by Ben Hale
Robar's grip tightened on his shotgun. "If you don't do something I'm going to blast its head off." The warden gave no sign that it had heard the threat.
Shirrilis shifted her feet, and Tess had a flash of insight. The dark elf didn't have the authority to bring Robar down, but it was too late to leave him behind. No matter what she said it would be a challenge to the warden. Then Tess had an idea.
"He's not an auren," Tess said, and stepped into view. "He was born a mage but has no magic."
Shirrilis cast her a worried look, but did not interrupt. The warden peered down on Tess with surprise.
"Who are you to speak with such authority?"
"One who bears all magics," Tess replied.
The warden's sleek eyebrows shot up. "An oracle? I hear truth in your voice, and yet must see your words proven."
"What does she want me to do?" she said in an aside to Shirrilis.
"I would assume you must show your skill with several magics at once," she replied quietly. "Or she will kill us all."
No pressure. Under the unflinching gaze of the warden, Tess mustered her courage and set to work. Gathering her courage, she started with light and cast an entity first. The light took shape into a figurine that resembled her mom, Kate. Strong and valiant, her mother seemed to convey a sense of confidence and unyielding will. Then the roots of a small bush bent and climbed into view, forming her father. Tall and strong, it moved to stand beside the first. Jack's features seemed to smile at her in encouragement, sending an ache through her.
Would she see them again?
She added earth, and shaped it into Derek. An unbidden smile crossed her features as she made his form. Then Tess added water. Moisture gathered and climbed, forming a second figurine that looked like Rox. Purple light appeared and coalesced into Iris, who even here seemed distracted.
One by one she added different magics, and shaped them into the ones she called family. Last to join them, she pulled the heat and formed a figurine of pure fire. Hawk's form came into view, and he moved to stand beside the others. He stood fierce and strong before she allowed the enchantments to fade away. Tess faced the warden feeling oddly hollow.
"An oracle indeed," the warden said. "You have earned my respect. His passage has been granted." She put him down, and then added. "But know that you bear the weight of responsibility for him. His crimes are your crimes."
"I understand," Tess replied.
Shirrilis ushered them all in before the warden could change her mind, and in moments the passageway was sealed behind them. Then she whirled to face Tess.
"I did not expect you to step in."
"What else could I do?" Tess asked.
There was a respect in the dark elf's eyes that had been absent before, and for the first time it seemed her smiled was genuine.
"Let us move on," she said. "The perils beneath are many, and we should stay moving."
"Wait," Tess exclaimed, and caught her arm. "There's something I need to do first."
"What can you do down here that you could not do above?"
Tess flexed her magic, and felt the faint pulse of a signal for the first time since she'd woken up in the Dark. The smile on her face could not be contained.
"I need to make a call."
Chapter 5: Voice of the Dead
Kate's knees lost their strength, and she slipped into a chair before she could fall.
"Mom?" Tess said over the phone.
Overcome with emotion, Kate's voice failed her. A thousand worries and fears crashed through her in a matter of seconds, and tears blurred her vision. Was it real? Was it a trick? Was it really her?
Please let it be her . . .
"Mom . . .?" Tess asked, uncertainty coloring her tone.
"I'm here." Kate forced the words through a constricted throat.
Jack looked up at her voice. They had taken to eating dinner together in the office each day. Few words were spoken. The ritual had been their only time to mourn the loss of their daughter. With the casualty list skyrocketing worldwide, everyone around them had lost someone. Jack and Kate were expected to set an example of setting aside personal feelings, but the strain of the daily façade had become unbearable.
"Who is it?" Jack asked, his expression concerned.
Kate stared at him, unable to form the words. His eyes hung like his head, lending to the shadow that had come over him since the news that Tess had died.
"It's Tess," she finally managed.
He stared at her for several seconds, the information failing to register. Then his entire frame swelled with light and he was on his feet. Three steps brought him to her side, and he twitched like he wanted to wrench the phone from her grasp. She threw him a scathing glance and his fingers withdrew.
"What's going on, Mom? Can you not talk right now?"
Kate blew out her breath and rigidly controlled her emotions. "They told us you were dead, Tess."
Her words were quiet, but her tone conveyed all the depth of emotion that she'd felt in the last few days. The loss, the fear, the self-doubt, all compressed into those six words. Tess was silent for several seconds, and Kate's heart ached with instant worry.
"I couldn't let her kill you," Tess said in a small voice.
Kate blew out an explosive breath. "What are you talking about?"
"They had cursed a satellite to cast an asunder hex." Tess's voice was as somber as she had ever heard. "I destroyed it instead of defending Alice. That's why she struck me down."
Kate blinked in sudden understanding. With the MIO task force they had gone after a Harbinger named Leaf. When Kate was about to capture the man a column of fire had streaked from the sky like a bolt of lightning. Leaf had been incinerated.
"Hawk told us you fell into the Dark," Jack said, leaning close to the phone. He squeezed her hand, and their eyes met. She saved you, the look said. "How did you survive?" He asked Tess.
His arm shook with the desire to talk to his daughter, and Kate's heart softened. She removed the phone from her ear and put it on speaker.
Tess blew out her breath. "Before I lost consciousness I cast a spell that slowed my descent. A man found me and kept me alive."
"Can you trust him?" Kate asked.
"His name's Robar. I think he used to be a SEAL. He has a dampening effect on the surrounding area, which made it possible for us to travel within the Dark. He's saved my life more than once already."
Kate's frame trembled with relief, hope, and worry. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. They all got clogged in her throat. Jack beat her to it.
"Where are you now?"
"I really don't know," she replied. "But I think somewhere in southern Europe. The dark elves found us—"
"Dark elves?" Kate blurted.
"They live deep underground," Tess said. "And the Dark doesn't affect them either. They are helping me escape."
"How?"
"We can't go above the surface. There are too many Twisted. They are going to lead me through their city and then take me farther north. Hopefully we can get ahead of the cloud."
Romania? Kate mouthed, and her gaze connected with Jack.
He gave a sharp nod. "Romania is one of the few European countries to give in to Harbinger rule. Our satellites show that the Dark goes around the country. If you can't make it far enough to escape, get to Romania. You should be able to fly out from there."
"Alice is using the Dark to enforce the law there," Kate added. "So be careful."
"I will," she said. "I will call you when I can, but the threads beneath are impossible to link to. I don't know if I will be able to call you until after I leave their city."
"Are you sure you have to go down there?" Kate asked.
"It's either that or go through the Dark."
Jack jerked his head in the negative. "Go where you have to. Just be safe."
"Can you get a message to Hawk and my friends on Tryton's?" Tess asked.
"I promise," Jack said, and grinned�
��the first smile in a week.
There was a burst of static, and then Tess said, "The thread I'm connected to is fading. I should go."
"I don't want you to go," Kate said. She fought to keep her voice under control. I can't have you die again. "There has to be another way."
"I don't think there is, Mom," Tess said.
Kate wanted to be angry, to demand that her daughter come home. It was futile, and she knew it. The Marine in her knew it. This was Tess's chance to escape the Dark—perhaps her only chance. Her decision made, the anger surged out.
"So help me, Tess, if you get yourself killed . . ."
"I won't, Mom, I promise," Tess said hastily.
Static began to cut in again, prompting Kate to say, "Keep yourself safe, and contact us anytime you can."
"I will," Tess said.
The static increased, but Tess yelled, "I love you!"
Kate answered back, and then the line died. Kate stared at her phone, oddly aware that her entire frame was quivering. Drawing a slow breath, she forced her muscles to relax and lowered the phone.
Jack let out an explosive breath and sank into the chair. "She's alive."
Kate didn't allow herself to consider where Tess was going. "But how can we protect her now?" she asked. "She's going to an underground city of the dark elves. Who knew there was even such a race?"
She clenched her hands against the yearning to hold a rifle in her hands and see Alice through a scope. It was that woman's fault that Tess had fallen. She swore to herself that one day she would put a bullet in her brain.
"We shouldn't tell everyone she's alive," Jack said suddenly. "Not yet anyway."
"Why?"
"Alice has her own sources. If she finds out that Tess survived . . ."
"She might go after her again," Kate finished.
He swiveled to face her. "I would give anything to be with Tess right now, but the best thing we can do for her is keep her survival a secret."
She pinned him to his chair with a scathing look. "Jack Oliver, I don't care how we do it, we will find a way to protect her. Do you hear me?"
He burst into a laugh. "We will, Kate, but first we have to start winning."
"Have you looked around you? Billions are Twisted, and the Dark is still coming. When do we start winning?"
The fire in his gaze caused her to relent. "Tess is alive—and Alice doesn't know that. It gives us the first advantage we've had in this war."
"I don't think I can live through Tess dying again," Kate said.
"Then let's make sure we don't have to."
He flashed the crooked smile she loved. Determination, anger, and relief were all mixed in the expression, and in them she understood the truth. He wasn't confident they would all emerge alive, but they were both fighting for the same thing.
Their daughter.
Chapter 6: The Punished
Derek filed into Star Hall with the other students of Tryton's and took a seat beside his sister. The summoning had come during his Mechanics of Advanced Earth Magic class, and the professor had dismissed them to gather with the rest of the school. Filled to the brim, the students whispered to each other in nervous tones.
"Any idea what's going on?" Derek murmured to Iris.
"I don't know everything," she snapped.
Derek flashed a tight-lipped smile at the annoyance in her voice. He knew that she was bothered—not by his question—but by the fact that she hadn't figured it out. Even with her army of techno friends throughout the world she had rarely been able to crack the Harbinger network.
Shorn slid into a seat beside him. Derek nodded to him. Initially he'd disliked having the captain of the Tempest team among their friends, especially because Shorn had harbored feelings for Tess. Over time his attention had shifted to Rox, allowing Derek to become friends with him.
"Any thoughts on this?" Shorn asked in an undertone.
"None," Derek replied.
"You don't think it has anything to do with us, do you?" Shorn asked.
Derek felt a gut wrenching twinge as he thought of Tess. Before she'd died she had formed the Order of White. Based out of Siarra's Refuge, they had cautiously gathered students and ultimately stripped Drake of his magic. He hadn't been heard of since the Harbingers had removed him. Then Tess had fallen into the Dark and the Order had all but disintegrated. Absent for weeks, Rox returned to Tryton's and reminded them of what their purpose was.
After days of preparation they set a plan in motion and built a statue of Tess at the front of the school. Still reeling from Tess's death, the students of Tryton's had seen it as a beacon of hope. That hope did not fade when the Harbingers had finally managed to bring it down. The knowledge that someone else was fighting had sparked a fire in everyone, and curiosity over the perpetrators had been on everyone's lips.
"I hope not," Derek said. "If they found out who did it . . ."
Shorn's features tightened. "Yeah, I know."
Rox appeared on the other side of Shorn and slid her hand into his. "Even the professors are coming."
Derek swung about to see for himself, his heart sinking. Sure enough, all the professors at Tryton's lined the circumference of Star Hall. Huddled into groups, it was clear they did not know the purpose of this gathering. Then Varson himself flew to the top of the pedestal accompanied by another flyer.
Mallian, high magistrate of the Magtherian, had reportedly joined the Harbingers the moment they had taken over. Rumor had it that his penchant for brutality and absolute justice had led to a swift rise through their ranks.
"This can't be good," Shorn breathed, a trace of worry in his voice.
Varson alighted at the center of the illuminated platform and turned a slow circle. Those who had not already stopped talking did so now, and a hush swept the amphitheatre. Without speaking a single a word Varson had cowed four thousand people to absolute silence. He smiled, and his black eyes glittered.
"Your obedience is appreciated," he said.
Amplified by the enchantments on the large pedestal, his voice carried throughout the space like poisoned velvet. Everyone knew that he was one of the highest ranking Harbingers. No one called out or shouted in defiance, but Derek noticed that many had expressions that betrayed their desire to. The presence of a handful of Voidlings throughout the Hall was sufficient to restrain them.
The clicking of Varson's polished boots echoed as he stalked the edge of the pedestal. "You are no doubt confused why we have interrupted your classes and brought you here today. However, we felt it was necessary that you witness the consequences of actions taken by certain members of the school."
Derek's mouth went dry. Had they discovered the Order? There were over a hundred in the group by now, and mages from every school lined their ranks. He could only imagine the punishment that Varson would levy upon them. His gut tightened further as Varson went on.
"I'm certain you have all heard what has been done to Drake. As a former captain of your own Tempest team, he led your school to numerous victories. He then returned with us, ready to lead you all into a new age. But what did he receive for his service?"
The menace in his voice mounted as he scanned the crowd. "His magic was stripped from him! Is this what a servant of the people deserves? Do you believe you have the authority to perform such an act?"
He paused, and visibly reined in his emotions. "Then, a few days ago, what appeared to be a phoenix attacked our school. Tasked with guarding your lives, the Voidlings rose to meet this threat. The firebird proved to be merely an illusion, but that was not the end. These individuals used the distraction to erect a statue, a statue of the late oracle."
A murmur cascaded through the audience. The sound was barely audible, and yet it conveyed a morbid curiosity. They wanted to find out who had done it, but the sound indicated fear of what was to come.
Varson allowed the sound, his footfalls heightening the tension. "We cannot allow anyone to defy the new authority within our government. It may appear
that such actions cause no harm, and yet they make you believe that someone wishes to resist the Master's rule.
"Others outside of Tryton's have heard of this, and they too think they can resist." His footfalls came to a halt. "They cannot."
"These actions against Harbinger authority will not be tolerated, and you are here to witness their punishment. You would do well to learn from their mistakes . . . so you do not repeat them. High Magistrate Mallian will now call the names of those who have done this unspeakable act."
Derek reached up and scratched his shoulder, activating the nexus charm that every Order member had. The tattoo created a direct link to all of them, so when he whispered only they would hear.
"If you are called, do not say a single word," he said in an urgent hiss. "Not one."
Mallian flashed a malicious smile. "The first one responsible is your very own . . . Director Grayson."
There was a collective gasp, and before it had subsided the principal administrator of the school was forced to walk down an aisle to the pedestal. A pair of Voidlings flanked him, their smoky hands preventing him from using magic. With their power sapping his strength his skin was chalk white, but his features were rigidly controlled.
Derek exchanged a stunned look with Shorn, and it was evident that neither of them had expected this. As other professors were called out it became clear that not one student was on the list. Derek's tension faded to a gripping fear. Students they would punish, but what would they do to adults?
Professor Kellon was last in line, and it took three Voidlings to keep him contained. As the only rock troll professor, Kellon was well liked for his soft spoken demeanor. The few who took his course on Ancient Combat Techniques raved about his skill with weapons. To see him so enraged sent a ripple of anger through the audience.
Varson swept the amphitheatre with an icy glare, and the sound subsided. Then he walked a line in front of the nine professors. They stared back at him without flinching, their very silence speaking volumes. Varson released a mocking laugh.
