SECRET OF WORDS
Allyson Huber
Copyright © 2019 Allyson Huber
All rights reserved.
Hoffman and Co. Publishing
HoffmanCoPublishing.com
ISBN:
ISBN-13:
To my mother for always believing in me
Prologue
It was a dismal Monday night. All the evening traffic on the streets packed up for the night as the wind chilled and the sky darkened with the approaching storms. Amidst the quietness of the night, a girl walked quietly down the dark, desolate street as though she were walking upon air. Her boots hardly made a noise against the black tar roads she was walking upon. The wind played with her waves of black hair, sending them streaming behind her like a flag. Her dark, faded jeans and black jacket helped her blend into the inky surroundings. The only thing that was visible in the darkness of the night was her pallor, illuminated by the sets of blinking streetlights she passed. The stars clung to the midnight sky, and the moon barely broke through the thick gray fog above. She was not as nervous as she should have been alone on the street in the middle of the night, for the shadows were her only company.
With the absolute silence of the night, Mara could think about her plight. In crowded places, she could hardly even remember her own name, let alone the complicated inter-workings of her problems. A shiver raked through her body as she pressed onward like a claw crawling up her spine. She stopped and gingerly pulled her coal-black hood as far over her face as possible. She continued walking and then crossed the street without the fear of being seen. With the moon disabled by the clouds, the cheap streetlights allowed little light to break through the darkness, which made her feel at ease.
Mara turned into a shadowed alleyway, catching sight of two people coming towards her from the other side. With a quiet gasp, she pressed herself as far into the shadows as possible, letting her mane of black hair fall into her face. Any signs of movement or sound would give her presence away in a flash. The two people, men by the looks of their build and loud footsteps, walked slowly down the alleyway towards her. She held her breath, silently praying that her black hair prevented the men from viewing her pale skin. Her fingers tensed, burying themselves halfway into her pocket as they passed.
“How much farther?” The larger man puffed, releasing a hiss of air from his lips.
“A few blocks to the left.” The other replied in a gruff voice.
“We should’ve parked the car on this street then.”
“They don’t have room in their garage.”
“We could’ve parked in their driveway.”
“She would’ve really liked that,” The man replied sarcastically.
The men passed by her without even a glance and their voices faded into faraway whispers. Mara looked at their retreating backs, sighing in relief. She shouldn’t have been worried anyways. They hadn’t been Shadow Bringers, who would’ve recognized her presence easily, and Shadow Bringers were exactly what she was most scared of at the moment. They were searching for her.
When she was only a few days old, Mara had been left on the steps of two Ones of Within members who’d welcomed her as their daughter without any questions. They taught her of her destiny, precisely who and what she was, and about the Shadow Bringers of Aughmortor. The Larta, an organization trying to take over, used Shadow Bringers as a means to counteract the power of the Ones of Within. Most of them were turncoats of the Ones of Within and they had trained for years to be able to compete with the likes of the other organization. Mara’s family had been forced to move a lot in the past few years to protect her from being found out, but now it all didn’t matter. Mara dreaded the knowledge she carried because she knew that no one in the world, except for her, knew. Earth was blissfully unaware of their impending doom. They were blissfully unaware that the parallel universe Aughmortor even existed and controlled all the cards holding their fate. It made no sense to go to the police because if Shadow Bringers wanted to find her, they were going to find her and take her. Police protection could do nothing against Shadow Bringer’s magic and training. The truth was: the police could do nothing since they didn’t even know Shadow Bringers existed. No one knew they existed.
Mara knew her knowledge helped her understand why she had to run, but she resented it. She wished she was a normal girl, worried about the boy who sat next to her in class or what she was going to have for lunch. She wanted petty Earth problems, not her problems. The fact that the Larta wanted her and she had no home on Earth anymore. It was pretty depressing really. Mara knew that due to the blood she carried in her veins, she was irreplaceable to the Larta. They would come for the others next, but she was the main target, and she was frightened. Only two days ago, Shadow Bringers had intruded into her family’s house looking for her and leaving nothing but burnt ruins. The Shadow Bringers, instead of finding her, had found her adopted family, and they’d killed every bit of them- their memories, bodies, and existence. Now that her family was dead, she was only in the hands of luck. Only luck could bring her to safety from these Shadow Bringers. She needed the Ones of Within to find her before they did.
Since Mara’d caught sight of the ruin of her family, she’d been on the run, staying undercover during the day and only going places at night. She hadn’t eaten or slept much since she left because she had no safe place to rest her head. What she really needed to do was to get to Aughmortor, but her family had failed in their responsibility to tell her the path to get there, so she was helpless. At this point, Mara was tired, hungry, thirsty, and possibly half-delusional. Nothing really mattered anymore anyways. Even though the past few days had been hard, Mara couldn’t help but enjoy the autonomy of being alone. She no longer had to go to school and do normal human things. She could do whatever she wanted.
Mara exited the alleyway to walk upon the dark streets again. Her feet drummed against the ground in a consistent, precise beat as she passed by house after house. By now, it was probably close to midnight, so all the lights in the houses were off. A dog barked through the silence somewhere in the quiet neighborhood. She let her mind focus on her surroundings because she knew she couldn’t get distracted, especially not now. Her life depended on her focus; a lapse in attention would make her an easy catch. Mara stopped, her gray eyes narrowing. There was someone walking down the street towards her, straight at her. She was briefly taken aback by fear; her heartbeat grew faster and faster, pounding profusely in her ears. No one walked out in the middle of the night unless they were trouble or at least that’s what it felt like to her.
Mara’s hands stiffened into fists until she forced them to relax. She straightened her shoulders and began rummaging through in her pockets with her fingers flailing to grab the object. It was a dagger that shimmered in the moonlight. The dagger was more of a crude blade than a protective weapon, but anything was better than nothing. Mara forced her heartbeat to slow by taking several deep breaths. No one could perform well under pressure and, by stressing herself out with possibilities, she would definitely crumble. The person might not mean her harm and, even if they did, she had the dagger. Her grip tightened on the hilt as she walked forward, pretending she hadn’t stopped at all.
They walked towards each other until the distance between them was only a few feet.
“Hello there.” The person spoke in a friendly, masculine voice; the figure was no doubt a male, but the darkness made it impossible to really see the man’s features except for the whites of his eyes.
“Hello,” Mara bluntly replied, yet she cursed her stupidity. She should’ve just kept walking and said nothing.
“No need to be unfriendly.” The man insisted.
“I’m not walking on the street for small talk.” She sa
id coldly and walked by him, hand still gripping her dagger tightly, waiting for something that never happened.
“All right. Have a good day, then.” The person replied while muttering something else under their breath that didn’t sound particularly flattering. Mara didn’t care what he thought of her in the least as long as they got the message and didn’t mean her any harm.
She continued walking for a long time, each step taking Mara a little closer to her destination that couldn’t be far off now. Her family had vaguely talked of where the other Ones of Within members were and this was the closest one she could find. Mara could taste victory. If she picked up the pace and didn’t stray off in the wrong direction, she might reach them in an hour or two, and then she would be safe. Finally, two days of work was paying off.
A large pitch-black car was headed in her direction. Mara would’ve never noticed it if the blinding brights hadn’t been on, burning right into her eyes. It sped double the speed limit in her direction, straight at her with purpose. For a second, she almost thought it was going to run her over, so she bent her knees, preparing to jump out of the road if she needed to. However, the car pulled over beside the curb with a screech, leaving only a few feet of distance between them. It was impossible to see who was driving the car due to the lights, but that was the last thing on her mind. Mara took a few jerky steps backward, contemplating hitting the road or waiting for person to get out. She could run right now, and maybe she would be fine. Maybe she was overreacting again.
Emotions flickered across her face as she accepted her decision with resign. Her pride refused to let her leave the situation. After all, she wasn’t even sure if there was a reason to run. She was just paranoid. At the same second her body screamed run, her mind convinced herself it was fine. Everything was fine. Her mouth flew open as she saw the person from the car walk out but not in a good way.
A beautiful, dark-haired woman stood beside the headlights with her pale, waxy features illuminated in the yellow light. Her eyes were a mysterious, stormy gaze; the coldness in her gaze only strengthened by her sharp, thin black eyebrows. The woman’s skin was the color of a porcelain doll, white with a blush of pink to the cheeks. Though the woman was beautiful, everything about her screamed predator. While she was not built muscular and didn’t have a superior height, the woman portrayed herself as a leader with shoulders back, spine arched, chin high and poised. Mara had heard of this woman countless times from her adopted parents with detailed descriptions so she would be able to recognize her on the spot. This was the woman they’d warned her against; this was the woman that would look for her as long as she was still breathing. She wasn’t sure what made the woman more intimidating, the dark aura that she exuded, or the graphic descriptions her family gave about her actions. Mara shuddered silently.
A few seconds after recognizing the woman, Mara’s feet burst into action, springing off the street and onto the sidewalk. Her legs pumped, and her feet slammed against the hard concrete sidewalk, making loud thudding noises as she ran full blast towards the beginnings of a forest farther ahead. No car could follow her in the forest; it was her best chance at avoiding pursuit. The woman from the car slammed the door, leaving it unlocked, and ran after Mara. Foreign, eloquent words were being shouted into the sky and a strange, mystical energy began enveloping the air. Mara felt the strange energy, recognized it from the strict practices with her family, and sick terror threatened to take the strength from her knees. Why was this happening to her? She had almost made it to safety.
Suddenly, the sidewalk in front of her feet burst into the air. Chips of concrete flew up in all directions, making the path ahead impossible to thread unless she wanted to injure herself. Debris showered onto Mara, cloaking her black jacket in tan dust. The rocky dust slapped against the unprotected skin of her cheeks, causing stinging lacerations to form. Short gasping breaths of air escaped her parched lips as her sluggish brain tried to process what was happening. The lack of food was a mistake; she realized that now. She should have eaten more in the past two days, but she barely had any money for that and she had been saving it for emergencies.
The sidewalk began cracking like an egg in front of her, the cracks getting closer and closer to her feet each second. Mara took a flying leap over the cracking sidewalk and hit the street hard, scraping her unprotected palms bloody. As she regained balance and stood, the dark-haired woman laughed at her coldly.
“Mara, Mara. You foolish, naïve girl. Did you truly think that you could get away from me after knowing how important you are?” The woman laughed again, a cruel laugh that sounded almost inhuman. “I’ve been watching you and your family for years. I’ve waited for our reunion every single day. The moment I would get to speak to you in person finally.”
“Just let me go, please…” Mara’s voice trembled. “I don’t have what you’re looking for.” She grimaced as her scraped hands clenched into fists, making the cuts burn worse, but her eyes didn’t leave the woman’s face.
The woman’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “How would you know, Mara? Can you tell me the future? Can you know the unknown? How would you honestly know? Your words don’t mean a thing to me. They’re pointless, so save them for someone else. I know you are the one and you know why I’m here. You can either cooperate with me or not. Either way, you will come with me, and that’s a promise.”
Mara shook her head in disbelief. “So you expect me to give myself to you voluntarily? I don’t want to be your puppet, Lucia.”
Lucia’s perfect white teeth clenched slightly, betraying her emotions on an otherwise blank face. Mara could tell that Lucia was getting annoyed, and it all made sense. She was probably used to having things her way. If she didn’t, Lucia had the means to do so through violence, wealth, and power. Flickers of doubt covered Mara’s face as she stared at Lucia and her nails sunk into her palm, only making the cuts worse.
“Then, it will have to be force.”
With that, Mara turned away from Lucia, starting to run even faster than before. If she couldn’t go through the concrete, she would find a way to get around it.
“Mara, don’t run away from me. It will only be a game of cat and mouse. And the mouse always loses.”
Lucia laughed again, but then concentrated on Mara with keen eyes. Instead of running after her, she started muttering things under her breath. Mara could hear Lucia chanting incantations as she dashed forward desperately, praying to make it into the woods before the spell stopped. She glanced behind as an orb of flickering flames hurtled towards her, following her every movement. Mara slowed her running, whispering soft words under her breath. While her family had taught basic magic to her, she was no competition for the superior knowledge of Lucia, but at least she could try to stall or trick her. The orb slowed its movement to an agonizingly slow pace due to Mara’s magic, so she had enough time to throw herself onto the ground to avoid the flames. The orb headed by her head and then dived to where she was. Mara rolled to the side, and a sibilant hiss came from the sidewalk when the orb landed.
She continued the muttering, searching for the words that would cease the magic so she could get up and run to avoid the attack from behind. While she was distracted, a new ball of fire hit her in the face. Mara rolled on the sidewalk in pain, forcing her lips to continue speaking quiet words. The pain from the fire was causing tears in her eyes, making it harder for her to see. Suddenly, Mara disappeared into thin air, invisible to Lucia.
“Already trying that? I don’t even want to count the number of times I’ve seen this.” Lucia taunted, “Yet I cannot help to be impressed by your progressive knowledge of magic. You’ll make a nice secret weapon. Wouldn’t you agree, Mara?” Lucia’s stormy gray eyes flickered back and forth in the darkness for Mara’s invisible figure, like a snake searching for its prey.
From behind the woman, a branch from the oak beside the sidewalk moved ever so slightly, and a vine shot out from its trunk, heading right for Lucia. She shrieked angrily, hands claw
ing the vine wrapped tightly around her wrists. She whispered a few words with ease, and the vine wilted and blackened with a small billow of smoke.
“Your cheap tricks are pointless, Mara.” Lucia sneered, pacing around the sidewalk, looking for the slightest movements. A few more words left her mouth, and Mara appeared again, dagger flashing in the weak streetlight.
Mara realized Lucia could see her again quickly by the preciseness of her gaze, so she dove back into the shadows, breathlessly panting. She was lucky that the lighting was poor from the streetlamp, but not so lucky. Her strength was weakening, a toll from the lack of food and sleep, and endless walking. Magic took its toll on the body too, requiring strong mental capacity that she was currently lacking. Lucia began shouting thunderous words in the air, words that Mara hadn’t even heard before but knew exactly what they meant by the foreign, magical lilt. It seemed that Lucia could sense the strength rapidly leaving her opponent and it only made her continue with more vigor. Mara had no counterspell for Lucia’s magical words, no matter how hard she tried to focus on what her family had taught her. The inexperience in her usage of magic compared to Lucia’s was vast. Mara found herself frozen with her exhausted mind barely keeping up with the stream of words shooting from the woman’s lips.
Lucia stopped speaking, and her magic took effect upon Mara’s body in a second. Her limbs started losing strength rapidly, and her knees collapsed onto the ground. Her eyesight began to weaken until her head swam. Everything was starting to get blurry; her arms could no longer find the strength to push herself off the ground, so they fell to her sides. As the strength left her body, Mara fell blissfully to the ground. Her body accepted it; understanding escape would be a futile effort Lucia walked over to Mara and bent over her. In Mara’s eyes, the woman’s cold features swam in warping colors.
“I told you that you had no chance,” Lucia whispered, before withdrawing from Mara’s failing eyesight. The wind started to pick up against the trees, stirring against the two bodies. Mara could feel the triumph that Lucia was relishing, and it made her seethe, but there was nothing to she could do. An unspoken conversation hung in the air, waiting to be started, but silence prevailed.
Secret of Words Page 1
