Chapter 12
Terra
Raine is silent all morning. We had to wake up earlier than the rest, so today’s already off to a shitty start. I woke up in bed alone. Raine knows I was fucked senseless last night because my thighs are sore and when we showered together this morning, he could see all the hickeys and bite marks on my skin. Hence the silent treatment.
Apparently, blight classes need to be taught far away from the academy. We wait in the homeroom in silence. When Edgar and Ash join us, the air becomes suffocating with tension. I hate this so much. Maybe Edgar is willing to talk to me today though.
“Edgar, I?—”
Elias steps down from his staircase and cuts me off with a long sigh. We all look at him and shrink in our seats a bit. His eyes snag on me and my veins twist at the darkness I find in his cold, gray gaze. Back to the distant charade. All the vulnerability I saw in his eyes last night has vanished.
“Let’s go,” Elias says curtly and the four of us follow him outside.
The cold winter wind is brutal against my skin. We make our way across the bridge and down to the courtyard. The forest walls off the back of the usable area. A small path cuts through the trees and stretches far away up the slope of the mountain. Snow crunches beneath our feet as we march across the courtyard and up the path. I give up on the idea of warming my feet anytime soon.
We walk for the better part of twenty minutes. I’m surrounded by three men I have issues with and one stranger.
At least one is my blood and can’t really evade me.
“Can we please talk?” I slow down a bit and walk beside him. Raine and Ash don’t give us a second glance as they walk ahead.
Edgar doesn’t reply, but his expression is much softer than it was yesterday, so I’m praying that he will be willing to hear me out.
“I don’t know what you think happened in Navasik, but I didn’t know what would happen. If I did… I would have stayed and convinced Mom and Dad to run with us. I would never leave you intentionally, Edgar.” I stare at him and the tendrils of pain deep inside me fester, begging to be released.
He looks at me with eyes carrying the weight of the world. “Deep down, I know you wouldn’t… I don’t know why I was so convinced. There’s something dark inside me now, Terra. It won’t stop telling me things I know aren’t true. I—I feel so mixed up.” Edgar’s eyes meet mine and he looks so fucking exhausted. There are scars in his gaze that werent there before, but now they’re evident, looming and cold. His eyes are rimmed with red. He just looks tired.
“Did you see what happened to them?” I ask, biting the insides of my cheeks. I only saw the aftermath, and that was awful enough. I can’t fathom what he’s seen.
Edgar lowers his chin and mumbles, “Yeah, I did. Heirah soldiers were there too, Terra. We never stood a fucking chance.”
My feet stop moving. “What are you talking about?”
He glances back at me, looking so much older than he is. The dark circles beneath his eyes make his skin appear paler than it should be. “I saw it—they helped Fernestia infiltrate our country. I’m certain that Finn’s father was a part of it. His men were there to clean up the aftermath,” he says with venom.
My chest sinks. “No, that can’t be.” I search his eyes for any doubt but find none. “I was in Barkovah, and there was no sign of any military force. Raine was leading the city when I arrived. Finn’s father couldn’t have been involved. They fled to Whales of Tauh.”
Edgar lets out a small grunt. “I know what I saw.”
As we resume walking I let my thoughts run rampant. Is Heirah working with Fernestia? But why?
Elias turns his head and looks at me briefly. My stomach curls with heat and I have to shake my head to keep from thinking about last night. “Barkovah was taken. I was there when everything fell apart. He’s the beacon for the Skyfell.” I nod toward Elias and lower my eyes to the snow. He’s the reason my family is dead and I should hate him more than anything, and yet I can’t.
Edgar’s deadly glare slowly returns to his eyes. “And you’ve been by his side this entire time?” There’s judgment in his stare. Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be? But it doesn’t stop it from stinging all the same.
“Not by choice… My Shadow has a thing for his,” I say quietly.
Edgar narrows his eyes, but before he asks me to elaborate, we nearly walk straight into Raine and Ash.
Elias gives Edgar an assessing look and mutters, “Let’s start with Ash since he’s already received blight-training from Arthur.”
Ash walks to the center of the small clearing and shuts his eyes. When they reopen, circles line his pupils like doorways. Elias stands next to him and as he blinks, the crescent moons from the other night return to his eyes.
“Novas have a distinguished power, one that is visible in our eyes. As a defense mechanism, if we are not in tune with our powers, we cast out a blight in times of distress.” Elias holds his hand out toward the clearing and darkness blasts from his palm, scorching the snow and trees into black smudges.
I raise a brow in confusion. I’ve seen him kill without so much as a trace of Velis before. His gaze catches mine as he speaks. “Uncontrolled power like this will blight those around you who are not Novas or in full unity with their Shadows. While if you are in control—” Elias performs the same attack, but this time, there is no dark smoke. A pine tree snaps in half and falls without a trace of him having anything to do with it. “No evidence of your power will be left behind.”
Elias nods to Ash and he performs the same attack. He slices a lone tree in half with no evidence of magic.
“Until you can do it perfectly like that, we’ll be here every morning practicing,” Elias states and looks from me to Edgar expectantly.
I swallow tightly. Raine stands tall beside me, his eyes unmoving and cold.
Elias grins at him as he points to Raine’s chest. “Terra has already blighted Raine, so he makes the perfect test dummy.” Elias’s hand clamps down on Raine’s shoulder and his fingers dig into his flesh. Raine’s brows twitch but he shows no fear.
“Why not just practice on the trees?” I scowl at Elias.
He shrugs as he mutters, “Higher stakes and whatnot by using a live target.”
Asshole.
I try to intervene but one hard look from Elias stops me. His gray eyes burn into me, making me believe that he very much has an issue with me being so close to Raine.
“Edgar, I want you to try to decapitate him from twenty feet away. Keep your Shadow in check. You won’t stop until I think you’re stable enough to join classes. Raine, try to keep him from taking your head clean off,” Elias says with an eerie grin.
“That’s insane!” I interject, but Raine dismisses me with a low grunt as he takes his position twenty feet away as instructed. Edgar fists his hands at his sides and looks at Raine with determination.
Elias grabs my wrist and drags me to the side of the clearing so we can watch.
“This is fucked up. If Raine gets hurt?—”
“You’ll what?” Elias snaps, his jaw set and eyes trained carefully ahead. “We aren’t playing games anymore, Terra.” My stomach curls and I want to lash out at him but I think better of it. He’s been tolerant of my outbursts so far, but with his peers around, I’m not so sure how far that tolerance will stretch.
The snow crunches behind us and I turn my head to find Arthur walking up the path from the forest. His gray eyes calmly meet mine as he stops beside me. “Sorry I’m late. I had to attend to a few matters at Za’Afiel. Cein will be arriving this evening to discuss your mission delay, Elias.”
I look between them. Elias’s permanent glare is set in stone, while Arthur has a light air about him. I’ve heard this man’s name tossed around a handful of times. Who exactly is Cein? From what I’ve gathered, he seems like someone in high standing, maybe even higher up than the headmaster.
My assassin offers him no reply so we watch Edgar in silence. Ash stands alone on the opposite side of the clearing, his hands tucked into his white cloak, almost blending in completely with the white trees surrounding him.
My breath seizes as Edgar raises his hand.
An explosion of power bursts from his palm and the gravity around us instantly intensifies. My feet dig heavily into the earth and panic rushes me as Raine’s eyes widen, his hands barely lifting in time to shield himself from the black wave of power that crashes into him.
“Control,” Elias barks out to Edgar and my brother lowers his hand, breathing heavily and shock glazing his eyes at his own strength.
My body urges me forward to protect Raine but Arthur’s hand lands on my shoulder. “He’s okay,” he mutters softly. I only believe him once the smoke clears and I see Raine standing completely unscathed. “Well done, Raine. You are a natural at blocking frontal attacks.” Raine gives Arthur a hesitant glance but seems reassured by his praise.
Edgar shakes his head and tries again. His attack this time is much smaller, and the gravity of it doesn’t pull at my feet as immensely. Raine deflects it better, casting the remnants of the black smoke to his side and staining the snow with the aftermath.
Elias makes Edgar perform the same attack over and over until his legs are visibly shaking and he falls to one knee. His control has tightened significantly since he started but Elias still isn’t impressed. It’s already past noon and my stomach is twisting with hunger. My legs are sore from standing in one spot all day in the cold.
“Head back to the castle, Edgar. You’ll be here tomorrow morning again until you can be in complete control.” Elias dismisses him with little regard. Ash helps Edgar to his feet and they head back together.
Raine falls to his knees next from exhaustion and Elias sighs, looking at Arthur with an expectant glance.
“I will take his place for your training, Terra.” Arthur smiles warmly at me and my Shadow coils inside my chest. I hope he didn’t hear me and Elias last night; his room is right across the hall, for gods’ sakes.
“Are we going to be here until nightfall?” I ask with a deep sigh.
Arthur leans down and helps Raine up from the ground. His gray eyes are somber and deep with secrets long left behind. “I’m afraid so, at this rate,” he says simply. Raine can hardly keep his eyes open as he heads back to Alkrose.
I stand where Edgar had and position my legs as he did. Elias circles me slowly and nudges my lower back so I straighten it. His scent seeps into me and I fight off the urge to lean into him.
“Same as your brother, try to decapitate him,” Elias mutters a little too close to my ear. Chills crawl up my spine and I shudder as he steps away.
Okay, I can do this.
Arthur’s white cloak waves in the wind, the gray sky cloudy above him. His shoulder-length ebony hair sways softly and his gray eyes stay on me. Cheeks rosy and jaw tight. His presence is that of a lonely wolf caught in a snowstorm.
I swallow hard. How can I even imagine decapitating such a beautiful creature? My veins hum as I focus on his throat, narrowing my eyes and remembering to stay in control. I don’t want to blight anyone else ever again. I’ve already sentenced Raine to death and that thought makes me sick.
I raise my hand and a black shard shoots from my fingertips, slicing through the air silently, and my throat seizes as blood trickles down Arthur’s neck.