The colour of silence

Chapter 54

Dusk:

Glow did not need any further encouragement. What had happened by the lake had instilled her with such a powerful fear that she made fast progress, much to Cybil's delight. Sometimes, Dusk could see the glimmer of something hidden in the deepest corners of Cybil's eyes but he could never quite identify what it was. Tension, nerves, and worry for Glow made him not dwell on it.

After a day of constant practicing, Glow made the ball vanish an reappear with ease. The day after, she could let the ball disappear into another room. It seemed as if her magic had gotten the hang of it and now knew exactly what it needed to do. Dusk would have been amazed if Glow's impressive display of power by the lake had not thrown him so completely. Not only did he worry about her, but he also worried about what the consequences would be for his people if he brought Glow back. She knew now that the rebels were fighting. Would her powers soon be used as their main weapon? Would they stand on a battlefield, on different sides?

Dusk shook his head vehemently, not allowing himself to dwell on that thought either. An almost imperceptible whisper remained, advising him to leave her here and make sure she could never return. But that would mean he'd have to kill her. And that had become impossible. Dusk couldn't say when it had happened, or how; he only knew that he couldn't do it. Not now. Not anymore. Maybe never again. He shut his thoughts down once more. These days, all of his thoughts just scared the hell out of him; so he did what he always did and shoved them back into the deepest corner of his mind. Then he buried the corner with anger and restlessness.

"This is wonderful! How come you're progressing so fast now?"

Cybil kept wondering. They had agreed not to tell her what had happened to Glow. She had, of course, witnessed the surge of magic from the Tower but she hadn't read anything into it, besides the claim of a new Tower master. Dusk watched for the hundredth time as the ball disintegrated, and heard the thud as it fell to the ground in the next room.

"Okay, we'll try to make it reappear farther away. Let's say... the lakeside? You seem so fond of it." Cybil smiled sweetly.

Glow closed her eyes again, a line of concentration across her forehead, then the ball disappeared. Cybil looked to Dusk, who rolled his eyes, before running to the lakeside. Sure enough, the ball was there. He brought it back with him.

The third day passed and Glow had no trouble making the ball reappear farther and farther away. She grew restless, just as Dusk. Once again, he felt like a caged animal.

Like a helpless little pup.

His left hand jerked up towards his back, reaching for his sword in an annoying habit his body just didn't want to shake. Instead, his hand gripped the slender hilt of his new longsword, courtesy of Cybil. Every time he wielded it and noticed its lack of balance and the off-kilter feel in his hand, he felt a pang of wistful regret for his sword.

"We need to leave. I've had another vision last night."

He whirled on Glow, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, wringing her hands in her lap. Glow's haunted eyes darted about the room without settling on anything.

"About what?"

"The same one." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"The woman called you guardian again?"

Glow gave a shaky nod.

It didn't make any sense. "Guardian" was just another term those gifted with magic used to refer to the Tower's keeper. Glow didn't control the magic from the Tower, Dusk would know if she did. The transfer of control from one to another made itself known spectacularly, like the one they'd witnessed three days prior. So that could only mean the Varazadi magician meant something else entirely when she used the term "guardian". But guardian of what? And why did she care?