Chapter 17
Rain drizzled from the heavens. Maybe the gods mourned the tragic loss of life. Drops traced down the sharp cliffs, like tears falling down a cheek.
If others had survived the catastrophe at the outpost, Seth and I had yet to encounter them. We’d ridden into unfamiliar territory, a valley tucked in the mountains through which no roads crossed. The underbrush grew thick, tangling around jagged boulders and red-leafed trees.
I could see the Empty behind us, a speck of black against the dreary sky, where the bounds of the abyss rose to touch the sun.
Placing a hand on a tree, I pulled my foot from the tangled vines growing beneath it.
Something snapped behind me—a person stepping over fallen leaves and branches, but I paid them no mind.
An assassin come to slit my throat would be welcome.
Seth joined my side. “I don’t see anything or anyone. My best guess is we’re east of the road.”
“Are you any good with maps?” I asked.
“Yes.” He took the blonde mare’s reins. “But Eleos had them.”
Ice shot through my heart at the sound of his name. I touched my cheek, remembering the panic and despair I’d felt when he had not answered my call.
I’d tried to reach him a few times, shouting into the void, hoping he’d hear me, or read my mind like he always did. Nobody answered.
“Let’s get moving.” Seth yanked the reins and walked away. Whisper followed him, pausing to sniff my hand before plodding on.
Running a finger across my palm, I remained frozen, unable to rip my eyes from the Empty.
“Are you coming?” Seth barked. “Or are you determined to be a burden?”
His sharp words snapped me out of my reverie. Turning on my heel, I trudged after him.
Seraphim had the Maiden’s Bloodstone. Maybe. . . maybe she and Percy were alright. They would’ve shielded Eleos, too. After all, the two had only been across the street from us, a mere twenty paces away.
We walked in silence. Anger bristled off Seth like waves of heat, and I kept my distance. Well-deserving of his ire, I kept my head bowed and stared at the rocky path, looking up only when my horse struggled to cross the mountainous terrain.
The clouds in the sky darkened as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed above. Heavy raindrops plummeted over the mountain, picking up in speed and intensity as a storm swept over us.
A bolt lanced through the air, striking the mountains ahead of us. The blonde mare reared, and Whisper ducked between my feet, trembling. Reaching down to soothe the hound, I wiped rain from my eyes, but the relentless wind only blew more into my face.
Seth halted, cursing, head whipping around. “We should find shelter.”
“It’s just a storm,” I shouted over the howling gales.
He glanced back at me, flinching as another lightning bolt struck the ground behind us. Whisper shot out from between my feet, disappearing into a shadow painted across the mountainside.
“Maybe you’re brave enough,” Seth calmed the horse and guided her to the cavern Whisper had found. “But the dog isn’t.”
Cavern proved too strong a word. The entrance was barely large enough for the horse to fit through, and by the time she’d fled into its safety, there was scarcely enough space for one person, let alone two.
Darkness closed around me as I ducked inside, pressing myself against the cold wall. Seth sidled in across from me, chest a mere inch from mine. I watched the pounding rain and flashing lightning for a few moments before noticing him staring at me.
His jaw tautened, and his eyes twitched. He looked primed to explode.
“I thought,” he snarled. “You were supposed to control the Empty. The Maiden’s chosen, or some rot.”
“I. . .” I trailed off, looking down.
Percy and I had survived falling into the Empty. Had that only been because Seraphim was near, and the Maiden’s Bloodstone with her?
“That’s all you have to say?” He said. “Gods know how many people just died, and that’s all you have to say?”
“I couldn’t- Nothing I did worked!”
“Of course it didn’t.” He spat. “They’re fools for thinking some knave is going to save them. Nobody has power over the Empty. Nobody.”
Seth’s voice fractured on the last word. I hesitantly raised my eyes to meet his. Why did he speak as though he’d long known about the search for someone who could wield the Empty?
And why did he sound so brokenhearted?
“Seraphim’s theory was a good one.” Seth leaned back, staring at the rain. “It might have worked. But now they’re dead.”
“They might not be,” I said. “They Maiden’s Bloodstone-”
“Is probably as useless as you.”
Thunder crashed overhead, and I flinched. My hand brushed my satchel, where I’d tucked the quill I’d meant to surprise Eleos with.
Everything in life ended so suddenly. One morning, I’d awoken to find Ainwir gone. A few nights ago, I’d sat by the fire with Percy and learned of his illness, seen the fear in his eyes. This morning, I’d planned to catch Seraphim alone with a drink and ask her about her storied past.
Just gone. Blinked away as though they’d never existed. Never mattered.
All my fault.
The entire outpost had perished because of me.
Choking, I fled the cavern and ran into the storm. Pounding rain washing over me, soaking my hair and toga. My foot caught on a boulder peeking out from thick grass, and I tripped, landing on my knees.
My fingers dug into the mud, and water gathered in the gouges. Lightning struck nearby, blinding my eyes with a bright white flash.
I don’t know why I ran into the storm, why I couldn’t find the strength to move. All I’d wanted was to get away from Seth and his accusing glare. The rain was frigid, and chills seeped into my bones, but any sensation was preferable to the nothing I’d been feeling before.
All I wanted was for the storm to sweep me away.
Back to the Empty’s silent embrace, where everything lay still.
“Aethra!” Seth ran towards me, a blur of black in the storm, boots sloshing through the mud. “I—I shouldn’t have said that.”
With his words, I realized I wasn’t mad at him. How could you hate someone who spoke the truth?
Seth knelt beside me. “The storm is going to blow you away.” He flinched as thunder boomed above us and a nearby tree splintered beneath the wind. Cursing, he grabbed my arm and hauled me up.
I didn’t resist. Stumbling over the rocks, fighting against the gale, we returned to the tiny shelter, where two cowering animals awaited us.
Pressing my back against the stone, I slid to the floor, water dripping everywhere.
Wrapping my arms around my knees, I stared at my horse instead of the man.
Seth sat beside me, far too close. “It’s not your fault.” He said softly. “I was just. . . lashing out.” He shifted, resting an arm on his knee. “Maybe we shouldn’t have run. You and Percy managed to walk through it okay.”
“For only a moment,” I said, finding my voice. “How am I to assume from that mere second that I could just, what, hold everyone’s hand and guide them to safety?”
“We don’t know enough about how it works,” Seth agreed. “It’s not an easy thing to test.” He gritted his teeth. “It’s not a thing that should be tested.”
“Someone has to.” I raised my head, watching the storm. The Empty wasn’t far. I could return to its border and test my supposed magic in full.
Pressing a hand to the cavern wall, I tried to rise, but Seth yanked me back down.
“Stop,” he said sharply. “You’re no good to anyone dead.”
“I thought I was useless.”
“I. . .” he exhaled heavily. “I’m not mad at you. I couldn’t control my magic for months, either.”
Shivers ran down my arms and shook me from within. Pulling my cloak around my shoulders, I tried to warm myself, but frigid air swept in on the breeze. “What came first?” I asked. “The assassin or the blessing of Haimyx?”
“The former, I suppose.” He said, eyes fogging.
“So you were an assassin first? Why are you judging me, exactly?” I said, face tightening in anger. “You’re a murderer.”
“Only to those who deserve it.” He snapped.
“How do you know?” I pressed. “How can you be sure? And what if their death invites the Empty and kills an innocent?”
“Innocents are being hurt either way. You agree with the lords, then? We should look the other way and let evil carry on atrocities because something might happen? Because it’s inconvenient to deal with the fallout?”
Swallowing, I broke his gaze. “Percy told me how you met. But he didn’t say much about the target he helped you find.”
“Tale as old as time,” Seth said in a clipped tone.
“The madame ran a whorehouse where men could buy the girls as young as they liked and beat them until they bled, so long as they paid extra.” He paused.
“I think that’s what broke Percy. What made him lay down his helm and fall out with his father: taking the hands of those little girls, and telling them it would be okay. ”
Before Ainwir had found me, a man had tried to trap me in his brothel. I’d been too young to understand, then. A sudden stop from the Empty was a mercy in comparison to a life in chains, preyed upon by monsters.
How could anyone look a girl in the eye who’d been through that, and tell them it would be okay?
“What happened to them?” I asked. “The girls?”
“Girls don’t end up there because they have someplace to go,” Seth said quietly. “I hope we saved them, but I’m not so naive as to assume.”
I don’t know why I asked. I already knew the answer.
Frigid wind blew in again, showering us with a deluge of cold rain. Squeezing my eyes shut, I curled into a ball as the shivers grew into violent shakes.
“Great,” Seth muttered, “now you’re going to freeze to death.” Shifting closer to me, he extended an arm. “Here.”
“I don’t,” I chattered, “want to be warmed by someone who hates me.”
“Would I have carried you to safety if I hated you?”
Bereft of a good answer, I pursed my lips and shivered pathetically.