Raelia Read online

  “When your need is great, you’ll be able to activate the Shadow Essence contained within the stone,” he told her, handing back the ring. “But you’ll have to immerse yourself fully in the Shadow to do so.”

  “Ooo-kay,” Alex said, drawing the word out. “I don’t suppose you could dumb that down a little for me? What you mean by the second part?”

  Caspar Lennox smiled slightly at her, his sharp, white teeth standing out against his unnaturally grey skin.

  “When the time comes, you’ll understand,” he promised.

  Alex bit back a snarky retort. Why was everyone saying that to her lately?

  Before she could question him further, the professor told her not to daydream during his lessons in the future and dismissed her from his classroom.

  After dinner that night, Administrator Jarvis came looking for Alex to tell her that the headmaster wished to speak with her. She followed him obediently to the Tower building and up to the very top floor to Darrius’s office.

  “Good luck,” Jarvis said as he opened the door for her.

  Puzzling over his words, Alex tentatively entered the room. Sometimes when she visited Darrius he would take her to his private study above the clouds that was linked through the Tower into the Library. But this time Alex could see they would be chatting in his official headmaster’s office. The huge room held an impressive conference table, but her favourite part was the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that looked straight across the academy campus. Right now the waxing moon streamed light across the grounds, illuminating the beautiful landscape.

  Darrius was pacing near the window-wall, and when she closed the door quietly behind her, he barely glanced up at her arrival. She took a seat near the end of the table, knowing he would speak when he was ready.

  After a few tense seconds, he let out a frustrated breath and moved to sit next to her.

  “Thank you for coming, Alex,” he said. “I apologise for the short notice.”

  “What’s up, Darrius?”

  He reached for a folder that was resting on the table and passed it to her. She opened it without a word, wondering what was going on. Inside were loose papers, each showing photographs of different people, along with their names and other various details. Bardie Hicks… Nicholas Reeves… Lena Morrow… Travis Flanagan… Vera Rosta…

  Alex wasn’t sure what she was looking at until she did a double-take on a familiar face.

  “Hey, I know her!” she cried. “Well, sort of.”

  “Calista Maine,” Darrius said. “Was she the woman you saw in the forest with Aven a few weeks ago?”

  Alex nodded. “That’s definitely her.”

  Darrius massaged his temples. “I was afraid you would say that.”

  “I don’t understand,” Alex said, leafing through more pages. “Why do you have her file? And who are all these other people?”

  The headmaster stood and returned to his pacing, a worrying sign that Alex definitely didn’t like.

  “Darrius?”

  He turned to look at her, and his haggard expression filled her with foreboding.

  “After you witnessed Aven kill the Hyroa, I began to do some research,” he said, reclaiming his seat. “Actually, I started when you first told me about the blood-bonding ritual he tried to use on you. Do you remember when I mentioned the possibility of him having Claimed more than one person over the years of his exile?”

  Alex nodded again. Darrius had spoken to her months ago about Aven’s charisma and his ability to coerce others into doing his bidding—and how perhaps it wasn’t a natural occurrence, but a result of bonding them to him by blood.

  “What are you saying?” she asked.

  “When you first mentioned seeing a woman named Calista with Aven in the forest, I thought nothing of it,” Darrius said. “But after you gave a more detailed description of her, I felt a sense of recognition. It turns out that the woman in that file was once a student here at Akarnae.”

  Alex wondered why Darrius seemed to think that so significant.

  “How many Calistas do you know?” she asked. “It’s not exactly a common name, is it? Why didn’t you know who I was talking about straight away?”

  Darrius looked directly into her eyes when he answered. “Alex, Calista Maine graduated from Akarnae over seventy years ago.”

  Alex jerked her head back in shock.

  “It’s true,” Darrius said, reading the look on her face. “I studied her case file when I first became headmaster because her gift was so powerful and her disappearance was considered a tragedy.”

  “Seventy years?” Alex gasped. “That can’t be right. She didn’t look much older than me!”

  “Calista was declared missing by her family when she was twenty-three,” Darrius said. “No one has seen or heard from her since then, as far as I’m aware. I think we can now presume that, considering her apparent lack of physical aging, she must have been Claimed by Aven all those years ago.”

  Alex bit her lip and pointed to the rest of the file. “What about all these other people?”

  “They were also students at Akarnae at one time or another,” Darrius said, his expression sombre. “Just like Calista, their giftings were powerful; unique, even. And they too have disappeared over the years. I fear they may have met the same fate as hers.”

  Alex felt the room tip. “What are you implying? That Aven has some kind of gifted… army? With all of them under his control? He hates humans! Why would he use them? And what for?”

  “I don’t know, Alex,” Darrius answered gravely. “But it can’t bode well for any of us.”

  It was then that Alex noticed just how tired he looked. He was not the vibrant man she’d first met. Instead, he was a man burdened with the weight of an uncertain future.

  “What do you need me to do?” she whispered.

  Darrius captured her eyes with his own silver ones. “You know the answer to that, Alex.”

  She held his gaze. “You need me to go to Meya.”

  With an apologetic look and a tone to match, he said, “I know I agreed to give you time, but the circumstances have changed. We need to know what we face, and we need the Meyarins to be aware of what might be coming. Only you can do this.”

  Understanding the truth of his words, Alex knew her answer.

  “I’ll do it. I’ll go on Saturday.”

  His relief was apparent in every line of his body. “Thank you, Alex. I know how much you don’t want to do this. And I realise how dangerous it may be.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” she warned him. “I have no idea what will happen. I may not even be able to find a way there. And if I do, who knows how receptive the Meyarins will be?”

  “I have the utmost faith in you.” Darrius smiled warmly at her for the first time since she’d stepped into his office and Alex was relieved to see the cheerful expression back on his face, regardless of why it was there.

  “We’ll see,” she said.

  “In the meantime, I don’t want you to worry about the rest of this,” Darrius told her, indicating the file on the table.

  “I’ll agree to that if you will,” she returned.

  “I… Huh. Well, then,” he said, “I guess I’ll try if you will.”

  “Deal,” she agreed, holding out her hand to shake on it.

  “On that note, it’s nearly curfew,” he said, after sealing their agreement. “I apologise again for keeping you up.”

  “No problem,” she said. “And despite how much I’d rather not have learned what you told me, I’m glad you trusted me enough to share. At least this way I’ll have a heads-up if any zombie-like gifted humans come my way in the future.”

  Judging by Darrius’s grimace, Alex guessed it was too early to be so cavalier about it.

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “Humour is my best coping mechanism.”

  That prompted a dry chuckle out of him. “We all have different strategies,” he agreed. “You may be pleased to hear that humour is one of th
e more normal tactics.”

  Alex gasped dramatically and placed a hand to her chest. “Heaven forbid I do anything normal.”

  Darrius laughed with her, and Alex felt significantly better than she had a few minutes earlier. Whatever was coming in the future, they would all face it together.

  That was all she needed to know.

  . 1D;

  Ten

  “Are you sure about this?” D.C. asked.

  “Not at all,” Alex answered. “But right now, I don’t think that matters.”

  It was Saturday morning and Alex and her friends were standing in the foyer of the Library. Despite her desire for time to slow down, the last few days had passed by annoyingly fast. She’d tried to stall by going to visit her parents again, but they’d been overcome with excitement by some new artefact they’d unearthed. She’d ended up leaving them to their work after a token catch-up that, in Alex’s opinion, didn’t take up anywhere near enough time. And now here she was, standing with Jordan, D.C. and Bear, and trying to summon the courage to continue onward.

  “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Jordan asked, nudging her in the ribs. “Just think of how awesome this’ll be!”

  “I agree with Jordan,” Bear said. “This is going to be epic.”

  D.C. shared a look with Alex, “Any minute now they’re going to start grunting and beating their chests, cavemen-style.”

  “Are we going or what?” Jordan whined, bouncing up and down and acting much younger than his seventeen years.

  “We’re going,” Alex confirmed, leading the way towards the staircase on the far side of the room. She had tried to convince her friends to stay behind, reminding them that she had no idea what they would face and how dangerous it could potentially be. But they would hear nothing of her concerns and adamantly refused to let her go without them. Part of that, Alex knew, was because of their overwhelming desire to see the Lost City, but another part—a larger part, she hoped—was because there was no way they would let her face such an unknown situation alone. Her friends were good like that. Even if they all unanimously agreed to keep any and all details from D.C.’s parents, certain that the monarchs would not be too pleased at the idea of their only child and heir to the throne going off on perilous adventures unknown.

  “Do we have a plan?” Bear asked as they started their journey downwards into the Library.

  “Nope,” Alex said. “You guys know I have no idea what I’m doing. But my best guess is to start in the corridor of doorways and hope for some kind of direction.”

  “Wicked,” Jordan whispered excitedly.

  None of her friends had experienced the wonders of the Library quite like Alex had. Sure, they’d heard her stories and witnessed little bits and pieces, but they’d yet to discover first-hand what it meant to be a part of a ‘Library adventure’. Judging by the exhilarated looks on their faces, they were giddy with anticipation.

  The staircase continued much further down than it was architecturally built to descend, and only when they reached a dead end did Alex will a doorway to appear in the stone wall.

  “Ready or not, here I come,” she mumbled under her breath, stepping into a labyrinth of corridors filled with doorways that continued out of sight. She knew from previous experience that some of them opened to exotic, even impossible places, while others led to more door-filled hallways.

  D.C. moved to stand beside Alex. “Where do we start?”

  When Aven had captured the two girls, it had taken him some time to find the doorway to Meya, even with his advanced genes and his direct line of descent from the founder of Akarnae. Alex may not have shared his relation to Eanraka, but she still had something Aven lacked: she was Chosen, and the Library favoured her.

  “For the record, I think this is a bad idea,” Alex said.

  “But it needs to be done,” D.C. said. “You said so yourself. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

  Alex slumped her shoulders. “I know.”

  Best just to get it over with, she thought as she stood up straighter, steeling herself with determination.

  “Excuse me, Library?” she called out, ignoring the startled and frankly amused looks from her friends. “Can you please show us the way to Meya?”

  “Alex, what—”

  Bear didn’t get a chance to finish his question before a doorway further down the corridor clicked open, revealing a familiar-looking suit of armour.

  “Sir Camden!” Alex cried, moving forward to greet the knight.

  “Lady Alexandra,” he replied with a formal bow. “How doth thee?”

  “I’m well, thanks,” she said. “But what are you doing here?”

  “Did thou not call for an escort?” Sir Camden asked. “Perchance the fair Lady Alexandra and thy loyal retainers be embarking upon a quest for the Lost City? Sir Camden be thy guide!”

  Alex stared at the knight, dumbstruck, before she managed to mutter, “This Library sure works in mysterious ways.”

  “Follow me, Lady Alexandra,” the knight offered. “Sir Camden shalt lead the way to thy destination.”

  The suit of armour did an about-face and began walking down the corridor, stopping to open a door and waiting for them to follow.

  “That sounds like an invitation to me,” Jordan said, gleefully rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think today feels like a great day to find a missing city!”

  Although D.C. and Bear were just as enthusiastic as Jordan, the three of them unanimously voted for Alex to take the lead behind the knight. So much for their adventurous courage, thought Alex. But they needn’t have been concerned, because the door led to another hall of doorways. The four of them followed the knight along the new hallway until he opened another door for them, once again leading to more doorways. They continued this routine for some time, until Sir Camden came to a halt in front of another door.

  “This be the door thou art seeking,” he said to Alex. “If ever again thou needest to traverse this here labyrinth, call upon Sir Camden and I shalt come to thine aid. For the doorway to the Lost City doth not remain in one place, and even one such as thou shalt not find it without a guide.”

  “Thank you, Sir Camden,” Alex said, grateful for his help.

  “Thou art welcome, fair lady.” The knight bowed to Alex and her friends before he walked to the other side of the hallway and straight through a solid wall.

  “Handy little helper, isn’t he?” Jordan “He sure is,” Alex agreed, turning to the door in front of them. There was nothing special about it that marked it from the other doorways, but Alex still felt it was different.

  “Do you think this is it?” Bear asked quietly.

  “Sir Camden wouldn’t have brought us here for no reason,” D.C. pointed out.

  “There’s only one way to know for sure,” Jordan said, and reached out his hand.

  “Wait, Jordan, I think—” Alex began. But it was too late, he was already grasping the handle and turning it.

  Nothing happened.

  Jordan jiggled at the handle. “It’s locked.”

  “That was anticlimactic,” Bear said.

  Jordan dropped his hand and leaned away from the door, before surging forward and ramming his shoulder into it.

  “Um, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Alex warned.

  “It might just need a little budge,” Jordan said, ramming it again. “It’s been closed for thousands of years, right?”

  “Yeah, but remember, the Library is—”

  Before Alex could finish her sentence, some kind of force field slammed into Jordan, throwing him into the air and against a wall across the corridor.

  “—alive,” she finished weakly.

  Jordan groaned and stood to his feet, pressing a hand to his head. “I won’t be trying that again.”

  “It serves you right for being so stupid,” D.C. told him. Despite her firm tone, the concern was clear in her eyes as she walked over to inspect the back of his skull. When she wa
s satisfied he wasn’t about to die, she placed her hands on her hips. “Do you think Aven would have kidnapped Alex and me if all he had to do was break down a door? Use your brain, Jordan! He needed her to open it for him since she’s Chosen— which means it’s probably something only Alex can do.”

  Jordan offered a sheepish smile. “Oops?”

  “‘Oops’ is right,” D.C. said. “You’re lucky you weren’t seriously hurt!”

  “Just my ego, huh?” he said, his smile widening.

  “That could use more injury from time to time, in my opinion,” D.C. replied, fighting her own grin.

  Alex decided it was time to jump in. “Should we try this again?”

  At their nods, she reached out and grasped the handle, turning it effortlessly. Instead of opening, the door dissolved, leaving the four of them staring at an unexpected sight. It was beautiful, for sure, but that wasn’t why Alex was so enthralled.

  “I’ve been here before,” she whispered, stepping across the threshold and looking around the familiar forest clearing. It was different in the light of day, but she could clearly make out the mushroom circle that surrounded the area. “This is Raelia.”

  “Raelia?” Jordan repeated. “The place where you saw Lady Mystique that night?”

  “Yeah,” Alex said, spinning around. The clearing had been a mystical place with the moonlight streaming through it, but the sunlight brought a new surprise. The trees around them were not of the normal brown wood and green leaf variety; they were silver. Their glittery trunks burrowed deep into the grassy forest floor, and the charcoal-grey leaves shimmered against them creating a beautifully artistic effect. Sporadically dispersed around the area were bushes and vines, their vibrant green contrasting with the rest of the ethereal forest. All in all, it was a fantasy painter’s dream landscape.

  When Alex turned and noticed the doorway had disappeared, she wasn’t worried. She knew she’d be able to call it back into being when the time came. Unlike when she’d been abandoned in the middle of the forest, this time it was Alex who had opened the door and could therefore reopen it for the return trip. But that didn’t help with their current predicament.