by Elina Vale
“You really shouldn’t have left like that,” she said.
“I don’t want to be a puppet anymore, Doria,” Javid said. “I don’t want to kill.”
Stepping away from the wall, Doria sauntered closer. “Hunter or prey, Javid; that’s the way this world works. You chose your role. It was the wrong choice.”
“No,” Javid said. “You chose it for me when you forced me to be like you.”
“I wanted you to be a survivor.” She wafted a cloud of pebbles into the air with a wave of her fingers. “Do you think I became this powerful by cowering in a corner? I made use of every advantage I saw, and I wasn’t afraid to crush the toes around me if it meant improving my own chances. If I hadn’t had such determination, I might as well be a hapless commoner, serving the will of forces greater than me. I will never allow that. I will never be the plaything of others. Does that make me a monster?”
He scowled at her. “That doesn’t mean you have to make others your own playthings. Your way is evil.”
“Well, that depends on your perspective,” she said. “After all, without our connection to magic, either one of us could have been a slave to the Pit. Would that be any better? I’m just being honest.”
"If you value honesty,” he said, “why didn’t you tell me about the other survivor of the Gate Run?”
Irritation flashed in Doria’s eyes. “You didn’t need to know. Your path to power wasn’t dependent on her. You’ve forgotten much, Javid.” She stepped closer, a cunning look on her face. “You don’t remember how I spared your life once. You don’t remember that we once made a deal... and that you broke your promise to me.”
“Don’t come any closer,” Javid growled, stretching his hand forward. “I made no promises to you.” His eyes lit up with magic, and his Fountain exploded to life.
Doria chuckled. “Stop it. I have an idea.”
“No. I’m done with your games.”
Doria walked forward, sneaking softly like a cat. One step. Another step. Javid was frozen in her presence. Why did she have such power over him? He hated it. Taking his hand, she placed it on her chest.
The magic inside him died. What was the point? He could never escape her. “Just kill me. Don’t involve me in your games.”
Doria placed her finger on his lips. “Listen, Javid: you told me back in the Spike that you believe I’m more powerful than Shea.”
“Doria...”
“I am,” she whispered. “I have always been powerful. People have underestimated me because I only command one element, but it has always been their final mistake. Javid, you don’t know how vast my Fountain truly is.”
Javid paused. Was she issuing a threat? Or an invitation?
“Shea is a jumped-up drokashai,” Doria continued. “The Black Star is only hers by chance. She knew next to nothing about it—she still can’t fathom it—but because she was lucky enough to be standing next to Aldemar when he died, she received it. If Shri hadn’t wounded me, I would have been standing with Aldemar at the end. The Star could have been mine. I’ve been studying it, reading about it, attempting to understand it for decades. I figured out myself that Aldemar had found it.”
"What are you saying?”
“Shea is only a piece of the puzzle. She is a temporary sheath for the Black Star, and when I figure out how, it will pass to me.”
Javid didn’t respond, but pulled his hand from her grip.
Doria slid her fingers over his shoulders, circling around him while she spoke. “Help me, Javid. Shea’s mind isn’t powerful enough to command the Black Star. She doesn’t possess half of Aldemar’s willpower. There is a consciousness inside that stone that even I do not yet understand. Already, Shea is possessed by its whims.”
Javid frowned. “She does seem changed.”
“If she continues to hold it, it will destroy her from within. It will use her as a host for its darkest whims and turn her into a weapon against all of Shadear.” Taking his hand, she gave him an earnest gaze. “The world isn’t safe while Shea has that stone.”
“Then go to the king and offer your help in defeating her,” he challenged.
“The king would never listen to me,” she said. “He doesn’t believe in the stone’s power. The only thing he can comprehend is sending his armies to march upon Ironflare. Shea can’t be defeated that way.” Caressing his cheek, she pleaded, “Help me to kill her. Already, she’s lost herself to the darkness, and once she has been consumed by the stone, the world will follow.”
“Can she even be killed?”
“Perhaps if we turn her fears against her,” Doria said. “You know what Shea fears the most? That girl. She hasn’t told me why, but the Moongale girl is a threat to her.”
The black void of the Gate Run haunted Javid like a faceless ghost. Moongale: the only woman to ever survive the run. He wanted to demand that Doria tell him more, but he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer.
“Find her,” Doria whispered in his ear.
Her breath sent shivers down his spine.
She slid her hands across chest, resting her head on his shoulder. “Find her and bring her to me. She might know how to remove the stone from Shea’s body. And when the Black Star is free, I will be there.”
“To claim its power for yourself.” Javid shook her arms away.
"But I can control it!”
“You would be worse than Aldemar! If the stone is as evil as you say, it should be destroyed!”
“You will never hear of it again,” Doria said. “I’m not like Shea or Aldemar! I don’t want to rule, or to kill, I just want knowledge! You have my word that I will vanish from this land with that stone. You and everyone you love will live in peace. That’s more than you can hope for if Shea has her way!”
Javid considered her words for some time, then finally pulled his hand away and pierced her with a cold glare. “For someone who doesn’t want to rule and kill, you certainly enjoyed toying with all those servants in your bedchamber. Almost as much as you enjoyed slaughtering them.”
Her eyes flared with magic. “Find the girl and bring her to me!”
Javid’s only chance was to strike first. She’ll turn the earth against me. I must take control of it before she does.
Drawing from his Fountain, Javid sent a tremor through the ground that burst behind Doria’s heels, burying her under the soil. He sprinted away as she shrieked in anger, but he knew it was only a matter of seconds before she’d be free. And when she was, she would kill him. Feeling the end of his life closing in, his mind filled with memories of his family. He had failed them. He hadn’t been able to help Joma after all. Tears of anger and frustration welled in his eyes.
A hail of stones exploded behind him, slamming into his back and tossing him to the ground. He stumbled up and continued his run. He couldn’t defeat Doria, but thinking back over everything he had learned, he searched for a way to at least neutralize the danger she posed. They shared an element that she overruled, but Javid also had the element of tree.
The people of the Third Ring vanished from the streets when they realized what was happening, shutting themselves securely into their homes. An idea came to his mind. The doors of the houses were made of wood. Could he use it to protect himself? Skidding into another alley, he reached out with his magic and pulled the doors from the nearby houses, using them to cover the mouth of the alley. He quickly merged the wood into one large chunk, which he rooted into the ground and molded to cover the mouth of the alley. It rose twelve feet high.
He was still far from safe. It wouldn’t hold her for long. Have to end this somehow. If Doria taps into the extent of the powers, she could destroy every home on this street and the people within. Of course, Shea wouldn’t appreciate Doria causing that sort of destruction without permission. Hopefully, Doria would realize that. But even if she lost track of him, she’d find an air-senatai to scout him. He ran for as long as he could, skimming through the darkening alleys of Ironflare. People stepped aside to
make room; they wanted nothing to do with battling senatai.
A shout from behind alerted him to a group of pike holders emerging from around the corner. Javid twisted his path, darting into yet another alley. He squirmed through a narrow gap between two buildings and waited.
“Psst!”
Javid leapt at the whisper. He whirled with his hands up, ready to hurl a ball of force at the first sign of an attack.
“Come here!” the voice whispered. “Hide with me!”
Javid saw a young man crouching in an alcove shielded by a wooden plank fence. As he snuck inside, the pikes rushed past the hideaway.
He took a breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and studied his savior. The young man had red hair and an aura of magic about him. “Thank you, friend.”
“You’re a senatai from the Spike?” the young man asked.
“I was,” Javid said. “I’ve left for good. But apparently, we’re not allowed to quit.” Examining his new friend from head to toe, he said, “I can sense the magic in you, but I don’t recall seeing you in the Spike.”
“I wasn’t.” He bowed. “My name is Teron DeLureau. I was training at Senatai Island.”
“You can train in the jungle for all I care, as long as you can get me out of here.”
Teron’s face scrunched. “First, you need to take off that cloak. They’ll spot you instantly.”
“You’re right,” Javid said, pulling his robes over his head to reveal the humble clothing of a trainee. He offered his hand. “I’m Javid.”
Teron accepted the gesture. “Well, then, Javid of the Spike, where are we running to?”
Javid leaned his head against the wall and sighed. Where indeed? He couldn’t go home, could he? The senatai would scout him wherever he went. When they found him, they would storm into his home and kill his family. No, definitely not home, no matter how badly his little brother needed to be healed. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “Maybe somewhere to the north. As far away as possible.”
“I’m leaving this city in two days.” Teron offered him a flask. “You can come with me.”
Javid took the flask and downed the water, groaning with relief as the cool liquid traveled down his throat. “Where are you going, then?”
Teron stood and looked at the Spike. The dark, uninviting tower tapered over the inner walls like a pike of doom. “First, I need to get into the Spike.”
“Bad idea,” Javid hissed. “If you go there, you will never come out alive.”
Teron stared at the tower for a while, then sat down and took a small black book from his bag. Holding it before Javid, he declared, “In this book is a spell I’ve been building for many months now. I need to try it on someone.”
“What kind of spell?”
“I can’t tell you. Not yet.” He tucked the book away again. “Whose side are you on?”
“How many are there? I’m on my own side. I’m on the side that keeps me alive and gets me the hell away from this city.”
“Do you support the High Mistress?”
“Support her?” Javid laughed. “It might interest you to know that the High Mistress is losing her mind. I want nothing to do with her or her treacherous advisor.”
“Advisor?”
“The one chasing me,” Javid grumbled. “A very dangerous woman. I can’t think of any reason to go back into the Spike and risk running into either one of them.”
“What if...” Teron rubbed his fingers together and considered his words. “What if I told you that I might have a way to heal someone who has been ripped?”
Javid paused, uncertain if Teron was being honest. “Are you serious?”
Teron squeezed the bag in his lap. “Yes. Well, almost. I mean... I need to try it to know if it works. But there are no ghosts on Senatai Island.”
“Then your Island must be better than the Spike,” Javid said.
Teron gestured to the Spike. “What is it like in there?”
“Evil. Scheming senatai killing servants and controlling everyone within its walls. Is the Island any different?”
“Yes, it is.” Teron gave him a thoughtful expression. “It is a peaceful place. There is a forest surrounding the Octopus, which is what we call our compound. We train, but nothing is forced on us. We work under the crown’s authority.”
“The crown.” Javid sighed. “Do you know that the king is planning to attack Ironflare?”
“Yes. Many will die.”
“To be honest,” Javid said, “I don’t know if I’m on anyone’s side any longer. I just wanted the means to help my family.” He peered through a narrow crack in the wooden fence, watching the citizens pass. A man carrying a bundle, an adolescent girl, braids swinging on her back, A woman with a baby on her arms. “That is going to be awful.”
“It could be. Unless someone does something,” Teron said and nodded. “You could do something.”
Javid snorted. “What could I do? I did... something a moment ago in the tower and there’s... someone after me. I had the audacity to merely escape the tower and already I’m a wanted man.”
Teron gathered his breath, then dug something from his pocket.
It was a pendant.
“This is not mine to give, because it belongs to someone important. But this pendant... It hides you from the senatai. When you wear it, they can’t scout you magically.”
Javid licked his parched lips with his tongue. What an item! With it, he could run away. He could take it from Teron and wear it and escape and nobody would ever discover him. But could he? He had done so many dreadful things in the tower. Maybe that’s who he was now, a wicked man. A coward.
“I can loan this to you if you get me inside the Spike and help me snatch a ghost.”
“I’m not going back in there. And if you go, there’s no way you will get out alive.”
“Wearing this, you could get me in. We could snatch one poor ripped soul and be gone before anyone notices.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Have you encountered a ghost?” Teron stared into nothingness for a time. “I have. One of my friends was turned into one. She doesn’t recognize me anymore. She is but a gray shadow of herself. Her life has ended, and her heart has frozen. She will never grow old and she will never die, but she will never live again. She is a ghost.”
Javid swallowed. He remembered the ones in the tower. All of them. The young girl with braided hair color wiped away from her cheeks, eyes staring forward... “Yes... I have seen them, in the Spike. Can you truly help them?”
“I have figured out how to reverse the spell. Theoretically. But I need a ghost to try it on, and I need, I think, two other senatai with me.”
“I don’t think there is a senatai in that tower who will help you. They’re either loyal to Shea or they’re terrified of her.”
“I’m not going to do it there. We’ll take the ghost with us.”
Javid closed his eyes. There was still some good left in him, and if he could help this senatai to heal ghosts, maybe some of his crimes would be washed away. For all he knew, it might diminish the demons on his boat when it was time to take the last trip to the streams of the Underworld.
“I will do it,” he said. “I will get you in. We’ll seize one of the ghost servants, but then we need to get as far as we can.”
“Agreed. And this pendant is a loan. It belongs to a powerful senatai, and I need to deliver it to her as soon as possible. Promise me you’ll return it. Please.”
“I promise. I understand it’s not mine.”
Teron gave Javid the pendant, and they shook hands. Fear built inside Javid when he realized that he was going back into the tower. Maybe Shea wouldn’t expect him to be foolhardy enough actually return and he hoped the pendant worked. Javid put the pendant on his neck and concealed it under his shirt.
CHAPTER 21
THE MORNING MIST FADED away as the majestic ships approached the Thunder Islands and the city of Lighthaven. Shri was at the first one of the s
hips, but looking back, she saw three other glorious ones following them. They were like golden floating palaces sliding through the mist, silently, emerging one by one from the thick could. Ahead, the breathtaking city of Lighthaven shone like a white pearl on the shore. The sun sent its first rays through the hills and mountains of the islands to the north. Dark forests covered the hillsides to the feet of barren peaks that shone majestically in the sunlight. A pair of tall statues stood in the water before the seaport. They were carved to resemble women with curly hair and fluttering capes, their hands held defensively before them.
Shri shivered as the ships sailed past them.
After realizing she may have Maira blood running in her veins, Shri felt heavy. Maybe it was foolish to mourn the loss of something one never had, but she was sad. Because of the whims of Aldemar Krun, her father had never seen his true home, and her grandfather had lived his whole life inside the Pit. And if Perivalos, Shri’s great-grandfather, was the prince who went missing, he never again saw his home. This place, Shri’s heritage, the fate of the people... She would find truth among the Mairas.
She had kept her promise to Roxana and hadn’t told anybody about their revelation. But knowing the fierceness within these people, she was afraid of how they would react when they found out she might be a Moon-Storm. She didn’t know if they would embrace her or kill her.
The harbor was getting closer. Hundreds of people stood on the pier, waiting for the ships. They waved and cheered, fluttering colorful ribbons and cloths. Shri tried to absorb everything. One day, she would describe all of this to her father.
Roxana stood beside Shri, pleased to return home. There was a new softness in her eyes when she spoke. “We’ve been away for a long time. Now that autumn is here, every Maira returns to the islands and joins the festivals. Their families have missed them.”
"I imagine so.”
“Captains and co-captains will meet with the clan-leader and the high council to go through all of the profits we’ve made, whether by trade or theft. Tonight, there will be a wonderful celebration, and tomorrow the markets will be buzzing. Everyone will want to get their hands on the new fabrics and fruits and all.”
