“You’re welcome,” Acarius said again. He stood for a moment in silence behind her. Then he muttered, “But you did scream,” and walked quickly back over to Mare.
Lytira tensed. “We should go,” she said, but from the side Lex could see her mouth twist up into a smirk.
Lex turned back to Amelia. She seemed fine, but there was no way of knowing how bad things were with her, at least not until something happened again. He pulled himself up into the saddle behind her. “How much longer until we reach Zeriphath?” he asked.
“If we ride slowly but steadily through the afternoon and most of the night, we should be there by morning,” Lytira answered.
She mounted Mare and Acarius pulled himself up in front of her and eased Mare into a slow gait. Lex followed.
They rode in silence, their eyes scanning the ground and sky for any more surprises. When night began to fall, Lytira leaned up and murmured something to Acarius. He nodded, and she turned to Lex. “Let’s camp here for a few hours and eat and get some rest,” she said. “I’ll take first watch.”
Lex didn’t realize how exhausted he was until he dismounted and found his legs would barely hold him. He eased Amelia off the horse and down to the sand. When he had made her as comfortable as possible and was sure she was still breathing evenly, he squeezed some more water into her mouth from a wet cloth. He tipped her head up to be sure she wouldn’t choke. He wasn’t sure if she was actually swallowing any of the water, but it made him feel better to at least try. He spread out his own blanket next to hers and sank down onto it.
Acarius came and sat beside him while Lytira busied herself checking the supplies and dividing up some food for their evening meal.
After a few moments, Acarius leaned toward Lex. “She did scream. You heard it, right?”
Lytira whipped her head around and glared at them, and Acarius snapped his mouth shut.
Lytira moved to the far side of Mare and went back to digging in the bundle, though a bit more aggressively.
Lex fought back a chuckle. “What was all that about?” he asked.
Acarius turned his head toward Lex. “Lytira likes to insist nothing ever startles her." He leaned in conspiratorially. "She’s as calm as stone during most battles. But that hole surprised her; you heard it as well as I did. She screamed.” He looked pleased with himself.
“People get startled all the time,” Lex said. “Why should it matter?”
Acarius shook his head. “Not her people, and certainly not Rahmanasha Lytira. Sephram of her status pride themselves on two things: skill in battle, and nerves of steel. You may see them howl in pain or anger, but in fear or surprise? Never.” He shrugged. “Well, almost never. Lytira finds it embarrassing to show raw emotion, but I rather like seeing those glimpses of what’s going on in her mind. They’re rare but I’ve seen more of them lately.” He chuckled. “Maybe being around humans has started to rub off on her.”
“Wait,” Lex said. “Lytira isn’t… human?”
Acarius turned to him. “I keep forgetting how little you remember,” he said. “In the normal sense, no, she’s not human, though technically neither are you.”
“I’m not?” Lex asked, feeling he should be more shocked than he was.
“No. You’re an Ancient, one of the magical races of Arameth along with Sephram and Alomman, though each race has a different ability. Humans are non-magic. In fact, they don’t even remember magic exists, at least until recently. But it hasn’t always been that way. The Ancients caused that.”
Lex remembered Nigel saying the same thing. “The Ancients could wipe memories from a whole world’s worth of humans?” he asked.
Acarius nodded. “The Ancients can do lots of things. They possess the ability to wield the elements with a word, bending them to their will.”
“You mean like doing spells?” Lex asked, remembering things he’d seen on Earth television.
“Something like that. They have to learn the right wording to coerce the elements and how to harness the energy, but once they’ve learned it they can manipulate the elements around them. They’re strongest with air and water, but they can do some other things, too.” Acarius answered.
“Wow,” Lex said. “Can I…?” He didn’t even finish the question. He truly couldn’t imagine himself bending elements with a word. It was like something from a movie.
Acarius shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know. I never saw you use any magic other than your dark energy power. Marcus was obsessed with figuring out how to use his birthright magic. He thought it would be the key to winning, if he could just understand it better. I think he was just starting to get a handle on it when he– I mean, you– well…”
“Died?”
“Yes,” Acarius answered. “I’m never quite sure how sensitive of a subject that may be for you.”
“I’m getting used to it,” Lex replied.
“Huh,” Acarius said. “Anyway, the Ancients are extremely powerful… though less now than before. Since the Worldforce went crazy, the magical peoples have been weakening. No one’s sure exactly why, but we think it’s tied to the Core.”
“The Core?” Lex asked.
“It’s where the Ancients live,” Acarius answered. “They moved there just before the Great War, and it somehow made them even more powerful. But now, whatever it did for them seems to have fizzled. The Sephram and Alomman have suffered since the Worldforce destabilized, too, but the Ancients seem to have grown far weaker than the rest, as if it’s draining them somehow. Not that they aren’t still powerful… I wouldn’t want to go near them, that’s for sure. But they’re weaker than they used to be. The terrors the Ancients’ magic caused during the Great War were the reason magic had to be wiped from human memory.”
“You’ve mentioned that war more than once. What was it about?” Lex asked.
Acarius took a breath.
“Oh, here we go again,” Lytira muttered from near the horses.
Acarius turned to her. “What?”
She ignored him, looking instead at Lex. “He loves telling this story,” she said.
Acarius shrugged. “My dad used to gather us around the fireplace at night and tell us stories about the past,” he said, his voice going soft. “It reminds me of him.”
Lytira blinked, as though his response had surprised her. “You tell it well,” she said after a moment. “Like a true historian.”
Acarius leaned toward Lex. “In her world, that’s a compliment... I think,” he murmured.
Lytira smiled at Acarius, then turned back to the horses.
Lex had a feeling his people’s history wouldn’t be pleasant, but he needed to know. “Tell me,” he said. “I’d like to hear it.”
Acarius winked. “It’s a long story. Maybe some other time.”
Lex was a little disappointed, but something about Acarius’ face made him not press the issue. But he still needed to understand more about his past. “Acarius, when I was Marcus, what was I like?”
Acarius fell silent for a moment, then answered quietly. “You were the best fighter I’d ever seen, and also the smartest. You somehow knew the perfect strategy for any fight. You were fast and strong.” He paused. “You could also be a bit of a jerk sometimes, especially when people didn’t want to do things your way.” He laughed. “But you meant well. You were one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”
Lex listened in silence, processing all this. Somehow, he was this person he knew so little about, and yet… he was also not, thanks to whatever Nigel had done. “The LEX Protocol,” he said suddenly. “What exactly did it do?”
Acarius shook his head. “I don’t know. Nigel explained it some, but I think it didn’t even really do what he expected it to. He said it would transport the target somewhere safe, for a while, until they could return… but that we could only use it once. It was our last resort.” He paused. “You know, I think he meant to use it on himself, but when he saw your energy destabilizing, he used it
on you. He knew how important you were.”
“Why?” Lex asked. “Why me?”
Acarius gave a sad laugh. “I asked the same thing, when you said I was the prophesied one. I don’t know for sure, but … I think maybe Nigel always knew it was you. At least, until afterwards. Then none of us knew what to think. After the damage cleared and we were safe, Nigel reset the device. Then we all waited. Nigel said it might take a few minutes, but – you never came back. I waited there a full day and night before he finally pulled me away. ‘We failed,’ he told me. ‘He’s gone.’ We really thought you were dead.”
“Oh,” Lex said. Seven years, Nigel had said, from the time Marcus died to when Lex appeared. Nigel said things hadn’t gone as he expected, but… what exactly had happened? Where had Marcus – Lex – he, himself – been all that time?
Acarius watched him, a sympathetic look passing over his face. “I wish I could tell you more,” he said. “But none of us really understand what happened. I’m just glad you’re back.” He gave him a small smile.
“Me too,” Lex said, though part of him wondered whether he’d have ever had the consciousness to realize he was stuck somewhere else if he hadn’t come back. And he still had so many questions. About himself, and about his past. “The Ancients… I mean, my family… were they…” He thought of the harshness of his father in the visions, but was unsure what exactly he wanted to ask.
Acarius watched him for a moment, then said, “You did everything you could to please them, for a while. You said it was never enough.” He paused. “I believe you were stronger without them. But I know it hurt you when they turned on you, and I was sorry for that.”
“The Ancients sound terrible,” Lex said.
“They are a force to be feared, when they want to be,” Acarius answered. “Ancients individually aren’t all that powerful – their magic takes a lot of energy and they tire easily – but together they can wreak havoc. Then of course there’s the birthright magic, like your dark energy ability,” Acarius said. “Those didn’t exist before the Ancients moved to the Core. Now, every Ancient is born with one. Of course, since the Worldforce went crazy and the magical races weakened, most birthright abilities aren’t that powerful. Except for yours.”
Lex turned to look at him.
“Your birthright magic is more powerful than any I've seen an Ancient wield,” Acarius continued. “You told me the tutors at the palace assigned to train you weren’t even sure what to call your ability. You always called it ‘the darkness,’ but that was a little macabre for their tastes. What you can do, Lex… it’s unique. No one’s even quite sure how it works.”
Not even me, Lex thought. How much had he figured out about his ability, as Marcus, that he hadn’t yet remembered?
“What about Ardis?” Lex asked, thinking of his visions. “Did anyone figure out how she’s involved in all this?”
Acarius looked up at the sky. “No one had heard of Ardis before the war, but the stirring of dark creatures from Galgor, the fracturing of this world… it all began with her. Most believe her to be a force of evil – a demon – rather than the goddess emissary the Ancients claim she is. But the Ancients serve her unflinchingly. She only shows herself to the Ancient royals and their appointed priests, in the temple they built for her in the palace at Arameth Core. No one else has ever seen her.” He paused. “It was her prophecy to the Ancients which made them send you to find me.”
Lex’s mind was in chaos, his Marcus-memories blurring over into his Lex ones. All these memories, yet there was so much about his past he still didn’t understand.
Lytira moved to the other side of the horses, and Acarius turned his gaze to follow her.
Lex watched him, marveling how Acarius’ whole face seemed to change when he looked at her. After a moment, Lex asked quietly, “Earlier, about Lytira, you said ‘Sephram of her status.’ Exactly what status is she?”
“She’s a princess,” Acarius said, glancing at him. “Or the equivalent of it for her people. Rahmanasha means ‘daughter of Rahman,’ and Rahman is their current, elected king. They have sort of a democratic monarchy. They choose a family line, and all future royals come from that line, unless the family is denounced by the Alliance or the biological line is disrupted, in which case, a new royal line would be elected. Lytira is Rahman's only child. She would have been next in line for the throne."
“Oh,” Lex said. His mind raced back to Alowen, to the respect shown her at the gates, and her later banishment. “Then, at Alowen…”
“Their decision holds,” Acarius said sadly. “Princess or not, she violated clan rules. The clans are all ruled separately by elders, but banishment by one clan results in banishment by all. The king’s rule is technically above that of the elders, but he can only reverse a clan punishment if it is proven unfairly given. In this case, I doubt that will happen.”
“She was only trying to help me,” Lex protested.
“The clan always comes before outsiders,” Acarius shrugged. “When it comes to letting an outsider die or risking their own, the rules are clear, and she broke them.” He looked at Lex. “I don’t think she regrets it. She believes it was the right choice.”
But do I? Lex wondered.
Just then, Lytira walked toward them. “You two should rest while you have time,” she said gently. “We still have a long ride ahead.” She handed them each some food.
Lex ate quickly, checked on Amelia, then straightened his blanket out on the sand and stretched out on top of it. A few feet over, Acarius did the same.
Something occurred to Lex. He turned toward Acarius. “You said the Ancients, Sephram, and Alomman each have a different ability. Ancients can do spells. Is that not the same with the others?”
“No,” Acarius answered. “The Ancients are versatile but limited by knowledge of spells… except for their birthright magic, of course. But with the weakening over the past few decades, most birthright abilities are barely more than parlor tricks. Except, as I said, for yours. There is no known spell that can do… whatever it is you do.”
Lex was still trying to figure out what exactly it was he did, too.
Acarius continued. “The Sephram and Alomman, however, cannot wield spells. Their magic is intrinsic, a connection to an aspect of our world. They need no word or language to harness it, they simply will it and it becomes. All Sephram and Alomman are born with the magic specific to their people, and they are limited to this innate magic. Because the Ancients can wield spells, there are many things the Ancients can do which the Sephram and Alomman cannot. But what they can do, they do better than the Ancients ever could.”
“So, the Alomman… they do… plants?” Lex asked, unsure how to phrase it.
“Alomman have the magic to call out to living things within the earth, for lack of a better explanation. They can bend the very soil to their will, and any plant within it,” Acarius answered.
“Oh,” Lex replied. “And what about the Sephram?”
Acarius smiled. “You’ll have to wait and see,” he said, then rolled over.
Lex turned onto his back, staring up at the steady stars above him. He was asleep within moments, without even realizing he’d closed his eyes.
CHAPTER 15
Acarius woke Lex a few hours later to tell him he’d already taken a watch to let Lytira sleep, and it was time to go. They rose, ate a quick breakfast of the strange pressed cakes again, then loaded up and started toward the gain-star. When the sun rose a few hours later, Lex’s only guide for whether they were still on course was Lytira’s total confidence. “We’ve veered a bit. Head this way,” she would say occasionally, pointing a finger at an angle in front of them, and Acarius would adjust Mare’s direction. Lex simply followed.
As they rode, a question occurred to Lex, sparked by something Nigel had said. He moved his horse closer to Mare. “The humans at Dalton called me demon,” he said to Acarius, “and you told me they think I’m working with Ardi
s. How could they, if Ardis is a goddess worshipped by the Ancients, and all humans have forgotten about magic?”
“That’s been bothering me since the moment I heard you appeared at Dalton,” Acarius answered. “The humans have their own religions, of course, but none of them include Ardis. When I heard rumors Ardis sent a demon to Dalton bearing the face of the dead hero, Marcus, I didn’t believe it could really be you – how could I, when I’d watched you die? I thought it was some sort of a trick… or worse, a trap. But with the uncertainty about the prophecy, I had to be sure. I was just on my way to Dalton to figure out what was going on when you stumbled into me.”
“Uncertainty about the prophecy?” Lex asked.
“Apparently it’s not worded all that clearly,” Acarius responded.
“What exactly does the prophecy say?”
Acarius turned to him and shrugged. “You would never tell me; you said it was bad luck to know your own fate. You just gave me a basic summary… which turned out to be wrong, because we all thought I was the one destined to save our people.” He paused. “Since you’re the one back from the dead, I’m pretty sure it’s you.”
Great, Lex thought. I’m the only one of us who knows the prophecy, and I don’t even remember it. “Does anyone know what it actually said?”
“The Ancients do, I believe. It was a prophecy given to their seers by Ardis, after all. And maybe a few others. There are some, even in other places, who had… visions. They weren’t the same as the prophecy, exactly, but they agreed with it.”
They were both quiet for a moment, then Acarius spoke again. “We did not know, when I headed out to look for you, that an Aiac was living in Dalton. If we had, I may have handled some things differently.” He rode in silence a few moments before continuing. “Anyway, to the humans, someone returning from the dead is unnatural and demonic, and Ardis is believed to be the source of demonic energy, including what created the Aiacs. At first we thought the humans heard of Ardis as a religious figure, without realizing her ties to the Ancients or her relation to magic. But that was before we knew about the Aiacs living in Dalton and other villages. Now we know the Aiacs have been appearing among some of the humans and awakening their awareness of magic. So we know what they’re doing. It’s the why that continues to bother us.”
The Edge of Nothing_The Lex Chronicles_Book 1 Page 23
