Undead

ALEX

Chapter 1

A Very Bad Idea

By the time I give into the itching desire, it’s been weeks.

And it’s taken me just as long to find out that my brother, Grey, has the same feeling.

“Do you think we should go to the Erebus Tree?” Grey asks as we walk back from the school.

The school is the only one in the Sea, our home of little tents.

I work as the drill sergeant for the children, leading fighting classes ranging from archery to sparring to sword fighting. Grey runs the classes, teaching whatever’s been allowed by the King on the given week, usually the King’s history classes with an emphasis on his army of Guard and Soldiers.

“Why?” I respond, pulling off my backpack, opening it, and ruffling through the papers of various drills to get a snack. I find some jerky and offer Grey a piece.

He takes it and replies, saying, “I don’t know.”

“Do you just feel like we really should go there?” I squint at him, slinging my backpack back over my shoulders before taking a bite of jerky and gnawing on it.

Grey’s silver eyes flash with surprise, and I tense. I’d meant it more as a joke.

“Yeah, actually.” He turns around, walking backward to face me. “Do you… do you feel the same thing?”

I sling an arm around his back and neck, pushing him faster. He falls into step beside me.

There’s too many people around, and I can see a handful of Guard and Soldiers lurking in their leather and metal armor. The bows and arrows of the Guard and the swords of the Soldiers are far too conspicuous and they look far too sharp.

“Yes,” I reply, “but we need to keep moving.”

Grey hums. “That’s probably true. How were classes today?”

I shrug, letting him go. I take a bite of jerky and chew on it.

“They weren’t bad. It was sword fighting today. Had a kid who was a little too enthusiastic with his wooden sword and gave another kid a black eye. The kid’ll be fine, but the other’s probably gonna get drafted as a Soldier. The King likes Soldiers like that. You?”

“I taught a history class on the Amethyst Throne and the King’s Dragon.” The distant tone of Grey’s voice told me all I needed to know.

He doesn't like his job as teacher, but it was that or the King’s army and Grey didn’t want to fight. He’s always preferred to hang back and study his options, rather than go straight toward the action. He won't stop teaching, though, since he argues that maybe he can stop things someday. Maybe the King can fall without a fight.

I hum in response.

“Camden’s supposed to stop by later. He’s going to help with that fraying rope on the side of our tent,” I say.

“Are you two back together now or not?”

I shove Grey in the shoulder, and he stumbles to the side, chuckling.

“No,” I shoot back. “We’re not together. He left me, alright?”

Grey holds his hands up. “Ok, ok.”

We make our way down one of the alleyways, taking a shortcut back to our tent.

The roads through the Sea twist and turn, crisscrossing in a maze-like network, without any real order to them. The Sea started off as just a handful of little tents that eventually grew to a sprawling expanse in the shadow of the King’s castle.

It’s not long before we reach our shared tent, a small, two-person space that looks identical to every other one in the Sea. Split down the middle, the two sides are identical; a bed with a chest at the foot and a small shelf for other belongings at the side.

Grey ducks inside, pulling aside one of the flaps in the doorway, while I pause outside.

One of the ropes holding the side of our tent taut is fraying, nearly snapped in two.

I drop my backpack off on my bed, then return outside and lean against one of the posts of our tent, waiting for Camden.

“Hey, Alex!”

I look up and see Camden approaching at a jog, strides long and even. His dark hair swishes against his shoulders. He’s wearing the usual attire of those in the Sea— an off-white shirt and beige shorts.

“So what are we up to today?” he asks.

I gesture to the fraying rope. “We’re replacing that.”

“Sounds good.” Camden pulls the top half of his hair into a loose ponytail. “How’s it going?”

“Not too bad. How was work?” I untie the old rope, and Camden takes the new one from Grey, who ducks back into the tent. With the rope undone, part of our tent sags with the tension gone.

Camden shrugs. “Eh, it was alright. Just basic cleaning and stuff around the Barracks. Nothing too crazy. You know how the Guard and Soldiers can be.”

I tie on the new rope to the edge of our tent and hand the other end to Camden, who pulls it taut, then fastens it to the stake dug firmly into the ground. He ties a tight knot that I know won't come undone, courtesy of his experience doing just about every job possible in the Sea as his way of getting out of the Guard and Soldiers.

"Think that'll hold?" I ask. "I'd rather the tent not fall on us tonight."

Camden walks around the entirety of our tent. He nods when he returns and stands in front of me. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I think it'll be fine. I don't see anything concerning."

“Wanna get dinner tonight?” he adds.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I pause, narrowing my eyes.

“Really? You’re really gonna ask that?”

Camden nods. “Yeah. I want to have dinner with you.”

I snort. “You had your chance, Camden,” I reply. “Besides, I’ve got plans tonight.”

I don’t, really, but I do want to go to the Erebus Tree. Hopefully tonight.

“No ‘Cam’, Alex?”

“No,” I respond, returning to tying the rope down. “No ‘Cam.’ I have plans, and it’s a no from me.”

“What plans? You never told me you had anything going on tonight.”

I chuckle. “A girl’s gotta have some secrets, you know. And while we might see each other often, I’m not telling you every detail of my life.”

“You sound like Katelin.”

“Comparing me to your sister?” I laugh. “I’m flattered.”

“Need anything else? I’m happy to help.”

I shake my head. “No, I’m good. Should just be a quiet rest of the day.”

“Fair enough. Let me know if you change your mind about dinner. The offer still stands.”

“Yeah, right, Camden.”

He smiles, holding up his hands, then walks off.

xxxx

During the time it took for the sun to set and the moon to rise, Grey went from calmly sitting on his bed and discussing the possibility of the Erebus Tree to pacing back and forth and nearly wearing a trench in the floor and sweating through his shirt at the mere thought.

“Grey, come on,” I try. “We both feel something. We gotta check it out.”

“I know, but we’re gonna get into trouble! There’s no way the King would allow it, and I don’t want his attention on us. What if the Guard and Soldiers catch us?”

“We’ll just have to be careful. We know our way around the Sea.”

“It’s most certainly against the rules.”

I fight back the urge to roll my eyes. “Grey, you know those rules better than anyone. I’m surprised you don’t have them tattooed on your arm. There is no rule that says no walking around the Erebus Tree. The King would’ve torn that thing down otherwise. What the King doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

“This isn’t a good idea,” Grey murmurs, running a hand through his blonde hair.

“Aren’t you curious?” I press, tilting my head to the side. “We’re both feeling the desire to head to the Erebus Tree.”

“I am curious,” he replies, wringing his hands. “That’s the problem. I want to, but it’s not how we keep our heads down and not make a scene. The King’s bad, but he sits on the Amethyst Throne. It’s not like we can do much. Better to just do our jobs and come back home and not get noticed.”

I sigh. He has a bit of a point, but I can’t stop thinking about the Erebus Tree and the curiosity claws its way through my skin. I want to figure out what’s up, and I know he does too.

“So we’ll just be quick. Scurry over there, see the Erebus Tree, scurry back.”

“Alex, we’ve seen the Erebus Tree a thousand times. It’s right in the middle of the Sea. It’s impossible to miss.”

Grey scratches at his arm but drops his hand a moment later, looking at his fingers as he wipes his palms together.

I nod. “Exactly, so why do we both feel like we just have to go see it? We’ve seen it before, so what’s different about it now?”

Grey closes his eyes and chews on his lip.

“This is a terrible idea,” he grumbles as he sits down and tugs his shoes on.

“We’ll be careful. We’ll keep an eye out. We’ll be quick, and then we can go to bed.”

“This isn’t a good idea, Alex,” Grey says, leading the way out of our tent.

“Shh, we need to be quiet,” I whisper.

xxxx

We creep through the Sea, sticking close to the shadows.

Insects chirp under the glow moonlight. A breeze rustles the dust of the walkways, and I can see the twisting branches of the Erebus Tree like knobby fingers silhouetted against the night sky.

We’re nearly there when a troop of Guard and Soldiers turn the corner, walking toward us. They’re talking amongst themselves, and one of the Guard is moving backward to talk with a Soldier. The Guard are clad in their leather armor, buckled together with thick straps, bows slung over one shoulder and a quiver of arrows on the other with daggers on either thigh. The Soldiers move with slightly more difficulty in their metal armor that clinks with each step, swords sheathed at their waists.

Grey grabs my arm, yanking me behind a barrel. He drops to his knees, and I follow suit.

“Shit,” he hisses out. “Bad idea, very bad idea.”

I hold a finger to my lips and flash him a stern look.

He continues cursing beneath his breath, and I slap a hand over his mouth. He falls silent.

I crouch low to the ground as the Guard and Soldiers draw nearer, still chattering to each other. None seem to be paying much attention to their surroundings.

They walk by us painfully slowly, and I can feel every beat of my racing heart, the tightness in my chest, the roar of blood in my ears.

There isn’t technically a rule against walking around at night, but there’s a curfew that everyone generally follows— no one out past nightfall. And I don’t have a reason that I could give the Guard and Soldiers that would satisfy them.

I’d end up before the King, and I don’t know what he’d do. Well, I do, and I don’t like it.

But the Guard and Soldiers continue on their way, none so much as glancing our direction.

Grey and I give them a few minutes to leave before I cautiously creep out and check both ways, ignoring my brother’s high-pitched whisper to be careful.

“We’re good,” I say after watching the Guard and Soldiers turn off onto a walkway that would take them to a far-off part of the Sea, well away from the Erebus Tree, though I know they could always turn around.

Hopefully not, I silently pray.

I hold out a hand and help Grey to his feet. He looks to the direction the Guard and Soldiers walked off in to check for himself, and we both hurry along, staying as quiet as we can.

We turn a corner, and the Erebus Tree bursts from the ground before us.

A network of roots spreads across the ground like tangled ropes before convening upward in a gnarled trunk covered in rough bark. Branches spread upward, twisting into knots and splaying out in long limbs.

Grey and I hesitate beside a tent, and I hold my breath.

Power seems to radiate from the Erebus Tree, named after one of the most powerful beings on Ragdon; Erebus, who has power over life. They created the island and everything on it. Their counterpart, Lucius, controlled death. They were the one who brought every living thing to their end.

“Shall we go?” I ask Grey.

He stares at the Erebus Tree, chewing on a fingernail. His expression flickers between panic and desire.

Grey shakes his head. “Let’s go before I overthink this any more.”

We slowly approach the Tree, and I scan my surroundings for any sign of Guard or Soldiers. The shadows cast by the moonlight seem darker than usual, more predatory. The hairs on my skin prickle.

A cursory glance at the Erebus Tree shows nothing. It looks identical to every other time I’ve walked past it.

Maybe I was just making it all up.

Except that now I’m here, I can’t leave. Grey doesn’t seem to be able to either. There’s just something about the Tree that’s different, despite it looking exactly the same. There’s something that just brings me in closer, tells me I’m right where I need to be in this very moment.

I reach out a hand and let my fingertips brush against the bark of the Erebus Tree, then press my palm firmly against it. The roughness tugs against my skin, but I don’t pull away and a pulse of power rushes through my arm.

Grey does the same with a curious expression, seemingly forgetting the existence of the Sea.

As soon as he touches the Erebus Tree, it starts to shift.

I jerk back with a gasp, and Grey retreats a few paces, panic flashing across his silver eyes.

The Erebus Tree makes no sound as it begins to move, but light shines from within the tangled web of roots. Orange and silver shimmers, reflecting on the moving roots.

Pulled forward by something I don’t recognize, I kneel beside the Erebus Tree. Grey follows suit.

There, hidden within the roots of the Tree, are two necklaces bound by leather cords, one a pewter pendant in the shape of a wolf’s head and the other a malachite medallion with a silver wing carved into it.

The medallion is pretty, but there’s something about the pewter wolf that just draws me in. I can’t take my eyes off of it. I just know that it’s mine.

Grey sucks in a sharp breath beside me and reaches out. I’m about to slap his hand away, but he picks up the medallion.

When his fingertips brush the green surface, silver light explodes from it, casting harsh light on every surface around us.

Grey scrambles to his feet, taking the medallion with him. He tenses with panic.

“We should go,” he says, voice rising. “The Guard and Soldiers will be here soon. There’s no way they’re not going to notice this. This was a bad idea.”

“Agreed, we need to go.”

“This was a bad idea,” Grey repeats, whispering more to himself. “A very bad idea.”

I grab ahold of the pewter pendant and stand up. Orange light flares from tiny curved grooves carved in the surface of the wolf’s head. A chip creates a triangular indent on one ear.

Heavy footsteps sound off in the distance, and I freeze.

“We should run.”

But before I can, the pewter pendant pulses in my hand and I pause, vision fading from this world into darkness. Two voices echo in my head, low and deep and dripping with power.

The Wolf and the Dove shall rise with the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise.

Just as soon as I was snapped from reality, I’m thrust back into it.

“Let’s go,” I tell Grey.

We run off into the night, back to our tent. Neither of us look back.