by Todd Herzman
Her head tilted to the side. Her eyes seemed to refocus, but she didn’t say a word, so he went on.
‘I didn’t believe it at first, either. But Alyssa showed me.’ He took a deep breath and extinguished the flames. He reached inside for the new reserve of power, the one he’d taken from Alyssa with her blood, and tapped into it. He remembered what she’d shown him in the garden, the illusion she’d displayed.
He focused on the image of the meteor, the hulking chunk of space rock. A circle of black formed in the air, scattered specks of light showed the stars. The meteor coalesced inside the image. Taya’s eyes turned toward it.
‘This is a starstone, like the ones from a starfall night.’ They used to hike up to the top of the tallest hill in Billings and watch the fireballs lighting up the sky. ‘You know what happens when they get through, don’t you? You remember stumbling across the deadland in the forest, the cracked dead earth. The way it made us feel… this rock is countless times bigger than the one that made that deadland. Renial saw it in a vision. It’s hurtling toward us, even as we speak.’
He waved a hand. The image shimmered and changed. A green world turned to flames. ‘My grandfather says I can help prevent this from happening. He just wants to save the world, Taya. He just wants to help people, like me, like you.’
Taya’s mouth fell open. Her lips parted and closed, but no sound came out. She tried again. ‘B—’ she started. ‘Bullshit.’
Chapter 56
Ella
Ella made it to the upper deck to find the entire crew—the survivors of the Serpentine, and those who were once the blood lord’s thralls—gathered in front of the captain’s wheel. Reena stood at it, her sister-in-law Aralia on one side, and the ship’s doctor on the other. Ella had gotten there just in time to see her talk.
‘We have been through much, these past few days.’ Reena projected her voice loud enough for the whole ship to hear. ‘The blood mages of this world have affected all our lives. They’ve taken people from us, for some of you, they took your minds—your personality, your free will.’ She looked to the surviving thralls, grouped together on one side, Magna at their front. She looked to her own crew, the ones who’d made it, Jacob at their head. ‘When we met, we fought each other.’ She raised her arms, motioning to both groups. ‘Today, we stand together. Survivors. Allies. Friends.’
Ella watched as people shifted foot to foot. The remnants of the Serpentine’s crew understood where the captain was going with this, but the blood lord’s survivors looked dubious and wary. Ella wondered what it must be like for them, having lost so much of themselves to someone else’s will. Aralia, on Reena’s right, pursed her lips as the captain spoke. On Reena’s left, Kelhi stood with hands clasped in front of her. Ella still wondered what the girl did—mostly she just seemed to follow the captain around.
‘My own husband was taken from me five years ago. Ever since, I’ve been searching for him.’ She motioned a hand down at Ella. ‘Ella—the one who saved you from the blood lord’s control, the one who freed us from our cells—her brother was taken from her village.’
Ella couldn’t help but notice she’d neglected to mention that the blood mage who’d taken Ruben was Reena’s husband.
‘We know where they are.’ Reena paused, staring out at the gathered crowd. ‘They’re in the Albion Dominion, in the clutches of Renial the God King.’
The former thralls no longer shifted where they stood, they just stared up. Magna’s head turned. The woman knew what the captain was about to ask of her fellow survivors.
‘I will sail into hell. To get my husband. To get Ella’s brother. To save them from the fate that many of you were saved from yesterday.’ Reena looked at each survivor in turn. ‘I will not command you to come with me. This is your choice to make—I am no blood lord, taking away your free will. If you want us to turn back, to turn this ship around and sail somewhere safe, we can do that.’ She bowed her head. ‘This ship is expected back in the Dominion’s docks any day now. It’s already been delayed from its course. If we turned around and dropped anchor at Aralia’s island sanctuary, by the time we made it back to Albion they would be suspicious of us.
‘Why should you sail into hell with me? To save people you do not know? Well, let me tell you about my husband.’ Reena closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was smiling. ‘He has a gift. He’s had it since he was a child. Like his sister, Aralia’—she motioned to the woman at her side—‘he had powers. But unlike Aralia, his power was to heal. Not physical wounds, like some Tahali monks can heal. No.’ She touched a finger to her forehead. ‘He could heal ailments of the mind.’ She moved her finger down to her chest. ‘Ailments of the heart, the soul.’
Reena looked away from the gathered crowd. Ella wondered if she’d rehearsed this speech. She hadn’t heard a word about this power of Malarin’s. She wanted the woman to succeed, but she almost felt guilty. The captain was manipulating these people into saving her husband—a blood mage—when they had just gotten their lives back. Did Malarin truly hold such a power? Ella looked to the former thralls. Would he be able to heal their minds?
‘He was a good man,’ Reena said. ‘An honourable man. He wanted to heal the world. And he would’ve, too, were he given the chance. But word about his power spread beyond our kingdom, all the way to the God King’s throne. Hunters came in the night and took him from our bed. They took him and they changed him. Corrupted him. Turned him into a blood mage.’
Whispers spread among the survivors.
‘You want us to save a blood mage?’ a man said. He was muscled, many scarred. One of the blood lord’s fighters.
‘The God King turned him into what he is.’ The whispering stopped as everyone looked to Aralia. ‘My brother… I do not forgive him for his crimes. I hate him for them. I have my own doubts, some days. I wonder if he’s worth saving, after all the things he has done. But I know the good he’s capable of, and I know that just as your will was taken from you, so was his will taken from him. He was never a man of violence, never one with malice in his heart. The God King changed him. Twisted him. Some of you must understand what that is like. Some of you must know what it’s like to look through your own eyes and see yourself doing things you never would have done had you the choice—had you control.’ She looked at the scarred man. ‘How many people have you killed, under the control of the blood lord?’
The man’s head drooped. ‘I’ve lost count.’
‘You were controlled, by someone else’s will. Just as my brother was warped into… something else. Something evil. But’—she glanced at Reena—‘we believe we can change him back. And I will do everything in my power to make that happen, everything I can to save him.’ Her eyes went steely. Ella had never seen her resolve so strong. Aralia looked out at the crowd but didn’t seem to see them. ‘If we can do that, if we can release my brother—the blood mage Malarin—from the bloodlust’s hold, we may be able to save others.’
Ella’s stare turned into a glare. They want to save more blood mages? It didn’t make sense to her. The blood mages were the ones doing wrong, they were the ones people needed saving from. Malarin was the reason her village was attacked, the reason people died—the reason her brother was taken. Still, she didn’t say anything. A spark of anger flared within her, but she held it back, not letting her emotions control her magic. If Reena and Aralia’s speeches meant everyone aboard the ship went along with their plan, arguing wasn’t in Ella’s best interest.
Reena spoke again. ‘We will cure my husband, Malarin—we will turn him back into the man he once was. And we will not stop there. Getting rid of the God King’s lieutenants, his mages and lords, turning them to our side if we can’—she looked down—‘killing them if we cannot’—her gaze turned back to the crowd—‘it’s our first step toward toppling the Albion Dominion. It’s our first step toward deposing this false idol who calls himself a god.’
Ella gaped. Toppling the Albion Dominion.
Was that really the mission Reena was on? Ella shivered, remembering what she’d felt when inhabiting Ruben’s mind—the sheer power that had emanated from the man in the dark cloak, the God King they spoke of.
‘Once the scourge that is the God King is defeated, once all those who are enslaved by him have their bonds broken, that’s when I will stop. That’s when I will rest—I cannot stand by and enjoy my free will until then, not when I know so many others have lost theirs.’
The former thralls, Magna included, started to nod their heads as the captain spoke. She’s convincing them, Ella thought—she started to feel convinced herself. Toppling the Albion Dominion sounded like an impossible task. But getting this far had sounded impossible too.
Jacob raised his fist and cheered. The rest of Reena’s crew followed, then the crowd’s enthusiasm caught on. The former thralls cheered with their newfound crewmates—their saviours. Though it had been Ella who’d stopped the blood lord. Not that she could begrudge them their enthusiasm. This whole time, since she’d first left her village in search of Ruben, the only goal in her mind had been saving him—she hadn’t thought of what to do after. She didn’t know how Reena had convinced her own crew to sail into hell after they’d been burned, but she imagined those who had been thralls must be eager for revenge.
The two crews gathered into one. Ella stood to the side of the crowd, despite all she’d done, this celebration—or whatever it was—didn’t feel like it belonged to her. She didn’t need convincing to go to Albion. She’d go there alone if she needed to.
The crowd dispersed. There was work to be done. Jacob shouted orders and, despite the differences, it started feeling like she was back on the Serpentine. Ella was still finding her feet, so she sat out of the way on the portside of the ship and watched as the anchor was pulled up and the red sails unfurled. Wind slapped the canvas, and the ship became a hub of activity as the two half-crews learnt to work together to become a whole.
An hour passed as she sat there, watching the crew move. Reena was by the ship’s wheel, but there’d been no sign of Aralia since the speech. Ella had expected the witch to be filling the sails with her magic, but the ocean wind was working alone.
‘You’re supposed to be resting.’
Ella turned her head, blinking in surprise to see Aralia standing in front of her. The witch’s eyes looked grave.
‘There is something I must show you.’
‘What is it?’
Aralia gazed about at the sailors working in unison. ‘It’s down below.’ She turned, heading toward the stairs to the lower decks. Ella followed. There were questions on her lips, but she remained silent as the witch led her through empty halls on empty decks. Though Ella had only been through the ship once, when she’d run through it killing thralls and escaping the blood lord, she knew where Aralia was taking her.
‘Why are we heading to the cells?’
‘That’s what I want to show you.’
They were quiet the rest of the way. Aralia didn’t offer further explanation, and Ella figured she could wait a moment longer. The throbbing pain in her head cleared faster than the first time around, when she’d touched Aralia’s mind. She still didn’t know what she’d truly done to the witch, the blood lord, or herself. She was just thankful it had worked.
Aralia walked down the steps to the cells. Ella paused at the landing, remembering what had happened down there. Trapped in water. Gasping for breath. Lungs begging for air. She took a deep breath. She could still breathe. She’d defeated the blood lord—he wouldn’t be able to trap her again.
‘Ella?’ Aralia called from the bottom of the landing, now out of view.
Ella hurried down the steps, catching up to the witch. She peered down into the brig. She made to walk farther but Aralia stopped her.
‘Before I show you, I must tell you…’ She avoided Ella’s gaze. Was that shame in her eyes? Ella had never seen the witch look so unsure of herself. ‘I did this because it is the only way.’ She shook her head. ‘I am not—I am not evil.’
Ella stared at the woman in confusion. ‘Aralia.’ She put her hands on the woman’s shoulders. ‘The worst thing I have known you to do is keep secrets, and then only for the best reasons. You help people. You have a whole island of people you have helped. How could you ever suppose I could think you evil?’
Aralia stepped aside, still not looking into Ella’s eyes. ‘We need a safe way to get ashore. We need more than just this ship if we’re going to save our brothers.’ Her head turned, looking toward one of the cells in the brig. Ella’s eyes followed Aralia’s.
It was dark, down here. Not a single lantern on the wall was lit. Ella stepped forward. Her heartbeat quickened. The tone in Aralia’s voice worried her deeply. Ella raised her hand. She focused—taking a deep breath in and letting it out. Energy coalesced in front of her palm. She faced her palm to the ceiling, a little ball of mana hovered above it.
The mana illuminated the brig, washing a wave of white light into the cells. Ella stopped midstep, staring into the cell Aralia had gazed at. A man sat on the ground within. His eyes blank, unseeing. A dark cloak draped about his shoulders. He didn’t so much as raise his head at the light. Ella took a shaky step, moving the light closer, and the man’s face came into full focus. It was the blood lord. His wrist was bandaged tight from a recent wound. Ella turned and stared at the witch.
It was then that Ella noticed the blood on Aralia’s cheek. Barely a speck. She must have failed to wipe it off, after…
‘Aralia—what have you done?’
The witch finally looked into Ella’s eyes. ‘Only what I had to.’ Her tone was more sure this time, her voice unwavering. ‘He’s no threat to us like this.’ Aralia turned and walked to the bottom of the stairwell. She stopped, her back to Ella. ‘I made him talk. He told me where Malarin is. He’s in Albion, away from the castle in his own hold. Tonight, I will fill the sails with my wind. And if our navigator is right, we will be in Albion come noon tomorrow. You have until then to come to terms with this.’
She stepped up the stairs, leaving Ella alone in the brig with the blood lord. Ella backed away from his cell and straight into the bars of another. She slid down them until she’d fallen into a crouch. She stared into the cell. Stared into eyes devoid of emotion.
How could Aralia have done this? She was reminded of the witches she’d heard about in stories, of the priest who’d visited her village, speaking against magic and those who possessed it. She’s a good witch, Reena had said.
How could someone good take away the free will of another, even another as evil as the blood lord?
Chapter 57
Marius
A bell rang, its sound only just heard from within the great hall. The heads of every monk in the room turned.
‘What is that?’ Marius asked.
‘Someone is at the gate,’ his mother said, looking toward the doors.
Master Flynn stood and crossed the hall.
Lilah stood too, hands on her sword hilts. Marius rose the same time as his mother, and they all followed Master Flynn out of the hall. No one said a word. It seemed obvious who’d be at the gate, though Marius had hoped they’d dealt with all the thralls in the cracked valley.
‘How many men does your father control this far from his dominion?’ Marius whispered as they walked through the lavan-lit tunnels.
‘That is a number I have never wished to know,’ Jesriel replied.
Flynn’s robes billowed as he rounded a corner ahead of them.
‘Master Flynn spoke of the protections the walls hold, the crystals imbued within the stone.’ Lilah gripped her Starblade hilt tight. ‘Surely the monks needn’t worry about a few thralls.’
They turned a corner and saw sunlight at the end of the tunnel. The hours Marius had spent in these caves made him forget it was still daylight outside.
‘You heard what my mother said. He’s looking for me. The God King. As long as I’m he
re, the monks are in danger. If my mother can get through the walls, how could he not?’
Outside, Marius shielded his eyes from the sun and searched for the monk’s receding robes. They followed him to the gate, where the same monk who’d greeted them was staring over it.
‘One thrall?’ Master Flynn asked the monk. ‘What’s it doing?’
‘Just standing there,’ she replied. ‘Staring up at me.’
‘MASTER FLYNN.’
Marius flinched.
His mother grabbed his shoulder. ‘Renial,’ she whispered.
The monk atop the gate recoiled from the voice, almost losing her balance. The voice was booming, loud—and eerily familiar.
It was the same voice that had spoken through the last thrall.
Master Flynn looked over his shoulder at Jesriel. He glanced at Marius before turning his attention back to the gate. ‘God King,’ he replied. His voice wasn’t as loud as the thrall’s, but it carried well enough. ‘You are not supposed to be here.’
‘YOU HAVE SOMETHING I WANT.’
Jesriel’s grip tightened on Marius’s shoulder.
Master Flynn glanced at the three of them, his eyes falling on Marius again. He bit his lip before replying. ‘You killed one of my monks.’
‘HE INTERFERED.’ There was a slight pause. ‘I KNOW YOU HAVE THE BOY.’
Marius shuddered. He backed up, letting his mother’s arms fall around him.
‘There is nothing for you here. There never has been. There never will be.’
‘LET ME SPEAK WITH HIM.’
Master Flynn stared at Marius. ‘No.’
‘YOU THINK YOU ARE SAFE WITHIN YOUR WALLS. YOU ARE NOT.’
‘Your idle threats do not move me, blood mage.’ Flynn’s fingers curled into fists.
‘THROW DOWN SHACKLES. OPEN THE GATES. LET ME SPEAK WITH HIM.’
Lilah stepped forward. ‘Let him through,’ she whispered to Flynn. ‘I will end him.’
The monk shook his head. ‘We could break the bloodlock.’