by S A Edwards
“Like I did in my first life? Or don’t you remember that the Council turned against me? I became the Hunted. Why would I do that again?” My hands rested on the edge of the silver tip of the bowl. The surface rippled.
“If you had the power again, you could use it on the Council,” he said.
I peeked over my shoulder.
“How do you think you learned last time?” he asked. “I taught you. And I can again.”
Doubt tugged at my nerves. “Why would you do that? Aren’t you bound by the laws of magic?”
“I can’t make their power dormant. But you can. You aren’t bound like me.”
My lips tightened. This wasn’t a good idea.
“You have power already,” he pressed. “You crave more. You need more. With this, we could achieve things you’ve never dreamed. Conquer all our enemies.”
“You have enemies?” Every instinct screamed at me not to trust him, and no assistance from him in the past had led to success. “What’s the catch?”
He held out his hand to me, and shadow gathered around him like water in a ditch. “It would take a year. Agree to leave with me, remain excluded, away from the world for a year, and I will teach you.”
I peered through the trees, my thoughts on Charlie. Would he be searching for me now, bounding beside the Beasts, fulfilling their oaths as my Guardians and waiting for me to do the same? If the Alignment took place during that year, all my efforts would have been for nothing.
Zantos was right. I craved more power. But didn’t need it. I had to fight it.
“No.”
His hand dipped, and his expression darkened. “No?”
“No. I won’t do this. This isn’t right.”
“You can’t refuse the call of power.”
“I can. I have. Leave. I want nothing more to do with you.” If anyone was Corrupted, he was. I’d be better off without him.
Fury broke over his face. “You think you’re powerful? You think you’re strong? You are weak, useless, unable to achieve anything alone.” He advanced and grabbed my arms. Pain stabbed beneath his touch. “You will come with me. It’s a year. How hard is that to accept?”
I tugged my arm free and whipped my hand toward his cheek.
He caught it. Leaning in, his fingers tightened, and his mouth touched my ear. “You wait,” he hissed. “A little time will have you begging for this.”
A small part of me believed him. Would the corruption become harder to resist over time? “No.” I shoved him away. “I’ll never come back to you, to any of the Dark Gates.”
“We shall see.” His expression distorted with rage. “Given time, you will be mine.” Shadows raced toward him, consumed him, and he melted into the darkness.
I stared at the place Zantos had stood, relieved with the return of nature’s heat despite my pounding heart. I had never seen him act like that, not in this life. He was mad, crazed, deranged. Had he really believed I would abandon my goal to gain more power? Not one day ago, I probably would have, and relief coursed through me in the knowledge that he waited until now to offer it. Or demand it. Any thought of meeting him again brought sweat to my brow.
The scene blurred, the world shimmered, and I tensed when the skyline appeared, glittering with stars. Rock stretched up on all sides, framing the moons. They shone down over me, one silver, one crimson.
Silence pressed in around me, and then the silver surface of the moon shifted to blood-red.
Someone screamed.
The hair on my neck stood on end, and my breath caught in my throat.
Seven comets soared into sight, coursing toward the centre of the sky. Colours streamed behind them in a burning trail of fire: brown and glittering white, red, purple, green, light-blue, violet and sapphire.
They collided in an explosion of sound and light. The ground shook. Dust and huge chunks of the comets rained to the land, burning through the atmosphere, casting shadow over the cave. My eyes widened. No one would survive the impact.
I gasped. “This isn’t just a vision.” This was a gift. My gift. The gift of a Dark Mage.
And I could control it. Confidence released me from my tension.
Pulling on my focus, I paused the scene. The comets halted, inches from each other, their tails gleaming against the night.
This is what the Alignment would look like. I just needed to know when it would occur.
The image changed.
Grey rock sprouted from the ground, forming a cavern. Huge crystals, each a shade of the comets, protruded from the walls. In the centre of the cavern, seven pedestals extended from the floor with one of each crystal hovering above them, and Zantos stood amongst them.
The vision faded.
I sank to my knees, shaded once again by the forest.
The skin below my crystal tingled. Deep-brown spread across the pendant with tiny stars glittering within. A gold speck glimmered in the centre, growing larger until it filled the entire crystal. Then, the tingling ceased.
I stared at the golden surface, fingers tracing the surface, waiting for it to become clear once more. It remained the same.
My finger tapped against my lip, torn between my desire and fear. I called water from the soil until it hovered before me, then peered at my reflection in the smooth surface.
My eyes matched the golden hue.
48
I sat before the Percurrere, the image of the cave tugging on my mind. The stones gleaming like the comets reminded me of Vitora’s claims of getting her own pendant from the crystal cave. Though, if Custos, Vitora, Orator and Glacies wore pendants from the cave, then Sil, Tenebris and Cupitor must also. But what did that have to do with the Alignment? Tenebris said the Dark Ones can see the future. So, the cave must be important.
Or Zantos.
Something about the image didn’t add up. Zantos had been wearing light-green. And something else. Something foreign. Something that whispered that he wasn’t the insane Keeper of the Dark Gates.
A movement caught my eye, and a Seeker stepped into the clearing.
I leapt to my feet, heart thudding. “You!”
The Seeker from the village under the mountain smiled. “Hello, Clara.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Cupitor sent me. He thought you would benefit from learning to use your gift.”
“I’ve already mastered it.”
“But you haven’t really used it. He said controlling it properly is an important key in fulfilling your oath,” he said.
My lips tightened. “So, you know the truth about me now.”
“I do.”
The air around the Percurrere rippled, and Tenebris appeared.
The Seeker’s eyes widened, and he bowed his head, clasping his hands together in respect.
Tenebris’ gaze hovered on my eyes, and a smile broke through his sombre features. He dropped a pack to the ground and approached, taking no notice of the Seeker. “This is for you.” He held out his hand to reveal a vine with elaborate carvings along the sides. In the centre, it split in two and twisted around a small, gleaming, violet stone.
I stared at it. “Is this –”
“Your staff,” he said and touched the vine to my hand. The magic contained within the staff tingled through my bones, and the vine twisted around my arm and settled on the back of my thumb. The stone sat in the middle of my wrist, its weight prickling my skin.
I turned my hand, amazed at how perfectly the staff had moulded itself to my frame. “It’s not like other staffs.”
“You’re not like other Mage,” Tenebris said. “You will not carry the job of a Seeker full time. It must be easy to hold whilst using the other gifts. You can use this in the same way as a staff. Nothing will be withheld.” He nodded at the pack. “Take this time to prepare yourself. A war is coming. You must be ready to fulfil your oath.” He reached out to the Percurrere.
“Wait,” I said. A nervous lump rose in my throat. “There’s a war?”
“What’s so special about the wasteland?”
“It is where the Alignment will take place. I thought you knew this.”
My mouth turned dry, and I shook my head. “So, if they have control of the wasteland, they’ll have control over the Alignment?”
“Yes. Unless we get you to the place of harnessing, there will be nothing we can do to prevent them.” He touched the edge of the silver dish, and the surface rippled. “Time is short. You have little more than three weeks. I will see you by the battle field. Good luck.” The air shivered, and he disappeared.
I stared at the place he had stood. How could he leave me with that? A war, three weeks from now, and I had to be ready. I had to fulfil my oath. But how?
The Seeker took my elbow and surveyed my staff, his expression void of humour. “It’s lovely,” he said. “Far more convenient than this.” He nodded at his own.
“Do you have a name?” I asked. “Seems if we’re working together now, that I should know it.”
He nodded. “I am Verum. So, where are we going first?”
“I …” I didn’t know. My gifts were mastered. For the first time, I had no idea what to do. My only clue would be the new vision of the cave and Zantos. Or not Zantos. Something about that kept playing on my mind. “I saw something. A face. Though I don’t know where to find him.”
“Like a vision?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Must be weird,” he muttered. “Can you picture his features?”
I nodded. Zantos’ face wasn’t easy to forget.
Verum smiled. “Perfect. Then, I’ll teach you how to hunt.”
I grabbed the pack Tenebris had left behind and tugged it open. A fresh black tunic and trousers with a white strip along the sides, and knee length boots lay neatly in the top. Underneath, he had packed bread, lemon-corn, and fruit, enough to last a few weeks, and a canteen of water. I grabbed the bread and took a large bite, suddenly much more aware of my stabbing hunger pains.
After eating, draining the canteen, and changing into the clothes, I returned to Verum. “I’m ready.”
“Okay,” he said. “Close your eyes. Good. Picture the face of the one you saw. Keep it clear in your mind. Imagine you’re there, with him. There is a mark, leading from you to him, an unbreakable mark. And you are going to follow it.”
Shivers coursed through my body, and tingles burst through my veins. Pressure pulled at me from my right, an invisible path carved out in my mind. I opened my eyes.
“You have him?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then, let’s go.”
The day passed uneventfully. Unfamiliar forest surrounded us, yet the path in my mind never wavered.
“A Seeker plays on fear,” Verum said. “We can sense the terror in our hunted and enhance it.”
“I know. I’ve felt it.” Every time a Seeker came near, the fear would build. Uncontrollable. Overwhelming. A nightmare.
“Then, something you don’t know,” he said, “we can hear the frightened thoughts.”
My eyes widened. “You hear my thoughts?”
“I have never hunted you, so no. But those that do, can when they are in close proximity. And only those thoughts given by your fear. We can speak to the minds of our Hunted. We increase their fear. And the more scared the Hunted becomes, the stronger the trail to them.”
Silence fell, and his words clung to my mind. “So, if I hold no fear of the Seekers …”
“It will be much harder to hunt you, but it won’t be impossible.”
I frowned. It must have been so easy for them at first. Terror filled me every second, screaming at them to catch me.
“Let me show you how to use your staff,” he said.
My gaze flitted to the vine, still secured to my wrist.
“A Seeker uses force to help capture their Hunted,” he said. “You saw me do it when I stopped the one taking you beneath the Preserver mountain. We’ll start easy. Focus on the leaves across the ground. I want you to use your force to blow them away from you.”
I stared at my palm.
“Use your staff,” he added. “Let the magic within it strengthen you. Draw it out. Channel it through your hand.”
The tingle of pure magic still prickled my wrist, so I pooled my attention on that, willing the power to merge with my own. The sensation increased, flowed through my arm, and gathered in my palm. I stretched it toward the ground.
Leaves and dirt scattered in a blast, crashing against the trunks and surrounding bushes. Satisfaction coursed through me, and I failed to prevent my smile.
“Great,” he said. “Now you just need to learn to focus it properly.”
*
Three weeks into the hunt, the mark grew stronger. We had walked from dawn until dusk each day, stopping once to eat and train. Within days, I could channel my force onto a specific area, no matter how small, and it seemed the closer I came to my Hunted, the more energised I felt, though by the time we stopped for the night, I could barely hold my eyes open.
My knee-high boots protected me from the damp earth and glistened under the early evening light.
Then, I stumbled into an area I recognised.
49
The sweet, damp forest scent touched my nose moments before recognition hit that I stood beside the arch of my home village. A breeze rustled the surrounding leaves, and wet drops on the bushes glistened in the setting sun.
I stared at the arch and the thick branch Charlie, Lallana and I had met on each day. Memories of my time with them came flooding back, and my eyes squeezed shut against the pain of our last conversation, of my harsh words to Charlie on my way to the Intrigue. It all looked the same here, but the village must have been a mess.
Opening my eyes, I trudged into the forest, unwilling to return to the place of my childhood.
“Are you alright?” Verum asked.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t push the issue, and I let silence fall. Going into detail about our lives before wasn’t appealing. Not after everything that had happened.
The silver light of the moons began to cut through the orange of dusk, and stray raindrops pattered on the leaves. Nothing appeared familiar anymore, and doubt began to swallow my hope. What if I couldn’t find the man? The mark’s strength tingled with sweetness on my tongue, yet only thick forest dominated the area. Why would anyone be all the way out here? And what if he was Zantos? I held no desire to see him again.
My aching legs and rumbling tummy brought regret at not returning to my village first. My pack’s contents ran low, but facing the memories set my teeth on edge. I rubbed my temples, fighting the growing fatigue, and shuffled on.
“We should rest,” Verum said.
“No. I’m close. I can feel it.”
“Getting adequate rest is essential. A Seeker’s magic can only be used for so long. After a time, your body will tell you to stop. If you don’t listen and replenish your strength, you may lose consciousness.”
“I’m fine. I need to do this.”
“Clara –”
“Seekers have chased me in the night before.”
“Because they rested through the day. You must listen to your body.” He touched my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. My Hunted stood near. The pressure of the trail built further than ever before.
The trees parted on to a clearing, and my gaze settled on the stone I had seen when I first ventured through the arch. Tall and pointed at the top, moonlight beamed down, highlighting damp sides from the recent rain.
The mark’s pull died.
I grasped my crystal. “What happened? It’s gone. I don’t feel him anymore.”
“Because he’s close,” Verum said. “You should be able to see him.”
I surveyed the surroundings, searching for the face I feared to see.
Nothing.
“
Search for his fear,” Verum said. “It can lead you the rest of the way.”
I held still and listened for fear that wasn’t my own. It stabbed at me from my right with sudden force: anxiousness and worry about the future, about whether it could be stopped. “She’s so close. She just needs to use them. After all these years, she can’t fail now.”
Power surged through me. I could grasp his fear, control it, enhance it until I forced him to his knees.
“Clara.” Verum’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I gasped and shrunk away from the emotion. Weakness flooded over me.
“Did you find him?” Verum asked.
“I can’t. Feeling that, knowing what I could do. I can’t do that to him. I … I don’t like how it makes me feel.” Too close to the corruption. Too much risk.
Verum smiled. “There are some Seekers that like it, that enjoy the control, the power, but use it only on their Hunted and only until they take them. I don’t like to use it, though there isn’t always a choice. Fear slows the Hunted down and draws me to them quicker. To stop them committing any more crimes, channelling their terror is needed. But since this man may not walk in the darkness, I would choose not to touch that part of the gift.”
Leaning against the stone, I slid to the dirt and closed my eyes, fighting the growing fatigue. “He’s here,” I whispered. “I know he is.”
*
Moonlight flooded the clearing when I woke, and crickie-bugs sang from the undergrowth.
Desperate to quench my thirst, I drew water from the earth, cleaned it, drank, and then clambered to stand.
Verum slept a short way from me, his head resting on his pack. His hand lay over his staff, and he showed no signs of waking any time soon.
The presence of my Hunted still tainted the air but peering around revealed nothing.
Lips tight, I circled the stone, running my fingers over the surface and paused them on the symbol.
It glowed.
My hand snapped back.
The glow died.
I touched it again.
The glow flourished, light reflecting on my palm.
