The Gifted Heart (Marks of Inheritance: The Orkeia Cycle #1)

4. One Left Behind

Chapter four

One Left Behind

“ C ome on,” Gideon whispered, backing up.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the bag of plants. The shelter wasn’t far. As long as we didn’t do anything to draw their attention, we should be able to make it back and warn the others without raising an alarm.

Just then, one of the Paterson brothers—the one with the ponytail—ran around the hill, tripping over his feet. We all froze at the blare of a battle horn.

“They saw me,” he gasped out between heavy breaths. “Run!”

We took off as fast as our legs would carry us. They could see us and would follow us to the shelter, but there was nowhere else to go.

“How are we going to lose them?” I panted.

“Julius has power over space,” ponytail-boy explained, falling to his knees and knocking forcefully on the stone door. “He’ll get us out of here.”

I didn’t have time to react to this new information or even really process what it meant. As soon as the door opened, the three of us pushed our way through the entrance, almost knocking Darius over. Before the opening was covered, the knights blew their horn once again, filling the shelter with a terrifying echo.

“What’s going on?” Julius shouted, rushing into the common area just as we reached it.

“Knights,” Gideon said. Everyone froze .

“I’m sorry, Julius,” ponytail-boy said quickly. “I should have been more careful—”

Julius forced a kind smile in his direction. “It’s all right, Jonas. It was bound to happen eventually. How far away are they?”

“Close enough that they saw us run for the shelter,” Gideon panted.

Julius nodded and turned to address the entire clan. “Grab only essentials and meet in the cellar.”

“Do you really think they’ll find us?” Darius asked incredulously. “The shelter’s entrance is well hidden. For all they know, the kids just disappeared.”

“I’d rather not take the risk,” said Julius.

Darius grimaced but nodded. Without another word, everyone hurriedly dispersed.

“The cellar?” I asked Shae as we rushed into our room.

She nodded. “Darius built a chamber under the common area, and we store emergency supplies down there. It’s our escape route.”

I still didn’t entirely understand, but now was not the time to ask questions. I threw my pack over my shoulder—I’d never actually emptied it—and helped Shae with her things.

Even with the two of us working together, we were the last ones out. Gideon was just entering the door at the far end of the common area when we joined the others, and I closed it behind us. Everyone else was on the first landing twelve steps down, climbing down the last steps to the bottom of the chamber. Gideon, Shae, and I hurried to catch up, reaching the landing as everyone else reached the floor.

“Is Sybil behind you three?” Lyra, Gideon’s mother, called as we helped Shae down.

I turned, my stomach dropping. No one had been behind me when I closed the door, and no one was following us now.

“I’ll find her,” I volunteered, running back up the stairs before anyone could stop me. I hadn’t been there for my last clan when they were attacked, and I wasn’t about to leave anyone behind this time—not even Sybil.

I couldn’t hear the march of the army through the hill, but I knew there was no time to lose. My heart pounding, I entered Sybil, Helen, and Ethel’s room. It was empty. Quickly, I turned to check the rest of the shelter and ran into Gideon in the doorway.

“What are you doing?” I yelled.

“If you think I’m going to leave you up here alone, you’re crazy, Kenna.”

I groaned. There was no arguing with him.

“Fine. You check the eating area and the three rooms over there, and I’ll check the others.”

He nodded, and we separated. She wasn’t in the Patersons’ rooms, and I could tell from Gideon’s expression when he re-entered the common area that he hadn’t found her either. We ran back to the cellar. Judging by the pounding of the footsteps above us, the knights were dangerously close.

Soon we were on the first landing, looking down at everyone waiting impatiently.

“She’s not down there?” I called, knowing the answer before Lyra spoke.

“No. You didn’t find her?”

“It’s like she disappeared,” Gideon answered, but I was no longer listening. To my right, a sliver of light caught my eye, and I turned towards it. A small crawl space led upwards towards the surface. Someone was huddled at its exit.

I ducked into the tunnel, not giving any mind to the dirt soiling my clothes. Behind me, I heard Gideon call my name, but I ignored him and approached the slumped figure.

“Sybil!” I called, struggling toward her. She didn’t turn, staring blankly through a small opening ahead of her. Through it I could see the knights. They weren’t far off, but they were no longer advancing. The men closest to us appeared to be fighting off invisible creatures, and my eyes widened in understanding.

“She’s holding them off,” I called back to Gideon, not surprised that he’d crawled in after me. “She’s summoning spirits. I’ll find her spirit and get her down there—you go tell the others. ”

Only when Gideon had reluctantly squirmed out of the crawl space did I close my eyes, willing my spirit to leave its physical home. I flew through the ground above to see about twenty spirits battling the front lines of the knights, their spiritual swords leaving nothing but bruises on the enemy’s skin. Sybil’s spirit floated just ahead of me, focused on controlling the small army.

The knights yelled in confusion, those further back unsure why the line wasn’t advancing. A man on a horse rode forward, an angry scowl on his scared face, and Sybil sent one of her spirits to spook the animal. The horse whinnied and bucked, and the man barely managed to stay mounted. It was enough for him to apparently realize what was happening, and he growled.

“Onward, Men! These paltry spirits are nothing but a distraction!”

I frowned. He was right. Twenty spirits were definitely not going to be enough to fight them off. There’s only so much a spirit can do, even when it’s summoned for battle purposes. It’s not like fighting another human being—it’s almost like fighting against birds pecking at your skin. The knights would soon be at the shelter, and even with how well-hidden the entrance was, it wouldn’t take them long to get in once they found it.

I hurried to Sybil’s side. “Sybil, we’re leaving. If we go back now, there’s enough time for us to join the others.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you do that, then?”

“I came back to get you.”

Sybil shook her head. “As soon as I let these spirits free, the knights will be upon us. There would hardly be enough time for both of us to escape. You are young and have a life ahead of you—I have lived mine.”

I groaned in frustration. There would be no point in forcing her body back down the tunnel while her spirit remained here—she would have to search for wherever we went, and it was very possible she might not ever find the new shelter. If she couldn’t find us, she would end up a lost spirit and her body would die anyway.

“Let me help you, at least,” I insisted.

“I’ve summoned all the spirits nearby. ”

I furrowed my brow. “That can’t be possible. Dozens of people died when the knights attacked my clan, and that’s just on the other side of the island.”

She let out an incredulous scoff. “And have any of these spirits passed into rest?”

“Yes, but—”

She shook her head at me condescendingly. “You can’t summon spirits who have already passed on, Kenna.”

“Have you ever tried?”

She broke concentration for a moment to glare at me. “Are you suggesting you know more about summoning spirits than I do?”

“Of course not,” I said, exasperated. “But if there’s even the possibility—”

Sybil scoffed, but her dismissal only made me more determined. Leaving her to the battle, I quickly flew to my previous home. The bodies had begun to decompose, and some had clearly been mutilated by animals. My stomach turned and the desire for revenge filled my heart anew, but right now I had to stay focused on my goal.

I thought back to the few times I had summoned spirits before under Elizabeth’s instruction. While I had never summoned more than one or two at a time, theoretically, I should be able to summon those of any bodies in the area. Even if I couldn’t summon my clan members who had moved on as Sybil claimed, there were bound to be at least some of the knights in the Land of the Lost or still wandering the earth that I could call to our aid.

“Arise, those who have died in this place,” I said, my eyes skyward and my hands extended toward the ground.

A surge of power coursed through me as spirits began ascending from the Land of the Lost to come to my side. To my relief—and some satisfaction that I would be able to prove Sybil wrong—I also saw spirits descend from the Land of the Saved. I recognized the members of my clan, including Elizabeth, but when they were summoned this way, they were no longer individual beings. All summoned spirits exist solely to carry out orders. There was a knot in my throat at seeing Elizabeth’s form floating in front of me, but I dismissed it as quickly as I could, focusing on the task at hand.

“Follow me,” I commanded, “and delay the knights.”

All their ghostly heads nodded in unison, and we hastily returned. The knights had gained ground since I left, and Sybil had lost most of her spirits. Her eyes widened at our approach. As her last spirit disappeared, I set loose the ones following me. They pushed forward, creating a wall of force between us and the advancing army. Horses bucked in fear and the knights stumbled backward from the sudden barrier, waving their swords and shields wildly against the invisible attacks.

I watched the scene carefully, sending more spirits to those sections of the army that were advancing, but my energy quickly began to falter. It was getting harder and harder not to return to my body, and my hold on the spirits was weakening—to control that many at once was draining my powers. As I directed them in the attack, a few of them disappeared, returning to their places of rest. Focus, Kenna!

Sybil’s spirit rose up to mine, eyes still wide. “These spirits passed on?”

“Some of them, yes.”

“And you still summoned them?”

“Yes,” I said, struggling to keep my focus.

She shook her head before taking control of the spirits into her own hands. The attack was stronger now, proving her skill as a white witch. I wasn’t yet that skilled in controlling spirits.

“I’ll keep holding them off. Return to your body, Kenna,” she instructed, “and take my talisman. You are the Mother white witch now.”

I stared at her. “Me? But I—”

“Do not argue. You are worthy. Now go!”

Reluctantly, I allowed my spirit to sink through the ground and rejoin my body. As soon as I opened my eyes, I retrieved the talisman from Sybil’s neck and placed it around my own. It was practically weightless.

As I started squirming out of the hole, the sounds of the battle drew closer. When I reached the landing, to my relief, everyone was still there .

“Where’s Sybil?” Lyra called.

“She’s not coming,” I answered.

There was no time for anyone to argue. Julius had already drawn a circle in the ground for his spell, and everyone but Gideon stood inside it. He waited at the bottom of the steps, watching anxiously as I half climbed, half fell down the steep flight. As I reached level ground, Julius started chanting and Gideon pulled me into the circle, keeping his arm protectively around my waist.

When Julius finished his spell, the world around me disappeared into darkness. Forces pulled on me from all directions, as if they were trying to rip me into pieces. I felt a rush of panic and nausea as the world seemed to spin out of control. It only lasted a few moments, however, and we soon stood on a quiet beach. The struggles of the knights could no longer be heard.

Okay, this is what they meant by power over space…

Tentatively, I stepped outside the circle and surveyed the area. At the moment, it didn’t look like a home, but it was perhaps the best location Julius could have chosen for us.

The beach was even more secluded than where I’d lived with my previous clan—it looked like we were the first people to set foot on it and there were cliffs surrounding every side. Seals barked on the rocks and seabirds flew all around. The scene was eerily similar to where my clan had died, and my thoughts turned to Elizabeth. I closed my eyes, listening to the waves beat against the rocks, grateful I’d been there this time. I said a silent prayer that Sybil wouldn’t suffer and would be able to join Elizabeth and so many others in rest soon.

Above the noises of nature, I heard footsteps behind me and turned to face a very disgruntled Ethel. By now everyone had noticed the opal around my neck, and she held out her hand expectantly, glaring at me.

“I would like my talisman, please.”

I wanted to snap at her that there were more important things to think about, like the fact that Sybil had just sacrificed herself for us. But even though I didn’t know Ethel well, I knew enough just from the last few days that comments like that wouldn’t go over well.

The whole group was watching me. I fingered the clasp, but then hesitated. It didn’t make sense for me to have the talisman at all—I was the least experienced of the white witches in the clan, and I hadn’t even planned on staying with the clan long-term. But I felt a pulsing of power from the talisman, almost as if it was warming my skin, and knew it was a confirmation of what Sybil had said.

Whether or not I wanted it, I had been chosen as the Mother white witch.

“Sybil told me to keep it,” I said as evenly as I could.

Ethel’s eyes grew cold with fury. “You must have misunderstood. Give it to me!”

Her sharp tone made me wince. “You’re welcome to try to lift it,” I said, not seeing another way to settle this. I unlatched the talisman and set it on the ground.

The whole clan watched silently as Ethel eagerly bent to claim it. With her hand securely around the cord, she began to straighten, only to be stopped by the unexpected weight, unable to move it even the slightest amount.

“What kind of trick is this?” she demanded. “Do you have a spirit helping you?”

“I can only control spirits when I’m outside of my body. You know that.”

She let out a sound that resembled a growl before trying again, but after multiple failed attempts, her face reddening more and more each time, she finally stomped away. The beach seemed almost more deserted than before.

Helen sighed. “Well, I guess it’s only fair that all three of us try, isn’t it?”

After exchanging a glance with Ethel, she calmly stepped forward and attempted to pick up the talisman at my feet. When she too was unable to lift it, she stared at me, shocked. I bent down to her level, met her sharp eyes, wrapped my fingers around the talisman, and stood. Slowly, I wrapped the cord back around my neck and hooked it, acting more confident than I actually felt. Helen stood as well .

“I suppose you were telling the truth, then,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she turned to join Ethel. The two of them walked away, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Darius’s eyes narrowed and he stared at me for another moment before turning to join the two women. Others were quick to look away and begin exploring the area. I wrapped my hand around the opal, my heart racing.