Page 4 of Rising Out of the Darkness
A clatter rumbled behind me, and I turned to see the door had fallen off its hinges.
“Hells! Anything else?”
Glaring at the ceiling, I groused at the gods above. There was no time to fix it now. With a little effort, and a few curse words, I leaned it up against the wall. Once confident it wouldn’t come crashing back down, I shoved what I needed for the day inside my satchel, while cursing the king for causing us to flee here in the first place.
Anger towards our ruler had surged shortly after our beloved High Priest had been murdered alongside his family, just days after announcing he could not condone atrocities the king committed against the humans in our kingdom. Two days later, the kingdom endured another loss, the queen and her elder son.
The king blamed it on rebels, but those who had suffered under the king’s tyranny and had witnessed targeted attacks also knew that these so-called “rebels” would never harm the only people who seemed to be actively trying to help the kingdom.
Tired of all the lies, a true Rebellion had arisen. Thousands had flocked deep into the forests surrounding the cities. With limited supplies to work with, many towns were constructed quickly and haphazardly.
In the earlier stages of the Rebellion, many of these towns were destroyed in a night, thanks to the vicious group of Flames we had come to name the “Nightshades.” Cloaked by the dark of night, shielded by black hooded robes and masks that covered everything but their eyes, they left nothing but death in their wake.
Elysians with extreme dynamis abilities could only be found living inside the walls of the cities. There were four cities in the realm of Ehora: Vragos, the City of Ash; Grinwood, the City of Life; Atheling, the City of Luminance; and finally, the capital of the kingdom, Vrine, the City of Shadows. King Alaric Stallardliked to call those within these cities “the Blessed,” because they had maintained the full strength of their dynamis.
As for the rest of us on the outside, our dynamis had only weakened and dwindled the further we were away from the cities. Every new Ascension ceremony left each Elysian with weaker dynamis.
We were considered inferior, low-class, and mundane. The kingdom believed us to be just a step above the humans, whom the king hated even more. In the past few years, some Elysians who had initially fled had made their way back to the cities in hopes that they would regain the strength of their dynamis.
Out here, we were far opposite of the Blessed. I suppose you could even say we were the Cursed, evidenced by the events of this morning and the door that lay broken behind me.
I headed to the short wooden dresser that my mother and I used to share. Socks were my priority. Once a protective layer of wool cocooned my frozen toes, I began to pull out clothes for the day. It wasn’t until I bundled up in one of my mother’s tunics, leggings, and heavy boots and pulled my heavy sweater back on that my teeth stopped chattering.
Raising the collar to my nose, I momentarily stopped to bask in the scent that still lingered. Somehow, the fabric maintained the faintest hint of her scent, sweet flora and herbs. Reaching behind my pillow, I grabbed my dagger and slipped it into my boot as I sauntered towards the door.
The beautiful dagger had been a gift to me on my nineteenth birthday, and it was one of my most cherished possessions. The onyx hilt looked as dark as night. Stars of all shapes and sizes had been carved into it by my father. My parents knew how much the night sky mesmerized me, making this gift even more meaningful.
That day would always have a spot in the happiest parts of my soul. Especially when two days later my mother was killed.Ever since, I’d carried it with me everywhere I went, along with the memory of a happier time.
I wrapped my fingers around the door handle and swung it open, met with a blast of frigid morning air and the scowl of the woman the elixirs had been for.
Ophelia glared at me with her arms crossed over her chest. “We expected you an hour ago.”
All night I’d struggled to find the perfect mix of herbs and other ingredients to make those elixirs. Ophelia’s husband had been bedridden for weeks with a sickness in his chest. I’d tried over twenty different elixirs without any success. With every failed attempt Ophelia had grown more impatient with me, and I’d grown more anxious that I wouldn’t be able to help him.
If only I could make more sense of what went on inside his body, like my mother had always been able to, then maybe my attempts to heal him would have come easier.
For four years, I’d been creating healing elixirs based on pure instinct and what I’d learned from my mother. Most of the time I was successful, but there had been several patients I’d lost when they needed me the most—failures that haunted me. Further chipping away at what little confidence I have left.
Sighing, I pushed those unwanted thoughts out of my head. Out of all days, today, I needed to remain calm and in control.
I wasn’t off to a great start.
“I’m sorry, I fell asleep for a few hours after being up?—”
Ophelia’s hand shot up, silencing me. “I’m not here for your excuses. I’m here for the elixirs, Elena.” Her eyebrows lowered as she motioned me to hand them over. Fear took hold of my body, and I could feel my muscles begin to tighten.
“Ophelia … I—I…” The words trembled out of me, and I took a deep breath to regain composure. “The vials broke this morning, so I’ll?—”
Her groan cut me off as she scrubbed her hands over her face and through her hair. “I should have known better than to trust you.”
My teeth crashed into my bottom lip. Shame flooded my body, and it took everything inside of me to not drown inside of it.
“We came to you out of respect for your mother, gods rest her soul.” She placed a hand over her heart. “Althea would be so ashamed of you.”
I stood frozen in the doorway as Ophelia stormed off back to her house. A tear slipped free, and I swiped it away, forcing myself to close the door and keep moving.
Her words pierced through me. My heart knew that her words came out of anger and fear for her husband. However, my brain told me that there was truth within each word.
