I spent the remainder of the day of the council meeting between my garden and Talen’s room, making more combinations than I had before and trying everything in my power to find some mixture that may somehow help him. He had sipped and sniffed, smoked, and chewed so many different leaves, flowers, roots, and concoctions that I was sure, at some point, he would vomit. He didn’t, though, and he put up with my antics-- whether it was for himself or for me, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t ask him more questions or bother him about what had happened. I didn’t have the heart to tell him what I had overheard; I just knew that I had to find a way to help.
I spent two long, tiresome, sleepless weeks after that day, tending to the last of Talen’s wounds and watching as he fought his own body, re-learning how to move. By the end of the second week he had regained the ability to sit himself up and stand, although he had yet to walk. His muscles grew stronger each day, but his eyes still lacked the usual light and laughter they carry. His shoulders droop, he rarely smiles, and almost never speaks.
During those two weeks, I had spent every night reliving the dream of the purple eyes in the darkness and the strange glimpse of a man I had yet to understand. Every morning, I awoke drenched in sweat, fists clenched to protect myself.
Corvin tried to stop in once, and I sent him away. I sent away anyone who visited, avoiding any and all people so that I wouldn’t have to lie about what I had heard in the council hall that evening. I had never been a great liar – probably because I can’t control my own damn emotions – and so it was easier to not have to interact.
I was angry, especially with Corvin. He had been invited to that meeting without me. He had KNOWN about something and not told me.
“…running out of prophetic options” rang over and over again in my ears. What could that have meant?
I open the door to Talen’s room, a bag of herbs in one hand and plate of eggs and bacon for him in the other. He turns his head to look at me, sending me a very small smile. I walk to him, placing the plate and fork in his lap, and take a seat beside him where the table sits. Grabbing the mortar and pestle that I left on the table yesterday, I pour a small amount of the razor-edged dark green leaves from the bag into the mortar and begin grinding them smaller to make a tea for Talen’s pain.
Talen eats in silence for a bit, watching me grind the herbs, until the clatter of his fork against the plate causes me to look up at him.
“You’re angry.” He says.
I blink. “I’m fine.”
“Well, you’re grinding those herbs into a very nice paste. Did you mean to do that?” He retorts. I look down at the mortar in my hand, now full of a thick, slimy, green sludge, and huff out a sigh.
“It’s… it’s nothing.” I say, setting the mortar and pestle back on the table.
“I heard Mom when she told you to attend the council meeting. You went, didn’t you?”
“I did. And I left more confused than ever. And angry, so angry. Mostly with Dad, but also Corvin. I don’t understand what’s going on; I don’t understand what it has to do with me, or you, or…” I feel a tremble at my lip, and my eyes begin to well up with the tears I haven’t let fall since that council meeting. The anger at my father and Corvin had been what I allowed to consume me, what I let keep my silence and my sanity over my brother’s condition.
“It’s okay. How much do you know about the formation of the divide?” Talen asks gently. I look up at him and raise my brows, wiping my tears from my eyes before they can fall down my cheeks.
“The same as everyone else. The great Valorian Duke wanted all the magic for himself and the Valorian people, and so the Guardians locked him and all the magic we had into the divide.” I pause, watching his lips tighten and form a thin line as his brows furrow. It was a very brief synopsis; I left out all the gruesome details of death and despair that the Duke had caused. He knows the story.
The Valorian Duke had believed his people to be superior and had wanted to channel all four elemental magics through himself. His armies rampaged through the lands of Terravellum, as the lands were called before the divide, crushing anyone who stood in his way while he used the (INSERT NAME HERE) to siphon the powers of the lands straight from the earth itself. Before he could be successful, the powerful Guardians of Magic in each of the lands united, locking him- and all the magic we possessed- within the invisible walls of the divide between Valoria and Briarholt. It was a tragic tale, one we were told as children in order to understand our history, the wall, and the leftover traces of magic within Briarholt. Our plants had preserved what little was left of our elemental magic, residing within the herbs I used daily to help heal Talen. It wasn’t much, but those traces seem to amplify the effects of the plants and in turn, make some of us excellent healers.
“Why would you ask that?”
“There’s more, Leora.” He sighs and leans back into his stacked pillows so that he is reclined, but still upright. His body is tense, but his eyes don’t leave mine. “I can only tell you what I know. What did you hear that night in the meeting?”
I told him everything, from the guards and meeting Corvin by the front doors to the “prophetic options” they spoke about. His face didn’t change, not once. He sat there, tense and expressionless. When I finished telling him what I had heard, he raised an arm to the back of his neck and rubbed it briefly, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.
“When they locked the duke away, there was some sort of prophecy. We haven’t been able to fully understand it yet. Some think it’s tied to our land, others think it’s tied to the divide, but no one knows for sure. A few days after Finnean was born, the divide began to crack. And when I was born, it happened again. And then when you were born…” He shifts in his bed a bit. “Well, that’s when the crack split and the darkness began to leak.”
Talen reaches under the pillow behind him, pulling out a small, brown, leatherbound notebook. On the back of the notebook was an imprint of a circle, and within that circle were two long fern leaves angled across each other to make a slight X. He flipped open the book and pulled out a very small scrap of paper, handing it to me.
“Finnean left me this before he took off on his mission. When he never… well, dad decided that the prophecy must have been for me. So he sent me out, searching for land for crops and… for help. When help didn’t work for us, we headed for home. And you know the story from there.”
I take the paper, clearly torn from another page, and unfold it. The words written on it are scribbled quickly, in Finnean’s handwriting. My heart skips a beat, and I look up at Talen. He nods in approval, and I return my eyes to the paper in hand, reading the small words written in cursive.
“Buried deep where the shadows sleep,
The Heart stirs past the walls thorned keep.
Not stone nor bone, but breathless light
Through the Divide begins its flight.”
“Finnean believed that the answers to our problems lie within the divide. And since he couldn’t discover the answers, and I don’t think I can anymore – at least not now –“ he gestures to his weak body with a small smile, muscles still atrophied from underuse and scars still pink and fresh. “I think… I think it might be you, Le.”
“What?” I say, panic edging in my voice. “I don’t understand. WHAT is me? What the actual fuck is going on, Talen?” It feels like a tornado may be starting within me. I can’t tell which emotion is which, as my brain flicks through them all. Confusion, fear, panic, and rage consume my body, my fingers beginning to tremble under the weight of them all. I throw the paper back at him, and it floats freely and slowly down to the bed by his thighs.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Leora, no one’s asking you to do anything. In fact, it seems like Dad has done, and is doing, what he can to keep you away from this. But when I was attacked after leaving Elymoria, I heard a voice in my head. It said- no, it shouted- your name. I thought for a moment…” He drifts off again as he did the first time he told the story of the attack, resting his head on his pillows and shifting his gaze to the ceiling above him. I give him a moment, waiting impatiently, but he doesn’t speak. When I begin feeling like at any moment my internal torment could burst from my head and chest and take the whole room out with them, I snap.
“You thought WHAT Talen? WHAT shouted my name?” I ask, sounding angrier than I meant to. My hands curl into fists in my lap, frustration seething behind my teeth. I hadn’t realized how much I needed someone to tell me I wasn’t crazy. It’s not Talen’s fault, and guilt creeps over me.
“I’m sorry,” I say, sighing, struggling to rope in the rage and panic.
“I thought it was Finnean. But he was nowhere around, and the voice came from inside my head. But something about the voice was panicked, urgent. And then… well the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground bleeding, and the giant thing was running off toward the treeline, away from me.”
He still hadn’t removed his eyes from the ceiling.
I wanted to scream, shake him, and demand the answers he doesn’t seem to have. Instead, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized in the moment that I had even been holding. I uncurl my still locked fists, wipe the sweat from the palms of my hands on the loose black pants I was wearing and leaned forward.
“I believe you.” Something about him hearing Finnean’s voice just made sense to me, and a wave of calm seemed to flow over me slowly. I had always held the belief that he was out there somewhere still. When my father had planted a small tree and beautifully carved tombstone in the ground near the town’s border, I attended, but felt in my heart it was being placed in vain. Maybe he heard the ramblings of a dying, desperate mind, but I choose to believe he heard our brother.
He looks at me, his gaze soft and flickering with concern.
“I’m not sure where we go from here. I, clearly, didn’t make it far. But I think- I think that’s because I’m not the one who is supposed to. I think you are.”
I didn’t move, didn’t speak. What was I supposed to say, thank you?
“So, you think I’m part of some prophecy? For what, exactly?”
“The darkness.” He replied.
It was as if the darkness heard him, as the room became icy cold with the silence between us. I didn’t reply, I simply pressed my hands against the seat of my chair and pushed myself up to stand. I crossed the room and went back to the door, reaching out to open it and pausing to look back at my brother.
“Get some rest, Saren will be here in a bit to make your tea. It may be paste, but it will still do the trick. Make sure you don’t cheat your physical therapy, or you’ll never get to walking.” I smile at him, knowing full well he will still try to cheat, and sigh. “I don’t know what to do Talen. But I’ll do whatever I can to help you get better. That is my goal. I won’t lose another brother.”
I left the room in search of fresh air to calm my mind and a distraction from the emotions. It was too much to take on at once, and since I can’t let my father know I’m involved, Im going to need to learn how to control myself quickly.
I head to my room, snatch a light coat, and head out on a walk to the freshwater spring just north of the Briarholt walls. The air is breezy and crisp today, but the sun peeks from behind a cloud just enough to illuminate the paths and gardens of town. I avoid catching anyone’s eye as I escape the main roadways to the northern walls. I can’t handle having to hide anything or lie to anyone in this moment, couldn’t be trusted to if I tried.
It was a short walk to the spring. I took a left on a small trail just a minute or two outside of town and followed the blue elderberry bushes that lined the path for just a few minutes longer. As the magnolia trees grew thicker and the bushes spread, wide ferns began appearing on the ground, and the path opened up to a beautifully blue pool of water. It shimmered like glass, with ripples of beauty that emerge when falling leaves happen to land gracefully on the crystal clear surface. Near the center of the spring was a small patch of land holding a giant weeping cherry tree, with arced limbs that held lush pink blooms cascading around the small patch of land like an impenetrable barrier of beauty.
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to calm myself, noting the hints of cherry blossom in the air and listening to the sounds of the small waterfall that keeps the spring active to my left. I can hear the creek behind the waterfall bubbling, the sound of the soft wind through the leaves of the trees and ferns around me, and what sounds like footsteps approaching behind me.
I whip my body around quickly, fists clenched and ready to defend myself, but I find Maelis, my best friend, approaching on the same path I had just arrived on.
“Woah!” She stops in her tracks, her eyebrows raised in surprise, and her hands up, palms facing me as if to show she has no weapons. “Jumpy, much? What’s up with that?” She asks, lowering her hands and continuing her walk to me.
“Sorry,” I say as I unclench my fists “It’s been a long few weeks.”
“I’ve heard. I stopped by, you’ve been the talk of the town, but Saren thought it was best to give you time and said you needed space. I’ve been down here every other day or so to check and see if you’d come down, or if you needed me at all. I didn’t want to bother you.”
She walked straight to the water's edge, sitting on the moss-covered stones before it, and removed her brown leather riding boots. She slid her feet into the cool water and leaned back on her elbows to relax.
“Training’s been rough, my feet are killing me.” She groans, rolling her ankles and splashing her feet in the clear spring. I swear this water is like magic, though- my muscles feel amazing every time I take a dip. Like a little sanctuary.” She closes her eyes, grins, and then focuses on me. “What’s got you so jumpy?”
Mae and I had been friends since we were kids, we met in grade school when she got into it with an older girl who had said that my planter box was wrong in horticulture class. While the other kids planted carrots and beans, my box was full of mushrooms and tangled vines, flowers, herbs. I wasn’t interested in food growth; I was interested in the purposes they held. “Well, it looks and smells better than you do,” She had said, and we had both received detention for it. We became fast friends when she asked me to explain the purposes of the plants in the box, and she’s been by my side ever since.
I sighed, sat down next to Mae, removed my shoes, rolled up the bottom of my pants so they didn’t get wet, and gently lowered my feet into the cold water.
“Alright. Essentially,” I paused, thinking of how to summarize what was going on. “Talen was attacked by some creature; Mom told me I wasn’t invited to a council meeting, but Corvin was. There’s some kind of prophecy about the cracking walls, and Talen thinks it’s connected to me.”
I said everything in one long-winded breath, inhaling and exhaling loudly through my nose when I was done. Mae just stared at me, brows furrowed with one just slightly raised.
“I’m sorry…what? That was a LOT of information, and I will need you to back up, retrace your steps, and tell me all over again. This time, I don’t want the shortened version, please.”
I take a moment to build my own invisible walls in my head, ones that trap all the emotion I can handle inside of them. Focusing on each feeling one by one, I push as hard as I can against them, shoving them between the barriers I have built. Fear, anger, confusion, panic, and anything else that would cause an outburst. Once I can no longer feel them, I begin telling Mae everything I had experienced between finding Talen in the clearing to our conversation that morning.
When I’ve finished telling her everything, she sits silently, diverting her gaze to the water and slowly swishing the water back and forth with her toes.
“So, what do you do now?” She asks. “Very cryptic, you know. ‘Oooooh scary prophecy’ and all.”
I laugh. Only she would mock the very threads of our existence. Well, her and her boyfriend Adric I guess. Match made in heaven, those two. The two of them can make any situation feel light-hearted.
“Hell if I know. My first plan is to figure out how I can help Talen.”
“Yeah, but did the mystery man at the meeting say how his heart would be changed? I get that you want to stop it, but how do you do that when you don’t know what it is you're up against? Again, all very cryptic and weird.”
“That’s the whole thing. No one seems to know, from what I gathered at the hall. And no one seems to be doing anything, just waiting. Waiting for Talen to heal, or for more darkness to spread, or maybe for me to become whatever prophetic nightmare they think I may be. But nothing is happening. And so I know that I have to help him, or no one will.”
“Wait – what was that riddle you had again? Can you repeat it?”
I could only remember the first two lines. I had left the torn piece of paper on Talen’s bed when I left, but I repeated them for her.
“Buried deep where the shadows sleep, The Heart stirs past the walls thorned keep. Or something like that. There were shadows and thorns and a heart—”
And it hit me why she asked me to repeat it. The Heart.
“Talen’s heart,” I whisper.
“Maybe, but past the walls thorned keep? Is that… The divide?” She angles her head at me, cocking it to the right in an almost canine manner. Her face twisted with confusion and concern.
“I think the last two lines said something about the divide, but I can’t remember them. I’d have to get it from Talen.” I pull my feet from the water, shaking them off and reaching for my shoes to my left.
“Okay, but let me know once you’ve got it. I’ll help in whatever way I can, Le.” She follows my actions, drying her feet, returning her boots to her feet, and then standing.
“I know,” I smile at her, feeling lighter than I had when I entered the spring. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow, same time? Then I can let you know.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” She says, smiling back at me, as I turn and head towards home, my heart pounding with purpose.
