I stared down at the names on the scroll in front of me. Twenty-seven. Almost thirty more of us, gone. Dead and abducted. There were twelve on the list that were found dead at the site. The other fifteen were unknown. Either captured or killed. Without bodies, we had no way of knowing.
I rubbed at my eyes, the weariness of the past few weeks weighing on me heavier with this news. I stood up, pushing the chair back and my mother's eyes moved to me. She looked as tired as I did, but there was a determination there that I admired.
"Your father and I can take care of this, go and get some rest, Lyra. I'll send word if anymore news reaches us."
I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to speak right then. It had been weeks since I'd gotten a good night's sleep, and I knew tonight would be no better. Those names, their faces... They'd haunt me along with my past tonight.
The halls of the Villa were quiet as I trudged down them. I couldn't think of a way out of this. Every time we tried to make a move for our people, the humans always seemed to know about it. Cutting us off at every turn.
I reached my bed chamber and didn't even bother undressing as I slid under the blankets, curled in on myself and tried to will myself into a peaceful sleep.
There were screams, those Gods awful screams. I threw the door of the inn's room open, the wood banging loudly off the already damaged wall of the chamber my parents and I had been given for the night.
Smoke immediately filled my lungs and I began coughing just as Nael Liesand, my father's right hand man, came storming out of his own room. His eyes immediately locked on me, a flash of relief at seeing me unharmed and then resolve and an all consuming rage to eradicate the threat began burning in them. I felt wind pelt my face, realizing that he was pulling in fresh night air from a window down the hall to protect us from the smoke of the fire that was surely blazing down below. I ran to him and his arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me in close to him just as his wife, Ada erupted from their quarters, scrolls and books filling her arms still while she unceremoniously shoved what she could into her knapsack.
"We must go," Nael demanded and Ada fell into step behind us as he began ushering me forward, I had to run to keep up with his longer strides. The wind whipped around us like a clear torando in the smokey hallway. We reached the top of the stairs and rushed down them without pausing, Nael carrying me by my arm in his strong grasp. If we could at least find my parents and get out of the burning building, we'd be able to make a plan. Though, I was sure Nael had a plan of action whether or not we found my parents. His main order tonight was to ensure my safety above all else. My eyes darted around, expecting to see mother and father amongst the tables of the dining area but there was just more smoke and...
Were those bodies? My eyes widened in shock at the four men and one barmaid that lay on the floor, their insides spilling across the blood soaked wood. Nael jerked on my shoulders, pulling me to his other side to hide the bodies from view. Not that it did much to shield me from the death and carnage that surrounded us. There was another corpse strung across the bar, a knife jutting out of the man's neck. His dead eyes focused on nothing but seemed to peer right into my soul. I let out a strangled sound, realizing it was the kind cook who'd made sure I'd gotten an extra sweet pastry after dinner just a couple hours ago.
I didn't even feel my feet moving as I stared into his unseeing eyes, the life just snuffed out of him as fire roared around him. Devouring the walls, the bar... Him.
There was a crash and the face that held my attention was suddenly gone as the main door of the inn slammed shut behind us. I whirled around, eyes scanning everywhere. Where were mother and father? Why hadn't they come for me? I had just began to fear the worst when, "Nael!"
A woman's voice yelled over the screams of pain and panic. Not just any woman's voice, it was mothers. I flung myself forward, Nael's hands grasping for me, but I was too quick, I ran in the direction my mother's voice had come from.
"Mother!" I yelled back, not slowing.
"Lyra?! Stay with Nael and Ada! I'm coming!" mother yelled back. She sounded strained, distracted. Was she in toruble? Did she need help?
"Lyra, stop!" I heard Nael yell from behind and glanced back to see if he was following me just as I ran into something hard and muscular. I would have fallen if arms hadn't immediately wrapped around me, spinning me around to face the two mages who were sworn to protect me as they approached quickly. Something sharp pressed into my neck and Nael and Ada slowed, holding their hands up and out in submission to the man as they came to a stop about ten yards from me.
"What have we got here?" the man's gravelly voice sounded from behind, my feet were barely touching the ground as he held me up.
"Please, we haven't done anything," Ada began pleading but the man cut her off.
"Shut up, ye freak bitch. Yer kind sap the life from our lands, leave us starvin' and poor. I ain't got two coppers to rub together, and ye have the nerve to claim ye ain't done nothin'? If ye was decent folks, you'd'a killed yerselves already and ridded the lands of your foulness. But yer not, are ye? That's why we gotta do it fer ourselfs. And I'll be startin' by killin' yer child just like ye killed mine," he growled and pressed the knife harder against my neck. I winced, but felt the calm entering my body as I desperately reached for my magic. The scary, all-consuming magic that controlled me more than the other way around.
"It's rid," I heard myself say as if from a distance and the man growled. The dagger pressed even harder and I felt a warm trickle spread down my neck.
"Lyra!" someone yelled as they shook me awake, my eyes flung open to find myself looking into Lilly's. Her eyes the exact same shade of golden brown as her father, Nael's. "You were sweating and tossing around, I thought you were seizing," Lilly continued, unaware of the inner turmoil I was fighting. She didn't know what I had just been dreaming about or what she'd saved me from having to relive again. She didn't know about that night where everything went wrong. Didn't know that the fire magic that I now wielded had once belonged to her brother. Or that I treasured it as much as I treasured Ignatius' memory. "Sorry," I gasped out, wiping away the sweat that covered my forhead. I was soaked through with it. "Bad dream again?" Lilly asked, backing up the respectful distance that all mages kept from their leaders. "Yea," I mumbled, swinging my feet out of the bed. "Same one as usual?" Lilly asked and I looked at her again. There was a pained look on the other mage's face and I nodde
I was standing on the balcony of the Southern edge of the Villa, my hands resting on an intricately carved banister, the wood sliding smoothly across my palms as my hands moved comfortingly over the familiar surface. I'd just arrived a few minutes ago, having sent one of the other mages to fetch mother while the wind I was heating up whipped through my hair. "Lyra," my mother said in greeting and I turned my head to the side to offer Sylvren, the Queen Mage a nod and a small smile. The events of last night still hung around her eyes and my heart clenched. "Good morning, mother," I offered soflty and the queen mage came to stand beside me, joining me in looking out over the expanse of swirling mist that separated the mages island from the mainland. "I've received a reply from the kingdom of Scepterfall," my mother began. Straight to business, like always. There was no need to fill time with small talk whenever Sylvren Belle was involved. "Kingdom?" I asked, shooting her a glance. "
I gave my mother a quick forced grin before taking the letter and looking down at it, my eyes skimmed it quickly. "So, these men will be here later today or tomorrow morning, and then what? If this guy decides that I'm," I quickly found the part I was referring to in the letter again, narrowed my eyes at the wording and read straight from the paper, "found to be favorable" I glared at my mother, "then what? He goes back to his King and reports that I'm good enough for the royal line and then I just pack my bags, wait for them to come and load me up and go live in a kingdom full of humans?" My mother took the letter back and put it in her pocket. "You'd be leaving with the King's men when they leave tomorrow," she said softly, looking away from me. My chest tightened. "I didn't see that in the letter," I said, unable to grasp the idea of leaving my home, the only home I had known my whole life so soon. "It was in the other letter. Your father and I thought that one was a little too
The small island that we mages called home, floated in the middle of a giant crater that held nothing but water below. It was connected to the mainland by a single land bridge that was just big enough for three horses to walk side by side comfortably. There weren't many people that dared to bring a wagon over it. I had lived my entire life in this magical place. Our ancestors, while trying to avoid persecution, were searching for a way to keep their people safe. They had found this small chunk of land in the bottom of the chasm and lifted the Little Haven up and held it there with some of the most powerful magic ever wielded. Magic that was long ago lost to the mages of our time. By doing this, they'd effectively made an impenetrable stronghold for their people to find refuge from the prejudices of their time. I reflected for a moment how I was similarly working on a way to free my people from the oppression that after centuries of peace had resurfaced over the past few decades. Only
Why did the day have to start off so early? I thought annoyedly to myself. I had barely gotten more than two hours of sleep by the time Lilly had woken me up from my night terror. I sighed, thinking about everything else that still needed to be taken care of. There was the council meeting that mother was supposed to be letting everyone know about right now. There was the possible meeting with the man from Scepterfall, if he decided to show up today, that was. And I still needed to find Gil and break the news to him, hopefully before the time of the actual meeting. I yawned, figuring I should probably get started on that first one and pushed myself off the banister. My mother had told me I should get more rest, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I headed out to the training field, where I figured I'd probably find Gil, but only Lorna, one of the oldest mages on the island who lived in and worked for her room in the Villa was there, fixing some of the leather pieces on the training
"Lyra!" My father hissed behind me, as he thundered through the trees on my heels. Branches whipped past me as I ran, stinging my cheeks and bared arms whenever I failed to block them. "We need to save her, dad." I shot back in a loud whisper. "We can't lose another one," I said, feeling panicky. The thought of us losing another life, just a single one if I could possibly stop it was too much. I pushed my legs to move faster. We paused, listening for Carmella's call for help again. "Carm?" I asked, tentatively and keeping my voice just above a whisper so as not to alert the nearby humans. I was hoping we could find her fast enough. Find her before they did. "Help!" Another scream, she still sounded far enough off that I knew she hadn't heard me call for her. "I don't think she knows a hunting party is nearby," my father rushed out as we took off again. I nodded in response, not wasting my breath with more words. I was already pulling my fire forward when we broke into a clearing,
I froze, my hands stilling where they were, I could feel a drip of blood escape my nose, a telltale sign that my power was waning. It was taking a lot to keep those walls burning. To keep them hot enough to hold the beast, thick enough and high enough that it wouldn't just rush through the flames or jump over them was taking an immense amount of power. "Girl, turn around. Let me see your face," the man commanded. "Man stays put and doesn't move or girl gets throat slit, do I make myself clear?" "Why are you talking like a caveman?" I asked, forcing calm into my voice as I turned around to face my attacker. He stood there, legs apart in an attacking stance, his sword pressed to my neck. Was he alone or were the rest of the hunting party hiding somewhere? If he was alone, that was incredibly stupid of him. Stupid to take on multiple mages single-handedly. Though, I guess the Blood Beasts kind would have evened up the score, normally. If he was dealing with weaker mages, that was. "S
I gasped and sat bolt upright. My eyes looking around frantically, trying to figure out where I was. Ellis swam into view, relief and awe both written on her face. Then I felt it. Like dark tethers that rooted out from me, connecting me to every life force around me. I looked up into Ellis's face and could feel her life force pulsing in front of me. I could feel all their life forces throbbing around me. One of them was so weak already... I flinched, pulling back the magic and slamming it down far inside me. Soon as I had, Ellis took a deep breath like she suddenly felt better. She shook her head as if she were confused by the feeling but offered me a small smile. "You know, a normal mage would've been out cold for days," she mused, pressing the back of her palm to my forhead. I waved her off, watching her face closely for signs of supsicion or something like it. "How long was I out?" I asked, throwing the blanket off, ignoring Ellis's attempts to get me to lay back down. I couldn't