A Darkness Awakens

by Helena Lancaster

  Rafe had been spending the afternoon working with a frustrated Líssi. While she was gaining control and learning how to use her powers very quickly, she still was not completely focusing on the task at hand. Her mind was prone to being distracted from what she needed to be doing, which was causing her to start to make mistakes. This was unusual for her, but he had been told about what had happened at her home from both Dalía and Nóra. He needed her to know that she was cared for but that it could not impede her learning what he was trying to teach her.

  “Líssi, I need you to relax,” Rafe finally said. “I understand that things have not been going well at home and I’m sorry for what has happened.”

  “Thank you, Rafe,” she responded.

  “But, your frustrations are because that is keeping your mind distracted. You have to focus.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “Clear your mind. Let it all fly away to somewhere else. The only thing that exists is what is right here, me teaching you.”

  Líssi took a deep breath. She let the words Rafe spoke sink into her mind. Nothing else existed for her in that moment. The only thing that was there was her and Rafe. He had been an excellent teacher so far, and she was trusting him to guide her to where she needed to be with this. She was blessed with gifts due to her Ilysian blood and she had to learn how to control them. If this was the way she had to learn then she would follow each instruction Rafe would give.

  “Now I want you to think about fire. Fire is your element and anything made of it must bend to your will,” Rafe instructed. “You can create it and you can change it. Think of it as a possession. Fire belongs to you.”

  Líssi thought deeply about his words. She absorbed this instruction as if her life depended on it. Fire was hers and it belonged to her. She had to make it belong to her by controlling it as only someone gifted with the ability to manipulate fire could. She could feel power running through her entire body as it expanded inside of her. Her hands seemed to glow like embers as she raised them in front of her face. She was becoming fire as if she was made of it.

  “Good, Líssi! Very good!” Rafe exclaimed loudly. “Now let the fire free.”

  She held her hands in front of her and looked down to see that her entire body was radiating like an inferno. She used her mind to shoot the blaze within her out of her fingertips and into the trees in front of her. They flared up instantly in flames at her will. The blaze was going to quickly consume the trees because that is exactly what she wanted it to do. She had succeeded in her task. A smile covered her face as she saw the fire devoured by a large wave of water that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

  She turned around to see Ísábella standing in front of her and Rafe with a smile on her face. She had not been there in over a week and there she stood as if she had never left.

  “I saw all of that, Líssi,” she stated, her voice full of confidence. “You are far more powerful than we ever imagined or expected. It takes a lot of power to glow with fire as if you are the element.”

  “What does all this mean?” Líssi asked looking from Rafe to Ísábella.

  “Your destiny is more important than you think. I’ll be taking you to meet the Empress soon. You will be a delight to her.”

  Líssi found herself as speechless as Rafe seemed to be in that moment. Neither of them were able to speak another word to Ísábella. She found herself questioning everything she had ever thought and believed. She was important? She had a destiny? Could this all be true? Silently she wondered what all of this meant and what she should even do about it. She never felt like she was anyone and now she was so much more than someone. It was almost all too much for her.

  Chapter Eight

  Training had become more intense over the past two weeks. James hated having to push Addí the way he was, but he knew it was necessary for her to master the skills she needed to. There was much they all were having to improve. More members of the resistance were coming to him and Robert about not only training themselves but their children. They all wanted to be able to fight to return to their true home. The only strange thing seemed to be that they had not spoken with a single member of the Richards family. It was as if they had all but disappeared from the world, something that was completely impossible.

  He sat in his office as the night grew later, looking over a stack of letters he had been given from contacts still in Ilysia. There was even a letter for his wife from her Elven uncle. Perhaps it would contain information they were seeking. Things were growing darker in their homeland. It would not be long before they would truly have to start taking action and fighting back. He was already preparing letters to send to Queen Résalyn, King William III, and King Roanív requesting they send envoys from their respective courts. Alliances had to be cemented and relationships built before the fight truly began.

  He did not even look up when he heard the door to his office open. He already knew that it would be Katie.

  “Robert informed me that you received a letter for me from my uncle,” she spoke as she took a seat next to him on the sofa.

  “I did,” he responded as he handed her the still sealed letter.

  He watched her quietly as she carefully broke the deep green wax seal on the outside and unfolded the paper. She was delicate with it in her hands as she read the contents before passing the letter to him.

  “You should read it too,” she remarked as he took the letter from her and began to read.

  My Dearest Katheríne,

  I found the contents of your letter to be quite surprising. I must confess to you, my dear niece that your father and I spoke at great length about your adopted children on his last visit to Caréstylan. He shared with me about your Adríenne’s gifts so I began to look into information about them myself. I understand that it was not asked of me to do so but I wanted to know what others knew about such a child being born. Katheríne, please know that I did this with the best of intentions. All of the information I have acquired is simply rumor. I will inquire more and in person if I must. The most I know is that your daughter’s safety is paramount. It has been known that she has been born and confirmed by Oracles all over the land. The Empress knows of her existence and seeks her out to the point of having allies in this strange land you live in now. They will not stop until they find her; perhaps that is why she was placed in the care of you and your husband. The only link I can find to John Daesyn is that it is said she was born somewhere near Ílkésarén. I believe this confirms that the mother to these children you have raised as your own to be Fae and possibly a prominent member of Résalyn’s court. The Queen could even know about her birth. She and I have always been friends, so I have requested permission to visit in order to investigate this further. King William, however, is not so keen to speak of anything he may know. He was still spending quite a bit of time at the Fae court around the time of Adríenne’s birth. He has spent little time there since. It is said that his lover ran away and took his children along with her. Whatever the truth of any of these situations may be, they do not give you the answers you seek about your eldest children. I will speak to my Fae friend and see if she will help me solve this mystery for you. Whether she assists me or not, I will be sure to notify you. I have, also, not stopped pushing our King to enter this war as your ally when it does begin. I will not give up on this cause. I wish you and your family all the blessings of the gods.

  Your Loving Uncle,

  Jíma Váhalíssón

  James looked up from the letter at his wife. Her uncle had provided no concrete information but had already been seeking these answers before he was even asked. He could be leading them right to the biological parents of their eldest children. Now they knew that they were born near the Fae court and possibly half Fae. It was more than they had known before. John was never forthcoming with any information about the children. Could they be royalty? Could the human King’s reluctance to speak be revealing the identity of their father? He did not wish to speculate but it did pe
ak his curiosity.

  “He would really go visit Queen Résalyn in person?” he questioned.

  “Uncle Jíma is not the type to say he will do something and not actually do it, my love,” his wife answered quickly. “If there’s anyone I trust to find out without risking Addí’s safety then it is him.”

  “John is not going to be pleased.”

  “How can he expect us to raise them blindly without trying to find out who their birth parents are? I love them as if I birthed them myself. I truly do. But, we can protect them better if we know the whole truth.”

  “Except it’s only Addí that needs protecting.”

  “She’s stronger than you give her credit for, James.”

  “And she’s more important than she could possibly comprehend, Katie. It’s been almost a thousand years since someone of her power lived.”

  “With a large burden to carry she doesn’t even know exists.”

  “We have no choice but to start teaching the children more.”

  “You mean Ilysian history not battle skills, don’t you?”

  “I do and you can teach it to them better than anyone. They need to know it all. We can’t be afraid of scaring them now that the war is about to start.”

  “Nearly a thousand years of turmoil and now the war begins. It only took a prophecy to start to come to life.”

  James looked at his wife with a raised eyebrow. This was the first time she had mentioned the prophecy in more than a decade. He had learned that elves did not discuss such things until they were certain it was the right time. Katie might only be half-Elven but this was one of the many traits she shared closely with the full-blooded elves like her father. If she was bringing it up, then she had no doubts that it truly was coming to fruition. That meant that his wonderfully kind and loving wife already felt she knew who the prophecy spoke of and that was their eldest daughter. He was not ready to reveal this possibility to Addí. This was not a responsibility he would have ever wished on anyone, much less his own child. It only meant that the Empress would waste no time in seeking her out. They all were going to have to be on their guard if they wanted to win this upcoming fight.

  Zak sat on the floor, leaning against the couch with the worst hand of cards he had ever held in his hands. It was a reminder of why he hated playing cards with his sister. Addí took great pride in her ability to bluff her way to win after win. Except this time it wasn’t her that was taking all of the wins but RJ. His best friend had changed rapidly for the better since finally confessing his feelings to Addí. It seemed to instill not only confidence but strength into him. Despite Zak’s current frustration with the constant losing, he was beyond happy for both his friend and his sister. The three of them had always been close and while the relationship between RJ and Addí changed, it did not affect the friendship the trio shared.

  “I’m out… again,” Zak stated as he tossed his cards down. “RJ, some miracle has happened with you. You were never this good.”

  “I’m not afraid to call your sister out anymore,” RJ laughed in response.

  “Or of killing my streak apparently,” Addí muttered.

  “You had to lose some time,” Zak retorted with a laugh.

  “Well my mind isn’t in the cards lately.”

  “Dad is only pushing you as hard as he is for your benefit.”

  “Addí, you’re special and your dad knows that,” RJ added. “You’re the only one anyone knows of that has power over all of the elements. You have to be able to use that power.”

  “This isn’t exactly what I ever wanted,” Addí said.

  “We’re not normal people. We’re Ilysian,” Zak replied. “That makes us different. This isn’t our real home. Unfortunately we are going to have to fight a war to get our real one back.”

  “And where is Shane while we’re training for war?”

  “I’ve been curious about that myself,” RJ remarked. “It’s been how long now since he’s been around at all?”

  “About a month,” Zak answered. “Something’s not right. I’ve heard our parents whispering about it. They haven’t seen his parents or sister either.”

  “Is there anything we can do to find out what’s going on?” Addí questioned.

  “I doubt it. Dad would have our heads if we just went over to his house looking for him.”

  “The whole situation is odd,” RJ spoke as he began to gather the cards up from in between them. “Anyone up for another hand?”

  “Only if Addí loses again.”

  “It’s on now!” Addí exclaimed as she grabbed the pillow beside her and threw it at her brother’s head.

  He was unable to avoid the pillow colliding directly with his head. His sister always had good aim. The laughter of all of them filling the air was something Zak thrived on. He loved to laugh and joke more than anyone. It seemed to be his job to keep them always smiling and laughing no matter what was going on, a trait that would become more and more necessary as the war started.

  “Ok you win, little sis,” Zak laughed.

  “It’s good that you admit I’m better,” Addí shot back.

  “There’s little I can do that you can’t unfortunately.”

  “You have a healing ability I wish I had. Those that are gifted like you are going to be very much needed once we start fighting the war.”

  “But you can take on anything and use anyone’s gifts against them. You still don’t realize just how powerful you are, do you?”

  Zak watched as his sister stared at him with a look of disbelief filling her honey colored eyes. It was as if she didn’t want to be aware of the truth. There was an innocence in her that he hoped would never go away. Unfortunately he knew that war would steal that from her and she would have to recognize who she was though he didn’t fully know himself what his sister’s power meant. He hoped to all of the gods that his parents were more aware of the truth about Addí. They would have to be in order to keep her safe. He knew deep down that his sister had a bigger role to play in things to come than any of them could comprehend. He just hoped she would find her strength to do what she would have to do and that he would never have to leave her side until they have won their true home back from the dark forces of the Empress for good.

  Katie had spent much of the next few days taking care of things around their home. She had been working closely with Adelaide for what they would tell those they knew in Corinthia about the things that were about to change with their families. An explanation had to be created for when any of them would be gone from Corinthia to Ilysia for days, weeks, or longer. Eventually, they would all gather their necessary things and return to Ilysia for the duration of the war and whatever would happen after its end. The people of their current home did not understand or comprehend the magic of Ilysia. It was not something found here. It was a land to which many things from Ilysia only existed in fictional stories but could never possibly be real.

  She was careful to keep her younger daughters out of any of the planning. They were far too young to worry about the coming fight. They were at an age of understanding they were different but were still children. It was hard enough on her that her older children were preparing to fight. Any innocence that Zak and Addí still maintained would be quickly stolen away from them. Her husband was having no choice but to turn them into soldiers. Now she would have to educate them further on the land they call home to give them a better understanding of what they were going to be fighting for. It was starting to become too much but she knew the time was right. If she was right about the prophecy then the one it spoke of was now of age and the fight would have no choice but to begin.

  “Mom,” she heard her son say, taking her out of her thoughts. “I knocked but you didn’t seem to hear.”

  “Come in, Zak,” she responded softly with a smile as she looked up at her now grown son.

  She watched as he entered the small room they considered her office. James worked outside the home and she worked within it. Having a place
for her to keep everything she needed together was the reason James had the room set up for her. Zak took a seat next to her on the small sofa and looked over at her. There was a faint smile on his face, which was quite unlike him. Whatever he had come to her for had to be serious.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked him. “Your smile is not as wide as usual.”

  “I’m worried about Addí,” he answered quickly.

  “Why are you worried about your sister?”

  “She doesn’t seem very aware of just how special she is.”

  “Let her be in denial for a little bit, Zak. Power like hers is not to be taken lightly. Knowing that she is the only one in nearly a thousand years to have this kind of power is a lot to consume.”

  “You always talk so much like grandfather.”

  Katie laughed slightly. Everyone said she always sounded so much like her father that she seemed more like a full blooded Elf than a hybrid.

  “He has that effect on me to be like him it seems,” she remarked.

  “Can I ask you something more serious?” her only son questioned.

  “You can ask me anything, Zak. You know that.”

  “Who are my real parents?”

  Katie was taken aback by his question. She and James had never given Zak or Addí any indication that they had been adopted. How did he know?

  “What are you talking about?” she inquired.

  “Mom, I love you and Dad a lot but I figured it out on my own that Addí and I are not your children,” he began. “We look too different from you and our grandparents.”

  “I’ve only ever wanted to be a good mother to you both.”

  “And you have been.”

  “Does your sister know this?”

  “Not that I am aware. I’ve only said this to you.”