by B. T. Narro
“But she will eventually be a powerful enchanter, most likely. That must mean something to the king,” I argued.
“It is not a priority. The focus lies on winning this war. You must understand that by now, Jon. If the existence of another person decreases our chances of winning, then we must remove that person. I thought that was the whole reason behind all of your actions? You will always do what is in the best interests of the kingdom. Or is that just something you have claimed?”
“This is different. This is someone who’s trying to do good.”
“Do you know who else wanted to do good? He was a young sorcerer who Nykal looked after when no one else would.”
“Cason,” I grumbled.
“Nykal and I both tried to stop him from using dteria. We gave him many chances. He lied to us many times, or maybe he just lied to himself. It doesn’t matter. What does is that we let it go on too long. He should’ve been stopped before he became so powerful. Many lives were lost recently because he wasn’t. Your friend Calvin was one of them.”
He paused as if to give me a chance to reply, but I was still trying to let go of my anger before I responded.
“I need to know you are with us on this,” Barrett said, “in case Eden or Hadley become corrupted.”
“Hadley?” I blurted in shock. “She has shown no signs of the dteria changing her. Curses are different. They don’t require much force behind the spell, and it’s the force—the amount—of dteria that makes the difference.” I spoke confidently, but this was something I had only theorized in order to explain how Hadley seemed unaffected by the corruption.
“Yes, that is what we believe,” I was glad to hear him say, “but the king and I have little experience with witches. You and the other sorcerers must keep an eye on both young women.”
I shook my head. “Hadley’s been using curses for years. Dteria would’ve changed her by now if it was going to.”
“How can you be sure? Maybe it’s just a slower process when using a small amount, as needed for cursing.”
He had a point. I couldn’t be sure given that logic, but I felt connected to Hadley in ways I couldn’t quite explain. I knew and trusted her. She did not have a dark side within her.
At least he hadn’t issued any kind of warning about my feelings getting in the way of good judgement. He and the king probably didn’t know that I was interested in her.
“Take the Induct stone back to Eden,” the councilman said. “Tell her to prime the stone so you can use it as an essence of dvinia. It’s up to you and your instructors to be vigilant for now. Just remember that there have been many times throughout history when friendship has been beaten by dteria.”
I felt like I was returning to a different world when I left the keep and headed back to the apartments. I had faced soldiers, mostly men, whose minds had been twisted from years of dteria use, but I had never gotten to know someone before they started using dteria and watched it change them. It was as disturbing as watching an illness slowly destroy a person’s health, like what had happened to my father.
I was as certain as I could be that Hadley was not at all affected by corruption, but Eden…I still wasn’t sure if she would get over this, even with our help.
Most of my peers were in the courtyard. They looked ready to go to the forest, all carrying a bag on their back. I assumed the wonderful castle staff had provided them with dried lunches and there was one waiting for me once I was ready to go.
Hopefully this won’t take long.
Aliana was the only one remaining in Eden’s room when I returned. Eden stood near her desk, a hand on the top of her chair for support. Her tunic was still wet with sweat, as was my thin shirt.
“Can I speak to Eden alone?” I asked Aliana.
She eyed the translucent stone in my hand for a moment before she walked past me. “We’re waiting to go.”
“I know,” I said. “But it’s important I do this now.”
Aliana closed the door as she left. Eden, a hand on her lower back, looked sadder than anything else. It was as if she’d lost something important to her. I approached her.
“I’m going to heal you.”
She didn’t speak or acknowledge me. I put my hand over hers on her lower back. She snatched it out of the way.
I had done considerable damage to her by flipping her over me and slamming her into the floor. There were very few things as draining as casting my healing spell. It felt like I was carrying a heavy load while trying to run upstairs for each moment that the spell went on. Fortunately, I repaired the damage quickly. Eden, however, was not very tolerant of pain. She had jammed a book into her mouth and bit down to keep from screaming. There were teeth marks on it when I was done.
I pulled out the nearby chair from her desk. “Sit,” I said.
She did, though she still wouldn’t look at me.
I crouched in front of her. “Listen, Eden. What I’m about to tell you is very important.”
“I don’t care.”
“What? How can you not?”
“Because I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me that I have to stop letting dteria control me, but you don’t know what it’s like. It’s impossible. I thought it would be easy, but that was before I came into possession of the Induct stone. Now it’s too late to go back.”
She still wouldn’t look at me. A tear slid down her cheek.
“It’s pointless, Jon. Just turn me over to the king before I hurt someone.”
“I’m not going to do that. You’re nowhere near as gone as others.”
“I wasn’t until recently. I’m telling you, there’s no point. I have to cast. It’s like I’m dying of hunger and there’s a delicious piece of food already at the back of my throat and I’m not supposed to swallow it. I try not to, but the feeling never goes away until I eventually do. There’s always more hunger. It doesn’t stop, no matter how long I go without casting.”
“You remember that Leon and I faced Cason in the street not far from this castle?”
She nodded.
“Leon told Cason that he just needed to stop casting for a while and eventually his mind would return to how it was before it became affected by dteria. Leon wouldn’t lie, especially not to Cason. There was no reason to then. And if that’s true for Cason, then it should be even easier for you. I’m sure you’re just not going long enough without casting. How long have you had that Induct stone nearby?”
“About a week. I didn’t notice how much it was changing me until I started thinking about getting rid of it.”
“Now it’s gone, so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. You have a whole group of people who want to help you through this. All you need to do is try your best.”
“You don’t know how hard it is. Even right now I want to throw you across the room.” She formed a sick grin as she glanced up. Then she shook her head and appeared frustrated with herself. “I’ve already shamed myself in front of Jennava, Leon, and Barrett, and now you as well.”
“What did you tell the other sorcerers after I left?” I asked.
“I didn’t say much. I just told them you are helping me and that everyone should stay away from me for now. I think some of the girls were upset I didn’t go to them, but I knew they wouldn’t have been able to take the Induct stone by force. I would’ve probably hurt them very badly if they had tried. Only you could do it.”
“You should stop trying to hide this. Fight it openly like Leon did when he was using it to help us resist.”
She showed me a look of betrayal. “You sound like them. You’d rather I lose myself to the dteria than give it up completely and become weak.”
“No, I’d rather you give it up and become weak, but there’s a problem with that. They will replace you with someone else because apparently your enchanting skill isn’t enough of a priority. But if you think that’s the only way to stop dteria from taking control of you, then we can help you do that. You just have to ask yourse
lf what you think you can do. Remember, Eden, that you have Leon and Jennava—two people who have used dteria and learned to control it.”
“I’m not giving up dteria. There’s no way.”
“Then you’d better learn to control it, or it’s going to get you killed.”
I was glad when I didn’t see surprise register on her face. In fact, she nodded. “That’s exactly why I gave you that note this morning. I knew they would have me executed, maybe soon, especially after I punched Barrett for trying to take the Induct stone away.”
“That was quite a bruise you left on his face,” I said as a joke to lighten the mood.
But her face twisted as she smiled. “It’s what he gets,” she said and jumped up from the chair. “I should’ve done worse to you for taking it away.”
She picked me up with dteria as I rolled my eyes. “Really?” I said.
She threw me across the room. I landed on my feet and slid to a stop. “Oh come on, Eden. This isn’t amusing.”
She picked me up again and threw me against the door. It hurt, but I refused to show any evidence of pain. She picked me up once more. I put my hands over my hips, on top of the cushiony energy wrapped around my waist.
“What is the point of this?” I asked.
“Shut up!” She threw me against the door again. Her face showed rage as she pulled her hand through the air, dragging me across her room toward her. I stumbled over with a lazy expression.
“You know I’ll just heal any injury you cause me,” I told her as I crossed by.
She seemed to put all of her strength into one last throw, picking me up high from the floor and tossing me sideways toward her hearth. I caught myself with dvinia and pushed the other way with my mind, stopping in the air and landing on my feet.
She showed exhaustion through heavy breaths as I walked back toward her. “Are you done?” I asked.
She looked like herself again, though defeated and embarrassed, as her arms hung loosely.
“They’re waiting for us,” I said as I picked up the Induct stone which had fallen to the floor. “Barrett said you could prime this for me. I don’t know what that means, but I suggest you do it.”
She took a moment to catch her breath, barely looking up at me. “You’re not angry for what I just did?”
“No, just annoyed. I understand what you’re going through. Everyone will, so stop fussing about it.”
She showed a hint of a smile. “Maybe you’re right.” She reached out and took the Induct stone from me. Her expression changed again as she looked at the translucent stone.
“Eden,” I warned. “Don’t go backward.”
“I don’t think I can prime this for you without wanting to keep it for myself.” She turned away as she handed it to me blindly. “Have Reuben do it. I bet he can by now.”
“It’s better that you do it, and that I tell Barrett and the others that you did.”
She looked back at me from the sides of her eyes. “I can’t.”
That was the last thing I could handle. Apparently I had a threshold just like Eden did.
I grabbed her by her shoulders and gave her a shake. “Stop telling me you can’t do something and do it! I know you can. Just prime the goddamn stone and let’s get the hell out of here!”
“You don’t understand,” she mumbled to the floor.
“Of course I do. We all must do things we don’t want. You’d better start taking responsibility for yourself and have some self-control, or this is going to end badly.” I stepped back and snatched the stone out of her hand, gesturing at her with it. “I tried to be nice to you, but it’s not getting us anywhere. This is going to be hard for a long time, but then it will get easier. You’d better get used to that right now and stop this attitude of giving up, or soon you’ll find that everyone else will give up on you as well. Where is your fighting spirit?” I gave a harsh shove to her shoulder. “Fight this! Don’t you think I would? Don’t you think everyone else would? Why are you any different?” I shoved her again. “Fight it!”
She drew a sharp breath.” You’re right. Give me that.” She took back the stone. She mumbled a few uncouth things directed at dteria as she seemed to have an internal battle, gritting her teeth and waving her hand over the stone. Then she pushed it back against my stomach. “Keep this fucking thing away from me now.”
She collected a bag and hurried toward the door.
“Wait, no one told me what priming a stone means,” I complained. “What do I do with it now?”
“Just push a dense cluster of dvinia against it until it can hold no more.” She opened the door to leave.
I hurried after her. I still had to collect my pack from my room. “How do I know when it can hold no more?”
“With ordia, and you’d better not ask me to help you.”
“How long will it take?” I stopped outside my room as she hurried down the hall.
“I don’t know. Just shut up about it or I’m going to take it back from you.” She spun around. “I’m serious, Jon. Keep that away from me until I have better control over dteria. That Induct stone is extremely powerful.” I saw another change come over her as she looked down at it in my hands as if it was a meal she was craving. Her mouth twisted, and so did her body as she turned away from me and seemed to force her legs to move down the stairs.
I looked at the Induct stone again. I had done all of this just to help Eden, but now I couldn’t help but imagine what I might be capable of with a stone like this in my possession.
CHAPTER THREE
All of us, except Leon, headed to the forest. I walked with Michael and Reuben, a little ways behind the larger group of girls ahead of us, with Jennava at the front. Michael asked me what happened, and I could hear the girls asking Eden the same thing.
“She’s struggling with dteria, but she wanted to give me this.” I showed them the Induct stone.
A few more questions led to me telling them everything I knew about Induct stones, which I admitted was not a lot, and how I was now supposed to infuse—I guessed that was the right word—this stone with dvinia.
“If it’s anything like a moonstone,” Reuben said, “it’s not going to stay primed for long. You’d better start now before the opening to lock in a spell closes. It won’t last for more than an hour.”
I spent the rest of the long walk through the city and into the forest casting my spell of Grab and pushing the dvinia against the Induct stone. I heard bits and pieces of Michael and Reuben arguing about whether Michael’s “tender care” would do anything to help Eden out of her dteria craze. I was just glad we could discuss it openly. Eden’s chances of getting through it were much better this way than if she had to struggle in private.
I had never held any spell for an hour straight, but I was pleased with my ability to maintain it. There were two parts to spellcasting. The most difficult was forming the spell initially, splitting my mana into the five different notes required for the complicated spell. I had done it so many times by now, however, that it was like swinging a sword, second nature to me.
The second part was what really drained my mana—and my stamina—and that was maintaining the spell. I thought of casting as a lot like lifting something above my head and holding it there. The act of lifting it high up was much more complicated, but it wasn’t as demanding as keeping it up. With my mana already split into the five different frequencies that it took to cast the spell, I just had to continue feeding more mana into the Grab spell to keep it together.
It begged the question: Was it possible to maintain two spells at once? I wondered this more as I maintained the Grab spell on the way to the forest.
By the time we made it to the edge of the woods, I felt that the Induct stone couldn’t take anymore dvinia. It wasn’t that it had absorbed everything I casted. On the contrary, only a small portion of mana was taken into the stone during each moment that I had kept the spell up. But my casting had gone on for so long that I knew that the stone now held ont
o a huge amount of mana that was already shaped into the spell of my wish. I could feel it the same way I could feel heat in the air.
“How is this supposed to help?” I asked, figuring Reuben might know. “If the dvinia is trapped in the stone, what could that do for me?”
“You’re thinking about it the wrong way. Imagine your spell is opening a door. The essence is a key. It can get you through much easier.”
I frowned. “It’s already easy for me to cast my spell. I thought this would give me more power.”
“It also does that.”
“But how?” I asked, though I didn’t doubt him. I could already feel that the next time I casted my spell, it would be far more powerful than it had been before. I needed to understand why.
“It just does,” Reuben said.
“You obviously don’t know,” Michael commented.
“Do you?” Reuben countered.
“Of course not, but I’m not pretending like I do.”
It seemed that Kataleya heard us. She slowed and joined our group at the back. “There’s a second part to essences that explains how the added power works,” she explained. “There’s mana all around us that normally we can’t feel. The essence converts that mana to your own in the form of the locked spell.”
It was like a light had gone on. “Oh, so that’s why these essences can pull on the frequency of our natural mana, because this other form of mana is actually…meddling with ours?” I didn’t know the right word, but I figured Kataleya did.
“It’s more like two sounds mixing together. The new sound could distract you and make you lose focus of the one you’re used to, and eventually you’ll start noticing the new one just as much as the old.”
That worried me. “Eden said this Induct stone is very powerful. Does that mean it could alter my natural mana?”
“Nothing can alter your mana that we know of, but it can distract you like I said. It can make you have a more difficult time using other frequencies, like the low notes necessary for ordia. However, I wouldn’t worry. Enough time away from the essence should remove the distraction completely.”
