Chapter 64
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
Renova and Ganmira Transcindiel, twins of the moon. Change and rebirth may cost more than they’re worth.
—Lock Scroll, the Arx.
“My cousin,” I croaked, as a strange and lost piece of me seemed to fit into place, answering an unspoken question asked long ago. Who was I?
Aeriden jerked upright, and time seemed to stop as the revelation sank into my bones. The spinning thoughts in my mind slowed, and emotions bubbled from below.
“When Enya died, her body and the Obscura Bone were secretly taken to Sultira to be hidden from the remaining monarchs of the world, from Saros and the dark king. One family, one ally in the War of Ruin, vowed to protect it. To guard its whereabouts until it was time. A family that honored Enya’s caeluma with their own unique weapons. A herd.”
Selvina pinned her eyes on Aeriden as Usra gave him a soft nod. A small tear formed at the corner of my eye.
“The Cantor name dates to the days of the Hidden Hero in Sultira. And has had a secret line of communication with the Natara clan for over a thousand years. We believe the Lord Cantor at the time of the War of Ruin swore his allegiance to Enya. Perhaps even giving an air oath of his own to hide her body and her power.”
“For blood and for bonds,” Aeriden murmured, running a hand through his ebony locks. His sapphire eyes softened as they slid to mine. He reached a hand to me, the gesture pulling a relieved sigh from my lips as I gripped it tightly.
“May the sacrifice of our house never be forgotten,” I finished for him. “The words from the Cantor Family Crest.”
My mind drifted to the vision Enya had sent me last year of an ebony-haired man in black armor, kneeling before her. He’d looked at her in devastation as she gave him his final mission. Along with a vial of her blood…
“And twenty-three years ago, a baby girl was born in the mountains of Nivis, in the middle of the night,” Ursa whispered, “on the first day of the year that darkness begins to outlast the light, the Autumnal Equinox.”
Maadon.
“I was there,” she continued, “I remember the night where blood soaked the snow-covered hillside of our peak. Rows and rows of nyxteria blossoms glowed in the moonslight as your mother brought you into this world. The next morning, Ganmira and Renova crossed each other, a dark shadow eclipsing the brilliance of Aelius for hours.”
I stopped breathing.
“We knew you were the one. Knew you’d be the one to harness Ordell’s Transcindiel power that we’d kept hidden for hundreds of years. Knew you’d find the Obscura someday. And we kept you safe, moving through the mountains. Until Daimos found us.
“Your parents had little training, and none in our clan had dared try to use the Transcindiel bone of power for a thousand years for fear of Daimos finding it, finding us. But in the chaos that ensued when he did find us, they used it together on you, transforming you from elf to human.”
The truth of it crashed into my soul like lightning in the night, and I reached for my ears, their smooth, rounded curve. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift down into the chasm, searching for the golden light.
A warmth surrounded me as the Transcindiel power nodded in confirmation.
“Our clan was destroyed, all of them killed on sight, except for me and Eira, who they brought to the Crystal Castle to be made an example of.” Ursa’s eyes slid to Selvina, whose frigid nature seemed to melt.
“Ursa and Eira suffered for years. And when she was marched into the halls of the Crystal Castle by the Tauruk, I sensed our tether. That soulbinding thread,” Selvina murmured, her porcelain hand pale as she squeezed Ursa’s.
“She told me what happened, begging for my help, but before I took over the communication, your parents had already conveyed the most important piece of information. That one small, human babe had been hidden in a wooden chest at Elpis Point. And that Black Horse had already come for her.”
Elpis Point.
Elp… is… Point…
Oh, gods.
Saliva flooded my mouth. Bile rose to my throat and surged up through my lungs as I realized the intention of my father’s last words to me… He’d tried to tell me about Elpis Point… Before I…
Aeriden’s chair crashed to the ground as he stood, reaching for me and pulling my hair back. My stomach emptied on the dark stone floor. I wiped my chin on my sleeve before looking up to them. The two of them eyed me expectantly.
No.
I wouldn’t say… I couldn’t say it.
They were silent for several moments. Aeriden stepped back as Ursa leaned forward and put a firm hand on my shoulder.
“I know it’s a lot,” Ursa said quietly. “But it’s not the only thing we called you here to discuss. Daimos has uncovered something. We fear he’s found a new gate.”
Her tone had turned dark. Her jaw clenched as raw determination entered her eyes.
“We should gather the others. And the caeluma, for this part. Speaking of caeluma…” Selvina paused. “I have a request, Bonder.”
Selvina’s white hawk perched on the stone wall outside the Onyx Tower, her snowy feathers glowing a soft blue in the moonslight.
Nishanth’s keen eyes tracked me as we approached, and I opened a sliver of emotion toward the bird.
Aquila’s trill sang from above before he swooped down and landed a few feet away.
Tiberius’s clomping hooves crunched in the snow behind me as he approached.
Nishanth ruffled her feathers as the two caeluma surveyed her.
She’s the one, Tiberius confirmed in my mind. We both agree.
And with that, I lifted an ear to the golden, lilting tune inside me and pulled a strand of Transcindiel power to the surface. My fingers spread wide as I sent the power of transformation and rebirth spearing toward the snowy hawk.
Moments later, a showering of gold and blue sparks lit up the night, forcing back the darkness that loomed off the Onyx Tower.
Selvina fell to her knees in the soft powder as Nishanth spread her massive wings, showering us in a magnificent blast of illuminated snow. The giant hawk bowed to her Bellator before sending a wave of gratitude and something like duty to me. I returned it with a nod before mounting my own caeluma.
All of them, Bellator or not, human or elf, the leaders of this world, the good in this world, needed to see this together, I decided as the two Nivisian elves shared where we were headed.
My stomach twisted. Drystan should be here, I kept thinking. My friend was a Bellator. He should be here with all of us, with his brothers and sisters.
Dawn still distant, the hills of Kayj were eerily quiet as the easy beat of Nishanth, Aquila, and Tiberius’s wings thumped in the distance, carrying the last of our group to the cave entrance carved into the foreboding cliff edge.
I suppressed a shudder as the sinister yellow glow pulsed from deep within the cave, only bits of it dancing against the entrance. The same yellow glow of the dark king’s eyes. A sickening yellow… The yellow of disease, of pus, of dying things.
Nerissa and I flanked Bayne as we approached the entrance, followed closely by Carina and Kresida. Vulcan had remained behind with Isla. Aeriden lingered toward the back of the group, staring out at Kayj’s black coastline.
Kellan slid off Tiberius’s back as his hooves slammed into the rocky footing.
He stepped forward, ignoring the rest of us as he slid his gaze from Selvina, who stood at the entrance of the cave, and the chilling glow beyond.
His dark brows narrowed as he surveyed the manmade gap, and his lips curved up in a snarl for the briefest moment.
Carina stepped forward, passing the rest of us, as she adjusted her glasses, frowning.
“Vael’s Lacrima,” she breathed, barely audible for the rest of us to hear.
Selvina’s eyes shot to hers, scanning the small elf.
“Hopefully not,” she murmured to Carina, turning toward the small group now. “For thousands of years, Kayj was merely an outpost of the Kingdom of Nivis, a small, sacred land of rocks and hills,” she said, sweeping her hands out to the landscape surrounding us.
“It was a cash hold of Larimer stone,” she continued, nodding toward Aeriden and the other humans gathered nearby.
A strange sort of quiet drifted toward me, as if that little bit of air connecting me to Kellan had suddenly stilled. I stole a glance at the pirate, who, even in the little blue moonslight that was left in the sky, had gone pale.
“King Saros’s interest in the stone hundreds of years ago and his deal with Dark King Daimos is what brought the darkness here. Humans for stone, humans for protection, or so it went. Until the last of the Larimer was mined, and the dark king created the camps.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze from Kellan. His eyes were near black in the night, every trace of silver gone. His body was poised and ready for attack.
“There is no Larimer stone left in this place?” Kellan’s words were clipped and hollow.
Selvina shook her head, looking to Ursa before continuing, “But in those years of mining and digging for Larimer and gems, the slaves of Kayj stumbled upon something far more dangerous.”
Bayne shifted closer to me as Selvina turned toward the entrance of the cave, motioning us forward.
“Stop.” Kellan’s voice was a hard, unyielding demand from behind.
My feet slowed.
Selvina turned and scowled at him, the rest of them slowly shuffling in through the cave entrance.
A massive, hollowed-out space the size of Mount Telum’s throne room opened to a large chasm in its center, the source of the sickening yellow glow.
A stone walkway jutted through the center, a bridge connecting the two ends of the cave.
And in its center was an elaborately carved archway.
My lips parted as I gazed at the sight, unease twisting my stomach. What would Drystan think of this? He should be here. My mind spun, continuing to drift back to my friend.
The air in the cave smelled different…like a window from distant shores had opened. Carina slowed her pace, lingering at the cave’s entrance as her eyes scanned the massive space before snapping them at Kellan.
“We must figure out how to destroy this,” Selvina urged, and as she stepped forward, a deafening crack echoed from the entrance of the cave.
Blades were drawn as the group whirled toward the cave opening, and yellow light flashed from the arch.
Drystan’s eyes were wide in shock. His silhouette was a stark contrast to the violet glow of the distant sunrise, with his black robes billowing against the wind.
A terrified Evony stood next to him, her long braids trembling, as she let out a shocked yelp.
Her hand was clasped in his, and she grappled at his Death Scholar robes with her other.
Drystan’s crystal eyes shot to mine, and I noted the luminescent tip of a star pointing from the bit of copper skin that peeked from beneath his shirt.
My lips parted as realization hit. Drystan had harnessed the Advetis power. How did he know we were here? What was he doing here? And with Evony?
Shocked silence stretched across the cave for a heartbeat before Kellan shouted, “We need to—”
One moment, a foreign breeze stole through the archway and out of the cavern.
The next, I doubled over as a spine-stiffening scream ripped through the air.
Or was it my mind? The most pain-filled, gut-wrenching sound deafened me as my hands clasped over my ears, and I pinched my eyes shut.
My knees barked in pain as they crashed to the stone floor.
My powers writhed deep within my chasm, but not in urgency to unleash, to defend. They awakened in a state of panic, of raw fear, and I barely registered the tug of wind from behind.
The screaming didn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop.
I moaned against the sound, my hands dropping to the floor. Wincing, I opened my eyes.
I forced my head up as the screaming continued. Selvina’s slim form lay crumpled several feet from me. I scanned the cavern floor. Bodies everywhere. And that scream.
“HELP!” the woman shouted.
My stomach plunged. That was Olienna’s voice.
Bayne moved. His boots slowly pressed against the floor as he staggered upright, his teeth clenched as if fighting some invisible battle. His emerald gaze found mine, dark brows angled downward, and he gave me a firm nod.
Olienna howled into our minds, a wretched, torturous, high-pitched sound that turned the insides of my stomach.
I pressed off the ground, my legs shaking as I stood, eyeing the others slowly stirring, attempting to break free of the gruesome sound.
Another deafening crack, and Drystan’s form vanished.
My powers continued their panicky chaos as I reached for Honor. The scream peaked, the agony in Olienna’s cry enough to raise the bile in my throat, when it was cut off completely.
I blinked, my grip on Honor’s hilt a wet, slippery thing. Those of us in the cavern looked around, blinking through confusion when two voices echoed from beyond the elaborate archway.
“Hello, little thief,” they purred.