Dominic looked bored and unruffled by Austin’s outburst. “Yeah, I don’t think you would be strong enough for such power. None of us would be, at least not anytime soon. Not even Adam or Emilie would be ready for such a task.” Dominic’s golden eyes smoldered.
“I think that I would like the Vatra. I have seen the people of Sybra in my own eyes tonight. There are so many people dependent upon us already for our protection. Without us, who knows how many lives would die.” I said. “And I think that all of us could do it in time.”
I took the first sip of my drink. The drink was sweet, yet slightly sour, which was a combination I oddly enjoyed. As I swallowed the drink, energy streamed through my body, rejuvenating me from the long day of training.
“I didn't mean that we would never be able to be strong enough to defeat the Shadow Bringer. I just think we wouldn’t be able to do it now or anytime soon.” Dominic’s words were careful and precise. I guessed he could sense the tension amidst us and was trying to dissolve it, but his words created another silence at the table. I finished my drink in the quiet, my eyes on the tabletop. So many lives were hanging on a thread, a single hope.
“The most important question that I don’t understand is what Lucia wants.” Austin said, breaking the awkward silence.
“The Larta have always wanted the Ones of Within’s power over Aughmortor,” Emilie said.
“I wasn’t talking about the Larta; I’m talking about Lucia’s motives.”
“The usual,” Adam replied, “Money, glory, power…”
“Those are fairly general topics.” Dominic said. “If you want to find out Lucia’s motives, you should learn about her. Theoretically, the leaders don’t always have the same desires as their organizations.”
“Lucia never worked with the Ones of Within, so how could we possibly get information about her?” Emilie protested.
“Wait, so you’re telling me the Ones of Within don’t even know what Lucia wants. What her demands would be to stop the war.” I said disbelievingly.
“Her actions state what she wants bluntly enough,” Emilie snapped, “But no, the Ones of Within have no idea exactly what she wants to do other than what her actions tell.”
“Well, have they asked her?” Kat asked.
Dominic laughed coolly. “I’m sure the Ones of Within can’t trust a word coming from Lucia’s mouth. She probably would never tell them her real intentions. I was thinking that there should be spies or something gathering information on Lucia, at least. I assumed that would have already been set up, but I guess not.”
“Lucia’s been here for a long time. She was the second in command to the old Larta leader and then took over after the old Larta leader mysteriously disappeared. All she’s done is attack the Subdina Volcano, our patrols, and proclaim war against us. Her actions speak pretty clearly,” Emilie said scornfully. It was clear she had a strong dislike for Lucia. “I’m not sure about spies though, and I don’t know that much of the behind-the-scenes to James’s plans.”
“We think it’s the prophecy that’s been holding up her true motives unless she simply lives to pick off the Ones of Within one by one. The prophecy favors the Ones of Within’s side, so we believe she’s trying to wait out the storm,” Adam explained.
“Wouldn’t it have just been simpler if she had tried to destroy the Ones of Within before the recruits got here?” I asked.
“Lucia’s been recruiting clans of beasts for the past few years to gather her numbers so that she can even the playing field. The Ones of Within have had the upper hand for years due to their connection to elves, dwarves, and several other major races in Aughmortor. Now, Lucia’s recruiting is starting to level the playing field. We think she’s also getting support from one of the major cities too.”
“It’s a possibility,” Adam added, shooting a look at Emilie before she could protest about the Ones of Within allies being loyal. “Before Lucia came, the Larta was ruled by a leader called Lörashin. The Larta was in financial wreckage under his control. The only wars he led brought great loss to both our side and his. Before Lucia took over, the Larta was close to ruins. Somehow, she picked up its pieces.”
“Adam,” Emilie hissed in annoyance, “All of the major cities are loyal to us, the Ones of Within members stationed in the capitols have proven it.”
“Then explain how Lucia picked up the destroyed Larta,” Adam countered.
“The Larta could have stolen the wealth or…”
“The problem I’ve noticed with the Ones of Within,” Dominic said mysteriously, his eyes averted to the table, “Is they continually use ‘could have’ or ‘what if’ in their sentences. Maybe if they actually used action, they would start getting answers to their questions.”
Emilie stood up angrily. “You’ve only been here for practically two days! You know nothing of the Ones of Within.”
“Emilie… calm down,” Adam said warningly.
“And why aren’t you backing me up on this?” Emilie asked Adam. I had never seen her remotely angry before, and seeing her like this brought out a different side to her bubbly demeanor. Emilie’s loyalty to the Ones of Within was unmatched as far as I had seen, but there were holes in how she took to understand them.
“Everyone’s opinion here is desired whether it’s correct or not,” Adam said calmly, “And you know as well as I do that the Ones of Within think more than they act… not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.” He quickly added.
Emilie sat down abruptly, but her hands were in fists at her sides.
“Would you like anything else?” Erik came back up, glancing at the menus at the end of the booth’s table. He seemed to feel the table’s tension.
“No, thank you, though,” Adam said politely. He dropped the correct amount of money for the drinks in Erik’s hand, plus a tip.
“Thanks,” I said to Erik as I stood up and walked to the entrance of the restaurant, waiting for the others to catch up. My newfound knowledge did not settle well with my brain. I couldn’t get it out of my head no matter how hard I tried to think about something else.
“Let’s head back to Kartica. I’m sure that we have a meeting to catch and dinner.” Adam smiled at us all. He seemed unconcerned about not only Emilie’s behavior but also our heavy discussion. I knew that they had much more trust in the Ones of Within since they had been apart of it for two years, but as a new member, I struggled to feel the same sense of belief right now. Unfortunately, the whole situation was out of my hands. Hopefully, James knew what he was doing and had a plan.
The streets were filled with torches producing brilliant orange flames, and the faint smell of burning wood clung to the air. Someone was probably having a bonfire and enjoying the warmth of the fire. I felt the cold winds whip at my hair savagely, sending it flying behind me as I walked, but I didn’t care. I liked the feeling of numbness in my hands and on my face because it made me feel awake. Somehow, I had managed to lose one life and gain another here on Aughmortor. For some reason, I felt to odd perturbing sense that someone was watching me from the shadows, but I dismissed the feeling as superstition. Perhaps our discussion had affected me more than I thought.
Chapter Eleven
Mara lay on a small red loveseat, and her eyes closed in concentration. She murmured Jakost under her breath, her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of the words. Her fingertips barely touched a small, silver orb between her hands as it spun in axis. Streams of gray fog inside the orb consumed each and changed to a darker gray. Mara’s eyes opened again, and she stared, hopefully, into the orb in her hands.
“Sâvâ mïsù rîsa,” Mara hissed at the orb.
The fog in the orb started to clear and change to colors of green, blue, and white. The image-focused and Mara found herself staring at an endless body of sparkling water. An endless ocean that lasted through oblivion. No one had ever seen this ocean, no one alive to this day. And no one, certainly, had been across this ocean before. Mara swept her hand acro
ss the front of the sphere, and the image cleared. Now, she was looking at a hunched man with blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair was starting to gray, and his face was sagging with exhaustion and worry.
The man’s hair was in disarray, and the style contradicted with the man’s heavy black suit coat and pants. He was staring at a letter written in elegant script, and his eyes were rimmed in red. His cheeks were covered in dry tear stains, but Mara wasn’t here to see the man. Mara bent forward, slowly willing the orb to come closer to the letter in her mind. The orb’s view changed, so she was looking down upon the letter from over the man’s head. Mara’s eyes flicked to the bottom of the letter, several specific words sticking up from the page. Sincerely, Lydia Quinn Mara’s eyes skimmed through the letter, but all of the important words already stood out from the page by her willing. Dear Wes; She’s just as much my daughter as yours; I haven’t seen the last of her, I promise, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Nothing; And don’t try to hide from me, you know as well as I do that shall never work; I miss you… and Natalie; We’ll see each other again, someday. The procession must go on, and I must as well. All of these problems, they are yours to carry as well as mine…
Mara’s head pulled back as she swept her hands across the orb, changing the image once more, seeing enough for today. The door opened, and a small, redheaded woman with gray eyes walked into the room. “Sêäês,” Mara whispered, and the orb disappeared from between her hands.
“My lady,” The maid began hesitantly. “Her liege summons you to her parlor.”
“Tell Lucia that I will be there in a minute,” Mara replied, continuing to sit on the loveseat. The maid nodded and hurried out of the room.
Mara smiled secretively and opened up one of the drawers in the room. She pulled out a wrinkled map of Aughmortor and spread it out on the desk.
“Sîke entàr montaurue skèlla rîträmî,” Mara said softly to the map.
The map started pulsating a weak golden light. It was warm against Mara’s finger when she drew a glowing trail across the Hèdrîan Plains. The trail faded when her finger left the map. Mara tapped Sybra twice and closed her eyes, waiting patiently for the image. Her mind was blank for several seconds before she opened her eyes, and the objects on top of the drawer started to rattle fiercely. Annoyed, Mara ceased the rattling by a single movement from her finger before pacing around the room. Decidedly, she stood in front of the map once more.
“Lâstforna.” Mara snapped at the map, before double-tapping a harshly glowing patch of land just west of the Hèdrîan Plains. Lucia had spoken to her of this place, gloated of this place because it held another key to her never-ending tasks. Mara’s eyes closed once more as the images in her mind blurred out and got distorted. She stepped out through the blurring distortion with carefully chosen words and found herself standing in a large clearing.
While Mara knew she was merely a projection, the images around her were so real it was scary. The clearing was filled with massive black-furred beasts with cat-like eyes, strong jaws, and a tall, muscular stance. A group of young pups rolled in the dirt near her feet without realizing her presence. The largest Jax in the clearing was a massive beast with a small patch of white clay on the center of his forehead, a symbolic sign he was the leader of the tribe. He was prowling to her projection while the other beasts gathered around him, snarling viciously at her. Mara turned her gaze, for a second, to see a Shadow Bringer lying slumped against a tree, asleep. The Shadow Bringer’s were easy to recognize with their metal armor covered in hourglasses. But, the image did nothing to settle Mara’s already churning stomach.
“Sêäês,” Mara gasped out as the Jax leader began to run to her. Her eyes opened, and once more were in the room, taking the much-needed deep breaths of air she had missed during the projection. She hadn’t perfected the art of projections yet and still couldn’t breathe during their channel, but soon she would have it down. After a few minutes of restoration, Mara’s breathing quieted, and she shoved the map back into the drawer before locking it.
She walked out of the magic-coated atmosphere and headed through the winding hallways to Lucia’s parlor. By now, she knew the corridors by heart, even though she hadn’t been here long. Lucia ordered her to come to the parlor almost everyday, normally to gloat or brag about her accomplishments. Mara didn’t really mind that Lucia ordered her around like that. It wasn’t like she had a choice in the matter anyway. From the first day in Lybrazil, Lucia had made sure Mara knew who the leader here was and who had the power. Mara just hated having to listen to Lucia talk and talk about herself. Everything about Lucia revolved around herself.
Mara still had no idea what Lucia wanted from her exactly. In fact, she wasn’t sure exactly why she was given so many privileges, but she had a terrible inkling that she knew without being positive about it. After all, she had a better room than everyone other than Lucia. Mara had everything she asked for other than her freedom. Of course, Lucia informed her that it was nonnegotiable- she could not leave anytime soon. Mara’s head rose as she heard the heavy pounding of boots on the carpeted floor.
Lucia was stalking down the long, empty hallway, followed at the heels by an armored soldier. Mara stood still, assessing her leader's erratic mood. Lucia’s hair was done in perfect curls down her back, and a small set of sparkling barrettes across the crown of her head held most of the hair trailing down her back. A few pieces of loose hair curled effortlessly down the sides of her temples. She was wearing an olive green evening gown with frilly lace around the sleeves and layers of folding lace down the front. Lucia didn’t need the inch of smoky eye shadow to exacerbate her anger. Her stormy gaze was terrifying enough as it was. While Lucia’s expression was calm and collected, her expressive eyes couldn’t control the emotion hidden underneath.
“Have you deceived me?” Lucia spat as she neared Mara, “Do you even understand the full extent of what you’re doing?”
“What do you mean?” Mara asked, trying to pull a more innocent approach to weaken Lucia’s anger. She knew one common fact every maid in this damned place knew: don’t get on Lucia’s bad side. And still, Mara was purposefully doing exactly what she knew not to do.
“Do you think I cannot feel the magic in your room from all the way in my parlor? Do you know the full extent of my magical sense? I can feel any magic in this entire encompassment, in all of my rooms. Did you think you could hide your magic from me? And, do you know how much danger you are putting yourself in by not only testing my limits but also performing the magic of masters without trustworthy magical knowledge?”
“I didn’t know it upset you so much,” Mara said evenly, “I thought that I was allowed to do what I wanted here.”
Lucia hissed through her teeth. “How can I give you these privileges if you do not understand the meaning of them? I’ve tried to make you welcome in my world to make you understand my world. I thought it would be easier this way. But apparently not!” Lucia’s hands fell to her sides in defeat. “Why would you desire to look outside from this life when you have everything you could want?”
“I didn’t get a choice in what life I have,” Mara said desperately, “You made that choice for me. You’ve given me everything I could desire except for one thing. My freedom. I don’t want to be a captive.”
“You will grow to support my cause. Once I can trust you, then I can give you more freedom, but not until then.” Lucia’s slumped shoulders rose and once more, she looked in control. “You will not continue to perform this magic. You don’t understand the importance of this situation- you will be of no use to me dead, which is why I must protect you from yourself. ”
“You can’t stop me from performing magic if you aim to continue the pattern you have so far… I don’t want your stupid things or wealth. I want my freedom. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“You want your freedom so you can turn against me and head straight to the Ones of Within. Already, you’ve learned too many of my secrets.
The only way you can ever have freedom now, Mara is death. It is an option I will never consider for you, so get used to this life!”
“I wouldn’t go to the Ones of Within,” Mara protested, “I swear! I just want my normal life back on Earth. Everything would go back to normal then…”
“Your common sense is warped, child. You seem to think that the moment I release you into your old life, the Ones of Within won’t pursue you for information. Mara, your life is connected to the Larta and the Ones of Within. It always was, and it always will be. Their blood runs in your veins, just as it runs in mine. After you get a taste of this life and go back to Earth, you’ll desire this one once more. You will miss it here, and you will return,” Lucia spoke in a compelling tone, putting a hand on Mara’s shoulder, much to her dismay. “But, I do have a single piece of knowledge that might change your mind towards me, Mara… I am your mother.”
Mara’s mind closed itself from Lucia’s words, for they were poison. They poisoned her thoughts because Mara knew and prayed they couldn’t be true. She already knew without Lucia telling her, and the knowledge sent her stomach churning and her eyes burning. Of course, she had suspected due to the similarities in their features, the warnings of her family on Earth, and the way she had been treated so far in Lybrazil. Lucia was an older copy of her with dark hair, pale skin, gray eyes, and undeniable beauty. It can’t be true though, Mara prayed. This has to be a ploy to get her on the Larta’s side.
“Mara, I’ll give you time to think it over. But, from now on, meet your new bodyguard. If he catches you, completing any of this magic or possibly endangering your life or this cause… if anything’s even remotely suspicious, he’ll come straight to me,” Lucia said before her voice quieted into a soft whisper. “I’m sorry it had to be this way…”
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