Chapter 18
Seth stood atop a high ridge, cape billowing in the breeze, overlooking the most terrifying sight I’d laid eyes on.
The Empty spread before us, in every direction. The black void pressed against the sheer mountainside to our east and reached toward the canyon plummeting to our west. A thin woods separated us from the impassable abyss.
We were trapped.
Seth’s hand tensed on the pommel of his dagger as his gaze swept over the landscape. Releasing Athena’s reins, I climbed up beside him and glanced over his back.
“You wouldn’t be able to make little blood wings, would you?” I asked.
“Good question,” he murmured, distracted. “I’ve never tried before.”
“Because if you can’t,” I said, “We have two choices: scale the mountain behind us with no gear, or-”
He interrupted me. “Don’t use this as an excuse to be reckless.”
“I’m not. You learned how to wield magic. If I truly have any myself, you’ll be able to teach me.”
He grumbled. “I don’t have a teacher’s patience.”
“It’s not that hard.” I knit my hands behind my back. “All you need to do is give clear instructions and provide an incentive.”
He raised an eyebrow, looking me up and down. “And what would you consider a proper incentive?”
“Gold”, I answered readily.
Chuckling, Seth whistled for Whisper to follow and descended the slope. Taking one last look at the bleak vista, I followed him. My foot caught on an uneven rock, and I stumbled the last few steps to the bottom.
Seth caught my hand, steadying me. Brushing myself off, I laughed. “Thanks. Maybe you were right about finding pants.”
Looking up, I met his gaze: an intense, piercing stare. His fingers caressed my hand gently, the way I might expect a nobleman to take his date’s arm.
Tilting my head, I stared back. “What? Something on my face?”
Dropping my hand, he grabbed Athena’s reins. “Be careful. The path ahead is treacherous.”
“Okay”, I muttered, trailing after him. After last night, I thought I’d begun to understand him—evidently not.
Whisper stuck to my side as we descended the mountain’s slope, finding ourselves in a sea of red trees buried in slanted earth. With every step, the unease in my breast intensified—a feeling I knew well meant the Empty drew near.
The mix of emotions confused me. Nobody else felt what I did.
The unease, I could understand. But what was this aching nostalgia I sensed as well?
It wasn’t unpleasant, far from it. Had I a home and family to return to, I imagined this nostalgia would warm my breast as I walked the road back to them.
A great wall of black barred our path forward. I traced its edges, following the faint glow of red that crested the mountains and reached for the heavens. Steeling myself, I joined Seth by its border.
Wind tore through the trees, stirring Seth’s hair. He stared into the void, eyes focused on the still sea resting below the sheer cliff.
“I’ve never known,” I mused, grabbing my elbow. “How long does it take to become tainted?”
“I’m not sure”, Seth answered, gaze fixed ahead. “A long time. Days.”
“Why would anyone subject themselves to that?” I wondered. “Why would Percy?”
“He hasn’t told me. But I have a guess.” Seth turned toward me. “Give me your hand.”
Tentatively offering my hand, my breath caught when he gently took it and ran a finger up my palm.
“Magic needs intent.” He said. “That’s true for all of us. You cannot create that which you don’t intend.”
I closed my eyes, remembering the last two times I’d encountered the Empty. “But the times when I stopped the Empty, I wasn’t trying. When I did, I failed.”
“Perhaps. But you were missing something yesterday.”
A sharp nick of pain flashed across my palm. Gasping, I pulled back my hand to see he’d driven his knife across my skin, drawing a few flecks of scarlet. Cupping my hand, I stared at the pooling blood.
“Chthonic magic is simple,” Seth said. “Haimyx governs life and death. Our magic is no different. We risk death to chase life. But it’s a gamble we believe is worth taking.” Placing his hand under mine, he guided me forward. “Do you understand?”
“I think so”, I said, looking up. “Like leaping into a fire to save someone.”
He nodded, releasing my hand and stepping back. Taking a deep breath, I studied the blood on my palm. My life was a small price to pay. Extending my arm toward the abyss, I focused on that: my desire to destroy the Empty, to warp it to my whims. In exchange, I offered my life.
Nothing happened.
I bit my lip, willing the blood welling in my hand to shoot forward and do. . . something.
Lowering my hands, I glanced at Seth.
“Did you feel anything?” He asked.
“No. Am I supposed to?”
“Yes.” He returned to my side. “When you first earn your magic, it swirls within you, like a storm begging to be released.”
“I don’t feel anything like that.”
“Maybe it isn’t blood you need.” He leaned on a tree and folded his arms. “Think back to when you saved Percy. When you stopped the Empty in the marshlands. What were you doing? Thinking?”
Wiping my hand off, I ran my fingers through my hair, straining to recall. I’d been panicked, no? Both by my imminent doom and Percy’s.
But so had I panicked at the outpost, and no magic had answered my call.
“I. . . I don’t know.” I said. “Maybe we’re all wrong. Maybe it was just a coincidence.”
“You should at least try. Exhaust every possibility.”
“Give me a moment to think.”
Seth shrugged, rolling up his coat’s sleeves. “It’s not like I can go anywhere.”
Pressing a hand to my head, I paced through the trees, struggling to recall what I’d done. Magic came with intent. But I had not meant to stop the Empty. Not tried to survive it.
Whatever cursed magic had been bestowed upon me, it didn’t work like that.
Halting in my tracks, I reached for a different memory. A long time ago, a little girl had run through the woods, aimless and lost. Mother had abandoned me, and my father had never been in the picture. I’d been crying. I’d given up searching for her.
The Empty had appeared, reaching toward me like a warm embrace. At first, I’d tried to flee, but my legs couldn’t carry me fast enough to outpace its spread. Falling to my knees, I’d given up.
Given up.
Gasping, my eyes shot open. In the marshlands, I’d ceased fighting the keres and gone limp in their grasp. My life had never been worth anything; what did it matter if I died?
Panic had consumed me as I’d rushed for Percy outside Serifos, but only briefly. Once I’d realized I wouldn’t reach him, despondence had taken over. I’d launched myself at him, believing it a futile attempt that would see us both dead.
Jogging back to Seth, I approached the bounds of the Empty, reaching my hand towards its shadowed realm.
Fighting the Empty was pointless. I’d never save everyone, never push back enough to spare our lands, our people. To enter the void itself, I had to become it. Empty myself of all feeling, all desire, all hope.
Trapped in the tiny hovel I called home, my days had drolled on without meaning. Every morning, I’d stare into the mirror, meet a hollow-eyed gaze, and drag my feet out the door.
All hope had fled the day I realized Ainwir wasn’t coming back. Embracing the Empty came as naturally as breathing.
“Aethra,” Seth called. “What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer. Spreading my fingers, I advanced toward the abyss. Realizing my intentions, Seth lurched off the tree, trying to stop me.
He didn’t reach me in time. Lifting my foot from the living world, I stepped into the void.
Silence enveloped me. A muted world bereft of color swaddled me in a suffocating embrace. Pain rattled through my limbs, as though my skin was coming unwound.
I didn’t want this to be like last time. I didn’t merely want to sustain Percy and me for a mere moment.
Hoping to dispel the Empty was pointless. But I wanted to try.
Light sparked on my fingertips and shot through the shadows. The sound of birds and howling wind burst to life as the abyss around me shattered. Where once a steep canyon plunged into the still sea, flowers grew beneath my feet.
“Maiden’s grace.” Seth cursed, eyes flashing around my pocket of safety.
“Stay close,” I called. “I don’t know if it’ll close behind me.
Whistling for Whisper to follow, Seth yanked Athena’s reins and joined my side. Walking forward, I let the magic stream forth. Seth had been right. Now that I understood its call, something roiled within me, a raging storm unable to be quelled.
Like a splitting sea, the Empty parted for us, pale blue flowers growing where once nothing had reigned. The black pall receded, and blue skies shone overhead. A grin spread across my face, admiring my pointless venture, and the magic only seemed to intensify in response.
A bridge of life extended across the chasm, far above the silent sea.
“Is there an end ahead?” Seth asked. “Can we reach the main road?”
“I don’t know,” I answered in a trance-like voice.
“It can’t be far,” he said, glancing behind us. “We’re headed away from the outpost. The Empty would have stopped, eventually.”
Maybe it hadn’t. Maybe it had spread forever, this time. The thought didn’t stop me.
A new sensation joined my thoughtless charge. Pain simmered beneath the surface, unlike anything I’d felt before. At first, I couldn’t describe it—a malaise radiated beneath my skin, though I couldn’t place its cause.
Eventually, it grew into a distracting ache, like the abyss was seeping into my soul and turning me to dust—just like it did with everyone else.
Stumbling beneath the agony, I gritted my teeth, maintaining my grip on the magic.
Seth caught my arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“Don’t let go.” He ordered. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
Wrapping my arm around his shoulder, he supported my weight as we trudged on through the endless black. Was this how sailors once felt? When they’d set sail into the fathomless seas, unsure if their boat would ever reach another shore?