Page 58 of Vanish

As we ventured farther from the road, I began to notice something different than the other villages we’d explored. Those locations had turned up nothing promising about the phanite mineral we were researching or additional information about the curse, but here I sensed something different.

The sensation was similar to what I’d experienced in the palace the first time I’d noticed Aira’s presence—as if something lay just beyond my line of sight, something I’d be able to see if I could just push aside the fluttering veil blocking my vision. At first I only detected the hint of a presence, but the deeper we ventured within the boundaries where the village had once resided, the more I sensed someone else—words I could almost make out that seemed to carry almost inaudibly to me.

I tugged Lucien to a stop and glanced around. “Do you hear that?”

His brow furrowed as he tilted his head to listen, but by his passive response he couldn’t hear the faint, ghostly whispers drifting through the air, the only evidence of the life that used to fill this village.

“Someone is here,” I said. “I can hear them.”

“My subjects? Does that mean they’re alive?” Desperate hope caused Lucien’s hand to tighten painfully around mine, a sensation my gradually reemerging body welcomed.

“I’m not sure.” I squinted through the fading light in a feeble attempt to part the invisible curtain dividing us, searching for any shimmery trace of their presence.

Though I didn’t see anyone, I felt a caress against my cheek, as if kissed by a nonexistent breeze. Even with no way to prove it, I was certain a person stood beside me who wanted us to know that they still existed, even if we couldn’t see them. The strangest sense of familiarity stole over me, as though I’d received such a touch from that person before.

“Someone is here.” The invisible touch toyed with the ends of my hair, lending confidence to my words.

“Did you sense them in any of the other villages we visited?”

I shook my head. “I wonder why I can feel them here when I couldn’t before.”

At the conclusion of their own appraisal Evelyn and Ryland drew near to join our conversation. “There are more magical traces left behind here than in any of the other villages we investigated. Though my findings aren’t conclusive, I believe the difference is that this village has vanished quite recently, possibly mere moments before our arrival.”

Perhaps the boundary between the visible and unseen world was thinner, a divide that lengthened the more time that passed. I reached out to search the surrounding air with my touch in hopes that the residents of this village lay just beyond my outstretched hand. My fingertips tingled, as if making contact with something I couldn’t see in the world beyond.

I continued to listen in hopes that more exposure would help me make sense of the indiscernible murmurs. At first they seemed to gradually grow louder, accompanied by a frantic note, as though someone shouted a distant warning. Oddly, the sound was accompanied by horse hooves in the distance, steadily escalating until the voices were completely muffled…and I realized that this wasn’t the land of the vanished I was hearing, but intruders in the land of the living.

We glanced towards the approaching entourage; through the thick trees masking them from view we glimpsed a the all too familiar blood-red royal crest adorning their uniforms. Horror seized my breath. “Thorndale!”

There was no time to impart the knowledge Castiel had given me concerning Thorndale’s involvement in the curse, and I lamented that in the rush to begin our research I’d failed to share what little I knew. If my kingdom’s soldiers were as ruthless as its ruler, our small entourage was likely in greater danger than the threat of the curse hovering nearby.

My fingers dug into Lucien’s arm. “We have to hide!”

Without hesitation Lucien motioned to the others, trusting me enough to act on my advice even without explanation. We hurried as soundlessly as we could to take refuge in the trees and had no sooner taken cover when the soldiers entered the empty clearing we’d so recently occupied. Even at a distance, their uniforms confirmed their affiliation. Questions whirled, but my voice froze in my throat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Evelyn making frantic motions and turned to find her casting…or attempting to cast. The shimmery bubble that surrounded her to keep her and her tiny child safe from the curse expanded as if to stretch across the rest of us. Sweat beaded her brow as she concentrated, but the bubble shuddered and popped. She gasped and quickly recast, but the shield once more only covered her body.

She turned to her husband with a look of dismay but he simply shook his head, squeezing her trembling hand and motioning for her to stop trying; it was clear her magic was not strong enough to extend to all of us.

Lucien turned back to watch the soldiers, eyes wide with shock, and bent close to my ear. “What are your kingdom’s soldiers doing here?” His quiet inquiry did little to mask his confusion and suspicion.

He had every right to be wary after discovering another nation’s solders infringing on territory that didn’t belong to them without an invitation; had we been close to the Thorndale border my kingdom’s presence could possibly be explained as mere coincidence, but considering we were at least a full day’s journey from the border, nefarious intent seemed clear. The others cast me questioning glances, silently seeking their own answers, but unfortunately I was as lost concerning this unexpected development as they were.

I didn’t recognize the soldiers, but their familiar accents drifted across the distance separating us, transporting me back to my Father’s oppressive court and all the painful memories that had transpired there. I hadn’t realized I’d started shaking or that my visibility wavered until Lucien wound his arms around me to draw me close.

“It’s alright,” he murmured into my ear. “They won’t be able to see you if you don’t choose to show yourself to them.”

I burrowed myself against his chest, finding solace in his heartbeat beating in tune with my own fearful pulse. Remembering the last time he’d helped me when my anxiety overwhelmed me, I was able to relax and regulate my breathing more quickly.

I wanted nothing more than to remain hidden, but their forbidden presence warranted investigation. I peered tentatively out from the safety of Lucien’s comforting embrace. The soldiers were too far away to overhear, but we were able to monitor their movements through the foliage—they appeared to be excavating something, even though the consuming curse should have left nothing behind.

We needed to find what they were doing, as this could be a rare chance to learn about the curse. I could see that Lucien was likewise focused on discovering their intent and was beginning to edge around the tree he crouched behind, but I shook my head and gestured to myself; only my invisibility would allow me to get close enough to discover information we wouldn’t be able to otherwise when hidden so far away and out of sight. Though I knew my duty, the emblems adorning their uniforms momentarily held me in place, the fears that had haunted me back in Father’s court trapping me in the prison of my past I thought I’d escaped.

With great effort I managed to suppress them just enough to slink from our hiding place, but Lucien’s firm hold jerked me back. He frantically shook his head, the desperation widening his eyes enough to convey his adamant refusal to my plan.

“I need to do this.” I kept my voice lowered even though the curse should muffle my voice from the nearby soldiers.

He searched my earnest expression a long moment before slowly loosening his hold, evidence of his trust in me. His protectiveness compelled him to accompany me, but I motioned for him to stay behind…a command he obeyed with evident reluctance.

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