt around them both. Kali whined when they tested the harness.

The attack on the bottom of the elevator continued. The creatures kept ripping at the steel, making large holes faster than Pax thought possible.

"Those belts aren't going to hold," said Pax.

"Neither is the floor," said Kitty, looking in. "Unless you have another idea, we'd better start climbing."

"How?"

"Hand over hand, right up the central wire," said Kitty. "You go first, I'll go behind Zayn to help with Kali."

The impossibleness of their situation was like carrying a lead blanket on her shoulders, but she knew staying put wouldn't work out. Pax wrapped her hands around the steel cable and pulled herself up, using the magesteel enchantment in her shoulder blades to power the ascent. She worked her way up about twenty feet before she glanced down, seeing Kali's head resting on Zayn's shoulder as he followed.

The regular puncture and groaning of metal continued as they climbed. Kitty gave occasional updates, which Pax wasn't sure helped. The muscles in her shoulders were getting tight. She could run for days, but climbing wasn't one of the skills she'd spent a lot of time on.

When they were up about a hundred feet, Kitty's voice carried up through the shaft.

"They're through. Broken hells, they're in the car—no wait, it's squeezing through the hole and climbing now. Fast."

Six hundred feet. They had six hundred feet to go. Pax focused on the climb, hand over hand, squeezing her shoes against the cable as she shimmied upward at a speed that was heartbreakingly slow.

A whoosh of air sucked past them, and Pax was confused until she realized that Kitty had fired a force wave down the shaft. A moment later, the echo of impact reached them.

"Ha! Got that ugly bastard!"

Kitty fired again, keeping the critters from following too closely. They'd made it another tw

enty feet when Pax heard Zayn curse. A moment later he said, "The belt is coming loose."

<Kali falling>

Pax pressed her forehead against the cable, then looked upward into the darkness. There was nothing nearby to grab a hold of to keep Kali from slipping off Zayn's shoulders. Another thump of force wave signaled Kitty was too busy defending their rear.

"I can't move or she'll fall," said Zayn as he clung to the cable.

They needed a spot to regroup and reconnect the belt. Pax brought a magelight into existence even though she hated exposing them with light. She floated it upward, looking for a structural ledge to climb onto. The steel girders that formed the frame had thin spots to stop, but the next one was twenty feet overhead.

"Twenty feet," said Pax. "Can you make it?"

"Probably not. Not sure if I can move five feet."

Kitty cursed and continued sending waves of force down the shaft, giving them updates like: "there's another one now," "they're learning to avoid my shots," and "dammit, that one leapt to the far side." They were running out of time. Soon the creatures would overrun Kitty.

As the magelight continued floating upward, Pax spotted a square door on the wall. It was about thirty feet up.

"I see a door. In the shaft. Does that make sense?"

"Probably for the workers, or maybe an exit shaft. How far?"

"Thirty feet."

There was silence.

"I have an idea," said Pax as she slipped down the cable, but facing Zayn. They had to alternate hands but she managed to reach a spot opposite. "If you can hold onto me, I can try to reconnect the belt."

He nodded, and with one hand holding the cable, he used the other hand to grab the fro

nt of her jeans. The stability was precarious. She felt like she was about to tip backwards and fall down the shaft, but if she didn't do something then Kali would fall. Her companion whined while she reached around to the connection.

The amount that Zayn was working to keep them all from falling was apparent in the pulsing of his jaw and the intensity of his gaze. She tried not to pay attention, but he was staring her right in the face. The two belts were slipping apart. With a grunt and a hard pull, Pax managed to make their connection more solid.

"Fixed."

She put her hands on the cable, pulling herself up towards the square door while Kitty did battle with the creatures trying to climb up behind them. The urgency pushed her up the cable even though her hands hurt.

The width of the elevator made reaching the girders along the outside of the shaft a challenge. Pax tried to reach out, but she only managed to put her foot on the steel. It was too far to simply swing over. Kitty's calls were getting more urgent.

"You'll have to jump," said Zayn, looking up. "Start higher so you have more room."

Pax shimmied up another ten feet and leaned on the side of the cable. She'd seen monkeys make similar jumps easily. After a few quick breaths, Pax leapt.

The girder came faster than expected. She hit at the ribs, barely getting her arms around it before she slid off and down the shaft. The impact knocked the air from her lungs. After a few moments of recovery, she scrambled onto the ledge. The emergency door was open. No lock at all. Which made sense since it was in the middle of a deep elevator shaft.

Pax ducked into the passage, which was only five feet high and went until there was another door about thirty feet back.

When Zayn reached the height she'd jumped from, he made the leap to the girder easily. Kali let out a whine when they unhooked her from his back.

While all this was happening, Kitty had been battling the creatures below.

"We have to get her an opportunity to get here," said Zayn. "Ideas?"

Pax lifted a shoulder. "Try not to hit her?" He

 blinked. Nodded. "Right."

From the ledge, they started firing a mix of earth and water bolts past Kitty. Once they'd managed to hit a few of the climbing demons, knocking them back down, Kitty scrambled up at speed. She reached them and leapt over to the ledge.

Without her in the way, the three of them rained consecutive force waves down the shaft until they'd pushed the shiny black multi-legged creatures back to the elevator. Once the area beneath them was clear, they ducked back to the other door and threw themselves behind it.

The room had oxygen kits and a pair of bright red emergency bags connected to the wall. The place was covered in a thin layer of dust.

<Kali hide friends>

"Good call," she whispered.

They crouched behind the interior door, listening for the approach of the demons. Pax didn't have the sensing ability of her friends, so she borrowed from Kali. The clicking of appendages on the steel walls of the elevator shaft grew louder. Pax's heart climbed into her throat as she realized they were near the side door. The noise grew in volume and she was sure they'd be attacked, but then after a minute, the clacking faded away.

No one spoke for a few minutes. There was nothing to say. Soon those creatures would reach the street level. The invasion had begun.