Home > Darklight 7: Darkfall(6)

Darklight 7: Darkfall(6)
Author: Bella Forrest

“We won’t have long to look,” Xiu told us. “Envision the place as clearly as you can and hold it in your mind. We’ll lock on to your intentions.” It took an immense amount of energy for arbiters to peek into the lower planes, especially for the windows to align with the correct time. I was overwhelmingly thankful. This represented a massive change of heart from when we first met the arbiters and they largely pretended we didn’t exist.

Dorian and I had traded a few ideas on the walk to this room.

“The training camp,” I said. “We need to look for the allies we left behind.” Dorian and I both agreed it was best to determine what had happened there. We had no idea how much time had passed since our departure in the midst of battle, but a desperate part of me hoped it had only been days. I heard my heart hammering against my chest as the arbiters worked their magic.

“Why not look for the Immortal city you told us about?” Sen asked. “I assume your enemies are there. We want you to take down the Immortal Council.”

Because images of our friends dying are haunting us. The arbiters wouldn’t take an emotional line of reasoning, but I could make a logical one.

“We saw a few images during the Games that we’re not sure actually occurred. Our friends died in those visions,” I said. My voice shook. “Our team can help us defeat Irrikus. They have experience with both the Mortal and Immortal Planes. We need collaboration to take out the revenant vampires Irrikus dispatched. Not to mention, our team is a coalition with all kinds among us. We have humans, vampires, makers, wildlings, and even beasts like redbills to help our cause.”

“Their participation will be vital, if they remain in fighting condition,” Dorian added. Xiu didn’t look at the other arbiters before stepping forward toward the image. Dorian continued, “The outcome of the battle we left will be a major determining factor in our strategy, because the training camp was a strategic location for the rulers. We need to know what resources are available to us as we plan. If you want to stop the Immortal Council, we need to see what happened there.”

“I created the window by looking into the future of a likely timeline,” Un said when I caught his eye. “Granted, I chose a likely timeline with the worst-case scenario for people you cared about. I could look into this future because the barriers cause fluctuations in how much time is passing. It provides glimpses of possible futures, but we can’t actually know whether that event will happen.”

My face heated as I tried to process the information. “So it hasn’t happened?” That was a huge relief. Un nodded, confirming it. Of course, that also means it could still happen.

“The timelines work strangely in the Higher Plane,” Ruk murmured next to me. “It could explain what you and Dorian witnessed on your own, the first time you saw a window like this.” I hated to recall the first window we saw when we witnessed Lanzon’s spirit early in our journey in the Higher Plane. Mostly, I remembered the shocking sight of Laini’s potential death played out for us in that mist.

The white window was an opportunity to finally confirm what had happened. No more maybes. Dorian and I were ready. I nodded toward Xiu.

“Very well. Picture it in your mind. Ah, yes,” Xiu muttered. “It’s near the vampire city ruins. Vanim. The tear you showed us during the trial. We can see it.”

Motion rippled across the white image, a blurry kaleidoscope of gray blobs that shifted into perfect clarity. It was soul-dim, with deep shadows sprawled across the scene.

“The time,” I whispered to myself frantically. “How long has it been?” The training camp only showed one side. It looked brand new. Dark shadows gathered around the corner of the image, making it difficult to see beyond the closed entrance. I glimpsed something like patchwork repairs on the very edge of the image, but it was too hard to see in the soul-dim night. No hunters, no monsters, and none of our allies. A flag fluttered in the breeze. I recognized a jaspeth symbol, unmistakably Coalition.

Our friends… they’re alive. My body shuddered with relief, though I couldn’t truly relax until I saw their faces. But we couldn’t waste energy searching the barracks for individuals, not when we only had a few more glimpses of the Immortal Plane.

Xiu frowned and looked between the other arbiters. “From what we can gather, we believe that two or three of what you call months may have passed in both the Immortal and Mortal Planes.” Her words might as well have punched me in the gut. I clapped my hand over my mouth and groaned. That was much longer than I’d hoped.

“Are you sure you didn’t miscalculate?” I pushed back. “Dorian and I thought time passed differently here, but we thought it was slower.”

Xiu stared at me calmly. “Unfortunately, in matters of numbers and time, we’re correct at least in our approximation. It’s likely been closer to three months. The passing of time in the Higher Plane is hard to grasp for lower beings. You have been here quite some time.”

I pressed my forehead into my hand, muttering in disbelief. Three months? I’d lost all sense of time tracking since we’d been here, but I couldn’t believe we had been gone that long. Dorian shot me an equally sympathetic and shocked look. We had to tell the Coalition that we’d found a solution to the tear. Our sudden retreat had left them without two fighters and leaders within the group. There was so much we needed to tell them—while we danced around the Mandate.

“Do you have another location in mind?” Xiu asked. “The energy needs to be conserved. You’ll only get a few glimpses, so choose wisely.”

Dorian ran a hand through his hair and shot me a look. “If we can’t see our allies, then our enemies. They might give us an idea of what’s going on.” I nodded and let my hand drop to my side, feeling my fingers curl into a fist. We would figure this out. I asked, “Can you find Irrikus?”

“Focus on him, and we can try,” Sen said. She watched us closely. Clearly, our reactions had interested her. To her, she must think we’re flipping out over a mere second in their frame of reference.

The window grew red. Dorian and I stood, glaring at the image. My anger tumbled off me easily, but with a restrained hostility. Ruk’s training for the Games had done more for me psychologically than any previous training I’d ever gone through. It was easy to draw up Irrikus’s cruel face. I hated him more than anyone else in the universe.

Irrikus. His form appeared on the window, billowing out from a black pool of nothingness. The background lightened to a dark green. The castle walls sent a shudder of unease through me. I’d seen this castle in real life, and in Ruk’s memories of forging plans with a much friendlier Irrikus. I had seen this ruler before he grew into the terrible being who crushed everything beneath his feet.

He looked out at something. I followed the direction of his gaze and sharp nose to find a map. Red dots scattered across various regions. Revenant vampires. My eyes made out the shape of North America, where a handful were scattered in various places. It was just like the map I’d seen in the sanitarium. I tried to count, but the map in Irrikus’s room changed to show Europe, then Asia.

“The revenants are in place.” A slick voice came from beyond him. Xiu furrowed her brow and strained along with the other arbiters as they worked to bring the image into clearer focus. Irrikus stood at the head of a large planning table. His cruel eyes flickered toward the speaker. A female hunter leaned forward, her black hair spilling over the table. She curled her lip in a proud snarl. A red gem flickered in the middle of her forehead. I caught sight of three others—two lumbering male figures with nearly identical faces and pearly gray skin, and a woman with an ornate braided bouffant wearing armor. All had red gems in their foreheads.

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