Page 22

Chapter

Eighteen

Liv

Maev says to think of happy memories and find a way to repeat those moments. After staring at this page for several long minutes, all I can think of is how my happy memories have left with the dead.

H ow often will I stand on this airship, promising never to return? Everywhere there were signs of the Guardians, the Council, and the Day-leg who captained it.

“You will steal the ship and take it as far as you can go,” Kazhi had instructed.

“ How could you work with Falizha after she let your friends die?” I had asked her.

Kazhi had known I meant her Guardian friends who died on the burning field.

“I’m not using her for the ship, Ikhor. But for what’s on the ship.

There are books, records and journals. I can’t easily get to them.

With Falizha gone, they’ll be left waiting to be read. Find out what the Council has planned.”

Ollo and Maev had the ship ready to go before I reached the ladder floating near the ground. I had boarded, concentrating on holding the unstable wall of water on the bridge. But by the time I climbed the ladder, we were already rising in the sky.

I let go of the river, rushing through the metallic halls decorated with soft red carpets and gold hanging lights, easily remembering the way to the large war room where Falizha had commanded her crew.

Glass made up the front wall of the bridge, showing a complete view of what lay ahead. Green light cascaded across the floors, tinting the walls and tables full of books as we passed through the treetops. As we reached the sky, grey daylight flooded the bridge, washing out the colours before me.

The world beyond was so open, so vulnerable.

I felt for the beast. The pull told me it was still to the east but coming close, and fast.

“The Aspis will feel us departing, hurry!” I flew past the massive middle table, where maps and books were laid out to plan the Guardian’s trips, running for the twins and searching for the pull.

I did my best to stomp down my emotions and cut off what I was feeling. It was a challenge since I had destroyed the box I had hidden my more painful memories and feelings in.

If I had built a box before, I could certainly do it again.

How I wished I could have reached the windows sooner to see the look on Falizha’s face when her ship sailed away. Instead, I searched the skies for our death made of black scales.

It was there, in the eastern sky, circling the city, weaving through clouds of rain before changing course.

I reared back, my heart stopping as it came straight for us.

What tempted it to come for me now? The pull was there, so why, at times, did it linger in the distance?

“It’s coming!” I bolted for the front window, passing Ollo, who focused on the sky as he pushed levers and pressed buttons on the panel in front of him.

“No need for concern.” Ollo’s jerky movements over the buttons said otherwise. “This airship, though not as fast as the one I lost to the Aethar, is built for impact. This is a battleship.”

Impact?

Despite the situation, Ollo’s face lit up. Of course, as a pilot, he fixated on the ship.

“Can it take the impact of a legendary beast?” I gave him the most withering look I could muster while my heart pounded in my chest, Maev’s mannerisms rubbing off on me.

She wasn’t looking as confident, and her face paled when the Aspis advanced.

“Well, if any ship could, it would be this one,” Ollo replied. “It has a shield enforced by magic and weapons that can shoot long-range. However, from the ballistic readings here, few projectiles are left to throw at it. Our best bet is to escape.”

“You said this ship was slower. Can it escape the Aspis?”

“This ship may not be as fast. But you have the best pilot in Rydavas steering it.” Ollo was operating the ship with enough confidence that I didn’t find the comment arrogant.

It was a strange moment to admit I was impressed. Intrigued even.

The thought vanished when I was suddenly thrown off my feet. I landed hard on my shoulder, facing the window to the outside. The ship moaned as it stabilized in the air once more. With shaking hands, I propped myself up.

The beast curled around us, blocking the daylight, and I stifled my scream. The magic barrier shimmered, deflecting the onslaught of the Aspis.

“To offer feedback on your inquiry, Liv—yes, the airship can sustain an impact from the beast.”

I stood, ignoring Ollo’s sarcasm. I was scared to death, and he was enjoying it.

“Head this way.” Maev pointed to a spot on a display that was similar to the one on her racer.

I was behind her, grabbing her chair before the force knocked me off my feet again.

A loud boom shook the airship from above. What would happen if the Aspis broke through the barrier? Would it take down the entire ship?

I squeezed the back of Maev’s seat.

A screen was lit up in front of her with the outlines of Veydes, similar to what Nuo had drawn. Yet there were no markings of Aethar lands.

“I want to go to Ouras’s temple,” I blurted without thinking.

The frantic button pushing and lever pulling stopped.

Maev whirled around in her seat. “What? We need to get out of Veydes.”

“I want to go to see Ouras.”

It would anger the twins, but while I ran from my old friends and boarded the ship, I had decided what I needed to do to end it all.

The room went dark again as the Aspis did another circle around the front windows.

“What’s this about?” Ollo asked. “Was this part of Kazhi’s plan?”

Maev’s hands balled into fists as she spoke to her brother. “No, it wasn’t. And we don’t have time to be debating this right now. You said you would help us, Liv. Now you’re giving up?”

“Giving up?” Ollo’s focus trailed the beast, which was now doing lazy circles around the ship. Perhaps the shield would caution the beast from attacking.

“Liv said she wants to return the magic to the gods. Meaning we have risked our lives, lost the Elder’s ship and planned this all for nothing.”

“Is this true?” Ollo turned away from the controls to search my face for the truth.

“Yes.”

“But why?” Ollo asked, and the twins’ scathing looks had me pinned in place.

I lifted my chin. I would not back down to anyone.

Ever again. “You two don’t understand how it feels.

This magic, the very one you see as an answer to your problems, is the reason for all of mine.

It’s killing me. It’s taken time away from me.

I control the magic by feeling pain . If the magic works by feeding off my emotions, it’ll never stop. It’s never going to get easier.”

Anger flashed across Ollo’s face. “We can help you?—”

“No! I will never not feel the deaths of my mother or—” I swallowed, shaking my head.

“I will never not feel their loss. I want it out of me. I want to see Ouras and ask him to take it back. It’ll end the cycle.

I’m sorry about whatever plans you had for the Ikhor, but at least future generations won’t have to live in fear.

Maybe this will even put an end to the wars. ”

“You think?—“

Ollo stopped when Maev put a hand on his arm. Her face was void of emotion. “She’s right, Ol’s. It’s her choice. We came here to get the Ikhor, to take her home and fight. We can fight by ending the cycle. How far is the temple?”

Ollo turned to the map, his perfectly poised form stiff. “It’s in the wrong direction. We don’t have time for this.”

“How many added days?” Maev asked.

“Two. If the visit is short.”

“We go. And before you protest, imagine the glory you’ll receive if you tell them it was you who piloted the Ikhor to the gods.”

“That wasn’t the instructions I was given. And this isn’t merely about glory, Maev. Despite what you’ve come to think of me, I didn’t come here for purely selfish reasons,” he said, his glare filled with impatience.

“No part of this was my mission either.”

“No one even knows you’re here. Another reason to speed home.”

They shot identical angry looks at me, but I stood my ground.

“Fine,” Ollo said. “But after this, you follow my instructions. No changing course at the last second. We’re on my schedule.”

“Agreed.” I didn’t let my surprise show. I hadn’t expected them to take me. It was another reason I could no longer see them as my enemy.

Ollo studied his sister, a million retorts in the fiery sheen of his eyes, and I envied his proud features. His calm acceptance of my request and his control over his anger were refreshing. He faced the front windows, where the Aspis stayed close, before finally returning to the controls.

The two moved the ship, aiming for the Temple of Mountain and the Aspis followed, hesitant to attack but not letting us out of its sight.

“Thank you,” I said, but the twins ignored me. I understood—I was costing them a great deal by demanding we go to Ouras. They had plans for the Ikhor, which involved an army, and who knew what that army was planning to do?

So I stepped away.

“Maev, you keep an eye on power. I’m going to take us for a ride.” Ollo spoke low, his words weren’t for my ears.

The beast decided I wasn’t worth the fight either as it languidly circled the ship, moving farther away with each pass. It was letting us go. But why?

I still felt the pull, did it not? What made it attack? What made it fall back?

I left the bridge, searching for supplies the Guards had left behind.

I calmed myself to concentrate on rebuilding that box, piece by piece.

When I had said I would never get over his death, that I wouldn’t let the magic be in control, it was a promise I made myself. I would regain control of my life.

I didn’t know whose legends I believed, the Rydavians or the Guardians, but I wasn’t willing to risk the Ikhor taking over and becoming the evil that destroyed the world.

Any more than I already had.

An eerie silence blanketed the ship without its crew inside, and the ghosts that haunted these halls sent shivers down my spine.