Storm Holt (The Prophecies of Zanufey Book 3) (36 page)

‘RAVEN Queen.’
 

The voice called to Issa in the darkness of her dream. She spun around to peer into the blackness from where the voice had come. It was a strange voice, one she had never heard before, deep and gravelly and not human.

‘Raven Queen.’ She spun around again as the voice came from directly behind her.

‘Why do you call the Raven Queen?’ she asked, hating her trembling voice.

‘We must speak with her,’ the voice replied.

‘Who are you? Reveal yourself.’

‘We know where the spear is.’ Red eyes gleamed in the black, and she fell back, immediately thinking Baelthrom. But then she saw these eyes were different and they had pupils with a vertical slit, just like a cat’s.

‘I’ve seen you before,’ she said. ‘I saw you in the sacred mound, in that vortex. What do you want from me?’

The eyes disappeared and in their place a glowing spear formed.

‘The white spear,’ she breathed.

‘Yes,’ the voice hissed. ‘We know where it is.’

‘What is it for? Why do I keep seeing it?’ Issa said.

‘Come to us and we’ll tell you. There’s a man who searches for it, only he can kill the Demon Wizard.’

‘I don’t care about the Demon Wizard. Leave me alone,’ she shouted. She wanted the darkness to go away and the demons to leave her alone.

‘You will care. The greater demons from the Pit are coming.’

Horrible forms moved in the dark, long pitch-black faces with hungry eyes that bore right into her soul. They clustered around her, their sharp claws began tearing at her skin and pulling her hair. She beat them back with her fists.

‘Get away from me. Go away,’ she screamed.

Issa awoke choking on her scream. She sat up gasping. The sheets were wrapped around her and she was covered in sweat. She kicked them off and glugged down a glass of water. The dream faded and the quietness of the room crept in.

‘Uh, Zanufey, please tell me why my mind’s plagued with demons.’ She dropped her face into her hands. From the gap in the curtains it was still dark outside. She flopped back onto the bed and shoved aside the smothering velvet covers. It took a while for her racing heart to calm again, but eventually she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Asaph was having a difficult night. Whether it was the late night food and wine giving him nightmares he couldn’t be sure, but in them he was being hunted by a white owl the size of a dragon. It swooped and struck him as he fled through trees. Whole branches were torn from their bows and thrown around him. Talons longer than his hand snatched at him, and the owl’s eyes were hungry all-black pits. Asaph could not end the nightmare, but spent the whole night suffering.
 

When he finally awoke well after dawn he felt more exhausted than he had before he’d gone to bed. The door to his room opened and his father peered in.

‘I did knock,’ Coronos said apologetically.

‘Ah.’ that must have been what woke him up. ‘I overslept,’ he mumbled, propped himself up, and drained the water by his bed.

‘Issa said you might be coming down with something. How do you feel?’

‘I had a rough night of tortured dreams. Now I’m awake I feel exhausted. But I think my head is clearer,’ Asaph said. Indeed the fog that had stuffed up his mind all of yesterday now seemed to be clearing. He sat back against his pillows with a sigh of relief. The fog had been so bad, he realised, that it had even blurred his feelings for Issa. That realisation worried him.

‘Good, maybe it’s passing. We’re doing nothing today, but resting and eating,’ Coronos grinned. ‘Well you and Issa are, Freydel and I will be attending another meeting.’ Asaph nodded, relieved to not have to do anything.
 

‘Breakfast is being served downstairs where we ate dinner. You’ll have to be quick if you want any hot chocolate as Issa is about to finish the lot.’

Asaph struggled out of bed to the sound of Coronos laughing. His father turned to go.

‘Oh, one more thing.’ Coronos paused in the doorway. ‘I’ve told her to stay in the castle until the orbs call us, but you know how her inquisitiveness drives her. Try to keep her here. If she tries to go into town, we’ll not find her again until dinner time.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Asaph frowned. ‘Getting her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, or trying to stop her from doing the things she does, is virtually impossible. I guess you’ll be taking her to the Wizard’s Circle?’ Asaph slumped, he felt left out, but also too tired to really put any emotion into it.

‘Yes, but none of this should be of any worry to you,’ Coronos reassured him. ‘The Wizard’s Circle know what they are doing.’

‘What if they decide to invite her to take that stupid test? How can I protect her if I cannot be with her,’ Asaph sighed.

‘No matter how you feel for Issa you cannot stop her making her own choices,’ Coronos said. Asaph pulled on his trousers. He really didn’t want to think about it right now. ‘Now be quick if you want some breakfast.’

Asaph slipped on sandals and hurried out the door still buttoning on his shirt.

An hour after breakfast Issa felt the Orb of Water calling her. Knowing she would be called she had placed it on the bed whilst she washed and dressed. Her linen clothes had just been delivered by the maid, and they were clean and pressed. No sooner had she dressed than the orb began to glow.
 

She watched the orb, admiring the swirling turquoise within it as it throbbed and hummed. She stepped towards it and hesitated. She chewed her lip. She didn’t feel ready to meet the most learned and powerful magic wielders on Maioria. Right now she wished she was the Raven Queen. Why did the warrior woman only seem to come to her when she was in battle or when Zanufey’s moon was with them?
 

She checked her face again in the mirror. Her luminous eyes were nearly back to normal, just a subtle glow that no one would notice unless they were really looking into them. She didn’t want to be seen as a reckless over-user of magic, or a novice - all of which those strange turquoise eyes meant.

As a last thought she quickly buckled on the short sword that Grast’anth had given her. It would probably look strange, but it immediately gave her the confidence she needed. The last time she had felt this nervous and flustered about meeting people was at a summer fair on Little Kammy where, as a child, she’d had to act in a play with the other children. All those faces looking at her had made her faint, and she never did a play again.

‘I’m not a child anymore, I’m an adult,’ she said firmly to her reflection in the mirror.
Saying it to herself didn’t make her feel any better.
 

She picked up the raven talisman.
I could show them it, perhaps they will know something about it
. She went to stuff it into her belt and then hesitated. Maybe she should wait to see who they were before she revealed too much about herself
.
She set the talisman back down. Taking a deep breath she stilled her mind. There came a squawk at the window that made her jump out of her skin.
 

‘Ehka. Great Goddess,’ she cursed and stared at the bird. He opened his mouth as if laughing. ‘Where have you been? How do you always know where to find me? Anyway, I’ve been called to the Wizard’s Circle.’
 

He hopped in the open window and jumped onto the bed beside her, staring into the orb with intrigue. She picked up the orb and gripped it in her hands. It was warm and tingling with static energy. Suddenly she realised she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Was that part of the test? To see if she could do things intuitively? Or maybe Coronos just forgot to tell her how it worked…

She couldn’t explain it, but she could feel the orb calling her, just like when a friend called out your name. She mentally accepted the request. Air rushed all around and through her, making her tingle with energy. It was exhilarating and yet exhausting at the same time. It felt as if every cell of her body had separated and energy was moving right through them. Then they were drawn swiftly back together and in moments she felt solid ground beneath her feet.

ISSA swayed, and stood blinking up at Freydel. He had a warm smile on his face.

‘Next time it will be much easier,’ he assured. ‘Take a moment to get your bearings.’

She took a deep breath. Everything became more solid and stopped swaying. The place was beautiful. A lone mountain towered to the south and green forests blanketed rolling hills. Sparkling rivers flowed through the forest and fed into lakes, then wound onward to the sea in the north. The sun was high and would have been strong, but she could see the protective shimmer of a magical shield surrounding them.
 

Twelve stone chairs ringed the turret that raised them off the ground to a dizzying height. The stone turret and chairs felt ancient, much like she felt the sacred mount to be. But despite their age, except for the broken one, they were in pristine condition. There was a great sense of something missing from the circle, or a sense of loss, as if it were broken and incomplete. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Eight of the chairs were occupied by the most powerful and learned wizards of Maioria, who all now sat staring at her with intrigue. Once there had been twelve, six men and six women, so Coronos had said. She caught his eye and he smiled encouragingly back at her.

‘You may place the Orb of Water alongside its sisters,’ Freydel gestured to the floor and she saw three other orbs had been placed there.

She stared in absolute wonder at the red orb she had never seen before.
 

‘The Orb of Fire.’ She bent close to it as she placed her own orb. Its rich swirling mass of fiery reds and oranges was mesmerising.

‘Indeed. Come, stand beside me.’ Freydel took her hand and led her back to his seat. She felt less nervous as he held her hand. She stood beside him while he sat and then spoke.
 

‘Issa, please meet the members of the Wizard’s Circle.’ Freydel introduced the wizards, and she nodded to each of them, feeling her cheeks grow hot under their gaze.