by Jen Valena
Ithia ran her fingers through his black, silky hair. “I will come back.”
“If you must attempt this, then lay at my feet. If you do not wake, I will get us out of here.”
“Okay. But give me time to complete the journey.” Ithia pressed her palm to his chest. “Do not pull me out of this place before I reconnect with my body—my spirit might get trapped in here. There is a barrier to the outside. You must sense that too. That is why Urica couldn’t sense the missing Magians. This might be the only way, to wake them and connect them with their bodies.”
“I was afraid you would be logical.” Once again Tyrsten fell into her eyes, hoping this would not be the last time. “A kiss for luck?”
Their lips connected. Electricity sparked between them. Their heart energy spiraled around them, creating a vortex of love. The magic created by their touch went beyond any that a Magian could conjure. It defied the nature of this prison cell. Their auras each gleamed for a moment and merged into a swirl of silver and gold.
Ithia gasped as she broke from his embrace.
Drawing in a deep breath, she lay down at his feet.
This was how she had first seen Tyrsten as an angel hovering over her.
She closed her eyes and asked for her dreaming Lizard, and the other spirit guides, to assist her. I need all of you. This is one dream I want to find my way out of. Anyone else out there that would like to help, I won’t turn you away.
Jaguar’s protective energy flowed around her like the tail of a cat circling her body. Lizard, the dreamer, scurried up to her. The blanket of sleep smothered her conscious mind.
✹ ✹ ✹
“We have a way to go. They dream far away,” Lizard said.
“Can we get there any faster? What about Eagle? He could fly us there.”
“Excellent idea.” Lizard nodded.
Ithia scooped up Lizard. Eagle appeared and its talons secured Ithia’s back. They took to flight.
“Eagle, I don’t think you could do this in reality. I’m much heavier in real life.”
“True. However, your soul is quite heavy now, burdened by your heart.”
The landscape streamed by under Ithia. She saw the places she had visited: the vine covered huts at the Healing Springs, the glowing radiance of the Mother Tree, the quaint mountain town of Kladmunt, the cabin she had shared with Tyrsten. Finally, she approached the Vihar grounds. But instead of the intricate forest maze, a black moat surrounded the cloister.
“I can take you no further.” Eagle set her down at the moat’s edge.
“The Magians are inside!” Lizard said.
“How do I cross? There’s no bridge.”
The encroaching gloom of the prison cell had infiltrated the dreamworld. The thick, gray fog swiftly fell over the land and surrounded Ithia. A chill ran up her spine. The turbid moat swirled oily black upon black. It was a hundred feet wide, but there was no telling how deep this water went or what monsters slithered under its surface.
An imposing stone wall arose from the grounds, encompassing the Vihar. Two large stone gateways appeared within the wall.
Lizard whipped his tail. “You can choose only one of them. And only one lets you inside.”
“How do I decide?”
There was no response. She stood alone on the shore. Her guides had vanished.
Now Gramps materialized to her left. At her right, Tyrsten extended open arms.
Gramps grabbed her left upper arm. “Go this way and you will find this has all been a bad dream.”
As Tyrsten grasped her right hand, his voice rang over Gramps, “I am your future!”
Both men yanked on her arms and pleaded, “You must go my way.”
“Which one to choose? What if everything has been a dream, and I need to choose my past to wake up?” Ithia said, “And Tyrsten? I should trust him, shouldn’t I?”
The oppressive shadow moved closer, pushing her to make a decision. Time was running out.
Something caught Ithia’s eye. Lizard had discarded his thin tail and left it next to her as a reminder of what he had taught her.
Tyrsten grabbed her waist and tried to draw her to him, but Gramps’ grip held firm.
Now Frog appeared as it had done at Callow River. She knew what she had to do.
Ithia broke free from the men’s grasp.
She leapt into the inky muck.
Ithia focused and created a third gateway that appeared just ahead.
As she trudged forward, a burning stench of rot and petrol filled her nose. With each step, she struggled more than the last to release her foot from the muddy bottom. Once the muck was waist high, the sludge clung over the top of her boots and made it impossible to move forward. She slipped them off, hoping her bare feet would make better progress.
At the moat’s center most point, the waters came to her chest, and the bottom went deeper as she waded across.
The water was thick as tar. Her clothes were heavy with the weight of it. There was no way to swim. She kept toiling forward.
The liquid now clung to her neck.
Every movement was a struggle.
Ithia tilted her face to the doom-filled sky and tried to keep herself afloat.
She wondered if this was how all the other Magians had become trapped in the room.
The fluid poured into her ears. Voices whispered from the void—they whipped around her head like water serpents. Hate, one of them hissed. Words bubbled to the surface: Alone. Deceit. They swarmed around Ithia as if to break her will to reaching the shore.
Ithia’s concentration wavered. Her step faltered.
She slipped.
Her head plunged into the black mire.
The murk held her under.
Ithia wanted to surrender to it.
Tyrsten’s face flashed in her mind. And then Huldo, Urica, all the people Ithia cared about. She gathered the necessary strength to propel herself forward.
She finally gasped for air. Ten more steps remained to the shoreline.
Exhausted, Ithia climbed out of the muck. She fell on the landing in front of the middle gateway.
After catching her breath, Ithia rammed the gate with her shoulder.
The gate burst open.
Ithia ran into the Vihar and dropped to the ground where Urica slept. Trembling, Ithia grabbed Urica and held her tight. “I have come for you and the others. You need to wake up so that I can get you out of this cell.”
Urica opened her eyes and patted Ithia’s muddied cheek. “I knew you would come.”
The rest of the Magians started to rise. Returning consciousness rippled outward from Ithia’s presence, nudging them awake.
Urica sat up and psychically searched the crowd of stirring Magians. “We hibernated to survive the stasis of the prison cell. I knew you would open the door to release us.”
Over a hundred Magians stood in Ithia’s presence. One by one they vanished through the Vihar doors and faded into nothingness, their consciousness returning to their bodies.
The shadow drew closer to Ithia to protest the Magians’ escape.
“See you on the other side.” Urica disappeared.
✹ ✹ ✹
As the Magians woke from their long sleep, Tyrsten held his breath and waited for Ithia to return, but she didn’t stir.
Urica stood up and came to his side.
Cradling Ithia’s limp form, Tyrsten asked, “Why does she not wake?”
Urica’s face tensed. “She should have been right after me.”
The Magians gathered around them. Tyrsten said to Urica, “The exit should be straight through in this direction. Keep moving, or you will be lost in the void.”
Urica hesitated.
“Ithia should not leave until her consciousness is regained. I will stay with her.” Tyrsten glanced at the surroundings. “Go! The shadow walls are closing in.”
Tyrsten didn’t care that all of his Magian elders scrutinized him as he clung to Ithia’s lifeless body. He didn’t me
et their gaze. He didn’t search the crowd for his teachers. All of his attention was on Ithia.
Ithia still did not move. She had sacrificed herself, just as Tancreed had prophesied. Tyrsten’s fear overwhelmed him. He put his ear to her mouth to hear if she was breathing. She was, but slowly.
“Ithia?” He kissed her face tenderly in hopes of stirring her.
This reckless act in front of his elders was career suicide. However, he held no shame for loving her. He would shout it in front of those who would condemn him, if it would wake her.
Urica lead the evacuation, hoping to divert attention from his display of affection.
Tyrsten pulled Ithia close. “Please come back to me.”
✹ ✹ ✹
Hours had passed since Huldo and Feron witnessed Tyrsten chase Ithia into the void. They expected to see either Tyrsten or Ithia return, but Urica was the first to emerge.
Feron escorted Rainor and the procession of rescued Magians up to ground level. One of the Sauvants offered aid with securing Rainor.
Huldo smiled as he approached Urica. His grin faltered by the dread on her face. “What happened?” Huldo asked as the chain of refugees ended and Tyrsten and Ithia weren’t among them.
“Ithia must have other business to attend to,” Urica said.
“Is that the Seer speaking or just a guess?”
“Both.”
✹ ✹ ✹
Someone appeared from beyond the encroaching darkness in the dreamscape. For a moment, Ithia thought it was another projection of herself, twenty years her senior.
The woman came near. Black irises revealed her to be a Magian Innocenti. She scowled. “Releasing the Magians was a grave mistake. I am disappointed in you.”
“Mother?” Ithia took a tentative step toward her.
“Yes.” Her mother did not smile. “I am Oriona.”
Ithia’s mind sputtered with the revelation. “Oriona?”
“Yes, your grandparents were infatuated with Earth and its ways.” Her mother’s voice was thick with resentment. “They named me after one of their favorite constellations of Earth’s lore. I suspect my father pointed out that one to you without ever mentioning me.”
Ithia was astonished that as a child she hadn’t been so far off in believing that she was from Orion. If it wasn’t for the horrible way she found out, she might have laughed. “Gramps told me your name was Anna.”
“More lies. Just as he convinced others he was protecting you, he maybe convinced himself too. But I am your mother. You belonged to me.”
“I guess he didn’t want me to be used by Garrick or by you.”
“I am sure they did not mention how they contributed to all of this.” Oriona grumbled. “Patterns.”
“Urica mentioned patterns. What does that mean?”
“Your grandparents were both Magians. They were ashamed of themselves for creating me. So I was abandoned. Orphaned. After I came of age, I had to find a way out of what my life had become. And when I gave birth to you, rather than let me be, they tracked me down and separated a Magian mother and her daughter once again.”
“Why did you align yourself with Garrick?”
“Garrick was your grandfather’s student. During Garrick’s Actuation, he peeked into my father’s soul and into his dirty secret—me. He knew my father for what he was—a hypocrite. Garrick saw I was abandoned. I was shuffled from home to home, never knowing my parents were teaching and caring for other children. When Garrick discovered my existence, he searched and found me. Only then did I learn about my origins. He told me who I was, what I was—my parents’ shame. And he told me what we could create together. You see, Ithia, you were to challenge an authority, but it was to oppose the Magians that have been in control. They are the threat we must eradicate. My father knew this and removed you from the equation.”
“Why do people think I am destined to change things?”
“It is embedded in your genetic makeup. Your grandparents were rebellious even if it was only for the brief time of my conception. I have proven even more rebellious. It is the very essence of your origins to buck this system—to be a maverick.”
Ithia frowned. “So, causing problems is in my blood.”
“If you do not understand why I had to attack the Magians after knowing what they had done to me, us, then maybe you will never understand. Maybe you are corrupted by Tyrsten. Even though I sense his heart is different from the others, he was brainwashed by the Magian rhetoric, and he will likely betray you for his teacher.” Oriona shook her head. “Just as my parents did, he would betray the one he says he loves. I was tossed aside. And what they did with you—the same but worse, since you did not even know your home. They hid you in another universe. They erased me and then you.”
“Why did you kidnap all the Magians?”
“I lured them here, because they are all to blame. When your grandparents stole you—that was the last wound I could suffer. You make a terrible mistake if you follow their ways. They are the enemy.”
“I have no intention of following anyone.” Ithia stared at her mother to punctuate her point. “But you can’t want to destroy all Magians because of mistakes your parents made.”
Oriona didn’t answer, but a slight adjustment of her stance confirmed Ithia’s conclusion.
“I’m not arguing that Magians might be behind some of what happened to you.” Ithia reached her hand out, but Oriona stepped back. “However, it was your parents’ decision to do what they did, their decisions created your suffering.”
“And they deserve to pay for it.”
“Maybe, just maybe, they have suffered already. The others shouldn’t be punished. But I’m not siding with anyone. Not you, or even Tyrsten—not the Magians, not Rainor.”
“Rainor?” Oriona asked with panic in her voice.
“He sent me in here to get you out.” Ithia paused, curious to why Oriona dwelled in her own prison. “Why are you in here, anyway?”
“This has taken much of my power.” Oriona’s eyes flared with a red flame. “And I will no longer subject myself to any of them.”
“But you are Innocenti. You have no active powers.”
“Magians create limitations by telling us they are so. I had enough power to create this place. I built this out of my pain—this place is my prison and my protection. Even if I could leave, I would not. I cannot defend myself against him.”
“But I… I killed Garrick.” Ithia almost retched at the idea. “He isn’t a threat anymore.”
“You? But my vision—” Oriona stopped and glanced over her shoulders. “Where is Rainor?”
“He was in the hallway. Are you afraid of him?”
Oriona ignored her question and appeared to read Ithia’s intentions. “Why did you cross the moat through the middle?”
“I had to start trusting.”
“But you did not trust. You did not pick your Grandfather or Tyrsten. What trust did you have?”
“In myself.”
Tears welled in Oriona’s eyes. Some part of her had been revived. “Then maybe there is still hope. That is something I did not have at your age. I only trusted in my right to justice.”
Ithia noticed that the circle of light that surrounded her was shrinking by the second—the shadow was closing in on them, licking at their heels like black flames. She offered her hand. “We must go now.”
“No.” Oriona shook her head.
“Why not?”
“This is me.”
Ithia eyes widened. “It was you—the shadow that has haunted me.”
“I was calling you to me.”
“Then let us be together now. I won’t leave you here. I want you to come with me. We can heal this. All of it. This vengeance is only hurting you.”
“I cannot go.” Oriona closed her eyes.
Her mother looked deep inside of Ithia’s being, and with a Seers’ vision saw into the future. Even though she could sense this happening, Ithia could not glimpse what was to c
ome.
“Even if I could—” Oriona said, “After seeing you and reading your soul, I see clearer than I ever have—and my hatred would be your undoing.”
“You can change.”
“No! However, you may be the true change that I was not.”
“But you must come with me!”
The void lassoed Ithia’s ankles. The shadow stung like ice on her skin. “Mother, I want you in my life.”
“Do not follow the Magians.”
“Come with me. No matter what you have done. I don’t care. I need to get you out of here.”
Oriona raised her arms, extending them into the dark, and stepped backward, sinking into the black cushion. “This darkness has grown beyond my control. There is no turning back.” Oriona began to fade into the nothingness.
“What about my father? Who is he? Is he alive?” Ithia rushed to ask the questions, hoping to bring her mother back to answer.
Oriona’s image was almost gone, her lips moved with no sound.
Ithia grabbed at Oriona and willed her own consciousness back into her body, hoping to pull her mother along with her.
✹ ✹ ✹
Ithia quivered in Tyrsten’s arms. A slight gasp for air informed him that she dwelled once again inside her body though her eyes didn’t open.
“Mother?” she whispered.
A sudden apparition of swirling—a black cloud whirled around them. A disembodied voice echoed, “Leave at once.”
“Who are you?” Tyrsten asked the wraith.
“There is no time. Hurry. Please tell her that I would have loved her properly if I had the opportunity. It is enough now to have Seen. She will be the vehicle of my retribution.”
“I fear the darkness is too thick for us to leave.” Tyrsten glanced around as shadowy fingers reached for him.
“I will fight my darkness so that you can find your way to the door. Leave now. Do not allow Ithia to come back for me. A child should not sacrifice her life for the parent, for my vengeance. It is enough to know she tried to save me. Go! Now. She has to fulfill Quanen’s vision.”
