Velyn moved as if to glance over his shoulder, then made a sudden, jerking movement towards Cera. Cera’s smile dropped into an “oh” of surprise, her eyes widening frightfully. Her hands jumped to her chest and she stumbled backwards, Velyn following each step she took. I didn’t understand what I was seeing until Cera collapsed to her knees, the front of her pale dress rapidly coloring red.
“Cera!” I broke into a sprint, mind trailing behind my feet. I shoved past Velyn, trying to catch Cera as she fell backwards, white-blonde hair swirling in the lapping waves of the lake. Her eyes were open and staring, her mouth gasping without sound. Her hands spasmed once, then fell limp. I felt her breath leave her body as I held her.
“Wh-what—?” I stammered, looking up at Velyn.
His hands were empty as he knelt opposite me, watching Cera as her chest stilled and her eyes glazed over.
“How did this . . . What—” A dim corner of my brain told me I was in shock; that I couldn’t possibly process what had just happened. There was something important I needed to do immediately, but what that was simply wouldn’t surface in my mind. I stared dumbly at Velyn as he placed his hand over the wound in Cera’s chest.
As I watched, silvery mist drifted up from Cera’s body, curling and twisting in the suddenly still air. It started as a trickle, then streamed up like a backwards waterfall. Velyn held his hand through the mist, a grim expression on his face. When the mist grew so thick that I could barely see past it, Velyn made a fist. The mist condensed, turning into an ice crystal enclosed in my brother’s hand.
“What is—” my voice broke. My mind screamed at me to do something. Do something! Do anything!
I stayed still, holding Cera to my chest as Velyn’s grim expression suddenly turned to relief.
“I was afraid it wouldn’t work,” he confessed, drawing the ice crystal close to his body. “It would have been a shame if it hadn’t.”
“What?” I couldn’t raise my voice above a whisper. A corner of my mind was screaming, but I shoved it back, trying to understand.
Velyn held the ice crystal in both hands, staring intently into it. Suddenly, he crushed it between his hands, holding it close before him. He breathed in and silver light bloomed from between his fingers, seeping into his skin, flickering behind his eyes.
I had to get away.
That was the screaming thought.
I had to get away from him. I had to run away.
Now.
I lowered Cera as gently as possible. I want to say I was conflicted about leaving her, but the instinct to run had overcome all sentiment. Any care I took was to try and hide my actions from Velyn. If he was too focused to notice, maybe I could get away.
Eyes the color of lightning snapped to mine.
“Where are you going, brother?”
“How could you?” The strength in my voice surprised me. I eased back a step, getting my legs beneath me. “She was our sister. She fed us, took care of us. She loved us! How could you?”
Velyn glanced down at our sister’s body, something like regret on his face. “I wanted to kill you first, you know. I thought I could do it while you were sleeping; I could sense you had no magical strength left. It would have been easy. But you ran off and the moon was dark, so it had to be her.” Velyn looked back to me, stepping over Cera’s body. “Do you know why they locked Mother up instead of just killing her?”
“What does that have to do with you murdering our sister?” A hysterical edge was creeping into my voice; I had to keep that under control. I eased back another step.
“Everything.” Velyn’s voice was low and calm. “The king couldn’t have Mother killed because her bloodline would inherit all her magic, unleashing seven new powerful mages on the kingdom. But it doesn’t just work that way, brother. For each of us who dies, the others gain the lost power.”
“Is that—” I swallowed as bile rose in my throat. “That mist. Was that her power? You took it?”
Velyn nodded. “The powers of a far-seer are useful, but not very strong. But then again, neither are yours, are they, little brother?” His arm lashed out, a weapon glinting in his hand. I whipped out one of my new daggers, catching his weapon edge-to-edge. It was a dagger of ice. It shattered a moment after crashing against mine but reformed almost instantly, Velyn stepping in close to press the attack.
“I couldn’t go after any of our older siblings,” Velyn admitted, hair and clothing whipping in a sudden wind. “The eldest got the strongest magics. My power couldn’t hope to beat any of theirs, so I had to go after the only two younger than me.” His teeth flashed in a manic grin. “You can’t believe how excited I was to hear that you were finally going to meet with Cera. Both my younger siblings together. It was like a gift.”
My left boot splashed in the water as I was pressed back to the edge of the lake. I flicked a throwing knife free of my sleeve just as Velyn raised his free hand. His eyes flashed, and for a moment I thought he had blinded me before I realized that the light wasn’t coming from him, but from the lightning bolt he’d called down. I leapt free of the water, simultaneously dropping my heavy dagger and whipping my knife at Velyn.
The lightning bolt found the steel of my dropped dagger before it could find me, turning the weapon into little more than a steel puddle. The throwing knife just missed burying itself in Velyn’s eye, instead skipping across his cheekbone and nicking his ear. He raised a hand to his face in shock, as if surprised that I dared fight for my life. His other hand flew to the sky again, most likely to call down another bolt.
I lunged forward, catching my brother off guard. I’m the first to admit that I’m not a strong mage, nor am I a particularly skilled fighter, but when my back is against the wall, I can be as fierce as any beast. And my brother had revealed something he hadn’t meant to. He was a poor fighter. His grip on the ice dagger was all wrong, he had no stance to speak of, and I would be willing to bet that the first person he had ever stabbed was our poor sister.
My second dagger appeared in my left hand as if summoned, and I spun, cutting a thin line across my brother’s chest. He yanked his arm down as if to protect himself and tried to form another ice dagger, but I shattered it with my steel before it could take full shape.
“You should have killed me in my sleep,” I hissed, settling into a low stance. “You should never have let me see you kill her.”
“You got back sooner than I thought you would.” Velyn held one arm across his chest, the other he held between us, as if to ward me off. “And I had to kill you both before the hunter got here. I can’t have him chasing me. I have too much to do!” Velyn thrust both hands out at me and a strong wind shoved me backwards. The knife I had just thrown went wild, forcing me to duck out of the way of it coming back at me.
“Cera told me all about your shapeshifting,” Velyn shouted over the wind. The water in the lake surged and the air filled with sand, leaves and twigs. I had to narrow my eyes to see through it. “Familiars are small, powerless creatures, useless for anything other than sneaking around. You can’t fight me, so why even bother? It’s either me or the hunter, Reshi!”
“I’d rather it be him,” I muttered through clenched teeth. “And you don’t know a stars-cursed thing about my magic!”
I shed my human form, alighting as a crow. I was tossed about but I quickly learned to compensate, angling down towards my brother. The flash of his eyes was my only warning before another lightning bolt lit the sky. A rapid shift to cat helped me fall out of the bolt’s path. I raced along the ground, skimming beneath the roaring wind and the objects it carried along with it. Claws and teeth bared, I launched myself at Velyn, biting and tearing at as much tender flesh as I could reach.
Another ice dagger formed in his right hand. I twisted out of its way at the last second, shifting once again, this time into the most powerful form I could take—a long, black, hooded snake. I wrapped myself around my brother, pinning one arm to his side and raising my head to look him in the eye
. He cried out and struggled, revulsion clear on his face. My tongue flicked once before I hissed and struck, my fangs seeking his throat.
Velyn’s body blurred, becoming mist. I fell, hissing as my heavy body struck the ground. Velyn reformed from mist only a few paces back from where he had been. He was panting, one hand pressed against his chest, blood dripping from my earlier slash. He stumbled back a step, his lips curled in disgust.
I undulated towards him, stopping short as his hand flew to the sky, preparing to call another lightning bolt. If I could get my fangs into him, it would be over. My venom was extremely deadly and it only required a scratch. But how to get close? I was quick as a snake, but not faster than lightning.
As the sky flashed, I shifted again. There was panic on Velyn’s face as he searched for me. The wind picked up again, tossing forest detritus and lake water about wildly. I sprinted along the ground, my tiny form hidden by the very wind that sought to reveal me—a black rat against the tempest. A lightning bolt arced down at random, Velyn’s eyes frantic as he tried to spot me. I managed to latch on to his boot before he noticed me and kicked out, sending me flying. I shifted to my cat form, twisting to land safely despite the violent launch.
If I shifted to crow, I could get above him and drop as a cobra. My thoughts halted as my vision blurred suddenly. I crouched, catching my breath, keeping a careful eye on Velyn. He staggered until he was leaning against a tree, watching me as I watched him.
We were both at our limit. He’d been using strong magic, trying to end the fight quickly. I’d been using my magic in rapid bursts, more than I ever had before in my life. I couldn’t keep up like this.
I stole a furtive glance around for anything that might help me. My weapons were near the lake’s edge, beyond where Velyn stood. Even if I could get to them, the throwing knives would go wide in the wind and lightning would catch anything steel. And if I shifted to human, I would be naked—not an appealing condition in a life-or-death battle.
Could I drown him in the lake? If I leapt at him as a cat, then turned human to hold him in the water—no good, he could just zap the lake and cook me. If I only had one shift left, it should be the cobra. One bite and this was all over.
“Give it up, Reshi,” Velyn panted, still braced against a tree. “If it’s any comfort, your magic will help me rise against our older siblings. If you—”
Velyn screamed, an arrow sprouting abruptly just beneath his collarbone. I flattened instinctively to the ground, eyes wide as a second arrow streaked towards the first. Once again Velyn turned to mist, the second arrow missing its mark and the first tumbling free of his flesh. He reappeared near the water’s edge where his boat was anchored. Blood soaked the front of his shirt and ran down his left arm, but with his right he yanked the tether free and half-climbed, half-fell into the small vessel.
“Your hunter is here, brother!” Velyn shouted from the deck of his boat. One yank on a rope and his sails dropped. I felt the wind pick up as they bulged, hull scraping against sand as it struggled into deeper water. “It doesn’t matter who kills you, your power will still disperse. You should have let me have it, Reshi!”
An arrow thunked into the side of Velyn’s boat, humming as it vibrated against the wood. Velyn cursed and his sails billowed, the boat pulling free of the shore and heading out into open water. I raced for the water’s edge, thinking vaguely that I could still catch him if I flew after him as a crow. Even as I thought it, I knew I’d never make it. I watched the boat shrink as worn leather boots stepped up beside me.
I won’t look up at him, I told myself firmly. I had nothing left. He could go ahead and kill me. My tail twitched in irritation, but I held still, face turned away, waiting for the fatal blow to come.
Waiting was boring.
How long did it take to kill a cat, anyway?
I looked up. Kestral held his strung longbow in the hand closest to me, a quiver hooked through his belt. On his opposite hip, his sword was loosened, ready for a fight. He reeked of sweat, not just his own, but of horse-sweat, too. He had ridden hard to get here. I kept looking up until I met his eyes, orbs of ice glittering down at me. I held his gaze evenly, letting him know I wasn’t going to run this time. Slowly his chin tipped, his eyes shifted. I followed his gaze to Cera’s body, forgotten at the water’s edge.
“I’m sorry.”
My heart stuttered, leaping into my throat and choking me. The pain in my chest was suddenly too much to bear. My form trembled, blurred and dropped away, leaving me naked on my hands and knees, staring piteously at my poor sister’s corpse.
It would have been kinder for him to kill me.
Instead, I heard a rustle of cloth before something dark dropped over my head. I reached up and found the edges of a short riding cloak. It wasn’t much, but it helped me feel less exposed. I couldn’t look at him again, couldn’t bring myself to meet those eyes. If I did, the pain in my chest would rip free like a wounded, howling beast. I kept my eyes on Cera, biting my lip to keep the beast inside.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Probably.” His voice was the same as ever—cool, even, emotionless.
It took a moment before I was sure I could speak without my voice breaking. “Will you let me bury her first?”
Silence, followed shortly by one word, “Yes.”
The boots beside me turned and he strode back into the forest. Was he leaving? Was he giving me the option to run?
No. No, I couldn’t run. I would never forgive myself if I just left Cera like that. Holding the cloak closed at my throat, I stood on shaky legs and went to her side. She had already grown cold, lifeless eyes staring sightlessly, still wide with surprise. I moved her away from the water’s edge, then stopped and changed back into my clothes. They were damp from the water, but I would be dead soon, so it didn’t really matter.
After laying the borrowed riding cloak across the wound on Cera’s chest, I lifted her. She was heavier than I expected, and I staggered under the weight before regaining my balance. When I had left the day before, I had made a circuit of the forest nearby and remembered a small clearing not too far from the cottage. I remembered it because it had been moonlit and beautiful, and made me think of Cera. After setting her down in the clearing, I picked up Kestral’s cloak and turned back to the cottage. Hopefully, there was a shovel hidden away somewhere inside.
Kestral was tying his horse to a ground spike at the front of the cottage. I handed him back his cloak, trying not to make too much eye contact. Kestral jerked his chin at the door of the cottage, indicating a collection of digging tools in various states of disrepair.
“Do you want help?” he asked.
“No.” I selected the sturdiest shovel from the pile, as well as a hoe. I started to walk back to the clearing, then stopped. “Did you hurt Wix?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I would have,” Kestral admitted, voice soft, deadly. “But I called in the debt. She told me everything.”
I nodded. I got the sense that he told the truth. The thought of Wix safe and warm back in her inn was a comforting one, and I carried it with me to Cera’s final resting place.
It was full dark by the time I finished digging Cera’s grave. Without a moon, the clearing seemed ghostly, sinister. At some point a small oil lantern was set nearby, though I never saw Kestral as I worked. I wondered vaguely if I shouldn’t have dug two graves, but then, why make it easy for him? Kestral might not even bury me. He would need proof to collect my bounty.
After setting Cera in her grave as gently as possible, I stood back and tried to find something to say. I wasn’t often lost for words, but even if I could find the right words, I couldn’t speak past the knot in my throat. I brushed away hot tears, irritated that a far-speaker should meet her end in silence. An eternity passed before I knelt beside the grave and took one last look at her.
“Thank you, Cera.” It was all I could manage. I looked away sharply, took a br
eath and began filling in the grave.
I don’t know how long I sat beside the mound. I replayed every conversation I had ever had with her, both in person and in my dreams. I wished I hadn’t shut her out so often. I could have known much more about her if I had cared to. It was all my fault; Cera had been the only one making an effort to bring our family together. Who was there now?
“. . . shi . . .”
Was that a sound behind me? I couldn’t bring myself to look. I half-hoped Kestral would sneak up and kill me, bringing a swift end to my mourning.
“Re . . . shi . . .”
It was the wind. How cruel of it to sound like Cera’s voice.
“Reshi?”
Could a far-speaker be heard beyond the grave? I looked around. The clearing was awash in a soft light, not from the stars but from below, as if lanterns hid in the undergrowth.
“Reshi?”
“Cera?” Both my voice and my body trembled. Would I really be able to see her again?
Light flared from a nearby tree and a completely unexpected being leapt free of it. Long-limbed with softly glowing skin and a pair of broken wings. Wix.
“Reshi, I’m so glad I found you!” Wix stepped lightly, as if the ground had no real hold on her. She threw her arms around my neck and buried her face against my shoulder. “Do you hate me? He called in the debt. I didn’t have a choice.”
“No, I know. Wix.” I tugged her shoulders, pushing her back. “I thought you couldn’t leave the village. You said the terms of your banishment—”
“Don’t apply when repaying a life debt.” She unwound her unnaturally thin arms and bounced back a step. “I can’t stay in your debt, Reshi. I made you something.”
I shook my head, still sitting beside Cera’s grave. “It won’t make a difference if you repay me. Kestral is already here. I’ll be dead in an hour.”
Wix quirked her mouth. “If that were true, then why aren’t you dead already?”
“I don’t know.” I glanced down at Cera’s grave. “Human decency, I suppose.”
Sorcerous Rivalry (The Mage-Born Chronicles Book 1) Page 8