The Midnight Strider (The Chronomancer Chronicles Book 2)

by Reilyn J. Hardy

  “I can’t do anything right,” I mumble.

  “No one expects you to get it on the first try. I told Rhiannon that this could take a while but to be alert just in case.” She puts her hand on my arm. “Don’t give up, Artemis,” she says quietly. “I believe in you.”

  She believes in me. I can’t say no to that. But I can’t concentrate right now, not with the frustrations plaguing me. I know she’s only here because she wants to prove herself to her dad, but her being here makes all the difference.

  “Okay, tomorrow,” I say. “I’m tired. You can sleep in Jace’s bed tonight.”

  “Okay.” she says, there’s reluctance in her voice.

  “I promise I’ll try harder,” I say, trying to be reassuring.

  She presses her lips together and shakes her head. “I told you,” she starts, “whatever you can do, it’s good enough.”

  “Thanks.”

  It’s weird to be told, especially twice, that what I’m doing is enough. I don’t think anyone has ever told me that. People talked about what I would become, how great I would be and how I’d end up just like my dad, but no one said anything about it being okay if I wasn’t. If I never measured up to what they wanted me to be.

  No one ever said that trying was enough.

  “Things will change as he gets older.”

  “He’s still young, he’s just not ready yet.”

  “He has a lot to learn.”

  “I’m sure he’d be great by now if he had his father to teach him.”

  “He needs to work harder.”

  Nothing I did was ever enough. I guess it stuck.

  Being a disappointment, being disappointing. I acted out because I wanted my dad’s attention, but it was more than that. I acted out because I wanted the expectation to go away. I was never going to be enough.

  That mindset isn’t going to change overnight, but hearing it out loud, that my efforts were enough?

  Well, she’s right.

  It’s hard to keep trying when the world feels against you.

  I know I’m not helping with that.

  That next morning, I see Nova and Jace talking to each other and I can’t bring myself to walk over to them. I can’t bring myself to apologize. Nova glances at me, but for no longer than a second, before he returns his attention back onto the conversation.

  His expression is burned into my memory when I threatened to cut the stockstill from his neck.

  Regardless of what I’m going through, that was still my fault. My problems aren’t an excuse to treat other people badly, and I didn’t want to use it as one.

  I’d apologize, once I no longer felt the loom of the cloud of embarrassment hovering above me.

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  benny's suggestions

  The summer night is cool. I hadn’t really noticed my hair has gotten longer till I can feel the curls ruffling in the wind. I shake my head and run my fingers through the thick black hair just when Kina gets there.

  “Sorry I took so long. Jace was actually being difficult.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “He was?”

  She nods. “He might suspect something, but I’m not sure. Rhiannon had to — uh.” She crinkled her nose. “Yeah. I said I had things to do for Maite.”

  “How is the wedding preparation coming along, anyway?” I ask, chipping at the rail with my fingernail. “Has Miko said anything since getting her father to help?”

  Kina shakes her head. “But I’m starting to think you’re stalling. Come on, try again.”

  I grip my dagger still in its sheath.

  “I don’t know why you think this time’s going to be any different,” I say, staring at my carving from the previous night. She frowns at me and I frown back.

  “Maybe try it with blood? I mean, dark creatures rely heavily on blood as a resource, right?”

  My blood. It reminded Nannu of my brother; even Nadia said it was different.

  “It’s worth a shot.” Using my dagger, I slice open my finger. I put it away and smear my blood over the ouroboros carving. We take a step back.

  Nothing happens. Again.

  “This is useless,” I say, turning away from the railing. I wipe my finger against my shirt. But on the other side of the bridge, I see the water begin to ripple. “Wait a minute,” I start. I turn to Kina, but she’s looking away from me. She’s listening. “Kina?”

  “I think it’s your turn to go inside,” she says, she doesn’t turn to me. She's facing the woods. “My family,” she says quickly as she starts shoving me toward the inn’s front door. “My dad’s coming.” She pulls open the door and shoves me inside as she yells for Jace, but he’s already coming down the stairs.

  “I know,” he says. He hardly even glances at me. Instead, he goes right outside. Kina goes to follow him and I grab her wrist.

  “What’s gonna happen?”

  “I don’t know. Gather everyone. I’ll try to find Miko.”

  I run up the stairs and Rhiannon's standing there, gripping tightly onto a broken railing. In the flickering of the torches in the hall, I swear I can see her face changing between human and vampire.

  “Are you okay, Rhiannon?” I ask, coming up the stairs. The front of her dress is torn open. “Why is your dress —” I did see Jace coming down the stairs... “Oh — OH.” My eyes widen and look away from her.

  “Shut up. Are they gonna be okay?” She tries to fix the front of her dress while I look anywhere else.

  “They’re family,” I say to the torch, “they should be fine.”

  But I don’t know. From what Kina’s told me about their father, I don’t know what to expect. I glance down at her chest; she’s practically spilling out of her corset. “You should probably —”

  “I don’t have time to change, Artemis!”

  “What’s happening?” Nadia asks as she and Nova come down the stairs from their rooms. She stares at Rhiannon. “What happened to you? Did you get attacked by a dog?” Then the realization sets in. She exchanges glances with Nova and they both laugh. Rhiannon crosses her arms over her chest and huffs.

  “The Knights are here,” I say.

  “The what?” Nadia asks.

  “The wolf pack!” Benny says, manifesting on the stairs.

  “Keep her away from the windows,” Nova says, acknowledging Rhiannon.

  Miko meets us and motions for us to follow her.

  I stop when we reach the ground floor and stare out the window. Munfolk are fighting against them, with crossbows and daggers. Caught in the line of fire, are both Jace and Kina.

  “We have to help them,” I say.

  “We are,” Rhiannon says. “If we leave, they’ll leave.”

  “But — I —”

  Miko hits me with her metal cuff.

  “You’re not a bad person, Artemis. Stop with this pity party you’re throwing for yourself. You didn’t mean for this to happen, they know that. This isn’t your fault. Now let’s go.”

  I nod finally and I follow them. We walk down the many stairs and sneak down into the underwater basement through the back while the wolves fight against the munfolk outside.

  Benny, Nova, and Nadia have already descended down the creaking stairs and Miko motions for us to follow them. “What about you?” I ask her. She gives me a half smile.

  “I have to stay here, Art,” she says as she pulls out her sai. “My dad, my grandma, I have to stay. Please under —”

  I nod. “It’s okay,” I say, “I understand.” Miko’s done more than enough. I wasn’t expecting her to come with us. I turn around to face the window again. I can hardly see it from where I stand now. “Are they going to make it in time?” I ask.

  “I’m sure they will,” Rhiannon says. “They’re trying to stall for us. They’ll be okay,” she insists, pushing me to follow everyone
else as Miko runs off.

  “What about you?”

  “I’m right behind you,” she whispers as I start down the stairs.

  I look back at Rhiannon and she’s gone.

  “Where did she go?” I ask as Coin comes up to me. His eyes are wild.

  “There’s no time, you need to leave. Don’t make me push you in there,” he says.

  “Make sure they get through,” I say.

  He nods. “I’ll do my best. Now go.”

  “Coin, about the wolves, I’m sorry that this is happening again —”

  “It’s not your fault,” he tells me, “now go! I won’t tell you again!”

  I dart down the stairs and the basement is nearly pitch black. My vision starts to blur in my left eye. I think I’m catchings glimpses again, of what Jace can see. He’s fighting against one of his siblings, I don’t know which one. In their wolf forms, they all look the same to me. Rhiannon’s in her vampiric form. She drops down, and scratches the other wolf in the face before grabbing onto their back with her feet and throws them into the wall. Jace starts yelling at her and she just shakes her head.

  He turns to see Kina, and points at Rhiannon.

  She nods.

  They haven’t changed, they both still stood in their human forms. My vision clears, bringing me completely back into the basement.

  “Something wrong?” Nova asks me, his fist is lava rock again, fire emitting through the cracks that run up his arm like veins. I shake my head. “Well come on then.” My eyes land on the stockstill hanging around his neck. I open my mouth to apologize, but the words don’t want to come out.

  He turns away from me too quickly to notice, and I just follow. Nadia falls in line with me.

  “Something’s bothering you,” she says.

  “Can you open my mind again?” I ask her. “To Rhiannon?”

  She shakes her head. “I never shut her out. You did. I can’t change that, you’re gonna have to.”

  “How?”

  “Let your guard down.” She shrugs and turns away.

  I don’t know if I can do that.

  “Are you sure this wasn’t a trap?” Benny asks, patting the walls with a solid hand.

  “It’s here!” Nadia shouts, she’s palming the rocks. “But it looks like it’s been sealed. A long time ago.” She turns around and shrugs.

  “Unbelievable.” Nova punches the wall. Surprisingly, it doesn’t break. It doesn’t even crack from the force. “Now what are we going to do?” he asks as he turns around.

  “Freycrest Cave!” Benny shouts, throwing a Thirondel charm at the ground.

  “How did you get that?” I ask.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Nova yells at him, smacking the back of Benny’s head with his lava rock arm as the ground begins to shake.

  “OW!” Benny dramatically shouts in his face as he rubs the back of his head with his fingers. “That hurt! I have a plan and we don’t have a choice.” He doesn’t wait to explain and jumps in through the frosted crack once it’s completely formed.

  “What’s wrong with Freycrest?” I ask.

  “There are harpies,” Nova says, staring at the crack that continues to grow in the basement. “The waters there are infested with mermaids.”

  Rumbling comes from above.

  “Benny’s right,” Nadia says and frowns. “Never thought I’d say that — but we don’t have a choice. They’re gonna find us down here and they’re gonna kill her.”

  She jumps into the crack.

  Something hits my back and I lose my balance, nearly falling over. I trip over my own two feet and someone reaches out to grab my arm. It’s Kina, Rhiannon’s standing beside her. “Where’s Jace?” I ask.

  “He’s coming,” Kina says. “But we have to get far away from here, as quickly as possible. My dad isn’t happy we weren’t listening to him.”

  “Yeah, how was that possible?”

  “I think it was the separation. I think it helped.”

  “Well lets stop standing around then,” Nova says. Still, he looks unsure about the passage.

  I look back at the way we had come in.

  “Are you sure he’s coming?” I ask, and Kina nods.

  “He said there was something he had to do.”

  I frown. “What does that mean?”

  Kina shrugs and looks at Rhiannon.

  She doesn’t say anything. Nova yells at us again for standing around and he jumps into the crack after everyone else. No one exchanges words again for a while, and the three of us finally follow the rest of the group.

  The cave we land in is dark, only illuminated by the fire emitting from Nova’s fist. I think about reaching for my dagger, but I don’t know how to make it light up again. I don’t even know what will show up — darkness or light. I pick myself up off of the ground as Kina helps Rhiannon to her feet.

  Jace comes tumbling in and nearly knocks the two of them right back on the ground. He steadies Rhiannon. “You okay?” he asks her, concern in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” she says, she sounds out of breath.

  Rhiannon falls against the wall. Jace pulls her closer to him, ready to pick her up. “Do you want me to?”

  “I'm fine,” she reassures, gripping onto his shoulder.

  There’s light at the end of the cave, and we all run toward it as fast as we can, seeing the silhouettes of everyone else, filling our lungs with the fresh air. Kina comes to an abrupt stop, forcing me to stop behind her.

  “There are harpies right over there,” Nova tells us, tilting his head to the left.

  “We should jump,” Benny says, looking down into the ocean, waves crashing against the mountain side.

  “Into mermaid infested waters?" Nova shouts, he looks worried. "Are you insane?”

  “Do you really think they’ll drown us?” Kina asks.

  “Who knows what they’d do. Drown us, eat us, throw us in the Pitch. I don’t know and I honestly don’t want to find out.”

  “Well we can’t just stand here,” Nadia says, looking at Rhiannon.

  I look at Rhiannon too. In the dark, I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t smell it. But as the sun begins to rise, the front of her dress is blood soaked, seeping out from her side, and her arm is scratched.

  “Rhiannon —”

  “The harpies! Her blood is attracting them!” Nadia shouts, pointing at the harpies who are all now staring at us. Nova sets one on fire when it comes too close, and Nadia jumps in front of Rhiannon just as it tries to knock her away from us.

  “Nadia!” I reach for her and Nova grabs hold of me.

  She falls. Her hand slips right through my fingers and her head smashes against the stone, knocking her unconscious. She rolls off of the rock as one of the harpies claw through her stomach trying to grab her but she lands in the water.

  “We have to jump!” Benny says again.

  Kina punches a harpy in the neck. “We don’t have another choice!” she agrees.

  Nova groans. “Phoenixes don’t do well in water.”

  Benny jumps into the ocean without another word. He takes a running start and leaps right off of the ledge. Kina follows him. Jace and Rhiannon exchange glances.

  “Don’t let go,” she says, reaching for his hand. He laces his fingers with hers.

  “Never.”

  The two of them are next.

  Nova looks back at me as I take a step closer to the edge, standing beside him. “I’m trying,” I say, while the harpies eye us.

  “I just need to make sure you’re okay,” he says. “Amelia would kill me — well, she’d try.”

  Amelia. Not my father, or my mother. Amelia. I frown and rub the back of my neck.

  “Why aren’t they attacking us?” Nova asks.

  “Maybe they think I’m Apollo.”

>   The harpies are hovering in front of us, one lands on the stone ledge, stained with Nadia’s blood.

  “Can you —”

  I shake my head. “I can’t control it.”

  He nods. “I guess I’ll see you down there,” he says. He takes a deep breath and he jumps off of the edge; I look down as he hits the water. As soon as he does, I see a large fish tail break the surface, and disappear. Mermaids.

  Beinyth’s domain; the Earth Shaker.

  I look at the harpies again, they’re all eyeing me curiously. I don’t think they know who I am, or at least they aren’t sure who I am — which twin I am.

  I don’t think the Reaper would be too happy if they pecked out Apollo’s guts — though neither would I. I realize it then, it hits me square in the face.

  He needs my brother. My brother is stronger than him, he’s younger than him. Apollo’s most valuable to him alive, otherwise why hasn’t any of Drarkodon’s creatures just kill my brother for him? No heir, no way of being destroyed. Somehow, the pros of his life must outweigh the cons. I have to figure out exactly why. I was positive the curse didn’t extend to his creations.

  I place my hand over the handle of my dagger, but I don’t remove it from the sheath. I hear something behind me, some kind of pounding noise — running.

  Someone’s coming after us. Me. I stand alone now. I think I have a better chance with the mermaids than the werewolves. Besides, the ship is supposed to come with death. Nadia died. I close my eyes.

  I take a step forward and I slip off of the cliff, feet first in to the water below. It reminds me of plunging into the water at Edgewick away from the Witchfen Worm, and again in Mithlonde, away from the Skinharvesters. Only I don’t think it will protect me this time.

  Looking up at the sky, through the waves overhead, the morning sun shines into the water, but a face soon blocks my view. Anemone for hair, her skin is bright orange like coral, with barnacles growing on her face. She grabs me with her webbed hands and pulls me closer to her. The mermaid presses her lips against mine, stuffing crystallized seaweed into my mouth. She’s taking me to The Pitch.