The Chronicles of Winterset: Oracle (20 page)

Chapter 42

“What news do you bring to me, Nihilist?” The Master’s deep voice rumbled as I gazed through the haze in the direction of his blurry form.

“My Lord, I fear the Oracle is looking for a way out. She will never side with us,” the Nihilist spoke, his voice strong and sounding almost proud. “She is of pure Light and will not waver.”

“That is why you are to break her, slave! It is your most important job. Need I remind you what will happen should I intervene on your behalf?” The Master hissed, sending torrents of gooseflesh across my body.

“I cannot break her. I do not wish to,” the Nihilist spoke, his voice wavering.

The Master strode purposefully toward the Nihilist and wrapped his fingers around his throat. The Nihilist gasped and choked in an effort to breathe. I took an angry step forward but stopped when I realized I wouldn’t be able to end it if I wanted to. This was a vision, and I was just a bystander.

“Listen, and listen well,” Zaros sibilated, his voice deep and menacing. “You will break her. You will take her. You will be the cause of her sorrow, her pain, and all the madness she endures. It is your job, Nihilist. You are the destroyer, and you will destroy her. That is how this works. She is ours!”

He released the Nihilist, who rubbed his neck as he raked in deep breaths. “She will kill herself before she joins us,” he said softly. “She would die.”

“And you love her, don’t you?” the Master inquired, turning away from the Nihilist, his long black cloak dragging behind him.

“I do,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “That is why I cannot do this to her.”

“This is exactly why you do it! Love!” the Master spat. “There is no such thing! You have been tricked! She has waged a war on that soft heart of yours! She is playing you, and you are a fool to fall for it. A fool! There is no love!”

“Then I am a fool who has been defeated,” the Nihilist stated simply, rising to his feet. “I cannot do this. I will die before I hurt her.”

The Master turned abruptly and with lightning fast agility, came face to face with the Nihilist. “Exactly,” he hissed through his teeth. “That’s the spirit! When she Transitions, you will be there, and you will die for her. Now, that is how you bind, Nihilist! There is no escape from your fate, from your destiny. She is life. You will arise fiercer than ever before! Save her by binding with her. I will spare her, your so-called beloved.”

“You will spare her?” the Nihilist asked, seemingly shocked at the Master’s sudden generosity. “You will let her go?”

“You have my word,” the Master smiled wickedly at the Nihilist, showing his teeth. “I will let her go. Bind with her, and I will allow you to decide what we do with her. It is my gift to you, my son.”

“Blood bond?” the Nihilist asked softly.

Without hesitation, the Master produced a long, jeweled dagger from within his cloak and slashed at his hand, sending a wave of red from it. I winced as the Nihilist took the blade and mimicked the motion, causing his own hand to bleed. They placed their hands together and the Master smiled triumphantly at the Nihilist as their hands glowed dimly before the light faded away.

“Her fate rests in your hands,” the Master said triumphantly. I couldn’t read what was going on because his face was covered by his dark cloak, but I couldn’t shake the feeling the Nihilist had just made a deal with the devil.

“Ana! Pay attention!” Calix shouted as I stared off into space, nearly getting hit by one of his ice shards. I shook my head and focused my gaze on him, forcing a smile.

“I think I need a break for a minute,” I replied, my mind still on the dream I’d had the night before.

“Ana, you know the enemy will not give you a break—” Calix started, but I shook my head at him.

“Please. I need to rest. We’ve been working so hard lately, and I’ve been doing awesome. You even said so yourself,” I pleaded tiredly. “I can use wind effectively; I can sort of use fire too.”

“Your fear of being burned prevents you from using it the way it could be used,” Calix countered. I let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his hands and walked toward me. “But fine, we can take a break.”

Calix had been short with me all morning, and I’d been skating around the subject. He’d barely slept last night and said he needed to go for a run to clear his head. When I’d asked him if I could join him, he’d kissed me on the forehead and tucked the blanket tightly around me before walking out of the room.

We’d barely spoken since, and I sank down on the grass, waiting for him to join me. Instead, he walked past me into the house, and I chewed my lip, wondering what was wrong with him.

He finally reemerged nearly a half an hour later with two swords in his hands. I stared at him as he marched past, his mouth set in a hard line.

“Come. Break time is over,” he shouted from where we practiced. I climbed cautiously to my feet and approached him slowly, wondering what he had in store for me.

“Here,” he said handing me one of the heavy swords.

“Um, what are we doing?” I asked, taking the sword awkwardly.

“We’re fighting,” he said tersely, taking a step away from me.

“For real?” I gulped, looking from the sword in my hand to him.

“For real. I plan on drawing blood, so be on your toes. Use your abilities, use what knowledge you have, cunning, speed, whatever you possess. I will not go easy on you, and I will not stay my hand. I expect you to fight as hard.”

“Calix,” I started, my heart hammering fearfully in my chest. “I don’t know how to do this!”

“I taught you stances and some other things. You’re a few days off from Transition. I cannot keep babying you,” he snapped.

I winced at his harsh words but took my stance and waited for him to attack, completely terrified out of my mind.

He lunged at me, and I dodged him clumsily. He whipped back around and slashed at me. I yelped as the sword ripped a gash into my T-shirt. I stared down in shock and then back at him. His face was expressionless as he pushed forward at me again, and I parried his attacks, never able to get one up on him.

He was strong. He grunted as he slashed his sword through the air at me. I was tiring quickly as I tried to hold him off. His sword contacted my own and I groaned as I tried to overcome him, my arms shaking with the effort.

He hit me hard with a blast of ice and I fell backward. He was on me within moments, and a dagger emerged from his pocket as he straddled me, the cold steel from the blade biting into my neck painfully.

“And now you’re dead,” he murmured, pushing the dagger harder against my neck. I felt my skin break and a trickle of blood drip down my neck.

“Calix,” I managed to choke out. “Please.”

He blinked rapidly and fell off of me, a dazed look on his face. I reached for my neck, and when I pulled my fingers away, there was a smear of blood on them.

I looked at the blood—my blood—on my hands and stared open-mouthed at Calix, who was looking at me with a pained expression.

I climbed to my feet and raced into the bathroom to survey the damage to my neck. It wasn’t a tremendous amount of blood or a very deep cut, but my skin
was
split open. I pressed a washcloth to it and tried to blink away my tears.

This wasn’t like Calix. He wasn’t this person. I wasn’t sure if he was stressed or what, but something wasn’t right.

I tried to heal the cut but I was so distraught, I couldn’t focus on it. Instead, I bandaged it the best I could and left the bathroom feeling sad and confused. I understood he was trying to prepare me for what may happen, but going to the point of physically hurting me had me worried.

I left the bathroom and wandered back out to the practice area only to find it deserted. I looked through all the rooms of the house and called out to Calix but he was nowhere to be found. Feeling lost, I went and lay down in the bedroom, then I grabbed my phone. I hadn’t turned it on in days, and I wondered what tragedy awaited me when I checked my messages.

I stared at the screen as it loaded the many messages and voicemails.

There were a lot of messages from my parents, my mom mostly, begging me to come home and talk to them. To call them, to message them, to let them know I was OK and safe. Telling me they loved me and missed me and wouldn’t be upset if I just came home. Everyone and everything would be OK.

Then there were messages from Mel saying basically the same thing, telling me there were rumors about me and Calix, that Kellin was also gone, that Courtney was fine, and I wouldn’t get into trouble if I just came back and talked to someone.

I felt a tear trickle down my cheek at the words of my family and friends. And then there it was—a message from Kellin.

Ana, please, I beg you, tell me where you are. You are not safe! Please, let me come to you. I swear on my life I mean you no harm. Do not trust Calix. I have been in Winterset trying to figure out who he is, if he’s a Sentry. Ana, I can’t find anything on him! Come back to me. I pray you’re safe.

I stared at the message for what felt like hours, reading and rereading it. Any other time, I’d have tossed it aside, but after what had transpired today with Calix, I wasn’t so sure. I chewed my lip nervously, my fingers fidgeting over the keypad, unsure if I should let him know where I was. But then,
I
didn’t even know where I was.

I am fine. Please do not worry about me. Calix is keeping me safe. I do not know where I am. Calix said it’s better this way. I trust Calix despite your misgivings. If you see Mel and my parents, tell them I’m sorry and that I love them.

I hit send and winced as I saw it had been delivered but was unread. I shut my phone off and closed my eyes, praying I could sleep in peace just once before I Transitioned and all hell broke loose.

Chapter 43

There were screams, and they tore a hole through my heart. I covered my ears and closed my eyes as the cries grew louder. I slid down to my butt and rocked myself in an effort to quell the strange feelings rising up inside of me. I felt fear, despair, pain, and none of it was my own. It was the people. The ones in the town.

I forced my eyes open and stared in horror at the burning town I sat in the center of. Children with their skin sizzling, their cries high and terrible, fell over around me as their mothers, some of whom were on fire, screamed and reached out for help.

Men on black horses rode through the town, torches in hand, lighting everything on fire. Men, women, children, and animals ran through the streets, tripping over one another in a panicky effort to escape. The men on the horses would thrust their sharp swords through their victims as they tried to escape, showing no mercy. Or maybe the mercy was death. I didn’t want to think about it.

And then there he was.

The Nihilist, on a horse so large and black with red eyes, that even I backed away knowing he couldn’t see me. The Nihilist pushed his blade forward, and it sliced through the torso of a terrified man, dropping him to his knees as he died.

I swallowed thickly wondering what had happened to the man I’d witnessed countless times showing love and compassion. This wasn’t him. Something had changed in him.

I heard trumpets sound, and the Nihilist looked up beneath his dark hood. I followed his gaze and saw a small army of men dressed in golden armor approaching, blue flags raised high in the air.

Dar’ish.

I knew it instinctively.

The army raced through the town, fighting the dark soldiers and showing them the same mercy shown to the people who had been set afire and carved up. The Nihilist made no effort to move. Instead, he sat on his horse and watched the scene unfold in front of him.

“Nihilist,” a man in golden armor hissed. “I’ve been wanting to meet you again.”

“And so you have,” he said in a monotone, sliding off the terrifying creature.

“Where is my sister?” the man in the golden armor shouted, jumping from his horse and drawing his sword.

“How would I know?” the Nihilist said idly. “If I had her, if I were bound to her, wouldn’t she be here on my arm doing my bidding?”

“My sister is a good woman and would never fall to the Darkness,” the man growled, moving forward.

“Ah, but she has fallen,” the Nihilist murmured. “She has fallen for the Darkness.”

The man in the armor lunged at the Nihilist and their swords clanked together loudly. I watched, mesmerized, as they fought, each an extraordinary swordsman. The Nihilist used flame, but it was quickly extinguished by the armored man’s wielding of the water element.

“Tell me where my sister is, and I’ll let you live,” the armored man shouted, his blue eyes flashing.

“You would give me no gift,” the Nihilist spat at him. “My only job is to die!”

The armored man came at the Nihilist and they parried and swung at each other again, sparks flying off their swords as they mercilessly clanged against one another. The Nihilist knocked the armored man to the ground and placed his sword at his neck. I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist and frowned, something unpleasant stirring in the pit of my stomach.

“Do it,” the armored man shouted, his face sweaty and bleeding. “Kill me.”

“No!” I shouted. “Please! No! He’s my brother! Please don’t hurt him! This isn’t you!”

The Nihilist hesitated and looked around, his face still hidden within his cloak.

“I know you’re here,” the Nihilist whispered. “I can feel you all around me, Analia. You are a part of me, and I am a part of you. Can you feel it?”

I swallowed thickly, the tears streaming down my face. All I could feel was despair and heartache.

“Please,” I whispered again looking over to my brother still laying beneath the Nihilist’s sword.

“If I kill him, you will not love me,” the Nihilist said softly, wiping at what must have been a small cut above his eye. “But if I don’t, the Master will punish you. Punish us. What punishment do I deal to you, my sweet Analia? The loss of your brother or the torture of the Master?”

“Punish me. I don’t care. I can handle the Master. I will freely go to him if you spare my brother.”

I choked the words out, knowing I’d do anything to save the brother I didn’t know. After all, he’d come to save me if the situation were reversed. I just knew it.

“Analia,” my brother managed to rasp out from beneath the sword. “No! Don’t you dare! If you’re still here, please, don’t do this! There will always be another way.”

I looked from my crumpled brother on the ground to the cloaked Nihilist and nodded.

“I swear on my life that I will end this. That I will save us. I will bind with you.”

The Nihilist stood staring at the place where I was on my knees begging, the cloak still covering him, his hand still firmly holding the sword to my brother’s neck.

“Your eighteenth birthday is two days away, Oracle,” the Nihilist said forcefully. “Are you prepared to do as you’ve promised? To bind with me?”

“Yes,” I replied softly,

“Then it is done. I will come for you in two days’ time.”

I screamed as the Nihilist shoved the sword into my brother’s shoulder. The blood gushed out in a crimson river and he moaned in pain.

The Nihilist looked down at my brother and spoke, his voice rough.

“The next time we meet, Prince Soran, I will not miss my mark,” the Nihilist stated before leaping onto his horse. I gulped as the horse and its rider blurred to nothing more than a black shadow and faded away.

When I turned back to my brother, his eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. I rushed to his side and tried to reach out to him but there was nothing I could do, and I wept for him.

The scene faded away, and I floated through the darkness, my soul on fire and my lungs begging for air.