From Breath and Ruin, page 7
“I don’t know.”
“Then let me tell you about the Maisons. One thousand years ago, there was one realm of magic, the Maison realm. It’s still there, but not like it was. The realm before held five kingdoms with five kings and/or queens who worked together to keep the Maison people safe and maintain the balance of magic.”
“Five kingdoms,” I whispered.
The memory of how my dreams always separated into five parts—sometimes only four—came back to me, but I didn’t understand.
“Yes, that of Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Spirit.”
I’d instinctively known that before he spoke it, but I still didn’t understand.
“Sounds like a children’s game,” Emory whispered.
“There’s nothing game-like with what happened. Over five hundred years of peace and small skirmishes passed, and many of those in the kingdoms intermated, the magics soon becoming tied to one another in pairs—save for the Spirit Wielders.” He cleared his throat. “Earth Wielders and Fire Wielders became close, while the Water and Air Wielders did the same. The Spirit ones were always separate, but they were few and far between. Always.”
“You’re saying you’re a…Wielder? Is that what you’re calling it?”
Rhodes nodded, then held out his hand. His silver eyes brightened, and a small tunnel of wind formed on his palm. I sucked in a breath as Emory backed up quickly, and Braelynn leaned forward, awe on her face.
“Wind,” I whispered. “You Wield wind?” Magic. I was looking magic directly in the face, and I wasn’t running away screaming.
It was true.
It was all true.
And I knew I wasn’t dreaming.
“Not only.” He leaned forward and picked up the glass of water I hadn’t noticed was there. The wind tunnel faded, and as he poured the water into his cupped hands, not a single drop fell. Instead, it swirled over his hands and through the gaps in his fingers, glimmering in the light. When he set down the glass and held up his other hand, the wind tunnel appeared once more. Then he pushed his hands toward each other, the wind and water colliding, creating a vortex of air and water that left me stunned.
Magic was real.
“That wasn’t a parlor trick,” Emory said quietly, her voice wooden.
“No,” Rhodes said softly, then snapped his fingers and the wind went away, the water going back to the glass in front of him. “It’s not.”
“It’s real,” I said at once. “But I still don’t understand. Why did those…Negs, you called them? Why did they come after Rosamond?” Why had I been seeing them for so long?
“I don’t know if they were after her or you, but before you ask why, let me continue. Where was I?”
“I think the kingdoms were about to fall,” Braelynn answered. “At least that’s where the story seemed like it was headed.”
Rhodes tilted his head as he studied her. “How did you know that?”
“Aren’t all great civilizations doomed to fall? At least without change?”
I stared at my friend and was once again in awe of her brilliance, an intelligence she hid because, sometimes, she didn’t want others to know. Rhodes saw, though, and for that, I was grateful.
“You’re right, Braelynn. There was a war. The Fall. The first High King of Obscurité wanted to ensure that no Fire or Earth Wielder touched the Water or Air Wielders. The Obscurité kingdom was created after Earth and Fire came together for so many years. The Lumière came from Water and Air.”
“Light and darkness,” I put in. I don’t know why I interrupted, or why I felt the need to say the words, but I knew their meaning, at least from my French lessons in school.
“You know your languages,” Rhodes put in.
“Only some. Did your kingdoms name themselves from our languages, or was it the other way around?”
Rhodes gave me a look and then continued. “I don’t know why the High King of Obscurité started the war, or why the King of Lumière fought back as he did. During the skirmish, the final Spirit Priestess, the one who ruled the Spirit territory, was killed trying to lead the innocent out of the Maison realm and into the human one. Upon her death, the Maison realm fractured into two distinct kingdoms, splitting the magic of five into two sets with the Spirits forced to hide amongst the humans. There are Spirit territories now, but they are empty wastelands to the north and south of what used to be the realm’s center.”
“You’re saying there are Spirit magic users…Wielders in the human realm?” I paused. “In this realm?” I was trying my best to keep up, but I felt as though I were walking through quicksand, five steps behind wherever Rhodes thought I should be.
Rhodes nodded. “They hide so well that no one can find them. And for good reason. There are magics I don’t even know about that could be used with them. Both dark and light. I’m glad they’re hidden away sometimes, because I don’t trust everyone in any territory. They’ll be safer here. You know?”
I didn’t, but I nodded anyway.
“The two high kings who started the war, died in the split, leaving their son and daughter to take the mantles. Each blames the other for the deaths and the fracture and have been at a stalemate for five hundred years.”
My eyes widened. “You said blames. As in…as in they’re still alive?”
I didn’t ask if they were real or not, not anymore. I’d seen the shadows, had seen how Rosamond tried to protect us, had seen Rhodes’ magic. Yes, he’d lied about my fall in the woods with the shadow, the Neg—something I would ask about soon—but he was being forthcoming…maybe a little too communicative.
“Yes.” He let out a breath. “There’s a lot more. So much more, that I don’t know if I can even explain it all or if you’ll understand it all in one sitting. But there’s more. Believe me. The current high king and queen of the two kingdoms of the former Maison realm are still at it. We’re still at war, just at a stalemate…until we find the one who can bring us together. The new Spirit Priestess.”
Numbness settled over me, and I looked at Rhodes, confused. What was he talking about? And why did I feel a little spark in my chest like his words should mean something? It didn’t make any sense.
“Spirit Priestess.”
“There’s a reason you’re here, Lyric. A reason the Negs can find you so easily. A reason they were after you in the first place. A reason you can see them beyond the fact that the magic we used to heal you jumpstarted everything you were blocking. And a reason you know I’m telling you the truth.”
I shook my head, standing up quickly. “No. I believed you before this. I saw your proof. But I don’t believe you otherwise.”
“You’re the Spirit Priestess, Lyric. Or at least you will be. You’re the one.” Rhodes met my gaze, the intensity shocking enough to pull me out of any sense of connection I might have felt just then.
I blinked at him, then turned on my heel to leave the house. I’d thought I had answers up until that point, but now I knew it had been a lie.
I wasn’t important.
I wasn’t a prophecy.
I wasn’t who he was looking for.
I was just me.
And that had been enough.
Chapter Nine
“Lyric.”
At the sound of Rhodes’ voice, I didn’t stop, though part of me wanted to. I went to the door, put my hand on the handle, then remembered what had been outside these walls just a few short minutes ago.
Were the bodies still out there? Had anyone seen what had happened?
I didn’t understand the complexities of it all or get how the world around us hadn’t seemed to realize that there was a battle for life and death going on around them. No one had noticed that Rosamond was gone. That she’d disappeared into a black hole of…something magical that I had no name for. Everything that had just happened seemed ripped out of books and movies, and I had no idea what to do with it all.
How to process any of it.
“Where did Rosamond go? Are the Negs gone out there? What if someone sees them or what happened to your yard? What was that thing that took Rosamond? Not the Neg, the other thing. The thing the Neg pulled her through. Why can I see these things, Rhodes? And don’t call me what you did…I’m not that. But, truly, why can I see them?” I took a deep breath, the silence in the room thick and heavy. “Why could I always see something?”
I hadn’t realized that he was behind me until he put his hand on my shoulder, his warm breath near my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“I don’t know where Rosamond is exactly. The magic from the Negs felt of Fire and Earth, so I’d say they came from the borderlands between the two territories in the Obscurité Kingdom. That doesn’t mean she’ll end up there when this is all said and done. But that’s where the Negs came from. Therefore, that’s where they’ll go back to in order to travel. As to why they took my sister… I don’t know. But she’s strong, Lyric. Even stronger than I am in most cases. She’s had over four hundred years—four hundred and ten in fact—to learn her powers.”
I turned in his arms, aware that Braelynn and Emory were standing behind him now, their eyes probably as wide as mine had to be.
“Rosamond is four hundred and ten years old?”
Rhodes quirked a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “The Maisons live long lives. We’re not immortal—the wars we fought for countless ages have proven that—but we don’t age past our twenties.”
I looked at his face, trying to figure out how old he could be. There were no wrinkles on the brown of his skin, no signs of age at all. He was just Rhodes, the most beautiful boy—man—I’d ever met.
I’d thought he’d just graduated high school a few years before me. I’d thought Rosamond had graduated with me.
What else had been a lie?
“And how old are you? Not twenty or whatever I thought you were.”
He frowned, his brows drawing together. “I’m two hundred and eight. Not that much older than you in terms of Maison years. Rosamond is quite a bit older than me.”
My mouth went suddenly dry. Rhodes was almost two full centuries older than I was. That was insane. But, then again, much about this day and week had been nuts.
“You don’t look a day over one hundred,” Emory said dryly. “But I still don’t believe a word out of your mouth. It seems to me, all of this, the rock-climbing incident, everything that just happened outside, the fact I was just thrown to the ground by something I couldn’t see, all revolves around you. Not Lyric. So, we’re leaving.”
Emory tugged on her shirt, the tear at the bottom widening. I hadn’t noticed that she’d torn it during the fight, but then again, I’d been so focused on not dying, I hadn’t been aware of a lot of things.
“I need to stay, Emory. I need to find out more. And I need to know if Rosamond is okay.”
I looked over at Braelynn, trying to see if she was hurt. She’d been so quiet, but everything had happened so fast, I didn’t blame her. I was only speaking at all because I needed answers. I’d spent so many nights fighting my dreams, I couldn’t stand back anymore. At least, I didn’t think so.
“Are you okay, Braelynn? You hit your head pretty hard.”
She tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear and nodded. “I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head, actually. I just got the wind knocked out of me, and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on. But I’m with Lyric, Emory. I don’t want to leave either. I need to know what happened and understand why I can’t see the shadows clearly but I can almost see them. Something’s going on, something bigger than us and our fighting. So, I’m going to stay and see what Rhodes has to say.”
Once again, Emory folded her arms over her chest. “I’ll stay too, then. I’m not leaving you both to get murdered by this guy who can bury you in dirt or something.”
I closed my eyes and willed myself to find patience. Emory was freaking out and being annoying and rude about it, but other than physically forcing her out of the house, there wasn’t much I could do. She didn’t listen to me. Not anymore. Though, in retrospect, I wasn’t sure if she ever had.
“I’m glad you’re staying, but I don’t have much time to tell you more before I need to go.” Rhodes looked at me, studying my face as if he were searching for answers I didn’t even know the questions to. “Or maybe we need to go.”
He’d said something similar before, and I still didn’t understand.
“Before you ask anything else, let me answer your other questions,” Rhodes cut in. “The Negs are gone. Their bodies turn to literal shadow in the human realm once they’re dead. Humans don’t see them unless they are truly looking, and humans rarely want to look. The reason no one saw the fight was because Rosamond put up a shield. I had to break through it to get to you because I could see through it since it was made of Air magic. But because I had to break through it in order to help in the fight, the Negs were able to open a portal. Only they have the ability to do that because they aren’t of life but rather the absence of life.”
“Death?” Emory asked.
Rhodes shook his head. “It’s not that simple, and I don’t have time to explain the intricacies of the magics of the realm. At least not right now. The Negs that have Rosamond have a lead, and it’s going to take days as it is for me to get through the southern Spirit territory entrance and then through the Earth territory before I can even get to where the Negs came from.” He let out a deep breath. “As for why you can see the Negs, why you can so readily believe magic even as it’s shown to you? You know the answer to that, Lyric. Deep inside, you know. But if you don’t want to deal with that right now, I understand. It’s a lot. But know that there are many in the human realm with blood of the Maisons. Over the centuries, my people have left the two realms and their wars, deciding to live among the humans instead. And when they do, they age, they marry, they have children, and then they die. They aren’t like the Spirit Wielders, who have shielded themselves from others, walking amongst the humans for an eternity. Instead, they forsake their magic, but their blood is still the same. Their children, their children’s children, and their children’s children’s children, will still have traces of magic, even if it’s dormant.”
He looked over his shoulder at Braelynn. “That could explain what you’re seeing, but I don’t know. Rosamond would know more, but I’m not her. I need to find her, though. I need to go to my family and tell them what happened.”
“You can’t just call?” Emory asked, but I didn’t know if she was being sarcastic or not. “Plus, you made it sound like you’re going on a long trek or something through your realm. You can’t just drive or fly there?”
Rhodes shook his head. “No. Our kingdoms, the Obscurité and the Lumière, are so rich in magic, that the technology you use here doesn’t work. No phones, no cars, no computers. It’s very…medieval. They even dress differently in each territory, nothing like we do here.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That reminds me. I need to change.”
“We’re coming with you,” I blurted.
“You’ll be in the way,” he said quickly, then cursed under his breath. “I didn’t mean it like that. Okay, I did because you don’t know the area, and bringing humans into the kingdoms is forbidden, but I need to move fast, Lyric. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
There was a warm undercurrent to his last words, but I didn’t have time to focus on it, not when I knew I needed to go. Magic was real, and it was right in front of me.
“You said I was a Spirit…whatever. You said I was something more than human. Braelynn, as well. I don’t know if I believe that, but if it’s true, then shouldn’t I be there? Shouldn’t I see why all of this is happening?”
“You mentioned that the children of the war came to the human realm to find the Spirit Priestess,” Braelynn put in, and we all turned to her. “That she’s the one that can unite the kingdoms. And if you say that’s Lyric, shouldn’t she be with you?” She paused and met my eyes, something in her gaze that worried me. “Shouldn’t you protect her?”
“Braelynn…” I began but didn’t know what else to say.
Once again, Rhodes cursed. “You’re right. I know that. But Rosamond was supposed to be here. She’s the one with words. With answers. I’m the one with the muscle.” A blush stained his cheeks when he met my gaze, and I tried not to notice how attractive it was. He let out a breath. “I can’t just leave you here in case another Neg comes, or if the Obscurité scouts find you first.”
There was something in that statement that worried me, but Rhodes continued so fast, I didn’t have time to comment on it. I’d ask later, along with the thousand other questions I had for him.
“Okay, I think I have something that will fit you all. At least Rosamond does. But if you come with me, you need to do what I say. We’re not going to the mall or even to downtown Denver late at night. We’re going to a warring kingdom, one where I’m the enemy because I’m not Obscurité. My magics alone could get me killed. The fact the three of you look human could get you killed. The fact that you carry the sense of the Spirit Priestess could get you killed. Or worse.” He paused, and I didn’t know if it was for effect, or if he was just now realizing what he was saying. “Are you sure you want to come?”
I wasn’t sure. Not by a long shot, but I knew I had to go.
“I’m coming,” I said quickly. “I can’t let Rosamond get hurt any worse than she already might be. She saved my life.”
And I needed to know more about what was happening to me, but I didn’t voice that. But from the look in Rhodes’ eyes, I didn’t need to.
“I’m coming, too,” Braelynn said. “Lyric doesn’t go anywhere without me.” She said it with a smile, but I reached around Rhodes and took her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“That is true,” I said, trying to grin, but I knew it didn’t really reach my eyes.
“I guess that means I’m going too because there’s no way I’m letting Lyric—or Braelynn for that matter—get hurt because of you.” Emory raised her chin as she said the words, but I saw the fear in her eyes. She hadn’t seen the monsters, but if we went into the territories…the kingdoms or realms, or whatever he’d called them, I was afraid there might not be any hiding from them.
