From Breath and Ruin, page 15
It wasn’t until Rhodes growled low in his throat that I realized that Slavik was talking to me. I held back a shudder and tried not to react, but from the way he looked at me, I hadn’t held back the revulsion or fear. It didn’t help that he’d called himself the pirate king like I’d thought in my head. If it wasn’t obvious from how they all dressed, I’d have assumed he read my mind. Rhodes hadn’t mentioned that talent with any of the elements, but for all I knew, it was something special only Slavik could do.
“Pirate king,” Rhodes said with a snort. “Really? That’s what you’re going with?”
Slavik narrowed his eyes. “You look familiar, Lumière. Do I know you?”
“You act as if I should know you.”
I stayed as still as possible, hoping that Rhodes had a plan other than annoying Slavik. I just didn’t want the so-called pirate king’s attention on me…though I really didn’t want it on Rhodes either.
Slavik narrowed his eyes. “You’re Lumière, you wouldn’t know me. But the Obscurité? They know me. Some fear me. Some realize I’m doing what must be done.”
“And what is it exactly that you’re doing?” I hadn’t realized I’d spoken until the words were out of my mouth, and Rhodes stiffened at my side. Braelynn leaned into my other side, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Luken glanced at me for a moment before looking around the rest of the cave, probably trying to keep everyone in his sights.
“What should be done,” Slavik snapped. “We take what we can from those who don’t know any better. They aren’t using it, and our world is dying. Our people are dying. If we don’t take it, then who will? Who will use it? The power, the gold, the homes, the food. If it lies in waste, then there’s no use for it.”
“You’re some kind of Robin Hood?” I asked, aware that I probably shouldn’t be speaking, but I couldn’t help it.
The pirate king narrowed his eyes. “Who?”
I bit my tongue. Just because Rhodes had come into the human realm and probably knew some of the shows and movies from my world, didn’t mean everyone else did. And Rhodes had said that there were no human inventions in the Maison realm. No TV, no movies, nothing that magic and elemental Wielding could interfere with.
“Never mind.”
“Hmm.” He ran his hand through his hair and studied us. He had dark hair and darker brown eyes, with skin only slightly tanner than mine. I didn’t think it was from the sun, but more natural. Most of the people I’d seen in this territory had skin in various shades of white and brown with their only similar characteristic being their hair color and the style of their clothing. I didn’t know if all Earth Wielders had brown hair, but the pirates and sentries seemed to.
“You’re stealing from people because you think it’s your right, or that you can since they aren’t using it properly or something. Well, we have nothing for you, so why are we here?”
I truly needed to shut up. Luken kept giving me weird looks when he wasn’t keeping an eye on our surroundings. Braelynn looked at me like I was insane, but Rhodes looked at me as if he trusted me.
Me.
The one who had no idea what she was doing.
“You really do like to ask questions, don’t you?” Slavik narrowed his eyes at me, but there was a grin threatening. It was as if he liked to watch us to see exactly what we would do, and so he could be as outrageous as he wanted to be.
I honestly didn’t know if me asking questions would get us killed or not, but I knew I couldn’t just lay down and let them do whatever they wanted to us. I wasn’t going to let my friends—the people who had tried to help me—die because I wasn’t brave or strong enough to prevent it.
“There’s no hope left here. The Earth territory is dying. Every territory is dying. The crystals that we need to survive are fading away.”
I looked over at Rhodes, who didn’t look back at me. But I could see the tension in his jaw and knew that whatever this pirate king had to say, it was important. And it was something Rhodes apparently wasn’t ready for me to hear. I didn’t know what that meant, but I wasn’t happy about it. Because Rhodes was supposed to tell me everything. Or at least that’s what I thought.
After all, he kept saying that he was waiting for Rosamond to come back. For us to find her so she could explain everything to me. But he had only been giving me little nibbles of exactly what was going on in this new realm.
And to say I was scared was an understatement.
“I can see by your face that you didn’t know about the crystals.” The pirate king glared at me before shrugging. I was truly afraid he was going to figure out that we had come from the human realm, and either our cover would be blown, or he would find another way to figure out exactly why we were in his territory.
“The crystals fuel each kingdom. I hear, before the war, before the Fall, there used to be one big crystal. But for all I know, that’s just a fable that was told to children so they knew exactly how everything used to be one, and how it all used to be perfect peace. That’s crap if you ask me. Because our world needs war. It’s what drives the kings and queens of our lands. Greed, war, strife. All of it has always been part of our history, and the fact that we just happen to be two kingdoms now? That just adds more blood to the battlefield.”
“So, there are two crystals then?” I hadn’t meant to ask that, and from the way Rhodes glared at me, I knew I shouldn’t have. Because anyone in this realm should know that.
But the pirate king wasn’t looking at us. Instead, he was buffing his nails like he had nowhere else to be. As if he hadn’t shackled us in the middle of a seweresque cave.
“There are two. A dark and a light. You can guess where those are, I’m sure. Within each kingdom, in the main courts, the crystals lay in wait. The king and the queen each take their power from the crystals. Everyone should be taking their power from the crystals and, therefore, feeding their power back into them. Apparently, it’s a symbiotic relationship or some jazz like that. But as the magic fades from our realm, so do the crystals. Our land and our people are dying, and so is our magic, day by day. We have more Danes than we ever had before, and that is saying something. Our realm is dying, everything is dying. And that means I and my men will do whatever we need to, to make sure we stay alive. Because no one cares about what we do. Not even a little.”
“You sound like you believe that we’re already dead. That we’re just walking around as husks, waiting for the end to truly come.”
I looked over at Rhodes after he’d spoken, wondering if he was baiting Slavik or truly wanted to know the answer. I didn’t know if I wanted to know. Because I knew there was a reason Rhodes wanted me in this realm. The Spirit Priestess had to do something, had to be something. And if that something meant bringing the kingdoms together, and maybe stopping the magic from dying, perhaps that was something he should’ve told me to begin with. Waiting for Rosamond wasn’t an option anymore, not when I already had one element unlocked and I was truly afraid of what might happen when the other four did. If they did.
“The Spirit Priestess is a lie.” Slavik raised his chin and glared at all of us. “It’s a myth that comes from wanting hope, and it only leads to more death. The world around us is fading, just like those crystals. And there’s nothing we can do about it. The kings and queens send their children out into the human realm to find the lost Priestess. But if she is so important, why would she be hidden away? If she knows how to help us all, why would she hide from us? You know why? Because she doesn’t care. Or she doesn’t exist. And so, I really don’t care what all of you think. But you do have something I want.”
I met Slavik’s gaze. “And what is that?”
Slavik grinned, and fear slid down my spine. “You have power.”
And then, more magic fizzled in the air, the earth beneath our feet shaking, and I knew the Earth shaker was back.
Then Braelynn screamed.
They moved us to a new Earth dwelling, something made of dirt and mud and slightly underground. People were lying dead around us or were dying. They were trapped, just like we were. If we didn’t find a way out, we’d be dead just like the rest of them. It made me wonder if there were truly good Earth people around, or if everyone in this territory, in this kingdom for that matter, was lost.
They separated us, Braelynn going somewhere with Luken after she had screamed. Someone had come up from behind us, tugging on her hair and putting a blade to her throat. She had stopped screaming when she realized what exactly was touching her skin, but I’d almost screamed for her.
They had pulled my friends away, taking Rhodes in a different direction than me, and I just prayed that there was something we could do.
But I didn’t think there was.
Not when I didn’t have any power, and not when I had no idea where we were.
Chapter Twenty
“There’s still hope.”
I almost jumped at the cracking voice, then looked to my side. What I had thought was a bundle of blankets, was actually an older woman with lines on her face that spoke of time and knowledge.
I looked over at the woman sitting next to me, and all I wanted to do was hold her close and tell her that everything would be okay. Or maybe I wanted her to do that for me. Fear crawled up my spine and slithered down to my stomach.
I was honestly so scared, but I knew if I just kept breathing, if I just kept hoping, maybe there would be a way out of this.
But Rhodes and Luken hadn’t looked as if there would be a way out of this when I’d seen them last.
So, maybe there really wasn’t a way.
“I know who you are.”
My eyes widened at the woman’s words, but I didn’t say anything back. What was there to say? I had never met her before in my life, therefore, I had no idea who she was, so she couldn’t know who I was.
She wouldn’t know my name. Wouldn’t know my friends. And she wouldn’t know that I was a fragile new Air Wielder, someone who really wasn’t supposed to be here. I had a façade on, I was a fake. And Rhodes wanted to believe that I could be the savior? All I could do was say the wrong thing and get put into this Earth jail. A prison filled with people screaming, people dying, people giving up.
And the thing that hurt the worst? I didn’t know if they were dying because of what the pirate king was doing, or because what he’d said was true and all the magic—and therefore the people’s will to live—was finally gone. That there was no hope.
That they didn’t believe in the Spirit Priestess.
“I know you don’t know what I’m talking about. But I know who you are. I know what you’re supposed to do. And you’re not supposed to be here. Maybe it would be easier for the others if you lay here forever and no one found you. But I know that’s not the case.”
Shivers racked my body, and goosebumps pebbled my skin. I had no idea who this woman was, but her words were starting to freak me out.
“What are you talking about?” I whispered the words, afraid Slavik or someone would come in and hear me. I didn’t want the pirate king to know who the others thought I was, and honestly, I didn’t want him to be near me at all. Because I knew the next time I saw his face or that of any of his men, it might be the last thing I saw. And the fact that I could so clearly and calmly think that told me my life had truly changed since I’d woken up from my nightmare. Or had emerged into a new one.
Because this was far worse than any dream I’d had of the four elements, where I had stood between the four directions. This was different than the darkness coming at me, the shadows cloying. This was real. And this told me that maybe those nighttime visions that I’d had for so long were far more real than I wanted to believe.
“I know who you’re destined to be. I can tell,” the woman continued. “My sister wasn’t who you are, but she held some power. She left this realm long ago, telling me she would come back for me. But she never came back. I always assumed someone found her and took her from this Earth. And not just the part that we lay in now. The one that holds us all.”
I looked over at the woman and frowned. “Are you talking about the Spirit Wielders?”
I had whispered the words, hoping no one would hear. But no one was listening to us. No one was doing much of anything. After all, Slavik had been right. It seemed there truly was no hope when it came to this place.
“Yes. She had some Spirit power, but mostly Earth. There must have been someone in our line long ago that was a full Spirit Wielder. But those don’t exist anymore, do they? They faded into the Danes and the humans over time. Extinction is such a dirty word, but it’s something that comes close to what we face. And now look at what we’ve become. We’re fading, falling, breaking into a thousand pieces of nothingness. But now, you’re here. I always knew you would come. I always knew that, one day, I would meet you, and I would know what to do when I did. Because I always believed. The others told me I shouldn’t, but I did.”
I couldn’t say anything. What was there to say? Rhodes had spoken to me about being a Spirit Priestess, and the way he had spoken seemed as if there was some hope. But I was only a vessel, a weapon. Then again, he hadn’t told me enough for me to truly understand what he meant by Spirit Wielding or the elements or anything. I was so confused when it came to him in general, and it wasn’t just because of my feelings for him, it was everything surrounding us.
“What is your name, darling?”
“Lyric.”
I didn’t think there was a reason for me to hide that from her, not when I had no idea if I’d ever see the sun again. If I’d ever see my friends again. If I’d ever see Rhodes again.
Why I was so morose just then I didn’t know, but it was probably because I was stuck in an Earth cave dwelling thing somewhere below ground—or maybe I was above ground, I couldn’t tell anymore since this hut or whatever it was, was both above and below. But I did know that someone wanted to hurt me, wanted to hurt my friends, and they had separated us. There was no more strength in numbers.
And no matter what I did, what I tried, I couldn’t get these shackles off my hands. I couldn’t use the Air magic that I had just found within me. And I had no idea how to unlock the other magics, the other elements that Rhodes said I possessed. For all I knew, I was just a baby Air Wielder with no real strength or power. For all I knew, this was just another dream that I would wake up from, screaming.
But I wasn’t going to wake up.
Not this time.
“Lyric is a lovely name for the Spirit Priestess.”
I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what I could say to her. I couldn’t give her hope, and I couldn’t tell her I wasn’t the Spirit Priestess. Because from the look in her eyes, the idea that I was that and could survive, could exist at all, was the only thing keeping her going.
Or maybe I was putting too much stock in two words that could possibly mean nothing. Perhaps I was making it important so I had hope.
Because this wasn’t my life.
And yet, it was.
And if I were going to escape, I had to stop thinking that this wasn’t my life, that this wasn’t the way I would survive. I had to be stronger than that.
“I won’t ask you what you’re doing here. I won’t ask why you’re here at all. But know that the others will hear of you. They will whisper at first, and then the words will come in waves. People will follow you, people will fear you, but people will love you. And I know what I’m supposed to do now. And when the time comes, I want you to remember me.”
“What’s your name?” I asked, my voice soft. I didn’t want to think too hard on the words that she’d said. There was so much pressure surrounding me, so much pressure within me. And because it all came at me at once, I just wanted to try and forget, at least for a moment. And if I could focus on others, focus on what was important beyond myself, maybe I could come back to what I needed to think about later. Apparently, I was better at digging my head into the sand than I thought.
“Magda.”
The woman reached out and gripped my hand, and the strength inside her bones shook me, shocking me right to my core as if I were standing on an electrical grid.
I’d stood at this spot before in my dreams, facing one direction, the other directions pulling and tugging at me until I could no longer breathe, could no longer see, my life forever altered.
I did not know this woman, but she knew me.
In her eyes, I saw the darkness, the blood, the ritual. I saw the Fire, the Earth, the Water, the Air. I saw it all, and I saw my fate.
Only I couldn’t understand what any of it meant.
“Your friend, the one you search for, she’s far, but you will find her. I never found my sister, but you will find who you seek. She is like me, this girl, but of Air and Water.”
I blinked, trying to catch up with everything the woman was saying, and everything going on inside my head. It was as if I were two steps behind and didn’t understand what was going on.
“What?”
“The one you seek. She’s a Seer. Like me. Though I believe she’s far stronger. Find her, Lyric. Find her before the others do.”
The ominous tone in her voice sent another shiver through me, but I tried not to let it show.
This woman was a Seer. An actual Seer. I was done telling myself that none of these things were real, not after everything that had been happening.
“A Seer? As in, you see the future?” Just because I had read a few books in the fantasy genres, didn’t mean I actually knew what any of the titles in this world meant. This wasn’t a dream, wasn’t a book. This was a realm where I had to keep up because there was no going back. Not anymore. The fact that I was so far behind already was not lost on me, but I was trying to catch up. I was.
