A Betrayal of Storms by Ben Alderson

Chapter 22

But the sight that stood out the most, where my eyes seemed drawn to, was a shard of black standing out in the distance. Nestled among the mountain range, pointing skywards like a blade of night thrust from the bellies of the earth.

A castle, built into the walls of stone from a crystal that reflected no light, but dominated the vision of the land with grace.

"Imeria."

I jumped out of my skin, turning to see Erix step beside me, his face a grimace as he battled the harsh weather. He did not apologise for his sudden appearance, even though it made my soul split from my skin.

"You are looking upon the capital of Icethorn. Your home."

I looked back from his scrunched face to the shard of obsidian stone. "Home. It feels far from it."

"The title is earned, and you are looking upon the castle for the first time. Perhaps I should have used another word to describe it but I am not one to sugar coat the truth."

From a distance it was hard to believe that the shard was anything but a shard. I could not make out any details for it was likely countless days ride away. But I could imagine the grandeur nonetheless.

"You should have woken me," Erix said, a tired edge to his voice. "It is not safe for you to-"

"I am fine, Erix, please do not treat me as though I should be caged. I hardly imagine the Gryvern would dare come for me, and I left you not long ago. I needed some fresh air."

Erix's hand found the small curve at the bottom of my back and stayed there. "The Gryvern are not the only threat that I worry about. Look..." He lifted a finger and pointed in the distance. His arm angled upwards, as though gesturing to the cloud-grey sky. "Do you see it?"

I squinted, narrowing my focus on whatever Erix wished for me to see. "I feel as though I am searching for a needle through curtains of heavy lace. What exactly do you want me to see?"

"Just focus," he purred.

I almost gave up, sure he was pulling my leg, when I caught movement. An unclear shape, violent and sharp, as it shuddered through the sky above Imeria. It was close to impossible to see, but like the mountains and the castle, it too was large. It was the colouring that made it hard to see among the rest of the grey and white of the sky. A mass of power, like a cloud of frantic energy slicing and jabbing, sped through the sky. It reminded me of a dragon, or Gyah in her Eldrae form, but it was without wings; just a mass of cold, winter wind and ice that circled the castle from the skies.

Even from a distance I could taste its power. Laying my eyes upon the mass of energy, it tugged at the cord that had settled calmly in my chest.

"What is it...?" I asked, almost fearful to speak loudly as though it would hear me across the great divide and come to devour me.

"Magic. The unclaimed power that is the threat to the Wychwood boundary and those within the human realm beyond. It is the power left wild and angry, without a court to command it. Robin-" the use of my name chilled my blood to ice far more than the horror we witnessed. "-it is what you must accept as your own, or let it spread like wildfire across the lands until the realm you have grown used to looks much like what you see before you."

I had listened to the talk of accepting the court and claiming it as my own, but I had not once imagined it being a physical obstacle to overcome. In fact, I had not truly allowed myself to imagine what it had meant. Now, standing on the edge of a cliff that gave way to the rolling view of a court, my court, I had never felt so small.

"No matter which decision you hope to see, I must tell you now... Just me and you. I do not think I can do it." I admitted my worry aloud, letting the words cloud before me in a puff of condensation within freezing air. "Look at it. I hardly know what I am doing with this... this power and now I am expected to control that thing like a wild horse, except I have been given nothing but a piece of tethered rope to do so."