A Dyad in Time

by D. D. Prideaux

  “He didn’t say it when he was at my side, I can’t really even remember what he did say, but I knew we were over.”

  “That Crulechba and I will be having words once this is all over.”

  “Promise me you won’t say, or do, anything Eve. He blames himself for what happened. He’s punishing himself more than you ever could, trust me.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m fine. I never had to forgive him, but he needs to forgive himself if he’s to move on.”

  “Beautiful and wise, Blue.” Tae whispered to Isabella in her mind. Her tears found themselves trickling over a smile, Eve’s brow furrowed with confusion.

  Brushing past the in-joke, Eve pressed Isabella for more details on the man she loved. They talked about his kindness, his drive, his passions and frustrations. They talked about the life they’d planned together, the family they wanted, the dreams they shared. The quiet returned every now and then to show them the way and they talked about those five years as if they were yesterday. The meals, the laughs, the cries, the make-ups, the emotional, the physical. Eve came to know this man as if they’d been friends as long as her and Isabella. She saw the conflict and torture he put himself through since the fyre. She regretted calling him that name. She respected her friend’s stance. She said as much to forgiving green eyes and a warm smile.

  “We’re here.” Tae interrupted politely.

  When the door-gap opened, cold air rushed in to greet Eve and Isabella, refreshing their bodies and minds. Stepping out onto crisp, white, untouched snow they smiled at each other after looking around at where they were. The pine tree glade was sheltering them from the worst of the weather they could see above the canopy, snow balancing precariously on branches, threatening to sink them to the ground. Directly in front of them, a waterfall spilled its contents into a series of pools that fed into each other and glowed with a teal light. Walking up to them, the crunch of the snow turned into the soft padding of their feet on pine needles and then the swishing of short grass. In all directions surrounding the pools, wildlife was flourishing with the warmth the water gave off. Flowers proudly held their heads high amongst healthy plants and small creatures, all living in perfect harmony with each other. Every colour they could see seemed to give off the same coloured light, bathing the whole place in a shimmering magik that made them smile. They couldn’t recognise over half of what they saw, marvelling at Tae’s choice in venue and hearing her purr in satisfaction at being in this place of peace.

  “Well met, Taeonia of the Silent Flight, Namer of Names, Finder of Places and Surprise Weaver.” Eve smiled broadly as she turned around to see the matte-black ship blushing purple light across her whole hull. “We are long overdue a talk.” The smile faded as she turned her mind to the next task, scared of what may happen. Seeing her friend struggle, Isabella walked over to Tae and placed a hand on her hull, the purple light glowing bright at the touch.

  “You have brought us to such a magikal place Tae, but we can’t cast the location spell here.”

  “It’s the most remote place in this world, Blue. It’s what you need.” The ship responded.

  “If the spell goes wrong though, we could lose this place forever. We could lose ourselves. We can’t be responsible for the loss of such a wonderful place. Your place.”

  “It reminds me of home.” Tae said absently. “But, my place is your place now. I’ve never had anyone to share this with before.” Isabella worked through the options in her head. Tae was quick, but they were running out of time and they may not find another spot. This place also grew special magik that could help stabilise the spell and increase their chances of finding Tor.

  “That’s very kind of you Tae, rest a while whilst we cast the spell.” Purple purring came back as Isabella smiled and walked back to Eve who was standing at the edge of the pool.

  “What if I destroy this place, Isabella?” Eve mirrored her friends concerns from a moment ago.

  “You won’t. You’re too good. Plus, can you feel the aura coming from everything? The magiks here could help. And you’ll have me, I can assist.”

  “I wish I’d missed you while the real me was gone. Besides Tor, you’re the only person I would have at my side.” They embraced, holding each other close, remembering how they felt in case either of them forgot. Isabella started to release Eve, but she held on tight.

  “Don’t go anywhere okay?”

  Isabella squeezed her hard and they let go of each other naturally, Isabella’s hands on Eve’s cheeks. “No chance.”

  “Shall we?” Eve raised her eye brows casually as if this spell was as easy as breathing. Nodding, they then both went to work. Isabella grabbed the silver bowl Leopold gave them and filled it with the water from the pool. Placing it at the foot of the largest and lowest pool, the water sloshed unnaturally before smoothing to a mirror finish. She watched Eve settle down in front of it, crossing her legs and closing her eyes, the three ingredients of the spell laid out in front of her. Isabella had never seen this spell performed, but she knew the mechanics. Only two or three people in the world could cast it, requiring impeccable timing, grace and drive. She’s got this she thought, as she saw a bead of sweat form on her friend’s brow. Eve sat there perfectly still, thinking about what she needed to do. Recalling the time she saw an old mystic cast this spell when she was training to be a Dyad. Kai, this is hard. What if it doesn’t work? What if I can’t find him? Where is Rosalind? How can I heal Isabella’s burns? What travesties has Tae been through? Where is she from? I’m hungry.

  Martialling herself, she knew a clear mind and a clear heart is what was needed to get this right. A black hole forming, because she was distracted by the thought of what Oueflen Flakes tasted like, didn’t seem like a fair exchange. She thought about when her and Tor visited a deserted mountain top together, snow surrounding them as they looked down over low hanging clouds in the valley, smooth, peaceful and real. She focused all her thoughts into the stillness of that memory, folding herself around the simplicity of the moment. Sweat started rolling down the side of her face and the small of her back as she concentrated on Tor. Pulling thoughts of him into her being, smelling his smell, feelings his skin, remembering his love. The water in front of her rippled softly at first as she found the centre of the spell. Entwining Tor into that core caused the sweat to pour from her freely, her clothes gradually soaking through with the effort. The water rippled faster and faster as she added her thought ingredients. The spices that would make the spell find him, and no one else. Then it was time to add the physical ingredients in front of her. She opened her eyes to see the water shifting uncontrollably in the silver container. Violent and purposeful she looked hard at the surface of the water. I can’t see them. Behind her, Isabella began moving her body in slow, weaving movements, chanting to herself.

  “Eternal glow, sight untrue. Honest peace and lidless eye. Reveal.” Eve’s eyesight sharpened dramatically, almost throwing her off balance before being steadied by Isabella’s sure hands.

  “You got this.” She whispered, Eve’s focus renewed and stronger with her friend’s support. There they are. Three small bulbs of light were rhythmically flashing across the water, seemingly at random. Eve saw their pattern though, studying their relentless paths as they tried to trick her. She bound a few more thoughts to the core of the spell, the bulbs slowing as she did. Got you. Raising herself to her feet without using her hands she gathered the three ingredients in her hands. She thought of the first time she saw Tor, forcing the memory into the spells core and throwing a Raven’s compass in the air. One of the bulbs slowed and Eve spun, throwing her leg up and crashing the compass into the bowl with the heel of her foot.

  “Bleeding heart, coveted trust…” The bulb stopped in the stormy water and she thought of the first time she kissed Tor. The second bulb slowed and without breaking a fluid motion from the first kick she span, repeating the movement with her opposite foot, smashing the love moonstone into the water.
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br />   “... Belief transcend and lost soul…” Two bulbs, perfectly still in the water, bubbles and fury rushing around them with the third, more unpredictable bulb teasing her. She pulled the memory forward of the moment she knew she loved Tor, the final piece of light, now sluggish in the water waited for her to add the last object. The eternal ring that Tor gave her moved in slow motion, hovering in the space between her and the water. Still moving, not breaking the movement she’d started, to complete the spell, she turned away from the water and performed a flawless overhead kick, sending the ring to meet its light.

  “... Confess.” She landed, one knee bent to the ground, one steadying her and her hands in prayer in front of her chest. Taking a deep breath, she turned back towards the warm pool and looked into the silver bowl. The three bulbs had stopped moving, trapped in a flat and still surface of water. When the mystic had performed the spell, the place where the person you were trying to find appeared in between the three small lights, but there was nothing here this time. She waited. She waited, and she thought. Replaying every thought and move in her head she knew she’d done things perfectly. Her and the mystic had spent many months discussing how the spell worked, what was needed, how powerful it was, where it could go wrong and what could happen if it did. They’d even deliberately mistimed parts of the spell on a smaller scale, so Eve could see and experience an ill performed cast. She was prepared. She’d executed the spell perfectly. Nothing.

  Standing there, she looked back over her shoulder at Isabella who was equally lost for answers. Then she felt it. Turning back to the bowl something formed in the space where she should see Tor. A loose spiral with a cross through the centre. It started to reverberate in and out of focus, contorting and flickering whilst the water stayed completely still. It was there, and it wasn’t. Then the feeling intensified. Ice started to creep into Eve through her fingertips and up her arms. Isabella watched from behind, seeing her friend shake her arms out as if trying to shake water away, but she didn’t stop. Fear and panic joined the iciness as the cold made tracks for her heart, through her shoulders and chest. It was exploring, discovering this new land that it may want to conquer. It kept moving, spreading out and liking what it found. How did Eve know what it was thinking? It was deciding whether to take her or not. It’d decided it would. Eve formed an imaginary protective barrier around her heart as the freezing moved down her torso and into her legs. The symbol’s movements became more erratic and sickening in contrast to Eve’s body, which Isabella watched become more still.

  “No.” Eve said, clenching her fists and scrunching her eyes shut. She imagined the wall she made around her heart getting warm, hot, volatile. The cold probed it but withdrew in pain when it touched the surface. It’d decided it wanted Eve. It wouldn’t give up easily. The symbol shone a dark light that also glimmered in and out of focus. It was drawing energy from somewhere else, it was dark and evil, and voices whispered from it, encouraging the cold to win over its new host. The chilling sensation withdrew from the parts of her body farthest from her heart, collecting around the wall like a siege army surrounding its target. Somehow Eve wasn’t scared. I’ve got you. The initial defences she threw up were a trick. She wanted the frigid, icy, deadly invader to rally for a final charge and it’d done just that. She intensified the heat of the wall around her heart as six other small, fierce balls of heat appeared down her centre. With equal ferocity to the ball around her heart, all of the balls swirled, like whirlpools, sucking the symbol sickness into their centres. The pool of water shone that nauseating light even brighter, but it was useless. It was beaten. The freezing soldiers all fell into the seven whirling energy pools, which then joined the one nearest Eve’s throat. Heat waves whipping through her, she focused, sank to a cross-legged position and placed the backs of her hands on her knees. Coughing lightly, the trapped evil passed from her throat, into her mouth and then into a waiting hand, crystallising into a smooth, tear shaped blue stone. Dark streaks dirtied the colouration, but it was beautiful somehow. The symbol in the water broke and fell away, Eve following suit to be caught by Isabella.

  “What happened?” Green eyes were filled with concern.

  “Necromancy magik was hiding Tor from me.” Eve paused to take a breath, steadying herself after reliving how the magik felt inside her. “I had to use my chakras to defend myself... It tried to take me.”

  “Take you?”

  “I think a spirit from the endless sleep wanted me as its host.” She sat up, rubbing her chest, then her throat and finally her temples. “Thank Kai I spent all those years studying with Guru Swami.” She carried on absently, trying to normalise how she was feeling.

  “Necromancy is communing with the dead. Not, bringing them back.” Isabella interjected, apparently not caring for powerful defensive magiks.

  “It appears the histories are wrong. I think Rosalind wants to bring back The Barren Sun.” Isabella’s face told Eve that was impossible.

  “I’ve seen that symbol before, it definitely represents that dark art. Rosalind was researching it before she turned.” Eve stood up shakily with Isabella’s help.

  “That doesn’t mean she’s going to resurrect her, Eve.”

  “We lost her to that research, Isabella. She became obsessed with this book and with Sophia Reklan.”

  “I don’t believe it. We knew her. You, knew her. There’s enough-” Eve’s look stopped Isabella in her tracks. It wasn’t angry or annoyed. It conveyed years of connections and history. It told Isabella what she needed to know.

  “Do you know where we were when we stopped her last time?” Dark locks shook.

  “Sahld’veba.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE - CROSSED PATHS

  K'Chool raised her eyebrows at the man stood in front of her. A complete stranger who she was initially willing to erase, was now offering to help get them home, even after already speeding up their research efforts dramatically and helping them piece the puzzle together. The worldly and kind face showed no hints of deception and he wanted nothing in return for his efforts. A rare soul indeed.

  “Why do you want to help us?” She asked Xiang directly.

  “My grandmother.” He stammered. “My Po Po would want me to. She believed in so much more than what we can see, hear, smell, touch or taste. She knew there was more, and you have told me there, is.” Some dark memories grew across his face like ivy spreading across a wall. Creeping and threatening to damage. “She would want me to follow this path and help you as best I can, because she knew how much the service took from me when I didn’t want to give. They always wanted more. Never satisfied. They found ways to make you do more. Things I will never be able to forget. So, perhaps helping you is a good start in undoing my past.”

  “Gifts on the wind of misfortune.” Khar smiled at them both, clapping a hand on each shoulder. “This should be fun.” Watching K’Chool’s face he thought that her eyes would roll all the way into the back of her head. Thinking on it, he couldn’t remember the last time she pulled that face so often.

  “Careful, K'Chool.” He said in a mockingly stern tone, wagging a finger at her, “A change in the wind and you will be stuck with that face.” Another sharp punch in the arm reminded him who was in charge, Xiang’s face showing surprise and admiration for the female Sojela. Khar rubbed his arm enthusiastically, pushing out a bottom lip as far as he could and wondering what to do next. Taking the records back to The Archive didn’t seem right anymore as he was now under suspicion, but they still had to get back to the monastery and warn Cleric Mo of what they had learned. Finding Tor and Eve was also essential if they were to discover how to stop The Betrayer. K'Chool went to say something to him, most likely some sort of telling-off, but she was cut short by a file sliding out of the darkness quite abruptly. The scraping of its passage was loud and penetrating, punctuating the quiet with its invasion of their discussion. Someone coughed, to clear their voice immediately after the file stopped moving from the other side of the illuminated circle,
prompting all three members of the company to back towards each other in defensive fighting poses.

  “Give up Sojela, you are surrounded.” It said, commanding and forceful.

  “Hardly.” K'Chool laughed back. “There are only four of you.”

  “Two more Venatoré are on their way, Sojela.” The male voice continued slowly and forcefully. “But I doubt we will need them.” Almost as if reading, the male voice went on, “Unauthorised use of magik with portals, and communing with a Naïve.” The mysterious man continued with exaggerated tutting before taking a few steps into the light. “You should know better, Weyaal.”

  “You.” K'Chool growled before spitting on the floor and cursing in her own tongue. The man bowed with flair, smiling and enjoying himself.

  “Long time my child.” He said, raising his torso so he was standing fully erect and proud. Three Sløv also appeared from the shadows, equally spaced so as to surround the group. All four were dressed in loose fitting suit-like outfits. Soft, dark green flowing material engulfed them, and their jackets hung slightly lower than a normal cut to mimic capes.

  “Who is that?” Khar whispered over his shoulder. Without taking her eyes away from the man, she spat back towards him.

  “Fenn.”

  “Skell me.” Khar gasped.

  “What is it?” Xiang asked calmly, not moving a muscle.

  “He’s one of the twenty-seven, a high Våpen.” Khar explained. “They don’t get deployed anymore though. Why is he here?” He asked K'Chool.

  “He’s here for me.” She said back darkly. “He’s never forgiven me for choosing my path over his own.” Khar dropped his defences slightly as the realisation hit him. Fenn was his love’s father. She’d never spoken about who he was before, only that she didn’t respect the man and that she would never forgive him.

  “Fenn is your father?” He exclaimed, hands dropping a little further and looking sideways over his shoulder at her. Khar barely had time to register the nod from K'Chool before it started. In unison, all four people that surrounded them began performing a perfectly synchronised movement, sounding out the same words in time with each other.