by Halie Fewkes
Flickering torchlight bounced out from the trees before I heard any sound from them — a frightening thought, because even Escalis weren’t that quiet. I would have been entirely oblivious to their arrival if they hadn’t brought light to announce themselves.
Even though the Zhauri were Human, they carried a foreign feel. Their clothes were grey and silver with white fur cloaks draping from their shoulders, each boasting a skinned wolf head near the top. They had well-groomed and meticulously shaped beards, thick enough to suggest they had seen many rough winters, and with the exception of the one in the back who had lopsided eyes, matching in neither size nor shape, the rest were striking.
Tall, broad shouldered Maverick looked the oldest of the five and was the only one clean-shaven among them. To either side of him stood the strongest looking thugs, one with hair so blond it was nearly white and the other midnight black, both in their early twenties. The last two Zhauri looked to be mid-thirties, one of them entirely unremarkable and the last pure ugly.
My heartbeat picked up the longer we stood still and I finally said, “I don’t believe I’ve welcomed you to the Dragona.”
Only the thug with the thick blond beard broke a smile.
“I’ve had that dog twelve years now,” Maverick said, tipping his nose toward the monster on the ground. “I was holding a bottle in his mouth the first time he ever opened his eyes. I liked that dog.”
And, idiot that I was, I snorted a laugh and replied, “Maybe you should be more careful with what you feed the next one.”
My insolence brought a look of disbelief to every face except Maverick’s, who replied, “Believe it or not, there’s a difference between a whistle to kill and a whistle to hold, and now that I realize who you are, I’m glad I didn’t order your death too hastily.”
My smile lost its luster. “I’m sorry,” I said, my politeness an utter mockery. “Have we met?”
The man with the darkest facial features asked in a thick, northern accent, “Do you know where Sir Avery’s daughter is?” His black beard blended into his dense hair, and then into the night.
“No,” I replied flatly, determined not to sound pleading or desperate, like the woman they’d just killed.
Maverick smiled with interest and said, “Sir Avery told us you would be a good source for finding her, you and a friend of yours named Archie.”
“He doesn’t know anything either,” I said as a sick sense of unease seeped in. They thought we were a means to their end, a resource to be exploited.
“I understand you lack such information at this very moment,” Maverick said, “and that’s why I’m giving you a week to find her.”
“A week?” I repeated.
“Sir Avery has offered us a rather enticing reward if we bring her home, so I expect you to be both cooperative and effective. I’m not asking you to rescue the girl, just retrieve her location.”
I opened my mouth to ask or what, then instinct demanded I close it again, proof that I have inhibitions in me somewhere.
“Now listen, we have a busy day planned tomorrow, so I’ll speak with you again in a week’s time.” Maverick looked back to the disfigured man and said, “Iquis, get those arrows out of Beast and see if you can’t wake him.”
Iquis moved with a slight limp before kneeling to tug arrows out of the dead dog’s hide, and I watched in horror as the death hound blearily opened his eyes to the man’s touch.
“Perhaps you’d like us to escort you back to the Dragona?” asked the thug with the blond beard. His eyes were warm and friendly, completely the opposite of his serious, black haired counterpart — two very different embodiments of the word dangerous. “A young lady like yourself shouldn’t be alone in the dark.”
The hairs on my neck prickled angrily, and I had to consciously decide not to fire an insult back at him before I nodded my loathing thanks. “Sounds like I’ve got a busy week to prepare for.”
And it would be busy, because Archie and I now had to decide whether to help Sir Avery or Prince Avalask, and I had to figure out how to handle the Zhauri’s wrath — since there was no way in shanking life I was going to disclose Ebby’s location to them. Maverick flashed me a sharp grin as soon as the thought crossed my mind. It was a knowing, taunting smile, daring me to enter next week without providing him information and see what happened.
We were going to find out.
Chapter Seven
Ebby
Prince Avalask had said that princesses once lived in this tower made entirely of black glass, where pale amber light filtered through the very walls and made the room around Ebby glow with every sunset. Ebby would have felt like a princess if the city beneath her window wasn’t Escali, or if she wasn’t a prisoner, or if her clothes weren’t in tatters because she couldn’t control her powers.
Ebby flexed her fingers beneath her seventh pair of white leather gloves in the last month and rubbed the tight straps around her wrists as the sun sank behind distant mountains.
She had accidentally burned holes through pairs one and two, reduced pair three into flaky white dust, exploded pair four at Vack when he called her weak and obnoxious, and pair five had vanished in the middle of the night, the result of another nightmare. Pair six had gotten stuck in the side of the glass building when Vack tried to push her literally through the wall to get her out of his life. Her current pair of gloves, pair seven, had teeth marks on the right glove where Vack had tried to bite her, and she would certainly never be insulting his mother again.
Life was a nightmare, to be sure. Vack was getting stronger every day while Ebby tried to stay isolated and not harm herself. She was no closer to finding Ratuan or her father, but she had at least discovered enough powers on her own that she could try.
“So you wasted another day looking for Ratuan?” Vack asked, pushing her door open, though he usually knocked.
“It’s not a waste,” Ebby muttered. “Now, let’s get this over with. What’s the conversation for today going to be?”
Vack closed the door behind him and Ebby got immediately to her feet, startled. He always left the door open. She pulled her gloves quickly from her hands and asked, “What are you doing?”
Vack scowled back at her, but to her relief, left his on. “I want to make a deal,” he said, approaching the middle of the room to simply sit, waiting for her to join him. Ebby wanted to feel suspicious, but couldn’t. Vack was mean and intolerable, but brutal honesty was his one redeeming quality.
“And what’s the deal?”
“I want to see my friends again,” he said. “And I want you to just stay in your room while they’re here so they don’t see you.”
Ebby almost laughed with relief. “You don’t need a deal for that. I would rather clean an outhouse than meet your friends.”
“And I won’t be telling my father that they’re here, so I need you to make sure you don’t tell him either. That’s the deal, Tear-salt.”
Lying to Prince Avalask? Ebby narrowed her eyes and fidgeted with the gloves in her hands, afraid to even address the scariness of that idea. Prince Avalask had accommodated her request for white gloves, simply because she’d asked. He’d often invited her to train with them — she refused every time — and always gave her things she needed. He even seemed to genuinely worry about her at times, but Ebby wasn’t deluding herself. The Epic could easily bring an end to her if she became a hassle to keep around, and she had no desire to see that day come.
“I can make it worth your while,” Vack said, looking up at her from the floor. “I found Ratuan. I can tell you where he is.”
“You… You found him?” Ebby nearly shrieked, dropping to her knees across from Vack. He could have set the bargaining table in the Breathing Sea and she would have joined him. “Where is he? Tell me he’s alright.”
“He’s fine,” Vack replied, as though Ratuan’s wellbeing wasn’t of monumental importance. “So what do you say?”
“I’ll do it. I’ll do anything. Where is he?”
&nbs
p; Vack leaned away from her and sneered. “You’re awful at bartering.”
“Please, tell me where he is.” Ebby’s hands shook, with fear or excitement, she didn’t care.
“If I can get my friends over here tonight, I’ll tell you where he is in the morning.”
“You tell me now!” Ebby nearly screamed as green flames leapt into her hands. Vack had his gloves off in half a second and was back on his feet, hands glowing purplish-black and teeth bared. Ebby leapt up as well, and for once, didn’t back off a step.
“Tell me now,” she hissed again, and Vack raised his eyebrows in the direction of her flaming hands, taking her seriously for the first time ever.
Prince Avalask appeared very suddenly in what little space remained between them. “Gloves on. Now.” His serious command rattled Ebby’s nerve, but she held her ground and peered around the Epic’s sweeping black robe to glare venom at Vack, who already had his black gloves on again. “Ebby,” Prince Avalask repeated, his deep voice scaring her but not enough to put her gloves back on. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
For the first time since being kidnapped, Ebby glared up at Prince Avalask. Her defiance was just cut a little short as the green flames escaped her hands and raced up her right arm. Prince Avalask’s hand shot to her arm in a flash, before the fire danced into her hair, and the flames quickly vanished leaving a wicked burn across her skin.
Ebby cried out in startled panic, and Prince Avalask repeated, “Gloves on.” She pulled her gloves on, but the sting sank into her bones and she didn’t think she could survive another moment without his help. “This is skinfire,” he said, crouching to her level as numbness spread down her arm to keep the excruciating burn from killing her. “And it’s why you have to start learning what you’re doing. I know you don’t want my help, but it’s probably going to save your life.”
Ebby sniffled as water filled her eyes and snot clogged her nose. Prince Avalask removed his hand from her arm and stood again to tell Vack, “You don’t know what destruction was in your hands either. Ebby will join us for training tomorrow morning, and I expect this,” he waved a hand around the area of dispute, “not to happen again.”
Vack glared dangerously at Ebby as he said, “It won’t.”
Ebby only vaguely heard the older Epic’s instructions on how to heal her arm, and something about how it would be good practice to learn how to heal others, but she had her full attention on Vack’s green eyes, ever so faintly tinted with fog. His thoughts and emotions were dead silent. He was going to kill her. The moment Prince Avalask left the room, left them alone again, he was going to kill her.
And that moment came before she was ready. Prince Avalask said he’d see them the next morning, then disappeared. But instead of murdering Ebby, Vack watched her silently. He had learned to block his thoughts in the past months, but she knew him well. He was waiting for her to retreat in a sobbing mess.
She stood her ground for a full minute before Vack folded his arms. “Tonight. I’ll tell you tonight after I see my friends.” Then he turned and left.
Ebby let her tears begin to flow freely and crawled beneath her bed to cradle her injured arm. The pain was the only reason she was crying though. She had just won. She had stood up to Vack, and he had compromised. A greater accomplishment may never have existed.
And when she was honest with herself, it was a relief that Prince Avalask would start teaching her the things he was teaching Vack. Watching Vack’s powers get stronger over the past months had put her in a bad position. She needed to be able to stand up to him so she could get back to the families who loved her, and so she could face Vack as an equal when the time came. Training with him would be better than allowing him to train alone.
No amount of training will make you my equal, Vack’s thoughts reached her from across the hall.
I will be, Ebby shot back in sudden determination. And then I will be better.
Who knew that mere thoughts of laughter could sound so scathing or condescending? Ebby fumed and tried to withdraw her mind as far from him as possible, focusing on the pain in her arm as she attempted to lessen it.
She’d learned over the past months that healing wasn’t as simple as Vack made it look. There’s nothing simpler, Vack jeered, and so instead of putting her full effort into healing, she focused her thoughts where Vack would be disinclined to listen.
She envisioned the moment she would be reunited with Ratuan, hoping Vack would gag on it. She would escape from here, find him, hug him—
Gross, Vack thought, indeed gagging before he withdrew from her.
Ebby had dedicated every hour over the past months to scouring the area around Tabriel Vale in her mind’s eye. How could Vack have found Ratuan first? And where could he possibly be if not in Tabriel Vale?
Warmth filled her and made the pain in her arm disappear as she thought of the homes she used to have, the pictures she used to paint, the books she used to read, and the dreams that used to fill her sleep with Ratuan’s bed nearly close enough to touch.
She vaguely sensed Vack leave his room before he came back with two young Escalis. One boy and one girl, all overjoyed to see each other. She tried to pretend they didn’t exist and found herself miserably unsuccessful. Joy. From Vack.
It just served to remind her how pathetic life had become, allowing a crippling sense of loneliness to seep in where any triumph may have lived. Nothing could ever be as unfair as her situation. Vack had his friends, his family, and the knowledge that he was safe, so safe that he could feel joy. Ebby’s envy was unfathomable — the kind that few people in the world could possibly live to experience, the kind that might drive her to do something incredibly stupid. She was so broken… she wanted to join them.
“You know we’ve heard the rumors,” the newest Escali boy said in excitement as Ebby abandoned her attempt to ignore the group. “They say that you found the Humans’ Epic, and you’ve already started battling him. You can get him, Vack. If you kill him this early, all you’ll have left is Sir Avery.”
“I haven’t been fighting the Human’s Epic,” Vack said through a grin. “But go on, continue your foolish guesses.”
“I’ve heard he’s here,” the girl said, watching Vack carefully for a reaction. “Right here in the Obsidian Tower. I hear you’ve already caught him.”
“Where did you hear that?” Vack asked, his cheerfulness taking a hit.
“It doesn’t matter. But is it true? Is Sir Avery’s son here?”
Vack stared at the girl in an unresponsive standoff. Just tell her no, Ebby hurled her thoughts at him. Sir Avery’s son isn’t here! It’s not even a lie.
Yes it is. You’re just giving me the excuse of a liar.
It’s a half-truth! Who cares?
The three Escalis took Vack’s silence as a yes, and the boy asked, “Can we see him?”
“No.”
“Why not?” the boy asked. “Let’s fight for it. If I win, we get to see him.”
“No deal. We never needed an excuse to fight before. Are you suddenly afraid to challenge me?”
“I challenge you, Vack, to a decent fight since nobody else seems able to give me one.”
Ebby withdrew as far as she could from their conversation, baffled by the absurdity of it all. Vack had never been happier than with his friends, and all because he got to fight with them?
Ebby didn’t want to witness the brawl about to occur, so she focused on searching for Ratuan one last time.
While scanning eagerly through the inhabitants of Tabriel Vale from afar, Ebby sensed something else only a second before it was too late. The boys were tumbling and struggling for the upper hand, and the girl was opening the door to Ebby’s room. One second was enough to turn invisible, and Ebby froze, huddled beneath the bed, not breathing.
A loose braid of wavy brown hair hung over the girl’s shoulder, and she cautiously scanned about the empty room, her head tilted inquisitively. Her eyes were dark and her nose pointy. She
was terrified to enter where she knew a Human Epic lay in wait, but she was driven by a thirst for knowledge that overpowered her fear. She wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if she hadn’t investigated Ebby’s room.
“Jalia!” Vack shouted, running across the hall. The other boy came after him, and Ebby was struck by how similar he looked to Vack, his hair messy and his eyes frighteningly cloudy.
“You can hear her heartbeat,” the girl whispered, peering straight at Ebby.
“Her?” the other boy asked.
“Come on, Mir. You’d have to be Human not to smell her.”
“You need to leave,” Vack said. “You can’t be in here.”
“Have you misplaced your good sense?” Mir demanded. “You’re protecting a Human?”
“Listen, you know I don’t want to, but I said nothing would happen to her. I’m not about to become a liar for your sake.”
Mir looked at Vack in disbelief, then turned to leave the doorway in disgust.
Jalia took another moment before following, analyzing everything in Ebby’s room with too much intuition for Ebby’s comfort. Jalia quickly theorized that Ebby was hiding either because she was very young or not competent in defending herself. Jalia took Ebby’s frantically beating heart to mean these were the first Escalis she had seen outside of Vack, which was nearly the truth. The emptiness of the room also gave away that she wasn’t there by any choice of her own, otherwise it would have been personalized.
“Jalia. Let’s go,” Vack said to her. Jalia took one last squinted gaze through Ebby before she stepped on Vack’s foot and retreated. Vack showed absolutely no visible reaction, and as soon as he shut the door, Ebby began breathing again and sat back in relief.
She expected some sort of an apology from Vack, but he wasn’t about to supply it. He was with his friends, already enjoying himself again and not caring how much danger Ebby had just been in. He was only relieved that he hadn’t suffered the embarrassment of them seeing her.
Ebby chewed on her inner lip, positively fuming. Lately she had fooled herself into thinking that Vack might not be the worst creature in the world to be stuck with, but he was!