Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  Bastian frowned. “Are you going to tell me why disappeared ten years ago?” He motioned Liana and Niall away.

  Sera bit her lip. “It was a long time ago. Why does it matter?”

  “Of course it matters! I thought the bloody fey killed you,” he snapped. “I looked everywhere for you the next morning, but I never found any trace of you.”

  “They didn’t. To tell you the truth I don’t remember much about what happened,” she lied. “There was a fire, then I woke up somewhere else. A healer helped me.”

  “What happened after? Did they hurt you?” The edge in his voice surprised her. “Why didn’t you try to find me again? You must’ve known I got out of there alive.”

  “I didn’t. I thought even if you did survive, it would be better if we didn’t see each other. We were just kids, Bas, we weren’t ready for marriage and with a war going on I couldn’t come to Elmira even if I wanted to.” She’d longed to come and find him but Alward had convinced it would be safer for everyone if she just forgot about Bas and moved on, so she’d tried to do just that.

  Was this why he’d become a hunter? To avenge her? She hoped not. “I met a traveller and he taught me potion craft,” she said. “I don’t dwell on the past. I look forward to a better future. A peaceful one.”

  Bas gave a harsh laugh. “There can never be peace with the fey around.”

  Sera felt her own anger flaring but pushed it down again. This wasn’t the boy she’d known and spent an entire summer with, then married. This was someone else. “Not all the fey are bad,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

  “You’re a sympathiser then?” he sneered.

  No, he was not at all the eighteen-year-old boy she’d known. But then she wasn’t the girl she’d been then either.

  “I just think there’s a better way. The fey and mages have been at war for centuries. What good has it done either side?” She folded her arms. “Arguing about this won’t change anything. Just because I’m a mage too doesn’t change my belief that all races should be free.” She swung her pack over her shoulder. “If you don’t want me, I’ll be on my way.” She turned to go.

  “You can come but you’ll need to go through some training first,” Bas said, his jaw clenched. “Maybe once we’ve established some trust you can tell me what the hell happened to you.”

  “We can’t change the past, Bas. It’s best left alone.”

  His eyes flashed. “If I’d known you were alive, I would never have stopped looking for you. Hell, I did look for you every time I had to help carry bodies back to the city.” He sighed. “Did you know I was still alive?”

  Sera winced, biting her lip. “I hoped you would be.”

  “Then why didn’t you come back? Unlike you, I told you who I was and where I came from. You could have come here, I would have taken care of you. We might have just been kids, but I didn’t marry you for the fun of it.”

  She looked away then, feeling a rush of feelings best left forgotten, then forced herself to look at him. “We were at war, Bas. With so much chaos I couldn’t just come waltzing in here and expect you to look after me. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now,” she said. “Like you said we were just kids, we weren’t ready for marriage and I didn’t want you to wake up one day and realised you made a mistake. So I stayed away and let you live your life.”

  “I never thought of you as a mistake,” he hissed. He stared at her a moment before striding off in the opposite direction. She watched him go, letting out a sigh of relief. Seeing him again felt much harder than she’d expected it to be.

  Liana raced over, hugging her. “Gods, I missed you.”

  Sera smiled, returning her embrace. “It’s good to see you too.”

  “What’s up with you and grumpy over there?” Liana inclined her head to Bastian.

  Sera sighed. “It’s a long story.”

  Sera followed Liana and the others out of the village to where an airship waited for them. Sera’s heart pounded. Although she’d known of mage tech she’d never been on one before since ships were city transport. She flew of course, thanks to her wings, but that was from her own ability, not from mechanical beast. The door slid open, Bastian and Niall headed straight inside, but Liana caught her hesitation. “Come on, it doesn’t hurt,” she said. We used to fly together all the time.

  Yeah, but I’m an Ithereal and you’re a dragon. That’s very different to this thing.

  Rule number one of being hunter, never show fear, Liana told her. That’s Bas’s rule anyway.

  Sera took a deep breath and stepped into the back of the strange machine. You’ll have to tell me more about Bas’s rules.

  The door rose and closed behind her. Bastian glanced back as he sat in the driver’s seat. “Buckle up,” he said.

  Niall sat beside him. There were two more seats in the back. Sera took one and fastened the belt. An engine whirred to life as the ship rose and took off. Sera braced herself, expecting the worst, yet it felt much smoother than expected. Still she didn’t like the feeling of being closed in. The fey felt more at home in nature than anywhere else.

  Relax, ada, Liana said in thought. These things are much safer than they look. The mages are good for some things.

  She smiled. Ada was dragon tongue for “sister”. She reached over and squeezed Liana’s hand. Despite being different races they’d both been orphans and had been raised together by the Sera’s father, Alward.

  I hope I can do this, she replied.

  Of course you can. We spy on the mages all the time. We’re good at it.

  This was different. She hadn’t been married to any of those mages.

  Sera shook her head. No, he hadn’t been hers, not even ten years ago. Now she couldn’t allow personal feelings to get in the way either. She had a job to do and nothing could get in the way of that. If it did, it might mean death to all her people.

  The grey stone walls of Elmira ran around the citadel. The place looked more foreboding than Sera had imagined. The citadel had been built on top of the cliff that gave way to the roaring ocean below. The ship – or jumper as Bas called it – flew over the city’s towering walls, landing a few metres away from the citadel. Elmira had been built two hundred years ago during the last great war between the mages and fey. Since then the fey, or Ithereals as they called themselves, had been enslaved to them.

  The jumper’s door slid open, Sera breathed a silent sigh of relief when her feet hit solid ground and swung her pack over her shoulder. People bustled everywhere, mages wearing the robes of the city’s famous mage academy, others wore normal clothes. They were bright and unnatural colours, unlike the cool, earthy colours of her own people.

  She spotted a dwarf pounding away at metal, noticed then a fey girl carrying heavy bags. Both of them were slaves. Sera knew fey here were considered property to mages who thought themselves as the dominant race. She turned away, following Liana and the others through the cobblestone streets as they headed towards the citadel.

  “All potential hunters have to be tested before training can begin,” Bastian told her. “Your test will be conducted tomorrow morning. You can stay at the inn, I’ve arranged—”

  “Why can’t she stay with us?” Liana interrupted. “You have a spare room.”

  Sera bit her lip, seeing Bastian again was one thing, but she didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of living with him. They’d never even lived together as a couple – not that they’d ever had the chance to. “The inn is fine,” she added. “It will do until I can find my own place to stay.”

  “That room’s for the fourth member of our team,” Niall pointed out. “She’s not one of us yet.”

  Sera got the impression he didn’t like her, not that mattered. She was here to work, not make friends. Alward always said friendships were a means of getting useful information, and personal feelings got in the way.

  Working for the Ashran – the fey resistance – didn’t allow much time for a personal life eith
er but Sera loved her work.

  All Ithereals dreamed of one day being free and living in their own communities as they once had. After centuries of war, the fey and mages had formed an uneasy peace, but Sera knew it wouldn’t last forever. The mages wanted dominion over all races, but they feared the fey the most.

  “Let Sera stay with us,” Liana pleaded. “She’ll pass the testing, I know she will.”

  Bastian’s gaze bored into Sera, but she didn’t look away. “Fine, you can stay. Liana will show you where to go.” He stormed off without saying another word.

  “What’s up with him?” Liana muttered.

  “Maybe he knows your friend won’t make the cut,” Niall suggested.

  Liana thumped him on the shoulder. “Hey, be nice. She just got here.”

  “Whatever you say, spitfire.” Niall chuckled and left.

  Bastian’s townhouse had four bedrooms, a large lounge with a flat screen, a dining room and a basement that had been turned into a gym, a study and a small room where the team sometimes performed experiments, plus a small library.

  Li opened the door to the spare room. Inside sat a single bed, a chest of drawers, a table, chair and an empty bookcase. The white washed walls looked stark, giving the room an unlived in feeling, but she’d slept in far worse places than this. She never stayed anywhere long enough for it to feel like home.

  “Me too. I hate not being able to see each other for months on end,” Sera agreed.

  Sera took a small piece of crystal out of her pack and placed it on the table. It hummed with energy and flashed as she activated it to stop anyone from listening in on them. “Alward sends his best. I can’t believe you’ve been here eight months already.”

  Liana shrugged. “He needed someone in the guild to provide intel. But I like my job, I help our people when I can.” Despite not being an Ithereal herself, Liana considered herself one of the fey. “So what did he send you here for?”

  Sera hadn’t been able to give Liana details of her mission when they’d spoken by link a few days prior. They never did openly share mission details unless they thought it was safe. Sera knew her crystals would stop any kind of magic or tech from breaking through. “He believes the mages’ guild has the keystone hidden here in the citadel,” Sera explained. “Most likely in the prince’s house. We know it’s somewhere in the city, but we haven’t been able to track its exact location yet. Alward thinks me being a hunter will help me find it.” Sera ran a hand through her long blonde hair. “I wonder if he knew about my connection to Bastian?”

  Liana gave her a questioning look. “What connection? I wondered why Bas acted so weird earlier. It’s like he knew you.”

  Sera bit her lip. “Bas and I were friends when I spent the summer in Aldrin. I saved him from drowning.”

  “Wow, he’s the boy you–”

  “It was a long time ago. I never told him what I am,” she said. “We were just friends – not that it matters now.”

  Li arched a brow. “Bas seemed to think it does. I’ve never seen him react like that. Maybe now you can…”

  Sera shook her head. “I’m here to find the keystone, we’re different people now.”

  Liana smiled. “I meant you could use it to your advantage.” She chuckled. “He meant a lot to you, didn’t he?”

  Once he had, yes, but now she didn’t know him. “I’ll do whatever I can to find the keystone.” Sera pulled several vials out of her pack. “But first I have to make sure I pass the testing.”

  2

  Sera woke the next morning, checking her formula once again. She had to pass the testing. Only those considered worthy got to join the guild. If she failed, she’d never get the chance to get close to the guild again.

  Liana knocked on her door then came in. “Ready to go?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” Sera slipped a vial into the pocket of her jacket.

  “Will your potion work?”

  Sera nodded. “I think so. It’s similar to others I’ve created to disguise fey before.”

  “This is different. You’re not walking through a scanner, they’ll be testing your blood. No Ithereal has ever passed testing before.”

  “You did,” Sera pointed out. “And you’re a dragon.”

  “Yeah, but I’m half mage. That helped. You’re full-blooded fey.”

  “I’ll pass.” If Sera had faith in one thing it was her experiments. She’d always been good at making things, especially potions and formulas. Her skill had helped many fey over the years and Alward valued her skill.

  “Do you have a backup plan?” Liana asked. “If something goes wrong—”

  “I can’t risk taking anything else with me. I’ll be searched.”

  “If they find out what you are…” Liana protested.

  Sera squeezed her shoulders. “I may not be a skilled fighter, but I’ll get myself out of there if I have too.” She gave her foster sister a quick hug. “We’re not kids anymore.”

  Liana laughed. “No, but you’re still my sister.”

  She found Bastian waiting for her downstairs. Dressed in black trousers, a grey shirt and a vest with pockets in, she could still see remnants of the boy she’d known. But his body looked stronger, far more muscular and his eyes held a hardness he hadn’t had before. “I’ll take you to the meeting,” he said, expression neutral.

  No, not the smiling, carefree boy she’d known. “I’m ready.”

  Bastian said nothing as she followed him through the city through the hustle and bustle of people and the whir of ships passing overhead.

  Sera felt out of place among the chaos and coughed at the smoke-filled air but she forced herself to stay calm as they moved. She wanted to talk to Bas more but didn’t know what to say. He didn’t seem keen on conversation either, so she focused on her surroundings. She’d need to know all possible escape routes. In all her years of spying for the resistance, she knew plans could go wrong and had done so previously. But she’d never give up her mission to see the fey free.

  The mage’s high council led by Prince Anton and different mage leaders had governed Elmira and the country of Amana for centuries. They created the law and the hunters enforced it.

  “Why are you doing this?” Bastian stopped outside the doors to the guild’s chamber. “You’re not a fighter. You hated even killing bugs.”

  Sera’s eyes widened. “I’m not a girl any more. Between Li and Niall, I doubt you need another warrior.”

  “No, but I need someone who knows how to take care of themselves. Being a hunter isn’t sitting around reading books, it’s physical, mental. One decision can mean life or death.”

  Sera crossed her arms, annoyed that he’d question her abilities. “Bas, if you remember anything about me, you should know I can take care of myself. As I recall I saved your life, not the other way around.”

  “Why you want to be a hunter?”

  I don’t. Hunting people is wrong, but I have a much more important job to do here.

  “Because I believe I can do some good here,” she admitted. “Give me a chance. Didn’t I prove I can be helpful yesterday?”

  “One angry crowd of fey is nothing compared to—”

  “Nothing you say will change my mind. So either jump on board or get out of my way.” She clutched the vial in her pocket for support.

  They’d bickered like this as teenagers too and the memories brought up feelings best forgotten. To her surprise, Bastian smiled. It lit up his handsome face, making him look like the boy she remembered.

  “The tests aren’t easy,” he told her. “You will be assessed for both physical and mental strength.”

  The mental part didn’t worry her and the physical one she hoped she could overcome. It was the scanning and blood tests which caught resistance members out. Only mages could become hunters and live in Elmira. Anyone with fey blood disappeared. Sera suspected they were either imprisoned, or more likely killed. But she knew her formula would work and keep her true identity a secret.


  Bas led her down the hall past the rich tapestries depicting battles of mages on horses and later in airships as they swarmed over winged creatures below. Sera ignored the pictures of her people being slaughtered, glancing instead at the armoured statues. Some of them held real weapons that had been stuck in places. The mages loved to show their military strength, but Sera preferred not to use violence unless she had to.

  Sera noted all the possible escape routes from doors to windows, along with anything which might help.

  “Answer all the questions honestly,” Bastian hissed. “They will sense if you lie to them.”

  “Why would I lie?” she said, keeping her voice level. Although, lies were part of her life, her work, her world. Lies were a necessity that kept her people alive.

  “Just be careful.” Bas touched her shoulder. “The council are becoming much stricter. The fey will strike at us in any way they can.”

  Can you blame them after everything the mages have done to us? Sera shook away such thoughts. War and violence never solved anything. Peace was the only way forward.

  Sera took a deep breath as they stopped outside the double doors to the council’s meeting chamber. These next few moments would change her life forever. She could feel it. This didn’t feel like any of her other missions.

  “I will be.” She shrugged off his touch, disliking the tingling sensation it had caused.

  “I’ll be watching from the balcony,” Bas said, then paused. “For what it’s worth, I hope you can stay here.”

  The thought that he wanted her to stay made her heart skip a beat. Stop it, she told herself. You’re here to work, not to behave like a lovesick teen.

  Sera nodded and headed inside. She felt her heart pounding as the gazes of the mage leaders of the high council all fixed on her.

  Prince Anton, Bastian’s father sat in the centre. With his mop of brown hair, dark intense eyes and military bearing, he looked different, harsh compared to his son. Sera met his gaze head-on, she wouldn’t look away from the man who’d slaughtered hundreds of her people.