Igniting Spirit (Gathering Water Book 3)

by Regan Claire

“What am I going to do? I can’t… I’m not getting rid of the baby.” It would be easy, just a quick hop to a clinic, and the problem would be solved. But… I can’t even entertain the thought. Life is growing inside of me, something made from love. Derek’s and my love for each other.

  Dad looked into my eyes and kissed my forehead. “I understand, honey. But what you’re going to have to do will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. You are going to disappear, and there’s only so much I can do to help you.”

  So that’s what we’ve been doing the past several days. Lining everything up for me to disappear. It won’t be forever, only until the child inside of me is old enough to go through Testing and prove themselves a true ally to the Elfennol. I will raise my child alone, without the support of my family and community. Without our home and without Derek. We will have each other, though, and that will have to be enough.

  Even my father won’t know my final destination. It might be overly paranoid, but Dad says we should not underestimate the Elfennol’s fear. Fear will drive them to hunt me down, should they find out. But my fear for my child is greater. They will not find us. They will never find us.

  *****

  “Ezra!” I screamed, rushing towards them. But Kaylus had left the majority of his people behind, and they all moved as if they had one goal in mind — to prevent me from following. I was buried again, and this time I could actually feel the Death in their auras creep in and steal my energy. I could feel it eating my life. I started Gathering Spirit to replenish what was taken, Gathering it from all around me, unconcerned with the possible consequences while I went to work on the dark soldiers of Kaylus. I yanked the blood from their bodies, happy with how quickly that got them away from me before. But it was only somewhat successful because each one that I killed stayed moving, fueled by a much more demanding master than Life. They were also significantly grosser, since having your blood ripped from your body leaves a lot of room for aesthetic improvement.

  A scream of frustration poured from my mouth. Hurting them wouldn’t stop them. In fact, it made their Death energy stronger, more infectious. My energy was being drained faster, and I pulled more from the sources around me to keep me strong.

  These guys had to be completely destroyed if I were to survive long enough to find Ezra.

  I created a flame and fed it with air until it was a swirling mass around me. Bigger and bigger, bending air to knock my adversaries into the growing pyre, where their bodies were burnt into nothingness within seconds. I could see and hear nothing past the roaring of the fire. Once I was certain every hint of death was turned to ash, I let the fire die and staggered a few steps forward. There was no way to catch up with Kaylus and Ezra now. I knew Kaylus would keep him alive, at least until it was time to open the portal. Sunset had already happened where the portal was, and sunrise was still several hours away. I needed to regroup and make a plan. I was weak, but I wouldn’t be for long. I just needed more Spirit energy, and then...

  I looked around and saw the fallen bodies. Not Kaylus’ soldiers, but my father’s men. They had been my source of energy when I had Gathered Spirit. They could have stopped my draw of their energy — protected themselves from it — but they didn’t. They offered themselves up for me, sacrificed themselves for me.

  I fell to my knees with a sob caught in my throat. Some of the Leoht there were still alive, but some of them... some of them had given too much. I had taken too much, and knowing that left me hollow inside.

  I felt people behind me, bright sources of life — the brightest my small island contained.

  I turned to see who had joined me, and saw Etta standing behind me. The people who had joined her were going to the survivors of my drain and giving them energy to replace what I had stolen.

  I couldn’t make myself stand up. Couldn’t even make myself keep looking at her. Instead, my eyes latched onto one too-familiar face a few feet away. I crawled over to my father and buried my face in his chest, finally succumbing to the tears.

  After a few minutes my sobs started to quiet down. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “I am afraid we must get back to the Clade city, Lady Leoht,” Etta said, the compassion in her voice evident. “You must call a meeting and decide on what our next step is to be before Kaylus has time to open the portal.”

  I turned and looked at her, not bothering to wipe the tears from my cheeks.

  “Your grief is warranted, Lady. Lord Derek was one of the most beloved rulers the Elfennol… the Ethnos were ever graced with. But you are your father’s daughter. We need you to lead us, as your father knew you could. As you’ve been doing in some way or another since you came to us.”

  I couldn’t keep meeting her eyes, so I looked around. My gaze caught on the number of people still lying there. The people who would never stand up again.

  “It was a willing sacrifice. Every person on this island knew what would happen if they stayed. The rest of us went off a distance and Rune-protected the area. I believe we were able to stave off the worst of the effects from the creation of this island.” I could feel Etta’s eyes bore into me.

  I wanted to yell at her, at the men stupid enough to offer themselves to me when I hadn’t taken a split second to consider where the energy I’d been Gathering had come from.

  When their sacrifice seemed like it was for nothing, since I failed to protect Ezra from being taken.

  I took my father’s hand and looked at his armlets — the power gems in them cracked now that he was gone — because I was unable to look at his face. How many people that I cared about would be hurt because of me?

  All of them.

  At least, all of them would be if I didn’t save Ezra and stop Kaylus from opening the portal.

  “Etta,” I held my chin up and tried to bury the pain I was in. “My father was under the impression that you would make a good ally; that you were planning to join us even if that meant your House would be cast out from their home.”

  She bowed her head. “The Strang House no longer holds the name of ‘Elfennol.’ We are Ethnos, and will follow the chosen leader wherever she takes us. I know you will live up to your father’s hopes.”

  I nodded my head to her. “Please, bring the remaining soldiers back to the Clade city. Send word to the base that all soldiers not necessary for protecting my family are to head to the portal. It will take them longer to reach it, and I want all the backup we can get in case the worst happens. Once we get back to the city, I will direct a contingent to meet them halfway with enough Ambrose to keep them at full power.”

  Once I was done talking, Etta made the guardian symbol, just as the Clades had done before. It glowed brightly in the air, followed by more from the other soldiers on the island.

  I turned to leave, then paused. “I was never told what the Ethnos do with the… with those who are gone.” I had never seen a graveyard, or experienced any type of funeral during my time with them.

  “The first Runes are placed on all but your father. Watch, and see how we celebrate our dead. Learn, so that you may honor your father in the same way once he is surrounded again by his people,” Etta said.

  She walked a few steps away from me. All the Ethnos on the island had stopped what they were doing, and the silence was thick. I felt more people gathering around us, remembered that Alexander was supposed to bring more people to us. I felt my old body-guard, my friend and lieutenant, stand beside me.

  “Etta sent word of what has happened,” he said quietly. Then we both watched as Etta created a Rune in the air. When it appeared, the same Rune hovered over each of the fallen except my father, then the rich glow of the symbol dispersed and was absorbed by the body.

  “Honor,” Alexander said, and I knew he was explaining what the Rune meant. The bodies started to glow a warm honey color. Another Rune appeared.

  “Love.” When this Rune disappeared, each of the bodies rose off the ground a few inches, glowing brighter than before.

  “Remembrance.�
�� After Etta made this Rune, everyone else did the same. I looked at Alexander, and once he saw that I was looking his way, he created the Rune himself slowly enough that I could imitate him. I would remember these people; even if I never knew their names, I would remember. And I would never again forget what my thoughtlessness could do — would never again permit another to sacrifice themselves for me. It was my job to do the sacrificing.

  My father’s daughter could do no less.

  Finally, the remembrance Rune dissolved, too. The glowing bodies had turned into a light so bright that they each looked like muted suns until, one by one, they each dissipated into a cloud of energy and floated away like beautiful motes of light.

  “What happens to them now?” I asked Alexander.

  “Their energy will go where it’s needed to heal this world — to become part of this world. This way, our energy lives on. This way, our loss has value. Even in death, we protect life.”

  It was a beautiful thought... the idea of our death being used to help heal the world. I looked at my father, lying so peacefully still.

  “We’ll take him to his people. They need to pay their respects to a leader who was much loved,” Alexander said, his voice thick with an emotion that didn’t show on his face. A party of men who had come with Alexander lifted my father with their abilities, acting as pallbearers and honor guard to their late ruler and solemnly taking him in the water back home. Everyone stood and watched until they disappeared from sight.

  “He died saving Ezra,” I told Alexander while the other people around us started to leave. Etta stopped for just a moment, saluting me with her eyes. I knew she would be waiting in the Clade city for me.

  “I know, Della. You don’t need to ask why, do you?” His face stayed forward, and I knew he was watching my father's procession just as I was.

  “No, I suppose I don’t.” He’d done it because he loved me, and he knew what Ezra meant to me. He’d done it because he loved his people, and he knew what Ezra could mean for them, too. I wouldn’t cheapen his act by questioning it, even while the pain was so deep I knew I was scarred from it. I took a deep breath. “It’s time to go, Alex. We have a world to save.”

  I led Alexander to the water’s edge, and waited to make sure we were the last to leave.

  Alexander walked a single step behind me as I plunged into the cool water, and swam by my side while I created a large Shield to protect the area while I resubmerged the small island I had created. I’d done enough damage that day.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Journal,

  It’s been weeks since I left home. Weeks since Derek last held me in his arms. I know it’s too early for this, but I feel like my belly is starting to round. It’s just the two of us now. I’m always so tired. I think that’s normal, but I don’t know. It feels as though this baby is sucking my energy, but I guess all pregnant mothers feel this way. I wish I could ask my mom about it. Or Ellis. I wish I could have said a proper goodbye to her and Connor and that my child could grow up with Cash. I think about Derek a lot, and sometimes I regret not finding a way to tell him. I think… I know he would have come with me. He would have left everything to be by my side to keep me and our child safe. He deserves to know. But our child deserves an ally among the Elfennol when we can finally come home again. By that time, Derek will be Lord Leoht, and the leader of the Elfennol has a lot more sway than their Dunamis allies.

  I hope that Derek will forgive me.

  I have faith that this separation is temporary. One day we can all be together; we can be a family.

  I just pray that he’s still the man I love when we return.

  *****

  “We must risk it, Lady,” Alexander said, uncharacteristically pacing on the platform Shield I’d made for us to stand on. I was too busy looking at the glow from the people around us to answer him. Almost every able fighter had been ordered to join us, and they spread deep into the water around the area. The few who weren’t there were charged with protecting those of our people who were too young to fight or join the Dunamis allies in preparations in case Kaylus succeeded in his quest. I had never seen so many Ethnos at the same time. Sure, I’d been to Eurybis and it was the biggest city among the Elfennol. But the majority of all the Clades, and Leoht and Strang Houses were at my back, creating the largest group I’d ever been a part of. The gate to the OtherRealm was close, but the entire area was covered in impenetrable darkness that we couldn’t pass through without sacrificing many of our people. Kaylus had Gathered so much Death that he had erected a Shield covering the ruins of the first Ethnos city in this world — the place which was destroyed when the Eflennol and Clades split into two factions so long ago. We all knew the portal was buried there somewhere, but the exact location was unknown.

  It wasn’t necessary to know though. I could find Ezra, and Ezra was being taken to the portal, therefore I could find the portal. I’d tried communicating with him through the gems, but there was nothing but radio silence. I could feel echoes of his pain spreading through my body and knew that whatever Kaylus was doing to his son, it was keeping him well controlled. It had taken a lot of self restraint to not go after him sooner, but I couldn’t let myself put my needs — Ezra’s needs — above our people. If I were to fail, I had to trust the Ethnos to band together and pick up where I left off; they needed to be here to finish the job and protect this world by whatever means necessary. We hadn’t had much time to plan once we got back to the city, but the best plans are simple ones. At least I hoped they were. And simple was the perfect descriptor of what we were trying to do: collect a hoard of people, overwhelm Kaylus by sheer numbers and provide a distraction while I saved Ezra. Once we were together I could heal him and we could defeat Kaylus. Kaylus would wait as long as possible, because I knew he really wanted me for the job. Our impromptu Council had briefly discussed whether this was just another trap to get me when we decided it didn’t matter. He could likely open the portal with Ezra just as easily, and I was the only one with any hope of stopping him.

  It was clear from our earlier fight that Kaylus was able to do something that no one knew the Thanatos were capable of doing. He could control those he had infected with his power so completely that they obeyed his orders even in death. It was only a short time to sunrise, when Kaylus could open the gate, and we were at a standstill because of the Shield of Death around the area. We were just a dozen or so feet away — any closer and our Spirit started corroding away — and it looked like a dome of spilled ink stretched across the sky. I wondered if pure humans could see it, see the glistening darkness of it.

  “We must risk it, Lady. Time is running out,” Alexander said again.

  I shook my head. “I won’t lead my people through that Shield, Alexander. Too few will make it out the other side.”

  “We don’t know that for sure, my Lady.”

  “I do, Alexander. Laurel will be here soon with my amulet. Kaylus won’t be able to stop me from getting to Ezra if I’m immune to his Thanatos ability.”

  Alexander had sent word to Laurel, at my behest, to meet us with my key amulet. I’d been in communication with her and knew my friend was only minutes away. I was the only one who would walk through that Shield.

  It seemed our simple plan was already blown out of the water.

  “Alexander, Etta, I need you to direct our people to start putting Runes of protection around this area. No matter what happens here today, it has to stay here. We cannot allow Kaylus or any of his soldiers to escape. Remember, they must be destroyed completely or the Death energy will only get stronger.” I didn’t give them directions for what would happen if the portal opened — they knew the Runes were more for that than in the event Kaylus tried to escape.

  Someone nearby handed me a flask of Ambrose. I took a swig, then strapped it around my waist. My gems were as full as I could get them during the short time I’d had, my Well was flowing with an abundance of all my other elements, and my rarely used spikes were strapped to
my forearm below my armlet. With my key, it was unlikely that I would need to draw any Spirit energy from my surroundings — even so, I swore to myself that I would be more careful with the sources of energy.

  I turned around as Laurel approached, hand already extended for my necklace. She dropped it in my hand and I put it over my head, imagining a cloak of protection settling over my skin as I did so.

  “If the Shield comes down, move forward immediately. I’ll be back.” I looked at Alexander and Etta, then walked towards the Shield and slipped through. It was an awkward goodbye, but I was a mostly awkward person. My father would have had a few meaningful words with each of them, just in case he didn’t make it back. It would take me more than a day to learn how to fill his shoes.

  When I walked through, the Death Shield clung to my skin like wet silk, but my Spirit remained unaffected.

  Winning.

  I expanded the Shield I was standing on until I hit land, which was only a few yards away. As I stepped onto the island, the last remaining landmass from the original city swallowed by the sea, I cloaked myself in a sight Shield, since the island was populated. A horrible thought occurred to me: what if one of the humans on the island tried to leave the area? The Death Shield covered a large area, only part of it on the island, but all the same, I erected my own Shield underneath Kaylus’ dark one to prevent any of them leaving, and hoped we would be able to finish our business before it caused any problems.

  Like planes trying to takeoff or land.

  I sped in the direction where I felt Ezra, unsurprised when my path led me to the other side of the island and underwater. Minutes later, I was amid underwater ruins — the remnants of an Ethnos city. I slowed down once I reached the ruins. Ezra was getting closer, and I was worried about the fact that I still sensed my ring, and him, far below me. As far as I knew, I couldn’t go any further down unless I started digging in the sand. I started paying more attention to my surroundings, hoping for some evidence of which way they’d passed and recognized runes on the large stone obelisks that peaked through their sandy graves. I was surprised to see a faint glow of power still grace some of them. Under different circumstances, I would have loved to take my time and explore the ancient city of my people that was so renowned that every human, from Plato to Disney, knew the name of it.