by Ash Night
Suddenly, the water wasn't so clear. Blinking, I tried to clear my vision but it kept going in and out like someone was covering my eyes with a hazy pane of glass. The steady stream of air stopped. A woozy feeling hit me and I felt my grip on Cam loosen. I fell backwards. His grip on me tightened. I felt him loop an arm around my waist. An icy pain shot through me.
The rest of my air left me in an explosion of bubbles as a scream forced its way out. Before I blacked out, I heard a splash.
"You absolute idiot! Can’t you do anything without putting her life in danger?!"
"She had it, Snowflake! She was fine! Just used too much magic, that's all. Her body isn't used to it yet, and she was worried about the spell so the fear, I'm sure, didn't help. But she's okay. See? She's breathing."
"So not the point! Your fucking cuffs hurt her again!"
"I was trying to help her!"
My coughing interrupted their argument. Liam grabbed my shoulder and helped me roll onto my side, where I proceeded to cough up half the pond. "Serena, can you hear me?"
I chuckled hoarsely. "S-sure. Who couldn't hear all that bickering?" Looking up, I noticed Cam hadn't moved toward me. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was further away from me now that I was awake.
'I'm glad you're okay. I saw bubbles and I was worried." Liam was soaked. He hadn't even thought to take anything off before diving in? He was probably going to freeze later.
"Sorry... But I did it, Liam! I got the spell down perfectly! Not sure why my vision went blurry. Cam, are you okay?"
Cam was still off to the side, not looking at me or Liam. That self-hating look was back on his face. It was a long time before he answered. "I hurt you. Again."
"Huh?"
Sitting up, I felt a sharp burning pain in my side and I sucked in a breath. Cam flinched slightly, as if I had slapped him. On my right side was a red welt. Oh, when he grabbed me around my waist...
"I was trying to be careful of your shoulder and I forgot all about my cuff. It grazed you. I am such an idiot!" he said in a rush, as if he had to convince me it was an accident.
I shrugged. "It's fine. You didn't mean it. You were just focused on my injury, that's all."
"You're too forgiving, Serena..." Liam mumbled. I glared at him.
"Maybe I should just stop touching you..." Cam pulled his knees up closer to his chest.
"Cam..." I stood up and walked over to him. “I didn't thank you for teaching me the spell. Thank you so much!"
He rested his chin on his knees, turning his back to me. "Sunshine, I don't know what I got you into."
There was another half-apology. He apologized, I could tell he was sorry, but he never said those two little words anyone expected someone to say.
"Still, I had fun. Thank you for being patient with me." I smiled at Liam. "I'm starving! You hungry?"
His worried look instantly vanished. "I could always eat!"
"Cam? How about some Calderdash coffee? I know I could use a cup." I tried to smile at him, but it melted away as soon as I noticed he wasn't looking at me. Sighing, I helped Liam with lunch. Cam spent the entire time staring into the forest. I would've given anything to know what he was thinking.
"Hey, Liam, do you know anything about telepathy spells?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Did you swallow too much water?"
I bit into an apple as I stared at Cam. "No. I just want to know what he's thinking."
Liam snickered. “I’m pretty sure if you were to look into his head, you’d just be utterly confused.”
One of the dusklings snorted. Was it hungry too? What exactly did they eat, aside from grass?
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
Liam carefully approached them with two apples in hand. Both dusklings looked at him, curiosity in their eyes. When they saw the apples, they pawed at the ground, ears flicking back and forth.
He smiled. "Good dusklings. Lily and Daisy used to flick their ears like that when they were thinking about letting me near them. That's a good sign now, eh?"
Their tails swished as he walked closer. I held my breath. Daisy and Lily were one thing. Untamed beasts like these dusklings were a whole different matter. He could get hurt badly if they decided Liam was a threat. I didn't remember much from The Book of Beasts I'd checked out from the library, but I did remember the small section about dusklings.
The book had said that dusklings weren't exactly friendly creatures, but they weren't dangerous unless their younglings were around. Luckily, usual company policy was to fix the dusklings they owned so they couldn't have babies. From what I heard, this process generally culled their tempers too.
"Liam, be careful!" I hissed, not wanting to take my eyes off the flaming animals. One of them had stepped a little closer to Liam, its dark eyes fixed on the apple sitting on his outstretched palm. Liam nickered at it, a resolute smile on his face.
"I'm fine, Roseheart. You worry too much."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Says the guy who was worried I'd drown in five or six feet of water."
"You nearly did," he pointed out without taking his eyes away from the duskling.
Placing my hands on my hips, I puffed out my cheeks. "Well, technically, that wasn't my fault. How was I supposed to know I was using too much magic? I thought I was doing fine."
He chuckled. "I'm sure you were great."
"Damn right I was."
Both dusklings were staring at Liam now. The closer of the two simply appeared thoughtful. The one that was further away seemed wary. Liam smiled as the closest one grabbed the apple with its teeth. I gave Liam a thumbs up as he got close enough to pat its neck. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Boy, I wish I had a saddle."
I baulked at him. "Are you crazy?"
"Think I'll name you Allister."
Allister neighed, opening himself up more to Liam's affectionate touch. The other duskling snorted, as if to say Would you just throw the damn apple and get out of my sight?
"Nope, you're going to take this apple from me. I'll stand out here the rest of the day and all night if I have to," Liam told the duskling.
I looked at Cam to see if he had anything to say about that. He probably wanted to get going after lunch. He hadn't even moved, still staring off into space. Sighing, I turned back to Liam, determined not to think about Cam's stoic expression. It wasn't his fault, but he wouldn't listen. It was best to let him sort out his thoughts and talk to him later.
The unnamed duskling snorted indignantly. Liam imitated the sound. The duskling pawed at the ground restlessly. Liam stomped his foot. The duskling whinnied, clearly confused at why this two-legged creature was playing copy-cat with him. Liam laughed.
"Take the apple and I'll leave you alone for a bit."
Alistair nickered, as if encouraging his friend to go up to Liam. He clearly trusted this bizarre, two-legged creature.
The apple rested on Liam's palm and the duskling trotted over hesitantly, sniffing at the air. I giggled. "Hope you showered recently."
"You think my smell is the reason it won't come near me?" He looked at the duskling, locking eyes with it. "It's okay, big boy. You can trust me. I promise I won't hurt you. Come get your treat. This apple is super yummy. Ask Allister. He'll tell you. He gobbled it right up." Alistair neighed, moving his head up and down like he was nodding.
Allister was trying to help, it seemed. Liam inched closer. The duskling stood his ground. "All right, boy. Have it your way. I guess I'm coming to you." He strode over to the duskling, not daring to show an ounce of fear.
I tried to remember the main defenses that a duskling had. Its hooves were the most obvious concern. The phrase sharp as diamonds flashed in my mind. They even sparkled like diamonds. Those pretty appendages were deadly, especially when combined with their strong leg muscles.
The other concern was they had use of magic. Animals were often left Unsealed because they were either wild or wouldn't sit still for the procedure without the risk of them l
ashing out in self-defense. Their magic was strong, but few magical animals had the brain power to control it effectively or to be perceived as a threat. While that was somewhat of a relief, it could also prove to be infinitely more dangerous overall. Uncontrolled magic had terrifying effects. When an animal was cornered, it didn't mind if it got hurt as long as it got away.
"Be careful,” I whispered, afraid speaking any louder would spook the duskling and cause it to attack. Liam smirked as he offed the apple to the beast. It sniffed it, as if testing for poison, before it ate it in a few bites and trotted a safe distance away. Liam whooped triumphantly.
"Did you see that?" he asked, turning to me with a wide smile like he had just won a lifetime supply of my mom's famous sweet rolls.
I nodded, turning to Cam when I noticed he had finally moved. He ran over to his shirt and jacket and started pulling on his clothes, as if he were suddenly in a hurry.
"Everything okay?"
Cam looked at me sharply. "We need to go."
"Oh, okay." I started to gather my things, concerned by his urgent mood shift. Using the Laser Leads, Cam rounded up the dusklings and started to hook them back up to the magicart. His jacket hung open. He hadn't even stopped to button it. Liam was eating the last of his lunch as fast as he could, shoveling it into his mouth, his cheeks resembling a Chiplen.
Once lunch was cleaned up and we had grabbed our stuff, I sat in the carriage, anxiously waiting for Cam to join me so I could ask him what was going on when Liam sat across from me. I raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"
"Cuff Boy wanted to take the reins." He shrugged. "You'd think with him being in such a hurry, he'd want to be able to use—"
The cart lurched forward. Liam and I clunked heads.
"Ow! Easy, dumbass!" Liam shouted, rubbing his head and pounding on the carriage roof. "You okay?”
"But he said before..." A knot formed in my stomach. I still hadn't gotten to use the magic siphon yet, but judging by how fast we were going, Cam had to have been using a lot. His wrists had to be frying like wrendriver eggs on a hot summer sidewalk.
"I know." Liam rested a hand on my non-injured shoulder. "I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't listen. Guess he'll just have to find another healer in Kaldar, then. It'll be fine. He knows his limits."
"Sometimes I don't think he does!" I said, exasperated. Forcefully opening the window, I stuck my head out. Wind whipped my hair around my face, a testament to how fast we were going and just how stupidly reckless Cam was being. "Cam, slow down! Kaldar isn't going anywhere!"
He laughed, though I could hear the strain in his voice. "I just want to get there!"
"There's no point in getting there if you're dead from exhaustion, idiot!"
His eyes met mine and he was being sincere. "I'm having fun."
I scoffed. "This is your idea of fun? Cam, you said yourself that raising your magic was difficult with the Shadowsilver on! Why do you insist on doing that if it hurts you?!"
His voice was so low I almost couldn't hear him over the raging wind. "Doesn't using your magic make you feel good? You should understand why. I can't just let that part of me wither and die merely because these fucking cuffs burn me a little."
"It isn't a little," I whispered before sitting back down and shutting the window.
"He's being an asshole?" Liam asked.
"He's being an asshole!" I echoed back immediately.
He held out the worn journal, Nox's and Vex's journal, like a peace offering "Why don't you read a bit? We haven’t had much downtime lately."
Smiling, I opened to where I had left off. Nox and Vex both wrote in the journal, but it was clear Vex was the more prolific writer of the two. I'd gotten to know her writing style better, though I thoroughly enjoyed both their voices. Though they were twins, their entries were noticeably different from each other's.
I feel like a bird beating its wings against a gilded cage. Father wants to keep us here so he may control us forever under the guise of keeping us safe. Keeping us safe means nothing if we know little of how the world works when he is gone! He is getting older. He sleeps more during the early morning hours, giving me time to explore.
I have found an old shack deep in the woods, covered in moss. I think I can use my magic to restore the rotting wood to what it once was. If I can, I plan to run away and make that my new home. Vex is conflicted.
She does not want to leave Father's side. She is too wrapped in his web. She cannot see his love is hurting us. I shall pray to the Goddess tonight for guidance and strength. I will run, and I will run when the time is right.
With or without Vex. Even if it does break my heart.
I love you, sister.
- Nox
Hurriedly flipping to the next page, I was surprised to see that instead of a journal entry, Vex had written down a recipe.
1 zenya frog eye
2 wings of a forest pixie
Half a pint of forest pixie blood
3 pints of rattlerabbit blood
4 snowsweet berries
1 drop of riversnake venom
4 cups of holy water
Mash the frog eye up with the wings and the berries. Melt over an open fire until liquified. Set aside.
Stir together the blood of the rattlerabbit and the pixie with the holy water. Combine everything. Set the mixture under the light of the full moon for three nights. Keep it in complete darkness during the day. DO NOT LET IT SEE SUNLIGHT.
Add riversnake venom
Good luck, sister.
- Vex
The recipe made no sense to me. What did it do? What was it for? The next journal entry was dated five days after the recipe was written.
Something went wrong. The mixture was too powerful. Father is dead.
Goddess, what have I done?
My heart stopped as I ran my fingers over that last line. The entry wasn't even signed. My guess was that Nox wrote it, but I wasn't entirely sure. The short entry gave no indication who had for sure written it, and their handwriting was too simar to give me a clue.
"Everything okay?" Liam asked. "You just went white as an eggshell."
"Y-yea, just a really interesting book. Nox wanted to run away. Vex wrote down a recipe. Now their father is dead."
He whistled lowly and sat back. "Wow. Page-turner, huh?"
Returning to the book, I was discouraged to find the next fifteen days were merely dated, blank pages, as if the date was all they could stand to write. The next entry wasn't even dated.
Goddess, forgive me.
The next entry, undated.
I tore my family apart.
More blank, dated pages. My heart sank when I noticed some of the dates were getting harder and harder to read, as if one author was getting weaker and weaker. They went on for an entire year. Then finally:
I haven't spoken to my sister in months. We send the journal back and forth, but all she writes are dates, merely reminding me of the passage of time. Maybe she is reminding us both. After all, we are both guilty. Both were cast out of our coven like garbage. What were we thinking? That goddamned gilded cage sounds much better now that it shattered and I am forced to live among the rats of society.
The Blackwater district is my home now. Mother would be rolling in her grave to see what has become of me. From eating on the finest china to eating the leftover scraps of others from a trash bin. Sickening. At first, I thought I'd never be able to lower myself. Now, it has become normal. No one takes pity on a haggard child thief. It is what I am. I bear the sign of magic. Too human enough to accepted. Just powerful enough to be needed My healing spells and love potions appeal to them. Otherwise, they do not give me a second thought. I am left to survive on my own.
How long can I do that? How long do I want to?
- Nox
Tears welled up in my eyes. She had fallen so far over a fatal yet foolish mistake. Why didn't she and her sister talk? They had been so close. As an only child, I'd have given anything to have a
sibling to explore the world with. Maybe that was why the Goddess had sent me Liam. I looked up at him fondly. He was looking out his window, silently mouthing a song.
He'd been so kind to me throughout the years. Protective. A lot of the village kids used to bother me. Said I was too quiet. That stopped when Liam started walking me to the library. Soon, even when I was alone, they didn't bother me, too afraid I would tattle to Liam and he would unleash that steel-blue glare of his. No one messed with him so, in turn, no one messed with me. He had essentially given up the chance to have friends to hang out with me.
Eventually, as everyone grew older and matured, Liam did make friends on his soccer team. While the guys were friendly enough, I'd never really clicked with anyone the way I did with Liam. Until Cam showed up. I was grateful for the friends I did have, but I was looking forward to meet new ones along the way.
Were humans outcasts? Nox had said she was too human to be accepted, yet powerful enough to be needed. Did our society not care for humans? Was that why I'd never seen one? I'd never really given it much thought before. Master Cisco had just said they were rare. He had enjoyed living among them and had spoken of that time fondly.
Maybe I could ask Cam about humans later if he was in a better mood. If he could even talk at all after this. We were still flying down the trail, possibly at an even faster speed than when Liam had been driving. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
The sun had set an hour before we reached Kaldar. I was just amazed it was the same day. Tall buildings stretched out like stone fingers. I'd never seen anything like them. Despite it being nighttime, lights illuminated everything, as if to create an artificial day. I was dying to explore the huge, sparkling city. Cam hopped off the magicart, looking pleased with himself. His sleeves were pulled through his cuffs as far as they would go. He was winded but he spoke firmly.
"Sunshine, I have a request."
I turned to look at him, surprised at his serious tone. "Yes?"
"Is it to carry you to the inn?" Liam piped in as he got out. "Cuz she's not doing that. You did this to yourself."
Cam rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. I just wanted her to know that she is not to walk around the city alone. Kaldar is probably the biggest city she's even been to. It's one of the biggest in Valora. Crime is no stranger here. She needs to be careful."
