The Blade of Dawn

Chapter 16

Night comes and Easton, Sarah, Xander and I are left tied to our stakes. I am exhausted and I fall asleep despite the biting cold wind that causes the forest temperature to drop dramatically during the night.

When I wake up, I am stiff and shivering. The camp slowly comes alive. A group of about ten tribespeople are feeding and preparing a group of horses.

Nova approaches with five large men.

"I am going to untie you now and we will go to the Valley of Shadows." Nova says to me. There are dark circles under her eyes that were not there yesterday.

"What about Easton, Xander, and Sarah?" I ask.

"They are coming with us. If you try to escape or use your magic against my people, I will have all three of them killed."

Nova doesn't trust me. She is taking no risks.

I am given a horse and Easton, Sarah, Xander, Nova, ten tribespeople and I set off into the forest. We ride in a line, following Nova who picks our path. I notice that the horses seem especially in tune with Nova. She communicates with her horse without speaking or tugging on the reins, as if she and her horse know each other's thoughts.

After riding for a while we settle into a rhythm and the tribespeople who have been guarding me closely allow their horses to fall back a few feet.

Easton guides his horse towards me until we are riding side by side. He causally tosses a silver medallion into the air, as if he is not afraid. It is the same silver medallion had been playing with in Tykos.

"How are you doing?" he whispers. Concern and worry linger behind his guise of confidence.

Easton flips the coin again.

"What is that?" I ask, gesturing towards the coin.

Easton looks at the medallion as if he just realized it was there. "This? It's— Rhea gave it to me a long time ago. When I had nothing. It's a good luck charm I guess."

"I need all of the luck I can get. I don't know if I can do what Nova asks. I know nothing about curses." I respond. We pass under a thick canopy of trees. The leaves block out the sun. The air is humid and thick.

"Rhea once told me that the best sorceresses are decisive and they follow their instincts." Easton says.

I recall Rhea's face. Each crease and wrinkle on her skin looked as if it was meant to be there. As if the lines appeared on her skin one by one until they became a map that told the story of her life. I wonder what story my face will tell if I am lucky enough to grow old.

"Rhea believes that magic is the fusion of logic and emotion." Easton continues. "She says to wield it you must feel and decide. You can't waiver. There is no room for doubt."

I think back to the times I've used magic. Each time I had made a decision to fight back, to face my fears, or to escape. Rhea is right. I was feeling and deciding.

"Thank you." I force a weak smile. I can see the hope in Easton's eyes. I can tell that he sees Kyzalah when he looks at me no matter how many times I remind him, and the others, that I am not her. I am not the savior that he wants me to be. Even if I was, stories grow like wild grasses, spreading and evolving over time. Fact and fiction intertwine. Do gooders turn into heroes and then into saints.

I am no saint.

I tear my gaze away from Easton and focus on the path ahead.

Finally, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, the forest ends and opens up into a large grassy valley. We continue through the valley until we reach a ledge that descends gradually into a lower valley.

The lower valley is carved into the earth like an enormous bowl. We stand on the inland edge of the crater. On the other side of the crater the land rises up again, is flat for a while, and then disappears beneath the ocean surf.

Nova calls for the riders to stop.

Thick white fog rolls off the ocean and pours into the crater like a waterfall.

Fog pools at the bottom of the crater creating a mist along the bottom. I squint to see through the mist. Shadowy silhouettes cut through the fog and move along the crater floor.

My horse flattens it's ears against it's head and attempts to turn back. I pull the reins but it pulls back. It doesn't calm down until Nova and her horse come to my side. I notice for the first time that images of horses are tattooed on her skin.

The figures in the crater travel closer and come into view. It is a herd of wild horses.

The tribespeople, who had been talking and laughing with each other along the journey, fall silent.

Our group is lined up at the cusp of the ledge, as if there is an invisible barrier between where we sit and the lower valley.

One of the tribespeople hangs back and refuses to look over the ledge. He wears a sullen expression on his face and his eyes look haunted. I realize that never once saw this man speak.

"Tinun's animal is also the horse." Nova says when she catches me looking at her tattoos and then back at the man. "He was bonded with the horse very young. He had a deep bond with one horse in particular. This horse was deep in the valley the day Kronos cursed the valley. When Tinun's horse did not return for days, Tinun went looking for it in the crater. Tinun made it out of the valley alive, but he was never the same. He used to be joyous and full of life. Now he is withdrawn and rarely speaks."

"All of the horses in this valley act as if they are possessed." Nova continues. "No horse whisperer can get through to them. Many have gone into the valley to try to rescue animals within. Very few come back. Those who do return come back changed."

"You want me to break the curse on this valley?" I already know the answer to my question.

Nova replies with a single nod as she hands me the Blade of Dawn wrapped in cloth.

"Thea," Easton breathes. He stops short, at a loss for words. Sarah reaches her arm out to him from her horse and takes his hand.

"You can do this, breaker of magic." Sarah continues for him, trying to be strong. "May the grace of Kyzalah be with you."

Xander lurks behind them and says nothing.

I dismount my horse and nod to Sarah and Easton, feigning confidence that I don't feel. Easton grips his reigns and looks tempted to follow me into the valley, but we both know this is something I must do alone.

I place one foot in front of the other and descend into the unknown.