Arbiter (The Arbiter Chronicles Book 1) (30 page)

He looked over his shoulder again, meeting Rae’s eyes. What she saw in his own eyes transfixed her, rooting her to the spot.

“This is why I cannot allow you to insult him, Arbiter,” he said. “This
is what I am.”

“Cienn...”

She wanted to say something. She knew she had to say something after that, but the words wouldn’t come. What could she say?

He held her eyes briefly before turning away, crouching down and picking up his shirt. “I say this not so that you will pity me, or so that you will fear me, but so that you will understand,” he said, shrugging the shirt back on and hiding the mark of the
tarethan
from view. “And there is something else you must understand.”

She looked up at him again, his eyes meeting hers. She didn’t know what he saw in her expression, but whatever it was made his own expression soften somewhat, his eyes holding hers as his hands quickly buttoned up his shirt again. “The High Lord does not want you to fail,” he said. “But neither will he allow you to pass without you proving yourself. It is clear to me that you will never manage to strike him. So you should consider that there is something more to his test. Berais values more than combat skill.”

He met her eyes, and his gaze burned. “He values strength of character.”

Rae stared, watching as Cienn finished collecting himself. He offered her an elegant bow. “Good night to you, Arbiter.”

It was only after he had left and disappeared from sight that she realized what he saw in her eyes that had affected him so much.

She had been crying.

After her conversation with Cienn, it was impossible to sleep. Rae let out a small shout of frustration as she turned over in bed for what seemed like the hundredth time, grabbing her pillow in her hand and throwing it at the wall. It bounced off of the stone wall with a rather unsatisfying thud, landing in a heap on the carpeted floor. She stared at it, then sat up, running her hands over her face and pushing back her tangled hair.

It was no use. Cienn’s words were still running through her mind, along with the last bit of advice he had given her. Her mind whirled with the implications of what he had said, constant failed attempts to work out his meaning. She sighed, falling back on her remaining pillows and staring at the ceiling above her bed. Her eyes moved, tracing the swirling patterns of colored stone.

What was she doing here anyway? She wasn't a swordsman. She wasn't a warrior.

Cienn was right. She was just a sword with no purpose. She couldn't fulfill Berais's task. She couldn't do anything.

She should leave. They had wasted enough time. Forget being the Arbiter. Forget the Decadal Series. Just head straight for the Spire of the Sisters, get Kaeltharin, and be done with it.

A sharp pain tore through the back of her right hand, and Rae grimaced. She lifted her hand to her face. Alcian's mark glowed with a faint silver light. It burned slightly, tracing its way across the back of her hand in cold fire. Alcian's words still echoed in her mind. See this through to the end. She clenched her right hand into a fist, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt moisture gather up in them. Even with her eyes closed, she could see the mark, its silver lines burned into the back of her eyelids.

I'm sorry, High Lord. I can't do this.

I'm not...strong enough...

The lines flared one more time with her admission. And then they started to fade. She could feel them retreat into her skin, the heat and the light slowly fading away and leaving a frigid emptiness in its place. She could feel her Source breaking, the power she had gained shattering and fading into the night, and with it, her awareness of the world.

She could stop it. All she needed to do was say the word.

But it was better this way. Wasn't it?

Wasn't it?

Tears tracked their way down her cheeks. The mark grew fainter and fainter, continuing to fade. Her power left with each heartbeat.

And then she heard a sound.

Rae's eyes snapped open, the mark on the back of her hand flaring back into existence, and with it, her power. It rushed into her, and she breathed it in like a man saved from drowning. All of a sudden, the world became so much clearer, so much more vibrant, everything around her snapping back into sudden focus. She stared down at her hand, her eyes wide and her heart thudding in her chest as she traced the lines of Alcian's mark with a shaky finger.

What had she been about to do?

She shook her head, hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes and focusing on the sound. It had been odd, out of place in the quiet of Berais's castle. It wasn't the sound of footsteps. She would have ignored footsteps—there was always someone up and about in the Warrior's home—but this was a different sound. It had been a whooshing, whistling sound, a faint sound like the first gusts that signaled a storm. On any other day, she wouldn't have heard it. It was amazing to her that she had heard it then.

Either way, it was a sound that didn't belong here.

She glanced at her window, but the curtains remained still. The night was calm. Whatever it was hadn't come from outside. Rae closed her eyes, grabbing hold of Elrithea's gift in her mind. She expanded her senses, feeling out into the hallway. There was no mistake. Something
other
was out there, and it was moving.

Her eyes traveled across the room, landing on her sword. The blade was propped up in the corner, its dark leather sheath faintly reflecting moonlight. She felt for the presence again. Her heart thudded in her chest, her cold fingers tangling in her blankets. This time, it was just outside her door. She held her breath.

It hovered in front of her door for a moment, and she could sense its quiet regard. But a few seconds later, it turned away, continuing to creep down the hallway.

She slowly exhaled, gripping her blankets tighter. Rae's eyes moved towards the sword again.

She made a decision.

Slowly, and as stealthily as she could manage, she extricated herself from her blankets, getting up. She crept over to the far wall, reaching out and grabbing her sword. Rae took hold of it by its sheath, holding it at her left side. She placed her hand on the doorknob, pulling it open a crack and peering down the hallway.

The hallway was dark, lit only by the faint light coming from the window at one end of it, and an unnatural pale light from further on. She trailed her eyes towards it, staring at the figure that stood at the other end of the hall. It looked like it was made entirely out of swirling black smoke, a silvery white orb hovering at its center and holding it together.

She reached out with her mind again, feeling for it. At first, she felt nothing, but as her mind touched it, she felt it cautiously studying the hallway ahead of her, as though it was deciding which direction to turn in. She held her breath, tightening her grip on her sword and inching closer to the door as she prodded at it with her mind, trying to tease out its motive.

Its perception changed, and suddenly it was
very
aware of her.

Rae tensed, withdrawing her senses back into herself and quickly shutting the door, springing back into the corner. She waited for several heartbeats, her right hand on the hilt of her sword as she prepared to draw it and attack, but no attack came. Rae hesitantly stretched out her mind again, feeling out into the hallway.

The hallway was empty. The presence was gone.

She swallowed, staring down at her shaking hands. Whatever it was was clearly up to nothing good. And this was the guest wing of Berais's castle. There were only three people residing in this area.

Herself, Mika, and Cathel.

She glanced back at the moon outside and at the sword in her hand, then made her decision. Rae slid the sword out of its sheath, dropping the leather sheath to the ground and holding the hilt in her right hand. In her left, she reached for the desk drawer behind her, grabbing one of her iron talismans and holding it in her hand. She felt the runes on the strip of metal flare into life, and she tightened her grip around it, making sure to conceal it. She threw up her mental barriers, keeping Elrithea's gift locked up deep inside her mind as she reached for the shadow around her. It enveloped her, twisting around her body and concealing her and the sword in its depths. She opened the door, quietly slipping out and into the hallway.

The creature was gone, but there were only two directions where it might have disappeared of to. One was the exit, leading back into the castle proper, and the other led deeper into the guest wing, towards the other rooms. She realized with a sinking feeling that she already knew which way it had gone.

Rae stretched out her hand, summoning Larin. The wisp came, a tendril of smoky light that snaked out of her finger before growing and forming the small orb. It hovered in front of her face, awaiting orders.

“Find Berais,” she whispered, transferring the image of the creature she had seen to it. “Show him.”

As always, Larin hovered in front of her briefly, before folding into itself and disappearing from sight. Larin would find Berais quickly, and if it was anything to worry about, the Warrior would be on his way, but Rae didn't have the time to wait for him. If the creature was after Cathel, he would be alright. He could hold his own for a little bit—better than she could. But if it was after Mika...

She drew the shadow tighter around herself, creeping down the hallway after it. Just to be sure, she looked down at the exit. It wasn't there. She turned her eyes towards the hall that led to Cathel and Mika's rooms. Sure enough, the creature hovered a few feet ahead of her, pausing in front of Cathel's door. She tensed, tightening her grip on her sword as she watched it. It remained in front of Cathel's door for a few moments more, before continuing down the hallway. Rae crept along behind it, watching it.

It stopped in front of Mika's door.

Rae stopped as well, a few feet from it. She tensed, watching. The creature hovered in front of Mika's door as it had with Cathel's, studying it. It seemed to hover there for much longer than it had anywhere else, the orb at its center pulsing with faint light. It didn't move.

Move on...
she thought towards it.

The creature remained.

Move on...

Nothing happened.

Keep moving, damn you!

Rae's breath caught in her throat as the creature bobbed forward, towards the door. She looked around, but the hallway was empty. The creature reached out, a single tendril of smoke curling around the doorknob. There was no sign of Berais or his guards. The doorknob turned.

There was no time.

Rae stepped forward, dropping the cloak of shadow around her. She pulled back her left arm, shouting with effort and rage as she hurled her talisman directly at the creature's center with all her might.

There was a flash of bright light as the talisman struck the orb at its center, the runes engraved onto it flaring into life. The light was accompanied by the sound of something splintering in two, and a blast of concussive force that Rae could feel even from where she stood. She instinctively threw up her arm to guard against it, the blast of force blowing her hair back and tugging at the loose fabric of her clothes. The creature recoiled from the blow, the smoke around it seeming to dissipate outward before coalescing inward again. Her talisman glowed a final time before shattering completely, fine shards of metal peppering the hallway. Rae threw up her left hand quickly, forming a shield of shadow in front of herself. Behind it, she gripped her sword tightly in both hands, shadow twisting around the blade.

Rae ran forward as the light cleared, stabbing her shadow-infused sword directly at its center. The orb at its center pulsed, and the smoke around it reached out, twisting around her blade and catching it in the air. The smoke pushed outwards, throwing her back. Rae's eyes widened as she stumbled, crashing onto the ground. The creature immediately threw itself towards her, billows of smoke twisting into spines in the air above her. Rae pushed herself up with one arm, reaching for shadow with the other. The spines fell.

And were blocked by water.

Water rushed into the hallway, coming from what seemed like out of nowhere. Two rivers of water twisted in the air above her, forming a shield. Rae blinked in surprise, the shadow around her falling away as she turned her head. Cienn ran past her, leaping over the shield with his blade in hand. He raised it above his head, water trailing behind him as he brought it down over the creature. His blue eyes were shining.

Rae stared, then quickly remembered where she was and slid out from underneath the shield, grabbing hold of her sword and getting to her feet. The creature twisted around, sending twisting billows of smoke Cienn's way as the smoke in front of it solidified, blocking his sword. The water around Cienn parted as the smoke curled, rivulets of  water blocking each of the strikes easily. Cienn took a step back, and the water continued to trail behind him, draping over his shoulders like a cloak.

Rae couldn't tear her eyes away as he stepped back, each movement fluid and precise as he blocked the creature's strikes, then responded with a barrage of his own. The tendrils of water around him twisted into little spears, each trailing a ribbon of water as they bombarded the creature, looking for an opening. Cienn moved like he was the water, like it was a part of him.

Like he was made of it.

But the creature was winning.

It was difficult to see at first, but the moment she started watching closely, she saw it. None of Cienn's attacks were doing anything. Each time Cienn moved, the creature simply summoned more smoke, forming a shield and blocking his attacks. The orb at its center, so tantalizingly exposed, was untouched. It was focused entirely on Cienn. Even through her mental barriers, she could feel it. Each time Cienn made a move for its heart, the creature shunted more smoke in that direction, exposing it for a brief amount of time in another. But it was like trying to catch a beam of light in the mist—as soon as Cienn turned his attention in that direction, the opening disappeared.

No, Rae realized. It disappeared before Cienn could attack. As if the creature already knew which direction the attack would come from, and which direction to guard against.It disappeared because it was watching Cienn. It had sensed her earlier, when she had used her own mental abilities against it. And it hadn't entered hers or Cathel's rooms. It had just stayed by the door, searching and waiting.

Did it have the same ability she had? Could it read minds? Sense presences? If so, then it was predicting Cienn's attacks. But she had been able to land a blow earlier. A small one, to be sure, with the talisman, but a significant feat nonetheless. How? Why could she attack it, but not Cienn?

Because it wasn't aware of her. Because she had caught it by surprise.

Surprise...