by Todd Herzman
Marius’s head ached. His eyes burned. His mother’s hands gripped his tighter and tighter. His fingers felt like they would break and snap. He gasped. He wanted to shout. Wanted to scream. Wanted to let go. The light. The energy. Everything. It was too much. He took a breath, and then—
It stopped. Darkness reigned behind his eyes. His awareness flicked on to all the life around him. Insects in the ground beneath him. The grass. The birds. The trees whose roots spread deep beneath the world while their branches reached high into the heavens.
‘You can open your eyes now.’ It was his mother’s voice. It felt so soft in his ears. She’d let go of his hand and touched her palm to his cheek.
The first thing he saw were her green eyes. Then his gaze travelled beyond her to the forest they sat in. He smiled at the sight. ‘We—we did it.’
‘We did.’
Marius’s smile fell away. ‘The mana we took.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘Did we kill the land?’
His mother shook her head. ‘The monks know how to help the land recover.’ Her focus shifted from him, her eyes sweeping the trees around them. Her body turned stiff. ‘Rise,’ she said, standing herself. ‘We must disguise ourselves before we are caught. Do not reach out with your magic until I shield you from others’ senses.’
Marius stood. He felt a pit in his stomach where his mana reserve should be. It had been sucked dry when they’d teleported from the monastery to the island. ‘My mana’s gone.’
Jesriel gripped his arm with her left, then raised her right and closed her eyes. Mana swept in from the trees, ten times faster than he’d seen Peiter perform the same thing. Unlike when they’d drawn the energy to teleport, she took sparingly—a bit from the grass, a bit from the trees, a bit from the ground itself.
Jesriel filled his reserve in moments. When it was full, she turned her attention to him. She touched a hand to his cheek. ‘We must look and act as anyone else in the city.’
A wave of energy enveloped him. It felt warm, comforting. When he looked down, his hands seemed different—not his own. His sleeves, too, were someone else’s. He touched a hand to his face. It felt the same.
‘You only look different.’ Jesriel performed the same trick on herself. Just as she’d shifted when the thrall had been inside the gates, she shifted again. This time, not to a monk, but to a woman who looked as if she tended to the fields all day. She kept her red hair and green eyes, but otherwise looked a completely different person. She relaxed into her new visage, no longer stiff and alert. Her shoulders slouched, her normally impeccable posture evaporating.
‘Come. We need to get a look at the castle. If I know my father, that’s where your brother will be. He’ll be kept safe, if not a prisoner.’ Jesriel glanced about then made a straight line west through the trees.
‘You seem to know your way around.’
‘I spent much of my youth in this forest.’ She glanced back at him. ‘My brother and I knew these trees as well as we knew the rooms in the castle.’
‘Brother? I—I have an uncle?’
Jesriel looked straight ahead. ‘That’s a story for another time.’
They walked through the forest in silence. Marius’s mind was still back in the monastery, wondering if the thralls had made it to the gate, if Lilah had drawn her Starblade. Wondering if the land around the monastery would recover as his mother had said. The destruction they had caused, stripping the land of its life, was exactly what Peiter had warned him against—it was exactly the reason people like Lilah became seekers. Using their abilities came with a cost. They were doing it to save someone—and not just anyone, his big brother—but he wondered how much someone could do by justifying themselves every step of the way.
Marius spotted the castle’s tall towers through the treetops before they’d made it out of the forest. A few minutes later they made it to the end of the tree line to a grassy hill rolling down to one of the castle walls. His eyes were drawn toward a part of the wall that looked freshly repaired. Scorch marks outlined the newly placed stone. Two guards manned the outer gate, spears in their hands and bored looks on their faces.
‘What now?’ Marius whispered.
‘We wait until someone leaves.’ She looked at her son with serious eyes. ‘Then we track them down and take their skin.’
‘You don’t—you don’t mean literally, do you?’
His mother shook her head. ‘No.’ She stared down at the guards. ‘But we will need their memories. And we’ll need to leave them in a condition not to talk—’ She stopped, put a hand up, then pointed to the path leading to the gate.
Marius strained his vision and spotted a group of four walking to the castle gates. Two wore armour so dark they could be shadows. He looked at those walking in front of the shadows. His eyes stuck to the one with flame-red hair.
‘Ruben,’ Marius whispered. His brother wore clothes as dark as the guards’ armour. He seemed different, skinnier, but it was him. The longer Marius stared, the closer they came into view. That’s when he noticed the girl walking beside his brother.
It was Ella.
Marius gripped his mother’s arm. He wanted to cry out to his brother and sister. He wanted to dash down the hill and wrap them in his arms. They were so close.
‘Is that…’ Jesriel’s voice trailed off.
‘My brother and sister.’ He frowned as he stared down at them. ‘They’re heading straight into the castle.’ Marius looked at his brother’s clothes again. The dark cloak, the silver clasp glinting at his neck. The gate guards let the group of four in, the dark-armoured guards not so much as nodding to those working gate duty. ‘Why is he wearing those clothes?’
‘Remember what I told you about my father’s influence?’
Marius nodded. ‘Are… are we too late?’
Jesriel shook her head. ‘No. Now we know where they are. That is a good thing.’
His brother and sister walked through the gates and down the path toward the castle doors. Ruben looked too comfortable, as if he owned the place. Marius should feel joy at his brother being all right, but anger welled up inside instead. He’d come here to save his brother… and there his brother was, walking around, safe and sound. Why had he been gone so long? Why hadn’t he come back for Marius?
Marius shook his head and snapped the thoughts away. His mother had told him what the God King—their grandfather—was like. Marius had seen dozens of thralls. Just because Ruben looked comfortable here, didn’t mean he was. He was a prisoner of the most powerful blood mage in the world. Whatever he did, however he acted, it was tainted by that influence.
Marius’s focus shifted to his sister. ‘Ella told me she would save Ruben.’ Ella looked skittish. She kept glancing back at the door’s guards. She stiffened the closer they came to the castle doors.
‘Looks like she’s a prisoner too.’ His mother smiled at him. ‘I guess we’ll just have to save them both.’
Chapter 61
Ruben
Ruben led his sister through the halls of the castle. He smiled as her eyes dashed around the place, looking from the portraits on the wall to the high, vaulted ceilings.
‘It’s quite a step up from our house in Billings,’ said Ruben, trying to lighten the mood. He knew his sister was scared. He wished she wouldn’t be, there was no way he would let anything bad happen to his little sister. She used to understand that.
‘It’s… big.’ Ella craned her neck, staring at the ceiling. Her gaze fell back on him. ‘How far is this garden?’ She glanced back at the guards, still following them even in the castle. ‘And will we have company?’
‘The garden is the most private place in the castle.’ He glanced at the guards, too, wondering if Renial was listening in on every word they said—would Ruben even mind if he was? It made sense their grandfather would be interested in how Ella’s introduction to the island was going. ‘It will be just the two of us.’
Ella seemed to relax at his w
ords, though she still spoke little as they walked. The scale of the castle no doubt overwhelmed her. What must she think of the things she saw? He knew his grandfather didn’t take power for selfish reasons, but from what Ella could see, he imagined she would think otherwise. Ruben had thought the same way only a few weeks ago.
When they made it to the gardens, the guards stayed in the hall. Ruben shut the door behind them. The lock clicked on the other side as they stepped into the sun.
Ella flinched at the noise and whirled around. ‘We’re locked out here?’
‘Yes. But we’re safe.’ He smiled at her, and she seemed to relax again—though he could sense stress within her. She masked it well, but she didn’t know he could hear her heartbeat. She didn’t know he could sense her holding back when she spoke.
It didn’t matter. She was here now.
Ella stepped, hesitantly, from one stone to the next toward the centre of the gardens. Her head darted around as it had back in the castle and on the streets of Albion. Forever curious, his little sister. She was overwhelmed by it all, he knew.
‘I know it might be hard to understand. But… we’re safe here.’
Ella whirled and stared at him. ‘Safe?’ Her eyes focused heavily on his. Her breathing slowed. ‘Is it you who believes that?’ She titled her head. ‘Or someone else?’
He stepped back, reeling from her sudden unwavering attention. ‘Ella—’
‘You were taken.’ Her voice was strong, hard. ‘I stumbled back into the village to find Geral dead, stuffed in the well. The tavern, half the village, burned to the ground. And more dead still. Ten people piled in a heap and set to burn. And you… you were gone. They took you here, and you think we’re safe?’
Ella stepped up to him and he stopped her, grabbing her shoulders.
‘I’m sorry, Ella, for all that happened. I truly am. But we are safe now.’ Anger flickered inside of him, mingling with the power he’d gained from Alyssa. ‘I know it doesn’t make sense yet, but we’re here for a reason, Ella. Besides, it wasn’t Renial—the God King—who attacked our town, it was one of his blood mages. You can’t blame Renial for what happened.’
Her eyes were still on his. She hadn’t so much as blinked. She brought her hands up, quick as lightning, and separated his arms, striking out so he lost his grip. She moved back from him in a defensive stance he’d never seen her in before. She must have learnt a lot on her journey here. Though he couldn’t imagine she’d changed as much as he had.
‘I want to trust you, big brother.’ Ella’s voice wavered for the first time since she’d turned on him. ‘I want to trust you. I promise I do.’
‘Then trust me.’ Ruben’s anger flashed. Why had she pushed him away? He clenched his fists, stopping them from bursting into flames by will alone. He took a deep breath, let it out, and opened his fists. He put up his hands. ‘Please, little sister.’ He made to step forward. She nudged her foot back. He stopped, sighed, and motioned to one of the benches in the garden. ‘Just sit with me, will you do that?’
She hesitated. Her eyes darted to the bench then back to him. ‘You sit, I stand.’
He sighed. ‘Alright. Whatever makes you feel safe, little sister.’
Her eyes seemed to narrow at the words little sister. He supposed she wasn’t so little anymore. He walked to the bench and sat. He didn’t realise how tense he was until he had. Ella stood ten steps away.
‘What can I do to make you trust me?’
‘I’m not sure there’s anything you can do, big brother.’
Ruben looked at his hands. He would have to tell her the truth. This isn’t how he wanted her to find out. He didn’t want her being confrontational. But… just as Taya had nowhere to go, neither did she. Ruben had taken the news with difficulty too; he’d even tried to escape. Maybe there was no easy way to do this.
‘This is where we belong, Ella.’ He waved his hands at the garden around them. ‘This is what we’re entitled to, not a tiny house in a tiny village.’
‘You’re not making any sense.’ Ella hadn’t moved closer, but she’d straightened out of her defensive stance. ‘You loved our home. You loved the work you did there.’
He scowled at her, not meaning to. But the second he did, he couldn’t wipe it off his face. ‘Being here is more important.’
‘Why? Don’t you understand? The God King is just using you for your power! He doesn’t care about you—not one bit. He’s controlling you, Ruben. Making you think things you wouldn’t otherwise—making you act in ways you wouldn’t otherwise. Can’t you see that?’
Ruben let out a shuddering breath. She was angry at him. Why was she angry at him? ‘You’re wrong.’ He stood and let the flames engulf his hands, feeding off his anger. The fire reached higher than his head. He could see his sister through it, fear in her eyes. ‘Renial helped me control my powers.’ He spread his arms wide, a flame on either side. ‘He doesn’t want to take them from me, and if he did, I—I would give them to him.’
As he said the words, he knew they were true. He trusted his grandfather. Believed in him.
‘No.’ Ella stumbled back, shaking her head. ‘No. The God King is controlling you.’
Ruben stared at her. He made the flames fall away, wanting to show her that he was in control, no one else. ‘There is a reckoning coming.’ Ella looked at him, confused. Ruben stepped toward her then gazed at the sky. ‘A reckoning that will cleanse the world of magic, of life.’ He looked at her again. ‘It’s real, Ella. It’s heading for us, right now.’
Ella stared at him, shaking her head. ‘What are you talking about?’
Ruben drew in a long breath. He focused on the new reserve—the one he’d gained when he’d drained Alyssa’s blood. He raised his hands. Ella flinched back from him, as if he would attack her. He dragged his focus away from her. In his mind, he brought up the image of the meteorite, and formed a sphere between him and his sister.
Darkness formed within the sphere. Then a dusting of stars.
‘Ruben…’ Ella gaped at the illusion. She stepped sideways around the sphere. It showed the same image no matter what angle.
Finally, the meteorite appeared inside the illusion. ‘He’s seen it, Ella. The reckoning. A starfall so large it will make the world a deadland.’ Ruben moved his hands in a circular motion. The image shifted, changing. It showed a world in flames. Where the flames didn’t burn, darkness reigned. ‘This is what it will do to the world, Ella.’
Ella stared. The fire reflected in her blue eyes. For a long moment all she did was stare. Until finally she blinked, shook her head, and turned her gaze back on her brother. ‘I don’t care what he’s shown you, what he’s said. He’s evil, Ruben. A blood mage. A tyrant. How can you believe a word he says after what he’s done?’
‘He’s not a tyrant, Ella. He only takes power because he needs it.’
‘He takes free will!’
Ruben tilted his head at his sister, still maintaining the illusion of a world on fire between them. ‘He keeps them safe. It’s a small price to pay, isn’t it?’ He waved a hand toward the city. ‘Do you know that there’s no crime here? No murder? No thievery? No starvation?’
‘No murder?’ Ella spat the words. ‘What about in Billings? What about when the blood lord captured me? I’ve seen what happens to people who resist, and I’ve seen what happens to the people they control.’
Ruben shook his head. She didn’t understand. ‘Citizens of the dominion are safe from the blood mages. They’re not used as thralls on ships, they’re not hurt or killed.’
‘So anyone who’s not a citizen is free game?’
‘You would be a citizen, Ella. More than that. If you would just let me explain.’
The illusion disappeared. The image melted away as Ruben’s temper flared and he lost his concentration.
‘You really believe it, don’t you?’ she said, looking into his eyes.
‘It’s all true. The meteor is coming
. Renial is the only one who can stop it. We are safe here. If he needs our power, we should give it to him.’
Ella threw her arms up in the air, apparently getting just as frustrated as he was. She seemed to let her guard down as she stormed off and sat on the bench. She put her head in her hands. She whispered something, probably thinking he wouldn’t be able to hear—a normal person wouldn’t have been able to. ‘You’re not my brother anymore, are you?’
Chapter 62
Ella
Ella sunk into the bench. She didn’t want to look up—didn’t want to look at her brother anymore. He was being controlled—he had to be. The God King’s influence was there, not as strong as the blood lord’s influence had been on the warriors he’d sent to the island—but it was there. Her brother wouldn’t speak like this.
She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She wasn’t worried about him hurting her—that was the only thing she trusted him not to do. She reached out with her other senses, the ones she’d discovered on the ship. His presence jumped out at her. The power he held… it was more than Aralia’s, though less intense than the blood lord’s had been at his full strength.
She focused her mind on him, searching for the strands of energy she’d seen stretching from the thralls on the ship to their blood lord—the strands that had disappeared after she’d broken the blood lord’s mind. She didn’t know how she’d done that, but she was glad it hadn’t broken her mind too.
Ella examined his energy, making sure not to probe his mind—but she couldn’t find so much as a hint of mana stretching away from him. She took a deep breath, tried to clear her head, and looked again.
Nothing.
Her eyes snapped open. He stood there, staring down at her, almost frozen in place. She could see anger in his eyes. Ruben had always been quick to anger, but he’d long ago learnt to control it.
Ella’s eyes watered. He isn’t bloodlocked. She couldn’t find a strand of energy leading to the God King. She looked at the clothes he wore. The dark, rich clothes of a blood mage.