Empowered (Unbound, Book 6)

Chapter One

A/N: I promised a chapter this weekend, so here it is :) It's likely to be tweaked over the next few weeks, but I wanted to make sure that I posted what I had even though it hasn't been edited. I was into writing (and re-writing because it's so difficult to capture the words to show it exactly as I imagine it) how Nora learns what truly happened to Vavila, which we will see before chapter 10. Welcome to the start of the final book in Nora's journey!

My stomach somersaulted into my chest, leaving a trail of fireflies dancing inside my body.

This is surreal.

I'd read about the Kingdom in my grandfather's journal, but the little he said did nothing to manage my expectations. I couldn't figure out why going through a portal in the gazebo I grew up reading within didn't make me unsettled—or even anxious. How had I never figured it out? There must have been some sort of failsafe to keep me from accidentally travelling through realms. A few years ago, landing in an alternate world that felt like it was summer would have triggered nightmares—I'd craved winter. Now, everything within me was content. It was like I had plugged into an outlet and became a part of the power supply that fueled the Kingdom.

The heat was cooled by the breeze, everything was painted in vibrant hues I'd never be able to duplicate, and Onyx had endless space to run with Opal.

Better than that, the sun shone too brightly for shadows to dwell.

"It's beautiful," I said, looking around in awe. "I never expected this. Does it snow here? Winter like... disappeared."

Zachariah, the mentor that guided generations of my family and apparently came back from the dead, chuckled at my side. "The weather is mostly good here. What did you expect?"

"Some impersonal setting where you sat me down and finally explained the secrets my mother kept from me."

"I'm sure we could find something like that here, if it makes you more comfortable."

I rolled my eyes and glanced at Zach, then looked at the rolling grounds where the dogs played. "No, thank you, though I do expect answers. We can start with this place. What is it?"

"This is the Kingdom," Zach said, and I turned to face him. "At least that's what your grandmother called it because she said it's where your family fulfills its decrees. Your family holds a preeminent position here, and it's where magic is most dominant."

"I'm confused. Pre-what?"

"Preeminent. Having paramount importance. Something that is supreme." Zach smiled and gestured to the benches in the gazebo. "Here. On this bench opposite the switch is another to close the shelves."

I watched as my mother's books vanished. "It... The gazebo looks the same."

"It is." Zach nodded and took a seat opposite me, just as he would in one of the dreams he visited me in. "The gazebo serves as a portal here, so it remains unaltered in either realm. I suggest you read through your mother's books from here."

"How about you explain where here is and how it exists?"

"Well, it's called many names. Kingdom, Magical Realm, High Domain."

"What do you call it?"

"Home." Zachariah nodded and looked up to meet my gaze. "I call it home, though I think it's most accurate to think of it as a bridge or... an in between."

"Between what?"

"Humans and gods."

"There are gods here?" I looked around outside the gazebo. "That can't be good, right? I mean, I've read the myths."