Home > Sorcery Reborn (The Rebellion Chronicles #1)

Sorcery Reborn (The Rebellion Chronicles #1)
Author: Steve McHugh

Prologue

NATE GARRETT

Two Years Ago

Greenland

I opened my eyes and immediately wished I hadn’t. The light caused them pain and forced me to close them again. I went to rub my hand over my face and found myself chained to the bed with thick manacles. There didn’t appear to be any runes etched on them, so I tried to use my magic and . . . nothing. No hint of magic.

“Great, another place with runes in the walls,” I said. My throat hurt, and I needed a drink. “If anyone is there, I’m awake.”

The doors opened, and Hades walked in. He had several weeks’ worth of beard growth and looked tired. “Nate, you’re finally up.” He unlocked the manacles and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“My secret facility in Greenland. You’ve been in a coma for four months.”

I couldn’t quite process that as an answer. “What? Four months? But I was . . . Mordred . . . he shot me. Is he okay?”

“We’ll bring you up to speed with everyone in a minute. I just need to make sure you’re okay. Can you sit up?”

I did as he asked.

“We’re going to run some medical tests,” he told me.

“Hades, I’m fine. I ache and want a drink, but otherwise I’m good. My nightmare, Erebus . . . he saved me.”

Hades nodded. “Let me go get you a drink, and we’ll talk. Stay here.”

“Hello, Nate,” Erebus said from beside me.

Erebus, living embodiment of my magic, was, like everything to do with my life, much more complicated than he first appeared. All sorcerers could commune with the magic inside of them, and to most, these embodiments were considered nightmares—creatures who wanted nothing more than to have sorcerers lose themselves in their magic so that the nightmare could take control. In reality, they were there to help us, to guide us until we were ready to take full control of our power. The world had been lied to about their intent, and a lot of people had died because of it.

“I thought you were going to vanish after I died,” I said.

“Apparently not,” Erebus said. He looked identical to me, even though he was actually part of the primordial deity who was considered the personification of darkness. It had always been a lot to take in. “The mark on your head unlocked a lot of things, but they’re all a jumble at the moment. It’ll take some time to sift through it.”

“Including who my father was?”

“That’s in there, but it’s not information I have. Your mind needs time to heal, as does your body. It’s been under incredible stress. Your lack of magic will not help things along.”

“My magic is gone, full stop, isn’t it? I remember Mordred saying something about it.”

“Yes, for the next year or thereabouts, you will have no magic. You are essentially just human.”

“Anything else?”

Erebus shook his head. “Hopefully when the year is up, you will regain your power. But when you do, it would be wise to be somewhere barren.”

“Why?”

I looked up as Mordred entered the room. “He’ll explain,” Erebus said and vanished.

“Glad you’re up and about,” Mordred told me.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s not a fun experience. You’ve lost your magic, then.”

“I figured that bit out. Erebus said it’ll be a year before I can access it again. He also said any info unlocked by the mark will take a while to work through.”

“It was the same for me. Took about fifteen months to fully understand everything in my head.”

“Did you have messages from your parents in your head too?” I asked.

Mordred shook his head. “No, I had no need. I know who they are, and I’ve always known who my mother was. Did Erebus say anything about what to do when your power returns?”

“Be somewhere uninhabited.”

“Make sure you do that. I didn’t realize until it was too late and destroyed a warehouse. When your magic returns, you’ll have full use for about a day; then it dies down. You’ll need to relearn some stuff. It’s not a quick process.”

“Untapped, incredible power, but at the cost of a year or more with nothing. Always give with one hand, take with the other with magic, isn’t it?”

Mordred laughed. “You need to come with me. There are some things you need to know.”

“I’m in a pair of shorts. Can I have a shower and get changed first?”

“Oh, sure. Shower’s over there. I think Hades said something about clean clothes for you in the drawer.”

I looked over at the door, which presumably led to the shower, and the light-blue chest of drawers. “I’ll be twenty minutes.”

“Take an hour. Have a long shower. You’re going to need it. A lot has happened.”

Mordred left me alone, and I went for a shower, making the powerful, high-pressure water as hot as I could bear.

“You feel up to a little company?” Selene asked from the doorway.

I opened the glass door to the shower. “I’m achy, but I’m sure I’ll manage.”

She dropped her robe to the floor, revealing that she was naked underneath, and stepped into the shower.

An hour later I was clean, dressed, and in need of something to eat. Selene had helped me with my T-shirt, as my body was still incredibly sore and stiff, but the shower and company had done wonders to lift my mood.

“Hades wants to see you,” Selene said, kissing me on the lips. “I missed you. Probably not as much as Tommy, but it was a close thing.”

I laughed. “I Han Soloed him. I wasn’t sure he’d forgive me.”

“I think it might be the proudest moment of his life that didn’t involve Kasey being born.”

I laughed again, and it caused me to wince. “Ribs hurt.”

“You want me to kiss them better?”

“I’m not a machine.”

Selene smiled. “I’m glad you’re back. I was worried. We all were, except Mordred—he kept coming in here playing you his extensive list of video game soundtracks. He said it would help, presumably because he expected you to wake up and tell him to piss off.”

“So if I start humming ‘Mario,’ it’s his fault? Good to know.”

Selene led me out of my room and down a corridor that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a hospital. There was no one around, no one working in any of the rooms we walked past. It was like a clean ghost town.

“What’s going on?” I asked as we entered the lift and Selene selected the floor for the main hangar above.

“For the last four months, you have made lightning strike this facility eight hundred thirty-two times. You created a storm that sat just above this facility. People know you’re here. People we trust, but Hades, Mordred, and Elaine had an idea to ensure that their knowledge of you wasn’t a problem.”

“What idea?”

Selene sighed. “Blood curse marks.”

The lift doors opened as I was stunned into silence. I looked out across the hangar and saw hundreds of people all watching me as I exited the lift. There was a cheer and round of applause, and I did this weird, uncomfortable wave thing. Because what the hell else were you meant to do when hundreds of people started clapping at you for no known reason?

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