Wardens of Archos

by Sarina Langer

  Kiana scoffed. “Big words don’t frighten me. Neither do fancy speeches. Do you have proof?”

  “Not yet. But soon his agents will walk the world. They could already be among us.”

  Kiana let out an irritated laugh. “How are we supposed to know them if they can disguise themselves so well?” She turned to Rachael, taking her eyes off their guest for the first time since Kaida had saved Rachael’s life in the garden. “Don’t fall for this, Rachael. She’s trying to get close to you. For all we know, she's one of those agents.”

  “Kiana is right,” said Rachael. “How am I meant to recognise the Dark One’s servants if they look like us?”

  “Not all of them care to disguise themselves. Some of his demons do not need disguises to enter our lives, kill us, and leave before anyone finds our corpses.”

  Rachael’s blood ran cold. “Demons?”

  Kiana stepped closer to her.

  “The Dark One has many servants. Some are humans who have chosen to walk in his shadow. Others come from beyond the Mists. They are not creatures of our world, and they cannot be killed the same way as a soldier gone rogue.”

  Rachael was shivering. “What do these demons look like?” She didn’t dare meet Kaida’s eyes, but the Mist Woman caught her gaze regardless.

  “You already know. You have seen them.”

  The room turned cold.

  “Rachael?” Kiana no longer watched Kaida. Her full attention was on Rachael.

  This time Rachael met Kaida’s eyes on her own terms. “I have.”

  The Mist Woman was next to her within the fraction of a breath. To Rachael's surprise, Kiana didn’t try to stop her. “When?”

  “Almost a year ago in a vision, before I left Blackrock. I’ve had another vision a few nights ago, and—” She paused, and forced herself to speak. “Right here, in my room. Something woke me up from the vision, and they were right here.” This wasn’t happening. All this time she’d believed the demons were real, and now that she had proof she wished she’d been wrong.

  Kiana had gone white, but Kaida looked as composed and focused as ever. “What did they look like, the ones in your room?”

  Rachael shivered at the memory. She didn't want to remember. “Like thin slivers of shadows. They built and rose, until they almost looked human. I don’t know what scared them off.”

  “Did they touch you?”

  Rachael’s hand touched her cheek where the shadows had burnt her. Healer Elthea had mended her skin, but she could still feel the heat. “Only for a second.”

  Kaida looked scared. Rachael had never seen anything so unsettling.

  “And the demons in your visions? Are they the same?” Kaida’s fingers formed ribbons of light, which flickered and danced in her open palms and moved when her hands did. Rachael could feel their warmth without touching them.

  “Yes. What are they?” Rachael wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but maybe what she wanted no longer mattered.

  Kaida reached out for her, and Kiana stepped between them.

  “It is a healing spell,” said Kaida. “The Mothers have touched your queen with powerful mist magic. If I do not draw it out they will find her again, and they will kill her.”

  Kiana frowned, but stepped away. Her eyes remained on the space between Kaida and Rachael. “The Mothers aren’t real. They are stories you tell children so they don’t sneak outside after nightfall.”

  Kaida touched Rachael’s cheek, and warmth embraced her face. It was soothing and comforting, nothing like the searing heat the demon had spread, and Rachael’s pain faded.

  “What is a Mother?” she asked when Kaida removed her hand.

  “Mothers are ancient servants of the Dark One. They reside beyond the Mist, but some of them are here, in this world. They protect His temple, and never allow anyone to enter. They never leave Kaethe; they could not. A spell bound them to the island, but if one was here the spell has been broken.” Her expression was grim. “It also confirms my fears. I believe they allowed Aeron inside the temple, and she performed a ritual there. It is best if you do not know the details. I knew as much when I saw her cuts, but your recent encounter confirms it.”

  “No one’s lived on Kaethe since the Great War,” said Kiana.

  “I am afraid the opposite is true. The Mothers were bound, but they have continued their practice.”

  “And they’re coming for me?” Rachael asked.

  “They will be, but I have drawn their poison out of you. They will no longer be able to find you, but they will search. It would be best if you did not remain in one place for long. The Fox is still a concern as well.”

  Rachael's heart dropped. She was grateful when Kiana explained. “You’re not as well informed as you think. The Fox is dead. She was a young girl who came here with Rachael. Aeron trained her to kill Rachael, but she died when we took the White City.”

  “The girl was not the Fox.” Kaida’s words were a punch to Rachael’s gut, but it was Kaida’s next words that froze her in place and made her world blur. “She is also not dead. She has gone to Kaethe.”

  “How can that be? I saw her—” Rachael couldn’t finish the sentence. What Kaida said was impossible. It had to be.

  “You have been misled. Aeron was so arrogant in her belief she never considered that she might have been wrong. Cephy fit the description because Aeron wanted her to fit the description. I am sorry, Rachael. The Fox is dangerous and must be stopped, but it is not Cephy. It never was.”

  Rachael had no idea how, but she would find Cephy and save her.

  Her head was spinning. If what Kaida said was true, then Aeron had twisted and manipulated Cephy for nothing. Cephy had suffered her torture for nothing. It was too late to make Aeron pay, and Cephy was on her way to those demons.

  Rachael had already lost Cephy twice. She wouldn't lose her a third time. She wanted to curse the prophecy that had started all this. What right did anyone have to change someone’s life in this way? Had it not mattered to these old, long-gone sorcerers because they’d known they’d never meet her or Cephy? If their ancient ramblings hadn’t named her the Sparrow that sees ahead, or warned of the Fox, maybe Aeron wouldn’t have dragged Cephy into this.

  “Can you stop her?” Kiana asked.

  “Not yet,” said Kaida. “I could kill her, but her death would simply unleash the same evil into the world Aeron has unleashed. The Dark One would seek a new host. We need to know how to prevent it or her death will be meaningless.”

  “The same evil that was within Aeron is within Cephy?” Rachael wanted to be sick. Stars danced before her eyes, and she swallowed rising bile. Why had things gone so wrong? “How’s that possible?”

  “When Aeron’s death unleashed the Dark One into this world, he sought a new host. Cephy’s mind was already twisted. She would not have resisted.”

  “How can you be sure?” asked Rachael. “You never met Cephy. What if you’re wrong?”

  “I saw her, briefly, when I came to kill Aeron. I do not need to know her on a personal level to have sensed the darkness within her. What I saw in her eyes was as unrelenting as Aeron’s will.”

  “Why didn’t you kill her if you saw all that?” asked Kiana. Rachael wanted to glare at her, even hit her for suggesting it, but Kiana was right.

  “Because she is not as powerful as Aeron. It will take her years to reach the same skill as her teacher. Aeron had to be my priority.”

  The room was spinning, and Rachael’s head buzzed. Cephy had been the most innocent little girl when Rachael had met her. She’d counted on Rachael to protect her, and Rachael had failed. If she’d kept Cephy safe none of this would have happened. The world was in danger because of her. Aeron had played her part, but Rachael had allowed it.

  “I have to find her.” Maybe it was too late to save Cephy now, but Rachael needed to try. She owed Cephy that much.

  Kaida shook her head. “You will not. Kaethe is too dangerous. If you go, you will die. There is nothing you can
do.”

  “But Cephy—”

  “Cephy has chosen this path herself. The last time you two met, you were lucky to escape with your life. If she sought you out now, you would only live because I am here.”

  Kiana frowned. “I can protect her. We don’t need your help.”

  “Oh?” Kaida smiled. “You believe your daggers can defeat fire? They are fine weapons, but they cannot accomplish such a feat. Cephy has always been a formidable foe. Rachael has seen what she can do with her own eyes. Now she hosts the Dark One, and a fraction of His power. She would burn both of you down without hesitation—your daggers would not stop her.”

  “Then we go together,” said Rachael. “If you come with me to Kaethe I can try to talk to her, and you can step in if I fail.” Rachael still remembered Cephy as the little girl who had been covered in bruises, holding her stuffed bear close to her chest, because her father had beaten her again. She still remembered how Cephy had trembled that night. How desperately she had sobbed. It made Rachael sick to think the Cephy from back then and the Cephy now were the same person. Were her eyes as cold as Aeron’s? Did she radiate the same evil?

  Kaida looked into Rachael eyes. “I do not know enough about this magic to defeat it, not yet. If we went to Kaethe, we would not only face Cephy. We would be outnumbered by Mothers, and at their heart would be the Dark One Himself. Cephy would likely kill us both, and He would take you or me as His host. We cannot throw our lives away so easily.”

  Rachael felt defeated. “So we just sit here and do nothing?” She sank into her bed. The duvet felt too soft. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve any of this comfort.

  Kiana sat next to her. “I hate to say it, but the witch is right. You can’t go to Kaethe.” She looked to Kaida. “There must be something we can do?”

  “There is.” Kaida’s hands drew patterns of blue light in the air, and a heavy book fell into her open palms. Rachael had never seen a tome as ancient as this one. It was bound in dark leather, and the faint traces of gold on the spine and cover hinted at writing which had faded a long time ago. “This is the tome of Ar’Zac Dar. Inside are—”

  Kiana laughed. “No, it’s not. All artefacts were destroyed in the Great War. One book couldn’t have survived.”

  “And it would have been destroyed alongside the others, if I had not saved it. It is too valuable to burn in a fire, so I kept it.”

  “I know the book,” Rachael said. “Aeron had a copy. She let me read from it while she taught Cephy.” At the time, it had been the most wondrous thing. Filled with magic and prophecy, it had been her first fascinating insight into the gift. It had promised so much. Rachael hadn’t thought she’d ever see it again.

  Kaida raised her eyebrows. “Aeron’s copy was a fake.”

  “It looked real to me.”

  “Of course it did. I am the one who forged it. Aeron was naive and arrogant beyond compare, but she would have known this book for a fake had I not done my job well. To the untrained eye it looks like the true relic, but it is not. It misses several key texts, but Aeron would not have known the difference. She never saw the original. I gave it to her to mislead her, and to stop her from coming after the real copy.”

  “And you’re just giving it to us?” Kiana no longer sounded defensive. Instead, she looked at the heavy book in Kaida’s hands like it was sacred.

  “A gift, for the new queen of Rifarne. I could not give it to you during your coronation. It would have attracted the wrong kind of attention, as I am sure you will agree.”

  Kaida handed the book to Rachael. The tome of Ar'Zac Dar didn’t just look heavy, but it weighed her hands down, too. Rachael had never seen this much knowledge in one book.

  “What’s inside, exactly? The book Aeron had was filled with prophecy.” Rachael had had enough of prophecies for as long as she lived. It was prophecy’s fault she’d got mixed up in this, and it was prophecy’s fault Aeron had mistaken Cephy for the Fox. She didn’t want to consider how different her life could have been if it hadn't been for this book.

  “That is part of it,” Kaida said. “But it is more than that. This is the original tome of Ar’Zac Dar. The one book the old wizards of the fallen empire recorded their findings in.”

  Kiana ran her fingers over the cover. The only times Rachael had seen Kiana handle anything with such care—with such devotion—was when Kiana used her daggers.

  “This is—I can’t describe it, Rachael,” said Kiana. “This book is one of a kind in so many ways. People have gone on pilgrimages trying to find it. They’ve fought each other trying to catch a tiny glimpse of this book.”

  “What do you think I can do with this?” asked Rachael. The book was ancient, and it had been important once, but it was still just one book. What did Kaida think she could do with it?

  “I am giving it to you for two reasons,” said Kaida. “The first is as I said before. It is a gift to you. Your late King Aeric was not fond of Midoka, and harboured deep suspicions toward our people. We hope we can move forward, and instead nurse a long-lasting friendship between the prophet queen of Rifarne and the gifted of Midoka. We mean you no harm, Rachael. We want peace.

  “The second reason is the dark evil walking the Earth. This book is, to the best of my knowledge, the only source of information we have that might tell us how to defeat it. The old sorcerers of the empire managed to banish Him once, they will have kept notes. I am entrusting their research to you.” Kaida turned to Kiana. “Some of the guests seek Rachael's death, as you are aware. They cannot know the tome of Ar’Zac Dar is here, in her hands. No one is aware it still exists, and it must remain that way. You cannot read this book in public. It must be protected.”

  All sarcasm had drained from Kiana’s voice when she spoke. “Understood.”

  Rachael hoped no one would lose their life protecting it. Important as it might have been, it was only a book and Kaida had said herself no one knew it still existed. How dangerous could it be?

  Chapter Seven

  Kaida had left soon after. Rachael had refused to let her place wards around her room for safety. She was paranoid enough as it was. Kiana had insisted on stationing additional guards outside her door since the first assassination attempt. If anyone wanted to get to her, they'd need to get past her guards first.

  Now that she was alone, she regretted it. Kiana had offered to stay, but Rachael had declined. She wasn’t prepared to lose her only chance for solitude.

  She couldn't shake the feeling someone's eyes were on her, but she tried to ignore it. The entire palace was watching her—whether it was visitors from other countries, ambassadors from far away, or the people of Rifarne, they were all watching her closely. Even the employees of the palace seemed to eye her every step. Was it like this for every new ruler? Or was it because she had the gift? Even her serene sanctuary in the garden was no longer safe.

  Rachael had never imagined missing her old life one day. In Blackrock she’d been invisible, and people had gone out of their way to avoid her. Here everyone smiled at her and did their best to accommodate her every need, but she couldn’t get away from people. Rachael knew Kiana’s request to stay with her had been to protect her, but if she couldn’t be alone in her own chambers she couldn't be herself anywhere.

  She was tired of pretending to be queen. She was tired of the nobility’s mannerisms, their speech, and their calculated movements. At least around Kiana she could be herself.

  She missed Cale, but she wouldn’t order him to spend time with her. If he was done with her, then she wouldn’t push it. That she’d expected him to stay close to her at all had been a mistake. Had she not promised herself never to trust anyone ever again? She’d thought him to be different. How wrong she’d been.

  But Kiana was different. Rachael couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew deep down Kiana wouldn’t betray her. She knew, too, that Kaida was honest in her request to help, Rachael could feel it.

  Why else would Kaida hand her some
thing as valuable as this book? Even Kiana had eyed it with reverence. They had left the heavy tome with her, and Rachael had leafed through it for the past hour. It was written in an ancient language, but some parts called to her. It reacted to her touch, guiding her to pages she couldn’t decipher but which looked important. For a brief moment, Rachael wondered if the book could be alive, or even sentient, before dismissing it as nonsense. No matter how great the power of the old empire might have been, it was still only an object. It couldn't think. It couldn't truly guide her hand to the pages she needed to find, even though it felt like it did.

  Rachael couldn’t bring herself to believe Kaida had given it to her to find answers. If the Mist Woman had truly had it for as long as she claimed she would have read through it by now. Unless she couldn’t read the language herself—but then, why would she entrust it to Rachael? Kaida had said it was a peace offering from Midoka, but was that all it was?

  Even so, there was one page she kept coming back to. No matter how far away from it she strayed, her hands always found their way back to it. It was a lovely page, covered in writing with a small drawing in the middle. The colours had faded, but she thought it looked like a temple on an island. People were all around it, walking to it or praying in front of it; the lines were too worn to tell. The writing looked like it had been done in a hurry, and even covered small parts of the drawing.

  Rachael locked it away in a drawer next to her bed. There was no point trying to read something if she couldn’t understand the language. She would ask Kaida about it tomorrow, in private. Maybe that way she could get some answers.

  The sun blinded her when she looked up. Small waves brushed against the shore, but the urgent rushing of feet on cobblestones destroyed the illusion of peace.