Chapter 15 #2
He moved to face the line of practice dummies once more. “It’s a dangerous thing, to not know who you are.”
I couldn’t disagree.
“How do you know there isn’t a chance of his control returning at the worst possible time?” he asked.
“I don’t.”
I could sense the tension that roiled through his body, even from where I sat, but a resigned sigh soon followed it.
I got to my feet. “There is one thing I am certain of, though.”
He angled his face toward me.
“I would die before I let any harm come to her, from my hands or otherwise.”
He finally met my eyes, holding my gaze for a long moment before readying his sword once more, preparing for another assault against the practice dummies.
“For her sake,” he said, “let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Four more days went by.
I saw little of Nova. She spent most of her time doing what she could to prepare Rivenholt for her potential absence, whether it was meeting with every noble that demanded it; visiting the rebuilding sites across the kingdom; or using her power to guide and shape the magic trickling over the land, trying to settle and soothe as many places as she could.
Every evening, she collapsed into my arms and fell asleep almost instantly, while I did my best to settle and soothe her.
Even with the warmth of my magic cocooning her, she rarely slept through the night.
I spent my days being as useful as I could elsewhere, which typically meant serving as an assistant to Eamon while he scoured the materials they’d collected from Midna.
We compiled and cross-referenced stacks upon stacks of notes.
Zayn helped, as well—though he only made it midway through the second day before threatening to hurl himself from the library window out of boredom.
Eamon then ordered him to go be dramatic elsewhere, and we carried on without him.
The mark of the Void Order kept showing up, seemingly everywhere we looked. Most notably, we came across it on a tattered letter, stamped into a corner in ink the color of blood. The contents of the letter were innocuous enough, with no actual reference to the order aside from its symbol…
But it was signed Argoth.
As in, King Argoth.
My distant ancestor, and the Soltarisian ruler who had, according to legend, come between Lorien and Calista.
I puzzled over the connection between it all, but Eamon didn’t seem to want to linger on the subject.
I thought of the way Bastian had averted his eyes when we’d discussed that mark the other morning, and I wondered, again, if there was something I wasn’t being told—some theory they weren’t sharing with me.
I could only guess at most of it.
But one thing I was certain of was that everything continued to point to an inevitable trip to the Above.
So, as soon as morning dawned on the fifth day, we began to pack.
By that evening, our small company was prepared to leave.
Zayn and Thalia would be joining us, along with a group of soldiers who would see us to the edge of Rivenholt’s revived territory, where we planned to set up camp before continuing on to our next destination.
That destination was the Nocturnus Road—the same path Nova had taken when she’d first descended into this realm months ago.
She had grown skilled in her ability to move herself and others freely between the middle-realm and this one, but traveling all the way back to the Above was another challenge entirely.
The established road would be safer. Easier on her.
And while there were other alleged pathways between Noctaris and Soltaris, we opted for this one because it was familiar, and because it would bring us as close as possible to our ultimate target of Rose Point.
We gathered by the stables once the sun began to set, saying goodbyes and rehashing our plans one final time. It would be two days of hard riding to reach Nocturnus, through lands caught between death and revival that would be, at best, unpredictable.
Bastian and Thalia stood alone off to the side, deep in conversation.
Nova walked through the ranks of our accompanying soldiers, giving final orders.
Phantom trotted closely at her heels, shifted into his usual dog form; he seemed very pleased with himself—likely because he’d talked Nova into letting him come along on this mission.
Zayn had just finished adjusting the tack on one of the massive scourge stallions we’d be riding. His eyes lingered on the beast even as he made his way over to me; their powerful, monstrous appearances were hard to look away from.
“It’s going to be strange, being back in the Above after all these years,” he said, gaze drifting upward as he approached. “But I’m looking forward to feeling a warmer, brighter sun on my face again. You know, without the whole someone-else-inside-of-my-skin thing.”
“I’d be more enthusiastic if we had any idea of what actually awaited us underneath that brighter, warmer sun.”
“Forever the voice of reason murdering my excitement,” he said with a crooked smile.
“It’s not a vacation we’re embarking on,” I reminded him, unapologetically.
“Well, I’m personally still going to focus on the feel of the sunlight on my face.”
I acquiesced with a little shrug, trying to appear unbothered—even though the thought of such light had been stirring unpleasant, long-buried memories in me all day.
I was far removed from the life I’d lived in the Above kingdom of Elarith. The Keepers of Light, who had once controlled and judged my every movement were buried deeply enough in the past that I rarely thought of them or the scars they’d left.
But now, here we were, returning to the scene of one of the disasters they’d helped orchestrate.
Questions about their connections to Lorien—to all the wars we faced—swirled in my head. And if there was potential overlap with the members of that ancient Void Order, as Eamon had said…
What was I walking back into, exactly?
As soon as the question crossed my mind, the crawling underneath my skin struck again. It was accompanied by burning, this time—like the heated ends of a hundred needles prodding, trying to poke through. I fought to keep myself from flinching.
Zayn seemed to notice; his smile remained, but his voice was slightly more serious as he said, “Are you all right, by the way? Any more strange, internal rumblings I should be aware of?”
I’d mentioned the strangeness to him days ago, mostly because I’d wondered if he was experiencing—or had previously experienced—anything similar.
But, although we’d both been subjected to similar torture, we seemed to be recovering in different ways.
No unpredictable magic plagued him. In fact, though he was still unusually attuned to the presence of it in others, he didn’t seem to possess any for himself.
I was glad he didn’t have to carry the weight of it any more. But it only made me more concerned about what was happening to me.
If Zayn had managed a clean break, then why hadn’t I?
What about all the years I’d possessed magic following my first escape from Lorien’s possession, when I was only a child? What if some part of him had actually lodged itself in my soul decades ago and had been poisoning me ever since?
Where did he end?
Where did I begin?
“Aleks? Are you alright?”
I gave my head a little shake. “I’m fine.”
Zayn looked prepared to call me out on the lie, but Eamon joined us before he could.
“A condensed summary of the notes we’ve been compiling over these past few days,” Eamon said, handing me a bundle of twine-secured parchment.
I arched a brow as I took it. Condensed, he claimed; yet, the stack was several inches thick.
Nevertheless, I dutifully tucked it into the bag slung over my shoulder.
“If you do come across Orin, he might be able to give more insights about it all,” he added.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Zayn asked him. “I was looking forward to watching you be entirely too enthusiastic about every rock and tree we encountered in the Above.”
Eamon pursed his lips, looking as though he was considering giving a matter-of-fact lecture about those various rocks and trees we might come across.
Nova saved us from that particular horror, interjecting herself into the conversation as she joined us. “He’s staying,” she said. “We aren’t leaving my brother entirely alone down here.”
“It’s an honor to remain by his side,” Eamon agreed, quickly. “Thalia will be the better companion to you for this excursion, anyhow.” He looked in her direction, watching as she secured the last of her riding gear. He seemed relieved at the sight of her preparing to leave.
We all were, I think.
She’d been missing for most of the day. I’d worried that she would refuse to join us, but it seemed her loyalty to Nova now surpassed whatever misgivings she had about journeying to the Above and facing her father—and whatever else awaited us there.
She caught me staring and threw me one of her typical cold, borderline suspicious looks. Her glare lingered briefly before she exchanged a final word with Bastian, then she mounted her scourge stallion, Uldrin, and immediately trotted toward the gates.
“That’s our cue, I suppose,” said Zayn, following her lead.
Bastian’s gaze shifted from Thalia to our group, darting between Nova and me before settling on me. The quiet, unspoken plea in his eyes was obvious: Keep her safe.
I acknowledged it with a slight nod, then I followed Thalia’s lead as well.
The first day of riding passed in a haze of quiet determination and exhausting, constant vigilance.