“We’re talking about a sorcerer. I’ve seen him. I’ve seen his Royal Force. I’ve seen an evil creature he’s created with magic. Lela isn’t far from Risa. What’s to stop him from coming here once he’s conquered the three kingdoms of Lela?”
“Not to mention, he has harmed and threatened your own son,” I added.
“He looks fine to me.” Ben sat sprawled behind the king’s desk, one leg dangling lazily over the arm of his chair. He aimlessly picked at his fingernails, as if the conversation around him was about nothing more than the weather.
Lex ignored his brother. “Mena and Sele need allies. We must help them.”
King Carrington’s face fell. He looked younger than my own father, with blond, shoulder length hair that hadn’t a single strand of gray. His build was set somewhere between his two sons, neither slim like Ben nor round like Lex. “We have avoided being conquered by Norun for this long by being small and insignificant in their eyes. We are not suited for war.”
“Then it is time to get suited,” I said, surprised at the confidence in my voice. “Because if Morkai invades Risa, the small and the weak will be the first to go.”
Again, the king frowned at me. I was doing an excellent job at getting on his bad side. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the appearance of one of my guards.
“I am to report to Prince Larylis.” He gasped through ragged breaths, the paper in his hand shaking slightly.
“What is it?” I asked.
He handed the note to me. I felt the blood leave my face as I read it. Your offer of alliance is a lie and a joke. We know about the murderous Prince Teryn. Prince Helios will be avenged.
“Norun will not be joining our alliance.” My mouth felt dry as I handed the note to the king.
King Carrington rubbed the pale stubble at his chin as he read the note. Lex went to his father, reading over his shoulder with wide eyes.
“I could have told you they’d deny an alliance,” Lex said. “But to call Teryn a murderer? The sorcerer’s Beast killed him! I mean, that and his own stupidity.”
“The messenger returned with this note in hand and an arrow through his ribs,” the guard said. “He also reported that Norun is preparing for war.”
“They are going to invade Tomas!” Ben said, springing to his feet.
“No, they are joining Morkai, you dimwit.” Lex narrowed his eyes at his brother before turning his attention to his father. “You see, Father? Now Morkai has the power of Norun at his side. We must help them.”
Ben leapt in front of the king, pushing Lex out of the way. “Don’t listen to him. We can’t leave. The best thing we can do is add to the fortifications at our borders. We will be safe if we stay here.”
“You know nothing, Ben.”
“I know more than you about protecting our kingdom! I built a wall!”
Lex’s eyes were bulging, and his jaw was clenched tight as he took a step toward Ben. “No, you postured around like a peacock with your nose in the air while our people slaved away at building our wall. I should have been the one to do it, I’ll admit that. But this time I’m not going to sit and do nothing. This is not the time to be small, insignificant Tomas. This is the time to fight.”
Ben’s mouth hung open as he struggled for words. I wondered how Lex resisted the urge to send his fist to Ben’s jaw.
The king gently brushed his younger son aside and put his hands on Lex’s shoulders. “What can we do? Even if we fight, what kind of difference could we possibly make?”
“I don’t know,” Lex said. “I’m scared. I don’t want to do this any more than you do. But I know we have to try.”
The king closed his eyes and hung his head. When he raised it, his eyes were rimmed with red. “Prince Larylis. You may report that we will join our Forces with yours at Centerpointe Rock.”
30
Ancestors
Cora
I carefully unwrapped the cloth from the two horns, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat. The horns sat exposed in my lap, reminding me of everything I’d seen and experienced in the weeks behind me. Everything I’d fought for. Everything I’d lost. My hands unconsciously rested on my abdomen, reminding me of my forever-empty womb. I closed my eyes, and moved my hand to the horns.
Darkness and pain rippled through me, filling my mind with terror and suffering. I breathed it in. I breathed it out. Blood. Rage. Starvation. Defeat. The dark magic that flowed from the horns enveloped me in a prickling shroud, suffocating the air. I felt the hair on my arms stand up, skin crawling, gut roiling.
Breathe in. Breathe out. It was all I could do not to toss the horns away from me. I turned my focus away from the dark magic, ignoring its writhing presence as I mourned the two lives lost for the horns that lay before me, honoring their sacrifices and gentle spirits. The darkness revolted, squeezing tighter around me.
I thought of Valorre, and through him I felt a connection to the other unicorns. I knew their pain. I knew their goodness. The sorrow in my heart was replaced with love. Breathe in. Breathe out. The darkness faltered, loosened. With every breath, I blew it away until I felt nothing but a calm, pure energy radiating beneath my palms.
I opened my eyes and saw Salinda watching me. I set the horns aside, tucking them under the hem of my dress and patted a space on the ground next to me.
“What is this project you have?” Salinda asked.
I blushed, embarrassed that I had been caught in the middle of my task. I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to accomplish. “It’s just a little something. Not a big deal.”
“You can tell me, Cora. I can see it is a big deal to you.”
Reluctantly, I pulled the horns from under my dress and showed Salinda. “I managed to save these from being consumed by the Roizan. At first, I thought I would destroy them. But then I decided the deaths of the unicorns shouldn’t go to waste. I thought maybe I would carve them, but they are unbelievably dense. Do you happen to know how?”
“You simply have to ask.”
I furrowed my brow and tilted my head to the side. “Then how?”
“Not me. You ask the horns. Ask their spirits. They will oblige.”
I felt a small smile spread over my lips, though it didn’t go far.
“What bothers you? So much sadness, my dear one.”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s just…there’s so much uncertainty. I still can’t believe what’s happening. So many people that I love have already been hurt by Morkai. I hate to think how many more will be lost to him in battle.”
“Many more will die, this is true. But we must not focus on that. We must only focus on what we can do right now.”
“I wish I could do more.” I kicked at a rock in front of me. “More for the people I care about. If I’d been more powerful, I could have saved my parents. If I’d been quicker to act, I would have saved Teryn. And now I’m bringing my family into battle when I really just want to protect you all.”
“You are always so concerned with others,” Salinda said. “This is a noble thing, and a gift. As an empath, you will always feel what others feel and absorb their pain as deeply. That same gift allows you to connect to animals, nature, even inanimate objects. It allows you to disappear, to blend, to work with the elements you touch and think about. But your greatest power lies in your greatest challenge.”
“What is my greatest challenge?”
“Think about it, Cora. When has your power been the strongest? The clearest? The most surprising?”
I thought of my unplanned attack on Morkai in the field, of the fire that had burned within me as my powers returned. Where did that come from? I was simply protecting myself.
Then it dawned on me. I was protecting myself.
Salinda nodded as I met her eyes. “You will always try to protect others. That is your natural way. But every time you conquer your challenge, when you use your power for you, you unlock more and more of your potential. This in turn makes you stronger in everythi
ng you do. Even in helping others.”
“Does every practitioner of the Arts face a special challenge to grow their power?”
“Every one of us. Empath. Oracle. Narcuss. Some of our challenges are more difficult to uncover, as not all of us have a power so easily defined. And I don’t need to have met Morkai to know he’s a narcuss.”
“What is the power and challenge of a narcuss?”
“A narcuss can control and manipulate the people and objects around him. He can project what he wants others to see and feel. He is entirely focused on self-protection, self-advancement, and personal power. A narcuss gains power for personal gain. Can you guess what his challenge would be?”
It wasn’t difficult. “The challenge of a narcuss lies in using power selflessly. Morkai is so powerful, yet I can’t believe he has ever done a selfless thing in his life. If he hasn’t gained power through overcoming his challenge, how has he become so strong?”
“Perhaps he isn’t as strong as you think,” Salinda said. “Strength and power are not the same. When it comes to the Arts, power is something that can be gained or lost. It can be learned. It can be forgotten. But strength is something innate that becomes forever part of you as you grow. Strength in your Art can never be taken away. Morkai is powerful, but it comes from his use of death-magic. He has taught himself to be a necromage through knowledge and practice alone, without the strengthening that comes from conquering his challenge as a narcuss. Yes, his power is frightening, but a power like that, untempered by challenge, will always have a weakness.”
I couldn’t believe how much Salinda and the elders knew about Morkai and his power. All the time I’d spent searching for answers when they were home all along. I just didn’t have the right questions then.
“Morkai told me he is of Ancient blood and the rightful heir to Lela as King of Magic,” I said. “I remember the elders mentioned something about a Morkaius. What does that mean?”
“This Morkai isn’t the first to claim the title. The name simply means King of Magic. The last Morkai wanted to become Morkaius, High King of Magic. He wanted to rule all of the Ancient Realm and take control of the magic for himself. Sound familiar? Maybe this Morkai is carrying the legacy of an Ancient ancestor as well.”
I didn’t like the idea that Morkai had any rightful blood running through his veins. “Who is this Ancient Morkaius? Was he a true heir to Lela?”
Salinda looked thoughtful, as if trying to find the right words to say. “It is said a bastard son of the Elvan queen and her human consort sought to overthrow the rightful heir and rule the Ancient Realm. Being the eldest, he claimed he was the true heir. With a human Force behind him, he invaded the Elvan palace. This is where the significance of Centerpointe Rock comes in. It isn’t simply a rock marking the center of the three kingdoms. It is a weathered remnant of the once-mighty palace that stood at the center of the Ancient Realm. He destroyed it in attempt to claim his throne, leaving nothing but ruins behind.
“What happened after isn’t known to us. We believe this ancient Morkai was destroyed when he became Morkaius and took control of the magic. It is understood that he who contains the Ancient magic for himself can only be destroyed by it.”
“Morkai must have known about this,” I said. “Which is why he created the Roizan. He created a channel so he can access the magic a little at a time without being destroyed by it. But wouldn’t the Roizan be destroyed by it as well?”
“That is uncertain,” Salinda said. “A Roizan is a thing of dark magic, created by death, fed by death, more object than creature. Morkai must know the strength of his Roizan to rely on it so heavily.”
The Roizan was already powerful, and Morkai’s increased abilities when near the Roizan were infinitely more frightening. How much more terrible would the two become if Morkai became Morkaius? I could only hope we would never find out.
“How does Morkai control people? He has a Force that blindly follows his demands. And my brother…how does he do that?” I asked.
“Ask yourself this, Cora. What makes you lose control? What would make your mind easy to conquer?”
I needed no time to answer. “Fear. He creates an intense fear in those he wants to control.”
“That’s my guess as well. A fearful mind shatters the connection between body and spirit. I believe he uses that as a window into the person, using his power as a necromage to keep the separation in place. He then uses his power as a narcuss to control them.”
I thought about my brother. “Do you think there’s any coming back from Morkai’s control? Can a broken mind and disconnected spirit return to wholeness?”
Salinda’s face was full of sympathy. “That I don’t know, dear one.”
I lowered my head. After all my brother had done, I couldn’t help but hope he was still in there somewhere, that he would somehow return.
“I’m very proud of you,” Salinda said as she stood. “You have become so powerful in facing your past. But you are not only powerful. You are also strong. Something Morkai will never be able to match.” With that, she gave my shoulder a light squeeze and left me to my quiet contemplations.
I took up the horns and my carving knife. Again, I closed my eyes and connected to the horns, relieved that the darkness was still gone. I thought about the bloodthirsty Roizan and Morkai’s terrible power. I thought about everyone I’d lost and everyone I loved who was still alive. Then I thought of myself. I thought of everything that had been taken from me and how much I still had to live for.
I asked the horns, Will you help me?
31
War
Larylis
“We are here.” My father placed a stone eagle on the map, just outside the valley surrounding Centerpointe Rock, and on the border between Mena and Sele. Alongside Mena’s eagle, he set a stone rose for Sele, and a stone sun for Tomas. “The sorcerer has agreed to meet our Forces at the Rock at sunrise on the morrow. If he presents Teryn unharmed, I will bargain for his release in exchange for myself. I will continue to negotiate with him to try and put an end to this nonsense. However, if Morkai wants a war, that is what we will give him.”
I searched the faces of the men encircling the table—King Verdian, King Carrington, the Royal Councilmen, the Officers, and Lex—hoping someone had come up with a better plan to keep my father out of harm’s way. Yet every face looked as bleak as my hopes.
“What if he tries to kill you?” It was probably the hundredth time I’d asked, yet I still hadn’t heard a satisfying answer.
“I will promise him that I intend to surrender if the tides turn in his favor during battle. This promise should be incentive to keep me alive long enough for my Royal Guard to succeed in their rescue.”
I wanted to argue. There were still a dozen or so unanswerable questions on my tongue—what if the sorcerer refuses my father’s promise? What if he won’t trade Teryn for my father in the first place? What if he kills my brother, like he says he will if we don’t immediately surrender? What if…we lose? But for the sake of not sounding like a child, I kept my questions hidden alongside the tiny spark of hope I held.
“The Red Force, the strongest and most heavily armored, will lead the charge against the wraiths.” King Verdian moved three red-painted, stone pieces, one of each sigil, onto the field.
“The Red?” I looked from Verdian to my father. “Shouldn’t it be the Black?”
“The weakest Force against demonic wraiths?” Verdian shot me a glare.
“Not the weakest. The fastest. The lithe.”
“We need strength and armor to protect against dark magic.”
“No, we need speed and cunning.”
“I agree with Larylis.” Lex flushed as Verdian turned his venomous gaze his way. He cleared his throat. “I saw them fight. It is terrifying that they cannot be permanently killed, but they did not seem particularly strong. When I saw the demonstration, the wraiths seemed to fight with repetition. They almost seemed confused by what they were doing.
Speed could confuse them even more. Maybe they will grow weaker the more they are struck down.”
“That’s a huge risk to take on a hunch,” King Verdian said.
My father turned to Verdian. “However, if the wraiths are the lesser threat, we would be making a grave mistake by wasting our strongest Force on them.”
King Verdian threw his hands in the air. “Nothing is certain when we are fighting against magic.”
“My son’s word is all we have to use against the sorcerer,” King Carrington said. “Now, I’m not used to dividing my Force in these Lelaen traditions, but I fully understand the wisdom behind it, and I think my son does too. If he says we use the Black Force, we should do it.”
The three kings exchanged glances.
Verdian gave a resigned nod of approval. “Lela help us all.”
“I’ll lead the Black Force.” Silence followed my words, and once they’d been spoken, I knew there was no taking them back.
My father’s jaw shifted back and forth before he finally said, “No, son, you need to stay behind. I won’t have both my heirs in danger.”
“This is no time to leave anyone behind. We all must fight to defend our land. I’m fast. I’ve trained with the Black. They should have a royal leader fighting with them.”
“If Teryn dies, you’re all Mena has.”
“Then Mena should have a man worth following.”
“It’s too dangerous. You’re not—”
“Strong enough? Isn’t that why you had me train with the Black in the first place, to make strengths of my weaknesses? Has it ever occurred to you that I might be good? You’re pleased when you hear Teryn passes as a tolerable fighter with the Red, but have you ever bothered to hear how I fare with the Black?”
The hurt on my father’s face almost gave me pause.
“I’m not the sickly Runt Prince I was when I was six.” I eyed each man on Verdian’s council, letting my glare linger on Mareleau’s two uncles a moment longer than the rest. “I’m not going to let our land fall into chaos without doing my part to defend it.”
Shadows of Lela Page 21