by Jenn Nixon
It was far too early for a newly awakened caster to evoke both elements concurrently. Zorin lifted his hands, preparing to siphon her, unmoving otherwise and met her eyes. “You need to focus…”
Cyndra? Rune stepped back, half-shielding a groaning Pristy on the ground.
Prickles of dark power seeped through the air tightening every muscle in Zorin’s body. Cyndra’s flame licked up her forearm and her eyes widened. She felt them too. His heart stopped when she jumped in front of him, swinging her head, searching the woods.
Soulless. Rune rushed to her side, a knife in each hand. Zorin take Pristy to the boat!
“No,” he growled, spreading his wings in anticipation of a fight. He was ready for them now.
There was no time for a retort. Two soulless men emerged from the woods wearing dated clothing that looked brand new, similar to the others in Fredericksburg. The same sickly feeling saturated his skin. Zorin was certain; they weren’t human. Not anymore.
Rune dashed toward the soulless on the left.
Cyndra lifted her hand and made a fist, directing her assault at the second. The flames encasing her hand spread over her entire right side then pulsed forward. The soulless darted sideways, escaping the flare.
Zorin leaped into the air and drove down feet first into the nearest man’s chest, knocking him back.
Rune’s knife whizzed through the air, hitting another soulless between the eyes.
“Behind you,” Cyndra screeched as the flames returned instantly, covering her entire arm.
Zorin spun at the same time as Rune, only he was faster than the caster and bolted forward, tucking his wings back, aiming his tight fist at the reappearing soulless.
“Duck!” Cyndra’s flare scorched the air, missing him and the soulless by mere inches.
Rune threw a knife just as Zorin swung his head.
The soulless evaporated in retreat.
“Cyndra?” Pristy called softly, drawing Zorin’s gaze. The woman was standing a few feet from her cousin with terror in her eyes. Flames covered Cyndra’s entire arm again. “They’re gone, you can…turn it off or whatever now.”
Cyndra shook her head and backed away. “I can’t, it’s too strong.”
Relax, Cyndra, Rune suggested, securing his knives as he tugged Pristy back by the arm.
Zorin swallowed as he balled his hand and stepped closer, failing to ignore the rising power spilling off the caster. “Focus.”
“Don’t fucking bark at me!” she snapped as the flames curled around her shoulder. Cyndra was heading toward an uncontrolled flare and his presence only seemed to exacerbate it. Locking his jaw, Zorin stepped away and bit back his next comment. Her breathing hitched. Both hands started to tremble. Her fearful eyes locked on his. Stop me, before I hurt them. You’re the only one who can.
Zorin reluctantly lifted his hand and opened the siphon. Her fire blasted through their bond. The energy from her body carried a slew of intense emotions. He staggered back, besieged by her power and panic. Rune caught him by the elbow. As Cyndra’s elements seeped through his skin, the flames on her arm shrank and recoiled to her hand then smoldered.
Cyndra swayed, but remained on her feet, palmed her knees and breathed deeply. The flames may have subsided, her power hadn’t. If he didn’t shut the siphon, he’d be tempted to drain her directly and take more, grow stronger.
“Those things…that’s what you were talking about, right?” Pristy mumbled. “Shoulda thought about it more.”
Zorin glanced back to speak, instead, she and Rune were signing. Cyndra walked toward the woods, taking her energy away, leaving the road colder in her wake. Where was she going?
“I just need a minute,” the caster said, as if inside his mind again.
“Don’t go far, we don’t have any guards up here,” Pristy said, shrugging over at Rune.
“Thanks,” Cyndra replied without turning back.
Zorin tried to look away, tried not to think about everything he picked up during the siphon.
You should talk to her. Rune’s thoughts pierced his mind.
“Why?”
Because of the way you look at her, Zorin.
Fighting the heat on his cheeks, Zorin shook his head. “It’s not what you think, Rune.”
Okay, if you say so. Still, you can help her more than I can. I’ll fill Pristy in on everything else.
“It seems we both have our work cut out for us.” Zorin locked his jaw in place and retrieved the backpack before following Cyndra into the wood. He lost sight of her halfway through the dark, mismatched forest of ghostwood and renewed trees. Even in the darkest night, he’d find her. Her energy lured him, unlike any bond he’d ever had.
He didn’t know how he was going to keep his distance, find a way to stop absorbing her energy and heat because if he didn’t the monster he feared may emerge.
Zorin stopped at the edge of the tree line seeing Cyndra standing lifeless in the middle of the small clearing, head dropped and shoulders drooped. His gut twisted. The moment his foot settled on the grass, she lifted her head and her body tensed. Her fire and energy drenched the empty space.
“You need to calm down,” he said as gently as possible, yet it still came out like an order.
“I don’t know how,” Cyndra whispered, shuddering but not turning back. “Everything I’m feeling keeps fueling the crystal powers.”
Zorin made his approach slowly, fighting the urge to absorb her power until she was in critical danger. She needed to learn and fast. “Most casters are taught young not to use emotions to evoke their elements because the power becomes overwhelming and uncontrollable.”
“I’m not a kid,” she grunted, whipping her head to the side and glaring in his direction.
“No, you’re not.”
She glanced down at her hand and watched it ignite. “I’ve had this power inside my whole life, shielded, by my grandfather, but it was still there, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, we are born with these gifts.”
“Gifts,” she scoffed, shaking her hand, trying to extinguish the flames, and turned away. “How many casters awaken as adults?”
“None that I knew.”
“Exactly, twenty odd years building inside, nowhere to go. All of a sudden, Gramps is dead and bam, it has an outlet.”
“Logically explains your struggle, however, learning to control how you feel may be easier.”
“I don’t need another lecture,” she mumbled and shook her head, moving her flaming arm off to the side.
“Then what do you need?”
“You,” she replied breathlessly.
Zorin tensed when her energy pulsated into the air.
“You siphon me when I overload. You…”
As much as he was tempted to get closer, to siphon every bit of power she offered, he swallowed back his instinctual reply and waited for her to finish.
You help me focus. Her sweet, nervous voice entered his mind, undermining his control. The same curiously intense look filled her eyes when she turned around. You calm me, Zorin…please.
Unable to hold her stare, he gazed down at his palm and opened the siphon. They both gasped softly as he drew the heat and energy from her skin. His body warmed and his muscles tightened. “Are you focused?”
“Yes,” she said softly and rested her left hand on his. “Thanks.”
Nodding, Zorin retracted his arm and stepped back. Cyndra frowned, scrubbed the side of her face, and headed back toward the woods.
“I’m sorry I called you a gargoyle,” she said, keeping her eyes ahead.
“Monster, demon, gargoyle, it makes no difference, this is my existence,” Zorin said, glancing toward the sky, thinking about taking off, get away from her power and her eyes while he had the chance.
Instead, Cyndra grabbed his forearm with a firm grip and jerked back. The compassion on her face ripped through his chest. “After everything we’ve learned, did you really think I’d let you stay like this? Why do you think I�
�m trying to unlock the journal?”
“To find out why the world forgot,” he replied, trying to break from her grasp. “To uncover all the lies.”
“No, you idiot.” She tugged him closer, pressing against his side. The warmth from her body matched the fervor behind her eyes. “I need to control my elements. Get as strong as I can as fast as I can.”
“Why? It can take years to master—”
“To change you back,” she said, frowning as if mad he didn’t know.
Speechless, he stared at her, willing the rapid beat of his heart to slow, ignoring the twinge of hope filling his chest.
Cyndra lowered her eyes. “You’ve suffered long enough, Zorin.”
He clenched his jaw. She knew nothing of his suffering. “Then we should return to the others. Unlock the journal.”
Cyndra smiled, inched back, and drew her hand away. “Glad we’re finally on the same page.”
“Likewise,” Zorin said, spinning around and heading back the way he came, tamping down every emotion surging through him. When she rushed up to his side and tried to get his attention, he paused and gazed down. “What?”
“Are you still mad at me?”
“I’ve never—no, I’m not.”
“Acting like it,” she said, tilting her head with that ardent look in her eyes again.
“We need to unlock the journal. You need to learn to control the power inside of you and quickly.”
“I know—”
Zorin’s jaw tightened.
“What? Stop…being you. Just spit it the fuck out.”
“I cannot keep calming you down. The more power I siphon from you the more I…require, Cyndra. I won’t become dependent. I won’t be a monster.”
“What?” Her brow crinkled and she reached out her hand.
Jerking back, he pulled the backpack from his shoulder and set it at her feet. “Go, speak with your cousin. You know how to contact me if needed. I will patrol the area.”
“Zorin—”
“Go, caster,” he grunted.
Shaking her head, Cyndra hefted the pack onto her back and retreated into the woods without gazing back. Zorin walked the opposite way, heading for the nearest tree he could climb, needing the solace of the night air, knowing it would help to put distance between him and the caster who continued to temp much more than the monster lurking within.
Cyndra put every moment with Zorin out of her mind. She needed to block it all and focus on action steps. The first was returning to the main path to find Rune and Pristy. Next, unlock the journal. After that, who knew?
She found the empty road and went north, reaching the main security gate, which opened when she neared. Figuring she made the safe list of visitors already, Cyndra trekked back to her cousin’s trailer and knocked gently on the door, just in time to hear her cousin laughing.
“Come in,” Pristy called.
Cyndra pushed the door back, setting her pack against the wall the moment she entered. “Hey.”
“Hi, where’s the—”
Rune shook his head at Pristy.
“Zorin?” Cyndra said instead. “Flying around, keeping an eye on things.”
“Sorry about earlier…I can’t believe I passed out.”
I almost did too, Rune projected with a smile, obviously bonded mentally with Pristy, too.
“Have to say, I prefer to sign.” Her cousin shrugged. “But I’m sure it’s quicker for you.”
Rune nodded and patted the chair beside him.
Cyndra held up her finger, turned back to her pack and undid the zipper. She pulled the caster box out and carried it to the living area.
“That’s what he sent you?” Pristy said, moving to her knees and scooting closer to the table.
“Yep, had it delivered right to my door.” When Cyndra set it down, Rune traced the circle, then the triangle, making both glow.
“Which one am I?” she asked.
“The swirl,” Cyndra said, watching the light glow fill the symbol when her cousin traced it. “According to Zorin, some casters can master two elements. He said controlling one is usual for most.”
“And what exactly can we do with it?”
“Not sure, only know what I’ve done so far, that’s why we need—”
“To unlock the journal,” Pristy sighed, frowning as she glanced over at Rune. “And you’re sure I’ll be able to protect myself?”
“That’s the first thing we all need to learn, that and controlling it,” Cyndra said, opening the lid of the box and picking up her grandmother’s journal. She unbuckled it and turned to the first page, showing her cousin the note then the rest of the page “Completely blank just like Rune’s note.”
Yes, blank until the Shield died, Rune said, twisting his mouth. The words appeared without me doing anything.
“So you don’t know what to do?” Pristy asked.
“No, but I have an idea. Where’s your pendant?”
Pristy twisted her wrist. She appropriated the crystal and fastened it to a thick woven, leather bracelet. “More my style.”
“You were always better at matching clothes and accessories than me,” Cyndra chuckled softly.
“Gotta make due…”
“With whatcha got,” Cyndra finished.
“Okay, now what?”
“I think we should touch the journal, see if anything happens.”
“You sure?”
“Not one bit, but touching the crystal started this whole thing…” Cyndra said, placing her hand on one side of the open book.
Pristy glanced over at Rune for a second. He nodded, his jovial smile still in place. I’m right here if anything happens.
Expecting something the moment her cousin touched the book, Cyndra frowned at the blank pages of journal, feeling no different. She thought of her grandmother, hoping that helped. Then she tried asking the journal to unlock and felt utterly stupid thinking it’d work. Sighing, she rubbed the side of her head with her free hand. As she lifted it away, Rune caught it and glanced at her palm.
You’re using the wrong hand.
“What?” she and Pristy said together.
You share energy. Use your left, Cyndra.
“Derp. Good thinking, Rune,” she replied and switched hands.
The second her fingertips grazed the pages, energy swirled beneath her palm. Pristy’s eyes widened in shock and surprise, not fear or pain, thankfully. Cyndra shuddered and allowed the newly found energycasting power to surge through her arm, around her shoulder and up the back of her neck.
A soft greenish white light encased the journal.
The power was building too fast. Pristy gasped and leaned back, stripping her hand from the journal. Cyndra’s hand trembled, her fingertips twitched as the cool, electrifying energy coated her skin.
Cyndra?
Pristy inched closer. “Are you okay?”
Before she answered, the twisted power of the soulless soured her stomach. Cyndra jerked back from the book and jumped to her feet. Her right hand caught fire instantly. Rune grabbed her arm. “Soulless.”
He nodded and dashed for the door.
“Do you have any weapons?” Cyndra packed the journal in the box and shoved it in her pack.
“You know it.” Pristy nodded and reached under her pillow seat, pulling out a pair of shiny wooden sticks. After she hefted the bag over her shoulders, Cyndra gripped the handle of her sai and exited the trailer with Pristy on her heel.
Rune stood guard at the bottom step, sweeping his head back and forth, weapons at the ready. Zorin’s energy, already swirling around the air, strengthened when the wind picked up and blew across the property.
We should draw them away from the others, Rune said, motioning to the gate.
A pair of wraiths emerged from the crops behind Pristy’s trailer. The black smoke and tendrils of fabric lashed out, curling around her cousin’s arms making her drop her weapons. Before Cyndra had the chance to react or call out to Zorin, the wraiths shot u
p dragging Pristy into the sky. Her cousin’s petrified scream froze Cyndra’s blood.
“Pristy!” she cried, lifting her left hand, feeling her fingers tingle, but unable to evoke the energy on command. The soulless tricked them, lured her and the others out while the mirror-wraiths were waiting. “No…”
The wraiths altered their direction sharply and zoomed overhead, heading for the gates. Rune took off running. Cyndra followed, focusing on the fire instead, knowing she had some control over it…or at least did before.
Zorin swooped overhead, closing the gap on the mirror-wraiths. Cyndra darted through the security gates, following the path back toward the juncture in the road. The screech of the wraiths shuddered down her spine, giving her a burst of energy to run even faster.
They’re heading for the water, Rune projected.
I’ll cut them off, Zorin replied with a growl.
Cyndra dug deeper than she had at the mansion, sped through the intersecting roads, knowing she wasn’t fast enough. Refusing to think about it, she darted into the woods, taking a straighter line to the beach and used the fire of her hand to light the way.
As she reached the end of the woods, Rune and Zorin came into view in the middle of the beach. Unable to run anymore, Cyndra slowed to a jog, trying to crunch the flames from her hand. She walked the rest of the way, feeling the heat increasing when she saw the frowns on their faces.
“Where is she?”
“They were too fast,” Zorin said, his voice cracking.
“We’ll catch them with the boat,” Cyndra said, shaking her head and rushing past them heading toward the broken dock.
Rune gently clasped her left hand. I’m sorry, Cyndra.
She jerked out of his grasp, fighting back tears. “We can catch them.”
Zorin covered his eyes. “By the time we reach the island, the wraiths will—”
“What?” She spun her head, glaring at the gargoyle while the fire spread to her shoulder. “You don’t even know what they want us for. Where the fuck were you? You were supposed to have my back. You let them take her!”
“Focus on your fire, caster, before you flare out and fucking kill us all,” Zorin snapped, angrier than he’d ever been, panting heavily as he approached. “I did everything I could to try to stop them. You were supposed to call if you needed me.”