The Dark

CHAPTER Twenty-two



Arkarian


Sera is ecstatic, jumping up and down with child-like excitement, squealing, ‘They’re here! They’re here! I’m going to be free, free, free!’ She spins and skips in a wide circle round and round the large room until she gets dizzy and falls in a heap near my feet. Sitting up, she holds her head until the dizziness eases, then grins up at me, simply euphoric.

I wish I could feel the same enthusiasm. But their journey is not going to be easy. For starters, I’ve seen some of the creatures that live here – the part-human, part-bird, part-animal called wren. I’ve seen how loyal they are to Marduke. And if Ethan and Isabel do get as far as the lake that surrounds Obsidian Island, how will they cross it? Not to mention how severely disadvantaged the Guard is in their absence. Lathenia’s probably rubbing her hands together just at the thought of Veridian in a weakened state. I don’t want to imagine what chaos she’s planning.

I drag myself out of my chair, and stoke the fire to try and rid this place of some of its miserable freezing air. But even this small effort has cost me. I drop back into my chair with a heaving cough. Blood surges into my mouth along with bile. I spit the mixture into the clay bowl Sera provided me with for this same purpose. It’s now three quarters full.

Sera puts her hand partly through my knee. ‘Not long now, and she will heal you.’

But I think I could already be too far gone, even for Isabel to heal. My kidneys have ceased working altogether, and fluid is gathering in every one of my cells. I have limited time left before I die of blood poisoning. There’s a very real possibility I will never see Isabel or Ethan again. If only there were some way I could guide or protect them. I try feeling their presence as Sera can, but I’m left with nothing but emptiness. I’m still powerless, something I haven’t experienced since my days as a youth in France. I feel like only half a person – less. Anger surges through me. I have to do something!

‘Look there!’ Sera calls from the doorway. She can’t see anything, she’s just so excited at the idea that at last her dreams are coming true, that she can’t keep still.

Turning from the door she returns with a bowl of green mush and a cup of water. ‘It’s snowing outside. Do you think they thought to bring proper clothing? I don’t want my brother to die of exposure before he finds me.’

I stir the mush, wondering what on earth it could be. Taking a mouthful I have to wash it down with the cupful of water. For a second it takes my breath away. I hand the bowl back, thanking her. ‘Is it possible for you to go and find Ethan yourself, and bring him here? It’s not like you’re chained to this place.’

‘But I can’t fly. That’s the only way off this island.’

‘No, it can’t be.’

‘This island is my prison.’

‘But how? I was brought here, why wouldn’t you or I be able to leave the same way?’

‘You were brought here in a steel-bottomed boat.’

She’s right. I remember the icy feel of that steel on my skin. ‘What’s wrong with the water, Sera?’

‘It’s not water, Arkarian. That’s the whole problem. That lake is acid.’

Acid? Oh no! How are Ethan and Isabel going to get across a lake of acid? And what other difficulties will they have to deal with to get to this point? ‘Sera, they’re in so much danger here. Tell them to go back. Maybe they still have a chance before the rift closes and they lose sight of its position. Tell them, Sera. Tell your brother to go back.’

Sera stands up and stomps both feet. ‘No. I will not! They will all be here soon!’

Her mentioning the word ‘all’ stops any other thoughts. It sets my heart thumping hard. Surely no more than two of them are here? ‘Tell me, Sera, how many have come through?’

She thinks for a second. ‘There are three.’

‘Three! No! Why three?’

I’m not really asking Sera. I just can’t believe three of them are out there risking their lives. She doesn’t reply anyway, just lifts her small shoulders.

‘Do you know who they are? Can you see them?’

‘Well, there’s my brother. And there’s the girl who loves him.’

Her persistence on this point rattles me like an irritating stone stuck in my boot. ‘How do you know Isabel is in love with Ethan?’

Her head tilts towards her right shoulder while her eyes, in fact her whole face, acquires a dream-like state. ‘I have a strong sense of it when I connect with the girl. They have a special bond.’

‘Friendship can be a special bond.’

‘It’s more than that,’ she says, irritating me no end.

‘Affection can appear like love, while it’s really nothing more than a deep friendship.’

‘It’s definitely love I feel between them.’

An anger rushes through me that will not go away. ‘This love you’re sensing, you’re mistaking it for the love someone feels for a sibling.’

‘I may not know much about love,’ she admits in a soft voice. ‘But I remember how my father loved my mother, and how she loved him back. And I remember how my brother used to follow me everywhere, even though we fought all the time. That was love too, but different.’

Her words have the effect of dissolving the aggression inside me. How much of life has she missed? Not just the love of her brother, and parents, but also as a member of the Guard? As I look at her, sitting and staring into the fireplace, the glow against her pale skin making her look almost mortal, I feel nothing but compassion for what could have been. While death has kept her imprisoned in a child’s body and mind, the force of her strong character can’t help but break through. She would have been one of the Guard’s great ones.

As I sit and contemplate what can never be, the identity of this third person gnaws at my brain. Just who could it be? Shaun? Or Jimmy maybe? It wouldn’t be Marcus Carter; more than likely he would be the one to replace me. ‘You said there were three of them. Ethan and Isabel are two. Who is this third?’

Resting her chin on her knees she appears to meditate. ‘I don’t know,’ she finally replies. ‘I can’t feel anything when I search for a connection. It’s as if his brain is sleeping.’

‘But you can reach Ethan and Isabel.’

‘Yes, but Ethan is vague and I get nothing out of it. The girl’s much more receptive.’

‘Can you connect with Isabel and find out through her who this third traveller is?’

She shrugs. ‘I don’t think so. We can’t talk to each other like we’re having a conversation.’

I think about this talent Sera has, a skill she’s worked hard at developing. She’s done well considering she’s had no formal training. It makes me wonder how Isabel is doing in developing her skill. I doubt she understands the potential for what it could become just yet. I wish I could be the one to teach her. But any level of psychic connection right now could be a tremendous advantage to the travelling trio. With Sera’s help, perhaps some dangers could be avoided. And maybe Sera’s dreams of release will finally come true. ‘Sera, tell me everything you see and feel when you connect with Isabel.’

‘Why?’ she asks in her child-like innocence.

I take her hand, telling her exactly what she needs to hear to make her want to work with me. ‘So that we can guide your brother straight to us.’