Just one quick thing before you read: Happy new year!

May 2018 be as good (or even better) for you than 2017.

❤ Happy reading ❤

♕

Elora let out a hot breath. She stared into the fire before her, watching the sparks rise up towards the dark sky and slowly fade into nothing. She had her hands wrapped around her knees and cried in silence. Owen beside her was sleeping fitfully. The Albion greatsword he had been given, was tucked underneath his makeshift pillow while he twisted and turned. As the night grew cold around her and the flames heated her cheeks, she couldn't help her mind from wandering.

It had been an entire day since she had left Kay--the man she had called her father her whole life--alone on their farm. She hadn't wanted to leave him behind, but he had ordered her to leave. The look in his eyes had told her he wouldn't take no for an answer. Not this time. She had helped him patch himself up with the supplies he had gathered from the village healer over the years, but after that, she had left together with Owen.

It was the first time that night she had listened to the now dead Seer.

They had taken the horses from the stables and they had run, not looking back. They had ridden until the strong mounts started wheezing and even Elora felt winded. Until the sun had sunk below the horizon and the first trees of the Ash Forest had come into view--until her mind had caught up with everything that had happened and she had broken down crying. That had been hours ago and she still couldn't believe her life had spiraled so out of control.

She wiped the tears from her face and slowly opened her hand, looking at the item tucked safely in her palm. An item Kay had given her before she had left and had said once belonged to her mother. The clear key was but a small, carved out piece of ice, glinting vibrantly with age-old magic. She had recognized it immediately from her dreams. It was a key made from the everlasting ice in the mines in the Northern Reach--the key to the ancient Frozen Halls of Gulara. An heirloom from a House that was destroyed nearly twenty years ago.

A House, she now realized, was hers.

A sigh escaped her lips. Ever since she'd started to have her visions, she knew there was something she should know but couldn't quite remember. Something that made her different from all the others in the Farmlands, apart from her light hair. Despite the echoes of Magic she had felt vibrate through her dreams, she had never thought she'd be a Wielder--that, with Magic dying, she'd be one of the few people left that could channel the power of the Spirits.

It was why she was afraid to go to sleep. In fear of having another vision of the past that now haunted her every time she closed her eyes. She had Seen her parents' deaths more times than she could count, but knowing who they were now made Seeing it all the more painful. The flames reaching from the Albion royal castle into the sky like slithering tendrils were still etched into her mind.

"Can't sleep?" Owen asked, waking her from her thoughts. His voice was heavy with unfinished sleep. He pushed himself from underneath his cloak and rubbed his eyes.

Elora shook her head, resting her chin on her kneecaps. "Someone has to keep watch, right? Besides, we should probably be leaving soon. My father-I-I mean Kay," she corrected herself in a short breath. "Kay said we should stop as little as possible."

Her friend's eyes shifted over her face, seeing the dried tears that stuck to her cheeks. She had never been good at lying, least of all to him. She couldn't hide the helplessness that stormed through her on the inside, or the sorrow of all she had lost that threatened to consume her. He could see it all without having to be a Seer. It was written all over her face and she knew he felt it too.

It was silent for a long time until Owen cleared his throat. "The horses still haven't recovered," he said, eying her with those big, dark orbs filled with concern. "You need rest too, Elora."

"I know and I will when we reach Kythe... D-Do you think the Black Guard is really after me?" she asked. They hadn't talked about what had happened yet. Not really anyway. They had spoken very little since they had left Westfall, both too lost in thought. Now that she'd had some time to think, she couldn't help herself from asking him the questions that clawed at her mind.

Owen swallowed hard, taking in a deep breath. He leaned on one arm as he evaded his eyes from her and stared into the waving fire before him. It had taken them a long time to get it started and still she didn't think it was a good idea. They needed to stay warm though and the closer they got to the border with the lands of Oberon, the colder the air became. The protective fires spread around them to scare off wild beasts and bandits should be enough to deflect any attention from their own small fire. Or Owen thought at least.

"You saw the men your father fought," he said, the memory of the events of the previous night still fresh in his mind. A flash of horror shot through his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. The brave mask he had worn ever since the Black Guard had entered Elora's home was back on, obscuring the fear he felt. "They wore the sigil of Aldrin."

"But what would the Wizard King want with me? He has more powerful Seers in Aerilon than I could ever be."

"I don't know, but if he killed your real parents and you are the last Truthseer, he might just want you dead as well to keep whatever secrets he has been hiding."

Elora nodded. She had thought about that possibility herself. She remembered the words her mother had spoken to the Wizard King. Words about the lies that got him the Sendaran crown and the fear he would continue to feel every day because Elora was still alive. If she could figure out what her mother had meant, maybe she'd be able to get herself out of this mess.

"What could be so important to him that he'd still want me dead after so many years?" she asked, more to herself than Owen. "I don't even know how to use my Magic."

"But he doesn't know that."

She looked up at him, frowning at his words. "Magic is dying," she replied, stating the facts they had learned as children. Facts the Wizard King himself had proclaimed ever since it became clear fewer people could channel the raw power that seeped from the Rift. "Only the Great Houses loyal to him can wield it. Not even his own wardens are strong enough to actually use it."

"Maybe that's not true... Think about it. If Magic is really dying, how can he be so strong?"

"That still doesn't explain why there are so little Wielders left. You've heard the stories about the war with Meridian. Magic was the greatest weapon they used. Where did all that power go if it isn't dying?"

"A lot of people died then, Elora. Who knows how many Wielders were lost. If Magic isn't dying, then maybe the people that can wield it are..." Owen paused, his eyes almost glowing with sudden realization in the light of the campfire. "What if that's his secret," he said, his brow creasing in thought. "What if he's trying to get rid of all the bloodlines that can produce powerful Wielders? That would explain why he's been so adamant about finding you. Even after all these years. I don't know much about Albion history, but everyone knows that the House of Raziel were the most powerful Seers in all of Etheria."

"Wouldn't someone have realized that by now?"

"Maybe they have, but who would go against him? He's the Wizard King. He can make people forget ever knowing the truth."

"But not Lucian... My father," Elora whispered. "He saw the Truth and knew that the Wizard King would come after him. But he didn't run. Why?" She frowned, trying to understand what reasons her real father would have for letting himself get killed and what the Wizard King's motives were for murdering all powerful Wielders--what he would gain.

"I don't know..." Owen admitted. "I understand as little about all of this as you do."

"And what about the king? Killing all the Wielders would only leave the kingdom vulnerable to another attack by Meridian. Why would he do that?"

"It was just a theory, Elora. I have no idea what the king's motives are. All I know is that the Black Guard tried to take you from your home and that more wardens could be on their way."

She nodded, knowing her friend couldn't possibly give her the answers that a whole kingdom had been denied for over twenty-five years. Whether Magic was dying or not, the Wizard King was after her. If she wanted to know why--the real reason why--she needed to get to Kythe and find Alister Thorne. Something inside her told her he was the way to finding answers and that her family heirloom was the key to uncovering the Truth.

Owen got the sword Kay had given him in his hand and looked at his own reflection in the shining metal. The flames before him created waving patterns on his face, making him seem older than the twenty winters that he was. "Whoever that Seer was, she knew exactly what was going to happen," he breathed. "Why didn't she warn us?"

"She did," Elora said, her mouth dry, knowing that she simply hadn't listened. She watched Owen as he cast his eyes back up at her, doubt flickering across his face. The same doubt she felt soaring through her body. "You can still go home, Owen. You don't have to do this."

"You're my best friend, Elora. You were there for me when my father fell ill. I'm here for you now. You can't do this alone. Besides," he smiled, the corners of his lips curving slightly up, "I was already thinking about leaving Westfall after Valmai."

She felt a wave of surprise rush through her stomach. He had never told her about his plans to go away on a journey without her. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt even though he had chosen to help her instead. "You were?"

He nodded, running a hand through his tousled hair. "Sorcha and Mia are almost at the right age to get married, so if I wanted to see something of the world I needed to go now. I was going to tell you," he added quickly, his face turning red at her questioning look. "I just didn't know where to start."

"I understand," she said, only partly lying. "We always dreamed of going on an adventure and seeing all the places from your father's stories. I never thought it would be like... this."

"Stories always make it sound better than it was."

"Maybe." She bit her lip, thinking about all the tales they had been told and how they might have really ended. "We will get through this, won't we?"

Owen's jaw tensed at her question, his throat bobbing in response. "Yes," he said after a long pause. "We will."

Something stirred in Elora's body, telling her he was lying. She evaded her eyes from him in the realization that her Magic was working even when she didn't will it. She looked at her hands in her lap, feeling the cold key of ice against her warm skin, sending goosebumps across her arm. If having Magic wasn't enough, she was the heir to a lost throne as well.

"I never thought I'd miss it," Owen said, making her turn her gaze toward him again. She caught him staring at the lands behind them. There was a sadness in his eyes. The same sadness Elora felt as she too looked at the obscured lands that flowed all the way to the border with the kingdom of Narin.

The fields lay quietly in the shadows. The only lights glowing in the distance were the protective fires around the farms and villages. It spread an eerie, faint glow across the dark horizon, leaving Elora to wonder if they would see the Black Guard coming if they came after her. She swallowed hard as the wind carried the scent of grass toward her, enveloping them in the cold of night.

"Kythe is still a two-day ride," Owen continued in a sigh. "So we should probably get going again." He pushed himself from the hard ground and collected the few items he had been able to take with him on their journey. Together with the sword that had belonged to Kay and the blue cloak he folded over his shoulders, none of it was actually his. "I will saddle the horses."

Elora nodded, watching him as he readied their mounts to continue the journey towards Kythe. Kay had told them to ride North-West until they reached the forest line. That was only a few hours from where they were now. From there on, they only needed to follow the man-made road running through the woods all the way toward the large city on its edge.

She quickly extinguished the fire they had made several hours earlier. The embers still glowed as the flames died and the ashes slowly turned cold. She looked at them for a moment before walking toward Owen, taking the reins of her mare from his hands.

"Thank you," she said once she had climbed on top of the horse and Owen had done the same. "For coming with me."

A lopsided smile soon curled his lips and he shifted in his saddle. "As if I was going to miss this adventure," he said before pushing his heels into the flanks of the stallion and riding off into the darkness.

Elora shook her head but followed his example nonetheless, feeling the wind tug at her unbound hair and cloak as the mount underneath her moved quickly. The crisp and fresh night air filled her lungs and for the first time since meeting the Seer the previous evening, she felt like herself again.

They rode the rest of night in silence until they reached the edge of the Ash Forest. The morning set in and Elora could see the shadows retreating as they moved closer to the large trees before them. She stared up at the grand greens in awe. There was something special about the way the branches swayed on the wind, making the whole forest almost seem alive.

Together, Owen and Elora swallowed hard. They both stopped for a moment, turning in their saddles. They took one last look at the Farmlands with its stretching fields of glowing gold against the rising sun. Dawn spread over the horizon rapidly and the morning dew clung to the blades of grass around them, covering the lands in a blanket of cold, wet mist. It was a familiar sight. One she had looked at her entire life but might never see again.

She took in a deep breath before she returned her gaze to the trees in front of her rising high up toward the sky. She felt the determination grow in her chest and spurred her mare into a gallop, leaving Sendara and her old life behind.

♕

Another year, another chapter! Anyway, what are your thoughts on this chapter?

Why do you guys think Magic is fading?

Will Elora and Owen reach Kythe unscathed?

Please don't forget to vote and comment. It's very much appreciated!

♕

Copyright © Cameron R. Lewis