Chapter 10
I made my way to Cypher's quarters, my body aching with each step. I should have been sleeping, but I was restless. So I'd slipped out of my quarters, noticing that Kora wasn't in her bed. I left Click fast asleep on my pillow.
I knocked once, then pushed the door open without waiting for permission.
Cypher sat at his desk, the crown of Nytheris placed before him.
The light from his crystal lamp caught the black metal, making it shimmer.
His head was bowed, shoulders hunched with exhaustion, a deep frown etched into his face. He didn't look up when I entered.
"It's time we talked," I said, closing the door behind me.
He sighed, still not meeting my eyes. "I figured you'd come eventually."
"Why was I pulled into the First Dark?" I moved closer, placing my hands on his desk. "And don't tell me you don't know anything. You recognized where we were immediately."
"I recognized it from stories and legends passed down through generations of my people." He finally looked up, and the weariness in his eyes matched what I felt in my bones. "But I don't know why it pulled you in. I don't know why it let you go, either."
"But you know something," I insisted.
"What I know," he said carefully, "is that you're connected to it somehow.
The First Dark doesn't just reach out and grab people.
It doesn't save them from storms or return them safely to their ships.
" His fingers traced the edge of the crown.
"What I can't tell is if it was saving you or threatening you. "
A chill ran down my spine. "You speak of it like it's alive. Like it has intentions."
"According to my people's mythology, it is." Cypher leaned back in his chair, eyes distant. "The ancient Nytherians believed it was conscious in a way. Maybe not like you and me. It just was, and made decisions for itself."
"That's impossible," I whispered, but the words felt hollow even to my own ears. I'd felt something in that darkness, something vast and aware. Something that had recognized me.
"Is it?" Cypher stood, moving to the small viewport that looked out into the Gallery. "You've felt the void respond to you. You've channeled its energy directly. Something that should be impossible. And now the First Dark itself has reached for you."
"If what you're saying is true," I said slowly, "then what am I to it? Why me?"
Cypher turned back to face me. "There are stories among my people.
Ancient stories about individuals who were marked by the First Dark.
Always rifts, but different. They could commune with the void itself, channel its power, create portals without anchors or technology.
They could physically manipulate the fabric of the dark as if it were clay. "
"That sounds like a fairytale."
"Most fairytales have roots in truth." He moved closer, his eyes searching mine.
"These rifts were revered and feared in equal measure.
Their power was... unpredictable. I can only imagine what the Assembly would do with such knowledge.
If they were to get their hands on the codex, I wouldn't put it past them to execute every Nytherian refugee just to make sure they were gone. "
I swallowed hard. "And you think I'm one of these rifts that can connect to the First Dark? I'm not even Nytherian."
"I think it's a possibility we can't ignore. You got us out somehow. I felt you do it. I felt the currents move through you. When you felt threatened, you called out to it, and it responded."
I sank into the chair opposite his desk, my legs suddenly unsteady. "I don't remember doing anything. I just wanted to escape, to get back to the ship, and then... we were there."
"Exactly." Cypher returned to his seat, leaning forward intently. "Your desire became reality. That's not normal void manipulation or elemental magic. That's something else entirely."
The pendant at my neck felt suddenly heavy, the First Anchor crystal warm against my skin. I'd been trying to convince myself that what had happened was just luck, just a fluke. But deep down, I'd known it was more.
"What happens now?"
Cypher's expression darkened. "I don't know.
The records aren't clear on what became of anyone with your ability.
Some stories say they eventually joined with the First Dark, becoming one with it.
Others claim they learned to master their abilities, becoming the greatest navigators and creators the realms had ever known.
I think it's highly possible that there are realms out there, beyond our Gallery, that were created by these rifts. "
"And which fate do you think awaits me?" I almost didn't want to know the answer.
"That depends on you." He reached across the desk, his hand covering mine. "On whether you choose to fear this power or embrace it. On whether you let it control you or learn to control it."
His touch sent warmth spreading up my arm. "I don't know if I want this," I whispered. "I just wanted to save my father, to take care of my mother. I never asked to be connected to some sentient cosmic force."
"Few of us get to choose our destinies." His thumb traced small circles on the back of my hand. "But we do get to choose how we face them."
"What if I can't control it? What if it consumes me?"
"Then I'll pull you back," he whispered, eyes meeting mine. "However many times it takes."