Twenty-Seven
The next night found Alex walking out of the forest beside Jordan after finishing a Stealth and Subterfuge class where Hunter had tested their camouflage skills. Along with their other classmates, they were covered in all kinds of forest gunk, from mud to crusted bits of bark—and everything in between—and their hair was wet with unidentifiable ick from smooshing dirtied snow onto their heads.
Bounding happily along before them was Soraya, the Shadow Wolf having rarely left Alex’s side over the last few days. The only times Alex ordered her to stay away were during classes—other than SAS, where there was plenty of room for the wolf to run free—and when she trained with Athora at night. Surprisingly, Soraya obeyed and didn’t use her shadowing ability to stalk Alex unless she somehow knew it was at a time she could do so—which, unfathomably, the wolf always knew. The rest of the time, Soraya was glued to Alex’s side, including during her sessions with Niyx each morning—something he found both hilarious and exasperating.
After just five days, the Shadow Wolf was most definitely no longer a puppy, already reaching past the height of Alex’s hip. Every day Alex woke up, she had to resist the urge to scream out ‘Demon hound!’ at just how much the puppy had grown. But before she could panic, Soraya would give a happy bark and jump all over Alex, acting as if her awakening was the most wonderful thing in the world.
Other than scaring the stuffing out of the other students—like when Soraya burst into the food court in a cloud of lightning-strewn darkness—the wolf was a delight to have around. Her intelligence was beyond anything Alex could comprehend. Just that morning Alex had been running late for her Medical Science class and frustratingly cried out, “Where the hell is my textbook?” while rushing around her room. Not three seconds later, Soraya trotted over with the heavy book between her teeth.
Somehow Alex had managed again to not shriek about having a possessed dog, and instead she’d given Soraya an appreciative rub and sprinted off to class.
The wolf was, quite simply, magical. And if Alex had any desire at all to keep her sanity intact, she knew she just had to accept that and roll with it.
It wasn’t like it was a hardship, after all. And now looking at the ecstatic puppy-but-so-not-a-puppy leaping through the snowdrifts with unreserved joy, Alex couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
All the same, she slowed her pace to allow the rest of their SAS classmates to pull ahead and quietly took advantage of the opportunity—and the privacy—to turn to Jordan.
Somehow she was able to not laugh at the streaks of muck all over his face, and as they slowly walked along, she said, “I feel like I haven’t been alone with you for ages. How are you doing?”
Jordan peered at her carefully. “You’re not going to start crying again, are you?”
She rolled her eyes, but given her breakdown last Saturday night, his concerns were justified. She had been a tad emotional. “No tears this time. Promise.”
He sent her a slight, somewhat reflective smile and said, “In that case… If you’d asked me a fortnight ago, I probably would have lied and told you I was good. That I was moving on. But you would also have known I was lying.”
His words, while upsetting, weren’t surprising. He had certainly tried to act like everything was okay. Even if he hadn’t quite pulled it off.
“That’s why it’s so crazy that I can actually say that truthfully now,” Jordan continued, both his expression and his voice amazed. “It’s like… as impossible as it sounds, I am okay. I am good. Or—I’m getting there, at least, which is more than I thought would ever be possible.”
His awe remained visible as they trudged through the snow, following the path Soraya cleared for them with her leaps and bounds.
“I had nightmares that whole first week,” he admitted quietly, and suddenly Alex understood the reasons for his and D.C.’s late night visits to the lake. “Horrible nightmares that made me wake up screaming. I scared the life out of Bear. But—and I know it hasn’t been long—but it’s like time has helped. Every day that I wake up in control of my mind is a reminder that I’m me again. That I have control over my body, over my life, and Aven can’t get to me anymore. There’s strength in that. And I feel like if I dwell on what happened, then I’d still be giving him power over me. Power that I will never allow him to take again.”
Jordan shrugged off his intensity and finished, this time grinning widely, “Plus, having a hot girlfriend for when I need a distraction is an added bonus.”
A laugh escaped Alex and she gave Jordan a playful shove, his last words proving more than anything else that he truly was as okay as he claimed to be.
“While I doubt Dix would appreciate being labelled as ‘hot’ or a ‘distraction’, I’m glad you have her, and I’m glad you’re doing so well,” Alex told him. Her voice gentled as she added, “I’m really proud of you, Jordan.”
Pulling her close as they walked, he smiled down at her. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Alex. My life changed for the better the day Bear and I found you in the forest. You know that, right?”
Warmth spread through her at his kind words, and she whispered, “My life changed for the better that day, too.”
Jordan, surprisingly, snorted. “Wasn’t that when you first met Aven?”
Alex made a choking sound of laughter and corrected, “Okay, so most of my life changed for the worse that day, but some parts changed for the better.”
“Ah, the relentless balance of life,” Jordan reflected. “We can’t know good without first knowing bad, we can’t see anything without first being blind, we can’t feel heat until we’ve been cold, we can’t hear sound until it breaks the silence, we can’t hold—”
“Is this going to last a while?” Alex interrupted when it appeared like he was going to continue being a walking, talking fortune cookie.
Frowning at her, Jordan said, “You cut into my monologue. People pay for that kind of wisdom.”
“People should get their money back,” Alex said bluntly.
Thankfully they reached the dorm building then, and they parted ways before Jordan had a chance to argue—or, worse, continue soliloquising again.
It was in the early hours on Saturday morning when the summons came. Alex was sleeping soundly, but when Soraya started growling a deep, warning sound, she shot up in bed and gasped when she saw something move in the shadows.
“Be at ease, human,” Shirez said, quiet enough not to wake D.C. who had managed to sleep through Soraya’s warning. “I’m here to pass on a message.”
Heart pounding from the instant hit of adrenaline, Alex could only stare at the Shadow Walker while wondering what the point was of the bio-sensor security for their dorm rooms if the other races were able to come and go as they damn well pleased.
“The vatali targo has come to a completion,” Shirez said, causing Alex to sit up straighter. “A victor has been named.”
Alex’s already thumping pulse ratcheted up a notch.
“The elders have since announced publicly that the victor will face a final battle—a battle against you.” Shirez paused. “There has been much protest to this announcement.”
Alex was hardly surprised.
“The victor, however, has agreed, which has helped calm the outcry. By all accounts, it would seem as if she is eager to fight you again.”
Licking her dry lips, Alex asked, “Again?”
“The victor was Trell Roven,” Shirez said. “She was one of your combatants the other day.”
Trell—the one who had sucker punched Alex before she’d known the match had started.
With a sinking heart, Alex drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, not caring how uneasy she must look. “When do I fight her?”
“Today,” Shirez said. “Noon.”
With a shallow inhale, Alex nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Shirez nodded in return and, just as she was about to leave, quietly said, “Unlike last time, today you will use weapons. Trell Roven favours a double-bladed staff. She is one of our finest warriors.”
Alex swallowed. “I figured as much, since she beat six others to win your trials.”
“She is also overconfident, especially when it comes to you. She will not expect you to be prepared.”
Alex peered into the shadowy corner where Shirez stood as still as a statue. “Why are you telling me this? Why tell me what weapon she will use?”
“Knowledge is power, Alexandra Jennings,” came the Shadow Walker’s barely audible reply. “And you will need every advantage you can get.”
A moment later, the shadows rose and Shirez was gone.
Middle of the night or not, Alex drew back her covers and pulled herself out of bed, hushing Soraya when she gave a low whine and a pointed yawn.
Niyx? Alex called, then louder when, for the first time ever, it was she who got to wake him. Not surprising, given the time.
Kit’n, s’three ’n th’mornin’, came his grumpy, slurred reply.
I’m really sorry, she said, moving to her wardrobe and grabbing her warmest outdoor gear. But I need your help.
Shirez was right: knowledge was power. And knowing the kind of weapon Trell would be using was a great advantage indeed. So, despite the early hour, when Niyx heard that Alex’s battle was scheduled for noon that coming day, he swept in to collect her.
Hours went by as they sparred relentlessly, Niyx attacking her with a staff and Alex trying out different weapons against him. In the end, while she had more power in her strikes when she too fought with a staff, she was more comfortable with A’enara in her hands and needed to be as confident as possible during her fight. Her magical blade rarely let her down; there was no other weapon she would trust to help her in the coming battle.
As the sun began to rise across the horizon, easily admired from their position atop Mount Paedris, Niyx brought their session to an end.
They still had plenty of time left before Alex was due at Graevale, and she told him as much.
“You need to rest,” he replied, tossing her a pouch full of mixed berries and a flask of warmed laendra. “It won’t do you any good to wear yourself out before your match.”
Throwing back some of the fruit and chasing it with the heated nectar, Alex said, “I’ll be running on adrenaline anyway. Might as well make sure I’m as prepared as I can be.”
“Kitten, you are,” Niyx said firmly. “You won our last three rounds, and I’d have the cuts and bruises to show you if I hadn’t just drunk my weight in laendra.”
Alex winced in apology, since she had nicked him a few times. And by ‘nicked’, she meant stabbed, sliced and very nearly gutted him.
Her Meyarin friend deserved a medal for being such a good sport. He hadn’t even protested when Soraya had eventually decided to join them and, at Alex’s request, ran around their legs to make their sparring more challenging than it already was. He’d actually encouraged the wolf, instructing her on how to be the most distracting to Alex. Soraya had thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the team and now lay panting in the snow, waiting to see if they would start fighting again.
“The only way you could be more prepared is with months, even years, of additional time,” Niyx went on. “And that’s something you don’t have. But what you do have are keen reflexes, strong intuition, practised skills and natural talent.” He reached out and tilted her head up to his. “Your opponent might have her shadowing ability to her advantage, but on every other level, you can more than hold your own. And if you manage to pull off Aes Daega’s plan with your Shadow Ring, then you not only have a chance at winning, you almost have a guarantee of it.”
His faith was like a balm against her fears, but still Alex whispered, “If I don’t win—”
“Then we’ll come up with another plan,” Niyx interrupted firmly, even though he knew more than most how important it was for Graevale to stand with them. “Don’t think about it—just focus on the fight, not on what might or might not come afterwards. One step at a time, kitten.”
Alex exhaled and nodded, grabbing another handful of berries while desperately wishing they were chocolate.
“For now, we need to get you back to the academy,” Niyx said. “You need to get warm and do something relaxing for a few hours, maybe take a nap if you think you can.” He swiped the berry pouch from her to steal some of the fruit. “Do you know how you’re getting to Graevale?”
Alex shrugged. “I’ve been with you since I found out about the fight. I presume Caspar Lennox will have heard by the time I get back, so he might offer to give me a ride. But…”
“But?”
“I’m guessing Jordan, Bear and Dix will want to come for moral support,” Alex said. “In which case, we’ll go through the Library.” Deliberately this time, rather than by accident like she’d done the other day.
“Careful with that,” Niyx warned. “Remember that the Shadow Walkers won’t be thrilled to have one human amongst them, let alone three more.”
Raising her chin, Alex said, “They can suck it up.”
Niyx laughed. “Dare you to say that to the elders.”
Alex cringed at the thought, her courage only going so far.
“Come on, my brave little lioness,” Niyx said affectionately, moving closer to activate the Valispath around them. “Let’s get you home.”
Soraya took off before they did in a burst of shadow and light. Every time Alex saw her do that, she was amazed anew by the wolf’s antithetical ability. She looked forward to when the puppy-not-puppy was grown enough to take her along for the ride—something Niyx believed would be any day now, since Soraya’s head currently reached above Alex’s stomach. A few more inches and she’d be considered a fully developed Shadow Wolf.
My baby’s growing up so fast, Alex thought with amusement as she and Niyx moved impossibly fast towards the academy.
As per normal, the Valispath began to slow as the Ezera Forest came to an end and the campus spread out before them. Their speed, while still swift, was now leisurely enough for them to see three early Saturday risers wandering the campus.
The first was Fletcher, who was walking from the food court to the Med Ward, presumably having just eaten his breakfast and now readying himself for a day of treating patients.
The second was Administrator Jarvis, who was sitting on a blanket by the lake with a steaming mug and book in hand.
The third Alex didn’t see until they were soaring over the archery fields, but there was no mistaking her Meyarin instructor getting in some early morning practice while no one was around to witness just how far she could shoot.
Watching her teacher, Alex realised she’d never told Niyx about Maggie leaving Meya to adopt the guise of ‘Aeylia’. She wondered if he’d known the female Meyarin back then, considering her brother was one of Aven’s early Garseth.
She opened her mouth to share what she’d learned as they moved swiftly overhead, too fast for a human to notice. But since Maggie was Meyarin, she looked up right as Niyx glanced down, and all Alex managed to say was, “Hey, did you know that—”, before the Valispath dissolved around them and both she and Niyx tumbled out of the sky.
Fortunately, they hadn’t been cruising too high and they also managed to fall onto a thick snowdrift, but Alex was still painfully winded and had to lay motionless on the ground as she fought to get her breath back.
“What the hell, Niyx?” she wheezed when she could finally draw air into her lungs. The only way they could have fallen was from an extreme lapse in his concentration, but she was shocked that with his experience such a thing had happened.
Turning her head, she realised she wasn’t the only one who was shocked—Niyx was wide-eyed on the ground beside her, and the white-faced Maggie stood above him…
… with an arrow drawn and pointed at his heart.
Niyx slowly raised his hands, showing he was unarmed. But the action didn’t cause Maggie to relax; she tensed even more, her aim unwavering.
Still slightly winded, the little air Alex had managed to inhale froze in her chest and she hurriedly said, “Maggie, it’s okay. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but he’s one of the good guys.”
If Maggie had been alienated from Meya for so many years and the only Meyarin she’d seen in that time was Aven, who she’d hidden from, then the first contact she would have had was when Zain arrived. As a teaching assistant to Karter, he would have crossed paths with the Archery instructor and likely caught her up on a number of things, including updating her on Meya’s history. But just how informed Maggie’s current knowledge was, Alex wasn’t sure—including whether or not she’d heard the lie about Niyx killing King Astophe.
“I can assure you, Alex, this filthy traitor is not one of the ‘good guys’,” Maggie hissed, her normally tanned skin paling further with every word.
Alex had never seen her instructor so on edge, so close to losing control.
Shifting into a position much easier to spring from at a moment’s notice, Alex said, “Maggie, please. Just listen to me. Niyx is—”
“I know exactly who he is,” Maggie cut in harshly. “And what he’s done.”
“No, you only think you do,” Alex said, edging slowly closer to her silent friend. “Why don’t you put the bow down and we can explain?”
Maggie didn’t move except to tighten her grip.
Do you want to maybe jump in here? Alex said to Niyx, but he didn’t respond. When she cast her gaze to him, he was still frozen in what appeared to be a paralysed state of shock.
“I don’t want to hear an explanation.” Maggie’s grey eyes were a blazing quicksilver. “He’s one of Aven’s most loyal Garseth and he has been for thousands of years. Nothing he says can be trusted, which means nothing you say can be trusted, since everything he’s ever told you would have been a lie.”
“Maggie, come on, please think,” Alex begged. “Aes Daega told you I was in the past”—at that, Niyx gave a surprised jolt—“and with Niyx being close to the royal family, I spent time with him back then. We became friends.” Of a sort, at least, since they’d certainly had a few hiccups along the way. “Then and now he’s been training me to fight against Aven.”
When Alex saw that her words weren’t getting through, she quietly but firmly added, “You’ve been living here all these years as a fake ‘Aeylia’ to protect me”—Niyx gave another jolt, this one much fiercer—“but you weren’t the only one who sacrificed their life for me. Niyx did the same, rotting away in Taevarg for a crime he never committed, just so he’d be in a position to act when the time came for him to do so.”
The bowstring was pulled tighter as Maggie spat, “You’re a fool if you believe that.”
“I thought you were dead.”
Five barely audible words had Alex frowning at Niyx in confusion. If anything, his shock had only increased during their short but intense conversation.
“They told me you were dead,” he whispered, still staring at Maggie like she was a ghost.
The silence lasted so long that Alex didn’t think Maggie was going to reply. But then she did.
“To them, I was,” Maggie said. “Just as you were to me. Just as you are to me.”
Niyx flinched at her harsh words, the hurt on his face scoring across Alex like the lash of a whip.
What’s happening here? Alex called out to him. How do you know each other?
Again, he didn’t respond.
“I wondered, you know,” Maggie said, her voice almost too low to hear. “Over the years, I wondered if there had been a mistake. I knew it was wishful thinking, but there were times when I hoped—” She stopped abruptly and looked away for a fraction of a second as if to gather herself. Her eyes were like shards of silvery ice when she turned back to him. “Then I heard you had escaped Taevarg and the first thing you did was kill our king, all in the name of that beast you call a friend. You disgust me.” She pulled in a ragged breath. “If I could have one wish, it would be that you had been killed all those years ago. Prison was too good for the likes of you.”
Seeing the raw pain on Niyx’s face, Alex refused to hear any more. She leapt between them, placing herself in the path of Maggie’s arrow, and hissed, “That’s enough, Maggie. You have no idea what you’re talking about. If you only knew—”
“Kitten, it’s okay,” Niyx said quietly from behind her. “Mayra has more reason than most to hate me.”
Alex stilled and turned back to look at him before repeating, “Mayra?”
Niyx’s eyes didn’t leave Maggie’s, but he did answer Alex, shocking the air out of her once again when he said, “Mayra Raedon. My sister.”