Crystal Caged (Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles Book 5) Read online

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and events in this book are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Silver Wing Press

  Copyright © 2020 by Elise Kova

  All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.

  Cover Artwork illustration by Livia Prima

  Editing by Rebecca Faith Editorial

  Proofreading by Kate Anderson

  eISBN: 978-1-949694-16-1

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-949694-17-8

  Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-949694-18-5

  Contents

  Foreword

  Map of the Solaris Empire

  Detailed Map of Meru

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Epilogue

  Next Book

  Also by Elise Kova

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author: Elise Kova

  for the Man

  my muse, my light

  Foreword

  Sometimes, when I read a series, I lose track of important events, names, and places. This can happen even if I’m reading the books in the series back to back. And if I have to wait between releases? It can be hard to get back into the story.

  For this reason, I’m trying something new.

  This Foreword is a high-level summary of the story and events in Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles books 1-4. It is a refresher of the story intended for people who have already read these books.

  If you’ve recently read the first four books, you might want to skip this and start Chapter 1 (there is no new information here). However, if it’s been a while, or you just want to have a quick recap of important events, please read on.

  The story so far…

  Book 1 - Vortex Visions

  Vi Solaris, the crown princess of the Solaris Empire, has spent the first 17 years of her life as a ward of the northernmost region of the Empire, Shaldan, as a result of a political deal.

  There, she’s looked after by Jax, her “uncle” (not related by blood) and Sehra (the Chieftain of the North). She’s close friends with Sehra’s daughter, Ellene, and her courier who is promoted to her guard, Jayme.

  On her 17th birthday, Vi and her friends leave for her birthday hunt. While out, she stumbles on some ruins where she meets a mysterious man made of light and has a strange vision of the future. On her return, Sehra informs Vi that she has a rare magic usually only found in Sehra’s lineage.

  Vi discovers she is able to use a watch gifted to her by Fritz (the Minister of Sorcery) to communicate with the man and finds out his name is Taavin; he is an elfin; he lives on Meru (known previously to Vi as the Crescent Continent); and acts as the Voice of Yargen. Sehra and Taavin both train Vi to use her Lightspinning.

  Taavin instructs Vi to seek out Apexes of Fate, places where the world changed, to catch glimpses of the future. Meanwhile, a plague called the White Death continues to ravage the continent, eventually reaching the North during the Winter Festival celebrations.

  At the same time, Vi learns that her father’s ship sank while he was heading on a mission to Meru to find a cure for the White Death. Believing he can’t be dead, Vi sets off to find a final Apex of Fate where she faces an elfin’ra assassin.

  The elfin’ra are a red-eyed people who worship the dark god Raspian. They want to bring Raspian back to the earth with either the blood of the Champion, the Voice, or the ashes of the Flame of Yargen. If Raspian comes back it will mean the end of days.

  Vi’s final vision leads Taavin to believe that her watch holds the key to preventing the White Death from ravaging the world as a precursor to Raspian’s return. Since Taavin cannot leave the Archives of Yargen in Risen, Vi agrees to bring the watch to him.

  Book 2 - Chosen Champion

  Vi continues training with Taavin in tandem with her preparations to leave the North. Before she leaves, Vi seeks out a Western spice seller whom she met with briefly during the Winter Festival. The woman has been afflicted with the White Death, but Vi manages to steal a key from her belongings that opens a curiosity shop in the Crossroads (allegedly given to the woman by Vi’s late grandmother, Princess Fiera).

  Finally reunited with her family, Vi sees her brother (Romulin) for the first time and learns that she will be coronated on her return to the Capital of the Solaris Empire in the South (Solarin) since her father is still presumed dead. Vi tries to tell Romulin everything but he has no interest in helping her run away.

  During the march south, Vi learns her mother has been afflicted with the White Death. At the same time, she learns that the watch that connects her with Taavin was gifted to Vhalla by a mysterious traveler years ago. (Perhaps the same traveler who told Serha that Vi would have Lightspinning?)

  In Vi’s grief over her mother, and worry for the future, she finally confesses her feelings to Taavin and they kiss for the first time. She also makes up with Romulin before she sneaks out of the hotel in the Crossroads where the Imperials stay. That night in the Crossroads, she finds a curiosity shop that unlocks with the key she’s stolen from the West and has a vision of her father.

  Jayme intercepts Vi before she can leave the Crossroads and they head to Norin together. On their way they are attacked by a man previously thought to be an Imperial soldier, Fallor, who claims to be working for the Pirate Queen Adela. Jayme pursues him and declares she has slain him.

  In Norin, they go to the home of Lord Erion Le’Dan (an old friend of the Solaris family), there Vi learns that Jayme is the daughter of Daniel Taffl—a renowned fighter in the Golden Guard and previously presumed dead. Jayme says her father kept his life a secret for the sake of peace following the fall of the Mad King Victor.

  With Erion’s help, they slip out of Norin on a ship. The plan was to use black market trade to get Vi and Jayme to Meru. But Jayme is revealed to have been working Adela all along because she resents Vi and her family for the hardship her father has endured. Vi ends up killing Jayme and is taken hostage by Adela. There, she confirms that Adela has her father, Aldrik, prisoner.

  Vi manages to escape and jumps overboard. She washes up on the shores of Meru where Taavin finds her.

  Book 3 - Failed Future

  Vi and Taavin are on the run from both Fallor (Adela’s right hand man) and Lord Ulvarth (leader of the Sword of Light, the strong arm of the Faithful).

  They flee into the Twilight forest, but Taavin is gravely injured. Seeking medical attention, Vi goes in search of the m
orphi and their Twilight Kingdom. She finds a tree that has been split by Raspian’s red lightning and is distorting reality. Using this, she sneaks through the shift (a type of magic) that protects the Twilight Kingdom. She notices shards of obsidian around her feet that’s similar to the dormant crystals she saw in ruins in the North.

  In the Twilight Kingdom she finds a healer, Sarphos, who agrees to help her and Taavin. He later introduces Vi to King Noct and his warrior daughter Arwin. Noct gives Vi a crystal scythe he has been protecting for centuries because she is Yargen’s Champion. Vi stays in the Twilight Kingdom and trains with Arwin. While there, she learns Arwin is Fallor’s ex lover.

  Arwin, Taavin and Vi head off to free Aldrik from Adela’s clutches. Arwin gets them through the shift protecting Adela’s Isle of Frost. Vi fights Adela for the second time and escapes once more with her father.

  On the seas, they are intercepted by Ulvarth. Arwin shifts into a bird and escapes, but Vi and Aldrik are taken hostage. In Risen, Vi agrees to help Ulvarth for the sake of her father’s life.

  When her and Taavin are working together, Vi unlocks the secret of the watch (causing Taavin great pain). However, now he knows what must be done. She ultimately ends up burning him alive using the Flame of Yargen—like the vision she had at the end of book one. This act turns the vortex once more.

  Between worlds, the Goddess, Yargen, explains to Vi that the vortex has been a cycle of rebuilding the world over and over again. Long ago, the Goddess split her essence into three parts—a spear for her first Champion, the Crystal Caverns to seal Raspian away, and the Flame of Yargen. The Flame held the last of her conscious energy and Yargen is using it to rebuild the world and Vi so that Vi can attempt to make a world that doesn’t end.

  Vi’s body is destroyed with the old world and her consciousness is placed in a new body that Yargen makes in the void between worlds. It is Vi’s mission to see that the crystal weapons are not destroyed and the crystal caverns are not tampered with. This way, Raspian will never be set free and the world will remain safe. Should she fail, the cycle will repeat.

  Vi is placed in the new world to start this mission right before the fall of Norin, about thirty years before when she was born in the timeline of the previous world.

  Book 4 - Sovereign Sacrifice

  Norin is under lockdown to prepare for its final battle. Vi summons Taavin’s consciousness through the watch and Taavin further elaborates that the world she’s now in is a new world and the old is gone.

  Time wasn’t rewound, the world was rebuilt. It looks similar, because it’s on the same “lines of fate” as before. And there are some things, “stones in the river” that can’t be changed. Their job is to change everything around those “stones” to see that the Crystal Caverns aren’t opened.

  He also stresses they must ensure the birth of a new Champion. Because if Vi (who is the 93rd Vi Solaris) fails, then they need a new Vi born (the 94th) to make another attempt at saving the world. If Vi (93) dies without seeing a new Vi (94) born and the world is not saved, then the world will be plunged into an age of darkness where Raspian reigns.

  Vi is trying to process that everyone she once loved is gone when Norin falls. In the final battle she meets up with the Fiera of this world (who has the crystal sword) and is ultimately taken into a prison for Western soldiers.

  After escaping, Vi attends a ball where they announce that Fiera Ci’Dan has been engaged to Emperor Tiberus. There, Vi becomes one of Fiera’s guards, working alongside Zira, and moves into the castle of Norin.

  In the course of her duties she meets Denja, a minister of commerce. Denja is later revealed to be Deneya. In the previous world, Vi met Deneya as one of Queen Lumeria’s guards. In this world, Deneya is a member of Lumera’s Order of Shadows and is tasked with keeping an eye on things on the Dark Isle.

  As wedding preparations pick up, Vi meets with Zira’s daughter, Raylynn. Vi pretends to read Raylynn’s future and tells the girl she’ll defend a golden crown, thinking that Raylynn may look after Prince Baldair and help save him from dying as a teenager (like what happened in her world).

  The wedding happens and the Knights of Jadar attack. Vi manages to save Zira, thwarting a previous vision of Zira’s death. Tiberus and Fiera are all right and Fiera agrees to entrust the sword to Vi.

  Taavin cautions Vi about trying to save people, reminding her of stones in the river of fate. Their differences in opinions on how best to save the world puts them at odds.

  Meanwhile, Vi and Deneya investigate the Knights of Jadar, led by Lord Twintle. However, when Vi has a close encounter with them, she entrusts the sword to Zira to take it far from the West. Vi remains in Norin to ensure Fiera lives through the birth of her son.

  Zira returns because she’s heard word of an attack on Fiera. She’s killed and the Knights steal the sword with the help of Adela. Vi realizes Taavin was right, some things can’t be changed. This prompts Vi to tell Fiera everything Fiera insists on heading to the Crystal Caverns with Vi to help seal them.

  Fiera seals the caverns with a surprisingly innate knowledge of Lightspinning and crystal magic. But when the Knights of Jadar attack, she’s killed. Vi decides on a new plan:

  She will guide future events to make sure the crystal weapons come to the caverns. But rather than being destroyed, and weakening the caverns, she’ll see Yargen’s magic protected. Then, when Yargen is whole once more, the goddess will fight Raspian and the world will finally be free of the vortex.

  Book 5 - Crystal Caged

  Read on to find out how the story ends in the exciting conclusion to Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles…

  The Solaris Empire

  Detailed Map of Meru

  Chapter One

  The black-barked pine in the early morning almost reminded Vi of the Twilight Forest. Morning’s first light glittered through specks of snow overflowing from too-heavy boughs down to shimmering snowdrifts. Vi paused to admire the beams of light, the snowdrifts, the crisp air, and the homey aroma of the fire that plumed smoke out of the chimney of the cabin behind her.

  Each morning, she woke and was greeted by the quiet serenity of nature. For fourteen years, she had indulged in the bounty of this remote corner of the Solaris Empire. But it was all about to come to an end.

  “I think that’s it.” Vi deposited the last of Deneya’s work into the back of the cart attached to Prism—the massive warstrider previously owned by Princess Fiera.

  “Did you get the quiver?” Deneya asked from where she was checking the saddle.

  “I did, and the knife set.” Vi scanned the items in the cart. It was a scant amount, but all of impressive make. At least, she was impressed. Vi had never suspected her elfin companion capable of such craftsmanship, but time and necessity had been the best teachers. While Vi worked on her magic, Deneya had kept her hands busy with leather and steel work.

  Deneya rounded back, yanking on the woolen hat that Vi had knit for her two winters ago to hide her pointed ears, and assessed the load. “I think I’ll fetch some decent coin for that set.”

  “I hope so. I’m tired of roots, pickled vegetables, and trying to cook frozen meat.” Mosant was the nearest town, and they held their market once a month. Whenever Deneya went to market, she always came back with items that, a lifetime ago, Vi would’ve considered trivial. But now they were luxuries beyond compare.

  “At least frozen meat doesn’t go bad,” Deneya said. In the summers, they had to either slowly smoke and dry their meat, or store it deep in the perpetually frozen caves of the mountains. “In a few months, when you’re lamenting over meat gone foul because of the heat, I’ll bet you’ll be begging for next winter to arrive.”

  “Probably.” Then again, Vi didn’t expect to see next winter in this cabin.

  Fourteen years they had lived in the woods at the far foot of the mountain that housed the Crystal Caverns. Fourteen years, and Vi still looked the same as she had when she’d first woken in this world. Save for the length of
her hair. It was now down to her waist, usually woven into a simple, thick braid.

  On the inside, however, Vi felt a world away from the young woman she’d been.

  She’d learned to survive on her own, and how to go with and without. She’d learned how cold a night without shelter could be, what hunger really meant, what necessity could teach a person. She learned all the things a princess would’ve never been taught—all the things a princess would never have needed to know.

  “I’ll see what I can find for us,” Deneya said, jolting Vi from her thoughts. “I have a trinket for the tavern owner. Maybe she’ll spoil us with some roast hare again.”

  “We can only hope.”

  “You going up today?” Deneya’s attention turned to the narrow path near their cabin that cut through the mountains.

  “Of course.” Vi touched the watch that never left her neck. It was tarnished and scratched, no longer the mirror surface Taavin had given her.

  “Go on, then, while it’s light and you can see the ice on the paths,” Deneya encouraged.