by Jenn Nixon
Then it lifted higher into the air.
Cyndra backpedaled into the hallway and slammed the door shut.
She didn’t wait to see if it could move through wood and went the only way possible, toward a dark narrow walkway on her right.
Keeping her fingers fanned wide and the flame as large as possible, Cyndra darted to the other side and ran full speed when the walkway merged with a bigger hallway with one thick, wooden door at the end, already opened and inviting her in. As she pushed her legs to the limits, she felt Zorin roaming around her thoughts again. She had to ignore everything if she wanted to help Rune.
Cyndra bolted into the final room and skidded to a halt.
The wraith was heading straight for an enormous ceiling to floor mirror at the far end.
“Rune!” Her scream vibrated against the walls of the room. The flames surrounding her hand grew hotter, wilder.
When her friend’s eyelids parted, his mouth popped open and he extended his hand toward her. Cyndra!
Something more powerful than instinct overcame her and she lifted her left hand and flicked her wrist. The mirror-wraith dropped Rune and jerked in the air. Cyndra made a fist with her right hand. The fire covered the entire right side of her body then exploded outward. Rune shielded his face. Both wraiths screeched and vanished from sight. Cyndra dropped to her knees as the heat subsided and the cool tingling in her left hand faded.
Rune rolled onto his back, panting and clasping his chest. Cyndra stared at the gigantic, gaudy mirror, letting her body come down from the rush of adrenaline and power surging through her body. Exhaustion spread through her limbs next, but she had no time to rest, she needed to make sure Rune was okay.
Cyndra, did you find him? Zorin’s terse voice broke into her thoughts again.
Yeah. She crawled over to her friend and took his hand. “Are you hurt?”
Rune shook his head.
“Scared the shit outta me.”
He signed thank you, smiled slightly, and slowly rose to a sitting position. You saved my life, Cyndra.
“Guess we’re even now, you kinda saved mine too, you know.” She motioned to the mirror. “That wraith was heading there.”
Toward a mirror? Why?
Cyndra shrugged and turned her thoughts to Zorin. I thought you said this was her prison cell?
If you are in the top of the east tower, it is. Is Rune okay?
Cyndra glanced around seeing nothing but brick walls and the door behind her. More confused than ever, she gently got to her feet, helped Rune up, and just to be sure, looked at the ceiling, grateful it was just a normal ceiling. Zorin, there’s nothing in here but this giant mirror.
What mirror?
“For crying out loud,” Cyndra said, sighing as she covered her face. This was all too much. When she glanced at the mirror again, expecting another strange feeling and getting none, she debated moving closer to get a better look. The screeching wraiths in the distance instantly changed her mind. “I think we should get out of here.”
Rune nodded just as Zorin asked his question again.
She replied with a huff. We’re on our way out, be right there.
I heard that, you’re talking to him this way now? Rune smirked as he walked to the exit.
Cyndra shrugged and followed him out. “He can’t breach the mansion’s barrier. So once I got in here I couldn’t talk to him, obviously.”
Rune didn’t ask anything else until they were almost at the end of the staircase. Are you okay?
“I’m beat to shit, feels like I can sleep for a week.”
He nodded and then paused when they reached the bottom step. Does this place seem familiar?
“You too?” Cyndra frowned and led him back to the long hallway leading to the main part of the mansion. This time, she took a moment to peek into the empty rooms as they passed by, thinking this place was big enough to house hundreds of people.
When they reached the room attached to the back exit, Rune tugged on her elbow and pointed to the large fireplace on the far side. Two silver frames sat on top of the mantle. His eyes lit up the closer they got. Although she didn’t share his enthusiasm, she was curious and plucked one from the mantle while he took the other. He brushed away the dust with his hand while she wiped it against her pant leg.
“What the shit?” Cyndra gaped at the image. The faces of her grandmother, two other couples, and a large striking man about her age who looked like the gargoyle waiting outside the mansion, stared back. Zorin hadn’t aged a day since the picture was taken, but what struck her the most was his eyes, they were vibrant and full of life. Rune shoved his frame under her face. She didn’t recognize anyone, but he pointed to the man with the same green eyes and dark wavy hair. “Your father?”
I think so. Feels…like it. You were right about one thing.
“What?”
This is very weird.
“Oh yeah? Check this out,” she said, showing her picture, feeling the pieces slowly coming together. “My Grandma Evie and who does that look like?”
Rune’s eyes widened. We should take these with us, show him.
Cyndra nodded. “Let’s go.”
Leading the way, she went straight to the exit and crossed the stone patio, trying not to fill her mind with a thousand questions or think about the sacrifices her grandmother made. Zorin didn’t have all the answers. That terrified her even more, considering how uninformed she turned out to be.
Bounding down the staircase, she saw Zorin pacing the length of the rock wall she had almost tripped over on her way in and once she reached the bottom step, the cool electrifying sensation returned to her left hand. Zorin’s head jerked and his pensive gaze narrowed on her. He felt it too. Cyndra froze in place, as her cheeks heated up the longer he stared. The cool tingle rose up her arm and wrapped around her shoulder.
Rune slowed and turned back. Cyndra?
I’m fine. She squirmed, shaking her hand and pulling every emotion from her face, giving the gargoyle the same stare down as she walked toward him.
“What happened in there?” Zorin asked, frowning and focusing on Rune. “Are you okay?”
Yes. Cyndra got to me in time.
“Blasted the wraith with my fire before it dragged him into that mirror.”
“Again, what mirror?”
Cyndra jumped over the rock wall, approached the winged man, and shoved the picture frame into his hand. “That’s you…isn’t it?”
Zorin glanced down at the image and sucked in a sharp breath. He ran his finger down the frame as his eyes turned glassy. “Yes.”
Her stomach twisted. Cyndra covered his hand with hers. “I’m sorry, I…”
His eyes flashed, making cold prickles run up the back of her neck. She jerked her hand away.
Rune neared, holding out his frame. Do you know him?
Zorin cleared his throat and furrowed his brow. Then he nodded. “Bale Maelstrom…there is a striking resemblance, is he your father?”
I have a weird feeling inside, Zorin, like he is. He was here on the island. Is he one who survived?
Breathing in and trying to focus on everything she learned the past two days made her head swirl. There was too much coincidence. Too much familiarity. So many weird feelings. Cyndra didn’t know if she could sort through it all, but one thing was abundantly clear, she had some connection to Rune, to Zorin, and possibly this entire island.
“I don’t know,” Zorin grunted, shaking his head and gripping the picture frame tighter causing his hand to tremble slightly. “We should leave the grounds before the mirror-wraiths return, they no longer seem to fear my presence.”
Needing no further prodding, Cyndra stalked through the tall grass between the wall and wooded section of the enormous backyard, trying to push everything aside so it wouldn’t clog her mind.
Soon after entering the woods, Rune jogged up alongside distracting her from whatever she felt around Zorin. He held both picture frames but not the usual happy expression she’d grown us
ed to in their short time together. Aware Zorin was right behind, Cyndra kept her eyes forward as she ducked and stepped over branches and fallen tree limbs, retreating through the trees slowly, giving her time to enjoy the natural energy vibrating through the woods.
Every so often, Rune would brush his hands against a dying or dead branch and bring it back to life, which slowly elevated both their moods.
“How did you find out about the crystal powers?” she asked softly, feeling weird just asking it.
Rune smirked. The day after the note appeared, I was coming home from town and ran into a group of rovers, common thieves prevalent in the West. They were much larger and stronger and had me cornered. When they tried to rob me, this intense heat filled my hand. I opened my palm, a fireball appeared, just like I showed you. The rovers freaked and ran off.
“Huh,” Cyndra replied, shivering in her shoes. “So your hand doesn’t catch fire like mine?”
Rune shook his head. And I haven’t figure out how to do anything else with it. The earthcasting seems more…
“Natural?”
He nodded.
Questions piled on top of questions. Cyndra rubbed a warm hand down her face and huffed. She didn’t have the will to ask nor answer anymore.
As they cleared the woods and entered the field, she felt Zorin inching closer. He didn’t say anything until the lighthouse loomed before her.
“You two should rest.”
Growing numb and more tired with each step, Cyndra nodded and glanced over at Rune who looked equally ready for sleep. She barely remembered climbing up the stairs or falling face first into the couch.
The last thing she heard was her friend’s soft chuckle in her mind.
Rune shook his head when Cyndra began snoring then glanced back with a jovial smile on his face. I’ve never seen anyone fall asleep so fast.
Zorin smirked and prepared for more questions. Instead, the caster set both frames face down on the table and pulled off his cloak, setting it on a stool. He scrubbed his face then proceeded to unbuckle his belt and set it next to the frames.
“What did you see in the tower room, Rune?”
A mirror.
Zorin frowned. “What did it look like?”
It was big, twenty feet high at least, silver frame, kinda ugly. I don’t know why Cyndra said they were trying to take me there, that doesn’t make any sense.
“No, it doesn’t,” Zorin said, gripping the back of his neck trying to ease the tension. “You saw no one inside?”
Rune shook his head and yawned.
“You should rest, take the bed,” Zorin offered, motioning to the room with his chin.
Don’t you sleep there?
Zorin shook his head. I prefer the floor.
Rune shrugged. If you’re sure. Thanks.
Once the caster vanished inside the bedroom, Zorin approached the table and stared down at the picture frames. Although he was tempted to look, see the face he longed to have again, Zorin climbed the stairs to the service room ready to sleep.
He needed to talk to Mergan. Make sure she was still in her prison. She had answers and he was going to get them. He found the thick blanket he used as a bed and stretched out, lying on his stomach and using his arms as a pillow.
The exhaustion easily took over.
Strange dreams filled his mind for what seemed like an eternity.
Zorin saw himself standing in a field of flowers. Mergan’s voice, riding on the wind, seemed stronger, louder than it had before.
The casters are here, I sense them. You did it, Zorin.
You lied to me, Zorin growled, wishing he could see her face. Where are you?
Where I have always been, stuck in the prison of Evelyn’s making. You know this.
The casters were inside the tower—
What? The tone of her voice prickled up Zorin’s spine. She knew something.
They were in your prison room and said it was empty save a mirror.
Not possible—
What aren’t you telling me, Mergan? What the fuck do you know?
Her chuckling echoed through his mind. I know that if you don’t set me free, pet, you’ll never be human again. The choice, as it has always been, is yours.
Zorin jerked awake, forced out of the dream by Mergan. Grunting, he balled his hands and rubbed his eyes, containing the anger boiling his veins. He bolted from the floor and climbed up to the widow’s walk.
Yes, she was still there, in the mansion. He felt the trickle of her energy passing through the barrier as it always had. She was there.
Needing to clear his mind, Zorin leaped onto the railing and stretched his wings. Instead of jumping, he leaned over and dove down, speeding toward the ground. Halfway to the bottom, he altered his descent and glided over the field heading toward the woods, sensing the mirror-wraiths stirring.
Unable to evoke the air, he soared through it, rising higher and floated over the trees, watching a half-dozen wraiths once again cower the closer he flew to the mansion. Their phantom-like movements synchronized as they retreated, slinking closer to the mansion.
Zorin tucked his wings back, descended to the ground, and paced the length of the rock wall that marked the barrier, wishing the creatures had the means to communicate. Mergan continually lying to him made one thing clear, Zorin had to rethink everything that happened before and during the war.
Clear as the day he experienced the trauma, memory after memory rushed through his mind as if waiting for the invitation.
Dread rose through his chest, and the quick, rapid images of everything he’d seen, all that he had done scraped over his mind, stealing his breath, and ravaging his body with sharp, painful shudders. He dropped to his knees and palmed the ground, wheezing for air, and shut his eyes, which only brought the faces of the men and women he’d injured and killed in the heat of battle.
Zorin’s stomach twisted and everything turned fuzzy.
Where are you? Cyndra’s thought swam through his mind.
The energy he felt next soothed the aches and slowly cleared his mind. Cyndra’s fire followed, warming him, unlike any bond he’d encountered. She was a lifeline. If he had to remain in this form, her power may be the answer. He couldn’t rely on Mergan. The lies and manipulations went deeper than even he knew. Zorin had to find his own answers and forge a new path and he needed to get the defiant caster on his side.
Energized and feeling better, he turned away from the mansion, ignoring the wraiths as they slithered closer to the barrier, and climbed the nearest tree. The instant he jumped into the air, he sensed Cyndra’s immense power. As he soared over the woods and crossed the field, he saw her standing on the widow’s walk, gazing out at the ocean.
Unable to help himself, Zorin absorbed every particle of energy seeping off her skin enjoying it almost as much as her fire. Being near her, after so many years struggling and starving and craving the slightest bit of nourishment the crystal power offered, tested the grotesque life Mergan forced upon him.
Cyndra’s energycasting alone could sustain him without the need for food. Add the power of her firecasting, and she may be as addictive to him in this form as siphoning seemed to be for the soulless. Unstoppable, unquenchable.
When she turned and smiled, Zorin’s cheeks heated and his stomach dropped. He slowed his approach and watched her smile fade as if caught off guard. Perhaps he’d broken the ice after all and she was finally open to working with him instead of constantly challenging his motivations with her defiance.
As Zorin neared the lighthouse, he knew he had to let down his guard and tell the caster his truth, no matter how difficult. He needed her on his side.
Cyndra jolted awake with a gasp. The strange nightmare evaporated while an unsettling sensation rippled through her body. She sat up, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness and found herself alone in the main room. Thanks to the crystal bond, she knew Rune was sleeping soundly inside the room next door.
After she got up and stre
tched her tender limbs, she climbed up the stairs, half expecting Zorin to be there or at least on the widow’s walk. Instead, she found both empty and decided to check out the real view while she had the time.
She circled the massive walkway around the entire lighthouse, taking in the sights, and even catching the soft twinkling of the town lights on the mainland. Cyndra paused on the northern side, gazing out at the dark, barren mansion, trying to see the wraiths that supposedly guarded it. Beyond frustrated, she stared down at the triangle marking on her hand, knowing exactly what she needed to do next. Find her cousin. This island had no more answers to give.
Cyndra moved to the east side of the walkway and watched the lapping waves of the ocean collide with the thin shore of the island. She clutched the crystal pendant. Her hand instantly warmed. She lifted her brow and switched hands. Her left got cool and tingly again. When she looked down at her bare palm, she knew what symbols would appear if she…mastered her elements. Energy. Just like Zorin. Was that the deeper connection?
She sighed. Where are you?
Cyndra felt horrible after showing him the picture. She didn’t know what she expected or why she felt so defensive around him, he’d been nothing but helpful since their lives crossed paths. She still needed that help. Zorin promised to take them to Baltimoretown. She had no reason to think he’d go back on his word. Even though she had no clue how, she knew he hadn’t lied. Not once. Not yet.
Still, there were too many questions.
The last thing she wanted to do is bombard Pristy when she arrived. Having only a casual relationship, Cyndra hoped her cousin got a letter or a crystal or something so that she didn’t come off as bat-shit crazy when they reunited, otherwise, she’d have a lot of explaining to do.
The wind kicked up and gusted through her hair. She turned toward the mansion and saw Zorin gliding over the middle of the field. The instant the smile lit her face, her heart flipped and the tips of her fingers tingled. A flash of his handsome human face from the photo popped into her mind quickly replaced by the heartbreak on his new face at seeing it. Cyndra frowned and tried to slow her racing pulse before he landed on the railing.