Page 8 of Duskbound (Esprithean Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Three pairs of eyes pinned me in place from across a weathered table. We sat in what must have been a war room of sorts, though it felt more like a tomb. Dark walls stretched up into darkness, the ceiling lost in shadow despite the iron chandeliers that hung at intervals, their flames casting an unsteady light. The space was circular with curved benches built into the walls.

Rethlyn hovered near one of the arched windows, his focus not on me but somewhere just over my shoulder, his brows creased in thought. The gray light filtering through the clouded glass caught the shadows beneath his eyes, making them appear deeper, more stark against his skin. Vexa sprawled in her chair to my left, one leg draped casually over the ornate armrest, a dagger flipping lazily between her fingers. The blade caught the firelight with each turn, sending brief flashes across the ceiling.

Then there was Effie, whose crossed arms and grimace told me she hadn't forgotten our last encounter. Her gaze was sharp as she sat rigidly in her chair, like she was just waiting for me to make a wrong move. I refused to meet it.

Aether sat beside her, silent and stiff, his gaze fixed on the far wall where an enormous tapestry hung, its edges frayed and worn. But the second I glanced in his direction, those golden eyes locked onto mine with frustrating speed. I swallowed hard and looked away, but I could still feel the heat of his stare long after I’d severed the contact. The room felt too warm, too close, despite its size. The air was thick with the smell of old parchment and burning wax, and something else. Something metallic that seemed to coat the back of my throat.

"Well, this is sufficiently awkward," Vexa broke the silence, her dagger catching light as it spun. "So I suppose I’ll take the opportunity to ask you, Rethlyn." Vexa's nose wrinkled as she turned to face him. "What in the Void were you doing in your quarters last night? The entire corridor smelled like something crawled into the walls and died."

Rethlyn glanced at her over his shoulder, his mouth twisting. "Wine making is a delicate process," he replied from his window.

"Delicate isn't the word," Effie grimaced. "The fumes were quite literally an assault on the senses."

"Sure you're not trying to poison us all?" Vexa asked. "Again."

"That was one time," Rethlyn sighed, "and the recipe specifically called for?—"

"Recipe?" Vexa barked out a laugh. "Is that what we're calling your experiments now?"

"I don't have to share." He turned slightly, a hint of defensiveness in his tone.

"We'd rather you didn't," Effie added, and Vexa let out a cackle.

"Laugh all you want. But who spent three hours yesterday throwing daggers at her own shadow?"

"It's called training, Reth." Vexa rolled her eyes.

"That was boredom," Effie corrected. "And you still owe me a new mirror."

Aether simply shook his head, which had Vexa's eyes falling on him .

"And this one's stuck in a perpetual state of brood now that he has to play prison guard instead of lumberjack," she shot towards him.

"His cabin is quite nice, to be fair." Rethlyn shrugged, a gesture that had Aether's eyes landing on him. “Full cedar logs, and larger than most. Little glass embellishments hanging in the windows?—”

"Excuse me?" Aether raised that pierced eyebrow.

Rethlyn sank down into one of the chairs at the table, face turning pink. "It's not like I followed you. I was foraging out in Skullwood before it fell," he said with a shrug. "You were outside skinning a deer. It looked like a massacre, by the way."

Aether's eyes darkened. "Bloody work. I can show you sometime if you’d like?"

Rethlyn let out a nervous laugh. "Thanks, but I don't think you'll be able to find any deer for a demonstration."

"I wasn't referring to the deer," Aether murmured, and I could have sworn the ghost of a smile played at his lips, which sent annoyance licking up my spine.

"What is the point of this?" I asked, my voice echoing slightly off the stone. "Why are you all stalling?"

"Talon's late, as usual." Vexa sighed. Without looking, she drove the dagger into the table with a dull thunk. The blade quivered in the wood as she stretched her arms above her head and let out an exaggerated yawn.

Something in Effie's expression softened for just a moment as she watched Vexa, but it vanished so quickly I might have imagined it. "Must you always destroy the furniture?" she muttered, though there was less bite in her tone than I'd expected.

"Are you not capable of answering my questions?" I raised an eyebrow, my attention returning to Aether. The others shifted uncomfortably at my challenge, even Vexa's casual posture stiffening slightly .

"It's better to start with him." Rethlyn breathed, eyes darting quickly to mine before refocusing just beyond me.

“You all think I’m this Duskbound. Why are they so important to you? Where are the others?” I didn’t know where to start or what to ask, but this was the question that clawed at me the most. Aether had said I was the only one who could save the realm, but no one had told me why or how they expected me to do that.

Vexa blew out air through her mouth and shrugged in Aether’s direction.

“Only a Duskbound can harness shadows…” she began, resting her arms on the table. “Only a Duskbound can share them with vessels. Without one, a shadow wielder cannot exist.”

“So all of you are vessels?” I asked.

“Clearly,” Rethlyn said, waving his hand in an exasperated gesture. “Why else would we tolerate these void burns?”

“They allow you to absorb the shadows… the ones a Duskbound shares with you?”

Vexa nodded.

“Where are all the others? There must be more. Someone is supplying you with shadows currently. Why do you need me?”

“Because she’s weak. She won’t be able to do it for much longer,” Effie cut in. Vexa’s face shot in her direction as her eyes narrowed.

“Careful, Effie,” Vexa whispered sharply.

“No, I told you. I want to know everything . So tell me.”

“There used to be more,” Rethlyn murmured, only half paying attention. “But they dwindled over the years. The crusades certainly didn’t help.”

“Crusades? What happened to them?” It felt deliberate—the way they spoke, revealing just enough to hint at the truth while keeping the rest shrouded in secrecy. And that was not the agreement.

“They were seen as a threat to those in power," Vexa said, her tone sharp. "In Umbrathia, the throne has always been held by a Duskbound. To keep it that way, the ruling class decided to hunt down and eliminate any others. Easier to secure your position when no commoner can rise to challenge it." She rolled her eyes, the disdain in her expression unmistakable.

“But there have been others? Others born throughout the realm?”

“Not in over a century. Not outside that bloodline.” Aether’s voice was level but tinged with something dark.

“Not until you—” Vexa began, just as a sharp clicking sound echoed from the corner of the room. The door creaked open then, and a smaller man in black robes hurried into the space, several ancient-looking books clutched to his chest. The formal cut of his clothing was different from the Umbra's leathers, more scholarly than militant.

"What is so urgent?" his quivering voice demanded as he approached the table. "You know it's possibly the worst time for me to be away from the Citadel." He set his books down with careful movements.

He halted mid-step when his eyes fell on me, and his attention darted between the others before settling on Aether.

"Relax, Talon." Vexa smirked. "We simply require your services."

"Why is she not restrained?" Talon nearly shrieked.

"She's under my protection." Aether's voice was low and even, though there was an edge to it that warned against argument.

"Personally, I think we should really consider this whole restraint idea." Effie flipped her hair, turning her heated gaze onto Vexa and jerking her chin towards me, gesturing dramatically with wide eyes.

"She's harmless," Aether said simply.

Harmless? I briefly considered snatching Vexa’s knife from the table and burying it in his hand .

“Wait until Urkin finds out! That doesn’t give you the right to?—”

“Are you his second in command?” Aether questioned, cocking his head slightly to the side. “No, I believe that’s me .”

“We need you to observe her,” Vexa chimed in, ignoring both the glare from Effie and the tension so obviously brewing between the two men.

“For what possible reason?” the man asked.

“She’s a Duskbound.” Vexa’s words cut through the air, followed by several seconds of complete silence.

“Impossible,” Talon muttered, slouching into his robes. “ That’s why you requested me? You all keep saying that, but it simply cannot be true.”

“But,” Vexa continued, “that’s not all. She also has a tether .”

“It can’t be both, you know that as well as I. I have never come across such a thing. Not in any of the ancient texts,” he said, crossing his arms. “You really dragged me all the way over here for these baseless assumptions?”

“You’re already here. Just observe her. Or whatever it is you call it,” Rethlyn cut in, sighing in exasperation as he sank into one of the chairs.

Talon looked at me, eyes shifting for a few seconds before he shook his head.

“Give me your arm, girl,” he muttered as he made his way around the table.

I shot my eyes to Aether, then to Vexa, neither of them deigning a look in my direction as the man shuffled towards me, rolling up the sleeves of his robes. In an instant reaction, my body tensed, and I stood quickly, taking a few steps back.

“Fia, relax. He’s not going to hurt you,” Vexa murmured.

“And what a shame that is.” Effie scowled down the table.

“Can someone explain what is going on here?” I seethed, lifting my arms in a warning. The man halted .

“He’s going to observe your tether—your focus . Whatever you want to call it.” Vexa stood, gesturing with her arms as if to calm me down. And in an instant, my body relaxed outside of my own control. I sat down in the chair, confusion rippling through me as my breathing became slow and measured, meditative almost.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Just trying to help you relax.” Rethlyn came to stand next to me. “I swear to the Esprithe themselves that no harm will come to you,” he offered, and another wave of intense relief flooded me. “If that helps.”

He gave me a short smile. “Now, give Talon your arm.”

I didn’t react when the man reached for me, but concern flickered across his features as he wrapped his hand around my wrist and took a deep breath.

“It won’t take long.” He nodded as he closed his eyes. The room stayed eerily silent, the attention of all focused directly on me, on the man’s grip.

“How strange,” he whispered, his brow creasing.

“What do you see?” Vexa asked.

He stayed silent for a few more moments, pressing his lips into a hard line before he finally released my hand. I looked around to Vexa, to Aether, confusion pulling at me.

Talon lowered himself into the chair next to me, eyes slowly crawling to Aether.

“Essence runs through her, but it’s not a tether ,” he finally said. “There is nothing tying her to the land. The essence within her is… self-sustaining…” He trailed off, blinking as if to force understanding.

Vexa and Effie shot their eyes in my direction as Rethlyn took a step away from me.

My heart stuttered in my chest. Self-sustaining? I'd always known my focus was different—had spent years hiding just how different—but I'd assumed it was because I was broken in some way. Not because I was... what? Something else entirely?

“What does that mean?” I asked quietly.

“You seem to… generate your own essence.” The man eyed me cautiously.

The implications crashed through me like waves. Every lesson I'd ever had about essence—about how it flowed through the land, how we were merely channels for its power—had been wrong. Or at least, wrong for me. What did that make me? Not quite Aossí, not quite Kalfar. Something in between? Or something else entirely?

I thought of all the times I'd pushed my focus down, tried to make it smaller, more normal. How many times had I sensed that difference and chosen to ignore it? How many signs had I missed because I was too afraid to look closer?

“That sounds like you, Aether…” Effie’s voice quivered.

“No, I told you. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I don’t know how Aether harbors the abilities he does. I can’t read a single speck of essence—or anything else—residing inside him. Like his powers come from nothing at all.” Talon’s eyes dragged across the room.

“I’ve seen it in her too,” Aether interrupted, his voice slicing through the room.

Then all attention was on him.

"Whenever she channels, I can see it braiding around her—wisps of energy radiating through her—out of her." His eyes met mine, and for once, I couldn't look away. There was something in his gaze that made my skin crawl—not recognition, but understanding. As if he knew what it was to be different, to be something other than what everyone expected.

“Dear, have your abilities lessened since your arrival in Umbrathia?” Talon asked.

I hesitated, reaching for the web, allowing it to caress my spine in a gentle flutter. It felt normal, it felt as it had ever since I learned to control it.

“No,” I managed.

If I wasn't what I thought I was, then what did that mean for everything else? For my loyalty to Sídhe? For my place in the Guard? For every choice I'd made thinking I understood who and what I was?

But there was something else too, something I didn't want to acknowledge—a sense of relief. As if some part of me had always known I was different, had been waiting for someone to finally see it. To name it. To understand it.

Rethlyn stepped towards me again with questioning eyes.

“Don’t you dare,” I directed at him, my hand flying up in a warning. “Whatever you did before, don’t even fucking think about trying that again.”

“Hey now,” Rethlyn responded, holding his arms up in submission. “I was just trying to help.”

“It’s my turn to ask questions.” I eyed Vexa, my voice rigid.

She matched my stare and nodded.

“Alright Talon, you’re dismissed,” she said, gesturing for him to leave. “Run back to the Citadel.”

The man simply looked at me, then at Vexa, but his eyes rested on Aether the longest as he stood, straightening his robes.

“If you really believe she could be a Duskbound, you know there’s only one way he’ll ever believe it.” Talon gave Aether a knowing look and turned for the door.

“What is he talking about?” I asked, glancing around, but the room grew heavy. Everyone seemed to stiffen—everyone except Aether.

He sighed, leaning forward onto the table. “You have to meet the Void.”

Some unknown dread coiled in my stomach at his tone. “What exactly is the Void? ”

“The most dreadful place you could imagine,” Effie muttered.

“Effie,” Vexa warned, her sharp tone cutting through the air. Turning back to me, she explained, “An ancient thing—a mass of darkness that engulfs the Northernmost part of the realm.”

I shifted my gaze to Rethlyn. He had risen from his seat, his eyes fixed on the wall. “It’s the only darkness our eyes can’t penetrate,” he said quietly. “The Void isn’t just a place, it’s an absence—an emptiness that consumes not only matter but the very essence of being. To step into it is to be unmade.” His voice faltered slightly, his gaze distant, as though recalling some long-buried memory.

Acid churned in my stomach, a cold sweat breaking over my skin.

Vexa’s voice dropped to a near whisper, as if she spoke of something she shouldn’t repeat. “When you enter the Void, there are three possibilities.”

She glanced at Aether, her words slow and deliberate. “If you can resist the cold—the death it promises—If you manage to survive in the first place, you’ll stumble out with void burns. You become a vessel.” Vexa looked down to her arm as she rolled her sleeve, revealing the black markings that covered her skin.

“Or?” I asked.

Aether’s eyes flicked to mine, shadows pooling in the corners of his golden irises. His voice dropped, ragged and thick. “Or, you come out unscathed—at least on the outside. But make no mistake, you’ve been marked. These shadows stitch themselves into your very soul, carving their instructions so deep, they become inherent. As easy as breathing.” He paused, his gaze sharpening.

“You come out a true wielder. You emerge a Duskbound.”

I let out a sigh. “And the third?”

“Death.”