Conrad Edison and the First Power Read online

  Conrad Edison and the First Power

  Overworld Arcanum Book Five

  John Corwin

  Contents

  Books by John Corwin

  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

  About the Author

  Books by John Corwin

  Books by John Corwin

  THE OVERWORLD CHRONICLES

  Sweet Blood of Mine

  Dark Light of Mine

  Fallen Angel of Mine

  Dread Nemesis of Mine

  Twisted Sister of Mine

  Dearest Mother of Mine

  Infernal Father of Mine

  Sinister Seraphim of Mine

  Wicked War of Mine

  Dire Destiny of Ours

  Aetherial Annihilation

  Baleful Betrayal

  Ominous Odyssey

  Insidious Insurrection

  Assignment Zero (An Elyssa Short Story)

  OVERWORLD UNDERGROUND

  Possessed By You

  Demonicus

  OVERWORLD ARCANUM

  Conrad Edison and the Living Curse

  Conrad Edison and the Anchored World

  Conrad Edison and the Broken Relic

  Conrad Edison and the Infernal Design

  Conrad Edison and the First Power

  STAND ALONE NOVELS

  Mars Rising

  No Darker Fate

  The Next Thing I Knew

  Outsourced

  For the latest on new releases, free ebooks, and more, join John Corwin's Newsletter at www.johncorwin.net!

  OVERWORLD OVERTHROWN

  Victus Edison controls the Overworld.

  On the run from wandslingers, bounty hunters, and the brutal magitsu master, Garkin, Conrad feels powerless to put an end to the nightmare. Nightliss, Ivy, and the other Seraphim they rescued from Victus's demon foundry can't use magic, and even if they could, Victus has an army of battle mages and monsters ready to crush them.

  But a voice from the past may be the key to saving the future. Conrad discovers a link to a power passed down from Moses that might help him overcome impossible odds. If he can survive long enough to wield it, there is one last hope for the resistance.

  The first power.

  Chapter 1

  Two strangers flew into the small Colombian town of Los Angeles just after lunchtime. They landed their flying carpets outside El Rey Del Tequila, the lone cantina in the middle of town, and went inside.

  "Howdy, barkeep." The man with icy blue eyes sat at the bar, placed his wide-brimmed hat on the counter, and said, "I'd like some sweet iced tea, if you don't mind."

  His female companion removed a similar hat. A long brown ponytail spilled out down her back. "Make that two." Her genteel southern accent danced on a razor's edge.

  The bartender shook his head. "Sorry, we no have tea, senor and senora." He pointed a thumb to the right. "Cafeteria, por favor."

  The man flashed his teeth. "Very well. Dos cervezas."

  The bartender looked back and forth between the pair, then filled two mugs with beer and placed them on the bar. Neither of the strangers touched their drinks. Instead, they turned in their chairs and surveyed the cantina.

  The man wore an immaculately groomed beard and a crop of thick hair above shaved temples. Tattoos snaked from beneath his shirt and around his neck, curling into strange patterns that seemed to move of their own accord. The woman gripped the beer mug and took a long draw, revealing tattoos radiating from the back of her hand and along her fingers.

  My stomach twisted in knots as I watched the scene from the relative safety of a house not more than a hundred yards from the cantina. I looked up from the screen on the arctablet and watched the expressions, or lack thereof, on Kanaan's face. The magitsu master blinked, but betrayed no concern.

  "What are they doing here?" I asked. "Los Angeles, Colombia is in the middle of nowhere."

  "They definitely aren't just passing through." My best friend, Ambria, didn't take her eyes off the screen. "They're up to something."

  My other best friend, Max, frowned. "Maybe they're tourists heading to El Dorado."

  "Doubtful." Kanaan put a hand under his chin. "They have the look of bounty hunters."

  "If that's true, why would they come all the way down here?" I asked.

  "We require mobility. Staying within reach of an arch waystation allows us to travel anywhere." Kanaan studied the people on the screen. "A good bounty hunter knows we would avoid crowded places where watchful eyes could spot us. That leaves only a handful of waystations: El Dorado, Three Sisters, Grand Nexus, to name a few."

  "I hate being on the run." Max turned back to the scene at the bar. "Every time a stranger comes through town, it puts my nerves on edge."

  Kanaan looked down the hallway. The light from an open portal glowed from one of the bedrooms. "I will go to the control room at El Dorado and make sure no one is there."

  An omniarch allowed a portal to be opened anywhere without the need for another arch at the other end. When we'd come into Los Angeles a month ago and requested refuge, the citizens had been happy to help. They'd set us up in the former home of Bella Pizarro, one of the first people to help Justin Slade when he'd stumbled into town all those years ago.

  Kanaan had left a portal open in case we needed a quick getaway, and also as a convenient way to bring through the half-dozen people we'd rescued from my evil father, Victus. While it offered us a means of escape, it also meant that if Victus's people searched the control room, they'd find the active gateway that led straight to us.

  The two strangers sat in the cantina for another five minutes then got up and left. I switched to the outside cameras Kanaan had installed around town. The man stopped in the middle of the dusty street, raised his wand, and fired a bolt of light into the air.

  The streak exploded into a shower of colors. Thunder rumbled in the clear sky and the few people in the street stopped walking to stare. The man joined the woman on a white bench outside the grocery store and waited as a crowd slowly gathered.

  Antonio Pena, the local sheriff strode up to the men, a hand resting on the butt of his wand. "Is there something I can help you with?"

  The man stared at the sheriff for a moment without answering. He slid a foil package from within his robes and put a black cigarette in his mouth. The woman flicked her wand and a flame lit the tobacco.

  The man inhaled. Blew out a smoke ring. "Matter of fact, maybe you can." He nodded at his companion and waved a hand toward the sheriff.

  The woman produced a yellowed piece of parchment and unrolled it for all to see. Wanted Dead or Alive. Beneath those words hung a picture of me glaring angrily at the onlookers, and then, Conrad Edison.

  "You seen this boy?" the man asked the sheriff.

  Antonio b
linked a few times. Shook his head and met the eyes of the man. "Who are you?"

  The man stood and brushed off his leather duster. "Talbot and Delilah, at your service."

  "Bounty hunters." It wasn't a question. Antonio gestured at the gathering crowd. "We prefer the quiet life here, my friends. Please, enjoy our hospitality but take your bounty hunting somewhere else."

  Talbot ignored the request. "None of you have seen this boy?" He flashed his teeth around the cigarillo. "A million tinsel for his capture."

  Eyes widened at the large sum, but no one volunteered information.

  "Perhaps you didn't hear me," Antonio said firmly. "That boy is not in our town, and we don't want you bothering us with questions. If you can't abide by my request, you are welcome to leave."

  Delilah slid another parchment from inside her duster and unrolled it to display the image of a glowing orb. I zoomed in so I could read the text beneath it.

  Let it be known that the bearer of this order hereby has the authority to carry out their official duties, granted by the Arcane Council.

  Beneath were the signatures of several council members.

  Talbot pointed his cigarillo at the document. "Says here we can ask questions and do whatever we need to hunt down this dangerous fugitive and his gang."

  "This town hasn't been under the jurisdiction of the Overworld or the Arcane Council since the war," Antonio replied. "That document is as worthless as the parchment it's written on."

  Delilah raised an eyebrow. "You think you're above the law?"

  "Sheriff Pena is the law!" someone in the crowd shouted.

  Talbot's hand blurred to his waist and back up. A magic bullet rippled from the tip of his wand and slammed Pena in the shoulder. The sheriff rocked back a step. Looked down. Blood pooled across his robes. He dropped like a stone.

  Shouts and cries rose from the crowd. Wands came out, glowing with energy.

  Talbot's hand blurred again. Shots rang out. Wands splintered and flew from hands. Delilah fired silvery blasts from her wand, knocking people off their feet but not killing them. The crowd scattered.

  A loud whistle and a shout stopped many of them in their tracks. "Hold it right there," Talbot said. He nudged a groaning Pena with his foot. "Now, unless you want to end up like your sheriff, I recommend you come to your senses and accept my authority."

  "You shot the sheriff!" A woman shouted. "Does the council condone assault?"

  "I reckon they condone just about anything to get Conrad Edison in custody." Talbot grinned and spun his wand. It slid neatly into the holster at his waist without him so much as looking at it. "Just a moment ago, you all felt mighty safe hiding behind your sheriff, thinking there's only two of us and a whole mess of you." He winked at Delilah and she smirked back.

  "We come from a long line of wandslingers." Talbot flicked the wands from the holsters on his hips, spun them up, sideways, threw them in the air, and caught them. In one smooth motion, he slid them back where they came from. "Ain't a one of you here that could best either of us."

  Delilah laughed. "Not even the whole lot of them could."

  "My sister and I are gonna get some sweet iced tea from your cafeteria down the road," Talbot said. "You've got until noon to help us find the fugitives."

  "But we don't have sweet ice tea," someone protested.

  Talbot's eyes flashed. "Then you'd better learn how to make it fast."

  He and his sister unfurled several more parchment posters, tacking each one to the side of the cantina until a row of nefarious faces stared out at the crowd. Each one read the same as mine, but the names and faces were different.

  Maxwell Tiberius, Ambria Rax, Kanaan, Galfandor.

  Ambria gasped. "Oh, no, we're all wanted!"

  "Who are these wandslingers?" Max asked.

  I looked up with a start and realized a crowd had gathered around me—Ambria, Max, Asha, Lily, Baxter, and dangling by a web overhead, Shushiel.

  Asha grimaced. "I've heard of them, but never believed the stories until now."

  "Stories?" Max asked.

  "About how fast they are with their wands." Asha shook her head slowly. "That poor sheriff didn't even have a chance. I'm glad the deputy wasn't around to get shot."

  I turned to watch as Talbot spoke to the populace. "What spell did he use?"

  Asha mimicked a gun with thumb and forefinger. "A bullet spell."

  Max scratched his head. "You mean bullets like noms use in their guns?"

  "Almost." Asha took out her wand and focused on the tip. A small cone of aether gathered. "All it requires is a bit of aether coated by air and a burst of willpower to provide the thrust." She aimed at the wall. The aether zipped through the air, leaving silver ripples in its wake. It thudded into the adobe wall, leaving a small hole.

  "Whoa, it's like a mind bullet," Max said.

  Lily hugged herself. "What do we do now?"

  I'd been thinking about this for a while and seeing the wanted posters only made the decision clearer. "You and Baxter should go home." I kept the camera pointed at the posters. "They don't even know you're with us."

  "Victus killed Harris," Lily said. "He must know we're with you."

  "Victus never saw you with us," I said. "For all he knows, Harris came by himself."

  Baxter shook his head. "But we have to avenge Harris. I can't just let Victus get away with it!"

  "In case you hadn't noticed, we're alone and outnumbered." Max slumped into a nearby chair. "There's no way we're getting near Victus anytime soon."

  "It's not just about being safe," I said. "It's also about having people back at the university to tell us what's going on."

  "You mean spies?" Baxter's eyes lit up. "I can be a spy if it means we can kill your dad."

  I grimaced, but let the unintended barb pass. "That doesn't mean I want you doing something stupid."

  "Conrad, it's me." Lily put a hand on her chest. "I don't do stupid."

  "Then it's settled." I tore my eyes from the arctablet screen and motioned the others to follow me. We went into the bedroom where a shimmering portal hovered just off the floor, and walked through it. We emerged from an omniarch in the El Dorado control room. Even though the ancient city was clear of husked angels and shadow people, it was still under interdiction to keep noms from stumbling upon it.

  Kanaan wasn't in sight, but another portal hovered in a neighboring omniarch, the back of a building visible through the gateway. He must have gone to look at the bounty hunters in person.

  Red slashes marred the silver rings around the next few omniarches, but the fourth one down was marked green, meaning it functioned. I concentrated on the grassy field behind Arcane University and willed a gateway to open. A vertical silver line formed between the columns and tore a hole in the air. The fringe of the Dark Forest appeared like a view through a window.

  I held out a hand to Baxter.

  He paused, took my hand and shook it. "I hope we kill your father soon." Baxter let go and stepped through the portal. His body seemed to warp as if viewed through a curved window, and snapped back into shape on the other side.

  Lily wiped tears from her eyes. She hugged me and Ambria, then kissed Max on the cheek and pressed her head to his chest. "Be careful, okay?"

  Max's face turned red. "Um, sure." He patted her head awkwardly. "Play it smart, okay?"

  Lily looked up at him and smiled. "You're braver than I thought, Max." She hopped onto tiptoes, pecked a kiss on his lips, and dashed through the portal, leaving my friend with a flummoxed look on his face.

  Shushiel rubbed my arm with a foreleg. "Conrad, I would like to go to the Dark Forest and speak with my family. Perhaps they can help. Can I open a portal inside the forest?"

  "Of course." I closed the open portal and let the ruby spider open another. The portal flicked open into a small glade. Grunts and the thud of heavy feet emanated from the other side.

  "What is that?" Max whispered.

  I poked my head through the portal.
The world warped and snapped back into place. Beyond the glade in the giant trees of the Dark Forest stood a horde of monsters. Standing at least ten feet tall, thick muscles bulging beneath green skin, the creatures stood in formation, their frog heads twitching back and forth.

  I jerked my head back from inside the portal and faced my friends. "It's a small army of frogres."

  Max's mouth dropped open. "An army of frogres?"

  "How odd," Shushiel said. "They usually fight anything they encounter. I have never seen them gather peacefully."

  "Victus must be gathering them," Ambria said. "This is not good news."

  "Nothing is these days." I rubbed Shushiel's soft red fur. "We may need the ruby spiders sooner than we thought."

  Shushiel rubbed my arm. "I will do whatever I can to help. I am sure Shasha will help."

  Max's eyes brightened. "That would be great!"

  "Is Shasha the spider leader?" Ambria asked.

  "Her eggs bore the first generation of all the giant spiders, ruby, cobalt, and golden. But Victus took her children away." Shushiel sank sadly.

  "That's horrible." Ambria hugged the spider. "Did she ever see them again?"

  "She saved the ruby and the golden, but her cobalt offspring was not saved." Her eight eyes blinked. "They have never forgotten this."

  Ambria frowned. "I didn't even know there were different kinds of giant spiders."

  "Can the other spiders camouflage like you?" I asked.