Deviants of Giftborn (The Etherya Series Book 1)

by Amarcya, Zuri

  “Just how they work and what they are used for,” he replied, “We never tried to create any.”

  Kelvedon kept his gaze on the boy, his dark eyes unblinking.

  “Is she alright?” the boy asked. “Did something happen with her therapy?”

  Essen leaned back in his chair, accessed his Gift and extended his reach, feeling for the boy’s release. “Your friend is not who we all thought she was,” he said.

  The boy looked between them again, fear and confusion seeping from him.

  “She is a beggar from the Ryim,” Essen said.

  The boy frowned, shaking his head.

  “She killed two Thaide who were patrolling the Ryim and found her way into the city and into the Arc,” Essen continued.

  The boy opened his mouth but said nothing, astonishment on his face.

  “This morning, she escaped from the Arc.”

  “Escaped?” The boy rose from his seat, bewilderment and fear clouding his release.

  Essen pulled back his reach. The boy had no idea who the girl had been.

  “How did she escape?”

  “She cocooned herself in a platform and flew out. She took an aide with her,” Kelvedon said.

  “Innogen?”

  “Yes.”

  In the silence that followed, the boy did not know what to do with himself. He looked around the room dazed, his eyes flicking in deep thought. Finally he looked back at Essen and sat down. “I can’t believe that Isa is a criminal.”

  “Her name is Nemma,” Kelvedon said.

  “So you may now be able to see our concern,” said Essen, “that you shared your extra training with her.”

  The boy’s face dropped and he gasped. “Oh no.”

  “I’m sure you can understand that we can’t approve you as a Thaide if you had a hand in helping the first ever escapee from the Arc, Master Sokara,” Essen said.

  The boy stared at him. “I…” A red flush crept up his neck. He lowered his eyes, then closed them. “My father will be…” He shook his head and his face crumpled as though he was going to cry, and in an instant his expression smoothed. He sat up straight and opened his eyes. “I understand, High Priest. I offer my sincerest apologies for disobeying the rules of my training. I was trying to be helpful so that she would be able to adjust to the Arc after training. I had no idea of her true status or nature.”

  Essen held up a hand. “There’s no need to apologize. I would expect all magiens to offer such kindness to new scholars.” Essen leaned forward. “It’s still possible for you to continue training as a Thaide if you help us to capture her. In fact, you’ll be able to achieve Thaide status more quickly if you’re able to experience your training through a live assignment.”

  Relief relaxed the boy’s body. He squared his shoulders and looked Essen in the eyes. “I will do anything to rectify my disloyalty to the Sovereign Order.”

  Essen gave him a sharp nod. “Good. When you return to your cell, think about everything you discussed with her, everything she said, everything she was interested in. We need to know everything about her.”

  He swallowed and nodded.

  “I’m not sure about this tactic with the boy, High Priest,” Kelvedon said after he was led out.

  Essen poured another glass of vynth. “We don’t have any choice, Kelvedon. He was the closest person to the girl apart from her aide and he will do anything to fulfill his father’s dreams for him.”

  “It’s not in the interest of the Arc for him to achieve his father’s dreams for him. We can’t have any House gaining such influence over the sects.”

  “It’s not in the interest of the Arc for this girl to escape into the Realms. We have to use what we have at our disposal.”

  “Yes, but to make him a Thaide without proper training? It is extreme.”

  Essen held the vynth to his lips for a moment and drank it down in one gulp, the heat warming his throat. “Walk with me.”

  They left the control room and turned down the aisle that ran along the dome of the building. Every few feet they passed a door that had been fitted with a one-way panel where they could see the magiens they had interviewed.

  “Nothing like this has happened in the history of the existence of the Arc,” Essen said.

  Kelvedon kept in step with him and grunted in agreement.

  “The girl is an unknown source of power. It seems she is more powerful than all Thaide, including you.” In Kelvedon’s silence, Essen knew he had hit a nerve. “Therefore we will do whatever necessary to capture this threat. Even if it means training a Thaide through unconventional means.”

  Kelvedon did not respond.

  “We have to be able to understand this girl and the people who knew her can provide an insight.” Essen stopped. “Have them return to their duties and make sure they are watched. Warn them about discussing their interviews with anyone other than yourself. We don’t want to encourage hysteria.”

  “You wish to let them go free?” Kelvedon asked, turning to him. “That is absurd. They should be thoroughly punished. And Clisantha Saraethien should be in there with them. I’m at a loss as to why you allowed her to return to the city.”

  Essen allowed the anger springing up within him to dissipate before answering. Kelvedon’s lack of respect was becoming a problem. “I didn’t allow her to return to the city. I released her from the Capital, but I didn’t say she could return home. Get her back to the Arc immediately.”

  Kelvedon dipped his head and turned to go.

  “But do not detain her,” Essen added. “She’s not a prisoner.”

  Kelvedon turned back to him, his eyes narrowed. “I know you have a… soft heart for this girl but she fell foul of Sovereign Law when she lied for the criminal.” He lifted a hand towards the cells. “They have all breached His Law and should be punished.”

  Essen walked close to Kelvedon, holding his gaze. He gestured to the nearest door, beyond which was the girl’s mentor, a tall, dark, calm man from the Central Realm. He sat upright in the chair, hands on his knees, eyes closed. “Elementyth Othmar is one of the most celebrated Elementyths of the last one hundred years. We both know how passionate he is about Sovereign Law. He referred the girl to be assessed. He did his job. He’s not a criminal. None of them are.”

  The corner of Kelvedon’s mouth twitched but he did not break eye contact.

  “Good magiens can’t be blamed for doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Let’s not forget that you collected her from Clisantha Saraethien and brought her straight in through the Arc wall.”

  A snarl graced Kelvedon’s lip.

  “Of all the Thaide, you are the one responsible for bringing her in undetected. So if these magiens and Mss Saraethien face Justice, so must you.”

  ***

  Within the hour Essen was kneeling on the highest level of Torak Tower gasping for breath. Once his heartbeat had slowed, he walked along the ledge and knocked on the Sovereign’s door. It opened and he walked into the large white room. Daylight streamed in through the wide windows that accounted for the top half of wall space in the room. The Sovereign stood looking out of a window, his hands clasped behind him. He wore a version of the Thaide cloak but with gold embroidered swirl designs instead of blue. He turned to face Essen.

  “Divine Sovereign,” Essen said, bowing.

  “Imagine,” the Sovereign said in a measured voice, “how surprised I was to be in Yetsari, dealing with the issues there, and suddenly feel chaos in the Gift. Happening here. In my home.”

  Essen watched him, unsure what to say.

  The Sovereign’s emerald gaze felt deadly. “What is going on?”

  Essen began to recount the events of the last four months. As he listened, the Sovereign’s expression soured, and when Essen reached the moment the girl flew over the Arc wall he stepped towards him.

  “Nothing happened to her at all?” the Sovereign asked, his stern expression softening a touch. “She didn’t flinch, or pause or in any way sh
ow that the code affected her?”

  “No, Sovereign. It was as though it didn’t exist.”

  “What happened next?”

  “The Thaide couldn’t prevent her from leaving the Arc and she disabled their platforms so they couldn’t follow her immediately. She escaped into Torak. We have the city in confinement searching for her.”

  “How? How did she disable their platforms?” The Sovereign eyes bore into him, and Essen found his nerves wavering.

  “It’s difficult to say because her Gift strength is so faint and the Thaide were barely able to detect her shield. It seemed that when the Thaide Priest threw a striker at her, it rebounded off her shield and its quality changed so when it hit the Thaide it dissolved their platforms and their ability to access their Gift.”

  “The Thaide lost their ability to access their Gift?”

  “Momentarily, yes. Some of them sustained fatal injuries when they fell.”

  The Sovereign lowered his head in thought. “Has she tried to get past the Torak Gates?”

  “The Thaide guarding them haven’t reported so, but she has managed to get past them before undetected.”

  The Sovereign closed his eyes for a moment. “I can’t feel her.”

  “She has a strange Gift, my liege—”

  “I heard you the first time,” the Sovereign interrupted. “I should still be able to feel her. There is a hideaway somewhere in the city that’s protecting her. Find it.”

  “Yes, Sovereign.”

  The Sovereign turned and walked across the room, his cloak swirling around him. “Are you becoming ineffective, Essen?”

  The question was so unexpected that Essen froze, terror filling his veins.

  “You have been searching for this girl for how many months?”

  “Eight, sire,” Essen said, finding his voice.

  “And for more than half that time she has been within the Arc wall.” The Sovereign sat at the table on one side of the room and as he did, plates, bowls and glasses began appearing before him in flashes of white-gold light. “Who is responsible for that?”

  “I have been in Dyera for almost all of that time, Sire.”

  “So you absolve yourself from anything that goes on in the Arc while you are absent?”

  “No, your Worship.” Essen realized he was holding his breath. “But this started as a Thaide assignment. The Thaide Priest has struggled with his responsibilities.”

  The Sovereign lifted a jug of burgundy liquid and poured it into a tall glass. “Has he? He came to see me and that is not his viewpoint.”

  Essen could not find any words to respond. The bastard met with the Sovereign behind his back.

  “He saw that this girl was a concern before you, didn’t he?”

  “I realize that, Sovereign, but his attitude and conduct is proving challenging to maintain.”

  “As were yours when you held his post,” the Sovereign said between sips.

  Essen resisted reacting, keeping his breathing even. It would not do for the Sovereign to detect the extent of his anger and fear through his release.

  “You seem to have forgotten the ambitious nature that got you into the High Priest position, Essen. Back then, you were highly effective.”

  “The Thaide Priest is the one that brought this girl in through the Arc wall believing she was a fourth quarter citizen, my liege. It was my detection ball that discovered her.”

  “Failure to detect her does not mean he isn’t doing his job,” the Sovereign said, turning to him. “I can’t detect her now. Am I failing my duties?”

  No words came to Essen’s defense and a heat rose within him.

  “Has the Thaide Priest been leading the investigation?” the Sovereign asked after a moment’s silence.

  “He has, but I will be taking it over.”

  “Fine, but do not terminate him from duty,” the Sovereign instructed. “His reputation is outstanding and unflawed, even in this instance. If you find him a problem, that’s a challenge for you not the Sovereign Order.”

  “Yes, Sovereign.”

  “Now go. And keep me updated.”

  Twenty-Four

  “The more you concentrate, the more the vibrations will become clearer to you. You should be able to feel the inner vibrations within her body but I want you to focus just on her mind,” the Elementyth said. “It should feel like many fine threads moving.”

  “No,” Nemma said. “It feels like one big ball of pulsing energy, there are no threads.”

  “Alright, stop.”

  Nemma opened her eyes and saw Clisantha give Riyen an exasperated look. They sat on the wooden chairs in the factory basement, Nemma and Clisantha facing each other with the Elementyth at one side facing them both. Chesna padded around the room packing while Innogen lay on a bed staring up at the ceiling.

  “You will need to use all of your energy to feel the finer threads so try again but this time block me out, block out everything. Try not to use any of your senses, just feel for the threads. It’s easier to do than you think, just think of a place you were content and relax your mood as if you are there.”

  “Then what do I do?”

  “There will be somewhere in Clisantha’s mind that the threads don’t move freely. Some of them will be trapped. You need to try and take command of whatever is holding them.”

  Nemma swallowed. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “Indeed, it does,” Clisantha said to Riyen, worry penetrating her usual stony expression.

  “All I want you to do is take command of it and then release it,” he assured. “That is all. Do not move it, do not try to affect it in any other way.” He smiled. “Ready?”

  Nemma nodded. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and expelled a steady stream of air through her mouth. She thought of home, the pounding splatter of rain on the hut walls, fragrant cherry flower tea, Father tickling and wrestling her, the sound of mother’s laceboard, Aunt Gabby’s chatter. A calm drifted over her.

  She felt again for Clisantha’s vibration. At first her energy felt like one vibration but as Nemma focused, they began to feel finer. A network of vibrations ran within Clisantha Saraethien’s body that become more complex as she felt for it. Streams of energy rushed and swirled within her, some in simple lines other in circular patterns and irregular pathways. Focusing on Clisantha’s head, she felt the slightly stronger vibration of her brain. She held her focus on it and, slowly, the vibrations separated into many thin lines of shooting energy. Some jerked in different directions, some floated and others shot from one side of her mind to another. She observed their pathways for a while, familiarizing herself with how they moved. The longer she watched them, the stronger and more defined they felt.

  She noticed an area where there was a lack a movement. A chunk of threads seemed to stick together, but did not affect any that moved around them. Focusing on that area she felt for the trap. It was a wispy thin web wrapped around the immovable threads in Clisantha’s mind. Nemma extended her reach and tried to take command of it but it was so fine that she struggled to concentrate on just the web and not catch any of the energy shooting past. With careful timing she managed to take command of a corner but could not spread her reach to any more of it.

  Releasing the web she pulled back and opened her eyes.

  “I could only take command of part of it,” she said to the Elementyth’s inquiring face. “It was too fine.”

  Clisantha had her eyes closed and was swaying gently.

  Riyen placed a hand on her knee. “Are you alright?”

  She opened her eyes and rubbed her head. “Yes, I’m well. Did it work?”

  “Nemma was able to take command of a part of the web but not all.”

  “How would taking command of it remove it?” Nemma asked.

  “I was hoping that your Gift strength would cause it to dissolve.”

  “So I’m still suffering from this ridiculous web?” Clisantha asked, her voice returning to the hard clipped tone she had bee
n using when she first arrived.

  “It may still dissolve, but if it does it will take some time because only a part of it was under Nemma’s command,” he said, handing Clisantha a cup of water from the pump.

  “So how will I know it when it dissolves?”

  “Your memories will come back to you. Maybe not all at once, but eventually they will all be released.”

  Clisantha made a face into the cup. “This isn’t water,” she said, putting the cup down. “I need to go home and get a proper drink.”

  Chesna, who was packing a bag, rolled her eyes at Nemma behind Riyen’s back. Nemma grinned and got up.

  “Thank you, Nemma,” Riyen said, grabbing her hand. “If Clisantha manages to get even some of her memories back you have aided us more than you know.”

  Nemma smiled at him squeezed his hand. “I’m not sure if I’ve managed to do anything, but I’m glad I didn’t hurt her.”

  She glanced at Clisantha, who said nothing, and started to get ready to leave. She searched for clothes in her size on the racks and picked up a hairbrush with half a handle and few hair springs. She pulled down a long sleeved, frayed dark gray tunic for Innogen who had refused to move from the bed to get ready.

  “I think it’s best that you do go home,” the Elementyth said to Clisantha.

  She looked at him. “You would send me away?”

  “I want to you be safe,” Riyen said, taking her hand. “I know we need to talk about a few things.”

  “A few things?” Clisantha stood up. “There’s much for us to talk about, Riyen. Why can’t I come with you?”

  Chesna started to change and Nemma took the clean clothes over to Innogen, who watched Clisantha and the Elementyth with interest.

  “I don’t want you to be in danger unnecessarily, Clisantha,” Riyen said, standing. “That was never my intention.”

  “It’s a little late for that.”

  “No. You go home and stay there. You don’t need to be a part of anything else.”

  “What if they want me back in the Arc? What if they interrogate me?”

  “I doubt it. You already told them everything. If they didn’t believe you, they would have kept you there.”