Remnants of Worlds

Chapter 1 - The Training

Annabel raised her energy spear above her head, holding it with two hands, just before Seuss’ sword crashed into it, sending sparks into the air. She took a step back, readjusting her stance so she had a steady platform, then swung in turn.

It had taken her so long to learn how to conjure an object made of pure energy, but after doing it so many times, it was now almost second nature. Keeping it solid and in the same shape was another problem entirely, but since they were currently inside her head, holding onto her focus was somewhat easier.

They couldn’t use their powers to train out in the open, not with all the wraiths that could sense them even across the country. So doing it inside her head was the second-best thing. The problem was that she had no idea why she had to train with Seuss and Hedda in the first place.

The day after the battle with the gods and the betrayal of the humans, Etheera insisted that Anna used the Obsequium dagger to order them to train her. When Annabel asked her why, all Etheera said was that it would be helpful if she could handle fighting on her own and that it would make them stronger. Something was telling Anna that this was not the whole truth, but every time she prodded with questions, Etheera changed the subject. Anna didn’t want to worry William and Iris by mentioning the goddess’ strange behavior, but her uneasiness was starting to show despite her best efforts.

So train Anna did even though she was pretty sure that the only reason Seuss and Hedda tried so hard was for the opportunity to inflict pain on her without the dagger punishing them. Still, that did help her improve her fighting skills, so she took everything they threw at her.

“Don’t get distracted!” Seuss snarled, almost taking her head with his sword. Anna ducked, but lost her balance and fell on her ass, rolling aside just before the blade sunk into the marble floor where she was lying seconds ago.

Seuss let his weapon disintegrate as he glared at her.

“At least pay attention when you force us to train you, you stupid girl! One moment of distraction and you’ll be dead.” He threw his hands in the air and turned his back on her. “What is the point of doing this? If it all comes down to you fighting because she can’t, then you two are already dead. You are a mere half-blood, you don’t even have a god’s power! Not to mention, mastering a weapon takes decades of practice, dedication, and muscle memory. You can never reach her level. She might not be able to win against me, but she is still a decent fighter. She could stand her own against any other warrior, with or without her powers.”

“Don’t waste your breath. I don’t think she knows why she is doing this,” Hedda said as she moved to take Seuss’ place. Despite his words, Seuss was sweating profusely as if he had been fighting a serious battle. Anna realized she felt tired too and as she wiped her forehead, she found sweat dripping from it. Etheera was going the extra mile to make sure all of this felt real. “Your daughter is probably hiding somewhere, depressed that her precious humans betrayed her. Isn’t that right, Annabel? She should have listened and sided with us. We would have closed the rift long ago and now Ozias would have been locked on the other side while we are all here. Safe. Not wondering if today will be the day we die again.”

“You don’t honestly believe that he can’t open a rift by himself, do you?” Anna frowned, letting her weapon disintegrate as well. She trained combat skills with Suess, but Hedda’s specialty was elsewhere. She relied on her powers and preferred to keep her distance, so spells that hit you from afar were what she was teaching Annabel. She especially loved to use her weird mist that could twist the mind of a person and put them in a perpetual state of happiness…or utter horror. Annabel had learned that the hard way. “And besides, if you had all gone back when we asked you to, this whole thing wouldn’t be happening. Ozias would have continued to sleep, you would have continued to live and this world wouldn’t be threatened by the god of death.”

“Imprudent brat!” Hedda snapped, waving with her hand. Half a dozen balls of energy flickered around her, turning into long, sharp arrows and dashing toward Annabel. She did as Etheera instructed her many times before—when pressed for time and unable to raise a proper ward, she focused her energy on a small shield enough to protect the head and the vital organs. The best Annabel could do yet was one that was three steps long and wide—it wasn’t much but she wasn’t that big either so it did the trick for the most part.

She raised her hand with her palm open and the threads of the shield flickered in front of her as four of the arrows smashed into her ward. One passed by her head as she ducked behind the energy, while another one grazed her thigh, sending a jolt of pain through her body.

“Dead.” Hedda spat. “If Ozias touches you with his darkness, you’re done. You’ll be screaming your head off even if you are on full power.” Hedda moved to lower her hand and release her powers when Annabel gritted her teeth, a fireball appearing in her hand, then dividing into three. A year ago, she would have been amazed to see someone cast a spell so quickly and effortlessly, let alone imagine herself doing it. But now it took one thought, one rune, and one second.

She felt like she had grown so much; like she had become stronger and better at handling her energy; like she was no longer weak and vulnerable and in constant need of saving. But standing in front of those two, sometimes she felt like a child trying to fight an adult with nothing but bare fists. No matter how strong and skilled she became, she could never fully close the gap between them. After all, she was just an Ascendant while they were gods.

The fireballs flew toward Hedda who just scoffed, raising her hand with a lazy movement. Before she could sniff them out, each of the three balls separated into another three, moving to attack her from different sides.

Hedda’s eyes widened. Her expression turned from annoyed to focused and she even raised her second hand to conjure a shield while the other one prepared the counterspell. She blocked most of the fireballs with her ward, but they still turned one too many for the goddess to handle. The flame licked Hedda’s arm, devouring her sleeve almost immediately until she finally dropped the shield and sucked the air out from around her body, putting down the fire. She glared at Annabel who was barely suppressing her smile.

“Not too bad for a mere half-blood, huh?” Annabel smirked, glancing at Seuss who was staring thoughtfully at Hedda’s smoldering sleeve. As Anna spoke, he turned his attention to her, his frown returning.

“Don’t get too cocky,” he spat. “That’s enough for today. Let us out.”

Annabel was about to protest, but then just nodded. They looked annoyed and tired and she preferred to end the session on a high note instead of making Seuss angry and having him attack her with everything he had. The last time that happened she had nightmares of being sliced to pieces.

Opening her eyes, Anna looked around the semi-dark room they were all sitting in. There was only a small window on one side which was even darker than the room. It had been bright outside when they started, but she had lost track of time and now night seemed to have fallen. The only light in the room was coming from one of the fluorescent lamps in the base, but instead of brightening the place, it just drowned it in an eerie glow.

Seuss and Hedda, who had been sitting cross-legged next to her, got to their feet and headed toward the door without so much a look back. Anna was watching them leave when she realized there was someone else in the room.

William sat in the only chair by the opposite wall, taking a long sip from the steaming metal cup he was holding. He glanced after the two gods leaving, but they ignored him as well. When the door closed, he finally got up, putting the cup on the tiny stable beside him.

“Hi. When did you get here?” Anna smiled while he picked another cup from the table and strode to her side. Sitting down so they were at the same level, he finally met her gaze with a tired smile.

“Hey,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers. Anna smiled wider at the pleasant sensation, running her fingers over his cold cheek. Before she could pull him closer for a proper kiss, he drew back, sliding the cup into her hand. “You look tired.”

“Well, it’s very mentally draining to deal with those two.” Anna chuckled, raising the cup to her lips and inhaling the sweet scent of the tea. She studied William’s face—the circles around his eyes seemed even more prominent than she remembered and his cheeks had turned disturbingly hollow. Even his eyes looked dull as if he hadn’t slept in days.

“How is training going?” she asked even though she knew what he was going to say. She hadn’t been the only one who had been training like crazy every day, but while she could create the mind space thanks to Etheera, William couldn’t. And using his power inside of her mind could hurt both Anna and the goddess so he refused. Instead, he would disappear for most of the day, portalling somewhere far and uninhabited and training there. So far only once had a wraith appeared, but he managed to get away with the help of the Ring of Dispel. Or at least that’s what he kept saying, but he never let her accompany him.

“It’s going fine,” William said as usual. She searched his face for anything that would tell her what was really going on in his mind, but his expression was entirely closed. “We are lucky that Ozias hasn’t shown up yet. Every new day is a chance for me to grow stronger.”

“Yeah, when Etheera said it was too late to send the gods back since he is coming, I thought she meant he’d come through that night.” Anna scoffed, putting down her cup and reaching out for William’s hand. He let her take it, raising an eyebrow. “But three months have passed since then and if we are lucky, a few hundred years more can pass before that old bastard finally wakes up.”

“I wish.” William huffed a mirthless laugh. His smile vanished as she hitched on his glove, pulling it off. “Wait, don’t—” Before he could stop her, Anna stripped down the leather to examine his fingers. William sighed in defeat as she stared at his hands, trying not to goggle.

Ever since he began training, his body had started to change. At first, it wasn’t anything that she could see but then it seemed like the darkness had started taking over. It started with the fingertips—they turned black as tar, like he had dipped them in black paint. The more his power and control over it grew, the more the blackness spread. The last time she saw him without the gloves, the darkness had almost reached his wrist. Now it was disappearing up his sleeve.

Keeping her expression blank, Annabel pushed his sleeve up to his elbow, staring at the terrifying marks that stopped in the middle of his forearm. It reminded her of those tentacles he used against Seuss and Hedda, but this time—it looked like they were wrapped firmly around his own hands.

It didn’t hurt, that was what he said. Yet she couldn’t help but worry.

Annabel took off his other glove and pushed the sleeve up, staring at both his arms. Etheera had mentioned she had never seen that before, that Ozias never had such markings on him, but Annabel could feel her uneasiness even then. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good.

“It’s spreading faster than we expected,” she murdered, raising her eyes to meet William’s. Running her fingers over the skin, she felt the hair on her body rise. William’s hands had always felt cold, but now they were almost icy to her touch. “Maybe you should stop tr—”

“I can’t stop.” William shook his head, freeing his hands only to wrap them around her. He pulled her in his lap, pressing her back to his chest and hugging her tightly. It didn’t escape her notice that he made sure not to make any skin contact. “I have to be ready to protect you when he comes. That’s the only thing that matters.”

Anna sighed.

“Who knows when he will show up,” she said, leaning against him and purposely grabbing his hand. He tensed but let her intertwine her fingers with his and even kiss his knuckles. “We don’t know what will happen when this reaches your heart. What if you die even before he gets here?”

“I won’t die,” William said with way more confidence than she felt.

She closed her eyes, biting her lip to stop the next words from coming out.

And what if you turn against us once your heart is enveloped in this same cursed power? she thought, shuddering with fear and helpless anger as she squeezed William’s hand even harder.