34. Chapter 34
Once again I was surrounded by the same dark stone walls of the unknown.
I didn’t waste time looking around as I tapped my toes against the hard ground, my arms crossed tight against my chest. I stared into the man’s silver eyes, waiting for him to speak, but once again he continued to stand there with his hands in his pockets, like he had all the time in the world.
I lost my patience and sighed. “Care to tell me why I’m here again? And who the hell you are?”
He hummed, ignoring my questions. “You’re not listening to me. You need to find a way to control it before it truly controls you—trust me.”
My shoulders rose to my ears from the deep inhale I took, trying not to lose my control on this man who stood before me. “Noted. Now, why am I here? Where is here? Why does this keep happening?”
He pulled his hands out of his trouser pockets and held them up like he was guarding himself. “One question at a time.” His hands dropped to his sides. “But first, have you found the keys yet?”
“No. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Will you give me some sort of clue to help us translate the runes?”
“Fucking Deric…” he mumbled to himself before my words registered. “Runes?”
My patience cracked. “Yes. The Feodean runes. We can’t get past many of them, but my source is working as hard as she can.”
“How can you not read Feodean? They’re common runes of Graevicka.”
I blinked. My mind tried to recall the tales of the ancient city before the Original War. Was this man from there?
The man’s face scrunched like I was upsetting him. “You’re wasting time, Ophelia. If you don’t find those keys before it grows stronger—”
“How do you know who I am?” I felt my annoyance surge.
“I know a lot more than—”
I didn’t wait for his response before I strode over to where he stood and punched him in the face. My form had improved, but even as I tried to desperately shake my hand, the pain still shot up my arm. “Stop with your riddles and give me answers!”
The man held his face like I had broken a bone, but no blood ran from his nose.
“How did you touch me?” He stood up straight, rechecking for the blood that wasn’t there before he continued.
“It’s grown in you, hasn’t it? You lost control again?
” His eyes widened in panic. “That’s how you’re here. That must be it.”
“Enough questions from you until you start answering mine. Stop being cryptic about these keys and tell me what they are, or at least tell me why Graevicks of all people want them?”
The man looked at me quizzically. “Who are Graevicks?”
“How have you not heard of them? The sect of people who idolize Graevick? They claim he and his power were superior, which created this bloodthirst to intensify our magic and expand our capabilities.”
The man kept shaking his head. “No. Only a few in my time believed that myth.” His eyes turned sad as he whispered, “Only a few…” The pitch was so low I almost missed it.
I scoured my mind for anything else I could ask to learn if he had any information that would help us. The name I heard mentioned when Ora and I were…sparring…roared to my forethought. “Do you at least know a Deidre and who she is?”
At the mention of the name, the man stood at his tallest form, locking his eyes directly on mine. His ghostly skin paled further. I wasn’t sure how that was even possible. Emotions overpowered his face but landed on something akin to fear.
“What did it say about Deidre?” he whispered.
I shook my head. “No, no, you don’t get to ask me anything else until you tell me who the hell you are and why I keep coming here. Where am I?”
The man took a step forward as he swallowed hard. His ice-cold hands gripped my shoulders tightly. “Find the keys. Before it’s too late. You have to hurry.”
***
A bright light blinded me as a high-pitched whistle screeched inside my ears.
Or was it in my mind?
Light became sound. Sound became light.
Time felt fast and slow and then suddenly everything stopped.
The pressure in my chest released as I deeply inhaled.
I felt as if I had been submerged underwater far too long, and my lungs were on the verge of exploding as I fought for breath.
My balance wobbled, forcing me to stumble forward and fall down onto the hard grass of a field.
My stomach churned dizzily, like it was battling to keep its contents within.
Realization flooded me. A field.
I whipped my head to take in my surroundings.
Loamil Manor’s garden was nowhere in sight.
A dark gray mist engulfed me, and my boots crunched on top of broken stems of crops as I took unsteady steps.
Twenty paces to my left, Ora was on the ground doubled over, relieving the contents of her own stomach, barely missing her boots.
She slowly rose and straightened her back, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
“Are you alright?” I called out, my voice hoarse.
Ora whipped around, locking eyes on mine, and took a soft step back.“I’m okay.” It seemed she was unable to find her voice, too. She studied me before stepping closer again, nodding. “Are you okay?”
I nodded in return, trying to find a calming breath as the pressure in my chest continued to lessen.
She took another step closer and examined my eyes intensely.
“What?”
“Your eyes. They’re teal again.”
“What do you mean?”
“They had turned almost white. Like they did in Fernwick…when… You spoke differently like then, too.” Hesitation coated her words before she continued inspecting me. “They’re back to teal, and I don’t even see silver in them anymore.”
My spine straightened as I suddenly realized the voice was gone.
An invisible weight on my shoulders had abruptly lifted.
I felt lighter and no longer locked in a cage with unseen bars.
I blinked rapidly and brought my fingers to my eyes, searching in the far depths of my mind for the ink and its voice, but found nothing.
It was gloriously silent. I smiled as I wondered if it was gone completely. Could this mean—?
“Where are we?” Ora whispered, cutting me from my thoughts.
We took in the scenery around us as a snowflake fell from the darkened, sunless sky. The world was gray with no hint of rot.
“I don’t know. We don’t have mountains like those in Gria.” I looked over my shoulder to see a massive mountain topped with snow. “Maybe we’re in the Wild Country?”
“Elethia? But how?” Ora asked, looking around her.
I ruminated on what had happened. Visions of us sparring swirled in my mind. Our magic being called. I saw the power of the moon in my hand before I called on my death magic. Shame festered as the memories faded in and out.
We remained silent as we walked, hoping we could find any signs of life to help us unravel where we were. Not a soul was in sight. For miles the land was flat with nothing but broken fields and trees in the distance. I clutched my arms tight around my body as an icy wind flew past us.
An idea occurred to me as I looped my arm though Ora’s. “Feeling up to lighting a fire?”
I used my free hand to bring my orbs to the surface.
The draw to call onto my Wielding felt sluggish and weak from using too much magic when we sparred and…
did whatever happened for us to end up here.
Their color appeared washed out and lacked their usual glow.
With Airus, I worked to bend the air and wrap us in a shield of sorts.
Ora followed my lead and brought forth Firus.
Her golden ribbons looked frail and were the hue of cut straw, but provided just enough heat to shake off the chill.
“Phe…”
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?” Ora stopped walking, pulling me to a swift stop beside her.
I couldn’t bear to look at her. I heard the true question she asked. If my sister were being perceptive, as she always was, I knew I wasn’t hiding my struggle as well as I had hoped.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back.
“You can tell me, you know?” She nudged me in the side. “You’re all I have.” She dipped just low enough to find my line of vision before standing up straight again. “Yes, there’s Sury, and I love him more than I could ever describe, but—”
“More than cheese pastries?” I nudged her back with a smile.
“Okay, well, if I’m being honest, he comes a close second…
” We both began to laugh like old times, like we weren’t facing demons or lost. The moment our laughter lessened, my heart grew heavy again, but I forced myself to listen to her words.
“You can tell me anything. I’m here for you.
You know that, don’t you? You’ve been so strong for me my entire life.
The least I can do for you is shoulder some of the burden. ”
Tears welled in my eyes. Ora’s tightening on my arm gave me strength to relieve what I’d worked hard to hide. “It’s starting to take control.” Selfishly I had hoped my whisper was too low to hear.
Ora’s expectant eyes widened. “Go on.”
I was too afraid to look her in the eye but made myself anyway.
“I don’t think we can use the Ancient One like we hoped.
You might even be right with your theory…
” The confession threatened to send my heart to Cisoi with how fast it caved in.
“The more I dive into the illicitus, whether it’s intentional or not… it…it takes a deeper hold on me.”
“That’s why your eyes keep turning.” She nodded as I looked at her, confused.
“Instead of pure teal, there’s been this iridescent silver hue to them.
At first I thought maybe it had to do with the fact that you’re growing stronger in your Wielding, and that it was taking a physical change within you, but now… ”
I blinked. I guess the tell had been there all along, even though I couldn’t necessarily see it for myself.
“Does Peiro know?” she asked, then chuckled. “Well, that’s silly. Of course he would know. You two are tied together with this. Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. It’s not funny.”
I laughed with her. “Sometimes we just have to laugh in the face of life and death.”
Ora’s smile faltered. “It seems like all of the stories around this are becoming true—even the—”
A loud roar and clash came from our right as a band of men dressed in golden and maroon armor ran toward us from a nearby treeline. Their swords were drawn. “You! Wielders! Stop by order of the king!” one yelled.
The king? My face paled as the men ran at us at full speed. Clearly these were ordinary men who held no magic, to be addressing someone as a Wielder.
“We’re not in Elethia.” I shook my head and held Ora’s arm tighter. We were indeed in the north, but not as far as we had thought. Somehow we had found ourselves in the territory of the Chronicle King, a king who did not take kindly to Wielders.
“Shit. We’re in Mercyth!” Ora said frantically.
“Give me your hand.” I fumbled for her fingers, interlocking her hand with mine.
I dropped our shield and was immediately met by a blast of cold air.
As fast as I could, I pulled Ora into a run.
More soldiers came from the trees and joined the chase.
All were incredibly fast for not having magic in their blood.
My mind raced, trying to figure out how to get my sister, the queen, to safety. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us. There was nothing in sight that would grant us shelter or a way to shield ourselves until we formulated a plan.
Why are you running from mere mortals? The ink was back, sounding so much weaker than before, yet still bold. Will you be like every other Wielder and continue to run?
I hated myself for agreeing with the voice, but it was right. I stopped in my tracks and spun around as I brought my Wielding to my hands and forced the band of soldiers back with a strong gale of wind.
Ora screeched, “What are you doing?”
“Saving your ass! Now run!” I yelled over my shoulder, pushing another soldier down with my Airus.
“I’m not going anywhere without you!” Ora screamed. “You’re my sister, not a dumbass!”
I rolled my eyes and pushed my Wielding harder toward the soldiers, locking them all now in a ring of fire. “I can handle this. Just go,” I panted. The more I held the Firus steady, the more I began to feel the fatigue.
Ora shook her head, refusing to leave my side. “Think. Think. Think,” she repeated beside me.
From afar, other soldiers ran in our direction. “Oh, come on!” I huffed.
“I have an idea!” Ora squealed in excitement.
“Any day, dearest sister of mine,” I said, gritting through my teeth.
“We’re going to need to experiment.”
“With a band of soldiers in a magical ring of fire while more are on their way? Yeah, sure, why not?” I scoffed.
She ignored my jab. “When we were sparring, we pulled from our celestial sources.”
“Yes?” My composure was wearing thin.
“I think they kind of canceled one another. You know, opposites but equals and all that.”
“Any day now, Aurora.” I gritted my teeth again as I held my Wielding in line. My heart pounded faster the more I poured, sending the ring into a tall blaze as I watched the other soldiers getting closer.
“Give me your hand and think of the garden where we were sparring.” I did as she commanded yet still kept one hand up to keep the fire burning. “On my count, release your Firus and call on the moon. We’ll push our celestials together.”
“And what will that do?” My question turned frantic as the other soldiers ran closer.
“I don’t know! Just do it!”
I didn’t have a chance to argue and gripped her hand hard.
Ora called forth her magic in the hand that held mine.
It felt odd as it pushed against my palm, like the opposing force when two magnets fought for dominance.
Sweat dripped from my brow, a sign that burnout was on its way, but I had to at least try or die fighting.
I turned my wrist, drawing fire away from the soldiers and swallowing the light around us.
Before the last ember disappeared, I dove hard and fast into the calling of the moon and pulled it into the same hand that Ora gripped.
Contradictory forces wanted to clash and fight for their place.
Two great, opposite forces demanding their prized role and victory.
Ora screamed for us to push our Wielding together.
Thoughts of a pebbled garden and lush green trees took over my thoughts.
My hand felt simultaneously on fire and encased in ice.
The joints and tendons locked, forcing a scream from my already aching throat.
The feeling of hellfire consumed my body.
I wanted to thrash, I wanted to scream. The soldiers were upon us, hands stretched out, ready to snatch my tunic—until everything turned to black once again.