Zain chuckled, and both he and Alex turned back to Kyia who was still rubbing her temples.
“What a mess,” Kyia said, sighing. “If what you’re saying is true and you really are the human who led to Aven’s desire for vengeance against mortals, then I can see why Aes Daega made us forget you.”
“If we’d recognised you, there’s no doubt someone would have stopped you from travelling back through time,” Zain agreed. “You would have been killed the moment you first stepped foot in Meya.”
Kyia was shaking her head. “No. If I’d known who you were and what you’d done, I likely would have put an arrow through your heart when I first discovered you in Raelia.”
Alex couldn’t keep her face from flashing with shock—and hurt.
“I’m sorry,” Kyia said quietly, placing her hand on Alex’s uninjured leg and offering a squeeze of comfort. “Of course I mean you no harm now. You are as much a victim in all this as the rest of us. I merely wanted to point out that if knowledge of your past identity was to be made public, we might have trouble rallying the remaining Meyarins to our cause. There’s no way we can tell anyone else about this.”
“I can’t think of a reason why anyone but you two and Roka would have to know,” Alex said. “I wasn’t even going to tell you both, but I couldn’t stand the idea of lying to you.”
“You would have also had a hard time explaining how you managed to free Jordan,” Zain said. “I still have trouble believing that part of your recount.”
Thinking about her friend who was trying so hard to act like nothing had happened to him, Alex only said, “I don’t blame you.”
After a weighty pause, Kyia clapped her hands together once and announced, “Very well. Let’s choose to see this as a good thing.”
Raising one eyebrow, Zain said, “How so?”
“For starters,” Kyia said, “Alex won’t need anywhere near as much training if Roka spent time teaching her how to fight in the past.”
It took a great deal of effort for Alex to keep her face blank, and she only managed to do so for Niyx’s continued safety. Her Meyarin friends had to believe as her human friends did—that Roka was solely responsible for her current level of competence.
“By her account, Alex only spent a few weeks with us in the past,” Zain argued to Kyia. “She’ll still have much to learn if she wants to have a chance of surviving Aven—not to mention, his Claimed Zeltora.”
“We’re focusing on the positives here, Zain,” Kyia ground out.
Alex bit her cheek to keep from laughing at the female Meyarin’s lethal glare.
Zain raised his hands in apology, the corner of his lip twitching. “Positives. Very well. She’s partly trained and has fully embraced the Meyarin blood in her veins. What else?”
“She can speak fluent Meyarin,” Kyia said.
Zain nodded and added, “She’s seen a vision of the future so she knows what to watch for and the kinds of preparations we need to carry out.”
“She’s also spent time with Aven—intimate time—and had the chance to get inside his head,” Kyia said, causing Alex to wince at her word choice, since ‘intimate’ wasn’t quite how she would have described their relationship, at least from her end. “That could benefit her in their future confrontations.”
“But he doesn’t remember her,” Zain pointed out. “Not as Aeylia.”
Sick of them talking about her as if she were no longer present, Alex said, “Guys, I’m right here. Quit with the ‘she’ business.”
“We’re brainstorming,” Zain said. “No offence is intended, but when discussing strategy, it helps to keep it impersonal.”
“Just… don’t leave me out of the conversation.”
“You’re welcome to jump in at any time,” Kyia said.
“Let’s talk about where we go from here,” Zain suggested, redirecting their conversation.
“I know we were all somewhat… out of it… the last time you were here,” Kyia said to Alex, her eyes flicking sorrowfully towards the curtains hiding Roka, “but we did hear the plan you proposed. I trust that you’re still intending to warn the other races as well as strengthen your gift?”
Alex nodded. “I met with the human leaders this morning—the king and queen and their closest military and royal advisors. It didn’t go very well, but it wasn’t awful, either. They’re going to take extra precautions and wait to see if Aven will act. While they’re doing that, I’ll be off sharing what I know with the other races, and hopefully they’ll be willing to consider forming an allied defence.” She didn’t mention that she hadn’t exactly been given permission to do that. “And as for my gift, I’m hoping to learn more about how I can develop it sometime later today.”
Kyia made a sound of approval but thankfully didn’t press Alex for any details.
“Then we won’t keep you much longer,” Kyia said, “since that’s one of your highest priorities right now. When the time comes to act, you must be ready.”
No pressure, Alex thought, her shoulders slumping.
“For our part,” Zain jumped in, “unless Roka was a miracle worker in the past, you’ll still need more training. Kyia and I will work out a schedule for when and where we can meet.”
Knowing that Niyx intended to continue working with Alex once he figured out how to sneak away from Meya, she was about to decline the offer, especially since neither Kyia nor Zain should be leaving Roka unattended for long periods of time. But she snapped her mouth shut at the last second, remembering they couldn’t know about her spying friend.
“That, um, sounds good,” Alex said, hoping her hesitation came off as apprehension rather than reluctance.
Zain grinned at her. “Don’t worry, little human. We won’t go easy on you, but we won’t kill you, either.”
Alex pulled a face. “What a relief.”
Even Kyia managed a quiet laugh, a heartening sound given how devastated Alex knew she was.
“How’s your leg?” Kyia asked. “Do you think you can put weight on it and return through your Library doorway?”
“The laendra helped a lot,” Alex said, rising to her feet with only a slight wince as the throbbing in her wound reawakened. “I won’t be running any marathons today, but I’ll survive until I get back to see Fletcher.”
“I only wish I had enough to help you heal completely,” Kyia said, standing as well.
Alex almost said, ‘Next time’, but she didn’t want Kyia to start demanding more promises from her, so she remained silent.
“I’ll escort her,” Kyia said to Zain. “Just to make sure none of the others try anything like Gaiel did.”
Eugh. The last thing Alex wanted or needed was to get in another fight on her way back to the academy. As it was, Fletcher was not going to be pleased that she’d been stabbed.
… Again.
After bidding Zain farewell, Alex limped out of the tent. She expected to hobble to the doorway, but she’d forgotten that she was amongst Meyarins again, and Kyia saved her the additional hurt by sweeping her up in the Valispath, quietly asking for directions to where the doorway was located.
As they moved rather slowly through the settlement—but much faster and less painfully than walking would have been—Alex noted the curious and sometimes furious eyes watching her. Seeing them, she asked Kyia how the Meyarins were adapting to their new conditions, but the answer wasn’t positive. Not at all.
When the Valispath finally came to a stop at Alex’s earlier entry point, she didn’t hesitate to recall the doorway. Just as she was about to step through, Kyia reached for her arm.
“I don’t know how you’re managing to keep it together, Alex,” the Meyarin said, her voice hushed enough that no other immortal ears would be able to hear. “The burden on your shoulders—I can’t imagine what that must feel like. And I know it must seem as if we expect a lot from you, as if we expect that you alone will have to face Aven. But that’s not true.”
Kyia’s brilliant emerald eyes flared w
ith an inner light as she continued, “You’re not alone in this, Alex. Whatever the future brings, whatever you have to face to see this through, we will be with you every step of the way. I swear by the stars that we will not leave you to fight this war on your own.”
Alex had to blink back tears at Kyia’s steadfast declaration. To keep from curling into a ball and sobbing from the unyielding burden that she did indeed feel weighing heavily on her, Alex instead leaned in and wrapped her arms around her Meyarin friend.
“Thank you, Kyia,” she whispered. “That means more than you can know.”
Kyia held her tightly for a moment before pulling back, quickly swiping under her own eyes as she did so. “You’d better go, especially if you’re still supposed to learn something about your gift.”
“I don’t even know how that’s going to happen,” Alex said carefully, her tone revealing her frustration. “I feel as unbalanced as when I’m dealing with Lady Mystique who pops up out of the blue, leaving me to navigate her riddles and ‘sage advice’—none of which I understand until after the fact.” Scratching her chin, she went on to ask, “Speaking of, have you seen her much this week? Has she come by to check on Roka?”
Kyia shook her head. “Aven has his best trackers hunting her, so Aes Daega has been forced into hiding. It’s unlikely we’ll see her again until she is confident she can avoid capture. And there is nothing she can do for Roka right now, anyway.”
The thought of Lady Mystique being on the run from Aven distressed Alex, but she knew the ancient Tia Auran was capable of looking after herself—and in doing so, keeping Aven from exploiting her ability to open the abrassa through time. Alex felt certain she would resurface again—but only when she was ready.
“Next time you visit, we’ll have that training plan for you,” Kyia said. “And hopefully a better idea of what more we can do from up here to help with everything happening on the ground.”
“Take care of Roka,” Alex said in return, and when Kyia offered a smile and a nod of agreement, Alex limped through the open doorway and back to the Library’s corridor of doors.
Only… that’s not where she ended up. Because with a dizzying swirl of colour mid-journey, Alex was transported somewhere else entirely.
Seven
Exhaling with a groan, all Alex could do was mutter an irritated, “Not again.”
At least this time she wasn’t stranded in the middle of a forest, so that was something. She also wasn’t near any kind of camouflaging bushes, so that meant no hidden Hyroas lying in wait to tear her apart. Also a bonus. But that didn’t mean her new location wasn’t without its own challenges. Because as far as her eyes could see, she was completely surrounded by water.
And deep water, if its dark colouring was any indication.
“On the list of weird stuff that has happened to me, I wish I could say this was at the top,” Alex grumbled as she tried to balance on the dinner plate-sized floating stone she stood upon—the only solid surface in sight. “But sadly, it’s not.”
Leaning her weight forward and hastily back again as her stone started tipping, Alex wobbled to and fro for a few breathless moments before she was stable again, her injured leg throbbing in protest.
With her arms out to steady herself, she slowly crouched down to the water’s edge, her thigh screaming at the wound-inflaming move. When she was close enough, she reached out her fingers, hoping to discover some kind of illusion. But when her hand came away wet, Alex knew she was fresh out of luck.
Rising painfully again, Alex had one last idea up her sleeve that helped stave off her panic. It was possible she had been transported to a room in the Library similar to her parents’ ancient environment. If that were the case, she’d be able to call forth a doorway and leave in an instant. If, however, she had been transported to somewhere else in Medora, that would be problematic, since she couldn’t call back a doorway that she’d never technically created. She’d intended to go straight back to Akarnae, not this… place.
With a silent plea, Alex tried to summon a door.
… And her shoulders drooped when nothing happened. Wherever she was, she actually was.
“Finn’s water survival skills did not prepare me for something like this,” she muttered, pivoting carefully on her rock and squinting into the distance. Not even her Meyarin sight could pick up anything on the horizon. Even if she were willing to risk going for a swim, there was no way for her to know which direction to head in. She’d be travelling blind.
Just when she decided that perhaps her only means of escape was to use one of the two walks left in her Shadow Ring—something she was loath to do, having not enjoyed the experience the first time—a cloaked figure materialised before her.
With a startled scream and a reflexive jump, Alex overbalanced and tumbled straight into the water.
She noticed two things almost immediately.
The first was that it was cold. As in, nearly bone-shatteringly cold. The second, perhaps worse, was that it was salt water, causing her stab wound to flare up as if Kyia were pouring the antidote onto it all over again.
Blinded by the renewed agony and freezing from the temperature, Alex couldn’t yet pay any mind to the cloaked figure who stood still and silent above the now lightly rippling waves. Her sole focus was on getting out of the water.
Shaking, gasping and spluttering, it took Alex an exasperating number of attempts before she was able to heave herself up onto the narrow rock and keep it balanced under her weight.
Chilled to her core and dripping rivulets of water, Alex panted heavily as she slowly managed to rise from her crouched position and up to her feet.
“It is a pity you fell,” said the figure, a male voice being the only identifying feature. That, and he was tall—very tall. “This will be much more challenging for you now.”
There was no compassion in his bland tone. He might have been commenting on the colour of the sky, for all the inflection there was in his voice.
“Wh-Who are y-y-you?” Alex managed between chattering teeth.
“I am here to see if you are worthy of my time, Alexandra Jennings.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “Y-Y-You’re C-Caspar Le-Lennox’s f-friend?”
“Friend is an inaccurate descriptor,” the man said in his monotonous voice. “But for the purposes of this conversation, yes, I am acquainted with the Shadow Walker. And yes, that is why I am here, when there are many things I would prefer to be doing right now. None of which include taking on new students, least of all one not of this world.”
“H-H-How do you know w-where I’m from?” she asked, seeing no point in denying her origins, since the cloaked figure obviously had some kind of power. Not only had he redirected her Library doorway, but he’d also appeared out of nowhere and was currently standing on the water’s surface as if it were solid ground.
“It matters not what I know,” he said, an impatient edge to his voice now. “As far as you’re concerned, all that matters is what comes next.”
He held out his gloved hand and a glass materialised between his fingers, filled almost to the brim with what appeared to be crystal clear water.
“Take it,” he said, passing it to her.
Fingers wet and shaking, Alex was barely able to keep her grip on the glass.
“Now, hold it at a distance.”
Brow furrowing, she stretched out her arm, the rock under her feet wobbling in the water at her repositioning.
“Your task is simple,” the man said. “Do not spill anything.”
“What?” Alex asked, pleased that she was able to get the word out without stammering. Her body was still frozen, but her blood was slowly pumping heat back through her veins.
“If a single drop falls into the lake, you will have failed,” he told her. “And if you fail, you shall never see me again.”
Alex gaped at him. “You’re joking, right?”
Silence was his only response, enough to show how serious he was.
?
??How long am I supposed to stay like this?” she demanded, the water in the glass already dangerously close to spilling thanks to her shivering body—which was thankfully beginning to settle, if slowly.
“There are three phases to this test,” he said, ignoring her question. “This is the first phase. If you manage to complete it, you’ll move on to the second. Remember, not a drop.”
And with that warning, he disappeared.
Cursing under her breath, and then not so much under her breath, Alex took stock of her situation.
When it came down to it, she could give the metaphorical finger to the cloaked man, toss the stupid glass of water, and activate her Shadow Ring to get the hell out of there. But he might be the only person who could help her strengthen her gift enough to save the world. So while she longed to throw the water into his face, she instead decided to play along with his task.
If it was a game he wanted, it was a game he would get. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t invent her own rules.
Carefully going back over everything he’d said to her, Alex was confident that she had found what Niyx would call a loophole.
Crossing the fingers of her free hand and desperately hoping she wasn’t about to unintentionally disqualify herself, Alex drew the glass to her lips, guzzling down every last drop of water.
The moment she was done, the figure appeared again, but this time she was prepared enough that she didn’t topple back into the lake.
“Explain yourself.”
Two words, neither giving Alex any indication as to whether she had just ruined all chances of him helping her.
“You told me I’d fail if I spilled a drop into the lake.” She jiggled the empty glass. “There’s no possibility of me doing that now.”
Alex wanted to raise her thumb to her nose and wiggle her fingers while sing-songing a mocking ‘nah-nah-na-naaah-nah’, but she thought that might be pushing it.
Once again, the silence stretched on between them.
“Faster than anticipated,” he finally said in a gruff, yet somehow still monotonous voice. Alex wondered if that was what passed as praise until he continued, “I’m not sure whether you’re impatient and careless, or cunning and courageous. Either way, what you did was impudent without knowing more. You’re fortunate the glass only contained water.”