Cam smiled at him. “I only wish for the safety of your people.” She received the silk. She felt the weight in her hand. She uncovered the glowing crystal.
“It will aid you in a single, dire situation. It can only be used once so choose wisely.”
“What does it do?” she inquired, in awe of its beauty.
“When the time is right, the magic in this crystal will produce a brilliant light.” Cam nodded, deciding that soon, she would put it away safely. Heiron handed her a glass and together they raised them to the crowd.
“Let the celebration begin!” Cam announced, smiling. The crowd cheered and the musicians picked up a lively tune, sending the guests into dancing motions.
“Where’s Caleb?” Fiera asked when Cam had rejoined her sisters. Cam realized that she had not seen him since the previous day.
“He was dancing with Glista just a moment ago, but they seem to have disappeared,” Terra said, looking over the crowd.
“I’ll find him,” Fiera stated. She left Cam and Terra at the fountain and entered the castle in search of Caleb.
There was an open balcony overlooking the garden in the castle. Fiera climbed the stairwell to a side door in the castle and entered. The hallway was dimly lit by moonlight which seeped through the glass windows. Voices and light drifted from a balcony several yards down the corridor. She crept along the floor softly. Fiera stood, pressed against the wall and listened intently.
She heard a laugh. Glista. “Caleb you’re just so, perfect,” she giggled.
“Perfect?” Fiera rolled her eyes.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Glista said in a quieter tone. Fiera peeked into the room. Caleb leaned on the balcony edge, and Glista’s arm rested on his shoulder.
“Yes?” Caleb turned to face Glista. The princess stared back intently without uttering a word for a long moment.
Fiera ceased breathing. Although she made the effort to tear herself from the apparently private meeting, her curiosity was piqued. Glista’s mouth found Caleb’s. Her arms wound around his neck.
Fiera pulled away from the scene before watching them finish or to see Caleb's reaction. She wished to erase the memory even when she knew she should feel elated that he was now preoccupied with another girl.
“Did you find him?” Terra asked when Fiera reemerged into the garden.
Cam, who had immediately noticed Fiera’s unsettled expression, asked whether she was alright.
“I’m fine.”
“I know something’s wrong. Just tell us, Fiera,” Terra demanded.
“Do you, do-do- you think Caleb deserves someone like Glista?” Fiera inquired.
“What in the world do you mean?” Fiera fell mute. “Fiera, are you jealous?” Terra was grinning helplessly.
“I do not know,” she admitted quietly.
“I certainly hope that being involved with Glista will not prevent his continuation as our guide,” Cam muttered. The three stood for a moment in silence before spying Caleb at one end of the garden, striding towards them.
“Will you dance with me?” he asked Fiera when he approached.
“Why don’t you go dance with Glista? You two seem to be close.” Fiera’s tone was not as sharp as Cam had expected.
"Um…youdidn't seethat up theredid you?On thebalcony?" Caleb asked. His face flushed a deep shade of red. "If you happen to be wondering, I don't like Glista. Sh...she's so different from the people I'm used to, different from people like you and me."
“Then why’d you kiss her? I hardly see anything we have in common besides hunting.”
“Okay, okay hold on. I did not kiss her. She kissed me and then I toldherI didn’thave anyfeelings towards her.”Caleb seemed to be becoming angry now as well although his disposition was calmer than Fiera’s. His eyes wereearnest andCam almost believed him. When Fiera did not reply, he turned and stalked away.
“He is a mystery,” Cam said to Terra as Fiera too strode away. “He is flirting becomes annoying, and yet, he has a serious side as well. His tendency to disappear and the fact that despite all this talk, I know hardly anything about him makes me quite perplexed.” Silently, she remembered the anxious look in his eyes when he told had told to never let anyone see her dove necklace. For a moment, she thought that Caleb was merely another piece to an impossible puzzle. It was time now, she thought, to inquire of him about the Spirit Followers and what he knew.
Cam crept from the garden and entered a small wood of which she had seen Caleb disappear. The forest was silvery like the garden. As Cam tread along the winding, narrow path the forest began to reveal the full extent of its beauty. At first, all Cam saw were tiny blue lights flitting among the trees. Slowly, as the lights were joined by more, she realized they were butterflies. These creatures were not the dull kind she had seen before. These were glowing with colors of blue and purple.
They flitted towards her, and in a moment, she found herself surrounded by them from all sides. Some landed on her shoulders and arms. Each touch they brought her filled her with a cool, refreshing feeling that tingled within her skin. Their tiny legs prickled her arms.
"They're poisonous," Caleb said from just in front of her. He too smiled at the butterflies. "Where they came from no one knows, but Imber Fel does not use their magic. Be careful not to touch their wings. It brings poison to some and delight to others depending on how they like the person."
“I’ve never seen them before, not until now when they seem to come in such an abundance.” Cam paused, then glancing sideways at Caleb she added, “Much like the doves.”
Caleb’s smile diminished, and his lean and thin form shifted. Cam glanced at his wavering hazel eyes set into ivory skin under straight, fair hair, swept to the side. At this moment, he seemed almost attractive to her, though Cam could not find it in herself to have feelings towards him. For what reason, she did not know. “TellmeaboutthemCaleb.Please. Youareoneofthem aren’t you?”
“That may be another reason Joanna hunts us,” she added to herself.
He only shook his head. He sighed and then after a long moment, beckoned for Cam to be seated beside him on a fallen log next to a lake. The lake was silvery in color and the butterflies flitted across its surface. “I am not a Spirit Follower, but I believe that they should have the right to live in the nation and not be killed.” He paused, brushing dirt from his knees. “My elder sister was one during the time of the attack. Though the rest of my family did not agree that being one of them was prudent, we all loved her same as we ever had. Anyone who ignorantly professes to be a Spirit Follower, I promise to warn as I did to you."
“I thank you for that. And for saving me from him.”
“He will come back,” he murmured. “And he will enact revenge. No matter where we go now, we will not be safe.” Caleb squeezed her hand lightly before he rose and walked from the forest.
Twenty
Riahwas faced with his father’s stern expression when he entered
their private dining chamber. Having slept late, he was eager to eat. The day was gray, an unusual shade in Gnosi. This would have in normal circumstances matched Riah’s mood, but today, he felt a small victorious flame dancing in his chest.
“I am assuming that during your time away you have been searching the realms for unwanted citizens?”
“No.”
Apollyon’s grip on his fork grew so tight Riah thought it might snap in half.
“Leviathan is to return any day now.”
“I have gathered an army,” Riah stated nonchalantly as he slipped into his seat. He did not look at his father’s gaping expression, but simply buttered his bread and leaned in his seat.
“That is Leviathan’s duty,” Apollyon snapped.
Riah shrugged. "It appears as if he wished to pass that duty on to me. He sent me to the ruins, and I spoke with their leader. In return, their leader led me through the mountain pass connecting our realms. I returned here promptly." Riah waved a hand. "As for those
you wish for me to slay: that can wait. I will progress further in the Trials upon Leviathan's return."
Riah spoke with such confidence that the fact he had gathered an army seemed minuscule to Apollyon in comparison. Apollyon sat in silence so long Riah wondered if he had fallen to sleep. "Why was I not informed of these plans?"
“Why have I not been informed of any plans?” Riah retorted. “Hell, I have no inclination as to where, how, why, or what this army is to be used for!”
Apollyon was irritated and displayed this with a tap of his fingernails on the polished, wood table. When he spoke next, his voice was low. “Have you brought your son to the castle?”
Riah’s eyes snapped up. “I had forgotten.” As if to gloat further he added, “Forget in the midst of forming an army for you.”
“Bring him before Leviathan returns,” Apollyon ordered. Riah had no time to protest, for his father rushed from the room.
Once Riah had spent a considerable time dining, he begrudgingly compelled himself from his chair and out of the castle. He ambled through the fog-festooned forests towards a distant valley in which the hag and his son dwelled. Months had passed since he had last seen the ramshackle hut and weeks since he had seen his son. Riah assumed that the boy would be surprised that he was willing to see him twice in a month.
“Maybe I will learn his name. The heir to Gnosi needs a name.” Riah continued walking.
When he suddenly collided with the body of another human, he cried out in surprise. “Hell Riah! You scared the life out of me!”
He laughed at the sight of a startled Saffira who had just emerged from off of the path. She punched his shoulder.
“What was that for?”
“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since before the new Royal left.”
“I’ve been…too preoccupied I suppose you could say.” He scratched the back of his neck and grimaced at her.
"Too preoccupied to contact your best friend? I am feeling quite loved."
“I am sorry for that, Saff. I would have. I just…”
“You just must speak with your mysterious guest all the time. But I suppose you cannot now since he had left.”
“She notices everything.” Aloud, Riah replied, “He is returning any day now.” He pushed past her and continued on the path. He heard her steps and then her arm was looped through his.
“You have been hiding things from me,” she murmured. Riah tensed. He was proficient at hiding things from his friends, but hiding from Saffira left him with twinges of guilt. “Where are you going?”
“Tell her something true. Anything.” Riah sighed. “I am on an errand for my father to fetch a young boy he believes has potential.” That much was true.
“Since when do you run errands for your father?” ejaculated Saffira.
Riah shrugged. “I felt like a walk. And besides, I was hoping to see you.” Riah was delighted that he had met Saffira but felt uncomfortable at the fact that he hadn’t even thought of her since Leviathan’s departure.
“Sure,” she drawled, jostling his ribs with her elbow.
“Imissedyou,” hesaidquietly as hegraspedher elbow. Riah rebuked himself for using a soft tone. He added a grin to which Saffira returned.
"I am accompanying you then. And when you have finished your errand, you are joining my mother and me for a meal. I will prepare it myself." His blood rushed when she smiled up at him, pulled against him.
Leviathan displayed disapproval that Riah had missed his return
by dining with some girl far from the castle. “You have no time for women during the Trials.” Riah shook his head. He and Saffira did not spend their time as he did with other women.
“Will I continue in the Trials then?” Leviathan nodded curtly. “Your work in gathering the Shadow Bearers has been sufficient to promote you to the next stage.”
“It is simple when all you have to tell them is that your own father is a Shadow Bearer and that you will raise them up if they battle in return.”
Leviathan eyed the young man sharply. "Your next task will not be as simple." The creature motioned for Riah to be seated across from him in the throne room where maps were spread and various weapons laid. This room had been turned into a place of battle strategy, not one to hold parties. Riah assumed no parties would be held for many months. But he was wrong.
“Your father has informed me that you have not completed the task of slaying the unwanted. You will complete this in due time. You will hold a party for these people specifically and poison their drinks. This will provide a night to remember.”
Riah gulped, and his stomach churned. His hands gripped the arms of his chair, but he kept his countenance schooled. “But before you make preparations for that event…” Leviathan heaved a pile of thick, dusty volumes onto the table between them. “You will read and translate all of these.”
Riah’s jaw dropped. “Translate? What tongu e are they written in?”
“The Infernal City tongue of course. They are marks, symbols, and words used between the Shadow Bearers and the underworld spirits. It was formed by the master himself. They will teach you all you need to know of our world. And this…” The Shadow Bearer lifted a book which was far thinner than the rest. “This is all the expectations of one of the Seven Warriors.”
Riah groaned. “How many stages of the trial are there?”
“As manyas Ideem worthy,”Leviathan repliedwithashrug. “I suggest you begin now.”
With a sigh, Riah piled the books in his arms and eventually dumped them onto his chamber floor. “I have hardly any time left to spend with you, Ira. Which perhaps is agoodthing,” he thought. “She is a distraction. An immensely beautiful distraction I cannot have.”
Terra accompanied Cam to a room set aside for poison mixing
within the ice castle. Although Brooks was no longer present to conduct Cam’s training, the learning of poison continued under the tutelage of an older gentlemen. It was late in the afternoon when she reentered the dim chamber which was cluttered with bottles, vials, bowls, cauldrons, books, and liquids she did not wish to touch. She had spent the morning mixing and identifying poisons and cures until her brain was full to the brim with memorized information.
On a small table set in the center of the room seven goblets were arranged, each swirling with liquid. Cam peered over the goblets and gulped.
“In a brief amount of time you will select the three poisons which are made from the base and name the other seven. Following that task, you will then arrange them in order from most harmful to least harmful. One of them is merely wine. You must choose which is wine and drink it.”
“And what if she chooses wrong and poisons herself?” Terra inquired.
“I have all the cures,” croaked the man.
“Very well,” Cam sighed as she stepped up the table.
“Your time begins now.”
Cam’s hands thrust towards the nearest goblet. She sniffed and eyed it. The liquid was odorless which meant it was one of the three. Its color was dark, but she could not determine if it was blue, black, or red. Blue meant weakness. Black was death, and red signified sleep. Finally, she guessed which was which though she was not entirely sure she had correctly deduced.
She arranged the three chosen goblets in front and then studied the remaining four. The bubbling green one was easy to recognize as one which caused painful sores to erupt upon all areas of flesh when consumed. Cam set it far away from her.
A smooth purple poison perplexed her, for she had not remembered reading one of such a description. The shade was too purple to be wine, however, and had a musty smell much unlike the beverage. Two more remained. One being the wine and the other…“Periwinkle Perfect: it causes pleasant sensations in the body but can turn one blue if they consume too much!”
“The other must be the wine,” she surmised. Cam hesitated for an instant before she lifted the goblet to her lips and took a small sip. The burst of flavor in her mouth would have confir
med the liquid as wine if it had not been for the fact she had forgotten that poisons were sometimes hidden by other flavors and scenes.
Cam rasped out a cry and grasped her throat. The liquid burned. She felt bumps on the flesh she touched. When she wrenched her hand away, she found that a red rash was blossoming on her hand, arms, and throat. She cursed. Terra exclaimed. The old man laughed but was at her side in a moment with a vial in hand.
“Drink this,” he ordered. “The rashes should clear in a few hours.”
“Hours?” Cam drained the cure in one gulp. The itch and burn began to fade in her throat but left her skin stinging.
“Two minutes remain to correct yourself,” her tutor said.
Cam turned back to the table. She attempted to ignore the irritating itch of her skin. “I was wrong about the color red,” she murmured. Cam switched the red-colored liquid with the purple one. “There. That’s it. Sleep, Weakness, Death, Boil Bombarding, Rash of Wrath, Periwinkle Perfect, and wine.” She drank the wine and suffered no undesired effects.
“I am finished,” she declared. Terra and Cam hovered over the old man as he examined Cam’s work. After an exasperatingly long moment, he glanced up at her.
“You have succeeded.” He chuckled. “At a price.” Cam glowered at her rashes.
“I will find use some Medulla so it may leave you, Cam,” Terra told her. Cam allowed her sister to lead her from the room. Although she was still stinging, satisfaction bubbled within her.
Camariawas summoned to Glista’s chambers following the
evening meal to obtain her sapphire for her necklace. “I hope what you have learned aids you in the future,” Glista said as she set the sapphire to the far right of the stone opposite the emerald.
“Thank you for all you have done, Glista. I have enjoyed every moment in your realm.” Glista glanced up at her. “Well…not every moment.” The princess uttered a small laugh. She did not seem as glowing as she had been previously. Cam assumed it had to do with Caleb’s reaction to her forward manner. Cam did not mention it. Instead, she said, “Forgive me for inquiring Glista, but would you tell me what Leviathan said about you. How does he know you?”
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