Tethered Spirits

by T. A. Hernandez

  Aleida gave a slight shrug. “Sure. Maybe later.”

  They ate in silence for a few minutes. It was a cold night, but they hadn’t dared to make a fire that might draw their enemy to them. Kesari wrapped her coat a little tighter around herself and was about to try to strike up a different conversation when, to her surprise, Aleida spoke again. “I wish I could fight her myself.”

  “Valkyra?”

  She nodded. “She ruined everything. I hate that I’m not strong enough to do more than give advice on how to capture her.” The pitch of her voice rose. “Just don’t mess it up, all right? You want to keep Jameson alive? Fine. But make sure she doesn’t get away.”

  Kesari flinched at the fury in the young woman’s eyes, but she couldn’t blame her for it. She’d lost everything, and being angry was so much easier than sitting with the hurt and sorrow.

  “I’m sorry about your brother,” she said quietly, and when Aleida turned another furious gaze on her, she quickly added, “My brother died, too. A couple of years ago.” She looked down at her boots. “It was my fault.”

  Aleida didn’t speak for a few seconds, and when she did, her voice hitched. “How did you survive it?”

  “I almost didn’t,” she replied, glancing at Lucian over her shoulder. “But I had a lot of help, someone who was there even when I felt alone.”

  The other girl snorted. “I am alone.”

  “You don’t have to be.” She gestured to the others on either side of them. “We’re all here.”

  “That’s not—”

  “Kesari!”

  One of Saya’s arrows went whizzing past them at the same time Lucian shouted her name.

  She stood and whipped around. A tall, shadowy figure approached through the trees. Slender fingers clutched Saya’s arrow in one hand, then snapped it in half and threw the pieces to the ground. Tendrils of blue lightning began to crackle around the figure’s hands and body, illuminating a familiar face.

  Jameson.

  He extended a hand toward them. Kesari barely had time to throw up her arms and erect a protective barrier in front of herself and her friends. Lightning struck the invisible wall and went rebounding back toward the wizard as a silky, white dragon emerged from behind his back and shot into the air.

  “Get to cover!” Amar shouted, grabbing Mitul by the back of his shirt and hoisting him upright.

  “You too,” Saya said to Aleida. She came up beside her and Kesari with another arrow already nocked.

  Jameson hurled more lightning, and Kesari put all her energy and focus into maintaining the barrier.

  “Let me fight!” Aleida protested. Her eyes weren’t on Jameson at all, but on Valkyra, a flash of white darting through the leafy canopy above.

  “How?” Saya shot back. “You don’t have magic or a weapon. You’ll only get in the way.”

  “But I—”

  “Go find Mitul!” The young warrior grabbed Aleida by the shoulder and shoved her back.

  “Stay focused, Kes,” Lucian said into her ear.

  Kesari shifted her gaze back to her barrier, which was starting to weaken where Jameson’s lightning had struck it repeatedly. Through it, she could see his face more clearly now. Streams of dried blood flowed from his nose, ears, and mouth, giving him a grotesque sort of mask that highlighted the hollow emptiness in his eyes. All the energy and inquisitive vibrance which had once been there was gone now.

  Maybe Aleida was right. Maybe he was too far gone to save.

  Saya loosed an arrow. It shot through Kesari’s barrier and seemed to be heading straight for Jameson’s chest, but he threw up a barrier of his own. The arrow fell harmlessly to the ground.

  Amar fired his pistol, but even that couldn’t penetrate the wizard’s defenses. Saya released another arrow, then another. They weren’t doing any damage, but as long as she forced Jameson to keep his barrier up, he couldn’t unleash another attack on them.

  At least, Kesari didn’t think he could. She let down her own barrier and channeled altma to lift nearby rocks into the air, propelling them in Jameson’s direction for extra distraction.

  Amar ran up beside her, clutching his sword in one hand and a tiny bundle of fabric in the other. “I’ve got the daravak. I just need to get close enough.”

  “We’ll cover you,” Saya said, firing off another arrow.

  Kesari kept up her own barrage as Amar charged at the wizard. He was closing in when Jameson’s barrier exploded in a burst that sent him flying backwards. It was enough to knock Kesari and Saya back, too. Even Jameson seemed momentarily dazed.

  In a blur of white, Valkyra dove from the sky and wrapped her claws around Saya’s bow. The young woman held onto it, using the arrow in her free hand to try to beat the Spirit Tarja away. Valkyra didn’t react, not even when Saya stabbed the arrow’s point through her chest.

  “The barrier!” Lucian said.

  Kesari reached for her altma and channeled it around Valkyra, shaping one of the imprisoning barriers like she’d practiced all day. It only took a few seconds, but Valkyra saw what she was doing before the edges closed. She released the bow and darted into the trees, shattering the barrier in the process. Saya fired a shot after her, but she had vanished.

  Amar was up and already attacking Jameson. The wizard moved with abnormal speed, always staying out of reach and dodging every attempt Amar made to close the gap.

  Kesari put her hands on the ground, watching Jameson’s movements as she channeled her altma. There—an opening! She sent the energy from her fingertips into the earth. A ripping sound filled the air as the ground Jameson had moved to rose up to push him off balance.

  Amar lunged for the wizard’s face, arm outstretched with the daravak clutched in his fist. He didn’t get close enough. Lightning shot from Jameson’s hand to wrap around Amar’s body like long, jagged fingers, and he went down with a groan.

  “Amar!” Saya screamed. She rushed forward, firing more arrows at Jameson as she went. Kesari hurled her own magic at him, too. He dodged or deflected every blow, and when Saya’s last arrow was spent, he stretched out his hand.

  A ball of blue fire flew from his fingertips. Kesari flattened herself against the ground. Saya tried to duck behind a tree, but she wasn’t fast enough. The projectile struck both her and the thick trunk. She fell, screaming as she tried to put out the flames burning through her clothes. The bushes at her feet ignited, and the fire quickly spread over the forest floor.

  Kesari ran to her. She grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her back, away from the flames. Another fireball shot over their heads. It struck a tree, which crackled and groaned as it went up in flames.

  Fire. Burning. Screaming. The clocktower.

  It all came back to Kesari in a rush that put her right back there.

  Standing in the square, she clutches Navya’s hand. Rajiv is inside. They’re supposed to wait for him to come back. He promised he would come back.

  She shook her head. Breathe. She had to breathe. She wasn’t there. Rajiv was already gone. None of that was happening right now.

  Right now, her friends were hurt, and they needed her. She was the only one who could subdue Jameson and Valkyra.

  Beside her, Saya groaned through clenched teeth, staring at the red, charred flesh of her arm. But those injuries would have to wait. Stopping Jameson was their first priority.

  Another fireball made impact close by. Kesari threw up a barrier as she turned, only to see them both right behind her—Jameson and Valkyra. The perfect opportunity.

  Drawing on all her altma, she pushed out her own barrier, changing its shape and purpose as she went. From the outside, it would look like she was trying to do what Jameson had done before, using the magical force to create a devastating blast. But it was a trap, and one Kesari could only hope they wouldn’t see coming.

  Not until the last moment, when the barrier engulfed them both in a sphere of shimmering fog, closing, closing, closing…

  52

  Aleida


  Kesari’s barrier snapped around Jameson and Valkyra, trapping them both in an orb of magical energy. Beside Aleida, Mitul let out a victorious whoop and went dashing from cover to where Amar lay. They’d left their previous position as soon as they’d seen him fall, knowing they had to recover the daravak if their plan to save Jameson was going to work. They still needed to suppress his magic, but at least for now he was contained.

  Contained. That wouldn’t last long. It was only a matter of time before Valkyra found a way for Jameson to break free.

  Aleida’s jaw clenched. She couldn’t let that happen.

  Her eyes drifted to Amar’s sword, which lay on the ground a few paces away. Neither man was paying any attention to it or to her. They were turned away, Mitul helping Amar to stand up, both of them checking to make sure the daravak was still in his hand. Soon, they’d be looking for the sword.

  It was now or never.

  She broke away from the shelter of the tree at a run, scooping up the weapon as she went. For one panicked moment, her fingers refused to close around the hilt, and she had to stop. Then the sword was in her hands, and she was charging forward again.

  Valkyra was right there, getting closer with every step. Kesari’s barrier prevented her and Jameson from getting out, but it couldn’t stop Aleida and the sword from getting in. And when she plunged the blade through Jameson’s heart, Valkyra would be dead.

  Of course, so would he.

  She pushed aside the twinge of guilt that came with that thought. Jameson wasn’t even himself anymore. Surely he didn’t want to be the puppet of a dangerous, violent Spirit Tarja. She’d be doing him a favor, killing him before he could hurt anyone else.

  The tip of the blade broke through the barrier before Kesari even saw her coming.

  “Aleida, no!”

  It was Lucian who cried out, and in the split second that Kesari’s focus shifted, the barrier rippled, weakened. Valkyra’s eyes found Aleida’s, and her mouth twisted into a vicious smile. Jameson grabbed the sword by the blade before it could pierce through his chest. Blood dripped from his hand as he pressed the other against the barrier. It dissolved around Aleida in a flurry of silver sparks.

  The sword gave a sharp twist in her hand as Jameson wrenched it free, slicing deeper into his own palm. He cast it aside. Droplets of red arced through the air. With strength intensified by magic, he shoved her back, and she went sprawling onto the ground next to Kesari and Saya. Amar and Mitul were flung down next to her a moment later.

  Before any of them could fully recover, Jameson put his hands to the ground. All around them, roots burst up in a shower of dirt and torn grass to wind around their arms and legs. Aleida thrashed against the restraints and cried out in frustration, but a new root clamped down around her neck so tight she could hardly breathe.

  Beside her, Lucian was already burning through the roots that held Kesari down. She managed to sit up and shoot a single rock at Jameson’s head, but the Tarja had her pinned back down in seconds. He raised a barrier around Lucian to keep him contained as well.

  Kesari continued to fight against her restraints. Sparks of light shot from her fingertips, but her power wasn’t enough. Tears ran down her face, and her eyes were wide and wild as she watched the man close in. She was terrified, and it was clear her magic wasn’t even remotely under her control.

  Aleida stretched her fingers as far as they would go, trying to reach Kesari’s. They were too far. “Focus,” she said, but her voice only came out as a croak. She doubted the girl even heard her.

  Jameson loomed over them, his tall frame silhouetted against the fire still burning through the forest behind him. Valkyra perched on his shoulder. She held her head high and regal as she stared down at them. Her silvery gaze flitted across Aleida for only a moment, then focused on Kesari.

  “You have proven to be far more trouble than I anticipated,” she said in the same low, silken voice that had once brought Aleida so much comfort. “From the way Jameson described you, I thought you’d be a dainty little mouse, but there’s a tiger inside you, isn’t there?”

  Kesari let out a whimper. More sparks shot from her fingers, but to no avail.

  Valkyra let out a sigh, almost as if she was disappointed the girl couldn’t put up more of a fight. “Oh, well. I suppose I ought to kill you now.”

  Lucian slammed himself against the inside of his spherical barrier, his flames fanning out against its contour and then reforming. When that didn’t work, he made himself bigger, growing until fire filled the entire space. Still, he couldn’t break free. None of them could.

  All they could do was watch as Jameson knelt and placed both hands on Kesari’s forehead.

  53

  Amar

  Amar pulled against his restraints with every ounce of strength in his body as the Tarja knelt over Kesari, Valkyra’s threat echoing through his mind.

  I suppose I ought to kill you now.

  Not Kesari. Not the sweet, wide-eyed girl who’d helped him recover his memories and fought enchanted guards by his side in Shavhalla. She had a family to go back to, a bright future ahead of her. She was still only a child. Not Kesari.

  Jameson’s hands were on her head.

  “Stop!” Amar yelled, but his voice was muffled beneath the others’ shouts.

  “She’s just a girl,” Mitul pleaded. “Don’t hurt her.”

  “I’ll kill you for this!” Saya cried in a voice so harsh it sounded inhuman.

  “Leave her alone,” said Aleida.

  Lucian’s voice was inaudible within the barrier, but he made his protests known with frantic movements inside his confines.

  “Valkyra!” Amar roared as loudly as he could.

  Her head swiveled toward him, and the others fell silent.

  He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was over. There was nothing they could do to defeat her. Not now, anyway. His best option was to make sure the others all got out of this alive. Valkyra saw them as disposable, a nuisance to be eliminated. The only way to keep them safe was to make them a critical part of her victory and achieving what she wanted.

  So what did she want?

  “Don’t hurt any of them,” he said. “It’s me you want, isn’t it? You can have me, but not if you hurt them.”

  Valkyra smiled, the tiny points of her razor-sharp teeth glinting in the firelight. Then she looked back down at Kesari, who was still squirming against the roots that held her down.

  A soft, glowing light emanated from Jameson’s fingers and pulsed against Kesari’s forehead. Her body went still.

  “No!” This time, it was Saya’s voice that rang out over all the others. “I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”

  Not if Amar killed her first.

  Valkyra laughed, a clear, ringing sound that cut through Saya’s screams. “Fool. Your friend isn’t dead.”

  Saya cut herself off in the middle of another shout.

  Valkyra pointed a claw down to the barrier that still held Lucian. “See? If she were dead, this one wouldn’t be here anymore.”

  “What did you do to her?” Amar demanded through clenched teeth.

  “I simply put her to sleep. I’m curious to hear more about your offer, but I couldn’t have her causing any more trouble while we talk.” Jameson stood, and she rode on his shoulder as he strode toward the fire still ravaging the forest. It had crept closer in the last few minutes, close enough that its heat was becoming uncomfortable against Amar’s skin.

  “I think that’s probably enough of that,” Valkyra said as she and Jameson stared into the flames. He extended his arms and pushed out his hands out. As he held that pose, the flames began to subside.

  “What’s your plan?” Mitul whispered while the pair was occupied.

  “I have to go with her,” Amar replied. “It’s the only way to get the rest of you out of here alive.”

  The man shook his head. “No. There has to be something else. She’s never going to let us just walk awa
y.”

  “She will if it’s the only way she can get me to cooperate.”

  “You can’t cooperate with her. You have no idea what she’ll do to you.” He glanced at Jameson and Valkyra and lowered his voice a little more. “You still have the daravak, don’t you?”

  It remained clutched in his palm, moisture seeping through the fabric from where it had been crushed when he fell. “Yes, but without Kesari, we can’t contain them.”

  “But if you go with her—”

  “Then you’ll be safe. That’s all that matters. We can fight this fight another day, but tonight, we’ve already lost.”

  The last of the flames petered out, leaving behind a sudden darkness and the heavy smell of smoke. Jameson turned back around and walked straight toward Amar. He stopped when he was a few paces away, and Valkyra hopped off his shoulder to rest on Amar’s chest. Her claws pushed through the fabric of his shirt and pricked against his skin.

  “Now then,” she said. “What was it you were saying earlier?”

  “Leave them alone,” he said, “and I’ll go with you. I’ll do what you want.”

  “Oh? And what’s that?”

  “You want to make a Bond with me so you can share my immortality. Isn’t that right?

  She smiled demurely. “That’s right.”

  “Good. Then I’ll Bond with you. But you have to leave everyone else alone.”

  Saya raised her head as far as she could to look at him. “Amar, you can’t!”

  “Enough,” Valkyra hissed. Two new barriers began to form—one for Saya, Aleida, and Kesari, and one for Mitul on Amar’s other side. For a few seconds, their shouts of protest filled his ears, then there was silence.

  He met Valkyra’s gaze evenly. “You can’t hurt them, or I won’t cooperate with you. And you need a willing partner to form a Bond.”

  “Not necessarily,” Valkyra said, tilting her head toward Jameson. “Take this one, for example.”

  “Exactly. Look at him. He’s practically falling apart.”