Chapter 26
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
Considering that Everand was insistent upon them getting married within days, she assumed it hadn’t been more than a few hours.
She knew that the wound on her chest had healed, she could feel that much.
Even if she couldn’t see it in that unforgiving darkness, at least she had the ability to feel things.
After the Mimics took her blood, they left her there.
Everand appeared moments later, but only to bring darkness to the dungeon, and then was gone.
There was nothing left for her to do other than sleep, so she did.
It gave her enough time to calm down, to regather her thoughts and center herself before she made any more rash decisions.
Now was not the time for her to act on impulse.
As much as she wanted to scream and throw herself at the bars of her cell, she remained seated on her cot, silently listening to what was happening above her.
There were no sounds of children’s laughter.
Even Thorn, a usually loud man, could not be heard at all.
All she could hear were the thick, gravelly voices of those monsters as they roamed around her father’s palace.
They complained that it was too bright, some of them even joking to dig holes into the floors to begin building their tunnels.
There were sounds of glass shattering, of heavy footsteps and music.
“They’ve turned the place into a bloody tavern.” She grumbled to herself, shaking her head and drawing her knees up to her chest.
Her mind wandered back to the children—to Raven, in particular.
None of them seemed to have been under any sort of spell.
They seemed perfectly normal that day in the courtyard.
All of them, except Raven. He’d stood far away from them, his face void of its usual innocent joy.
And he’d been watching them. Not the other children as they ran and played, but Everand and his mother.
He wore the same sort of expression in the foyer as he watched her being dragged away, right before he made that signal with his hands.
Nymiria lifted her hand, repeating exactly what Raven had shown her.
She dragged her index finger down through the air, and then into an upwards curve, and then another line.
Jagged. Like one was drawing a lightning bolt.
She traced it over and over again, trying to imagine what it would look like if she were to draw it on paper.
After many frantic minutes of scouring her mind, trying to remember her rune studies with Aziel, her finger froze midair.
Purify.
Cleanse.
Her brow furrowed as she rose to her feet and moved blindly through the darkness.
She walked with her hands outstretched, taking careful steps until she reached the other wall of the cell.
She felt around below, hands moving over the top of the vanity until she found the porcelain pitcher that Everand so foolishly forgot to remove.
With a quick swipe of her hand, the pitcher fell to the floor and shattered.
She made it a point to swear loudly, as if it’d all been but a harmless accident.
It was pointless for her to glance around and see if anyone was nearby, but she did anyway.
Her hands trembled as she plucked a piece of it off the ground.
She carved the rune into the stone wall in front of her, only able to hope that it meant something—that it could do something.
Moving away from the wall, she glanced around in that darkness, listening to the nervous pounding of her heart. She prayed that there was no one that could see, no one laughing at her foolishness somewhere in that dungeon.
But then she saw it.
The darkness parted, bright light bleeding into the black until all of it vanished completely. Nymiria recoiled from the sudden onslaught, eyes squinting and then blinking rapidly as she tried to make out the image of the person who was now gliding down the stairs.
When her vision finally adjusted, she watched in confusion as Raven stepped towards the door of her cell and unlocked it with the smallest twitch of his fingers.
When his gaze found hers, he looked at her with almost no emotion.
But she saw it in his eyes. Just like with Aziel, she saw the truth written there—the anger he felt. The helplessness.
“How…” She breathed.
Her brother lifted one shoulder. “Don’t ask because I don’t quite know how to explain it, either. I just kept dreaming about that shape. I didn’t know what it meant at first, but I’m able to use it. It keeps me and the other kids from being affected by Everand’s charms.”
“You know what he is?”
Raven nodded. “I could see what he was the moment he set foot in this palace. It happens sometimes—I can see through enchantments and spells. His human form radiated gold, but it was almost clear and I could see through it. I could see his Mimic form.”
Nymiria pulled the boy into her arms, her heart breaking when his wiry limbs circled around her waist. He buried his face into her, letting out small sniffling noises.
“That rune has protected you all from his charm?” His head bobbed up and down against her.
She glanced at her hand that was still curled around the shard of porcelain and then looked at the wall.
“Could you sense that I’d done that—that I carved that rune into the wall? ”
Another nod.
All of the air felt as if it’d left her body. Raven looked up at her, feeling how rigid she became. When he saw where she was staring, his brow furrowed. “What is it?” He asked.
Nymiria wet her lips. “Raven,” she began. “Have you ever heard of Bodhi?”
“The God of Purity?” He hummed. “I’ve spoken to him, actually. Quite often. He visits me sometimes. Talks to me about… everything, really.”
She looked down at him, tilting his chin up in her direction so that she could observe his eyes. It didn’t take but a quick glance for her to see it—the celestial gleam in them.
Raven is a godling. He is Bodhi’s heir.
Glancing around the dungeon, Nymiria took hold of Raven’s hand and pulled him out of the cell and down the hall.
There was a door there, one she’d discovered was a broom closet when she’d been detained for her brawl with the Orc Aziel killed.
She remembered Raina going in and retrieving a broom and dustpan.
She opened the door and motioned for Raven to go in. With a cautious look over her shoulder, she stepped inside and pulled the door shut. His eyes glowed as he looked up at her. And though it was dark in the cramped space, she could see just enough of him to be able to tell that he was confused.
“I need you to do something, Raven. I need you to try and get this thing off of my neck, alright? I don’t have the power to do it, but I think you might be able to.”
“Why do you think that?” He asked.
“Everand put an enchantment on the dungeon. Did you see how dark it was when you came down here?” He shook his head.
“Well, it was. But the moment you came in, all of that darkness went away.” When he didn’t respond, his brow still deeply furrowed, Nymiria wondered if she should just tell him his truth.
She didn’t want to frighten him with it, but perhaps tell him just enough so that he could help her get out of that dungeon and get to Aziel.
She took Raven’s face into her hands, rubbing over his round cheeks to soothe his worried mind. “Raven, I believe that you have the ability to erase enchantments and spells. That rune that you showed me—it is a rune for purification.”
His lips twisted to one side, thinking deeply.
“That would make sense, I suppose.” He started.
“And, what? Am I supposed to draw that rune on your collar?” The moment he lifted his finger and pointed at the iron shackle around her neck, the metal popped apart and fell away.
It clattered to the floor in the space between their feet, both of their eyes moving to where it now rested. “I presume pointing at it works, too.”
Nymiria’s hand moved up to her neck, rubbing at the aching feeling that still crawled over her skin. It wasn’t bone-deep pain anymore and she could already feel that power inside of her flickering back to life again, filling her veins with that distinct heaviness she hadn't realized she missed.
Raven continued to stare up at her, eyes wide and waiting. “What now?” He whispered.
She slipped her hand into his, giving it a gentle and assuring squeeze. “I go find Aziel.” She said simply.
The safest thing for her to do was leave Raven behind. Even though she wanted nothing more than to take him with her, she did not want Everand suspecting anything about her brother or what he truly was.
Before they left the dungeon, Nymiria erased the rune from the wall and pieced the pitcher back together, using her power to make it look as if nothing in that dungeon had been disturbed.
Raven locked the cell behind them, giving the illusion that Nymiria had simply vanished into thin air.
Raven led her back towards the door at the end of the hall, conjuring a small flicker of light to assist them in darkness once the door closed behind them.
Nymiria was surprised to find that the broom closet was not much of a broom closet at all—it was a corridor.
They walked hand in hand through each twist and turn.
Down one flight of stairs and to the left, continuing straight until the stone tunnel gave way to a rounded opening concealed by a dense overhang of vines.
Raven parted them, peering out into the open night at the rolling hills and the large body of water that sat nestled at the foot of them.