~~~
Red did not waste her time praying to the Maker. Even if her prayers were heard, they could no longer be answered.
Robyn Thorn lay unconscious in the rebel med bay, the doctor’s strongest medicine keeping him asleep while he healed. A light tan, spiderweb scar stretched across the right half of his face. It was unclear if Robyn would ever be able to see out of his eye again. A similarly shaped scar snaked up his right bicep, starting at the stump that used to be his forearm.
His body was covered with hundreds of jagged cuts—most of them healed with Red’s magic. The rest had been cleaned with the utmost care and bandaged tightly to keep out the moisture that clung to the dirt walls.
Red watched Robyn’s chest, noting the haggard breaths that rattled against his ribcage. She had tried every known spell. Every known potion mixture. But she could not save all of him.
“You did everything you could,” Eliseo Flori murmured from the door to the med bay. “He is alive because of you.”
“He almost died because of me,” Red countered. She shifted in her seat, tucking her backpack close to her chest. She looked down at the pack, the remaining contents barely filling half of it. Empty bags of potions ingredients sat idly in a pile on the soil floor—every last ingredient used up in the effort to save Robyn.
“Without your magic, he would have died,” Eliseo continued, moving to stand next to Red. He laid a comforting green hand on hers.
Red whirled on the old Mienai elf, snatching her hand away. “Without my magic, he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place,” she whispered furiously. A hot tear escaped from her traitorous lashes, sliding down her cheek as she mentally cursed the old elf.
Eliseo Flori took her anger without batting an eye. He pulled Estra’s box out of his vest pocket, the lid reshaped to hold the contents in again. He handed the box to Red, placing it in her lap when she did not take it.
“This box would not be opened without your dark magic,” Eliseo commented. He let out a heavy sigh, his hand coming to rest gently on Robyn’s leg. “There was no stopping what happened today. As a child you learned how to trap your dark magic. You did not learn how to control it.”
Red looked at the rise and fall in Robyn Thorn’s chest, ashamed of the truth behind Eliseo’s words. As a child, she had done everything to hide her dark magic from her family, knowing that they would disapprove. Arthur Welin had lusted after the raw energy that Red possessed, but he did nothing more to help Red control it.
“You think of this power as a curse. It has always seemed to burden your life,” Eliseo Flori continued, his words soft as he practically read Red’s inner thoughts. “But Estra Ayrith believed that, if you could harness your magic, you could do great things with it. She tried to—”
“She tried to harness a similar magic before,” Red interrupted, knowing where the old elf was going with his speech. “But she was not strong enough to control the power that she found because it is not natural.”
The Mienai elf nodded, his galaxy-filled eyes watching Red carefully as she spoke. “You are one of the only known beings to have been born possessing these powers,” Eliseo added, shooting stars flying across his vision in wonder.
“Destroyer-Cursed,” Red replied dryly. Her arms tightened around her pack, her hands clenched into fists as she spoke those words aloud. “That’s what I am. Destroyer-Cursed.”
“Estra liked to think you were Destroyer-Blessed,” Eliseo argued, the stars fading into the background of his eyes as his excitement dissipated. “She thought that you could be the key to harnessing that dark power.”
“And do what with it, exactly?” Red shot back, her voice rising as she grew frustrated with the elf. She let out a deep breath, her eyes catching on Robyn’s sleeping form again. “Estra thought that I could, what, end the war? Save Cathal? Why don’t I end hunger and poverty while I’m at it?”
Eliseo Flori’s ears drooped in disappointment at the lack of sincerity in Red’s tone. “You could do all of that if you wanted to.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint, but I don’t want to do any of that.”
“You hide from responsibility because you don’t want to be held accountable if something goes wrong,” Eliseo fumed, his Maker-like patience starting to thin.
“What does it look like I’m trying to do right now?” Red demanded, waving a hand over Robyn’s prostate body. She watched the rebel leader, trying to match her breathing to his. Her arms were still clenched around her travel pack, the fabric folding against her as her grip tightened again.
Eliseo looked at Robyn Thorn sadly, his hand moving to rest on Red’s shoulder. He shook his head, his ears flapping with the movement. “You feel responsible for hurting Robyn,” Eliseo began softly, “but you do not put all of the blame on yourself.”
Red tried to shy away from the Mienai elf’s touch, but she had nowhere to escape. She bowed her head in shame, knowing that Eliseo Flori knew a lot more than she wanted to give him credit for.
Eliseo gently cleared his throat and continued, “You blame the Maker for creating you. You blame the Destroyer for giving you a portion of his power. You blame Estra Ayrith for trying to guide you along a path that you do not want to follow.”
The old Mienai elf swallowed hard, his voice cracking as he continued down the list of beings who had done Red wrong. He squeezed her shoulder, trying to comfort Red as she stared blankly at the floor, no longer able to deny her thoughts.
“You even blame Robyn,” Eliseo commented sadly, “for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. For pushing you when no one else would.” He carefully reached around Red, lifting Estra’s box off her lap and sliding the lid open.
Eliseo Flori pulled out a folded sheet of parchment, the paper slightly burnt on one corner. Before he unfolded it, Eliseo placed the lid back on the box, returning it to where it had been resting on Red’s lap. The paper crinkled as it was opened, the sound covering up Robyn’s shaky breaths.
“I do not want to guilt you into following Estra Ayrith’s path, but I think you at least owe it to Robyn to read the letter she left you,” Eliseo Flori advised, barely hiding the fact that he was, indeed, trying to guilt her into following Estra’s path.
Red almost let out a laugh, but her eyes were filled with sorrow as she reached out for Eliseo to give her the letter. Eliseo easily obliged, immediately moving to step out of the room once Red had taken the wrinkled piece of parchment—leaving her to deal with the letter in her own time.
~~~
Red,
First, I would like to apologize for the means that you had to go through to open this box. I know that you are not at Mount Orazorwik, and I doubt that you have mastered the control that it would have taken to easily open this box on your own. I am sorry for that.
Second, you must know that I do not want to force you into doing something that you don’t want to do. But you must understand why I am pushing you to learn to control your magic.
You are a threat to yourself and those around you.
I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. You cannot continue to just hold your magic back with a leash. If it hasn’t already, it will one day break free from that leash and you will never be able to create a new leash, or cage, that is strong enough to contain it. If that happens, that dark power will find a way to corrupt your very soul and it will destroy you.
I will be able to rest peacefully if I know that you were able to learn how to not only control, but wield these amazing powers.
You think that I put too much faith in you when I say that you could change the tide of the war with these powers. I tried to harness these powers once before for that purpose. With the right amount of focus, you could use your powers to defeat your enemies with barely a thought.
With the power of the Destroyer, and the will of the Maker, at your fingertips, you could conquer the front lines in one fell swoop. You could render weapons useless with the wave of a hand. You could bring soldiers to their knees wi
thout even laying a finger on them. You could even learn how to heal the wounded.
It’s selfish to write that I wish I could have been the person to do all of those things, but the Maker had other plans for me.
It is also selfish of me to ask you to follow in my footsteps, but I cannot give up on the chance to save Cathal. Its people have not known peace for over eight years. The weak are only growing weaker. The strong only growing stronger.
Someone needs to stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves. You need to stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Despite this daunting task, however, I hope that you know that you will never be alone. Eliseo Flori, the leader of a small band of rebels, is willing to guide you. The Druids of Abra will help you. And I have no doubt that you will find many more allies while you fight for justice.
I know that this is a huge responsibility that you do not want to take on, but you need to know exactly what you are walking away from if you choose to follow a different path.
This is not a decision to be made lightly.
I pray to the Maker that you will continue down this path that I have tried to pave for you. There is no doubt that it is still a rocky, bumpy path. But it can lead you to great things.
I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.
May the Maker bless you,
Estra Ayrith
Red gaped down at the piece of parchment clutched in her hand. She skimmed over the words again and again, hoping that Estra was joking. Praying that the whole ordeal was just some elaborate prank between a dead half-witch and a crazy Mienai elf.
Red crumpled the letter in her fist, cursing Eliseo Flori for guilting her into reading it. She then cursed Estra, hating that she was doing everything she could to guilt her into following in her footsteps.
But when Red looked back toward Robyn, she heard Eliseo’s words echoing in her head. She owed it to Robyn. To those she had killed when she was a Kingdom Rogue. To those she had let other Kingdom Rogues hurt when she knew she had the power to stop them.
She owed it to Estra Ayrith—the one person who wanted to help but did not have the chance to.
She owed it to herself. Because if what Estra said was true, she would only tear herself apart if she did not at least learn how to control her magic.
“I can’t promise that I will be able to stop this war,” Red whispered, looking up toward the ceiling as if Estra’s soul was floating above her. “I can’t promise that I will even try to stop this war.”
Red looked back down at Robyn Thorn, her chest tightening as she watched him sleep. She brushed a hand across his cheek, memorizing how peaceful he looked not yet knowing how much she had ruined in his life.
“I cannot promise you anything,” she stated again, locking away the image of Robyn in her memory, “but I will try. For you, Robyn.”
Red stood, her cloak falling around her as she slung her pack around her shoulders. She tucked Estra’s letter back into the tin box, promising to go through the rest of its contents later. She fished through her pockets, pulling out the faerie orb she had stolen from Gretel Norton.
It immediately lit up when she held it before her, but she shielded the light with her cape, making sure that it did not disturb Robyn. Quietly, Red stepped around Robyn Thorn’s bed and out into the hallway.
Eliseo Flori was waiting outside the door. He solemnly nodded once to Red before stepping into the med bay to take up her empty place.
Red watched the old elf leave, thankful that he respected her privacy enough not to ask where she was going—he likely already knew.
Red strolled down the compound’s tunnel system, careful to avoid the main paths that everyone traveled through. With every step she considered changing her mind, but she pushed on, determined to keep moving forwards.
~~~
Red was greeted by the tip of a spear as she crawled out of the collapsed hole that she had created within the tunnel system. She had twin daggers up to block against attack, but the spearhead remained aimed at her. Red glared up at Ryker Flori, the elf’s body illuminated by the light of the moon.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ryker demanded. He pushed the spear closer to Red’s face, in easy reach to take out an eye.
“Why do you care?” Red retorted. She pushed the spear out of her face, the metal cool against her throbbing and lightly bandaged hand. She pulled herself out of the caved-in hole, hauling herself onto the still crumbling dirt above ground.
Ryker stuck the bottom of his weapon into the ground, leaning against the shaft casually. He watched Red as she slung her belt low around her hips, carefully rearranging her daggers across the worn leather. The elf glanced around the forest, stating, “I really don’t care what you’re up to. I’m just here to watch over your destruction.”
Red checked her pack to make sure that nothing had miraculously disappeared since she looked through it before climbing out of the collapsed tunnel wall. She ignored the Mienai elf’s comment.
“Robyn is going to wonder where you went,” Ryker spoke, his eyes watching the trees as if he were speaking to a tree or bush that was trying to escape from its roots.
Red slung her cloak around her shoulders, fastening the flowing fabric together at the clip on her right collarbone. “I almost killed him today,” Red admitted, cringing as Ryker Flori tried not to gape at a tree sitting before him. “I think he’ll be glad that I’m gone.”
“Where will your travels take you?” the elf asked nonchalantly. He continued to stare off into the sleeping woods, but his ears were turned back so that he could clearly hear Red’s reply.
“I thought you didn’t care,” Red teased as she slipped her pack under her cloak and fastened it to her back.
“I don’t care,” he shot back defensively, “but you are a skilled fighter and Maker-Blessed. It would be good to know how to find you if this rebellion goes to shit.”
“You must have no faith in your fellow rebels if you’re willing to compliment me just so I will fight with you,” Red mocked. She smirked at the warrior when he finally turned back to glare at her, baring his teeth.
“You and I both know that our band of misfits is no match against the might of any of the royal armies,” Ryker stated, turning back to guard his post. “Training can only do so much when people were not bred and born to fight. They will learn to hold their own, but war is unpredictable. Even the best soldiers die in the heat of battle.”
Red moved to stand next to the Mienai elf, practically towering over his small frame. She gazed into the woods, trying to see what Ryker saw in the silent forest. Red let out a deep sigh, “Send word to the Druids of Abra. I will do my best to watch out for any news from you.” She turned to look at Ryker Flori, making sure that she caught his eye. “This information is for your ears only.”
“My uncle is bound to know where you flitted off to.”
“He won’t say anything,” Red stated. “He knows that I cannot be distracted while I’m there.”
The two warriors stood in silence for many minutes, wondering where their own next steps would take them. Red knew that she had to push onward—toward Mount Orazorwik—before she could find peace from Estra Ayrith. Ryker Flori wondered how much longer he would wait before forcing his way into battle, creating a whole new unwanted war.
When she passed through the first few trees, Red stopped to look back on the wrecked tunnel system. She looked at Ryker, the elf watching her despite the cloak of darkness provided by the forest canopy. “I really am sorry,” Red whispered, knowing that Ryker’s large ears would still be able to hear her. “I didn’t want to force anyone else into trouble.”
“You’re taking trouble with you. It’s too late to care about the trouble you already brought here,” Ryker Flori stated coolly, his voice carrying to reach Red. He nodded his head once before pulling his spear out of the ground, raising it against the nothing that waited within the woods.
Red nodded once in
return, taking one last look at the mound of dirt that marked the rebel compound before turning away. Red did not look back as she headed farther into the underbrush, her feet never faltering as she walked away from the rebels—toward whatever Estra Ayrith had in store for her.
Acknowledgements
I would like to start by thanking my dad and grandma because, without them, this book would probably stink. My grandma has read this book as many times as I have, and she has come back with the same enthusiasm every single time. And my dad has dedicated more time than I think he could spare to make sure that this book was the best it could be.
And, of course, I have to thank the rest of my wonderful family for all the love and support that they have given me. They have cheered me on throughout my whole life, and I am so thankful for all that they have done for me.
I would like to thank Mr. Dan Largent for taking the time to answer all of my questions about the process that he used to publish his novels. His advice gave me the confidence to complete this book and finally take the steps to self-publish.
I also owe a huge thanks to my amazing editor, Mrs. Nancy Gulden. Her edits and comments have helped to shape this book in ways that I never would have accomplished on my own. I never would have been able to confidently publish this novel without all of her help.
Finally, I would like to thank each and every person who will read this book. This novel is one of my biggest accomplishments, and I am so thankful that I get the chance to share it.
This book may never be popular. My family and friends might be the only people to ever read it. But if I can manage to inspire even one person the way my favorite authors have inspired me, everything will have been worth it.
About the Author
Sara E. Tonissen is the author of The Destroyer-Blessed Saga, with Cloak of Darkness as her debut novel. She is currently an undergraduate student at Purdue University pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Sciences with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian. Sara has been an avid reader since she was a child, and she began writing Cloak of Darkness her sophomore year of high school. Please visit www.saraetonissen.wixsite.com/cloakofdarkness for more information on The Destroyer-Blessed Saga and news on book two of the series.
Cloak of Darkness (The Destroyer-Blessed Saga Book 1) Page 38