Revelation

by C. A. McHugh

  Seroney lowered her voice to a whisper, but the damage had already been done. She had an audience hanging on her every word, and she dared not utter the foreign language again in their midst. “You see me as I am?”

  “Indeed I do. Your necklace may fool these humans into believing you are one of them, but I am too old to be tricked by such simple magics. I see you as you truly are, just as I have seen those who are following you, even though they are cloaked by spells of invisibility.”

  Seroney tensed to fight off the chill that whipped across her skin. “We’re being followed?”

  The unicorn nodded. “Three men wearing the mark of the raven are almost half a mile away. I felt obligated to warn you, for I have missed your kind in these woods, and I do not wish any harm to come to you. Please, take care.”

  “We will. I thank you for the warning, my friend.” Seroney bowed her head respectfully and turned to leave, but the unicorn ordered her to stop.

  When she did, the unicorn touched his horn against a stone on the forest floor. The rock glimmered under the ancient magic, and when it faded, a small golden ring lay in its place. “A gift for the king.”

  Seroney noted the covetous gleam in the eyes of one of the battle mages and moved as quickly as she dared to claim it before he got the wrong idea. She looked to Aerrin and said, “His Majesty is honored by your gift.”

  Aerrin’s eyes widened, but his feet remained glued to the ground.

  “I cannot be at his side, but I can offer him protection when it is needed most.” The unicorn then surprised Seroney by tapping her shoulder with his horn like a monarch knighting a subject. A warm glow of magic rippled through her, and at that moment, she knew peace. “Do not fear the curse of your ancestors, for it is far more of a blessing than you could imagine.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured in Elvish and pressed her palm over the place where the unicorn’s heart beat as her mother had taught her do.

  The unicorn whinnied in delight. “You know the old ways, and you bring me hope that I may see your kind again before I die.”

  “May your hope become reality,” Seroney replied in Elvish, using an ancient farewell her people had used when they roamed these woods centuries ago. She bowed again and turned away.

  The soft pounding of hooves on the forest floor told her the unicorn had disappeared back into the woods before she reached her friends. She held out the ring to Aerrin, but he didn’t take it.

  “What just happened?” he asked, his voice wavered between astonishment and suspicion.

  “You have been given a rare gift, Aerrin. Please do not insult the one who risked his life to offer it to you.”

  “You were talking to him, weren’t you?” Nyssa asked.

  Seroney nodded, still offering the ring to Aerrin. “This wasn’t some chance encounter. The unicorn appeared to warn us that we were being followed by three men.”

  Aerrin’s eye narrowed. “Where are they?”

  “He said about half a mile back, disguised by an invisibility spell.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t confused by a couple of lone wolves?”

  Seroney caught his reference to Ceryst and shook her head. “Two does not equal three, and you and I both know lone wolves hate ravens.”

  They were talking in code to keep the others from learning how much they knew. If there was a traitor in the Privy Council, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think they’d planted one of their men in their group.

  Leandros puffed out his chest. “I don’t know why it’s so worried. There’s only three of them and twenty of us.”

  “That doesn’t mean much when it only takes one of them to shoot an arrow into Aerrin’s back,” Nyssa replied matter-of-factly.

  “Nyssa’s right.” Aerrin motioned for the officer in charge of the Royal Guard escorting them. “Captain Hess, I have an uneasy feeling here in these woods. Time to quicken our pace. Please order the men to keep an eye out for anything strange. I want extra men to ride in the rear of the line.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty.” The captain began barking out orders to the other men, and the formation tightened around the four of them in the center.

  Aerrin then reached for the ring as though it were a snake. “Did he say what it did?”

  “Only that this would protect you.”

  Master Taylind joined them, nodding. “It is a great honor, Your Majesty, for unicorns are even more particular about whom they bestow such blessings upon.” He turned to Seroney and regarded her with unfettered curiosity. “He seemed quite comfortable once you uttered those strange words to him. What kind of spell did you cast?”

  “None,” she answered in a way that said she wouldn’t discuss it any further. “We’ve been given a warning, and that in itself is a blessing. Let’s not take it for granted.”

  Leandros mounted his horse. “Does anyone else besides me think it’s a bit odd that Seroney had a conversation with a unicorn?”

  “Why is it so odd?” she asked. “You can read minds.”

  “But reading the minds of humans and having conversations with magical creatures are two entirely different things.”

  Nyssa awkwardly climbed into her saddle and retied the straps around her legs. “But it’s not unheard of. I remember reading something about your ancestor being able to speak with animals. Did you inherit that gift?”

  “I did.”

  “How do you do it?” Nyssa’s horse almost bounced her out of the saddle, but Leandros managed to reach over and steady her.

  “I just make eye contact with them, and if they have something to say, I can hear it.”

  Leandros grinned. “So what’s Nyssa’s horse saying right now? ‘This lout is breaking my back’?”

  Nyssa swung at him, almost falling from her horse once again.

  Seroney rolled her eyes, moving alongside Aerrin to avoid getting caught up in their spat. He’d been noticeably silent since donning the ring. “Are you all right?”

  “We’re being followed by spies of the Raven Bringer. How do you think I feel?”

  “Thanks to the unicorn’s warning, at least we know about them.” She leaned over and placed her hand on his arm. “I promise that no harm will come to you as long as I’m here.”

  “You’re just a girl.”

  She jerked her hand back. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that if men like my father fell victim to the Raven Bringer, what chance do you have of protecting me?”

  “As good a chance as anyone else. After all, you’ve seen with your own eyes what I’m capable of doing.” She changed the subject before she revealed that she was a master mage. “Never take that ring off, Aerrin. It contains powerful magic, and the unicorn would never have given it to you if he didn’t think you’d need it.”

  “And what did he give to you?” When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “I saw him cast a spell on you.”

  “He gave me peace,” she replied, her voice as vague as the sensation she’d felt. “And hope.”

  He looked down at the ring on his finger. “I wish I had that, too.”

  “Maybe one day you will.”

  Night fell, and the air hinted of an approaching storm when they finally reached the small keep on the mountains. It was a single tower built from wood and stone surrounded by two sets of walls, but it provided more fortifications than a simple inn.

  It still needed more, though.

  As soon as the doors were closed, Seroney lingered in the entryway rather than proceeding to the dining hall with the others. When she was certain she was alone, she pressed her hand against the wall and closed her eyes. Wards of seclusion could be cast in an instant if they were confined to a small space. The ward she intended to cast was much more difficult, for it prevented any entry by the use of magic—dark or light. No teleportation. No blinking. She released the spell and pushed it through the exterior walls, windows, and doors. It was the best protection she could offer against what lurked in the dar
kness.

  When she opened her eyes, she found Master Taylind watching her with the same curiosity as earlier. “That’s quite an impressive feat for a fifth-year student.”

  She started to make an excuse, but he waved his hand to cut her off. “I’m an old friend of Binnius, and I know you’re just as caught up in this as I am. In fact, I snuck away from dinner to do the very same thing.” He reached out to touch the wall. Blue circles formed around his fingers like ripples in water. “A rather strong ward against demons, at that.”

  “How much do you know?” she asked.

  “Enough to make your hair as gray as mine.” He gestured toward the dining hall. “His Majesty noticed you were missing. We shouldn’t make him wait any longer than necessary. Hate to rouse his suspicion that we’re up to no good.”

  A bolt of lightning raced across the heavens, followed by a rumble of thunder. She met his gaze and nodded. Whatever lurked outside, they were both there for the same reason.

  To protect Aerrin at all costs.

  And maybe through that, she’d have her chance at revenge.

  Chapter 24

  Aerrin dreamt he was in the cave with Raimel and Ceryst. The fire was roaring, and they were arguing. He couldn’t hear what about, but Raimel reached for his sword. He tried to warn Ceryst, but Raimel cast a spell on the fire, and the flames encircled him. He was trapped.

  “Aerrin!” a voice shouted, followed by coughing. “Aerrin, wake up! Fire!”

  He opened his eyes to a smoke-filled room. Seroney stood by his bed, shaking him awake with one hand while holding a cloth over her nose and mouth. He choked and grabbed the handkerchief she offered. The ash in the air stung his eyes.

  “What about the others?” he yelled over the crackling flames.

  “Already on their way out.” Seroney tugged him from the bed.

  When they entered the hallway, a gust of heat evaporated the sweat on his cheeks. Through the smoke, he saw Nyssa and Leandros making their way down the stairs.

  Thank the goddess they were safe.

  At the top of the stairs, another door flew open, and two people rushed out. They collided with Seroney and Aerrin and knocked them to the floor. The timbers of the roof crackled and hissed behind them and gave way. The floor beneath their feet groaned and swayed from the weight of the debris. Fear paralyzed him. One false move, and they could fall to their deaths.

  Seroney pushed to her feet, and moving as though she were walking in eggshells, she motioned for him to follow. Once they set foot on the stairs, she urged more haste, and he ran down as quickly as he dared, right on her heels. The flames consumed everything around them. The furniture. The tapestries. The rough-hewn timbers that supported the walls and roof. Everything was ablaze and crumbling, creating fresh sparks to ignite what wasn’t already burning.

  Aerrin pressed his hand against her back, letting her know he was close by. Another crash occurred as they tumbled out the door, but it didn’t matter now. They’d escaped.

  The Royal Guard half-dragged them to the other side of the courtyard. Aerrin’s eyes watered more from all the smoke in the air than tears, but genuine sobs came from a few of the people around him. He’d never seen a building go up in flames so quickly.

  He coughed to clear his lungs and detected a caustic odor to the flames. His gut told him this was more than a normal fire.

  “My son!” a woman’s voice screamed.

  Aerrin looked back at the burning mountain keep and saw a child of about four or five waving his arms from one of the turrets and crying for help. The flames raced across the thatched roof toward him and glowed from the lower windows. The boy was trapped from both above and below.

  “Somebody please save my child!”

  Aerrin struggled to his feet, but Leandros knocked him down.

  “It won’t do anyone any good if you get your royal behind burned to a crisp, Aerrin.”

  “But someone needs to do something.” He looked for Seroney so he could ask her to cast the water spell she’d used on the firebird, but she’d vanished. He turned to the next best option. “Master Taylind, can you teleport in there to rescue the child?”

  But the master mage shook his head. “I wish I could, Your Majesty, but there are wards in place to prevent such magic.”

  “Why were there wards like that?”

  “For your safety, Your Majesty,” Master Taylind replied before looking back up at the child. “I never imagined…”

  “As king, I can’t sit back and do nothing.” He ran toward the burning building, ignoring the protests of his friends, and tried to figure out the safest way to approach this. After barely escaping the fire with his own life, he approached the entrance of the tower with caution and ran through his repertoire of spells.

  Mist didn’t burn.

  He focused his energy and cast the spell that had once given him so much trouble. A bright blue light formed at his feet and wrapped around him like a cocoon, slowly turning his body into mist. When he could feel the magic flowing through the tips of his hair, he knew the spell was complete.

  He glided into the tower, ignoring the flames that shrank away from him. As long as he remained focused, they wouldn’t harm him. The stairs to the second floor had already collapsed. He closed his eyes and willed his body to float up to the second floor. A trap door marked his last obstacle, but the mistform spell allowed him to easily flow through the cracks.

  The roof burned like a bale of dry hay, much like the rest of the building. The floor hadn’t given way yet, but huge gaps showed where the fire had eaten its way through from below, preventing the child from getting to the stairs.

  Aerrin listened for the child’s voice. He heard a whimper and floated toward it. The child was huddled in the corner, nearly unconscious when he reached him. Aerrin released the spell long enough to solidify and gather him in his arms. He pulled him close against his chest as he tried to cast the spell again. The bright blue glow engulfed his feet, but fizzled out once it reached his knees.

  Aerrin cursed and tried again. The flame rose higher, the heat intensifying. Part of the room collapsed behind them, and the child wailed in his arms with renewed vigor, desperately clawing at his neck to hold on. It was almost impossible to concentrate on the spell while the child was trying to strangle him. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore him as he cast the spell again. If he lost his focus, they would both die.

  Only his feet turned to mist.

  Panic pounded through his chest, followed by a stark sense of helplessness.

  What have I done?

  Then the ring the unicorn had given him began to glow with a golden light. It encased Aerrin and the child in a protective bubble, driving away the heat of the flames and the choking smoke.

  The ring would protect him.

  He took a cautious step toward the door, but the floor threatened to give way beneath his weight, forcing him back. The spell might protect him from the fire, but would it protect him from falling to his death?

  He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to the goddess to help him.

  And when he opened his eyes again, he found what looked like an answer to his prayer.

  Seroney hovered before him, surrounded by a vortex of wind that forced the flames to bow out of her way as she passed. He’d never seen a spell like that before, but as she approached, a cool vapor bathed his face and soothed his lungs. This was the mistform spell taken to another level.

  She held out a hand to him. “Let’s go.”

  He held onto the child and allowed her to wrap her arms around his waist, nestling the child between them. The vortex ruffled his hair and clothes as it enlarged to encompass them, and the concentration on Seroney’s face doubled.

  He didn’t dare utter a word for fear he’d disrupt the spell.

  Seroney spun down the stone steps of the spiral staircase. By the time they reached the bottom, the whole second floor had vanished. She floated down until she reached the ground floor, and they rushed towa
rd the exit on a gust of wind.

  Once he emerged from the burning tower, the vortex grew still. He slowly sank to the ground. Someone lifted the child from his arms. Someone else placed a cool cloth on his head, but all he could see was blackness. His limbs felt as though they were made of lead, too heavy for him to move. The next thing he knew he was in someone’s arms. It was followed by the sensation of the cold, dewy grass seeping through his clothes. The air he breathed now was crisp and clean. Voices faded in and out around him, but he was too exhausted to care.

  “Was that a firewalker spell, Seroney?” Nyssa whispered above him.

  “It was,” she confirmed.

  “Then how did you—”

  “Help me take care of Aerrin.”

  The voices faded away.

  Then someone was shaking him. “Aerrin, wake up.”

  He opened his dry, scratchy eyes as Seroney and Nyssa propped him up into a sitting position.

  The mother of the child knelt before him, holding him tightly in her arms. Tears streamed down her face. “How can I ever thank you, Your Majesty? You saved my son.”

  Aerrin opened her mouth to reply, but his throat burned. It hurt too much to speak. He looked to Seroney and silently pleaded for her to speak for him.

  She nodded and replied, “King Aerrin appreciates your gratitude and is glad to know your son is safe.”

  He looked to one of his guards, who escorted the mother away as she continued voicing her gratitude.

  They lowered him back down and placed his head on a wad of cloth that served as a makeshift pillow.

  Seroney dipped a cloth in a bucket of water and wiped his face with it. “What possessed you to try that spell?”

  He tried to speak again but ended up coughing.

  “Don’t scold him while he’s in this condition. Can’t you see he’s completely drained from the exertion of casting it?” Nyssa offered a dipper full of cold water to him, which he gulped down.

  The water soothed his aching throat, but before he could answer, Master Taylind joined them.