“Where are we?” My voice echoed along the damp walls.
“The Winged Passage,” Fjor replied nonchalantly, though I almost lost my footing at the reply.
The heavily guarded passage into Edelsten town from the Sky Keep was protected by a jagged break wall of petrified rock, cutting into the seabed at an angle to temper the storm of the sea. The sharp angles of the rock either side of the passage looked—from above—like a line of winged beasts, arranged to carry travellers off to sea on their backs. Boats attempting to reach the passage would be impaled on the jagged wings, smashed against the rocks by the force of the waves. The tunnel built through the passage was supposed to be at an angle, allowing water to drain through to the protected harbour on the other side—though it was still possible to become trapped inside. There were stories of smugglers drowning with the high tide, after the King had been alerted of their activities, ordering for the passage to be closed off at each end before they could escape.
Fjor dragged me along until I could see the shifting shadows of three others, whom Andel was approaching. They were all big-statured, towering in height, and shrouded in power. I didn’t need to see their faces to know who they were. I sighed, the fight draining out of me as we joined their silent gathering.
I could stand up to one of them, but I had no chance of defeating all five of the great masters.
I couldn’t beat Helki on my own.
I shook away the persistent thought, flicking my attention from the shadowy countenance of Vidrol, to Vale, to Helki. I could barely make out their features, but Vale had his usual dark cowl raised, material wrapping the lower half of his face, making it impossible to see anything but the faint, pale light of his eyes. They weren’t ghostly like Andel’s, but cold—like frost creeping over the surface of Lake Enke, where he spent his nights spinning the vevebre, casting those powerful lines of fate into the water.
I sucked in a breath, ignoring the churning feeling in my stomach. “I know you’re all really concerned about my health.” I kept my tone dry, unemotional. “So I’m here to put your minds to rest.”
“It jokes.” I watched Helki’s massive, brutish arms crossing over his chest, his wild eyes shining out at me, full of malice. “I didn’t know it could do that.”
I swallowed my scowl, forcing a smile instead. “I’m sure you’re well acquainted with the feeling of not knowing what’s going on,” I returned, walking over to him, ignoring the flash of Vidrol’s teeth as I passed. He was enjoying the sight of me poking the beast. I stopped before Helki, cocking my head to the side, pretending to examine him. “You didn’t know that would happen when we fought, did you?”
His hand shot out in an instant, rough fingers wrapping around my throat. I was tiny compared to them—but especially compared to Helki. He made me feel like brittle underbrush beneath his boots.
“What the hell are you talking about, twig?” He spat the insult, revealing that he thought he could snap me just as easily as I felt he could.
But he had also revealed something else.
He knew exactly what I was referring to, and it was a sore point.
“You faltered,” I goaded, my words a quiet rasp as his fingers flexed. “You could have killed me. You had the upper hand. You could have ended it all in that moment, but you paused. You choked, Helki.”
He growled, the sound rumbling like thunder through the tunnel. A laugh sounded from behind me. It was a cruel sound, nonetheless tinged with very genuine humour. Vidrol.
“Alright, enough chest thumping, you two. Put the girl down, Helki. We get it; you’re both big and strong. Well, I mean, you’re both strong, at least. Sorry,” he said to me. “You’ll get there, darling.”
I snarled, my words forced out between clenched teeth. “My name is Lavenia.”
“My apologies, Leanna.”
“It’s Lavenia—”
“Agree to disagree.” He flicked his hand, dismissing me.
Helki’s eyes travelled over my head for a moment, the light brown colour darkening to thick mud, his pupils expanding as his breath became rough. He was about to lose it. At Vidrol. Goosebumps broke out over my arms, that churning feeling in my stomach growing stronger. Something was definitely up with them. First Fjor and Andel, and now Helki and Vidrol. They were fighting amongst themselves.
And of course, I was going to get dragged into the middle of it.
Helki’s attention snapped back to me as a shiver raced down my spine. He shoved me back, and I hurried a few steps away from him but wasn’t able to go far before I stumbled into Vale. They had closed in, forming a circle around me. Vale’s hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around to face him.
“It seems you have won your independence, Tempest.”
“So naturally, you locked me in a tower and then dragged me into a murder tunnel to congratulate me.” I almost stomped my foot in frustration. “We both know you’re not on my side, so stop pretending you are. You’re toying with me, testing me, wondering if I’ll ever be powerful enough to defeat the king of the afterworld, because if I ever do, I’m your perfect little pathway to greater power. But if I don’t … if I’m not powerful enough …”
“Yes?” Vale asked, his blue eyes glittering, thoughts stirring beneath. “If you’re not powerful enough?”
“Then you’ve found some other use for me, haven’t you? Something that requires me to die at the right time, like some kind of sacrifice?”
Vale shook his head, seeming almost disappointed. “You possess the power of the mind, but you can’t unravel the secrets around you. You possess the power of fate but remain stubbornly blind to your own. You possess the power of spirit, but it’s your magic that controls you, not the other way around. You possess the power of the soul but have never peered into your own.”
My hands fisted by my sides, but I clung to the words he didn’t say, ignoring the truth of everything else. “And the last power I possess?” I arched a brow at him, looking inward to the pattering of my heart, willing it morph into the sound of my frustration, fuelling it with anger until the familiar sound of drumming took up residence in the back of my skull. My breath stuttered as power trickled into me.
The power of war.
I shook out my limbs, power spreading to the tips of my fingers and the ends of my feet. It felt wonderful.
I felt invincible.
I met Vale’s eyes and saw the answering spark somewhere inside his gaze. The acknowledgement of strength.
“Is it a power that you possess, Tempest?” His hand slipped from my shoulder to my collarbone, and then lower, flattening against my chest, where the drumming of my heart battered against my ribs, fighting to be set free, an animal willing to tear through me for a taste of blood.
I swallowed, the strength in my eyes flickering.
“Is it a power…” Vale pressed inward with his hands and with his words, shrinking me beneath him. “Or is it a curse?”
I shuttered my eyes, slamming a lid on my power and shaking my head. I stepped out from beneath the heavy weight of his presence but knocked into another body. They had closed their circle tighter around me again. I blinked my eyes open, edging into the centre, folding my hands behind my back.