by Dyan Chick
"Osbert knows that if he kills Etta, he's risking his kingdom." The Oracle walked over to a chair and sat down. "I already told him that."
Max followed her. "He's losing patience. And to be honest, he's not making his decisions based on logic anymore."
"The Darkness has claimed him," she said.
Max sat down next to her. "He's not the same person you knew. He's a monster. You know that."
The Oracle glared at Max. "You're going down the same path, you know. I've seen your future. Things aren't going to go the way you want them to. You have no idea what you're going to have to give up to get the things you want. If you rule, it will be over a kingdom of corpses."
Heat rose inside Max. "I've given up everything already. There's nothing more I could lose."
"You have just begun to taste loss. You should go back to the Ravens, Max."
"Did you forget that I have a dragon on my side?" Max leaned closer to her. "I'm not stopping until I have my throne. There may be bloodshed on my path to glory, but I will be king."
She didn't flinch. "You really want my help, Max?"
He didn't want to fight with the Oracle. He knew how powerful she was and what a strong ally she could be. "Tell me what I need to do."
"You're losing yourself, Max. Every time I lose sight of you to the Darkness, your future changes. Once, I saw you as a great king. Those days are gone."
He rose and stood in front of her chair. "You are lying."
"Why would I bother to lie? I'm a prisoner here until another takes my place or the ruler of Illaria lets me go. You know this. What do I have to lose? At this point, death is welcome."
"How do I make it change?" Max asked.
She stood, eyes locked on Max's. "There is only one version of the future where you become king. And you do it with Ashton by your side."
Max winced, then quickly righted himself. He'd always planned on having Ashton as part of the Order of the Dragon but he didn't see how that could happen after what he'd done to him. "There's no other way?"
She shook her head.
Max took a deep breath. "What do you want me to do about your father?"
"Nothing. He made his choice."
5
Etta
It was a three-day journey to Greenville for the men taking the cart of supplies. We'd loaded in as much as we could spare and the whole camp gathered to watch it leave. The optimistic mood of the camp over the last few weeks was gone and we were left with a jarring reminder of how dangerous our path was. An anger had fallen over the people here, stemmed from the disbelief that the king would cause this much damage.
I faced the crowd as we prepared to teleport to the safe house. "We will return soon and I will bring whatever news I can of Greenville and the rest of Illaria. This changes nothing. We will gain the support of Gallia and we will take down the king."
Jax, one of the Ravens who worked with Saffron regularly training new members stepped forward. "Hurry back. The sooner we get this war started, the sooner we can kill the king and his sorcerers."
His words brought a smile to my face. Not long ago, I worried about the loyalty of the Ravens and wondered if they'd continue to follow me. The hatred of the king wasn't quite enough to unify us after Max left. Now, after my return from the Oracle, and the king's attack on Greenville, there seemed to be a shift in their attitudes. These Ravens were ready to fight with me.
A cheer rose behind him. The Ravens were out for blood. I wondered if the king's attack would have the same effect on the rest of Illaria. Would it drive fear or would it breed hatred? I nodded to Jax then turned away to where the rest of the group waited for me.
I'd learned how to teleport over the last few weeks but this mission was too important for me to risk experimenting with my newfound skill. I clasped Ashton's hand, grateful to have an excuse to be close to him.
He turned to me. "You ready?"
"Let's go." Clouds of gray smoke billowed up around me as our group left the camp.
Feeling solid ground under my feet, I opened my eyes and looked around. I let go of Ashton's hand and waved away the gray smoke that remained from our teleportation. The landscape in front of me seemed more hazy than usual. Where I should see rolling hills in the distance, I could only see clouds. The fog seemed to be creeping toward us, shrouding the fields with mist. It took a second to register that what I was seeing wasn't natural. The scent hit me and I knew in that instant that this smoke could only have come from a fire.
No! I covered my mouth with my hand and icy fear spread through me. Turning around, I found myself face to face with a burning farm house. The air was thick with smoke and my eyes stung.
Setting my bow down on the grass, I started toward the flames when Saffron pulled me back. "Running into a fire won't do anyone any good."
"We can put this out." Madame Lyndsey shouted. She and Master Flanders stood in their sorcerer stance and called water. I stood next to them, following their movements. Celeste and Ashton joined us. Together, we managed to pull water from a nearby stream to the house. We'd worked with water a lot in my lessons, but there wasn't enough in the stream to quench the flames.
Frustrated, I shook out my hands. There had to be a better way to extinguish these flames. We needed more water. Clapping my hands together, I glanced at the sky. Instead of calling to water, I'd create it. I turned to Celeste. She was the only member of our group that aligned with air and she commanded it with ease. "Celeste, help me bring more clouds."
Gusts of wind brought great clouds and I concentrated on making those clouds heavy with water. Thunder rumbled through the darkening sky. I closed my eyes, imagining the water falling onto the burning building. Rain began in earnest, then picked up to a downpour, drenching us through in seconds.
The flames subsided, leaving a soaking, steaming pile of rubble. We ran to the home and began to search for any of the inhabitants.
"A family of five lived here. They had three children," Saffron called. Her voice was filled with anguish as she tossed aside boards and moved piles of debris.
Anger welled up inside me and I felt the pull to the Darkness that was becoming all too common. Startled, I stepped away from the rubble, catching my breath and forcing myself to calm down. I wasn't any good to anyone if I let my emotions get the better of me.
Master Flanders narrowed his eyes at me as I stepped back. I shook out my hands and walked in a small circle away from the home willing myself to send the Darkness away. Once I felt like I'd regained control of myself, I joined the others in the search.
"Etta," Master Flanders called to me. "Go check the barn." He pointed to a building nearby that had been spared from the flames.
A jolt went through me. Please, please, please be in the barn. I ran as fast as I could and slid open the huge door. The barn smelled of animals and hay. I looked around and saw a lone horse restlessly tapping the ground with his hoofs in his stall. Above me was a hayloft. If I were hiding, that is exactly where I'd be.
"Anybody in here?" I asked. I didn't want to startle anyone who was hiding and I didn't want them to try to hurt me thinking I was an attacker. "My name is Etta, I'm here to help you."
No response. I stood at the base of the ladder to the loft and listened. The only noises were the whinnying and hoof beats of the horse mixed with the patter of rain. Butterflies filled my stomach as I climbed the ladder. Please be up here, please be safe.
I stopped at the top of the ladder and looked around. The hayloft was full of neatly bundled bales of hay, a good place to hide. "I'm coming up, but I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help."
A small rustling sound came from the other side of the loft. I rested my hand on the dagger in my belt and slowly approached. Peeking over a large stack of hay bales, I saw two children huddled together, a boy and a girl. They both had dark hair and brown eyes and were close in age, but the girl looked to be older. They were scared, but didn't look hurt. I let out a breath. Thank the gods.
They
stared at me with wide eyes then scooted back away from me. I removed my hand from my dagger and knelt down in front of them. "I'm here to help. It's going to be okay. I'm a friend of your parents, do you know where they are?"
The girl pushed her brother behind her and straightened. "Our parents sent us here to hide. Are you really here to help us?"
I offered a hand to the girl. "Yes, I am."
She looked from my hand to my face. "The guards had a sorcerer with them, how can you help against a sorcerer?"
I smiled at her. "Because I'm one, too. Not all sorcerers are bad."
She tilted her head to the side, nose crinkled in disbelief as she studied me. "A lady sorcerer?"
"Yes, and I brought help. There's more of us down there and we will keep you safe."
She took a step back from me, shrinking away.
"It's okay," I said. "I promise I won't hurt you."
After another pause, the girl put her hand in mine and let me pull her up. She turned to her brother and pulled him up.
"I think they killed our parents," the girl whispered.
I winced at her words and worked to keep my reaction from showing through. The last thing I wanted to do was scare these children any more. "Did they stay in the house?"
She nodded. "They saw them coming and sent us running. They stayed. Then we heard lots of loud noises."
"Is it just the two of you?" I asked, remembering that I was told there were three kids in this family.
Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. Her brother looked down at the floor.
"It's all right, we don't have to talk about it." I felt a connection to these two youngsters. Like me, they'd had their family ripped away. "You're safe now. We're going to take care of you."
I was tired of living in a kingdom full of orphans. It was too late for their parents, but I had to make sure these kids were safe. The Ravens would watch over them, like they had watched over me and Ashton and who knows how many other orphans. It was time for that cycle to end. The king needed to pay.
Master Flanders handed a red coin to Madame Lyndsey. "This will get the three of you back to the camp."
She nodded and held on to the children's hands as they teleported away. Once Madame Lyndsey saw that the children were in safe hands, she'd join us so we could continue on to Greenville.
I retrieved my bow from where I had set it on the ground then sat down on the damp grass in front of the barn. Tracing the carvings on my bow, I let my mind wander. This had been a message aimed at me. And only one person would have known where this safe house was. How badly did Max want to hurt me? He'd already tried to take Ashton from me and now this? Was he the one responsible for the destruction of the city? Maybe it wasn't the king at all. Maybe Max wanted to send me a message.
Saffron sat down next to me. "We found the parents and a younger sibling in the house. We burned the bodies so the king can't control them. They are at peace now."
I balled my hands into fists. "That's the only way to find peace, isn't it? Death. Then fire."
"Don't talk like that. We're going to beat him."
I tucked my hair behind my ears, trying to remember all of the people who had died for the cause. I didn't even know most of their names. "This wasn't the king. You know that."
Saffron stared straight ahead, unblinking. "I know."
We sat in silence for a moment, an unspoken understanding passing between us. I knew I was wrong to doubt her loyalty to our cause but I couldn't help but wonder what she'd do if she saw Max.
Ashton walked over and offered a hand to both Saffron and me. "Madame Lyndsey is back, we should get going."
I took his hand and he hoisted me up, then he helped up Saffron. The rest of the group was gathered a few feet away, waiting for us to join them. The first mile of the walk to Greenville was quiet. We had prepared ourselves to see the damage in the city, but none of us had expected to find the destruction we had at the safe house.
Knowing that Max had shared its location took away any last vestige of hope I had for his redemption. I knew Max wanted the throne and I knew he was willing to see me dead to achieve that. Going after innocent people who just wanted to live a better life went too far.
I couldn't keep making excuses for him in my head. He'd sent Ashton's essence from his body and was learning how to use dark magic from the king. I stopped walking and the group around me paused.
"What is it?" Ashton asked.
"We should split up," I said. "I think you're right, they're trying to draw us in. Max or someone that works for him took out the safe house because they knew we'd come. They're waiting for us."
"Maybe we should go back," Ashton said.
I shook my head. "No. We have to save Calder's family and we have to find out what happened in Greenville."
"You mean you want to know if it was Max," Saffron said.
I didn't respond. She was right. I wanted to know if the king had taken all the dead from the city to find out if he had the power of the Skystone behind him, but I needed to know if Max was responsible for the destruction. Was it possible to share the same blood with someone who had that much Darkness?
"It couldn't be just him, right?" I watched her expression for any clues. "Even if it were Max, he couldn't possibly be powerful enough to destroy an entire city."
Saffron looked away for a moment, then back up at me. "I once watched him destroy an entire camp of king's guards alone."
I stared at Saffron in stunned silence as the vision from earlier replayed in my mind. Max yelling into the darkness, hands ablaze. How had I never heard this before? "When was this?"
"Doesn't matter right now," Saffron said. "What does matter is that he's more powerful than you could ever imagine. If he's waiting for us there, splitting up isn't going to help us."
I swallowed, thinking of how I was going to phrase the words. "It helps us because I send most of you in as bait."
"What do you mean?" Ashton said.
"We might not want to parade around town anymore, but we have to get to Calder's family. I can go with Calder and we can get them back to the barn. It'll be easier for us to blend in if it's just two people. The rest of you can go in the opposite direction. Your faces are well known, you'll draw attention. If you run into trouble, you can teleport out. You'll be out of there before they notice I'm not with you or they'll think you left me behind. We can meet back up at sunset and teleport everyone back to camp." I looked around at my friends, trying to read their reactions.
"Makes sense to me," Calder said. "I'm in."
"Take me in your group," Madame Lyndsey said. "That way you have an extra sorcerer if needed. I'm not as familiar a face as the others."
"Etta, you know how dangerous this is," Ashton said. "There is no way we're going to let you do this."
Celeste set her hand on Ashton's arm. "I think it's a good idea. Calder knows the city. It's worth a try. Besides, Madame Lyndsey can teleport all of them out in a second."
I knew I didn't need permission to split up the group, but I didn't want my friends to worry. I locked my eyes on Ashton's, hoping he'd see how important this was to me. "Just give me a few hours. We'll be back at the barn by sunset."
Ashton's brow furrowed. "Please be careful."
Saffron looked to the sky. The sun was already getting low. "Alright. Keep your hood on and stay out of sight. No going in and showing off who you are. Stay hidden. If we haven't returned within an hour of sunset, you go back to camp."
I opened my mouth to argue with her, but her glare told me she was not going to back down. I nodded.
Ashton leaned in to me. He tucked my necklace under my collar. "Stay safe, please."
I kissed him on the cheek. "I will if you will."
He squeezed my hand. "We should teleport in and start showing our faces around town. Etta's group can walk in and probably won't draw much attention."
Saffron held out her hand to Ashton. "I'll need a ride."
He let go of m
y hand and took hers then looked at Master Flanders and Celeste. "Town gates?"
Master Flanders nodded.
"Sounds good to me," Celeste said.
"Good luck," Ashton said to me.
Madame Lyndsey, Calder, and I stood there as the gray smoke swallowed our friends. Once they were clear, I started walking. I hoped I'd made the right decision.
6
Etta
I adjusted the quiver on my belt, not caring that it caused my dress to wrinkle in ways that would make Lady Genevieve cry. My bow was slung over my shoulder and I tucked my pair of daggers inside the hidden pockets of my skirts. Pulling my hood over my head, I kept my gaze down as we approached the gates of Greenville. It hadn't been long since I'd walked through these gates with Celeste. It had been my first and only visit to the bustling city and we'd only stayed a few hours. This time, the once proud Greenville resembled so many of the destroyed towns I'd seen.
A torn blue banner hung from the gate. I froze. These were the remnants of the few weeks the city had kept the king's guards away and flown my family's colors. I couldn't remember a time when blue flags were flown in place of King Osbert's red. The change washed over me as if I had been thrown into an ice-cold lake. The tattered ends blew in the breeze, shredded and scorched like the rest of the city.
My stomach twisted with guilt. I never asked the people to step up to the king. I didn't want the people of Illaria to go through any more than they already had. Glancing over to the other side of the gate, I noticed a brand new red banner hung with the king's crest embroidered on it in bright gold thread. The contrast between the two was clear. My family's color had been left as a warning.
Calder moved closer to me. "It's not going to be like this for much longer. Soon, we will never have to look at those red banners again."
My throat tightened as I gave the tattered blue banner one last glance. It was the first time I'd seen my family's colors flown and this was how I had to see it. My mind was a tangle of emotions that I couldn't place. Clenching my fists, I nodded at Calder. Now wasn't the time.