Chapter 31
CHAPTER
31
I was relieved that Saryn hadn’t locked me in, but the weight on my shoulders from what I’d learned made me feel like my chest had caved in on itself. I fought back the uneasy feeling and tears from the moment we left and began heading toward the common room. I glanced to my side, noting the rushing falls behind the glass, a visual representation of how I felt on the inside, a constant bombardment of one thought to the next, the fear of the unknown, a never-ending list of questions with no answers.
I’d never heard of Dark Wielders or their abilities. Saryn said it could skip generations, but who in my family line had this within them? Did they know it and conceal it? Was this from my mother or father’s bloodline? Would this ever have come about if I hadn’t been delivered to the king and forced to bathe in the Bath of the Four Mothers?
I looked down at the gash on my hand and used what little energy I could spare to heal myself. I now feared myself, but I was even more fearful of how the others would feel about this, or how they’d treat me.
It was an odd thing, to want special treatment until all of the attention was actually on you—but for all the wrong reasons. Had they heard of Dark Wielders? What if their powers just hadn’t been unlocked yet, and I didn’t have to carry this burden alone? I shouldn’t pity myself, but it sure felt that way. I didn’t feel special, I felt like a freak.
When I entered the room behind Saryn, they each looked at me with a different emotion. Nori’s expression seemed the most optimistic of all of them. Varro’s, something more akin to pride or admiration. Gia’s eyes flared with a hint of jealousy, and Cairis bore an amused smile. I only let my gaze flicker to Trace for a second.
His expression was hollow and empty. My skin warmed as I tried to keep the anger from boiling over, which might lead to another outburst. This wasn’t the time or place.
“Gather around, I want to show you all what you managed to retrieve and why it’s valuable.” Saryn motioned for us to join him at the table where the box etched with the king’s emblem sat.
As we gathered, I took special note of how Trace intentionally positioned himself the farthest possible distance from me. Varro towered over me to my right, and Nori was to my left.
Saryn carefully lifted the lid to the box revealing a satin cushion, upon which sat a handful of smooth, polished stones. There were ten of them, all oval in shape. Each of them was milky white with a bluish, sometimes purple hue.
They were beautiful and mesmerizing, unlike any stone I’d ever seen. Growing up alongside Gris, I had encountered rare and precious gemstones of all varieties. That and the ridiculous collection of jewelry in our estate.
“Does anyone know what they are?” Theory asked expectantly.
“I’d wager to say they’re moonstones,” Gia chimed in confidently as she leaned in to get a better look. “I read about them in one of the books you have here. I’m guessing that’s why they were worth risking our lives, given what they can do,” she continued, eyeing Saryn.
“Beauty, brawn, and brains?” Cairis teased her. She gave him a typical roll of the eyes and turned back to Saryn and Theory, expecting them to give her credit.
“What can they do?” I asked, desperate to know what Varro and I had almost died for, what was worth Trace’s betrayal.
Saryn picked one up between his thumb and forefinger, angling it toward the light, “I’d rather show you…”
Next thing we knew, a swirling cloudlike hole appeared mid-air behind Saryn, and without hesitation he stepped into it and disappeared. We each let out an audible gasp of surprise.
Seconds later, the same swirling cloud appeared on the other end of the room, and Saryn stepped out with a knowing grin, looking unfazed.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered to myself.
I felt Nori reach out and squeeze my hand, glad that someone else was feeling the same shock and concern. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? What sorcery was this?
“Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, Cress. Get your mental shields back up before I make you pay for those missteps in the training room.”
I was fuming that Saryn had called me out like that, but he was right. I was full of distractions. Distractions and thoughts that drained me and took my focus off simple things like mental shields.
The cloud-like mirage dissipated behind him and he walked back towards us, holding out the small stone in his palm.
“These are moonstones, also known as portal stones. They’re illegal for anyone but the king to possess. They’re extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands. They have the unique ability to open gateways between time and space.”
Gia, tickled that she’d guessed correctly, questioned with excitement, “How does it work?”
Theory replied, tossing one of the stones back and forth between her hands. “The stone must be on you physically. You can only travel to and from somewhere you’ve already been or can actively see. You have to be able to picture that place with clarity, for the moonstone’s precision relies on it. The longer you concentrate, the portal will begin to materialize. Keep it clear in your mind’s eye; failure to do so can result in ending up somewhere else entirely, or worse…lost. The farther the distance you travel, the more energy it’s going to take out of you.
“The short distance across the room was nothing at all, but if you were to try and portal from here back to your home, you might as well be crawling out of the gateway and preparing for a rather large meal and a long slumber.”
When she paused, I glanced all around the room, observing the reactions of my peers as they learned what could be done with the power of these tiny iridescent stones.
“Moonwalking requires massive amounts of energy and focus; doing it well means remaining undetected.”
Cairis snorted. “Moonwalkers?” he questioned with amusement.
Saryn looked especially irritated with his remark. “Laugh all you want, you’re lucky you haven’t encountered a Moonwalker. One minute you’re sleeping alone in your bed, and the next there’s a blade pressed firmly against your throat. Does that seem amusing to you?” He paused, waiting for Cairis to risk making another misguided statement.
“Everything is about energy and focus. All of your abilities require these two things to fuel them, and using the moonstones is no different. You may have earned these, but now you have to prove to us you deserve them.”
We all sat there, processing the severity of Saryn’s words. He was right. We had retrieved the stones, but they belonged to the king. If he was willing to let members of the Order have them, that had to mean it was a gift that came with a certain level of trust…and expectations.
Lost in thought of what it would be like to travel from one space to another from memory alone, I was snapped out of my daydream when I heard a familiar low voice question from across the table.
“How much energy and focus did it take her?” He jutted his chin in my direction, and we all knew what he was asking.
Saryn shook his head in disappointment. “You couldn’t just let us concentrate on the moonstones, could you, Trace?”
He growled back in defiance, “I want answers, we all do. Did you train her to do that?”
“No, I did not. Had we known she possessed such abilities, that would have been part of the plan…or at least the backup plan.”
I was convinced the two of them were going to lunge at one another any minute. I interrupted, not for him, but for the rest of my team.
“He didn’t know; I didn’t even know.”
Trace looked at me like it pained him. “Then how do we know if you can control it? What if you end up hurting one of us, or yourself?”
I just loved how he decided to pretend he was minutely worried about me at the end of his question.
“What? Are you afraid you might end up dead because of another team member?” I spat back venomously.
Before I could argue further, Varro stepped forward. “I was there, and she didn’t hurt me.” He glared at Trace.
“What was it?” Trace demanded while ignoring the Sea Fae, forcing an answer from Saryn.
“She’s a Dark Wielder.”
You could hear a pin drop from the silence.
“Be lucky there is one amongst you. With proper training, she will bring to the table an arsenal of abilities most of you can’t even fathom. She needs your support, not your criticism.”
I had never heard Saryn stand up for anyone or anything. Belief in duty and honor towards the Order was the only thing he cared about. There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude in my chest, but I knew better than to thank him.
Theory snapped the lid closed on the full box of moonstones. “You don’t deserve to work with these yet. Not when you can’t act like a team. I’ll return these when you all show some semblance of maturity.”
Seeing her clutch our prize in her hands, refusing to let us have them, strongly irritated me. We had risked our lives for them, not her.
My fury must have been written all over my face because Theory chided, “Good, Cress, let that be motivation to make sure the team gets their act together, and you’ll have these back soon enough.”
In truth, she was probably right. The team was volatile, at best. Between the palpable tension, curiosity about the stones, and my new untapped ability, we probably didn’t need anything else in the mix while we sorted through this mess.
Saryn exited at Theory’s side with the box, likely to hide it.
Varro walked up to Trace and leaned into his face. He spoke quietly, but loudly enough that I could still hear his words as I watched Trace’s jaw twitch.
“Don’t give her a reason to lose control again, or you might find yourself a victim of her wrath.”