by Bailey Dark
“I can’t,” I hiss, eyes flashing.
“Well don’t be so damn gentle, you fool,” Serus snaps.
I grit my teeth, dropping my gaze back to Verity. I can feel her heart racing, and it has nothing to do with my touch. Her face is twisted with fright, her eyes roving crazily behind her eyelids. I draw my hand back and drive it flat across her cheek. The sound of the slap echoes through the camp and Verity’s screams are cut short. She sputters, eyes flying open. Guilt coils around my heart as I see the angry red mark of my strike already forming on her cheek.
Serus sighs, pacing again. Verity’s eyes dart around until they finally settle on my face and a soft whimper escapes her lips. There’s a pain in my chest at the sound. I reach for her again, instinct screaming at me to pull her into my arms. But Thal is beside her in a flash, and he tugs her away from my reaching hands. I bare my teeth at him, fingers curling into fists but his eyes flit to something behind me. I glance over my shoulder and see Erzur watching with sharp eyes.
Verity buries her face in Thal’s chest, and his hands drift up and down her back soothingly. The sight is almost enough to make me roar with jealousy, but I sit back on my haunches and clamp my mouth tightly shut.
“Is this it?” Erzur remarks from behind me. “This is the drama that woke us all from sleep? The Bloodbane’s typical cravings for attention?”
I growl, but Verity speaks before I can defend her. Verity rolls out of Thal’s arms and onto her knees, baring her teeth viciously at the ebony queen. “I’m sorry my vision of the monsters that will devour this world and any other they can sink their teeth into woke you,” she spits out bitingly. “Sleep now, if you need it so much.”
A grin tugs at my lips and I display it to Erzur, pride washing through me. Erzur sniffs, looking down her nose at the trembling Verity. “I’m sure Altair will tell me whatever insights you have,” she says, drawing my name out long enough to sound possessive.
I watch as Erzur slinks back to her tent, which we found hidden beneath a saddle blanket. The other slowly roll over and return to sleep until only Thal, Serus, and Verity and I remain. I sit beside her, keeping a discrete distance even though I want nothing more than for her to sit flush against me.
Her eyes are shadowed with fear. “I keep dreaming of these Shades,” she murmurs.
“They’re only dreams,” Thal says, stealing the words from my lips. I stare at his hand on her knee.
Serus perches on her other leg, blocking me and I grind my teeth with frustration. “I’m afraid they aren’t,” he says.
“What?” Verity asks, surprise lacing her voice.
“How can they be more than dreams?” I ask. “Verity is a Bloodbane, not a seer.”
“True,” Serus agrees. “It’s the Shades, they’re calling her to them in her sleep. It’s dangerous.”
“How is that possible?” Thal asks fiercely.
Serus flicks his tail. “Now that we’ve come to the wastelands, they’re growing more powerful. Verity must learn to protect herself even in her sleep and she can never return to the ether.”
“That, at least, I can agree with,” I mutter, thinking of the blood she spilled every time she tried to leave the ether.
My eyes drift towards Sadal, lying on his side in chains. He cocks a brow. “What? It’s not as if I’m the one dragging her there.”
“Not anymore,” I snarl.
Sadal rolls his eyes. “They won’t stop. Now that I’ve lost my powers, Verity is the only one who can rend the veil that separates our world from the veil. And she’s the only one who could stop them.”
Fear surges in my chest, and I see that fear echoed in Thal’s eyes. Verity bites her lip, dropping her gaze to her lap. “Then I’ll never return and they’ll never escape, right?”
“Then they’re no longer a threat,” I murmur. My hand drifts towards her and plays over her hair before I can stop myself.
“Darkness grows and grows and grows, like vines creeping through your garden,” Sadal says sinisterly. “You thought the poisonous barbs were the culprit, but it’s the roots.”
“What?” I cut my eyes towards Sadal but the grin stretching across his face tells me his words are nothing but nonsense.
“He’s right,” the old witch intones. She slips into the light, her watch over. “The Shades don’t need Verity, though she will make it easier and faster for them – which is why they desire her so much.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, dread pooling in my gut.
“For thousands of years they’ve been pressing against the fabric of the ether, stretching it. Soon, they’ll pierce through it, tearing it open completely.” The old witch’s eyes are filled with worry. “When they do, they’ll be free in your world, and the darkness of the ether will spill over into this realm. You’ll lose everything, everyone.”
“Oh my god,” Verity whispers, eyes wide with shock.
“It will take them hundreds of years yet,” she says. “Though to the Fae that’s a blink of an eye, isn’t it?”
“How do you know this?” I snap, eyes narrowed. “And why the hell haven’t you brought this to our attention before?”
The first Bloodbane looks down at me sadly. She turns away, creeping back to her sleeping mat. I rise partially, intent on following her and demanding answers, but Verity’s cool hand curls around my wrist. My heart pounds at the simple touch and I feel desire coursing through me already. As if she can sense the sudden electricity thrumming inside me, she releases me quickly.
“Leave her,” Verity murmurs. “She’ll tell us more when she needs to. Fighting with each other won’t help us.”
I sigh, knowing she’s right, and ease back down. “I need to make this world safe for you,” I whisper as our eyes meet.
Thal clears his throat and I drop my gaze. “We should all go back to sleep,” he says softly. “Especially you, Verity, you need to rest.”
“If I sleep, they’ll come for me,” Verity says fearfully.
“I’ll keep them away tonight, and I’ll teach you more in the morning,” Serus says. His claws dig into Verity’s leg and she winces in pain but strokes his fur absentmindedly. “My powers will be enough to protect your mind.”
Verity glances towards me as she lays back down. I rise as Serus takes up a position beside the crown of her head. I glower at Thal. “Isn’t your sleeping mat elsewhere?” I quip.
Thal’s tongue flicks out over his lips and I see anger flash in his eyes but I don’t care. “It is,” he finally says, his voice dangerously even.
I watch as he strides away before I head to the perimeter to take over the watch. The sand whispers under my footsteps. Suddenly, a hand snakes out around my ankle, stopping me short. I wrench my foot back, kicking the slender hand away. Sadal stares up at me, eyes hazy.
“What do you want?” I snap, eyes narrowed. “You’ve said enough, don’t you think?”
“You were always destined for sorrow, Altair,” he says soberly. Sadal nods, confirming his own statement. “Nightmarish, unbearable sorrow.”
I glance back at Verity, curled in a fetal position on her sleeping mat. My heart clenches in my chest and my lips twist into a pained grimace. "The gods can be cruel," I mutter. I look back at Sadal, seeing the madness in his eyes. "Even to one of their own."
I leave him there, in his chains, and head into the darkness. Despite the brightness of the stars overhead, the darkness here is deeper than it is in Alnembra. When I know I’m out of sight, I summon the curse and let it transform me. The aching in my bones abates as I let Maaz’s evil power flow through me. It’s as if I’m releasing days and days of pressure building up in my body. I sigh, relaxing and stretching my wings wide. It’s likely giving into it will make it more difficult to resist later, but for now, solace is what I need. Solace only the sky can bring.
I crouch and then launch myself into the sky, wings beating powerfully. I soar higher, letting the cool air of the desert stream through my feathers and ruffle the fur
on my cheeks and body. The air buoys me up, pillowing beneath my wings and I soar away from the campsite. The further I fly from Verity, the more the pain in my heart eases. It hurts to be beside her. But when I’m away from her, I feel so empty.
Wheeling back around, I drift towards the camp. Even as the pain returns, so does the desperate hope I’ve unconsciously clung to since Verity left the fortress weeks ago. I close my eyes against the emptiness of the wastelands and dive down into that hope. The peaceful vision of Verity at my side in our bed consumes me and soon all I can hear is her gentle breathing on the wind.
Chapter 14
Verity
I sway in the saddle, moving in time with the rhythm of the horse. I've learned it's best not to fight it and sit stiffly – that takes too much energy on a long journey like this one. I look up to the blazing sun overhead and squint in the bright light. The days are hot, and the nights are cold and all we do is wander past buried ruins. The old Bloodbane seems confident, leading us all through the wastelands towards whatever our destination might be.
I look away from the sun, blinking to clear the black spots that dot my vision now. My hands tighten on the reins while I fight to get my vision back. Now, even closing my eyes for a moment makes me terrified that the Shades will find me. Serus, in front of me, glances over his shoulder. His cat ears twitch, fending off a gnat in search of moisture.
“Are you ready to begin?” He asks.
I raise my brows in surprise. “Now? While we’re travelling?”
“It won’t disturb the others or slow us,” he explains, his tail flicking.
“Alright,” I say nervously. My eyes dart towards Altair, near the head of the caravan. I want to ask him to keep me company, to be here when Serus and I learn how to stop the Shades from finding me in my sleep. But I can’t.
“Open your mind to me,” Serus orders. “Think of the dream last night.”
I resist the urge to close my eyes to concentrate and instead focus on the back of Thal’s horse in front of me. I relax, trying to let Serus in. I can feel him poking around at the edge of my consciousness. It’s not as simple as slipping into my memories and desires and projecting what I want. Now that we’re out of the ether, I can feel him slipping through my memories in search of the nightmare.
“Focus on it,” he snaps.
I nod sharply and think only of the dream. I feel a shudder slip down my spine and suddenly I’m diving back into it as if I never left it. I can feel Serus’s presence beside me. I inhale sharply as the landscape of the wastelands disappears and I’m surrounded by the shadows of the ether. My heart beats loudly and I have to tell myself this isn’t real anymore; it’s just a memory.
“Verity?” Thal’s voice comes to me as if I’m underwater.
“Silence,” Serus hisses. “Leave her be.”
“Damned cat,” Thal mutters under his breath.
I follow my dream like I’m in the theatre back home. My eyes track over my surroundings and I see the strange shapes in the darkness that frightened me so much last night. There’s a sound on the air I didn’t notice last night, a groaning, like a ship strained by strong waves. I creep forward, towards the shapes moving in obscurity.
One of the Shades leaps at me, its mouth stretched into a wide grin. I shrink back in my mind but Serus’s presence urges me forward. The Shades prowl around me, their faces devoid of any detail except for bulging eyes and too-wide mouths. I feel Serus at the rim of my consciousness, I can feel his curiosity.
“I see,” he murmurs.
“What?” I ask, trapped in my nightmare.
“They aren’t pulling you in,” he says. The nightmare disappears like a cloud of smoke blown away in a breeze. I blink in the light as the wastelands come back into view. Thal is looking at me with concern, but it’s Serus my eyes are on. He hunches, ears pushed back. “You’re Dreamwalking.”
“Dreamwalking?” I shake my head with confusion. “What is that?”
“You’re travelling to the ether in your dreams, physically.” His eyes glimmer.
I purse my lips. "Physically? I'm still in bed."
“It’s difficult to explain,” he sighs. “Physical in the sense that you can be physically hurt by what occurs while you Dreamwalk.”
“But last night you said I wasn’t a seer, I can’t be going by myself,” I said, desperate for Serus to be wrong.
“I misunderstood. You aren’t a seer, these aren’t visions. You see the present, you experience it while you Dreamwalk. That’s different than a seer.” Serus glances towards Cleo. “There are few who possess the skill to Dreamwalk. Perhaps your father or mother had the talent.”
I ignore his remark about my parents. I can’t even consider the possibilities of it. “How do I stop doing it?” I ask.
“The same thing we would have done before. We need to train your mind to rest, to not Dreamwalk willfully. You control the power, don’t let it control you,” Serus explains. “We’ll start with simple meditation techniques.”
For the next several hours, Serus teaches me the ins and outs of meditation, of breath-pulling, and creating walls in my mind. By the time he calls it a day, I’m exhausted and there’s a sharp throbbing in the back of my skull that threatens to topple me from my horse. I sag forward, leaning over the horse’s neck and resting my head on its sweaty hide.
“That’s enough for the day, we’ll practice more before you sleep,” Serus says, sighing as if he’s worn out as well.
I open one eye to look at him. “Why me?”
He looks at me thoughtfully with his cat eyes, as if he knows that my question refers to more than just simple Dreamwalking. “Fate, perhaps,” he purrs.
“You believe in fate?” I smile wearily.
Serus snorts. “Believe? I’ve met her.”
I start, blinking in surprise. “Her?”
“Surely you didn’t think it was some coincidence of the universe?” if Serus had brows to cock, he would have done it now. “Fate is a woman.”
I mull over this and then burst into laughter. “I have so much more to learn about this world.”
“And thousands of years to do it,” he says blandly.
“That’s right,” I murmur. My eyes drift towards Altair and his straight back. I stare at his ears, the pointed tips poking out from his black hair. My fingers drift to my own human ears.
Serus follows my gaze and then the movements of my hands. “You have time to understand it all, even if you don’t look like one of them.”
My breath hitches in my throat. “Once that might have made me happy. But how much time does he have?” My voice drops to a whisper.
Serus’s amber eyes are piercing. “Not long. I can smell the curse on him stronger than last night.”
“I sense it too,” I murmur.
“Your Bloodbane and Fae senses manifesting,” Serus explains.
The fact of it doesn’t scare me as it might have once done. I feel it deep in my bones that this is who I am now. My only regret is that Altair can’t be a part of my life anymore – my long life. The curse will take him soon enough, but before that, it will be Erzur who keeps him from me. I look down at my blood red cloak, covered in sand and grime. My eyes drift to Cleo’s matching cloak and I feel a surge of a strange emotion. It feels like sorrow but at the time my heart is swollen with something like pride.
“Can Bloodbane magic save him?” I ask, thinking of Cleo’s agreement to help me save Altair.
“Perhaps,” Serus says, coiling into a ball to sleep or the rest of the day. “I will think on it.”
I leave him to his sleep then to mull over his eons of knowledge. I don’t fully understand what Serus is, but I know he isn’t a mere familiar. His affinity for memories and the mind tells me he’s much stronger than I’ll ever be. I’m grateful he’s on my side and not against me.
The wind rises and carries Sadal’s whispered voice to me. “Dark, dark, dark,” he mutters. “Don’t want to, don’t want to, don’t want to.
”
I glance over my shoulder. In his saddle, Sadal wobbles crazily, his eyes wide and filled with fear. My eyes rove over the landscape, looking for the source of his fear. But there’s nothing, not even a sign of another scorpion hurtling towards us. His fear is from his mind. I feel a pang of pain in my chest at the sight of him curled in on himself and afraid of what his mind screams at him.
“He deserves it,” I hear Cleo snap from beside me. I look at her, surprised that she fell back beside me so silently. Her pale blue eyes rest on me and she looks at me soberly. “Trust me. He deserves this pain.”
She flicks the reins and canters away. I watch her back and feel my lips pull back into a confused grimace. I know Sadal has done terrible things. He did terrible things to me. I think of the night he tried to force himself on me, his cold tongue lapping over my throat. I shiver, feeling a flash of anger. But one more look at his bloodshot eyes drives it away.
“We’ll take a break here,” Altair shouts from the front of our caravan.
I look away from Sadal, realizing that we’ve travelled into the dunes. Great monoliths of stone jut out from the hills of sand, casting long shadows over us. We stop under one of the enormous columns. It’s wide enough to fit us all in its shadow. I study the gray stone. Its’ surface has been carved with what I can only equate to hieroglyphs. I feel a surge of curiosity as I stare at them and wish I had the means to translate the pictures.
The old Bloodbane seems satisfied by the place Altair has chosen and she moves across the sand like a ghost to Sadal’s side. I watch as she pats his cheek gently as he shudders with fear. I wonder if she truly cared for him before she left, or if she was only using him as he used her. But her wrinkled eyes are soft and sincere. I furrow my brows.
Determined to put memories of Sadal from my mind, I turn back to the carved column. I scramble up the side of the dune to get a closer look at the hieroglyphs. Out of sight of the group, I feel strangely at ease. There’s so much baggage between the members, so much anger or suspicion. I’m only realizing now how exhausting it is.
