Greylith, page 8
Wren finds her way to the table. Alone.
“Where’s he off to?” Lyric asks.
“No idea,” Wren says, taking a bite of her bread. “He said he had somewhere to go.”
“He’s being so weird today,” Lyric laughs.
“So, Phoenix, what are you going to wear tonight?” Wren says with a sly grin.
“Wear?” I ask. Still lost in thought.
“The Halloween Dance?” Lyric leans on the table giving me a smile.
I snap back to them, taking a mouthful of food. “How do you guys know I’m even going?”
“You don’t think Xander would’ve told us?” Wren smiles. “I mean, he is your boyfriend.”
They’re both laughing now.
“He’s not my- I don’t- I don’t know what we are. Okay? Nothing’s official,” I get up from the table. “Where is he? I need to talk to him.”
They both shrug.
I make my way out of the mess hall and head down the flight of stairs directly across from the hall, the same direction I saw Xander go.
Fort Weave is like a labyrinth I’m starting to notice. All the halls look the same, random numbers on the hall where doors should be.
I run into Caspian who just walked out of what looks like his room, messy and unkempt. “Hey Caspian, have you seen Xander?”
“Yeah, a few minutes ago, he said he was heading down to his secret hiding place,” Caspian says.
“Any idea where that is?” I ask him.
Caspian shrugs.
Where the hell are you? I think to myself.
“Can you stay out of my head, please?” I hear Xander’s voice.
I turn around and look down the hall but don’t see him. What the hell?
“Xander?” I call out. “Hello?” I hear my voice echo.
I turn back to keep walking down the hall, and notice the hall is gone. I look around and I appear to be in a dark tunnel with no light to be seen. The air feels cooler, tinged with the earthy scent of damp rock and minerals. As I progress deeper, the pressure builds, pressing against my eardrums, heightening the awareness of the immense mass of rock around me.
“Hello?” I shout, but only my voice returns in an echo.
“Phoenix?” I hear his voice.
“Xander?” I shout, feeling around in the darkness. “Is that you?”
“I’m right here,” Xander grabs my hand and puts it on his chest. “How the hell did you get down here?”
“I, I don’t know,” I say, stuttering, “I was right outside of Caspian’s room, I heard your voice, and when I turned around, I ended up here.”
“No, seriously,” Xander says flatly.
“I am serious. I was looking for you and-” I say.
“You were looking for me?” I can hear the smile in Xander’s voice.
“Yeah, I was,” I say. “I was trying to figure out what I did that has you avoiding me?”
“Interesting,” Xander says. “You were in my head.”
“Is that why you’re mad at me?” I ask him.
“Do you think I’m mad?” he whispers.
“Well, kinda. It’s like I said, it feels like you’ve been avoiding me,” I tell him.
“I know,” he responds. “I just needed to think about some things.”
“Like what?” I ask caringly. “You can tell me anything.”
Xander pauses, and then sighs. “It’s just the whole mind reading thing. I just, I don’t want you to hate me.”
“Why would I hate you?” I ask.
“I’ve done bad things in the past, Phoenix. And I want to tell you, but when the time is right, I promise I’ll tell you,” Xander expresses.
“Okay,” I place a hand on either side of his waist. “I promise I won't read your mind. I’d stay out of your mind, but I kinda like being the only one that can hear your voice.”
“That might actually come in hand when we do training sessions together,” Xander runs his fingers through my hair.
“So, I can keep talking to you in your head?” I ask.
“Yeah.” I can’t see it, but he’s smiling.
We both laugh.
“Hey, can I show you something?” Xander asks.
“Um, how can I see anything down here?” I state.
“Just follow me.”
Xander takes my hand and drags me through the maze of tunnels. Turning one way than another, all in complete darkness.
“How do you know your way around here?” I yell.
“I stumbled across this place my first year and have been coming down here almost every day since,” Xander chuckles. “It’s become my little hide away.”
I can tell we’ve entered a larger open space because our steps have a wider echo now. I can feel a current of air rush through my hair. We come to a stop and Xander lets go of my hand and walks away.
“Xander?” I shout.
Nothing.
Did he really just leave me down here?
“No, I didn’t leave,” he says from a few feet away. “I’m just trying to turn on the lights. Ah, there we go.”
Unexpectedly, the large area illuminates with bright lights everywhere. Buildings built from stone, everywhere, all abandoned.
“Where are we?” I say, my mouth agape.
“I like to call it The City Under Fort Weave, but I’m sure that wasn’t the name before,” he says, admiring the look on my face.
“Before?” I look at Xander. “And wait, are you saying we’re under Fort Weave?
“Yeah, just a few feet under where we walk every day,” he stares up at the rocks above. “I mean, people must have lived here before. I just don’t know when.”
“How did you find this place again?” I’m still in shock.
“I can’t really tell you that,” he bites his lip.
“Why is that? Is it one of the bad things?” I stare at Xander, his beautiful deep eyes, looking like they want to tell me everything, but can’t.
“One day,” Xander looks away before turning back and changing the subject. “Phoenix, tell me more about your family.”
“I told you basically everything,” I say, not really wanting to talk about it.
“But,” Xander pauses. “Your mom is sick, right?”
“Yeah,” I say with a defeated tone. “Dad left and roughly a week later, Mom fell ill. No doctor’s seem to know why, and healer’s can’t help her either.”
“Have you heard the doctor’s say that?” Xander asks.
“No, but that’s what she tells Wren and I,” I look at Xander. “Why do you ask that?”
“I just-” Xander hesitates. “I just don’t think she’s being truthful with that.”
“What do you mean?” I sit down on the rocky floor.
“Phoenix, have you ever heard of the Separator’s Promise?” Xander sit’s next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“The ‘what’ promise?”
“The Separator’s Promise,” he repeats. “It’s a promise that can be made between two Weavers when they’re married. What happens is if one person leaves without any rhyme or reason they will both become sick until the inevitable happens.”
“The inevitable? Like death?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Xander hangs his head.
“Why the hell wouldn’t our mom tell us this?” I ask out loud, but I don’t need an answer, I already know. She was trying to protect us.
“I’m sorry, Phoenix.” Xander leans over and embraces me in a hug.
“It’s fine,” I say, not really processing that my mom is dying. “Wait, does that also mean my dad is dying too?”
Xander looks at me and I can hear the sadness in his voice, “Yes.”
I can’t think about this anymore. I don’t want to think about the possibility of losing both my parents. I mean, technically our dad is gone from our lives, and I’m extremely mad at him and would probably try to kill him if I ever saw him again, but at the same time I don't really know if I could picture him dead. I guess part of me is still holding onto the hope that he’s still alive. “Can we change the subject, please?”
“Sure,” Xander turns to me. “Why haven’t you asked me?”
“Asked you what?”
Xander pauses.
I stare at him. “Hello?”
Xander stares into my eyes. “Why haven’t you asked me about my Weave?”
He’s right. I’ve never gotten the chance to ask about his Weave and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’ve been too busy thinking about wanting to kiss you, or be on top of you, or to just be yours. But I can’t say that.
“Because I know how it feels to have everyone stare at you for something you can’t control,” I whisper.
“Do you know what it is?” Xander’s still making eye contact with me.
“No, I only know that no one has seen you Weave,” I reply. “At least, that’s what Wren says.”
“Well, she’s half right.” He turns and walks away.
“Half right?” I ask.
“No one has ever seen me Weave, but I actually do it a lot,” Xander turns and faces me, his face blank. “Any ideas?”
How the hell would I know? He’s never told me. He doesn’t use any of the elements. It must be one of the Weave’s you can’t see. Not a Spiritwalker or Shadow Weaver, maybe a Light Weaver? But that seems odd. He could be an Artificer, maybe?
“Think about it,” Xander smiles. “Think about me.”
I look at him. Stare into him. “You’re a caring, strong, sweet, helpful man. You’re the one who is always there for me, at the right place, at the right time. Like you can-” I pause, and smile. “I know your Weave.”
He leans over to me, holds my gaze and gets inches away from my face. “Say it.”
“You’re a Chronomancer,” I whisper.
Xander smiles. “Congratulations, Phoenix. Outside of the High Council, you’re the first one to figure it out.”
“No one else knows? Not even Lyric or Caspian?”
“No,” he hangs his head. “Part of me wants to tell them, but I just don’t want to be treated differently.”
“Trust me, I get it,” I crank my head to meet his eye. “But wait, what about the Unveiling of the Weavers?”
“What about it?” Xander asks in return.
“I mean, didn’t they announce your Weave to everyone?” I ask him.
“I skipped my Unveiling,” Xander begins. “I already started having glimpses of the past and present at the time and I got a really bad feeling so I decided to skip, actually, that’s the same day I found this place.”
“And Ironleaf didn’t care that you skipped?” I ask.
“Seeing as I’m a Chronomancer and there are very few of us, he was fine with me not being there,” Xander says. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that guy is power hungry.”
“Clearly,” I laugh.
I look up again and still get lost in the magic of this place. It looks like it goes on and on forever with no end in almost every direction.
Xander stands up behind me, placing his arms on my shoulders and resting his head next to mine, I turn around to face him.
“We’d better head back,” Xander smiles.
“Already?” I smile back.
“Well, yeah,” Xander replies. “We’ve got a dance to get ready for.”
“And I have absolutely nothing to wear.”
We both smile.
Xander leads me back through the tunnels and up a narrow staircase. At the top, he pushes open the ceiling, which leads to a deserted hallway in Fort Weave.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“Right outside of the Elixir Chamber.” Xander turns around and points to the chamber where my life changed forever.
“Dude, it’s the Halloween Dance! You can’t wear your Army Uniform,” Lyric yells as she gets ready in the mirror of my washroom.
“Well, I don’t have anything else to wear!” I shout back.
“Phoenix,” she says, poking her head out of the door. “You’re a Reality Weaver, or did you forget? You can literally wear whatever you want.”
“We don’t know that!” I shout from my dresser. “I’ve never actually tried doing anything of the sort.”
“Dude,” Lyric comes out of the washroom wearing only her bra and panties. “You can fly, throw the Commander-in-Chief against the wall, and read minds, but you don’t think you can conjure some clothes?”
She rolls her eyes and walks back into the washroom to get ready.
“Okay,” I chuckle. “You have a good point.”
Lyric comes out of the washroom. She’s in a floor-length, sheer, black gown.
“Holy shit!” I shout. “You look good!”
“Thanks!” Lyric smiles, twirling in her dress.
I take a closer look and start to notice that little parts of the dress are evaporating and then reappearing.
“Did you conjure that dress from the Ethereal Realm?” I ask.
“Like I do everything now? Yes, I did,” she rolls her eyes and laughs. “Your turn.”
I close my eyes and with a flick of my wrist I imagine shimmering strands of arcane energy swirl around me, forming a stunning ensemble fit for royalty. The fabric materializes out of thin air, forming a sleek black suit with studs on the shoulders that hug my body perfectly, each seam as crisp as if crafted by the finest tailor. A silver tie appears around my neck, its lustrous surface catching the light and casting a radiant glow. With a satisfied smile, I adjust the cuffs of my sleeves, now adorned with intricate patterns that seem to dance and shift with every movement.
“Damn, Phoenix!” Lyric shouts.
I open my eyes, turn around and face the mirror and see exactly what I imagined. “Think your brother will like it?
“Um, he fucking better!” Lyric smiles.
“So, you never told me who you were going with.”
Lyric sighs in frustration. “Oh, they’ll be here soon. I’ll tell you then.”
I can tell she’s still not happy that Wren didn’t ask her to the dance so I change the subject to try and ease her mind. “I just realized, where’s Niko? I always thought Spirit Familiars stay with their Spiritwalkers.”
“She’s around,” Lyric responds. “She’s always watching from a distance, but since she’s a Spirit Familiar, she can get to me in an instant.”
There’s a knock on the wall outside of my room.
“That’ll be my date!” she says with a nervous smile.
“Who is it?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Well…” she starts.
I shift my tone to being more serious. “Who is it?”
“So, you can’t get mad, and I made them promise to behave,” Lyric continues.
“You better not say-” I’m interrupted.
“Hey, Nightingale. Are you in there?” I hear the familiar voice shout outside of my room.
“You’re bringing Thorne? And you brought him to my room!” I yell.
“Phoenix, calm down!” Lyric tries reaching for me but I pull away.
I reach out to Xander. “Did you know that your sister was bringing Thorne to the dance?”
We’ve gotten pretty good at mental communication, seeing as we’ve been doing it since we got back from The City Under Fort Weave a couple of hours ago.
“I didn’t not know about it,” Xander replies back.
“Why him?” I say back to Lyric.
“I told you he’s a nice guy,” Lyric says, dropping her shoulders.
“When did you guys even have time to get close?” I ask her.
“When you were being forced to show your Weave to the High Council,” she responds, putting her head down.
“So I was busy training myself and my best friend is shacking up with the guy that threatened to kill me?” I yell.
“You’re literally sleeping with my brother!” Lyric yells back.
“We’re not-” I stop myself. “You know what, go to the dance with whoever.”
I walk over to the wall, slap my hand square in the center and the door melts away. I turn to face Thorne. “Touch anything and I’ll kill you.”
“He’s kidding,” Lyric says, grabbing Thorne’s hand and smiling.
“Am I?” I ask.
“Yes,” Lyric says sharply. “You are.”
“Hold it!” I hear Wren yell from down the hall.
I poke my head out and see her running toward my room.
“Are you guys ready to go?” Wren says as she’s trying to catch her breath.
“You’re going to the dance?” I ask her sarcastically. “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
I turn around and look at Lyric and see that her face is red with anger, but she’s trying hard to hide it from everyone.
“Haha, very funny,” Wren boasts, as she punches me hard in the shoulder.
“Wait, where’s Xander?” I look over her shoulder.
Wren shrugs her shoulders.
“I’m going to meet you at the dance,” he tells me.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, just not quite finished getting ready,” Xander replies. “I’m sorry.”
“He’ll meet us there. Let’s go.” I say, ushering the trio out of my room.
“Where is the dance being held anyway?” Lyric asks Wren as we walk down the hall.
“Just wait until you guys see it,” Wren says, with a sly smile.
“See what?” I call ahead.
Wren leads us to the courtyard.
Lyric, Thorne, and I all have our mouths agape.
The dance is being held on what used to be a flat patch of earth right outside the walls of Fort Weave, but instead has been constructed into a small castle. The castle has been decorated for the dance. Pumpkins carved with eerie faces line the stone path leading up to the castle, their flickering candles casting shadows across the ground. The air was alive with the sounds of laughter and music, mingling with the cool autumn wind carried in from the ocean. Small string lights guide the way across a small bridge that connects Fort Weave and a new castle. Inside there is a warm glow that flickers from what looks like small fireplaces.
“Let’s go,” Thorne says as he pulls Lyric into the new castle.
“Where’s your date?” I ask Wren.
