Page 11

Chapter

Ten

Liv

What are dreams? I asked my mother once. She told me they were a place to escape the Endless Forest. In dreams, I could live a thousand lives, and sometimes I did. Until they felt too real … like some place that I could step into—some place that could harm me.

I woke, screaming his name.

“Liv?” Maev shook my shoulders.

“He’s alive,” I shouted, tearing myself free from her grasp. I gripped the edge of the damp wood, searching the darkness.

“Who?”

“Him!” I couldn’t bear to say his name again.

“I don’t understand.”

“The Guard. The Aspis—The Guard is still alive.”

The pity etched on her face gutted me. “You were dreaming.”

I pushed her off me. “It wasn’t—it felt …” I wasn’t about to explain to her dreams involving him had once been very real.

It had felt real. And yet, the sky had been all wrong, the shadows, the shapes—those were not the kind of dreams we had met in before.

I used to be plagued with nightmares of my mother’s brutal death. Was it his I would dream of now?

My heart sank as my mind cleared, and I inhaled the damp night air, shivering.

We were stopped at the edge of the river with the boat tied to an abandoned dock. Maev sat back on the bench across from me. Her hands knotted in her lap, attention darting to the shoreline. Ollo must have gone ashore while I slept.

Maev didn’t say another word as I listened to the pattering of rain. I closed my burning eyes and lay down on the bench where I had first fallen asleep, letting the mist and rain collect on my lashes. The tears wouldn’t stop.

Footsteps pounded on the dock, and Maev’s whispering cut through the silence. “She’s sleeping,” she said to Ollo, the boat shifting as he stepped inside. “She’s been having nightmares.”

I rolled away from her voice and wondered what the Guards were doing. I asked myself, not for the first time, how Nuo could work with Falizha. He turned as fast as Bastane had.

“I couldn’t locate a village or anyone to get directions,” Ollo said. “I have no idea where we are. I was able to find a fruit tree with a few apples that hadn’t spoiled.”

“Save one for Olivia.”

“She’s not going to eat it, Mae. You need food, too. You can’t afford to lose any more weight.”

“Stop mothering me.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you took better care of yourself.”

Maev’s voice lowered. “If you’d stayed in touch these past few years, you would know I care for myself just fine.”

“I did. I wrote on numerous occasions. You ignored me.”

“I ignored your invitations to your parties because I can’t stand even a minute with the idiots you spend time with.”

There was a pause, and the boat swayed as Ollo took his seat before changing the subject. “When do you think she’s going to snap out of it? She’s miserable company, and I’m getting tired of the rain.”

“Shhh. Don’t be rude,” she snapped.

“Rude? She hasn’t spoken to us or offered help once. She’s supposed to be our saviour.” A moment of silence followed his remarks, then he said, “Do you think she’s repressing it? Perhaps it’s the Ikhor fighting her, needing to take control.”

“Be more understanding, Ol. It’s not because she’s holding the Ikhor back. You can practically hear her heart grieving. Give her time.”

I didn’t have the energy to inform them their whispering could easily be heard in the small boat. Instead, I stared at the wooden plank I faced.

“Her attachments to the Guards could pose a problem, especially if she doesn’t let the magic take over. She could use it against our people. She may be the reason this mission becomes more dangerous, not the Aspis.”

“She deserves a chance first. She doesn’t know us yet or what we are here for.”

“Don’t get attached to the girl, Maev. She will be gone soon enough. The Aspis grows bigger. Our saviour’s magic will too. Either the Ikhor will take over, erasing her, or one of her many enemies will finally catch up.”

“I am not making friends. And I’m not giving up on her yet. I believe she will help us. She just needs time.”

“Time is something we no longer have. The Elders warn of our supplies running out. The Guardian Council’s reach is farther into our lands.

Strange things are happening. And, the Ikhor is not what we were foretold.

She is supposed to bring safety to our people.

Her magic was the reason I was chosen to enter these godsforsaken lands.

Yet she’s letting herself wither toward death.

You should see what it’s like out there.

She’s making the Guardian’s tales of the Ikhor sound more true than ours. I’m questioning the histories.”

“You always question things,” Maev whispered, and I could barely hear her. “We will take her home, as planned. Once we aren’t running, we will push her to let the magic free.”

“Let’s hope by then it’s not too late.”

“Oh, you’re awake, Olivia.” Maev’s smile grated on my nerves because she was trying to lift my mood. “I’ve been thinking.”

It was hours later … or had another day gone by? We were back in the boat after a short break on land—dark had already settled, and she was leaning sluggishly against the side. Ollo was asleep, breathing deeply—his head bent at a harsh angle as his body slumped in the seat.

“Why aren’t you possessed?” she asked, as if pondering the idea rather than addressing me. “The beast is growing. Do you feel no signs of the Ikhor inside you?”

So much for her waiting until they had brought me to their lands.

“I thought you said the Aethar didn’t believe the magic was evil.”

“No, not evil. We believe the host becomes possessed by the magic and the spirit of the Ikhor—the warrior who challenges the beast the gods created.”

“Why would you want the Ikhor to fight the beast? The Guardians say the Aspis fights for the freedom of the people.”

“They do, huh?” Her nose crinkled. She clearly thought the Guardians were wrong. “The Ikhor fights for the people and their freedoms. The Aspis fights for the gods and their desire to have the magic returned. The gods created the Aspis, or did the Guardians say otherwise?”

“No, they said the gods created the Aspis.”

“So it serves them. The first child wanted the magic for the people so that they could stand next to the gods in power.”

It was a different tale than I had heard, but only by perspective.

“So the Aethar also believe the first child stole the magic from the gods? A child of Night?” I asked, trying not to think of the cursed child I once knew.

“Mmm-hmm.” She kept her attention on the river ahead of us, removing her hood.

Her long, silvery hair blew around her face.

She fought a losing battle to keep it from her eyes, pursing her lips, clearly unimpressed.

“The first child stole the magic to use it for the people. But he couldn’t control it.

In every era, the magic resurfaces along with the Aspis, and we hope that someone stronger will possess it.

But it never stays. The Aspis, accompanied by its Guards, always win. ”

Meaning the gods always win. I inspected the sky, waiting to see another sign of the Aspis while she spoke. Her story continued while my mind faded—the fog blanketing me from reality made it hard to think and process her side of the tale.

Who was the bad guy? The line drawn between good and evil made it easier to know who the hero was.

Something caught my eye along the shore—a darkness that didn’t fit in. I sat up straight, teetering the boat. Gripping the edge, I peered through the rain at the darkness creeping through tall grass, nearly indistinguishable from the night. Its movement was the only thing that gave it away.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood like I was being watched, and my breath caught when I thought I saw yellow eyes peering back at me.

But when I blinked, there was nothing. I scanned the shoreline, keeping my breathing low while my pulse pounded in my ears.

My heart wouldn’t slow, even when my mind told me I was letting my sorrow see things that weren’t there.

“So what I was saying was that you seem just like a regular girl to me.”

I jumped as Maev’s voice cut through the stillness and a whoosh of air left me. “I am a regular girl,” I said, leaning back against the side of the boat, focused on the shore, finding nothing.

“Exactly. So the stories aren’t true. At least not entirely,” she mused. “You have to grow into the power. That could prove the scrolls have the clues to what we aren’t understanding.”

“What scrolls?” I asked, finally giving her my full attention.

Maev shot a worried gaze at her sleeping brother. She played with the ends of her hair, trying to look innocent.

“What scrolls?” I tried again.

Maev sighed. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone, so please keep it between us. My friend has this scroll, and … I can’t tell you about it.” She checked to make sure Ollo was asleep.

“I already know you’re hiding things from me. But you’re asking me to follow you away from safety. I deserve to know.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. “There’s a scroll written in the language of Night.

No one can read the dead language, so it’s of no importance to the Elders.

It won’t matter—they haven’t seen it. Yet I think it is important.

As does a friend of mine, which is why we hid it.

I think there are missing truths to the stories of the Ikhor and Aspis. ”

“Why would you hide a scroll you couldn’t read and think it had anything to do with me growing into my magic?”

“Well, I don’t actually know. The reason we stole it was that there were images of the Aspis and Ikhor on it.”

“There are paintings of the Aspis and the Ikhor on caves all over Veydes. I even saw one on the ceiling of an inn.”

Maev’s eyelids dropped, as if disappointed in my remark.

“Something about the drawing is very different than any found in our current texts. Most images show a battle between the two legends. This one does not.” She waved a finger in the air.

“It makes me consider new angles. Alongside your perspective as the Ikhor, maybe there’s more to the histories we don’t know.

I wonder why you feel the pull to the Aspis.

It makes sense that the gods would give the Aspis the ability to find you, but why does it work in reverse if you were not created by the gods?

Technically, you stole from them. Unless the scroll shows a different tale and what we know to be true is wrong. ”

There were already too many questions and variations of the story. The fog in my brain wasn’t allowing me to follow.

“Would you let me see this scroll?” I asked, trying to hide my interest in the text.

She gave a half shrug. “I guess. You will be disappointed at all the scribbles.”

There was more to the story—why she and her brother were here. Why was she hiding it from Ollo? Or did he forbid her from telling me?

I had an idea, and it went along with the plan that had already formed in my mind—I wanted to get rid of the magic.

She had no real answers about the scroll because they couldn’t read the language of Night. What I had not told her was that I could . I had read the markings over the cave in the Guardian city when even he couldn’t.

It made sense now when it hadn’t before. The first child who had stolen the magic of the gods was a child of Night. The first Ikhor had been a Night-leg. Could that explain why I could read the dead language?

I needed to get my hands on the scroll.

“All I know is this,” I said. “I feel the same, but something more is within me, and it’s getting stronger. It feels like pain and suffering. And I think it wants control.”

Maev was terrible at hiding her thoughts. Not for the first time, I saw fear. Fear of me.

“I don’t have the desire to harm anyone, but I am not the saviour to the people, Maev. I thought I could be for the people of Veydes when I thought I was the Aspis, but now I’m expected to save those I’ve never met. I want the magic gone. I don’t have the strength to fight it or the beast.”

“But you have to. The beast will harm people as it tries to get to you.”

“I-I won’t let that happen. It can get to me. I won’t let innocents die. Not if I can help it. But I can’t kill what used to be him .”

“It’s not him anymore. He’s gone,” she pleaded.

Thunder cracked in the sky.

I may have accepted the truth, but I would never recover from what happened in that field. As I never recovered from watching my mother die when I was thirteen. Though, I appreciated Maev not saying his name. It was a small kindness she gave me.

“It’s pointless to argue. I am not going after the beast, but I also don’t want to die. I will run as long as I can. But I’m finding another way out of this.”

My bets were now on the scroll her friend had. I raised my palm to the rain and let it sting my skin.

“How can you get out of this?” Maev asked.

I wished I could see the constellations he had shown me. Night’s Crown in the south—a way forward. The North Aspis—a way home. It had been those five stars in the north that connected his world to mine.

I turned back to Maev. “I’m going to find a way to return the magic to the gods.”