What she found when she shifted was incomprehensible. Her Council was before her, all of them being forced to kneel and held within some sort of shield. She went to draw her power to free them when she realized her powers were bound. A king could bind one of his own Council, but no one had the ability to bind royal blood. Never had anyone had that kind of power.
“Well, well, Violissa. How nice of you to join us.” She turned around and was surprised to see Tynan standing behind her. He had one hand out maintaining the spell that held her Council and the other was still drawn to bind her. She drew what little magic she had left in her and countered the spell. Tynan looked annoyed and jerked his hand back. He began to talk when Sinow shifted in, the ground rippling as he landed hard across from her. He looked around at the scene before him and backed away as he did. Violissa took this to mean he was distancing himself, and it hurt her to realize that she had been right. Her heart fell as she tried to make sense of it all. She thought she had brought him back, but he had played her just as she had played him earlier. How could she have been so stupid? But it had felt right, that kiss. There had to be an explanation, something she wasn’t piecing together. She looked back at her Council, could tell they were in pain, and she could do nothing to help them. She’d used what strength she had left to block Tynan, but it had been too late, only a small amount of magic was left functioning in her, and it wasn’t enough to do anyone any good. Sinow was her only hope, but she couldn’t get past the thought that a binding could only be done by a royal, and Tynan didn’t have that kind of power. She felt defeated and weak; no royal had ever had their powers bound until now, and it made her feel helpless. She turned to Sinow, watching and waiting for his actions to prove she was wrong, to prove that he had nothing to do with what was happening.
Sinow had not expected to see what was before him when he shifted. The time it took him to take it all in was probably mere seconds but it felt much longer.
Violissa stood before him, her powers gone, he felt it instantly, had felt it waning during his shift. Her Council, caught in some kind of magical box, brought to their knees and powerless as well. No one but the ruling king had the ability to bind, and he could only bind his own Council; it never crossed realms. And no one bound a royal. The spell didn’t even exist. His anger flared and as he turned to the source of the problem heat surged through him. Tynan.
“Tynan! What in the Fates are you doing?” he demanded, the land around them shaking with his power.
“Do you like it, brother? It was perfect timing. What a great trick, to send out a cease fighting message that the war was over. It made them all easy prey, and I even found them all in one place, gathered here, kindly waiting for me.”
“Let them go, Tynan!” Violissa screamed.
Sinow knew if she’d had her powers that even the Lightbearer in her would not have stopped her from bringing great pain to Tynan at this moment, but she had only her voice. He would have to do the job for her. He reached his hand up to strike.
“Uhh, uhh, don’t make me harm them yet,” Tynan said. “That wouldn’t be any fun.”
Sinow tempered his strike, not wanting them to be harmed. He didn’t know what to do, was stuck between making things right and not doing anything. He did the only thing he could think of given the circumstance and he asked, “Why are you doing this, Tynan?” If he’d known the answer Tynan would give him would be his undoing in Violissa’s eyes, he would have made another choice, gone down another path, but he didn’t, and he would ponder that choice for the centuries that would follow.
“I’m doing what you commanded, brother.”
Violissa took a step back from Sinow. He saw the look of defeat and betrayal in her eyes. Even as he shook his head, he knew deep down that this was not going to get better, that he was not going to hold her in his arms this eve or anytime soon. His heart ached, and his head buzzed as he tried to wrap his head around everything.
“What are you talking about, Tynan? I never told you to do this,” he said defiantly.
“Of course, you did. You said the only way we could walk free in this world was by destroying the Lightbearers and their queen. I found a way to do just that, and now you can watch as I purify our world and rid it of the Light just like we discussed.”
“You take my words out of context, Tynan. Those were words spoken while I was lost to my Dark powers. You can’t have seriously thought this was what I need? What our world needs?” His mind reeled. Had he really said those words? He’d said so many vile things while he’d been lost that he very well may have. It briefly occurred to him that Tynan should never have the power to do such a thing, but that was not a battle that needed to be fought right now. He needed to turn things around before he lost Violissa completely.
“Did you really say that?” Violissa asked. “I thought…I thought…I don’t know what I thought any more. Just let my Council go.” She begged him and then turned and begged Tynan. “Please let them go, Tynan.”
“No.” With that single word, Tynan threw a spell out toward her Council. Sinow vaguely registered Violissa screaming as the spell soared through the air toward them. He didn’t know the spell, but he somehow knew it meant their death. Everything ran in slow motion as he instinctively yelled out a counter spell to undo the words. A counter that would stop Tynan’s intent to send them to the Fates and instead send them somewhere else, somewhere safe until he could fix all of this. The air around them charged as his spell collided with Tynan’s right before it hit her Council. A black ball of power slammed into them and then they were gone. The space where they had been was now empty, with no trace of them remaining.
“No!” Violissa screamed as she turned toward Sinow accusingly. “You bring them back. Whatever you two did, you bring them back to me now!” The hatred in her eyes killed him.
“Violissa, we’ll get them back. I promise you.”
“No, you won’t,” Tynan said flatly. He raised his hand, aiming it toward Violissa, and in that instant, the spell left his lips. Sinow’s power crashed through Tynan, sending him slamming back, but it was too late. The spell was loose and heading toward her. There was no stopping it, and in those slow-motion moments his instinct once again kicked in. He threw out the words to the spell he had sent crashing into the last death spell, but this time the power of his emotions warped his counter spell. He felt it as he let it go but didn’t know what it meant as he watched it meld into Tynan’s spell. He watched helplessly, his eyes locked on Violissa’s.
“Sinow?” she said softly as the spell slammed into her. A spray of light shot out from where she stood, and she was gone.
Sinow stood in shock, not knowing what to do or how to react. The pain of losing Violissa tore through him as if a part of him had been ripped away. He turned toward Tynan, Darkness coursing through him stronger than it ever had. He threw a bolt of magic at him that cast Tynan back to the ground. A trail of mangled dirt and trees lay in his wake. A ditch was the only trace of where he had landed but Sinow reached out mentally and grabbed him back, pounding Tynan back down to the ground hard enough to leave a massive crater. Dirt whirled through the air around him, but he disregarded it. Jumping down to where Tynan lay looking up at him, he grabbed him by the hair and flung him against the inside wall of the crater. Tynan looked beat, but the smile remained on his face as a vicious laugh emerged from him. Sinow sensed him beginning to build the same spell he had thrown at Violissa and her Council. It was one he’d never witnessed, but he had known instinctually what it meant then and now. Raising his hand, full powers flowing through him, he yelled, “I denounce your spell and strip it of all power from here on. I bind the spirit of it and render it useless.”
Tynan paused. “You can’t do that. No one has the ability to do that.” Just to prove his point, he picked the spell back up and tried to cast it, but the magic of it sputtered even before it began to form. “What?” he said, a sudden look o
f fear crossing his eyes.
“I just did. Now, I don’t know how you got the strength to do the things you just did, but you are going to undo them. You will bring her back now.” Sinow growled, the power shaking the ground around them.
Tynan laughed. “Don’t you see? I can’t, you can’t. Ha, it would take the Fates to bring her back now. My spell would have killed her, but yours, yours turned it into something so much more fun.” Sinow slapped him hard and he fell to the ground.
“Then you are useless to me. I bind your powers, Tynan. Your gifts will no longer work, and you will be cursed to live your immortal existence without them.”
Tynan moved to block Sinow’s spell, but Sinow was too powerful. The force of it threw Tynan back. Black and red mist swirled around him, forming a chain that wrapped its way from his head to his feet then vanished as it seeped into his flesh, binding his powers.
“No!” He yelled as the spell sank deep into him. He screamed in pain as it wove its way through him.
“For treason to your king and realm, you are banished for the remainder of your life or until I figure out how to kill you myself.” He whipped his hand through the air, and Tynan disappeared just as quickly as Violissa had. He bent forward and rested his hands on his knees. It briefly occurred to him that he shouldn’t have rendered useless the spell Tynan had cast on Violissa and her Council. He should have used it to kill Tynan, but he wasn’t even sure how to use the spell and certainly didn’t know how his Dark powers would influence it. He became aware of his Council standing on the edge of the crater, and so he slowly climbed out, leaving his back to them, not wanting them to see the pain on his face.
“Find her,” he commanded. “Find Violissa and bring her back to me. Find her Council and find her. Now!” His voice was strong and terrifying. The force of it shook the ground below their feet. He felt them all shift, all but Keary, and so he turned to face his friend. “Find her for me, Keary. I need her back.” He knew his friend could hear the pain in his voice. Keary looked sadly at him then bowed and shifted away.
Sinow walked over to where Violissa had been standing just minutes before. He knew in his heart that they would not find her. If he’d thought there was any chance, he would have gone himself. He needed to be alone. He’d felt the power in the spell as it warped and changed when his magic had hit it. It had sent her somewhere, but wherever that was, it was nowhere they would find. He felt the tilt in the balance. Darkness now completely overshadowed most of the Light left in their world. There was a trace of Light out there, so he knew her Council would be found. He could easily undo the binding spell on them and restore their powers, but the one he truly needed to save was now beyond his reach.
Sinow waited for what seemed an eternity before any of his Council returned. He spent the time reliving the past events, cursing himself for not reacting quicker, for not realizing what was happening. Only two Council, Keary and Odhran, had the courage to face him, so he knew the outcome of the search would reinforce what he had known all along.
“We have found her Council; they were sent to the Banished Realm. The others are working to free them.”
“Tell them to stop, I can pull them out. What of Violissa?” he asked, not wanting to hear the words spoken, but knowing the question needed to be asked.
Keary looked at Odhran who nodded then bowed to Sinow and shifted away, then Keary walked forward, head slightly bent. He looked up at Sinow. “Nothing. We followed every trail of her we could find but found nothing. It’s as if she no longer exists.”
Sinow ran his hand through his hair. Hearing the words made the ache in his heart worsen. He suddenly felt drained and didn’t know where to go from this point. “I need her back, Keary.”
“Are you sure Tynan’s spell didn’t work? Are you positive yours changed the course of the spell?” Keary asked hesitantly.
If it had been anyone else, Sinow would have blasted him for even asking.
“Yes, I felt it turn the spell, felt it redirect the magic. She’s alive, I just don’t know where.” He paused, feeling the emotion rising in him. “I can’t feel her presence anymore, Keary. I could always feel her, even when we were young it was there. But now, there’s nothing, just this emptiness.” He turned away. “Leave me, tell the others I need to be alone.”
“Yes, my liege.” He felt him start to shift but then return. “We’ll find her, Sinow. I promise you we’ll do all we can to bring her back to you.” Then he was gone. Sinow was alone, more alone than he had ever felt before. He dropped to his knees, the emotions so strong he could no longer stand. He looked up at the sky, at the Fates he knew were watching, and then dropped his head down as the tears streamed down his face. He’d never cried, never before felt tears; it was a weakness he had never been subjected to, but now they ran freely as the awareness that she was truly gone settled in him. He raised his head in pain and screamed her name long and deep, “Violissa!” His scream could be heard throughout both realms as the ground rumbled with his power. Around him the trees bowed their heads in sadness as the rain began to fall.
Epilogue
Somewhere, many worlds away, in a small human town off the coast of what would someday be Ireland, Lidia grunted as she pulled the final potato from the hardened ground. The weather was going cold too fast this year, ruining what crop they had left to harvest for the oncoming winter. The bitter wind whipped at her hair and stung her fingers as they rubbed the dirt from the potato. Slowly she rose from her knees. She was getting too old for this, she thought at the cracking that emitted from her left knee. As she bent to pick up the basket, she heard a voice calling her name. Raising her hand to shade her eyes, she spotted Kayla, the McDonough’s daughter, running towards her.
“Miss Lidia, Miss Lidia,” she panted as she stopped in front of Lidia, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
“What is it, child?”
“It’s Miss Emma, the baby…it’s coming.”
Lidia looked off to the distance toward where Emma’s cottage sat. It would take her a few minutes to gather her supplies, and the trek to Emma’s home would be tough on her old bones, but not a baby in the town had been birthed without Lidia’s presence. She’d been a midwife since before anyone could remember. She sighed. Of all the times. The warmth of her home called to her, but she knew Emma needed her. They’d thought she was barren. She and Lore had tried for so long. But here it was, her thirtieth year and with child. It was unheard of, some said it was a miracle. So, Lidia trudged to her cottage, dropped the basket on the floor and gathered her things.
“Don’t just stand there, child, run back down and tell them I’m on my way. Get some water from the well and some blankets ready. Go, go!”
With that, the girl ran off, sending dirt through the air behind her.
It took Lidia almost an hour to get to Emma’s home. By the time she entered, Emma was screaming in pain. She looked over to the woman and spotted the round shape of the baby’s head crowning between her legs. Lidia cursed; this was unbelievable. Labor should have taken hours as this was a first child.
“Sit her up more,” she ordered to Lore who’d been pacing next to the bed, not knowing what else to do. Most men would have bolted with the first cry of pain, but Lore was one of a kind, always attentive and dedicated to his wife; a man who still loved her after all this time.
Lidia pulled a stool to the end of the bed. “You must relax, Emma, or you’ll harm the babe.” She grabbed Emma’s knees and spread them wider to get a better look. Yes, there was no doubt the babe would be born in the next few minutes. Kayla brought a blanket over which she placed under Lidia’s hands.
“Now push, child, push hard.” Emma strained and pushed. The head came out. “Push again, bigger this time,” Lidia said as she grasped the baby’s head. “Push, child!”
Emma grunted, her face turning red from the strain. The baby fell into Lidia’s hands
as Emma fell back against Lore’s large arms. This was possibly the fastest birthing Lidia had ever attended. As Emma relaxed, Lidia cleaned the baby and cut the cord. She wrapped the child in the blanked and cleared the airway. Then she listened, no sound came from the child. She brought her hand back to smack its bottom to force the first breath but stopped when she noticed the chest moving in a breathing motion.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” Emma asked, the concern pouring over in her voice at the silence. “Lidia, what’s wrong?”
Lidia stared in amazement at the child. Never had she seen such a quiet and still babe. The child was beautiful, blonde curls were drying on the small head, creating a halo effect. Lidia felt the tears fill her eyes at the sight. Then the baby opened her eyes, and Lidia gasped in reaction.
“Lidia, please!” Lore bellowed in alarm at Lidia’s silence.
Snapped from the spell of those brilliant emerald eyes, the midwife looked up and replied, “It’s a girl, a beautiful, beautiful baby girl.”
Ascension (Unbound Prophecy Book 1) Page 34
