Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lotrennia burning. Charred elven bodies. A dying library. And a creature of nightmares.
The next few hours were blessedly uneventful, yet being aboard the Centurion sent me yearning for those days on the Evecta.
Even the days that were shrouded in grief after my escape from Kayj.
I’d done so much healing on that ship, with my friends, my family.
And while some of my friends were here, I left so much of my heart back in Lotrennia.
I slumped between Ronan and Vienah as we settled into our cots and hammocks in one of the various crew cabins below deck. Nerissa was quiet since her loss of control. Ronan eyed her as she sat down nearby.
“You should get some water on that,” he said, nodding at the bruise forming beneath Nerissa’s eye.
Her eyes cut to Ronan. “You should learn to mind your own business,” she spat. “I don’t need you to defend me.”
Ronan’s lips formed a thin line as he glared right back at her. “You want to have this conversation now?” he asked, raising his light eyebrows.
Nerissa’s lashes shuddered. “It doesn’t change anything. You still left.”
Ronan gaped. “It changes everything!” he bellowed.
I blew out a breath, catching Vulcan’s eye as he gave me a nod. Vienah and I shuffled out as he moved to the door, leaving Ronan and Nerissa to whatever conversation they still hadn’t had.
I meandered through the halls below deck, hands braced against the wall as the ship rocked, following the soft lights that illuminated the cramped space.
A slew of curses came from a nearby room, and I paused, angling my head to peer into the dimly lit space.
Carina was on all fours on the ground, gathering up various books and scrolls that had tumbled down from the bookshelves built into the side of the cabin.
Carina’s Ravindra eyes shot up as I stepped in and knelt next to her. She paused, wariness returning to her gaze as she scanned me. I offered her a soft smile and helped her gather the books and scrolls.
“They need to add a belt of sorts to that shelf now that the seas are so unruly after the Sending,” I murmured, feeling the stretching effects of the twin eclipse.
She blinked before returning to roll up the scrolls. “It should be temporary,” she murmured. “The seas. At the rate of change we’ve seen over the past couple months, they should return to normal by the end of the year.”
“That’s good,” I said, handing her the last book as I stood.
Carina’s cautious eyes narrowed, and I stilled, keenly aware of whose daughter I spoke with. She folded up the scroll and placed it neatly among several others. I glanced at the names of the books stacked next to them, and my stomach pitched as my eyes landed on one.
“Where did you get this?” I breathed, my brows furrowing as I reached for the first edition of The Horseman’s Duty. My eyes settled on my father’s name before they shot back to her. My father’s book.
Carina’s lashes fluttered, and she swallowed before saying, “Vander Stryke. I asked Ronan if there was any literature regarding the agrippa. The herd. Where they came from, originally, and he said Vander knew your father and might know more…”
My hackles rose, the Obscura slithering down my arms in response. I blinked through golden embers in my eyes as I stared at Carina.
“Why do you want to know about the agrippa?” My voice sounded distant in my head, as the potential threat to Tiberius settled in my bones.
As if reading my thoughts, Carina’s small hands shot up, palms facing me, as she shook her head.
“I meant no ill will, I swear it.” Her head continued to shake as her eyes flicked between my own.
“The agrippa are renowned for their fearlessness, even in Lotrennia. And with the return of the Bellators, with your own agrippa becoming your caeluma…”
My heart began a steady gallop in my chest. The queen was curious about Tiberius, too… I cast to him, allowing him access to my conversation with the queen’s daughter.
A gasp escaped my chest as my cast stretched into space, taking longer to reach him. My heart stuttered at the distance, a deep ache forming. A moment later, the connection formed, and Ti’s eyes opened behind my own.
“You’re misunderstanding me. I’m not looking for ways to bring Tiberius, or even other agrippa, under my control, or that of my mother’s.
” Her last words curved with a pinch of distaste.
“But should all Bellator powers be found and unlocked, where do they find their caeluma? Tiberius is the only one of his kind. Isn’t he lonely? ”
A flicker of emotion drifted from Tiberius before he severed the connection, either by choice or because of the distance.
The brief cast set me on edge, uneasy that it took so much effort to hold it in place.
Bayne had coached us on how to cast to each other at great distances, but he’d had years of practice with Aquila.
I blinked, vaguely aware that Carina had said something else and now watched me for a response.
“What?”
She tilted her head, a keenness entering her eyes that reminded me too much of her mother.
“Any information about the Bellators has been lost for a very long time,” she said.
“I found a scroll in the Living Library that spoke of an army. I was very young at the time. But once word got out about what you found, I went back to search for it, unable to find it. I can’t help but feel that the return of the Bellators has meaning that we don’t yet understand.
And if the Living Library doesn’t want you to find something, you won’t. ”
Carina pulled my father’s book out of the stack and handed it to me. “I meant no harm by reading this.”
I stared at my father’s name on the cover. My chest burned with lingering guilt, still clouding my grieving soul. I tucked the book under my arm and nodded my farewell to Carina before making my way back to the shared crew cabin, where a thin hammock awaited me.
After a month at sea, the snaking, finger-like islands stretching south of the Death Dunes rose on the horizon.
Barren, snowy cliffs jutted from the dark Atrulean Sea.
The mouth of the strait waited in the shadow of the towering cliffs.
Only a few miles wide, the straits stretched along the southern side of the Death Dunes, leading into the gulf.
Our ship crossed into the strait as a looming darkness materialized at our rear.
The mage’s shield held firm as the massive shadow announced the arrival of the Mortis Shroud.
My heart hammered as memories of our encounter with this evil rushed forward.
We’d been on our way to Kayj when the sentient fog engulfed the Evecta.
Now, the cloud of shadows closed in on us, snaking up the center of the ship in a big arc over our sails and spider-webbing down the sides. The elven sailors kept to their posts as they watched the ribbons of death spread, choking out the light.
My breath became shallow. A tingling sensation pricked the back of my neck, and the darkness turned its attention to me.
The shroud ripped back from its probe of the Centurion, and its massive form floated a few feet away from where I stood, white knuckling the rail.
The Mortis Shroud speared into a living arrowhead as it floated with its tip pointing directly at me.
I waited for the roiling reaction of the Obscura power and found it sitting lazily in the center of my chest, unperturbed.
I stood there, facing the Mortis Shroud, aware all eyes on deck were pinned on me.
That prickling sensation continued to nag at me.
The Mortis Shroud slowly rotated in midair before it dissolved into its natural, cloud-like form, turning north as if searching for something.
I blew out a breath as its attention released me.
My gaze remained pinned on the retreating darkness until Nerissa stepped to my side.
“That was something,” she murmured, eyes following my own on the horizon.
I didn’t respond, unsure of what had happened. I glanced to my right, where Vienah’s face had taken on the hue of the ashen.
“I’d better talk to her,” I murmured and stepped over to the young water witch.
Vienah did her best to hide the flinch that shook her shoulders as I stepped beside her. My heart winced at the fear in her eyes as she beheld me.
“I’d heard of it, of course,” she said quietly. “But seeing it. Feeling it.” She shuddered.
“I know.”
Vienah’s brown eyes turned back to me, assessing and curious. “It seemed like it could see you. Even with the shield in place.”
My swallow caught in my throat, and I kept my eyes pinned on Aquila, who sat perched at the quarterdeck. His gold and green eyes were hard on me, and he sent a wave of reassurance down our connection. I leaned into it.
A wave of storm clouds crouched on the horizon, and a shout from the captain reached us. We straightened at his approach.
“Vienah, may I ask your assistance with these?” He jerked his head toward the gray clouds forming on the horizon. “It would be best if we could make it through the strait with more visibility.”
Vienah scanned the sky, and her brows pinched in concern. “I’ll do what I can.”
The captain nodded his thanks.
The water witch placed her hands in front of her, palms up, and murmured a spell under her breath as she closed her eyes.
The spattering of rain fizzled off into a light mist, and a massive blast of wind sent the storm clouds hurtling north.
I glanced behind me to find the three elven mages with steepled hands, sending the Centurion chasing the retreating clouds.
It took two days to clear the strait, and I couldn’t stop myself from gazing southward. Despite the lingering tingling sensation, there was no sign of the Mortis Shroud.
As the early morning rays of the sun eclipsed the horizon behind us, I sighed through my nose. My morning routine with Vulcan was considerably more enjoyable inside the sheltered gulf.
Vulcan leaned against the foremast, staring past the bowsprit.
His hazel eyes grew distant as he watched the mouth of the gulf approach.
Vulcan was most at peace after our sessions.
And I was content enough with his silence to come close to enjoying his company.
I stood beside him and followed his line of sight.
Vulcan’s eyes narrowed, and he rushed to the edge of the prow, searching the horizon.
“Marisarma ship incoming!” he bellowed.
I flew to the rail and followed his gaze, straining to see the ship in the distance. Aquila’s screech filled the air in confirmation as he soared north. My stomach plummeted as sailors rushed across the deck, arming themselves for attacking pirates.