Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Branches burst from a nearby tree, lunging to snag at our clothing and hair. Vines twine around my waist like ropes and drag me toward the forest.
Terror knots in my throat, blocking my scream.
“Earth elemental?” Luke gasps, his voice two octaves higher from fear. “But who? How?”
Good questions I have no answers for. I struggle with the branches, digging my boots in the dirt and fighting to rip myself free. Nothing works. The branches keep dragging me toward the darkness. I reach for my own magic, but the remedy is doing its job. Though I locate the area where my power resides, it’s trapped, locked into an iron box by the magic suppressant tablets.
Ziva save us.
I toss up a prayer to the fire goddess, not that I expect an answer. That’s probably for the best. If the gods were still watching us, Ziva would have smote me long ago for rejecting my power.
Luke takes a brave step toward the forest, his fists raised in front of his face. “Stop and reveal yourself!”
More roots burst from the ground like the legs of a giant spider, twisting and winding at an alarming speed up Luke’s body. They bind his wrists and ankles, and he cries out when a sharp edge pricks his hand and draws blood. Another vine snakes up his neck to his face, wrapping around his mouth to form a gag.
“Luke!”
Strong arms envelop me from behind and grab my hands. That unwelcome touch, combined with the sight of Lucas getting mauled, transforms into rage. Magic swells inside me, rattling its cage until a few embers escape and simmer the blood in my veins. In a flash, tiny sparks erupt along my skin.
My attacker recoils with a pained groan.
Flinging my head back, I smack my assailant’s nose with an audible crunch and follow with an elbow to the gut. Defensive maneuvers that Otis taught me.
The temporary distraction loosens our attacker’s grip on his earth element. I take full advantage, unshackling myself from the branches enough to reach the dagger in my boot. My quick burst of magic has already fizzled out, so I hack at this enormous asshole of a drakewood tree with my blade.
A few slashes later, I’m free, and the tree is a few branches short. I rush to Luke and unbind him as well, keeping my body positioned toward the threat.
As soon as I stand upright, my head starts to spin. Tremors kick off in my hands and feet and spread up my limbs like wildfire.
Gods save me. Not now.
I plant my feet and wait the dizzy spell out, praying our attacker is gone.
Thankfully, this spell only lasts a few seconds. Brief enough that Luke doesn’t even notice. Once it passes, I peer into the depths of the forest. Nothing moves. When I finally spot something amiss, I rub my eyes and try again. Yup. Still there.
Fear chills my skin. My heartbeat quickens. It can’t be. I swallow two times before managing a whisper. “Is that what I think it is?”
Behind the shadowy silhouette of a large man’s shoulders, I swear I see feathers. Feathers the color of burnished copper peeking between the branches. Lots of them. If the man responsible for all this has wings, then?—
“What? What are you looking at?” Confusion laces Luke’s voice.
When I gaze back into the forest, the roots and branches are still. The wings have vanished. Maybe those mutant branches whacked me upside the head and I imagined them.
After checking Luke for injuries and sitting with him until he’s calm enough to return home, we part ways. Thankfully, he never mentions my use of magic. I’m not sure how I’d explain it. Most people require eyril to access their magic, and the king and Aclaris military have complete control over the drug. Only those enlisted to fight for our kingdom have access. Legally, anyway.
My ability to use magic without eyril brands me as a freak. Mother made me swear to never reveal my secret, claiming the truth would endanger me.
I push Barney into a canter, my desire to get home safely trumping the bruised state of my poor ass. The trail and encroaching forest feel a lot less secure on the journey back. Every noise has me twisting in the saddle, dagger ready, to face the threat. I’ve never been so happy to return to the castle and slip inside. I bypass my room and sneak into Leesa’s, crawling into her bed like I’ve done in the past on the nights I miss her the most.
A scream wrenches me from sleep, pulling me from nightmares about fires and ash, falling from the sky, winged men, and being buried alive. I shoot up from the pillow with a gasp. Sunlight peeks through the gaps of the velvet curtains like a clandestine lover, painting bright patches on a bed that isn’t mine. My sleep-addled brain wastes moments reconstructing last night’s events.
The soiree. Driving Barney and the wagon to the village. Defending myself and Luke from an earth elemental. Returning home. Crawling into Leesa’s bed for comfort.
A second scream, which soon shifts into a wail, pierces the air. My pulse spikes. Mother.
Grabbing my dagger off the nightstand, I ignore my boots in favor of speed and race downstairs barefoot. I find my mother sobbing in a heap on the settee, clutching an expensive, creamy piece of paper to her breast.
A thorough inspection of her surroundings reveals no threat. Nary a grabby tree in sight. No winged man either.
My heart calms. I stuff the dagger behind a giant vase and approach, speaking in a soft voice.
“Hey. What’s going on?”
She lifts her tear-streamed face. While her throat bobs, speech seems beyond her.
I gesture toward the letter. “What does it say that’s got you so upset?”
Mother swallows again and parts her trembling lips. As soon as she speaks, I want to shove the words back inside her mouth.
“It’s a m…missive from Flighthaven. Your sister’s gone missing, and they expect you to take her place.”
I gape, certain that my fuzzy head misunderstood. Because there’s no way my sister would up and leave the kingdom’s flight academy without alerting someone.
The prospect of me attending Flighthaven in her stead is even more absurd. Strong, brave, healthy Leesa never suffered from hallucinations or struggled with frequent bouts of dizziness and muscle weakness. Not like me. “I’m sorry, can you please repeat that?”
Wordlessly, Mother hands me the thick paper embossed with Flighthaven Academy’s official seal.
Dear Lady Lynnea Axton,
With deep regret, we must inform you that your daughter, Fledgling Leesa Axton, has disappeared without leave from the Flighthaven campus. Despite thorough searches, her whereabouts remain unknown, and while we have yet to locate a body, our failure to find your daughter necessitates the consideration of her unfortunate demise. Though we offer you our sincerest sympathies, we must order your daughter, Lark Axton, to take her sister’s place as a fire wielder. In two days’ time, Lark must report at the gate of Flighthaven Academy, before sunset.
Sincerely,
Vice Commander Valaria Torno
My feet anchor me to the floor. Icy claws rake down my spine. I reread the missive twice more before lowering the message and meeting Mother’s glistening eyes. “How can this be? How can Leesa just disappear without a trace?”
She whimpers and wraps her arms around her waist. “I don’t know. I don’t know how this could happen.”
I pace in front of the settee. “And why summon me? I swear I tested negative on that last round of examinations, and I only pretended to swallow the eyril.”
Since most Aclarians aren’t freaks like me, the king’s examiners dole out a dose of eyril before testing. Otherwise, the citizens wouldn’t be able to access their magic.
I spit my dose out when no one was looking. Just in time too. The flavor made my entire body revolt the moment it hit my tongue.
Mother’s lower lip trembles. “The king’s testers are trained to be sensitive to even the slightest hint of magic. He must have noticed a spark of fire, even if you didn’t.” She rocks on the cushion, a faraway glint in her eyes.
None of this makes sense. How can Flighthaven just misplace a fledgling? My sister . The letter gives no indication of when Leesa went missing—zero details regarding the circumstances of her disappearance, period—and offers no prevailing theories as to what happened. If they’re summoning me, have they already given up the search? That’s unacceptable.
Mother snaps out of the strange spell holding her captive. “Well, they can’t have you. There’s a chance they don’t know…a good chance…”
“A chance they don’t know what?”
She blinks. “What? Oh! Uh…I meant, know about your fire magic.” She lunges to her feet. “I’m going to write to the king at once, explaining our situation and begging for an exemption on the grounds that we already have one child missing in action. As long as Leesa is gone, you’re my sole heir. That alone should grant us leniency.”
“Yes! That’s a great…wait, no. You can’t do that.”
Mother’s mouth flops open, like she can’t believe my words. Neither can I, for that matter.
Once she recovers, she pats my shoulder. “Lark. Dear. Flighthaven is no place for you. Not with all your…frailties.”
I wince. She’s right. Flighthaven has a reputation as a rigorous training academy that challenges even the toughest nineteen- and twenty-year-olds. Stories about fledglings getting injured during classes are so prolific, they’ve even reached my ears. I hear whispers about student deaths too.
And it’s a flight academy. Where, presumably, young adults like my sister learn how to fly and defend our kingdom. On the back of a dragon, for the best of the best. On an alicorn’s back otherwise.
My stomach twists into a thousand knots. Alicorns. Even the thought of those giant horse-like creatures, with their deadly horns poking out from between their eyes and those huge wings, roils my stomach.
“I know it’s not an ideal environment for me,”—understatement of the century—“but I have to go. If Leesa disappeared from Flighthaven, then I don’t care what that missive says. Someone must know something, and the only way I can find out is if I’m on the campus.”
Mother presses her fingers to her lips. “But you can’t stay there. It’s dangerous. For you and for the other students if your magic suppressant fails.”
Dangerous or not, I won’t let fear prevent me from doing everything in my power to find my sister. “Of all the places I could go, Flighthaven is probably the safest if I lose control. They literally teach people to use their magic. And I don’t have to stay forever. Give me a little time before you ask for the exemption.”
Mother must read my resolve. “How long? Two weeks?”
“Two week doesn’t sound long enough. Let’s shoot for four.” I can’t believe I’m actually requesting extra time. Leesa owes me big time after this. “If I don’t learn anything about where Leesa went in four weeks, I probably never will. I won’t change my mind, so don’t bother trying. I won’t abandon her like that.”
After searching my eyes, Mother agrees with a jerk of her head. “Okay. But you have to promise to be careful. And to take your magic suppressant every single day without fail. Remember what can happen if you don’t.”
Images of flames licking along the side of a wooden structure fill my head. Flinching, I shove the unwanted memory back into a dusty corner of my mind. Reliving the horror of that day isn’t necessary. I know what’s at stake. “Believe me, I do.”