Praelia Nox Read online

  Praelia Nox

  By T.J. Kelly

  Persistence Publishing

  Fort Worth, Tx

  Copyright © 2020 T.J. Kelly

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2020934182

  ISBN: 978-1-948744-08-9 (hardback)

  ISBN: 978-1-948744-09-6 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-1-948744-10-2 (eBook)

  Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  First Edition 2020

  Cover Art by Len Jennings

  For more information regarding reproductions of works by Len Jennings, please contact artist care of Persistence Publishing, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Persistence Publishing

  P.O. Box 6663

  Fort Worth, Texas 76115

  [email protected]

  www.persistencepublishing.com

  www.tjkellybooks.com

  For you.

  We are all here for a reason. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to know what that is. Most of the time we wander in semi-darkness, uncertain about how to proceed. The world around us can feel so harsh, cause us to lose our way or fear we’ll never find it.

  The good thing is that we don’t have to know everything to fulfill our destinies. Even the smallest gesture or a moment of kindness can change everything. Just one small connection can bring Light into somebody’s world. Including yours.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Mock Battle

  Ice cold rose around me, freezing tendrils winding their way deep into my bones.

  "Where did this water come from?" I hissed, wiping mud from my face. The ground had been dry when we first crawled into our hiding place. "So gross."

  "Want to trade places?" Peter offered. "I don't mind. Hopefully, it won't be much longer." His head was turned towards me, cheek pressed into the dirt as he struggled to breathe in the confined space. His side was still dry where we were crammed under the miniature porch attached to the tiny shelter we used to represent a building in the practice dome at Castle Laurus.

  "No, I'll survive. Let me see if I can shift away from the worst of it," I panted. With a muffled groan, I crawled closer to the stairs, pulling on the elements to remove the mud from my clothes and skin. A chunk of cobblestone was missing, thanks to a tiny nudge from Harris and Seth, our advance team and fellow agents in the Irregulars. If I pressed my eye against the stone steps, I had a clear view of the enemy. "Okay, he's about to exit the building."

  A word flew out of Peter's mouth. I wasn't sure what, but it didn't sound very nice. Not that I blamed him. We were in a decent tactical position, but I wondered if the Andersson brothers picked it not only because of the great vantage point but also to mess with us.

  Especially Seth. We had broken up six months ago. It was mutual, and friendly, but he was a huge brat. His brother Harris was more down to earth, but Seth was a bad influence on him. I bet we could have been observing our target from a comfortable little pop-up shelter disguised with Armageddon's spell to make it indiscernible to anyone outside the boundaries. Or hanging out behind the bushes. Anything besides being pressed into the ground by an ancient wooden walkway so low even a cat couldn't maneuver comfortably.

  Our target came into view. "Now," I burst out in a tight whisper. Peter launched himself straight up through the wood platform, chunks and splinters flying in every direction from the power of opposite magic, using his affinity for Air to tap into the Earth around us to put strength into his thrust.

  A strangled cry alerted me to a second person behind our target. Bad intel - our enemy was supposed to be alone.

  I hurtled myself through the hole left by Peter's attack at the other man with the force of a rocket, but still I landed short. Oh. I recognized that awful dampening, magic-neutering spell as soon as I entered its perimeter.

  David Novato.

  "What are you doing here?" I demanded. Changing tactics, I spun around and kicked him in his gut, shoving him off the side of the remaining bits of the platform. Memories of my uncle's face, battered and beaten by the man before me flashed through my mind. I shoved them aside, digging into myself to focus on the task at hand. Even though I hated David's guts, I still had a job to do.

  "Like I'd tell you," he sneered, playing his part. My breath hitched in a satisfied snarl as I noted the hesitation in his speech. I had knocked the wind out of him. His stance changed as he continued to play the enemy. A tremor in his voice was the only hint at how freaked out he was to relive our last confrontation when we really were enemies. I stepped on the foundation of the porch, preferring high ground and the solid stone beneath my feet to the rickety wood of the stairs.

  Grunts and the sound of fists striking flesh divided my attention. Was Peter in trouble? I needed to neutralize David as quickly as possible to find out.

  "No biggie," I said as I yanked a Rector crystal out of my vest pocket. I launched the Smash-force before David could react. He spent too much time relying on his mundane henchmen to do the heavy fighting. His reflexes were slower than mine.

  A lot slower.

  With a sharp crash, the crystal shattered as it smashed David to the ground. We could never be sure if a mechanical would work around him, but mine did its job. And I could tell it rendered him unconscious since my ability to access my magic came rushing back. It was a nightmare to be cut off, too much like not being able to connect to my power before my ascension. At least David had taken Armageddon up on his offer and fought for us. That meant we wouldn't have to face that disadvantage while out in the field. I was capable of pushing aside my anger at him enough to recognize the advantage he offered our side.

  Extra foe handled, my eyes scanned the area. Sounds of a fight came from behind the corner of the shack, which blocked my sight. Jumping off the stairs, I dodged around the end of the small building and threw myself into the fray, finally getting a good look at the target.

  Mortem Impii. Oh, man. No wonder Peter hadn't subdued him yet. Mort was still undefeated. Sometimes we won during combat training, but it was usually a sign of respect and honor and not an indicator that he had slowed down enough to actually lose.

  I winced as Peter went flying, slamming into the stone wall of the rundown shelter we added to the practice dome. Instead of checking to see if he rose to his feet the way I wanted to, I grabbed another crystal and threw it at Mort's head.

  He easily blocked it, but I was ready for that. I tapped into the connection between me and the magic object I cast and shattered it in front of him. A blinding flash of light lit the already bright interior of the practice arena, but I had shielded my eyes with a misty film of Dark. Mort was not prepared for an attack by a miniature sun and threw his arm up to shield himself. A thrill of triumph shot through me as I launched myself at his exposed side, knocking him aside.

  My plan ended there. I had no clue what Mort would do, but I knew it would mess me up. So in the face of the unknown, I left myself open to all the Elements with the hope one would work as a defense. Nobody knocked Wicked Death off balance for long.

  As I suspected, a split second and a blur were all the warning I got bef
ore I was thrown across the small clearing, through the stone wall, into the mock office area inside the shelter, and through the brick wall on the other side.

  The skin-tight shield spell saved me. We all used one when we were practicing. While on missions, too. Safety came first even while fighting allies in the dome.

  "You okay?" Harris asked. He and his brother were just outside the agreed-upon practice area for our current battle prep.

  A wheeze was all I managed.

  "Good," Seth laughed. "That looked pretty nasty."

  Understatement of the year. I felt like every bone in my body was broken, even though the shield made that impossible. But I could still be battered thoroughly, and I probably had another concussion. My aunt, Peony to her family and Potentia - or Power - to the rest of the world, was going to kill me. After she healed me.

  The thought of what she would say to Mort about it all brought a small smile to my face, stinging my cut lip. He wasn't afraid of anything, except her wrath.

  I dragged myself onto my hands and knees. I must have dodged a concussion because while my head hurt like crazy, I could still think. And what my brain was telling me was that Peter was about to lose.

  No way would I let that happen.

  A full frontal magic attack and my fighting skills weren't going to win the day. I would have to come up with something clever.

  My feet were shaky, but I shook off the effects of my fall and trotted to the flurry of activity in the middle of the small clearing surrounded by bushes, boulders, and a small patch of sand near a tiny pond. There, Peter and Mort were going at it, my partner holding his own.

  A blush creeped up my cheeks. He wasn't just my partner. Peter was my boyfriend, too. I didn't know why that thought came to mind in that moment, but it did. And if my emotions were that close to the surface, Peter's might be too. That meant he could make a mistake.

  A flash of flames flickered behind my eyes. Another memory. Peter leaping through a magical fire to protect me despite his childhood phobia.

  Okay. Plan B. As my boyfriend smashed into the stairs thanks to a sidekick, I twirled in a circle, using the Earth and Air around me to add to the spin, tapping into the Light to keep from throwing up from the dizzying motion, and then flipped the Water pooled at the perimeter of the clearing with opposite magic into Fire, creating a cage to surround our foe.

  "I yield," Mort shouted through the raging inferno.

  I snapped off the flames immediately. Mort was grinning as he strode to my side.

  "You okay?" I asked, although I suspected he wouldn't tell me if I hurt him. He would never show an enemy weakness. Even a mock foe.

  "Never better. Come on, let's help Peter up. Harris and Seth have already dragged David away to the infirmary."

  My nose wrinkled at the sound of his name. Even though he was now an Irregular, David Novato had kidnapped Armageddon when I desperately needed him. And his henchmen hurt Tian, the lovely and gentle wife of my fellow agent Reg. Everybody expected me to learn how to work with David, and yeah, I was willing. But I was still going to make him pay whenever the opportunity presented itself.

  Too bad our confrontation had ended so soon or else I would have spent more time knocking him around before he passed out. His hesitation to come at me after everything he had done - and everything I had done to him in the months after - was a major weakness. Oh, well. He would figure it out and then we could have a real brawl for once. I was looking forward to letting loose.

  "Give me a sec," Peter said from where he lay flat on his back. "I'll get up as soon as I make sure my legs are still there."

  I laughed and held out my hands to grasp his. Mort shifted his position until he stood near Peter's head. As I gently tugged, Mort lifted Peter by his shoulders. No broken bones behind that shield spell, but I was well aware that he felt like it, anyway.

  We both eyeballed Peter to make sure he didn't get woozy and keel over. But he remained on his feet without a hitch.

  "You two did good today," Mort praised as he clapped his hand on Peter's back. Maybe he did it to help remove some dust since a huge cloud of it puffed everywhere and made us cough.

  "Thanks, Mort," I said. I tried to sound humble, but it was hard when I was grinning at his praise.

  "You still need to work on more techniques. The magic is there, and so is the flow. But you should know each other so well that you won't have to think about what your partner's next move will be. You'll know."

  We nodded, soaking in Mort's advice as the three of us made our way through the other mini-environments in the practice dome. A small swamp and a flat area the size of a baseball field stood between us and the door. The interior was monstrous, but once we were outside its borders, the dome only took up a small section of the atrium in the center of the castle. From there, the walk to the infirmary shortened considerably - good thing, too, since Peter was limping and my head still ached.

  "Do you think you'll have time to run through another scenario tomorrow?" Peter asked. We had been official partners for the last three months. He stayed in the infirmary for a while after the major battle that had wounded him, and then he had to work his way back into peak physical condition naturally. It was the only way to recover from the magical flames. I loved all the time I got to spend with him once we officially paired up, but there was still so much we needed to learn about each other. And if my uncle was right, we would need all the help we could get if we wanted to win the coming war.

  I stumbled on the flat ground. Everything I had been through was pee-wee league compared to the growing darkness. A Dark so great that even I might not be able to withstand it.

  "Actually, I have a better idea," Mort replied. "Take the day off. You need to rest up and Peony will want us out of her hair."

  "Ha. We can't relax when my aunt is planning a party," I laughed. "Eostre is this weekend."

  The magical new year coincided with the start of spring. Peony and Armageddon threw a huge celebration every year, but this time was extra special. My cousins would finally be home. My uncle called them in from a deep undercover assignment and it had taken months longer to return than originally planned. It was worth it, though. All their hard work paid off, and they completed their assignment. We thought all their efforts would go to waste when they were recalled from the field, but the timing had worked out perfectly for our side. A real relief, since we needed every win we could get.

  "Any day you aren't fighting is a rest day," Mort said. He bit back a smile at the look on my face.

  "Oh, well then. Thanks for the vacation time," I quipped as we crossed the threshold leading into the castle interior. My eyelid twitched in response to an especially hard jab of pain that throbbed over my left temple.

  "No problem, kiddo." Mort slipped his hand under my elbow, his grip on my arm gentle yet firm. He must have noticed my knees had gotten shaky.

  "Are you going to make it?" Peter murmured. His hand slid around my other arm, Light shifting from him into me, warming my body. I hadn't even realized I was cold.

  "Yeah," I replied through the sudden haze that descended over my eyes. Good thing there were only a few more steps to go.

  Then we were there, my aunt tsking in concern as her hands smoothed a lock of hair behind my ear, a trail of warmth and love supporting the healing magic she worked on me.

  The darkness tinging the edges of my eyesight dissipated, and the room cleared. Peter was sitting on a cot, waiting patiently for his turn. Mort slipped out. He was booked solid all afternoon with clients at his law firm and needed to get cleaned up. My aunt continued her examination.

  "Do you hurt anywhere specific?" she asked. "Besides your head?"

  "I ache everywhere." I grunted as I sank into the chair next to Peter. "But nothing in particular."

  Peony took my hands in hers and cast a silent healing spell. Warmth spread throughout my body, smoothing away my pain.

  "Thanks, Aunt Peony."

  "You're welcome, sweetheart. Are you
up for helping me with Peter?"

  I worked with my aunt whenever I had the chance, learning healing magic in addition to my other lessons. I only had a few years left in my apprenticeship and I didn't want to miss out on anything. Especially an opportunity to work with one of the best healers in the world.

  "Yes, I think I am."

  Peony ran through the technique as I studied my boyfriend. His brown hair was matted from a line of blood marking him from forehead to chin, but that didn't change anything. He was still the best-looking guy I had ever met. I had been distracted and dazzled by surface appeal in others, but Peter more than held his own. His gray eyes met mine and I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

  "Ready?" Peony asked. I nodded in response. "Notice how the Light blends with the Air to buoy him up. The body knows how to heal itself. We're here to give it a boost."

  I placed my free hand on Peter's cheek. Healing magic involved a lot of touch. That could be dangerous. Dark magicians had no problem using their required proximity against them. Healers were vulnerable to attack and often used as pawns in clan wars.

  But I was at home with my family, surrounded by allies, and Peter was - well, I would happily expose myself to any type of danger for him. Fortunately, I didn't need to. All I had to do was touch his cheek.

  Light flickered through our contact. He was always giving to me, even when he needed help. Another part of his nature I admired. Adored, even. Although I nearly had an anxiety attack every time I tried to tell him that.

  So I didn't.

  I followed Peony's trace as her magic, blended with mine, flowed through Peter and encouraged his body to heal in an instant. It wasn't all that different from when I broke the curse on my future apprentice after she came to live with us. Sera was so sweet, and so young. But Oberon, head of the Taine clan, kept up the tradition of cursing his staff regardless of age, indenturing them for a lifetime. If they wanted to live.