Really long A/N at the end. Explains why update took so long and why chapter is so bad.

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Chapter 37 - Wasteland

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In the vortex of Ebony’s corrupted magic, invalid alongside the Silverborn, events were weaving together and catching Skye in their one, undeniable accusation.

Everything up until this point had been because of her failings as a Sentinel.

It was her fault they were here now. It was her fault that Kiarae was tortured and trapped, and that the elves were dead. It was her fault Naisha was decimated.

The vortex fluctuated, sending a painful jolt through Skye’s body. She recoiled further into her soul, seeking protection from Ebony’s prying tendrils.

She knew that if she’d been faster, more determined, the trees would have responded and that bastard of a shadow Sentinel wouldn’t -- couldn’t -- have murdered her kin. She’d have made it in time. It was her fault because she’d let the magic control her. She realised that.

Yet, she was sure she’d done nothing different from when the Hunter had attacked the Silverborn, when the trees had risen to her aid. The forest had answered her call then, so why not now? The magic ran through her veins swift like the river when she’d healed the boy's dying mother and brought Kya back from the edge of death.

But when the shadows attacked her in her room? Until Tayne arrived, she’d been invalid with terror. When she needed to reach Naisha before the shadow took them in its claws? Her will dissolved in that of the many instead, folded and lost inside the power of the forest that should have only added to her own.

Skye clutched her head. Why the hell is this magic so hard?

Every incident replayed with astounding clarity in the ether around her. She could see herself as if from a distance raising her weapons, be it hands or blades, and striking with different results. After Kiarae had started instructing her, Skye’s control hadn’t taken root. It was flighty and didn’t seem tied by any concept Kiarae had explained.

The rules were always broken.

Something occurred to her. Was it possible that something else was affecting her control over the nature magic? She thought back, searching for a common link.

The pattern was erratic. Timing, training, place and people seemed to play no part. There was no factor that remained constant, no aspect that resurfaced.

The only thing that stood out was the Advisor. She’d knocked him out when the Hunter attacked. The problem with that theory was there was no way he could have been with her in the forest on her way to Naisha. She tried for a moment longer to figure it out, before the numb, hollow feeling crept over her body for the second time that day and her chest constricted.

Perhaps it was just her. Maybe there was a mistake, by which she’d ended up with the magic instead of the intended would-be Sentinel. But she’d earned her wings, didn’t that prove something at least?

What is it? What am I doing wrong?

Skye looked down at her ethereal hands, hating the way they shimmered with emerald light. She clenched them, once more standing among the smoking ruins of Naisha. This was her fault. Looking down at faces that stared back, but did not see. Faces that would never see again, thanks to her. Realising that the elves that lay dead around her were lifeless because she couldn’t control her magic.

Called, though unwillingly, the scene came flooding back. Her fists, pounding at the bloodied ground. Cursing the deity out loud for abandoning her; cursing the corruption that twisted the Master into the monster he was, but unable to deny that she was the one to blame. For Naisha, the dead Silverborn, for Kiarae’s torture -- everything that brought her to this point after the green light had first flooded her tiny prison room.

And now once more, she’d dragged Tayne, Wrain and Jesse into some deity forsaken place and most likely to their deaths, or worse. She buried her face in her hands, hoping that Ebony, or worse, Tayne, couldn’t hear her thoughts.

It would have saved everyone a lot of pain if I’d just drowned in the lake.

The dark magic around her thinned, and she felt the end of the spell nearing. She settled her mind, locking away the emotion that threatened to unravel. It was irrelevant and it wouldn’t help anyone. She refused to be looked at with pity, to appear weak before the world.

For whatever twisted reason, she was the one to wield the magic. By mistake or intent, there was no changing it.

Finding some small comfort in the thought, she turned her mind to their situation.

Skye had a vague idea what had happened. Somehow, Ebony had opened a portal directly through the Nether realm and used it to transport them across weeks of land in a matter of minutes. She could only guess where they’d come out.

One idea took over, one that would drive her on and keep her focussed.

 I need answers. This is my fight.

The vortex dissipated.

Skye stumbled, her orientation flipped as her feet staggered beneath her. She felt for her dagger, fingers closing over the hilt.

Training kicked in. Analyse, observe, act.

In every direction, a dry and dusty plane spread before her. No wind stirred the grey dust laying dormant among different sized and shape boulders. Squinting against the harsh light, she made out a looming shadow. She forced herself to focus.

The shadow was a large, black building moulded of seamless stone. It rose from the ground and towered above everything, demanding her attention. It gripped her body, paralysing her movement in its presence.

The citadel.

Skye refused to be held. She clenched her fists and bared her teeth, pushing everything into the corner of her mind.

It was a struggle to keep her balance while the ground solidified under her feet after being through the portal. Knowing the history of the land she stood on didn’t make it easier. So many lives had been lost in this once fertile dustbowl.

Her own body seemed to weigh her down, wanting her to sink to the earth. The air stank of death. Somewhere behind her, she heard the Silverborn’s surprised gasps as they collided with the ground.

It’s my problem. I’m the reason they’re here.

Ebony skipped a few steps and twirled with outstretched arms, oblivious to Skye’s silent charge.

I won’t let her hurt them.

Skye lashed out with her dagger, aiming for Ebony’s lower back. The raven-haired figure stopped mid-twirl, eyes widening in alarm as the blade flashed towards her. There was no way she could move in time to avoid it.

But when the dagger should have made contact, Ebony wasn’t there.

“How dare you! After I brought you here!”

Skye turned to find a furious Ebony standing behind her with her hands on her hips. The thin purple material of her garments swayed like she’d suddenly moved.

Skye had never been at such a loss in combat, not since her father had first taught her to move towards her opponent’s blade. She’d never missed so outright. Hell, there was no way she could have missed.

She grit her teeth. Doesn’t matter. It won’t happen again.

From her half crouch, she swept her right leg under Ebony’s legs, intending to trip her before holding her dagger to the girl’s throat. Once more, when her leg should have connected, Ebony disappeared, only to re-appear a metre behind where Skye had last seen her.

Realisation struck. She’s shadow-stepping, and she can do it more than once. How?

Ebony sighed and tucked a stray hair back into position. “You can’t catch me, sweets. Stop trying before you hurt yourself. I need to tell you--“

Skye lunged forward, struggling to see the auras around her. She could track Ebony that way. Her world dissolved into splotches of colour. She drove her dagger toward the black void in their midst.

The void shifted to the left. Skye followed its path. The violent movement required to keep up with it disrupted Skye’s concentration and the auras disappeared. A familiar pain seared her skull and her knees hit the ground. Refusing to be beaten so easily, Skye cradled her head with her free hand and twisted, looking for an invisible Ebony.

“Behind you!”

Tayne’s voice made her turn to see a blurry Ebony standing over her, holding a heavy looking rock in one hand. The pain from her attempt to keep the auras visible only now fading, Skye looked dumbly up at her.

“I told you to stop before I had to hurt you. He really wanted you in one piece, but he said if there was no other choice...”

She raised the rock.

“Skye, move!” shouted Tayne.

His words cut through the magic clouding her mind to the instinct within. Skye barely rolled out of the way before the rock hit the ground with a solid ‘thud’.

She glanced at it. Her arm tingled.

That was a big rock.

Ebony clucked her tongue and vanished. Skye waited for her to re-appear, desperately trying to come up with a plan. Ebony, Sentinel or not, shouldn’t have been able to shadow-step so often. She’d seen how the Master had been drained after doing it once, requiring several minutes to recover.

She could try to watch the auras, but the pain that came with it could make an unsuccessful attempt deadly.

Another stone went flying past her head as Ebony continued to shift in and out of existence, launching her barrage of anything she could find. Skye struggled to avoid them in time with Ebony’s rapid appearances.

Deciding she had no other choice, Skye reluctantly shifted her vision and found the black void over by a boulder to her right. When she tried to move, the pain overtook again and she was forced to sever the connection.

She tried summoning a sphere of energy to hurl at Ebony. It flickered weakly in her hand and she dispelled it immediately. The connection to nature was weak here. The time it’d take to conjure was too long and she hadn’t practiced enough.  

Skye ditched any ideas of tracking or fighting Ebony with her magic and drew her sword. They’d never let her down before. She’d always found a way.

Something about it felt different, but she didn’t have time to check as another boulder went flying past her head.

Skye moved without thinking. This was training, she told herself. Avoiding projectiles. Weapons out for balance and occasional counter strike.

After a few minutes, Ebony ceased her volley momentarily. “Will you stop moving? Please? Just hold still. Let me break your arm and we’ll call it even, okay?” said Ebony. She threw another rock, which Skye rolled to evade.

“I like my bones how they are now,” said Skye, retracting her legs as Ebony slammed a booted foot into the ground where they’d been. What in the name of the deities was wrong with this... thing trying to kill her with a vengeance? She looked human, but something told Skye she wasn’t born of any natural process.

Ebony flicked her hair and pouted. “You can’t hurt me with those blades anyway. I’m not a mortal. I think.” She tilted her head. “Wow, that’s weird. ‘A mortal’ almost sounds like ‘Immortal’ when you say it fast. A-mortal immortal a-mortal immortala-mortalimmortal--”

“What?” was all Skye could reply with. Ebony laughed and shook her head.

“It’s really a confusing situation, you know?” A thoughtful look crossed her face, and she placed the back of her hand on her forehead and cried, “I didn’t ask for this! Oh cursed deities, why!”

Skye stared at her, trying to make sense of what she saw. The girl was most definitely insane.

Ebony peeked out from under her hand and gave Skye a small smile before disappearing into thin air. Skye grasped both sword and dagger, warily getting to her feet and looking around.  

Insane mood swings or not, Ebony was dangerous. She’d help enslave the Silverborn in a heartbeat. That couldn’t happen. The problem was, she was out of ideas.

Her gaze slipped over Tayne. His head swivelled, eyes focussed on something she couldn’t see.

“She’s about to come out to your left a metre out.”

Skye didn’t question him. Instead, she moved to where he’d indicated and raised her dagger. Ebony materialised, the grin fading with Skye’s blade pressed against her throat.

“Where’s Kiarae?” growled Skye. “Where’s he holding her?”

Ebony scrunched her nose and went to push the dagger away. “I told you, that can’t hur--“

Skye steeled her muscles and let the dagger bite into the side of Ebony’s neck. A trickle of blue, nearly purple blood slowly started to form, coating the edge of Skye’s blade. Ebony’s eyes went wide.

 “Where is Kiarae?” she asked again, softer this time.

Ebony didn’t respond with words. Rather, she backed up a step. Skye felt the pull of magic as the creature went to shift into the Nether and escape and whipped her sword around to Ebony’s back. She wasn’t entirely sure how the process worked or how to stop it, but Ebony stiffened in the perverted embrace. Her forming connection to the Nether severed instantly.

“Where did you get those weapons? He said he had them all,” said Ebony. “He lied to me again! Why does he always do this?”

“He’s evil, what did you expect?”

Ebony wiggled around, the dagger cutting deeper into her neck. Skye winced in spite of herself. “Depends on your definition of evil, really. I mean you could be considered evil too, the way you showed the demons where Naisha was in your early years and got all those lovely elves killed. You wasted their souls, you know. They would have made lovely Tain--“

“How the hell do you know about that?” said Skye through clenched teeth.

“He knows all, sweets. Alllllllll your deep, dark, shadowy, corrupted little secrets.” Ebony switched her gaze to the Silverborn behind Skye. “Theirs too. You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“I don’t want to know. Things are secret for a reason. Now where’s he keeping the Celestial?”

Ebony frowned, reminding Skye of a young child who didn’t get their way. A dangerous, deadly child, she reminded herself. One without morals or empathy. Why did she need to remind herself of that when she saw the blood welling on her neck?

This was necessary. This thing had probably taken hand in Naisha’s destruction.

That thought made the anger rekindle. Ebony placed her hands on Skye’s shoulders, apparently going to step over the sword behind her back. Skye warned her off with a snarl.

Hands in the air, Ebony sighed. “Oh fine. The Celestial Sentinel is in the citadel in the southern wing. He made a prison section just for her because she managed to get out of the first four. Happy?”

“Why did he send you to capture me?” asked Skye in the hopes of useful information. Ebony didn’t seem to be of the typical demon types he used.

“Hmph. Don’t feel so special. I was sent to bring three of you back, and I would have as well if he,” said Ebony, pointing at Wrain, “didn’t decide to jump in the step as well. You’d be tucked up nice and cosy in a cell we had all picked out for you! Wouldn’t you like that?”

Skye removed the pressure on her dagger. Once the blade lost direct contact with the skin, the wound closed over and healed instantly, leaving only the bluish stain behind. “Probably a good thing he did then, isn’t it?”

Ebony continued on as if Skye hadn’t spoken. “The Master’s going to be really mad now. At me too, even though it wasn’t my fault. If you guys just keep going to the citadel, see, that one right over there?” She indicated to the looming black building like there was another nearby. “That’ll save me having to come back and get you tonight when your souls can survive another teleport. That is if he doesn’t come and get you himself before that.”

The raven haired girl started humming to herself. Skye absorbed the information in silence, searching for any sign that Ebony was lying.

Wrain moved beside Skye. “Step? And what’s this about a celestial Sentinel?”

Ebony flashed him a grin. “He told me you were persistent but I didn’t believe it. Shadow-step. The thing all shadow Sentinels can achieve eventually, although they’ll never be as good as me at it. And you call yourself a Silverborn.” She giggled. “You spent sooooo long looking for her, didn’t you Wrainy?”

Wrain’s face hardened. “How do you--“

“Shh! Deep, dark secrets for everybody! Is there anything else you’d like to know, Skye?” asked Ebony, suddenly the picture of innocence. “Or may I go?”

Skye stepped away and released Ebony from the bladed embrace. Free, the shadow girl skipped a few steps backwards. She smirked at Skye and wiggled her fingers in farewell.

“I was almost hoping for questions about Naisha, or maybe even about the mark on your shoulder! Ah well, guess you just don’t care enough.”

Before Skye could react, Ebony was gone.

Wrain started forward after her. Unusually out of character, he slammed the air with his fist. “Damn it all. Skye, you should have kept her. We could have used the information she had. Or at least traded her for the supposed celestial he’s got.”

Looking at the thin liquid film of blood coating her dagger, Skye sighed. “Do you think he really cares enough about one of his minions to trade it for a Sentinel?”

“Then you should have killed her.”

Skye wiped her dagger clean. “I’m not sure I could have,” she lied. Why was she having doubts? Ebony would have killed them. “She wasn’t human, or Sentinel, or anything I’ve ever encountered.”

Her gaze travelled down the blade to the hilt, and she realised why the weapon seemed different. Cupped in a small bowl of gold on each blade’s pommel was a small, but definitely alive red flower.

She reversed her grip and stroked a petal with the tip of her finger. Under her touch, it changed from red and shifted through a rainbow of colours until finally resting on blue. Skye rotated the blade, trying to find an explanation. They certainly felt like her blades.

“Where did you get those?” asked Wrain, seemingly in awe.

Skye looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “From my sheaths? Why? Do you know why they’ve suddenly turned into a greenhouse?”

“They’re the same weapons Karrosh made you?” he asked. Skye nodded hesitantly. Wrain gave her an odd look, like he was re-evaluating her.

“When the Sentinels watched over the land, there were certain weapons said to be touched by the deities themselves, albeit through a Sentinel. They were unbreakable, enhanced their Sentinels magic and they were very, very rare. Several were thought lost, only to be rediscovered centuries later by another Sentinel.”

Was Wrain suggesting what she thought he was? “You’re saying the deity touched my weapons at some point using me,” she said disbelievingly.

He nodded. “If you didn’t know them by sight, they were easy to recognise. They always contained some symbol of that elements power. A celestial Sentinel I knew well possessed a staff called... Tal... something’s light. You knew it on sight because a miniature star rested in its head. Those flowers... The deity has touched them, Skye. It has chosen you as a champion.”

“Probably because I’m the only one left,” Skye muttered, recalling her earlier thoughts bitterly.

Wrain’s face hardened. “These weapons are a blessing. Only the most powerful of Sentinels were allowed to and even could wield them. I suggest you treat them as such.”

From the corner of her eye, Skye saw Tayne approach. He glanced between them.

“I’m not entirely sure what this is about, but we need to move. Something’s wrong with Jesse, he can barely stand up. We’ve got to get out of here before night falls and they come back for us. Luke should take command and bring the rest of the Silverborn back to Alguarde, we can meet up again there.”

Wrain shook his head. “There is no ‘getting out of here’, Tayne. We’re in the wasteland within walking distance of the Citadel. You can’t even see the forest.”

Skye glanced around, taking in her surroundings for the second time.

The citadel dominated the landscape. In the flat dustbowl that was the wasteland, there was nothing to challenge it. Nothing but grey dust could be seen in any direction. Skye couldn’t sense the forest, let alone see it. Excluding the Citadels potential occupants, they were literally the only form of life she could sense at all.

“We can’t just stay here. We’re sitting ducks. You’ve said so yourself; this place overheats under the midday sun. We’ve got to at least try, or make some kind of shelter where we can fight them off,” said Tayne.

“Without horses we aren’t going to make it far. What would you have us build a shelter out of?” asked Wrain.

“I don’t know!” replied Tayne. “I just know that Ebony found plenty of things to throw at Skye and that we’re stuck in the middle of the deities forsaken wasteland!”

Wasteland. The word stuck in Skye’s mind. Stories that Verdrana had shown her surfaced.  Skye had already known the basics when Verdrana first approached with her books. It was a huge, dead area where the citadel was said to be found north of the Elven capital and was the site of Kumos’ destruction.

“The rocks are crumbling. They won’t hold for what you want.”

But Verdrana had found something -- a journal that detailed the exact happenings. The author was unknown, and how they’d come into knowledge of the events at the citadel was a mystery.

“Well what would you have us do then? Sit here and die?”

According to the anonymous author, when Tyra touched the opal and attempted to destroy it, it’d released a burst of magic so powerful and uncontrolled it wiped out any form of life, including the two Sentinels. They hadn’t merely died, rather their essence was scattered so far and wide it was unable to reform in the Nether realm as souls did when they died. Kumos’ sank deep into the decimated land. Tyra’s vanished completely.

And to this day, nothing had ever grown in the corruption-sown land.

“No. I suggest we take them by surprise,” said Wrain. “Try to find and ally this celestial Ebony said they had.”

Without realising it, Skye reached for her pack and removed the yellow flower with an amber core. She held it in cupped hands, watching the emerald sparks shift along the creases in her hands. Her blooming weapons seemed to sing to her.

“We’d stand a better chance in the Wasteland,” muttered Jesse.

Nothing had ever grown here since, she thought.

“What do you think?” said Tayne.

That was going to change.

“Skye?”

Now.

Magic rushed down her arms. She thrust them deep into the soil, moulding the roots with her fingers and strengthening them with her magic. She willed the flower to take root. Golden flecks danced over its surface as she expelled the corruption from the flower’s new nest.

You will grow, she told it. You will grow, and you will retake this land.

The flower seemed to shiver under her touch, petals stretching for the sky.

Satisfied, she stood. The three Silverborn looked at her awe-struck. Jesse’s eyes were wide with amazement, his mouth forming a silent ‘O’

"She can dispel the corruption," he whispered.

Wrain glanced at the flower. “It won’t stay like th--“

She cut him off. She had no idea what’d got into him out here, but she wouldn’t have it. “It will, because I told it to. Now, you asked what I think?” Tayne nodded. Behind him, Jesse pushed himself to his feet and patted his pockets.

“I think that I haven’t been entirely honest with you. There is indeed a celestial Sentinel in there by the name of Kiarae, and she’s been teaching me until recently how to use my magic. She’s saved me countless times from the shadow’s grasp and without her I probably wouldn’t have made it out of the coma I fell into when you found me. I intend to break her out of the Citadel.”

She met their silence with a lifted chin. She’d made her decision ever since Naisha, she realised. She refused to leave Kiarae there at the mercy of the Master. Of her brother.

She’d rescue her or die trying.

Jesse was the first to respond, stopping his quest for pocketed bread to flail his hands. “You can’t! You can’t go in there, Skye, I... I mean it’s like suicide! You can’t...” He gripped his head. Tayne ran over and steadied him. Jesse looked at Tayne in desperation. “Tell her! She can’t--“

“Did you say Kiarae?” asked Wrain. Skye nodded and something about his face changed entirely. Whatever it was about Kia, Wrain was not going to stop come hell or high water until she was out of the citadel. She had an ally.

Wrain looked to Tayne. “I’m with her. What are your thoughts?”

“You said until recently,” said Tayne, hands at his temples. “Why only until recently?”

“The Master, Anton,” she said, using his name. He wasn’t a deity. He was a mortal with magic, like her. “has an artefact called the Opal. Kumos used it, as I’m sure you’ll recall Wrain. For it to be completed, it needs to be imbued with each element. Anton found out about the link between Kiarae and I, and has since figured out a way to use it to strip Kiarae of her magic and place it within the opal.”

“And without that, she’d be helpless,” finished Wrain.

Skye gave him a grim smile. “And he’ll have the celestial element within the Opal. Guess what the only element needed after that is,” she said.

“Nature,” guessed Tayne. He ran his hands through his hair.

“And he’ll stop at nothing until he has it. I won’t hide behind Alguarde’s walls when he comes to bring them down. Kia is the only reason Alguarde hasn’t become a target. Yet.”

It didn’t take long for Tayne to come to a decision. “I’m coming with you. I promised I’d never let you face him alone, even if I’d hoped for the time to be much later. Jess?”

Jesse glanced between them, a defeated expression on his face. “Yep. Great idea. Let’s go.”

A twinge of guilt went through Skye. Was she leading them to their deaths anyway? It seemed any path she chose would inevitably come back to the Master. The Wasteland was at least two days travel if the heat didn’t kill them before the Master caught them. At least this way, they had a chance of finding Kiarae to aid them in the standoff, and he couldn’t use them as hostages against her.

“I wouldn’t ask you to come if I didn’t know he’d come after you to use against me. I’m sorry, Jess.”

He said nothing, instead trudging after Wrain’s footprints in the dust.

*+*+*+*

Really long A/N time. Skip it if you want. 

First thing: I'm so sorry the update took so long. For those strange little munchkins out there who somewhat like reading this and tortured themselves withthe first few chapters, I'm really sorry for (what I feel is) thehorrible quality of this chapter. I haven't been able to write in a while due to being out a lot. My best friends brother was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago now, and I've been trying to be there for him. To get on a soapbox for a moment, god there is nothing more heartbreaking than listening to a mother crying, or watching his brother just collapse to the ground, begging for his brother back. Just... urgh. There's just nothing you can do to make it better. At all. And it sucks. We give our characters these tragic backstories, but how many of you actually realise how much it'd impact a person? It's weird, but its taken on a whole new meaning for me.  /gets off soapbox

Second thing: Quality is bad because the original version was written when I was dealing with ^ above state of mind and it was rather depressing if I do say so myself.  I can't fix it, tried re-writing it, didn't work, so I'll man up, post it, and move on with the next chapter.

Third thing: On a slightly happier note, holy crap where did all you new people come from? You're all popping out of the woodwork and I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM. Let me just say, Hai ;D, I'm usually not so depressed as above (I think) and thank you for following me =) 

Fourth thing: Sentinel has broken the 1k votes mark, AND the 22k reads mark. I love you guys. So much. I know most of you are too terrified or lazy *cough* =P to comment or say hi once in a while, but I appreciate every single one of you for taking the time to poke around in this worded imagination splurge of mine. 

Fifth thing: (last one, I promise. SORRY.) The new story has two chapters to it so far, posting when I have five to make sure I'm happy with it. It got put on hold due to events explained in #1.  Who knows, a third story might even make an apperance at some point >.>  <.<  

Cookies for everyone that made it this far. Ones shaped like pianos. I'll be trying to get back to the once-a-week update from now on. 

I love you, and thank you for reading