29. Lexa

Chapter 29

Lexa

I couldn't believe how incredibly stupid Arim was acting. Did he honestly think he could take down Sin Garu? A Dark Lord who had the whole of Tanselm quaking, who had systematically decimated the last generation of Storm Lords and was no doubt working on eradicating the world of another?

I marched out of the commons and down a long stone hall, following the bright ball of light that had alerted me to leave the others in the commons, and which could only signify more trouble brewing on the horizon. I followed the light into a small room containing linens, barrels, and what looked like boxes of domestic supplies.

Closing the door behind me, I stopped, my hands on my hips. "For the record, Ravyn, your brother is a horse's ass."

The nimbus of light slowly spread until a form took shape. Ravyn chuckled. "He takes after our father."

Curious, I said, "Arim's never talked about his parents. He's never publicly claimed you as his sibling either, well, until recently. A fact I always found odd. Why did you two keep your relationship a secret?"

"Which, strangely enough, is why I'm here. To tell you a story."

I sighed, wondering why I'd expected actual help from Ravyn, the queen of "I can't tell you."

"The Valens name is an ancient line from a distant world. Arim and I settled here four hundred years ago after we lost the rest of our family." Ravyn looked sad, her features drawn and washed out even through the pallor of death. "Before we arrived, my family was well-known in Tanselm. I was a young woman on the cusp of maturity, my powers strong with the vitality of youth. Arim was a boy and had barely seen more than six years of a life he's thankfully forgotten, but for what I've told him."

"And why is that?"

Ravyn stared at me squarely in the eye. "Because Tanselm made him forget. I raised him and taught him about magic. His strength was always much greater than mine, and Tanselm took him in as if he were her own." Obviously sensing my confusion, Ravyn shook her head. "I haven't much time, but it's vital that you know the truth."

"What truth?"

"That Arim and I remained close in private but separate in public to save him from a life I gradually overcame. I was only a ‘Valens' for a brief time before I married Faustus. Our real name is much, much older and a hundred times more powerful."

I could feel the hair standing on the back of my neck.

"We used to be known as the Van Lens, a powerful family of Dark Lords who lived separate from those in Malern."

Everything stopped. "That's not possible. The Van Lens family died five hundred years ago, cursed by Malern because they betrayed the Dark."

"Cursed by something, I'm sure," Ravyn said bitterly. "And it was four hundred and six years ago as of yesterday. A day I'll never forget. When my family left Malern, many turned against us. At that time, the Dark Lords were becoming much like we are now, less ‘gray' and more tuned toward the negative aspect of magic. My parents didn't like the future we could see coming, so they gradually faded from Dark Lord society and shielded us as best we could."

"How is that possible?" I couldn't see anything Dark in Ravyn at all, even in death. The woman radiated Light. "You're no more Dark than I am a Church prelate."

Ravyn flashed a smile. "Unlike the Dark Lords as you know them today, hundreds of years ago, a faction of us stood on a fine line between Light and Dark. Our energies were much more alike, powerful yet driven to one side or the other of the spectrum. Once we left Malern, we settled in Quille among the Djinns' forefathers, before they moved to Foreia.

"We lived in peace until something terrible happened. A spell gone wrong, a curse visited upon us by our enemies, by Malern… We never knew how it started, only how it ended."

I stared, fascinated, as the truth of her words sunk in. "So Arim is a Dark Lord?" Which would explain the Darkness always there beneath his skin, but not how he absorbed and reveled in Light.

"No. He's a Light Bringer. As am I." Ravyn floated through the air to land on top of a barrel, her legs crossed in a ladylike pose beneath her shimmery white gown. "Our life changed drastically one fateful day, much like yours did. You can't imagine how troubled I was at what happened to your family, Lexa. Not only because of what you suffered, but because of how alike your situation was to mine.

"Like you, I had left my home for most of the day. By the Light, I don't even remember why I thought tending imps and rath cats was more important than celebrating my youngest brother's birth rite, but I needed to feel useful. So I helped my older brother, Ralton, tend to his chores. We planned to enjoy Arim's celebration later in the evening. During the day, I sensed something not right, a nagging foreboding I should have heeded. Instead, I tried to reason it away as I showed off my skill to my brother, sorceress to sorcerer.

"But that nagging wrongness found Ralton as well and brought us back home earlier than we'd planned, though much too late to save everyone. When we arrived at the homestead, we found everyone slaughtered except Arim and our father — a good, decent man who normally would have given his soul to save any member of our family. Yet that day, he stood with one hand around Arim's throat, his mouth covered in blood, his form and frame almost demonic."

"He'd killed our mother, our older sisters, and our younger brothers, all dead except for Arim, Ralton, and me. Father turned on us when we returned. Ralton made the mistake of trying to protect me and Arim by drawing Father's attention." Tears rolled down Ravyn's cheeks. "Father was too far gone to block Ralton's magic, but he was physically overwhelming all the same. He and Ralton killed each other while Arim and I watched."

I felt sick. "Arim watched?" And he'd found me covered in the blood of my family years ago. It was a wonder he hadn't snapped back then.

"Yes, he witnessed everything. I took him and fled, not knowing where to go. We had no one left but each other. For a while, it seemed like I would lose him, too. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't talk or sleep for weeks. I had barely enough magic to keep us alive. Word spread that the Van Lens family had turned into demons, infected with a madness like no other. We were to be killed on sight. No one knew what many of the children looked like since we'd left Malern and lived isolated for so long.

"I was older than Arim and knew the possibility of discovery. That's why I kept our identities separate, pretending to be Arim's guardian and nurse should anyone ever question me. There were a few Dark Lords who might have known me, but we'd been living in Quille when Arim was born, so I figured he'd be safe if I could find a way to help him."

"What happened?" I was having a difficult time wrapping my brain around such tragedy.

"I wandered through the Between with my sick little brother in tow, praying to the Dark, the Light, Shadow, to anything that could help. And I ran into Faustus Storm. He brought me to Tanselm, gave me sanctuary, and like that, the land accepted us. Arim healed, but he changed. He lost all memory of life before Tanselm, and I was in no hurry to tell him the whole truth. He knows our father turned mad and slaughtered much of our family. But not that we were once Dark Lords. What good would it have done, anyway? The Darkness that had once been his life turned into Light. Tanselm did the same to me. And while that change occurred, Faustus charmed his way into my heart and into my life."

"Did he know? Faustus, I mean."

"I told him the truth, and he still asked me to marry him. He claimed he'd found his affai seconds after spying me and accepted Arim without hesitation. That's when I knew he was mine." The glowing love in her gaze revealed her affection for her husband. "I'm sorry this seems long-winded, but you needed to know about Arim's history if he's to have a future."

"Why can't you just tell me what I need to know? Or better yet, tell him." As Ravyn opened her mouth, I answered for her. "Wait, I know. You can't."

"You're quick."

"But I don't understand why you're telling me this now. Arim fought Sin Garu before and nearly won. If not for his unasked-for generosity in trying to heal me, he could probably win in a battle between the two."

"That's where you're wrong." Another form appeared behind Ravyn, his hands on her shoulders as brilliant and semi-transparent as the rest of him.

"Hell. Faustus Storm. What is this? A Next convention?" More dead people. My skin crawled with the pinpricks of Faustus's Light.

He must have noticed my discomfort because he dimmed his illumination. "Ravyn is playing by the rules, but no one else seems to be. I'll tell you what you need to know."

"Thank the Dark."

"Faustus," Ravyn started, only to stare in astonishment when he held his hand over her mouth.

"She can be a little chatty." He shrugged, still smiling, and I could see the charm in his deep gray eyes that looked so much like Aerolus'. "Bottom line. If Arim fights Sin Garu alone, he and the rest of you are lost. You, Lexa, must fight with him. All of you and all of him if you want to win. Help him accept the Darkness in his nature. And don't turn down Sava's help, even if he is an irritating Aellei."

Faustus grunted when Ravyn elbowed him.

"Sava?" I repeated.

"Yes. Sava. The same king who spent years in The Pit, in hell. He'll help you with the demons. My sons can help Tanselm withstand a major assault, but it's going to be up to you and Arim to see an end to this once and for all."

Ravyn glared over her shoulder at him. "I cannot believe you did that! You're going to get us both —"

"What? Killed?" Faustus snorted. "This needs to end. Sin Garu has been playing with fire by meddling with the demon world. That's strictly forbidden, and if he keeps tampering with what he has no business knowing, he's going to ruin the Balance."

"Balance?" I had a vague impression of oppressive silence all around and realized Faustus and Ravyn were no longer focused on me.

"It's time." Ravyn nodded. "Blessings and good fortune, Lexa. The Light grant you strength."

"And the Dark grant you love," Faustus finished. "Help us save the future." He gazed at my midsection, and his eyes narrowed with worry. "And yours as well."

In the blink of an eye, they vanished. It was then I recognized a subtle odor permeating the small chamber that grew stronger as I neared the door.

Swearing under my breath, I threw it open and raced into the hallway. " Damn. "

The smell of death and demon and madness filled the passageway. To my dismay, Sin Garu and a corridor full of Netharat waited with unnatural stillness. They occupied the entire eastern portion of the hall, leaving my only avenue of escape back toward the commons.

Back toward Arim in his weakened state.

"Ah, sister mine, there you are. Ready to finally play out the hand fate dealt us?" My cursed brother licked his bloodless lips, and I cringed.

Though it had been a while since I'd last seen him, I'd left Sin Garu a weakened Dark Lord, but a Dark Lord, nonetheless. In the time since, any humanity he might have had left had clearly been consumed by demons.

His limbs had lengthened to an off-proportioned length. Red and black streaks now married his previously white flesh. His eyes blazed with the inhuman lusts of the demons, their green haze malevolent as they stared at me.

Sensing those onerous beasts inside my hated sibling, I allowed my true Darkness free, all that tasty rage no longer caged in my soul.

"Then let's play the hand we've been dealt." I arched my left eyebrow the way Arim did, a move that always annoyed me with its presumed arrogance.

It had the same effect on Sin Garu, I noted with a smirk, pleased to wipe the unholy smile off his monstrous face. "Ante up, asshole. Get ready to fold. Hard. "