13. Declan

Chapter 13

Declan

I stood a few dozen paces below the Keeper’s cottage and let my eyes roam the landscape.

The day was bright and cloudless, and the tangy ocean breeze tickled my nose. Lush palms dotted the sandy shoals, while squat plants with broad leaves spread lazily across the ground. Gulls called in the distance.

The ocean could be seen from most places on the island, but from halfway up one of its peaks, the undulating carpet of blues and greens and brushstrokes of glittering white stole my breath. I couldn’t imagine a more tranquil place in all the world.

And then I heard the scream.

Piercing, anguished, and clearly my mother’s cry.

I dropped the pack I had slung over my shoulder and sprinted back into the cave.

“Mother!” I yelled as I raced through the Phoenix-hewn halls.

I found her a few dozen paces inside where we had parted. She sat on the cold ground, her back leaned against the cavern wall. Tears marred her ageless face, and she stared at the wall opposite into nothing.

I squatted, gripped her by the shoulders, and shook her. “Mother, are you all right? What happened?”

She looked up with a hollowness in her gaze. “It is Atikus. His spirit is weak, so faint I can barely sense him.”

“Is he alive? How weak?” Then I realized what she’d just said. “Wait, you can sense Atikus’s spirit?”

What other powers had she never mentioned?

Kels? nodded. “Something has happened. He was attacked. I do not understand how or by whom, but this was not a physical assault. It was magical. He is still alive, but his connection to the currents . . . Atikus has been severed from magic.”

I ran a hand through my hair and slumped to sit beside her. “But he’s the Arch Mage. How could someone—”

“I do not know, but I do not think he was the first to be attacked. I sensed something days ago. It was unlike anything I have felt before. It made no sense. I do not even know how to describe it—a stabbing? That does not sound right, but it is how it felt, like someone stabbing into the currents.”

“When?”

“A day or two ago. I thought little of it at the time because it happened so quickly and then was gone.”

She began to stand, bracing herself with one hand against the wall, but I shot to my feet and gripped her by the elbow.

She looked up, her brow knitted with concern. “I know you want to get back to the mainland, but I would appreciate you staying a few more days. Atikus may need help we can only give him at the Well.”

“Of course.” I nodded. “I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

We made our way to the cliff’s ledge, where the stone circles and magical wine awaited. The latter soothed our frayed nerves and energized our minds while the former focused our conversation.

“If Keelan were here, he would start with, ‘What do we know?’ He’d make us lay out everything we are certain about, then go from there.”

“He is quite the investigator, is he not?” Kels? offered a tight smile.

“The best. At least, that’s what they say.”

“All right, what do we know?” she parroted.

“First, there was an attack of some sort days before the one on Atikus. Second, Atikus suffered an attack you say felt similar to the first one. Only this one was powerful enough to take his magic from him.”

Kels? tilted her head to the side. “His magic was not taken. He was cut off from the flow of magic.”

“That’s different how?”

She opened her mouth to answer, then paused. “It matters little. He has no access to magic. What else?”

“Atikus is weak now. You said his spirit felt drained, something like that. Oh, you said you could sense his spirit. Can you sense everyone?”

“Hardly.” She snorted. “Atikus is . . . unique. I have known him a very long time.”

“Could you sense me?” the voice of a small boy asked.

“I could sense you without magic’s aid. I am your mother.” Her hand reached out and cupped my cheek. “But, yes, I could sense your spirit. You are also uniquely connected to the currents, to magic itself.”

I eyed her a moment, hoping for more. When she remained silent, I moved on. “All right, that’s all I can think of. Is there anything else you haven’t told me that we need to add to our list?”

“The currents are disturbed.”

“How so? More than before?”

She nodded. “They normally feel like a lazy river, peaceful and drifting. Some time ago, they began to move swiftly and thrash about, but only at times. Now, they feel like a river full of rapids, frothing and angry.”

“Great. An angry river of magic. That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“Nothing has terrified me so, not since Irina’s return, and not for a thousand years before that.”

We drank our wine and stared over the mountain’s ledge in silence. It felt like we struggled to fit some massive puzzle together but were missing half of the pieces. Seeing the image felt impossible.

Atikus’s broad smile and wispy brows filled my mind. The old Mage was one of the kindest men I’d ever known. With his Gift of Memory, he was also more knowledgeable than most any man alive.

“Why attack Atikus?” I asked.

“What?” Kels?’s brow rose.

“Atikus. Why him? What makes him special?”

Kels? thought a moment. “He is powerful. His connection to the currents is strong. He has more knowledge than most Mages. He is the Arch Mage. It could be any of those things—or none of them.”

“What about his Gift? His memory?”

“What about it? It’s a passive ability. He cannot—”

“His mind is the greatest library the world may ever possess. Think about what he has seen, what he has studied, what he knows .”

“All right. That is a good point. Where are you going with this?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just something to add to our list. But it feels important somehow.”

We fell into another long silence as I mulled over what I recalled of Atikus and his Gift. I was onto something. I could feel it, but it was just out of reach. How could one so knowledgeable, so long-lived, have his tether to the currents cut like some flimsy ribbon?

When the sun faded over the horizon, we returned to the kitchen for dinner. Unlike breakfast, our evening meal was somber. I helped Kels? prepare a meal of cold cuts, cheese, and bread. Neither of us had uttered a word since coming inside, and fewer words were spoken throughout the meal. Kels? was nearly finished with her last bite when she stopped chewing and gripped my arm.

I looked up, startled. “What? What’s wrong now?”

She gulped down the cheese and swallowed a sip of wine. “I do not know why I did not think of this earlier. We need to go back to the Well and speak with an old friend. She may be able to help us puzzle some of this out. Come with me.”

Kels? puffed through labored breaths as we entered the chamber of the Well of Magic.

I had been in this cavern many times since returning to my mother, but the place still filled me with awe. Despite the urgency of our task, the little boy inside me couldn’t resist bending down to trace a finger and watch as the mist raced to catch up.

As I rose to my feet, Kels? watched, arms crossed with a quirk across her lips. “Done playing yet?”

“Sorry.” My cheeks flushed. “I’ll never get used to this place.”

As we strode across the chamber to the Well, I glanced at the light playing off the crystalline walls and ceiling. A thousand reflections danced throughout the cave.

Kels? stopped at the edge of the Well and breathed deeply as tendrils of wispy power curled to greet her. Fingers of magic tickled her feet, then crawled up her legs until her entire form was bathed in pearlescent mist. The effect was otherworldly—and strikingly beautiful. She turned at my gasp and smiled.

“It tingles,” she said. “Come, I need your connection. You will need to approach the Well for this to work.”

I closed the distance to stand beside her, and the magic responded, crawling up my lanky body. I shivered, but a giddy grin spread across my face. I looked down at the magic coursing across my hands and played at interrupting its flow with my fingers.

“Connection to what?” I asked.

“ To whom , not what.”

I looked up, perplexed.

Kels?’s eyes closed, and she muttered ancient words, barely audible though I stood a pace away. The mist brightened and sped in its flow across our bodies. Another gust rushed from the Well to gather and hover in an undulating mass above the opening, pulsing like a heartbeat, then resolving and taking form.

Kels? continued to chant.

I had only seen the Phoenix herself once, high above the city of Saltstone, but there was no mistake; my mother had called forth the majestic beast. Her shimmering form grew until it towered above and spread across the ceiling. Finally formed, the beast’s head snapped downward, and she locked eyes with me.

I staggered back a step. The mist scattered before reforming across my body.

“órla?” The name croaked from my parched throat.

“Hello, Bond-Mate,” her voice boomed through the chamber.

I gaped at the ethereal Phoenix’s form.

“órla! Spirits, órla, I’ve missed you so much,” I said in a hoarse whisper as tears tickled my cheeks.

“And I have missed you, but I can only maintain this form for a few moments.” Her gaze shifted to Kels?. “Keeper, the currents remain disturbed. Irina still haunts the world of the living. While her power is diminished, she may inhabit and subsume others who possess Gifts. She may also sever them from the flow of magic, as the Arch Mage has learned. Atikus is lost to our arts . . . for now.”

“How can we help him get his connection back?” I asked.

“You cannot. His Gifts will return in time as his body and mind heal.” She paused, and her gaze became a distant stare. “Atikus will heal, but I fear the threat is greater still. I feel Irina’s presence, her rage. She will stop at nothing in service to her vengeance. No one is safe, especially those with a Gift, while her spirit roams this land.”

Kels? braced herself against one of the crystal pillars surrounding the Well. “Where will she go? What will she seek to destroy now?”

“Since her return, her purpose has been single-minded—vengeance. Her defeat at Saltstone enraged her further. Her mind is veiled from my Sight, but I sense a roiling sea within her. When she comes, she will billow and rage as the storm. Her spirit must be banished, or all will be lost.”

The mist dimmed and blurred.

órla’s voice whispered in my mind.

“Irina’s tomb has been destroyed. She cannot return once banished. Declan, you are the only one capable of banishing her for good. This world will never be safe as long as her spirit wanders freely.”

Before I could speak, the Phoenix shattered into a thousand flickers of Light. Pinpricks of brilliance flared like embers but grew icy cold against my skin before they faded into nothing.

In the stillness of the cavern, I stared into the Well, wishing for one more moment with my lost friend.

The river of ancient power beneath our feet flowed but refused to speak.

Sometime later, Kels? and I again sat at the wooden table in her kitchen, each of us cradling a steaming mug. The sweetly bitter scents of honeyed black tea offered some comfort to our frayed nerves following órla’s message.

“Can Irina really destroy the magic of our world? She doesn’t even have a body.”

Kels? shrugged. “I do not know. She can do damage to individuals, albeit temporarily. If she learned how to permanently separate someone from magic, that could be disastrous.”

“What would stop her from devastating the Gift? The Kingdom’s bloodline is already thin, and Melucia is weakened following the siege.” I looked up and saw fear in my mother’s eyes for the first time. The other thing I saw in her eyes chilled my heart even more: doubt.

It was clear Kels? had no idea what to do or how to respond.

She was the Keeper of Magic. If she didn’t know how to protect our people and their magic from Irina’s wrath, who would?