A Hold of Spectres
Part 4
Chapter 1
Rhaean found herself staring down a long corridor. It was dimly lit by torches with small flames lining stone walls. It reminded her of Fire's Hearth, and indeed, she thought she was in Fire's Hearth, but it was not the fortress she knew at all. The darkness was all consuming, the result of an eerie twilight of gray and blue that had fallen over the fortress outside. The walls were dark, charred, as if burnt by a great fire; windows had been cracked, pieces of stained glass scattered across the stone floor like forgotten gemstones. It was utterly quiet, as though the silence had existed for so long, it had become a part of the fortress itself. No one stirred.
Rhaean was afraid. She knew that whatever she was facing, it was a sign of something horrible; something violent that had happened here. She also knew she needed to walk down the corridor before her; something was waiting at the end. Something she needed to see. She didn't want to move; in fact, she didn't want to be here at all, and indeed, she didn't even know how she had come to be here, but she wanted to leave. Still, she stepped out and placed one foot in front of the other. Slowly at first, but she was moving down the hall. It was so quiet, she could hear the sound of her feet on the stones echo against the walls. She could hear the drops of rain pouring outside, remnants of the storm dripping through the cracks in the roof.
She didn't know how long it took her to reach the end of the corridor. It seemed like ages, her bare feet padding on the cold, wet stones. But when she did finally reach the end, she saw a door. A plain, wooden door with an iron handle. She needed to go through the door, something in the back of her mind told her. She didn't want to do this. Why couldn't she go back to where she had been before? What was this place, really? But it did not matter how many questions she had or how many times she begged and pleaded to be sent back, she remained where she was.
Rhaean reached out her hand and grabbed hold of the handle. She pushed open the door. She walked through the threshold out into the wilderness beyond Fire's Hearth. At first, she saw only darkness and heard only silence. Like the fortress, the world outside of Fire's Hearth was consumed by nothing. She didn't know what was happening, but it unnerved her. A chill crawled slowly down her spine, her heart raced, and her breathing wouldn't steady. This was wrong, so very, very wrong, and she was stuck here. Powerless to do anything but listen and watch and wait.
Then in the distance, a whisper. It sounded like wind, but as it built, she realized someone was saying her name, calling to her from the air or from the clouds she couldn't see or from the earth itself, she didn't know. She reached out into the darkness and a moment later, a cold hand grabbed hers hard. Rhaean gasped and tried to pull away, but the other hand was too strong. The whisper grew loud and raspy and continued to call her name, over and over.
"Rhaean," it said, and she could not distinguish its gender, "Rhaean. Rhaean. Rhaean."
She braced herself by putting her other hand on the door frame she still stood under and tried to pull free, but to no avail. The whisper began to change and she recognized the voice. She gasped, her eyes wide with fear and concern and the faint glimmer of hope.
"Scarlet?" she asked, quietly at first. When no one answered, she shouted, "Scarlet!" But her voice was muffled and fell flat before her. It did not carry any farther than her own mouth.
In the darkness, a gray light began to shine. It started small and then grew out from where her hand joined with the other until she could see around her. The hand that held hers was pale, almost blue and translucent, as though frozen. The gray light continued to expand and the more it did, the harder Rhaean tried to free herself. She continued shouting for Scarlet, hopeful that perhaps there was a bright lining to all of this, that perhaps she was being led to where her friend now was. She cried out over and over, but her voice remained muffled,. as though she was screaming underwater. The light grew until Rhaean could see everything before her. She was in the woods outside of Fire's Hearth. She was held by a fearsome creature with bluish skin, a large mouth with long, pointed teeth, no eyes or nose, and wisps of silver hair. Rhaean was too surprised and afraid to do anything but stare.
"Welcome, Rhaean," it said.
The gray light then began to spread up Rhaean's arm. She tried to pull away again and again, but it didn't matter. She was not strong enough to wrench free from whatever it was that held her here.
"What?" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Let me go! Let me go!"
The creature only laughed. Rhaean felt the light moving underneath her skin, crawling, its legs against her muscles, her bones. She didn't know what this was, what it meant. She didn't know what was happening. Only that she wanted to be back with Scarlet. Where was Scarlet? What happened to her voice?
"Where is Scarlet?" Rhaean demanded, though she didn't feel anywhere near as confident as she attempted to sound.
"Rhaean?" came the echo of that familiar voice in the distance. She was farther away than she was before.
"Scarlet!" she shouted. "I'm here! Please, Scarlet! Follow my voice!"
The creature continued to laugh as the gray light consumed all of Rhaean's body, lighting up her skin from underneath it. Her veins were like silhouettes against the light, but they, too, had changed. Where the gray light had lit up everything underneath her skin, a new light had begun to spread through her blood. It was bright red and hot, so very hot. She tried to pull away from the creature again, but still couldn't manage it.
"Let me go, please!" she exclaimed. "Scarlet!" she cried out.
"Until next time," said the creature before letting go of her hand.
Rhaean stumbled backwards into the deserted fortress, a scream lodged in her throat. And then all at once, it was gone. She was back in Fire's Hearth – the current Fire's Hearth, without charred walls or cracked roofs. Tears filled her eyes and she collapsed into a heap onto the floor. Only then did she realize that she was in Scarlet's room. A fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes and onto her cheeks. Had she sleepwalked? The room wasn't completely dark; some light had begun to shine above the horizon, filling the room was a cold light. She didn't know how else she would have come here; she didn't remember leaving her room.
"Scarlet," she muttered between sharp breaths, "I miss you so."
"Your mother was the one who sent her away," whispered Oraneth. "She didn't have to, but she did."
Rhaean was too exhausted to do anything but listen.
"None of the other Mothers agreed with her," said Nostron, "and yet she sent the girl away regardless."
"What?" Rhaean said, her voice no louder than a whisper. "You can't possibly know that!"
"Oh but we do," replied Oraneth. "We saw it."
Rhaean shook her head, refusing to believe it, refusing to hear of such a thing. "All decisions regarding recruits and training must be unanimous," she said. "My mother would never dream of breaking the code like that. Especially not for such an excellent recruit!"
The two spirits giggled heartily. "Are you certain of that?" asked Nostron. "Really, truly certain?"
"Your mother has broken the rules many times before when it suited her impulses," said Oraneth.
Rhaean shook her head again, still unable to accept what she was being told. Yes, her mother was often rebellious and controlling. Yes, she bent the rules – or broke them entirely – when it suited her purpose. But none of those things meant that she would so blatantly disrespect The Order or its boundaries. All choices regarding recruits and their training had to be unanimous. If she had gone against this, she would have been taken before the Elders and reprimanded.
"She wouldn't have," Rhaean said again, the last of her refusal to believe fading away. "She didn't have any reason to do so."
"Didn't she?" asked Oraneth.
That was when realization hit her. The reason had nothing at all to do with Scarlet's abilities in training. It wouldn't have mattered if she had even been the most talented recruit in all of The Order's history. Scarlet had been friends with Rhaean; her closest companion and trusted ally. Kyndra could never let that stand. Not when she had the ability to change it.
Rhaean felt her chest swell with rage. She had really done it – ignored the rules and processes of The Order, and sent Scarlet away for no other reason than to ensure that her daughter was completely friendless and alone. She couldn't believe it, and yet she did believe it. Fully. With every beat of her broken heart, she knew it was true. It didn't change much; she was still lonely, she was still failing, and her mother was still disappointed in and embarrassed by her. And yet, this revelation changed everything.
Rhaean stood to her feet and wiped the tears from her cheeks. There was nothing she could do about any of it, and yet she felt the urge to do something. She didn't know what, but she would wait. She would think. And when the time was right, she would let loose her rage and show her mother how grave a mistake she had made.
