Page 50 of When Storms Awaken

“They returned to the earth from which they came, absorbed back into the magic of this place. Nothing would remain of them,” he explained. “A witch’s bones can be a powerful thing, a way in which someone might harness the energy they had possessed when they were once alive. All witches return to the earth upon their death, absorbed back into the magic that pulses into the very being of this earth. That is, unless someone takes the bones first,” he said ominously.

Nik ducked as we walked under the second, smaller, archway, his sword at his back almost catching on the crest of the arch as he passed through. The remnants of stone were piled so high that it only left a small space for us to walk through. I ducked too, mindful of my own sword at my back. It was so light, I had almost forgotten that I had it.

Nik swept his arm wide, indicating the city beyond. Past him I could see the vast city expanse, buildings as far as the eye could see. This city was huge, much larger than I had initially thought. Rebuilding would be quite the task, but the pulse of magic that ran down my arms and up my spine reminded me that a powerful magic resided here. Bringing this city back to life would be worth it.

One building in particular caught my eye off in the distance. There, nestled under the alcove of a slate rooftop, was a tattered wooden door set in a dark stone archway. If I had to guess, that particular door would lead to a long dark corridor, one that I was quickly becoming familiar with. The same dark corridor from my dreams. Is that where my grimoire had come from? Had it been here, buried in this forgotten city, all these years?

“Welcome to the fallen city, Diana. Welcome to Siraleth.”

Ifeltasharppang in my gut as I pictured what Siraleth might have looked like before the war. The homes lined the cobblestone streets so close together that you couldn’t tell where one house began and another one ended. The remnants of blacksmith and magic shops alluded to what was once here, their signs still hanging, but their walls reduced to nothing but wreckage and rubble. The city was built on the edge of the water, and I could imagine the port as a bustling thoroughfare with boats and ships as it once had been. How bigwasIstmere?

Nik walked ahead of me and kicked through the rubble as he mournfully took in the scenery. How many times had he come back to Siraleth after the war? Was this where Nik’s family had lived before they were pushed out of their home and fled to Akra? Before the witch realm was torn apart? I wanted to ask, but the set of his shoulders suggested he wasn’t in the mood to field any questions at the moment.

We wound our way through the streets, closer and closer to the doorway that looked familiar to me. The homes that had been blasted to bits still had furniture inside. It was clear that even for the Nightshades that had lived here, nobody had returned to clean up their homes or shops after the war. Siraleth had been left completely untouched. What remained of the Elixir shops were filled with bits of broken glass and bookshelves that had been turned over, thick tomes scattered among the rubble.

Although I had never been here before, the feeling deep in my core felt familiar. As if I had met this energy before. The magic here was palpable, sewn into everything that had been left behind.

Nik kicked a few rocks away before bending down and pulling a book from the debris. He looked it over quickly, dusting off the cover before tossing it back. His eyes met mine and I could see that it pained him to see the city this way, in such disrepair. I couldn’t help but wonder what the other cities in Istmere looked like, and if they had also fallen to ruin after the war.

As we wound further through the twisting streets and neared the door from my dreams, I paused before it, waiting for Nik to catch up. He raised an eyebrow as he came to my side, linking his hand with mine.

“I had seen this place before in a dream, but I don’t remember it being in Siraleth…” he mused. “Where do you think it leads?”

“Only one way to find out,” I told him, reaching for the door handle with the hand that wasn’t clasped in his. As I pushed it open, it didn’t creak as it had in my dream, but rather it opened smoothly. As if it had never fallen out of use. What lay beyond was not the familiar, long, and empty corridor from my dreams, but rather a humble cottage that appeared mostly untouched from the battle.

I pulled Nik through the doorway behind me and as soon as my foot stepped over the threshold, I felt a warm rush of magic surge up inside me and skip across my skin. Siraleth itself was a powerful and magical place, but this cottage felt as if it had an energy all its own. What was this place?

The cottage was small, and most of its dust filled rooms could be seen from our place at the front entrance. It had a sitting room off to the left with mauve velvet furniture that resembled an expensive tea set. Beyond the sitting room was a small, but well-appointed kitchen, and a single bedroom off to the right of that. How had this home escaped the war almost completely unscathed, aside from the dust that now settled into every nook and cranny over the years?

“Did you feel that?” Nik asked. He pulled his hand from mine and placed it against his core, as if he, too, was feeling the magic well up inside of him. “It’s as if the magic here is…palpable.”

I nodded. I had felt it too. A powerful witch must have lived here once. Why was so much tangible energy left behind? As I turned to inspect the bedroom, I heard the faint sound of a voice outside the window. My foot paused on a creaky floorboard as I turned to Nik in alarm.Siraleth was deserted; who else would be here?

Nik motioned for me to be quiet with a finger over his lips as he moved soundlessly to the front door of the cottage. He opened the door a sliver and peered out, listening intently, before closing it again and dragging me into the single bedroom off the kitchen.

“Who is it?” I whispered as he dragged us towards the single closet and pulled me inside.

“Nightshade soldiers,” he replied through gritted teeth, pressing me against the back wall of the dark closet, “in tenebris ambulamus et non videri.”

I held still, holding my breath in fear of giving away our location. I could hear the front door open and slam against the opposing wall, as if whoever it was had kicked it open. I heard a set of boots against the hardwood floors. Then another. How many of them were there? The boots approached the bedroom and I could hear the floorboards creak beneath them as they drew closer and closer to the closet. My breath caught in my throat as the footsteps neared. There was no way they weren’t going to catch us here, but what would they do with us? Would they let us go?

The doorknob to the closet began to turn slowly. They were about to find us. What were we going to do? The door swung wide, and a tall man faced me as Nik continued to press me against the back wall. He had a beard similar to Fletcher’s the night I had first met him, but this man’s hair was cut much closer to his face. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than us.

He glanced around the closet as if he couldn’t see us, even forming a ball of flame in his hand to inspect each and every dark corner, as if something could be hidden there. Satisfied that he had found nothing, he extinguished the flame and closed the door, the sound of his boots retreating across the squeaky floorboards.

I exhaled softly, melting into Nik as he pressed against me. How had he not seen us? I waited until we heard the front door open and the sound of footsteps back on the cobblestone streets before speaking.

“Who were they?” I hissed against Nik’s chest, “I thought you said that nobody would be here?”

“Fletcher’s henchmen, I recognized them,” Nik replied softly, his breath warm on my cheeks. “He must have sent them through the portal after us. I didn’t think he was following us that closely…”

“Close enough to see us go through the portal? That was a close call. How did he not see us when he opened the closet door?”

“Because I spelled us to be invisible.” He raised an eyebrow at me in the darkness.

“Another Nightshade perk?”

“A Nik perk. Not every Nightshade can control the shadows and the darkness like I can.”

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