The General furrowed his brow, trying to remember what her great-grandmother had said just minutes previous. He shook his head with a confused look across his face.
“I . . . I can’t recall, Alois,” he admitted while rubbing his temples as if the inability to recall the exchange caused him a headache.
It was then that the girl noticed the rune drawn onto the General’s cheek with her great-grandmother’s blood. The girl allowed herself a smile. Even in the face of death, her great-grandmother was sneaky and clever. The rune would prohibit the General from accessing the information given to him until a certain time as designated by the rune’s creator. It was a beautiful thing, really.
Alois seemed to consider the General’s words for a moment before nodding his head. “You speak the truth, old friend.” The General let out anoticeable breath at that admission before rolling his shoulders and stepping away from the circle on the floor. The soldiers also visibly relaxed when they noticed that their General was unharmed.
The girl took note of that action—there was more loyalty to the General than there was to Alois. She could use that.
Her great-grandmother knelt on the outside of the stone circle before lifting her head to the soldiers at the wall. “Could one of you remove my granddaughter’s body, please? I will need this space to access what your lord so desires.” The soldiers gazed about nervously, none making a move toward the Matriarch until the General spoke up.
“Zaire. You have a full Air crystal on you, yes?”
One of the soldiers, a blond boy who couldn’t have been much older than the girl, gave a curt nod before grasping something in his pocket.
“Please, aid the Matriarch,” the General said as he gestured toward the body.
Zaire stepped away from the wall and approached where her great-grandmother sat before reaching a hand in front of him. Pale, almost translucent wisps gathered in his palms before they sprang from his hands and gently twined around her mother’s body, carefully lifting it and carrying it across the room to rest against the wall nearest the alcove the girl was currently inside.
Zaire released his hold on the element, and the air seemed to quiet once more. There was a slight sweat on his brow, indicating that the act took some effort on his part. He stood back in line with the soldiers, wiping at his sweaty face, the spent crystal lying dark and drained on the floor. Alois came and stood in front of him, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Crystals can only store so much power for you. It will get easier once you Bond a Vessel and have unfettered access to your element,” he encouraged. Zaire nodded his head and Alois clapped him on the shoulder once more before standing next to the General, behind the girl’s great-grandmother.
Her great-grandmother took one last lingering look at the girl’s mother before releasing a breath. She turned her attention to the stone circle of runes, quickly highlighting a pattern with her bloody hand that even the girl had trouble tracking. As soon as her movements stilled, a grating noise came from the floor as the middle portion began to retract. The Matriarchpushed herself from the ground as a small circular pedestal rose, a book resting atop.
The girl cocked her head, confused by the sight.
On top of the pedestal was a plain book bound in worn leather, not much larger than a pocket journal. There was nothing extraordinary about it, no waves of power, no otherworldly eminence. Nothing.
Realization slowly dawned on the girl and a wicked smile spread across her face.
Clever woman.
The Matriarch grabbed her cane before leaning heavily on it, looking more tired than the girl had ever seen.
As soon as the floor stopped moving and the book was visible, Alois moved with confident strides and scooped it from its resting place. A look of excitement crossed his face and the air vibrated in anticipation. He wrenched the cover open and began shuffling through the pages.
As he flipped through the book, his eyebrows drew together and his initial look of excitement passed quickly into confusion, then anger. He paged through the book faster and more aggressively until he reached the end and snapped it closed.
“What is this trickery?” he shouted at the Matriarch, gesturing wildly at her with the book.
Her great-grandmother smiled. A true genuine smile.
“The book will only write itself once there are no more Keepers who can access Solace. As long as my bloodline is alive, that book will stay empty, and you will not be able to access the knowledge you seek. The other artifacts will remain hidden, as they should.”
The look on the Warlord’s face was purely murderous.
“Kill her,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
When no one moved to follow their lord’s order, he screamed again, “Kill her!”
This time two soldiers shook themselves from their stupor against the wall and cautiously approached her great-grandmother, drawing swords as they went.
The girl’s breaths started to come faster as she watched the scene unfold. Sheknewwhat was going to happen. When she touched that life light she knew she would see the deaths of her mother and great-grandmother. But now that the time had come to say goodbye to the last of her family, she realized she was not as prepared as she originally thought. She reached out a hand to her great-grandmother and time seemed to slow, then stop.
Her great-grandmother turned her head toward where the girl was standing and smiled sadly at her.
“It is time,” she whispered, her eyes never straying from the girl’s. “Remember what I told you. Remember what happened here today. Remember us.” The scene started moving slowly again, as if time were righting itself once more. “The next part will be painful. You must survive it. Youmustbecome better from it.”
