Raven's Ascent

by Ben Blackwell

  “I thought we agreed that you are the useless one on this mission? But don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe, too.” I grinned back at him.

  He pursed his lips and pouted, but his eyes were still sparkling with amusement.

  I let my eyes wander across the room one last time. I hoped I hadn’t forgotten anything. Then I turned to Octavian, put my hand on his arm, took a deep breath, and pressed my thumb down in the middle of the vault key in my hand.

  The metal felt cold against my skin. But otherwise, nothing happened.

  I frowned at the object, lifting my finger and pressing it down again.

  Nothing.

  “Is it dead? Does it need new batteries or something?” Octavian frowned at me.

  “No, it’s magic, dummy. Allard wouldn’t have given it to me if I couldn’t activate it. Let me think…” My voice trailed off as I replayed our entry to the vault a couple days ago in my head .

  He said he had to grab a coffee, but there must have been a dozen other place closer to the Elders’ house. We had been in the middle of the city, for no apparent reason. Unless the key only worked there.

  “I have an idea,” I said as I looked up at Octavian again, the frown clearing from my face. “But we need to get into the city.”

  17

  “Here it is! Come on,” I shouted and pulled Octavian by his arm.

  Buck, his driver, had still been near my house after my failed attempt at teleporting us into the vault. He had come back and quickly brought us to the destination—or at least as close as he could get us. We had to walk the last bit ourselves, but I had quickly recognized the dark alley Allard had pulled me into before activating his key.

  “Here? You sure?” Octavian trudged after me, his demeanor worried. Or confused. I couldn’t tell, as all I had to go off were his slightly furrowed eyebrows. Reading him would be a lot easier if he didn’t constantly try to keep a neutral or friendly expression when he didn’t like something.

  “This is the entrance to the legendary vault? Some side alley in the middle of the city?” He looked at me, arms crossed, as I pulled him into the alley. “Here, really?”

  “What, you don’t think our vault is cool enough because it’s not hidden in a big-ass castle? Is that what you’re saying?” I was acting all riled up, but had to try hard not to let a wide grin on my face.

  “No, uhm, I was just surprised, that’s all,” he quickly stammered, apparently not noticing my teasing undertone.

  “Fine. But you have to take me in your arms to continue.”

  What? I had meant to say ‘take my hand’, but my good-for-nothing brain had somehow decided to take it a step further. I stopped myself from correcting me, wanting to see what happened next. I had learned to trust my instincts in combat over the years. They weren’t really tuned in to people, but maybe they were trying to tell me something. Most likely that I kind of really wanted him to take me into his arms again. I just didn’t dare to make the first move myself. My dream came to my mind again, the feeling of his arms around me, our bodies close and hot.

  Octavian stared at me even more confused than before. His mouth was opening, but no words were coming out. He closed it again, scanned our surroundings, then looked at me again. “Oookay?”

  He un-crossed his arms as he took a step forward and wrapped them around me slowly. Almost awkwardly at first, as if he was afraid to touch me. Then when I laid my left hand on his back and leaned my head against his chest, I could feel his tension fading.

  Gently, his arms pressed me closer, and his head leaned against mine. No tingles or jolts of electricity ran through my body this time, as our coats prevented most skin-to-skin contact. And yet, his soft embrace enveloped me in a feeling of safeness, appreciation. Without a word, I knew he cared. While I felt vulnerable like never before, it also made my heart flutter.

  After a long second or two, my thoughts returned to the vault. A grin spread on my face as I slid my hand into my coat pocket and reached for the key.

  Oh, how awkward it will be if the key doesn’t work.

  I tried pushing the thought away, but immediately, my mind came up with a dozen reasons why it wouldn’t work and how our plan was already doomed.

  Ignoring these voices, I pressed my thumb into the middle of the key, right into the indentation. Then the world fell away under my feet.

  I felt like I was hit by a car, flung into a tornado swirled around like a bundle of sticks before being jerked back into reality. It probably only lasted a second, but it felt like I had battled with gravity and the elements for minutes when I eventually reappeared in a dark, musty dungeon.

  I noticed with relief that Octavian’s arms were still around me. My world was still spinning, so the extra support was very welcome. I tried focusing on a single brick in the wall to keep me grounded, but to no avail. I was still swaying around; the world was not willing to stop moving. Then I realized the world around me was moving.

  Or, more precisely, Octavian was. He was swaying in all directions, pulling me with him. His feet were doing their best to balance out his movements with small steps. He took another step forward to regain his balance, but it was more stumbling than anything else. He held on to me with one arm as the other reached for the wall for support. So close—but then his fingers slipped across its wet surface.

  What I had planned as support for us both ended up our downfall—quite literally, as he finally lost his balance and fell forward, right on top of me.

  I pulled my head toward him in the last moment before I hit the ground. Still, the air was pushed out of my lungs as he fell on me with his full weight, crushing me against the stony floor. A small wheeze escaped me, and my vision blurred for a second.

  He quickly put his arms on the floor left and right of my head, stabilizing and pushing himself up a bit. My lungs expanded immediately, drawing a deep breath. As my vision cleared, I saw his face hovering over mine, his lips just an inch above me.

  I could hear his heartbeat—or was that mine?—and feel his warm breath against my face. Our eyes were locked onto one another, and I could see the same desire in his that I felt boil up in me. My mind was still confused and overthinking, but my body and heart clearly wanted him. At least that’s what I thought this strange fluttering sensation meant.

  Wait, is that why people call it ‘feeling butterflies’?

  I ached to just bend upwards, throw my arms around his neck, and pull him in for a long, passionate, and awkward kiss, as I had absolutely no idea if that would even work. Maybe I would just end up hanging around his neck like a sloth. Not exactly the kind of first kiss I imagined.

  Of course, I had fooled around with guys in the past, but it never really meant anything. This was different. This was not some drunk idiot who I thought was kind of cute with his cheesy lines, or at least cute enough for a short make-out session. He was nothing like that.

  Still frozen with uncertainty, I watched as the desire that had flared up in his eyes turned into regret as he pushed himself up from the ground a second later, and stretched his hand out to help me up, too.

  I mumbled a response without really saying any words. The frustration that was rushing through me prevented any clear thought. I felt uncertain and angry, enough to want to punch a wall, but had to keep a straight face. While a weird and unexpected mix of emotions was churning up in me, Octavian looked around with a frown.

  “I kind of liked the weird alley more,” he stated plainly, no mockery in his voice.

  Was it real disinterest, or did he have to try his hardest not to let his own boiling emotions wash out of him in his voice? Did he feel the same strange but inescapable pull, or did he merely find me amusing? Did he truly want me, or was I just projecting it all onto him from my own subconscious?

  Not knowing made my entire body itch, but not being able to just shout it all out was what was really killing me. I had never been one for much subtlety with people, but at the thought of just blurting out how I felt, my body froze up.
Also, I didn’t even really know how I felt.

  “Raven? You alright?”

  I blinked, quickly returning my attention to Octavian. He was standing in the middle of the tunnel, his head cocked to the side as he watched me.

  “Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking. Uhm, remembering the way, I mean,” I blurted out, my cheeks slightly blushing.

  “You mean… this way?” He pointed over his shoulder. “Because the other way,” he pointed behind me, “is a wall, so I think so far, we can’t really go wrong.”

  I looked behind me, and of course, there was a wall.

  Thank you very much for making me look like even more of a fool, I cursed it silently.

  “I was thinking ahead,” I improvised. “There’s a—Oh whatever, you’ll see soon enough.”

  Straightening up and squaring my shoulders, I marched past him without looking back. I could feel his confused look on my back, but I didn’t slow down. Soon enough, I heard his long strides echo behind me, catching up to me fast.

  As we entered the room with the many hallways, I stopped. I wasn’t exactly sure why we ended up in one of the side-tunnels this time, but luckily, it was quite short and only had one way out. But now I wasn’t sure anymore which one was the tunnel that actually led to the vault—assuming all others were dead ends, sooner or later.

  Octavian stood next to me, watching me as I let my eyes wander across the tunnels. I had a strong hunch which one we went through last time, but what if the right hallway changed every time? I took a deep breath, then pushed those thoughts away. ‘What if’ wasn’t going to help me now. With a quiet sigh, I moved through the room, trying to walk as quietly as possible.

  Behind me, Octavian was doing the same. He drifted like a ghost despite his size and armor. Soon enough, we reached the force field, which I quickly deactivated with the not so well-hidden stone. It had been dirtied, brushed up to make it look older, but now that I knew it was there, it was still easy to spot.

  Octavian continued to follow me without a sound, even when I stopped in the middle of the tunnel. He cocked his head at me in silent question, but I only put a finger on my mouth to make sure he didn’t ruin the element of surprise.

  I leaned with my back against the wall and slowly moved forward, letting my hand run over the stones ahead of me. I knew the illusion used to be opaque for both sides, before I had told him how stupid that was. I didn’t know if they had already changed it, but I didn’t want to stand in front of it like a fool, thinking they couldn’t see me when they clearly had.

  There!

  My fingers reached an edge that I could feel, but not see. I quickly withdrew my hand and stopped next to the hidden entrance.

  Quietly, I took a deep breath. I could unleash a magic blast, throw them around a bit, and then quickly knock them out before they could call for backup.

  I could also create a shield, then just walk in there and knock them out with small, accurate magic blasts. But I assumed they could ring some kind of alarm, and that was something I definitely wanted to avoid.

  With a sigh, I turned to Octavian and nodded, holding one hand up like a stop sign. I was sure he had learned some kind of professional vampire sign language for covert missions, but I hadn’t. No need for that when you’re always working alone.

  He nodded briefly, signaling he understood. I just hoped he understood correctly. With another deep breath in, I closed my eyes, then reached for the magic in me.

  I had rarely used magic before in a situation so utterly calm and quiet like this. Not in a long time, at least. I had heard other people describe their magic as being in their brain, in their heart, some felt it in the stomach. Witches often didn’t really feel it at all, they just sensed it all around them when they started channeling it with spells or chanting.

  But for me, it was like a well, somewhere deep in me. I always just took some magic, pulled a blot out of it with my mind, and let it flow into my hands.

  This time, however, while wondering how much magic I should use to knock them out without hurting them, the magic seemed to have a strange pull on me. I was hovering over the well and felt drawn toward it. I hadn’t really spent much time playing around with my magic – drawing it in and using it had become such a routine, I never thought about it.

  I resisted for a moment, then let myself get pulled into the magic, plunging into it like jumping into a pool. But as I dived in, the whole world flipped upside down while I remained in place.

  Suddenly, it was like the magic wasn’t in a well deep in me, but I was deep in the well of magic. My eyes were still closed, and I didn’t dare open them and break my concentration. Magic filled every fiber of my body, running through my veins, tickling in my fingers. I felt like my mind was suddenly more aware than ever before, as if a blindfold had been taken off. I smelled magic around me, felt it, almost saw it. In awe, I finally opened my eyes to see if my surroundings looked any different, or if I had somehow actually teleported back or something.

  When I opened my eyes, I returned to the present and my body felt normal again, a little numb in comparison to before. But this was not the time or place to explore magic. I made a mental note to try this again at home. For now, I had to focus on the mission.

  I drew from my magic well like I had done a thousand times, and only pulled in a little. Like so often, I focused it into my hand. It had been incredibly difficult when I first started out, but now it was as easy as throwing a knife.

  Then I spun around, right in front of the hidden entrance, and blasted a wide wave of magic through it. I heard crashing noises and surprised yelps, so I quickly dashed through the illusionary wall. I raised a magic barrier right in front of me with a quick gesture when I passed through the wall, just to be sure.

  The corner of my mouth twitched as I imagined Octavian outside, staring at me while I just walked right through a seemingly solid wall. But he’d figure it out, he was a smart guy.

  Before me, there was a mess of people. I couldn’t really describe it otherwise. Two tower shields covered two muscular, spear-wielding men, who must have been dutifully standing guard before I knocked them down. Right behind them were two casually dressed people, a man and a woman, both on the ground, too. Since there were barely three steps between where the guards stood and the wall at the back, they were all lying on top of each other, covered by the tower shields, and slumped up against the wall.

  I quickly walked forward, and punched the first guard in the face as he groaned and looked at me. Without another sound, his head fell back, and his eyes closed again.

  Good boy.

  The other had a moment longer and was reaching for the sword at his side as he tried to get up. Again, one well aimed punch knocked him back against the wall, which he hit hard and then slumped down.

  In that moment, Octavian passed through the illusion, his eyes wide open as he saw the mess I had created.

  I checked the guy in the back, but he must’ve hit the wall pretty hard. He was already knocked out, unconscious but alive.

  “Good thing I know their defenses or this would’ve been really messy,” I whispered to Octavian.

  With a woosh, Octavian zipped next to me, then knocked out the witch I had not noticed getting up behind me. She was just on her elbows, but had already started whispering a spell, her hand raised, before Octavian’s fist hit her.

  “Missed one,” he whispered as he grinned at me.

  I only smiled in response. I wanted our full focus on a mission, but I guessed that was an acceptable amount of teasing.

  Quietly, I snuck ahead into the next room. I remembered it being bigger, somewhat open. If there were people here, we would have to knock them out fast. Maybe Octavian is fast enough, I thought as I stared at him.

  “Big, open room up next. No traps, but people,” I whispered to him. “We should—"

  A smirk grew on his face. “Put your swagger on, then.” Then he fully straightened up, adjusted his coat, and marched into the room without waiting
for me to finish.

  I frowned, not exactly happy with his approach, but it was too late for another plan. I forced a neutral, indifferent expression onto my face, straightened up, then followed him.

  There were only two other people in the room, both standing near a desk and arguing over the contents of a book that was laying before them. I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t about us and that was all I needed to know.

  My heart was racing as I strutted past them. I took the lead and headed straight toward the small archive that I had been in with Allard last time. Seconds later, I closed the door behind us, and we were alone in the room. As far as we knew, without raising an alarm.

  I took a deep breath, trying to stop my heart from pounding in my chest, but it wouldn’t obey. My arms and legs were trembling, anxiety filling my chest. Sneaking into a hideout was one thing, but acting my way into one was so not my style.

  “Alright, so far so good,” I whispered, more for myself than for him. “Now I just have to find the part about the book in this journal thing, then we can go get it.”

  “You don’t have a digital system to keep track of your artifacts?” Octavian frowned at me, crossing his arms.

  “Well, not really. The journal is like a badly thought through version of a log, though.”

  He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “When you want to find something in our vault, you just type in the keywords on the tablet at the entrance and immediately get the exact location and fastest path to the item if you have the necessary security clearance.”

  I glared at him, but the anger was only there to cover the jealousy that had welled up. That made so much more sense than some old, dusty journal. I should suggest that to Allard some day, but knowing the Elders, they wouldn’t be fans of the idea.

  “Yeah, well, pfff,” I answered as I opened the book. A cloud of dust immediately rose up from it. My answer hadn’t been the most mature, but I didn’t have time for a game of ‘who’s got the cooler vault’ right now.