Chapter 20 - Elverum
If they hadn’t be specifically looking for Elverum they would have missed it. There wasn’t any question why King Jonathan would have gotten reports that it no longer existed. It wasn’t really a town at all. There was a smattering of houses built into hills with their smokestacks jutting out of the center of the hill. There wasn’t anything resembling a market or even a town center. The only thing that marked it as a town was the set of tall poles in front of all the hill houses. The poles were topped with a collection of blue and red feathers and small wooden carvings that made a soft clanking noise as the wind blew them against the pole. There weren’t any signs of people. The thin layer of snow that had fallen the night before was just as pristine as if it had just fallen. Even the smokestacks looked unused.
“King Jonathan’s scouts were right, this doesn’t look like a town anymore,” Bryan said as he jumped down from the wagon.
“It probably wouldn’t even be considered a town in Namaria,” Connor said. He stepped away from the wagon, looking around. “I hope there are still people here. I need to talk to them. Someone has to tell me how to get into the caves.”
Kait stepped up beside him. “It probably isn’t a random person you’ll need to talk to.”
“There’s also the problem of none of us speaking the language,” Bryan added. “This is a really small town. They probably haven’t had any contact with people from other countries. That means they aren’t going to speak our language. Aiden, have you learned any of Esna’s language?”
“Only a few words. Most people use the common language. It’s easier with so many people coming and going.”
“A few words are better than nothing. Hopefully they’ll recognize your words as a language similar to their own. It also helps that you look like them.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that said about me.”
Kait looked back at Aiden. There was a pleased look on his face.
“Let’s take a walk around the town,” Connor said. “Maybe when the people see we aren’t leaving they’ll come out of their houses.”
“I’ll stay here to start on camp,” Bryan called. “I’m not comfortable leaving the horses alone yet.”
“You’re staying here?” Kait asked in disbelief. She couldn’t believe he was letting her go off in someplace completely unfamiliar without him.
“Yes, and if you don’t want me to make you stay too, you’ll promise not to do anything rash and you’ll stay out of trouble.”
“Of course.”
He looked to Aiden. “You better make sure she does.”
Aiden nodded, a hint of fear in his eyes.
“Good, now go. I won’t get everything done by myself any time soon.”
“I am starting to get hungry,” Connor said.
“That doesn’t surprise anyone. Go on.”
Connor was the first to start walking into the town. Aiden waited for Kait. She was still a bit stunned that Bryan was staying behind. She didn’t start moving until he was unpacking the wagon. Even when she did start walking away she kept looking back. He was steadily working on their camp without paying any attention to her. Once she passed through the poles at the entrance to the town she hurried to catch up with Connor. Aiden was right behind her.
As they drew level with the first wooden door set into the hillside Connor slowed his pace. There weren’t any windows for them to watch. Kait could see a small square cut into the door toward the top. It was closed, like everything else. There wasn’t any noise other than what they were making. If they hadn’t been sent by Connor’s vision Kait would have thought the town was abandoned. There had to be people hiding somewhere. They wouldn’t have been sent to an empty town.
“It’s starting to feel a bit like we’re back in Hermonthus,” Aiden said lowly.
“Except without the ghosts,” Kait said. “I don’t feel any ghosts.”
“That’s a good thing,” Connor said. “I don’t ever want to deal with ghosts again, especially those ghosts.”
“You may not have to deal with ghosts again but you’re task is only going to continue to get more dangerous. The closer you get to the end of your search, the harder the Shadows will try to stop you.”
“I do know that but I try not to think about it.” He grinned at her. “I’d like to live in my little world of denial for as long as I can.”
She rolled her eyes at him as she shook her head.
Ahead of them was a wooden structure. The shape of it resembled a small house. It was the same height as Connor with a pointed roof like houses they were used to seeing. It was completely open and was only a couple feet around. Connor leaned in to see what it was. When he leaned back out he was smiling.
“It’s a well. Anyone thirsty?” He cranked the handle hidden under the eaves of the roof. The bucket slowly rose from the bottom of the well. He took a sip from the dipper before passing it on to Kait. “That water is absolutely freezing.”
She took a sip of the water. It was so cold it made her teeth hurt. She passed the dipper on to Aiden. “I’m not sure what else you were expecting,” she said to Connor. “We should get some water for camp. I could make something resembling fresh food with this water.”
“That would be wonderful. We’ll have to go back to camp first.”
Aiden looked around the still empty town. “It doesn’t look like being out here right now is doing any good. We might as well go help Bryan with the camp.”
Kait kept a look out for people on the way back to the wagon. Everything was the same as the first time they walked through. The little cutouts in all the door stayed closed. The town was completely silent. She kept expecting to see people peeking out at them. She knew she would be curious about strangers wandering through her front yard but the doors stayed firmly closed. When they got back to the camp Bryan was just laying out all their bedding. He already had a good sized fire going. Connor grabbed the water skin from the back of the wagon. Even though she wanted to go with him back to the well, Kait let him and Aiden go while she stayed behind. She knew it had taken an incredible amount of self control for Bryan to let her go into the town without him. She needed to do the same. She needed to let Aiden go with Connor without her. He was trying to hide what he was just as much as her.
They returned without any problems. While Kait made their dinner, Aiden sat with her telling her how they had gone through the town just as easily as the first time. They thought they heard people moving around just out of sight but whenever they looked, they didn’t see anyone. The longer they stayed in the village the more silent it became until it was absolutely silent like the first time. She could tell just by looking at Connor that he was a bit discouraged. His shoulders were tense and there was a slight furrow on his brow. She knew he wouldn’t say anything, not yet. When he sat down on his bedding to eat his dinner the furrow was gone but his shoulders were still tense.
That night Kait and Aiden stayed up after everyone else to experiment with magic again. Kait knew they wouldn’t be able to stay awake as late that night. They didn’t have the luxury of resting in the wagon during the next day. She only tried getting Aiden to sense the presence of the Light for a few moments. If she had more time she would have liked to keep working on it. Instead, she wanted to try something else. She took Aiden’s hand as she gave him an encouraging smile.
Maybe it’s just your power that’s blocked. Maybe you can use mine.
Don’t you need it?
Not right at this moment. I want to try this to see if it works. It may help later.
What do I do?
Start by being calm and relaxing, that’s the first thing all new magic students have to learn. When I squeeze your hand I want you to think about creating a light. Picture yourself doing it. When you can see yourself doing it, snap your fingers. I’ll do the rest.
He nodded. He stared blankly in the direction of the fire. His breathing slowed to a peaceful rhythm. When his hand loosened around hers, Kait gave his hand a little squeeze. His face stayed blank. He didn’t move for so long she was a little afraid he hadn’t felt it. She was ready and waiting for him. Her power was completely unguarded so that whenever he was ready, he should pull on her power without any effort. She was just getting ready to squeeze his hand again when his other hand slowly lifted into the air. As soon as he snapped his fingers she felt a little tug in her stomach. He had successfully tapped her power. He hadn’t, however, created a light.
He blinked several times rapidly trying to clear his head. He looked at his raised hand. Nothing happened.
She smiled at him. In case you haven’t realized from watching all of Connor’s lessons, you don’t always succeed at a spell the first time.
Except that’s nothing new for me.
You pulled on my power. That’s a step in the right direction.
His eyes got wide. I did?
Yes. Do you want to try again?
He glanced over at Bryan who still looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Maybe just one more time. I don’t want to stay up too late this time.
Go ahead when you’re ready.
His face went blank again. This time she didn’t have to squeeze his hand. When he snapped his fingers she again felt the tug in her stomach of him pulling on her power. He still didn’t create a light. He dropped his head in disappointment. She leaned against him, squeezing his hand.
Don’t give up yet, I still have more ideas. Do you want to try again tomorrow?
He nodded less than enthusiastically. Sure. Good night.
Kait stayed up for only a little while longer to do her nightly search for the Shadows. Now that she wasn’t having to split her time between the Shadows and the unknown thing in the north she was able to satisfy herself relatively quickly. She stretched her ability a little farther than she had the night before. She still couldn’t feel any trace of the Shadows. She went to sleep confident they didn’t have to worry about the Shadows for at least another day.
The next morning after they were all bundled up, all four set off into the village. Snow had fallen again over the night. There weren’t any footprints to know if anyone had come out of their houses after they had gone back to camp. Everything was exactly as it had been the day before. All the doors were closed tightly, all the cutouts in the doors weren’t cracked even the slightest bit, and no smoke rolled from the chimneys. Kait hadn’t smelled any smoke while they had been at their camp during the night. The people must be cold. She couldn’t imagine going an entire day without a fire for cooking and warmth especially so far north.
“It’s too quiet here,” Bryan said lowly, looking around. “It’s too much like Hermonthus.”
“That’s what I said,” Aiden said. “It’s not natural.”
“There aren’t any ghosts hiding around here,” Kait said. “You don’t have to worry about that. Even if there were ghosts around, Connor’s visions haven’t told us we need the ghosts to continue. I wouldn’t be talking to any of them.”
“You wouldn’t be doing anything else with them either,” Bryan threatened. “No possessions, you won’t be letting them talk through you -”
She put a placating hand on his arm. “I know, don’t worry. I already told you, I don’t feel anything here.”
“I want to be the first to know about it if you do.”
“Of course.” She smiled at him. “Don’t worry so much.”
“You don’t make it that easy.”
“It’s plenty easy, just give it a try.”
He rolled his eyes at her.
They wandered through the village. They found a total of five houses built into hillsides. Kait was curious about what the insides of the houses looked like. As they were making their way back toward the well from the back of the village Connor froze mid-step. The others clustered around him.
“What is it?” Kait whispered.
“I’m positive I heard something ahead of us.”
“Didn’t you think you heard something yesterday too?”
“Yeah, I thought I did. Today I’m positive.”
“We’ll be careful not to startle whoever it is. We need to keep moving forward.”
He nodded in agreement.
They all started walking again, much more cautiously this time. They were all on edge. Kait couldn’t feel anything wrong with whatever was ahead of them. It wasn’t bad, whatever it was. They rounded the last bend between them and the well. Ahead of them, walking toward the well, were two children. They both had the same pale skin and hair as Aiden. They each had a hand on the handle of the bucket between them. They were swinging it as they walked toward the well. The four stood absolutely still, waiting to see what the children would do. At first, they continued toward the well. They stopped abruptly when they were close enough that Kait could see they both had pale blue eyes. Their eyes were wide, completely terrified.
“Hello,” Connor called tentatively with a slight smile on his face.
The two children jumped backward, dropping the bucket. They clung to each other.
He held up his hands in what was supposed to be a gesture letting them know he wouldn’t hurt them. “It’s okay -”
They ran off in the other direction.
“Wait!”
The children ran even harder.
Connor ran after them, undoubtedly without thinking. “Please wait!”
Kait reached out a hand toward him. Luckily for her he wasn’t as good at breaking down her barriers as he was at creating them. He slowed to a stop even though he still looked like he was running after them. He stood for a moment watching the children run around behind one of the hill houses. He walked back to the others with his head hanging.
“You cannot go chasing children through their village,” she said reproachfully with her arms crossed over her chest.
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“Let’s go get something to eat. We can come back this afternoon. Maybe we can get in a quick magic lesson before coming back out. We need to let those poor children recover.”
His face brightened. “Okay.”
They hurried back to their campsite without any other distractions. Connor didn’t seem to be paying any attention to his surroundings anymore. Kait didn’t stop watching what was going on around them even though there wasn’t anything to see. All the doors stayed shut. She didn’t see anyone peeking around the edges of any of the houses. She didn’t hear anything either.
They stayed at their camp for a while after they finished eating. While Connor and Kait had a short magic lesson Bryan and Aiden laid down on their bedding. Bryan was the one to finally suggest they go back into the village. They bundled back up before trooping through the deepening snow. Their tracks, and those made by the running children, were still the only ones in the snow. They stopped near the well. If anything could be considered the center of the village, this spot was it.
“There’s obviously people here,” Bryan said, turning in a slow circle. “Maybe we should just start knocking on doors. They aren’t coming out to us, maybe we should go to them. It might not help any but nothing else is happening.”
“Aiden, would you mind doing it?” Connor asked. “You said you know a few words, maybe it will help to start us off.”
Aiden looked nervous. “Sure.” He looked to Kait, questioning.
She took his hand. “Let’s go. I’ll help you. I don’t know any of the language yet but I pick up languages pretty quickly.”
They started toward the closest doorway. Aiden’s hand was shaking as he raised it to knock. There wasn’t any sort of response to his knock. He called out a word that didn’t sound like any word Kait had ever heard before. There was still no response. He called again. Again, there was nothing. He called again. Everything remained silent. He called out another word. After a moment he turned around.
“I don’t know any other words that would be appropriate. I called ‘hello’ and ‘please.’ I only know words you would say to a servant.”
“Let’s try another house, come on.” Connor turned away, heading for the next closest hillside. He waited beside the door for Aiden.
They went through the process all over again with the same response. They slowly made their way through the village, stopping at every door. The hillside closest to the village exit was a bit farther apart from all the others. As they were walking toward it they saw a couple pale forms standing in the snow. The smaller of the two had long, pale hair that lifted in the breeze. Even in the weak sunlight the reflection of the light cast a soft halo glow around their heads. Connor beamed in their direction.
“See, it is working.” He quickened his pace toward the pair. This time he kept himself in check and didn’t start running.
The smaller of the two clung to the other, already backing away. Connor slowed but didn’t stop. The pair started backing away together, their movements jerky. Connor looked back at Aiden. He didn’t have to say anything. Aiden stepped forward. He called out those unfamiliar words again. The taller of the two, the man, stood up straighter. The woman kept trying to pull him away. For a moment Aiden and the man stared at each other. Finally the man backed away with the woman. They disappeared almost immediately even though Kait didn’t see them go into any of the hills. Connor walked back to where the others were waiting.
“That seemed mildly helpful,” he said.
“More than mildly, I would say,” Bryan said. “I don’t think we need to go knocking on that last door. Let’s go back to camp. We’ll try again tomorrow. It won’t do any good to push these people too much. They probably aren’t used to seeing outsiders.”
They walked in a cluster back to their camp. It was still a bit early for dinner. Connor and Kait sat down to continue their lesson while Bryan and Aiden went off to care for the horses. They continued working until it was time to make dinner. Kait sat down by the fire with the materials for the meal. Connor walked over to Bryan and Aiden, complaining about how hungry he was and how he didn’t think he would be able to make it until dinnertime.
“Did you see them?” Aiden asked quietly as he sat down beside Kait.
She looked over at him, smiling. “See who?”
“The people in the village.”
“I did.”
“They’re like me. They’re pale, like me.”
Her smile broadened. “Of course they are. So are all the people in Esna. Didn’t you notice all those people in Latopolis?”
“I did, but this is even more real. I don’t have any connection to these people, not like I do in Esna. Maybe I’m not a monster.”
“No, you aren’t. I’ve been telling you that. There’s nothing wrong with you, there never has been. The color of your skin is completely normal. Connor and I don’t have exactly the same skin tone and we’re from the same country.”
“I know. I’ve become so accustomed to hearing the people in Denara tell me I’m a freak and a monster.”
“They’re wrong, they always have been.”
“I’ve been trying to get it through my head. I know you’re right, but it doesn’t seem to want to stick.”
“Seeing these people helped.”
He nodded.
She smiled again. “Good.”
The rest of their evening was completely normal. Kait and Aiden went on their nightly walk after her lesson with Connor. Since they had been sitting around more than usual that day they stayed out on their walk a little longer than normal. When Bryan and Connor went to sleep they pretended to go to sleep as well. Kait kept peeking around at Bryan and Connor until she was sure they were asleep. As she sat up slowly she could hear Aiden doing the same. He crept over to her bed, watching Bryan. She took his hand as he sat down beside her
What are we doing tonight? he asked.
Magic, of course. I’ve been thinking about it, I’m sure this is going to work.
He grinned. I know we’re doing magic. What exactly are we doing?
I’m going to do magic then pass it to you. I’m not sure if it will work with my magic but I’m sure it will work if I pull your power. I want to try with mine first.
Whatever you think is best, I’m ready.
She raised a hand in front of her with her palm facing toward Aiden. She concentrated on the space just in front of her hand. A glowing orb of pale white power the color of moonlight appeared there. It slowly turned and twisted in the air. I want you to try to take it.
What do I do?
Put your hand up like mine. If this works, it will go with you.
He mirrored the movements she had made. He cupped his hand with the ball of power between their hands. Kait waited a moment before she started to pull her hand away. At first, the orb stayed behind with Aiden’s hand. Unexpectedly the orb dropped to the ground between them. For a moment it glowed in a little puddle. It faded as it soaked into the ground.
I guess this means it didn’t work.
No, sorry. Don’t give up yet. I want to try again using your power. I’m sure it’s going to work this time.
He nodded. Do I have to do anything to give you access to my power?
No, just stay relaxed.
I’m ready, then.
She reached into him, pulling his power. There was so much of it sitting there completely unused. She wished she could understand why Aiden couldn’t do magic. He was obviously meant to do very powerful magic. She needed to find out what was stopping him. She was very careful not to take too much of his power. She didn’t need much to test her theory and she didn’t want to hurt herself. She felt a euphoric sense of weightlessness she hadn’t felt the last time she tapped his power. She felt like she could fly if she wanted to. This time when she created the ball of power it was a pale golden color. It was much brighter and spun faster. A gentle warmth was emanating from it. Without needing to be told, Aiden raised his hand. Before he was even ready for it the ball of power started drifting toward him. It floated in his cupped palm, slowly getting brighter. Kait waited several moments before closing her hand with his. For an instant her hand got hot. She felt the power rush back through her into Aiden. It left her heart pounding and she was breathing a little more quickly than normal.
There was a completely astonished look on Aiden’s face. That was my power, wasn’t it?
It was.
It felt like it. I could tell it belonged to me, like I should have been doing magic all along.
You very clearly have the ability in you.
I still can’t use it on my own. Will you please use it? That’s the only way I’ll get to feel it. He looked so hopeful.
She didn’t want him to lose the feel of his magic, he was so happy to finally feel it. She was sure it helped him feel like less of an outsider in the Light. It confirmed for him that there really was power in him. She nodded. I’ll do it, but we have to be careful. It would be very easy for me to take too much from you and hurt us.
Is there something I can do to keep that from happening?
She looked at him thoughtfully. Maybe, I’ll have to think about it. For now, we should probably go to bed.
He glanced over at Bryan. Okay, good night.
Good night.
Kait didn’t want to check on the Shadows that night. The euphoric feeling from Aiden’s power was still lingering. She didn’t want to ruin that. She debated putting it off until morning. She usually woke up early enough that she could check while the others were still sleeping. She would have laid down to sleep if she hadn’t remembered what happened at the fall festival. Being caught sleeping by the Shadows would be one of the worst things that could happen. She didn’t want to risk that. She took several moments to calm herself. She tried to push aside the floating feeling. When she felt mostly back to normal she reached out with her senses, aided by her power. She made herself search just as thoroughly as she had every night before. She even took a little extra time to push herself a little bit farther. She still didn’t feel the Shadows.
She laid down pleased with herself for having the will-power to make herself search for the Shadows instead of waiting until morning. She could still faintly feel the sense of weightlessness. She fell asleep feeling like she was floating just above the ground.
Kait snapped to a sitting position, her heart racing in a way that was completely opposite from what she felt while using Aiden’s power. She was shaking all over, tears running down her cheeks. She felt like she might be sick at any moment. There was a sense of wrongness all around her. Her stomach was twisting in knots. Bryan was suddenly at her side, wrapping a comforting arm around her.
“Kaitlyn, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head, the tears still flowing.
He tightened his arm, trying to still her shaking. “Talk to me. I can’t help you unless you do. What’s wrong?”
“They’re coming,” she gasped. “There’s so many of them. They’re angry, very angry.” The words were tumbling out of her mouth without her thinking about what she was saying. She knew they were true.
He grabbed her firmly with both hands. “Who’s coming? Kaitlyn, are the Shadows coming after us?”
She nodded as her face crumpled. She felt like she had just woken up from a horrible nightmare where she had watched everyone die. Except what she had woken up to wasn’t much better. True, they were all still alive but the Shadows were coming after them with a furious vengeance. Bryan wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “We’ll take care of it, we’ll be okay.”
Her body shook even more as she cried harder. She didn’t usually break down so easily. This time she couldn’t seem to control herself. As her crying started to slow, Bryan pulled back from her enough to see her face.
“I promise we’ll be okay.”
She nodded.
“Can you tell me how close they are?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been doing scans for them every night. I’ve been trying to stretch my ability so I can feel them from farther away. I didn’t feel them before I went to sleep.”
“So they aren’t close, we’ve got time to do what we need to get done.”
“They’re coming fast. They’re very angry they didn’t know we were up here.”
He looked up behind her. “Aiden, come sit with her. Connor, you and I will figure out what to do.”
Kait turned around as she wiped away her tears. Connor and Aiden were watching her with wide, worried eyes. As Bryan moved away, Aiden sat down beside her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Sorry about this. It woke me up like a nightmare. I didn’t have a chance to collect myself.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” He put an arm around her. “We’ve all woken up from nightmares like this before. It’s worse for you now because what you woke up to sounds pretty bad. Don’t worry, though. The two of them will figure out what to do.” He nodded in the direction of where Bryan and Connor were standing.
The two looked deep in conversation. Bryan wasn’t paying any attention to Kait, something he never did when she and Aiden were within eyesight.
“We don’t have many options,” she said quietly. “Somehow we need to find out how to get into the caves, find the Shield, and get back to the Fortress before the Shadows catch us. That’s all we have to do.”
“No. We have to do that later. Right now, try to go back to sleep. You’ll feel better after you’ve slept. Let us worry about this for now.”
She started to pull away from him. “No, I should help. I can sleep when the rest of you sleep.”
Aiden tightened his arm around her, pinning her against his side. “No, you can help later. You’ve already done the biggest part by warning us. Take a break and let us do something.”
She knew Aiden’s arm was stronger than hers. She knew if he didn’t want to let her go she wasn’t going anywhere. She relaxed against him. “Just this once because you have me at a disadvantage.”
He smiled. “What’s that?”
“You’re stronger than me.”
His smile broadened. “Try to sleep. There will be plenty to do tomorrow.”
“You’re right, of course.”
They both sat without saying anything. Kait watched the fire as it crackled soothingly. Slowly, her eyelids started drooping again. She hadn’t thought she would be tired again any time soon. She didn’t fight it. She let her eyes close without worrying anymore about what was going on around her.
Chapter 21
“King Jonathan’s scouts were right, this doesn’t look like a town anymore,” Bryan said as he jumped down from the wagon.
“It probably wouldn’t even be considered a town in Namaria,” Connor said. He stepped away from the wagon, looking around. “I hope there are still people here. I need to talk to them. Someone has to tell me how to get into the caves.”
Kait stepped up beside him. “It probably isn’t a random person you’ll need to talk to.”
“There’s also the problem of none of us speaking the language,” Bryan added. “This is a really small town. They probably haven’t had any contact with people from other countries. That means they aren’t going to speak our language. Aiden, have you learned any of Esna’s language?”
“Only a few words. Most people use the common language. It’s easier with so many people coming and going.”
“A few words are better than nothing. Hopefully they’ll recognize your words as a language similar to their own. It also helps that you look like them.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that said about me.”
Kait looked back at Aiden. There was a pleased look on his face.
“Let’s take a walk around the town,” Connor said. “Maybe when the people see we aren’t leaving they’ll come out of their houses.”
“I’ll stay here to start on camp,” Bryan called. “I’m not comfortable leaving the horses alone yet.”
“You’re staying here?” Kait asked in disbelief. She couldn’t believe he was letting her go off in someplace completely unfamiliar without him.
“Yes, and if you don’t want me to make you stay too, you’ll promise not to do anything rash and you’ll stay out of trouble.”
“Of course.”
He looked to Aiden. “You better make sure she does.”
Aiden nodded, a hint of fear in his eyes.
“Good, now go. I won’t get everything done by myself any time soon.”
“I am starting to get hungry,” Connor said.
“That doesn’t surprise anyone. Go on.”
Connor was the first to start walking into the town. Aiden waited for Kait. She was still a bit stunned that Bryan was staying behind. She didn’t start moving until he was unpacking the wagon. Even when she did start walking away she kept looking back. He was steadily working on their camp without paying any attention to her. Once she passed through the poles at the entrance to the town she hurried to catch up with Connor. Aiden was right behind her.
As they drew level with the first wooden door set into the hillside Connor slowed his pace. There weren’t any windows for them to watch. Kait could see a small square cut into the door toward the top. It was closed, like everything else. There wasn’t any noise other than what they were making. If they hadn’t been sent by Connor’s vision Kait would have thought the town was abandoned. There had to be people hiding somewhere. They wouldn’t have been sent to an empty town.
“It’s starting to feel a bit like we’re back in Hermonthus,” Aiden said lowly.
“Except without the ghosts,” Kait said. “I don’t feel any ghosts.”
“That’s a good thing,” Connor said. “I don’t ever want to deal with ghosts again, especially those ghosts.”
“You may not have to deal with ghosts again but you’re task is only going to continue to get more dangerous. The closer you get to the end of your search, the harder the Shadows will try to stop you.”
“I do know that but I try not to think about it.” He grinned at her. “I’d like to live in my little world of denial for as long as I can.”
She rolled her eyes at him as she shook her head.
Ahead of them was a wooden structure. The shape of it resembled a small house. It was the same height as Connor with a pointed roof like houses they were used to seeing. It was completely open and was only a couple feet around. Connor leaned in to see what it was. When he leaned back out he was smiling.
“It’s a well. Anyone thirsty?” He cranked the handle hidden under the eaves of the roof. The bucket slowly rose from the bottom of the well. He took a sip from the dipper before passing it on to Kait. “That water is absolutely freezing.”
She took a sip of the water. It was so cold it made her teeth hurt. She passed the dipper on to Aiden. “I’m not sure what else you were expecting,” she said to Connor. “We should get some water for camp. I could make something resembling fresh food with this water.”
“That would be wonderful. We’ll have to go back to camp first.”
Aiden looked around the still empty town. “It doesn’t look like being out here right now is doing any good. We might as well go help Bryan with the camp.”
Kait kept a look out for people on the way back to the wagon. Everything was the same as the first time they walked through. The little cutouts in all the door stayed closed. The town was completely silent. She kept expecting to see people peeking out at them. She knew she would be curious about strangers wandering through her front yard but the doors stayed firmly closed. When they got back to the camp Bryan was just laying out all their bedding. He already had a good sized fire going. Connor grabbed the water skin from the back of the wagon. Even though she wanted to go with him back to the well, Kait let him and Aiden go while she stayed behind. She knew it had taken an incredible amount of self control for Bryan to let her go into the town without him. She needed to do the same. She needed to let Aiden go with Connor without her. He was trying to hide what he was just as much as her.
They returned without any problems. While Kait made their dinner, Aiden sat with her telling her how they had gone through the town just as easily as the first time. They thought they heard people moving around just out of sight but whenever they looked, they didn’t see anyone. The longer they stayed in the village the more silent it became until it was absolutely silent like the first time. She could tell just by looking at Connor that he was a bit discouraged. His shoulders were tense and there was a slight furrow on his brow. She knew he wouldn’t say anything, not yet. When he sat down on his bedding to eat his dinner the furrow was gone but his shoulders were still tense.
That night Kait and Aiden stayed up after everyone else to experiment with magic again. Kait knew they wouldn’t be able to stay awake as late that night. They didn’t have the luxury of resting in the wagon during the next day. She only tried getting Aiden to sense the presence of the Light for a few moments. If she had more time she would have liked to keep working on it. Instead, she wanted to try something else. She took Aiden’s hand as she gave him an encouraging smile.
Maybe it’s just your power that’s blocked. Maybe you can use mine.
Don’t you need it?
Not right at this moment. I want to try this to see if it works. It may help later.
What do I do?
Start by being calm and relaxing, that’s the first thing all new magic students have to learn. When I squeeze your hand I want you to think about creating a light. Picture yourself doing it. When you can see yourself doing it, snap your fingers. I’ll do the rest.
He nodded. He stared blankly in the direction of the fire. His breathing slowed to a peaceful rhythm. When his hand loosened around hers, Kait gave his hand a little squeeze. His face stayed blank. He didn’t move for so long she was a little afraid he hadn’t felt it. She was ready and waiting for him. Her power was completely unguarded so that whenever he was ready, he should pull on her power without any effort. She was just getting ready to squeeze his hand again when his other hand slowly lifted into the air. As soon as he snapped his fingers she felt a little tug in her stomach. He had successfully tapped her power. He hadn’t, however, created a light.
He blinked several times rapidly trying to clear his head. He looked at his raised hand. Nothing happened.
She smiled at him. In case you haven’t realized from watching all of Connor’s lessons, you don’t always succeed at a spell the first time.
Except that’s nothing new for me.
You pulled on my power. That’s a step in the right direction.
His eyes got wide. I did?
Yes. Do you want to try again?
He glanced over at Bryan who still looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Maybe just one more time. I don’t want to stay up too late this time.
Go ahead when you’re ready.
His face went blank again. This time she didn’t have to squeeze his hand. When he snapped his fingers she again felt the tug in her stomach of him pulling on her power. He still didn’t create a light. He dropped his head in disappointment. She leaned against him, squeezing his hand.
Don’t give up yet, I still have more ideas. Do you want to try again tomorrow?
He nodded less than enthusiastically. Sure. Good night.
Kait stayed up for only a little while longer to do her nightly search for the Shadows. Now that she wasn’t having to split her time between the Shadows and the unknown thing in the north she was able to satisfy herself relatively quickly. She stretched her ability a little farther than she had the night before. She still couldn’t feel any trace of the Shadows. She went to sleep confident they didn’t have to worry about the Shadows for at least another day.
The next morning after they were all bundled up, all four set off into the village. Snow had fallen again over the night. There weren’t any footprints to know if anyone had come out of their houses after they had gone back to camp. Everything was exactly as it had been the day before. All the doors were closed tightly, all the cutouts in the doors weren’t cracked even the slightest bit, and no smoke rolled from the chimneys. Kait hadn’t smelled any smoke while they had been at their camp during the night. The people must be cold. She couldn’t imagine going an entire day without a fire for cooking and warmth especially so far north.
“It’s too quiet here,” Bryan said lowly, looking around. “It’s too much like Hermonthus.”
“That’s what I said,” Aiden said. “It’s not natural.”
“There aren’t any ghosts hiding around here,” Kait said. “You don’t have to worry about that. Even if there were ghosts around, Connor’s visions haven’t told us we need the ghosts to continue. I wouldn’t be talking to any of them.”
“You wouldn’t be doing anything else with them either,” Bryan threatened. “No possessions, you won’t be letting them talk through you -”
She put a placating hand on his arm. “I know, don’t worry. I already told you, I don’t feel anything here.”
“I want to be the first to know about it if you do.”
“Of course.” She smiled at him. “Don’t worry so much.”
“You don’t make it that easy.”
“It’s plenty easy, just give it a try.”
He rolled his eyes at her.
They wandered through the village. They found a total of five houses built into hillsides. Kait was curious about what the insides of the houses looked like. As they were making their way back toward the well from the back of the village Connor froze mid-step. The others clustered around him.
“What is it?” Kait whispered.
“I’m positive I heard something ahead of us.”
“Didn’t you think you heard something yesterday too?”
“Yeah, I thought I did. Today I’m positive.”
“We’ll be careful not to startle whoever it is. We need to keep moving forward.”
He nodded in agreement.
They all started walking again, much more cautiously this time. They were all on edge. Kait couldn’t feel anything wrong with whatever was ahead of them. It wasn’t bad, whatever it was. They rounded the last bend between them and the well. Ahead of them, walking toward the well, were two children. They both had the same pale skin and hair as Aiden. They each had a hand on the handle of the bucket between them. They were swinging it as they walked toward the well. The four stood absolutely still, waiting to see what the children would do. At first, they continued toward the well. They stopped abruptly when they were close enough that Kait could see they both had pale blue eyes. Their eyes were wide, completely terrified.
“Hello,” Connor called tentatively with a slight smile on his face.
The two children jumped backward, dropping the bucket. They clung to each other.
He held up his hands in what was supposed to be a gesture letting them know he wouldn’t hurt them. “It’s okay -”
They ran off in the other direction.
“Wait!”
The children ran even harder.
Connor ran after them, undoubtedly without thinking. “Please wait!”
Kait reached out a hand toward him. Luckily for her he wasn’t as good at breaking down her barriers as he was at creating them. He slowed to a stop even though he still looked like he was running after them. He stood for a moment watching the children run around behind one of the hill houses. He walked back to the others with his head hanging.
“You cannot go chasing children through their village,” she said reproachfully with her arms crossed over her chest.
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“Let’s go get something to eat. We can come back this afternoon. Maybe we can get in a quick magic lesson before coming back out. We need to let those poor children recover.”
His face brightened. “Okay.”
They hurried back to their campsite without any other distractions. Connor didn’t seem to be paying any attention to his surroundings anymore. Kait didn’t stop watching what was going on around them even though there wasn’t anything to see. All the doors stayed shut. She didn’t see anyone peeking around the edges of any of the houses. She didn’t hear anything either.
They stayed at their camp for a while after they finished eating. While Connor and Kait had a short magic lesson Bryan and Aiden laid down on their bedding. Bryan was the one to finally suggest they go back into the village. They bundled back up before trooping through the deepening snow. Their tracks, and those made by the running children, were still the only ones in the snow. They stopped near the well. If anything could be considered the center of the village, this spot was it.
“There’s obviously people here,” Bryan said, turning in a slow circle. “Maybe we should just start knocking on doors. They aren’t coming out to us, maybe we should go to them. It might not help any but nothing else is happening.”
“Aiden, would you mind doing it?” Connor asked. “You said you know a few words, maybe it will help to start us off.”
Aiden looked nervous. “Sure.” He looked to Kait, questioning.
She took his hand. “Let’s go. I’ll help you. I don’t know any of the language yet but I pick up languages pretty quickly.”
They started toward the closest doorway. Aiden’s hand was shaking as he raised it to knock. There wasn’t any sort of response to his knock. He called out a word that didn’t sound like any word Kait had ever heard before. There was still no response. He called again. Again, there was nothing. He called again. Everything remained silent. He called out another word. After a moment he turned around.
“I don’t know any other words that would be appropriate. I called ‘hello’ and ‘please.’ I only know words you would say to a servant.”
“Let’s try another house, come on.” Connor turned away, heading for the next closest hillside. He waited beside the door for Aiden.
They went through the process all over again with the same response. They slowly made their way through the village, stopping at every door. The hillside closest to the village exit was a bit farther apart from all the others. As they were walking toward it they saw a couple pale forms standing in the snow. The smaller of the two had long, pale hair that lifted in the breeze. Even in the weak sunlight the reflection of the light cast a soft halo glow around their heads. Connor beamed in their direction.
“See, it is working.” He quickened his pace toward the pair. This time he kept himself in check and didn’t start running.
The smaller of the two clung to the other, already backing away. Connor slowed but didn’t stop. The pair started backing away together, their movements jerky. Connor looked back at Aiden. He didn’t have to say anything. Aiden stepped forward. He called out those unfamiliar words again. The taller of the two, the man, stood up straighter. The woman kept trying to pull him away. For a moment Aiden and the man stared at each other. Finally the man backed away with the woman. They disappeared almost immediately even though Kait didn’t see them go into any of the hills. Connor walked back to where the others were waiting.
“That seemed mildly helpful,” he said.
“More than mildly, I would say,” Bryan said. “I don’t think we need to go knocking on that last door. Let’s go back to camp. We’ll try again tomorrow. It won’t do any good to push these people too much. They probably aren’t used to seeing outsiders.”
They walked in a cluster back to their camp. It was still a bit early for dinner. Connor and Kait sat down to continue their lesson while Bryan and Aiden went off to care for the horses. They continued working until it was time to make dinner. Kait sat down by the fire with the materials for the meal. Connor walked over to Bryan and Aiden, complaining about how hungry he was and how he didn’t think he would be able to make it until dinnertime.
“Did you see them?” Aiden asked quietly as he sat down beside Kait.
She looked over at him, smiling. “See who?”
“The people in the village.”
“I did.”
“They’re like me. They’re pale, like me.”
Her smile broadened. “Of course they are. So are all the people in Esna. Didn’t you notice all those people in Latopolis?”
“I did, but this is even more real. I don’t have any connection to these people, not like I do in Esna. Maybe I’m not a monster.”
“No, you aren’t. I’ve been telling you that. There’s nothing wrong with you, there never has been. The color of your skin is completely normal. Connor and I don’t have exactly the same skin tone and we’re from the same country.”
“I know. I’ve become so accustomed to hearing the people in Denara tell me I’m a freak and a monster.”
“They’re wrong, they always have been.”
“I’ve been trying to get it through my head. I know you’re right, but it doesn’t seem to want to stick.”
“Seeing these people helped.”
He nodded.
She smiled again. “Good.”
The rest of their evening was completely normal. Kait and Aiden went on their nightly walk after her lesson with Connor. Since they had been sitting around more than usual that day they stayed out on their walk a little longer than normal. When Bryan and Connor went to sleep they pretended to go to sleep as well. Kait kept peeking around at Bryan and Connor until she was sure they were asleep. As she sat up slowly she could hear Aiden doing the same. He crept over to her bed, watching Bryan. She took his hand as he sat down beside her
What are we doing tonight? he asked.
Magic, of course. I’ve been thinking about it, I’m sure this is going to work.
He grinned. I know we’re doing magic. What exactly are we doing?
I’m going to do magic then pass it to you. I’m not sure if it will work with my magic but I’m sure it will work if I pull your power. I want to try with mine first.
Whatever you think is best, I’m ready.
She raised a hand in front of her with her palm facing toward Aiden. She concentrated on the space just in front of her hand. A glowing orb of pale white power the color of moonlight appeared there. It slowly turned and twisted in the air. I want you to try to take it.
What do I do?
Put your hand up like mine. If this works, it will go with you.
He mirrored the movements she had made. He cupped his hand with the ball of power between their hands. Kait waited a moment before she started to pull her hand away. At first, the orb stayed behind with Aiden’s hand. Unexpectedly the orb dropped to the ground between them. For a moment it glowed in a little puddle. It faded as it soaked into the ground.
I guess this means it didn’t work.
No, sorry. Don’t give up yet. I want to try again using your power. I’m sure it’s going to work this time.
He nodded. Do I have to do anything to give you access to my power?
No, just stay relaxed.
I’m ready, then.
She reached into him, pulling his power. There was so much of it sitting there completely unused. She wished she could understand why Aiden couldn’t do magic. He was obviously meant to do very powerful magic. She needed to find out what was stopping him. She was very careful not to take too much of his power. She didn’t need much to test her theory and she didn’t want to hurt herself. She felt a euphoric sense of weightlessness she hadn’t felt the last time she tapped his power. She felt like she could fly if she wanted to. This time when she created the ball of power it was a pale golden color. It was much brighter and spun faster. A gentle warmth was emanating from it. Without needing to be told, Aiden raised his hand. Before he was even ready for it the ball of power started drifting toward him. It floated in his cupped palm, slowly getting brighter. Kait waited several moments before closing her hand with his. For an instant her hand got hot. She felt the power rush back through her into Aiden. It left her heart pounding and she was breathing a little more quickly than normal.
There was a completely astonished look on Aiden’s face. That was my power, wasn’t it?
It was.
It felt like it. I could tell it belonged to me, like I should have been doing magic all along.
You very clearly have the ability in you.
I still can’t use it on my own. Will you please use it? That’s the only way I’ll get to feel it. He looked so hopeful.
She didn’t want him to lose the feel of his magic, he was so happy to finally feel it. She was sure it helped him feel like less of an outsider in the Light. It confirmed for him that there really was power in him. She nodded. I’ll do it, but we have to be careful. It would be very easy for me to take too much from you and hurt us.
Is there something I can do to keep that from happening?
She looked at him thoughtfully. Maybe, I’ll have to think about it. For now, we should probably go to bed.
He glanced over at Bryan. Okay, good night.
Good night.
Kait didn’t want to check on the Shadows that night. The euphoric feeling from Aiden’s power was still lingering. She didn’t want to ruin that. She debated putting it off until morning. She usually woke up early enough that she could check while the others were still sleeping. She would have laid down to sleep if she hadn’t remembered what happened at the fall festival. Being caught sleeping by the Shadows would be one of the worst things that could happen. She didn’t want to risk that. She took several moments to calm herself. She tried to push aside the floating feeling. When she felt mostly back to normal she reached out with her senses, aided by her power. She made herself search just as thoroughly as she had every night before. She even took a little extra time to push herself a little bit farther. She still didn’t feel the Shadows.
She laid down pleased with herself for having the will-power to make herself search for the Shadows instead of waiting until morning. She could still faintly feel the sense of weightlessness. She fell asleep feeling like she was floating just above the ground.
Kait snapped to a sitting position, her heart racing in a way that was completely opposite from what she felt while using Aiden’s power. She was shaking all over, tears running down her cheeks. She felt like she might be sick at any moment. There was a sense of wrongness all around her. Her stomach was twisting in knots. Bryan was suddenly at her side, wrapping a comforting arm around her.
“Kaitlyn, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head, the tears still flowing.
He tightened his arm, trying to still her shaking. “Talk to me. I can’t help you unless you do. What’s wrong?”
“They’re coming,” she gasped. “There’s so many of them. They’re angry, very angry.” The words were tumbling out of her mouth without her thinking about what she was saying. She knew they were true.
He grabbed her firmly with both hands. “Who’s coming? Kaitlyn, are the Shadows coming after us?”
She nodded as her face crumpled. She felt like she had just woken up from a horrible nightmare where she had watched everyone die. Except what she had woken up to wasn’t much better. True, they were all still alive but the Shadows were coming after them with a furious vengeance. Bryan wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “We’ll take care of it, we’ll be okay.”
Her body shook even more as she cried harder. She didn’t usually break down so easily. This time she couldn’t seem to control herself. As her crying started to slow, Bryan pulled back from her enough to see her face.
“I promise we’ll be okay.”
She nodded.
“Can you tell me how close they are?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been doing scans for them every night. I’ve been trying to stretch my ability so I can feel them from farther away. I didn’t feel them before I went to sleep.”
“So they aren’t close, we’ve got time to do what we need to get done.”
“They’re coming fast. They’re very angry they didn’t know we were up here.”
He looked up behind her. “Aiden, come sit with her. Connor, you and I will figure out what to do.”
Kait turned around as she wiped away her tears. Connor and Aiden were watching her with wide, worried eyes. As Bryan moved away, Aiden sat down beside her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Sorry about this. It woke me up like a nightmare. I didn’t have a chance to collect myself.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” He put an arm around her. “We’ve all woken up from nightmares like this before. It’s worse for you now because what you woke up to sounds pretty bad. Don’t worry, though. The two of them will figure out what to do.” He nodded in the direction of where Bryan and Connor were standing.
The two looked deep in conversation. Bryan wasn’t paying any attention to Kait, something he never did when she and Aiden were within eyesight.
“We don’t have many options,” she said quietly. “Somehow we need to find out how to get into the caves, find the Shield, and get back to the Fortress before the Shadows catch us. That’s all we have to do.”
“No. We have to do that later. Right now, try to go back to sleep. You’ll feel better after you’ve slept. Let us worry about this for now.”
She started to pull away from him. “No, I should help. I can sleep when the rest of you sleep.”
Aiden tightened his arm around her, pinning her against his side. “No, you can help later. You’ve already done the biggest part by warning us. Take a break and let us do something.”
She knew Aiden’s arm was stronger than hers. She knew if he didn’t want to let her go she wasn’t going anywhere. She relaxed against him. “Just this once because you have me at a disadvantage.”
He smiled. “What’s that?”
“You’re stronger than me.”
His smile broadened. “Try to sleep. There will be plenty to do tomorrow.”
“You’re right, of course.”
They both sat without saying anything. Kait watched the fire as it crackled soothingly. Slowly, her eyelids started drooping again. She hadn’t thought she would be tired again any time soon. She didn’t fight it. She let her eyes close without worrying anymore about what was going on around her.
Chapter 21