by Ben Alderson
In tandem we moved, both filled with anger. I wondered if Gordex spoke to Hadrian as he did me?
All around me the guards fumbled to stand. I wanted to hurt them. The voice inside of me willed me to create pain, I hungered for it. I scanned the crowd and noticed the lack of them. The force must have knocked a lot over the side of the bridge way. I almost laughed at the thought of their bodies falling to the ground far below.
Stop, I told myself, but the voice was quiet and easily ignored.
A cold brush went against the wall within my mind, but I sent a new force towards it, barricading the door with my own, refreshed power.
White flashed ahead of me. It was so bright it burned at my eyes. Stunned, I raised a hand to block out the light, but as if the very sun had filtered into the cave, it blinded me.
Hadrian called out in discomfort, his heat intensifying. Then the light disappeared. It took a moment for me to come to, but the fist was already aimed for my face.
I swerved my head, dodging it by inches. Eyes wide, I watch the incoming fist open into a splayed hand. It was so close that I could see every line across the pale palm. Then, once again, the light returned. Bright as a star it burst through the Morthi’ guard’s skin inches from my vision.
I stumbled back, trying to rub the light from my eyes but the damage was done. I fumbled for control, blindly sending my air out in all directions hoping I caught the Morthi.
“Stop, Zacriah, stop!” Vianne screamed, her voice echoing up the large cavern walls. “You need to stop.”
Was it Vianne who reached for me, hands frantic and voice panicked? I couldn’t use my eyes to see. Roughly, I shrugged the hands off and flew back for my attacker.
More, give them more.
The small part of me that had receded into the dark depths of my mind knew that even if I wanted to stop, I couldn’t. I was no longer Zacriah, not when Gordex pulled his strings and made the most out of my anger.
Still blinded by the light, something heavy thudded into my face and knocked me backwards. My spine screamed as I landed on the ground without my arms to soften my fall. Something cold was pressed against my exposed neck, but without my eyes, I couldn’t see what it was. The familiar tingle told me it was gold. No pain followed, only more anger.
“Do not move,” the voice said, pushing the sword into my throat as my vision began to return. It was the guard who had greeted us. He towered above me, his long sword teetering with my skin. I shifted to spring up at him, but the tip of his sword nicked at my neck and the warmth of blood flowed down onto my chest.
The feeling of release that followed was refreshing. I felt the darkness bleed out of me, allowing my own mind to take control of my body once again. Gordex’s presence was receding as the gold nipped into me. His calling voice got quieter as it leaked further and further away.
Hadrian was struggling on the floor, pinned down by guards who flashed light at him from their skin. Their magick was unlike anything I’d seen thus far. Like other Morthi who had control over darkness, these had the power over light.
“Cut him,” I whispered, breathless from the loss of my control moments before. The guard was panting above me, face marked with confusion at my request.
“Cut him with the gold,” I said again, trying to show I was no longer a threat. The weakness was overwhelming. “Do it, or he will not stop fighting.”
Each time I blinked it was getting harder for me to keep my eyes open. And when I could, everything I could see was in double. Two guards, two golden swords, two panicked faces of Vianne.
The guard who kept me down shouted something to those who pinned Hadrian down. Then, moments passed and the heat in the cave reduced. I don’t know if it was the sudden relief that Hadrian had been made to bleed like me, or the drained energy from my Heart Magick, but I gave into the darkness. No longer did I need to watch and listen to the guards who shouted slurs at us.
Didn’t I tell you I am always here? Gordex whispered, his voice fading fast.
My powerful, powerful beast.
“YOU COULDN’T JUST sit back and wait for us to return, could you?”
Without looking, I could imagine the speaker, arms crossed over her strong chest and eyes full of mockery.
“Oh no, you had to go snooping where you are unwanted. I mean really, Zacriah, I’ve never known someone so impatient as you. Well, someone more than me, and I never thought that was possible.”
Someone chuckled in response.
“My head feels like it is splitting in two. If I knew this was how I would finally come around, I would not have bothered to wake up.” Hadrian’s voice was rough. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know he was beside me. The weight of him in the bed was all I needed as an answer. That and the familiarity of his warmth.
There was an extended pause followed by the clap of hands embracing each other.
“It is good to finally see you.”
I opened my eyes against harsh light. My own head thundered with pain as everything seems stronger as I woke up.
“I can’t believe I am saying this, but it is a relief, if only slight, to see you as well. Both of you. It has not been the easiest of days sitting back in our burrow waiting for news. I have felt so useless hiding out here. I know Illera feels the same.”
I rolled my head and look at Hadrian, then to the girl above him.
Emaline.
I wanted to open my mouth and say something, but my throat was too dry and tongue thick.
“Where is Illera?” Hadrian asked.
“Trying to calm down an entire city after your little trick with Zacriah. I thought they’d have told you when you arrived that the city and those within it do not like our kind,” Emaline said. “We’ve been here for such a long while, and still I’ve not got close to the Vcaros.”
“They did warn us,” I croaked, sitting up in the small, straw cot. The three of us were placed in the middle of some kind of tent, pitched from bamboo and material. This was not the dwellings we had been taken too when we arrived.
“He wakes!” Emaline clapped, taking a seat on the edge of the cot which made the entire structure quake. There was already little room for Hadrian and me, but with Emaline, I was surprised the cot didn’t snap under our conjoined weight.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I released a yawn that could have moved mountains. “I have a sinking feeling within my stomach that we’ve messed this entire plan up.”
“How long have we been under for?” Hadrian asked.
“Long enough for the guards to escort you from the city and back to your soldiers. You’ve both lost a day, tops. Do you know just how much your little intrusion has affected the days of time I have spent trying to build a relationship with the Morthi? All that time wasted. I can’t say I am not flattered that you came to look for me and Illera, but you should not have gone near the city. That was a grave mistake. You are lucky they did not kill you both.”
I watched Hadrian stand, wobbling slightly, then steady himself on the nearest bamboo pole, which was erected in the middle of the tent. “Maybe if they told us they are armed to the teeth in gold we would not have gone near them. That was a pretty important detail Kell has so aptly missed out on telling me.”
“You had no idea about that gold?” Emaline asked, peering at the swaying flaps of the tent as if she was waiting for someone to walk in. “Illera noticed it when we first arrived. Everyone within the city carries some form of the metal in some way. Whether it be jewelry or chains, weapons or even false teeth.”
“Seems like the Morthi would do anything to keep the Dragori away from them,” Hadrian said, pushing his arms through the holes of a shirt and wincing as he did so.
Did his body ache as mine did? Even lying down, I could sense my sore muscles and equally pained mind.
“Like water kills a flame, they want nothing to do with us,” Emaline murmured.
I reached for my throat, waiting to feel the mark left by the gold sword when it cut into me.
I could feel the dried scab but felt no pain or swelling. “The gold, it—I lost control. What happened was not supposed to happen, I swear it.”
“I guessed as much. Sounded very uncharacteristic for you to just let loose for no reason. But I am easy to sway. Kell, is it? She is currently back with her people trying to negotiate the peace between us once again. They think you tried to attack out of your own will. All your little display has done is solidify that we are in fact nothing but danger in their eyes.”
“Then we need to speak about what really happened.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I knew what was coming next. I had to tell them about the dark anger. How it latched onto me during the moment of weakness, allowing Gordex to take control.
“Yet another understatement. We need to do more than simply talk. But before we do, you both need something to help your healing. The gold has left its mark when the Morthi guards bled you. It is healing, but slowly.”
If only I had Forbian. I craved it.
Emaline fished out a pouch from her pocket and handed it to Hadrian. He pulled a face, tilting his head as he tipped the contents onto his hand.
“Numbing agent, some type of flower that you can find within the Doom. Apparently, when dried, it can help mask pain. It was as best as I could find to give to you both.”
“Doom?” Hadrian questioned, handing me on of the dried buds. It was dark brown, shriveled and surrounded me the worst stench. My nose creases as I smell it before I trust it enough to take.
“The desert we are currently situated in,” Emaline explained. “Doom is as vast as you could imagine. Illera and I have explored as much as we can, but it is mostly just sand. Exciting.”
I sniffed the bottle, nose scrunching in response.
Emaline looked to us both. “Chew it, it tastes better than it smells I promise.”
I’d do anything to numb the faint aching. Not even the stench could put me off of trying it.
As I took it down, I thought of Marthil. My body was calling out for Forbian, something she had. But the last dosage, had it burned along with the ship?
“I do have something else that must be brought up.”
I looked to Hadrian, who fisted his empty pouch and waited with wide eyes. Somehow, I sensed he knew what I was going to say.
“Bear with me, for I’m trying to make sense of this at the same pace you are. But I believe Gordex, through the Heart Magick, has control over me. Us. To some levels.”
Hadrian dipped his gaze to his hands.
“Gold, as we all know well, is the Dragori’s weakness and is supposed to subdue our powers. But it was over exposure to gold that was used to unlock our Heart Magick. When we were surrounded, I started to feel this darkness inside. Like the Druid’s shadow, I could feel it replacing my weakness with something else. Something warped. Then I lost control. As if I was watching what I was doing but from a locked dark room far in the back of my mind. Only when the sword finally drew blood did I feel the dark presence leave. As if the cut acted as an opening for the irresistible pressure of evil to leave.”
Emaline’s mouth sagged open, her azure eyes wide as she listened. I took a deep breath, readying to carry on. She rested her head in her hands, not making a sound as she waited for one of us to carry on.
I expected Hadrian to agree, or to make comment. But he is silent as he too listened on.
“Then I heard him. Gordex. It is not the first time his voice has filled my mind. I have experienced it a handful of times when my anger peaked during my imprisonment within Lilioira. It is as if my anger is the welcoming for him to take over.”
“And you?” Emaline turned her attention to Hadrian, asking a question I wanted to know the answer to.
“Zacriah speaks with sense. Even when my body battled the Heart Magick I could feel a dark presence. Then today, it was the first time since Zacriah freed my soul that I felt the anger again. This time I had no ability to squash it, to keep it buried. It was powerful.”
“Did you hear his voice? The Druid?”
“I heard something, but it was what I felt that unnerves me. Every inch of my body and mind thirsted for pain. The fire, my fire, hungered for it. I felt… lost. Only when I was cut did I finally grapple control again.”
“Well this is just great.” Emaline stood, hands on hips. “You are telling me that, as well as Gordex using your power, he can control you during your times of intense anger or weakness? That leaves me, the only one free. The only one to make sure this does not happen again. Do you know how much damage you could have caused? Still could cause?”
“If your goal is to keep us calm, throwing your own anger is only going to make me reciprocate that emotion,” Hadrian said, chest heaving slightly. “I admit that even now I sense the want to argue. As if the Druid’s residue of control has familiarized itself with my body.”
“Or is that just your excuse for a good back and forth, Prince?” Emaline said, sarcasm dripping from her tone.
Hadrian just furrowed his brows, stilling her comment in an instant.
“Well then, this changes everything.” Emaline paced the room, nails between her teeth. “We need a plan. If the only way of stopping you from losing control is drawing blood with gold we will have to have some on us. But also keep is far away from me and both of you at the same time. Yet another challenge to add to the ever-growing list.”
“I like lists,” Illera cooed, strolling straight into the tent and pushing the curtain like doors wide. Her sun-kissed hair was gathered into a bun atop of her head. Her face seemed fuller than last time I’d seen her. She glowed with happiness. And the cause of her happiness stood amongst us. I could tell from the tanned sheen of her skin that she’d been out beneath the sun for a long while during her waiting time here.
Illera walked straight up to Emaline, wrapped her arms around her neck and turned Emaline’s face to hers. The kiss she gifted her was warm and honest. Both girls lost in each other for a brief moment.
They pulled back from each other, and instantly I watched Emaline relax, a smile cutting across her sharp face. “Is this when I say that you have got the wrong side of the conversation?”
Illera smiled our way. “Zac, Hadrian. Good to see you up and if only you could hear what they are all saying about you around camp.”
Hadrian rolled his eyes into the back of his head and released a breath, which pushed the hair from his forehead. “Fabulous. Even more reason for my own soldiers to believe I am a terrible leader.”
Illera laughed. “Suck it up. They are singing your praises. Said it is the most exciting thing to happen this entire journey here.”
Hadrian rocked back, his spine straightening as Illera’s words sunk in. “Well, then they do have sense.”
“I have come to get you all. Someone claiming to be part of the New Council, which by the way thank you for asking us to join. They’re requesting a meeting. Her face is beet red, so I don’t think you should keep her waiting.”
“Kell,” I said, looking at Hadrian who nibbled on his lip.
“That’s the one,” Illera said, nestled in the crook of Emaline’s arm. “I’ll give you a heads up; she is not happy in the slightest.”
“Then I guess we should not keep her waiting.” Hadrian winked his amber eye and smiled slyly my way.
“Good luck,” Illera called at us as we left the tent, her arms still wrapped around Emaline. “From the face on her, you are going to need a lot of it!”
KELL WAS FURIOUS even the air around her recoiled in caution.
She stood, hands pressed on the oaken table as she leaned on it. Someone had brought the table to land where it now was now placed in a large tent in the center of the camp. Vianne and Fadine waited, sitting around in silence, only sharing wide-eyed looks. Simian stood by the wall of the tent with a cup in hand and smile across his round face.
“Tell me, boys, just how it took only moments after your arrival to successfully get yourselves banned from Vcaros and anywhere close to it?�
�� Kell didn’t look at us as we entered the tent.
I could hear Illera laugh from beyond it as she flittered away after taking us here.
“Perhaps it had everything to do with no one informing us that this place is riddled with gold.” Hadrian hardly looked up from his nails as he replied to her. “That seems to be an important piece of information you missed out. Seems intentional to me.”
“Is that supposed to be a pointed accusation at me, Prince Hadrian?” Kell said, testing him further.
“Correct, you got it in one. I would have thought the mention of our greatest weakness would be the first comment you would make before we arrived. At least, that is what I would have done to a praised visitor in my palace.”
I just stood back as they interacted, unsure of how to add my comments in with such thick tension between them both.
“I’d already warned you not to go near the city. But you ignored that. Do not belittle me and suggest I was not looking out for you all. Everything I have done thus far is to ensure my promise of keeping the fourth Dragori safe is upheld. You are grown. Are you not used to following rules where you are from?”
Fadine cleared her throat, awkwardly interrupting to cool the air. “I do not think that is what Hadrian is doing, is it?” She shot him a look full of warning.
“Oh no, not at all.”
Kell and Fadine shared a glance as Hadrian sarcasm washed over them but neither responded to it.
“I have spoken—battled for you to stay on Morgatis. But you are not welcome nor permitted to leave this camp for the remainder of your stay. You both, no matter how true your threat was, attacked the guards of the city. Such violence is exactly why my people do not trust the Dragori after all these years.”
Hadrian began to pace, clearly flustered at this news. “What are we to do in the mean time? Wait for the Druid to turn up and finish what he has started?”
