The Caste Marked

by Mariah Esterly

  Serra was sweating from the effort of keeping the flame burning over her hand. She sat crossed legged on the plush bed facing toward the spot where the invisible door stood. If Valaine decided to visit her, Serra wanted to know.

  She counted in her head seeing how long she could sustain a steady flame. Serra had just reached thirty-two when the wall began to move. She extinguished the flames and thrust her hand down, trying to look innocent.

  Valaine stumped in looking somewhat more haggard than she had only hours before.

  “What happened to you?” Serra asked scooting to the edge of the bed and placing her feet in the stone floor. She wanted to be able to run if she needed to.

  “Age happened!” Valaine snorted. “With every little bit of magic I use, I age a bit. That will end soon enough. I will be young again and hale enough to last a dozen lifetimes.” Valaine regarded Serra closely. “Why are you all sweaty?”

  “You made me sick. I must still be working it out of my system.” Serra stayed by the bed, her body tense while Valaine stumped over to her. Serra cringed away while the old lady leaned close and took a deep sniff of the air around Serra. The stench of death and decay overwhelmed Serra, making her gag. The mage smelled almost as bad as the death muxins.

  Serra struggled to hold her breath while the mage lingered near her, and took a grateful gulp of air when Valaine nodded and moved away from her. “Yes. There’s still a bit of sickness in you. Had I known how potent it would be I might have cut the dose in half.” She sighed and stumped toward the wall. “As it is, I must wait to eat you. It wouldn’t do to spend my first moments as you sick.”

  Serra shuddered as Valaine turned away from her. “Follow me, shifter. We have much to discuss.”

  When Serra didn’t move, Valaine crooked her fingers and Serra’s legs began to move of their own volition. It was the most uncomfortable feeling Serra had ever experienced. Her muscles tingled, tightened and moved while she tried her hardest to stay where she was.

  The wall panel slid open and Valaine stepped into the hall, with Serra following. The metal anklet rubbed uncomfortably against her skin with every step. Serra focused on the discomfort, reminding herself that she had been able to do magic with it on.

  “I’ll walk.” Serra said. “You can stop using magic. I’ll walk.”

  Almost immediately Serra had control of her legs again. She kept pace with Valaine as she moved through stone halls past countless doors. Everywhere she looked Serra saw statues of different living beings. They reminded her of the statues in Sidondale, with their lifelike features and eyes that seemed to follow her. It was disconcerting to say the least.

  They entered a circular room, large enough to hold hundreds of people. More statues lined the walls here, carved into the stone, stretching far up to the ceiling, where Serra could just make out bodies, but no details. In the center of the room, high on a platform stood an altar with strange items on it. Serra saw a bowl, a knife, some herbs, and a grotesque statue. In front of the altar was a large stone table with leather straps at intervals around the edge.

  “This is where it will happen, my dear. This is where I will consume your power and become the most powerful mage in all of existence and you will simply cease to exist.” Valaine walked to the table and ran her hands lovingly over the stone. “But I will continue on as you. I will take your life. Your little friends the soldier, the prince, the dryad and,” she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, ecstasy on her face. “That delicious Thief Lord. They’ll all think I’m you. That somehow you were able to defeat me and escape.” She turned to the altar. “I’ve done this so many times, been welcomed into so many families, tears of joy have been shed on my behalf. And this time shall be no different. Would you like to see how it works?”

  “What?” Serra had been caught in the idea of this woman being pretending to be her, of Valaine being welcomed back into her companions’ arms with tears of relief and joy. Of the mage describing an epic battle in which she had succeeded and of this decrepit woman being held in Reks’ arms. “What did you say?”

  Valaine turned back to her. “I said, would you like to see how it works?”

  Serra didn’t have time to answer. A door behind the altar opened and a death muxin appeared, pushing a boy of about thirteen in front of it. The boy seemed in a daze. He blinked rapidly as if the light in the room hurt his eyes, though he did not cringe away from the death muxin or Valaine. He must be under an enchantment.

  The death muxin himself looked vaguely familiar to Serra. A ring on a chain hung around his neck. Realization hit Serra. This was the death muxin that had collapsed on top of her and made her sick.

  “Oh good!” Valaine clapped her hands together in a girlish way. “Dinner’s here. Bring him here.” The death muxin moved forward. “Good.” Valaine reached out when the boy got close enough. “There’s a good lad. A pretty lad. Tell me, what’s your name?”

  “Sirius Cornwell.” The boy’s voice sounded far away.

  Serra’s mind raced over the list of names and found his. “Sirius Cornwell.” she whispered. “From Helsing in County Varda. Taken nearly three years ago. He’s been here for three years?”

  Valaine shrugged her aged shoulders. “I pay very little attention to how long they’ve been here. I only know how much magic they have.” She clapped her hands together again. “Now, I promised you a show. Sirius, lay down on the table.”

  Serra watched as the boy laid down and allowed the death muxin to strap the leather strips around his ankles, wrists and finally his head.

  “Please,” Serra whispered. “Please don’t hurt him. I understand… I understand that you’re powerful. Please, don’t hurt him, just to prove a point.”

  Valaine turned from the table, the long knife glittering in one hand, the bowl in the other. “Oh, this isn’t to prove a point, my dear. This is because I’m hungry. I used far too much magic to get you here and now I need to replenish it.” When Valaine approached the boy on the table holding the knife, Serra started forward, intent on stopping her in some way. Valaine’s eyes flicked up and she snapped, “stay there,” and Serra found she could not move.

  Serra watched horrified as Valaine held the bowl under Sirius’s left arm and made a few shallow cuts in the flesh above it. A sharp intake of breath from Sirius was the only indication that he felt anything at all.

  When enough blood had dripped into the bowl, Valaine moved it back to the altar and added a few herbs to it. She mumbled some words, that Serra could not understand and the mixture in the bowl caught fire. Another word from Valaine doused the flames. The older mage lifted the bowl to her lips and drank deep of its contents. As she set the bowl back on the altar, Sirius began to steam... not steam but a vapor was rising from his body, a soft light blue in color.

  Valaine leaned over the boy on the table and stretched her mouth open, wider than any human could possibly open their mouth. She swooped along and around the table filling her over large mouth with the vapor. Every so often she would close the gaping hole and swallow. With every gulp Valaine grew younger. Her back straightened, her hair became a rich chestnut color, and the wrinkles on her face began to smooth.

  The boy on the table began to age. His body began to shrivel and wrinkle. Serra watched in horror as he turned into an old man right before her eyes. When all the vapor had been consumed and Sirius had ceased to breath, Valaine stepped back from the table and sighed.

  “He tasted of forests and berries. He must have some Dryadian in his family a few generations back. Delicious.” She looked at Serra. “So, now you’ve seen how it works. You’ve seen your fate. Are you frightened, little shifter?”

  Serra managed to shake her head, her eyes remaining on the boy on the table. “No.” She found her voice at last. “No. I’m not frightened. I’m angry!” She took a step toward Valaine, who looked surprised for a moment. “I’m furious that you believe this is your right! Mages are meant to help people.” She took another step. “They are meant
to make the lives of the people better. They are not meant to terrorize the entire country, children and parents alike.” The medallion between her breasts grew warm, hot almost, but Serra ignored it and started up the stairs.

  Valaine laughed. “What a powerful, good little shifter you are. A mage’s right?” she mocked. “What do you know of a mage’s right? You’ve only just found out you are one. It was my right to be loved by my mother and my sister, to live with them always. But my mother died and my sister fell in love. They left me, in their own ways. Just as everyone one would leave you if you did not die in service of me.”

  Serra was at the table now. She could see the ghastly horror that had once been a small boy and now looked twisted and deformed. She reached out and touched his hand gently, then raised her eyes to the mage who stood before her. “You are wrong. My friends would never leave me. They will be with me until the day I die. They are looking for me as we speak, planning how to kill you.”

  Valaine laughed again. “You are such a delight. I will so very much love becoming you.” She turned back to the altar and straightened the items she had used in the ritual. “I will become the most powerful mage in the entire world. I will have everything I want. Nothing will stop me.” Her voice took on a dreamy sort of quality. “Perhaps this time around I shall finally feel what my sister felt. Oh, little shifter, I have had six lives and in six lives I have always ended up back here at the Isle of Eyes. This time around I will strive to have everything I’ve never had.”

  Serra didn’t know what to say. She almost felt sorry for this old woman standing in front of her, especially when Valaine smiled at her and said, “This time I shall have friends. Your friends.”

  Chapter 31

  VAUGHN

  The remaining companions sat around the table in The Three Candles Inn in Port Luna, trying to discuss their next move, but no two of them could agree on a course of action.

  “We have to get Serra back,” Vaughn said.

  “No one doubts that, Vaughn,” Sylvan interjected. “But we don’t have a clue where she is.”

  “Time is running short,” Rian said.

  Reks slammed his hands on the table. “That much is obvious.” He pointed at the map spread on the table. “The most we can hope to do is continue on with what we were doing before. I say we get a boat out to Mistress Wylda’s citadel and see if she can point us in the right direction.”

  Rian shook his head. “That would be a waste of time! We should go to the village where Valaine’s sister is and try to wake her.”

  This sparked an argument none of them would win. Sylvan was banging her head on the table when she stopped suddenly and looked around. “Shh! Everyone be quiet. Be quiet!” Silence fell, but there was still the smallest of voices in the room. “Thistle?” Sylvan asked. There was no answer but the voice continued to talk.

  “It’s coming from your bags.” Rian said. Realization dawned on Sylvan’s face. In a flash, she was across the room, pulling out the large black stone her mother had given her. Serra’s voice was coming from its black depths.

  Vaughn relaxed hearing her voice, knowing she was at least alive, if not okay. Sylvan let out a deep breath. “You are wrong. My friends would never leave me. They will be with me until the day I die. And they are looking for me as we speak, planning how to kill you.”

  “That’s my girl,” Reks murmured. Vaughn glanced at the Thief Lord. He too had visibly relaxed at hearing Serra through the black stone.

  Vaughn didn’t recognize the voice that followed but it sent a shiver down his spine that he was hard pressed to hide. “You are such a delight. I will so very much love becoming you. I will become the most powerful mage in the entire world. I will have everything I want. Nothing will stop me. Perhaps this time around I shall finally feel what my sister felt. Oh, little shifter, I have had six lives and in six lives I have always ended up back here at the Isle of Eyes. This time around I will strive to have everything I’ve never had. This time I shall have friends. Your friends.” The connection was lost and the voices faded to nothing.

  “They’re on the Isle of Eyes. They’re at Mistress Wylda’s Citadel,” Vaughn said.

  “Then that’s where we need to go.”

  Chapter 32

  SERRA

  Serra followed the old woman down the steep stone stairs, her hand sliding along the stone wall. She pulled back quickly when something slimy slithered over her hand, leaving a trail of goo on her skin. The shadows became even darker, no trace of light filtered through the cracks in the crumbling walls. The steps stopped but the downward slope continued and they entered what Serra perceived to be natural tunnels that ran under the island. A waft of air reached her, bringing with it the faraway smell of the sea. The dampness grew and Serra shivered.

  "Cold?" Valaine asked. "Come, come my dear. I had expected more from you. If you are cold simply raise the temperature of your blood or grow fur. You have the power to become everything, why should you suffer through anything?"

  "Suffering is what reminds me I'm human. Besides, there is no guarantee that I won't suffer as a mouse or even a dragon."

  Valaine stopped dead in her tracks. "Could you truly become a dragon?"

  “If the feeling struck me, I suppose I could. It's not as though I’ve tried it."

  She turned toward Serra her newly young face positively radiant. "Think of the possibilities. You could become anything at all. Fog or fire, wind or rain, the tiniest of animals or fearsome creatures of myth. If only you had the brains you'd be cherishing and using this gift to your advantage. Even now captured and heading toward your uncertain future, you stumble in the dark and shiver in the cold. You were able to defy my magic to keep you in place, surely shifting, which you were born to do, will come easily.”

  Serra didn't bother to reply and Valaine snorted contemptuously. What the witch said was true. She could try shift and try to escape. But the show that Valaine had put on in the grand hall had stuck in her mind. She couldn't abandon the children to their fate.

  And the metal ring kept her from doing any sort of powerful magic.

  The death muxin behind her groaned and Serra started. Valaine had continued down the corridor. Serra followed blindly, stumbling on the uneven surfaces of the cave floor. She blinked in surprise when light flickered to life in front of her. A globe of yellow fire burned just over Valaine's head. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, Serra saw that the cave widened into a cavern just ahead. In the corners of the echoing space the shadows shivered and moved. Serra heard a faint whimper followed by someone hissing, "Shush."

  Her stomach turned as Serra realized that this was where the children were being kept. The stench of urine and unwashed bodies hit her and a wave of nausea nearly made her vomit.

  Valaine held her hands out in front of her, inviting the children closer. "Hello, my darlings. I've brought a new playmate for you. She is very special, so I want you to be exceedingly nice to her. If you are very good I will come down later a pick one of you to leave this place. Doesn't that sound nice?"

  Murmurs came from the shadows and moments later small figures crept into the flickering light. A little girl with straggling blond hair and dirt smudges on her face came forward and knelt at the feet of the witch who had imprisoned her. "Please, m'lady. Pick me. Me ma must be ever so worried. And my little brother, he needs me."

  "Well, aren't you sweet?" Valaine bent down and caressed the filthy head with a creamy white hand. "You are on the top of the list. But when I come back I will be asking Serra," here she motioned behind her "to tell which of you was the nicest. She will be the one to pick. So, you must be sweet to her."

  Serra's stomach tightened as all the tired and frightened eyes turned to her. As the children began to creep toward Serra, Valaine backed out of the cavern and the light above her head went out, plunging the cave into darkness.

  Serra felt little hands tugging at her clothes. "Please, miss, please. I'm ever so hungry. I need to eat."

/>   Tears pricked at Serra's eyes. Some of these children had been here for months. They were no doubt hungry and cold, desolate and scared. That Valaine lied to them and told them they would be going home sickened her. Serra knew that when the children left the cave they had no hope left of surviving.

  She cleared her throat and said, "Everyone watch your eyes." She concentrated as Sylvan had taught her and moments later light flickered to life over Serra's palm.

  She was sweating with the effort. "Is there something we can burn, so that we can see?"

  There came a shuffling and then a bundle of clothes was thrust at her followed by a large stick. "Excellent. Thank you. Now, who can tie this cloth around the stick for me?" One of the older children took the items and did as she asked. Almost, instantly the light in Serra's hand jumped to the makeshift torch and the cloth began to burn. "Well, that will work for now." She held the torch above her head and took in the sight before her.

  Her heart dropped. She had expected an ocean of faces. During their search, Serra and her friends had discovered hundreds of missing children. Perhaps half of that were in the cave. Valaine had been sampling the children before the time of the ceremony.

  "Serra?" Eva's voice came out of the crowd. "Serra, is that you?"

  Serra's throat closed. She wanted so desperately to answer but her voice couldn't squeak past the lump blocking it. It didn't matter. Moments later, Eva had pushed to the front of the crowd. She stared in amazement for a beat and then with a cry she threw herself at Serra, nearly knocking her to the ground.

  "I can't believe it’s you!" She wailed. She leaned back from Serra, grasped her shoulders looked into her eyes and then hugged her again. "It was horrible. Some monster stole me from my bed. I was going to get married. I met Arseno in Carpius when I went to get my Maiden’s Day dress! I loved him right away! I was going to tell you about it, but now I'm going to die!"

  Overwhelmed by the flow of words coming from her friend, Serra pushed her gently away and gave her a shake. "Don't be silly. You're not going to die, none of us are."