Zalia stared at the hallway where Juniper and the Hidden had just walked out of sight. She could vaguely hear the sound of Indis and Ember arguing behind her as she watched the stone in shock.
Did she really trust too easily? Was she just gullible?
Of all the people to betray and lie to her, Juniper would have been the very last person she would have expected that from. She had been one of the first people she had truly thought of as a friend in this world. Would Glemp betray her as well?
From the very start, Juniper had been so friendly and kind. She had given Zalia the bow she now wielded. She had given her advice, direction and information. Zalia had helped the woman with a problem for no other compensation than a few coins barely worth the work. Had that problem been a lie as well? Had she only given her these things to gain the trust she so ruthlessly wielded now?
“I won't be stopped because they brought in an interloper. It just won’t do,” Juniper had said.
Was she the interloper? If so, who had brought her here. Maybe the strange portal that had brought her to this world hadn’t been so much of an accident or natural occurrence as she had thought. Had the woman known from the very start how and why Zalia had been brought to this world?
There were so many questions running through her head and she was having trouble answering each one as the next shoved its way to the forefront of her mind. She managed to move past the misery that hounded her for now and considered the woman's other words. She had said, “I’ve worked too many years to get him back.”
Was Juniper referring to Zayes? If so, how could she get him back?
Then she remembered the very first time she had heard of Cormaine, from the Hidden of all people. He had said that some believe those who die move on to Cormaine, their very beings reincarnated within the other realm. Was that what Juniper was trying to accomplish, bring Zayes back from the dead?
There were so many emotions fighting within her body, so much so that her very skin just felt… raw.
“We need to get out of here,” Ember was saying, trying to pull at the bars of the cell. She wasn't able to even wrap her hands around them as the magical field stopped her fingers.
“We have tried every way possible, we simply can’t,” Indis snapped at her.
Indis was sitting on the floor in the corner, arms propped on her knees.
“I refuse to believe there is nothing we can do!” Ember yelled, spinning around to face Indis.
She was met with the frustrated gaze of Indis, the sad eyes of Zen and the shell shocked expression of Zalia. Boreal was weaving between Zalia’s legs, brushing against her in an effort to comfort her.
“So that’s it!?” Ember asked angrily, meeting each of their eyes.
“We can't get out Ember,” Zen replied sadly.
He looked lost, far off in thought and Zalia knew where his mind was. He was back at that crossroad, looking down the path that would have led him to his parents and home as he stepped firmly past it.
“Maybe the rebellion will succeed anyway, they can't possibly know their plans right?” Zalia offered weakly.
“He seemed to figure out we were lying pretty quick,” Ember retorted, turning back to the cell bars and angrily slamming her palms into them.
“They might,” Indis said, though she didn't look convinced.
Ember put her back to the cell bars and slid down to the floor, now mimicking Indis’ posture.
“There must be something we can do,” she mumbled, anger quickly fading to hopelessness, “there must be something.”
The rest of that day passed in a drag, all of them barely speaking a word as they stared hopelessly at the walls and bars that now held them. The depressed mood seemed to infect even Boreal, who curled up next to Zalia in a tight ball. Towards the end of the day, a guard arrived and pushed food on a metal tray under a small cutout on the door for the very purpose. It was only after the man left that Zalia realised where she recognised the man from. He was one of the two guards that had been at the doors to the Morning’s Shade’s spires when she had first arrived.
Ignoring the food, Ember quickly started poking and prodding at the small section that had allowed the food to pass through, hoping to find some sort of weakness but ultimately failing. After the attempt she sat back against the wall with a dull thud, staring at the platter that sat untouched on the floor.
As she thought day faded to night outside, each of Zalia’s companions slowly fell to sleep, curling up on the cold stone floor. While they were all pretty much immune to normal cold at this point, the darkness and hopelessness of their situation seemed to instill a chill within their bodies anyways.
Zalia sat awake, staring at the walls without hope as her mind turned over the day's events. Thoughts of every kind smile and gesture she had been given from the old farmer Juniper passed through her mind, each a lie, each a ploy to gain her trust. There was so much frustrated energy within her body simultaneously making her want to act whilst making her so tired. Despite that, she still could not find sleep.
Much later, her companions started waking again and yet Zalia still sat awake in the same position as she had been. The shell shock, frustration and emotional pain she had been experiencing was slowly turning to anger. Anger at the human race for their tendency towards horror and pain, anger at Juniper for her lies and anger at herself, for her own naivety. Since she had arrived she had given her trust out easily to those she met, hoping beyond hope that maybe the people here were more like her. Practical, upfront and honest.
Maybe she was more like Zen than she thought, living in her own fantasy only to be brought out rudely by the real world.
“Wolf of the stars, please help us,” Zalia prayed, trying to project her thoughts.
She had no idea if the creature really was a god but it was worth a try. Right?
“Do you think they’ve started marching yet?” Zen asked.
“Probably,” Indis replied.
She knew what Zen was hoping for. He was hoping that the rebellion would somehow find out about their fate and rescue them. Realistically, that wouldn't happen. Nobody even knew they were here, some members of the Morning’s Shade might have seen them arrive but what would they think about their disappearance? They hadn't ever stayed around long before this either.
Even then, they knew that at least one of the members was under Hidey’s control or had given him their loyalty since the guard didn't seem surprised by their presence. Maybe the man didn't know why they were here, though she doubted convincing him to break them free would be possible.
When the guard did come by to deliver them their food for the day, Ember tried to do exactly that. Zalia didn't know what he had been told but he simply did not acknowledge Ember or her words, passing the food through. After he didn't respond to her words, Ember tried to grab at him through the slit as he moved the platter through yet despite not stopping the metal tray, the field still stopped Ember’s hand cold. She finally resorted to banging on the cell bars as he walked away, yelling insults at him. She let out one final yell of frustration as he moved out of sight.
“Damn it!” Ember growled.
Zalia moved forwards and took the plates off the tray and tried pushing it through the bars. Oddly, it worked.
“We might be able to use that,” Ember said, her frustration quickly turning to interest as she started almost visibly thinking.
Feeling like an idiot, Zalia summoned her sword and tried to push that through the bars. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
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“Damn,” Zalia said.
She had really hoped that would work.
After everyone had finished eating, Ember collected all the plates like she planned on using them as weapons. Zalia didn't eat, giving her food to the others since she wouldn't need to eat much on any given day.
Soon enough, the others fell asleep once more, Zalia and Boreal the only ones left awake. Before long though, Zalia too fell asleep having not slept at all the night before. She drifted off fitfully into a light sleep.
She woke again barely two hours later, somehow feeling rested yet exhausted. It was like her body was perfectly rested yet her mind was taxed in a way that sleep would not help.
That day passed much as the one previous did, consisting mostly of sitting against the wall trying to think of anything they could do to escape or accomplish anything.
Once more, the guard came with food and slid the platter beneath the door. As he did however, a deep rumble could be felt in the ground and walls around them. As it settled, the man smirked at them and spoke for the first time.
“Not long now,” he crowed.
His smile turned to shock in an instant as in a flash of movement, he was slammed backwards into the wall cracking his head. Standing over his limp body as he fell unconscious to the floor was a woman that Zalia recognised.
“Larel?” she asked.
“Quiet,” the woman whispered, moving over to the cell and grabbing the door.
She strained as she pulled and after a tense moment, the door gave way to her Gold rank strength. Zalia was surprised at how difficult it looked for her to rip the door off it's hinges, especially after having seen her strength not so long ago against a Gold ranked elemental.
“What’s happening?” Zalia asked.
Larel gave her a pointed look, holding her pointer finger over her lips in a shushing gesture.
She motioned for them to follow, moving away and through the long hallway. They could now see the end where a set of stairs led upwards, hopefully towards the open sky. It hadn’t been long and Zalia was already feeling claustrophobic and craving open air and land once more. She had thought being in a city was bad, being stuck in a cell was all the worse.
They moved up the flight of stairs and Larel put her ear to the door before opening it slightly and peaking through. She closed the door once more and turned back to them.
“What are you all doing down here in a cell?” she asked in a whisper.
Zalia frowned.
“You don't know why?” Indis asked back quietly.
“No, someone left a note in my goddamn room saying you had been imprisoned wrongfully. I thought it must have been someone fucking with me but I asked around and discovered you had entered the city but not yet left. I asked Hildebrandt if she knew where you all were and she thought you were still out of town. I snuck down here after I saw that guy entering the cells. These cells haven't been used in years so I knew something was up with a guard coming down here. I figure there must be something wrong if Hildebrandt doesn't know about it so I’m breaking you out. Now, why are you here?” she repeated once more.
“Long story,” Ember said, moving as if to push past.
“Make it a short one or you’re going back in the cell,” Larel said firmly, holding out an arm.
Zalia considered explaining for only a moment but the most recent betrayal of her trust made her change her mind. She thought Larel was a good person but wasn't ready to risk that. Luckily, Indis was.
“Hidey and Juniper are both responsible in part for the rituals. They’re working with the king to perform some kind of huge scale ritual that is meant to happen soon and we need to stop it,” Indis explained.
Larel looked at her intensely, searching her face for a lie. She looked at Zalia.
“It's true,” she confirmed.
“How can that be true?” Larel asked.
Another rumble passed through the building.
“What the hell is that?” Zen mumbled.
Indis quickly summarised what they knew about the entire situation to Larel, ending with their report to the Hidden and eventual capture by his hand.
“I don't really trust what you are saying. We will bring this to Matthias and Hildebrandt and ask them what they know of the situation. In either case you should not have been imprisoned without the agreement of all three of them. Come,” Larel said, opening the door once more.
She stepped out and immediately froze.
“What the hell is that?” she said, looking up into the sky.
The cause of the rumbling was now apparent. A bright beam of light was shooting up into the sky, originating at the top of the tallest spire. The centre of the beam was a pure white with red and purple lights swirling around it ever up into the sky. The ritual had begun.
“Please Larel, we need to stop that RIGHT now,” Zalia pleaded.
“While I don't trust you fully on your story, that much we agree on,” Larel replied, sprinting off into a building.
They all ran after her, none of them able to keep up but their destination was clear. Ember took the lead as the best at navigating the spires.
They ran for a few minutes, arriving on the small, flat rooftop of the tallest spire. Kneeling before the giant beam of light was Juniper, her hands cradled in her lap bleeding from long gashes. The ground around her was splattered with blood and body parts that looked to be from one, maybe two people. Guarding her kneeling form were two more people with curved blades atop large wooden polearms. Standing even closer, Larel was confronting Hidey.
“What is happening here Hidden?” Larel was yelling.
“You should not be here Larel, leave,” the Hidden replied.
“We shall see what else you have to say when Hildebrandt and Matthias join us,” Larel said, taking on a defensive stance, both hands raised.
“They will not be joining us today,” the Hidden replied with a somber smile.
Zalia and her team stood behind Larel, ready to fight. Zalia was the only one with a weapon, her bow summoned and held at the ready, starlight arrow nocked.
“Bastard,” Larel snarled, launching into an attack.
“Can you do something about that ritual?” Indis asked Zalia.
She was the only one with any kind of ritual knowledge on their team.
“I can try,” she replied.
“We’ll distract those two, hurry!” Indis yelled, running around the fighting Gold ranker and Hidden. Ember and Zen quickly overtook her, taking defensive stances in front of Indis, hoping to guard her from the two approaching guards.
Zalia sprinted around the other side, followed by Boreal. One of the guards looked to her and was about to move to intercept but had to turn away when Ember made a feint dash forwards, bringing his attention back to her.
She sprinted past, firing an arrow into the man as she ran. He held his side in pain as the arrow ignored his heavy armour completely, Ember able to get into his guard and tackle him thanks to the distraction. Zen and Indis were keeping the other man busy so Zalia turned away and focused on her task.
“Juniper!” she yelled, her voice and the sounds of battle behind her drowned out by the rumbling sound coming from the ritual. She could see similar though significantly smaller beams blasting into the sky all across the land behind her.
“What have you done!?” she yelled.
This time Juniper heard her, turning in surprise. The woman looked ghastly, like the life had been drained from her.
“I did… I did what I had to,” Juniper sputtered out between coughs.
Zalia ran past the obviously drained woman and managed to push through the winds surrounding the beam to see the ritual. She tried to cut at the runes and lines but didn't manage to even scratch them.
“How do I stop it!?” she yelled at Juniper.
“You can’t Zalia, it is over,” Juniper said weakly.
Zalia stared desperately at the runes.
She looked back over the head of Juniper to see just as Zen was run through by the blade of the guard.
“NO!” she screamed.
Zen grabbed the blade impaling him and Indis blasted the guard with a bolt of lightning as a primal sound, a mix of a scream and a yell, escaped her mouth.
“STOP THE RITUAL” Indis screamed at Zalia.
Zalia turned away as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She started focusing her healing presence on Zen, hoping he would survive while she broke the ritual.
As she looked at the ritual only a single idea entered her mind. The process she had repeated many times over when she was trying to deal with rituals she didn't quite understand but wanted to enhance or change their effects.
She started quickly overlaying the entire thing with Bitterbalm. The herb had a description that said it would add an element of curse to a ritual but through her instinctive knowledge she knew that wasn't quite accurate. It more accurately reversed the intended effect of the ritual.
Juniper tried to rise to stop her but only managed to get to one knee, still weak from whatever she had done to start the ritual in the first place. Zalia finished her work and the ritual activated. She didn't know what was about to happen but hoped all the same.
The Bitterbalm started glowing. Juniper made a sound of protest as she collapsed. Zalia looked out at her friends, seeing Larel and the Hidden go over the side of the spire with their fight. With a sucking sound, the beam instantly reversed and smashed back into the tower, ripping Zalia into it. Eerily familiar to another event she had experienced, she saw vivid colours, closing her eyes as she felt nauseated. She heard the sound of a water drop hitting a still pond only magnified a hundredfold.
Zalia opened her eyes as the tear on her cheek finally fell to the ground.
END OF BOOK ONE