Arbiter (The Arbiter Chronicles Book 1) (16 page)

The mountain pass loomed in front of them, dark and unforgiving. The three of them stopped at its entrance, studying it. The path moved between two large mountains, the grass of Alcian’s lands climbing partway across the path before fading into dark stone. A cloud of mist hung over the pass, obscuring the tops of the mountains from view.

“You’re sure this is the right way?” asked Mika.

“I’m sure,” said Cathel, his expression grim as he studied the map. “The Shadow Queen’s lands are through there.”

Mika's frown deepened. “Well, I can see why they call her that.”

Rae said nothing, hugging her arms close to herself as she considered the path. It had been three days since she, Cathel, and Mika had left the shelter of the Ivali village. In that time, the moon phase had turned, and her powers had shifted from light to shadow. She could hide herself now, using Alcian’s Decadal Spell, but she had no idea how much of an advantage that would be against someone called the Shadow Queen.

Overhead, a crow cawed loudly, swooping over the mountains and into the pass. Cathel raised his head to stare at it, his expression darkening.

“Great,” said Mika. “As if we need anything else to set this creepy atmosphere.”

Rae gave her a pointed look before starting to walk. “You could have stayed at the village,”

Mika rolled her eyes. “As if. You wouldn’t have left me there. You just like talking about it.”

Cathel stepped forward, tapping Mika lightly on the back of the head as he passed her. “If you have time to make smart comments, you have time to go over the principles I taught you last night. I want you to tell me what you think about them when we take our next break.”

Mika made a face. “Seriously?” she asked. “I thought I was getting a break from school…”

Rae looked off to the right, hiding her amused smile as she heard Mika mutter the principles to herself anyway. Cathel had taken it upon himself to teach her magic when they stopped for the night, except unlike the magic he had been teaching Rae, Mika’s lessons were a little more intensive. Apparently, since Rae was naturally gifted by virtue of her Arbiter status and they were pressed for time she didn’t need to hear all the lectures, but Cathel treated Mika like he would treat any lazy apprentice. It was another side of him that Rae didn’t get much chance to see. In their lessons, he treated Rae like an equal, and she had managed to escape a lecture on the principles because she volunteered to read them on her own.

She looked away from the two of them, focusing on the path in front of her. Her dreams of the Reaper had stopped when they left the Ivali village, leading her to believe that it was just something brought about by the stress of seeing Cathel near death.

The Reaper couldn’t touch her here. At least, not yet.

Seventeen days…

She was seventeen days into their hunt. And although she knew that it was only a small fraction of a year, there was still a long way to go before she could say she was done. Still, they had a destination in mind now, one that they would hopefully reach with plenty of time to spare.

…And then what?

What would happen once she reached the Shard of the Star?

She would have to make a decision then. To give it to the Reaper at the end of the year, or to take it for herself and use it to fight.

“You’re a little spaced out today,” said Cathel, coming to walk beside her.

She looked up at him. “I’m fine. Just thinking. You wouldn’t happen to know what we can expect on the other side, do you?”

Cathel shook his head. “I’m most familiar with High Lord Alcian’s lands. Beyond that…I don’t know. I’d never seen Skor before. It’s entirely possible that each High Lord might enlist the help of completely different types of Ivali.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Rae.

Cathel took a deep breath, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Get your talismans ready,” he said. “I don't think we'll need it, but—.”

She nodded once, reaching into her pack for her own wrapped bundle. Rae selected a thin strip of metal, tucking it into her pocket. It settled there, and she could feel its weight as she moved.

She watched as the grass continued to fade away beside her, growing more sparsely in places and giving way to bare rock. Rae resisted the urge to turn back, holding her arms tighter against herself. Now wasn’t the time to think about the past or the future. She just had to focus on what she had to do now, and at the moment, it was finding the Shadow Queen and convincing her that Rae was someone worth helping.

She could worry about what she had to do later.

Right now, Rae had to be the Arbiter.

She looked up as they neared the mists, taking a deep breath. They rose up like a curtain, rolling down from the mountains and blanketing the path in shimmering white smoke. The grass was almost gone now, leaving nothing but rocks in its place. She, Cathel, and Mika stopped in front of the curtain of mist, staring at it.

Rae hesitated, then stepped through. It felt like walking through cold water, and she shuddered, feeling the mist surround her before slowly trailing away and allowing warmth to come back to her limbs. Ahead of her, the way was misty and barren, the sunlight barely reaching down through the thick curtain of white.

They were firmly in the Shadow Queen’s lands now. They were in uncharted waters.

And there was no turning back.

#

They had been walking for about an hour before Rae began to get the first inkling that something was wrong. 

It started as just a feeling, a persistent gust of cold wind that seemed to fill the pass, blowing over the group and sending goose bumps prickling up and down her arms. Shifting shadows began to become more and more noticeable, and she occasionally found herself turning her head to look at a figure she had seen that was no longer there. Occasionally, she would glance at Cathel and Mika to see if they noticed something, but Mika looked as bored as she normally was after an extended walk, and Cathel had no more than the usual amount of caution on his face. The realization made her shiver. It definitely wasn’t the first time she had seen something that no one else could see, but it was the first time something like this had happened in the Twilight Realm.

She really didn't like what that implied.

Her hand drifted over the pocket where she held her talisman. She wondered if she was simply being paranoid. After all, the years that she had spent looking over her shoulder for the Reaper had certainly made her more inclined to jump at shadows, and she was fully aware that the emotional trauma that came about from seeing the people she had grown to care about die had not left her unscarred. So maybe she was really seeing things. Maybe the darkness and barrenness of the mountain pass made her mind fill ghosts and specters in for her, because those were the things she expected to see. Maybe she was just crazy. It wouldn’t be the first time she had said or done a crazy thing.

Maybe…

But maybe she was seeing something Cathel or Mika couldn’t see. Maybe by virtue of her Arbiter position, or because of the small amount of Ivali power she had taken from Alcian, or maybe just because she had spent so much time in her life watching the shadows and taking note of the shapes they made…maybe there was
something out there, and she was leading Cathel and Mika in blissful ignorance towards a trap.

Maybe by not telling them, she was only putting their lives at risk further.

It was that thought that made her stop in her tracks, just as they reached an area where the path began to widen. The mists had grown thicker here, and the three of them were now wading through a sea of white about waist-deep. She clenched her fists, watching the shadows out of the corner of her eye.

“Cathel,” she said, making him stop as well.

He turned to face her.“What?”

“I’ve been seeing something for a while.”

Mika stopped beside Cathel, glancing at her. “…Like, the Ivali kind of seeing something, or just the ‘hey, that’s cool’ kind of seeing something?”

“I don’t know,” said Rae. “It might be nothing.”

“What’ve you been seeing?” asked Cathel, his expression growing serious. Rae turned back towards him.

“Shadows. Here and there. I’ll see something move out of the corner of my eye, look towards it, and it’ll be gone.”

Mika stared at Rae, locking her fingers together behind her neck and rocking once on the balls of her feet. “You’re probably just seeing stuff,” she said. “I mean, it’s not exactly great visibility out here...and it doesn't help that the mists make this place look like some cheap horror movie.”

Cathel glanced at Mika as if he was going to ask about the reference, but decided against it, instead addressing the topic at hand. “…Maybe it is nothing. But we’re talking about a High Lord called the Shadow Queen here.”

“Think she knows we’re here?” asked Rae.

“It would surprise me very much if she didn’t,” said Cathel. “I don’t know what it takes to sneak up on a High Lord in their own lands.”

“Alcian didn’t know about Skor,” Rae pointed out.

Cathel shrugged. “No, she didn’t. But Skor, despite being
firithan
, was still Ivali. He’s the sort of thing that would slip underneath a High Lord’s notice. You…and Mika as well—.”

“Thanks for the afterthought,” mumbled Mika under her breath, folding her arms and looking away. Cathel cleared his throat.

“You and Mika are different,” he said. “Anyone can see that. I’m guessing a human from the Daylight Realm and…well, the Arbiter aren’t exactly things a High Lord would miss. The same goes for a Dark Lord, unfortunately.”

“Great, so she knows we’re here.” Rae folded her arms. “Then she can come out to meet us, can’t she? It’ll save us some of the trouble.”

The wind whistled suddenly, picking up in speed and rushing through the narrow pass. As it reached them, it let out a keening shriek. The three of them immediately turned in the direction it was coming from, eyes wide. As it rushed past Rae, she felt it tug violently at her cloak and hair, nearly throwing her back from the force of it before it moved past them and faded away. She stared out into the pass, taking a step back.

Mika stepped back as well, her eyes wide and her arms wrapped around herself as she hunched over slightly. “You can take it back now, Rae,” she muttered under her breath, her voice seeming to have risen an octave. “You can take it back.”

Rae was sure she would if she could. Cathel’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately stepped in front of the two girls, his hand on his sword as whispers rose up from the ground of the pass in answer. When he spoke, his expression was grave. “Something’s coming.”

“U-Um…hey,” said Mika quietly from behind Rae, her voice coming out in a hurried whisper, “You know…in these movies, it’s always the loud-mouthed kid that goes first.”

“Shut it,” muttered Rae, glaring back at her as she tried to ignore the frantic beating of her own heart and the cold feeling that had suddenly spread through her body, fear settling in the pit of her stomach. “This isn’t a horror movie.”

“Oh, I know,” whispered Mika. “That’s what I tell myself so it’s less scary.”

Several ghostly figures rose up out of the mists. They were man-sized, and as Rae stared at them, she realized that they resembled warriors, men in ancient armor with swords and spears in their hands. The figures faced them, and Rae counted about ten in all, blocking the pass in front of them. They were made up entirely of mist, alternating patches of bright white and black shadow. Several of them drew swords, mists trailing behind the shapes as they rushed towards the group silently.

Cathel’s eyes widened. “Run,” he said under his breath, looking back at the girls. “Run.”

Rae turned around, placing her hand under Mika’s elbow and shoving the girl forward roughly. Mika’s eyes widened, but she seemed to get the picture, stumbling backwards before righting herself and taking off at a frightened run. Rae turned to follow, but hesitated, watching Cathel. He backed up, his sword up to block an attack, but the ghostly sword seemed to separate as it struck his blade, trails of mist flying out into the cool air. She quickly grabbed him by his elbow as  the ghostly warrior drew back his sword and pulled back, not wanting to see what would happen if the creature actually managed to land a blow. The sword passed scant inches from Cathel's face.  Rae could feel the temperature drop in the air touched by its passing.

Her eyes narrowed, and she held out her left hand, grabbing onto the twisting mass of darkness and shadow that she found there. Like she was scattering confetti at a parade, Rae flung her hand out, the shadow in it sweeping up and crashing over the spirit. It moved through the mist, and the spirit let out a loud wail as it fell back into the sea of white. Two more rose in its place, running back towards them. Rae took in a breath, stepping in front of Cathel and keeping her hands at her sides. A whirlwind of black darkness surrounded her, keeping the mists at bay. The spirits advanced, but they flowed around her shadowed area. They didn't enter it.

She took a step back, shoving Cathel back towards Mika as she kept a close eye on the spirits.

“They can’t walk where there's no mist,” she said, looking back at Cathel. “Go after Mika. I’ll hold them off!”