Mist & Whispers (32 page)

‘You saw something again, didn’t you?’ Lorcan said. ‘I could feel it; it was like you weren’t here for a second.’

The disorientation had her shaken. ‘I was with Erac, in the middle of a war.’

‘How is that possible? They died nearly 500 years ago!’ Michael said, rolling his eyes.

‘I don’t know. They feel like my memories, but I don’t feel like me in them.’

Tim thought for a moment then asked, ‘Do they always happen when you touch something?’

‘Not always.’

Tim continued to think.

She turned back to the tomb and once again reached for the bony remains of Erac and Toldess, this time taking them with no visionary effects. She lifted them gently, slipped the book from under them and returned them to their original resting place.

Tim and Lorcan replaced the top stone over the tomb, returning the King and Queen to their eternal slumber.

Anya wiped away the dust with her sleeve and read the words stitched into the cover.

‘
Captured Souls
,
by The Weaver
. ’

‘What it’s about?’ asked a little voice from across the room.

Anya turned to the voice, the biggest smile sweeping across her face. ‘STEPH!’

Anya, Tim and Michael gathered around her and embraced her like a long lost sister. She was still grey, and her tone was still flat, but she had taken notice of what they were doing, and she had spoken! That could only be a good sign.

‘We can read it later, when all of this is over. For now, we have to get out of here.’ Tears were actually falling from Tim’s face as he spoke.

‘Guys, I hate to be devil’s advocate here, but isn’t it better we stay down here until Theone takes the castle back?’ Michael said, somewhat unsure of himself. ‘I mean, not in here exactly,’ he continued, grimacing at the tomb, ‘but here in the secret passages. We’ll only get in the way out there; we’ve only had a couple of weeks training.’

‘If you want to, Michael, you can. Like you said, we’ve only had a couple of weeks training; there would be no shame in any of you staying here, but I can’t. After everything – losing Macken and Gavriel – ’

Tim cut her off. ‘Gavriel’s dead?’

She nodded gravely and the mood in the room fell instantly. ‘Losing them after everything they have done for us, I couldn’t live with myself if I just sat in here when I could have been up there with them.’ She handed the Weaver’s book to Michael and rolled up her sleeves. ‘Keep that safe. We need that to get back home.’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Lorcan announced, stepping forward.

‘Me too,’ Tim followed quickly. ‘I meant what I said Anya. I’m with you on everything. Gavriel was a good man; we owe it to him to fight. Steph can stay down here with you, Michael, but guard her with your life.’

Michael sighed, full of agitation. ‘Well, I can’t stay here if everyone else is going.’

They quickly decided to leave Steph in the tomb, the book in Michael’s bag, slung over her shoulder – she wasn’t herself enough to complain, let alone fight alongside them – and followed the passage back until they found fresh air.

OUTSIDE, THE BATTLE
had spilt out on to the courtyard. Blasts of light were smashing into walls and statues as both Theone and Eleazar dodged each other’s magical strikes.

Harrion was fending off two Omens at a time whilst members of both the Stragglers and the Crown Guard were locked at arms with either Eleazar’s men or Morcades’ ghoulish soldiers. Bodies draped the grounds, enemy and ally alike, giving no real indication of who had the upper hand.

As they stood at the entrance of the secret passage, peering out from behind a lace curtain of long-dead climbing plants, Lorcan whispered to Anya.

‘Stay alive.’ Then he flew into the sky and waged a war of flames upon a collection of Omens.

With all eyes distracted by the Dragon-Boy, Anya, Michael and Tim took the chance to slip out from their hiding place, hoping to keep it – and Steph – unnoticed.

Before she had time to think, Anya had armed herself with a sword from a fallen Guard, and had taken on one of Eleazar’s soldiers.

It was obvious how long it had been since any of the castle’s inhabitants had engaged in a real fight. The soldier’s swordsmanship was almost as sloppy as her own. The battle was messy. Nothing like the skilfully choreographed battles she’d seen in visions so many times before. The solider had knocked her off her feet, but Anya had managed to take him with her, so they grappled on the ground, both fighting as dirty as the other. Somewhere in the tangle of limbs and blades, he gained the upper hand and his sword found her cheek. She pushed back against him, but he was strong. She felt the blade slice into her skin, and it was then that her temper raged. She thrust hard against his sword and sent him flailing backwards, allowing her to snatch up her weapon and drive it into the soldier’s stomach, twisting it to ensure the pain kept him down.

She scrambled away in time to witness another barrage of magical onslaught from Eleazar and Evarain. The two of them were now throwing everything they had at the true King, who was looking weak. His eyes had sunk into his pale moon-white skin, and he looked like he was fighting to keep his knees from buckling.

‘NO!’ Harrion cried from across the grounds, and a spark of blue light shot across the courtyard. Evarain fell back, tumbling down a small collection of steps.

Eleazar threw a blast of light in Harrion’s direction, knocking him out completely. It hit him before Anya had time to react, rendering her warning cry useless. Harrion was down.

White light shot from her own hand as Theone finally succumbed to his own infirmity, but she was no match for Eleazar now. Her blood must have weakened the magic inside her, as he batted her efforts away like an alpha wolf pushing out the weak at feeding time.

Once again she found herself in Eleazar’s suspended grip, useless and unable. She saw Lorcan in her peripheral, tearing towards her from across the courtyard, and for a beat, she thought he would get to her. Instead, his body twisted to the ground and Anya knew by his cry he was under the crushing hold of an Omen.

And he wasn’t the only one. She hadn’t noticed before through the sea of soldiers and swords, but now as she looked closer, a large number of bodies that lay on the ground were actually still moving, bawling with a mix exhaustion and agony.

Eleazar strode over to where Theone lay gaunt and without the energy to fight back.

‘How could you?’ Theone gasped. ‘You were my brother!’

‘
Brother
? We were never
brothers
! Brothers are meant to be equal, but you were always treated better than me, just because you were born first! But the truth is you were always weaker than me! Our father gave his love to the wrong son. I was the strong one but he never saw it! Everything was about you. Even Lynessa chose you over me, and I saw her first! But I knew you wouldn’t last. You were too soft! You only ever saw what you wanted to see, and you never listened to my advice! You couldn’t do what was required of a King, the sacrifices, the hard decisions. It was always only a matter of time before I took the throne.’

‘You’re wrong, Eleazar. Only the weak dabble in underhanded deeds. You may sit on that throne but it will never be your rightful place.’

For a moment, Eleazar just smirked. Then he knelt down beside his brother and in one swift movement, he took his dagger from his belt and slit Theone’s throat. 

As Anya watched the blood pour from Theone’s neck, every ounce of fight left in her vanished. She couldn’t believe it. Theone was dead.

‘HOW COULD YOU!’ Abeytu ran from the doorway where she had stood with Morcades, watching over the battle with helpless eyes. The Dark Blood had taken all her magic long ago; there was nothing she could have done for the fight.

She fell to the floor and cradled Theone’s body in her arms, crying and screaming at Eleazar as their brother’s blood painted her grey hands. ‘No one will ever call you King now, you cowardly bastard!’

He raised a hand to Abeytu, his eyes burning with intent.

‘Eleazar!’ Morcades’s voice rang out over the castle and within a breath, he appeared between Eleazar and Abeytu, his voice still ringing in Anya’s ears. ‘She is mine! That was always the agreement. Now, I don’t care about your daddy issues and your silly squabbles with your brother, or this cesspit of a Kingdom, but if you harm her in any way I’ll drag you down to Damnare myself and let the Omens torture your soul for eternity. I’ve allowed you to carry on as King here and let you think that your status is still above mine because largely, I’m not interested in this life, but let’s not forget who the God is here, hmm?’

‘Fine. I won’t harm her. But you make sure your ghouls finish off every last one of Theone’s men.’

‘Morcades...’ Abeytu kissed Theone’s forehead, and then stood before her last living brother and the God who had once spent his entire life in pursuit of her hand. ‘I can’t do this anymore. You win. I will be yours, but you have to make this stop. Make the Omens leave and I will be your bride.’ She opened her hands to reveal Theone’s dagger cupped within them.

Eleazar blinked at his sister in disbelief.

Morcades looked as if all his Christmases had come at once. ‘Done,’ he said with a smile, and the black river rolled in like a tsunami, taking the Omens back to Damnare. 

‘No, no! You can’t do this! We had a deal!’ It was hard to tell if Eleazar was panicking or raging.

Morcades shook his head with pity at Eleazar. ‘If there is one thing I have learned,
Sire
,’ he said with a smirk. ‘Never make a deal with Damnation... it will only prove you a fool.’

A soft gasp was all that left the Princess as she ran the sharpest edge of the dagger across her wrist. Anya watched, stunned and helpless, as a cascade of black blood blanketed the dying Princess. A few breaths later, Abeytu’s soul was on its way to Damnare, and Morcades time in Virtfirth had come to an end. ‘I’m sure we’ll see each other again before the night is out.’ Morcades said, patting Eleazar on the shoulder before vanishing in a cloud of mist and whispers.

Eleazar staggered backwards and steadied himself on a low bearing wall. His concentration must have escaped him, as his magic relinquished its hold over Anya and she fell to the ground. Around them, Eleazar’s men were staring, dumbstruck by what they just witnessed, whilst the Crown Guard were getting to their feet, trying to make sense of what happened.

She noticed someone walking slowing across the gardens towards where the Princess lay dead. It was Lorcan. She could see tears streaming down his face, his scales lustrous under the levitating lights as he passed her.

He scooped up the Princess in his arms, laid her on a bench next to a flowing fountain, and sobbed. Anya didn’t know where to look. His pain over losing the Princess seemed so deep, maybe she’d read their own moments together wrong? Maybe he had been in love with Abeytu this whole time? She looked away, trying to blot out such thoughts – it was neither the time, nor place.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grip tight around her throat, though no one was touching her. Her body lifted into the air before she heard Eleazar’s voice. He sounded even more out of control than Faust had when he stabbed Lorcan in Silver Forest.

‘You meddlesome little child! It was a mistake bringing my brother here, and now you will pay for your treachery! His grip tightened and everywhere, white spots appeared. She couldn’t breathe. She struggled hard, kicking her legs but nothing worked.

From behind her she could hear Cael scream, ‘LET HER GO!’ Through her dissipating vision she saw the Straggler charge at Eleazar, sword drawn, but a single surge of magic and he was down.

‘See. I still have power over you all!

Lorcan came to her aid next. She couldn’t see him but she could hear his roar and she felt a blast of heat as he spat fire at Eleazar. His attack, as Cael’s, was cast aside effortlessly, and Lorcan was sent soaring across the castle grounds like a shooting star.

Then, just as her body was about to give out, a brilliant light tore from the ground behind Eleazar, turning the world white. When it disappeared, the gasps of every man took its place, but Anya could not see why.

She heard the sounds of a blade whipping through the air, slicing into flesh and cracking through bone, and she fell to the ground.

Spluttering for air, she sat up quickly to find Eleazar’s body, sliced in two on the ground beside her, his dark life seeping out across the dirt, and Theone, alive and without a single wound standing in front of her, his sword having sent his treacherous brother back to Morcades.

I
T TOOK A
few weeks for the Darkness to leave Virtfirth completely. When the land was safe, Theone made arrangements for those still living in the camp to move into the castle. It would be quite some time before the Kingdom was back to pre-Darkness-normal, so the castle would act as everyone’s home in the mean time.

Anya was happy to be back in her mismatched ensemble of pleated tartan skirt, t-shirt and oversized armour, not to mention her little red Chuck Taylors and Vambrace. Steph was back to her colourful self and helping alongside Anya, Michael and Tim with making the castle habitable again. They had the Weaver’s book, but without the Lunaris jewel they had no way of getting home, so they enlisted themselves to help with the great clean up of the land.

The Stragglers – Harrion included – had set off on a mission, two days after they buried Gavriel, each member donning two new feather tattoos; one for Gavriel, the other for Macken. Their mission was to travel to the surrounding Kingdoms where many of the Virtfirthians had taken refuge after the Darkness came, to let them know what had happened and that they could return home if they wished.

Anya, Michael, Tim and Steph were in the kitchens below the Grand Hall when they heard the news of their return.

‘Joliver! Joliver!’ Barlem’s voice came from outside the kitchen. Not a second later, the great big soldier rounded the door and was almost buzzing around the newly titled
Castle’s
Cook. ‘Our boys are back, an’ blimey, ‘ave they brought back a surprise for us all! You’ll be busy tonight!’

They all raced up to greet Harrion, Cael and the others out in the sun by the castle gates. The excitement of their return had whipped up a crowd of men and women, all eager to see who or what they had brought back from their journey. A small herd of ordinary looking cows were being ushered in through the castle gates along with a flock of rather strange looking blue sheep. All this time, Anya had thought they dyed the sheepskin blankets blue themselves.

‘You’re still here then?’ Harrion called out to Anya from across the crowd.

She smiled and called back, ‘Turns out I’m not that easy to get rid of!’ As they came together, they greeted each other with a hug.

‘How’s the ink?’

Anya glanced over her shoulder to find Wolfond looking even bushier faced than usual. She turned and raised her right forearm and he inspected the two little feathers tattooed on to her milky skin. ‘You did a good job, Wolfy.’

He rubbed his hand affectionately over the top of her head, though with her curls back to their usual knotted self she didn’t look any worse when he let go.

SHORTLY AFTER THE
Stragglers’ return, Theone announced a celebration feast would take place that night. A banquet would be put together with some of the cattle and grains and vegetables they had been given by the other Kingdoms. Then tomorrow, the work would begin. Sowing seeds and nurturing the land. Theone, Harrion and few of the other Royals that had been living in the castle under Eleazar’s rule would use their powers to help kick-start the growth, but the road to repair would still be a long and laborious one.

Theone had offered both Anya and Steph their choice of dress from the Queen’s or the Princess’s chamber to wear to the banquet, but Anya couldn’t have imagined anything worse after being dressed up by Evarain, who was now firmly locked inside the castle dungeons along with Faust. His derailed mind had yet to find its way back to the tracks, so he had been placed in there for his own safety, as much as anyone else’s.

‘Thank you anyway,’ Anya said to Theone when he visited her chamber that afternoon. Theone gave her a smile and was about to leave when a question she’d been meaning to ask him burst from her lips. ‘What are you going to do next? I mean, I know how much Lynessa means to you and to Harrion, and she could be out there somewhere with the grey-eyed man.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘The truth is I have been building things here for Harrion to take over. I will stay to celebrate his return tonight, but come morning, I’m going to find my wife.’

She nodded. ‘I thought you might.’

‘There are things your life will teach you as you grow, about duty, about courage, about love. Long ago, I learnt that until you find love, you don’t even know you’re alive, and in my experience, when you lose that love, your heart stops beating as if death himself had plucked it from your chest. Love is the source of life, Anya. I can’t go on knowing she might be held somewhere, scared and alone and waiting for me to come find her.’

She smiled again, her admiration for the King plain in her expression.

‘By the way, I never got the chance to thank you,’ Theone said.

‘Thank me for what?’

‘Well, firstly for saving Virtfirth –’

‘Most of that was you guys though, I didn’t really do
that
much.’

‘ – and secondly for saving me.’

She wasn’t expecting that. ‘Saving you? I thought you just healed yourself? I mean, I thought you were dead at first, but you couldn’t have been if you healed yourself...’

‘A Royal’s magic can do many things, but healing one’s self is beyond our power. It wasn’t my magic that brought me back. It was your blood.’

Her eyebrows dipped with perplexity, and she stumbled over her reply. ‘I’m not – I – I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ How could her blood have saved his life?

Theone sat her down on her bed and took a seat opposite the dresser. A little magic and the door closed softly, shielding his next words from any possible prying ears.

‘I assumed you knew and were trying to keep it quiet. That’s why I haven’t said anything before now; you always had someone with you.’

‘You’re really confusing me now,’ Anya said, full of nerves.

‘I realised there was something different about your blood after I performed the switch back in the forest. No one had ever reacted in such a way as you did, and my suspicion grew shortly after when I too felt a change. Your blood burned inside my veins, and yet, it did not make me feel sick or weak. It made me feel stronger. When Eleazar slit my throat, I made the trip to the Fields of Beyond, but my soul was still attached to my body. I could feel my blood – your blood – pulling me back to this life.’

She looked at him blankly, still unsure of what he was telling her.

‘You have a magic all of your own, Anya. There is a power in you that no Virtfirthian has ever possessed. I can’t say what that magic is exactly, but I would wager this very castle with Basra and Bear that it has something to do with this,’ and he took her hand and opened her palm flat. Her mark stared back at her.

‘I’ll let you have some time to think,’ Theone said, and headed for the door. ‘I’ll see you at the celebration feast later.’

Alone in her room, she looked down to her hands. It had been a scant month since Theone had given Anya his powers through blood. At the time, he’d said the effects would only last a matter of hours, so she had since reasoned in her own mind that he must have been wrong. It had been so long since a Royal had passed magic onto another, it was a legitimate thought that he could have forgotten the true length of time the receiver would possess the abilities – but now?  After that bombshell... perhaps there was something in it.

She hadn’t told the others. She so desperately wanted everything to go back to normal after the battle so that she and her friends could forget all the horrors they had seen. She thought it would be easier to just pretend until they left her completely.

She held open her hand, mark to the sky, closed her eyes and thought hard about the Weaver’s riddle. When she opened them, the folded parchment that had been tucked inside her bag was in her hand.

IT WAS HARD
joining in with the celebrations that night. She was elated that the Stragglers had made it back from their journey in one piece, and it was great that the other Kingdoms were willing to help Virtfirth back to its feet, but it was difficult not to allow the memories of battle to infiltrate her thoughts.

From where she was seated, she couldn’t see the doorway where Gavriel had died, but she knew it was there. And though Theone had had it removed from the castle and buried in Wargrave, she couldn’t shake the image of Eleazar’s throne. All those hands. All those lost lives. The people of Virtfirth had memories of this castle from better days to help them reconnect. All Anya had was ghosts.

She thought a lot about the bookshop throughout the frivolities, and about how much she had changed since they left Burrow Mump.

For Steph’s sake, she tried to join in with the dancing and the games. She looked like she was having so much fun; it was nice to see her back to herself. Steph, the girl who walked into a room and brightened everyone’s day with just a smile; that was Steph’s magic, and it was pure and powerful.

With the moonshine giving the soldiers the gusto to sing the songs of their heritage, Anya took the opportunity to get some fresh air in the gardens. They were looking good now that the flowers had started to bloom. Another sign of the good the Royals’ magic could do.

‘D’you mind if I join you, Miss?’ Barlem hung in the doorway, awaiting her reply.

‘Of course you can,’ she smiled. ‘Providing you didn’t bring the chains.’

‘Oh, no Miss,’ he said, laughing for the first time at one of her jokes. ‘Forgive me, Miss, but I couldn’t ‘elp notice ‘ow sad you was lookin’. Is there sumin amiss?’

She let out a little sigh. ‘You’re a soldier, right?’

‘Yes, Miss.’

‘So you’ve seen lots of people die, right?’

His answer was the same, though more sombre than the last. ‘Yes, Miss.’

‘Have you killed anyone before?’

The question hung in the air for a while before he answered it. ‘Only in battle, Miss.’

‘How do you live with yourself after you’ve taken someone’s life? You defend your Kingdom and fight against those you believe to be evil, but at what point do your actions make you just as evil as those you are fighting?’ She wasn’t sure if what she’d said had come out right; she was struggling to make sense of her thoughts herself, let alone trying to explain them to someone else.

‘If it ‘elps, Miss, I don’t think evil is about the actions we take. I think evil is about intentions. If you act out o’love to save your people or the people you care about, well, I’m a simple man but I can’t see ‘ow there could be any evil in that, Miss. If you was killin’ for power, or for money, or for the thirst of blood, then I could see why you’d be worryin’ so. You’re a good person, Miss.’

‘Thank you, Barlem.’ She looked up at the soldier and gave him her best hug.

‘It’s me that should be thankin’ you, Miss. That’s what I came out ‘ere t’do. I’ve a gift for you.’

‘Oh?’ she said, completely surprised.

‘In thanks for savin’ our land from the Darkness.’ He pulled from the folds of his sleeve a small, velvety smooth pouch, the colour of which matched the walls of the castle, and he handed it to Anya. ‘I checked wi’ the King, an’ ‘e said ‘e was ‘appy for you t‘ave it, after I told ‘im ‘ow much you seemed t’want it.’

She loosened the ties of the pouch and turned the contents out into her palm. A coiling pendent of silver caged a triangular blue stone, and hung from a neat, little chain.

She didn’t realise at first what it was she was looking at, but as she rolled it around her fingers, the final pieces clicked into place. ‘The Lunaris Jewel! Barlem, how did you get this?’

‘I found it when I were cleanin’ out the Princess’s room. I remembered you talkin’ about it wi’ your friends an’, well, I thought it weren’t much but it were the least we could do t’say thank you.’

‘Oh, Barlem! Thank you, a thousand times over, thank you!’ He blushed, a modest smile cracking his face as she hugged him tightly. ‘Do you mind if I go show my friends?’

He gestured the pathway back into the Grand Hall, and she didn’t wait another second.

Steph was sitting on Tim’s lap as they watched Michael dancing around, arms linked with Basra, each with a flagon of moonshine sloshing over their heads. The rest of the Stragglers were grouped around on the tables, egging them on.

‘Guys!’ She held out the Lunaris Jewel for her friends to see. ‘We can go home.’ Michael stopped dancing and the four of them exchanged elated glances.