33

The Willow of Ashes

XAVIER

A torrent of dripping water doused us when we left the clinic.

The storm had arrived, and I spied several winged shifters flying above us. They wove in and out of the rolling clouds, dressed in scarlet, rubbery uniforms and wielding archer’s bows, the Stormchasers whooping and laughing in a thrill as they soared over our heads in the distance. Perhaps they were preparing to harvest the lightning within the storm? I’d heard these were part of a Stormchaser’s duties. It was fascinating to watch.

Though, that curiosity soon dripped into gloom, the reminder of today’s failure creeping back to mind.

Maveric hadn’t shown. We’d waited until the clinic closed, and still, he never came.

We consigned to try again tomorrow, hoping his absence today had been a fluke. Though, I doubted we would be so fortunate.

If he’s left the city to run from us, I thought in the psyche, a sinking pit curdling in my floating spirit, I’ll have lost the one lead that may know where to find my body.

I gazed solemnly out the window of my brother’s vision, watching as Alexander and our company ran through the rainy streets back to the Howler’s Inn. When they entered the shelter of the expansive lobby, their boots squealed and creaked over the marble floor, dripping puddles in their wake and drenching the carpet of the lift as they climbed the floors and made their way back to our master chambers.

Once Alexander shut our door, he asked if I wished to take over. I’d been inside the psyche all day because of Lilli, and now that we were alone and away from her, I jumped at the chance to switch.

I took Alexander’s place in the physical world and breathed in deeply, stretching and curling my fingers, the touch of chilled rain prevalent on my skin.

I shivered, my clothes soaked and sticking uncomfortably. The coldness I could ignore, living in the freezing, underground caves of Grim all your life acclimated you to cold weather. The wetness, though… that was different. I’ve only experience ‘rain’ once before this. But I hardly wished to relive that memory.

Regardless, I was glad as Death to be in control again. The day may have nearly been over, but I’d take any chance I could get at being out. There was no telling when the next opportunity would arise these next few weeks.

I shuddered. I’d go mad if I were forced to spend so long trapped in that Bloody void, never feeling, never touching… not existing. Perhaps I really would disappear, after so long.

I peeled out of my soaked garments and changed into dry clothes, dropping into one of the cushioned seats and propping up my feet on a hassock before flicking on the vision-screen.

A flattened square of projected light brightened along the wall where the crystal was planted, and I set down the controller to watch the news station, twisting a finger in my ear in an effort to rid it of water. Let’s see what these people are reporting about us that has them talking so damned much.

Our rising publicity had me worried. What if this footage reached the Death King? Would he ask why Alexander was in the Uppercontinent?

And, I shivered, half from my wet hair that chilled my ears and half from a new realization, The Death King has soul-sight. Were he to notice my eyes compared to Alexander’s, would he piece together our crime?

My focus returned to the reports, deciding to banish that worry for another time, and I sank further into the chair’s plush cushions.

Though, there was something strange about these reports. I picked up the controller and flipped the channel to a different station. Bloods, everyone was discussing the sequence of attacks over the last few weeks.

The attacks only occurred where Lilli and our company had visited. There were zero sightings in the other cities. Everywhere we weren’t seemed to be left alone. Were Cilia, Lucrine and this third Sentient only focusing their attacks in locations our groups stayed?

“I know what I saw,” a tiger-eared man clipped on the screen. He was being interviewed as a witness to the most recent attack here in Lindel. “The Reapers were left alone. They were talking with the demons, commanding them. They’re friends with the things!”

“That’s quite a bold claim,” the interviewer hummed, looking intrigued. “What exactly did they say to the Necrofera?”

“Probably something about where to hit next, I bet. I have a friend who saw that Grimlette in a different town, too, when his place got attacked. Same thing—she wasn’t hurt. And now they’re all together here. I don’t know about you, but I’m moving before anything else happens. Gotta warn the other Everlanders listening out there, too. If you see any Reapers, get the Void out of town. It means demons are coming.”

I watched the rest of the interview in disbelief. He expressed his opinion on what must be done: either banish us from the kingdom or sentence us to death for our ‘crimes’. If we weren’t careful, it seemed Everland might not be safe for us… With or without demons.

My gaze moved to something on the wall then. Below the screen, there were many dots of sparkling light on the wallpaper, holding brilliant colors as if from a prism.

I searched for the source of these lights… and found Lilli’s amulet on the table beside me.

Ah, that’s right. I’d almost forgotten I’d put it there for her to find. She must not have seen it.

Its diamond-encrusted case glittered with brilliant white crystals and blue stones, a beauty fit for a noblewoman of the highest standing. I lifted it by its thin, delicate chain, admiring the intricate design.

There was a knob above the amulet’s dial. I pressed it with a thumb and the casing clicked open, revealing an equally breathtaking inner-framework that trailed with small diamonds and azure gemstones. The frame bowed on either side of the circular watch, one side taking the form of a stylistic fox and the other taking the form of a wolf. The fox had an azure gem placed where its eye would be and the wolf had a clear diamond. Underneath the two silver creatures was a disc made of ebony, speckled with white jewels in the shape of diamonds.

These jewels were strange, though… They flaked with some sort of dust, dull and soft as if they would rub away at the slightest touch. Almost like… ash.

Curious, I wound back the dial, feeling the soft ticks of clockwork gears tinkering within. When I released it, the disc inside began to spin, and the twinkling music from last night echoed from the watch.

Just as the melody played its first line, the white specks of dull jewels began to glow, giving off an ethereal mist as the soft flakes came to life in a sparkling dust.

Wondrous Artist… I couldn’t look away. The beauty of the lights was something I’d never seen before, the powder frosting the ebony disk like an icy wind as it revolved under the silver framework. And the music…

What was it about this song? There was something there, nagging at the back of my memory…

“Do you hear something?” I recalled Alexander asking me in the Weeping Woods years ago.

I’d listened to the faint wind chimes twinkling in the distance. It was the same, solemn song that always played from that amulet…

A soft glow glared at my vision, distracting me. I glanced at my hand—

“Bloods be good!” I yelped in a flinch.

My mark of black diamonds was gleaming, pulsating a faint, violet-and-black light, like a shadow misting through purple lamps.

Startled, I shut the amulet.

Once the music halted, the shadowy light faded from the diamonds on my hand, and all was normal once more.

“Wh… what was that?” I whispered to Alex. So, so cautiously, I opened the case again. When the music started and the sparkling dust swirled—

My mark shined as it had before, the shadowed light of black and violet pulsing again.

I stared at my glowing mark, terrified yet… fascinated… “Are you seeing this…?” I hushed to Alex, mesmerized. “Or am I hallucinating?”

Alex gave a hum from my head. “No, it’s real. It did that back then, also.”

“Did this happen last night…?” I turned my hand over in dazed observation. “I must have been too distracted to look…”

“Oh!” someone gasped, making me whirl.

Lilli lingered under our suddenly-opened doorframe.

I shut the watch. The light faded from my mark while I hurried to hide my left hand from her. “You should knock first before barging in here.” I tried to sound stern like Alexander, my eyes locked on the floor.

“Oh,” she said, hesitating. “I’m sorry for the intrusion… May I come in?”

I quickly fell back into the psyche to switch with my brother. “What is it?” Alex growled, hostile. “I allowed you to take this room for one night, but we’ve arranged for you to share Vendy’s chambers across the hall. Henry’s agreed to share a room with Octavius, so you needn’t worry about—”

“I was only looking for my music watch,” she explained. “Could I have it back?”

He gave a scoff and held the amulet out for her to take. She approached with light steps. “Thank you… I was afraid I’d lost it.”

He handed it back and looked at the black diamonds on his right hand. “I… see it plays that same song.”

She slid it round her neck and flicked her eyes at him in suspicion. She seemed to be debating something in silence, but after a moment, she shook her head and gave a separate breath. “Does your mark still glow to it?”

She clicked open the watch to test it. The music played like before, the lights glittering with a frosted mist again.

Alexander’s mark began to gleam from his right hand, just as mine had done, the shadow pulsing black and violet. He and Lilli stared at it.

“Apparently.” He muttered, scratching his neck.

She closed the watch. “Always so strange… we never did find out what it meant, did we?”

“No.” He said, perhaps a little too quickly. His tone had me suspicious.

It grew silent, and the vision-screen’s reporters chatted in the background until Lilli spoke again. “Your friends are rather interesting.”

Alex gave an indifferent shrug. “Jaq may seem brash, but he means well.”

“I was referring more to your cat friend,” she clarified.

“Ah…” Alex cleared his throat. “Octavius is rather new to us, as he mentioned.”

She raised a speculative finger to her lips. “There’s something I wished to ask you regarding… Octavius. Why have you taken him in, yet not explained about… well, about that man?”

He flicked away his gaze. “I hardly see how that’s necessary…”

She snorted. “Spare me. He’s a black-haired cat shifter and an Infeciovoker? That Hallows is extinct. For you to be traveling with one at all is outrageous. But why are you hiding the assassin from him?”

“How does it concern you?” he sneered.

“Because if you want me to keep this from him as well, I think I should know the reason.”

He kept his stubborn gaze on the wall. After a moment, he answered, “He’s… not only here to train with us. He’s looking for his mother’s soul and… also hoping to find his father.”

“And his father…?”

“Left their home six years ago.”

“Infeciovoker?”

He nodded. “We don’t want to worry Octavius over a suspicion.”

“But what if he is the one who killed Xavier?”

He rubbed his shoulder, looking at the clock along the wall. “We don’t know.”

“’We’?”

“It’s getting late. I think you’ve stayed long enough.”

“Oh… Of course.” She stepped back through the doorway, seeming either embarrassed or annoyed to be so offhandedly dismissed. “I’ll stay silent, if… that’s what you wish?”

His gaze flicked to her, both in request and appreciation. “It is. Thank you, Lilli.”

She nodded, then quietly closed the door behind her. There was silence behind the door for a time, then we heard her soft footfalls retreat on the carpet, and the door to the next room clicked closed.

Alex lifted his right hand, examining his mark. It wasn’t glowing anymore. “Same as before, then…”

I gave a low mutter. “You knew about that amulet? And our Crests?”

His head tilted in a half shrug. “It’s always done this, around it.”

“And you failed to mention this to me over the last six years because…?”

Another shrug. “I suppose I… forgot.”

I laughed. “Forgive my skepticism, but our marks glowing to some piece of jewelry hardly seems forgettable—”

“I had more pressing concerns at the time, Xavier,” he snapped. “After the assassin slaughtered everyone, and you ended up trapped in my body, you expect me to give a damn about my Crest?” His teeth barred and he shut his eyes. “I wasn’t hiding it. I suppose… I still forget sometimes that you lost your memories. I hadn’t even considered that you may not remember what we found that night.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, a dark feeling gripping my spirit.

He hesitated. “The night you disappeared… before the assassin… we found something, in the woods. Our marks had the same reaction, gleaming as it did.”

Woods… my dream from this morning came to mind: Alexander and I wandered the Weeping Woods, searching for a Fallen Light. Our marks gleamed that same, shadowy light, ash swirling in the mist around us…

“I… think I remember,” I said, hushed. “Or, part of it. Our marks were leading us somewhere. I don’t remember the rest…”

“We didn’t think it actually existed.” He glanced out the window distantly. “It was supposed to be a myth.”

“What are you talking about? What did we find?”

His stare glazed out to the Harmonist temple across the street. Rain applauded over the clear glass as a silent streak of light burst from the grey sky.

“The Lost Relic of Death,” he whispered. “We’d found the Willow of Ashes.”