“We’re nothing like each other at all. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was tense, nervous, and he supposed he couldn’t blame her. If that was Sylas turning up… he’d be wondering what in damnation was going on as well.
When the five people stalked closer to them, Garek prepared for the worse. So it came as a surprise when Yvonne beckoned him forward to undo his cuffs. Same for Elena.
Both shadow witches stood there, dumbfounded, as magic sputtered back into contact in their veins. Garek let out an involuntary sigh of relief, resisting the urge to test out his powers there and then by shifting into the shadows. He stared down at Yvonne, not sure why she’d do this, however.
“What’s brought this on?”
“Complications, mostly,” Yvonne said, before indicating Elena’s mother. “Sue here will explain some of it.”
Sue ran a hand through her graying hair, acting as nervous as Elena. “The people at Bastion have a task for you two,” Sue said, and Elena’s eyes narrowed further. “But that task can’t be completed until your memories are unblocked.”
Elena’s jaw hung open. “What?”
What? Garek privately echoed.
“Mother,” Elena said, her spare hand rising into the air, animated, “didn’t you just spend a lot of time telling me that my blocked memories saved me?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you… warn me away from the person whose memories I was blocked of?”
“Yes…” Sue said, lips thinning. “But it seems clear to me that you two are gravitating together anyway. That’s the nonsense about your Bonds. Still working, even when they shouldn’t be.”
“That’s nice and all, mother, but I still don’t get your u-turn on this.” Elena jerked her head in the direction of Yvonne. “You don’t like working with other people like this. You like taking your own jobs.”
“Might have persuaded her,” Yvonne said, and Elena’s expression went dark.
“If you hurt my mother…”
“She didn’t hurt me, don’t worry,” Sue said, touching her daughter by the shoulder. “I may have received some additional information since we last… visited,” she said, and Elena flushed, though Garek didn’t know why. “Information that tells me that what’s been done to you will be… harmful if you two remain in close proximity for extended periods of time. But it seems like… because of the dragon… you’ll have no choice.”
The longer Garek held onto Elena’s hand, the dizzier he felt, and the stronger the urge to throw up came. They both let go of one another, and the nausea faded to a mild build up in the back of his throat.
Yvonne cleared her throat. “Not to mention that we also would like to make use of your shadow witch talents. And Tara and Janus are here to make an offer.”
“An offer I can’t refuse?” Elena said, one eyebrow arched.
Garek scoffed. “You expect me to jump on this?” He shook his head. “After how you’ve shepherded us around like we’re little more than dirt on your shoes, you expect us to work for you? After you threw water into my lungs? You’re crazy.”
Yvonne shrugged. “Well, you were a no-good criminal trying to steal the egg. So forgive me if I’m not going to let that slide. Or do you think I should have been happy? Or do you think your mentors would react the same if I tried to steal off them?”
She had a point. Not that he appreciated hearing it. “That doesn’t justify now. What’s going to stop us feeling like prisoners again?”
The water witch paused at this. “Being paid a lot of money?”
“It’s a start,” Garek conceded. “How about not having people up our asses all the time inspecting us? Or locking our magic away again?”
“I suppose… we can do that, too,” Yvonne said. “Though we would need to check in from time to time. Not as a prisoner thing. As a ‘you’re important to our mission and we should make sure you’re still alive and with it’ thing.”
“Fine,” Garek said. “Just don’t bother us any more than necessary.”
“Us, huh,” Elena whispered then, and Garek flushed slightly. He’d assumed he and Elena would be staying together without even thinking about it.
“I mean, don’t bother us… wherever we’re staying.”
Elena laughed softly to herself. Then her expression turned serious. “You’ll really get our memories back.”
“Yes,” Sue said. “With this fixed waystone.” She held up a black waystone the size of her palm, with a carved mark of a star on it. “It’s bound to a specific placed in the realms. Though the person was able to remove your memories from a distance… they need you near to return them.” She had a sorrowful look on her face. “I hope you won’t think badly of me when you see them.”
“That remains to be seen.” Elena stared haughtily at her mother. She was pissed off, and had every right to be pissed off. Garek, meanwhile, simmered beneath the surface, torn between wanting the memories back, and liking who he was right now. Ultimately, it didn’t make sense to deny his past.
* * *
Transporting via waystone was always an odd experience. The world shifted around, changing colors, energies, sceneries. Transporting via a fixed waystone was more fun. The ring signets to the Realm Market were fixed, allowing passage through gates – or to locations that were bound to the specific stone used.
The place they all ended up in was cloaked in darkness, with stars scattered across the skies. Trees surrounded a small, grass strewn clearing, and a pool ringed by stones sparkled in the middle, disturbed by creatures within it. Next to the dark waters: a small, wooden hut no bigger than a single room stood crooked, and a small fire flickered just outside the doorless entrance. A stranger sat in a chair within the hut, bathed in dancing shadows.
The whole setting, to be honest, felt like to Garek that they had been dropped off at the end of the world. He kept expecting to peer beyond the trees and see an edge that tipped off into nothingness. As for the eerie figure slumped on the chair, Garek felt an innate sense of threat, and wanted to cloak himself in his magic for protection. It was always an automatic reflex to resort to magic. Being untouchable while blending in with the world, shifting past people like a ghost, knowing they couldn’t see or hear you, except perhaps for that stirring of soft, baby hairs at the backs of their necks…
“Well, this is creepy,” Elena said, and he felt her hand brush his. “Staged, much?”
“He likes a bit of peace and quiet from time to time,” Sue said, though her voice sounded much higher pitched than normal.
The stranger moved towards them to greet. Garek’s brain froze in utter shock when he registered the man’s shadowed face.
“You,” he hissed.
The man’s wrinkled lips smiled thinly. “Me,” he replied.
Out of all the people he’d ever expected to find in this situation, in some hut, some clearing trapped in a globe of night and stars, it wasn’t this.
Sylas.
His mentor.
The person who’d taken him out of the Realm Market years ago, trained him up as a thief, and treated him far better than other thieves. Almost like a son.
“What is this...” Garek stared into his mentor’s face. “What in damnation is going on?”
Sylas’ wrinkled face stretched into a lazy, almost sinister smile. “A necessary deception, child.”
“You two. You – you two are the reason my memories...” Garek spluttered, barely able to express his outrage.
“Who is this man? How do you know him?” Elena said sharply, while the others looked on curiously.
“He’s my mentor. He’s the one who took me from the Realm Market. Is that it, then? You took me not because I was some blossoming talent, but it was part of the deal? Separating me from her?” He felt utterly betrayed. Every interaction now, every moment he’d spent since came back to him as a lie. A deception that encompassed almost two decades.
“It was a necessary deception. And a necessary reward for my services, t
oo.”
“But,” Garek spluttered, not quite thinking through his words, “I thought you said you didn’t have magic!”
“Obviously,” Sylas said with a slight sneer, “I lied. Most people are… unaware of my magic. I prefer the anonymity of the realms for it. People come to me to remove unwanted memories, block connections… and sometimes, but for a steeper price, renew them.” He scratched at his white beard, appearing unimpressed. “Sue here paid a substantial amount to erase the connection from you two. But now with the emergence of that dragon… and the fact you two will be in constant close proximity… the magic will begin to have adverse effects on you, and on the dragon.”
Anger continued to boil within. “What I don’t get,” Garek said with gritted teeth, “is why you sent me that letter. The letter where you wanted to kill the dragon. Only to have people from the den then break into the castle and attempt to kill the dragon.”
Now Sylas looked puzzled. “I never sent a letter.”
“What?” Garek spluttered. “Yes you did. It was your handwriting. It had your personal seal. You said you loved me like a son, and hoped I would help you kill the dragon. None of that rings a bell?”
The older man shook his head, the frown on his face deepening. “No… I sent no such thing. But I can think of a few people skilled enough to forge my handwriting. People who would intend to test your loyalty to the den. I will… have words with them when I return. I’m sorry.”
Somehow, the knowledge that Sylas hadn’t sent a letter disappointed Garek more. “Oh,” he said, his voice a croak. “Right.”
He should have known, really. Sylas didn’t throw around that much affection. But he’d been so happy to see it – even if he’d rejected the mission within the letter straight away, and essentially betrayed his mentor.
Seemed like his mentor had betrayed him from the start, though.
Since Sylas was the one who removed their memories.
“Do you have the payment?” Sylas asked of the royals, Janus and Tara. Both appeared solemn and sad in the dim light, and the shadows dancing over Yvonne’s painted face transformed her into something sinister. Elena drifted closer to him, once more looping her fingers with his which he recognized as her go-to comfort gesture. He didn’t mind the comforting himself, though he certainly wasn’t used to being touched so much.
This was their memories, after all. A secret about to be revealed at long last. What would be so awful that the adults of their time wanted it all gone?
Tara and Janus presented Sylas with something small. Garek couldn’t see what it was from where he stood, by judging by Sylas’ pleased smile, it was of worth. Probably some ancient royal heirloom, or a powerful magical artefact, or something far beyond Garek’s knowledge.
“Excellent,” Sylas purred, tucking the object away in his voluminous robes. “Much appreciated…” he then examined the pair of them with a dark smile on his face. “That’s quite the secret you have, isn’t it?”
“What secret?” Tara’s voice was sharp.
Yvonne sighed, before snapping, “Watch it. Two people here don’t know. Let the royals reveal it when they want to.”
“Hmm… I’d imagine you wouldn’t want anyone to know,” Sylas said with a raised eyebrow, now examining Tara and Janus. “Given the… implications behind this, and the rules you restrict yourselves to.”
Janus’ face was cherry red, at stark contrast to his straw-colored hair. Garek examined the royals in mild interest, wondering what sort of secret lingered between them.
Sylas did appear to not continue the conversation at least, instead beckoning for Garek and Elena to come to the pool with him. He treated Garek with that same cool professionalism, and again, Garek felt little snakes wriggling in his stomach at how all the interactions with Sylas were based on a lie.
He took Garek’s memories, then bound him in service. Possibly even as payment for the memory taking. It seemed like the sort of thing Sylas might do.
Another thing irritated him as well.
Did he even want his memories back? They weren’t giving him an option, again. Sure, it made sense, because it interfered with their current arrangement, but he wasn’t desperate to get his memories back.
Maybe to get rid of the increasing nausea he felt every day, but other than that…
No.
Once again, he considered the deep temptation to just vanish, and maybe drag Elena with him as well. But the tingling unease sweeping through their locked hands reminded him why they couldn’t.
Irritated, he waited by the pool with her.
Sylas crouched by the pool, and raised his hands over it. Something within the pool’s center glowed a deep, unsettling blue, pulsing like a heart. “Enhances my magic,” Sylas croaked, drawing upon the light. “Makes it easier to do this.”
He lifted his hands, now glowing the same deep blue of whatever adorned the pond, and pressed his hands against their foreheads.
Unconsciousness hit Garek faster than he could blink.
9
Elena
The market swarmed with activity. Elena skipped through the market, swerving around a small blue dragon inspecting butcher’s meat.
Even at this distance, she felt Garek’s emotions, and his own excitement infected her. She loved the way their emotions combined, making everything so much bigger. Just when she thought she already felt so much, there he was, making everything better and the world seemed to her a wonderful place. Her skipping increased until she was taking huge, adrenaline-laced bounds, startling people.
Are you hiding, Garek? she thought to him, because there was something muted in his presence today. By that big statue of the horse?
…No, Garek replied, a little annoyed because she’d guessed correctly. This is lame. I can’t play hide and seek with you anymore if you can just find me in a second.
Behind her, several customers shook their heads, swaying as they walked. She examined them in mild interest, knowing something about her energy caused them to do so. Grinning, she turned up the energy, and saw one of the customers begin to gloss over in shadows, like her magic. The same dimple pattern appeared on her own hand.
Hmm.
She didn’t have a lot of control over it, but it always pleased her to see what she could do. Garek’s emotions grew stronger and stronger, until she sensed him close enough to slip into the shadows herself. She could only slip when he was nearby – she didn’t have enough control yet. But she’d only get stronger over time, right?
Together, with Garek, she could do anything. Ever since they first met, in the street next to the orphanage, there’d been something special between them. That little mark on their hand was proof – it only appeared when they shook hands. Then their magic began flaring.
Her mother thought it was too early for the magic to show, and when Elena had shown Sue the palm mark, Sue’s face went all tight and worried like it did whenever they didn’t sell very much over the week. Father was working on expanding his selection of market items, but they were yet to make a choice of what to sell.
“Found you,” Elena crowed in triumph, placing her hand directly where she sensed Garek to be. Instantly popping into her line of sight, he pouted, before grinning.
“I was testing the powers earlier,” he said in a loud voice. “I know no one can hear us like this. Or see us. Look!” He bounced over to an old man sitting on a bench, dragging Elena with him. Elena noted Garek had different clothes from the other day – a neat black cardigan, black pants – clothes too sophisticated for an orphan. Had he stolen them? Mother always said she shouldn’t associate with someone like Garek. he’d teach her bad habits in no time.
“Hello, you stupid old man!” Garek screeched in the man’s ear. He didn’t react, continuing to stare at the marble coated ground instead, perhaps even being lulled to sleep.
“That’s crazy,” Elena whispered, still a little unsure about raising her voice. “He really can’t hear us?”
“Yell s
omething! Go on. He can’t!” Garek beamed with excitement, and when Elena did a monkey-like screech by the man, she started giggling hysterically when there was no reaction.
This magic thing was so cool.
“Makes it easier to pick apples from the stalls when I get hungry,” Garek said slyly then. The nine year old boy grinned, and Elena swatted him.
“No, stealing’s bad. You can always get food from us.”
“Stealing is fun,” Garek corrected. “You get such a feeling when you do it right...”
Elena’s resistances crumbled, listening to the way Garek described it. She always protested a little at first, then fell right in with Garek’s plans. Eventually, the two of them began running through the market stalls, picking up goods here and there. Each time Elena took something, she felt that intoxicating mix of committing a crime and getting away with it.
I’ll only do this when I’m with Garek, she thought. My power is stronger with him anyway.
They often behaved like this, ever since their powers flared up together, and they could reach into each other’s minds. They scampered through the streets, invisible, and sometimes the shadow of their magic touched others, making them dizzy. Sometimes it made Elena dizzy, too, because she had so much, and didn’t know what to do with it.
She wanted to spend every waking moment she had with Garek. It was an addiction. With Garek, using the magic, running riot through the streets. She heard stall owner’s complaints that things were going missing, felt her mother’s heavy suspicion, but she always left what she stole with Garek, because she knew her mother would locate anything. Plus, her mother was a shadow witch, too. She likely suspected that if anyone could steal without detection, it’d have to be another shadow witch, and only Elena had the chance of developing powers.
She wasn’t sure if her mother knew she’d been developing her powers at the tender age of 8.
It didn’t matter, anyway. She loved her freedom – but the more they roamed together and exercised their powers, the more she started to see things go wrong. Like that one time where someone died of a heart attack because they became irrationally afraid, and it was after Garek had screamed in the old woman’s ear, taking delight in the fact no one detected them.
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