Filled with rage, Winnie screamed, forcing the last ounce of energy from her body into the Harvester.

  Victor’s bellow was barely a whisper. “Director, we need to leave. I don’t think your pet scientists will be able to shut this down. The machine will explode and kill us all if we don’t leave immediately.”

  On the periphery of her vision, Winnie saw the Director, the constable, and Morgan all leave, dragging Danny behind them. She kept pushing, even as the machine slowed its draw on her magic.

  An explosion on the other side of the room.

  One of the holding tanks meant to contain magical energy ruptured. The machine stopped drawing energy out, then reversed direction.

  Winnie was spent, wide open to the massive power surge returning like a slingshot.

  The pain was bad before, but this sent a jolt to every nerve in her body. Winnie screamed until she passed out.

  Her final thought was satisfaction, blurred as it was through the haze of pain.

  Winnie would be leaving the world forever, but at least she would take Project X on her way.

  Chapter 48

  Winnie looked around from her spot on the soft grass and saw more trees than she’d ever seen in one place. A strange thought occurred to her: this must be a forest, though the forests had been gone for years.

  How curious.

  She sat up and looked from side to side. She lay next to a lake in a small clearing at the edge of a forest. She wondered how she had gotten here but, in a strange way, she was not afraid of this place. Winnie relaxed, because she knew it was safe.

  An hour or mere minutes later, Winnie saw a woman emerge from the lake at her feet. She didn’t swim or walk or wade from the water. Instead the woman floated up until she stood atop the surface, drifting forward until she reached the water’s edge.

  The woman was dressed in flowing white robes, entirely dry despite having been immersed in the lake. And yet, that didn’t seem strange in this place. Just the way it was supposed to be.

  “Guinevere, my darling child. It has been so long since we foresaw your birth. I had forgotten what a beautiful child you would be.”

  “Thank you, my lady.” Winnie bowed her head without knowing why. It seemed proper in the presence of such an extraordinary woman. “May I ask you a question?”

  “You may.”

  “How do you know my name? Only my mother calls me that, and only rarely.”

  “There are many answers, as there often are in life. I know everyone here in this place, and I was present when the oracle prophesied your birth and named you. We know you for who you are.”

  “And who are you?”

  “I am known by many names. I am sometimes called Brigid, or the Dawn Maiden, and by others, once, the Lady of the Lake.”

  Winnie didn’t recognize her by any of those names. She shrugged.

  Someone in the distance might have called her name. She looked around, seeing the forest but no other soul. “Is this Heaven? Am I dead?”

  The woman, Winnie decided to call her Brigid, laughed, a pleasant sound that brought a smile to Winnie’s face.

  Brigid answered, sort of. “You have so many questions and I have little time. I have come here to meet you between our worlds, to tell you to seek the lost talisman and return what was lost. Only then can you right the wrong and heal the world as you know it.”

  The distant voice repeated her name again. Winnie looked over her shoulder. Again, she saw no one. She turned back. Brigid was drifting back toward the center of the lake.

  “Wait. Why me? How will I recognize this talisman? I don’t know what to do.”

  “Guinevere, it must be you, because you are the once and future queen. You exist in the past and the future. Trust that you will know the talisman when you find it, and have faith in your companions.”

  Brigid was sinking back into the lake as she answered, her head dipping beneath the surface after she uttered her final response.

  Then Winnie was alone. There was no evidence of the lady’s presence, not even fading ripples on the lake. Winnie wondered if she’d imagined the encounter.

  Again, her name in the distance.

  She was jerked back and found herself staring up at the bright sky.

  The voice got louder.

  “Winnie, you have to wake up. I can’t carry you both on my own.”

  Winnie opened her eyes to see Tris standing above her.

  The room was filled with smoke. Lights flickered overhead.

  Winnie looked to the side and saw that she was still lying on one of the exam chairs in the room with the Harvester. She realized immediately that the hum was gone.

  Winnie remembered again what had happened, ending with the explosion.

  “How did you get free?” Winnie asked Tris.

  “The explosion knocked my chair over and snapped the arm right off. I unstrapped myself. But I need your help. Cait’s in bad shape and the building’s catching fire. We have to get out of here or we’ll die. Can you stand?”

  Winnie realized she was no longer strapped to the chair. She sat up. The room was in shambles. Parts of the catwalk had collapsed and were dangling. The Harvester had split open in the center. Shards of metal and wiring peeled back from the opening. She looked to the right and saw Cait’s bruised and battered body still sprawled on her chair. Tris was working on freeing her limbs from the straps.

  Swinging her legs down over the side of her chair, Winnie stood on unsteady legs, catching herself on the edge of the chair as her balance settled. Tris was moving Cait to a sitting position, trying to wake her. The tall blonde pushed at Tris, fighting to lie down.

  “Winnie, I need your help. Get over here.”

  Feeling slightly steadier, she took one of Cait’s arms and pulled it over her shoulder to help lift the semi-conscious woman. Tris got on the other side and did the same. Together, they held her up and started towards the stairs. Winnie closed the door behind them, trying to block out the thickening smoke and heat from the spreading fire.

  Winnie had to rest at the bottom of the long flight. She lowered Cait to the ground and sat beside her. “I can’t keep going and carry Cait. Just leave us.”

  Tris shook her head, looking around. She snapped her fingers. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  Tris ran down the hallway toward the small control room they had found on their way up, then returned minutes later with the grimy technician they’d tied up and left behind.

  Tris took one of the Cait’s arms. “Winnie, this is Hal. He’s going to help us in exchange for getting him out of here. Hal, take the other arm and help me lift her.” She looked at Winnie. “If we can manage Cait, can you get yourself moving? I’m not leaving you behind.”

  Winnie nodded and started to stand, steadying herself with a hand to the wall. “Let’s go. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

  “Me either. Let’s make our way back to Mender’s Hall. Artos will get you both to a mender.”

  Tris and Hal led the way. Winnie followed close behind as they returned to the sewers and retraced their steps to Artos. Winnie felt like she’d lost everything, even though they had technically succeeded in their mission to destroy the Harvester.

  Morgan had betrayed her, Danny was captured, all those chanters died because they were too late, and her baby was gone, murdered at the hands of Constable Victor Holmes and Director Kane.

  If victory was a nightmare, defeat must be hell.

  She shuffled along behind Tris, Hal, and Cait knowing the war had begun.

  Chapter 49

  “Artos Merrilyn might have been right about this girl, Winnie Durham. I did not believe that his prophecy was true. But recent events have forced me to reconsider.”

  Victor Holmes stood at attention, listening to the Director’s musings. Kane had his back to the constable, staring out his office window at the city lights sprawled before him.

  Victor waited to be addressed, even though questions and doubts waged war in his mind.

  Kane turned to Victor. His eyes narrowed as if seeing something he despised. “It is time for us to be extra careful in our approach, don’t you think, Inspector Holmes?”

  Victor blinked as the new title sunk in. “Uh, yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” He was stunned by the promotion. Another thought popped into his head. “Does this mean you have reason to believe that Miss Durham escaped?”

  Kane waved a hand. “I am almost positive she did. If she is to fulfill some prophecy, she will be difficult to kill. That makes our job harder but not impossible. I want you to understand that this promotion was not given lightly. This new responsibility will help you to increase pressure on Artos Merrilyn. This girl is part of his plan. I’m sure of it now. We must discover what she is supposed to do and stop her. Can you do that?”

  Victor nodded. “Um, sir, if I may? What about the new resolution, Resolution 86? Are you still committed to that plan for the chanters?”

  He didn’t want to say that he was appalled by the scene at the steel mill. It was one thing to handle illegal activities with an iron fist, but Victor was honest enough to admit that most chanters just wanted to live in peace, within the law. Killing them all to harvest their magic sickened Victor to his core. He hoped that things had changed, and that the Director had a new plan.

  Kane came around his desk and stood in front of Victor. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you? Perhaps I was wrong in placing my trust in you so soon.”

  “No, sir. I only asked so I would know how to direct the men under my command. Should we continue to gather chanters for detention?”

  Kane held his stare, then turned and went back to the other side of the desk. “No. I think we will pause that particular tactic. Artos will surely use his political contacts to stop the detentions in the coming weeks. Plus, the Harvester was our only prototype and it will take a significant amount of time to rebuild one like it.”

  Victor was glad to hear this. After seeing the device in action, he never wanted to think about something like that in operation again. He was glad it had been destroyed, even if that destruction had come at the hands of Winnie Durham.

  “Very well, sir. May I be excused? I need to look in on my subordinate, Cadet Bennett. She sustained some injuries during our escape. I’d like to make sure she’s alright.”

  “Yes, look in on your protégée. I’m sure she will need your comforting presence at this difficult time. You may go.”

  Victor saluted, turned, and walked out to the antechamber. The attractive secretary held the door before going in herself to see the Director.

  Morgan sat on a bench in the outer office, waiting. She was bruised and battered. Her uniform was a mess. But he was more concerned with how she was inside. She’d opposed her sister’s illegal activities, but that didn’t mean she wanted her dead. The Director thought that she had survived — that was news Morgan would want to hear.

  She stood as he approached, the evening’s atrocities haunting her eyes.

  “I have news. The Director thinks Winnie survived.”

  Morgan sighed and rushed forward to embrace him.

  “She is our adversary, so long as she allies herself with Artos Merrilyn. Director Kane believes she is being used by him to fulfill some prophecy.”

  “Are we still expected to round up and kill innocent people?”

  Victor winced, looking around to see if Morgan might have been overheard. “Careful. Don’t talk like that here.” He lowered his voice. “Project X and the Harvester were destroyed in the fire. The Director has put the new Resolution on hold.”

  Relief filled her eyes. It reflected his feelings, in conflict with the simpler worldview he’d held a few months before.

  Victor led Morgan from the Director’s offices, longing for home and their bed. So much had changed tonight and he was afraid that more change was coming.

  Tonight, he only wanted to rest and forget Winnie Durham.

  Epilogue

  Artos Merrilyn sat at his desk, sipping brandy, wanting to believe that his long journey might finally be nearing completion. He had become used to this modern world with its creature comforts and technology, but his soul belonged to another time, a magical age mostly forgotten. He also knew he wasn’t here by accident and had a job to do.

  He had been raised to be a leader of men and women in the darkest of times. He understood sacrifice. Tonight, those sacrifices had been laid upon the shoulders of a young girl — the only way he could be sure she was the one he’d been waiting for. Now, she was resting with her friends in his apartment downstairs, recovering from her ordeal.

  Winnie’s survival was the sign that he needed.

  Artos took another sip of the brandy, remembering another tumultuous night long ago, when the world as they all knew it had been set into motion.

  Artos waited with the other squires outside the main hall.

  The gatehouse had fallen a half hour before. Judging from the booming crashes on the central keep’s huge double doors, the invaders were soon going to breach them as well.

  As the sound of fighting came closer, Artos realized that his hand was cramping from its death grip on his sword. He and the rest of the squires had been assembled as the last defense for the castle’s women and children. A pitiful last stand effort against hopeless odds, but Artos knew he and his fellow squires wouldn’t shirk their duty to protect the weak.

  No less was expected of a knight, even a junior one.

  He turned toward a noise on the circular staircase behind him. Old Merlin, the mage, ran into the room, ascending from his lair in the keep’s lower levels. Artos was surprised by his speed. A man so old shouldn’t be so swift on his feet.

  “Artos, come with me. We’ve no more time.”

  “I cannot desert my station. I have been charged with the defense of our women and children. The rebels have almost breached the central keep.”

  “There’s no time for that. All is lost here. All is lost everywhere.” Merlin grabbed the sword from Artos and handed it to one of the other squires. Then he pulled the boy from his place in the line and dragged him towards the stairs, up to the central tower.

  The old man was also stronger than he looked. Despite his struggle, Artos was hauled up the stairs like a tiny child and not a near-man of sixteen years. Merlin pulled him up the steps, ranting. “This is all wrong, all wrong. Somehow, the prophecy has been broken. The once and future king will not be crowned. Until I can find a remedy, you must be sent somewhere safe."

  “What are you talking about? The king was killed last week when his hunting party was ambushed. You know that. There is no king. He died without an heir.”

  “There would have been, boy. Before these others decided they could change the direction of man in this world.”

  Merlin reached the top chamber. There was an intricate design on the tower floor, like some sort of star. The old man dragged Artos to its center.

  “Stand here. Don’t move.”

  Merlin ran back and barred the stout door. Artos heard the sound of clashing steel and shouts coming up from below before it closed. His friends were fighting and dying below in their final act of honor. He should be with them.

  “Listen to me, boy. There’s little time, and you must remember this before you leave.”

  “Leave? I can’t leave. Only a bird could escape this tower.”

  “Perhaps, perhaps.” The old mage gave him a sad smile. “Nevertheless, you will listen and remember. I am going to send you somewhere. Somewhere where this can be set right. There will be a new ‘once and future monarch’ crowned in this place. You must shepherd them as I was supposed to shepherd you. Our time will come. And when it does, you must help them return the magic to the Tuatha Dè Danann.”

  Merlin was distracted by boots tromping up the stairs, then pounding on the door. He waved a gnarled hand and a bright light blossomed beneath the door, followed by screams on the other side. The mage turned his attention back to Artos.

  “Remember, the new monarch must be found. They will be alone, born of a commoner. You must help them return the talisman that gave the magic to us. Fail and mankind is doomed. Nothing will save us from ourselves. Now, stand up straight and don’t move from that spot.”

  Artos straightened his shoulders, watching the old man mutter under his breath and wave his hands toward Artos. The air shimmered between them.

  Pounding on the door grew louder. So did Merlin’s chanting.

  A mist obscured the room and sent Merlin’s voice farther away.

  Artos saw him standing there, smiling, as the door burst open and the invaders swept him under a flurry of blades. Then the mist swallowed him whole and Artos was there no longer, traveling to a new place and time, into some unknown tomorrow.

  Book 2 - Prophecy’s Child

  Chapter 1

  Merlin watched Artos vanish into the magical vortex.

  He turned to face the tower room door, his home for so long. Crashes beyond the barred door grew louder, the attackers’ axes slowly breaking through from the other side. The blows ceased as a voice rose above the din.

  The old mage wove an invisible barrier before himself, sensing a gathering of magical energy in the hallway outside.

  The door imploded in a blast of heat and force. Splinters of wood flew past Merlin, safely deflected by his magical barrier. Armed Saxon soldiers swarmed into the tower to surround him, blades aimed at his frozen body.

  He remained still, indifferent to the menacing growls of the men around him. The circle of steel parted and a man in a black robe strode forward. “Where is the boy, Father? We were told that you took him up here with you.”

  A broad grin, then Merlin said, “Artos is far from here, Fenris, gone to a place that is mysterious even to me. I am afraid I cannot help you.”