Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery

by Ethington, Rebecca

  “Who has told you this?” Dramin asked, panicked. His jaw was open and his eyes wide, the bright green thankfully still there.

  “What?”

  “Who asked you to break the connection?” I sunk away from his panic, keeping the mug tight in my grip. I didn’t want mine to break.

  “Ryland asked me in the dream last night, but I’m not sure it was him. There was something off about him.”

  Dramin nodded enthusiastically. “And in the Tȍuha?”

  “What’s left of Ryland’s mind in the Tȍuha doesn’t know enough, but I can tell someone is trying to break us apart. Ryland told me the man with the dark eyes told him to get rid of me.”

  “And you’re sure he means Cail?” Dramin leaned forward eagerly, his eyes boring into mine.

  “Either Cail or the Ryland that they are controlling.”

  “Or Edmund,” Dramin provided, his voice oddly eager. It sent a chill up my spine.

  I nodded, not wanting to give him an answer. I emptied my cup and refilled it, hoping that Dramin’s excitement would dissipate.

  “Are you going tell Ilyan of this?”

  I glanced toward Ilyan’s bunk at Dramin’s words. Thom had disappeared somewhere, and my heart dropped to see him still unconscious.

  “Tell Ilyan, what?” I asked, unwilling to rip my eyes away.

  “That someone is trying to convince you to break the connection between you and Ryland.”

  “I suppose I will. I tell Ilyan everything.”

  Dramin paused before speaking. “I am not sure that is the best idea in this instance.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. I had decided I wouldn’t be like Atlas. I would swallow my pride and ask for help, but Dramin sat there, telling me that it might not be the best idea to tell Ilyan something that was already eating at me.

  “You will know why before the day is over, child.”

  My eyes bugged out, I knew what he was talking about. The sight. The sight concerning me. He was finally going to tell me.

  “But not yet,” he finished before I could get too excited, and I leaned back into the chair. “You need to decide for yourself if you will break the connection. I believe you will, but not until the time is right.”

  “I’m not going to break the Zȇlství.”

  “I know,” Dramin was still calm, even though I suddenly felt as though I was going to explode. “But until you know for sure, trust in your sight. Your sight will lead the way.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “You must get used to that. It is the way of the Drak.” I didn’t know how he could smile right then, but his grin was broad as he settled into his chair.

  My team seemed to be getting bigger. First, Thom; now, Dramin. Perhaps someday soon I would have the support of Ryland, too. My Ryland, with his memories intact.

  I still had three weeks until Edmund’s deadline to when he would kill Ryland if I didn’t turn myself in. With my newly unlocked abilities I was feeling a bit unstoppable. Maybe it was the Black Water flowing through me, but I might be getting a bit cocky.

  I was going to knock Edmund on the pavement.

  I laughed at the thought, ignoring Dramin’s raised eyebrow by taking another deep drink of the Black Water.

  “Well,” Thom announced as he approached the fire. “He should be awake in a few hours.”

  My back straightened, my eyes flying toward Ilyan’s bunk in expectation.

  “Relax, Silnỳ, I said a few hours not a few minutes. It could still be tomorrow.”

  I exhaled heavily and slumped back in the chair. Thom grunted at me in greeting before setting a blueberry muffin on my lap. It looked delicious, but I didn’t want it. I eyed it for a moment before picking it up and setting it on the small side table next to me.

  It seemed like such a simple act, but it had immediately caught the close attention of both men.

  “Aren’t you going to eat that?” Thom asked, alarmed.

  I looked to the muffin and bit my lip, nervous about their sudden interest.

  “No, I don’t think I am.” I didn’t meet the eyes of either of them, although I knew they were both staring at me. Instead, I took another drink before placing my now empty mug next to the muffin.

  “You are ready.” I froze at Dramin’s words, my hand coming back to rest in my lap.

  I turned to him, nerves and excitement getting all jumbled up in my body.

  “Are you going to show me now?” Dramin nodded his head once in response to my question.

  “I’m not sure I am ready,” I answered honestly, my voice quiet.

  “You are, Silnỳ.” I turned to Thom, even he was nodding his head in encouragement.

  “But... Ilyan said... Will I really hate him?”

  Dramin smiled in response to my question, but his face was sad. “Ilyan has worried for the past eight hundred years if what he said in the Hall of Sight was the right thing. That is eight hundred years of nerves. Of course he is scared. But know this, all that you are about to see will happen; you cannot change it. You are ready to accept that, and that is why you are ready to see the sight.”

  Dramin stood, his frame towering over me.

  “But what if I am not ready, Uncle?” I had practically demanded to know what was in that sight for months. Of course now I would get the jitters.

  “I am afraid, child, that you no longer have a choice.”

  Dramin placed his hand against my head. But instead of pulling out my memories as Ilyan had done, I felt my head go light and airy as Dramin put them in.

  Ninety-Eight

  Joclyn

  I recognized the room as a Hall of Sight the moment everything came into focus. This one was bigger and more ornate than the one in our cave, though. Carvings and beautiful panes of stained glass were set into the walls. It almost looked like a cathedral. The same sunken pool of Black Water filled the center of the room, but instead of the raised shelf that surrounded it, a number of chairs and thrones had been carved out of wood and placed in a circle facing the pool. In each of the thrones a man or woman sat. They did not speak, they sat with their eyes closed, heads bowed with their features obscured by large, woolen cloaks. I knew what they were doing, I could feel the magic of sight run over my skin like feathers.

  I didn’t know what I was doing here, and I was still shaky about the details of what Dramin had done to me and how he was showing me this. Even if I knew everything about the process, I didn’t think I could shake the nerves connected with what I was about to see.

  I was about to learn everything.

  Ilyan’s plea for me not to hate him echoed through my head. After all he had done, how could I hate him? I mean, he laid unconscious after risking his life to save mine. I didn’t know what could negate that, but I guess I was about to find out.

  “He is coming, can you feel him?” I turned toward the voice, surprised to see that one of the still figures had stood. His head moved from his bowed position to one of strength. I must have audibly gasped —though no one seemed to notice— I had come face to face with my father. His face and body seemed younger, if that was possible, and his hair was shorter. He was powerful and strong, so much more so than I had ever remembered seeing him. The change was startling. I could tell he was the patriarch among them. He was respected and revered, his commanding voice guiding all of them.

  “We can feel him.” The remaining Drak in the hall stood in unison as they spoke as one, their voices echoing around me. I jumped, unsure if the sound was awesome or super creepy.

  “He wishes to know,” Sain said, his voice deep and rumbling.

  “Know of his future,” said another.

  “Know of his heart.”

  “Shall we tell him?”

  “Shall we give him sight?”

  “He is the only one who can see, the only one who understands.”

  “That is why he has come, come to see us.”

  I spun around as each voice spoke, their voices coming in q
uick succession. Each of the Drak stood still, their black eyes ringed with the glowing embers as they looked beyond their own sight and into the Black Water.

  This would have been much creepier if I hadn’t seen it before, and felt it in me.

  “He has come.” I turned toward my father at his announcement. All of the Draks’ eyes shifted from black to their normal, multi-colored array. I looked around them, unsurprised to see Dramin standing to the left of my father.

  I waited, my nerves on edge, wondering what they were talking about, or who was coming, but no one in the Hall of Sight moved. Their eyes were focused on the door behind me, their gaze deep and unwavering. I heard the creak of the oversized door as it was opened, another gasp escaping me when Ilyan walked through.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  He looked different, but I knew it was him. I would recognize him anywhere. I suddenly realized why this all seemed so familiar; I had seen him walk into this room in my first sight.

  His hair was short and cut above his ears, the blonde strands darker and waved slightly against his head. I had seen his hair short once before, but somehow this look was different. The change was becoming, his features more defined, and dare I say it, he looked... gorgeous.

  Not that he wasn’t gorgeous with long hair. He was.. But this… I shouldn’t be thinking like this...

  He walked in quickly, his features both strong and yet nervous. He wore the same clothing I had seen him wear for council; the long tunic, high boots, and ornate jewels all firmly in place. Yet I had the distinct impression that this was not some special attire, this was the clothing of the time.

  Dramin’s words of Ilyan having waited eight hundred years echoed through my head. My jaw dropped as the numbers sprang to life in my mind; eight hundred years ago would make it around the year 1200, and Ilyan would be a little over two hundred years old.

  Sometimes his age smacked me upside the head, like now.

  Ilyan marched in before falling to one knee, his head bowed as he waited. He, the king, was bowing to them. I might have underestimated my father’s role in the world of magic. Ilyan stayed like that as all of the Drak looked at him. I was frozen in place, my eyes glued to Ilyan’s back. Finally, after a few minutes, Sain stepped off of his throne and approached Ilyan, who still did not move.

  “Welcome, My Lord.” Sain greeted him warmly, the Draks pleasure at seeing Ilyan echoing around the large cavern. Ilyan rose at Sain’s words, and I was surprised to find his eyes bloodshot.

  “You know why I have come?” Ilyan asked, his head rising about a foot above Sain’s.

  “How could I not?” Sain smiled sadly and took Ilyan’s hand, leading him toward the pool of Black Water that stood in the middle of the hall. I reluctantly followed, my skin prickling with nerves.

  “Tell me, how did you survive for so long?” Ilyan’s voice was so pained that it cut straight into me. Sain patted his hand with the same sad smile in place.

  “You of all people know that I did not manage it easily. If I had then we would not have my lovely Dramin, and I would not be bonded to your sister. My life is full now, but only after many centuries of waiting.” Sain’s voice was not sad as it echoed around the stone chamber, if anything it was full of acceptance and comfort. It was a voice from my childhood; I had heard it with every scraped knee or tumble. This voice reminded me of home.

  “I know, but still...” Ilyan trailed off and hung his head, looking into the still water that did not show him his reflection. None of the other Drak moved, their eyes remaining focused on Ilyan and Sain.

  “You are lonely,” Sain finished for him confidently. Ilyan nodded once, his eyes glistening with tears, which he tried in vain to hold back.

  “I feel lost. My heart breaks for someone I have never even met, someone who may never exist. I cannot weave my magic with someone without causing them injury. I am beginning to believe that the joy of a Zȇlství will never be in my future.”

  I took a step toward him, wishing I could console him somehow until I reminded myself that this was a memory. Ilyan wiped the tears from his face before turning back to Sain, who wrapped his arms around him comfortingly.

  “Would it help you to know that I have felt your pain?”

  “That is why I have come to you, Sain. I knew you would understand.”

  “And yet you still wish to use the sight to see into your future?” Sain asked, his tone curious and worried.

  I found myself growing concerned about what exactly I was about to see. I had been told this was the sight about my true purpose, but Ilyan was asking about his love life. Cail’s words about Ilyan’s feelings for me shot through me, my body freezing in realization that the two things might be connected.

  “Yes. I would gladly wait until the end of days if only I knew that she would be waiting for me, that someday I would be with her.”

  “The future does not always hold hope, Ilyan. What would you do if no one ever came into this world for you?” Sain moved away from Ilyan, walking around the pool before facing Ilyan from the other side. The Water began to ripple between them, yet their reflections still did not shine on the dark surface.

  “I would do what I have been doing, Sain. I will continue my work with Man, but at least I will know to stop looking.”

  Sain studied him for a moment before coming to a decision. He nodded once and moved back to place his cloak on the throne he had originally sat in. He was dressed in the same tunic get-up as Ilyan, although his was not the gold and white of Ilyan’s; but black and red. Returning to the pool, Sain knelt next to the water which rippled deeper.

  “Bare your chest Ilyan. This is a matter of the heart, and not one that the Black Water will take lightly. My soul tells me that this is more than it seems.” Sain spoke loudly as he leaned over the water, each of the Drak kneeling beside the pool as he did.

  Ilyan did not hesitate before removing his tunic, the fabric falling into a heap on the ground near his feet. He moved right to the bank of the pond, wearing only thick tights and high leather boots. His chest was smooth and scar free. I had grown so used to seeing the scars that seeing him without them was odd.

  “Do you wish to use my sight to know the matters of your heart, Ilyan, son of Edmund, heir to the throne of our King?” Sain’s voice was loud. It had taken on that strange dead quality I had heard in my voice when I used my sight.

  “I do.”

  “Then show him,” the voices of every Drak in the hall spoke at the same time, their voices hollow as well.

  “Tell me of what you desire.” Sain extended his hand until it hovered right above the Black Water, his fingers barely skimming the surface.

  I inhaled sharply, my nerves bubbling as much as the surface of the water.

  “I wish to know if the fates have designed a mate for me—be it now, or in the future. I must know if one will be born who is strong enough to hold my magic.” Ilyan’s voice ricocheted around the space, growing louder with each word. My muscles stiffened, my body reacting to what I knew was to come. What I didn’t want to hear.

  “So let it be.” All the Drak spoke together as Sain plunged his hand into the water.

  The moment his hand was submerged, the water seemed to come to life. The ripples of before became a torrent as they bubbled over the surface in an angry boil. The bubbles continued to grow until the water sprouted vertically into a pillar of thick darkness. I could no longer see my father where he knelt on the other side of the pool. The only thing left visible to me was Ilyan’s back as he stood before the pillar of water, his muscles flexing in anticipation.

  Once the Black Water had grown to a height above his head, Ilyan called out in pain, his yells loud as they cut through me. I ran over to him in a panic, needing to help him. I stopped in place as I saw what was happening; streams of Water flowed away from the pillar to drag themselves along Ilyan’s chest. I inhaled sharply, remembering what Dramin and Thom had told me; Black Water was poisonous to any other than the D
rak, but contact with it was necessary for the Drak to use their sights for others.

  Ilyan yelled out, his voice restrained as he tried to hide how much agony it was causing. He clenched his jaw as tongue after tongue of roving water dragged itself over his chest, his flesh turning an angry red as it bubbled. He yelled and screamed, but he did not call for them to stop. I could see the determination in his eyes, his fervent desire to know guiding him.

  It took far too long for the Black Water to stop slicing away at Ilyan’s flesh. His screams died as his magic healed him, his power taking away the pain. Ilyan squared his shoulders and looked straight ahead as the Drak began to mumble, their voices overriding one another until they became a roar.

  The sound was both deafening and terrifying. I cringed into myself as the sound grew in caliber. It ricocheted off of the walls as the water exploded even further, the pillar extending violently up to the ceiling.

  The Black Water began to swirl and ripple as colors passed over it, the sights from the Drak reflecting onto the water so that Ilyan could see them. Flashes of red moved together before forming a tangible image of fire, of destruction.

  “There is one among us…”

  The Drak spoke together, their voices so precise it sounded like one loud voice. The power of it filled me. Even though I knew this was a memory, I could feel my own Drak blood calling to them.

  “…who seeks to change the magic. Someone who seeks to kill the magic.”

  As the Drak spoke, the fire in the vision was joined by the faint sounds of screaming, the image within the pillar changing to running feet, explosions, and above all, Edmund’s laugh.

  “He seeks to kill the magic for his own personal gain. We see him as he fights, as he sheds the blood of us, as he sheds the blood of others. We see him as he stops the reign of magic, as he stops the time of ours.”

  As the Drak spoke, more sights of the early destruction caused by Edmund flashed through the water. The screams of children and families rang out around us as the flashes of misery continued. I cringed away from them all, I had seen enough of what Edmund was capable of in my own life.