Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One)

by Peckham, Caroline

  She shut the door and moved over to another panel on the wall, pressing her palm to it for a moment then the pod glided out of sight in response.

  Ely stretched laboriously. "Can't wait for a cuppa," he said through a yawn.

  Laura walked to the door marked with a black number three. She stood in front of the mirror and a tinkling bell sounded before the door slid to the side to allow them access.

  They ascended a wooden staircase to an open-plan kitchenette and living room. Soft white armchairs and sofas faced a wall composed of floor-length windows covered by wooden shutters. The space was designed to be simple and bright with tones of white and grey broken up with small touches of green.

  Laura moved to the kitchenette and began fussing around with various Alevinum metal devices. She returned with a tray of cups and a tall, pink pot that had a long, winding spout. Oliver could smell something sweet and earthy coming from the pot which made his stomach rumble.

  "Try this. It's Glacian Tea, it'll warm you right up," Laura said.

  She poured the liquid, which was white and creamy in colour. The tea tasted as good as it smelt and it warmed Oliver through to the bones in seconds.

  "So, about my parents?" Oliver prompted, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

  Laura took a sip of tea and smiled. "Well, your parents went to university together here in Alevale. I went at the same time, but we were enrolled on different courses. They were interested in the Gateways but I was more into politics."

  "Here in Aleva teenagers go to university at sixteen through 'til eighteen," Ely chipped in.

  Oliver nodded, excited to know more.

  Laura continued. "Your mum and dad got together in their first year. Your dad, William, had a friend called Isaac Rimori who he was completely inseparable from. They were both obsessed with the Gateways. And I mean obsessed. I couldn't stand hearing about it for more than five minutes." She rolled her eyes. "My brother Eugene-"

  "I don't think they need to know about Eugene," Ely cut her off sharply.

  Laura threw him an angry look. "Yes they do. They should know the whole truth."

  "We want to know," Oliver insisted.

  "Please?" May begged.

  Ely looked as though he were about to protest further but Laura barrelled on. "Eugene went to university a year after me and Alison. He got to know your father through Alison and became like William and Isaac Rimori's puppy dog." She wrinkled her nose. "The four of them were really close by the end of their final year and your parents and Isaac were planning a trip to the other worlds to see how many keys they could win. Eugene was a year behind them so he was unable to go. He got so upset about it that he just dropped out of university so he could join them."

  "Let's not go on about it too much," Ely said, looking hurt.

  "Sorry Dad. Well basically, Isaac and William took part in Earth's challenge and they both won keys. Eugene and Alison already had keys because they grew up in Earth so the four of them went through the Gateway that day. From what I heard, William proposed to your mum and they ran off to get married straight away."

  "And why was that illegal?" Oliver asked.

  "Oh, of course, sorry I'm forgetting you actually don't know anything about anything." She laughed. "So, your dad was a mage-"

  "Seriously?" Oliver blurted and May said "What?" at the same time.

  "Yeah, but your mum isn't. She's a Dud like me," Laura said.

  "Wait, wait, wait, now I'm confused. What's a Dud?" May asked, screwing her face up.

  Laura looked at Ely who waved a hand for her to continue.

  "I told you it was complicated," Ely said before she began.

  "A Dud is the first child born to mage parents. Me and Alison are twins so we're both Duds. The second born child is termed a Renic mage and the third born child is a Lanic which is always the most powerful. You can't bear a magical child unless the parents are both mages. It's illegal for a mage to marry someone who isn't magical, including Duds."

  "Psh, they can just not until they've done their duty. As long as they've married a mage and produced magical children they can petition for divorce and marry whoever they like once their kids are grown up," Ely grumbled.

  Oliver guessed this was what had happened between him and Laura's mother who, he realised with a pang, was his grandmother. It was a strange feeling to have spent his life within a small family to suddenly discover he had a seemingly extensive one. He thirsted to know more about them.

  "So, if mages don't have children together there won't be any more born?" May confirmed.

  Laura nodded. "Exactly, it's thought that there used to be mages in Earth but they died out before Dorian Ganderfield went there because they rarely had children together. He positioned an Alevian mage at the Gateway in Earth and later the Council placed some amongst the King's society to aid them in keeping their secret.

  "Mages are still fairly rare and a few worlds, including Aleva, revere those that remain. Some are even famous. The Council of Heptus passed the law to stop them becoming extinct because they're needed to maintain the Gateways, their magic is what keeps them intact."

  "And this Council can create laws that apply across all of the worlds, can it?" Oliver asked.

  "Yes, it's the law in all seven worlds that mages can't petition for divorce until they have brought up three children so there are always two mages to replace the two that produced them. It never used to be that way but mages started declining in numbers," Ely said.

  "That's awful," May said.

  "It can be. It makes sense but it takes away a basic freedom. Many are placed into arranged marriages by their families from a young age. They're usually paired according to their level of power so as to produce powerful children," Ely said.

  "But why don't the Council just make mages have more children, why just three?" Oliver asked.

  "Mage couples can't have more than three children. Only in very rare cases do they have four and that's usually a case of twins, as with me and Alison. No one really knows why."

  "So when your dad married your mum they were defying the Council. But the Council didn't find out for three years. You were already born, Oliver, in Brinatin," Laura revealed.

  "I wasn't even born on Earth?" Oliver asked in shock.

  Ely shook his head.

  "But how could I have gone through the Gateways without a key?" Oliver asked.

  "Children can go through accompanied by a key-bearing adult up until they're sixteen years old. Then they are permitted to attempt the Gateway challenges in order to get their own keys," Ely explained.

  Oliver nodded, not sure how he felt about knowing his true heritage. He swallowed in an attempt to wet his mouth but failed.

  "So, what about my parents? What happened after they got married?" he asked.

  Laura ran a finger around the rim of her mug as she spoke. "The High Mage, who's the head of the Council, banned them from seeing each other. He ordered your dad to marry the mage that he already had an arranged engagement with. That's when your mum took you to Earth."

  "And you didn't see her again after that?" Oliver asked.

  "I still visited her occasionally. It wasn't until your dad died six years later that she cut everyone off," Laura said.

  "Did she see my dad in that time?" Oliver asked, wondering if he had ever spent time with the stranger that was his father.

  "No, they couldn't. Not only were they banned by law but your father had gone into hiding." Laura glanced at Ely who shook his head slightly in response.

  "What is it?" Oliver interjected, sure his grandfather was trying to hide more of the facts.

  "Dad, he should know. It'd be worse if he hears it from someone else," Laura muttered out the corner of her mouth.

  "What? Tell me," Oliver insisted, feeling his heartbeat quicken.

  Laura's eyes shifted to his. "There was an incident involving your father's betrothed. William and Isaac were seen leaving her premises on the night she died, Rose Isla was
her name. They were accused of her murder and William, Isaac and Eugene went on the run soon after.

  "I doubt William could have gotten to Alison after that, the Gateways were being tightly monitored. No one heard anything from them until six years later when the news of William's murder came out," Laura said.

  "But there wasn't any evidence to prove my dad killed her?" Oliver asked, feeling an inexplicable compulsion to defend him.

  "Well, no," Laura said slowly. "But he was a mage. He could have destroyed the evidence."

  "How did she die?" May asked, her pale skin somehow paling further.

  "It appeared that she overdosed on some narcotic. Rose was very popular amongst the people, she was a high born mage who used to speak out on issues of human rights. When she died, the people of Aleva were in uproar and, when a witness came forward to say they had seen William and Isaac present at the scene of her death, the public wanted blood."

  "But his friend, Rimori, it must have been him. He was the one who killed my dad. He was the murderer," Oliver argued, refusing to accept the accusations about his father.

  "Perhaps you're right," Ely said but Oliver sensed it was only in an attempt to keep him calm.

  "What happened to Eugene?" May asked and Oliver was aware that she was purposefully steering the subject away from his father.

  He listened, but began to chew the inside of his cheeks anxiously.

  Ely shifted in his seat. "My son was tried in court for conspiring against the Gateways and assisting Rimori in getting to Vale. He had also been on the run from his own arranged marriage like your father. They locked him up for almost ten years to make an example of him. He only got out a few months ago."

  "But he didn't do anything wrong," May said sadly.

  Oliver thought of the dusty bedroom back at Oakway manor, feeling a twinge of sadness at the thought of Ely packing up Eugene's things. He realised Ely must have sealed the boxes shut with magic.

  Laura shook her head. "He did. It's one thing to believe the Gateways shouldn't be in place but to actively go against them is an act of terrorism against the Council." Her voice quavered slightly as she spoke.

  "Did you visit Eugene in prison?" May asked.

  Laura nodded. "Just once. He wasn't the same. Something about him wasn't my brother anymore. He said he was too ashamed to talk to me and didn't want me to visit again." Laura's eyes glistened with tears. "I know what he did was wrong but he was harmless. He would never hurt anybody."

  "Will you visit him now he's out of prison?" May asked gently.

  "Maybe, but he's living in Brinatin so I'd have to take a trip there. I was hoping he would contact me but so far I've heard nothing," Laura said, a sad look creeping into her eyes. "You haven't heard anything have you Dad?"

  Ely shook his head firmly.

  Quiet fell over them but Oliver's mind was a clamour of noise as he went through everything he had been told. The blood that ran in his veins could be that of a murderer's. He didn't want to believe it and it was going to take a lot more than speculation to convince him.

  9

  A Desolate Land

  Ten Years Ago

  Rimori fell through the Gateway to Vale and landed on his knees, splitting the skin on razor sharp rocks that lay beneath him. His right hand was shaking, his fingers still gripping the knife so tightly that it hurt. He eyed the blade which was covered in fresh blood and felt the full force of what he had done.

  He suppressed a wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him and opened his eyes to take in the world before him. As far as the eye could see was black rock, swathes of it reaching ahead of him into the distance. He rose to his feet and gazed at the landscape of Vale in silent awe.

  The Gateway was embedded in a blackened, charred tree that curved over like a withered hand. The baked-looking earth sat beneath a blood-red sky and the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive, making Rimori's lungs labour a little harder than usual.

  A few feet ahead, the rough terrain dropped away into a massive canyon that disappeared into a shadowy abyss. Rimori crept towards the edge and gazed down into the impenetrable blackness where, far, far below was an obsidian river only distinguishable because of its glossy, ink-like sheen.

  He drew away from the ledge and gazed into the distance where enormous, dark mountains towered into the sky, their shapes irregular and curved. It was as if the rock had once been a chaotic, black ocean that had frozen in time.

  Rimori wiped the blood from his knife and attached it at his hip, thinking through the movements carefully as he concentrated on remaining calm.

  The ground shook in a sudden earthquake and Rimori ran towards the Gateway, clutching a branch tightly as he watched part of the canyon wall crumble away into the nothingness below.

  The shaking ceased and he gathered his thoughts, considering the plan he and his friends had discussed over and over for the past few years.

  He needed to find the shadow creatures that lived in Vale, the varks. He gazed around wondering where they might dwell within the desolate land. The varks were the main reason he had travelled to the seventh world and was certain that they would lead him to the truth behind the Arc.

  The ground beneath his feet trembled again and he stumbled to his knees, still clinging to the Gateway tightly.

  "Doriannn?" a voice hissed inside Rimori's mind and he threw a hand to his forehead in shock. "Doriannn?" it hissed again.

  "Who's there?" he shouted, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

  "You mussssst pay for whattt you didd," it said and Rimori crumpled to the floor as pain ripped through his body.

  He screamed, feeling a slashing, ripping sensation as if a beast were clawing at his gut.

  It stopped as abruptly as it had started and he looked down at himself, panicking as he expected to find his torso torn to shreds. He was astonished to discover himself whole, his entire body free from a single scratch.

  "Stop, stop, please. I'm harmless," Rimori gasped, desperate not to be subjected to the pain again.

  There was no one close by but he could feel a shadow pressing down on his body, somehow weighing a tonne yet there was no sensation of being physically touched.

  "Doriannnn," it repeated.

  "No, I'm not Dorian. My name's Rimori. Isaac Rimori," he said frantically, his mind finally registering what the voice was saying.

  "Rimmorii?" it repeated in a deep, gravelly hiss.

  Rimori squirmed on the floor against the vark's unwavering hold.

  "Yes, Rimori. Not Dorian," he said through gasps, the air being squeezed from his lungs.

  "Magee. Magicc. Burningg." Its anger was increasing.

  "No. I'm not a mage. I can't hurt you," Rimori wailed, willing the creature not to attack him again.

  "Why havvve you come to my worllld?"

  "I want to destroy the Gateways. I want to make an allegiance with your kind."

  "Allegiancccce? Yessss, yesss," it hissed.

  Rimori felt a twinge of hope. "Yes," he groaned.

  "No allegianccce with humansss."

  Pain ripped through him again. His body convulsed violently and his eyes rolled up into his head.

  "St-stop," he managed.

  The pain ended abruptly and Rimori's breathing came in tiny pants as he struggled to draw air down into his lungs.

  "Please. Give me a chance," he wheezed.

  The vark didn't answer for a moment then said, "No chancessss."

  Rimori braced for more pain, screwing his eyes up and clenching his fists.

  "No mmagic. You havvve none," it said after a moment.

  "Yes, I have no magic. I can't hurt you," he said in relief.

  "You'll commme with me. Yess, yess. Follow closssssely or mmore painn."

  Rimori felt the creature release him and he rolled onto his back, his chest rising and falling erratically as his breathing returned to normal.

  "Come," the vark ordered, the voice vibrating in his ears.

  Rimori's hands shook as
he pressed them to the ground and righted himself.

  He could feel vibrations emitting from the vark a few feet away and a barely perceptible shadow signalled its position, almost as if a cloud had drifted over the sun. He discovered that its form became nearly visible in the periphery of his eye but, if he tried to look directly at it, the vark was indistinct once more.

  "Thissss way," it hissed. Based on its voice alone, Rimori would have guessed the creature was male but he wasn't even sure that varks had genders.

  Rimori stumbled after it, feeling his way using the vibrations it seemed to dispel.

  The vark led him to a cave, the entrance to which lay at the bottom of a tall rock structure shaped like a giant, piercing thorn that jutted up into the sky. He descended deep into the dark cavern where the rocks resembled hot coals giving off a faint, red light which appeared to burn from inside them.

  Rimori reached the main chamber, crossing to the heart of the chasm where he sat down on a plinth of stone. Exhaustion dragged at him. Even in the days before he entered Vale, he had eaten very little and barely slept a wink. Worry racked at him as he wondered where his next meal would come from.

  "What's your name?" Rimori asked the vark in an attempt to make peace with it.

  He felt it shift around him, making his body quiver.

  "No namee. No need for namessss."

  * * *

  Rimori went four, excruciating days without a drop of water. Hunger was a burden he had hoped we would never experience again. It was ironic, he thought, that he would die the way his life had begun: starving and alone.

  The creature visited him throughout each day and, although Rimori pleaded for nourishment, it offered none.

  The familiar vibrations humming through the cave meant Rimori sensed the vark's presence well before it spoke.

  "Rimmmmoriii?" it said in a snake-like hiss.

  He was lying in a heap on the floor, his body curled up and foetal-like. He wondered if the vark was checking if he was still alive. He hadn't been well enough to speak with it for long periods of time because his head ached so badly that it felt as though his brain had shrivelled and was tugging on the inside of his skull.