The Severaine

Chapter Thirteen Delusions and Illusions-2

“I don't dream of legend anymore,” Daniel stated as he held the Elder's gaze. Eiji and Acha both turned to him in concern, it was the first open admission of what they had known for a long time. Something that was once his passion now meant nothing to him. “Well, I mean… I don't need to,” he said pathetically, but this addition failed to convince anyone. His words had simply confirmed something they had been thinking for some time.

“I'll fetch the egg and bring it to you in the morning, is that okay?”

“That's great,” Eiji interrupted before Daniel had chance to protest. As he heard Eiji's words Daniel stood and left to head towards his home.

“Well, I have a lot to…” When the Elder was sure Daniel was out of hearing range, he turned to Acha and Eiji who had now reached the door. “The island is not the only thing living between worlds… watch him.”

* * *

Daniel spent as little time as he could manage in the presence of his family. They spoke about everything that had happened in the small town since their departure, all they had seen and done. Eiji and Acha in turn shared their own stories, but Daniel remained silent. He just wanted to be alone. He felt so tired and he had to admit, despite his not wanting to stay here, there was something comforting about the thought of spending the night in his own room. Once they had finished eating, he excused himself to leave his almost full plate still on the table. Jack, Angela, Acha, and Eiji stared after him as he ascended the stairs.

“Mrs Eliot, I'm really worried about him,” Acha admitted in lowered tones.

“Angela,” she corrected softly for what was easily the tenth time. “I've noticed it too.” Of course she had,;she was a physician after all. Her son was ill and she wanted nothing more than to nurse him back to health. She could see the results of his destructive behaviour, he needed warmth, food, and rest. But she knew in his current state any attempt to offer such would be ill advised. She was more likely to hasten his departure rather than prevent it.

“We honestly dunno what to do. He seems t'be losin' himself more every day. He keeps seein' things, lately it's either Zo or Ma—”

“Something else,” Acha interrupted. She knew Daniel's parents had never been informed of Zoella's secret. Eiji nodded to her thankfully.

“Maybe it is her, maybe she's trying to contact him. After all none of us know where she went,” Angela stated as she glanced between them. Eiji and Acha looked to each other, both of them felt the blow her words dealt.

“He never told y'?” Eiji whispered in realisation.

“Told me what? The last thing I heard was when you informed me she chose to stay with her father, then you said it was a long story. What happened?” she pressed, but having seen their faces she feared she already had her answer. She glanced towards the stairs. It came of little consolation to know he would sleep well tonight. He may have barely touched his food, but he had drunk his cocoa. She knew him well enough to know the best medium for medicine was disguised in her sweet, comforting drink.

“She died, protecting us,” Acha stated sadly as she lowered her tearful gaze to the table. Even after all this time the pain of her loss still felt raw.

“We didn't know he hadn't told y',” Eiji added as she saw Angela's eyes fill with tears. “It wasn't our place t'—”

“How?” she questioned, controlling her voice as best she could. “Did he…” she began, but grief stole her words. Jack reached out, placing his hand upon hers beneath the table.

“Her father, there's so much y' didn't know about her. She was the last of the Hectarians. She still possessed the powers used t'seal away Night. Maybe because he was her father she'd been protected from the gatherin' of powers or somethin'. She didn't know herself until she came t'save us. Daniel tried t'stop her when he realised what she'd agreed t'. She died t'keep her promises,” Eiji explained.

“I see,” Angela whispered unsure exactly what to say. Beneath the table Jack squeezed her hand tightly. It was the only comfort he could offer as she turned her gaze toward the ceiling to fend back the tears. She had always thought of Zo as a daughter, she understood so much now. When last she had seen her, there had been an air of finality, her vision had lingered as if committing to memory every detail, and now she knew why. When Zo had stood before her, swearing her son's return, she had already known the price of her actions.

* * *

Daniel closed his eyes as he lay in the comfort of his own bed. He listened to the murmur of his family and friends as their conversation turned once more to his well-being. Why couldn't they just leave him be? He listened until the voices became nothing more than background noise as he drifted into a restless sleep.

* * *

Elly spread a blanket upon the crest of the mountain. From here the view was inspiring, and Marise would see everything she needed to understand. The easiest way to explain why she was aiding Blackwood was for Marise to see exactly what it was he tried to harness.

The power of the Severaine was fearsome. It was now beginning to gain momentum and the people of the world were not showing it the respect and fear it deserved. Elly had witnessed its might before, and even then, at first people had the same attitude. They thought the Severaine targeted towns, those depleting Gaea's energy, and to some extent they were right. They had long forgotten that the Severaine's purpose was to remake the world.

Each morning people would glance outside, see their town intact and complain about the weather. Their fear would rekindle as news of fresh disaster reached them, but soon they returned to their ways. Elly was certain they visualised this force as a singular presence, flitting from town to town. They could not see its tendrils coiled throughout the world as it held the whole of Gaea's star in its embrace.

“What are we doing here?” Marise moved to sit beside Elly on the blanket overlooking a village on the edge of a lake. For days Elly had seen the increase in energy around this point, the quickening of the vibrations which choice few could witness. This would be the next place to fall, and given the thrum of energy through the air it would happen within minutes.

“There is something you need to witness. You ask why I have aligned myself with Blackwood, whilst align is a strong word, he came party to information I had not. If he succeeds, he will become the most powerful mortal to walk the world.” Elly's vision scanned the area ensuring their perch was beyond the reach of what was about to happen. The woven energy in the rocks lay dormant, whatever occurred there would not reach them.

“And you plan to aid his advancement?” Elly opened her mouth as if to talk, but even had she spoken her reply would have fallen on deaf ears. The ground distant to the town began to rise and swell, like a wave made from the rising earth as it broke and devoured all within its path. The air filled with jagged peaks of dust, the town lost from visibility within moments. The waters from the lake erupted into the air, adding a blue hint to the dust, the light reflecting through its surface. The low rumbling ceased and gravity returned, pulling all down within its grasp, leaving the dusty fog surrounding the crater which had once housed the town. Marise stared on in silence, her own mind trying to calculate the magical energy needed to complete such a thing so quickly.

“That was just a small example of its power, a single strand of its web. Now imagine it within Blackwood's hands.” Marise sat transfixed, so much devastation in the mere blink of an eye, and now Elly was inferring this was not even a fraction of its true capabilities. She shook her head. “And now you understand. He would tear apart the world in a tantrum, and we are the only ones capable of containing him.”

“It is not what I imagined,” Marise whispered, her voice almost lost to the wind.

“These are mere embers of a flame, and all who gaze upon it see different incarnations.”

“They see monsters?” Marise queried uncertainly.

“As Odysseus did when facing Scylla and Charybdis.”

* * *

Daniel cast a cautious glance around him. His angry steps caused the drying mud to yield beneath his feet. How could his mother do that to him, how could she betray his wishes and force him to sleep? It was bad enough that his friends had started to poison his food, but he had expected better from his mother. The dark forms stretched and contorted, his watchful gaze ensuring his feet remained clear of any shadows. He could not imagine what they concealed this time. He knew something for certain, they weren't a shade cast by the sun which now bathed the land, no they were a gateway, a portal through which horrors could emerge. He wondered if Marise used these too, it would explain why he only caught glimpses of her, and how she could find them anywhere.

He tried to remember exactly when these malleable creatures had appeared. He remembered them in the library, the long twisting shadows that seemed to sway in time with the flickering flame, growing and shrinking as they drew near to watch over his shoulder. It seemed something had been keeping vigil on him even back then.

He had left this morning without seeing anyone, his mind reeling with anger. He knew he had to clear his thoughts before facing his mother. If last night she had thought it necessary to sedate him, then today he had to prove he was rational, sane, or she would find a means to detain him. He understood how his actions must seem to an observer, someone unable to see the things he did. They thought him ill, but he was not ill. It was not madness causing these images but danger. He paused in mid-step seeing the tangle of writhing shadows at his feet. He turned, finding the only area void from darkness.

He took a long deep breath, sucking in the cool morning air, almost able to feel it thawing inside his lungs, rejuvenating him as it cleansed him from within. He exhaled slowly taking another soothing breath, watching the mist escape as he breathed out. It seemed to form tiny crystals of dark ice. His chest tightened as he took another breath, the white mist turning dark once more before his gaze. The vapours quickened with his panicked breathing, adding to the darkness forming around him, paths once open to him closed within the shadows' weaves. He ran, fearing the darkness which seemed to close in from behind. His legs burned with exertion, each breath now became thick and heavy. He could feel the air changing, as if he no longer drew in the crisp cool air but tendrils of darkness which he could feel congealing on his innards, making each breath more difficult.

He collapsed to the ground, trying to force a breath, his gaze fixed upon a stone circle before him. The image of a memory overlapped reality. White noise filled his ears as he saw the wood constructed over the kindling, the image interchanging with the empty stone circle he knew lay there. He tried to blink away the visual memory, but the erratic image just continued to transfer. His own movements seemed jerky as he rose to his feet, his breathing became a little easier, yet still he felt the tar pooling within his lungs.