The Exodus

by Ali Winters

  Yeva started to walk, too tired to speak. The girl would follow. It was all she could do in order to stay upright and not show the weakness she felt. Gaia help her if the Reaper got a whiff of her state, she wouldn’t hesitate to reap her where she stood and consume her life force before her body hit the ground. It would give her unimaginable power, the kind of power she’d promised Camira, but had no intention of giving.

  They walked through the cave, past the natural alcoves she used for meetings with her Hunters, and down through what would undoubtedly be a maze to all but her and those she showed the way.

  “When you bring Nivian, you will take this path.” Yeva reached up and dragged her nail along the crystals, leaving a long hairline scratch showing the way. “Pay attention, it will be hard to see at first, but you must follow the path. If you stray, you will never find your way out.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine, I can transport out of here if I need to.”

  Yeva stopped suddenly and rounded on her. “Not if you are bringing her to me. I do not have centuries to wait.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m watching.”

  With a practiced ease, Yeva returned her calm mask and continued walking. Through her knowledge, she navigated them through the passages and they soon reached an opening. A glittering blue light left traces of its path along the floor.

  Camira gasped behind her as they stepped into the open. The ocean lit the crumbling city from above. Rippling sun beams moved in hypnotic dance

  “Follow me, there is no time to waste,” Yeva commanded.

  “What’s the hurry?” Camira asked as her eyes took in every inch of the city.

  “You might have brought me the Reaper’s Chalice, but I still need mine.” Yeva narrowed her eyes. “If you are thinking of taking the power I am about to bestow on you and running, I suggest you reconsider. I can, and I will, hunt you to the ends of the earth if you do not honor our bargain.”

  “Don’t worry. I want Nivian to pay for her crimes. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Good.”

  They walked through arches and between buildings, making their way into the heart of the ruined city. Yeva felt a bead of sweat form on her forehead. She needed to get this done so that she might recover from transporting herself and the Reaper to this sacred place.

  Finally, they reached the temple to the East. Yeva didn’t pause, the exhaustion wearing her thin with every passing second. The crunch of footsteps followed behind her, ever present like a sheep following its shepherd.

  Yeva led Camira to the end of a long hall and stood before a solid stonewall. Before the girl could speak, she placed her hand upon the stone and pressed down. The scraping of rock and gravel surrounded them.

  Flames lit in bursts as air filled the room that opened before them. Yeva walked toward the dais that stood in the center. She reached her hand into the shimmering light that surrounded a wooden hourglass. The Sands of Time held within it, moving ever so slowly. Grasping at the energy field, she pulled away, bringing an orb of the power inside her fist. She turned and revealed it to Camira.

  “This is what you need to fulfill your fate. To be the Reaper that all others will bow to.” As she spoke, Yeva held out the Reaper’s chalice and placed the orb inside. The light swirled and danced, then turned black. She waved her hand over it and returned the light to it.

  The power had drained from it the second it touched the cup, but she used just enough of her own to give it the illusion that some remained. Though the energy that the chalice held would only tie the Reaper’s life to her and make Camira easier to control.

  Handing the chalice to Camira, Yeva spoke, “Drink and you will have the power you require to seek your revenge.”

  Camira greedily snatched at the chalice and drank. When she finished, she slowly lowered her hands, her eyes closed as a grin formed across her lips. “I can feel it coursing through me,” she murmured.

  A surge of power shifted under Yeva’s feet.

  Silas…

  He was there, under this room. His power moved from beneath the ground as she felt him wake from the sleep she’d placed him under. She didn’t have the power to put him in the same slumber he’d placed her into, the state being much too close to death. Hers was light, and short.

  “You must leave,” Yeva said suddenly.

  “Why?”

  “Now!”

  Camira glared and handed the chalice back, then turned and started to walk away.

  “You may transport out of here. Return soon with the other chalice.” Her eyes narrowed as she sent her off with the implied threat. Camira would return soon. Her heart was too invested in her personal revenge to risk herself being destroyed at this point.

  Gritting her teeth, Camira bowed in a way that showed contempt more than respect. “If that is what you wish.” The tone was haughty, matching her actions and with a jerk of her chin, Camira swirled her cloak and vanished.

  NINETEEN

  NIVIAN

  THE DOOR TO Caspian’s office was open and Nivian walked in without thinking. Worry had her stomach in knots as she wondered what it would be like to take in more power. The last time it had been painful and she’d ended up unconscious for a day.

  She lifted her head to see Caspian and Evander standing there watching her. Her face flamed red as she remembered she was to meet him at the entrance to Silas’s throne room. Only a second passed before she turned to leave but it might as well have been an eternity.

  “Stay,” Caspian spoke, and much to her relief he didn’t seem to be displeased.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were busy,” she started.

  “It is all right, Nivian. We were just finishing up.” Caspian motioned for her to approach then turned to Evander. “I will expect you and your team to return in three days’ time.”

  “Yes, my Lord.” Evander bowed slightly with a familiar formality Nivian used to hold when she stepped foot into this office. It seemed a lifetime ago when she’d stopped using titles and used his name with regularity.

  Nivian waited for Evander to leave, closing the door behind him.

  “I am glad you are here, Nivian.”

  She smiled, not having the words to formulate a coherent sentence. Her nerves singing with anticipation of what was to come next. When Nivian didn’t say anything in response, Caspian walked around the desk stopping only inches away.

  “Do not be nervous,” he spoke reassuringly.

  Nivian gulped. “I can’t help it. Last time—”

  “Last time was meant to be a punishment. Silas did so in a misguided attempt to encourage you to complete your mark faster and to keep you from questioning his orders. This time will be gentle, I promise.”

  Nodding, she let some of the tension leave her body. Caspian placed a hand on her lower back and guided her from the room. Together they walked the halls and down the stairs to Silas’s throne room.

  “You sent Evander on a team mission? Another mass reaping so soon?” Nivian asked in a hushed tone.

  “I am afraid so. The balance is becoming more and more difficult to keep from shifting and I cannot find the cause.”

  She looked up into his tired eyes. His mouth was drawn taut and the stress of knowing that there was something amiss, yet not having the power to find and correct it, was weighing on him. That had been his job all these centuries. It was what he’d been created to do. But with Silas missing, Caspian could not leave their Headquarters to begin searching. Nivian couldn’t imagine the toll it placed on him.

  Squaring her shoulders, she was determined to do this for him. She would take in Silas’s power, even if it hurt. It didn’t matter what she had to endure, it was all for the sake of the balance.

  The doors latched firmly behind them as they entered the throne room. In the silence, Nivian braved a question she already knew the answer to. “Have you learned more about what happened to Silas?”

  “No, I am afraid not.”

  Of course, she’d known that
. If he’d had learned anything new, he would have told her immediately. Nivian let her thoughts turn in on themselves, rolling over everything.

  Silas was gone; his energy vanished. Not destroyed, yet not apparent. Several Reapers were missing, with the same lack of energy. There had been no earth shattering moments, as there was when a Hunter destroyed one, though they, too, were untraceable. And then, there was the balance; shifting more and more off kilter, remaining harder to correct by the day.

  Could these things be connected? Was one caused by another? Or were they just random occurrences?

  When they reached the shadows, Caspian lifted his hand, reaching into the darkness toward the curtains, but pausing to face her instead. “Do you remember when Silas increased your powers?”

  She nodded.

  “What he did not tell you was that when he did, he had enabled you to take in more of your own free will. It was a precaution I thought unnecessary at the time. Though, if I am honest, I suspect it was less precaution and more of an extremely fortunate side effect.”

  Nivian’s mouth quirked up at the corner. Whatever it had been, it was fortunate for all of them now.

  “Now,” he continued. “You must drink of the Waters of Soyala. Then you must help me restore some of my powers with the waters.”

  His request took her by surprise. “Why can’t you restore your powers if you have access to them?”

  “I was not created to handle that kind of raw power. It must be filtered through one who has the power of the Fate Keeper. Silas is not here, so it falls to you.”

  “If I become the next Fate Keeper, why don’t I take care of the returned life forces? Then you can go find Silas and bring him back.”

  “I wish it were so simple, Nivian. But there is more to it than that.”

  “What could stop you? I don’t understand.”

  Caspian sighed. It was clear that he had hoped to not have to explain. “Yeva is also missing.”

  Nivian’s jaw dropped. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

  “I had planned to, once I was able to find out if Silas’s disappearance was connected.”

  “Of course it is!”

  “Forgive me, I am not being clear.” Caspian shook his head as if he were trying to dispel a fog impossible to escape. “I meant that it is possible he has her hidden somewhere. But on the off chance that she holds power over him, I would not stand a chance against her. Only you and Silas have that strength within you.”

  Fighting the most powerful of Hunters… Could she stand against Yeva and win? Caspian seemed to think so. She was sure that if Kain was by her side, she could overcome anything.

  Nivian studied Caspian’s tired face and nodded. She would do this for the balance, for her friend, and because she alone had the power to take this next step in keeping the veil between the realms from falling. “Okay, let’s begin. I want to find Silas as soon as possible. Whatever is happening—I will put an end to it.”

  A ghost of a smile passed over his face as he pulled back the heavy curtains. Her breath caught at the power the glowing water held within its essence, she’d seen it before, but it still filled her with a sense of awe. Nivian took a step forward and stopped, looking back at Caspian. He stood with his mouth agape.

  “Caspian, what’s wrong?”

  But he didn’t respond, didn’t move, only stared ahead at the basin. It made her nervous. What was he seeing that she had missed? She hadn’t even taken in the powers yet and she was already failing miserably. She was wrong, she couldn’t do this, if they counted on her, she would let them down and ruin everything. “Caspian!” she whispered harshly.

  “The chalice… it’s gone.”

  Her heart drummed, the rhythm of wild horses running pounded loudly in her ears creating a roar that drowned out the world. “Wha—what do we do?”

  “Nothing.” Caspian hung his head. “We can do nothing.”

  Then they had lost before they even begun. The balance, the life energies… they couldn’t keep up the way they’ve been going. Something had to change or things would snap. “No,” she said, her voice not much more than a breath of air.

  “Nivian…”

  “No! I won’t give up, not now. I don’t care what happens in the end, but I won’t give up without doing everything in my power to fight against it. It can’t end this way, it won’t. I won’t let it.”

  “We can’t give you power, we need the chalice.”

  “It’s the water I must drink right?”

  Caspian nodded tiredly. He wanted to fight her on this, but she could tell he lacked the energy.

  “I will drink from my hands.”

  His eyes grew wide as he stared down at her, thoughts of hope, disbelief, and doubt raced across his face in flitting expressions. After a long moment, he conceded with a single bow of his head. “Then we will try.”

  Caspian went to work preparing the area. She watched feeling useless, but Caspian moved with more energy then she’d seen the past few weeks.

  Within minutes, he was ready, presenting her with a cloth. Nivian took it and wiped her hands clean, handing it back when she finished.

  Nivian squared her shoulders and asked, “What do I do?”

  “I am uncertain. With the chalice, I would fill it and have you drink. Without it… there is no protocol for how to proceed. Though, for all our sakes, I hope this works.”

  She stepped up to the basin, dipped her cupped hands into the water, and lifted them to her mouth looking at Caspian from the corner of her eyes. She gulped the water down and waited for the surge of power to flow through her.

  Waited for the pain.

  Waited for the agony.

  But nothing came. Not so much as a shade of what she had experienced the last time, as if she had sipped water from her apartment. She was no different than she had been minutes before.

  “How do you feel?” Caspian asked tentatively.

  “The same.” She hung her head ashamed for thinking she didn’t need an integral part of the process, assuming it was only a cup. Most of all, she felt regret that she was unable to help her friend.

  Peeking up through her lashes, she watched Caspian’s face fall in disappointment before he was able to school his features.

  “I had hoped you were right. No matter, we will continue on.” Caspian moved to close the curtain. “Come, I’ll need to assign another reaping soon.”

  Nivian swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “No, we have to try everything,” she insisted.

  “There is nothing else to try.” He started to walk away, hopelessness showing in the hunch of his shoulders.

  She reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He looked from her hand to her face with no emotion but resignation.

  “Sit,” she commanded.

  “Nivian, I—”

  “I said sit,” she insisted firmly.

  With a sigh, he did as told, sitting on the steps leading to the dais.

  “I didn’t feel anything, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t work.” Caspian looked doubtful as she spoke. If he could sense the lack of faith she had in herself, he didn’t say. “But this time, it wasn’t Silas giving me the power through the chalice trying to punish me. Maybe I just didn’t recognize it?”

  Caspian moved to stand.

  “Sit,” she said again causing him to frown. “I want to try something. If it doesn’t work, fine, we can move on. But it might work. You said you needed the power to be filtered through someone with the powers of the Fate Keeper. I want to try.”

  “Very well,” he surrendered.

  Nivian walked to the basin and once again dipped her cupped hands in. She kneed at his side and lifted the water to his mouth.

  He wrapped his fingers around her wrists stopping her. “Nivian…”

  “We just have to try. Please, Caspian?”

  He nodded then sipped the water. The second his lips connected with her cupped hands, heat flushed her face. Caspian was only drinking wat
er from her hands, nothing more. It was only to help restore enough power to him to keep him from destroying himself. So why did it feel so intimate? And why did images of Kain’s face appear in her mind?

  Caspian pulled away after he finished and closed his eyes. His fingers grazed the backs of her hands as he let them fall to his lap.

  Rubbing her palms on the sides of her legs to dry them, Nivian waited for him to speak or move, but after a few moments, she wondered if he’d fallen asleep. “Caspian?” she whispered, bending down on one knee.

  Struggling, he managed to look up. From the amount of effort it took, it seemed as though she’d drained him. Nivian cupped his face, lifting it so he could see her. She panicked; her skin growing cold as ice. “Caspian?”

  A long, deep breath and then he blinked. He shifted and sat up straight.

  “How do you feel? Are you okay? Oh, Gaia… have I destroyed you? Please tell me that you’re okay!” she pleaded.

  “I am fine.” The corners of his lips tilted up.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I am sure.” He was moving around more now. “I think it needed time to set in. I never felt anything like that. Not even when Silas first granted me my powers. It was similar, but more intense.”

  She sat back on her haunches and grabbed at her head with both hands. “I was so worried about you.” He’d felt something! “Did it work?”

  Licking his lips, Caspian waited a painfully long moment before finally replying. “Yes, I think it did. I still feel it working its way into me, the power is infusing with every cell in my body, and I can feel everything.”

  Nivian laughed and hiccupped, wiping at her wet cheeks. She couldn’t recall when she’d started crying. It worked, at least for him. If nothing else, it would help them continue forward. Throwing herself at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck.