DARKLIGHT

- 11 -

Kaces didn't return. I slept and awoke to breakfast and no sign of anyone, and I could only practice my magic for so long before getting bored. I couldn't imagine where Kaces had gone, but I knew that the Master must have done something after I nearly escaped.

Finally, I heard a familiar whoosh of magic and turned to see not Kaces, but a slim cloaked figure. Yet, it wasn't the Master. In a clear female voice, she said, "Siderion, come." When I didn't make a move to follow her orders, she walked briskly forward and reached for my shoulder. I already knew what that meant, but I knew I couldn't resist without getting hurt more.

We teleported to an unfamiliar hallway that was barely lit. I squinted around, trying to get my bearings, but I didn't have much time to look before the mage pushed me through a doorway. I heard a huge door boom closed behind me as I struggled to catch my balance.

It took me a while to figure out what the room was. It was rather large and very dark, with only one weak light connected to the middle of the ceiling. Everything in the room was magic-proof metal, as usual. Then, I noticed the people.

"Sid! Is that you?" My father ran out of the darkness and hugged me close. He was crying lightly. "We thought they'd killed you," he said. "We thought-" He paused for breath. "We thought we'd never see you again."

"Me too." I was crying too. We stayed like that for some time. When we let go, I asked, "Where's Mom?"

"We're all here," he sighed, gesturing into the dark reaches of the room.

Once my excitement had faded, I noticed other people talking with each other. My mother walked into the light, followed by four others with four silver status stripes on each of their shoulders. They were Councilors. One asked, "That's your son?" My mother nodded silently and took her turn embracing me, but she never broke her hard gaze.

"What did they do to you?" she asked me.

I thought back to the beginning, lying on the table with Kaces watching me. "He has so many scars," I started. My parents listened intently as I recounted the first few days. Then, I mentioned, "Kaces taught me Atva."

My mother gasped. "He did what? That's a killing spell; you should never need to know it!"

"I didn't get much of a choice." I'd never known what Atva's purpose was, and finding out just how strong it was surprised me, but I kept going. "I also know Hareket now, and Ortiyano, and Parcalanir." I finished by explaining my close call with the Master the previous day.

My parents looked just as worn out as I felt, but I wasn't going to be the only one to answer questions. "Who are these people, anyway?" I asked the room.

One of the Councilors said shakily. "We've never seen Kireveans before now."

"But you know about them."

"No. Nothing."

I caught his bluff. "How do you know they're called Kireveans, then?"

He paled, enough to see in the meager light. "What I meant to say," he sputtered, "was that we have had nothing to do with them until now."

"You knew they existed, then."

He nodded. "There are laws about them," the Councilor explained, "but without ever seeing a Kirevean, I've never seen the laws enforced."

This made me curious. "What do the laws say?"

The Councilor shifted uncomfortably and stayed silent. At long last, my mom put a hand on the Councilor's shoulder and said, "He deserves to know, Councilor Hywel."

Hywel sighed. "The laws say that no Kirevean can hold a position in the Order. They're too untrustworthy and corrupted to be given such power. They are to be treated as automatic threats, and exiled or killed on sight."

All this talk of hatred for the Dark was starting to make me nervous, and I held up my symbol. "Does that mean that this is a problem?"

Everyone stared at me in fear. "How did that happen?" another Councilor whispered.

It was too dark for me to see any of their symbols clearly. "They didn't shift yours too?" I asked in confusion.

My father lifted his arm and showed his griffin. It was still mostly Light, but faint Dark tendrils reached around it from a shifter implanted in his arm. "That's what this is?" he said tentatively. I nodded, and he stared at the circle in anguish. "Then Hecatus is gone."

Everyone else was responding with shock and outrage. "I'm so sorry, Thallo," Hywel lamented, running his finger along the edges of his hydra symbol. It was in the same state as my father's.

"How did Anahid and I shift so quickly, then?" I asked them.

"I suppose it's due to your age," my dad started, but then his eyes widened. "You met your arkaetre? How?"

"They don't go anywhere once we're Dark. As Kireveans, we can transform into our arkaetres. They're just not independent from us anymore."

Hywel shuddered and stared daggers at me. "Don't use that name. We can't be Dark yet."