by N. M. Howell
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. “Andie, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t worry about me. Keep fighting.”
“When your all-powerful best friend, who happens to be a member of one of the oldest and strongest races on earth, starts turning pale, something is wrong.”
“I need the sun. I need warmth. I didn’t know how depleted I was. I just need to get outside.”
“And I’ll get you there, I promise. Just stay on your feet.”
Yara took on a new ferocity then, supporting Andie with one arm and casting with the other. Marvo was nearby, fighting like a wild man. He’d run out of ammo the night of the Winter Festival, and now he was getting in close for combat, and despite his age, he was too much for the professors who only knew how to fight with magic. The group was almost around the corner of the hall; all they needed to do was fight through a dozen professors.
Just when they were nearly through, though, three of the Sentinels dashed in front of them, no longer sedated and unbelievably quick. They stood there, silent and still, and waited for the group to come to them. The fighters began casting at the Sentinels, but the beings moved too quickly. One of the Sentinels reached forward, and its arm stretched ten feet and pierced right through Kristole. Andie screamed as she tried to call on her strength to help, but the older woman was dead before she hit the ground.
The other Sentinels changed their shape, made themselves bigger and began to knock the fighters aside with incredible force. With every hit, she could hear bones breaking. The Sentinels were merciless. Raesh turned to one that was moving in to attack him and tried to defend, but the Sentinel was too quick. It knocked him back several feet and then raced to hit him before he stood. Raesh rolled out of the way and came back to his feet. He cast a spell, missed, and was hit so hard he shook dust from the walls. Yara was about to release Andie to go help when Raesh unleashed his frenzied, unbridled magic and ripped right through the Sentinel in a brilliant blaze of yellow light. As the Sentinel flew back, Raesh looked to Andie with the widest grin on his face she had ever seen.
Andie looked all around her and saw the carnage that had fallen on them. She knew there were only a few moments left before the end. She gathered every ounce of strength she had left and pushed Yara aside. One of the Sentinels had liquefied itself and then completely submerged one of the fighters. It was impossible to tell exactly what had happened. As it turned to Andie, she raised her hands in front of her.
“Everybody down!” she yelled.
The fighters ducked, and Andie sent out the hottest, brightest flame she could muster. The two remaining Sentinels were blown back and incinerated in the air before they could even fall back to the floor. She had saved her friends. The enemies withdrew, but she felt herself falling backward, leaving, disappearing.
Then darkness.
“Get her up, we have to move!”
The sound of running feet. So many running feet.
“Lookout, there’s more of the— “
“Hold her, come on, faster, faster— “
Speed. Gravity. The world sliding by at a sheer angle and the green-tinted rain pounding across space.
“There’s too many of them!”
“Everybody run for the front! Don’t get left be— “
Crashing. Something huge and fast and dangerous crashing. The world is tilting, turning, tumbling.
“Is he dead? Turn him ov— “
The soft falls of the thick rain. Feet hitting water. Yelling.
“Yara! Raesh!”
“Coming up from behind!”
A ship.
When Andie woke, she didn’t know what time or even what day it was. She looked around and didn’t know where she was. The only things she recognized were Raesh sitting in a chair across from her and Yara in the bed next to her. The room was small, brightly painted, and simply furnished. It didn’t take her long to realize that the room was lolling gently from side to side. They were on a ship. She was more confused than ever. The only things that brought her comfort were her friends and the sunlight streaming in through the open window, though the window was small. She turned over and lay her hand on Yara’s shoulder. Yara woke with a start.
“Andie! Are you okay? How do you feel?” Yara pushed herself up on the bed and looked down at Andie with concern in her eyes.
“Better. A lot better,” Andie said. She stretched out her arms and realized what she said was true. She felt totally fine. “Whose ship are we on?”
“The Council’s,” Yara said through a yawn. “Turns out they’re a lot bigger than we thought they were. They’ve got factions all over west Noelle. They were waiting for us at a port on the coast of Arvall.”
Andie sat bolt upright. “What? Why didn’t Marvo tell us he had a plan? Where is he?”
“He was injured in the escape, but they say he’ll pull through. Andie, I have to tell you something.”
Yara took Andie’s hand and looked in her eyes. Andie knew that whatever was coming was going to hurt.
“The enemy knew we were coming.”
Chapter Four
Andie stared at Yara for a long moment before she spoke. “What do you mean, they knew we were coming? No one knew we were down there.”
Yara shook her head and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. “They knew we were coming, Andie.”
“But how?”
Yara simply stared at her until comprehension dawned on Andie’s face. “You mean someone betrayed us? How?”
“I don’t know, but I suspect it’s why Marvo didn’t tell any of us about the ship,” Yara said. “He’d been trying to smoke them out weeks before the battle in the Archives, but nothing ever happened, and he thought maybe he’d misjudged. But he started to get suspicious again after we hid in the tunnels. Someone had been throwing away our rations from the scavenging trips. And even if the University had known we were down there, there was no way they could have known exactly when we’d come up. Somebody told them to be ready to ambush us.”
“Well, who is it?” Andie asked, disbelieving. “Who betrayed us?” The idea that one of their own was a traitor made her feel sick to her stomach. After everything they had been through together, she couldn’t imagine any of them turning their back to the cause.
“We don’t know. We lost some people in the escape, but whoever it is must be on the ship with us. The University wouldn’t hurt them and risk losing an informant if we got away.”
“Did you see anyone in the fight who wasn’t being targeted?”
“No. Did you?”
“No. I have to find Marvo. We need to find this person now.”
“Wait,” Yara said, pointing to Raesh. “Let him rest. Let’s talk outside.”
The girls got up and quietly moved around Raesh until they were outside. They walked down several hallways, and they exited up onto the lower deck. Andie’s body was still healing, and the moment the direct sunlight touched her, she began to fill with energy, power. It felt amazing.
“I don’t know if I can believe it,” Andie finally said as they leaned against the wooden deck rails. She stared out into the open ocean, curious where they were headed but not wanting to change the subject before she found out the truth about their traitor. The sea breeze sprayed salt water over her skin as she stood there in silence, contemplating what Yara had told her. Andie squeezed her eyes shut as she thought, relishing in the warmth of the sun and the refreshing sea air.
“Andie, I know how you feel,” said Yara, looking out over the sea. “We have to keep this to ourselves for now, though.”
“Are you kidding me? No way. I have to find out who did this to us. How many people did you say we lost?”
Yara shook her head. “I didn’t. Right now, it doesn’t matter.”
Andie turned to her friend, her eyes flashing with anger. “Of course, it matters. Every single person here matters. I have to know who would betray us like this.”
“Please, Andie. Promise me you’ll stay q
uiet. Just for now.”
“Are you insane? I’m not letting us go another minute with a traitor amongst us. Whoever it is could be using a hundred different methods of invisible communication to talk to the University. We have to do something now.”
“Andie, there’s no way to tell who it is. If they’ve been in the Council this long, they’re obviously good at pretending.”
“It must have been someone doing scavenging missions.”
“Andie, we were all doing scavenging missions. And almost all of us have done at least one solo mission. Look, Marvo took a huge risk in telling me. The only people we know it can’t be are you, me, and Marvo.”
“And Carmen and Raesh.”
“We hope Carmen and Raesh.”
Andie couldn’t even respond. She just stared at Yara, dumbfounded.
“Don’t look at me like that, Andie. You know Marvo wants to trust his own family, but this thing is too big to leave to chance or love. We have to be one hundred percent sure before we even think of giving anyone the benefit of the doubt.”
“Let’s just find Marvo.”
Andie didn’t say a word as Yara lead her through the halls. It wasn’t until they reached the rooms that Andie began to greet and check on the fighters. Carmen was sleeping, having finally gotten her ankle properly seen to. The ship was much bigger than Andie had anticipated, and there were fighters stationed everywhere. Andie couldn’t help giving them all a cold stare when they weren’t looking; any one of them could have been the spy. When they reached Marvo’s room, he was sitting up in bed, a bandage covering most of the right side of his face and several smaller bandages in various places across his arms. Andie had to take a breath when she saw him. Yara went to sit in the corner.
“Easy, Andie,” he said. “I’m perfectly fine, aside from some minor scrapes. There’s a lot of them, but nothing too serious. I’ll heal…”
Andie took an angry step forward and opened her mouth to scold him for not trusting his own family, but Marvo held up his hands and spoke before she got a word out.
“… And before you berate me for not trusting Raesh and Carmen, just trust that I’ve thought it out and that it’s even harder for me than it is for you. Now have a seat, we’ve got some catching up to do.”
Andie stared at him incredulously for a long moment, then finally let out a loud sigh and pulled a chair up to his bedside. She took Marvo’s hand and waited for him to start, holding her own words in until she fully understood what he had to say.
“First, we’ve been branded enemies of the state. Not just Arvall City, but all of Noelle. There are wanted posters of our faces up for thousands of leagues, and who knows whatever else around the entire rest of Shaeyara outside the boundaries of Noelle. You don’t even want to know how much the reward for our heads is. If we’re caught, that’s it. We’ll be executed the same day. We’ve got to be more than careful in the coming weeks.”
The news didn’t surprise Andie. She had figured as much was happening from the first day they entered the caverns below ground eight months before. “What else?”
“We still don’t have any word on your people. There were some sightings in north central Noelle, but that was months ago. But no news is good news because it means—”
“They haven’t been captured yet,” Andie finished.
Marvo nodded. “Exactly. It seems they’ve evaded capture so far. We’ve barely even heard whispers of their potential whereabouts.”
“They’re probably headed somewhere with mountains. That’s where they’d be most comfortable. I haven’t tried reaching out to Saeryn in a while, but maybe I could—”
“Trust me, Andie, for now, let them hide. We’ll find them when the time is right. We’ve been lucky so far. I had my people waiting at the docks the night of the battle, thinking we’d come straight out. But when we decided to stay inside, they stayed at the dock and waited.”
“Who are these friends of yours?”
“Just more people on our side, Andie. But never mind about that. The University is going to reopen, and it’s going to be more dangerous than ever. They’re planning on becoming a military training facility, and that means their sole focus will be teaching sorcerers how to excel at war. And they’ve vowed to rid the earth of the world’s greatest enemy: the dragonborn.”
The words felt like poison in her ears. As if the world wasn’t toxic enough, the University was now going to add strength to their hatred. Andie could hardly believe how cruel and unjust the world could be.
“There’s already been a formal declaration of war,” Yara said from the corner. “From what we can tell it was met with rousing applause in the streets. They’ve certainly done a good job of convincing the world of the dragonborn’s evil. The only way to save us now is to reunite you with your people and try to convince the entire world that the dragonborn aren’t a threat.”
“Fat chance,” Andie said with a humorless laugh.
“You don’t know how right you are,” Marvo said, squeezing her hand. “When we were running through the streets, we saw the city burning. Raids, attacks, more desperate people than I’ve ever seen in my life. Complete and utter carnage. And you wouldn’t believe what kinds of hateful propaganda the University is putting out. The most awful things you can think of. They’re calling you and your people a plague.”
“We’re running out of time.”
“We may already be out of time.”
“I guess I understand that. Where are we headed now?”
“To the True Isles. I know you’ve never been so I won’t try to describe it to you, except to say that if you ever wondered what paradise looked like, you’re about to find out.”
“And what’s in the True Isles? More allies?”
“Yes, and hopefully a way to get those icons out of you girls. For all we know the University could be tracking us now.”
“True. Well, if we get rid of them that will be one less thing to worry about. How far are the isles form Michaelson? I want to see my dad.”
“Andie,” Marvo began, sitting up and looking away. “I can’t let you go there.”
“Are you out of your mind? What do you think they’ll do if they catch him? They’ll torture him for information!”
“Andie, calm down and think. We’ve been underground for months. If they had wanted your father, they could have found him and killed him by now.”
Andie closed her eyes and shuddered. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him, especially not after she had been so lax in staying in touch with him in the weeks before they went into hiding. She didn’t know what she’d do if anything had happened to him.
“As it happens, I’d already sent people to get him the night of the battle. Hopefully, they’re still at the safe location I established. We’ve already sent word for them to meet us in the True Isles. I know it’s not ideal, but this is the safest way.”
Andie nodded slowly. The slow sway of the ship calmed her, made her feel somehow grounded, strangely enough. “I understand.”
“Speaking of safety, I’ve said all I can say to you about what’s ahead for us.”
“Meaning?” Andie crossed her arms and stared back at Marvo, a look of sheer indignation in her eyes.
“Meaning I trust that you’re not our spy, but I don’t trust that you won’t talk to Raesh and Carmen about the things you just heard.”
She couldn’t believe that not only was there a traitor among them but that Marvo could ever in a million years consider that Carmen and Raesh couldn’t be trusted. Being thorough was one thing, but not trusting the two of them was ridiculous. Her anger was mitigated by how much it hurt her to see him laid up like that. Andie didn’t even bother responding. She stood and was already out in the hall before she turned around to face Marvo and Yara.
“Fine. You sit there and be suspicious of everyone, of your own blood, and I’ll go on trusting the people who have repeatedly risked their lives for me.”
Marvo beg
an to speak, but Andie was out of the room before he could say a word.
Chapter Five
Andie walked the lower deck six times before she could bring herself to relax. She tried her best to see the situation from Marvo’s angle, but she just couldn’t wrap her brain around what he was doing. She finally settled towards the back of the deck and leaned over the rail, looking down into the roiling depths of the ocean they traveled through. The misty salt air made her skin itch, but she ignored the sensation and tilted her head back, basking in the warmth of the sun.
She tried to reason with herself, considering why Marvo might not trust those closest to him. It wasn’t so uncommon for sorcerers to use spells to control people’s mind and make them do whatever they wanted. Raesh and Carmen could be doing someone else’s bidding against their will. She realized Marvo was probably right in his secrecy, as perhaps their traitor wasn’t even intentionally betraying them. Someone could be acting against their will. Trapped in their own mind.
Andie sighed loudly and rubbed her eyes. The idea that one of her own, possibly even one of her closest friends, could be being controlled by the enemy made her stomach tie up in knots. She gritted her teeth in determination, clear at what she must do. She had to discover the traitor as soon as possible. She couldn’t waste any time.
The winds picked up, and the water began splashing up more violently, and Andie began pacing again, trying to think back to when someone could have been spelled. If that was in fact what happened, it must have been an exceptionally powerful spell to have lasted that whole time. She didn’t even know anyone powerful enough to have set such a spell, even at the University. She so desperately wanted to believe whoever betrayed them did it against their own will, but her instinct told her otherwise.
