“Time to go, light bringer. The Atma has requested you,” Steve said, unlocking the cell.
“Good,” Dawn declared. “He owes me an explanation.”
✽✽✽
In a dark blue convertible glider, Ansel and the Langs sailed over winding mountain roads to the edge of a dense forest. There they stopped and hopped onto a dirt path, hidden from view by fallen timber. They walked along the trail for fifteen minutes before they arrived at a clearing. Well tucked away in the woods, Nymion Clearing hosted seven small cabins, each emanating an oddly blueish glow.
The family followed Ansel into a homely cabin consisting of a simple, three-room layout and equipped with all the essentials: enough bedding for four, food, cooking utensils, wood for the fireplace and even clean clothes folded neatly on each bed.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” Ansel told Max and Riesa.
And Pam certainly did. She flopped down onto the nearest bed and fell asleep soon after.
“You are safe here. No one can locate this cabin.” Ansel grinned. “Soon, you’ll meet those I work closely with. They will protect you from here on out. At noon tomorrow, another friend of mine who used to work at Crimson Estate will knock on the door. Her name is Gail. You can trust her.”
“What about you? And Myles?” Max said.
“Mr. Lang, I must leave now for Crimson Estate. Do not worry. I will make sure your son lives. I guarantee you… with my life.”
He sounded so confident in his assurance that Riesa began to sniff again. “I can’t thank you enough for risking yourself to save our family. How can we ever repay you?”
“Mrs. Lang,” Ansel said in a gentle voice, “your son has helped me more than you can imagine. This is the least I can do for him.”
Without waiting for a response, he started for the door.
“Wait!” Riesa held out her silver necklace. “Take this. Please. It has protected Myles all these years, and may it protect you too.”
Ansel hesitated. He gazed at the cross dangling from Riesa’s outstretched hand for a brief moment before he took it in his own. “Thank you, Mrs. Lang.”
He bowed his head, and in the blink of an eye, he left the cabin.
✽✽✽
Inside the gilded meeting room, Vance glanced down at Myles’s shriveled form on the floor in disgust. Humans are so weak they can’t even guard their own secrets.
He did not allow news of the Lang family’s sudden disappearance—a minor misstep in a game he was winning—to shake his confidence. Let him come to me. Vance knew exactly who had been responsible for snatching away his bargaining chip, who had come to Tempeia, on the heels of his latest success.
Nonetheless, Ansel was one step too late.
Thanks to Praeus, Vance had learned of the portal’s whereabouts, and soon, he would be able to confirm much of his suspicions about his all-powerful brother. In a stroke of genius, the Etherian arranged the events so that the bringer of light would also bring about the downfall of the greatest Sumrect in Panatomius history. Vance took immense pleasure in the artistry with which Etherians crafted reality.
The double doors opened once more, and Dawn marched in, wearing a look of defiance. Vance sneered. He still had a hard time believing that the plain, slender girl before him could be the one to whom the spell referred. Let’s see how long she can keep this up.
✽✽✽
Upon seeing Myles on the floor, Dawn rushed to him. His dread-laden eyes told her at once why she had been summoned here.
Behind her, Steve scanned the room with a gulp before he turned to exit.
“Don’t leave,” Vance ordered. “You’ll take her back after we are through.”
Steve froze halfway in his turn, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead. He closed the double doors and retreated to a corner of the room.
“What do you want, Vance?” Dawn asked, even though she already knew the answer.
Running his tongue over his teeth, Vance circled his prize. “So, this is the bringer of light. My insolent painter whom Ansel saved.” He strode to a standstill in between two icy halves of the obsidian table. “I guess I have my brother to thank for correcting my costly mistake of sentencing you to certain death.”
“What do you want?” she repeated.
“A feisty one, I see.” Vance crossed his arms. “They tell me, Dawn, that you are special. Like your name, you are the bringer of new light.” The Sumrect paced the room, keeping his golden eyes fixed upon the human girl. She stared back at him without fear. “But when I look at you, I see neither special powers nor unusual talents. You are merely a human. And an average one at that.”
“I would rather be an average human than an evil Sumrect like you.” Dawn’s insides bubbled with rage.
He laughed at her riposte. “Such naivety! Evil… What is evil? To be powerless to protect the ones you love? To betray your dear friend because you are weak?” He glanced at Myles. “Weakness begets evil. Weakness renders you unable to shape your fate and puts you at the mercy of others. When you have lived for as long as I have, you will see that where there is weakness, there is also evil. That is the reason you humans crave the powers of us Sumrects and have willingly abdicated your will to ours.”
“Not all humans. Not me,” she said. “I may be weak in comparison, but I’m tougher than you think.”
“Let us see then, just how strong you are,” he scorned. With one hand, he took out a glass orb encasing an amber core, and with the other, he performed a spiral motion.
An immense force buoyed Dawn’s arm and pried her fingers apart, forcing her to release her clamped fist. She fought the force with all her might, but she was no match for Vance.
The Eye of Elektron bounced in rhythm to Vance’s pleased cackle as it floated across the air to land on Dawn’s open palm. The same force that wrenched her fingers apart now pressed them into the orb. At the touch of her fingertips, the Eye radiated a soft light, glowing brighter with each beating of her heart.
A stillness fell upon the room. Dawn noted the awestruck expressions on the Sumrects’ faces. They must have witnessed not only an impossibility but the wonders of what could only be magic beyond their comprehension. Even Praeus laced his bony, white fingers together in a poor expression of excitement.
Vance whispered at last, “It’s true then… the Eye of Elektron… aglow with a new light.”
For a long time, he stared at the Eye, entranced.
And then, without warning, he flicked his wrist so that the orb flew from Dawn’s hand. The glass shattered against the wall, exposing its amber core. In two giant steps, Vance made his way to her and seized her shirt collar.
“Now, where is Ansel’s portal? Where have you hidden it?” He snarled, spit flying into her face.
“I’ll die before you find out!”
Vance exchanged a furious glance with the Etherian behind him. “Looks like we have to do this the hard way…”
“No!” shouted Myles, trying to break free of Quinn’s grasp.
The hooded figure with his empty eyes moved to Dawn and placed his icy hand on her skull. Instantly, frost spread from his fingers and into her hair, cascading down to her face and neck. Unbearable pain shot through her body as she dropped to her knees, eyes rolled back into her head. She knew there was no stopping Vance now; the Etherian would learn of the portal’s location by probing her memory.
✽✽✽
Praeus stood with his hands on Dawn’s skull while Vance watched intently, holding his breath. A minute later, he bent down to the unconscious girl and extracted from her pants pocket a blue satin handkerchief, two pieces of amber and an Eye of Elektron.
Recognition flared on the faces of both Quinn and Vance when they saw the blue handkerchief. In the corner of the room, Steve gasped.
Fingers quivering with anticipation, Vance reached to touch the glowing amber stone Praeus held out to him. After years of waiting, after countless sacrifices, the time had finally come to eradicate his br
other’s shadow once and for all. Though he had already tasted the enigmatic powers of Etherians, Vance needed to see for himself. He needed to verify with his own eyes the beginning of the end for Ansel Cassadian.
Chapter 20
Regina had not slept a wink since her conversation with Quinn a week ago. The events she bore witness to inside Chesterfield’s secret tunnel haunted her every waking moment. She never revealed to Vance what happened on that fateful night, but she could feel the inevitable unraveling of truth as the eleven-year period came to an end. Exactly eleven years ago today, she thought, Vance and Ansel made their pacts.
While Vance interrogated Myles and Dawn in the meeting room, Regina remained awake through the night, wrestling with a secret she sensed she could no longer keep. When she first learned of Ansel’s transformation from Quinn, she was shaken by the news; she had not expected the spell to be executed to completion. Ever. And even now, with the impending revelation, she held little faith in those Etherian words.
Only One soul shall rule the rest,
More than One soul undoes the test.
The Etherian’s shrill voice echoed in her head. A female’s instinct told her neither Vance nor Ansel correctly comprehended the meaning of the spell, and she needed them to understand before it was too late.
From her second-story window, she monitored the grounds below. She saw Quinn yank Myles through the ankle-deep snow and later, Dawn march toward the house with Steve closely behind. No doubt, Vance was well on his way to discovering Ansel’s secret, which Regina had been careful to conceal for years. Time had not worked its magic in repairing wounds, and Regina felt more conflicted than ever.
A shiny blue glider snaked up the winding path to the front gate at lightning speed. No, it cannot be. It’s too soon.
Regina held her breath as the glider shuddered to a halt before the gate. The window on the driver’s side slid down, and sure enough, much to Regina’s dismay, Ansel poked his head out to speak with the guards who were also taken aback by his abrupt arrival. She watched with anxious eyes as the glider entered Crimson Estate. Without waiting a second more, Regina dashed out of her room, determined to reach Ansel before he headed straight to his death.
Vance could never find out about what happened that night. Regina had already risked too much to protect Ansel’s secret by committing a most unthinkable crime. To this day, she often woke to those hollow eye sockets begging her for mercy.
But the Etherian should have known better. The only mercy Regina showed was removing the soulless being’s memory before she killed her.
✽✽✽
Vance had long speculated at Ansel’s involvement with the Etherian, yet his suspicions did not prepare him to witness the last living moments of Amber Chesterfield. Her life had been, and always will be, the hardest one to sacrifice. Had she been more powerful, a Sumrect instead of a human, she might not have suffered the cruel fate dealt to her. What a pity Ansel ultimately chose to be weak like his wife.
Though he did not dare make himself visible to the Etherian inside the portal, he knew precisely to whom the voice in the tunnel belonged. Amber was a small price to pay compared to what Ansel did to that Etherian.
✽✽✽
On the floor, Dawn gradually came to. She tried to move her body, but her limbs would not budge. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. After blinking a few times to bring herself into the present, she surveyed the room until her eyes found Myles’s. His bleak expression told her Vance had finally succeeded in his quest.
A knock on the door startled all members in the room. Praeus stepped aside to let in a Sumrect guard.
“Ansel Cassadian has arrived.”
When the Sumrect soldiers heard the announcement, they straightened up immediately.
No! Dawn’s anxiety kicked in. For the first time, she worried not for herself but for Ansel. She saw Myles’s ashen face and knew that he, too, shared in her fears.
Only Vance smiled. A fearsome grin, paired with an odd gleam in his eyes, creeped along his lips. He exchanged a look with the hooded Etherian, who nodded in unspoken comprehension before he circled the broken table to exit through the side door.
“Tell my dear brother… to meet me here.” He took his time to instruct the guard, the words rolling off his tongue in an eerie fashion. “Tell him… I have a surprise waiting for him.”
The guard nodded and left as quickly as he came.
Vance’s gaze shifted to the two humans in front of him.
“Steve, take the male to the forest and execute him. He is of no use to me anymore.”
Don’t! Dawn screamed inside her head. She fought her invisible bond while Steve dragged Myles away.
“And the girl…” Vance kneeled beside her. He ran a cold finger down her cheek. “Take her next door where she can watch.”
“The Atma doesn’t want you to miss the fun!” Quinn’s rough hands pulled her through the side door and into the adjacent room, where he threw her on the ground with unnecessary force.
Once her chin hit the marble slab, Dawn understood what Vance meant by “watch”. No visible dividing barrier separated the adjoining rooms. From where she lay on the ground, helpless and mute, she had a clear, one-way view of the entire meeting space. The golden walls she had seen earlier were merely an illusion.
“Stay here and be quiet,” Quinn said before he stepped back into the other room. Dawn rolled her eyes. As if I could move or make a sound.
All fell silent except for Quinn’s heavy footsteps and her own thumping heart.
The door opened.
She watched anxiously as Ansel strolled into Vance’s trap. She wanted to send him a warning, but despite her efforts, she could not make a single sound. Her trepidation worsened when Regina walked in behind him. What is she doing here?
Upon his brother’s entry, the maniacal smile Vance wore ripened to a malicious sneer. He shot Regina a look of annoyance. Ansel appeared as calm and collected as ever, but Regina seemed just about ready to throw up. She exchanged a nervous glance with Quinn, who shook his head an inch to the left and right.
“My brother! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Vance spread his arms out like an eagle, as if to welcome a hug.
Ansel raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to one side. “My visit should not surprise you, Vance, seeing how you took someone of importance to me. I’ve only come to bring her back to Chesterfield.”
Hands in his pockets, Ansel studied the group of apprehensive Sumrects around the obsidian table one by one until his eyes settled upon Dawn lying on the floor in the adjoining room for a fraction of a second too long. Can he see me? She quickly mouthed the words “Vance knows”, hoping he would notice. However, as Ansel leaned into the illusory wall, his eyes traveled upwards to the ceiling.
“Golden walls? Vance, you’ve really outdone yourself with this room.”
Vance’s lips curled into a scowl. “Your human came to us of her own volition.”
“Ah, I see…” Ansel gave a slow nod. “Then I wonder what this is all about.” He took a shiny Nert out of his left pants pocket and flicked the device across the room, where it rolled to a stop by Quinn’s feet.
“What are you insinuating, Ansel?” Quinn barked.
“That you held Henry captive at Crimson to bait Dawn into your trap,” Ansel declared. “Not a suggestion, but a fact. So, allow me to state this clearly: Let Dawn go, and I’ll spare you the trouble of cleaning up the mess my Sumrects will cause if you do not oblige.”
He knew this entire time! Dawn could tell his outright challenge struck a nerve as the Sumrects in the room shared uneasy glances with each other.
Eyes narrowed, Vance approached Ansel. “Is that a threat?”
“There’s something you should know—” Regina interjected herself between the brothers.
“Step aside!” Vance yelled, his livid eyes locked on Ansel.
“Let her go, Vance. I’m asking of you nicely. You have not fully understo
od the meaning of the spell…”
“I know precisely what the spell means!”
“She may be the bringer of new light, but the Eye—”
“Don’t school me on the meaning of Etherian spells! The girl reawakened the Eye of Elektron! She’s the one the spell speaks of!”
“But you are mistaken. The spell is not referring to the Eye…”
On the ground, Dawn’s mind reeled from their quarrel. What did Ansel mean by the spell not referring to the Eye?
“I’m tired of your tricks and games. You think you can fool me once more?”
“No. I’m merely warning you against—”
“Have you forgotten your place?” Spit ejected from Vance’s mouth.
Ansel stared at him, stone-faced.
“This is not Chesterfield! Do I need to remind you who else resides here?”
Still no response. Ansel’s expression was impossible to read. Nobody in the room dared to interrupt.
“Have you forgotten what we agreed to?”
Regina tugged on Vance’s sleeve, shaking her head, but he brushed her aside.
“I have not forgotten,” Ansel said at last, his eyes gleaming an ominous tinge of blue. “However, if you ever breach our agreement… you’ll have hell to pay.”
“Hell to pay…” Vance examined his hands in the soft morning light. “Bluffing is very uncharacteristic of you, Ealon…”
Dawn shifted in her bondage. Forget about me and save yourself, she wanted to shout.
“Because you see… you have never had to bluff until now,” Vance whispered.
“Vance—” Regina cut in, but he silenced her with a finger.
“If I’m not mistaken,” he continued, still not looking at Ansel, “it has been exactly eleven years since the day Amber died… hasn’t it?”
“You don’t deserve to speak her name.” Ansel spitted out the words in disgust.
Vance tilted his head back and laughed.
“How hard is it, Ealon, to act the saint, when you know you have played with the devil?”
The Eye of Elektron: A Clean Urban Fantasy (The Sumrectian Series Book 1) Page 22