Secrets and Alchemy

by Linsey Hall

  “Prove yourself. I will allow you to take a ladle of the water and create your potion. Your magic will return to your wings and complete you, but you won’t be able to keep it. Not unless you earn it.”

  “How do I do that? And how long do I have?”

  “Hours, perhaps minutes.” Slowly, she began to drift back to the sea. “It all depends on you.”

  I reached out. “Stop, please.”

  She hesitated, head tilted.

  “I’ve been around enough godly beings to know that there can be rules. Unexpected ones.”

  She laughed, and the sound was eerie against the noise of Sora keeping the boulders from crushing me. “You are a clever one, Connor.”

  “You won’t tell me how I must prove myself, but is anything off limits in the process? Can I have help?”

  “From the woman behind you?”

  “From her. Or anyone else.” I’d never been at a big battle that wasn’t solved by more than one person. No matter how powerful the person, life had taught me that we were all better as a team.

  “Anyone may help you.” She inclined her head, and I was almost certain that it was a gesture of respect. “After all, one of your most admirable qualities is your ability to gain allies.”

  I wasn’t sure I’d call my friends allies. My life was hardly a war zone, no matter what it looked like at the moment. But I wasn't going to correct her.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  She nodded one last time, then drifted back to the water. Before she descended into the depths, she looked at Sora and murmured, “You’ve finally found her. Shame you’ll have to choose.”

  Confusion shot through me, but she was gone.

  Quickly, I knelt and picked up the ladle, dipping it into the shimmering water. It went easily this time, and I added it to the tiny golden cauldron.

  Immediately, the mixture inside began to bubble and steam, despite the lack of a heat source. I looked back to check on Sora, spotting her racing across the grass behind me, shooting her blasts of gray magic at the boulders that kept trying to reach me. They disappeared, one after the other, but there were so many of them.

  I turned back to the tiny cauldron and muttered, “Come on, come on.”

  From behind me, a scream sounded. I whirled around, finding Sora on the ground. One of the boulders had plowed into her, and the others were coming. She tried to scramble to her feet, but her leg appeared broken.

  At my side, the cauldron continued to bubble.

  Shame you’ll have to choose.

  The goddess’s words echoed in my head. Was this what she had meant? I’d have to choose between the potion that would save me and saving Sora?

  It was no choice at all.

  I called upon my wings. They came quickly, though I could feel that they weren’t right. It felt as if they were weaker. But they were still there, and they would work. They had to.

  I launched myself into the air, spinning so that I could see Sora. A half dozen boulders hurtled for her, each the size of a car. They moved so fast that she didn’t stand a chance—especially on the ground.

  She hit one with a void blast, then another. They both disappeared, but the last four were nearly to her. I shot toward her, my wings carrying me fast through the air. Fear iced my spine. She blasted one, then another.

  The last two were only feet from her when I swooped down and grabbed her, yanking her into my arms. I shot upward, desperate to get her away from them.

  She screamed, a sound of pain that tore at my heart.

  “I’ve got you.” I tried not to jostle her leg as I flew her toward the top of the stone maze that surrounded the Sacred Sea. The maze still sparked with dangerous magic, and I knew we couldn’t fly over it.

  I reached the tops of the huge boulders that formed the maze and gently laid her down on it.

  “Connor.” She gripped my arms and stared at me, fear in her eyes. “Did you not finish the potion?”

  “I will.” I fumbled for the potion bag that I kept stored in the ether. “Where are you hurt?”

  “My leg.” She winced, her face pale. “The boulder crushed it.”

  Finally, I found the healing potion. It was my most powerful, and should knit her back together in no time. I uncorked it and handed it to her. “Drink this.”

  She took it without question and gulped it. I watched, anxious, praying that it would work as well as I knew it could. Quickly, the color returned to her cheeks, and the pinched skin around her eyes smoothed. “Holy fates, that feels better.”

  My shoulders relaxed, and I retracted my wings.

  Her gaze moved to the sacred sea, and a frown creased her brow. “Connor. How are you going to get there?”

  I turned to look at the sacred sea. The rolling boulders were gone, replaced by an army of stone soldiers. Half carried enormous swords, and the other half were armed with some kind of crossbows that could shoot me right out of the sky.

  Fates, that guardian was determined to make me work for it.

  “Where are we?” My sister’s voice echoed from behind me, and I turned in surprise.

  She and Cass stood on top of the rock walls that created the stone maze, only ten feet from us. Each was dressed in their fight-wear—Claire in black leather and Cass in jeans and her beaten leather jacket.

  Slowly, I stood, helping Sora to her feet. “How did you get here?”

  Claire looked toward me. “Some lady who was made of water appeared to me when Cass and I were having drinks. She said you needed me.”

  “And I came along.” Cass’s eyes shined with interest. “She glittered like diamonds.”

  I looked back to the Sacred Sea, remembering my question for the guardian.

  She was giving me another chance.

  I’d chosen Sora over the potion that would save me—something I’d do again in a heartbeat—but she was giving me another chance. With backup.

  “He needs to get to the shore,” Sora said. “And we have to buy him time to make the potion.”

  “We can do that,” Claire said.

  Cass looked at Sora. “You’re a void mage?”

  “Yep.”

  Cass grinned and cracked her knuckles. “That will be fun.”

  Cass was a Mirror Mage, able to mimic the power of any nearby supernatural. Apparently, she was planning to try Sora’s gift on for size.

  “Go, brother,” Claire said. “We’ve got your back.”

  “You always do.”

  “After years of you having ours, I’d say it’s only fair,” Cass said.

  I nodded at them. “Stay safe.” I turned to Sora, then pulled her toward me and pressed a kiss to her lips. “You, too.”

  I could feel Claire’s wide eyes on me as I pulled back, but I ignored her gaze.

  She said nothing as she strode up to the edge of the stone, overlooking the expanse of land between us and the edge of the Sacred Sea.

  Sora

  Connor’s sister stood at the edge of the stone wall, overlooking the horde of monsters between us and our goal. There were more than a hundred of them, and we’d have to be clever if we wanted to beat them. Ebony wings flared from Claire’s back, and she launched herself into the air.

  A dozen stone soldiers turned their crossbows toward her, firing in unison. Huge iron spikes shot through the air, headed right toward her. Her hair blew on the wind as she threw out her hand. Magic sparked as a shield of light formed between her and the projectiles. It was so bright it nearly blinded me, and I only caught glimpses of the projectiles bouncing off the shield. More flew, coming from all angles, and she darted for the ground.

  She landed right in front of us and looked up. “You take them out, and I’ll cover for you!” She directed the shield of light ahead of her, where it created a barrier about ten feet tall by ten feet wide.

  Connor drew his potion bag from the ether and strapped it over his chest before leaping down behind her. He reached inside for a bomb, then hurled it at a stone soldier who approached f
rom the side. The bomb splashed against the creature’s chest, and it exploded into dust.

  Cass and I jumped down beside Claire and Connor. Claire started forward, forcing her light shield ahead of us, clearing a path through the defending stone soldiers.

  They flowed around the side of her shield, but we were ready for them. I couldn’t feel Cass mimicking my magic, but the red-haired mage was able to easily throw blasts of gray void smoke at any creature who came too close.

  I did the same, taking them out, one after the other. Connor defended the back side of our little group, hurling potion bomb after potion bomb. Every single one was immensely effective, destroying its target in seconds.

  My heart raced as we fought, and my magic began to grow weaker. We were using so much of it.

  I drew my dagger from my pocket, feeling the magic prickle around the hilt.

  Grow.

  The blade responded to my thought, lengthening into a massive sword. A stone monster darted for me, and I swiped out with the blade, going for the creature’s left leg, hoping to topple it to the ground.

  The blade slammed into the beast’s stone limb, and it tottered, collapsing onto its side with a crash.

  The monsters were too close for Connor’s potion bombs, so he drew a huge ax from the ether.

  “You had that stored in there?” I shouted, disbelieving.

  “Gotta be prepared.” He grinned at me, then swung the ax at the nearest attacker.

  It crashed into the beast, shattering it into a dozen pieces. Connor moved fast, fueled by immense strength. His ax smashed into one monster after another, leaving a trail of broken rock in our wake.

  I alternated between my void magic and my sword, using the blade opportunistically, trying to time it with when I could take the easiest shot at a leg or an arm.

  Fighting like this wasn’t my specialty, but Connor had my back, taking out the stone soldiers before they could land a blow. Behind me, Cass kept up the onslaught of void magic, eliminating one monster after another. She seemed to have an endless well of magical power, and Claire was no slouch, either. Her light shield kept us protected from the front, cutting our way through the crowd.

  “Nearly there!” Connor shouted.

  Thank fates, he was right.

  The shield of Claire’s magic was blinding, but around the edges, I could spot the glittering of the water. My lungs were burning and my muscles aching, but at least we were almost there.

  “Shifting right!” Claire moved the shield to the right, and we rotated, forming a barrier between us and the edge of the Sacred Sea.

  “Go!” I said to Connor. “We’ve got your back.”

  16

  Connor

  Sora, Claire, and Cass stood watch behind me as I moved to the edge of the Sacred Sea. Claire had gotten us right up to the edge where my cauldron and tools still sat. In an act of divine fate, none of the tools had been broken.

  I knelt, working quickly. The cauldron was still steaming, but the bubbles had slowed, revealing a pale blue potion. It was still good, though barely. If the steam were gone entirely, it’d be worthless.

  I lifted it to my lips and chugged it down quickly.

  Immediately, my head began to spin. The world around me blurred as pain streaked through my body. Sweat popped to my skin, making me hot and cold at once. Magic swirled through me, seeming to come from the air itself, filling me with a rush. Power raced through my veins, surging toward my back.

  My wings, which I’d stored away, burst forth. They felt different—complete, stronger. No longer a drain on the rest of me. The magic that sparked through me swirled on the air, surrounding me with bright white sparkles. Lightning seemed to shoot through my veins, and all I could smell was the scent of an oncoming rainstorm.

  Time seemed to slow, the world around me coming to an abrupt halt.

  Suddenly, I was no longer in the present. My hands and arms had grown skinnier, my thighs as well. A battered silver bracelet was attached to my wrist.

  Holy fates, I hadn’t seen that bracelet in years.

  My arms flickered, going from skinny to muscular in front of my eyes.

  I was in the past—or maybe I was just remembering it, I wasn’t sure. I turned around, spotting Sora and the others who surrounded me. They looked frozen in time, their bodies stuck in defensive poses as they shot magic at the stone soldiers who tried to attack. The soldiers were frozen as well, thank fates.

  Lighting streaked through the sky overhead, making the day blindingly bright. Thunder cracked, and I would have jumped if I hadn’t expected it.

  But I did expect it.

  The last time I’d worn this bracelet, I’d been a teenager who’d first received this magic while kneeling by the River Dart.

  A second bolt of lightning lit the sky, slamming into my body. Pain roared through me. Agony blurred my vision as I watched the silver bracelet melt off my wrist, gone forever.

  The lightning raced through my body, stiffening my limbs and making me feel like I could fly apart, breaking into a million pieces.

  Magic and lightning twisted through my bones and muscles, filling me with strength and power, just like it had the first time. Through the pain, I felt it fill my wings and knit me back together, making me whole.

  Behind me, my allies were still frozen. Ahead of me, the Sacred Sea called. Visions of the dream that had haunted me flickered in my mind’s eye—the burning village. It called so strongly that it felt like a hook had lodged in my heart and pulled me forward, toward the sea.

  Why now?

  It yanked, pulling on me.

  The water of the Sacred Sea glittered dangerously, suggesting that death and danger waited ahead. Wading into an endless sea, armed only with wings and lightning, was a recipe for disaster. But it pulled on me, visions of the dream flashing in my head. Flames, drought, people dying. It pulled and pulled.

  They needed me.

  I didn’t know how I knew it, or who they were, but I knew it like I knew my own name. Like I’d been born for this.

  Hell, maybe I had. I’d been having dreams of these people my whole life.

  I rose, not hesitating as I strode into the water. The cold lake soaked into my boots as I walked, rising to my knees, hips, thighs. I moved faster, charging into the sea. Ancient knowledge pulled on me, something I couldn’t describe for all the power in the world.

  As the water closed over my head, calmness suffused me, followed quickly by darkness as the ether sucked me in and spun me through space.

  Moments later, I appeared in a new place—one that was terribly familiar yet extremely strange. My wings caught the air. It was so much easier to use them now—ten times more natural than it had been when I’d first grown them in the Sorcerer’s Guild. I hovered over the village, seeing it as I’d seen it so many times before.

  The day had turned to dusk, and a blazing red sun crept toward the horizon. Below me, a valley spread out. In the center, a small village.

  All around, the land was parched and dry. The grass had died in favor of dirt, and the entire place looked like it was covered in dust.

  Many of the people in the village had wings, but they drooped with weakness and defeat. They were Fae, like I’d expected, though I had no idea which kind. They were familiar, all the same, as if they’d been with me my whole life. In a way, they had.

  In the distance, I caught sight of a gleaming white figure.

  The guardian of the Sacred Sea.

  I ignored her in favor of studying the scene below me. I had to help these people. For so long, I’d thought they were just a figment of my dreams. But no. Now that I was here, I knew. They were my fate. I’d been seeing them for years because I was meant to help them.

  I flew over the village, my wings strong and healthy. In the distance, flames flickered. A long-dead forest was burning, the red tongues of fire flicking upward. It spread fast, reaching toward the village. The ground was covered in so much dead grass that the blaze could travel to the vil
lage if the winds were right.

  The winds would be right.

  I’d been fated for this. It was half the reason I had these damned powers, anyway. The guardian of the Sacred Sea knew it, and now I knew it, too.

  I circled the village, my heart pounding in my ears. In the distance, the fire raced closer. I could smell the smoke and burning brush as it roared across the landscape.

  I called on my magic, a power that I’d barely had a chance to practice with when I’d first gotten it as a teenager. It came easily, the lightning bursting to life inside me. I shoved it aside in favor of rain, calling upon the moisture that would drown out the fire.

  The sky turned dark, and rain began to fall. Heavy, wet droplets suppressed the flames, making steam fill the air. But the blaze was too strong. It continued to roar, creeping across the land toward the village.

  The people screamed, and my heart clutched.

  This wasn’t enough.

  They’d suffered so long under the drought. Their misery had fueled my dreams for years, so strong and powerful I could feel it as my own. And now the fire was going to finish the job, snuffing out their village.

  This was more than just a matter of calling on the elements and creating a storm. But I kept the rain coming, feeling like it was flowing from my soul and onto the flames. They were unnaturally strong, the product of a curse. Only magic could keep them going in the face of my power. As the rain poured, I flew over the village, searching for any sort of clue. There had to be something.

  The ground itself seemed to be shimmering with dark smoke. It’d been hard to see at first, with the blazing red sun turning the entire landscape to shades of crimson and orange. The dark mist crept along the ground, thicker in some areas than it was in others. If I focused on it, I could feel the evil of the magic.

  Someone had cursed this land long ago. The magic had the stale feel of age, but it was unmistakable. I followed the feeling around to the other side of the village, finding an area where the smoke was darkest.

  Right next to an old well.

  The tiny structure sat apart from the village, ancient and forgotten—a remnant of their past. But I could feel the darkness within it.