Page 86 of The Dark Rising
“The people are already in chaos with the rogures plaguing their homes and slaughtering everything in sight. It has been happening for years, but now it’s much worse and they aren’t slowing down. Reports of them are coming in daily and there are only so many Elites I can send out. What’s important now is to save the people from the plague destroying their lives, be it the Highers or the rogures, and saving the innocent lives who were taken from their homes,” he growls, looking over his old family home. “We will deal with the rest after.”
I sigh, ignoring thewein his reply. “No one has figured out the purpose of the rogures or how to stop them. We can end the Highers when we are ready, but the rogures? We are still in the dark.”
“We know a ritual brought them here, if the memory crystal is at least true in some form.”
“Which I still need to see,” I point out.
“Which you still need to see,” he agrees. “Hopefully, we can get it soon. Then you can look at it and see if you can figure out anything. If a ritual brought them onto the lands, then one should rid them of it.”
“That’s the theory. I guess we need to start looking into some rituals. I know of none that bring forth beasts that plague the land, never mind sending them back.”
“Me either, but there has to be something, somewhere that will tell us. Belldame said we should go to where the Gods once roamed, maybe there’s something there.”
I cock my head at him. “When did she tell you that?”
“At Witches Rest when you were packing.”
“She said that to me too. If we ever find out where that is, or if it even exists, it’s a myth,” I say as I walk toward the steps that lead to the front door.
“It is, but the damn witch seems adamant that there is such a place. I’ll have to search in the library back at Vokheim and see if we have any books on it.” Darius steps in front of me and opens the unlocked door and enters. I follow, coughing at the dust being disturbed from our entrance.
“You have a library at the Elite Keep?” I ask as we enter a spacious room with a living area to the right and a dine-in kitchen to the left. It’s cozy, the furniture a mixture of warm reds and gold, the walls a light beige with pictures hanging from them.
“We do,” he tells me as he walks down the hallway to the back of the house, not once looking around the space. I wonder what he’s feeling being back here after the death of his family. Though I don’t know how his father died. His face gives nothing away though.
I walk behind him, looking at the various pictures of his family on the wall. I ignore looking at his father and just concentrate on his mother, sister, and him as a young kid. He looks happy in one of the pictures, he’s holding a baby, his face angled down toward her and the smile on his face is one of pure adoration, telling me everything I need to know about their relationship.
He loved his sister, and then lost her too young.
I swallow over the lump in my throat and continue looking at his childhood years, of his mother and his sister growing until there are none left. No more pictures to be taken. A pang goes through me as I remember that he told me he had someone he would die for back in the cave in Eridian. This is who he meant, I’m sure of it. I can tell by the affection that fills his eyes for his mother and sister.
I move away from the pictures and toward Darius as he stops outside a closed door and puts his palm on the wooden surface. Runes glow gently, turning to a pulsing blue until they stop. Darius grabs the door knob, turning it. I follow with apprehension filling me as we enter a sizable office space. Dust layers every surface, letting me know it’s been a very long time since anyone was inside of here.
Darius pauses, then he takes a deep breath before turning to me, eyes hard.
“Look for anything. There could be nothing here, but my father was particular about recording things. Findings, creatures, anything he thought worth it, he would write down.”
I nod and move over to the back of the office as Darius moves around the desk and behind it, searching there. I rummage through the table at the back, moving crystals and papers, not noticing anything other than what looks like Elite business. I sneeze, the dust being disturbed by my movements and I move to another table when I find nothing but food numbers and Elite routines. I move to a shelf, moving over small clay statues of wolves, snorting when I see one of the Highers’s emblems, but then I freeze.
A quiet buzzing fills my ears, and I feel power pulsing gently. I look around wondering where it’s coming from, but find nothing. I tilt my head to listen better as Runa’s ears perk up. “Darius?” I call. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” he asks and comes to a stop next to me. “What are you—“ He pauses, and his brows scrunch. He looks around as I did before black tendrils of mist float out of his hand. I watch them, transfixed and swaying like they’re in water as they stretch and move until they slowly move downward.
We both watch them move downward, neither of us moving as they connect to the wooden boards beneath our feet. His power seems to shiver as they touch the surface, like they’re vibrating. I crouch down and tentatively touch a hand to the floor, my eyes widening as I feel a pulse of power. My head snaps up to Darius as he crouches beside me and puts his palm to the floor.
“You feel that?” I whisper, looking back down to watch his power run over the back of my hand, the small tendrils gently stroking my knuckles.
“Yeah.” His face is tense, his body stiff as he concentrates on the spot beneath his palm. “It’s a ward of some kind.”
“Why would your father have a ward on the floor?” Seems like a strange thing to have.
“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out. Add some of your power to it.”
My brows furrow but I do what he asks, watching him warily before I close my eyes and call on my power. Runa shifts inside of me, but I ignore her being uncomfortable and focus on pushing power to my palm. I feel my face tingle, and know my markings have appeared. Shifting slightly when I feel Darius’s stare on me, I try to concentrate.
My palm heats as the power shifts within me, slowly winding around to the area I want it, and my eyes open as ice-blue strands float out of my hand, running over the wooden surface and intertwining with Darius’s. The black and blue strands touch each other almost reverently, like they are greeting one another and figuring each other out. I suck in a sharp breath when they connect and hold, wrapping around each other and creating a gentle light.
Darius makes a sound, it’s deep from his chest and I look over at him. His eyes are transfixed on our power woven together, his eyes glowing slightly but filled with...awe?
