Chapter 2 #2
I didn’t know if I was more furious at Saryn, or at Theory for reminding me of the Canary Veil—when a lack of teamwork almost cost us our lives.
Their taunts had my anger boiling over. I glanced at Varro hovering over me and then felt a minor wave of relief wash over me.
It did not overly dull my sentiments, but it did allow me to compose myself.
It was clear from the look he was giving me that this was his exact intention.
“As with all experiments, one test does not prove a guaranteed result. You should be aware this will continue. That alone might motivate you to understand the darkness that hides within you. Show it to me, or I will draw it from you,” Saryn warned, before turning his back on all of us and returning inside.
I turned away from Varro’s concerned stare and looked at my companions.
My powers, though significant, proved mysteriously elusive.
We narrowly avoided disaster today, but Saryn seemed intent on repeating—or even intensifying—his experiments until he achieved the desired result.
I cast my eyes downward, heavy with guilt.
I went to Nori’s side, where she still appeared shaken from the ordeal. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “This is my fault.”
Nori looked up at me, smiling weakly. “It’s really not. I just wish you weren’t having to leap after me a second time.”
I pulled her into my chest, hugging her tightly as the vivid moments of our friendship flashed through my mind. I looked up at Cairis and mouthed thank you to him in appreciation.
We ate dinner quickly before returning to the common room; none of us wanted to share Saryn and Theory’s company for any longer than was required.
Without Gia and Trace, the space felt bigger, emptier, and I doubted I was the only one concerned about their whereabouts.
We had no idea how soon Idris would return for more of us.
I opted for another game of Bones and Stones with Nori, which she soon won handily.
Varro read quietly in a corner while Cairis entertained himself sharpening his blades, the repetitive metallic scraping providing an unpleasant background noise for our activities.
As Nori continued to make a fool of me, scoring point after point, I spun around in frustration and yelled, “Who are all those knives for?”
“I’m planning to make a visit to the Vespers this evening and blow off some steam. Today was tense.”
He wasn’t wrong. The sore knots across my body were the undeniable combination of stress, anxiety, and strenuous activity.
Unlike the rest of us, Cairis did not enjoy the healing waters—or any water for that matter.
It was no surprise he had other ways of relaxing.
If distracting himself with a little violence and a Vesper was his way, then so be it.
There were many times in the early days of training with the Vespers when they also afforded me a welcome escape from the halls of Basdie.
Cairis and Nori had grown close, and I think he thought of her like a little sister as much as I did.
He’d probably never admit to how terrified he was watching her fall and me flying after her, hoping neither of us died in the process.
Cairis had siblings, ones that probably didn’t even know he existed.
When his father denied Cairis’ identity, it all but guaranteed his younger siblings would never know their older brother in any meaningful way.
I had been watching out for Nori since we arrived here, and it relieved me to know someone else was too.
Before turning in for the night, I agreed to join Varro in the healing pools. My aches and pains from the fall were so minimal by that point that I could have probably healed myself and just gone straight to sleep, but it was a good excuse to spend some time getting better acquainted with my mate.
As we made our way down toward the waters together, Varro said, cautiously, “I need to tell you something,” and I braced myself for whatever he was about to share.
“Yes?” I replied anxiously.
“Nori has been playing you for a fool,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“…What?” I asked in confusion, not expecting the topic.
“She’s cheating at Bones and Stones. I can’t believe you haven’t picked up on her scheme yet.”
Varro continued to walk by my side with a playful smile plastered across his handsome face.
“She uses your trust and naivety against you. She knows you only see the good in her. But I assure you, no one wins that often.”
“How so?” I inquired further, trying to wrap my mind around sweet and innocent Nori cheating at anything, even a silly game.
“Her elemental manipulation is better than any of ours. You don’t think she’s influencing those tiny rocks or bones before they land?”
The moment he proposed the idea, I realized how simple the manipulation would be—and how truly stupid I’d been all that time. She had disarmed me with our friendship and cheated without the slightest indication.
My Gods, how could I not have been questioning such a thing?
I’m certain Varro thought he was only pointing out something miniscule, but it was in that moment that I learned one of my greatest lessons yet while here at Basdie: The enemy may appear as a friend, someone close to us, and they will smile with joy in their eyes as they move the pieces one by one toward your demise.
I would not make that mistake again. I would not be played for a fool.
I gave Nori credit, though. Plenty of it.
She didn’t have an overwhelming arsenal of magical skill, but she was unexpected, methodical and disarming, radiating feigned innocence.
If she were here with us, I’d probably pinch her in annoyance but also pay her a compliment for her efforts.
For a moment, I wondered what damage she could pull off if her intentions weren’t so simple.
A silly game to pass the time is one thing, but when the moment came for us to face our real enemies, maybe she’d prove more invaluable than I ever imagined.
We had finally reached the bottom, and I was about to tell Varro that Nori’s cheating was going to come to a swift end, when we were immediately alerted to the sound of deep, roaring screams. A male voice, crying for help.
It sounded like it was coming from inside the falls, from the room where Varro had found me shaking the mountain the day prior.
I quickly reached for the door handle and entered the room, the deafening crash of the falls thundering around us.
I could also hear the frantic, desperate pleas, as if someone were being tortured. That’s when we saw him.
Cairis was hanging upside down from a rope tied around his ankles, his hands also bound behind him.
His body was tethered to the underside of a rocky ledge so that cascades of rushing water pounded him relentlessly.
With each scream, the torrent filled his nose and mouth, causing him to choke and writhe.
We yelled up to him, assuring him of our intention to help.
How long had he been like this, and how much longer until he hadn’t the strength to maneuver for air?
Without further hesitation, I unfurled my wings and flew up to assess the situation, pleading with him to stay calm.
The water continued to pour down through the center of Basdie, the noise drowning out the sounds of my instruction.
With all the power I could muster, I focused my energy to shift the water away from his body.
I pushed strenuously against the constraints of my mind, but moving such a force of nature proved exceedingly difficult.
Slowly, the falls began to waver and shift outward, as if a small dome pushed them aside.
My head began to ache, and I felt a wave of exhaustion threatening to replace the adrenaline that had taken me thus far.
I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up for very long.
Cairis hung there, limp and almost unconscious.
I yelled to Varro, who was now airborne beside me, hoping he could hear me as I strained to keep up the resistance against the water.
“Get him down!” I yelled through gritted teeth, fighting the pain of my own exertion.
Varro moved to cut the rope, but not before bracing Cairis’ heavy body against his.
As soon as the rope was severed, the weight of Cairis would be too much.
We’d be lucky if Varro could bring them both to a controlled fall.
I’d have to keep the water at bay, otherwise it would crush both of them from above before Varro could pull them out of the twisting pool below.
The water fed the healing pools, but it also drained out of the mountain through underground caves that fed the valley’s river.
There was a high risk of them being sucked into the undertow.
Time slowed down as I watched the rope snap and both of them careen downward, Varro placing himself under Cairis as best he could to brace the plunge into the water.
In Cairis’ powerless state, he could easily hit his head on a rock and drown.
When I saw Varro breach the water holding Cairis in his arms, I released a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding, and relief flooded over me.
But with that distraction, I felt my strength wavering.
The rushing waters inched toward me as I struggled to hold them back.
As soon as I could see them both laying safely on the rocky landing at the edge of the pool, I let the waters resume their fall at its center.
Landing at Varro’s side, I helped pull Cairis’ body across the slippery ground and through the threshold of the doorway into the hall.
The first thing I noticed was the difference in the sound.
The hallway was so much quieter than inside the waterfall; now I could hear our heavy breathing and the sloshing of our wet clothing.
I knelt beside him, my whole body trembling with panic.
Cairis lay there, unmoving, looking like a very large, dead fish.
Suddenly the sound of hurried footsteps came towards us, and I looked up to see a frantic Nori as she assessed the scene with two more approaching shadows behind her. Having granted us the minor courtesy of alerting our best healer, Saryn and Theory looked on with apathy.
Nori quickly bent down to Cairis’ body, placing her hands on both sides of his chest. Within a few seconds, heaps of water came flowing out of his mouth, followed by deep coughs and gasps for air.
Cairis finally opened his eyes and continued to choke out more water as Nori and Varro rolled him to his side.
There was no greater form of torture for Cairis. He despised water, and my throat stung at the cruelty Saryn and Theory had inflicted upon him, all in an effort to get my attention. They were trying to force something out of me that I had no control over. Didn’t they know that by now?
Saryn and Theory hovered over us, faces unconcerned.
They must have been the ones to string him up.
Only, how did they catch him unaware? How could they know he would be rescued in time?
It was all absurd. We’d almost lost Nori, and now, Cairis.
Anger was raging inside of me. Like always, Saryn could read my every emotion.
“You’re all heading into enemy territory soon. Gia and Trace may already be suffering torture at the hands of the Artumians, and who is there to cut them down or heal them?”
I sat there seething, biting my tongue as he continued.
“Cress, you may not like my methods, but you’re going to like it far less if you’re not prepared.
It would be a great advantage to us all if you figured out how to manifest the dark magic.
Then I won’t need to keep testing you at the expense of your fellow Imperi.
We had hoped something other than water wielding would rear its head, but alas, the experiment continues. ”
The madness of his threat consumed me and I screamed, lunging up at them; Varro reached out to contain me. He held me tightly against him as I writhed and shouted.
“I hate you. I hate you both! Fuck you! Fuck all of this!”
They walked away at a calm and even pace, ignoring my outburst entirely. Varro twisted me to face him, and when I’d finally calmed, I looked up into his eyes to see what we both already knew: They’d come for him next.