3. Nikolai

3

NIKOLAI

" D o you know why the Council has summoned me?" I turn to Adelina as she walks silently beside me.

It shocks me as her hand whips out, faster than even my eyes register, to grip my exposed bicep. She turns me so that I’m towering over her, basically shielding her from anyone that could come down the corridor.

Not that anyone will.

No one comes to the temple anymore. Which is why she probably doesn’t mind having this conversation here. We’re less likely to be overheard here than anywhere else.

"I have convinced the Council to send you to the surface."

I blink slowly, processing those words. "You..." To the surface? Why would she want me to go to the surface? My role is here, at the temple. "Why?"

Adelina’s face is as impassive as always. "The above ground bases are what the First wanted." Her eyes pierce into mine, almost like she can look into my very soul. It’s always been like this with her, though, so I don’t flinch from her gaze like most will. "But they are not honoring her."

I nod. "I've heard the rumors."

"It’s worse than what the scouts are whispering." She peers around me and then leans closer, her tone hard and sharp. "The vrakken have been hunting too freely. They are draining humans, getting too close to the dark elves, and creating too many new fledglings that aren’t being trained. Our magic is growing weak, our line is being sullied, and everyone has lost sight of what we were bred to do."

"You want me to restore order," I say, realizing now what she was thinking. I, of course, already knew how poor the expansion was going, but my focus had been on rallying those still in the tunnels.

Never did I think I would be sent to the surface.

"They need to be reminded." Adelina steps around me, starting back toward the main cavern and I fall in step beside her. "The Council doesn’t believe so. They need bodies to fight, regardless of how weak they are becoming."

I think over her words for a moment. "But we serve our god and goddess first."

As we come around the bend that connects the temple to the rest of the cavern system, she looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "Exactly."

She doesn’t have to say what I now understand. I need to discourage this behavior. Exposing our kind, taking human mates, reckless feeding. It’s going to be our undoing before we have a chance to get vengeance for the First.

Or find her.

Many believe her to be dead, or perhaps passed onto the immortal plane to be with Akeldama. But vrakken do not die, unless struck by a god, and I don’t think Akeldama was ready for her purpose to be done. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be fighting in her name.

I don’t tell anyone this, of course. They’d think I’m mad, a devotee that is lost in scripture and out of touch with reality. Which would not serve our purpose. So, I keep silent, even though I swear I can feel her.

As we approach the Councilroom, the guards bow their heads to us. Even if the faith has weakened, the hierarchy will always hold strong. Pride is much too important to the vrakken.

Another cause of our downfall.

"Brinda has asked for Nikolai." Adelina inclines her head toward me.

The guards don’t even exchange a look. They just step aside, allowing me to walk through the short tunnel to the Councilroom, Adelina trailing behind me. As I come into the small cavern, I notice that it is empty, save for the table at the front of the room.

Brinda sits in the middle, her fiery red hair stark against the varying shades of gray down here. Gray walls, gray ceiling, gray floor. Even our skin is a pale shade of gray with no sun and our hair typically a black. All shades of a dreary color palette that was never meant for us.

Sketching a bow, I dip my head down before the Council. "Matriarch. Council."

"Nikolai." She says my name with slight amusement, and as I rise, her expression puzzles me. There’s a glitter in her eyes, almost like there’s some game she’s about to play that I don’t know.

Or maybe that just shows how little I trust her. Even if I would never dare voice such an opinion.

"I am humbled to be called on by you."

Straightening, I tighten my wings behind me so that they stand tall over my shoulder blades. Lest they forget that I am one of the rare winged born in the last century.

I am not a prideful man, but I do understand the importance of proving your value. Especially in my coven. Without a purpose, a reason to stay on top, you can easily fall.

"I am sure you have heard of the surface wildspont bases." Brinda’s gaze flicks over me lazily, that shadow of a smirk still playing on her lips.

"Yes, Matriarch. We have all heard that the First’s plans are underway." No harm reminding her that she is not the most powerful vrakken – even though she seems to think so.

That causes her expression to sour. "Yes, well, it seems that some of our coven has forgotten her way. They’ve dived a little too hard into Akeladama’s philosophy of indulgence. It seems the centuries in the tunnels with nothing to do but take has bred some bad manners."

I don’t react. I know she’s looking for some indication of what I think about that, and I refuse to give it to her. Instead, I hold myself tall, expressionless with my hands clasped behind my back.

After a beat of silence so heavy it’s almost suffocating, she continues, "The Council thinks it may be best to establish a temple at our most...unruly base. To remind our people of why they have broken free of the tunnel and what they are fighting for."

"You would like me to lead the construction of the temple," I fill in for her. I don’t question why they would care about the temple now when they haven’t even been in centuries. Though I suspect it has more to do with Adelina’s insistence than she led on.

Her lips purse, but I don’t gain anything else from her reaction. "Yes. And institute daily worship again. We honor Akeldama by indulging in all that he gave us, but we cannot lose sight of our purpose on the surface. Otherwise, we will not last long there before we are driven underground again." Her tongue runs across her incisors like she is sizing me up as her prey. "It is a delicate balance."

"Of course, Matriarch. I would be honored to bring worship to my fellow vrakken." I’m careful to keep my voice neutral. I know how Brinda works, and it’s mostly in manipulation. I can’t give her anything. "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"Before the First, you will bring honor." Adelina dips her thumb in a bowl of blood, painting my cheeks in runes. "Before Akeldama, you will bring pride." She does the same to Lev. "For our god and goddess, you will fulfill their every wish as the rightful race."

She continues with her chants as she moves down the line. There are six of us in total, accolades being sent to the surface. We are set to leave at sunset, which should be soon.

It’s an odd concept to me, to bend to the sun when I’ve never even seen it. Since I was dismissed from the Councilroom, Adelina helped me select the accolades and prepare us to leave. Word was sent to the base via a scout as we gathered what supplies we may need and took group and individual prayers.

I’m not the only one who has never been to the surface. I can feel the energy vibrating around me, excitement and anxiety and everything in between. We don’t know what waits for us. We’ve only heard the stories.

And none of them make me want to leave my temple.

Still, I follow along as we complete our last ritual together, one that used to be bestowed onto vrakken heading into battle. Adelina and two other High Priestesses paint us in runes and murmur their prayers as we kneel before the First and Akeldama’s altar.

By the time they finish, cleansing us with the reflection bowl of Akeldama – the water representing the first night he found the First – I’m second-guessing what Adelina has planned. I won’t back out, though, even if dread starts to flood my veins as I gather my small pack and step out of the temple.

Adelina is in front of me, the other accolades behind. She leads us to the tunnel that will take us to the surface, but go no further. It’s a silent journey, until we reach an upward slope that seems to disappear into inky black nothingness.

"This is it." Adelina gazes up at me. "Continue up and you will find yourself on the surface. Track the magic and you’ll find the base."

I nod, uncertain of what to say to the woman who raised me. So, I take a step forward, planning to say nothing at all. But her arm grips my bicep, stopping me as I turn my head to gaze into her bright eyes.

"Be careful, Nikolai," she says softly. "Don’t lose your way."

My throat is unexpectedly tight. I must have been thirsty and didn’t notice with all my preparations. I’ll need to hunt soon then.

It’s an effort to force out, "I won’t."

Adelina is satisfied with that as she steps back and I turn to look forward again. I step up into the shadows, climbing into the cool air, and I feel it the second we pass over the threshold. The magic tingles across my skin, coaxing the magic in my veins to swirl as it erupts around me.

I’ve spent my entire life in a wildspont, and yet, as I step out of the caverns, this feels different. Not the magic, though the portal was intense, but the world itself.

The air is soft and sweet, bright on my tongue. I step farther forward as the accolades stumble out of the cave after me, gasps escaping them as they feel the same thing I do.

My wings instinctively spread and flex, and for the first time in a long time, a smile spreads across my face.