2. Scotlind
TWO
SCOTLIND
“We’re not rescuing Sie right now,” Dovelyn said, wiping the crazed smile off Peter’s face. “I agreed to make a plan today, and then help move you to a new location.”
“We can’t wait. We have to get him out now —” Peter started to cut in.
“You aren’t in any position to make demands,” Dovelyn snapped. “You can barely breathe, and your body needs time to refill your reserves.”
“My reserves are fine.”
“Breaking into the prison isn’t a last minute thing with half-ass plans. I’ll come back in a week, and we’ll get him out then. That’s final.” Dovelyn crossed her arms over her chest, still refusing to get up from her chair. “It gives you time to finalize a plan and—”
“Sie doesn’t have a week.” Everyone stilled at Peter’s words. “He’s dying. I don’t even know if he has a day.”
“What makes you say that?” Tezya asked.
“Because I saw it. I saw him while I was down there.”
“Bullshit,” Dovelyn drawled. “You just don’t want to wait. ”
“You’re right. I don’t want to wait,” Peter said. “But I’m also not lying. Sie is dying. His arm’s broken, and—”
“You want to prioritize him because of a broken arm?” Dovelyn scoffed.
“No.” Peter ground his jaw. “I want to prioritize him because he has a fever. His body broke out in a sweat, and he’s half convulsing. They left the bone sticking out of him. They aren’t healing him.”
“Shit,” Tezya swore as his gaze flicked to his sister’s.
“Why do we have to wait a week?” I asked, not understanding why they were so hesitant.
“Your friend will still be fine in a week,” was all Dovelyn said, completely ignoring my question.
“No, he won’t,” Peter retorted. “Besides, wouldn’t it be better to act right away? Waiting will only risk the Lux King finding out we’re all gone, and everything I did to scope out the prison will be for nothing if he ups the security down there.”
“He won’t realize you’re missing in a week. We have time,” Dovelyn said before leaning back into her seat, her expression set.
“And how exactly is he not going to realize we’re all missing yet? It’s been, what, three days, hasn’t it?” Peter asked, holding up three fingers for emphasis.
“Dove told her father we’re taking a trip to the hut,” Kallon answered as she gestured to Tezya and Dovelyn. “She said that Tezya needed a distraction from Scotlind. We take trips there often to get away from the castle, so he didn’t think twice about it.”
“And me? I was chained in Arcane’s room. Won’t he notice I’m not there?” I asked.
“She threatened Arcane with the only thing he cares about, so he’s putting up the facade that he’s still running tests on you, and you can’t leave his lab. The King wants to make your blood into serums, so he won’t bother Arcane if he believes he’s getting close to succeeding.”
“Okay, fine,” Peter countered. “The bitchy silver one came up with good excuses.” Dovelyn’s eyes narrowed at Peter’s nickname for her, but he was either oblivious to it or didn’t care. “But it still doesn’t fix the issue that Sie isn’t going to make it a week,” he continued. “I’m not risking him by waiting.”
“The King still has Brock,” Tezya said. “Rainer is searching for him right now, but he can’t find him. That’s why we need another week. It’s not just about Sie.”
“What do you mean he can’t find him?” I asked. Guilt washed over me—I completely forgot about Tezya’s two other friends. I knew Tezya told me Brock was missing, but that was back in Tennebris. I assumed Rainer already found him, but now, knowing he hadn’t…
Dove turned to me. “Ever since you blinded him, no one’s seen him.”
“It’s not her fault,” Tezya warned.
Dovelyn blew out a breath, turning the other way.
“We were going to go back to help Rainer find him,” Kallon said, lowering her voice. “We need to get Brock out of the castle before we go after Sie.”
I swallowed. A lot was at stake because Tezya freed us. I was still furious at him for lying to me and confused on his part for why I was sent to Tennebris, but I was also grateful. He risked everything to get me and Peter out of there, and now he was putting his friends at risk because of it.
“I’m sorry about Brock,” I said into the silence. I felt horrible that I hadn’t thought about him again. I just assumed he recovered, but if he was still blind…
“We’ll find him,” Tezya said, looking right at me.
“Is this Brock person dying?” Peter asked. “Because my friend is. ”
No one answered. I could tell Tezya was working through both options—getting Sie or Brock first.
It was Kallon who finally broke the silence, “Brock isn’t dying. The King won’t kill him, but there’s a good chance he’s being tortured.”
“Then please, please ,” Peter’s voice broke, “can we save Sie first?”
“You said you have a plan to get him out? Can it be done without anyone realizing he’s gone?” Tezya asked.
Peter grinned, and it looked like it belonged to a madman. “I can make it look like Sie died in the prison. No one will even know he’s missing.”
After we finally convinced Dovelyn to get Sie out before Brock, we’d been discussing what Peter observed for the past four hours—detailing the prison layout and the guards’ rotation schedules. Peter planned to take out and transform into one with fuchsia colored eyes that had direct access to Sie.
“I’m going with,” I said.
“No, you aren’t,” Dove quipped. “You won’t be helpful. You’re staying here with Tezya.”
There was no way I was staying in this tiny room alone with Tezya while everyone else rescued Sie. We moved locations right after we fought over who to rescue first and have been staying in something called a motel . I wanted to be in Tezya’s condo again. I took the luxury and extra space for granted. The new place only consisted of one small room where the bed took up the entirety of the space and it wasn’t even a particularly large bed. All of us were crammed around it, leaning against the walls, talking—more like arguing—over a plan. Only Peter lounged on the mattress with his arms folded behind his head .
“I can breathe underwater, and it’s an underwater prison. How can you say I won’t be helpful?”
“Because you’ve barely practiced. You’re a novice when it comes to your abilities. Your reserves were never tested, and you have no idea how long you can maintain your powers. The last thing we need is for you to stop breathing underwater and die.” Dovelyn inspected her nails, not even bothering to look at me as she spoke.
“We only have to be submerged in water to go down through the trench,” I countered, recalling every detail Peter told us about the prison. I withheld a shudder as I tried not to linger on the prison itself. I internally revolted when Peter was describing the two sections: the cages suspended above some sort of larger, communal one below. “Once we enter, it’s just like breathing regular air. I can hold my breath for that long.”
“You won’t be useful once we’re down there,” Kallon said, surprising me. “So it really doesn’t matter if you can or can’t hold your breath for a period of time.”
I bristled at the harshness of Kallon’s words as I scanned the room for anyone to side with me, but no one spoke up. I looked at Kallon. Her yellow eyes matched half her dyed hair today. Out of everyone, I thought she would’ve agreed with me.
She seemed to sense my disappointment. “I’m sorry, babes, but Dove kind of has a point. I’m not going down either. Besides, the more people that go, the more Dovelyn has to cast her invisibility over, and the more I have to portal. It gets too risky. If either of us diminishes our reserves, we’re screwed. The less people the better.”
“That’s bullshit—” I started, knowing full well Kallon was strong enough. Her portals were only taxing when she created new ones or if she was transferring a lot of people. One more wasn’t going to make a difference. And Dovelyn was known to be the strongest air user in Lux. It was just a pathetic excuse to leave me behind .
“It’s final,” Tezya interrupted, and I shot daggers his way, but he didn’t flinch away from my glare. Instead, he ignored me and turned to Peter. “Go over your plan again.”
Peter groaned. “We already went over it five times.”
“You’ll go over it a hundred more if that’s what it takes until everyone knows exactly what’s happening. You won’t be able to talk once you enter so it’s imperative every second is accounted for.”
I could sense Tezya’s military leadership shining through, and I half wondered why he wasn’t arguing to join them. It didn’t seem like him to stay behind, and no matter how good of a mask he donned, I could see through it. He didn’t like the idea of not going either. He was nervous.
“Kallon will portal us to the entrance of the trench,” Dovelyn answered. “From there, Peter and I go down. Kal will wait at the surface. I’ll have my invisibility over the two of us, as well as one over Kallon.”
Peter spoke next, “Once we’re in, I’ll find the guard that lingers by Sie’s cell. We’ll wait until he goes to the bathroom, which he does often because he sneaks drinks on the job, and I’ll knock him out.
“Then I’ll shift into him and unlock Sie’s cell, pretending to take him to the torture room, but we won’t make it there.” He pointed to a spot on a piece of paper where he sketched a hand-drawn map of the prison. It looked more like a circular, spiraling maze than holding cells. I was impressed Peter was able to scope out so much of it, nonetheless, recall all the painstaking details. Even if the map looked like a five-year-old drew it, it held the information we needed for the plan to work. “There’s a section here,” Peter pointed, “where there aren’t any prisoner cages. Once we get here, Dovelyn will cast her invisibility over us, and we’ll bring Sie into the bathroom where the real guard is tied up. We’ll swap their outfits, and then I’ll shove the guard into Sie’s cage. ”
“Won’t people recognize he’s not really Sie?” Kallon asked.
“Yeah.” Peter shrugged. “But I’m gonna beat the crap out of him, so he won’t be recognizable.”
“He’s eventually going to heal though. You can’t beat him up that badly,” Kallon said.
Peter just grinned. “I won’t have to. After I re-lock Sie’s cage, I’ll shift into a bear, and then with her invisibility,” he gestured toward Dovelyn, “I’ll tear open the bottom of the cage, sending the fake Sie into the pit below, making it look like the crate gave out.”
“That’s barbaric,” I gasped. Even if the reasoning made sense, we couldn’t kill a guard just for working there, and the way Peter described the lower level… there was no way he was going to survive, and what they’d have to do to him to pull it off… “You said everyone dies that goes into the pit, how can you send a guard in there?”
“Scottie, if you met this guard, you’d want him dead. Trust me.”
I crossed my arms, not bothering to reply. I trusted Peter’s judgment, but it still felt wrong.
“That’s risking that no one stops and questions you,” Tezya said. “You could blow your cover. If someone stops you, you’ll basically be exchanging Sie’s spot in the prison for yourself. And,” he added, “what happens if someone is at this location? Dove might not be able to put Sie under her invisibility, and you’d be forced to go through with the torture room.” Tezya gestured toward the spot on the map Peter still had his finger on.
“I’ll stall.” Peter shrugged. “I’ll tie my shoe or something.”
“And if you can’t?” Tezya asked. “What happens if you have to bring Sie into it? Are you prepared to torture him?”
Peter shifted on the bed. “I’ll manage.”
“And you’re comfortable with that?” Tezya pressed. “Because this plan has you at risk more than anyone else. If you get caught, Dovelyn can’t save you.”
“I know the risk,” Peter replied harshly. “The plan will work, but we’ll have to time everything perfectly. The prison entrance only opens once a day. It’s the reason it took me so long to come back. Once we enter, we’ll be stuck there for exactly twenty-four hours. We’ll have to plan to break Sie out in perfect timing with the prison opening for the change of shift.”
No one commented on what that would mean. Dovelyn and Peter wouldn’t be able to hold their abilities for another day. If they didn’t make it out during the next change, they were never coming back. Their reserves would drain, and they’d be captured along with Sie.
I looked over at my friend lounging on the bed. He looked nowhere near ready to maintain his ability for an entire day, nonetheless, with multiple shifts this plan would require him to make.
He needed me. This plan needed me. I could use my enhancement to make sure their powers lasted long enough. I could do it.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go?” Tezya asked. “I could be useful if you get into trouble.”
“No offense, Fire Boy, but your flames won’t have any effect on the water, and if you burn the prison down, we’re all dead. It’s best if you sit this one out,” Peter interjected.
I knew Tezya wasn’t talking about his flames. He was talking about his Dark ability, his Tennebrisian power—his compulsion. But Peter was unconscious when he saved us, so he still had no idea what Tezya was capable of.
“No, Tez,” Dove answered. “It’s not worth the risk to bring you. One, I don’t want you using your powers, and two, I can’t cast that much of my own power to make you invisible too. My reserves wouldn’t last with you there.”
“Then bring me too,” I said. I was planning on going whether or not they agreed with me, but it would be a lot easier if they’d just say yes. “I’ll use my enhancement on you so you can use more of your air power to shield us.”
“No,” Tezya and Dove both said at the same time, before Dovelyn went on. “You haven’t trained with your enhancement at all. What if you can only use it for fifteen minutes? There’s no guarantee you’d be able to maintain that kind of power, and if you fail, you and Tezya will be seen, and we’ll all be dead. You’re too risky to bring along. You and Tezya will wait for us here. The plan is fine without you two.”
“I used my enhancement for a week straight when your father had me—”
“One week,” Dovelyn interrupted, her voice an icy rage. “You want to use that for your argument? That you trained for one week ? I have a century over you.”
I crossed my arms as I slumped back against the wall. I’d never been more pissed off about my lack of training than I was right now. If I’d grown up in Lux and got to use my powers during school, if I’d trained my entire life with my abilities like everyone else had, they wouldn’t be questioning me. I knew I could do it. I knew I was capable. It’d be taxing and take everything out of me, but I could feel it in my bones that I would manage.
Peter looked between Tezya and me and smiled. “Oh, I would love to be a fly on the wall while you two are in here alone.”
Kallon gave Peter a knowing look, and he threw his hands up as he corrected, “Yuck. Not like that bumblebee . They’re fighting not sleeping with each other. I just meant this should be interesting.”
“Bumblebee?” Kallon arched a thin brow.
He pointed to her hair. “Yeah cause black and yellow, get it? And I’m pretty confident you’ve got a stinger on you somewhere too. ”
Tezya looked like he was about ready to murder Peter, and I wasn’t far off from doing it myself too.
Kallon looked him up and down before saying, “You’re odd.”
“Right back at—”
“Enough chit-chat,” Dovelyn interrupted. “I think this is a horrible idea to begin with, and if I sit on it any longer, I won’t go.”
“Why are you helping us?” Peter asked, bringing his arms in front of him as he leaned forward on the bed.
“I’m not doing it for you or for Sie.”
“Then why?” he pressed.
Kallon answered when Dovelyn didn’t, “Because Tezya asked us to help. Actually he begged us to help…”
“That’s enough,” Tezya cut her off.
“How are you planning on keeping a shield over Kallon if you’re down in the prison?” I asked Dovelyn, trying another tactic.
She turned to me, then shrugged. “I learned to separate my abilities.”
“Is separating your abilities the same as our protective shields?”
“No, but the end result is similar.”
“How?” I pressed.
“We don’t have time for a history lesson,” Dovelyn deadpanned.
Peter grinned as he cut in, “Actually, we do. We have to wait for the prison entrance to reopen for shift change, so we have about,” he paused, pretending to look at his wrist, “ten minutes before we have to leave, and I’d love to hear your lesson.”
Dovelyn pinched the bridge of her nose, but to my surprise, she answered, “Separating your powers allows you to leave your magic running even after you’re gone. You have to initially be present to start your magic in a particular place, but if you have enough concentration and power, you can travel far distances while it’s still working.”
“Is that what keeps the balcony covered in Tezya’s condo?” I asked, thinking back to how he’d told me it was always shielded.
“Almost. That’s called partition of powers and it’s even more rare than separation. I created the shield when I was at his condo, but in order to leave it up permanently without me having to concentrate, I had to give up a piece of my reserve.” She sighed. “I guess there’s no point in having it there now. In a couple of weeks, whenever my father realizes we’ve all left, he’ll destroy the place.” She shrugged. “It’s why most Advenians don’t create partitions, and they choose separation instead. You might realize one day you no longer need it, but you can never get that power back.”
I was about to ask her to elaborate, but Kallon beat me to it. “Think of it like my portals,” she said. “I have to be present to create each portal, but once it’s up, my magic stays. The only difference is my portals don’t permanently steal from my reserves. Partition is really advanced and not all ranks are capable of it. And you need a large reserve to even be able to manage it. Not all abilities have the potential for it so it’s rarely taught.
“Then you have the protective shields surrounding Lux, Tennebris, and the prison. They’re slightly different from partition,” Kallon continued. “Partition of magic can remain in place for the duration of an Advenian’s life, but it’s technically still temporary. If the person who created it dies, their powers will fade with them. It’s only permanent while the Advenian is alive. But the protective shields never go away. It took hundreds of air and illusion users to originally erect them, and they had to do it during the remaining effects of Lakimi. We don’t have the time now to explain it all to you, but it involves reciting specific prayers to the Goddesses, and if it’s done correctly, the shields become permanent. They will remain forever, even after the Advenians who made them die.”
“What did Advenians do when they first came here?” Peter asked, seeming genuinely curious, and it made me wonder if this was something only taught in Lux. Our curriculum was supposed to be equivalent, but I was second guessing everything we’d ever been taught.
“They had air and illusion users stationed outside each perimeter and usually compulsion users in case a mortal did come across it,” Kallon answered. “They constantly had to reinforce it and took turns in shifts. Think of it like tiers. Separation most Advenians are capable of, it just depends on how many and how far you can go with it. It drains your reserves, but with rest, it’ll replenish. Partition permanently steals, but it will last as long as the Advenian who made it is alive, and our protective shields surpass the user as long as it was done under Lakimi.”
“So you’re willing to give up a piece of your reserves to rescue Sie?” Peter asked Dovelyn.
“No. I’m using separation.”
“But separation will drain your reserves,” I pressed. “You said you need to concentrate to be able to use it—”
“Don’t,” Dovelyn cut me off. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not working. I don’t need or want your help.”
I went to open my mouth, but Dovelyn stopped me. “It’s been ten minutes. Let’s go before I change my mind.” She walked over to Kallon and took her hand.
“Be safe,” Tezya said, and I didn’t miss the wariness in his voice.
“Always.” Dovelyn smiled at her brother, and it was warm and sweet, the complete opposite of her usual cool arrogance. It was strange to see her soft side, despite knowing they were close.
Peter rose and grabbed Kallon’s other hand.
I took a steadying breath, praying this would work. Tezya and I were on the opposite side of the room, the only ones not touching her.
As soon as Kallon opened the portal, I reached my enhancement toward her, stretching and opening the black and purple dome with my powers.
Kallon’s yellow eyes widened once she felt what I was doing. Her portal expanded over the entire room, taking Tezya and I with her.
“Shit—” Tezya started to say as he leapt toward me, but we were already gone, swallowed whole in an endless vortex with nothing but a lingering trail of black and purple smoke.