Warrior from the Shadowland by Cassandra Gannon Read Free Book Online

Fortress as their headquarters, but none of them cared for the property
itself.  And Chason, who had once loved his people and land, now saw only death
around him.  He savored the gloomy silence and darkness.  Anything else might
force him to feel things beyond his hatred.
    To
hear the music that sometimes played in his missing heart.
    The
Magnet Phases had a hard time being around computers or other human technology
without their energy destroying it.  iPods were pretty much useless.  Tapes
were erased.  CD players reacted badly.  If the Magnet Phases wanted music they
had to turn on old fashioned record players.  Mara had loved music.  She’d
filled their home with human songs, endlessly spinning them on turntables.
    When
Mara had been living in the fortress, there’d been no silence.  Joy and
happiness and the scratchy sounds of old records drove out all the emptiness. 
She’d come of age during the era of swing and big band music, so the Andrew
Sisters always remained her particular favorite.  The sad, melodic sounds of I’ll
Be with You in Apple Blossom Time echoed in Chason’s
memories.  The soundtrack of his vanished life.
    He’d
only listened to the song once since Mara’s death, on what should have been her
161 st birthday.  Then, he’d destroyed it, along with the record
player and every other piece of music in the fortress.  But, against his will,
he still heard the notes cascading in his mind.
    The
music cut into him, deeper than his hatred.
    It
was too much, even for someone who hoarded his pain like Chason.  He preferred
the silence.  The slow death of his entire kingdom soothed him.  Without his
Match, the world should end.  Why should anything continue if Mara
couldn’t?
    “Commander?” 
A Stone Phase named Abel cleared his throat.  “What would you like us to do?”
    Chason
turned from the window to stare at him.  Abel was one of the top soldiers in
the Reprisal.  He despised the Water House nearly as much as he hated Parald. 
He was the perfect Phase to lead the mission.  The streak at his temple was
olive and, like the rest of his hair, cut in a rakish style.  For all this
ruthlessness, Abel devoted untold hours on his appearance.
    Chason,
himself, hadn’t bothered to look in a mirror since Mara died.  He didn’t want
to see whatever was left of him.  “Go to the human realm.”  He said, flatly. 
“Find Tritone or Nia and bring them here.  They’ll lead us to the Quintessence.”
    Abel
actually smiled at the order.
    For
a brief moment, Chason heard the Andrew Sisters’ harmonized vocals in his
head.  The little piece of him where Mara still lived knew that his actions
were a blasphemy against her memory.  His Match had loved the Water Kingdom,
especially Nia and Ty.  He should pick a different solider.  One without Abel’s
cruel streak.  The thought was quickly tuned out by the louder, hate filled
voice that insisted that nothing they did now mattered, anyway.
    Ty
and Nia would inevitably die when the Air House collapsed, so what difference
did it make if Abel was rough with them now?
    It
didn’t, obviously.
    And
Chason just didn’t have it in him to care about them, anymore.  He didn’t care
about anything but vengeance.  He would have the Quintessence, kill Parald and
end the universe.
    Then,
he’d finally have peace...
    And
total silence.

Chapter Three
     
    Concerning
the factors of silence, solitude and darkness, we can only say
    that they
are actually elements in the production of the infantile anxiety
    from which
the majority of human beings have never become quite free.
     
    Sigmund
Freud- “The Uncanny”
     
    Cross
figured that it had to be some kind of record.  He’d had his Phase-Match for
three minutes and she’d already been stabbed.  Even for someone with Cross’s
endless capacity to screw things up, it was an impressive achievement.  If he
possessed even the smallest amount of compassion, he’d walk away from Nia
before