65. Vera
Vera
Iplaced a hand on the wall to brace myself, then instantly jumped back when I realized I was touching the memorial. “I—I don’t understand,” I stammered. “I’ve seen people everywhere.”
“Did you ever see them when the Elders weren’t with you?” Sloane asked.
I blinked rapidly, thinking back over the last couple of days.
One of the Elders had always insisted on accompanying me everywhere, and I assumed that was because I didn’t know the city.
But then I remembered the morning I roamed the palace alone, how empty it seemed before Arcadia showed up, how Everett sensed something off in the quietness of the library…
“Did you ever actually talk to anyone?” Sloane pushed. “Have a real conversation?”
The truth sank into me. I never truly spoke with any of them. The strangers we saw always said the same things, over and over. Thanking me, praising me, calling me the Lightbringer. The smiles, the waves, the whispers…it all started to blend together.
“It’s all just a powerful illusion,” Dom said. “There are a handful of people still loyal to the Elders that they’ve allowed to work in the palace or other jobs required to keep the kingdom’s infrastructure running. Sloane, for example, kept her cover as one of the only servants.”
Sloane sighed. “That’s probably out the window now.”
“But everything else…” Dom shook his head.
“It’s all a lie. An illusion woven to win you over to their side.
Those of us who managed to escape the latest massacre ten years ago live down here.
It’s all we can do with our combined magic to keep them unaware of this place.
We’re barely surviving, simply staying alive in the hope that one day, the Lightbringer would come. ”
“And raise the kingdom,” I murmured.
“No.” Sloane crossed her arms. “To kill the Elders.”
I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and slowly released it.
The High Elders had been so genuine, at first. They helped Odessa when they could’ve let her die.
They answered our questions. Arcadia even saved me from the shadow wraith.
They were supposed to be like me. What had gone so horribly wrong?
“Why did they do this?” I asked. “Why kill your people?”
“To get closer to immortality,” Dom said, brushing his hair from his forehead.
“That stasis they put themselves in only worked for so long, and they weren’t really living.
But a couple centuries ago, they found an alternative.
” His face paled. “The Elders realized they could feed off the magic inside all of us.”
Tessa’s face twisted in disgust. “Feed?”
“It’s like they suck the power out of you until you’re dead,” Sloane said. “They used their own people’s life force to give themselves more. The Elders lived longer and grew more powerful, but it was temporary. Once the vessel ran out of life, they had to find someone new.”
Vessel. The word struck a chord in me. That was another one of the symbols we’d seen in the crypt. These people were nothing but disposable vessels for the Elders to drain and discard.
The Elders had tricked me. I promised to help them, all while they were hiding the most vile, unforgivable secret. I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until Starke touched my elbow, and I flinched away. He immediately dropped his hand.
“They must be stopped, Vera,” Sloane said.
“They almost massacred the entire kingdom trying to find someone powerful enough to sustain their life, but it wasn’t enough.
And now they’re desperate. If you raise Pyraeth, they won’t stop.
They’ll go through every single person in every single land if that’s what it takes to keep themselves alive. ”
“They’ll find the Veridian Empire,” I whispered.
Sloane nodded. “They’ll kill all of your people for a drop of their power. It will never end.”
“Unless you end it,” Dom finished.
Silence rang through the air, but it wasn’t quiet. It beat against my temple like a gong. I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling several strands out with a tug.
I didn’t know why it was so unthinkable that the Elders would do something this sickening. Hadn’t I learned long ago that people in power only wanted more power? More magic, more money, more life, and that they’d do anything to attain it?
What was the point in trying to help, in trying to find the goodness within myself, if it was all for this?
To be used in an endless cycle of abuse and violence and power-hungry tyrants.
I put my faith in the three Elders, disregarded the worries of the man I loved most in this world, only to be manipulated.
Again. How did I know who to trust when I couldn’t even trust my own instincts?
You know who you can trust, I thought. The one person who’s always stood at your side, even when you didn’t stand by him.
“Before I do anything, I have to get Everett,” I said firmly. “If they—if they try to siphon his life—” I cut myself off with a sharp inhale.
Tessa squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll stop them before anything happens, Vera.”
“But how are you going to find him?” Starke cut in. “He could be anywhere on this island.”
Tessa snapped her fingers. “There was a spell that Milo—our Alchemist back home—did last year to find Scarven. It conjured an image of him in real time so we could see where he was. Vera, can you do something like that?”
“I don’t know many spells,” I admitted. Alchemy was my weakest of the six magics. I only knew bits and pieces of the basics.
“Alchemist?” Dom asked with a tilt of his head.
“Oh, right. You people probably call it something different,” Tessa said. “In our empire, Alchemists can do spells and stuff.”
“So, a mage,” Sloane said. “That’s Dom’s dominant type of magic; maybe he can help.”
Dom nodded. “Do you remember what your mage did? The exact words he spoke?”
Tessa’s forehead pinched, her eyes moving back and forth as if searching through her memory. “He used a bunch of herbs, then lit them on fire and said the spell. It sounded like vad—no, vid…Vidio?” Her eyes shut for a second, then shot open. “Vidia! That was it.”
“Is that all?” I asked. “He just lit the herbs on fire?”
Her face fell. “And…he had something that belonged to the person we were trying to find.”
My stomach sank. “I don’t have anything of Everett’s. But if I stride back to the palace, I can go through his room—”
“Absolutely not,” Starke cut in. “We can’t let you go back, V.”
I whirled on him, palms warming. “Excuse me?”
He threw his hands in the air. “They’ll be waiting for you. You’d be walking into a trap.”
“I don’t care what they do to me. I have to find him.” Sparks flew from the tips of my fingers. “And when I do, I’ll make them regret every moment of their infinite existence for touching him.”
Heat swelled in the room, thick enough to make Dom dab the sweat from his forehead.
“He has a point. Going back to the palace could be dangerous.” At the look on my face, Dom flinched and conceded.
“But perhaps if you know exactly what to look for, you can be quick. Magic is flexible. Any item that belongs to him, or even one that used to. Clothing, or a weapon, or—”
“Wait.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe I forgot. I yanked my bag open and pulled out the first letter my fingers touched. “Everett wrote this, so it was technically his at one point. Would that work?”
Dom shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
Tessa peered inside my bag and gasped. “Are those all from him? You actually got them?”
“I just found them a few hours ago. I don’t know when they appeared, but they were in my bag when I opened it.”
“Incredible.” She shook her head. “The lovestruck idiot was right. He kept writing them even after the rest of us thought it was a lost cause, and now it’s going to save his life.”
A rush of affection poured through me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Starke’s jaw twitch as he turned away.
“Take my hand,” Dom instructed me. “We just need to light the letter on fire and say the spell. Channel all of your magic, all of your intent, into seeing him.”
I took his outstretched hand and touched the tip of the letter, sending my fire magic through my fingers.
It ignited instantly. Dark smoke danced back and forth above the flames.
I concentrated every thought, every ounce of magic, on Everett—which wasn’t difficult, considering he was all I could think about.
Dom nodded, and we both muttered, “Vidia.”
The fire burst even higher, making the rest of them jump back. Flames swayed, and I leaned in closer until the heat kissed my cheeks.
“This is what happened last time,” Tessa said excitedly. “The smoke showed a vision of where he was.”
I squinted, trying to decipher shapes, but everything was blurry. The image sharpened slowly. Stone walls emerged first, lit by torchlight, then rows of something I couldn’t quite make out. They were tall, thin shapes lining the walls like statues.
My stomach dropped as they came into focus. They were bodies. Dozens of them standing upright against the walls, skin cracked and charred. And in the center of it all, strapped to an altar on a raised platform, was Everett.
My breath left me in a rush. He was unconscious, with his head lolled to the side and pressed into the stone. His wrists were bound with glowing ropes. His chest rose and fell with each breath—he was alive, at least.
“That’s the catacombs,” Sloane breathed out. “I recognize those bodies in the background.”
I took in the cracked, scorched bodies. “What’s wrong with them?”
Sloane’s face paled. “It’s what happens to the people they kill. Their vessels. The magic burns them from the inside out.”
Realization slammed into me. I sucked in a breath, and the flames wavered. “That’s what they’re going to do to him. Make him one of their vessels.”
“But they haven’t done it yet.” Dom’s eyes met mine. “Which means you still have time.”