The Endless Knight: The Seekers Trilogy (The Watchers Series Book 6) Read online

  Inside, the indoor city ahead has also morphed since my last visit. In fact, it’s more akin to the first time I came here, many months ago, when the world was at first mourning, and then celebrating, the life of Troy, the recently deceased city Master.

  Then, the interior was filled with revellers toasting their great leader, partying until dawn as they forgot their troubles for one night only. In the following months, fear grew once more, the people afraid of what might be brewing in the darkness. Now, the new devilry came stepped into the light, and the city has changed once more.

  Still cloaked in fear, it’s busier than I’ve ever seen it. Business is being shut down, the central chamber now given over to the housing, feeding, and nursing of the people. Everywhere, new residents are being given temporary dwellings, some lucky enough to gets room in spare buildings, others forced to move into deeper chambers where short term settlement camps are being erected.

  Those that live here permanently have been more than willing to give over any spare space they have to the refugees. Some invite distant family members and old friends to stay with them. Others welcome strangers with open arms. The well known hospitality of Petram is being put to the test, and is passing with flying colours.

  I make my way through the wide central street, the relentless footfall of the people muddying the path, and set my sights on a passage at the back of the chamber. As I go, my mind rushes with thoughts of my grandfather. The last time I saw him, he was badly cut up and bruised from the torture he suffered at the hands of the Baron’s men, chained to the wall in the deep recesses of the facility hidden beneath The Titan’s Hand.

  Since then, I haven’t had a chance to speak with him, the doctors working to patch him up and bring him back to life. Only yesterday, having just arrived back in the city, did I hear that he would be OK, and that his wounds were largely superficial.

  With so much on my mind, however, I’ve barely had a chance to think about him. Until now, at least.

  I hurry my step as I progress through the chamber, a few eyes wandering towards me as I go. I suppose they must know me by now, know that I’m son to Cyra Drayton and Jackson Kane, know what I can do. Not so long ago, I’d have revelled in such celebrity. Now, it’s merely a second thought that pulses to the front of my head only briefly, before fading away once more.

  I have no use for fame anymore. Those childish, selfish thoughts have long since evaporated from my mind, my only motivation now on making sure that those I care about, and the people at large, stay safe and unharmed in a free world.

  That is my purpose. That is my duty. Anything else that happens is merely a by-product.

  As I go, however, one name does cause me to turn and take notice.

  Bear’s Bane…

  I look to see a couple of scruffy looking men staring at me with popping eyes as I march past them. Their cloth is poor, and makes it clear they’re from the Deadlands. They must have seen me at the Watcher Wars weeks ago, and know me only by my gladiator name.

  I can’t help but smile to myself as fleeting memories of my time in the games materialise in my mind. It’s where all this started, really. Where my path, and Ajax’s path, converged with that of the Baron’s, and the twins’.

  And from that convergence, war has sprouted.

  They whisper between themselves as I turn back and march on, leaving them ogling me as I pass. Others do the same, perhaps more of those who know me from the fighting pits. Here, as the city swells with Deadlands dwellers and regional people alike, I suppose that’s not unexpected.

  Soon enough, however, I’m reaching a quieter portion at the back of the chamber, and heading down a more narrow passage away from the throng. Ahead of me, the rudimentary city hospital lies in wait, a place I last visited when Link was battling through major surgery.

  Drake, thankfully, isn’t so badly injured.

  I feel an excitement brewing as I quicken my step and turn towards the hospital chamber. At the main doorway, I find a couple of well-equipped guards protecting the entrance. Blocking my path in, they stop me with suspicious eyes and ask why I’m there.

  I tell them I’m Theo Kane, grandson of the President, and am allowed immediate entry. I suspect that they already knew all of that, but am happy for the vigilance. At times like this, you can’t be too careful.

  I pass by the surgery room where Link was seen to, and set my eyes on another. Fixed into the rock walls, a wooden doorway awaits with the words ‘Recovery 2’ stamped across it. A couple of doctors and nurses pass by, nodding respectfully at me as I lift my hand to knock. Clearly, they know exactly who I am.

  My knuckles wrap on the door, and I wait for the grizzled voice of my grandfather to respond. It comes after a few seconds, deeper and more throaty than usual and partially muffled by the door.

  “Come in,” comes the call.

  I twist the handle and enter, shutting the door lightly behind me. Ahead, lying in a hospital bed and surrounded by equipment, I see Drake watching me with a smile. My eyes quickly scan the myriad of beeping monitors around him with a frown.

  “It’s just precautionary,” he tells me, his voice gruff from lack of recent use. “Come in, Theo, and give your grandfather a hug.”

  I move towards him and take a grip of his body. When I release him, he holds me near for a moment and inspects my face.

  “You’ve grown up,” he says. “I hear you’ve done some wonderful things for us…”

  I shrug as a way of not taking credit.

  “Don’t be modest, Theo,” he says. “Truly, you and Ajax, and the twins…there’s no counting how many lives you’ve saved.”

  I find the praise unexpectedly hard to accept. Again, I merely nod and stay quiet, looking over his body at the many bandages covering his flesh. Clearly, the concern in my eyes is obvious.

  “Don’t worry,” he says. “Like I said, all this is precautionary. I’ll be back on my feet in no time…just like Link.”

  “Good,” I say quietly. “We need you, grandfather.”

  He smiles at me. “You’ve been getting along just fine without me.”

  I huff. “You think? Eden was destroyed…tens of thousands are dead…”

  “And many more have been saved because of you, and your mother, and your friends. Don’t second-guess the positive part you’ve played in this, Theo. I know that’s hard, with such devastation following you where you go, but it’s true. Without you, those who were saved from the city may never have been rescued. Things could be a whole lot worse.”

  “It doesn’t feel like it,” I mumble.

  “Look at me, Theo,” he orders.

  My eyes rise to his. There’s nothing in them that shows any doubt at all. Only a complete conviction in what he believes. I’ve missed those eyes, missed that look, missed his direction and wisdom. It’s good to have him back.

  “We have a war to fight here,” he says. “Looking back isn’t part of the deal. Turn your eyes forward, and know that what you’ve all done is give us this chance to fight again. I can’t thank you enough for that. And now, it’s time I did my part too.”

  He invites me to sit, and I do so. Then, the question that’s lingered in my mind for some time rises to my lips.

  “What happened out there…to you and Link?”

  He frowns. “Link didn’t tell you?”

  “His memory is frail,” I say. “He doesn’t remember much.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve all put it together by now,” he says. “Suffice to say, we were ambushed by a superior force and all went to hell. They managed to snare me in a net, but not Link. I called for him to escape and get help. That’s when I felt the butt of the gun on the back of my head. Next thing I know, I was waking up where you found me.”

  “In the facility?”

  “Yes. Although, I had no idea where I was at first…”

  “And, it was the Seekers that ambushed you?”

  “I suppose so,” he says. “We didn’t know who, or what, they we
re, of course. It’s thanks to you that we do. They came with a force of soldiers. We were overwhelmed pretty quickly.”

  “Yeah…that’s not surprising. I guess you heard about what happened on Eden?”

  “I did. Your mother told me a little while ago. It’s all a lot to take on board, I have to be honest. Four clones of Augustus Knight is something I’d never have seen coming.”

  I open my mouth to correct him, to tell him it’s not four Knights, it’s actually three and a half, with half of his daughter thrown in for good measure. But before the words come from my mouth, the cautionary words of Jackson echo in my mind and pull me back.

  “You have something to say?” asks Drake.

  I hesitate briefly. “Just…that they’re strong, grandfather. One of them, in particular…”

  He eyes me closely, reading me as only the most powerful Watchers can. I get the sense that he’s working something out, but he doesn’t push it. Instead, I quickly move the conversation along with a further question.

  “You said you didn’t know where you were at first,” I say quickly. “How did you work it out?”

  “I didn’t, really,” he says. “There was a man, a doctor whose job was to tend to my wounds and keep me alive and lucid. He didn’t seem so bad, and eventually I managed to get a few truths out of him.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, where I was, for a start. It was obvious he wasn’t in on the full plot, but he seemed to know that Eden was the main target. I suppose he thought nothing of telling me, given my predicament there. I mean, who would I have told?”

  He laughs faintly, still capable of seeing the light side of things as he’s always seemed to. Yet behind his eyes there’s a growing darkness, and when he next speaks, his words have deepened.

  “There’s more to come,” he warns. “I know about everything that you’ve discovered, and I know what I heard down there in that torture cell. But above all that, I feel it inside me, somewhere deep down right in the pit of my stomach. Our world, Theo, is under siege…and it’s even worse than last time.”

  His words haunt me, and so does the sudden look in his eye. There’s a depth of concern there that transcends mere worry for family and friends and local lands. His eyes tells of a threat that will consume us all, person after person, town after town, all burning under this new reign of terror.

  In my pocket, my fingers fiddle with Professor Lane’s notepad. I want to reach in and pull it out, reveal its latest secrets to him.

  But I don’t. I will not betray my father’s wishes. When the time comes, he can reveal the truth.

  Instead, I simply ask: “Did you hear anything about a special purpose for the Seekers…for one in particular?”

  I don’t see the reaction I hope for, but only get a frown and shake of the head.

  “Nothing,” he says. “Is there something you know that you’re not telling me, Theo?”

  Once more, his powers of deduction begin to work overtime. I shake my head and retreat, mumbling something about needing to get back to Ajax and the girls.

  He watches me silently as I move towards the door, stopping to tell him how good it is to have him back.

  He smiles at me, and returns the compliment as my fingers reach for the door handle and twist it down.

  And before I walk through, I ask him one more question.

  “Why did they torture you?” I enquire. “What did they want to know?”

  His eyes narrow, and the smile fades from his face. And slowly, his head swivels from side to side.

  “Nothing,” he says, coldly. “They never even asked me any questions…”

  3

  A Broken Spell

  The house that we’ve been assigned to is a familiar one. Once more I find myself sharing with Ajax in the same room that I’ve previously occupied twice. The girls are down the hall, with Link and Ellie, and my own parents, completing the picture.

  The chamber, however, isn’t quite like it was before. Previously, it’s appeared to me as a private residential chamber for some of the city’s high profile residents, with most houses inside being only sparsely filled by wealthy and important individuals and families. Now, though, every spare room has been occupied, with the central square of the chamber housing a temporary command post. Inside, the city’s various administrative necessities are managed, with Leeta taking up a regular post there in the service of Markus.

  I always imagined that, during war, it was all about the soldiers and military leaders. But really, seeing Petram in this state has opened my eyes. People like Leeta are equally important in making sure things run smoothly. Sanitation, health and safety, rationing, housing, and many more tasks are essential to ensure that the place continues to function during this time of crisis.

  Leeta, by the looks of things, was born for this.

  Within the chamber, many of the higher profile escapees of Eden have been housed. Senators and Governors and Mayors and other officials who we managed to extricate from the clutches of the Baron. Down here, they’ll be heavily guarded and protected, essential figures in helping to bring the country back to life once this mess has been cleaned up.

  Some were full time residents of Eden, the Senators mostly. Having seen their beloved city destroyed, they generally sit in quiet contemplation, still shell shocked from the assault. Others, however, were in the city by invite of the traitorous President Alber, a man who doesn’t even come close to deserving that title. They had come for his false coronation, a pawn in the Baron’s game, his task only to allow the enemy easy access into the city in order to see to its destruction.

  He was a blind fool, and didn’t see through the Baron’s lies, thinking that he’d remain as President under the new regime. Like the rest of us, it never crossed his mind that the city would be torn down around him. Unlike us, however, he never got a chance to consider the implications of his treason. A bullet to the head saw to that.

  The men and women who were drawn into the spider’s web, however, were never supposed to escape it. Now, the remaining regional Governors and officials from the various cities across the nation are impotent, unable to return to the places they love for fear that they’ll be struck down and killed. Many wish to, desperate to pass back across the skeleton of Knight’s Wall and into the regions, to gather up their people and see to their safety. But they can’t.

  Right now, all they can do is sit tight and try to manage things as best they can from here, try to help organise and make sense of all this chaos. And all the while, their cities and homes burn, black pillars of smoke constantly pouring fumes into the sky. Across the regions, the heavens have grown dark, filled with a smog of death that even the brightest sun cannot pierce.

  It’s hectic in that chamber, as it is across the city. I make my way down the passage, passing through the security checkpoints as I go, and work my way into my own accommodation, tucked up against the towering rock wall. I move inside and find that there’s a rare quiet in the air, the chorus of noise from outside muffled by the heavy wooden door.

  It’s no surprise to find the place in this state. Jackson, Cyra, Ellie, and Link all have endless amounts of work to do, the latter most likely down in the training room, seeing to the rehabilitation of his fabled powers. They’ll only ever come here to eat and sleep, allowing only a few short hours for such things each day.

  The rest of us have yet to be assigned any duties, having only just returned to the city after escaping from Eden. As I walk in, I see a flickering light through a door to the left, hanging ajar. I push it open and move into the sitting room, the low flames of a fire bringing a warmth to the space.

  Sitting on a comfortable sofa, I see Velia alone. It takes her a moment to notice my entrance, her mind clearly elsewhere. She looks up, and her sombre expression lights up with a smile, the fire catching in her big hazel eyes and reflecting off her sultry brown hair.

  “Where are the others?” I ask, moving to sit on an armchair opposite her.

 
; Her eyes gesture to the ceiling.

  “Vesuvia’s resting. Ajax is with her.”

  Her eyes linger for a second as they look up, before dropping back down again. It must be strange for Velia to now be sharing her sister with Ajax. All their lives, it’s just been the two of them against the world. Now, Vesuvia and Ajax’s mutual affections have become known, the two spending plenty of time together as she rests and recovers from her wounds.

  “Are you OK?” I ask Velia, her solemn disposition clear for me to see.

  She nods and raises a fresh smile.

  “Where have you been?”

  I briefly tell her about my day up until now, spending time on the roof, wandering through the city. I’ve needed that time alone, just to get my head around things, not wanting to worry about someone catching me flicking through Professor Lane’s notepad. Then I speak about my brief meeting with Drake, and see her eyes light up at the name.

  “You spoke with him? How is he?”

  “He’s doing well, his injuries are nothing like Link’s.”

  “So he’ll be back up and running soon?”

  “That’s what he tells me. When he’s back, and Link’s full health has returned, I think we’ll have a fighting chance.”

  Her eyes narrow, and I see a flash of rare negativity spread across her face.

  “You think so?” she asks, her tone more dampened by doubt than usual. “We all saw what those Seekers could do…especially that one who injured Athena and cut down those Watchers…”

  Once again, the image of the mixed DNA clone flashes in my mind. It was he who called a close to our battle outside the hanger on Eden, he who broke down our rear-guard action and bested Athena in battle. Before that time, myself and Velia were beginning to work out our own opponent’s fighting style. After, however, we were all swiftly defeated.

  “We did better than I expected, though,” I say. “Imagine a full strength Link, Athena, Cyra, Drake…and me and you and Ajax and Athena’s two best Watchers. All of us together would be a pretty good team.”