by Suzi Davis
“Come on,” Bridgette whispered. Again, she gently tugged on my arm. “We’ve got to go. Come on.”
Slowly, I nodded. Together, we slid backwards on our bellies until our heads were hidden from view behind the bushes and brush. As we crept quickly back down the hill and towards our rendezvous point along the trail, I stared blankly ahead, moving automatically. My mind was somewhere else.
I couldn’t believe Sebastian wasn’t dead. I still felt that same empty void inside of myself, that pit of dark grief and rage that had begun festering at the moment that I had thought marked his death. My mind worked backwards, recalling the last conversation we’d had. Had he ever said he was dying? Had he ever said he was injured or had I just assumed? He had said that I was too late to save him and I could see that that might be true. What had they done to him?
“Good, they’re still here,” Bridgette said softly. I focused my eyes and realized that we were nearly at the maple tree. Nathaniel and Ella were waiting impatiently at its base.
“What took you so long?” Ella hissed but Nathaniel immediately silenced her.
“Wait. We’re still too close to their camp. We’ll talk when we get back.”
Nathaniel looked to me for confirmation and I forced myself to nod.
We took a different route back just to ensure that we didn’t leave a clear trail. The terrain was a bit rougher and it ended up taking us almost twice as long. We were all sweating and out of breath when we finally returned to camp, just minutes before noon.
“You’re back!” Red called out, sounding relieved as we approached last night’s camp. Everyone looked ready to move.
David glanced up. As soon as his eyes met mine, he seemed to know.
“Everyone! Gather in!” he called, without breaking his gaze from mine for a second. He looked concerned. “Grace, what happened?”
I paused, waiting for the rest of the group to gather in close before speaking. I’d had the whole trip back to organize my thoughts and I’d still come to no conclusions. I didn’t know what to think or even how to start. Surprisingly, Bridgette stepped up to speak.
“Jeremy’s there,” she confirmed. “We saw him along with ten others, and there could be more. There are three cabins. They seem to be guarding something in the smallest one that’s off to the side; we still don’t know what. Jeremy is staying in the middle cabin and,” she paused, glancing at me quickly, “and the one who’s been leading them is staying in the largest cabin.”
“We don’t know that he’s leading them,” I quickly interrupted, sounding far too defensive. David stared at me suspiciously.
“We do,” Bridgette patiently argued. “Even I could sense the magic coming from him. He’s very strong, perhaps as strong as Grace. And he was just radiating danger and death.”
“Did you get a clear view of him?” David asked but I could tell he already knew the answer. I shifted uncertainly. It was time for me to speak, only I didn’t know what to say.
“He… he looked like Sebastian.” My pronouncement was met with stunned silence. I rushed to continue. “But it wasn’t him, it couldn’t have been. I know he’s dead and Sebastian has no natural ability with the Lost Magic; he lost his ability after the explosion at the Necromanteion. Aed could definitely use the Lost Magic though.”
“What did you just say?” Nathaniel asked me quietly, his voice steady and intense. Jai was also leaning towards me intently. David looked shocked.
“They called him Aed? Are you certain?” David demanded, exchanging glances with Nathaniel and Jai.
“Yes. Why? What does it mean?”
“Explain,” David instructed Jai with a quick flick of his wrist. He looked distracted, his brows pulled down together low over his eyes.
“Before Seamus became Sebastian, he was Aed,” Jai explained simply.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered but I was afraid that I did. Everyone was silent as we all listened to Jai’s explanation.
“When Seamus was creating the Others, he forgot about Caoilinn, he forgot about his mission to reunite with her reincarnated soul and largely, he forgot himself. He was renamed Aed Dubhan after his fiery passion and his dark temper that emerged. It means black fire.”
I stared at him disbelievingly.
“No.”
“It’s true,” David confirmed. “He was the worst of us, the cruelest, the most volatile and the most powerful. He led us and we followed him because he brought us… the world. There was nothing that we couldn’t attain under his guidance.” David sounded almost bitter as he recalled.
“If Sebastian has died and all that is left inside of him is Aed, we are doomed,” Nathaniel pronounced solemnly.
Everyone stared at me in silence. I ignored the feel of their questioning eyes and tried to concentrate, my mind and heart both racing.
“But that doesn’t make sense. These are all aspects of himself; one can’t kill the other. For whatever reason, Aed is now the dominant personality but that doesn’t mean that Sebastian isn’t still there too. We can still save him, the spirits told me so,” I insisted. No one looked convinced.
“You said yourself that Sebastian is dead, that when he died you felt a part of yourself die too. Has that changed? Were you mistaken?” Ella gently probed.
I couldn’t lie. I hated myself for not lying to them.
“No,” I admitted. “But I have to be wrong. He has to be in there somewhere.”
“Sebastian has been trying to suppress Aed for a long time,” David spoke quietly to the group but his eyes were on me. “He has long denied and tried to forget who he used to be but those days and memories still haunt his dreams, they always have. It became much worse for him after the explosion, after Grace attempted to destroy the Lost Magic and left holes in all of our memories. He is Aed now—that is all he is.”
“But he remembers me. I never knew Aed.”
David’s eyebrows briefly lifted in surprise, but he quickly hid the emotion. He paused before responding.
“When he was Sebastian, he could partially remember being Aed in his dreams, his subconscious retained the memories. Perhaps now that he is again Aed, he remembers being Sebastian but can no longer relate to those memories. Maybe it is you who now haunts his dreams.” David wore the ghost of a smile. I glared back at him.
“So how do you know he remembers you?” David asked.
“He saw me, he seemed furious that I was there. He told me to go but he didn’t alert the others. Doesn’t that prove that Sebastian’s still alive in there somewhere?”
“No. It proves you’ve put all of us in grave danger. We need to move now!” David barked, panic arising on everyone’s faces.
“We will do nothing yet,” I argued, speaking firmly and calmly. “If he wanted to capture or kill us it would have already happened. And it hasn’t, so relax.”
“It hasn’t yet,” David muttered darkly. The others still looked nervous but everyone settled back down.
“I thought you and Grace said Sebastian didn’t have any natural ability to use the Lost Magic?” Bridgette asked David, offering a good distraction. “Aed obviously did.”
Nathaniel nodded thoughtfully.
“I don’t know how.” David sounded annoyed. “The ability must have been inside him all along, so small, perhaps we overlooked it like Grace did with you when you first arrived. But he has obviously found a way to access a great amount of power since.”
“He’s dangerous,” Red stated solemnly. He wouldn’t meet my eye.
“We have to stop him,” Sylvia joined in.
Several others murmured their agreement. This was getting out of hand again, fast.
“Stop,” I interrupted, my voice instantly silencing their words and halting their movements. I would use magic against all of them if I had to. I wouldn’t let them hurt Sebastian, or whatever there was left of him inside Aed.
“We don’t have enough information,” I argued, trying to sound as calm and rational as possible, even thou
gh my pulse was racing. “David, Nathaniel, Jai, you used to know Aed, do you think he’d welcome you to join his group? You could stay in the camp, earn his trust, try to find out what they’re up to and if there are any signs that Sebastian exists still inside of Aed.”
Nathaniel and Jai both immediately began shaking their heads. Surprisingly, David seemed to be the only one considering my wild plan.
“He would kill us on sight if he perceived us to be a threat in any way, which he most likely would. He never truly trusted any of the Others,” Jai pronounced. “But David…”
David looked up and met my eye.
“He might kill me too, he might not,” David shrugged. His steely gray eyes were locked with mine. “Would you ask me to risk my life on the chance that you might still save his? Would you command me to?” he demanded quietly.
“I would never force you to.”
“But you would ask?”
“I would.”
His eyes hardened, his expression went completely blank. I instantly regretted my words but I couldn’t make myself take them back. Not on the hope that they might save Sebastian, however small the chance.
“Fine. I will go,” he agreed.
I nodded, feeling a sliver of hope for the first time in days.
“And I will go with you.”
“No,” David immediately objected. Everyone began talking at once, all arguing over each other and telling me that I couldn’t.
“Silence!” I snapped, cutting off their voices with magic again. I continued in a more reasonable tone. “We all agree that Aed and his followers must be stopped. And there is only one way to stop him and that is to kill him. I will not kill Sebastian and I will fight to the death to ensure that no one ever does. If he is still alive within Aed somewhere, I must know, I must see for myself. If Sebastian is truly and permanently gone… I will deal with Aed.” I sounded confident, I hoped that I could trust myself.
“But how will you get inside their camp? They might try to kill you on the spot before you even have a chance to speak to Aed,” Red questioned.
“I’ll go with David, in disguise. We can use the Lost Magic to stop them from paying too much attention to me. I think I know a way that will work that they won’t detect. I’m sure it’ll work.”
“And how will you get out of their camp again?” David asked, looking very displeased with my plan.
“If we’re discovered, we’ll fight our way out. The rest of you will be positioned around their camp, ready to attack. If not, we’ll stay with them for two days, learn all that we can. On the second night, we’ll sneak out and meet with you. If Sebastian is truly beyond saving, we’ll form a plan and at dawn on the third day, we’ll attack and end it.”
Everyone slowly nodded.
“You’re our leader, I’ll follow where you guide us. I trust the spirits and if this is the way it’s meant to be…” Ella raised her eyebrows questioningly.
“It is,” I lied. I couldn’t tell them that I had been pushing away the voices of the spirits all day, ignoring their mutterings in the wind. I was too afraid that they might tell me something I didn’t want to hear. Something I couldn’t bear to believe was true.
“Let’s go then,” David announced brusquely.
“Now?” Bridgette squeaked, her eyes going wide.
“As soon as Grace is in disguise. Why delay?”
“I agree,” I joined in. “Bridgette, will you help me get ready?”
With Bridgette’s help, I changed into slightly bigger and baggier clothes (provided by Sylvia) that helped to disguise the shape of my body. Bridgette did my makeup: heavy eye liner and dark eye shadow that made my eyes look quite different. I pulled up the hood on the sweater and let my hair fall loosely forward to try to disguise my face.
“It won’t work,” David objected. “Jeremy will recognize you the second he sees you.”
“It will work. See?” I let the Lost Magic flow through me as I spoke, wanting others to perceive me differently, wanting them to believe that I was just another girl with David, no one special or overly interesting. Then I hid the traces of my magic, making the spell I was casting invisible to eyes that might detect it. It should be fairly easy to keep up, as long as I kept my focus.
David inspected me shrewdly.
“It might work after all,” he admitted. “Shall we?”
“Yes.” I turned to the others. “We’ll approach from the other side of their camp, in case they’re suspicious. It’s a longer hike so that’ll give you time to station yourselves around the ridge. If something goes wrong… I’ll light the cabins on fire—not the one that they’re guarding, not until we know what’s in there. If you see the smoke, come ready to battle. If the sun goes down and all appears well, stay as far from the camp as you can for the next two days. On the second night, one or both of us will meet you here to form a battle plan. Then we attack at dawn.”
“Grace… don’t do this,” Bridgette softly pleaded. She looked like she was holding back tears.
“I have to.”
Her eyes began to fill.
“It’s ok, Bridgette,” I continued in a softer tone. “Just stay with the others and practice using your ability as much as you can. You’re stronger than you think.”
She sniffed and nodded.
“Be careful, Grace.”
“I will. See you soon.”
David had already started walking away. I had to jog to catch up to him.
“Slow down, we need to give the others time to get into position,” I reminded him.
He threw me a withering glare and then slowed his pace to more of a brisk walk.
“You’re making a mistake,” he growled without looking at me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re assuming he won’t hurt you and you’re wrong. If he recognizes you, Grace, he’ll kill you.”
“He would never,” I quickly denied.
“Sebastian would never hurt you. Aed would, and he will take pleasure in it if he does. Especially if he puts it all together and realizes that you’re Caoilinn.”
My brows pulled down into a frown as I recalled the last thing Sebastian had said to me. He had warned me to stay away from David and Caoilinn, and I had told him that I was her. I was fairly certain he’d heard me which meant Aed probably already knew. I didn’t tell David that.
“It’ll be fine,” I dismissed. “He won’t recognize me and if he does… If I can just get close enough to him, I’m sure I can make him remember. I’m sure I can bring Sebastian back. The spirits said—”
“The spirits were wrong,” David snapped. “Aed is beyond saving. Aed is beyond redemption. But you’re too stubborn and stupid to accept that, aren’t you?”
“Why are you acting like this? Why can’t you just trust me, like the others do?”
“Because I know better. This is a deadly game you’re playing, Grace, and I don’t think anyone’s informed you of the rules.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
David glared at me a moment longer before sharply looking away.
“Nothing. Let’s go. No more talking—we wouldn’t want to give ourselves away.”
“No, we wouldn’t,” I murmured.
By the time we were close enough to Aed’s camp it was mid-afternoon. I was growing tired from the hike and needed to rest before we revealed ourselves. We drank water and ate granola bars from David’s pack. I was starting to feel increasingly nervous and uncertain but David appeared as cool as ever, calmly lighting a cigarette. He offered me one and I declined with a quick shake of my head.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Almost.”
I reached for my necklace, feeling its comforting warmth against my palm. Slowly and certainly, I drew on the Lost Magic, focusing and directing it to fulfill my will and desire. I didn’t want anyone to recognize me or to think twice about who I was. I just wanted to blend in. And I wanted to save Sebastian; I wanted it so badly, I felt sure it w
ould happen.
Since we had arrived on the island, I had been using magic to disguise our presence but now that we wanted Aed’s camp to know we were there, I released it, allowing our enemies to sense David’s ability and just a small portion of mine.
“Now they know we’re here. They’ll be waiting for us. Let’s go.”
“Fine.”
David slung his backpack over his shoulder and then walked straight up beside me, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me tightly against his side.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, trying to ignore my heart hammering in my throat.
“Keeping you safe,” he answered, pulling us forward as he spoke. We walked towards the gap in the trees that led out into the field. “You’ll attract less suspicion from Aed if he believes you’re one of my women. He was rarely interested in my castoffs.”
“One of your women?”
“You heard me,” he answered, his voice ice cold. I shrugged. Why should I care anyway?
We stepped out of the shadows of the trees, and together, began walking across the field, along a well-trodden, muddy path that led straight towards the cabin near its center.
“They’re waiting,” David murmured softly, his lips barely moving as he spoke.
I glanced up and saw he was right. Everyone, except for the one man guarding the smallest cabin, had quickly gathered in the center of the meadow. There were eleven of them in total. Eight stood in a slight half-circle, then ahead and slightly apart from the others stood Aed with Jeremy standing just behind his right shoulder.
I immediately dropped my eyes, my heart skipping a painful beat at the familiar sight of Sebastian. It’s not really him, it’s not really him, I chanted silently to myself. It was a challenge to keep breathing, to stay calm as we approached and I began to wonder if it was all a big mistake? Was I about to take a gamble that would cost me my life? And was it worth it for the chance to see Sebastian, to even touch him one last time? I was about to find out.