TENN
Tenn’s old room was cramped, but it was the most private place he could think of, and the most secure. Nothing about it felt like home—not the worn bed or threadbare rug or stone walls, not the lantern light casting heavy shadows. And definitely not the four Hunters crammed in with him.
Aidan sat cross-legged on the bed, Kianna beside him with a hand on his shoulder. The twins stood against a wall. Which left Tenn by the door, watching them as they watched him.
“So.” Great leader he was.
“So,” Dreya replied. She took a step forward, her blue eyes glinting in the lantern light. “The Violet Sage...she taught you how to attune to Maya?”
Tenn nodded. His gaze flickered to Aidan. Before we were interrupted.
But whatever animosity he might have held was muted, dulled, drowned out by the pain Water dredged up. Aidan had only wanted to save his mother. Try as he might, Tenn couldn’t hate him for that. Aidan seemed to catch the glance. He looked down to his hands. Or, what was left of them.
“It is dangerous,” Dreya said.
“Yeah,” Tenn replied. “She said that no one had achieved it before. At least...”
Not until the Dark Lady.
“What happens to those who fail?” Kianna asked.
“They die, I think.”
“No,” Aidan said. “They become the Prophets.”
Everyone turned to him.
“You’ve seen the Prophets?” Tenn asked.
“I killed them.” He hurried on, as it was clear his statement wasn’t a welcome one. “I had to. The Dark Lady, she...well, she was persuasive. You don’t want to end up like them, Tenn. Trust me. They were mad. Mumbling nonsense to themselves, locked in a cave in the dark. It was inhumane. I don’t even think they knew I was there. I don’t think they even knew they were being killed.”
“At least you didn’t say killing them was a humanitarian act,” Kianna grumbled.
“Not much of anything I’ve done has been humanitarian.”
“So how did she do it?” Dreya asked. “If none could attune, save her, what was her secret?”
“She said—she said that she had been close to death. That Maya wasn’t a godlike Sphere, but a Sphere of the gods. And that she was already a goddess.”
“None of us are gods,” Devon said. “So what hope do we have?” He took a step forward. “Should we all just have a shot at it, then? See who goes mad and who becomes divine?”
“I don’t think that’s what any of us are saying,” Dreya said.
“No,” Tenn said. “It should be me. I’m the one the spirits picked out. If anyone has a chance, it’s me.”
“Conceited, much?” Kianna said.
“Did you want to try?”
“Nope. One Sphere is more than enough for me. Frankly, I’m hoping to return it once this is all over.”
“Focus!” Dreya snapped. “We do not have time for lightheartedness. The Dark Lady will be here any moment. She has Maya. She has a Wight. We have nothing. One of us must attempt attuning.” She looked to Tenn. “You are right. You are the one the elements bend toward. You are the one the spirits called to. And that is precisely why it must not be you who attunes. It is too risky. When the Dark Lady attacks, we will need our most powerful mages. And that is you.”
Tenn’s heart sank.
“Then who do you recommend?”
She opened her mouth, but it was Devon who answered.
“Me.”
“What?”
“You said it yourself—we need the most powerful fighters when the Dark Lady comes. You, Dreya, are the fiercest fighter I know. Let me attune.”
“I cannot—”
“It is not your place to decide,” he said. He looked to Tenn. “Teach me the runes. Let me try.”
“Devon, I can’t—”
He shook his head.
Slowly, deliberately, he unwound the scarf from his face, looping it between his hands. Tenn had never seen Devon without the scarf. He’d expected to see the face of a grizzled warrior underneath, scarred and scruffy, but his jaw was smooth, unlined by war. Boyishly handsome.
“After our Clan died,” he said, looking straight at Tenn, “we found this in the ashes. It had been our mother’s. And I vowed, on that day, that every breath I took would be with the ashes of my family in my lungs, so I would know precisely what had been lost, and precisely what I was fighting for. You would honor me, and them, by allowing me this chance to avenge them. Let me attune. With Maya, we could wipe out the scourge forever.”
Tenn wanted to say the runes didn’t work like that. Maya didn’t work like that. Devon was powerful, sure. But he wasn’t a god.
None of them were.
Vibrations shook the floor, rattling the hurricane lamp.
“We don’t have time to sit around and play spin the bottle to see who’s going first,” Kianna said. “He volunteered, and Dreya’s right. We need you around.” She looked at Devon. “No offense, mate, and best of luck.”
Devon smiled. “None taken.”
He sat on the rug in the center of the room.
“Okay then.” He looked up to Tenn. “It’s decided. Show me the runes.”
Tenn glanced at Dreya, but she wasn’t watching him. She stared at her brother as if she were about to lose him. Perhaps, in a way, she was.
Another rumble shook them. He had no idea if it was the Dark Lady or something else, but he knew it meant there was no more time to spare.
“Okay,” he said. He opened to Earth and began darkening the pigments in the rug before Devon. “Let’s just hope this works.”