Nyx’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything. For that, he was grateful.
Killian steepled his fingers. “This rift is a danger to all of us. Stopping this threat is your priority. My orders are for you to find a way to close it and quickly. If you need extra men let me know and they will be assigned to you.”
Darius nodded to the other druid as they passed out of the guardhouse.
A few minutes later, they stopped at the edge of the village. Green smoke emanated from the rift.
“Can you do something to close it?” Nyx motioned towards it.
He shook his head. “Don’t you think we’ve been trying? Sealing the veil isn’t so simple. It takes powerful, dark energy to break and even more power to re-seal it.” Nothing they had tried so far had had any effect.
Darius cast his senses out and scanned the rift. He coughed at the toxic fumes that emanated from it. Darius crouched and ran his fingers over the earth.
“What are you doing?” Nyx frowned.
“See what you can feel.”
Darkness, old and black, washed over his senses. The question was, who had punched a hole through the veil and why?
Chapter 15
Nyx took a step back as Darius examined the rift. The toxic green fumes made her chest ache. Worse still was the energy that hit her: cold and eerie, like death itself.
“What do you sense?” Darius asked. “Focus on the rift and see what your senses tell you.”
“That I want to get out of here.” She coughed and drew further back.
“Use your senses. It’s a good way of learning to control your gift.”
She opened her mouth to insist her power was not a gift then closed it again. Nyx hesitated, then let her power roam free. The icy energy intensified. She took another step back. “I don’t like this.” She shivered. “It’s cold —”
“Killer,” Harland’s voice whispered in her ear.
Nyx jumped and spun around but found no one there. Good gods, had he followed her again? Would the druid see him? She scanned the entire area, still expecting to find him. No one appeared. Gods, why did he have to haunt her again? Why did it have to be with the druid around? She had no idea what Darius would do if he spotted the spirit. He might insist it was a sign of her guilt and tell Ambrose not to teach her how to control her powers. Maybe they would lock her up then or send her to the slave islands. She couldn’t decide which was a worse fate.
Nyx forced herself to focus again and waited. More energy struck her.
She knew she should be looking and planning her escape, yet she couldn’t deny this was important. What was she supposed to find anyway? Her power allowed her to hear thoughts and influence people. What good would that do against evil spirits and other creatures coming from beyond the veil?
“I don’t feel anything except cold,” she said after a few moments. “What do you expect me to sense? The killer?”
“The only killer here is you, my Nyxie,” Harland’s voice came again.
Nyx glanced around, still expecting to see Harland there.
Nothing.
Darius frowned at her. “You are sensing something, though, aren’t you?”
Sensing? No, just hearing the voice of the spirit who won’t leave me alone.
Nyx decided to ignore him. “No… I don’t like this place.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Can… Can spirits hurt people? Even the spirits of humans?”
Darius nodded. “Yes, if they choose to.”
“Can you banish them?”
“Sometimes, but darklings are different. They are controlled by something that gives them more power.”
“Like what? You must have a theory about who might be behind this. Could it be an enemy of your father?” Nyx had no doubt the Archdruid had dozens of enemies. Entire races of Magickind despised him and everything he stood for.
Darius shrugged. “I don’t know enough about this problem yet to have any idea who or what might be causing it. A tear in the veil like this has never happened before.”
“I still don’t understand why your Guardian thinks I can somehow help with this problem. What am I supposed to do?”
“Darius?” another voice called, and Lucien emerged from the tree line.
Darius strolled off, leaving Nyx alone by the rift. She knelt, placing her hands on the ground. Below, a rock fell away into an empty chasm of darkness. She shivered as more iciness washed over her. Nyx half expected to see Harland down there or shadows moving around.
“Jump, girl. You know you’ll be with me soon enough,” Harland hissed. “There’s no point fighting it. Jump in, and you won’t have to endure the suffering of your curse any longer.”
“Go away,” Nyx muttered under her breath. “I am not going to join you in death. Leave me alone.” Despite how hard controlling her power had been over the years, she had never contemplated suicide. Her sisters had always kept her going. They made her fight even harder.
Nyx closed her eyes and focused on the familiar grove of trees in her mind. The grove of glowing trees flashed through her head, and she stopped for a moment. For the first time she noticed the glowing blue hue on the tree trunks, just like she had seen on the houses earlier. Odd, she had never wondered why they glowed before. The grove in her mind had always been a sanctuary, a place to retreat to when she needed to escape from the rest of the world. She had a vague memory of someone telling her to go into that place whenever she needed to be safe but didn’t know who had said it.
The trees around her expanded, their branches twisting and stretching around her, forming a protective cage so that nothing could get through. The fresh scent of leaves and grass surrounded her. Then the sound of screaming pierced the air.
Her eyes flew open again, and her protective grove vanished before her eyes. Good gods, who was it? Their fear made her heart pound.
The screaming drowned out the buzzing sounds she got from the other druids. The sound grew louder. Nyx covered her ears, but that did nothing to stop it.
The druid and Lucien were still talking, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Help me! The words thrummed through her mind.
Where was it coming from?
She rose and moved away from the rift, but the scream didn’t cease. Nyx gritted her teeth. Fine, she would find the person, if only to quiet them. Her temples throbbed with the onslaught of a headache.
She opened her mouth to call out for the druid then decided against it. His questions would only interfere with her concentration.
Nyx hurried past the rows of houses as the scream grew louder. Several people sent curious glances her way.
Help me! The voice came again. Someone, please.
Where are you? Nyx thought and scanned another row of cottages. More minds buzzed inside. She ran faster; more houses rushed past. The screaming person had to be around here somewhere.
Nyx stopped to catch her breath, and the iciness washed over her once more. The same coldness she had felt yesterday when the darkling attacked.
A shadow passed over her as someone swooped down. “Nyx.” Ranelle gave her a bright smile. “It’s good to see you. How do you like —?”
“Quiet,” Nyx snapped and waved a hand at the other girl.
Nyx? someone else called out to her.
The druid.
She repressed a sigh. Why couldn’t these people let her concentrate? She couldn’t find whoever was in danger if she kept getting interrupted. She had had this problem before when she had searched for her intended targets whenever Harland told her someone important would be passing through the village or in one of the neighbouring villages.
Darius? Ranelle called. Nyx is with me. I think she might be running away again. You should come over here and help. I don’t want her using her powers on me.
“I’m not running away, and I won’t use my powers on you,” Nyx ground out. “I’m trying to find—”
The screaming filled her mind again.
Stop, please stop…
“Find what?” Ranelle asked. “Nyx, what’s wrong?”
Nyx brushed off her concern and bolted for the nearest house. Inside stood nothing but an empty stove and a dirty flagstone floor. Pots and pans covered the entire kitchen and herbs hung from the wooden rafters.
No, this wasn’t the right place.
Damn Ranelle for distracting her.
Darius bounded over, his long cloak billowing behind him. “Nyx? Are you—?”
She glowered at him. “Shut up!” Nyx clutched her head as another wave of screaming deafened her. “Darkling…”
Darius’ eyes narrowed. “Where?”
Nyx shook her head. The screaming grew so loud she couldn’t form words any longer. The screams and the sounds of people’s thoughts blended together. Darius caught hold of her arm. All at once, the world quietened.
Nyx blew out a breath. “Someone is being attacked — I think I know where they are.”
Lucien came over too. “Is it the darkling? Can you sense it?”
Ranelle frowned at him. “No one asked for your help, Wolfsbane.”
“Oh quiet down, dragon.” Lucien waved his hand in dismissal. “No one asked for your opinion either.”
“Concentrate.” Darius relinquished his grip. “Focus on the voice.”
The noise flooded back in, hard and fast. Nyx clenched her hands into fists. Where are you? She demanded of the screaming voice. Nyx felt herself falling as she closed her eyes. Gods, she needed to stop the screaming.
“Rae, take to the air,” Darius told her. “Luc, scout the area and see what you can find. Follow your senses and see if there is any sign of the darkling.”
Ranelle spread her large bat-like wings and shot into the sky while Lucien took off in the opposite direction in a blur of movement.
Nyx motioned for the druid to follow and took off running. She made it to the tree line when all at once the screams stopped, her mind quieted to the drone of nearby thoughts. The fear and desperation were gone, evaporated as if they had never existed.
“I — I can’t hear it anymore,” Nyx remarked.
Darius halted beside her. “You don’t sense the darkling anymore?”
Ambrose appeared in a flash of light. “Where’s the darkling?”
Nyx guessed Darius must have called him for help. How did Ambrose appear and disappear so easily? Some other magic, no doubt. She would be sure to question the older druid about it later.
“I sensed it.” She ran a hand through her long hair. “But it’s gone now.” She rubbed her aching temples.
“Perhaps the darkling claimed its next victim,” Darius mused. “They are becoming much bolder. A few days ago, the attacks were limited to night. How are they moving around in the daylight? Unless they aren’t as immune as we first thought.”
“Nyx, I need you to concentrate,” Ambrose said.
She groaned, her mind still reeling. She wanted nothing more than to go somewhere quiet and recover from what she had endured. “What? I don’t hear the screaming anymore.” Nor did she want to hear it again. Nyx hadn’t thought she would have to feel people dying while she was here. She didn’t know what she had expected, not that at least.
“Close your eyes and focus.” Ambrose motioned with his staff.
Nyx gaped at him. “Focus? In the midst of all this chaos? There’s too much noise.”
“Learning to focus on one thing is the first step to control. Close your eyes and focus. Quieten your mind.”
Nyx scowled and closed her eyes. “How do I do that?” Silence didn’t exist inside her mind. It never had, not unless she went into her grove sanctuary, but she wasn’t about to do that in front of these people. Domnu insisted she disappeared when she had done that around her before. Nyx didn’t want to test the theory to see if it was true.
“Turn your thoughts inward. Focus on the place where you feel safe and calm. Try to imagine that place.”
Safe? Nyx didn’t know anywhere that had ever felt safe to her in the physical world. The only peace she had ever found was using the drug Nilanda. Reluctantly, she pictured her grove with trees surrounding her. They formed a protective ring that could shield her from anything. Voices still buzzed around her like annoying insects, but the sound lessened to an extent.
“When you get to that place, concentrate on what you want to find,” Ambrose told her.
Nyx bit back a curse. She did not want to come face-to-face with the darkling again. “How do I do that?” Nyx frowned. “What do you want me to find?” She knew the screaming person had to be dead now. Why else would they have gone quiet?
“Concentrate on the source of the screams you heard. The idea is to focus on that one thing without lowering whatever boundaries you already have to protect yourself from getting overwhelmed.”
Boundaries? She had nothing to keep her power at bay unless she put on that bracelet or touched the druid. Nothing aside from Nilanda or staying away from people kept her power at a bearable level. She had tried wine and other things, but nothing helped.
Nyx had no idea how to find the screaming person. She almost opened her eyes. “I don’t know how.”
“Use your instincts. You can control your power. It’s a matter of finding it.” Ambrose’s energy moved closer to her, his magic a faint hum against her mind. “Darius mentioned you were a thief. How did you use your power to find people?”
She furrowed her brow. “I knew who would be easy targets and what they were carrying.” Nyx was glad she had her eyes closed. She didn’t want to see their judgemental gazes. Thievery had only been a way to survive and feed her sisters.
Nyx turned her thoughts away from her sisters and focused on the screaming person. Where are you? More thoughts buzzed around her mind. Come on, where are you? The trees moved closer; their branches curled around each other tighter.
“I can’t find it,” she grumbled. “What if they’re already gone? It’s probably too late.”
“Strong emotions leave behind remnants. It’s just a matter of finding them.”
Nyx decided to concentrate on her breathing instead. She always did that when the noise became too much for her.
In and out. Calming breaths helped – Domnu had taught her that.
Help me, please. The voice came as barely more than a whisper.
Where are you? Nyx demanded. I can’t find you unless you tell me where you are.
An image of a house between a group of trees came to her. Nyx opened her eyes and shot to her feet. “I know where they are — but I don’t know how to get there.” She hadn’t been here long enough to know the layout of the land. Plus, the wild energy of this place made it hard for her to pinpoint the exact location.
“We can find it faster if we fly.” Darius whistled, and Sirin swooped down. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 16
Darius winced as Nyx gripped onto him, hard. He ignored the uncomfortable feeling. He kept his senses on alert as they scoured the treeline and rows of different houses. “Anything look familiar?” Darius sensed a few druids below but no sign of the darkling. He couldn’t be sure if the creature would still be around. Today had made him realise just how little they knew about them.
What if they could move in daylight now? They would be able to kill more people than he had anticipated. Dozens of people could die. Darius dreaded to think of how many people it would take before the high council finally decided to take this threat seriously.
Nyx furrowed her brow. “No, nothing. Maybe I saw the wrong place or…”
“It’s no use second-guessing yourself. First instincts are usually right.” The wind rushed past as he guided Sirin lower. He reached out for the elements and used them to scan for any trace of the darkling. Nothing. No disturbance at all, but then darklings were hard to detect. Darius almost wished he had Nyx’s sensitivity to them so it would be easier to find them. “Maybe you should try again.”
“I sense the living, not the dead. Is there even a c
hance the person I heard is still alive?”
Darius hesitated. He hoped they were still alive, but Eldara was the second largest island. They could be anywhere. Given how strong Nyx’s abilities were they might not even be on this island but one of the surrounding islands. There was no way to tell how far her power expanded.
“Nyx, was the person you sensed on this island or somewhere else?”
“I’m not like you, druid. I can’t give you exact answers.”
Darius didn’t doubt she could do it, but it would take time and practice. He couldn’t expect her to master her abilities in one day. “Describe what it looked like. Tell me everything you can remember.”
Nyx bit her lip. “A small house — more like a wooden shack. There are a couple of dead trees outside it.”
“Anything else?”
Nyx shrugged. “It’s not like the houses I’ve seen on Eldara. More…derelict.”
Darius’ mind raced as he tried to decide the best way to help her find their intended quarry.
Ambrose had asked Nyx earlier how she found her usual victims. Maybe getting her to act like a thief was the way to get her power to work.
“If this was a victim you were about to rob, how would you find them?” Darius asked.
“I don’t have victims, druid.” She glowered at him and crossed her arms. “You asked me not to judge you, so do not judge me for the crimes I have done in order to survive.”
He sighed. Thievery still affected people in a bad way. Coins she had stolen for herself would have left others penniless. He decided against mentioning that; antagonising her would only make her more resistant.
“Can you show me what you saw?” Darius turned as best he could to face her.
Nyx frowned. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“If I lower my mental shield, you should be able to project the image to me.” He held out his hand to her. “Try to picture it in your mind.”
The Calling (The Andovia Chronicles Book 1) Page 14