The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (100 page)

“
Forty – four years, give or take a few months,” came a voice
from a doorway behind her. She turned and pulled back against the
sideboard at the figure in front of her. Taico Grimm.

“
Grimm
,” she exclaimed. “I might have
known
I had not seen the
last of you!”

He smiled. “I’ve
always
been with you, since the mountains,” he
said calmly. Josephine looked puzzled. Then she
nodded.

“
My
shoulder
,” she acknowledged. “The remaining
pain?”

“
Did you think it would be so
easy
to get rid of me?” he scoffed. “I’ve
been following your progress, biding my time. You’ve grown
stronger
,” he commented. “That is commendable.”

In
another part of Josephine’s mind she could feel her connection to
the dragon remained intact. But the scar on his mind was fighting
back. If she stopped now it would reassert itself and all her work
so far would be gone. She had to carry on, despite this
interruption. She felt around blindly, only seeing Grimm and the
strange house but still feeling the real world beyond. She gripped
the energy curling around the dragon’s mind and pulled at the
bonds. Another stabbing pain in her shoulder made her cry out in
pain as she yanked at the tendrils of energy. Another knotted part
of the veil around the dragon’s mind came free with her
efforts.

“
You don’t know what you’re
doing!
” Grimm snapped, starting forward a
pace. “If you destroy the taint, the dragon will be
free
from his
possession!”

“
Exactly
. He will be at
peace
. He won’t pose a threat any
longer.”

“
But then the Return will be
jeopardised!
” Grimm looked
anxious.

“
What
return?” Josephine asked and placed a hand to her
neck and shoulder.

“
The one that marks an
end
to the visions,” Grimm said. “I have seen
only up to that point!” He smiled. “The
blankness
of
peace
!”

“
You want the dragon to stay as he
is?
Destroying
innocent
people?”

“
No!
” Grimm said. “But I want an
end
to this story!” He shook his head “You
don’t
understand!
”

“
Then
tell
me! Explain to me
why
you hate me so much! How do you know me?
Who
are
you?”

“
I’ve known you a long time,” Grimm said. “I have
seen nothing else for years. But you know
me
too. We
are
connected, you and I.”

“
Before you attacked me at Rina I had never seen
you before in my life!” the princess exclaimed. She felt new knots
of energy in the dragon’s mind begin to form. She couldn’t be
distracted. She
had
to continue her work!

“
We never met,” Grimm said. “But you knew
of
me. Many, many
years ago I
seeded
in your thoughts. That was as it was
originally
meant to be.” He smiled.
“I
intended
people to take notice. But that was before
they
came for
me.”

“
The
sorcerers?” Josephine asked. Grimm nodded.

“
I was
happy
in my silence. The storm was
over
for me. But then they brought
me
back!
” He placed a hand to his head. “I
hated
them at first. But then they showed me
a
new
perspective.”

“
It sounds like you have been possessed,
just
like the dragon!”
she exclaimed.

“
No!
” he hissed. “No it wasn’t
like
that!”

“
Then what
was
it like?” she snapped. “I am
fed
up of playing mind games with you
Grimm!”

“
They took my mind and then opened it beyond what I
had previously seen. I saw that
all
those many years of my trying to help unravel the
puzzle of the
future
were in vain. They showed me that I had been used! My life
was simply discarded to save
yours!
The gods had
abused
me for their own gains!”

“
You
still
make no sense,” Josephine said as she continued to
work. “It seems you are some kind of visionary perhaps? But you
haven’t told me
why
I am supposed to know you?”

“‘
At the Creation there was chaos, the shadow was
rife; When the gods spread forth the gift of
life’,
” he
rhymed, smiling. “No? You need
more?
” He took a breath. “‘
Torture and torment, the blood ran
free;


A
river of red running down to the seas.’
”’

The Princess’s eyes narrowed. “I
know
those words,” she
said. “Where are they from?”

“
Finally
we start to remember,” Grimm smiled. “How
about
this?
‘
I
have seen in my soul this great evil, poised to arise; Once more
from the shadows in a terrible guise; He will return when the stars
form a holy alliance; Reborn from the dust of the most
defiant.’
”

“
A Horizon of Storms,”
Josephine exclaimed. “‘The Unfinished
Prophecy of A Horizon of Storms.’” She swallowed. “Isser Interlok.
Those words are from a poem I read when I was younger, written by
Isser Interlok.”

“
Hidden away in your archives in the palace.” Grimm
spun around and around, waving a hand in the air. “‘Interlok’s a
madman!’ they cried. ‘He’s cursed!
Bury
his work so we aren’t infected as
well!
’” Grimm looked angry. “But they were
wrong!
I was writing about the
truth!
They never
could
see!
No - one
would believe
me!”

Josephine was stunned. “You’re him? Isser
Interlok?”

Grimm nodded slowly. “Yes, he is me. Or rather, I
was
him
.
Many years ago. I ceased to be him when I died my first death,
before they brought me back.”

“
I remember parts of the poem. It was about the
return of the Akari.” She swallowed. “It was about
me?
”

“
At last!
Vindication!
” Grimm exclaimed. “Yes, it was about
you
.
Ever since I gazed into that glittering stone I was
plagued
by visions! Never
ending, terrifying, all – encompassing!”

“
You looked into a seeing stone! The same seeing
stone Matthias’s people retrieved,” Josephine suggested. “But that
poem… it wrote about
helping
people! It
wanted
the Akari to return! It
wanted
peace!”

“
That was before the sorcerers
convinced
me of a better path,” Grimm
said.

“
But
Interlok died!” Josephine exclaimed. “He died of some kind of
plague before I was born.”

“
The
peaceful
slumber,” Grimm said. “Yes, death was a release
for Interlok for a time. But then
they
needed me. They found
out
that the gods had warned the world and
they needed
my
help to beat them at their
own
game!”

“
So the sorcerers brought you back to life?”
Josephine shook her head. “They
brainwashed
you!”

“
They gave me
clarity!
I was just a tool to the gods!
No
longer!”

Josephine continued working at the dragon’s mind. It was so
nearly done, but with every victory against the possession her head
felt as if it was about to explode and she had to draw yet more
power to continue. Her face tingled and a vein began spreading up
to her nose, then another down her forehead. She felt dizzy and
sick. And then, with one final pull, the tainted energy was
wrenched free of the dragon’s mind.

“
It’s
done
Grimm!” Josephine cried. “The dragon’s mind
is
free!
”

“
No!
” Grimm growled. “No, it
must
not
end
this way!” He ran forward and grabbed Josephine,
throwing her to the floor.

“
This is what you wanted! What Interlok wanted! Remember who
you were, not what they made you become!” she cried as he wrestled
with her on the floorboards.

“
In
another
life! But
that
man is gone!” he wailed back. “Do not try to convince me,”
he growled, malevolent eyes regarding her. “It is much too late to
change course now. I will finish what I started with you princess,
back in those mountains.”

“
You are in my mind,
nothing
more!” the princess breathed through
gritted teeth. “I will remove the last remains of you from my mind
and then hunt the
real
Taico Grimm down!”

Grimm smiled as he forced down her arms. “I have
a
better
idea,” he barked. “You won’t listen to
me
, but perhaps a
stronger
force will be more
persuasive
.” His form began to shimmer and crack and then he
vanished. The room around her began to dissolve and with a blink
she was standing next to the dragon again, her hand on its
scales.

“
I’m back,” she whispered, and looked around
herself. Then she gasped as she felt a sudden tightening on her
hand and then her forearm. In a split second the taint from the
dragon’s mind, released from its host like a parasite, coiled up
her arm like a snake and wormed its way up into her mind. She heard
Grimm cackle inside of her head. Anger exploded inside her mind at
the possession. It was
impossibly
terrible. She wanted to destroy
everything
, murder
everyone!
She would have her revenge on
everyone
that had scorned her! She threw out a
bolt of power from her hand and it exploded in the ground around
her, as she screamed and roared in anger.

“
Josephine! Oh no!” Matthias exclaimed and ran towards
her.

“
What is she doing
now?
” Emary asked.

“
The evil is taking over
her!
” he cried. He tried to get close but
struck a barrier and fell backwards. She turned to him and her eyes
flared with a demonic rage.

“
Burn!
” she hissed at him. “I will rip your
flesh
from your bones
and
consume
you in fire wizard! I
hate
you so
much
for what you have
done
to me!”

Matthias's eyes widened as her hands burst into flames and
she raised them as if ready to strike at him. But then she turned
erratically, as if punched from within, and the flames
vanished.

Josephine fought the anger as it whirled in her head. Images
of all the death it had caused whilst residing in Sikaris, all the
people it had killed embedded in her mind. She writhed and clutched
to her head as she saw every face that had been turned to ash. And
then, just as she felt that she could bear no more she saw
something else. She saw… her mother. Her figure split the cloudy,
hellish images with her beauty as she approached.

“
My daughter,” she said, her angelic voice cutting
through the screams and gurgles of the dead. “Do you
hear
me?”