27. Chapter 27
Iwas weightless. There was no light around me, yet I could see so easily in the darkness. I drifted like a feather in the sea. The dark took me into her warm embrace and my world once again turned black.
My eyes flickered open. I was neither here nor there, but present.
I was in a cave of some sort. Dark walls that hadn’t seen any light in centuries.
It wasn’t hard to see in the dark, because I was the dark.
There was nothing abnormal about this place as I observed, but there was a strange feeling all around me.
I commanded my feet to move and felt myself glide—if you could call it that—toward a wall.
With what I perceived to be my hand, I raised it up before me, casting a delicate teal glow in the cave. Instead of limestone or dolomite that formed the cavern, this one glittered like obsidian. Small shadows were traced underneath the stone, following my hand.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice said from behind me. “Where it all started.”
I quickly turned to find a man standing a few feet behind me with his hands in his trouser pockets.
His tunic was white and unmarred by dust or grime.
The black of his hair matched the cave walls and his skin was ghastly white, but his eyes were the brightest shade of blue I had ever witnessed.
He was a Wielder. But how was he here? Where was here?
“Who are you?” I asked, instinctively reaching for a blade at my side only to come up short.
The man cocked his head at an angle and gave a handsome smile.
The more I studied him, the more I realized.
“The specter. You’ve been in my dreams before…
and I saw you on the road at Ventus Bluff.
I’ve seen you in a forest once before too, haven’t I? But your eyes were silver then.”
“I’m glad to know you can actually hear me—this time.” His warm smile turned sad. “But that also means it’s taking over.”
“What are you talking about?” I wanted to step back but was stuck in place.
The man looked around the cave. “You need to find the keys. Restore the balance before it ensnares you. Like it did me.”
My eyes narrowed and my anger spiked at the words I recognized he had spoken to me once before. “What keys? What do you know? Where are they?” Each question grew more clipped. “Who are you?”
The man chuckled and he turned his gaze upon me again.
“Anger feeds it. If you haven’t already figured that out.
It makes you susceptible to the voices. The lies.
The manipulation.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned to observe the strange markings on a wall.
“The unfortunate thing is you can’t stop what you feel. ”
“You don’t know me,” I said through clenched teeth.
He chuckled again. “I do know you. Because I was you.” The man turned his attention to me again.
His bright blue eyes flashed silver momentarily then returning to their jeweled state.
“I tried to do the noble thing, the honorable thing…but I was a fool. I only played into its hand and broke everything so precious.”
“Who are you?” I asked again.
His eyes turned solemn as he frowned, his relaxed attitude now edged with seriousness. “Find the keys, Ophelia. Fix the shattered Circles. Restore the balance of our Wielding.”
***
The smell of something earthy was the first thing to awaken me. Then the sound of crickets, followed by the feel of something warm and itchy over my body.
My eyes were too heavy to open as I tried peeling my dry tongue off the roof of my mouth. I tried to swallow but only caused myself to forcefully cough against the dryness, making my head pound all the more.
“She wakes.” I knew the deep voice of Fyom and heard him shift nearby before something cool was pressed against my mouth. “It’s only water,” he whispered as his large palm tilted my head forward. My lips obeyed and took in the sweet nectar of life.
Instant chills shook through my overly warm body. I took more sips. A stream of water escaped the side of my mouth and rolled down my neck—only causing more chills.
“Easy now. Don’t want to drown yourself.” He lightly chuckled before the glass was pulled away. “Now for the good stuff. Just a small sip will do.”
Another glass was pressed lightly against my lips. An earthy scent hit my nostrils as something strongly floral and thick seeped into my mouth. “What is that?” I said after a light sip.
“A tonic that will do most of the work. You’re lucky I had leftover concoctions from when I visited the Healing ward at Ventus Bluff. Too many poor Wielders burning out. I’m afraid more of that might happen as our Wielding continues to weaken in time.”
“Thank you,” I croaked as I swallowed the liquid. This must be what it felt like to fall from a cliff…then get run over by a caravan…before being tossed into a steep ravine. “What happened?” I groaned.
“Burnout, my girl. Seems like you found the bottom of your well.”
“But how—”
“She’s awake? Ora will be glad to know,” Sury grumbled from a distance.
“Watch over her, will you? I came in to grab more tonics for the townspeople and noticed her stirring.” I heard Fyom rise from where he sat as he continued. “I’ll be sure to tell the queen her sister is alright.”
The men mumbled something I couldn’t decipher before Fyom’s large footsteps grew softer.
“How do you feel, champ?”
“Champ?” I tried to chuckle but it sounded more like a gasp. The cool glass met my lips again and I took another deep drink.
“Well…if it wasn’t for you…we would be worse off. Kinda. Sorta.”
“Hmph. You’re funny.”
It became so silent that I thought he had left, but then he shifted in a chair beside me.
“Did you mean to do it?” His whisper was so soft it was barely noticeable.
“To the people? I mean, no one would blame you if you did it toward the Raiders. It was pretty badass seeing you go on rampage. And those shadows? I didn’t know a Wielder could do that. ” He chuckled the last sentence.
My mind was still in a haze as the tonic worked its own magic, but I was still unable to gather his meaning. I was about to prod when I heard someone running toward us.
“Is she okay?” Ora huffed, seemingly out of breath from running.
I finally forced my eyes to open. The feeling of sand had snuck underneath my eyelids. I blinked against the sting, feeling weak tears coat my eyes. With aching limbs, I attempted to sit up, but each movement felt mountainous.
“Easy does it,” Sury said beside me as he helped me into a seated position. Ora fluffed an extra pillow and placed it behind me, allowing me to sit comfortably against the headrest.
I looked around and noticed we were inside Fyom’s enchanted tent. Home away from home. “Sury,” Ora softly spoke as she gave him a small smile, “can you go help Fyom? I think just a few more need to be tended to, and then we’ll be done.”
Sury nodded then briefly looked at me with unease in his eyes before exiting the tent. Through the gaps I saw the stars shining brightly.
Ora shifted to the chair beside the bed and sat down. “Do you need more water?” she asked as she placed a cold rag on my temple.
“No.” Something in her voice made the hair on my skin rise. Something was wrong. “How long was I out this time?” Ora inhaled deeply and leaned back in her chair, her apprehension thick as she chewed the inside of her cheek.
I blinked rapidly. Her appearance was off. More gray and white strands of hair stood out amongst her honey-golds. And her eyes appeared a little older. “Ora? What’s wrong?”
She leaned in, cupping my hand in both of hers, and exhaled steadily. “No one is going to blame you for what happened. Matter of fact, those in the square won’t even remember.”
“Blame me for what?”
Ora continued, ignoring my question. “Fyom is a better Healer than we gave him credit for. Truly, probably the strongest Gria has seen in a long time—”
“Ora,” I tried to interject.
“—but thankfully no one was truly hurt. And Fyom was able to give them some tonic that helped them forget the events—”
“Ora!”
“—so really, no one will be upset or angry. I’m not even upset or angry, not really. I’m sure you’ll have a monument constructed for you once they rebuild the square—”
“AURORA!” I screeched against the dryness in my throat. She immediately straightened and her hands momentarily tightened against mine before she let go completely and looked at her fingers. “What are you talking about? Were there more casualties from the Raiders? Who hurt the others?”
When she looked up again, an array of emotions swam in her eyes. “You hurt them.” Her whisper barely registered.
“Come again?” I looked at her, dumbfounded.
Ora’s smile attempted to lift, but failed. “You weren’t yourself. No one can blame you—”
“What are you talking about, Aurora?” I said between clenched teeth.
She took a deep inhale. “What do you remember?”
I sat there, trying desperately to work through the fog.
The tonic was already helping to lessen the ache in my body with each passing minute.
Slowly my mind began to see flashes of images.
Burning buildings. Raiders attacking the citizens, themselves…
I closed my eyes as I let the memories resurface.
A building with trapped people. Raiders guarding it, another on their way with a torch in their hand.
Shadowstone on the ground. Shadows pulling the Raider to the ground?
I gasped. In my mind’s eye, I watched my hands work the shadows and command the soldiers to attack one another before leading more out of the town for Ora and Fyom to destroy. How did I command shadows?
“I don’t understand,” I said as I turned to my sister.
“I know you, Ophelia. I know you wouldn’t call on that power unless you had good reason to, and seeing the Raiders attack was a noble reason. But…”
“But what?” I urged her to tell me.
She studied her fingers a minute before she looked at me again with sadness in her eyes. “But the Ancient One emerged, too.”