Comet Rising

by MarcyKate Connolly

  Below, a valley cuts through the landscape, green coating everything that lies there. Patches of stonework, ancient towers, and gaps from where the wood rotted away reveal a village that long, long ago some people called home.

  Dar grins. “See? We can stay here. There is shelter in the larger building in the center. No leaks or anything. Or at least, there wasn’t last I was here.” With that, she changes the rest of the way into a bird and soars out over the valley. It happens so quickly I don’t have time to object.

  Lucas and the others finally reach the top of the hill. They pause behind me, all of them breathing hard.

  “What is this?” Cary says.

  “Our temporary home,” I say. “Let’s see if we can find our way down into the valley.”

  Pearl frowns. “I can bring most of you,” she says. “But I don’t want to leave Noah out here alone.”

  Noah pipes up. “I’ve been working on holding my talent back on the way here. I might be able to do it for long enough.”

  “I don’t know,” Pearl says. “I don’t think I want to risk my power disappearing in the middle of a hop from such a high point. Let’s try a shorter distance when we get there.”

  “I’m sure there’s a path somewhere. We’ll all go together,” I say.

  The sun retreats over the tops of the trees as we make our descent through the thick forest. Eventually we do find a path, and we find Dar sleeping in the large building in the center of the village.

  Now that we’re closer, the immensity of the ruins is more apparent. There must have been hundreds of people who lived here in the village once. I can’t help wondering what happened to them. The stonework is beautiful, with intricate carvings and symbols I cannot place. The way the shadow and light falls through them is lovely, casting strange patterns on the ground and walls. Did they have talented folks too? Perhaps they were the sort of people who once revered those with talents instead of feared them. I would have liked to have seen those days.

  Dar snores in a corner on a cloak she must have swiped from my pack when I wasn’t looking. I decide not to wake her unless absolutely necessary; we need to make plans, and the less she knows about them the better.

  We sit in a circle on the raised stone steps leading up to a platform at the far end of the huge room and share our food supplies. With six of us now, we won’t have anything left for breakfast.

  “We have to go into Zinnia tomorrow morning at first light,” I say. “We need to find their market and buy more food. There’s too many of us now.”

  Lucas nods. “And now that we know to follow the flower symbols, we can also sneak around and find out more about where the Garden of Souls is located. Then we just need to find a way inside and free as many of the talented folks as possible.”

  “Especially my brother,” Cary says.

  “Definitely,” Lucas agrees. “And my parents.”

  “And the sky shaker. We must find them as soon as possible,” I say.

  “How are we going to free them if they’ve been transformed into flowers?” Pearl asks. We filled her in on the gaps in her knowledge of Lady Aisling on the journey, but haven’t revealed our whole plan yet.

  “That’s where Noah comes in. If we can get him into the garden, all he should have to do is touch the flowers to undo the magic,” I say.

  Noah smiles uncertainly. “No pressure or anything.”

  “The real question is what are we going to do if we can’t find a way into the garden? Or if we get caught? Shouldn’t we do some research first, then figure out a plan?” I say. Usually Lucas and I are of one mind, but on this point we’re not. His parents’ capture has made him a little more reckless. Like Cary.

  “No, we need to act as soon as possible,” Lucas says. “If Lady Aisling gets wind of us poking around the city before we make our move, she’ll have time to prepare.”

  “I agree. If she finds out we’re here, it’s over,” Cary says. Pearl and Noah murmur their agreement too, but the hard knot in my stomach won’t leave me alone. “Besides, we have Noah. He’s been practicing. According to that history book, if he keeps at it, he could take away her powers, maybe even permanently.”

  “Then we need to bring Dar. She can help us find the Garden of Souls quickly, and she knows Lady Aisling and her habits. If something goes wrong, she’d be a real asset,” I say.

  “Absolutely not!” Lucas hisses a little too loudly. I glance over at Dar, but as far as I can tell, she remains asleep.

  “Lucas, she could help us,” I say.

  But Cary doesn’t agree either. “It’s too dangerous. Who knows what flight of fancy she might run off on while we’re depending on her? What was she thinking in the forest on the way here? Yelling and running then shifting into a bird?”

  “Not to mention leaving us behind,” Pearl says. “That was just rude.”

  I sigh. “I know… She can take some getting used to. And I know she’s erratic and has a tendency to lie too. But she would do anything to get revenge on Lady Aisling. She might risk everything else, but she would never risk that. If we want to humiliate, damage, or defeat the Lady in any way, she’ll help us to the best of her ability.”

  “Let’s vote,” Lucas suggests. “All in favor of letting Dar come with us, raise your hand.”

  Only my hand goes up. The knot in my stomach grows tighter.

  “All in favor of leaving Dar here, raise your hand,” Lucas says. All four raise their hands.

  “Fine, we’ll leave her here,” I say, though it feels wrong. The others prepare for bed while Noah retreats to a corner to practice. I get out my bedroll for the night, and glance over at Dar again; I can’t help thinking I see a glimmer from her open eyes. But when I blink, they’re closed. I frown, stepping closer to peer at her. She sleeps soundly, chest rising and falling evenly.

  I don’t have the heart to wake her just to give her disappointing news. We’ll have to tell her she’ll be left behind in the morning.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  We manage to leave without Dar—though she is none too happy about it. After I broke the news, she stomped away into the streets of the ruins. She didn’t return to the main building before we left, but I know she won’t be able to resist hearing about our adventure in the city when we return.

  It is a beautiful, sunny day, despite the strangeness of the looming moon. It’s so inviting, Lucas can’t help but reach out and mold the light to his wishes, rolling tiny orbs over his fingers. But for the most part we have been a solemn bunch. Every once in a while though, I catch Noah grinning at nothing at all, which strikes me as odd. Perhaps he’s just pleased with himself since he’s finally begun to have some success controlling his talent.

  We sneak in through the entrance Dar showed us and head for the market square Dar said could be found in the center of town, using the flower trail to guide us. Venturing into the market is the most exposure we’ve risked, but we need food; our bellies ache for breakfast. Plus, we need to check out Lady Aisling’s estate. That will be the most dangerous part. We must get close, but not close enough to be caught.

  I don’t have my shadows up to conceal us since we’ll have to actually talk to the vendors in order to get the food we need. Fortunately, Lucas and I still have coins left from what Miranda and Alfred slid into our bags the night it all began.

  The market here is much larger and livelier than the ones in Parilla and Abbacho. There are rows of vendors and smells and sounds we’ve never encountered before. One thing in particular is everywhere in Zinnia and is being sold in several carts in the market: flowers. And the most popular flower is the town’s namesake with its many-petaled blossoms and bright colors. We can barely walk five feet with seeing one. I suspect this is in some way thanks to Lady Aisling and the rumored beauty of her Garden of Souls.

  It certainly casts these otherwise lovely flowers in a very different
light.

  “This place is enormous,” Lucas says.

  “We’ll need to split up to get what we need quickly,” I say. Lucas and I decide to tackle one side while Cary, Noah, and Pearl take the other. Gaily colored banners flap in the wind, their shadows fluttering like strange, dark birds.

  We hurry between rows searching for the booths that have what we need, and don’t stop for anything else, despite the temptation of a particularly delightful smelling pastry cart. Even though no one knows who we are, and we don’t see any familiar faces, I can’t help feeling like eyes are crawling over my skin.

  It’s the same feeling I felt in the forest when that memory stealer crossed our path. I know better than to ignore it. I keep my eyes open, but my fears to myself. As we leave the bakery with a few fresh loaves of bread, a crash rings out from the other side of the market, loud enough to make me whirl around.

  “Come on.” Lucas grabs my hand and tugs me after him. We duck behind an empty stall, weaving our way through the backs of several booths in this row. We come out near where we should meet the others at the entrance to the market. Cary and Pearl are waiting for us when we arrive breathless, glancing over our shoulders.

  Cary frowns. “What’s wrong?” she says at the same time Lucas asks, “Where’s Noah?”

  “Halt!” cries a booming voice that sends shivers shooting through my body. A group of guards with those all-too-familiar green cloaks chases after a familiar form—Noah—as he races toward us, knocking over everything in his path. At the far end of this row stands a girl with dark hair and skin and a vacant look in her eyes. When she sees us, she tilts her head and steps slowly in our direction. I grab Lucas and shove him forward.

  “We need to go,” I say. But when we turn to run, we find three other children surrounding us. All the same age, all the same vacant look. How many mind-based talents does Lady Aisling have under her control?

  Between the guards and the shells, we’re boxed in on all sides. The man at the head of the group, I recognize: Lord Tate’s nephew, Alden. Only a few months ago, he chased me for days. I’d recognize him anywhere.

  “Run!” I cry, and we sprint in every direction. I set the others’ shadows upright, then scatter them to delay the guards, but they are already upon us. One of them grabs my cloak by the hood, and I whip around, managing to wrench it out of his grasp. I duck behind the nearest building and throw up my shadows to blend in with my surroundings, but my breath rasps from fear.

  And worse, I don’t know how the others are. Panic crawls over me. What if they’re all captured and I’m the only one left? I’ll have to return to the camp with only Dar to help me.

  The guard pokes his head in the alley, clearly surprised to find no one there. I breathe a sigh of relief when he returns to the main thoroughfare.

  I peek around the corner and gasp. Pearl is nowhere to be seen. Cary is gone too. Good, maybe Pearl hopped to a safe place with her. Lucas struggles with a guard, trying desperately to use his light singing to free himself. But the guard catches on and clamps a hand over Lucas’s mouth.

  Without his voice to wield it, his magic is useless.

  Another one of the guards has a grasp on Noah, but he slips away, laughing, and runs behind a building. Two guards give chase, including the one who tried to capture me. A shout goes up from behind the building, and they return, dragging a struggling body between them. For a moment, the struggle stops, and a surge of shock jolts through me.

  The person they hold is me.

  That’s not Noah at all. It’s Dar. Somehow she switched places with him.

  And now she’s been caught too.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  A snap resounds nearby, and I look up. Pearl stands a few feet behind me in the alley, peering into the shadows. “Emmeline?” she hisses.

  I loosen my hold on a few of my shadows so she can see me. “Over here,” I whisper.

  “We need to leave. I’ve already got Cary safely away,” Pearl says.

  “But we can’t just abandon Lucas.” Something hard and heavy presses on my chest, and I have to swallow the sob welling up in my throat. The thought of leaving him behind… I can’t do it. I won’t.

  “What choice do we have?” Pearl says. “I can’t whisk him away alone while someone else has his hands on him, and I don’t think they’re about to let him go.”

  “Maybe we can distract them somehow?” Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I can still see Pearl shake her head sadly.

  “If you have an idea that won’t get us caught, let’s hear it. But I’m stumped,” she says. I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t thoroughly expose us and our talents. We may have taken on some of the guards before, but an entire city of them is more than I can handle.

  Pearl takes my elbow. “If we get caught, we can’t help Lucas and…” She trails off.

  The guards have pulled Lucas up next to Dar, who is oddly still. Far more still than I’d expect. She’s up to something, though I’m not sure what.

  Pearl gasps. “Where’s Noah?” She glances at me and then back out onto the main thoroughfare. “How…how is that possible?”

  “It’s Dar. She must have tricked Noah and taken his place with us. She shifted into me when the guards got here.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  I wring my hands, and the shadows in the alley shiver in response. “I don’t know. It’s almost like she knew we’d be found out today.” My breath sticks in my throat. Did she know? Or worse, did she do something so that we’d—she’d—get caught? That would explain why the guards were chasing her through the market. Was that her plan all along? If so, why did she need us?

  The guards appear to be waiting for something…or someone. Pearl moves to take us back to our hideout, but I hold up a hand.

  “Wait a minute.”

  “We really need to go, Emmeline.”

  “Just one more minute. Please,” I say.

  She sighs, the crease on her forehead deepening. “All right, but just one. Then I’m taking you back whether you like it or not.”

  We don’t wait for long. Moments later, more guards arrive. In the midst of them walks a tall woman with a dark green cloak. My insides freeze, and my palms turn slick at her appearance.

  I have no doubt that woman is Lady Aisling.

  She carries herself as if she owns the city, which of course, she does. Even the guards themselves might be bewitched to carry out her demands of stealing children from their homes. She lets her hood down when she reaches Lucas and Dar-Emmeline. Lucas’s eyes are wide and watery, but Dar seems strangely calm.

  She did this. I can feel it in my bones. A sudden rush of loathing shoots through every vein. Dar pretended to be my friend and companion and used me, and even now, after I helped her become whole again and protected her, she deceived and tricked me. If any harm comes to Lucas because of what she’s done, I’ll never forgive her.

  The Lady stands before Lucas and Dar, smiling as if she is very pleased with herself. Her light brown curls shimmer in the sunlight, spilling out of her hood and down her back. She appears younger than Miranda, though not by much, yet I know she’s ancient. When she speaks, her voice sounds like a melody. These tricks must be from talents she’s harvested, though which ones I could not say. But perhaps it is how she puts people under her spell.

  She leans close to Lucas and whispers in his ear. At first, he cringes and struggles, but within seconds he relaxes as a shadow falls over his face, stealing the light from his eyes. Then she whispers in Dar’s ear too, and the same strange cloud befalls her.

  “Come, my children,” the Lady says, stepping back and regarding them. “You will join me in my garden.”

  Horror slides over my skin as Lady Aisling walks away—and my friends follow her, willingly, without a care in the world.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

 
With the help of Pearl, Cary and I return to our hiding spot in the ruins. But without Lucas, it feels as though someone has punched a hole in my chest.

  Every speck of light, the sun and moon beaming overhead, are all reminders.

  This is my fault. None of this would have happened without me.

  As we arrive, we hear Noah calling out, his voice hoarse as though he’s been at it for hours. We find him locked in the cellar of the main building with a gag loose around his neck. Dar tricked him early this morning, pretending to be me wanting to practice his talent.

  The others begin to talk while I retreat into my shadows on the other side of the room. The darkness is a comfort, the only place I truly feel safe. I close my eyes, letting myself imagine what it would be like if I remained in the shadows for the rest of my days. I’d never be able to hurt anyone else if no one knew where I was. I’m sure my parents would agree that was best. After all, they believed I was dangerous and tried to hide me away. But then Lucas and Dar would still be trapped with Lady Aisling, and I’d never see them again.

  My eyes flash open. It’s my responsibility to fix this. I need to save them. Somehow.

  As I release my shadows, Cary startles when I appear next to them, but quickly shrugs it off. They’re all becoming accustomed to my appearances and disappearances now.

  “Emmeline,” Cary says. “Good, we need you.”

  Pearl pipes up. “Noah and I have an idea.”

  Noah smiles shyly. “I’ve been practicing.”

  “We both have,” Pearl adds.

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “We need help. And a quick way to get it. What better way than recruiting the parents of the stolen children?” Pearl says.

  “I’ve finally got my magic under control,” Noah says. “I can hold it in for long enough for Pearl to shuttle me, and I can focus it to keep her magic away for nearly an hour. We were up all last night practicing, and it worked! I’ve been reading that history book of yours, Emmeline. If I concentrate harder, I might be able to do it for longer. Maybe even remove a talent permanently.”