Page 5 of Of Withering Dreams
They were Akridais. I was certain of it. It was my first time seeing the Elders’ elite Druik enforcers. They wielded their gifts at the discretion of and on behalf of the Elders and their laws. The strength of an Akridai’s ember was immense though still significantly weaker than an Elder’s.
My heart tried to crack through my ribs as logic overtook my initial confusion. There was only one outcome when you were in their custody. Kaden must have realized this as he lurched toward the path they were on. I tried grabbing the back of his tunic, but he jerked out of my grip.
The Akridais’ thick pewter-colored robes and capes whipped behind them as they marched the group to the conservatory. A menacing fluorescent-yellow aura clung to each of their bodies. Ebony shades slithered within the glowing air around each like grymseed oil creeping atop a puddle. The epicenters of their powers were pulsing orbs of light suspended between their open palms. The slippery, twisting auras breathed, siphoning in and out of the orb.
“Halt, dirtling!” the female Akridai commanded, neither breaking her stride nor dissipating the energy between her hands. Kaden did not stop his trajectory. “Halt, or they will perish this instant!”
Kaden stilled, his body tense. His parents, the guards, and Akridais reached us and the conservatory. I tugged Letti behind me. She still clutched the sweet bouquet Kaden had picked, cradling the petals against her chest.
“Pa, what is happening?!” Kaden’s voice was frantic. Mr. Larkin swung his head from left to right, desperation blanketing his eyes. He had stopped struggling when Kaden ran toward them.
Upon reaching the sealed conservatory, the male Akridai lifted one hand away from the energized globe in his other palm and touched the center of the concave glass wall. His ember crept over the panel in oily tendrils. The glass devoured the writhing energy and then dissolved into nothingness from the center outwards.
The male turned around and waved his hand toward Hestia, who was whimpering now. Her body glided through the created doorway and paused next to the closest Dormancy pod. The glow from her bindings was consumed by the pod’s pitch-black shell, no reflection in its glistening form.
“Listen well, dirtlings, for I will only say this once. Hestia Larkin is accused of using unregistered ember. Furthermore, she is accused of wielding said ember to tamper with the Dormancy pods.” The male Akridai looked bored with the entire ordeal. Everyone was holding their breath as he went on. “The punishment is culling, which we will proceed with immediately.”
Letti started crying and dropped the astra poppies to the earth. The ground felt like it was tilting, but my legs locked, keeping me upright. My breathing was labored. “Go, now, Letti! Get inside the cottage!” I cried, pushing her toward it. To my relief, she listened and ran. Out of the corner of my eye, Father arrived and caught Letti in his arms. His head moved subtly from side to side in disappointment as he glimpsed the scene. He brushed the back of her hair and carried her back home without a second glance.
Kaden was shouting, his expression burning with anguish. He was now being held back by his father. Solemn tears were streaming down Mr. Larkin’s cheeks, pooling in his beard. I couldn’t feel my legs as they carried me over to Kaden. We all understood there was nothing we could do to stop this.
With the wet taste of salt lining my lips, I took Kaden’s hand. “Kade, let’s be here for her,” I implored. He looked at me, his eyes like a wild animal caught in a snare. Then he stopped struggling, defeated.
The Draumrs flanked the doorway as we approached the entrance. The Akridais stood at either end of the pod, feeding it their ember as the male did with the glass panel earlier. As the pod drank in their energy, the amber glass appeared, the murky mist within alive.
Simultaneously, they brushed their fingertips in a circular motion over the ends of the now amber surface. A burst of neon-yellow zipped from their dimming auras down through their arms and hands. The glass spun and vanished.
Together, the Akridais guided Hestia’s incapacitated form into the pod, glowing power streaming from their hands and creating the path. Kaden cried, “We are here, Ma!”
Hestia strained her eyes toward us as far as she could, her head immobile. Her eyes were shiny. She blinked once. One solitary tear crept down her cheek. “I’ll save a spot in Surrelia for each of you. I love y?—”
As the pod's encasement reappeared and twirled into place, her last word was cut short, wrapping her in a morbidly beautiful cocoon. Placing their outstretched hands on the vessel once more, the Akridais closed their eyes in concentration.
Behind their hieroglyphic tattoos, their skin burned bright before fading. The last of their waning, oily auras absorbed into their arms and surged through their hands into the glass. The Akridais each slumped, looking drained. Without another word, they left the conservatory and walked away into the dusk, the Draumrs obediently following.
Before we could step inside, the glass wall reappeared, entombing Hestia. Kaden, Mr. Larkin, and I pressed our bodies into the glass as close as possible, not breaking eye contact with her. I didn’t want her to be alone. This couldn’t be real. She was a second mother to me.
Within a few breaths, the pod emanated a twitching, golden light. Hestia was screaming in what looked like pure agony, but only deafening silence met us. The inky mist slithered into her ears, her mouth—any pore that could be found. Then, without warning, her body turned to ash and burst into stardust. The pod turned solid and dark. The curtain had been drawn.
Mr. Larkin sagged to his knees, weeping onto the glass. A scream tore out of Kaden as he charged into the woods. I was a grymwood, silent and planted into the earth. My feet tingled, ready for movement. They carried me back to my cottage, crushing the rest of the flowers Letti had dropped. In my stupor, I didn’t notice Gavrel approaching.
As he took in the scene before him, his eyes blazed, making them appear as if they would combust anything in their path. His fists clenched so tightly at his sides that I thought they might implode. He wore the standard, soot-colored Draumr uniform, a sword strapped across his back. He looked older somehow. More rugged. More broad. His shoulder and chest muscles were straining against the fabric of his structured overcoat with every ragged breath he took.
I murmured breathlessly, “Gavrel, I don’t …”
And I passed out, Gavrel catching me before I hit the petal-strewn ground.
4
A RAVENOUS SPIDER
NOWADAYS
Darkness scratched my insides, clawing its way out of my skin. I heard my mother’s voice as if she were shouting my name underwater. I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t reach her. The stifling atmosphere around me was directionless and suffocating. I was going to drown in this black hole with her.
Out of the corner of my eye, a shimmer flickered, a beacon in the void. I jolted in my bed, gasping for air. Wild wisps of damp hair clung to my neck. My starburst scar pounding in time with my heart.
“What’s happening?” Letti’s sleepy whisper anchored me firmly in my body. I brushed my fingers over my hair and wiped the sleep from my eyes. A slice of dawn slipped through the top of the curtains in our room. There was no pulsing glow, only the steady rays of the morning sun. It was time for the Dormancy.
