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CADE
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How surreal.
This must’ve been a dream.
Right, that was it—Cade was definitely still dreaming.
A thick fog of exhaustion and lingering pain made his eyes slip in and out of focus. He tried to shake the sleepy haze out of his head, but it didn’t work. He felt loopy, like he’d had too much ale, and he kept blinking in an effort to wake up from what was obviously a dream.
Before him, a beautiful woman stood with an aura of regal authority. Her dark feathered crown and flowing gown gave her an air of shadowy elegance, like a warrior queen from the stories he’d heard as a boy. She held a slender, enchanted scepter, its dark metal glinting as the gemstone at its tip pulsed with an eerie glow. Tendrils of dark magic coiled around her fingers as she summoned raw energy into her palm, the shifting shadows crackling with power.
If this were real, Cade would’ve been terrified.
He stared into the churning magic in her hand and began to laugh. It was a deep, gut-clenching sound at odds with his predicament. The chuckles echoed throughout the vaulted chamber, tears streaming down his eyes while he looked up at his executioner.
“Explain yourself, thief.” The woman frowned and slammed her scepter’s long handle into the ground at her feet.
The world shook, and that cleared the lingering fog from Cade’s mind. He snapped awake and, with a cold shiver of dread, realized this was absolutely real.
He was staring Scorn in the face.
A she-orc who’d remained in the shadows stepped forward, arms held at the ready over a pair of tomahawks. Scorn ignored her, who Cade could now see was decorated with the regalia of a commander. The orc’s dark eyes burned with venomous hate as she waited for her goddess to call for his tongue. Or his head.
“Explain!” The deity screamed.
The very walls shook with the force of her voice.
“This is exactly what happened in my dream,” Cade admitted. “But to be honest, I’m starting to think I wasn’t dreaming at all.”
Time to think of a way out of this mess.
Inwardly, he reminded himself of the most timeless truth. There were only two ways out of a corner: lying, and prayer.
Unfortunately, he was not the religious sort.
“I swear on all the gold in this world.” Cade began to weave his lie, the threads of his plan forming even as he spoke. “You were right there, just like you are, and instead of demanding my screams, you were demanding we replace what was lost. I mean, even my team was chained up like animals before you, just like we are now. Oh, I’m Cade Stormhollow, by the way, at your service. And might I say that you are looking particularly cruel today? And is that a new gauntlet? Scary.”
While he spoke, Cade glanced over at the immaculately dressed woman who stood behind Scorn. Though in the throne room of a powerful deity, she bore a pendant of the Fateweavers. His eyes narrowed as understanding dawned. She was one of the legendary sirens, oracles the god Destiny patroned and then bargained off to the various gods.
He could work with that.
“I can tell you don’t believe me,” Cade managed to say with a lazy smile. “So ask your siren. Surely, she can distinguish between the desperate whims of a mortal and the winds of fates, or whatever it is that whispers in their ears.” He gave the woman a quizzical lift of an eyebrow. “I’m assuming they speak into your ears. Gods, I hope it’s the ears.”
The scepter’s glow diminished. Scorn screeched loudly and clawed her open hand at the air. Five jagged tears appeared in the curtains behind Cade and his crew, and stone crumbled to dust only to fall atop their exposed heads. The goddess breathed raggedly but then waved her hand at the siren.
“Morana,” Scorn hissed barely above a whisper. “Is what he said fate or fallacy?”
The siren stepped forward, her golden dress a trail of light that contrasted the obsidian steps she descended. She knelt in front of Cade, her seductive form like a dagger held to his throat.
Morana smiled slowly, and her eyes closed. For several minutes, there was silence. Cade glanced between her and the goddess, wondering what in the hells was about to happen.
Then, she began to sing.
“The thief moves swift, in shadow’s veil,
he takes, but leaves a bitter trail.
what’s stolen, he will soon replace—
with ruin wrapped in dark embrace.”
Cade stared at the gorgeous woman along with everyone else, breathless from her stunning performance. Only Scorn appeared unaffected by Morana’s captivating voice.
“Explain,” the queen of this temple demanded. “And be quick about it.”
“Well,” Morana said as her eyes glinted with steel. “This thief cannot give back what he stole, but there is a chance he might restore what was lost.”
“How likely?” Scorn clarified as her knuckles turned bone white across the dark scepter.
“The fates do not say, your Divinity. But I sense he, of all those who have come before, might just manage.”
Without so much as a glance back at Cade, Morana stood and returned to her position by the throne.
Scorn stared at Cade, unflinching as she appeared to consider her next move. Pressure built in the room. It started as an itch behind the thief’s eyes, but quickly intensified into a primal roar just beyond what he could directly hear or see.
Bones crunched as Scorn’s head snapped to the side, her head perpendicular to the ground. Those abyssal eyes of hers never wavered from where Cade silently assessed the goddess. Jer yelped in shock at the impossible angle the deity’s head was at, but no one moved.
Cade waited.
Though disgust roiled in his stomach, Cade knew the hook was there, dangling just beyond the goddess’ lips. If she took the bait, they might just get out of here.
If he read her correctly, Scorn’s greed would outweigh her vengeance. It was true of every god he knew of. He just had to prove they were up to the task.
“You,” Scorn barked as she turned on Orro. Her head whipped upright with another cascade of bone-jarring noises. “Tell me your name.”
At first, his mouth remained tightly shut. He glared at her in the tense silence, and she bristled at his indignation.
“Orro,” he eventually said.
“What do you say, then?” The goddess continued. “Can you recover another Remnant? Or should I just cut off your head as the price for crossing me, and then send your underlings to fetch it for me? As their leader, you will suffer the consequences of whatever happens.”
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“I—” Orro started, but Cade cut him off.
“Oh, uh…” Cade cleared his throat. “He doesn’t lead this crew. I do.”
Cade would not let his friends die. If an axe fell, he would be sure it stopped at his head.
“No, I’m the leader!” Elena barked. “If you want to set an example for these animals, kill me! That’ll teach them!”
“She’s just our lockpick and local whiner,” Jer shouted over her. “I’m the leader! You can tell because I was remaining silent while my underlings spoke for me! Kill me instead!”
“A leader always pulls the strings from afar,” Rayka argued, and Cade’s blood froze when he heard her comforting voice. “That’s why I, Rayka Stormhollow, am the true leader. Don’t trust what these scoundrels I hired say. You want the mastermind, you come for me.”
Cade couldn’t believe his ears. He glanced back at his friends. His family. And though nausea churned wilder with each motion he made, he got to his knees in front of the throne.
“Everyone, that’s enough,” Cade said firmly.
He scanned the others, and each of them watched him with wide eyes. His voice was even, with a hint of warning that made it clear he didn’t want anyone else to take this on.
Just him.
Cade returned his attention to the goddess before them. “If you need revenge, then I’m the one you should kill. I absorbed whatever that gods-forsaken magic was, anyways.” Cade’s eyes went wide as he realized his possible blunder. “No offense, of course.”
“Hmm.” Scorn hummed quietly to herself as she glared at him. Her finger tapped against her soot-black lips, and those wicked eyes narrowed. A shadow flickered behind her eyes, so quick Cade barely caught it. “Very well, little thief. The power you stole cannot be retrieved. So, it shall be something of equal value that you steal for me, mortal.”
Cade’s nose burned all of a sudden. Even though he had no idea what the hells that was about, he tried to stay focused on Scorn.
“Anything you want,” Cade promised. “We hear Prosperity’s courts have really poor security. If you’ve had your eye on his wares, we’d be more than happy to acquire them for you.”
He was so close to closing the deal. He could feel it. The bait was there, the trap set. Just a few more tiny pushes, and they might just walk out of here alive.
Scorn raised one skeptical eyebrow. “You truly think you can steal from the goddess of Life?”
Oh, shit.
“Of course,” Cade lied, even though a cold pang of dread shot through his gut. “Heists are our specialty.”
The goddess narrowed her eyes as she studied him, and the silence stretched on for a moment too long. It took effort for him to maintain eye contact and exude an air of confidence that could reassure such a powerful being… especially since he wasn’t sure he could pull this off.
All that mattered, though, was getting his crew to safety.
“Very well,” Scorn said, her voice husky and low. “You will steal a Remnant of equal power, mortal. It resides within Elysia, and my spies inform me it is somewhere beneath that bitch’s infernal tournament grounds. Life has kept it secret there for ages now, and I think it’s high time someone put it to good use.”
Scorn tapped her scepter on the obsidian, as if to say their deal was complete, and Cade felt his bones rattle.
His core raged at the pressure, and it finally lashed out. Heat rushed up his throat, aching as it fought for a way out. The stifling irritation in his nostrils reached a tipping point as his vision flashed with red.
Then he sneezed lava.
It blossomed over the steps that led up to the dais, magma hissing as it ate through the stone. Orro took in a sharp breath while Elena cursed loudly.
Cade’s lightning-blue eyes stung from the heat, but other than that, he was unharmed.
“Terribly sorry,” he commented lightly, even as Scorn’s throne room reverberated with the sound of melting stone. “You can take that out of our fee.”
“My coffers will not suffer from your hands, thief,” Scorn intoned with brutal finality.
She raised her scepter and dark lightning coiled around it.
“In fact, your vows will hardly suffice either. I shall take what you seem to hold most dear, mortal.” She stared at Orro. “You seem attached to this one. A lover, perhaps?”
“What?!” Orro and Cade shouted in unison. “No!”
“Brother, then, or friend,” Scorn said with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “It doesn’t matter. Fail me, and both yours and his eternal suffering is mine to claim. Succeed, and you can dash under any felled log you deem fit for the rest of your pitiful existence.”
Her scepter flashed.
“Now, thief,” she said, her voice dark with an unspoken warning. “Tell me your name.”
“Cade Stormhollow,” he said before any of his team could step up and take the heat for what was happening.
The moment he spoke, lightning shot from the scepter and raced across the open space between them. It lanced into his left arm. Lines of fire and agony etched themselves across his skin. They gouged through his flesh like paper, burning a sigil into his very being.
“I curse you, Cade Stormhollow.” Scorn’s voice took on a touch of formality, even as her lightning continued to rage across his arm. “If you fail to retrieve the Remnant that Life has buried beneath her arena, you are mine. Your soul is mine. Death will not be your escape should this fate come to pass. Succeed, and the curse shall be lifted.”
Like poison resting on the surface of stagnant water, the lightning cooled just beneath his skin. The tattoo that belied its presence was jagged and cruel. It crossed in wild patterns up the back of his hand and past his elbow, dark ink mixed with an angry indigo.
Worse than anything, though, was the garish glow of Scorn’s magic on his skin. It was almost blinding.
Cade cursed under his breath. The artistry was awful.
“Hmm,” Scorn hummed to herself, as though considering something for the first time. “And to ensure you do as you’re told, you have until the first day of winter to finish this little errand for me.”
Damn it.
He hated deadlines.
“Out of curiosity, what happens if I need to push back the timeline a bit?” he asked.
“You die,” Scorn said flatly.
Oh. A real deadline.
He gulped.
“Unlatch their chains, Helga,” Scorn commanded.
The orc, who’d returned to the shadows at some point, reemerged and descended the steps, careful to avoid the vestiges of magma Cade had coughed up.
With cold eyes, she unlocked each of their chains while Morana and Scorn watched on with aloof expressions.
“Go to Elysia,” Scorn waved a clawed hand and the twin doors behind them slammed open. “Steal the Remnant, or the curse will draw that thief's soul back to me—and I always take what I am owed.”
Cade’s knees screamed in protest as he tried to stand. He slowly got to his feet but wavered there. The pain and exhaustion of that supernatural ordeal overwhelmed him. Worse, he really needed to sneeze again.
Two pairs of arms helped him stabilize on his feet, and he looked around to see Jer and Orro help him exit the goddess’ throne room. The second they were past the doors, they creaked shut behind them.
Rayka ran up to Cade, tears welling at the edges of her eyes. Before he could tell her how happy he was that his sister was still alive, she slapped him across the face.
Hard.
With a sob, she tackled him with a hug so tight it nearly broke his ribs. Jer and Orro were forced to brace against the onrush of affectionate attacks.
“Why do you always have to make it about yourself?” Rayka wept into his chest. “Going around sacrificing yourself to save the rest of us?! Stop hogging all the glory and let us take the fall sometime, okay?”
“No promises, little sister,” Cade whispered into her hair as he held her tight.
“We need to go,” Orro said, breaking up the reunion.
As the team emerged from the oppressive shadows of the dark goddess’s temple, the sunlight hit them with a wave of warmth. After all that time beneath the cold, suffocating weight of stone and ancient curses, the open air felt surreal. The soft rustle of leaves filled the air as a gentle breeze rushed by, a stark contrast to the eerie silence they had left behind. Dust swirled in golden shafts of light as they stepped into the meadow.
The fresh air filled Cade’s lungs with a sense of fragile relief.
When they were out of the accursed temple, Elena addressed Cade with concern written plainly in her eyes. “So, boss, what’s the first stop on our totally fucked new job?”
“Yeah,” Jer said hesitantly. “How in the hells are we going to steal from Life?! She is the most powerful goddess that exists!”
Cade looked at each member of his team, a lump forming in his throat as he finally allowed the full extent of what happened that day settle on his shoulders.
Before he could answer, a tiny scaled creature darted from the treeline and slammed into Cade’s chest. Pain and flames burst out of Cade’s shout of surprise as Bunny wrestled him to the ground, covering every inch of his face with warm licks of his forked tongue.
“Damn!” Jer and Elena yelled in unison at the bouncing cloudrift dragon. Bunny, for his part, shifted his mood in a heartbeat. His exuberance soured into hurt judgment and it was all Cade could do not to coo at his wounded friend.
“It’s alright, buddy,” Cade spoke softly and opened his palm to the noble beast. “I’m okay. I’m never leaving you again.”
Bunny rested his chin in Cade’s offered hand and all was right in the world.
From where Cade knelt, still cuddling his serpentine companion, he finally answered his team’s question.
“Booze,” he finally said, his body still aching from all it had endured. “Our first stop is booze.”