Dark Illumination

Chapter Twenty

The Immortal Mountains spanned one side of Teare. It was an impregnable wall of solid basalt and iron deposits. Silvery veins of the metallic ore traced up the side of the mountains like thin centipedes crawling their way toward the summit obscured by heavy cloud cover. The highest peak was so far away from the ground that none but the most powerful sorcerers have seen it. The entire mountain range was where they completed their final tests in order to move on from apprentice to master.

At the base stood the high priestess in her flowing robes, staff almost twice her height in hand. It still left Dillan quite unnerved to look into those white, seemingly sightless eyes. Yet she stared right at them, waiting patiently as they dismounted. He reached the ground first and reached up to aid Serena off her saddle. Grooms immediately came to their sides and guided their mounts away. Their entourage would set up a base camp and remain here until he and Serena have completed the task set out before them.

“Welcome, chosen of The Light and The Dark,” Katarina said, voice formal. She gestured for them to come forward.

Dillan reached out for Serena and she placed her hand delicately on top of his, as was expected of protocol. This was no time for fun and games. No teasing. No matter how absurdly formal the atmosphere was. It reminded him of the Ceremony of Introduction. He had a feeling it would be this way until the union was completed.

With sure steps, he guided Serena until they were a few yards away from the regal high priestess. He executed a low bow while Serena curtsied. They were all in character, no longer the boy and girl who spent their afternoons beneath the wisteria tree.

Katarina acknowledged their presence with an inclination of her head. Then she continued. “Before the prince and princess can truly be united they must clear three important stages.” She lifted a slender finger for each. “The Mind. The Body. And the Heart.” Then she gestured toward the mountains that stretched up toward the sky before them “The first tests the strength of the mind. To rule your people you must prove capable of making the right decisions. In order for these decisions to be made, the both of you must be of one mind. Any disconnect would disrupt the balance. And a disruption in the balance can mean the sacrifice of both kingdoms to The Void according to The First Prayer.”

He swallowed. The first case of nerves had come. He had woken up this morning ready to face anything. But now, faced with what seemed like an impossible task, he was suddenly unsure of himself. He and Serena had only a few days to spend together and they were expected to connect on a mental level that would allow them to make decisions together. It seemed impossible. Again and again he had reminded himself to let go of his mistakes. To avoid placing blame. Like what Serena had said, they could not change what had already been done.

As if feeling his uncertainty, Serena intertwined her fingers with his. It was in her firm yet gentle grip that he found solace. He needed to be strong. Not only for her sake. But also for the sakes of the two kingdoms counting on them to succeed. Taking the deepest breath he could muster without drawing must attention to himself, Dillan returned his attention to the speaking high priestess.

“With the passing of the High King and Queen, the Immortal Bridge that they had built crumbled,” she said as if telling of an ancient legend before a campfire. “Now it is your task to rebuild this bridge with the strength of your minds alone.” She pointed up toward a point none of them could see. “High above there is a gap in the mountain. Once there you two must open up your minds to each other and begin rebuilding. You cannot come down until the task is complete.”

She tapped the base of her staff on the ground and circular ripples of light spread outward. A gust of wind followed. Like a wave, it whooshed behind them and climbed up the mountain face to dissipate the cloud cover. In the distance, so far away it was merely a speck to the naked eye, was the gap Katarina spoke of.

“Are you ready?” Serena whispered, looking up toward the gap.

Giving her hand a final reassuring squeeze, which he wasn’t afraid to admit was more for his comfort than for hers, he let go and grinned. He faced her and tilted his head toward the mountainside. Then winked.

“Piece of cake,” he said. “See you up there.”

She nodded, fighting a smile.

He stepped toward Katarina, who touched the tip of her staff against the top of his head. In an instant he vanished. Despite access to powers provided by The Light, Dillan was a warrior. His use of magic consisted of offensive and defensive techniques. So modes of travel like teleportation were beyond his capabilities. If they weren’t then he would have just thought himself into existence from his Legion’s camp at the borders of Lumeria to the Onyx Palace.

In a dizzying blink, he found himself in a small cave carve out of the side of the mountain. The veins of iron caught the bright sunlight, casting silver streaks of illumination inside the shallow mouth.

Opposite from where he stood was another cave similar to his own. It seemed impossibly far away. Merely a glinting dot like a tilted mirror catching the sun’s rays. And they were expected to build a bridge between this gap? It seemed insane. Yet generations of chosen have completed the task. He had read about them in preparation for this day. Some took longer than others. The shortest rebuilding happens in under an hour. He believed that was because the prince and princess at the time were in love with one another. Not a necessary emotion to have for a union to work, but it seemed like it helped tremendously.

Carefully, while trailing his hand along the rock face, he inched himself toward the cave’s mouth. A small ledge stretched out only enough for him to sit cross-legged on. A gust of wind threatened to take him with it down the mountainside. Swallowing in an attempt to maintain control of his bladder, he did the most foolish thing one could do face with high altitudes: he looked down.

Almost immediately his vision doubled. A wave of dizziness came over him. He closed his eyes and stumbled back into the cave, landing on his backside. Not the best idea, he thought to himself as he groaned. But, then again, he wasn’t a fountain of smart decisions of late.

While his body regained its equilibrium, he reached his mind out across the expanse toward the opposite cave. He had practiced this with Serena in the days prior to this first stage. They needed to be able to find each other for this to work. Once he had gotten used to linking his mind with hers, it had become easy to feel her out.

Nothing.

He tried again. She should be at the cave by now.

Hollowness responded.

Using telepathy, he called for her. No reply.

What was going on? He opened his eyes and stared out into the gap. Had she changed her mind? Did she run away? Then dread crashed down on him like ice water. She had warned him about an uneasy feeling. Could they be under attack?

His worry was enough to propel him back to the ledge. Without completing the task, he had no way of coming down. He gritted his teeth to prevent the scream he wanted to unleash from coming out. He shouldn’t have gone up first. He should have—

Then her voice filled his mind, calling his name.

“Serena?” he asked, sudden relief flooding his insides. Enough to make him grow weak in the knees. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she said, her voice in his mind coming in loud and clear as if she was standing right in front of him. “I was just telling Katarina about my unease. I wanted to leave her prepared for anything just in case.”

Unable to feel his legs any longer, he arranged himself in a seated position at the center of the impossibly small ledge. One gust of wind like earlier and it seemed like he would fly off. But it was his other fear that kept him focused.

“You scared me,” he admitted. “I thought something had happened and I had no way to reach you.”

A pause. Then the words, “What happened in the Gilt Woods won’t happen again. I’m here now. Let’s do this.”

The self-assurance in her tone reassembled his shattered confidence. Even if he couldn’t see her because of the distance that separated them, he still felt her presence. “Next time you go first,” he insisted.

“Deal,” she said, allowing a hint of humor into her voice. “Now, clear your mind.”

Shifting, he crossed his legs in front of him and placed his hands on his knees, palms up. He curled his ring finger and thumb until the tips touched to form an O. Then, sitting up straight and settling his weight at the base of his spine, he closed his eyes on the exhale.

Like they had practiced, he inhaled through his nostrils and exhaled through parted lips. With each breath, he pushed away all thought until his mind was a blank white room. Despite the cool wind swirling around him, perspiration dotted his brow. The concentration it took to keep his mind free of thoughts was enough to wipe him out. What more the mental effort it would take to lift stone blocks off the ground to begin rebuilding the bridge?

“Don’t doubt,” Serena said calmly, like she was soothing a skittish colt. “We can do this.”

“Easy for you to say,” he projected the words toward her.

A soft chuckle filled the walls of the blank space he had created, immediately centering him. “Picture a stone block about the size of a wheelbarrow.”

Sensing her seriousness, Dillan did as he was told. First he brought to mind the wheelbarrow. Then, slowly, he shifted its form until it resembled one of the stone slabs that made up the wall of his own palace in Lumeria.

“Good,” Serena said. “See. That wasn’t so hard.”

He wanted to say something sarcastic, but he had not mental capacity left to form the words. All his concentration was dedicated to keeping the form of the block intact. The last thing he wanted was to build this bridge out of actual wheelbarrows.

“Now we’re going to lift.”

The moment she said those words a heavy weight rested against his shoulders and chest. He grunted like all the air in his lungs was knocked out of him. In seconds it became difficult to catch his breath. He gasped, gulping in more air than what his body needed yet nothing seemed to fill his lungs. It was akin to drowning.

“Dillan?” Concern filled Serena’s even tone. “Dillan, you need to calm yourself.”

“I…” He couldn’t form the words. The stain of trying to lift the block, staying calm, and staying alive by breathing were wearing on him.

“Okay, let go of the block,” she said.

“No.” A vein began to throb in his temple.

“Dillan, you have to let go of the block.”

In his mind’s eye he shook his head.

“Don’t be stubborn.”

The admonishment spurned him onward. “Not in your life.”

“You’ll end up hurting yourself.” Calm burst into his mind like a drop of color in clear water. “We don’t have to hurry. We have time.”

“No, we don’t,” he insisted. His face felt hot and the muscles on his neck strained.

“Dillan! Stop!”

Ignoring the panic clear in her words, he kept going. He could do this. He would do this. Then like the flame of a candle going out, the white room he had created in his mind flickered into complete and utter darkness.