It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. She’d spent most of her life learning to be in complete control of her powers. She’d had to be. With such power flowing through her veins, what choice did she have? Control kept her safe, kept her from being exploited by those that would seek to use her. It allowed her to protect and defend those she cared about, the land she had chosen to call home.
The corruption was something outside of her control, taunting her with the unknowable. Now she was a threat to everyone and everything. If she slipped, people could die. And how many lives would that claim? Hundreds? Thousands? The world?
A sharp pain tore across her chest and she turned her focus back to the words in the book. She gathered in a deep breath, let it out slowly. The pain subsided, drawing away back into the shadowed realm where she kept it locked away.
Answers. She needed answers.
Something, or someone, had caused a change in her, of that she was certain. It had set fire to her blood, turning her powers into something nightmarish and strange. Across the ocean, she could hear a call, pulling her ever closer. It was as if her power were reaching out, seeking to embrace what she could not yet see. Whatever it was, she’d find out soon enough.
Movement caught her eye and she glanced to the far corner of the room. Garild was stirring, rising from his cot against the far wall, bleary eyed and messy haired. To even get Barog to agree to take them to Taverin, they’d had to decide on someone to stay with her in case something went wrong. Garild had agreed to it willingly and he stayed nearby day and night, ready to lend his strength in case holding back the corruption became too much.
So far it had been an unnecessary precaution and she felt terrible keeping him hostage everywhere she went. He didn’t seem to mind, so long as she kept training him. While she held back her power for fear of weakening her hold over the corruption, she was still able to challenge him. He was a willing student with a bright mind, and she could feel his powers growing by leaps and bounds. Isa also joined him in training and together, they pushed each other to their limits, training the days away to drive away the tedium of being stuck on a ship.
“Good morning,” she called, eyes drifting back to her book. Garild groaned in response and she quirked her lips into a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“No. Not really.”
She glanced up again, studying his expression with care. He looked troubled, trapped between wakefulness and the melancholy of a dream he’d yet to leave behind. “Bad dream?”
“If you can even call it that,” he muttered. “I don’t know. It felt real. I was talking to Kirheen and it was like she was right in front of me. It’s stupid. I just need to forget about it.”
“Are you worried about seeing her again? You said she was heading to Val’shar. It’s possible you’ll find her in the city.”
“Of course I’m worried. We didn’t exactly part on good terms. I just hope she’s okay. I keep getting this nagging feeling in my gut that something is wrong, that maybe something happened to her. I want to be wrong but…”
Samira sighed and gently closed her book. “Well, there is a way to find out.” She almost wished she hadn’t said the words. Garild perked up, curiosity getting the better of him. With a bit of effort, she could connect their minds, at least long enough for him to see if she was okay. Their intrusion would probably go unnoticed. She just hoped it wouldn’t torment him, that whatever he saw on the other side didn’t confirm whatever dire feelings he had.
“What do you mean?”
“You were friends. You knew her mind. I could use that link and bolster your power enough to seek her out. You wouldn’t need to speak with her, just take a look and make sure all is well. It might set your mind at ease.”
To her surprise, he looked almost sad, his eyes drifting to the floor as he mulled over her words. “Or it might just show me exactly what I’m afraid of. Is this a good idea for you to even attempt, all things considered?”
“It is not so taxing that I’ll be unable to keep things under control. Don’t worry about me. The offer stands, but the choice is entirely yours.”
There was a war of emotions on his face, a yearning to know and also a fear of what he might find. Eventually, his curiosity won out and he walked across the room and sat next to her on the floor. “What do I need to do?”
“You’ll just have to think about her, open up your memories, that connection you shared. Give me anything you can so that I can find her.”
“All right, I can do that.”
“Good. Close your eyes and start thinking. I’m going to slip into your mind and start bolstering the link. It might feel strange but don’t let it distract you.”
Garild gave his head a quick shake and closed his eyes, his shoulders relaxing as he gained control of his breath. When he’d completely settled, Samira closed her eyes and, gentle as a wisp of smoke, slipped into his mind.
Memories formed, hazy at first, brief flashes formed of blue sparks that were whisked away on an invisible wind. She followed Garild deeper and his memories took shape, leading her through past events as if she were experiencing them herself. Her heart constricted, wounded by the emotions washing over her. Oh, how he’d loved her. There was such pain, a hole left behind when she’d slipped away. He’d patched it over with anger, with grief. He hated himself for pushing her away, for losing their friendship. He was the gentle summer breeze and she the hurricane, not his to love at all. She’d come sweeping into his life and his heart, leaving destruction in her wake.
The gentle chime of laughter, happier times and happier memories. There. She’d found her. She let herself drift, let herself be carried across the ocean. Her spirit was a bird hovering over the broken city of Val’shar and then she was falling, dropping like a stone towards her target. Garild fell with her, clinging desperately to her power.
She grasped Kirheen’s mind, scrabbling to get a foothold over such a vast distance. She gripped tightly and with a final push she managed to pull them both into her mind. What she found made her go cold with fear.
Power rumbled like distant thunder, a slumbering beast waking from an ancient sleep. It was overwhelming in its intensity, a power so known to her that it was like being within herself. Dark tendrils rose, curious ivy seeking the light. Her own power squirmed in response, stretching itself towards the source against her will.
This was danger. Madness. Such power wasn’t meant to exist. She pushed Garild away, forcing him back into his body to keep him safe. Dark energy coiled around her power like a serpent, testing and tasting its limits.
Samira snapped the connection, prying her power back into her own body. As she fled the girls mind, she could feel the dark energy reach after her, lithe fingers trying to coax her power back out of hiding. With a final burst, she escaped and went plummeting back into her own body with more force than intended.
She opened her eyes with a gasp and sharp pain radiated across her chest, a network of electric webs sparking to life. She could feel the corruption thrashing within, scratching at her weakness as it tried to break free.
She wouldn’t let it. Not now. Not ever. Garild began to speak but she held up a hand, silencing him before he could distract her. She focused her mind on Sharmir, on the blissful music of the land she’d left behind. White sand and the gentle lapping of waves, the smell of old books whose aged parchment housed the greatest scent in the world. The sounds of the jungle, predators and prey and the watchful, silent creatures in between. Her blood calmed and ceased pounding within her veins.
Satisfied, she opened her eyes. Garild looked miserable, his eyes wide and glowing with the sparks of fear she still felt. Had he seen what she’d seen? “Garild…”
“T-that wasn’t her mind. No. It couldn’t have been. I’ve never felt that before, never felt such power until I met…” His eyes flicked to hers, brow furrowing. “…until I met you. Why did she feel that way? By the Allseer, what is going on?”
If only she knew so they could pu
t at least one mystery to rest. “I don’t know. It was her, of that I’m certain. Something is going on and somehow your friend is connected to it all. We need to find her and figure out what is happening. Garild, you never noticed anything? No signs? Nothing that might have hinted at such a power lurking within her?”
“She was always different, but not like this. I knew her mind. We were close. I have never felt such darkness within her, such fear. I want to find her. I think she needs our help.”
He was right. If the girl had awakened such power, she’d need guidance. Samira had gone through such a change alone, grieving and hurt, wounded in both body and soul. She could not let another face what she had, could not let her stumble through the dark trying to find her place in it all. Questions swirled to life, invading her mind like buzzing pests. Why was there another like her, and what did that mean for the world? And would there be others? The thought sent a chill up her spine and she rose from the floor. “We’ll find her. We have to. I think she’ll need my help more than she knows. I just hope we make it in time.”
“In time for what?” Garild asked as he got to his feet. “You’re afraid. I can see it. What do you think might happen?”
“I am afraid, as you should be, as we all should be. If she has awakened such a power, then she might be fighting this corruption as well. And if she can’t control it, if her fears get the best of her, Val’shar may fall before we even get there. Let us pray we find her before that happens.”
CHAPTER 6
Lillana stumbled down a hallway, her eyes too blurred by tears to see where she was going. Her lungs constricted painfully, a snake coiling around her heart and squeezing until it hurt to move, to breathe, to feel.
She’d lost everything; her mother, her father, her sense of self. It was gone, ripped to shreds by betrayal and lies that she’d been fed since she was a child. And one of the biggest lies of all was what had happened to her brother.
She’d seen him die, had watched their father draw the knife across his throat. She’d seen it all. She could still smell the blood, feel the pain deep in her heart knowing her sibling, her older brother, her protector, was gone. His powers had been an inexcusable thing, a blight that threatened to loosen their hold on Val’shar, and so they’d killed him.
That memory had been locked away and buried deep. She was too young to have stopped it, too young to have changed the minds of her parents, and yet she felt so guilty, so ashamed. They’d laid him to rest in a room in the castle, locked the door, and threw away the key. And Elfrind had been forgotten.
And why shouldn’t he have been? He was dead and she was still alive with nothing left to do but follow her family, to cling to the life she still had. When she’d heard they’d found someone chained in the castle, the memory of her brother had come rushing back to the surface, flooding her senses with fear. What if it’d all been a lie, a sham? What if something else had happened to him? Running as fast as her legs would carry her, she sought out the man they’d found, to see with her own eyes what she knew in her heart to be true.
Gaunt and unrecognizable, a living, breathing skeleton, clumps of dark hair clinging to dry sunken flesh. Strange crystals cut a line down his chest, glowing faintly in the dim light. He looked nothing like the prideful, beautiful man that had been her brother. But when he raised his hazel eyes to look at her, when she’d seen the anger and rage bubble to the surface, she’d known. Oh gods, how she’d known.
His rage had been a shard of ice straight through her soul. He’d come crashing into her mind and she’d felt it all, the years of silence and solitude, his body withering away but not actually dying. The years of torment, of waiting to be found. She felt it all as if it had happened to her, every bit of pain, and rage, and hunger, and torment. He shouldn’t have been alive. In a sad, terrible way she almost wished he wasn’t. At least he would have been spared such misery.
No longer able to support her own weight, Lillana sank to the ground and pressed her back against cold, unyielding stone. She drew her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. Her brother hated her and the thought was a hot knife through every part of her being. She would make him see, make him understand that if she’d known, if she’d had any clue at all, she would have freed him, she would have spared him such torment, even if it had cost her everything.
Elfrind was alive. No matter the hatred he felt towards her, she would bear it. If he needed someone to blame, she would be his target. Whatever he needed her to be to free him from the pain he’d experienced, she’d be that for him. No matter what it took she would make it up to him.
There was so much resting on her shoulders, a burden getting heavier by the second. She had been so stupid and naïve, and she’d had to lose everything to see the truth of it all. While it frightened and scared her, there was a strange determination lurking deep within, a closed-up flower ready to bloom, a fire ready to burn. Perhaps there was something of a queen in her after all.
And she wasn’t alone. She had Sampson and Mirin, a small but loyal group of soldiers, the Seekers, the rebels. They’d figure out a way to fix things, a way to keep them all from slipping into chaos. It would be rough, but she truly believed there could be peace for everyone, even herself. She’d work hard and be the leader her city needed, no matter the cost.
Taking a deep breath, she drew herself up off the ground, raised her chin, and prepared for the coming storm.
CHAPTER 7
It was the sound of footsteps that roused Kirheen, the frantic calling of her name drifting through the dark folds of sleep. Drowned beneath layers of exhaustion, she pulled herself out of the clutches of the only peace she could find to face a reality she hadn’t fully accepted.
And it was her reality now. Whatever had happened to her, whatever was happening, it wasn’t going away. Neither was Tomias. She could hear him rummaging through the room, searching every corner for her. Doors opened and closed. It was only a matter of time before he opened the one she hid behind.
Her candle had long since burned down to a useless stub, leaving her in complete darkness. It was there she’d found peace, a way to escape her worries, at least for a time. How long could she hide? How long could she expect to just wait out whatever changes were taking place within her?
Her breath hitched in her throat as his footsteps drew closer. A hundred thoughts swirled through her mind, snow kicked into a flurry with each step he took towards her refuge. She could imagine him standing there, his hand reaching for the door. What would happen when he opened it?
“Tomias, don’t!” she managed to say. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears.
Beyond the door was an audible sigh of relief. “Kir? What’s going on? Are you all right?”
Words stuck in her throat like honey, thick and sickeningly sweet. Only the truth could set her free. “I-I don’t know. Something is wrong with me.”
There was a brief silence. “Can I open the door?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t know how to stop it. I can’t make it stop.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s just…we’ll just take it a step at a time, all right?”
“Okay.” Kirheen willed her inner turmoil to settle. She had to remain calm for both of their sakes. She had a suspicion she wouldn’t like what happened if her emotions got out of control.
“Kir, do you remember what happened after we entered the castle?”
“A little. It’s all a blur, like I was watching it happen outside of myself. I remember a man in a room. He was in chains.”
“What else?”
“It felt like fire underneath my skin. And darkness covered the walls, like someone painted it from an image in my head. Allseer,” she huffed. “What did I see?”
“I keep telling myself it isn’t real,” he sighed. “I keep telling myself that it was just stress or my overactive imagination or that someone poisoned my breakfast and I was hallucinating. But it doesn’t change what we’ve seen, what we know. It’s real, Kir.
As real as anything.”
“It’s coming out of my skin.” Her composure was slipping. A lump formed in her throat and refused to be dislodged. Her eyes welled with tears and she let them spill freely. Around her, the corruption squirmed.
“What?”
“When I woke up, there was something coming out of my chest, like rocks or-”
“- crystals.”
She froze, heart pounding in her chest. “How did you know?”
“Things have been a bit interesting out here. There is a lot happening and I don’t think we’re even close to understanding how it all fits together.”
“Is everyone okay? What happened?”
“The castle is secured, so we were successful on that front. Come to find out lady matriarch herself was hiding quite a secret. She had powers all along.”
“She had…powers? Like us? Why would she do what she did? How could she do this to her own people?”
“I doubt we’ll ever know. She’s dead now, but it isn’t exactly safe for us quite yet.” There was a shuffling sound, his voice growing closer as he sank to the ground outside the door. “You know, back in Sanctuary, we thought we knew the world only to find out we didn’t know anything at all. It feels like we’re back to that. Things started making sense and now it’s a mess again, isn’t it?”
“It really, really is. I just want to understand what is happening, what this all means. I’m…I’m scared.”
“That makes two of us. You know we’re going to figure it out, no matter what happens. I’ll be here through it all.”
She sucked in a breath, her hands wandering towards the door. If only she could reach beyond it, to intertwine her fingers with his. She needed his warmth, his comfort, the feeling of safety that he brought to her mind and heart. She needed to give him the truth, to share the burden before it consumed her whole. “The Darkness, it’s coming out of my body. It’s all around me, alive and growing, but it feels tethered to me somehow. It’s like there is a place inside where it should be locked away, but I can’t pull it back. I don’t have the strength.”
The Allseer Trilogy Page 65
