by Todd Herzman
‘Taya?’ Ella stepped inside. Taya backed as far as she could into the couch, fear lighting her face. Ella extinguished the flames and held her hands to her side. ‘It’s okay, Taya. It’s me, it’s Ella.’
‘You’re like him, aren’t you?’ Her voice shuddered.
She shook her head. ‘No. I don’t—I don’t know what my brother has said or done. I—I’m sorry if he’s hurt you, but I’m here to help you escape, okay?’ She approached the couch.
Taya shrunk away from her, shaking her head. ‘No, you’re lying.’
Ella stood back, not wanting to spook her. ‘I’m not lying, Taya. We haven’t got time to discuss this. I need to get out of this castle. Are you coming with me, or not?’
Taya’s eyes refocused on her. She still looked afraid, but she nodded. She got up from the couch slowly. She looked weak, and Ella felt a pang of guilt worrying whether the woman would slow her down. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
The resolve in Taya’s voice helped Ella push some of her worry away. ‘Take my hand, come on.’
Ella led Taya into the hall, pushing out her senses—trying to find a path out of this place. She wished her powers could help her map out the castle and not just where people inside it were.
The only way she knew out of this place would take her past two pairs of guards. I’ll have to kill them quickly, she thought. Fast enough so the God King doesn’t realise it’s happening until we’re already gone.
She didn’t know if that were possible, but she didn’t care. She dragged Taya behind her, quickening her pace through the halls. When she made it out of here, she’d need to find her mother and brothers. Night would fall soon, midnight soon after.
Hopefully Reena and Aralia are having better luck than I am.
They were around the corner from the castle foyer where the large, double doors led out to the grounds. Ella stopped and looked at Taya. ‘There are two guards by the front door. Another two at the front gate.’ Ella let out a breath. ‘I’m going to have to kill them. Fast. The quicker we get out, the better chance we’ll have of escaping this place.’ She looked into Taya’s eyes as she said the words, trying to discern if she would be able to handle what was about to happen.
Taya nodded numbly. ‘Do you need my help?’
‘Just stay behind me.’
Ella let go of Taya’s hand and stepped into the foyer. She called fire to her right hand and sparks of lightning to her left. Her other senses told her where the guards stood. The doors were shut but not locked. She closed her eyes for a short moment, playing through what she was about to do.
Then she ran forward and kicked open the door. The guards, one on each side, spun in to face her. She spread her arms wide, throwing flames at one and lightning at the other. She felt their very lifeforce disappear in seconds. They died so quickly, so easily.
The smell of burning flesh brought her back to her village, to the night she’d walked back into it and found so many dead, so many stolen from her. Her brother, stolen from her.
She looked from one dead guard to the other and felt no remorse. Taya ran up beside her, shock on her face as she looked at the dead.
‘Come on. There are two more by the gate.’ Ella strode down the castle steps and sprinted down the lawn. As she ran, she pushed her senses farther out—what she felt made her stutter in her steps.
She could feel the presence of dozens—hundreds—of the God King’s thralls heading to the castle gates from the city. They were coming in fast and must have been since the moment she’d killed the first two guards. Ella quickened her pace. She flared the fire, launching it at the gates—she needed them open before they got to them. If she had more time she would be berating herself about her horrible plan—but she needed to move.
The gates blasted open. The guards at the gate pointed crossbows at her. They’d only had spears when Ruben had led her in—the God King must have put the castle on full alert. Her brain tried to tell her how stupid it was to be running into their line of sight—but she knew the same thing that kept her alive on the boat with the blood lord would keep her alive now.
The God King wants me alive. She thrust out her left hand, lightning struck down the first guard. The second guard aimed down, loosing a bolt at her leg. Ella jumped to the side, rolling into the grass she heard the thunk of the bolt hitting the ground.
‘Close your eyes!’ She yelled at Taya as the girl came up beside her. Ella didn’t wait to see if she obliged. She lit up the yard with as much light as she could muster, hoping to blind the guard’s sight. Ella opened her eyes, blinking after the brightness, and jumped to her feet. In her peripheral, she spotted Taya with hands clamped over her eyes. There wasn’t time to check if she was okay. The thralls in the city were fast approaching. She yanked the woman by the arm, pulled her forward toward the gate.
The remaining guard looked dazed as they sprinted past him. Ella waved a hand, throwing fire into his face and running away from the screams. Her eyes darted about—running into the city was the last thing she wanted to do. She found a crop of trees—a forest—and pulled Taya toward it.
Ella tried her hardest not to glance over her shoulder, knowing the movement would only slow her down—she could see the thralls still running to the castle in her mind’s eye. Still, she glanced at them, not able to help herself. The mass of people looked even more threatening in person. There were more people running after her than had ever lived in her village back home—more people than on Aralia’s island. Ella even spotted children among them. Kids, younger than Marius, not in control of their own bodies.
A boy’s head turned, spotted her running up the grass. The boy didn’t say a word to the others, and yet the mob changed direction in an instant.
The tree line was just in front of them. Taya had turned her head too, seeing what lay behind them. Her face was pale. She kept pace with Ella’s steps, their hands still in each other’s grips. There was no way they would be able to outrun every person in the God King’s control, and now that Ella had seen children among them she was less inclined to throw fire into their faces.
‘Run ahead!’ she yelled at Taya, letting go of her hand. Ella whipped around and closed her eyes. She let out another burst of light—she felt her mana draining fast; she’d never used so much magic in one day. The light flashed, burning her eyes even through the lids. When she opened them, the people were still running. Some stumbled over their own feet and fell, taking others with them—but the rest still ran.
She whirled back around and sprinted into the forest.
They were all connected to the God King’s mind—did they even need their own vision if just one of them could see?
She pushed her senses into the trees, hoping the way was clear. She felt a presence—the same presence she’d felt back in the garden. Not the God King.
Her mother.
Jesriel stepped out of the trees. Still at least twenty feet ahead of Ella and Taya. She raised her arms. Ella expected a blast of noise—fire, lightning, rain—but what followed was only mist. It formed from nothing, flooded up from the ground and clouded the air. Jesriel pushed her hands forward, and the mist moved toward the mob of thralls.
‘Come!’ Jesriel yelled to her daughter, ushering her toward her with open arms.
Taya was ahead of Ella, almost to Jesriel. She looked as if she was about to run straight past her.
‘Taya!’ Ella yelled. ‘Trust her!’
Taya’s head whipped back to look at Ella. She stopped running, seeming to just notice the mist forming. She looked as if she were about to fall straight to the ground.
Ella caught up to her and dragged her toward her mother’s arms. Jesriel clapped her hands to their shoulders and everything shifted—including the contents of Ella’s stomach, what little there was.
Ella blinked. The mist was gone. She looked behind her and only saw trees. Taya let go of her hand and stumbled, almost falling to the ground—Jesriel caught her,
steadied her.
They were in a clearing in the forest. Ella’s big brother lay unconscious in the dirt, her little brother watching over him. Marius’s eyes snapped to them.
Chapter 69
Marius
‘Ella!’ Marius yelled, running to his sister. He hugged her, holding her as tight as he could. ‘I found Mum! She’s alive!’ He let go of her, looking to their mother and back to Ella.
Ella smiled, and the sight of it made Marius’s heart melt.
‘I can see that, and I want to hear all about it.’ She glanced at the trees, then looked at Ruben on the ground. She didn’t seem worried about him. Her attention turned to their mother. ‘I was in the garden. Hiding. I watched what happened there…’
Their mother stood to the side, hesitant. Marius noticed the other woman with them. Taya—his brother’s betrothed. He saw the scar on her neck, but she didn’t seem to be a thrall.
‘My sweet daughter.’ Jesriel stepped forward, eyes sad. She looked unsure—perhaps expecting a repeat of her reunion with Ruben. ‘I—I’m sorry for—’ Her next words were cut off as Ella threw herself at her, hugging their mother as tightly as Marius had just hugged Ella.
‘It’s okay.’ Ella looked at Ruben on the ground. ‘We’ll figure it out, all of it, once we’re off this island.’
‘Can we teleport? Back to the monastery?’ All Marius wanted was to get out of this place.
Jesriel finished hugging her daughter and shook her head. ‘There are too many of us to move that far, even if we had the help of all the monks again.’
Ella still stared at Ruben. ‘What he said, about the giant meteorite heading to the world…’ She looked to their mother. ‘Is it true?’
Their mother pursed her lips and looked to the ground. ‘Honestly? I don’t know. I’ve never known, not for sure. My father has certainly convinced himself that it’s true, along with everyone else on this island.’
‘True or not, it doesn’t matter.’ Taya, shuddering, spoke for the first time. Her eyes scanning the trees around them. ‘This is an evil place. We need to leave. I—I just want to go home.’ She glared down at Ruben. ‘I’ve had enough of all this magic.’
‘It’s not magic that’s the problem here,’ Jesriel said.
Marius glanced up at the darkening sky. Then he flinched as shimmering balls of white light shot into the clearing. Marius raised his hands defensively until he realised it was just mana. Taya didn’t notice them at all.
What Peiter said, all that time ago, came back to him. There are very few people in the world who can see what you just saw without years of practice. Their whole family was part of those few.
Ella had her eyes closed and arms spread wide as the mana entered her.
Jesriel smiled at her daughter. ‘I see you’ve learnt a thing or two.’ The last ball of mana disappeared into Ella’s skin. She opened her eyes, glancing at her mother. Jesriel dropped her head. ‘I should have been there to teach you.’
‘Yes, you should have.’ Ella paused. ‘And you will be, from now on.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Can you get us to the docks?’
Jesriel looked at them all, seeming to count them. ‘I’d have to do it in groups of two, but it can be done. But we don’t have a ship—’
‘I do,’ Ella said. ‘I have friends waiting. We took over a blood lord’s ship—they’re expecting me to bring Ruben at midnight.’
Marius looked up at the sky. The sun had only just disappeared. ‘We still have a few hours.’
‘If we turn up too early and he finds us… we’ll lose our chance.’ Ella paced around the small clearing.
Marius looked from each person, examining their clothes, then looked to his mother. ‘Can you disguise us? It worked before.’
She shook her head. ‘That trick will not work on my father a second time. Besides, right now? He’s controlling every one of his citizens. Ones out of his control? He’ll spot in a second.’ Her eyes never left the trees. ‘I’m surprised he hasn’t found us already.’
‘Then what do we do? Stand here and wait?’
‘You all have magic, don’t you?’ Taya hugged her shoulders. All their heads turned to her. ‘A family of mages, and what, you’re going to stand here and hope he doesn’t find you? If I were you—any one of you—I’d just kill him. Wouldn’t that solve your problems?’ She smiled darkly. ‘He can’t control people if he’s dead.’
Silence followed her words.
Marius couldn’t say he hadn’t thought it. From the look on Ella’s face, and his mother’s, they had too.
‘If only it were that simple,’ Jesriel said.
Taya’s hands dropped to her side, forming fists. ‘Why, because he’s your father? He’s a monster, I don’t care if he’s your damn father—’
‘Oh, I promise you, it’s not because of that. I grew up on this island. Don’t you think if I knew a way to kill him he’d be dead by now? He has a bloodlock to thousands upon thousands of people—do you know what kind of power that creates? If I stabbed him in the chest, I don’t think he would die. And how in the world would he ever give me the chance? He’s lived for more than a hundred years, not a single person has stopped him in that time. He’s only become stronger.’
Ella’s eyes were closed, her fingers touching her creased forehead. ‘We’re safe in the forest for now. I can’t sense his people nearby.’ She opened her eyes. ‘Renial isn’t close, either. I… I sensed him in the castle.’ She looked at Taya. ‘My mother is right—he’s too powerful.’
Marius frowned. ‘You sensed him in the castle.’ He looked to their mother. ‘I thought the walls were protected?’
‘They were, are.’ Jesriel walked to her daughter and raised a hand. ‘May I touch your forehead?’ Ella nodded, looking confused. Jesriel shut her eyes and placed a hand on Ella’s head. She drew a sharp intake of breath, then let go. ‘You have true sight.’ She smiled. ‘My own daughter.’
‘True sight?’ Ella asked.
‘You can see auras,’ her mother said. ‘And so much more.’
‘A handy skill.’ That voice. Marius and the others froze. Their heads snapped to a patch of trees left of the clearing. The God King walked toward them, a sword, still in its sheath, gripped tight in his right hand. He looked down at the sword. ‘But all skills have their weaknesses.’
Marius raised his hands, calling upon his reserve. Beside him, Ella and Jesriel did the same. The light from their magic filled the forest with brilliant hues of white and red. Sparks and flames and shards of ice smashed toward Renial. Marius let his powers emerge in a fury as he had on the cracked earth below the Tahali mountains. He thrust his arms forward, a burst of energy exploding forth with them.
The God King didn’t move, didn’t budge an inch. His eyes flashed red as the sparks, the flames, the ice, all crashed into an invisible barrier in front of him. Marius’s own abilities—abilities that had broken bones and thrust people into the air—didn’t so much as make the God King flinch.
Jesriel disappeared in a snap then sprung into existence behind Renial. She grabbed for her father’s head with a flash of speed—
And stopped, her hand inches from his head. Marius tried to call upon his powers once more and realised he could only move his eyes. He darted his sight to the left and saw Ella frozen as well, the flames and sparks that had flown from her hands no longer there. They were stuck in his grasp, just as they had been in the castle gardens.
Only this time, Marius doubted Renial would let them go.
‘I am disappointed in all of you.’ The God King faced his daughter. ‘Especially you, Larial. You once believed in me—in my cause. In our cause. What happened?’ Renial grasped the scabbard of his sword with his left and drew the blade in a flurry. The very moonlight seemed to dim. Marius tried to cry out, but he had no voice—he barely had any breath. The sword was dark as night, black as coal. Marius could feel its pull on his reserve even five feet away.
Re
nial placed the flat of his Starblade on his daughter’s cheek.
Jesriel paled.
‘You’re the strongest.’ Renial breathed deeply through his nose. ‘I can smell their power on you. The monks drained their mountain of life. For what?’ He chuckled low and deep as the light drained from Jesriel’s eyes. If she hadn’t been frozen in the air, she might have gone limp.
Renial turned, faced Marius and Ella. ‘Don’t worry, she still lives.’ His face turned serious. ‘I would never harm my family.’ He walked to Ella, blade still bare. Marius’s eyes were drawn to it, as if it pulled at the very strings of his heart. ‘Still wondering why you couldn’t sense me, Granddaughter?’ Renial looked at Ella, then the black sword. ‘Starblades are crude, horrid tools the seekers use against our kind. But, even horrid tools have their uses.’
He sheathed the blade. Marius’s mana reserve was almost depleted. He felt weak. In his muscles. His bones.
In his soul.
The God King walked to Marius. ‘Thank you for finding my daughter and bringing her home.’ He inclined his head. ‘I can’t blame you for trusting her over me. How could a child understand what’s really at stake? Especially one so young. One day, you’ll forgive me for what I did to your friend.’
Marius would have spat in his face if he’d any control.
The God King finally turned to Ruben on the ground, ignoring Taya’s frozen form, her face contorted in fear. Renial knelt and picked up his grandson. He stood, holding Ruben in his arms almost tenderly, then walked out of the clearing. Marius felt himself move—he floated up into the air. All four of them floated. Jesriel, her arm stuck out from trying to grasp her father’s head. Ella, fingers curled as she’d drawn on her power. Taya, eyes wide, darting about in her skull. Their forms followed behind the God King as he slowly walked back to the castle with Ruben in his arms.
All Marius had were his thoughts. The dense forest snatched the moonlight away. He could barely make out the path they floated over.
They’d been so close, mere hours from escaping. His brother, his sister, his mother. They’d all been together again in that clearing. He’d felt escape in sight—he’d hoped the future would be different to the past, that they would become a family again. That whatever the God King had done to his brother would wear off in time—that Ruben would forgive them for stealing him away, that they all would forgive their mother for having left.
