Page 4 of The Dark Rising
“I know,” I say, leaning back and reaching out to look at the cuffs on Josh’s wrists. No runes, no glow. “These are normal. I guess I was the only one given them.”
“Assholes,” Josh mutters.
“Yeah,” I agree, taking a step back from Josh to look around us. “The clearing is wide with a few small, grassy hills and what looks like a village in the distance. The trees surrounding us aren’t thick, their size much smaller than the ones inside Eridian, but will provide some shelter. “Where in the Gods are we?” I croak out, my voice rough from screaming, crying. From my heart fucking breaking.
“We’re southwest of Fenrikar,” Anna says as she hobbles over to me. “I haven’t been here in a long time, but we’re not far from Witches Rest.”
My eyes sharpen at her words. “Witches Rest? Why are we here?” I ask her as the rest of the guys come over. Witches Rest is where a coven of witches who are not loyal to the Highers, reside. They’re dangerous, powerful, and scary according to what Edward told me. They keep to themselves and go under no one’s rule but their own.
“We needed somewhere to go.” Anna shuffles on her feet. “We can’t go back to Eridian, and this is the closest and safest place I thought to bring us to if we decide to go to Witches Rest.”
“Is it safe to go to the witches?” Taylor grunts, running a hand over short, coffee hair, an anxious move as he looks toward Colten.
“It’s safer than being out in the open,” Sebastian chimes in, tawny eyes looking around us.
“We need to get Kade, he can’t stay with them.” I shake my head. “They have done enough damage; I can’t let our family take him.”
“Rhea,” Josh says gently, putting his hands on my shoulders and I shake my head again. We can’t leave him. “We can’t do anything right now.” My eyes well with more tears, and I bite my lip as another sob wants to escape me. “How are we going to go back to Wolvorn Castle, get inside unnoticed, convince Kade to come with us willingly, and then get out of there with our lives?”
“We have to try, I can’t lose him too.” I just can’t. It would be even more unbearable than it is now.
His gray eyes soften. “I don’t want him with them anymore than you do, but we have to be realistic. Walking back in there is a death sentence.”
“And the Elites will be hunting us now,” Colten murmurs, his shoulder brushing against Hudson’s side as he stands beside him. “They will have their orders and we escaped them; they won’t just let that go.”
“How did you even get a port stone?” I sniffle, eyeing Anna.
“I’m unsure,” she says softly, and my brows furrow. “I woke up and it was already in my pocket, but I don’t know how it got there. I didn’t really have any time to think about it when the next thing I heard were footsteps and guards dragged me out of my cell.”
“It must have been Edward. He came to me when I was in a cell, telling me he would find a way to get you guys out,” I tell them and they all nod. We all stand in silence, lost in thought as I rub my chest, still half-naked and covered in blood. I shiver.
Josh notices my shivering and grabs the back of his bloodstained t-shirt, pulling it over his head. “You showed your markings,” he says gently, gathering his t-shirt in his hands to help me put it on.
I look down, feeling oddly uncomfortable. I take a peek at Anna, knowing she had no idea I was an Heir. The only one here who didn’t know. “Yeah,” I tell Josh as he gently maneuvers me into his t-shirt, and I rub my bloody cheek against his in thanks. The t-shirt is full of bloodstains and some rips and tears, but it’s warmer.
“So you are an Heir? You said so in the hall, but I didn’t think...” Anna’s voice wavers as she trails off. “How is that possible?”
“The Heirs never went away,” I tell her, running a hand down my face. “They have always been in Vrohkaria, just in hiding.”
Her brows furrow. “But how?” she asks. “They were all hunted down, they were all long gone. Like the Old Gods”
“In our history, the Heirs were put on a pedestal, revered by all, welcomed by all. But that changed after the King of Vrohkaria died, and the Highers were formed to fill the void of power that was left by his death. With the Highers in power, changes were brought to the lands with new laws, and the Heirs became something to fear by all. Hated and despised for simply being a descendent of Zahariss or Cazier after it was told they went mad across the lands.”
“But Heirs are dangerous.” She takes a step back, and I look away from her, feeling dejected and hurt that she moved back from me in fear. “The Gods went crazy, destroying the lands. Then the Heirs came, and they were unstable, violent, just as the Old Gods were.”
“Anna!” Josh snaps at her, and I hold a hand out to stop him from saying anymore. I understand her fear, understand that the Highers’ views of the Gods and Heirs have probably been ingrained in her for many years. But she should know better with being a blood witch what it’s like to be told you are something when you are not.
“The Heirs are passed down, so the previous Heirs of Zahariss are my ancestors and they did what they had to do to defend themselves. There is so much you don’t know, so much kept hidden from the people of Vrohkaria. It was safer for everyone that we were kept hidden. That way innocents didn’t get caught in battles that were not their own, and even though people’s minds were poisoned with lies, and they would attack or tell an authority of sightings of an Heir, they kept their lives if we stayed away. Why else do you think I have also been hiding in Eridian? Look at the mess we are in now.” I look away briefly and take a breath. “The Heirs of the Gods have sacrificed over and over again for their people, to keep some sort of peace in the lands, to save the spilling of innocent blood,” I tell her, gritting my teeth, getting angrier over the injustice of it all. “Believe what you will, Anna, but I am Heir to Zahariss, that title doesn’t change who I am and I’m not a threat to innocents. I’ve spent years helping people by bringing them to Eridian, you know this, so tell me, am I dangerous? Are you dangerous being a blood witch? The law states you are to be killed on sight, yet you have done nothing but help me care for those who need it.”
Silence falls around us as Anna looks at me, then to my bloody body until she lets out a quiet sigh. “No, you’re not dangerous, Rhea.”
I nod and let out a breath. “I’m an Heir, that title alone puts a target on my back and I’m also branded as a traitor. If you don’t want to stay with me, I understand. I would never ask you to stay with me and help me for what comes next.”
“I will always help you,” Anna murmurs, coming forward and gripping my hand. “I’m sorry for questioning you, I should know better.” I lean forward and rub against her cheek, accepting her apology.
“Darius is an Heir, isn’t he?” Sebastian eventually says out loud what we all didn’t want to voice.
A pang goes through me at the mention of him. “Yes, he’s the Heir of Cazier, but he seemed shocked that I was an Heir too, so I don’t think he knew I was. I could sense something similar to me in him, but it didn’t click into place until we went in search of Solvier after Sam told us about the man in Eridian. It was just confirmed in the hall when his markings appeared, reacting to mine.”
