by Elise Kova
“Then today it is,” he said without a trace of doubt, slipping his fingers into hers. Vi faced him.
“I need to do this alone,” she whispered.
“You’ve never operated the shop alone.”
“I know.”
“What will you do about the illusions for your eyes? How will she believe you’re peering into the future without them to make your eyes glow red?”
“I’m not sure.” Vi shook her head, trying to shake off the creeping, crawling hands working their way up her spine. They’d grab hold of her mind and who knew when they would give it back. Her fingers tightened around his, holding onto Taavin like a tether. “Please, trust me,” she whispered.
“I do.” He cupped her cheek thoughtfully, bringing her eyes to his. “Immeasurably and completely.”
“Thank you.” She leaned forward, kissing his lips gently. “You and Deneya wait upstairs. I’ll come up when I’m finished.”
He nodded, his nose rubbing against hers. But he didn’t step away. “Is everything all right?”
“What?”
“You haven’t been the same since we left Solarin… Is everything all right?”
“I’ve been fine.” She rubbed his arm reassuringly. At least, she hoped that’s the impression she gave.
“Don’t lie to me.” He pulled away, staring down at her. “I see you.”
“You always have.” Vi looked back to the door. The market was setting up for the day. “I’ll be better once we have the final crystal weapon in hand.”
“Do you really think that?” he murmured under his breath.
“What?” Vi wasn’t sure she heard correctly.
“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Taavin smiled. “Good luck today.” He finally retreated.
Vi returned her attention to her preparations. She opened the shop for the day by unlocking the iron gate and pushing it aside.
“One more thing,” Vi murmured. She unhooked the chain from around her neck and slowly placed it into a box on one of the shelves. How Vhalla was supposed to see it, of all things, Vi didn’t know.
But this was how it was meant to be. Of that, she was certain.
There was nothing more to do but wait.
“Let’s look in here,” a man’s voice said in the afternoon near her doorway. The sound shot electricity up her spine and she stood straighter, pausing her pacing to look.
The curtain to the shop lifted and Vhalla appeared, followed by Daniel. Vi watched as the brown-haired woman entered the room, running her fingers over the cases at its center.
“Irashi, welcome.” The western tongue put her into character, and Vi sauntered over to Vhalla and Daniel. She leaned against the cases containing all manner of objects gathered for future telling. “Welcome to the finest curiosity shop in all the land. And what can I help you with today?”
“I think we’re just looking.” Vhalla stepped back, as though Vi was about to bite her.
“No one is ‘just looking.’ All desire.” Vi folded her arms. “Tell me, what is yours?”
“Sorry to disappoint. Let’s go, I’m hungry.” Vhalla grabbed Daniel’s arm, steering him to the door.
“There is not one curiosity you have, Vhalla Yarl?” She stopped short at Vi’s use of her name. Daniel stepped forward, holding out an arm, as if to guard her. Vi smiled thinly at the unnecessary protection. “I know your winds will not tell you what the flames will tell me.”
“How do you know my name?” Vhalla whispered.
“I can know many things, and tell more, if you wish it. The fire burns away all lies.” She spoke on instinct, giving herself to the sensation that had roused her from sleep and had guided her all day.
“You’re a sorcerer.”
“I am a Firebearer.” Vi nodded.
“What’s your name?” Vhalla found some bravery, pushing away Daniel’s arm and stepping forward.
“I’ve had many names. I could give you one, or I could let you choose a name for yourself. Then it will be something we alone can share.”
“Tell me the name you would like me to call you. Invented or otherwise.”
“Vi,” she said simply, after little debate. If anyone in this world was to know her true name, it would be Vhalla Yarl. “Would you like me to read your curiosities?”
“Read our curiosities?” Daniel chimed in.
“I am a Firebearer. I am one with the flames, and with my eyes I can see into the future. You come to me with curiosities, questions, in your heart, and I will give you the answers.”
“I’ll do it,” Vhalla said suddenly. It brought a smile to Vi’s lips though the smile didn’t feel quite like hers. This wasn’t her joy. This was the contentedness of the goddess within her.
“You must pick four things: three to burn, one to hold.” She motioned around the room.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Daniel whispered into Vhalla’s ear.
“It’ll be fine. Why not live a little? I am here, and somehow she knew my name,” Vhalla replied as she scanned the items available to her.
The first thing Vhalla chose was a silver plume from a jar of quills.
The next item Vhalla chose was a bunch of wheat, followed by a handful of rose petals.
But the most important thing was the last thing—something to hold.
Vhalla lifted a chain from a box and Vi let out her breath slowly as not to be an audible sigh of relief. The woman had selected the silver watch Vi had worn through time, and the one that would ensure the birth of a new Champion.
Time for time.
“This… this is what I will hold.” Vhalla crossed back to her.
“An interesting spread. Come.” Vi took the goods to burn and led Vhalla to the back room where a fire burned in a pit on the floor. “Are you certain you wish an observer?” Vi looked pointedly at Daniel who had followed them. “I will read the futures as I see them.”
“I suppose… if you don’t mind?” Vhalla said to Daniel.
“I’ll wait right out here.” Daniel got the hint, and slipped back out the heavy curtain and into the main shop.
With that settled, Vi knelt before the flames. She raked her hands through the coals and Vi began by making a few soot marks on Vhalla’s cheeks and brow. She hesitated for just a moment, staring into the brown eyes of her mother.
No, this wasn’t her mother. Focus. Don’t get lost in old memories. She didn’t want to feel anything toward this woman.
In that moment, Vi didn’t want to feel anything at all. She gave herself fully over to the guiding hand of Yargen.
“Vhalla Yarl, blessed bird of the East. The one who can soar without wings. The first chick to fly the cage. The first to return to our land.” She leaned back and began to throw the items into the flames. With each one, she poured her magic into the fire to make it roar.
The flames danced from white to orange, to a crimson so deep it was nearly black. The color changing was new, and Vi had no idea what it meant. She leaned forward on instinct, dipping her face into the flames.
“The present burns away, leaving the future to rise from its ashes.” Vi reached down, grabbed a fistful of ash, and threw it into the air. “You will march to victory, and it will be won upon your silver wings.” Go to war, Vhalla, and win. “But the winds of change you will set free will also shatter the tender hope on which you fly.” Victor will rise to power, and nearly everything you thought you loved will be threatened. “You will lose your dark sentry.” Only to see him rise again as an Emperor.
Vhalla clutched the watch with white knuckles as she spoke. Vi could almost see the girl trembling.
“Two paths will lie before you: night and day,” Vi continued. “Go west by night. Fade into the comforting obscurity of a shroud of darkness. You will find a familiar happiness there, if you can ignore yearnings for the sun.”
Go west? Why go west? She wanted to ask. But her mouth was not her own. Panic rose. Vi wanted to claw at her throat, but her hands weren’t her own.
“The oth
er road will burn away your falsehoods by the light of dawn. You will own your wants for all to see. But take caution, for the fire that will expose you will give birth to an even greater power that will consume the land itself.
“And now, for payment.”
“Ah, right.” Vhalla put down her sack, her hands still trembling as she fished for gold.
“I do not want coin.”
“What do you want then?”
“That watch.” Vi’s hand pointed to the one Vhalla had been holding. The one that had been carried from another world, marked by Yargen, and was now imbued with Vhalla’s energy.
“This one? All right, of course.”
Vhalla passed it over, and as she did, Vi felt a shock of magic shoot up her arm. It was the same feeling as when she touched a crystal. Her watch had always been an item of fate, but its purpose had shifted. The token now waited for the moment it would be returned.
“Our current business has concluded.” Vi stood. Vhalla slipped into her shoes, all but running toward Daniel. Vi watched as they left, adding ominously, “Heed my words, Vhalla Yarl,” before the young woman disappeared onto the street beyond.
She collapsed with a gasp, clinging to the door frame to keep upright. Her body had been held by puppet strings as she’d acted out the motions at the commands of another.
“This was what you always wanted, isn’t it? A puppet in mortal form?” Vi rasped, feeling sensation return to her limbs. Her skin tingled in response, as if to say a delighted yes. She pushed herself off the ground, standing as tall as she could, but knowing just how small she was. She’d seen it, from Yargen’s view: the world was little more than a speck. “You’ll have it. But not for a little longer. Give me a little longer.” Vi’s attention drifted to the stairs.
Inside her mind, began a persistent background percussion.
Tick… tock…
The countdown ran not to the end of the world. But to the end of her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Soricium was a desolate wasteland compared to Vi’s memories of the thriving capital of the North.
They arrived with the military as soldiers once more. The Imperial forces had been split after an assassination attempt on Vhalla’s life failed. Baldair, Aldrik, and the Emperor all took a different path to Soricium, in yet another variation from the worlds Taavin knew. Unfortunately, Vhalla traveled with the Emperor. And since Vi, Deneya, and Taavin were under Baldair, they had a long march without eyes on Vhalla or Aldrik.
Vhalla was the first to arrive in the Northern capital. Alone. Something had gone wrong involving the prince along the way. Vi heard stories of Vhalla’s heroism, and much like in the Crossroads following the sandstorm, each one was more impossible than the last.
There was no one they could ask for the exact details. So Vi, Taavin, and Deneya spent their days agonizing, holding their breath, and waiting. Surely, Vhalla and Aldrik couldn’t die. At least, she wanted to believe that. But if the goal was to change things, then she had to become comfortable with anything changing. These people didn’t mean anything to her, not really.
Yet, as the days passed, Vi realized she didn’t want to imagine a world without Vhalla or Aldrik. They were not her parents, but much like Jax, they wore the faces of the people she loved. She wanted to save this world for them, even if they were nothing to her.
Or rather, she was nothing to them.
When she finally did see Aldrik and Vhalla, together again, in the flesh, Vi felt ten stone lighter.
“I knew they’d be fine,” Deneya said as she followed Vi up to the top of the ridge that surrounded the basin that contained Soricium. They went to the axe together, Taavin catching some of the few hours of sleep he needed back in their tent.
“You did not.” Vi glanced over her shoulder. No matter how many times Vi came up here, the sight still jarred her. The Empire had burned and cut down every tree of the forest, save for the most sacred, which remained safe behind the walls of the fortress.
“I did,” she insisted. “Yargen is looking out for the girl.”
Vi snorted. Yargen was too busy clawing at Vi’s ribcage and skull, seeking control over her body, to focus on Vhalla Yarl. “Either way, I’m glad.”
“Is the tomb far?” Deneya asked, changing the conversation.
“No, it’s just beyond the top of the ridge.” Vi led Deneya into the forest, following a familiar path. This was a new world, but her feet still knew the way.
“Seems like such an obvious place for the axe to be.”
“Only because we know what to look for. The North is filled with ruins like this. The Empire doesn’t know what’s important and what isn’t.”
Deneya folded her hands and placed them behind her head, strolling. Ahead, the towering stones of familiar ruins loomed. Vi’s feet slowed.
“It was night the last time I came here, too.” The ruins looked almost identical to how they did in her memory. “It was the first time I saw the end of the world.”
“Let’s hope this time is more cheerful.” Deneya clasped her shoulder. “We’re only here for a look, right?”
“For now.” Though Vi was already bracing herself for the first time her fingers closed around the axe. Each of the crystal weapons showed her a vision more vivid and important than the last. “The entrance is this way.”
She led Deneya to the far back side of the ruins. Unlike when she had last been here, when obsidian had lined the opening, there were now live crystals with jagged points barring entry. In her time, her mother had taken the axe, and the crystals had died. It was the very act Vi and Deneya were working to circumvent.
Resting her hand on one of the crystals, Vi reached out into the network of magic and affirmed that the crystals stemmed from a single source. The axe was within, still safe and sound. The stones crackled and shrank to her will. Exercising control of them was becoming all too easy.
“After you.” Vi motioned down the path.
“Oh, why thank you, fair lady.” Deneya gave a bow with a flourish that made Vi bark with laughter.
“But of course, oh noble knight.” Vi held out her hand as if she was escorting Deneya to a ball. With a snicker, Deneya took it and they dusted off the nobility neither of them needed any longer, parading forward.
Deneya’s laughter faded as they reached the circular center of the ruins. Crystals lined the walls, pulsing faintly with magic. Moonlight streamed through an oculus in the roof, casting an eerie ring around the axe embedded in a crystal-covered pedestal.
“This is it, then.”
“It is.” Vi gazed at the axe, as though it were about to grow a mouth and begin speaking to her. If it could, the secrets it could tell. Judging by the power that hung in the air, the axe hadn’t been moved since it was originally placed here by the daughter of the Champion. It was one of the few places on the Dark Isle where the crystals hadn’t ever been touched. “This is a place of great purpose,” she whispered.
“It makes me feel uncomfortable.”
“Does it?” Vi tore her eyes away to look at Deneya.
“Yes… as though everything here is on a delay. Or that we’ve stepped into another world.”
“Perhaps we have…” Vi trailed off. Her attention was on the axe once more. Her presence was already empowering the weapon, imbuing the air between her and it with divine energy. She thought of the otherworldly place Yargen waited.
“Then all the more reason for me to get this over with as quickly as possible.” Deneya stepped forward. Vi matched the movement and the woman held out a hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch it. Just taking some measurements.”
Vi eased away, folding her arms to keep them from lashing out. She’d lunge for Deneya to keep her from the axe.
Turning, Vi put her back to the weapon as Deneya began to measure the handle and blade. Some part of her couldn’t bear to see another person so close to the crystal weapon.
Nervous energy rose within her and Vi began to pace. This wouldn’t
take too long. Deneya didn’t need much. She needed to make an axe that was relatively close in shape and size, not perfectly identical. Vi would use the shift to handle the rest. They would leave soon.
What was taking so long?
She lapped the tunnel once more and froze as she reached its mouth. Soft voices echoed to her.
“Has anyone ever gone in?” That was undeniably Vhalla Yarl’s voice. She was here. Yargen above, why was she here?
“In? No,” a masculine voice responded, one Vi recognized but couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t Aldrik. Which then begged the question: Why was Vhalla here in the middle of the night with a man who wasn’t Aldrik?
Too many questions, not enough time for answers. “Durroe watt ivin.” An illusion fell like a curtain over the opening. Just in case they somehow saw through it, Vi blocked the entry, crystals growing with a wave of her hand.
“What the—”
Vi clamped her hand over Deneya’s mouth. “They’re here,” Vi whispered.
“Who?” Deneya said just as softly when Vi released her face.
“Vhalla Yarl and someone else.”
“Taavin said she wasn’t coming until the end of the war.”
“Taavin was wrong.” Vi cursed under her breath. “I’ve illusioned the only opening… they should leave.” Her eyes drifted to the crystal axe. She should’ve just taken it and been done with this place.
They waited in breathless silence. Let them leave, Vi willed. She didn’t know what it would mean if Vhalla somehow got the axe now.
She’d listened to stories of nearly a hundred worlds from Taavin’s memories, and in none of them did Vhalla Yarl get the axe before the war was over.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Vhalla’s male companion asked.
“We have to go in through the top,” Vhalla responded.
Deneya cursed under her breath and turned to Vi. Now what? she mouthed as Vhalla and the man continued discussing the impossibilities of the climb.
“Durroe watt ivin,” Vi said and felt an illusion slip over her shoulders.
“Lovely makeover. You’ll be so mysterious you’ll scare her away.” Deneya spilled her sarcastic words hastily.