Gathering Darkness

Immediately after claiming the earth Kindred on behalf of the princess, Jonas, Lysandra, and Felix had set their sights on the next two.

Jonas hadn’t sent a message to Cleo yet. He wanted to have all three crystals in hand, to show her he was worthy of her trust.

He wasn’t entirely sure why proving himself to her mattered so much to him.

Claiming the air crystal at Chief Basilius’s abandoned compound had gone just as smoothly as at the claiming at the temple, even though the compound held memories just as painful. That was where the Paelsian slaves had risen up against the abusive Limerian guards, triggering a massacre just moments before a tornado had torn across the dusty land.

That was in the past now. Jonas knew he had to focus on the future.

Within the compound, dirt paths led off to a labyrinth of small stone cottages with the chief’s large villa in the center. They chose to draw the symbol in the clearing where the chief’s bonfires, feasts, and nightly entertainment had been held.

“I want to do it this time,” Felix had insisted.

He held the blade to his forearm, made a shallow slice, then flexed his arm out, allowing his blood to drip onto the cracked dry ground. He smeared it with his fingertips to create a spiral symbol, then stood up and wrapped his arm with a cloth.

Lysandra clutched Jonas’s shoulder as a breeze picked up, circling around them in a sudden whirlwind that made Jonas’s breath catch in his chest.

“Over there.” Lysandra pointed at the chief’s bonfire pit, which was now only a scorched circle in the center of the clearing.

A small sphere had appeared, sunlight glinting off its pearly-white surface.

Moonstone.

The air Kindred.

The sight of it alone was akin to the sweet taste of victory after so many bitter failures.

Felix picked it up without hesitation, grinning from ear to ear. “Nice.”

He tossed it to Jonas, who caught it and looked down at the smooth surface of the orb. Like the earth Kindred, there was a sliver of darkness inside, swirling around in an endless cycle.

Lysandra glanced at Jonas. “So where are we headed next?”

“The mountains,” Jonas told her, more determined now than ever.

Jonas led them along the path of the Blood Road to the camp he’d attacked along with his group of rebels in the ominous shadow of the Forbidden Mountains, a camp now cleared away with nothing there to remind him of his crushing defeat except for the charred ground surrounding the road.

Here Lysandra insisted on using her blood to draw the symbol for fire.

But nothing happened.

Jonas tried, then Felix.

Nothing.

“Looks like someone beat us to it,” Felix said.

But who? All Jonas knew was that he wasn’t ready to give up yet. They had to keep trying. And so they did, staying there in the barren and deserted east of Paelsia for two days before they’d exhausted all other options. They finally gave up and headed back to Auranos, disappointed at their failure.

Two crystals out of three, Jonas thought. It would have to do.

• • •

Jonas knew they couldn’t continue to use the Silver Toad as a meeting place. But he had to pay one last visit there to see if any new messages had been delivered in the week he’d been away.

“I’m starving,” Felix said as he pushed the front door open. “Let’s stay and eat. There’s a nice private table in that dark corner over there. Just keep your hoods up, both of you.”

“Wearing our hoods in a tavern won’t make us look at all suspicious, will it?” Lysandra replied.

Jonas wouldn’t have agreed to this, but the tavern was nearly vacant, save for two tables occupied by drunk and oblivious patrons.

They would eat, and then they’d move on.

“We’ll face the wall,” Jonas said, managing a grin. “Since you’re not lucky enough to be as famous as me and Lys, you can be our lookout.”

Lysandra would now be recognizable to anyone who’d been close enough to see her face the day of the attempted executions. And this was their second time in the tavern as a trio.

“Happy to oblige.” Felix took his seat and signaled to the barkeep for drinks. “Tonight we should have a chat about what we’re going to do with those two crystals now that we’re back in Auranos. We could earn ourselves a life’s worth of gold with those two pretty pieces.”

“Even though we don’t know how they work.”

“A small inconvenience,” Felix allowed.

They’d inspected the two crystals for hours, trying to figure out how to harness their magic. All they’d done was waste time and energy.

Jonas didn’t doubt what they were, but accessing their magic was beyond him.

Which was fine with him. Just because he believed in magic now didn’t mean he wanted any part of it.

He wasn’t looking forward to Felix’s chat. He knew that the discussion of whether to sell the crystals to one of Felix’s mysterious contacts or hand them over to Princess Cleo would be less of a talk, and more of a heated debate.

He slid his hand over the two crystals in the leather pouch he had tied to his wrist. They wouldn’t leave his sight, not for a moment.

Their fate would be his decision and nobody else’s.

Galyn, the tavern owner and friend of the rebels, brought drinks—three ales and no wine this time, which pleased Lysandra.

“Welcome back,” Galyn said quietly. “It’s good to see you again.”