Ethira

by J D Evergreen

  I turn to Edward. “That’s how it worked for Lexa and me. We both had the necklaces, and we could use them.”

  Edward runs a single hand through his wiry red beard. “Hmm. That does put us in a bit of a pickle then.”

  I nod silently. I glance around at the people crowded around the small area in this rock cavern. “Weren’t you going to Erast to perform?”

  Edward nods. “We were able to pay off the guards that were ‘escorting us’ shortly after the first earthquake, and we have been hiding from Darkmor ever since. We wanted to be ready.”

  “Ready for what?” I ask.

  Edward puffs up his chest and places his hands on his hips. “For Katera's rising.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Xineophs

  Lexa carefully sets aside her mending. “Are you saying the rebellion is going ahead?”

  “Of course!” Edward chimes. “Since the rebel leader was lost, people have been following the orders she left behind. Someone has even managed to contact those who dwell above,” Edward says excitedly, falling over his words in his hurry to get them out.

  The lost rebel leader? I glance at Lexa whose face radiates with happiness. I suppose to those who were there the day Darkmor's scarlet army attacked the compound could only assume Lexa had died.

  I study Lexa's face, carefully trying to decipher if we are supposed to reveal her identity. Lexa leans forward. “Do you know who is leading the rebels now?”

  Edward scratches his beard. “A young man.” He clicks his fingers. “What was his name? A one-legged fellow, seemed nice enough, even if he is a bit young.”

  “Samuel?” I venture.

  “Why yes!” Edward exclaims. “A poor naive fellow though. He maintains that the true rebel leader lives, and he is just standing in.”

  Lexa looks down thoughtfully at her hands, and I grip my necklace in mine. “Edward, is there a way we can find the Xineophs?”

  “Well, there is this scrying spell you can do, but it will help you find the Xineoph for the particular necklace you are scrying with,” Edward explains as he bounces in a circle on his feet. “Even then it is vague at best, landing at some point on a map.”

  Lexa looks up at the energetic man. “Would you allow us to use your necklace for this scrying spell?”

  “Of course,” he sings merrily. “I will go prepare things now, I will be back soon to collect you and your group.”

  Without any further explanation, he prances off into the caravan I have come to think of as his. “Does Edward seem a little—?”

  “Unhinged,” Melissa supplies as she plops down beside us, a bowl of soup in hand.

  I eye the bowl. “Where did you get that? It’s not lunchtime.”

  Melissa smiles and her face glistens with sweat. “No, it is not, but if you look as sick as me, everybody tries to feed you.”

  “That’s an upside,” I say with a small smile, shifting my pained legs slowly.

  Lexa quietly resumes her mending, and I pick at an old dried clump of grass beside me. “This whole necklace thing is becoming more confusing with every step. It seems the more we learn, the more confused I become.”

  Lexa lets out a small sigh. “I know what you mean. It is as if every piece of information is carefully crafted to make this whole expedition more perilous and perplexing.”

  Melissa clatters her spoon against the side of her bowl. “Maybe it is supposed to be hard. Or maybe you are just looking at it in a way that makes the whole thing seem harder than it actually is.”

  I frown. “We are looking for four lost necklaces, and their apparently different owners, while being hunted by Darkmor and all his minions, all at the same time as a huge rebellion that is raging around us and giant flaming rocks are falling from the sky at random intervals.” I pause and glance at Lexa. “Did I cover everything?”

  Lexa smiles. “You forgot the part where the only person who knows anything presents sporadic behavior and is currently preparing a ritual which may or may not work and at best gives us vague details about where the true owner of his necklace is.”

  I turn to Melissa. “Any tips on how to look at this situation in a different way?”

  Melissa shakes her head and inspects her almost empty bowl. “Nope, we’re screwed.”

  Lexa sets aside the mended shirt and stretches her legs. “And yet we must continue to endure.”

  Nathanial stomps over and plonks down beside me. “These people do nothing but sit and sit and sit. They do not even have someone posted on guard.”

  “Care to elaborate further?” Lexa enquires.

  Nathanial waves his massive hand at the group. “They have scarcely enough food and water for the next two days and they don’t understand that even though this position is well hidden, they are trapped if an attack comes. Worst of all, not one of them knows how to fight. Even their strong man doesn’t know more than how to lift weights.”

  “Maybe you should teach them,” I say with a small smile.

  Nathanial stops mid-rant to consider my words. “It would not take too long to whip them into shape.” He rubs the dark shadow of his early morning beard. “A month at most should be enough time to teach them the basics.”

  Edward pops up beside me with Tash and Lucas behind him holding a basket of items each. “We are ready!” He chimes and spins in a circle.

  I smile and shake my head. If I found the energy to be half as happy as Edward, I would be the second happiest person in all of Shadowsoul.

  He crouches by our small fire and scoops some of the hot embers into a clay pot. Then he sprinkles in some herbs, and the bowl emits an overly sweet smoke.

  “What is in that?” Lexa queries as she peers into the smoking pot.

  “Powdered cave mushrooms, Gurmal root, and ground sandalwood,” Edward replies and hands the bag to Lexa.

  “What is sandalwood?” I ask.

  Edward points at the cavern roof. “It is the wood from a tree that grows in the world above. Our true world,” he clarifies.

  Lexa looks up from her inspection of the bag. “How did you come by this?”

  Edward waves his hand. “Someone who knew someone who knew someone and so on.” He pauses and adds, “Be careful with your use of it. This is all I have, and in the future, I predict commodities from above will be very hard to come by.”

  “You are giving it to us?” Tash asks with raised eyebrows.

  Edward gives her a confused look. “How else are you going to find the Xineophs and keepers for the other necklaces?”

  Tash seems unsure, but I cut past any further questions she has. “You can locate the keepers as well?”

  Edward nods. “It would be silly if the spell only found the Xineophs. What is the point of knowing who the true bearer is if you cannot find the next necklace?”

  I gape at Edward, and Melissa nudges me. “See, you were thinking about it too hard.”

  Edward pulls out a map and lays it on the ground. “Owners of old, owners of new, lead us to the one whose heart is true.”

  The necklace spins in a circle, apparently of its own accord before the string pulls tight as it strains to reach Lucas. The crystal hovers in the air, restrained only by the chain held in Edward’s hand.

  Lucas holds up his hands as if to surrender. “Is that thing going to impale me?”

  Edward frowns and shakes the stubborn necklace. “It has never done that before. Usually, it just lands on the map.” He turns to look at us. “Are you certain your group is not made up of Xineophs?”

  I shrug, and Lexa answers carefully. “As I said before, we were not aware we had to find the Xineophs prior to encountering you. The presence of any other than Claire and myself is purely coincidental.”

  “How do we know that it is pointing at Lucas?” Nathanial grumps. “And not just someone in that direction?”

  Lucas clambers to his feet and moves over to the right, the straining necklace following him. Slowly, he moves in a full circle around the group, and the ne
cklace leaps on the chain as if it were trying to fling itself upon him.

  “Well, that settles it,” I say. “The necklace clearly wants Lucas.

  Tash lets out a soft giggle, and we all turn to her. “How strange our lives have become when we are more confused about Lucas being a Xineoph than a crystal defying gravity and chasing after his movements.”

  A small smile creeps across my lips, and Edward holds the necklace out to Lucas. Lucas inches over and holds out his hand and the gem seems to leap with joy at his nearness, but upon reaching the palm of his hand, it simply goes limp and glows a soft purple.

  “Be careful with it,” Edward says, in a soft, mournful tone.

  Lucas nods and slowly loops the necklace around his neck, gently caressing it as if it were a living being. After seeing the crystal bounce around on its chain, I don’t blame him for the assumption.

  Lexa with her mind on ever present matters turns to Edward and asks, “How are we to find the next necklace?”

  Edward rubs his hands together. “It is simple. You go through the same process with the herbs and hold a necklace above the map and sing, ‘lost and gone, but not for long, show us where the missing crystal has gone.’”

  I blink. “What stops it from telling us where one of the crystals we have already located is?”

  Edward waves at me dismissively. “Don’t be silly, the crystal will know which of its siblings are still missing.”

  I open and close my mouth, truly at a loss for how to respond to Edwards words. I glance at Lexa and catch a glimpse of Melissa's face as it contorts into a strange frustrated expression.

  “Melissa, are you okay?” I ask gently.

  Melissa turns on me with strangely vacant eyes. She blinks and the weird moment is over. She bends forward and clutches her head with a soft groan.

  Tash, who is beside her, leans over and sets a soothing hand on her back. “Melissa, did you hear Claire?”

  Melissa looks up at me in confusion and rubs her head. “No. I must have missed it. Sorry, what did you ask?

  My eyebrows bend towards my nose, and I repeat, “I asked if you are okay?”

  She nods. “Yeah, I just have this mind-blowing headache. I think I will go have a lie-down.”

  Tash takes her arm and leads her away from our group over towards the small fire we had claimed as our own.

  Lucas looks pale as he watches Melissa. “She has had a few moments like that since she hit her head.”

  “Maybe it will pass?” Edward offers as he scratches his beard.

  Nathanial rises to his feet and throws a look at Lexa. “I will go watch over them, both of them are too distracted right now to be truly vigilant.”

  Lexa nods and pulls her own emerald green necklace from around her neck. “Lost and gone, but not for long, show us where the missing crystal has gone.”

  This time her necklace plummets to a place on the map right beside the words ‘Mt Wolner.’

  “Well,” I say gripping my necklace in my hand. “It looks like we have a new direction.”

  Lexa looks up at me with sparkling eyes. “The fight goes on.”

  Katera Rising Series

  Book One: Shadowsoul

  Book Two: Ethira

  Discover other titles by J.D. Evergreen:

  The world of Katera

  Katera: book one of the Celestia series

  Accidental Series:

  Accidental Time Travelers- book 1

  Accidental Adventures- book 2

  Accidental Animators book 3

  Accidental transporters book 4

  Non-fiction

  Our Planet is in your hands

  Book one of The Celestia Series

  Sneak peek look at Katera

  (Same world different series)

  I carefully avoid the townspeople, I wasn’t looking for another confrontation like the one I had earlier with Nancy. All of them are busy and preoccupied as I hurry towards the twins’ house. The little white home has lots of extensions built onto it, and a small picket fence surrounds it. Encasing an herb garden and a flower bed, with a short dirt path that snakes its way from the gate to the front door.

  I stand at the gate and see figures moving behind the window. Are they sitting down for a meal? Maybe I should come back later. I turn just as Kent comes crashing through the window and lands heavily in a garden bed. His father stands on the other side of the window frame looking furious. I stand rooted to the spot as sounds of angered screaming fill my ears.

  “Hayton is a glorious leader! And you, you undeserving little worm, do not deserve to be in his army,” The twin’s father yells at Kent who lay sprawled on the ground surrounded by shards of glass.

  Now that the window is gone I can see the dining room and kitchen clearly from where I am standing. Chloe sits in a heavy wooden chair surrounded by her siblings and mother.

  Chloe looks up at her mother who is holding her at gunpoint while her younger siblings tie her to the chair. “Mother please.”

  I stand by the fence and try to take in the situation. How am I going to deal with this? I can’t take on the twin’s father, his body is built like Kent’s but with more years of experience, and their mother has a gun. Not to mention their siblings, four in total. I can’t take on that many people and win.

  Thinking quickly, I march up to the door and knock. Completely ignoring Kent sprawled on the grass, while I wait for someone to answer.

  One of the twins’ siblings answers the door and eyes me. “Taliah, what do you want?”

  Read Katera now

  Did you like Ethira?

  Please leave a review, you would be amazed at how much this simple action helps authors. Thank you.

  Amazon

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to all my beta readers who live far and wide, without you this story couldn’t have been possible. A special thank you to my beautiful partner, who was my inspiration and muse every step of the way.

  And of course, to my readers, may your imagination lead you to exciting places.