Chapter Seven

Gasping for breath, Marlis folded to her knees, the moist grass leeching the heat from her hands, splayed out in front of her. The smell of damp earth filled her nostrils. Her fingers sank into the soft ground as she curled her fingers around her bone-wand, stark against the deep green.

Feeling a hand gently rubbing her back, she almost said, “Mother.” But she knew it wasn’t her mother. She would never again feel her touch, for what mother would embrace the daughter who had killed another daughter.

“There now, there,” said a woman’s voice. She crooned softly, her words and tone having the desired effect.

Marlis’ breathing steadied, her heartbeat settled into a regular rhythm.

“Come, let us go inside.” The woman helped Marlis to her feet and led her to the cottage shoved under the outcropping of rock on the hillside.

“I feel so, weak.” Gripping the table, Marlis carefully lowered herself onto the chair. Although the only light in the gloomy interior came from the fireplace and the lamp on the table, it wasn’t difficult to make out what the woman was doing.

Not much older than Marlis, her ragged dress wafted around her scrawny body as she poured water from the earthen pitcher into a rough cup. Reaching into the iron-bound box on the shelf behind her, she pulled out one of the dark bottles nestled inside, removed the stopper and splashed a few drops into the cup. Giving it a quick shake, she handed it to Marlis. “Drink.”

Obediently, she took the cup and downed the water in one gulp, grimacing at the bitter taste that lingered on her tongue. She sat back, tensing momentarily as the chair wobbled. Slowly, with each breath, her strength came back to her.

Her heavy-lidded eyes watching Marlis closely, the woman pulled a three-legged stool close and sat by her. “Tell me.”

The corners of her mouth turned up, she sat up straighter as she remembered. “I did it, Wilda. I travelled miles in moments, as you said I would.”

Wilda’s thin lips parted in a smile, revealing her crooked teeth. “I told you, didn’t I? And now you have seen for yourself.”

“It was a most strange sensation, like my feet were still here, but I was being pulled and stretched elsewhere. And when I was almost there, only then did my feet follow. And, and…” Eyes wide, her fingers traced the air around her. “The trees, the sky, the rocks, they all stretched too.”

Clapping her hands, Wilda threw her head back and laughed. “And you found the one we’d sensed?”

Marlis’ smile widened as she pushed back her hair. “Oh yes. I found her. One of those gem elves I spoke of. I did not want to fight her, I thought I would lose. But she made me angry, she would not tell me where those children are.”

Leaning close, Wilda whispered, “You fought her?”

A quick nod. “I won. She is dead.”

Her mouth open in a wide ‘o’, it took a moment for Wilda’s breath to rush noisily from her. “See how much more powerful you are becoming. You understand now, the reward for serving her.”

“I understood before this, Wilda. She is the missing piece that I could not find.” Marlis got to her feet and danced in a circle. “I never imagined I would find the answer here, in this realm.”

“She is a harsh mistress, but I would endure all manner of hardship for her.” Wilda ran her hands over her shapeless chest. “They shun me, shove me away to live this meagre existence, but none can compare to my beautiful mistress, my Gadreena.” Head lolling back, eyes closed, she swayed on the stool as if lost in rapture.

Marlis stared at her. She wanted to feel the ecstasy that filled Wilda at the mere mention of this dark one she’d chosen to align herself with. But Marlis also wanted more; more than this sorry excuse for a life, more than wandering around unkempt, unwashed. What was the point of becoming more powerful if there was no one to witness it but the shaggy fleeced goats that wandered this cold, gloomy land?

Why is magic more powerful here? she thought. The place I fought Ruby, that was so much more pleasant, yet I had to work harder there, dig deeper to fuel my magic. The skin under her eyes tightened as she watched Wilda. She wasn’t surprised at the familiar feeling that swelled up inside her; the feeling that had clawed its way from the pit of her stomach the day her sister, Unnan, not her, had heard and answered the call of the girasol crystal.

Wanting to be alone, knowing Wilda wouldn’t come out of that state for a while, Marlis hurried out of the cottage. Glancing up at the sky, she scowled at the low, storm-grey clouds. Drizzling again. About to go back in for her cloak, she instead hugged herself and stubbornly walked away.

Her back to the craggy hill that dwarfed the cottage, she kicked at the loose stones sprinkled in the grass. Having seen that there was more to this mortal realm than damp, drizzly days, hills hidden in low clouds, and long, waving grass, Marlis wanted nothing more than to leave.

“But Wilda will not leave,” she told the boulder that lay in her way. “She loves this place though I cannot understand why.” Walking past the boulder, she pushed her wet hair out of her face. The ground sloped downwards, leading to the rock-infested brook. Standing by its edge, Marlis stared at the water. This was where she’d appeared when she’d wrenched herself out of the hidden realm.

The pain had been indescribable; she’d felt as if she’d been turned inside out and spat into this place. Unconscious, she’d landed in the brook. If Wilda hadn’t been collecting water, Marlis would have drowned. But the pale, dark-haired woman had dragged her to safety.

It hadn’t taken long for Marlis and Wilda to recognise the darkness in one another. In awe at having an elf show interest in her dark practice, Wilda had gladly shared her knowledge. And Marlis had eagerly embraced working with a power darker than what she’d found in the hidden realm.

“I know the increase in my abilities is down to you,” Marlis said, looking around as if she hoped to spy Gadreena. “I have willingly tied myself to you. I have sacrificed living creatures for you, anointed myself in their blood. All for you. Why, then, can I not feel what she feels? I am an elf. Does that not make me more than her? Does that mean nothing?”

Silence was the only reply. Only when Marlis’ breath fell noisily from her parted lips did she realise she’d been holding her breath, waiting for an answer. Flexing her fingers, turning abruptly from the brook, she stomped along, not caring where her steps might take her.

“I am more than her,” she muttered. “More even than those supposedly powerful gem elves.” A smile stole to her lips. “I fought a gem elf and I won,” she said with a giggle, which was swiftly followed by a curse. “I should have made her tell me where those children are. Once I join their essence with mine, I will be powerful enough to defeat all those gem fools. Then I will usher in a new age where all will worship me.” Chuckling, Marlis marched on, deep in her fantasy.

“Marlis.”

Slowing, she glanced up, thinking to see Wilda. And came to an abrupt stop. A mist had risen, a black mist, which surrounded her. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed.

“Marlis.”

It came to her then that she did not recognise the soft, alluring voice. It seemed to be coming from all around, as if the mist itself was calling her. Her heartbeat started to race. “Who is there?” she said, her voice shrill.

“Do you not know?” The soft laugh that followed was deep, almost like a man’s.

Slowly, Marlis’ eyes widened as she froze, not out of fear, but wonderment. “Are you; you-you are… Gadreena?”

Again, that laugh. “You have pleased me, Marlis. It has been too long since I have been so pleased.”

Her hands clasped before her, Marlis couldn’t stop the high-pitched giggle that fell from her lips. “Let me see–”

“You want more power.”

Gadreena remained hidden from view, but Marlis could feel her. “Yes! Oh, yes.”

“What are you prepared to do?”

“Anything. Anything you ask of me.” Silence followed Marlis’ eager words. Her gaze darted about as she turned first one way then another.

“You must bind yourself to me.”

“I already–”

“Truly bind yourself. Forever. Swear to serve only me.”

Marlis frowned. Would this binding get in the way of her plan to rule the hidden realm? No matter; she would deal with that when the time came. For now, all that mattered was to gain more power. “I swear.”

A low chuckle. “I require more than words. I require blood.”

“I will trap a goat–”

A shriek enveloped Marlis. Her eyes bulged as she struggled to draw breath. Clawing at her throat, she fell to her knees.

“A goat? I offer you more power and you offer me a goat?”

Marlis gestured with a free hand, silently begging to be released. As suddenly as her breath had been taken from her, it returned. She swallowed great gulps of air, her head almost touching the ground. She tried to speak, coughed instead. Finally, she said, “Forgive me. I did not mean… What do you require?”

“A human life.”

Head still bowed, Marlis stared at the pebbles, inches from her face.

“Are you willing to kill for power?”

Her movements slow, measured, Marlis pulled herself up and got to her feet. “I will do anything for power.”

“Then give me Wilda and I will show you the way.”

Marlis gasped. But before she could reply, the mist swirled away, and she was alone.