Unlocking Void (Book 3)

by Jenna Van Vleet

  “Too rapid change of surface area and deceleration.” Gabriel muttered.

  “That—that is not how I would have worded it, but yes, that is correct. Pull your wings back in; we are going to try it again.”

  He did as she asked, and when he was fully coherent, she dropped him. This time when his wings sprouted, he carefully couched them in before extending them slowly, using his legs to propel his downward motion into an arc.

  “Better,” she called as she came to join him. She did not have her wings out tonight; instead, she walked across the sky as if it had stairs. He hovered in the air beside her, beating his wings to keep him aloft. “I want you to practice abrupt stops now, then rapid turns. We will end with a bit of battle.”

  He took off and did as she asked, throwing in a few full circles for good measure. Stopping quickly was not as hard as he expected. He simply had to flare his wings and swing his feet forward. Turns required a twist of the legs and a wing which proved to be trickier than he anticipated.

  “Tired yet?” she called, her wings out.

  He wiped his brow. “A little.” To fly, he had to use his whole body. It was by no means easy work.

  “Sky battles are usually fought only by Air Mages because it is such hard work to stay aloft. Now, form armor like we practiced. First to get three hits wins.”

  He flicked together the pattern and formed a lightweight armor that seemed to coat his skin with a shimmering gray material. She did the same and readied her hands for battle.

  She struck first with a blasted Air pattern that threw him back, but he reflexively tucked his wings, minimizing his surface area. He struck back with a water ribbon that caught her ankle and knocked her off balance. The armor rippled darkly. ‘One.’

  She pulled her wings in and dropped, flaring them to arc, and came up behind him. She slammed a Lorian-saturation pattern into his shoulders. The armor ripped and spiked as it absorbed the hit, but he could tell what the pattern was by the faint pain that sank through.

  He spun and grabbed her wrist. Kicking his feet up and folding his wings, he threw her over his head in an arc. She caught herself but not before he pulled a bolt of lightning from the sky. ‘Two.’

  Surprisingly, she extended an arm in his direction and propelled the lightning through her body and at him. It caught him on the arm, and he felt his hair lift. But he took direction from her and shot the remaining energy through his other arm. ‘Amazing,’ he marveled, unaware lightning could be manipulated so.

  Earth was too far to shoot up, little water hung in the air, so he selected Fire and snapped his fingers. He looked to see her next attack and froze. She held a long white whip of Spirit in her hand, a coiled line of pure energy that would strike harder than any real whip. ‘Did she know? Was she doing it on purpose?’

  Blinding panic exploded within him. He released fire and shot hundreds of lines of Spirit into the sky without thinking. Wrenching his arm down in a swift movement, the lines pulled him upwards and out of the way of her strike. He fueled the pattern and collapsed his wings, falling away.

  She watched him with a surprised expression, but hadn’t seen what he had done. Slowly, the pinpricks of stars above widened, then rapidly increased in size as they picked up speed. Her mouth fell agape as she hung in the air and watched, not even bothering to raise a shield.

  He cut his descent and swooped up to reach her before his attack did, but she finally lifted a shield and watched as hundreds of lights—some the size of a fist and other the size of a horse’s head—fell around her. They sailed to the ground and burst the standing structures, skipping through trees and brush to illuminate the darkness below. He lifted up underneath her shield as the sound of crashing trees reached them.

  She hung in the air, her wings long forgotten, and subconsciously grabbed his arm to hold him steady. He rested his wings, watching her face as she marveled.

  Finally, her wide eyes turned to him. “That is why they call you the Star Breaker.” She slowly lowered them, watching as the larger orbs faded into darkness. “I have never seen anything like it. Where did you learn it?”

  “I created it.”

  “Have you done others like this?”

  “I may have.”

  She flicked a pattern at his shoulder, and his armor melted away. “I win,” she whispered with a wink, letting her own armor slip free. They touched down, wings retracted and Void released.

  “You faltered up there.” She wrapped an arm around his back and ran her fingers across it gently. “I should have known better.”

  Every Element had a form of a whip-pattern, and it did not matter which was formed. They all spiked his adrenaline.

  “But you were wondrous, and your flying is quite excellent. I am proud to call you my student.”

  “Have you exhausted all your patterns on me?”

  “Not yet,” she waved a hand. “Shall I meet you here tomorrow?”

  At the movement of her hand, he noticed something he had overlooked. She wore rings like most people, but one of them caught his attention. He needed a better look. “Wait, there is an Air pattern I wanted to know about. It’s a sphere…here, let me show you how it was laid.”

  In a movement smooth as silk, he took her hand and spun her into him. Her back to his chest, he placed the backs of her hands into his palms. He moved his hands to lay the unseen pattern, but his eyes fixed on the ring. A slender black piece, hammer pounded to give a bubbly texture. It was exactly like the one he wore.

  Jaden had two rings that passed through the wards around the castle: one for the Head Mage and the other for the Secondhand. The Secondhand’s ring had been missing for uncounted years.

  “Oh yes.” Her voice snapped him from his realization, and for a moment his blood began to race. If she figured out that he knew, he could lose the opportunity to steal it back, and Ryker would always have a way to get it. If she had it, then Ryker knew, and she was not as trustworthy as she claimed. He knew it all along.

  “We just call it a bubble-pattern.” She turned in his arms to face him, putting her warm hands against his chest.

  “Is there a way out of it?” he asked, rubbing his neck unconsciously. It was the same pattern Axa trapped him in.

  “Yes, you shift out.”

  “But if you don’t control Void?”

  “Then there is no way out. You would suffocate.” He nodded. “But I would think lower Classes would not be able to generate as strong a bubble as I would. You may be able to punch through with a strong enough Earth pattern.”

  She reached up on her toes and kissed him. He reciprocated carefully, his racing heart calmed, but his mind flew. He had to get that ring off of her at any cost.

  “See you tomorrow,” she whispered as she broke away.

  He collected his clothes and returned to Jaden, not surprised to see Mikelle in his study. She gave him a slow grin.

  “You’re here again.” Gabriel muttered.

  “You could shift into your bedchamber.”

  “This is my study.”

  “Your cat needs love. You are half naked again, in case you failed to notice.” She grinned. “You do this to tease me don’t you?”

  He rolled his eyes and hung his cloak on his desk chair.

  “How’s your brain look?” She continued her tease.

  “How long have you been here?”

  “Can I guess her name?”

  He straightened. “Excuse me?”

  “Is it Princess Celise of Cinibar?”

  “No.”

  She tapped her lips. “Celise’s younger sisters?”

  “Mikelle, please.”

  “High Lady Felina of Parion.”

  “Isn’t she married?”

  Mikelle nodded. “Is it Adelaide?”

  Gabriel dropped his clothes. “I don’t have time to romance a woman every night. I’m learning Void!”

  “From a woman?”

  “Yes,” he snapped.

  Her eyes widened. “I k
new it. There are other Void Mages out there.”

  “The Council said I had to learn Void, and so I am, in my own time.”

  “And in your own way,” she grinned and pointed to his torso.

  Sighing, he stoked the fire to give them more light. He made sure he had enough room, seized Void, and laid the wings-pattern. Mikelle’s expression said it all.

  “You can fly?” she whispered, putting Coal to the side and standing. “I want to fly.”

  “I can’t lift you.”

  She reached out to touch them. “This is a really good look for you.”

  He flicked the wing to smack her head playfully. Her grin made him smile. “I’m sorry about this afternoon.”

  “You are very scary when you are mad.”

  He stooped to grab his clothes. “I know.”

  “I will leave you to your rest.”

  He pulled his shirt on and tucked it in, not ready to retire for the night. The new revelation of Maxine’s ring changed everything, and right when he was beginning to believe her. He had to get the ring off at any cost, consequences be damned. He did not think he could pull it off with a pattern, and he did not want to cut her finger off. There was a chance he could work it off if he restrained her or pinned her down. He twirled Robyn’s ring.

  Robyn had continued to summon him and write letters, but he ignored them. The girl who claimed to know him so well, the girl who kept his secrets and risked life and limb to free him. He had to let her go once and for all.

  He seized Void and shifted to Kilkiny. It was easy to find her with a searchers-pattern, and he appeared in her bedchamber silently. The searchers black line pointed to the bed, and he quietly approached to find her tangled in the sheets. She looked peaceful as she slept. ‘It must be nice to sleep without nightmares.’

  His heart lurched. He missed her. Part of him still loved her, but she cut him too deeply. It was time. He slid her ring from his finger and set it on her bedside table. “Good bye,” he whispered.

  Chapter 24

  Robyn awoke and immediately dressed for travel. Tears streamed from her eyes as she rushed about. She had waited too long to go to Gabriel. Her bag was already packed, and the only real challenge would be getting out of the palace unseen. She had requested Virgil to be her guard that morning, and he was to be her way out. Finishing her braid, she pocketed the golden band Gabriel left in her room and made sure her eyes were dried.

  “Virgil,” she called and cracked the door. He stood at his post, one shoulder against the wall, and pushed off when he saw her.

  “Going somewhere?”

  She handed him her pack. “I need you to take this to the stables and have the fastest horse saddled. I will meet you shortly.”

  “Wait,” he said slowly. “Where are you going?”

  She pulled on a long red cloak, highly embroidered and trimmed in vair. “Do you want that peace treaty reinstated?”

  “Not at the expense of your safety.”

  He surprised her, and she smiled thoughtfully. “I am going somewhere safe. Please, hurry.”

  He paid her a concerned look and slipped into the hall.

  Robyn made sure she had everything she needed. She checked her notes sketched over several reports while following Virgil’s path. Aisling and Cordis were still out of the palace since their Council Meeting, so she would not have to contend with them. She stole into Aisling’s room and put a scroll on her desk. It explained that she had left and would be gone a few days. She failed to mention where and why. She could not have anyone following her.

  She made her way into the main hall gracefully, careful not to let her boots show under the cloak when she stepped. She kept her head down, a sign she did not want to be disturbed, and mercifully no one greeted her. Two of her personal guards followed at a distance, but she knew she could order them away when she met up with Virgil.

  Virgil met her in the courtyard, his arms folded over his broad chest and a sour look on his face. Behind him in the stables stood a leggy horse with powerful shoulders already tacked and loaded with her gear.

  Robyn waved her guards away, and they stood in the shadows, never fully taking their eyes off her.

  “Please tell me where you are going.” Virgil whispered.

  “You will follow.”

  “How could I not?”

  She put a hand on his arm, and he looked surprised at the touch. “You have been very good to me, Virgil. Your kindness has not gone unnoticed. When I return, I will reinstate that peace treaty and send you and your men home.”

  He took her hand as she pulled away. “I do not want to leave you. I would rather stay and see you every day than be an ocean apart from you even if you love another.”

  Her lips parted, and her brows arched. “Virgil, I….”

  He let her hand slip. “Go,” he said quietly.

  Torn, she went to the horse and pulled the hood of her cloak up. Virgil helped her into the saddle. She adjusted the stirrups and made sure her bow was in easy reach, then unclasped the red cloak. He tightened the girth and let his warm hand linger on her knee.

  “Be safe.” He said with a warm smile.

  “Do not follow me,” she said gently.

  “If my Queen commands.”

  “We must do this quickly,” she said and looked for her guards, just out of eyesight. “Hold the edge of the cloak.” He took a handful curiously. She watched the people in the stables and waited for them to avert their gaze. It was hard to go unseen in a crowd, but she found the perfect moment and kicked her horse. The creature bolted out, and the red cloak slipped off, revealing a dark green one underneath. Gripping with her knees, she rushed the horse out of the palace grounds and into the city before anyone could stop her.

  She made it through the Painted Circuit, the homes of the wealthy, and passed the Queen’s Gate without a second-glance. Once out into the main part of Anatoly City, she knew she was free. Cutting to a side street, she quickly made her way to the bridge that Gabriel built. Some called it the Bolt Bridge, but most called it Star Bridge. Star Breaker Bridge sounded too dangerous.

  She trotted her mount across and into the west half of her City. Wealth was beginning to flow in, but it would take generations for it to recover from poverty. The streets were not as straight or well laid out, but since the bridge had been raised, she had been able to visit in her carriage. She recognized the way out.

  As soon as she saw the plowed lands peek around a building, she kicked her horse into a canter and took him to the road. Early morning brought farmers in with their wares, but the road was blessedly clear. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she was not followed.

  It would take her three days to travel to Jaden if she had no problems; less if her horse did not give out on her. She took care to slow him to a trot and walk him when necessary, stopping at every stream for water. As soon as he was rested, she asked him to hurry. Horses were dumb animals, unable to understand basic words, and their gaits were too jolting—compared to Gabriel. ‘There you go again,’ she sighed.

  It had been months since she rode a horse, now always being pulled behind them. She forgot how easy it was to ache after a few hours. Eventually light failed them, and the stars shimmered over her.

  Sleep evaded her for hours as she stared up at the night sky. The nearly-full moon and the broken star glimmered in the darkness, casting foggy blue light over the trees. It had taken her this long to realize what happened to Gabriel was not about her. It was not his choice, and she should not have blamed him. Tears rose to her eyes as she imagined what it must have felt like to be rejected as she had done to him, especially when he was most vulnerable. By the time she woke the next morning, she was more exhausted than the night before.

  Ryker set the last piece in place. Every bone fragment had been perfectly aligned, but putting them all together would be a tedious and ghastly project. He would need to form the body and pump the heart before he could repair any bones. Dead bone, like dead skin, could
not be healed.

  They found almost every piece, but as it was with age, pieces were lost or overlooked, or not even buried with her and discarded with the pyre.

  Ryker stood with the Silex around his neck, open to Void. Pike stood across from him with a robe thrown over his shoulder; hands loosened and ready to assist if needed. Ryker had already started the process to renew a body. It was a task that took dozens of patterns and Class Ten ability in all Elements, of which the Silex provided.

  First he summoned the spirit of Evony with a Void pattern since it could take a while for her to arrive. Then he set patterns to form muscle, tendons, ligaments, veins, arteries, and more, layering them like he would paint a canvas. Organs came next as he connected each one to the brain, making sure each fulfilled its purpose. As soon as the heart was formed, Pike flexed his hand, beating it slowly as Ryker created blood. The veins and arteries seemed to flow correctly, so Ryker tediously repaired and replaced the damaged bones. Piece by piece he set the fragments together as he filled the bones with living marrow. Muscles covered each bone when finished.

  One by one the blackened dead bones filled with life, turning white and smooth. Ryker filled the joints with synovial fluid, checked the lungs for leaks, set subcutaneous fat where it was crucial, and finally formed the skin. He worked back to front, toes to head, taking special care with the face and hands. Evony was older than Pike, Shalabane by birth, which meant she wrinkled young. With care he could lift the years off her eyes and cheeks.

  Pike draped the cloak over her body when Ryker finished with the skin. He drew fine black hairs from her scalp that cropped to her shoulders. Eyelashes and brows followed as he formed a pattern creating pores, finishing with creases in the fingers and toes.

  “Is she close?” Pike asked.

  Ryker shook his head, filtering a pattern to fill the lungs as Pike beat the heart.

  “She will be mad when she arrives.”

  “Oh?” Ryker said without looking up from his work.

  “She burned at the stake.”

  “She’s had more than a few years t’ forget that.”