Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  Bas muttered a curse.

  When lessons were finally over, Sera suggested going for a walk to which Bas was only happy to agree to.

  “Why did Layard stop being a hunter?” Sera asked as they moved through the woods.

  “He retired officially, but unofficially the high council fired him. Layard likes to be unconventional.”

  “What happened?”

  “He suggested we stop using the fey as slaves and work together.” Bas replied. “That we could learn something from them, and we needed work together because something far worse was coming.”

  She frowned. “What?”

  Bas shrugged. “No idea – not sure he even does. He is well-versed in higher magic too,” he told her. “The council haven’t taken action against him. My guess is they are too afraid of him.”

  Sera laughed. “Can’t imagine the council ever being afraid of anything, let alone Layard.”

  Bas smirked. “True, but my father isn’t stupid. He knows Layard would put up bloody good fight if they ever went against him. He was chief of the guild for almost forty years. He taught most of the hunters there, including McGregor.”

  “You like Layard, don’t you? I can see it.”

  He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “He’s been like a father to me – more than Anton will never be. He kept me going after losing my mother and – you.” He searched her eyes for some kind of reaction, watched her tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “That was a long time ago.” She looked away.

  Avoiding me again. When are we ever going to talk about what happened?

  “Why didn’t you ever contact me again?” he blurted out. “Didn’t you think I deserved to know you were safe?”

  There was that wall again. Impenetrable. Never showing her true emotions.

  She still wouldn’t meet his gaze. “The war started again. For all I knew, you could have died too.”

  “I still have nightmares about that night,” Bas admitted. “Every time you were pulled away from me.” He reached out to touch her cheek. “Layard told me you died during the battle, but I still searched for you. I missed you.”

  “What are you doing?” Sera backed away.

  Bas shook his head. Damn good question. He hadn’t been thinking. “Nothing,” he muttered, turning away from her. “Those ruins you wanted to see aren’t far. Let’s keep moving.”

  Bastian stalked off, hands balling into fists. What the hell had he been thinking? Sera was a teammate now, not the girl he’d fallen for as a teenager. Not his first love either. Gods, what had he done? He’d humiliated himself by thinking there might be something still there. Ten years was a long time. She might already have someone. He’d never know given how private she was.

  Getting involved in any kind of relationship now would be stupid. Layard had always warned him that hunters stayed single for a reason. Emotional attachments could be a liability in their line of work. People you loved could be used against you so Bas had never formed serious relationships with any woman.

  Sera had been the first and only love in his life and that hadn’t bothered him. He soon grew bored of any lover. None had interested him the way she had.

  Get hold of first yourself. You’re not in love with her now. You don’t even know her. He wondered why all these emotions had resurfaced. Maybe because Liana and Niall were always there to provide a distraction before. He’d get over this. Sera made it clear she wasn’t interested, and he’d respect that.

  Bas spotted the remains of a stone wall. They were close to the fey border, he knew he’d have to keep his guard up.

  To his amazement, Sera appeared behind him when he turned to look back. He hadn’t even heard her approach. He’d only suggested going there to have a break from Layard because he knew she’d like it.

  “Are these fey or mage ruins?” she asked. She seemed unfazed by their earlier encounter.

  Bas shrugged. “No idea. We can’t stay long.” He inclined his head to the rows of sweeping trees in the distance. Strange, the glimpses of the old world never seemed like a barren wasteland the way the stories described it as.

  Part of Bas had always wanted to explore it but knew it’d never happen. The fey would either kill him or torture him. They hated hunters more than any other mages.

  Sera moved ahead of him. “Looks like an old guard station,” she said. “Maybe left over from the first war.” She shook her head. “Thousands of years of senseless bloodshed.”

  Bas looked around, seeing nothing but a pile of old stones. But Sera had wonder in her eyes. “Yeah, can’t say either side has won,” Bas mused. “I’m surprised the fey haven’t given up by now.”

  Sera scowled. “Would you if you if the roles were reversed?”

  He rubbed his chin. “No, of course not. But the fey are a dying race. They can’t overcome the strength and power of the mages.”

  “Maybe one day that will change.”

  “Why do you sympathise with them so much?” he asked.

  “I told you already.”

  “No, I sense it’s something deeper than that. Weren’t your parents killed by them during the war?” Bas frowned, guessing her connections to the fey went much deeper than he’d first thought.

  “I never knew them or how they died,” she told him. “I don’t blame anything but the war for that. War is senseless, in the end no one wins.”

  Bas smirked. “You’d make a good member on the council.”

  She laughed. “No way, I detest politics. Besides I won’t be in Elmira forever and I doubt your father would ever let someone like me on the council.”

  Bas frowned. “Are you leaving?” he asked, wondering why it formed a pit in his stomach. “Becoming a hunter isn’t something you can just walk away from.”

  She shrugged. “I’m only a trainee and I’m not sure if this life is for me.”

  Bas’s heart twisted. He could lose her all over again. “Do you have a family? Someone to go back to at home?” The idea of her being with someone else hurt more than he imagined, but he reminded herself that was stupid. Just because they might still be married didn’t mean he had any right to be jealous. They’d both moved on.

  Sera shook her head. “No home, and Li is my only family. We moved around too much with our guardian to ever put down roots.”

  Bas didn’t even like most of his own family, Clara was the only thing that kept him in Elmira. “I’ve considered leaving too,” he admitted. “When peacetime ends I don’t want to be walled up in the city, I want to be there on the front lines.”

  Sera sighed. “More war, more unnecessary deaths.”

  “What would you have me do?” he asked. “I can’t sway my father or the council.” He shook his head. “I can’t change the will of hundreds.”

  “No, but you could protect others from the wraith. Isn’t that what hunters are supposed to do?”

  Bas ran a hand through his hair. He’d never thought of it that way before but even getting revenge against those who’d been responsible for his mother’s death hadn’t filled the emptiness. Maybe there was more than just the hunt now. “I guess.” He leaned back against the wall.

  He felt another presence at the edge of his mind and knew they were no longer alone.

  11

  Sera felt a chill across her senses as a net of magic closed in around them. “Bas, we need to get out of here.” She grabbed his arm, trying to pull him away but he didn’t budge. “Bastian!”

  His hand went to his knife and Sera drew magic with her free hand. Energy prickled against her skin. Bas, we’re trapped.

  I know. He raised his hand, light shimmering in front of him.

  Sera’s heart pounded but she forced her panic down and raised her hands. Air rippled around them as she tried to force the net back.

  “Your magic won’t work,” a voice echoed around them.

  Sera froze. She knew that voice. It haunted her nightmares. Her magic fell away, fizzling out.

  “Se
ra?” Bas snapped, throwing a strike which bounced off, hitting the floor. “Sera, what’s wrong with you?”

  A bright burst of light knocked them to the ground and darkness closed in around them.

  Sera opened her eyes, then found herself surrounded by darkness. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust. As a fey, she could see in the dark without the need for extra light. She couldn’t believe it. The past had finally caught up with her. The room had only one door with no windows, nothing but a cold, dirty floor.

  Bastian lay a few feet away, still unconscious.

  “Bas?” She crawled over to him. “Bas, wake up.” She touched his forehead, relieved to sense him unharmed. She cradled his head in her lap. It felt comforting to have someone there with her.

  That web had been a trap set by someone. Was the killer stalking them now?

  She knew now the voice she’d heard had been an illusion. Someone had set that trap for them. How could anyone have known they’d even go here?

  She looked up at the ceiling where they had fallen through. Would anyone even come for them? She remembered when Bas touched her earlier, he’d almost kissed her.

  Sera had stopped it. She knew she couldn’t get involved with Bastian.

  Worse still, it brought back familiar feelings long since buried. She forced herself to forget their relationship a long time ago but being near him made it harder to ignore.

  Sera rested her head against the wall, feeling her left hand stinging. She looked at her palm and gasped. She’d been bitten by a fire vine. A poisonous plant that was indigenous to the old world, fatal to all Magickind, even the fey. With no way out, she’d only have a couple of hours before fever set in. She cursed herself for leaving her for healing supplies back at the lookout tower. She’d have had an antidote in there and could have avoided this.

  Bas groaned as he opened his eyes. “Sera?”

  “Here.” She touched his head to show him where she was.

  “Where are we?”

  “Trapped underneath the ruins. We must’ve triggered a booby trap.”

  Bas jolted up right. “I heard a voice before we fell.” He fumbled for something then conjured an orange orb which illuminated the space in a faint glow.

  “It was an illusion meant to invoke fear. They used these traps during the war to lure in unsuspecting victims – both sides used them.” She winced, feeling heat already beginning to seep through her veins.

  “Really? Because to me it sounded like McGregor.” He rose, eyes scanning the room.

  “It’s part of the trap. It invokes fear to make you move to what you think is a place of safety but that’s what triggers it.” She sighed. “I’ve seen it before.”

  “If it’s a trap, someone will come for us, won’t they?” Bas ran a hand along the walls.

  “Maybe, maybe not. I think the killer set it for us.” She grabbed her flask out of her pack and gulped down some water, wanting to pour it over herself as sweat began to seep down her brow.

  “How could they? They wouldn’t know where we were.” Bas continued examining the walls.

  “The wraith knew we wanted intel.” She tipped some of the water onto her palm and wiped it over her face, breathing hard.

  He frowned. “Why aren’t you helping me to search?”

  “Because there is no way out. I know, I’ve been in a trap like this before.” She put the flask down.

  Bas stared at her. “I can’t believe you’re just giving up.”

  “I’m not; I’m trying to conserve my strength.” Already she could feel cold creeping over her body. The first sign of the fever.

  “What do you mean?” Bas demanded.

  She held up her palm. “I’ve been poisoned. I only have a few hours.”

  Bastian’s face drained of colour. “How?”

  “Fire vine. It causes fever to start, it’ll feed on my magic until it kills me,” she said, shivering. “I can’t use…”

  Bas looked at her palm where a small red burn had appeared. “Shit! Don’t worry, I swear I’ll get us out of here.” His flare fizzled out, making him curse again. “How…”

  “This must’ve been a dungeon. They would have warded it so magic can’t be used.”

  “Maybe that will —”

  She shook her head. “No, it might slow the poison, but I still have magic inside me.”

  Bas wrapped his jacket around her. “If the killer thinks they can leave us to die here, they thought wrong.” He pulled out a torch, laying it on the floor. It used crystal power, so it might last a while longer.

  Bas started examining every inch of the wall. Sera closed her eyes, the more she rested the better.

  “All poisons have a cure, don’t they?” Bas gave up searching, knelt beside her. “Tell me what to do.”

  She shook her head. “You’d need part of the plant. We’d need to be above ground for that.”

  “Damn it, there has to be a way out. How did you escape before?”

  She’d been captured by a mage whilst on a mission. He’d had a fascination with Ithereals and held her prisoner for three days before she’d been forced to kill him.

  “He took me out.” She shuddered at the memory.

  “Who did? What happened to you?” Bas demanded, cupping her face.

  “It doesn’t matter. Focus. You need to figure a way out. Don’t worry about me.” She turned away, shaking her head.

  “Layard, he’s the only one who’d think to look for us.” He grabbed her pack. “Do you have anything in here that we could use to send a message or signal?”

  Sera felt her eyelids drooping.

  “Sera, you need to stay awake.” Bas shook her shoulders. “One thing I do know about poisons is you need to stay conscious.”

  She shook her head, forcing herself to stay alert. “Get out a blue vial. It’s a tonic, it might slow down my symptoms.”

  “Good.” He rummaged around in her bag, pulling out different vials until he found a blue one, then handed it to her. She gulped it down, knowing it wouldn’t do much good and give her a few more hours.

  Bas knelt, going through his own gear, then she explained what each of her potions do. “I’ve got some dragon’s breath in here.” Bas pulled out a vial of red powder that hunters often used as an explosive.

  “No, that could bring the whole place down on us.”

  “Any other ideas then?”

  Bastian spent the next few hours trying different ways of finding a way out of there. First, he tried one of her potions which only succeeded in creating a small hole in the wall. None of the other potions worked either.

  Sera drifted in and out of consciousness as he worked. The full fever had set in and she felt the heat burning through her veins.

  “Sera?” Bastian’s strong arms wrapped around her. “Sera, you need to stay awake.”

  She rested her head against his chest as he hugged her close. “Sorry,” she muttered.

  “For what?”

  “For leaving you behind. I – I couldn’t stay…”

  Bas frowned. “Why?”

  “They came – couldn’t stay…” Her words slurred together. No thoughts would come to her, not clear ones anyway.

  “So the fey did take you?” Bas persisted. “When I lost you they took you, didn’t they?”

  “No, they saved me. Stop hating them.” She winced as the heat from the poison burned its way through her, more sweat dripped down her face but she didn’t have the energy to wipe it away.

  “That won’t be easy.” He dabbed at her forehead with a cloth he’d found in her pack.

  “They didn’t – kill your mother – not their way.”

  Bas sighed. “Stop talking, you need to rest. Save your strength. “

  “I’ve… failed.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You haven’t failed anyone,” he insisted.

  Sera closed her eyes, knew she wouldn’t have long left. She forced her eyes open again, watched Bas placing something on the ceiling. “No…”<
br />
  Light exploded, fire flashing as a hole burst through the ceiling. Bas covered her body with his own. Rocks came tumbling down, dust creating a thick cloud. Sera coughed, the dust stinging her lungs.

  Bas got to his feet. “I did it, there’s a way out. Don’t know how far it goes up though.”

  “You have rope. Go.”

  Bas pulled out the harness, flinging it skywards so the line finally connected. “Got it.” He reached down to pick her up. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “That won’t take the weight of two of us. I’m too weak to climb,” she said. “You go without me.”

  Bastian’s mouth fell open. “What? No way, I’m not gonna leave you here. Hunters don’t leave their people behind.”

  “Better if one of us survives than both of us dying.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” he snapped. “Now listen, I’m climbing up, calling for help then I’m coming back for you.” He pulled the rope. With a groan, the ceiling gave way.

  Bas dove out of the way just as the rocks crashed to the floor.

  “Shit! I thought that would work.” He crawled over to her. “Guess neither of us gets out.”

  Sera coughed, swept pouring down her forehead. Bas pulled her back into his arms. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you up here,” he said.

  “Not your fault,” she said. “Talk about something else. I don’t want to waste my last moments.”

  “It’s not fair!” Bas moaned. “I finally found you, now I’m losing you all over again. I never forgot you. The night we spent together was the best. You were my first.”

  Sera smiled. “You were mine too.”

  Bas reached down, brushed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. Sera returned it then rested her head against him, hugging him back. Her mission didn’t matter anymore nor did the reasons for keeping them apart.

  “I loved you then, I love you now,” she murmured.

  A bright light shone down from the gap in the ceiling.

  Serra didn’t remember much of Layard transporting them above ground or being carried away. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a makeshift bed, fire crackling in the hearth.

  “Good, you’re awake.” Layard appeared beside her, touching her forehead. “You’re lucky your fever’s broken. I almost didn’t reach you in time.”