CHAPTER FOUR
Teleporting would be a strange thing for a first-timer, and most people could never even do it, but Surah had learned and mastered the Magic when she had been just a child, so the feeling of vertigo and nausea no longer invaded her as they moved across space and time. She was here, and then she was there. Simple as that.
The night stars hung overhead, a thick glitter that was not visible in the part of her father’s kingdom where she called home. Too many lights on the ground to see the lights in sky. But here was country, a land where only the farmers and their grasses, the Hunters and their mountain lived. Here was a land where the Beasts still roamed in the forests, where the night wind whispered the wishes of star-crossed lovers, where the Magic was still used for survival, not show or pride. Here was where the stars were allowed to shine.
She had only been here a handful of times, as her life demanded most of her time be spent in the city where her father’s castle was. But sometimes she dreamed of this land, could see it through the eyes of a broken young girl, could see her sister’s face as it had been so many years ago. Battles of the Great War had been fought here, back before the dividing of the Territories, and it was fair to say the land had acquired a haunted feel, as so many places where great death is wrought do. Surah knew this was the reason her father had built his city on the other large expanse of land that belonged to the Sorcerers, but even with the memories of Syra and her mother, she liked it here. Things were simpler here. You could see the stars.
Ahead was the Dark Mountain, living up to its name under the black glittered sky. The towering peaks seemed not to hold shadows, but rather to birth them, and a perpetual storm cloud seemed to hang not over the mountain, but around it. Jutting rocks the color of midnight scraped the air some twenty-thousand feet high, and a base for the Hunters who guarded the place was just a row of squat black buildings at the foot of it. A cast iron fence ringed the area, where admittance was only allowed to select few. The place was as impenetrable as a place could be, and for good reason. The Dark Mountain was where the Black Stone lived, or where it had lived, before it had gone missing, which Surah still hoped was some sort of stupid mistake. She couldn’t even steal the Stone if she wanted to, and not only was she the princess, but she was more powerful than most when it came to the Magic.
If it was indeed gone, great trouble lay ahead. The Black Stone, unlike its brother, the White Stone, could be used only for Black Magic, for bad deeds. In nearly a thousand years, she had never even seen the thing, nor would she want to. Only the people who guarded it saw it, which was why this interrogation would not be a pleasant thing. Prolonged exposure to the Stone had a way of…shaping a person.
Theo still held her hand and he began walking her over the rich green grasses toward the mountain. She slipped her arm through his when he offered his elbow again, and ignored the tightening of her stomach the way she had learned to ignore most emotional impulses over the years.
“Don’t be afraid, my Lady,” Theodine said, looking down at her with his crooked grin.
Surah didn’t respond to this. She stared straight ahead and clenched her teeth. The pride that she felt the need to assert when she was younger had faded away along with the rest of the things that fade away with time.
He led her toward the gates where two Hunters in their black cloaks stood to either side, their faces as stone as the mountain that loomed behind them. They recognized the Head Hunter and their princess immediately and bowed to first Surah, and then him. Theo inclined his head and the gates swung open, stirring the humid air that had caused a thin fog to sit over the land.
Surah’s black hood was drawn up over her head, hiding her lavender hair from view and casting much of her smooth face in shadows. The Hunters here, all men, had not seen a woman in Gods knew how long. They made great sacrifices for their people, and she did not want to entice them unnecessarily.
The two of them, arm in arm, crossed the land that had gone barren under their feet, the grasses ending abruptly in dry brown dirt, and approached the foot of the Dark Mountain, which seemed to pulse something that made Surah’s heart quicken, her breath fall short, like waves of tingling electricity that would eventually run you dry or run you completely.
Somehow, though the settings were as different as two settings could be, the feel of the place had the same as that of the Silver City that belonged to the Vampires and Wolves after she had watched their revolution take place there. The air here was warm, not frigid and cold, and the Mountain was dark like its name, not all white and silver with snow, as the Silver City had been, but yes, the feel was the same. Darkness. Pain. Death.
Surah nodded to all the Hunters they passed, who nodded in return and followed her with eyes that hung in the shadows of their hoods. As they reached an opening in the Mountain, five Hunters guarding the entrance stepped to the sides, allowing them to pass, allowing the Mountain to swallow them.
There were no shadows in here, for not even shadows could live in such complete darkness. Surah restrained herself from casting a Light Sphere in front of her, mostly because of Theo’s comment about being scared. After a few moments in the void of blackness Theo snapped his fingers and a sphere of light, a baseball-sized thing that swirled perpetually like the eye of a hurricane, appeared in front of them, and it lit up that little crooked grin on his face, as if he knew she had not cast her own light just to prove a point.
This annoyed her a touch.
“Where are they?” she asked, deciding the silence between the two of them was too much in this small, dark space. Too intimate.
Still grinning, Theo nodded his head forward, sending the Light Sphere down the tunnel ahead of them. The shadows scuttled away from it like insects.
“Just around that bend, my Lady. They’ve prepared a room for us. The Hunters who last saw the Stone will be there.”
Surah had already begun to move forward, and she wished that she could fling Theo’s arm away and walk independently. She didn’t.
When they reached room, which was no more than a small rounded cavern with three burning torches hanging on the wall, they found the two Hunters in question seated at a small, old table, which just barely fit in small room with its four chairs. The two chairs opposite the Hunters were empty, and Surah inclined her head, making one of them slide back from the table before Theo could pull it out for her. She took a seat. Theo stood a moment, then did the same.
Surah pushed her cloak off her head, revealing her lavender curls and partially shaved head. She raised her chin, her violet eyes settling on the Hunters. “I am Surah Stormsong,” she said.
Both Hunters nodded in unison, obviously aware of who she was, and said, “My Lady.”
“May I have your names, sirs?”
Both men were stocky and wide-shouldered. Their hair was cut close and their eyes were black, like midnight and ink, as were all the Hunters that were stationed at the Dark Mountain. Working so close to the Black Stone had its effects, but it was a necessary and honorable duty to uphold. Whether they were suspect or not they deserved their princess’s respect.
The one on the left answered first. “Rand Fishwell,” he said.
Surah nodded. Common name.
The one on the right said, “Brim Ironwater.”
Another nod, slightly less common name, but still common.
“Can you tell me what happened Sir Fishwell, Sir Ironwater?” she asked.
“Wish there was more to tell, my Lady,” said Fishwell. “I went in at eleven to check on the Stone and it was there.” His black eyes flicked to the other Hunter. “When Ironwater went in at midnight it was gone.”
Surah sat back in her chair, sure to keep the dread of what she had to do next off her face. She slid the glove off her right hand.
“May I ask you a question, my Lady?” said Ironwater.
Theo shot the Hunter a glare, and Surah decided she liked Ironwater for not flinching. She nodded, curious. “Of course.”
�
�Are you going to be the new Keeper?”
Surah smiled. Her princess smile. On second thought, she should have declined his request. “That matter has not been decided, sir,” she said, and placed her ungloved right hand on the table, palm up. Ironwater sighed and placed his rough hand in hers.
Surah took a deep, silent breath and let it out. She could already feel the darkness in the Hunter that was a result of years spent near the Black Stone. It was a feeling that quite simply sucked the light out of the world. “Now tell me again, please,” she said.
Ironwater nodded. He repeated the story that Fishwell had told. Surah knew the way she always knew that he was telling the truth. She released her hold on his hand and patted it gently, then offered hers to Fishwell.
Same story. Same results. The two Hunters were telling the truth.
Surah sat back in her chair once more, giving Theo a nod that confirmed their stories. She bit the inside of her bottom lip a little as she wondered what she was supposed to do next, and wished for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past month that her brother were here. Keeper was Syris’s job, and he had been good at it. She hadn’t the slightest clue as to how to lead an investigation of this magnitude, or any magnitude, for that matter. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long day.
“The room that held the Stone,” she said. “Has it been searched?”
Theo answered. “Of course, my Lady. I searched it myself before I came to King Syrian. There is nothing there.”
The way he said this made Surah’s back raise a little, as though this were a silly question, as if to point out that she didn’t know what she was doing. Or maybe she was just defensive because she didn’t know what she was doing. There had been no implication in the Head Hunter’s tone. This was why she could never figure out if she disliked him for warranted reasons or not.
Surah stood from her seat, and the three men followed suit. “Thank you for your cooperation,” she told the two Hunters. Then she turned and left the room, pulling her hood back over her head, the heels of her boots clicking on the hard earth and bouncing off the black walls of the tunnel. Theo followed right at her heels.
“What next, my Lady?” he asked, and Surah got the impression that he knew exactly what to do next, and was testing her. Seeing if she was up for the job.
She continued down the tunnel that led out of the Mountain, wanting to be free of its suppressing weight, willfully keeping the snap out of her tone. “Now we go see about Merin Nightborn,” she said, and Theo smiled as if she were a toddler who’d just recited her ABC’s.
The stone that hung around her neck, tucked into her shirt, pulsed against her skin as she thought again about casting a Lightning Bolt at the Head Hunter. Of course, she didn’t. There were other matters to attend to, matters that seemed to be growing moldy and infected and more imminent by the second.
A Highborn was dead and the Black Stone was missing. It didn’t sound like a coincidence to her. Not at all.
SEE
Jamie Magee
Chapter Six
The screen behind the band turned black, then a dim spotlight illuminated Draven’s guitar; it looked like it was suspended in thin air. As he began to play, the crowd roared and my heart stopped; it was my song, the one I’d grown dependent on. The drums, and then the lead and base guitars erupted, and the stage was lit with a bright light. I tried to piece it all together – everyone saying I knew him – this song – at that instant, I couldn’t even remember where I found that song in the first place. I was completely captivated by the moment I was in.
I could see his twin, Aden, beside him. As he took over the lead guitar, I edged forward on the hood, wanting to hear Draven’s voice more clearly over the roar of the crowd.
His tone was simply hypnotic. As it reached me, it felt like a wave of pure energy soared through every part of my body. It dulled the tense adrenaline that seemed to have control over me. Each note made me feel more and more one with the sound; it was like I was a part of everything. When he sang the lyrics ‘My soul intertwined with the divine…an angel I wish were mine,’ it was almost more than my body could take.
“Is it clear now?” Madison screamed over the music.
I shook my head, now completely star struck – who could ever forget that this perfect person existed?
She looped her arm though mine and pulled me off my hood and toward the bed of a truck that was next to us; the people who owned the truck had rushed to the stage with everyone else. The entire crowd was rocking in perfect rhythm with the music. As Madison pulled me up, my eyes shot to center stage – I was almost certain Draven looked me in the eye. Madison put her arm around me and rocked us along with the crowd. I couldn’t believe how alive I felt listening to them play; it was as if I didn’t have a fear in the world.
Everyone on stage embraced their presence as they performed; it was as if each member of the band was connected. I normally try to give my attention to every part of a band, but every time I looked away from Draven, I found a reason to study him again. I was starting to doubt that he’d looked me in the eye before. I could see that he connected so well with his audience that each of us felt like he was singing to us alone.
When my song ended, he didn’t stop to talk to his audience; they just began their next song. I recognized this song, too, but I didn’t know from where.
Sure that I was hidden in this dark crowd, I moved freely to the music, something I’d normally only do when I was alone. The band played into the next song without pause. When it was over, Draven simply said, “Thank you,” then stepped back into the darkness. The crowd screamed for them to come back, but they never did. When the owners of the truck came back, we jumped down. A lot of people were starting to leave now.
“Is it over?” I asked Madison when we got back to my car.
“Just a break. Most people just came to see that band; the bands that played before have another set.”
I knew that would take hours, and I was ready to go. “I’m not gonna make it through another set; I told you I was tired before we came.”
“Yeah, and I told you to take a nap – besides, I want you to meet some people. Come on,” she said, waving her arm for me to follow.
I wasn’t stupid; she was going to try and get me to meet Draven, and that wasn’t going to happen – not after watching that performance. I was sure to act like an idiot; besides, I didn’t know how to thank him for writing that song I loved – it had gotten me though the last few days – through the moments that were too much for me to handle.
I sat down in the driver’s seat of my car and shook my head no. Madison walked over to the passenger door, opened it, and leaned in. “What are you doing?” she asked, annoyed.
“Going home – need a ride?” I asked sarcastically.
She quickly reached over and grabbed my keys. “Tell you what,” she said, backing out of the door.
I flew out of my door, prepared to fight her to get them back. She flung her hand back as far as she could and threw my keys in the field behind us. “When you find your keys – we’ll go.”
I could have ripped her to shreds – she threw them in grass that was almost two inches tall that cars were creeping across. “I cannot believe you – how could you?!”
“Relax, just going to say goodbye to a few people, then I’ll help you look.” She took off in a sprint and yelled, “It’s for your own good!” over her shoulder.
As soon as I found my keys, I was gone – with or without her. The cars that were driving over the field she threw them in were starting to thin out. I reached in my pocket and turned up my music as loud as it would go. I stared at the shadows the car lights were creating across the grass – once I was sure they were ordinary, I began to walk cautiously forward, studying the ground; it wasn’t muddy, but the ground was soft. In the back of my mind, I had this fear that one of the passing cars had pushed my keys into the ground and I’d never find them.
I scanned the area she
’d thrown them in for almost thirty minutes. With each second that passed, I grew more and more furious with Madison. Most of the cars avoided the area I was in, and I tried to take advantage of the light they gave the grass as they passed. I crouched lower, looking for any sign of the silver on my keys; then all at once I saw the shadows across the blades of grass began to slither toward me. I held in a scream that wanted to come out and somehow found anger. “Go away,” I said firmly. They ignored my request and began to grow – before I knew it, I was surrounded by dark figures.
I stood slowly and held my glare. Under my breath, I began to hum the melody that was blaring in my ears; then out of nowhere, the field I was standing in lit up and the figures instantly evaporated. A sly grin spread across my face as I turned and looked into the bright headlights that were shining on me. They turned slightly, revealing the gray Hummer they belonged to. My heart started to beat violently against my chest as I saw the shadowed driver put it in park.
He slowly opened his door and stepped out. I could see him clearly now: it was Draven. He walked cautiously to my side and tilted his head. I reached my hand in my pocket and turned the music down so I could hear him.
“Are you OK?” he asked seriously.
I looked to the shadowed grass, then into his eyes – I was sure he thought I was insane. It took me a second to formulate the words in my head before I could answer him. “My friend…my friend threw my keys out here because she wanted to stay longer,” I finally said, trying to hold a calm composure.
“Charlie…do you remember me?” he asked quietly as his eyes, which were full of a painful anger, danced across my face.
My heart began to beat violently against my chest as my mind echoed his perfect voice in my thoughts – it seemed so glaringly familiar to me. I looked down as echoes of him saying random words that I couldn’t make out rushed in and out of my vacant memory. “I guess we knew each other when we were little or something?” I slowly looked up to see if there was any truth in what I said.
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