Immortal

by Nicole Conway

  Sile swatted him on the back of the head.

  The crowd gathered around us began to disperse after that. With every passing hour, the atmosphere grew more tense. Some of the riders were pacing nervously. Felix spun a dagger over his hand, over and over, while he talked quietly with his father. Beckah was sticking close to her mother, holding her baby sister on her hip, and doing a great job of acting like nothing was wrong.

  Everyone waited, doing whatever they could to keep themselves sane while the time ran down. Well, everyone except for me. I still had work to do.

  The whispers of my predecessors, their memories and wisdom, buzzed around in my head like a swarm of bees. I’d learned how to use those memories in Luntharda. By channeling them and listening to them, I was able to tap into more of my abilities than ever before. I had powers that even I wasn’t aware of yet, but the whispers were very good at guiding me.

  Knowing Hovrid might be expecting our attack had me worried—worried that our meager forces wouldn’t be enough. We needed more people on our side. We needed assurance we could reach the temple where the stone was meant to rest.

  Basically, we needed a miracle.

  Roland and Sile were right on my heels as I left the house, following from a cautious distance as though afraid I might tell them to go back. It was dark, but instead of carrying a lantern or candle, I opened my palm and called my power into an acorn I picked up off the ground. It glowed brightly, filling the night air with a green aura. I walked into the forest almost half a mile, a safe distance from the house, and found a small clearing where the ground was open and flat. There, I started to prepare.

  Roland cleared his throat to get my attention. “Can we help?”

  “I need a small pile of brush just there, in the center. Use only green, freshly picked branches and leaves,” I instructed.

  “Green stuff won’t burn,” Sile was quick to point out.

  I smiled. “I never said I was going to burn it.”

  While I cleared away the dry, dead brush from the clearing, Roland and Sile worked. They came back with their arms full of broken-off branches and leaves from all sorts of different trees. I picked the ones that were most perfect, and began arranging them on the ground in a circle.

  I took a deep breath as I stepped into the center of the circle and sat down. I crossed my legs and let my palms rest on my knees. “All right. Stand back.”

  “Where did you learn to do this?” Roland asked.

  “I didn’t. Others learned it for me.”

  He arched a brow, looking unsure of what that meant.

  “It’s hard to explain. I’m not the first person Paligno has chosen, and the spirits of the others still exist within him. So they exist within me, too. It’s like bits and pieces of their memories run over into mine. It used to only happen when I was asleep, through dreams, and I had no control over it. But now I can access those memories at will.” I struggled to find the least insane-sounding way to describe it to him. “It’s sort of like animal migration, I guess. The instincts of one generation are passed on to the next. I can hear them sometimes.”

  “So … you hear voices?”

  “Yes.”

  He nodded like he understood and as if it didn’t make me sound absolutely insane.

  “I take it this is about those reinforcements you mentioned?” Sile had a challenging tone to his voice, like he was still waiting to be impressed.

  “Yes.” I closed my eyes and let my mind become still. “When they get here, don’t move, don’t speak, and don’t look any of them in the eye. I can’t control them like I can other animals.”

  “They?” Sile asked.

  I didn’t answer. I had pushed out all other sounds, voices, and thoughts from my mind. I was alone in the dark, feeling the thrumming energy of the world around me—the trees muttering to one another like shy children, the roots of the earth squirming far below my feet, and the spirits of the animals still untouched by Paligno’s curse. Those spirits shone like stars to my mind’s eye—pure and quietly powerful. But there were others, the ones the curse had touched. Though they weren’t close to me, I could feel the heat of their presence like a foul breath on my neck. It was offensive and infuriating not only to me, but also to the other generations of lapiloque that had gone before me.

  My eyes were closed, but I could sense the movement of the green branches and leaves around me. I felt them rise and fuse together, twisting and changing until they hung around me like a halo of brilliant, green light. Then, with one push of my will, the light burst and spread out in every direction like a ripple on still water.

  It took a few minutes. After all, waking the ancient spirits of the earth isn’t done every day. Many of them, like the paludix turtle, hadn’t been roused for a great many centuries. I honestly wasn’t sure how they would respond, or if they’d even come at all.

  But they did.

  I knew it when I heard Sile and Roland gasp and their footsteps retreated backwards a ways. Opening my eyes, I found myself face-to-face with a host of creatures I had no name for. Each one was stranger than the last, and they all seemed to materialize out of the dark forest around me, gathering to look at me with glowing eyes that flickered like bog fires.

  “Why have you have summoned us, my lord?” one of them spoke. It resembled an enormous fox with black and silver fur. On its back were wings like a raven’s, and its fur was covered in curling, swirling markings that shimmered in the moonlight. The creature loomed over me, bigger than a dragon, and with a presence that reminded me of a cold, dark winter’s night.

  Around him, the other spirits waited, gazing at me expectantly.

  I laid out my request.

  “Such a thing will cost us dearly, for even we cannot break the laws of our god that forbid us from murdering our children,” the foxlike creature hissed. “What you ask must be bought at a high price, lapiloque.”

  “I understand.”

  There was a tense silence. Though I couldn’t hear them, I sensed the spirits communicating with one another. They had some sort of link, as though their minds were able to commune instantly without uttering a sound. Unfortunately, I wasn’t invited to the debate.

  “We know the price Paligno has demanded to be paid for the sins of your father,” the creature said at last. “The blood of the traitor must be repaid. So we will ask for something else. Something far more precious than blood.”

  I was starting to get nervous. This wasn’t something I’d anticipated, but it was far too late to turn back now. We needed their help. Without it, even if we had the stone, we might never make it back to the temple. I had no other choice.

  “Name it,” I said as I stood up. I offered a hand to the creature, pulling back the sleeve of my tunic to reveal the bare skin of my forearm.

  In the blink of an eye, the ancient foxlike spirit dissolved into a cloud of black mist that swallowed me whole until I couldn’t see anything around me.

  “The wisdom of the ages, the secrets of Paligno known only to lapiloque—all are contained within the memories of your ancestors. We will have it all.” The spirit’s voice cut through my mind like a cold wind ripping over a hillside.

  “So be it,” I agreed. “But only after you’ve held up your end of the bargain. No one touches them. If one life is lost, the deal is void.”

  I felt a sharp, scalding pain on my arm that made me double over. And just as quickly as they had appeared, the ancient spirits dissolved into their own curling clouds of mist and vanished—leaving me alone in the middle of the clearing.

  My head spun and I could barely stand. Through the haze of my pain, I saw the black mark left on my arm. It was burned into my skin as though branded there. I could feel the power resonating from it; it was as wild and ageless as the spirits who had given me the mark.

  Just as I felt my knees buckle, someone caught me and held me on my feet. Roland pulled my arm over his shoulder on one side and Sile did the same
on the other. Together, they helped me stagger out of the forest.

  “You want to tell us what just happened? We couldn’t make out a word of it. All just snarls and hissing—sounded like a foreign language,” Sile growled. He sounded frustrated and maybe even a little worried. I doubted it was about my welfare, though.

  “I made a deal,” I rasped. “They’re going to help us.”

  Roland was as pale as if he’d seen a ghost. I could feel him shaking. “What did they do to you?”

  I didn’t want to tell him. I was used to keeping that sort of thing private because my friends couldn’t handle it. Felix would have freaked out. Beckah would have been furious. But these two were possibly the only people who might understand.

  “Everything has a price,” I replied.

  I felt better once they helped me back to the house. I sat down at the kitchen table and leaned over to let my arm rest where the mark wasn’t touching anything. Touching it just made it worse.

  “Yeah.” Sile muttered as he turned away. “Too bad you’re the only one footing the bill.”

  I watched him go, wondering if that fact really bothered him or not. He seemed fine enough to let me do it, although I was technically the only one who could. He knew about the god stone and what it would take to put it back. Not just anyone could do it. It had to be someone with the blood of the traitor—my father’s blood—who put it back …

  I froze. Across from me, Roland had sat down with a bowl of clean water, a rag, and some bandaging for my arm. I realized I wasn’t the only one who could pay the blood price for Ulric’s sin.

  Roland had the traitor’s blood, too.

  I vowed to myself right then that he would never—ever—know that.

  I couldn’t risk that he might try to intervene and offer himself as an alternative. Whatever the past had been between us, I couldn’t allow that to happen. Roland was my brother, my closest blood relation besides Hovrid. I loved him and I wouldn’t let him take my place.

  This rite was mine and mine alone. It was bad enough to have come here and asked my friends, the people I loved and cherished most in the world, to join me in this potentially suicidal endeavor.

  “So you finally see,” Paligno’s whispering voice trickled through my brain. It gave me chills.

  I didn’t dare answer out loud—not with Roland sitting there.

  “That love, the love of a family, is not so easily dissolved. It is a bond that is nearly impossible to destroy,” Paligno continued. “It transcends all other bonds of love and loyalty. Blood is the tie that binds beyond the grave.”

  I bowed my head slightly. So this was why the god questioned my ability to see it through to the end. Hovrid was my half-brother as well. I had the same familial bond with him that I had with Roland, only we shared a mother instead of a father. That bond might make me weak, might cause me to stumble or question the task that had been charged to me.

  Paligno’s whisper became louder and more insistent, “You must not fail.”

  I clenched my teeth. Across the table, Roland was quietly tending to the wound on my arm. He mistook my reaction as pain and cast me an apologetic glance.

  “Jaevid! Where have you been? What happened?” Beckah’s voice interrupted my conversation with Paligno. The god fell silent and my focus was broken as she came flying down the stairs and across the kitchen to see what had happened to my arm.

  “It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just a little training accident. We were, uh, letting me practice using my power in combat,” I tried to wave her off, but of course she wasn’t having that.

  Roland quickly covered the mark with a bandage before she could see it. I gave him a grateful nod and he went on wrapping my arm like nothing was wrong.

  “Can’t you heal it?” she asked worriedly, as she brought a chair up to sit beside me.

  “I can’t heal myself,” I admitted. “But Roland’s doing a pretty good job.”

  Beckah clearly wasn’t buying what I was selling. She narrowed her eyes at me like she knew something was up. She didn’t push the issue, though.

  All of a sudden, Kiran came striding into the kitchen fully dressed in his gear. He’d had to improvise with a few human weapons, like a short sword and a collection of daggers, but he still brandished his elven bow and quiver proudly. “It’s nearly time,” he announced.

  Roland tied off the bandage and jerked my sleeve back down over my arm just as everyone else began to gather around the table. Not everyone was completely dressed and ready to leave yet. We had a few minutes left, after all. Just a little time left to stand around before the coming storm and consider our fate together.

  I took a deep breath.

  “All right,” I heard myself say. I was so numb, it was like an out of body experience. “Let’s go.”

  At midnight, our carefully organized plan was set into motion.

  I stepped off my front porch and into the darkness. There was no turning back. I knew that from now on, my name would either inspire hope or hatred in every heart across the kingdom. It was very likely I was going to be the most hated person in Maldobar’s history. I might even be tortured or killed. But the slim chance of success, of ending this war, was more than worth it.

  Gathered around me in the chilly night air, I looked across at the faces of my friends, comrades, and family. No one else knew what we knew—that the king was not really the king, or that the god stone was the reason all of nature was going mad. Not to mention that it was my own half-brother who had kept this genocidal war going for over twenty years, and unless we did something to stop it, the curse that was ravaging this land would spread and destroy the entire world. The stone had to be returned to its proper place in Luntharda, and the price of blood had to be paid for the sacrilege of removing it.

  I called down our dragons, and they began descending one after the other through the moonlit clouds to land nearby. No one smiled or spoke. I saw their eyes fixed upon me, looking to me for guidance and assurance that this was the right thing to do.

  I gave them a nod. It was time.

  We split off into our groups to do our preflight check on all our gear. From across the lawn, I watched Beckah expertly examining her saddle while her huge king drake, Icarus, nuzzled at her shoulder. She was beautiful, strong, and confident in a way I only wished I could be. She always accused me of being the brave one—though she couldn’t see herself and how her presence inspired things in the other dragonriders. She was the brave one, the real hero.

  I just couldn’t take it anymore.

  Crossing the yard, I grabbed her in my arms, armor and all, and kissed her. It felt like the night had frozen, like time paused long enough for me to hold her close. I forgot anyone else was there, or that her father was one of the people watching us.

  Slowly, I let her go.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Felix grinning like an idiot.

  Sile’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. I saw him stiffen as his scorching gaze went from me, to Beckah, and back again.

  Beckah wasn’t paying them any attention, though. She seized my hand and brought it up to her face. Under all that armor, her skin felt so soft and fragile. “Please be safe.”

  “You, too.”

  “When this is over, let’s go back to the beach.” When she smiled, I could see tears gathering in her eyes.

  “We’ll do anything you want.” I kissed her again. Somehow, I was able to smile back. I prayed she wouldn’t see the pain in my eyes or suspect the secret I was carrying. Even if I survived, I might not remember her. I already bargained away my ancestors’ memories for a chance at saving her and the others. While I didn’t know for sure how much those ancient spirits might take from me, or what they might leave intact, I had to accept the possibility that they might take everything—including my memories of her.

  Guilt made my insides sour as I walked back to my dragon, Mavrik, and attempted to focus on checking my gear. That secret burned i
n my mind like a smoldering ember. It was going to hurt her. She might never forgive me, but someday, she might understand it.

  There wasn’t a price I wasn’t willing to pay for her to live.

  Next to him, Prax gave Sile a taunting jab in the ribs with his elbow. “Don’t look so sulky. Surely the chosen servant of a god is good enough for your daughter?”

  Sile kept on glaring daggers at me like he might throttle me the first chance he got. “No one is good enough for her.” Somehow, he made that sound like a threat.

  As soon as Beckah was in her saddle, Roland clinging to her back with an expression of restrained panic, she gave me the signal. They were ready to go.

  I waved them off, and in a burst of wind and snarling dragons, the first group departed. Then it was just Felix, Kiran, and I left standing there, staring up at the sky.

  “She’ll be fine, Jae.” Felix punched me in the arm. He probably thought I was worried about her. “She’s got more grit than any male dragonrider I’ve ever heard of. If anyone can handle this, it’s her.”

  “I know.” I turned away. Watching the silhouette of her great, black dragon sailing away across the night sky was too much. “But it’s more than that. Destiny is with her. She cannot fail.”

  “Neither can we,” Kiran said suddenly. He was standing next to me, holding his bow and wearing an especially resolved expression. “Not with you on our side, lapiloque.”

  I couldn’t resist a grateful smile. It was nice to hear someone have complete faith in me. I nodded towards Felix and his dragon, Nova. “Time to saddle up. You’ll like her better. She flies slower.”

  “It isn’t the speed. Our shrikes fly much faster,” Kiran scoffed, all the while keeping a wary eye on Mavrik. “It is the fire.”

  Felix studied our gray elf companion as he prepared to mount up. “You’re not gonna puke, are you?”

  “Relax. He’s fine. And a much better shot than either of us, thankfully.” I tried to sound confident. “Ready for this?”

  Felix laughed. “No. Of course not. Who the heck would be? We’re about to storm the king’s castle, steal his most prized possession, and potentially murder him if he tries to stop us. Not exactly something I have any experience with.”