Page 10 of Outcast

“Where is the prison and how do I reach it?” I tried to keep my voice from being too demanding, but that was the first place I wanted to search for Monty.

“You’re the ruler here, you take us there,” he replied dryly. “Have you not used your powers?”

“I was human. Powers are a mystery.” I shrugged. “We had sex and caused a storm.”

“That was one of Hel’s powers,” he said with a nod, pulling off his helmet to reveal his androgynous face. His features were neither too masculine nor too feminine, his long black hair was wrapped in a ponytail, and his azure eyes had a smudge of black over them like a mask, which made them seem to peer into your very soul. “Do we have somewhere a little more comfortable?”

“I wish.” I sighed. “This place is barren and cold. It’s awful. When I have my group back, I’ll make it more accommodating.”

“Already you seem to grasp what a leader is more than your predecessor,” he mused. “She viewed this realm as a prison. And for her, it was. However, it wasn’t an inherently bad realm, none of the realms are. The darkness has to balance the light. That’s the way of things.”

“So how do I find my powers? I can’t exactly rule this realm if I don’t have a single way to defend myself,” I pointed out.

“Lead the way, then we’ll speak more,” he offered. Drake, who’d been silent during this interaction finally spoke up.

“The war room was the place we’d go, we haven’t found much else here,” he admitted before calling out to Zetta. The wraith popped into view and looked at him expectantly.

“Yes, Master Drake?” she asked.

“It’s just Drake,” he retorted in frustration. It had been a battle to lose the formality here. “Is there a library, anything we can use to sit and talk?”

“Yes, right this way,” she said before turning and leading us farther into the castle.

It was embarrassing to walk through the halls knowing he was seeing the empty walls and floors, it was more like a tomb than a castle, and I was now supposed to represent it.

The library she led us to was not much different. It wasn’t the cozy and warm space I’d pictured with comfy couches and a bright fire, dark woods and the scent of leather and paper in the air.

At least there were chairs and a fire in the fireplace.

It was something.

“I know she preferred to use the fires of Helheim, but I’m partial to real fire,” Valgri said with a wave of his hand, the blue fire replaced by normal orange fire. The warmth of it was blissful and Drake and I rushed forward, basking in its glow.

“That, we can definitely agree on,” I groaned. “I didn’t realize it was an option.”

“Once you learn to manipulate the realms around you, anything is possible. She created the castle to be imposing, informal, cold, and to make her subjects uncomfortable,” Valgri answered. “Here, think of the air like it has power in it. You reach for it, and manifest it. Simple as that.”

“Simple.” I laughed. “Alright.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to feel the power in the air. When that proved useless, I imagined it real, human clothes on my body.

Drake’s snort of laughter had me opening my eyes and groaning at my now-naked body.

“Well, that was not the plan. I apologize, Valgri,” I said.

“Modesty isn’t a thing among our kind,” he reassured me. “Try again. If you can’t feel it, you need to search harder. It’s not just a picture in your mind, using your human imagination. This is real. Tangible. A tool to be used.”

“Can anyone do it?” I asked him, glancing at Drake.

“No.” The answer offered nothing more and I let it go for now.

This time as I closed my eyes, I tried to breathe in and out evenly. The air was warmer than the rest of Helheim, but still felt like simple air.

“It’s there, Harlow,” he said with more patience than I deserved. “Grab the power and form the clothes you’re trying to wear.”

This being had no idea how stubborn and useless I could be.

The thought hit me before I could stop it and my brain immediately protested. Those thoughts were from my past life. This one I was the leader of a realm, not a broken little girl with a dysfunctional brain.

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