Companion of Darkness: An Epic Fantasy Series (The Chaos Wars Book 1)

by CJ Rutherford

  Then I stood at the door, my hand hovering over the handle. My fingers trembled. My heart galloped, chasing the insects that fluttered up from my stomach. I clenched my teeth and opened the door. “Yes?” I sounded remarkably calm, bearing in mind my heart was about to rocket into orbit.

  Talyn stood just outside the doorway, framed in a shaft of moonlight spearing through a window on the landing of the floor above. I bit back a gasp. Maker, if he’d planned this, his timing was perfect.

  He moved, like ink on a page, the shadow shifting away from his face to reveal his sparkling emerald eyes. I must stop staring. He walked uninvited into my room. He was in my room! We were in my room…alone!

  “I thought you might like to go for a stroll.” His teeth gleamed in the light reflected from the bay outside my window. Shit, shit, shit!

  I made a concerted effort to inspect my robe, smoothing a wrinkle out. Anything but look at him. “And why would I want to go for a stroll with someone who clearly can’t stand me?” How I could even speak, considering the way my heart was quaking, was beyond me. His smile faltered, and my lips twitched up at the corners.

  Then he looked into me. His gaze speared into my soul. I suppressed a whimper as he spoke. “I think, at least for tonight, for the few hours we have before dawn, we can at least try to be civil.” He smirked. He had dimples. Oh, Maker.

  Thump…thump…thump. My heart filled my chest. I wanted to take a step back, tell him no, and ask him to leave, that this could never happen.

  Infuriatingly, he seemed to have an uncanny ability to read my mind, because he walked closer to me. I tried to turn away but he caught me by the elbow in a grasp that was gentle but firm. I sighed and looked up into his eyes, about to demand he let me go, but his face…my breath caught in my chest.

  He took my hand in his and led me to the double doors leading out onto the beach.

  ‘Walk with me.’ I stepped back, gaping. Impossible! His voice. I’d just heard it in my head.

  “How?” It was a gasp. My head reeled. It was at once filled with the music of the bay outside, the song of the ocean, but then Talyn took my hand again, his grasp firm.

  “Walk with me,” he said, aloud this time. He guided me out the bay doors, across the veranda, and down a set of steps to the beach.

  The fine sand was cool under my toes, and outside, under the stars, the night was alive. For a moment my shock at his ability was forgotten. In the jungle at the base of the peaks soaring above us, all manner of wildlife sang a complex song. In the air above, sea and land birds danced to the song, while the bay was alive with light, streaks of every color darting below the dark surface.

  “It’s wonderful,” I gasped. Then I realized he still held my hand. The sensation from earlier was still there, flowing between us, but it was muted. I wondered at that. My own palm grew sweaty under his grip, so I let go before he noticed, taking a step back to look up at him. Damn, he’s shining. He smirked.

  “You talked inside my head,” I blurted out.

  Talyn smiled. Was that a touch of embarrassment? Was he embarrassed to have kept it a secret. “What, you think you’re the only one?”

  My jaw dropped open. I think I might have squeaked before I closed my mouth with an audible snap.

  “You knew?” I was part excited, part amazed, and quite a large part furious that he’d known about my ability all along. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’m sure Ember would have informed on me, but I got the distinct impression he’d known from the first moment we met, on the beach.

  I planted my hands on my hips, fully intending to give him a piece of my mind, but then his words hit home. “There are more of us? More who can speak to another’s mind?” I’m not a freak! I silently celebrated.

  Talyn’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “A few. You’ve met one already.”

  “Ember, yes, I know about her,” I said. “I mean are there any more of us…you know.” I almost said two-legs, the word Ember used to describe us.

  “No,” he said quietly, suppressing another smirk. “You’re the only other two-legs I’ve ever met with this ability.” I wanted to slap him.

  Okay, maybe I’m still a freak, but at least I’m not alone in my freakdom.

  “You are not a freak.”

  “Would you stop doing that!”

  He chuckled. “Maybe if you didn’t keep screaming your feelings so loud the bay echoes with them, I’d be able to.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I…am…not…screaming.” Maker, he was an insufferable pig.

  Talyn flinched theatrically, holding his side as if I’d struck him. “Ooo, the insufferable part might have hurt more if Vae didn’t mention it one or two dozen times a day, but pig? You wound me.” His shoulders slumped, but his eyes shone with mischief.

  I’d fought Browaen hundreds of times. He had invariably won, of course; he was huge and much stronger than me, but I still remembered the one time I’d bested him. My clenched fist had struck a lucky blow and broken his nose. I looked into Talyn’s eyes, and he took a step back, palms raised in front of him.

  “You know, you might consider talking to someone about these anger issues. You may have a tiny bit of a problem.” He held his hand up, a tiny gap between his thumb and forefinger.

  My blood sang in my veins, burning as it pulsed faster and faster.

  Talyn laughed, a tinge of wickedness sharpening the sound. “You want to fight, little imp?” He adopted a fighting stance, legs spread at an angle, arms loose before him, ready for a strike. “Fight me.”

  “And why would I want to do that?”

  He shrugged. “I’d heard faeries love to fight. Didn’t you and your brother fight all the time?”

  That was it. He’d crossed the line when he invaded the memories of my family. Deep inside me, a blue flame curled around my soul. It flew outward, piercing my skin like flaming daggers. Maker! It hurts!

  “Why are you being like this?” I said through clenched teeth, but Talyn simply sneered back.

  “You seem to be the one getting angry for no apparent reason, little faerie.”

  “Stop…calling…me…little!” Anger surged, latching on to the growing fire within me, feeding the flames. Agony coursed through every nerve in my body. It’s too much. I can’t stop it. Just as I felt about to burst, I released it.

  A blue flame blossomed from within me and reached out like a gigantic hand, swatting Talyn like a fly. He flew backward, writhing in my flame. I slammed him into the sand, my fire melting the sand, turning it to glass that shattered under his impact. I pressed him down, feeling the crunch as his body ground against the broken glass. His face was fixed in a grimace of pain, and part of me exalted my triumph over my enemy. Enemy? I faltered. The little voice struggled to be heard above the rushing cacophony of my anger, but slowly, oh so slowly, my willpower began to stretch out from within and gather the flames, stoppering the fury into whatever bottle it had escaped from.

  I collapsed to the sand, stretching my arm out, heaving. Fire still sparkled on my fingertips. Then I looked over at the smoldering boy, and every remaining spark was doused as a wave of coolness coursed over me.

  My heart raced. My breath quickened. “I’m sorry,” I said, horrified. “I…I don’t know what happened. I’m so sorry.”

  There was no response. Talyn lay still on the ground. He’s dead. I’ve killed him. I…am…dead.

  Maker! If Alwyn doesn’t kill me for murdering his son, Lyssa will torture me for robbing her of the marriage.

  I…am…dead.

  A cough and a groan. Probably the two most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. I wanted to take Talyn into my arms and hug him for, well, a year or so.

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  My blood ran cold. I couldn’t blame him. I deserved to die. I waited.

  Instead, a warm breeze blew.

  “Told you.” Ember appeared in a flash of flame, perched on the veranda surrounding my room.

  Talyn grunted. �
�I’m still going to kill you, you feathered freak.” He groaned as he rolled over and struggled to his feet. His clothes still smoked, but as a tiny spark ignited to a flame, Talyn snapped his fingers. Suddenly a mist of moisture surrounded him, damping the flame. A flood of relief flowed over me. He was alive. And he didn’t want to kill me. Not yet, at least.

  He turned to me, grinning widely.

  Sparks flew across my fingers again, reignited by my rising anger. “What, by the Maker, was that?” I hissed.

  “A test…and a warning, girl,” sang Ember, as if I hadn’t just, well, almost killed her prince. “Dragon fire harnesses emotions to gain strength.” She turned her head to me, cocking it sideways. “You have seen the result of mixing it with anger.”

  I imagined a succulent roast bird—a chicken—dressed with all the trimmings, and projected the image directly at her.

  Talyn snorted, but Ember simply ruffled her feathers. Talyn rolled his shoulders. I winced as I heard them crack. “Next time, a little less anger might be good.” He continued to stretch, and I stared surreptitiously at his muscles flexing under his skin. Dammit! I forced my gaze away and released my bottom lip, which had somehow got caught by my teeth.

  I looked at him properly. His clothes were scorched and burnt through in a hundred places. Oh dear. “I’m…sorry.” I was. I truly regretted what had happened, but what terrified me was my almost complete loss of control. “But what were you thinking? I could have killed you. I…I lost control.” Damn it, I was NOT going to cry.

  Then Talyn was there, taking me into his arms and pulling me tight against his chest. There was a large, smoke-stained hole in his shirt right in front of my eyes, but the skin below was untouched. Perfect, in fact. I reached up to touch it, gently in case it was damaged, but no.

  “How?” Talyn’s clothes were burnt rags, and the cracked sand turned to glass bore witness to the heat I had unleashed. I wanted to inspect his back, to make sure his skin was similarly unharmed, but I’d seen enough of his bare skin today. At least, that’s what I was telling myself.

  Talyn’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight. He smiled down at me. “I’m fine, Jes. Except for winding me a little when I landed on the sand.”

  “But how?” It was little more than a whimper. Hurt or not, I still felt terrible.

  “It might be easier to show the girl,” chimed Ember.

  Roast chicken. Turkey. Pheasant. Hot potatoes and gravy. Ember disappeared in a flash of golden flame and I smiled smugly.

  Talyn chuckled. “I think Ember has met her match.” He stretched a hand out, his skin shining in the moonlight. I took it, tentatively, and he led me toward the hills at one side of the beach. I had time to look back over my shoulder at the villa before it was lost as we entered the tree line. I couldn’t help but feel furious at the bird.

  A tug on my hand.

  “Where are we going?”

  He smiled, indicating up ahead. “You’ll see.”

  Ahead lay a clearing in front of a dark tunnel that delved into the side of the hill. It wasn’t truly dark, but like the tunnel down to the dining cavern, the passage was strewn with tiny diamond lights. They grew brighter as we entered, and although the incline was steep, the floor had steps, wide and level, cut into it.

  I could see Talyn’s teeth gleam as he smiled, leading me down.

  ‘I love coming here.’ I could feel his thoughts now. He’d dropped whatever wall he’d built around his mind, a little at least, enough for me to sense his relaxation.

  Soon we were in another underground cavern, crystals illuminating the ceiling and the surface of the water flowing into it. A short golden stretch of sand lay at one side, the water lapping up to it. There! What was that? Just below the surface of the water, hiding in one shadow before darting to the next, a single silver figure. Confusion and surprise at the presence of someone other than the person she had expected came from her, a whisper of resentment that dissipated immediately when the head popped above the surface of the dark water, inspecting me. In the flick of an eye, she was gone.

  The water quivered as if a pebble had skipped over it. Ripples appeared across the surface, bleeding into each other, causing the reflection of the crystals littered across the cavern to dance together before my eyes. The effect was mesmerizing, hypnotic. The shifting pattern drew me toward the water as a song began in beat with the pulse of the water. It was the most beautiful melody I had ever heard, lovelier than my mother’s soothing voice as she sang me a lullaby after a bad dream. It echoed. It was everywhere, the beat never in a single place, so happy in one verse, the next turning to wrench at my soul. Tears filled my eyes. I thought my heart might break.

  Out of the side of my eye I saw Talyn take a step toward the water. He heard it too. I wanted to go to him, to stay in his arms and just…listen, forever, but then he leaned down to dip his hand in the water. Silver tendrils appeared between his fingers. Webs…his fingers were webbed.

  “Cut it out, Wash.” His words rippled out from his hand, and the music cut off.

  No. Don’t stop! I silently pleaded. Talyn looked back at me, his face a mask of annoyance. He had read my mind again, but I was too enraptured with the song to care. Warm tears continued streaming down my cheeks, falling to the fine sand between my toes.

  This place was perfect, and I never wanted to leave. I could happily die here.

  Talyn looked across at me, his eyes flashing with concern and something else. Anger, but not at me.

  “Wash!” He clenched his fist and struck the surface of the pool, causing a wave to rise enough to splash against the walls of the cavern.

  For a second, my heart sank to my toes. My soul quailed at the loss of the melody, but then I started, like awakening from a dream, shaking my head. The song was gone and the patterns no longer flowed across the surface of the underground pools, or rather they did, but now in a random manner.

  Talyn’s wrist grasped a shining silver arm, and he drew a glistening body up to sit on the rocky ledge beside him. It was humanoid, clearly female, with long white hair that shone like her skin. No, wait. Her skin didn’t shine. It sparkled, as if millions of tiny diamonds were embedded under it. I was about to meet my first mermaid.

  “Stop it!” Talyn spat between clenched teeth. He was clearly angry over something. I was still coming out from under the influence of whatever had held me enraptured, so I couldn’t understand what or why, but his anger was short lived. He deflated and embraced her. She hugged him back and they talked quickly in a language I didn’t understand. Then I saw her eyes, familiar emeralds sparkling in her face.

  “She’s your sister.”

  The silver being’s eyes bore into mine. She preened, a smug smile gracing her lips as she glanced sidelong in Talyn’s direction. “Oh, I like this one, cousin,” she purred.

  “Cousin?”

  Talyn’s shoulders slumped, but his hand still gripped the figure, whose legs remained in the water. “Yeah. She’s a little wet, but you can’t pick family, and like most mermaids, she has the annoying habit of refusing to grow up.”

  The silver figure’s legs churned the water, and I grinned as a spout of brine rose up to splash Talyn in the face. He spat and grunted, his eyes sparking with mirth, before darkening to anger again.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Wash?” he hissed.

  Wash… a perfect name for her. But what did he mean? What had Wash done that was so terrible?

  Wash returned Talyn’s stare with a defiant expression, pulling her arm free. “Did you think I’d just let you leave without trying to do something, little cousin?”

  Resentment bubbled below the love she felt for him. Her eyes flashed in my direction, but I dropped my gaze, unable to meet hers. How could I? He was leaving to help me, to be a distraction, a toy for the princess to play with while I carried out an impossible task.

  Her defiance was short lived, however. She looked at me with guilt etching her expression. “I…I thought if I could anchor you
here…” Her voice trailed off.

  Anchor?

  Talyn glowered at his cousin. “My kin sing a special kind of magic,” he said, quiet enough I had to strain to hear. I got the sense he was trying to sound angry but failing abysmally. “If you listen to the song long enough, and the singer is skillful, you fall in love with a place and can’t bear to leave it. They call it the anchor.”

  I bit my bottom lip. I wanted to be angry, but like Talyn I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything except sorrow. I simply nodded and said, “I understand.” I did. She didn’t want her cousin to go, didn’t want him to risk his life on some sort of crazy mission, and if the only way to do it was to make me stay…

  Talyn thumped the water again, and his cousin visibly flinched. “I have a job to do, Wash. You know this.”

  “You can’t!” I blurted. I couldn’t say it before, in front of his father or Ember. They were too committed to this rebellion, but maybe, just maybe with someone his own age here I might stand a chance of talking him out of this insane plan. I rounded on him. “You have no idea what she’s like, Talyn.” It was the first time I’d called him by his name, consciously, at least. I liked the way it felt on my lips. I turned to his cousin, pleading. “Please, tell him he can’t.”

  Wash fixed Talyn with a diamond-hard stare. A long silence followed but I knew words passed unspoken between them. I felt the tension build until the air almost crackled with static. Neither of them seemed ready to back down. For a moment I thought Wash might come out victorious, until she deflated and dropped her gaze. Their eyes shone, both with salty tears.

  She turned to me, her face unreadable, but I felt the turmoil barely hidden below the surface. “I won’t.” Her voice was cold, a counterpoint to the desperate need inside her to do just that. My heart sank. Why not? I wanted to ask. What’s changed? A moment ago she was ready to bewitch me to make him stay, but now?

  She sighed. “Even if my cousin isn’t the stupidest, most stubborn person I know”—Talyn snorted— “the task needs to be done, and Talyn is the most likely person to pull it off.” The corners of her lips twitched. “He’s always been a devious little bastard.”