Dawn of Ash (45 page)

“I had a feeling I’d be running into you up here eventually.”

I jumped at the voice, Black Water flying all over me at the almighty jerk caused from hearing Ryland’s voice so close without warning.

“Ry!” I yelled, halfway between anger, frustration, and amusement. I was glad he wasn’t up to killing me yet, and hated that it was my first reaction. I hadn’t felt that need in a while.

Standing quickly, water dripping over me, I looked to the casual intruder, his eyes wide as he rushed toward me in a panic.

“Jos! Wow! I’m sorry!” I saw what he was doing no more than a second before he did, the words, the desperate plea for him to stop coming a second too late.

“Stop!” I snapped as he reached out to help, as his hand made contact with the Black Water that covered me, as he yelled out in pain.

The contact with his skin against the water pulled me into prophecy, the connection with his heart taking me right into his life, right into what he wanted to know.

The ember burn of my eyes grew darker as images of his life flashed before me: his childhood, his moments with me, the abuse he suffered in the dungeons of Imdalind. I saw it all. My heart seized at the pain and loss and confusion that dwelled in his heart, at the desperate need for something to be okay, for something in his life to be beautiful.

I watched his memories, his past, as he put a smile on his face, as he continued to fight through the pain of life, through the uncertainty of the hell we were marching into. My own heart seized right alongside his, my own pain and troubles increasing, the depth of my understanding scaring me.

The depth of my own need for that silver lining.

As his desire swelled inside me, the sight changed, the images becoming fogged as they moved into an unknown future. There was an image of him ageing, wisdom lining his face as hundreds of years moved by him, as the world around him changed, and the life around him changed with it. He was still the same boy, save for the lines that covered his face, evidence of a million smiles and a happy life. His eyes were filled with joy, and in his arms was a beautiful, little boy with dark, curly hair.

Ryland smiled at the child, throwing him into the air as his laugh rippled through my head. The sound was loud and beautiful as it swelled through me before the sight faded, reality shifting back into focus, and the boy who was desperately blowing at the burns on his fingers swam into view.

Shaking my head, I let the dizziness drift away, my magic swelling with whispers and promises as, one by one, the prophecies of his life left.

“What the heck, Jos?” Ryland yelled, his eyes dangerously dark. “Do you burn people now?”

“No,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “But Black Water does, and you should know better. And blowing on them won’t help, by the way.”

It was probably good I couldn’t be mad at him after what I had seen, after the emotional connection I had shared with him. Instead of the verbal assault he probably would have gotten, I just rolled my eyes again, wrapping my hand around his fingers, letting my magic soothe him, taking away the Black Water that had moved into him.

“And I should know this why? I mean, my experience with Black Water is
so
extensive.” I could tell he was trying to control the anger in him yet obviously failing.

I laughed, something that didn’t really sit well, unfortunately.

“Don’t worry, Ry. Mine isn’t much better.” Releasing his hand from mine, I looked at his now healed fingers, my own brand of awe moving through me. Nothing was there, just perfectly healed skin. I didn’t think that was possible with Black Water burns. I might have to try that on Ilyan’s chest or even his palm. I knew he would be grateful not to deal with the endless pain those gave him. “Feel better?”

He nodded at my question, one eyebrow disappearing into his curls quizzically.

I sighed, his look and question obvious.

“Yes, I saw something, and yes, everything will be okay for you. I’m not telling you any more than that.”

“And?”

“And you’re happy. I’m not telling you any more than that,” I repeated through the clench of my jaw. He obviously thought more highly of his skill to get stuff out of me than I did.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, the hint of a smile beginning to form. “You really aren’t going to tell me more than that?”

I glared at him, my lips pursed angrily as he laughed. He was obviously trying to put on the charm, something that I would have melted under a little more than a year ago. Not so much anymore. I was too stubborn, and he knew it.

“No, I’m not telling you any more than that.” I half expected him to laugh, but instead, the smug smile of his game slipped off his face, disappointment taking over.

“That’s no fair, Jos.”

“Ha! Life is a journey meant to be experienced, Ry. What’s the fun if I tell you all the stops along the way?”

“I would know where I am going … I wouldn’t run into quite so many walls at the very least,” Ryland said, the teenage irritation dripping off him.

It was all I could do to keep the smile off my face, although the attempt to keep the stoic, wise grimace wasn’t going too well, either. “That can’t be good for your complexion, or your nose, for that matter.”

“Thanks, Jos,” he grumbled, the angst dripping off him and infecting me. “And stop being all wise and philosophical and stuff. It’s weird.”

“You’re weird.” I looked away from him, trying to ignore the twist in my stomach at how quickly we had fallen back into our familiar banter after everything we had been through.

We sat, listening to the whispers of the people below us, watching the line of the red sun slowly move over the city as it disappeared past the horizon.

“You were on a beach,” I whispered after a few minutes. His eyes widened as he moved to face me, obviously eager to absorb anything I would give him. “There were other people involved you may … or may not be related to. It was a happy scene, Ry.”

“Happy.” The one word leaked out of him with so much emotion I was surprised it didn’t stick in the air and linger around us like a dozen balloons.

“Very. Just don’t go thinking I’m infallible, okay? I’m kind of done with that lie being spread around.”

“You really aren’t going to give me more than that, are you?” he teased.

I shook my head, a smile spreading over my face. “Trust me. It will be better this way, but that fear you feel, that desperation for normality…” He nodded. “Everyone has it, Ry. Just know it doesn’t last forever. Not for any of us. It may take a bit, but everything will come out all right.”

I had barely said the words when the violent image of Ilyan’s death flooded my vision, overlaying the city roof-scape with the steady flow of Ilyan’s blood. I cringed against it, my heart rate picking up to a dangerous level as the fear overtook me, my own unwillingness to accept what I was seeing erupting through me.

“Everything will come out all right,” I said again, part of me hoping—no, willing them to be true.

I shifted my body forward in an attempt to seek out Ilyan, as if seeing him would set everything right in my mind, confirm the good that I, too, was desperate for. My magic moved away from me to find him, but instead of streaming to the courtyard, I was pulled in a different direction.

My mind and magic drifted over the city, winding through the streets as my heart rate increased, dread filling me as the shadow of what I was certain I wouldn’t feel again drifted over me.

My mind filled with the images of the dilapidated city, the streets shrouded in the black of night, the ancient beauty of it turned into a dangerous labyrinth I had no interest in entering. That was, until the shadow of magic I was feeling sparked through me, everything tensing as the image of a single, cloaked figure moved through the dark, running from street to street as it had the last time I had felt its magic.

“It’s the same.” My voice was a hollow monotone as it rumbled through the dusk, the magic winding through me with a deep mockery as every muscle tensed through me.

He was here.

After what he had done, after what people had seen him do, he had come back.

“What’s the same?” Ryland asked from beside me.

My focus was so intent on what had unfolded I didn’t even answer him.

“Ilyan,” I said aloud, fully aware Ryland could hear me. “Sain is in the city. I can feel him on the other side of the river—”

Sain!
Ilyan’s voice erupted loudly, his body running into the center of the courtyard as he looked up to me.
Why would he come back?

He asked the question, although the answer was so clear I almost hated having to say it. Sain had been doing much more than spreading rumors; I was confident of that. And if you took the time to play a game, you didn’t walk back into your enemy’s territory without a motive.

“It’s a trap.”

There was no doubt. However, we couldn’t let him get away, either. I had no question that he was very aware of that. It was a game of the worst sort, but at least we weren’t going into it unaware. If we played our cards right, we could have the upper hand.

How many does he have? Can you tell what he’s planning?

“I’ll find out. You get a team together. As many as you can.” I looked at Ilyan as his mind followed mine. His eyes were hard, his jaw straight as he nodded in confirmation.

“Can I be part of this conversation, too?” Ryland groaned from beside me, his weight shifting as he moved to stand. “I’m Ilyan’s second. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Stop being a baby,” I growled, not even paying him attention as I closed my eyes, focusing my magic on what I assumed was Sain running through the streets and moving out from there. I scoured everything as I looked for any other trace of magic, for anything that would tip me off to what he was planning.

“I hate that you guys do that.” I wasn’t certain if Ryland was laughing or growling. His voice was too distorted from where my mind was focused on the city and any tips as to what was about to happen. There was nothing. I moved through every street in the city, every building, but it was empty except for the Vilỳs that lay in hiding.

“There’s nothing.” My voice was dead, the shock still rumbling through me uncomfortably.

I wasn’t certain how that was possible. Why would he come back if not for a trap?

Nothing anywhere?

I didn’t blame Ilyan for questioning.

“No, I can’t find anything. That doesn’t mean he isn’t up to something, though. It’s up to you if we want to go in blind or not.”

I looked to Ryland then, who was now so irate at being left out of the conversation I half expected steam to start issuing from his ears.

“Care to fill me in?” he snarled from behind clenched teeth, obviously trying his hardest to stay cool and fit for the role he currently held.

“Sain is in the city,” I said, surprised he hadn’t caught on to at least that much. “He’s alone.”

Even Ryland didn’t seem to believe that little bit of information judging by the way his eyes narrowed.

“Why would he come back?”

“Exactly,” I said, a finger wagging at him as he stepped back in obvious discomfort. “I say we go and leave the team on ready in case we need them.”

Ryland looked at me with even more confusion than before, clearly trying to follow along. “Go where?”

I guessed I probably should have mentioned that last part wasn’t for him.

Sounds good. I’ll meet you in the dark.

Ilyan’s voice faded, the directions clear, as I turned toward Ryland, his eyes now so wide, his temper so high I had a feeling trying to explain anything was going to be a fool’s errand.

Ask questions and seek apologies later, I supposed.

“I’m really sorry for what’s about to happen,” I whispered, my hand gripping tightly around his waist as my magic plunged into him, the energy flaring as I pulled him into the stutter with me, his scream loud in my ears.

“Never do that again!” Ryland’s voice echoed around us the moment we reemerged on a dingy street in Old Town, his body collapsing against the wall that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Crinkling my nose against the smell of a million dying fish, I shot Ryland a look. The poor boy heaved as he clung to the wall beside him. Obviously stutters did not agree with him. It’s not like I was much better after my first, but then, Ilyan had knocked himself unconscious for several days, so at least I had that going for me. I wasn’t even sure why I had thought I could drag him through in the first place. I was beginning to wonder exactly how much power I had regained from Sain’s control. My magic kept surprising me, the power I felt daunting at times.

“Try to keep it down,” I hissed as I glared through the dark, my magic aching in fearful anticipation of what was coming.

“You say that like you didn’t try to kill me.”

I rolled my eyes at him before I walked away, the sounds of his gasping lessening with each step I took.

My magic moved in a rush as I pushed it through the streets, attempting to find where Sain had gone, but there was nothing: no trace of his magic, no image of a cloaked figure running through the dark. It was no more than a dark world, ribbons of deep red seeping through the gaps in the buildings as the sun set, a deep pitch plunging the shadowed world into a nonexistent realm.