Chapter 42 #2
“It found us in the forest. They are there, Kalan. Alive.” He stares for a moment, no words.
In another time, in a different future, perhaps things would be different, and I could have known him as I grew up.
A lifetime of questions and missed possibilities passes between us, but above it all, he hears my plea.
With a simple nod, he turns to the darkening woods and slips back under their cover.
The air chills further, and my feet feel frozen in place as I watch the edge of the forest line.
“Ever.” Raiden breaks my line of sight. “Ever, listen. You are a Fifth. You can do more than you’ve ever thought of. Don’t hide from your power now.” Her voice sounds like steel: unwavering and deadly. All I see is the confident girl who was kind to me. Wise.
Capella takes her hand and joins Raiden before me. “You can use another way to get to them.”
“No. Not again. Not like that.” I turn away from them.
“I only have Novandia’s magic. My power is different now.
I won’t risk what we did again.” I’ve only just rid myself of the veil of death over me.
I won’t ask for it again, freely. “They are Aslendrix’s creatures.
I can’t call them with magic that isn’t hers.
” It’s too big a risk, too unpredictable, and I won’t gamble on my friends’ lives.
“It’s a risk.”
“Too big a risk.” I didn’t know what I was doing last time. Now, there’s no excuse. Disturbing the dead, pulling a creature from rest, feels like an abomination of everything right in the world, even without the magic being in question.
Kalan can bring the Jarkoreth that still protects the forest. That will have to be enough. But I know that’s a hope, and not the defence we need.
Raiden doesn’t move from her spot, every angle of her body challenging me. “More will die if we can’t stop him, right? And if we die fighting those monsters,” she points to the mountains, where the Sur’gos look like they’re gaining ground, fast, “there’s nobody to check him.”
I turn around, weighing the options, searching for another way. Any other way.
“Ever!” Raiden shouts at me.
I look at Kyra and head to her. “Will you help? You always grounded me. You taught me how to control the magic. I need that more than anything now. Because this magic is not the same. I need—”
“Yes, yes, it’s okay, Ever.” She takes my hand. “Just like we’re back in your room, okay?” She nods at me, as if we’re not standing in a field of snow waiting for monsters to attack.
An ear-splitting shriek disturbs all of us. The noise reverberates right down to my bones, as if the cry is meant to put us all on edge. I’ve not even seen these creatures, and I already hope I never will.
“They’re coming!” Lyle shouts.
“We need more help, Ever,” Raiden rallies again. “We can’t fight the Sur’gos alone.”
I grab the brooch under my shirt and squeeze my hand around it, grasping it tightly, as if it really is a magical talisman that can protect me: body and soul.
I guess we’ll find out.
“I’ll do it. But alone. Kyra will keep me focused.”
“Ever, you…” Ten starts.
“It’s the only option.” I cut him off. “I won’t have you defenceless.”
He stares down at me, and I can see all his protests flicker over his face. He knows I’m right. Raiden is right.
“Let us help you, Ever.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need touch. And I’m not sure how my power will respond in the Usher’s darkness.
” I think back to standing on the edge of that cliff, looking out over the ocean, Selena’s magic roiling inside of me.
Novandia’s magic is so much more volatile and quicker to react than the power bestowed by his sister.
I picture her power, her strands of magic, weaving through me, flowing through me, and I begin to concentrate, even if they are blocked from me.
The Maker said I can’t be bound. I am the vessel for Aslendrix, and that’s what I need to be—right fucking now. I hold the will to do this and not succumb in my mind—in my heart—and sink to the ground.
It’s my will. Good, not evil.
I’ve done this. I can do this.
My fingertips press into the snow and dig into the cold soil before I take a deep breath.
Every single time I used my power in Nehandun, I was emotional, and the strength that gave me caused me to doubt the words the Maker said to me.
But if I can master my fear and dominate it, maybe my power can be calm and strong: the two sides.
I have to be strong to pull this off. Strong and sure.
But the vision in my mind of raising the Jarkoreth before doesn’t help, and the flow of energy is temperamental, as if it won’t be ruled and wants to be unbound by my will and run free. Wild.
The Usher described the Gods as fighting children, and I feel that in the way of the power inside of me—the same power that didn’t want to mix with my brother—doesn’t want to obey now. It doesn’t want to work or answer to me.
Because I am calm. I am balanced.
The smell hits me first. The pungent smell of rotting foliage and plants, dredging up and turning the ground around us into the bog that we created in the forest.
It is working. Slowly.
“Deep breath, Ever. Don’t force it. Let it flow.” Kyra is right by my side. But it’s the flow of energy I’m afraid of.
My eyes squeeze shut, and I focus on the centre of my chest, the energy, and will it to obey. But there is nothing more than the decaying detritus around me, bubbling up and staining the snow with a thick tar-like poison.
Sweat starts to bead over my forehead despite the cold, and my growing frustration wars with my magic. And then I feel the pressure on my hands.
“Let us help you.” Raiden’s face is right there as I open my eyes. Capella, too. “You don’t need to do everything alone. And we know what happened last time. We choose to help you, Ever.”
“No. Please. It’s not the same. You don’t understand. I’ll take all your power, and I don’t know if I can give it back. I’m not…” My voice betrays my emotion, stealing my words.
“You won’t, Ever. We believe in you. We are Naturals. Let us help, even if it’s with no strength or power. We’re here. In spirit.” Her kind smile is my undoing.
I twist my hand and grip first Raiden’s, then Capella’s, in mine.
Just like during the trial, we put our combined hands against the ground, and I immediately feel the difference.
There is only a hum, a faint vibration of their energy, depleted and dulled out by the Usher, but that drop, that essence is enough.
As if the magic remembers what we did, and now it responds.
I relax and picture the vision in my mind.
We don’t just want one Jarkoreth. We want every single creature to help defend us.
Heat warms our hands, growing, and I let the rolling heat of energy knit together and strengthen.
Still, I push. I command until I feel like I’m a furnace, burning from within.
The sea, the wind, and the ground beneath my hands all thrum with magic. Magic that is eager to escape. It lashes against me, desperate to overtake, and I’m back on that cliff, looking out at endless possibilities of my power.
“Stop, Ever. That’s enough.” Ten’s voice is distant inside my mind, but we only have one shot at this. We have to make it count.
The contact with Raiden and Capella vanishes, but I still can’t break my connection. More. More. More.
“Ever!”
My eyes flash open, and I snatch my hands back as I blink back into focus. With my heart thundering in my chest, guilt sparks at what I did. What I was on the brink of doing.
My body is burning, the patch of snow around me now a puddle of slush. And the mark at my neck is sore, as if the burn was only just made.
Ten’s eyes, always filled with comfort, offer none now as he studies mine. I already know what he sees—darkness.
“Sur’gos!” Calix shouts, and he points up to the bank of the mountains ahead of us.
Grey, stone-like skin covers the creatures.
Their heads are huge and pointed, ending in a razor-sharp beak that looks more like a spear rather than a mouth.
They remind me of disfigured birds. Giant, ancient birds.
But in place of wings, there is a thin membrane pattered with veins of black and deep red, connecting from its forelegs to its back.
A dozen of them are crawling down the edge of the mountain, stalking towards us, blocking our path to the Transference stone.
“Ten?” I question as fear invades. I was looking for the courage I’d need to fight my brother, not monsters. At least, not like these.
The Sur’gos keep coming, descending the incline towards us. Their bird-like features make them less than agile as they dig their feet into the ground and balance on the joints of their forearms, the flapping membrane acting as a grotesque cloak.
Ten closes ranks, as does Calix, and Kalan appears, back from the forest. I look at him, and he just shakes his head before drawing his weapon alongside the boys. I will happily wield my blades at one of these creatures.
The heat of the power still simmers in my veins. Still fights for me to succumb. But I am not the weak link this time. I’m the magic—the one with power. Aslendrix saw to that; she gifted me with her power, and I won’t let her down. Novandia is weaker here, and she only sees dominance.
Something clicks into place with that sentiment. I’ve taken the first step. My friends believed in me. It’s time my magic obeys me, and I don’t run from it.
I sheath the sword and step forward.
“Ever, what are you—” Ten starts.
“Trust me.”
My hands ball into fists, and I visualise the place in my chest where the well is dry and empty of Aslendrix, and in its place, magic burns bright and hot.
Instead of containing it, I let it out. As I think of Ten and Calix, I shape the flow of molten energy and will it to stand guard over us. Force it to.
Novandia might not be able to raise the dead, but I only need his magic to work like a shield or simply scorch the ground around us so that the Sur’gos can’t reach us. As we stand united to fight against the monsters, I have to fight to protect the ones I love.
It’s the only possibility I choose to believe.
The moment the first Sur’gos sets its clawed feet on the ground from the mountain, it starts to crawl its way, picking up speed, directly towards us. Its pointed beak acts like an arrow, with only one target in its sights.
The energy inside of me staves off the cold, like my own internal furnace, but the cold wind howls, as if encouraged by the creatures.
There’s still no sight of my brother, the Usher or his army, but I know they’re here. They’ll be heading to the stone.
“Kill, kill, kill. It wants to kill.” The whispered voices I recognise as the wind carries the forest’s words to my ears, and I turn to look at the gloomy shadows just as a giant Jarkoreth, alive, bounds towards the Sur’gos.
Its gaping maw and razor teeth seem to hinge back as it collides side-on with the monster, cutting off its attack.
A piercing shriek booms off the side of the mountain as the two creatures begin to fight.
My heart freezes as I watch on as we all watch. The Jarkoreth seems to have an obvious advantage, and my loyalties quickly align with the creature. The very alive creature. I step forward, wanting to help—wanting to help it defend us.
“What are you doing?” Kalan stands in my way.
“I want to help. It’s here because of us. I won’t let it stand alone.”
“It’s not alone.” Calix nods towards the forest, where a dozen other beasts emerge from the trees.
One by one, they join the fight, taking each of the Sur’gos on. They stand. Fight.
I might have pulled mud and gore from the decaying depths below, but I didn’t awaken the Jarkoreth from their slumber.
That has to count for something.