by J B Cantwell
Harder than the bread?
"But whom do I possess?"
Then I realized what he had in mind.
Himself.
I took a few shallow breaths as I tried to wrap my head around what he was asking me to do. I'd thought that possession of another was one of the evilest things one could do. But now he was telling me it was absolutely necessary to ensure my survival.
"Okay," I finally said. "I can try."
"Close your eyes and think of me, your target standing before you."
I did as he said.
"Now, can you feel me, my presence?"
I shook my head and opened my eyes. "No."
"Try again. Close your eyes and search for me, for my being. I’m close to you now, which should help. Do you see me now?"
"No."
He grumbled.
"Try it with your eyes open," he said. Now, look at me, think about me, your target. Think about my defenses, about my abilities. Can you see yourself winning a confrontation with me?"
I paused, not knowing what to say.
"Be honest," he said.
Slowly I nodded my head.
"Good. Now take that power, that certainty, and try to put your intentions into my mind. You want to see what I see, understand what I'm like, and then push that feeling down until you’ve taken over my mind completely."
I put out my hands, but I didn't light them. I held them close together, and I wondered if I should shoot him with power.
"No," he said. "I have a better idea."
He took several steps across the room, and soon he placed his forehead against mine.
"Put your hands on my head," he commanded, and I did so. "Now, think."
His forehead was warm against mine, a surprise. And I found that his breath was not so foul as I'd noticed before.
I tried to do what he told me to, and soon I found success.
Everything was a jumble. I found I was able to pull my mind out of my body because soon, I felt like I was floating above the room, seeing everything. The weapons. The fountain. And this strange man.
But when I tried to push my mind into his own, I found his consciousness impenetrable.
I put my hands on his wrists and pulled away from him, my mind zooming back into my body.
"What did you see?" he asked. "You didn’t succeed. Was there anything else?"
Slowly I nodded. "I was above you, but my body didn't move. I didn't fall down like I thought I might."
He smiled.
"That's good," he said. "We will practice every day. But for now, let's take a break. I have something else to show you as well.”
I was grateful for the reprieve. I was exhausted from the attempts, and I sat down on the floor of the cave, sweating.
Bevyn lit his staff as brightly as he could, and from deep within his robes, he pulled out a folded piece of parchment, handing it to me.
"What’s this?" I asked. But I could see clearly the moment I opened it.
A map.
I unfolded the paper and spread it out on the rough cave floor. It was enormous, and yet it folded up into a tiny square, easily hidden from any enemy.
"This, I did not take from the trash pile," he said. "This, I stole."
He didn't need to tell me whom he’d taken the map from. After years of torture, ridicule, and beatings, this son of Torin had raided his father's treasures.
"It is as it was when I took it nine-hundred years ago," he said. "You’ve heard stories of my father, and I assume you know the story about the Veiled Kingdom."
I nodded. Yes, I knew. I remembered watching Oriana's fingers move across the map she’d created for us, pointing to a scribble in the top left corner that read, "Veiled Kingdom."
This map had a similar notation, only something about it, maybe the fact that it was written in ink, made me look twice.
“Is this… did you… find the Veiled Kingdom?"
He didn't answer me, but the look on his face told me that he had, indeed.
"How did you do this?"
"When I was a boy, I was left alone, as my brothers had abandoned me while they went out into the world seeking other hidden things. I wandered for a time, hoping that I would catch up with them. I was younger then, and I was afraid to be out on my own. Even though they taunted me, I still wanted to be included in their search."
"But they wouldn't let you," I said. It wasn't a question.
He shook his head sadly.
"Those days were dark for me," he said.
"Darker than these days?"
He smiled sadly.
"During that time, I was still in need of training. I looked to them for guidance. They were both older than me, and my father favored them. I felt certain that on their journey I would be able to gain their respect. Instead, they left me alone, abandoning me while I slept. They left nothing behind, nothing for me to eat or drink or guide."
He turned and started pacing around the cave, admiring his weapon collection, touching the sword, checking on the sharpness of the blade.
"I began to wander," he went on. "I was lost in a world I didn’t understand. My magic was wild, not unlike yours. I was eager to make my way home, but I didn't know the way. One day, I came upon a walled city. The closer I came to it, the more real it seemed to become. It had looked ghostly from afar, but by the time I reached the gates, it had become solid stone in front of my eyes."
"They let you in?" I asked.
He nodded.
"With open arms. The sorcerer there was not very powerful, but he taught me what he knew. It wasn't enough. I stayed there for many months training with him, and I think he learned from me as I did from him. But after a while, it became clear that it was time for me to leave. The sorcerer wished for me to stay, but I’d left my mother with Torin, and I knew if I stayed away, he would torture her. Perhaps he already was."
I sat back against the wall, trying to take it all in. This man had been through so much, had accomplished so much, and it was so sad to see him in this way. He seemed so hopeless.
"I needed to save her," he went on. "I didn't have a map, and only in my head did I remember how to make my way home. But when I got there, I knew he had either locked her away or sent her out into the world to do his bidding. He punished me for what he said was treason against the family. You've seen the marks on my back. They are the least of the things he ruined within me."
He stopped pacing and turned to me.
"He kept me in a small, locked room, only coming to get me when he felt his most violent. It didn't matter to him that I was his son. He still delighted in torturing me."
Hearing this, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that he had come to this place. But then I remembered, the sun had once shone here, and it was not until his father came and scorched the sky that it became a safe place for Bevyn to hide.
"After many years, I put my best defense to the test. I’d been waiting for a chance to escape. I became familiar with my father's habits. If he came for me in the morning, he was easier on me; perhaps then I would only receive a lash or two or three. But at night, every night, he was drunk on his own power and the power of the Light he hoarded. During those times he was at his most dangerous, and yet he was weak at the same time. His desire to bring pain never wavered, and he never accepted me as his son. I was only an abomination to him.
"But then, one night he arrived, and he had spent his day fighting with the Council of Sorcerers over what should be done about the Keepers."
"The Keepers?" I said. "Why the Keepers?"
"It was his desire then, and I can only assume ever since, to raid the magic of the Keepers. He wanted it all for himself. During the meeting with the sorcerers from many of the neighboring kingdoms, he found that they had joined against him. They knew the value of the Keepers, the importance of their magic, as it protected our world. My father didn’t agree, and he killed every last one of them. They were no match for his power, not even all together."
My eyes widened. "He killed them all?"
But I knew the answer. Of course he had, just as he'd done to just about anyone who dared disagree with him.
"He killed them as well as their families. I only found this out later when my brothers taunted me with the information. But that night, when he arrived at my room, he was glorious, happy, and covered in blood. Full of himself, he didn't see me coming when I struck him from behind. He hit the floor hard, knocking his head on the stone. I knew where he kept his maps, and I’d already stashed his cast-away weapons. I ran for his room, stole the first map I found, and fled the castle."
"And you've been here ever since?"
"I told you," he said. "He tried to kill this world, these mountains that had once been a safe haven for travelers. He searched for me, but I was very good at hiding."
"And you stayed."
He nodded. "And I stayed."
"What was on that map?"
"Everything you see before you. Every kingdom except for the Veiled Kingdom. I, alone, knew how to reach it. He had tried over the years to get me to tell him my secrets, but he didn’t know that I kept the secret of the Veiled Kingdom. It was only after the Shadow Mountains were shrouded in black that he realized what he’d done. Only then did he understand that he’d lost the one son who could have helped him commit his greatest crime, for it was always his desire to destroy the kingdom of his upbringing. They had rejected him, banished him, and he had desired for many years to obliterate them. It was only after I arrived here that I dared put the location of the kingdom on that map. He cannot find me here because he cannot cross through the borders of this land. My brothers can come through, of course, and they have tried to nail me down, but they don’t know where I hide."
Suddenly, a strange look came across his face. His eyes grew wide with fear, and I looked around the room, ready to defend him.
But no one was there, and when I turned back to look at him again, his face looked simply blank.
"Bevyn," I said. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head as if shaking off a shiver.
"Yes," he said. "I was just… remembering."
I frowned at him, concerned by this unusual change in his demeanor. But then, entranced by the map, I let it go. I looked back down at the parchment, and as I did so, he stood up and quietly made his way across the room, retrieving his staff from where it leaned against the wall. I didn't see him as he approached me, and it was only when I felt the stream of power coming through his staff, hitting me in the chest, that I realized my mistake.
Something had happened. Something had changed.
He was not himself.
The force of the blow threw my body backward, and I hit my head against the wall, hard. I lit my hands and sent a pulse of energy out against him.
He smiled, and I didn't understand.
But he knew what he was doing. He grabbed for the sword and came at me, splitting the air with the blade.
"What are you doing?" I shouted. "Why did you train me if you sought to kill me?"
"I had to be sure," he said, and I realized that his voice wasn't his own, that it didn't belong to Bevyn. I knew that voice, had heard it once in the valley and again in my dreams.
I looked around, sure that I would find another threat. Sure that one of Bevyn's brothers was here in the cave with us, possessing him.
"You had to be sure of what?" I asked angrily.
I thrust another blow of power at him, and he flew backward once again. The staff rolled across the floor, and the light went out. Only the light from my hands remained.
"I had to be sure that you had the book,” he continued in his high, false voice.
My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized the truth.
This was not the real Bevyn I was facing now. His body was only a shell filled by his evil brother.
Bevyn, where are you?
He grabbed for the staff, but I saw him coming. I willed the wood into my own hands, and suddenly the light at the tip grew until it was so bright he needed to shield his eyes.
"No! You can't!" His eyes were frightened for the first time as he realized he was out of his league.
“I’ll bring that book back to my father,” he grunted.
He picked up one of the knives and attempted to throw it at me, but I easily deflected it with the staff. He began to crawl across the floor, reaching for the parchment that accurately showed the location of the Veiled Kingdom. But I grabbed it before he could, jumped to my feet, and picked up my pack.
He continued to crawl closer, trying to stop me, the look on his face frightened.
Then, he appeared. Bevyn, the real Bevyn, came out from behind one of the crevices in the wall. His face was bloody, and a large lump had formed on his forehead.
"Bree," he begged, falling to the floor. "Go!"
I walked backward out of the room.
The false Bevyn climbed to his feet and removed his shroud, revealing the man I had met in my dreams, in my nightmares.
Phalen.
Not only could Phalan possess his brother, but he could shapeshift as well.
Phalen ran for me, summoning the knives that were still left on the floor. But I had knowledge now that I hadn't had when I'd first arrived. I aimed the staff not at Phalen but at the ceiling, blasting the mountain until the rocks and boulders fell squarely upon him. As I backed out of the cave, I destroyed more and more of the mountain above us. Soon I reached the opening of the cave, but I knew the barricade I had created would not hold Phalen back for long.
I'm sorry, Bevyn. Sorry I have to leave you behind.
I turned and looked over the valley, barely able to see it at all. I could hear Phalen behind me breaking through the barricade, and I knew I had no choice. I gripped the staff tightly in my right hand, lit my hands with fire, and jumped.
I started rolling down the cliff face, trying desperately to hold onto the staff. I knew I would need to stop rolling if I were to escape, but I wasn't sure how. Finally, as my head began to knock against the rock, I gripped onto the sheer face of stone with my hands. I was surprised when they stuck to it like glue.
I knew that I couldn't hang onto that ledge forever, though, and when I heard some of the boulders moving from back in the cave, I knew I didn't have much time. I looked down below, trying to gauge just how high up I was. I didn't have a choice. I had to jump. Tears were running down my face as I realized the betrayal and my danger at the same time. Phalen was not going to let me go easily.
I pushed off the rock and let go.
I found that my desire to stay close to the wall was enough to slow my descent, but when I finally landed, it was flat on my back. In my pack, I heard several vials of Light break. Somewhere in my brain, it registered that I would be without one of my greatest weapons, one of the only advantages that helped in this place. But I couldn't think about that now because I couldn't breathe at all. I tried to suck in my breath, but none would come in.
I looked up, and seeing Phalen at the top of the mountain reminded me of just how much trouble I was in, whether I could breathe or not. But when I saw that he had his brother, Bevyn, by the back of his neck, gripping with one of his huge hands, I understood.
"Don't run!" Phalen called, somewhat desperately, I thought. "If you run, I will throw him from here."
"Don't listen, Bree!" Bevyn screamed from the top of the mountain, his voice hoarse. "Get out of here while you have the chance!"
I was able, finally, to catch a little bit of my breath. I rolled over and realized that my back was wet with the Light that had spilled from the broken vials. I wondered if I had any left, though it didn't seem to matter right then, for a moment later, Phalen made good on his promise.
I tried to catch him as he fell, but Bevyn was doing the same thing I had. He was rolling down the side of the mountain, completely out of control, and I didn't know if I would ever be able to help him again.
When he finally made it to the bottom, he was like
a broken bag of bones. I ran to him and dropped to the ground on my knees, taking his hand in mine.
"Bree, don't wait," he said, choking. "He'll kill you if you do."
"I have Light that I can give you," I said. "It won't hurt me one bit."
His breathing was shallow, for he had landed on his stomach, not his back as I had. He looked up at me, a combination of terror and peace in his eyes.
"Bree, you must run," he said as his voice began to fade away. "Get away from Phalen while you still have the chance."
"But where do I go?"
He could barely speak at that point, and I knew he was using his last breaths to try to warn me.
“I’ve taught you everything I know about these mountains. Find somewhere and hide. You cannot outrun him. Now go!"
A sob escaped my throat, but I knew that wouldn't do. I wasn't sure that I’d be able to win a battle with Phalen, and now wasn't the time to find out. We would meet again on the battlefield, I knew, no matter how much I wanted to take my revenge now.
This was no time for pause. Before I stood up, though, I placed one hand on Bevyn's forehead, shooting him full of power, just enough to ease him into death.
"Goodbye, old friend," I said. And I stood up and ran as fast as I could, away from the man who'd taught me so much, away from the man who had exchanged his life for my own.
Chapter 8
I wasn't sure how well Phalen really knew these mountains. He had walked among the peaks, finding Bevyn again and again.
But I was not Bevyn.
I ran for my life, for my father's life. For Regan. For Brennen. I ran to prevent the total destruction of my world. All of these things seemed equally important in that moment. But it was only a matter of time before Phalen would catch up with me. My eyes scanned the darkness, barely able to see the ground at my feet. I headed in the direction of a different cave, or at least what looked like one. I dared not light my hands. Instead, I held them out in front of me and turned, running directly at the rock, hoping that I could find it with my hands before knocking it with my head.
Finally, my hands hit stone, and I knew I was saved. It didn't take me long to find a cave, but it would take me some effort to lock myself inside with stone. I had to be quiet, though my hiding spot would be worth nothing unless I could close the entrance.