Beyond the Between

by Anna Webb

  “I’m not deaf.”

  “No,” he agreed. “But you are stubborn, and I need you to hear me, to understand me when I tell you that there is nothing wrong with you.”

  “Nothing,” he repeated. “Embrace your Gift, Allyra—it’s a part of you, and to deny it would be to deny the truth.”

  She let out a bitter and painful laugh. “The truth being that I’m a monster. One that rains death upon everything and everyone I touch.”

  Jason shook his head. “No. Don’t ever think that. Don’t ever believe it,” he said, pausing as he searched for the right words. “You just—are. Powerfully Gifted, and so much stronger than you’ll ever know. I can see it burning so brightly within you, and I can’t understand how you don’t see it too. It lights you up and brings you to life—surely, you can feel it?”

  And she could. But she wanted to deny it. To deny the monster running wild within her.

  It burned like lava through her veins—power, so much of it. It called to her and terrified her. Because yes, she loved the feel of it coursing through her. To embrace it would be to dance toward the darkness, diving deeper into the world of the Gifted and all the horrors hidden beneath its gilded surface. But perhaps the truth was less the girl she had been and more the girl she was becoming. Perhaps, like her Gift, the darkness had always been within her, hiding below the surface, waiting patiently for the day that she’d come to embrace it. Perhaps today was that day.

  Allyra raised her eyes to Jason’s, and within him, she saw everything she once feared, everything she now craved. Danger, darkness, excitement—it sent a thrill racing up her spine.

  She smiled.

  Jason’s smile in return was exuberant and exhilarated. He released her wrists and picked up an ice pack, pressing it gently to her right cheek.

  “We have to work on your defenses,” he said wryly.

  She winced. Her knuckles weren’t the only things broken within the Arena—Owen had managed to land a blow that broke her cheekbone. The swelling had already begun, and she’d be lucky if she could see out her right eye by tomorrow.

  “My defenses are just fine, thank you very much,” she retorted. “You know as well as I do that there was no way I’d get past Owen without taking a few hits.”

  “I didn’t have to take any hits,” Jason said.

  “Right…” Allyra said doubtfully. “I suppose that’s why you’re favoring your left side.”

  He shrugged, refusing to acknowledge the truth in her words, and she took the opportunity to jab him in his ribs. She grinned as he left out a harsh grunt of pain. “Ice pack?” she offered sarcastically.

  He narrowed his eyes at her but took the ice pack and pressed it to his ribs. He grinned suddenly. “We’re going to win this thing,” he said.

  Allyra nodded. “Yes,” she agreed. “Yes, we are.”

  Chapter 28 – Allyra

  Allyra stared at the apple Jason was holding out to her. It was a deep, dark red, polished and rounded. She could imagine its weight in her hand, the crisp bite of it, the sweet and tangy taste of it. It was perfect, and somehow, the very sight of it filled her with anxiety.

  “Please take it,” Jason said with bemused frustration.

  She reached out for it and then snatched her hand back with a grimace. “I don’t know.”

  “Allyra…”

  “I know, I know. But the migraine from yesterday hasn’t completely dissipated yet, and I want to be at my best before trying again,” she said, almost convincing herself it was true.

  “Stop making excuses,” Jason retorted. “You’re going to have to learn how to Evanesce at some point. You know what they say—practice makes perfect.”

  “Except every practice makes me feel intense pain, and the more I fail, the less I want to try again. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, an endless cycle of pain, an infinite plain of failure.”

  Jason sighed and took a bite out the apple she was supposed to Evanesce.

  “Well, that doesn’t help,” she said sarcastically.

  “I got hungry waiting,” Jason replied, taking another bite. He chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed. “Look, the more you agonize over this, the worse it gets. You should just go for it, in the knowledge that you already know how.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “You crossed into the Between and then came back. Evanesce is only a shadow of what it takes to cross through the Gate. So, if you can do that, then you can definitely Evanesce. Simple, really.”

  She looked at him doubtfully.

  He shook his head slowly and held up the apple core. “I see this is still going to take some time. I’m hungry and you need something to Evanesce, so I’m going to get some food, while you continue to talk yourself in circles.”

  She nodded absently and watched him walk from the sparring room, closing the door softly behind him. Exhausted, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying to rub away a budding headache. She had to get past this mental block—by all accounts, Evanesce would be an integral part of the Fourth Final. And with the days slipping by, she’d need to figure it out soon.

  With her mind filled with anxious thoughts, they dragged her down the slippery slope into the past.

  Alex was standing in the middle of the room, his posture drawn stiff and tense. He looked tired, pale skin bruised beneath feverish eyes. Her chest hollowed at the sight of his grief, and she felt a sudden, desperate need to go to him, to hold him close once more.

  As if he could feel her watching him, Alex turned to her, his clear blue eyes flashing with momentary recognition before dissolving into something harder than granite and just as lifeless. He was standing over someone tied down to a chair, and with a closer look, she realized that she recognized the boy. She searched her mind for the name… William something… William Reilly—the angry boy who Alex had suspected of working with the Rising. William’s situation had mirrored her own, and as the Elemental High Master, Alex had voted to send him to the Terra College for training before the Elemental Trials.

  Mandla was standing next to Alex, his face hidden beneath the golden mask that hailed him as the leader of the Cleaners. He looked unusually grim, his lips tightened into a thin line.

  The boy’s breathing was quick and labored with fear, heavy with the weight of what was to come. Blood was pouring from a cut above his eye, streaking down his face like cracks over a porcelain mask.

  “Tell me where to find the Rising.” Alex’s voice was empty of emotion. When William remained stubbornly silent, Alex drew his fist back and slammed it into William’s face. The sound of the blow was simultaneously hard with bone meeting bone and soft with flesh giving way. It reverberated in her ears, and she wanted to look away but found she couldn’t.

  William’s head snapped back with the force of the blow, blood exploding from his mouth in a fine spray.

  Mandla grabbed Alex’s wrist, stopping him from delivering another blow. “Alex!” Mandla said, his voice filled with warning. “Enough. He’s just a child.”

  Alex stared at Mandla, his eyes swirling with darkness. “You will address me by my proper title, Golden Mask. Remember that I am the Elemental High Master and you serve at my pleasure.”

  “Alex—”

  “If you can’t follow my orders, then leave this room. I’ll deal with your insolence later.”

  In a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, Mandla hesitated as if waiting for Alex to change his mind. When Alex remained still as a statue, Mandla bowed before him and swept from the room, his footsteps silent on the smooth stone floor.

  The temperature in the room seemed to drop with Mandla’s departure. Alex stared at the door, and a look of regret passed so swiftly over his face that Allyra wondered if she’d imagined it. When Alex turned back to William, his expression was stony once more. William’s eyes filled with feverish panic.

  “Your resistance is admirable, but you will tell me everything you know,” Alex said softly. He straightened
and stepped back from William.

  “They tell me you’re a talented Inferno.” Alex’s voice was conversational now, and it sent a shiver crawling up Allyra’s spine. “The ability to control Fire is useful but limited. Now, I’m an Elemental, and being able to control all four Elements means that my range is so much more extensive. Combine that with an imaginative mind, and the possibilities become endless. I could make the blood boil in your veins, peel the flesh from your bones, or perhaps just suck every drop of fluid from your eyes. And I could do it all so slowly that you’ll be begging me for death.”

  This wasn’t the Alex she knew; he was twisted with grief and anger. She couldn’t stay silent any longer. She stepped forward. “Alex. Stop.”

  He ignored her and flexed his fingers, pulling moisture from the air until it was a snake of silvery liquid floating above his hand. With a deft flick of his wrist, he sent the stream of water down William’s throat. The boy choked and spluttered, desperately struggling against his restraints.

  Allyra reached for her Gift, trying to pull the Water from William’s throat. But it wasn’t her time, and her Gift had no sway here.

  “Alex!” she screamed. “Please!”

  He turned to her, and with a bored look, he called the Water back to his hand, leaving William gasping behind him.

  “This isn’t you,” she begged. “He doesn’t know anything.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.”

  To William, it must’ve appeared as if Alex was speaking to thin air, and he redoubled his frantic efforts to clear his restraints, clearly convinced that the Elemental High Master had lost his mind.

  “Please,” she repeated. “If you continue, I can’t help you. You’re going down a road that I can’t follow.”

  “I don’t remember asking for your help,” Alex shouted, madness coloring his voice. “Get out!”

  And suddenly she felt the memory being ripped from her grasp, the power of Alex’s Gift overwhelming. She found herself back in the empty sparring room, her cheeks wet with tears she hadn’t realized she was shedding.

  Chapter 29 – Allyra

  The darkness was absolute. Allyra stared up at the ceiling but saw nothing but black. Human eyes could adjust to the darkness but only when some light was present—from faraway stars or even a firefly. But here, below ground, there was no light at all, nothing for her eyes to adjust to. It hadn’t bothered her much in the past, but tonight, the inky blackness closed in around her, making her feel claustrophobic and restless. Her limbs were heavy with exhaustion, and she was desperate for some sleep, but her mind refused to still, swirling with thoughts of Alex. She couldn’t escape the feeling that time was rushing by, that her chance to save him was fast slipping through her fingers.

  The idea sounded ridiculous even as it passed through her mind. Her Gift for the past meant that she should be able to return to a specific memory at any time of her choosing. But somehow, that didn’t seem true. Perhaps Alex would only trust her as she was today, as he knew her now, and not in some future point in time. There could be a thousand different explanations, none of which really mattered. All that mattered right now was the fact that her mind had been consumed with nothing but the idea that the moment was passing her by.

  She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t shake the memory of Alex torturing William Reilly, the madness taken root deep within his blue eyes. She’d meant what she’d said too—she couldn’t help him, she couldn’t follow him into the darkness and madness. She refused to be a part of the massacre that the Betrayal would turn out to be.

  Yet, there had been no real malice in any of Alex’s actions. Not even when he had been torturing William Reilly. He had been twisted by grief and anger, but Allyra was sure that avenging his parents’ deaths was his only motivation. Not that it excused his resorting to torture.

  It was grief, and the mantle of the Elemental High Master—the responsibility that came with his position had weighed heavily on Alex, that much was clear. Even though Allyra had seen the worst of him, she still believed that Alex had been driven into the events of the Betrayal out of a desire to make the world a safer place, not by some power-hungry attempt to destroy the Source.

  Perhaps it would be best if she didn’t meddle—Alex would still lead the Elementals into the Between, but he would die there with them. It would create an entirely new timeline, one where perhaps she wouldn’t even exist. And even if she did—she would die on the Revenant’s blade as soon as she stumbled into the Between.

  Frustrated, Allyra tore the blankets from her body and slipped from the bed. She felt restless and torn.

  She needed to move. Even if she hadn’t decided what to do yet. No, that wasn’t really true. She’d known what she would do the minute she saw Alex’s body in that room hidden within the Tunnels. There was only one thing she could do. Perhaps it was the one thing she had been made for, fated for—the reason for her Gift for the past.

  She padded across the room to the door, finding her way instinctively despite the darkness. Her footsteps were completely silent, and Jason’s breathing remained even and steady from his side of the room. She cracked the door open and slipped through the sliver, closing it gently behind her, and headed for the Council Chamber and the entrance to the Tunnels.

  * * *

  The Council Chamber was filled with people—Elementals. Alex stood at the center of them, his voice raised in a rousing speech. He called on the Elementals to act, to follow him into the Between, and, as a final show of strength, to destroy the Revenants.

  There was no denying his charisma. She’d seen the him in his darkest moment, and yet, she could barely resist the magnetic pull of his words—it was no wonder that the Elementals followed him.

  As Alex’s speech came to an end, the Council Chamber filled with the roar of the gathered crowd. They separated into four groups, each one to enter by a separate Gate within one of the Great Colleges. It was a plan conceived to surround the Revenants within the Between, to decimate them completely and forever remove the threat. The groups left until only Alex remained with Mandla by his side. They alone would enter through the Elemental College Gate to Sanctuary Hill.

  The effortless friendship between Alex and Mandla that she’d experienced in previous memories was lost. They stood close to each other, but the distance between them seemed endless. There was a restraint that had not existed before.

  Alex turned abruptly to her. “I wasn’t sure If I would ever see you again,” he said, his voice carefully neutral.

  Allyra met his eyes frankly. She held nothing back, allowing her fear, her doubt, and her vulnerabilities to all bubble to the surface. It felt raw and real, and she ached with it. Yet, it felt right to let him see all of her. To his credit, he didn’t flinch or back away, but his eyes blazed with an unspoken apology.

  “I wasn’t sure I wanted to see you again,” she whispered.

  “Who are you talking to?” Mandla asked. “Is it the gray-eyed girl?”

  Alex nodded, his eyes never leaving her.

  “You can’t stop me,” he said.

  “No,” she acknowledged sadly, “I don’t think I could.”

  “So why are you here?”

  She smiled softly. “To take you somewhere safe. To guide you to where you need to be.”

  His eyebrows drew together as he scrutinized her. “What are you not telling me, Allyra?”

  “Everything,” she admitted. “Everything that I want to tell you, but everything you told me never to tell you.”

  She could see that he understood, even as the unsaid questions burned beneath his skin. “No man should ever know too much about his own future,” he said with quiet acceptance.

  Even though she knew she couldn’t say more, that he wouldn’t want her to, she was still terrified. It ate at her, hollowing out her heart, until it felt like nothing more than an empty husk. She was afraid that someday, in the future, Alex would look back on this moment and he would hate her for not sayin
g more, for not saving him when she could.

  He watched her and seemed to read something of the anguish going on inside her mind. His eyes softened. “I’m a warrior, Allyra,” he told her gently. “I’ve trained my whole life to go into battle, and I have been chosen by the Source to be the Elemental High Master, to take my position as the leader of the Gifted. It is my duty to lead, but know that I go willingly to war, if it means protecting those I love. I understand the risk, and I know there’s a chance I may not make my way back.”

  Alex leaned closer to her and whispered words meant only for her. “I’ve learnt to accept my future even though it will hold a measure of pain and death. Know that I walk toward it with a steady heart.”

  Allyra nodded, biting the inside of her cheek, fighting to keep her emotions in check.

  “Alex,” Mandla prompted gently. “We need to go or else we’ll be late.”

  Alex hesitated, his eyes searching hers. “We’re going to enter through the Elemental Gate,” he explained.

  Allyra shook her head adamantly. “No, it’s not safe.”

  “It’s where I need to be. This is a coordinated attack, Elementals will be entering the Between through each of the Great College Gates. It’s too late to change the plan now.”

  “You’ll still travel through the Elemental Gate and arrive at Sanctuary Hill. You just do it from somewhere hidden, so that your bodies will not be left unprotected.”

  “Our physical bodies will be within the protection of the Great Hall, and we will put up wards for further protection. We will be safe.”

  “You need to trust me in this.”

  Alex considered her words, studying her with that extraordinary stillness that only he possessed. It was a long time before he spoke again, and when he did it was to quote a poem.

  “Spring to stream.

  Stream to raging river.

  Bound in confluence.

  Together, we will forge new paths.”

  Spoken with his lyrical voice, there was something magical about those words, a magical pull that tugged at her.