by Suzi Davis
“Anyone else?”
My question was met with silence.
“Good. Let’s finish eating and then set up a rotating watch for the night. Everyone should pair up. Bridgette, come with me,” I added, abruptly walking away from the camp and back down the trail we had arrived on.
After a few seconds, I heard the crunching and snapping of twigs under Bridgette’s feet as she hurried after me. I waited until we were out of earshot from the rest of the camp before turning and facing her.
“I need you to come with me tomorrow,” I announced. Bridgette immediately began shaking her head.
“I can’t, Grace. I thought I could do this but I can’t. I’ll just be in the way and besides… I’m scared,” she confessed. “I’m terrified, Grace. I’ve been trying to play tough all along but I think it’s time I just admitted it; I can’t do this. I’m not like you, I’m not tough or strong or brave. I don’t belong here. I just want to go home.”
“Yes, you can do this if you want to,” I argued firmly. “Stop underestimating yourself and saying you can’t. I don’t think you’ve ever really tried. Look, you don’t have to fight tomorrow if you don’t want to but I need you to come with me. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
Bridgette’s lower lip trembled. It had become too dark to tell for sure but I thought I saw tears sparkling in her eyes.
“But why?”
“Because I need you. You are strong, Bridgette, and I need you to be strong for me. You’re the only one here who cares about me and you’re probably the only one I can fully trust,” I confessed, regretting that it was true. “I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow or what we’ll find but… I might need you there to reign me in. Not with magic but with common sense. I’m afraid of what I might do when I find the ones who… who killed Sebastian.” I barely stumbled over the words. “I need your support and I need your friendship. I need to know there’s someone with me who has got my back. I don’t want to do something I’ll regret. I need you there to remind me of who I really am. Can you do that for me?”
“I… I don’t know if I can,” Bridgette whispered miserably. She sniffed loudly in the darkness.
“Well, you need to figure it out,” I told her harshly. “Stop behaving like a frightened child and find the strength to be the woman you’re meant to be. I can see that there’s something inside of you, something powerful and special and strong, and Mags saw it too. Now why can’t you? Have some faith in yourself, Bridgette.”
Bridgette didn’t respond. In the darkness, I couldn’t tell if she was still upset or just angry now. I shrugged it off.
“Let’s head back to camp. Think about it tonight and let me know in the morning.”
“Ok,” she agreed, her voice sounded different, a little lower than usual. Maybe she was angry but that was fine. I preferred dealing with her anger than her fear and self-pity.
It began raining in the night and our fire went out. We huddled together under the lean-tos, trying to trap in some warmth. I wanted us all to stay warm and get a good night’s sleep, but more than anything, I wanted to find the ones responsible for Sebastian’s death and make them pay. I could think of nothing else and so my concentration continually wavered so that all I could manage was to use my magic to block some of the wind’s gusts and to remove a little of the chill from the air around us. It still wasn’t enough for anyone to be able to comfortably sleep but it was enough that we didn’t freeze to death.
The rains started to lighten with the sky at dawn. There was a disturbance in the other lean-to as Red and Nathaniel returned from their shift on watch. I could hear their low voices speaking rapidly with David, when suddenly, David himself crouched under my lean-to, his eyes immediately locking with mine.
“You need to hear this,” he told me, his voice hushed as the other girls were still asleep.
I quickly untangled myself from the thin, thermal sleeping bag I’d been using and crept carefully over Bridgette’s sleeping form and out from under the strung up tarp. I pulled up the hood of my sweatshirt, protecting my head from the light drizzle that fell and trapping as much warmth as I could against my body.
David stood with Red and Nathaniel at the center of the camp, just beside the fire pit. The charred branches now sat in a small, muddy hole.
“What’s going on?”
“Tell her,” David instructed.
“I was bored of walking the same circuit around the camp while on watch so I decided to branch out a little further,” Red explained. “I didn’t go far. Just over the rise there, the trees start to thin out. The land slopes down to a bit of a meadow, some old cabins and whatnot down there. And then I saw people.”
I blinked in surprise. I could sense the magic of the others to the east still but I hadn’t realized they were so close. “How many were there? Did you see Jeremy?”
“I went back for Nate, here. Thought I should bring someone with a bit more control of the magic than I have, just in case.” Red flashed Nathaniel a quick smile. Nathaniel didn’t smile back. He turned to me, speaking gravely.
“It’s definitely them. They all have the Lost Magic within them to varying degrees but all fairly strong. And there was one who was significantly stronger than the rest, stronger than David and almost as strong as you,” Nathaniel declared solemnly.
“I’d bet good money that’s their leader,” Red declared.
“Jeremy?” I asked.
“I don’t know, it was too dark to tell.” Nathaniel frowned. “And something else. They appeared to be guarding something or someone in one of the cabins. I thought I heard a man moaning.”
My breath automatically caught as I suppressed the quick flare of hope. It couldn’t be Sebastian, Sebastian was dead, I harshly reminded myself. But who was it then? Had one of their own turned against them?
“How many were there in total?”
“We couldn’t tell in the dark. Not many. I’d guess five to ten but I could be wrong,” Nathaniel admitted.
David turned to me, a shrewd look on his face.
“So we’ve found them. Now what’s the plan?” he asked.
“We’ll send a small group to scout them out once there’s enough light to see properly: myself, Bridgette, Nathaniel and Ella. We’re the smallest and the fastest. You can wait here with the others,” I instructed David. “Pack up camp and be prepared to fight.”
Everyone nodded, even David. Today would bring me some form of closure, whether it be my revenge or my death.
Today was the day.
Chapter Fourteen – Black Fire
“There’s a low ridge on the southern side of their camp. We should be able to safely observe them from the brush there in the shadows of the trees,” Nathaniel explained.
“Alright. We’ll hike around their camp to the ridge, get the information we need and then meet back here with the rest of you to form a plan of attack.”
Everyone was gathered around me, the lean-tos already taken down and packed up. Sylvia was handing out rations of food and water. Everyone looked apprehensive; even David, which made me nervous.
“Shouldn’t we have some kind of signal?” Red spoke up. “You know, in case something happens to the scouting group or if someone discovers us waiting here?”
“There’s no point,” I said, giving him a level gaze. “We don’t want them to discover us yet. If they do, then their magic is already more powerful than ours, in which case we’ll all be dead anyway.”
“Wow. Good pep talk,” Red tried to force out a laugh. No one else cracked a smile.
“We should be back well before noon. If we’re not—run. David will lead you.”
David arched an eyebrow at me.
“Will I?”
I grabbed his arm and leant in close, speaking softly in his ear.
“Would you prefer for me to leave Jai in charge?”
“No. I would prefer to be accompanying you myself rather than babysitting this group of children.”
“I
need you here.”
“I know,” he snapped, straightening up. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
I took a slow breath, trying to focus my anger and my nerves. I could do this. I had to do this. It was time.
“Ok. Nathaniel, Bridgette, Ella—let’s go.”
I met Bridgette’s eye. I could see her hesitating as the other two stepped forward. Something about her expression hardened as she looked back at me. There was a determined gleam to her eye, a proud set to her mouth. She walked up to me with her head held high following Nathaniel’s lead into the forest and away from our camp. I thought I heard someone mutter “good luck” as we walked away though I wasn’t certain who it was.
We moved as quickly and as quietly as we could, hiking the rough terrain up and around the campsite in the meadow that Red and Nathaniel had discovered. We had left our rustling waterproof jackets back at camp and our sweatshirts were soon soaked through from the drops of rain still clinging to the brush and branches, and the damp mist that floated through the air.
Soon we could hear the sounds of the other camp awakening just on the other side of the trees ahead. I signaled for the group to stop and then indicated that Bridgette and I would watch from one side of the ridge, and Nathaniel and Ella would go to the other. I tapped my watch and pointed to a large, bare maple just a few feet back down the trail we had made, reminding them we would meet back there in ten minutes.
“Be careful,” I breathed softly, meeting each of their eyes. They all gazed back at me solemnly. Nathaniel’s eyes flickered anxiously to Bridgette. Then he gave me a brief nod and tapped Ella’s arm, leading her away.
“Ready?” I whispered to Bridgette. She nodded, her jaw set but her face a little too pale. She was actually doing much better than I had hoped, following along silently and quickly without complaining once. I was proud of her and would have to tell her so later, if I remembered, if we survived. I quickly pushed away the thought.
Beckoning with my hand for Bridgette to follow, I slowly began climbing up the steep rise ahead. I moved as carefully as possible, wincing every time we made even the slightest noise. There was a lot of talk and even laughter from the camp below so they shouldn’t hear us. But still, I couldn’t be too cautious.
We crouched down low at the top of the ridge. I slid down onto my belly and Bridgette followed suit. The wet leaves and mud stuck to my sweater as I slithered forward, inching myself towards the base of a tall pine while Bridgette positioned herself at the roots of another. Then very slowly and very carefully, I lifted my head just a few inches, to peek out around the rough bark and at the camp below us.
It was just as Nathaniel had described. A small muddy field stretched out below; I assumed it was a popular spot for wilderness campers to stay, considering how well set-up the camp appeared to be. There was a large fire pit, a small covered area and three small cabins each with glass windows and smoke billowing out of chimneys. It made me angry to think that the people responsible for Sebastian’s death had been warm and cozy last night while we half-froze to death under tarps in the rain. My whole body began to tremble with fury as I silently observed the scene below.
There were people moving about, coming in and out of one of the cabins, preparing food and drinking hot beverages. Some were smoking cigarettes and laughing. None of them looked evil, but I knew they were. I tried to count heads.
Nathaniel and Jai had said that Jeremy and five others had gone missing the same night that Sebastian had first disappeared. There was one large man standing near the entrance to one of the cabins. No one was going in or out of that one but he definitely appeared to be guarding something. There were three other people who were also in view: a young man smoked while talking to a girl and an older woman who appeared to be tending to the fire. There must be at least two more, Jeremy and one other.
I glared down at them, the force of my fury so powerful, it left a bitter tang in my mouth and a quiver on my lips. Which one of them had killed Sebastian? Whose hands had been red with his blood? Should I grant mercy to the ones who weren’t directly involved? These were the angry and violent thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched and waited.
Bridgette made a slight movement in my periphery, attracting my attention. I glanced at her and she tapped her wrist meaningfully. We were almost out of time and we hadn’t learned anything useful yet. I gave a small shake of my head. Just a few more minutes. I was certain there must be something we could see here that would give us an advantage. And besides, I couldn’t leave yet. I needed to confirm that Jeremy was here first.
As if summoning him by my thoughts, the door to the middle cabin swung open and Jeremy himself stepped out. He glanced around, waving at the others and then striding over to the woman by the fire and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She grinned at him, the admiration and love she felt for him clear on her face, even from this distance. My heart clenched, the gaping void inside of me darkened and swelled. Why should he be happy and find love when he had destroyed any chance of happiness that I ever had? I grit my teeth together, seeing red, struggling to control the sudden dark anger that threatened to overcome my senses.
Two more men exited the cabin that Jeremy had come out of, bringing the head count to seven. My heart sank as two more people appeared, two blonde women who emerged from a trail on the eastern side of the camp and began striding across the field, their arms laden with firewood. This made nine people so far, giving them a one man advantage and with Bridgette’s weak ability to direct any significant amount of the Lost Magic, her presence barely counted. The situation wasn’t hopeless, we could certainly still come out on top, it just wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.
The door to the largest cabin began to slowly open. All heads turned to gaze in that direction. People stopped what they were doing and stood straighter, waiting expectantly. I realized I was holding my breath.
“Aed!” Jeremy called in greeting. He slipped his arm from the woman’s shoulder and began walking towards the cabin door. I could see a dark figure standing in the doorway but he was too far back in the shadows for me to make out any detail of his face. I could feel his power, the tainted magic flowing from him like a shadow seeping through the air. The pure force of it made me tremble, made my legs go numb and my stomach fill with dread. This was the dark force that the spirits had warned us about. This was the one that the rebels had found to lead them, to teach them the dark ways of the Lost Magic. This was the one I must destroy and not just because it was the responsibility given to me by the spirits but also, because I knew deep within my heart, that this dark, twisted soul was responsible for the death of Sebastian.
“Grace,” Bridgette hissed, making me jump. She inched up on her belly right beside me. I had been so focused on the scene unfolding below that I hadn’t even noticed her leave her post. “It’s time,” she whispered, glancing back towards the maple where we were supposed to meet Nathaniel and Ella.
“Wait,” I mouthed. Fear and anger roiled through me as I glared down at the dark figure in the cabin’s doorway. Whoever he was, I hated him so much that I knew I would have no qualms killing him myself. This death would be entirely justifiable and something I was eager for. I dug my nails into the moist, stagnant earth, breathing slowly through my mouth as I tried to calm my racing heart.
Bridgette pulled gently at my arm.
“Wait,” I repeated softly. My whole body tensed as the cabin door opened wider and he stepped out into the light.
I stopped breathing.
The world came crashing down around me as his black, soulless eyes glanced up towards the rise and locked with mine.
His face was pale and drawn, his features hardened and twisted with a bitter fury I had never seen before. He was terrifying. He was a complete stranger to me. A stranger who wore Sebastian’s face.
“Aed!” Jeremy called again as he approached him. My brain automatically translated the ancient Celtic name—fire. Aed broke his gaze from mine
and turned to Jeremy, listening intently to whatever he was saying.
I began panting, my body trembling as my whole world fell apart. This couldn’t be real. How was this possible? It couldn’t be him. Was it really him?
“What? What is it?” Bridgette whispered, panic setting into her features as she took in my expression.
“Sebastian,” I gasped. I couldn’t stop staring at his greasy dark hair that had been slicked back or the purplish shadows that fell under his large, black eyes. Everything about him, the way he stood, the way he moved, the gestures he made as he spoke to Jeremy—it was all different, all wrong. How was it possible? “I think that’s Sebastian,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Jeremy finished speaking to Aed and began walking away, looking annoyed. Aed’s head snapped back up, his eyes searching the crest of the ridge and immediately finding mine. He looked furious, he looked deadly. Any relief that I might have felt in discovering that Sebastian was still alive vanished with the look in his eye. Something was very, very wrong. This was not Sebastian. His eyes quickly moved from me to Bridgette, then over to the other side of the ridge where Nathaniel and Ella would have been hiding. He knew. He knew we were there and he did not look pleased. He looked ready to kill. My stomach clenched with fear.
His eyes flashed back to mine. Even from the distance at which he stood, I could clearly sense his intent, I could easily read his lips. He shook his head, barely perceivable across the great distance between us.
“Go,” he mouthed.
Bridgette gasped. I shook my head back at him.
“I can’t,” I whispered, knowing that somehow he could hear me.
His eyes narrowed, his lips compressed. I was immediately afraid. I braced myself for what was coming, whether it be an onslaught of his black magic or a physical sounding of the alarm. But instead, he silently seethed a moment longer and then abruptly spun on his heel and marched back into his cabin, slamming the door loudly behind him. Several of the others in the camp looked up in surprise but Jeremy just shrugged, calling for them to go back about their tasks. He glanced suspiciously up at the tree line along the top of the ridge but was distracted by the return of the woman who he’d been sitting with before.