Regius (26 page)

The anger I'd felt washed
away the moment the barrier released me and traveled forcefully
outwards, and as I saw the Elder slide back over the metal floor of
the boat, unable to fight it, I gulped and quickly tucked my hands
behind my back.

"Hey!" Sitting up, she
blew her disheveled hair out of her face. "That was great!" I
chuckled at her cheer and was grateful she didn't hold it against
me, as I truly hadn't done it on purpose. "Now that you know where
to tap in to and create one, try to go past the anger instead of
allowing it to take over. If you can push past it, I believe you'll
be able to focus the barrier and morph it into what you want it to
be."
Right. No more angry
outbursts
. "Position." She instructed.
Nodding, I did as she asked, preparing myself to try again. "How
about we tackle the subject of Datura this time around? See if that
is more effective."

I couldn't stop it. She
didn't even have to spell anything out, the moment she said his
name, I could sense it. But unlike earlier, when the barrier burst
out of me, its target once again Rose, I remember what she'd
suggested and tried to see past the anger.

"Rose!" I shouted, thinking
hard of how I could stop the barrier from knocking her backwards
again. I blinked when she was suddenly gone.

"I knew I should have
started with the Keeper." I heard her laugh come from somewhere on
my right. "Rumor has it he knows how to trigger a certain amount of
passion out of you."

"Yes." I growled, the
barrier fading from around her. "And let’s keep it as a rumor. The
enemy doesn't need to know what my soft spot is." I sighed then.
"And neither does Solenum."

I could see Rose again. "If
she were in your shoes, you wouldn't be her trigger either,
Calycanthus. But, you'll only believe that when you ask her about
Galax."

"Do you think I'll get the
chance?"

"If you believed her to be
dead, would you really have risked going to her?" Rose patted my
cheek. "Trust the Seer inside of you. It'll guide the
way."

By the time the boat
settled in Iodin's harbor, I still didn't have absolute control
over the barriers. Sometimes nothing happened and at other times I
didn't get the wanted result. But Rose continuously reminded me
that neither of us had any other way to get past security. If I
didn't manage, it meant that the Blue Bloods would instantly know
and either detain or kill us, which was very stressful. Rose hoped
that it would motivate my powers more strongly, helping me along
the way. To make the situation a tad less pressuring, she had
decided to make our way out of the boat by climbing down off the
side, landing us in the water and then we'd circle it to
land.

We'd only needed to rely on
my barrier at the parking lot, and I'd come to learn that
everything I touched would become invisible with me, meaning that
the car did too when we'd made our way into it.

I had been terrified about
the entire plan as Rose explained it while we'd spent the last
night on the boat before it reached the city. But as we executed
it, I found out it was easy. Rose made things easy. It had gone by
so fast, I wasn't entirely able to grasp the idea that I'd slipped
past Regius security once she drove my car out of the parking lot
and straight into the forest.

Immortalis Silva
hugged Iodin City tightly and I could instantly
release the barrier since we wouldn't risk running into anyone once
inside.

"You can still return, if
that is your wish," Rose said, leaving the engine running as she
stepped out of the driver's seat. Getting out as well, I closed the
door and looked back, seeing that I could indeed still return
without getting lost. "Although not certain, we believe in roughly
five minutes, the forest will turn into its wretched labyrinth."
She made her way to me, ruffling my hair and placing a soft kiss to
the side of my head. "You did very good, Calycanthus. Your father
would be very proud."

"Because I'm breaking all
the Altor laws in the book?" I grinned and taking her hand so I
could place a kiss there, showing her the respect I
felt.

"That and other reasons."
She waited for me to get behind the wheel. "Good luck finding
Solenum and thank you for giving me the location of the Regius
base. I am giving you three days before I report it back to
Pieris."

"Thank you for that. And
good luck finding Jan." I closed the door and waved at Rose one
last time before driving my way deeper into
Immortalis Silva
. There was no way
I'd turn back now. Rose had been right. If Solenum had died, I
would have felt it, and I hadn't felt anything yet.

The red dot that was the
locator and my destination was still glowing brightly despite it
having died. Thankfully the tracking system had memorized the
location, not needing the actual locator anymore to track. It had
taken me a great while before I'd been able to convince myself
Solenum was still alive, that she hadn't died along with the
locator. I'd concentrated on silly little details, keeping myself
as occupied as I could manage while driving. Somehow, the Palliums
had come up with and put together this technology, I had no idea
how, but it was really amazing. Every time I so much as got off the
path it wanted to go onto, the computer yelled at me, telling me I
was doing it wrong. Not in those words exactly, but Agnes, my
computer's voice, didn't like repeating herself.

I'd been worried to get
through about the getting lost part. None could get through
Immortalis Silva
without
getting lost, but apparently the rule that said 'if you know your
destination, then you can make your way out' wasn’t
fake.

I never stopped driving.
I'd stocked up on snacks in the ferry and I wouldn't be able to
sleep even if I tried, so I didn't. To make sure my worry wouldn't
end up being the death of me, I'd turned on the music, making it
blast through the car as I sang along with the songs. Datura wasn't
here to tell me I sounded like a duck, so it was all good. A bottle
of soda lay nestled in the passenger seat loaded with the caffeine
I needed to give me the occasional kick of energy.

The road was intensely
boring. Probably due to the fact that all I'd seen so far were
trees. A never-ending amount of trees. And they all looked the
same. It was as though you had a row of them that went on for maybe
one kilometer and then instead of new trees continuing the
landscape, the exact same kilometer of trees had been glued on
after that first one. So it gave me the impression I was constantly
starting over.

I took a break every two
hours or so, and at one of my stops, I'd looked through the bag
Rose had apparently left in the back of my car. I knew she'd left
it on purpose. There was a compass, Rose’s port phone, a rope, some
sandwiches, an extra pair of socks, a scarf and three bottles of
water. What with how Ilex’s watch was acting up in this place, I
hadn’t put too much hope in the compass and phone, trying them
anyway, but not surprised to find out neither was in working
order.

The compass, I could shake
it all I wanted, the thing just kept spinning, as confused by the
landscape as I felt. Knowing the compass didn’t work, I tried out
the port phone, even if I was rather certain the thing would
connect me to either Pieris, Aram and maybe the district leaders
too. Not exactly the people I could have a chat with right now. All
I got though was the sound of a disconnected phone, like how Acacia
would unplug the one at the boarding house when Holly had been
calling her girlfriends for too long.

As for Ilex’s watch, it
stood still so I had to guess how much time went by.

Later on I'd panicked when
my gas tank had started to empty. A gas station in
Immortalis Silva
? Not
gonna happen. If I ever got out of this place and back to the
Coliseum, I'd have Ilex teach me how to use my brain and remember
that cars aren't magical. They need to be fed just like
people.

The plan had been to stop
the car, drown in self-pity and see what happened next. Palliums
though, they expected Altors to be idiots. So when the little arrow
had landed on a red bar informing me my tank was officially running
on reserve, Agnes snipped,
"You may find
gas cans underneath the floor board of your passenger
seat."

I estimated that I had
been traveling for nearly three days and was starting to feel worse
with every second that passed by. But finally, Agnes kindly
informed me I was nearly there. I'd stopped the car instantly,
knowing that with a car I would be noticed if I got too close. If I
wasn't detected already that is. I'd really thought nothing out. I
had no idea how to approach this. What was I going to do? I
couldn't just barge in and demand that they give me Solenum back.
They'd laugh then slit my throat. Or slit my throat and then laugh.
In any case, I'd end up dead. It's like I'd been expecting to have
Agnes tell me,
"You have reached your
destination. Welcome to Blue Blood Territory. A guide will show you
shortly how to proceed onwards."

I dug the weapons out from
the car, again admiring the blade called the
Extraxie,
given to me by Datura,
which Rose had told me used to belong to my father, and the other
plain sword I'd grabbed from the armory. Using the weapons, I'd cut
off some branches and torn apart some bushes, concealing the car as
best I could. I'd found a tight spot between some huge trees,
helping me hide it.

Immortalis Silva
in this region were in full bloom, although the
leaves were an icy blue color and the wind flowing through the
trunks somewhat brisk, it looked like the trees were in their prime
time. Would I find it again if I ever got out? Shrugging, I
steadily strapped my weapons on my back and then continued on
foot.

The longer I walked, the
more my initial worry about getting lost faded. I didn't feel
scared anymore and a sense of peace was settling over me. The map
had shown I'd needed to go straight onwards, but the trees could
move as the labyrinth demanded it and make me lose my way. Yet I
had never felt so confident. Maybe it was the Seer in me. I
remembered Vervaine's words on feeling a sense of home when around
another Seer. I could feel it right now, or at least, I felt the
way I used to feel when I was close to Solenum. I could only assume
I was getting closer to the Regius base and that she was still
alive. Or I hoped it was that, rather than wishful thinking as I
wandered through the trees.

As my walk was starting to
be longer than I’d expected it to be, I realized that I might have
gotten lost after all. I’d been about to start panicking, freaking
out, worrying, possibly scream in frustration, maybe even kick a
tree or two while I continued to move away further and further from
my car, yet I didn't have the chance to burst as the scenery
changed abruptly.

Careful of my
surroundings, I reached up and slipped
Extraxie
out of the straps that were
tied in a cross over my back and chest. There was a circular shaped
opening in the forest, and while this was curious compared to the
relatively monotone view it had offered so far, it was the large
hole in the middle that had me frowning. The trees hugged each
other closely, barely leaving space to pass through as they framed
the edge of the large hole. What was this place?

“It’s the end of an exit
that starts from within the castle.”

Snapping my gaze over to
the voice, my body followed, the sharp end of my blade pointing at
a girl not much older than myself. She looked Altor at first
glance, yet her clothing suggested Regius and she was definitely
not afraid of me. Actually, she looked very happy to see me. As I
took her in, my weapon became heavier all of a sudden, the tip of
it landing harshly on the ground and eventually I was forced to let
go of the blade, leaving me staring at it in surprise.

My eyes snapped back to
her when she laughed softly. "You and Solenum do react very
similarly. Galax was right to think that when he first observed
you." Slightly upset and frightened with the situation, I grabbed
the hilt of my
Extraxie
and tried pulling it off the ground. "You can't
hurt me."

"Clearly." I panted out,
tugging some more but soon realized I'd only lose energy over this.
"What's your deal?" I deadpanned as I ignored my stubborn
weapon.

"Would you look at me
properly?" She requested, stepping closer. As the words registered,
I instantly knew who she reminded me of.
Vervaine
. Although the hair and skin
tones weren’t alike at all, their faces... They could have been
twins. She offered me an uncertain smile, reaching up to smooth the
side braid she was sporting and then tugging on her sapphire dress
before allowing herself to step away from the large tree that had
given her a shadow to hide in. She didn’t seem intimidated at all,
the fabric of her dress flowing gently around her, not long enough
to hide the fact she was barefoot.

“I’m very happy to finally
meet you, brother.” I inhaled sharply as she said what I'd been
thinking, but hadn't dared to utter. "Please." She murmured,
reaching out with her hand to touch my cheek. I wanted to flinch,
but I couldn't. That sense of peace made it impossible. "Don't
mistake me for something I am not." When her fingers connected with
my skin, I instantly grasped her wrist, just holding it loosely,
not forcing her to pull away.