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War of the Never: Tales of the Neverwar, #3
War of the Never: Tales of the Neverwar, #3
War of the Never: Tales of the Neverwar, #3
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War of the Never: Tales of the Neverwar, #3

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This is the end of the end. 

Tenybris is free from his prison, and the planet of Sanctuary is the first to face his hunger. His hunt for the dragon eggs begins. If he gains them, and the magic, everything will wish for death. 

In the Glade, Evil has shown its face at last. Gwenyth, the only human in the Lands, stands no chance against the power of the Darkness. How can she save the race she has come to love? 

With the fall of the Veil, the magic escapes to flood the universe, and the first stop is Earth. What can Katheryne and the others do to save her world and the rest of reality? 

Is this the end? 

War of the Never is the last book in the Tales of the Neverwar trilogy, a young adult adventure with ancient dragon battles, faerie magic, combined with alternate universe science fiction.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherCJ Rutherford
Release dateMar 1, 2016
ISBN9781536585858
War of the Never: Tales of the Neverwar, #3
Author

CJ Rutherford

CJ Rutherford has always been a story teller, even if they started out in his mind only. He grew up on a farm in very rural Ireland, and was left pretty much to his own devices most of the time. ​So, he invented his own world, with fairies, trolls, and other mystical creatures. ​His stories stayed with him throughout his life, sometimes scrawled down on scraps of paper, and occasionally brought to life in a sketch (although he’s the first to admit what he drew and what you might see might not bear any similarity to each other.) ​Along came two daughters, and at last he had an outlet for his imagination. As the girls grew up they were enthralled by the characters and the worlds their father created. He even brought them to life in his fantasy world, and they never knew when he sat down to tell them their bed-time story, whether they would be fighting a dragon or playing with one. ​But time moves on, and daughters grow up, and soon enough, CJ needed another way to tell his tales. The rest, as they say, is history…or the future, depending on how you look at it. Tales of the Neverwar is a unique fantasy series, spanning two worlds, one of magic and one of science. Millennia ago, magic was hidden to prevent it being used by an ancient evil malevolence to conquer the universe. Now, the spell hiding it is failing, and the magical land of Teralia is about to re-enter our world. The Darkness, banished for thousands of years, awakens as the magic grows stronger, and searches for a way to use this new magic, this 'science', to free itself from the prison entombing it. 20-year-old Katheryn’s ordinary life is turned upside down when she discovers she’s the only thing standing between survival, and the destruction of everything she loves. So begins a desperate battle across time, space, and multiple dimensions, as magic collides with science in an ancient battle for supremacy…for whoever controls the magic, wins the war.

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    War of the Never - CJ Rutherford

    War of the Never

    Book Three

    in the

    Tales of the Neverwar

    Books in the series:

    Origins of the Never

    Souls of the Never

    Worlds of the Never

    This is a work of fiction. Magic is returning. Is there magic in your world? Look around, you may be surprised.

    HERE...NOW

    Mommy, look. Four-year-old Alex reached behind to tug his mother's jumper, unable to take his eyes away from the window. His mother’s hand swatted his away.

    But, Mom, it's magic. You gotta look, he pleaded, but mom wasn't interested. She turned back to the stewardess, who looked at the family with a plastic smile.

    The stewardess picked up a glass and began to fill it with ice. She was young, and took care not to drop any ice cubes down her pristine white shirt, but she hesitated as a shiver passed through the aircraft. She was used to turbulence, but this was different, something akin to an electric shock, and she felt the hairs on her arms stand on end. She looked up the aisle into the confused eyes of the senior flight attendant on board the Air America flight. The plane was flying at thirty seven thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean. This would be a really bad time for anything to go wrong.

    Something flashed past the window. Alex’s mother, Heather, leaned over her young son’s shoulder as she gasped, can of club soda falling un-noticed into her lap. Shouts and expletives filled the cabin, as the passengers noticed, at last, what Alex first glimpsed.

    They were half-way into a six hour flight from Heathrow to Orlando, Florida. Alex and his family had spent two weeks sightseeing around London. The boy loved the open topped bus tours, but his highlight had been the Armed Forces museum. Alex enjoyed seeing the different things England had to offer. Heather was glad she’d talked Martin, her husband, into choosing a more cultural destination for their holiday.

    It was a pity he had to cut his holiday short, and fly home the day before. He was a scientist, carrying out work for the military. He couldn’t talk about it, but Heather wondered if his recall was something to do with what was happening now.

    Heather wanted to be home and safe on US soil. She looked out the rounded portal of toughened glass and plastic. Around her, the world was in turmoil. A huge expanse of multi-colored energy stretched as far as the eye could see, along the curvature of the Earth below. Lightning danced across the horizon, fading into the distance. As more people noticed, crowding around the windows, the bing of the seatbelt sign preceded the crackle of the PA system.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. The voice was strained and shaking. Please return to your seats right away, and fasten your seat belts. I am announcing a flight emergency. Reach below your seats and put on your lifejackets. The flight attendants will pass up and down the aircraft if anyone needs assistance. Be assured, we are in no immediate danger, but for obvious reasons, I want to be sure we’re ready for anything. I’ll keep you updated with any news. Please, stay calm, and remain seated.

    Heather felt a scream rising in her throat, but she clung onto Alex as she tried her best to squash it down. She didn’t want to panic her son. Perhaps it was the stoic and unflinching British passengers on board, but a hush came over the plane, everyone doing their best to remain calm. She could tell from the wary glances and stiff postures that the passengers were scared as hell. The flight attendants walked slowly and calmly up and down the cabin, smiling all the time. Heather saw the fear in their eyes, hiding beneath the veneer of professionalism. Perhaps it’ll all be fine, she thought. Her breathing steadied, and looking out the window again, she was just in time to see a tendril of lightning reach up from the rainbow surface below. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized it was the wrong color. Lightning wasn’t red, was it? Bolts of energy snaked across the port wing, causing sparks to light up the cabin. A huge impact rocked the airframe, blowing a hole two feet wide in the tip of the port wing. A spider web of electricity passed inwards, across the surface of the wing. The airframe shook violently, before the plane was pitched into darkness. Heather heard the whine of the engines begin to wind down, and bit on her lip to stifle a scream.

    Mommy, I’m scared. Alex cried.

    The plane lurched, plummeting downwards with a force that lifted the unsecured flight attendants off their feet and threw them like rag dolls against the roof and over-head compartments. Screams filled the cabin, as the panic bubbling beneath the surface eventually broke free.

    IN THE COCKPIT, THE pilot and co-pilot sat in total darkness, gaping at the dark consoles before them. This aircraft, a Boeing 777-400, was state of the art in every way. It was one of the first commercial aircraft to employ ‘fly-by-wire’ technology, where computers passed any movement of the conventional yoke and pedal arrangement to the control surfaces of the plane. Everything was dead; the displays, indicators, the computers, were all gone. The pilot glanced at the co-pilot, seeing his own fear reflected in the other’s eyes. Without the displays, they might have managed. Without the computers, they had no way to control the aircraft.

    After a few seconds, however, the Senior Captain’s training kicked in, and he grasped the yoke. He rested his feet on the rudder pedals and turned to his junior co-pilot.

    Pull the mechanical bypass. I need to see if I can level this bitch out. The plane rolled to port. The damaged wing couldn’t generate the lift required. The bypass. Now!

    The shocked co-pilot shook himself out of the funk of terror, and reached to the overhead console. He grabbed a red T-shaped lever, and looked across at his captain who nodded. He pulled the lever.

    The controls bucked violently under the pilot’s hands. Control was passed from the now defunct computers systems, to the arrangement of rods and cables used to fly a conventional aircraft. Grab hold. Help me pull up!

    The co-pilot saw his friend’s arm muscles bunch as he strained to pull the wheel towards him. He took his controls and applied his own strength. Slowly, degree by degree, the aircraft’s roll halted. The mechanical dial of the artificial horizon wavered as another shudder caused a further slip to port, but the two pilots fought the battle of their lives. They won this one, as the plane levelled out. They were still losing altitude, but at least they were back in control.

    Sweat rolled down their faces. The engines were dead, the electricity to feed the fuel into them now gone. The mechanical dial on the twin overhead altimeters was spinning rapidly anit-clockwise, passing through eleven thousand feet, but they couldn’t pull up any further. To do so would stop the air flowing over the wings, risking a stall, which would turn the plane from a glider into a very expensive brick. The view from ahead was filled with the glittering, lightning swept surface of the phenomenon that caused their current predicament.

    You know, it’s actually kinda beautiful, said the young co-pilot, breathing heavily.

    His senior snorted. Yeah, I suppose so. It’s just unfortunate that it’s probably going to kill us all on impact. He reached across to grasp his friend’s hand. It’s been a pleasure.

    SANCTUARY-IN ORBIT

    Tenybris strode down the corridor, stooping as he passed through the molten mess of the security bulkhead. His seven foot form barely fit through an opening designed for smaller creatures. He kept his true form; humanoid, with long ebony hair and impossibly dark eyes, but anyone beholding this being would know his appearance held a terrible force inside. Malevolence emanated from him, and even as the crew fought futilely, they battled an overwhelming terror that leeched the courage from their souls.

    The magical shield around him flashed with the impact of thousands of projectiles bouncing futilely off it. The doorway at the end led into a large open area filled with tables and chairs.

    Along one side was a serving area, still littered with steaming dishes. Tenybris hadn’t actually eaten in millennia; the souls he consumed provided all the sustenance he required, but the smell of the alien food invoked a different hunger. One he hadn’t felt for such a long time.

    Visions of feasts from his early years came unbidden to his mind. Memories of beasts, roasting on a spit above an open fire, caused his mouth to water.

    What is wrong with me? he thought. I don’t need this. I am above such lowly needs. I am a god!

    With a gesture, the food disappeared, but a tiny voice sounded in his head. ‘If you’re above such lowly needs, why did you send the source of the need away?’

    Tenybris shook his head, banishing the voice, wondering where it originated. It was familiar, but impossible; no, the owner of that voice died a long time ago. He took in his surroundings. Whilst his shield was under assault from the corridor behind, the area ahead was empty. He suspected this was a trap. He smiled mirthlessly, his eyes narrowing.  These pitiful insects thought they could defeat him.

    Openings from other corridors fed into the hall. Tenybris stopped abruptly as an armored figure stepped out from one of them, running headlong towards him. Flame erupted from some sort of shoulder mounted weapon, and the shield flared as the rocket exploded. The man didn’t stop, however, and flung himself at Tenybris, hammering uselessly at the barrier. Tenybris heard the whining of the motors strain as the figure sought to reach him with a physical assault, but even his exo-skeleton enhanced strength couldn’t reach the figure inside.

    Tenybris sneered as he reached out a hand toward the soldier. He dimly perceived more of the armored forms entering from the other corridors, to cover him from all angles.  It was time for a statement.

    A flick of his Elven wrist started an ungodly scream of pain to emit from the figure attacking him. Blue flames shot out of the joints where the neck met the head. The speaker attached to the armored helmet flew out, bouncing off the bulkhead as flames erupted from the opening. The visor lit up from within as the soldier burned in his suit.

    Tenybris lifted the figure off the ground, impervious to the magical fire. The elbow and knee joints of the suit glowed, and the surface of the breastplate cracked.

    Another gesture and the suit flew through the air, knocking two of the others to the deck. Tenybris felt their terror as they watched their companion’s life wink out. The suit of armor melted into the deck plate, becoming a puddle of metal mixed with blood and bone.

    He walked forward, reaching into the mass to wrench the man’s skull from his shoulders.

    Tenybris cast a spell. Everyone throughout the fleet could now hear him and see the scene before him. I will burn each and every one of you. His voice filled the ship, as did the vision he held in his hand. The burnt flesh dripped off the soldier’s skull. Everyone aboard had the stench of seared flesh in their nostrils.  "You have seen what is happening below on the planet. It is only my need for these... ships, that keeps your pitiful souls within your bodies."

    To demonstrate, he took the souls of the two crewmen closest to him. Their companions watched in horror as the man and woman grasped their heads. They screamed. The sounds echoed off the bulkheads, amplifying it and feeding it back to their comrades.

    Dread and hopelessness filled the two victims’ hearts as the spell spread its rot, ripping the life from every cell of their body; tears of pain and loss ran down their faces as their eyes widened in shock and denial. They looked around pleadingly at their stricken crewmates and friends, begging them to save them. As they collapsed on the deck, the cries reduced to a mewling sound, dying as their essence was stolen. 

    The loss of a soul was horrible to witness, but even worse was seeing the animated shell stand up afterwards; once a person they had all known, only lifeless husks remained. Their former friends retreated, terrified of what they’d become.

    Tenybris laughed. The effect was like glass shattering. Now, who’s next? He turned to the group of armored figures ahead, smiling as his eyes narrowed. His arm shot out.

    Wait! The shout came over the internal speakers. All hands stand down and withdraw.

    Tenybris lowered his hand, halting the spell, and watched as the soldiers retreated into the corridors. Within seconds he was alone, except for the two soulless husks.

    A robotic drone appeared from above, hovering in front of Tenybris. A holographic projector activated and a tall, grey haired man appeared. His face was drawn and his blue eyes red-rimmed. I’m Admiral C’aan. We surrender. Please...don’t kill any more of my people.

    Tenybris blinked. Instead of standing on the bridge of the ship, half a kilometre away, C’aan stood in person before him. The admiral looked around in confusion for an instant, before his eyes settled on Tenybris. The Elf seethed inside; he barely restrained the urge to take this man’s soul. Tenybris bit back his fury. He needed him; for now at least.

    When he arrived on the planet below, the leadership assembled to meet him. He remembered the pitiful aura of pride they exuded, thinking their actions had released him from his prison to save them. Tenybris smiled, recalling the expression on their faces as he consumed their leader. Their terror mounted as he took them, one by one, leeching their life-force into him, along with all their knowledge and memories.

    He still didn’t know how his escape had come about. He knew the Beast had carried out his plan, back on the blue planet, but he was supposed to return to Teralia, not Sanctuary. Even now, he felt the trickle of magic infuse his being, but this trickle should be a flood. Somehow, something had happened to foil his plan. The Beast was silent, most likely gone, he accepted.

    The knowledge inside him assured him the mighty portal machines, that allowed travel to everywhere in reality, would take months to reactivate, if indeed they could be.

    The Liberi had been his next objective. If he could consume and use their ability to create portals between worlds, he could escape Sanctuary, and follow the taste of magic back to its source.

    The capture of the Liberi eluded him. He seethed, as he remembered the first time he encountered one. The soul stealing spell rebounded, causing a wave of nausea to pass through him. The young warrior had pounced on him, ripping her nails down his cheek, causing the first physical harm to his body in eons. His slaves had swamped the warrior, hundreds of bodies overcoming and ripping her apart. The child was no more than nine or ten years of age, and Tenybris had so looked forward to the sweet taste of innocence. His inability to even sense the soul confused him. Worse, was the refusal of the loosened soul upon death to obey his will. It didn’t pass into the Never. The soul went somewhere else. Tenybris had no idea where.

    He shrugged, bringing himself back to the present. His hunger was sated and his power grew. He knew that until he regained the link with the Darkness, he would have but a shadow of his former might. His blood sang with the magic that seeped slowly back into his soul; too slowly. The Veil still existed. He would have to take direct action. Without the portal machines and the Liberi, these ships were the only way off this world.

    Tenybris grasped C’aan by the throat, bringing him close enough to smell the salt of his tears. He recalled a memory from the planet below, feeding it back into the admiral’s mind. Two screaming children held in a female’s arms before she leapt at her attackers. Your wife was very brave, Admiral. She fought for a time, attempting to save your children.

    Tenybris grinned at the wide eyed fury he stoked. In the end, all she succeeded in doing was to give them a ringside seat for her murder. It scared them, Admiral. They cried and screamed. For as long as it took me to consume them.

    Tenybris released his grip. The admiral slumped to his knees, sobbing as the image of his children rising soulless, to stand and fight in Tenybris’s, army filled his head. Throughout the fleet, people stiffened and cried. They witnessed similar scenes of their own families being consumed.

    I have their souls! screamed Tenybris in everyone’s head. Serve me, and they may one day be returned to you, whole. Defy me, and you will watch as I torture and consume your loved ones, one by one.

    Tenybris smiled. It was all a lie. The souls he took were his. Their essence fuelled his rising power. He would never give them up.

    He felt the despair and reluctant acceptance pass through the ships. He had them. Now, he just had to destroy the Veil, and renew his link with the pit. But first, there was a problem on the planet below.

    Admiral! The man looked up with red rimmed eyes. These ships have weapons that will destroy whole cities, do they not?

    The man hesitated, seeming for a second to want to resist. Then he bowed his head. We have several methods to destroy targets from orbit...

    Tenybris watched as the admiral struggled how to address the being before him. You may call me, Master, he said. The title his Beast had used was familiar, and suited the situation.

    C’aan’s eyes narrowed for the briefest instant.

    Tenybris saw the hesitation, but did nothing. A nagging feeling within made him pity this insignificant worm. In the early days of his conquest he might have just taken the soul and used the terror to provoke obedience from below. Now? The voice whispered to his subconscious. Was sparing him weak? Tenybris was conflicted. Besides, he needed him and his ships right now.

    There is a city on the southern continent, here. He flashed the location into the admiral’s brain. I want it destroyed. Now!

    C’aan bowed, any thoughts of defiance gone, as he raised his wrist comm to issue the order. He couldn’t know the reason for Tenybris being here, using the ships weapons to do what he could not.

    Below, in the city he targeted, were the remains of the Liberi. Only a few dozen remained on planet, the rest having been overwhelmed as individuals. These others, however, had organised themselves, and were defending the city as they evacuated the populace though their portals. It was slow. There were millions of

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