Shadow Rising -- chapter three

Chapter Three – ascending

Running back to Digmoore Station with Blaze Thunderthorn in tow, I raced up to the elevator. Once inside, Blaze just making it before the doors closed, I pushed the button at least eighty times, the elevator moving too slow for my liking. I had to tell Howard the good news.

I would not accept my destiny.

Running into the warehouse, I yelled, “Howard! Howard guess what!”

He looked up. “Well I see Blaze put you in a good mood. What happened?”

“I don’t have to fulfill my destiny! I can shatter it, tomorrow!”

He gaped at me. “Wait, what? How? Who said?”

“This book.” I slammed the book down on the table and shoved it towards him. “Chapter five, fourth paragraph. Every vision has a loophole, in this case I can choose whether or not to fulfill my destiny if someone in the past, who I loved a lot, betrayed me. And someone has. Tomorrow, on my birthday, I can make my choice.” I leaned back, smiling. “And my choice is no.”

“Wait a minute Suri. Look at this.” He held the book out to me, pointing to a specific paragraph a few paragraphs later. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

If Suriyah were to wish not to accept her destiny, then using the rule of the loophole, she must consult the one who foretold her destiny: Amelia Dustheart. The way they meet does not matter, even if Dustheart is a ghost, but Suriyah must know all about herself, for to relinquish her destiny she must pass the test that Amelia Dustheart puts forth.

I sighed. “Fine, whatever. I know all about myself, I can pass the test.” I looked over at Blaze. “You’re the one who’s been in school, and its obvious she’s dead. Where is Amelia Dustheart buried?”

He paused and thought. “Dragonspyre I think.”

My hoped instantly deflated. “You’re sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Professor Balestrom told us about her. Super famous Diviner who foretold very important prophecies.”

I sat down at the table, the book resting under my hands. “Dragonspyre?”

“Yeah, in the Necropolis.”

Blaze went on to talk about her tomb, but I didn’t hear half of what he said as I focused on controlling my breath. “Alright. I’ll do it. I’ll… I’ll go.”

Howard gasped. “Really?”

“Wow, little miss I’m-afraid-of-my-destiny is going to the place where her destiny says she must live. That’s life changing,” Blaze said sarcastically.

I glared at him. “You know what happened. I was thirteen, of course I’m scared.”

“Good thing you’re facing your fear then.”

He was making me angry, he knew it too. When we were younger my temper had always snapped easily, and nothing to that fact has changed. He was provoking me now, I didn’t know why, but if he wanted me angry then he is going to get it.

“Well then thank goodness you’re not coming along. That would just make the journey even more depressing.” A hurt looked crossed his face. I was surprised, he’d known about my destiny as long as I had. I spun on my heel and stalked out the door. I admit it wasn’t one of my best comebacks, but truthfully I wasn’t in the mood. Sure, I was angry, but more like sulking-angry than explosive-angry.

I made my way the Spiral Chamber, West Minister Abbey. Once there, I lifted the Dragonspyre key out of my cloak pocket. Inserting it into the lock I went in as quickly as I could before I could change my mind. Dragonspyre harbored terrible memories, and I was not keen on facing them.

I took a step back when I reached the main floor of the Basilica. Cyrus Drake stood there, wand tapping in his hand, a malicious expression on his face. Stepping back behind the wall I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a set of Grandmaster-looking Ice wizard robes.

Once I removed my cloak and slipped them on over my own clothes, and feeling terribly bright, I walked out into the area like I owned the place. Cyrus didn’t stop me. I made my way over to the Necropolis portal and stepped in. Dissolving images that merged and faded swallowed me up, then quickly solidified into a large area of elaborate tombs.

Back in my own clothes, I shivered, knowing why this place had lava rivers, dead trees, and why half the tombs were destroyed. I cautiously made my way towards the southern end of the graveyard.

“Suri!”

“Ah!” I yelled. I whipped around and a black spark flew from my wand and hit the wall right next to a person’s head. It was Aeden. “Don't do that!”

He was laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing here? You’re only an Adept.”

“My brother played a prank on me and I got stuck here, entirely lost. Dragonspyre is huge! Anyway, I could say the same thing about you. What are you doing here?”

“Side quest. Got a temp key so I can finish it up quickly.”

“That’s cool. Need any help? Though I’m not sure how much help I’d be though.”

Like I needed help, all I had to do was find a grave, a crypt more like it, and talk to a ghost. It was still a long time before tomorrow, but the book hadn’t said anything about when I had to do it, except that it was by my birthday.

Decided, I said, “I’ve got a little time to kill, not like the quest needs to be finished this instant. Where have you been wandering around? I haven’t been here in forever, you may as well show me around.”

Aeden smiled. We started walking towards the walkway that went through the center of the Necropolis. “Sure! I got abandoned in the Crystal Grove and almost died in a battle, but some random wizard, a Necromancer I think, saved me. She was very dark I must admit. Dressed all in black, caped and hooded and–” He trailed off and gave me a sideward look. I rolled my eyes and smiled to let him know I’m not offended -- I was dressed the same. “Anyway, she made some rude comment about noobs getting to worlds too fast and questing too quickly and then she was gone.” He shrugged.

As we passed the Crystal Guide, I tugged my hood lower over my face and turned my shoulder away from the blue clad ghost. She would recognize me for sure, and the last thing I wanted was trouble.

“And then I came across the weirdest more random thing ever,” Aeden was saying, babbling on. “It was this door overgrown with black vines. They looked dead, but when I tried to pry them apart they attacked me.” At the sound of black vines my ears perked up, hoping not hear what came next. “But since they moved I saw this lettering underneath them, and you would never believe what it said!”

I could feel a cold sweat gathering on my back. Though Dragonspyre was hot, I tried not to shiver.

“It said Tomb of Sylvia Drake! Weird isn’t it? I could’ve sworn she was buried back there.” Aeden motioned over his shoulder. “And everyone says she’s this wraith looking creature when they go down there. I’m guessing the tomb everyone goes to is a fake, because those vines were vicious. They obviously meant to kill me, but I got away from there as fast as I could.” Aeden gave me a concerned look. “You got awfully pale, paler than usual anyway.”

I swallowed and nodded, trying not to shake. “I’m fine.”

I’m afraid he would pry, but all he did is shrug and go back to talking.

“Anyway, the first ghost I came to in the area I asked about it. This guy dressed in ragged armor. He got all angry, and you know what he said to me? He said, ‘it’s that royal family’s entire fault! They destroyed this once beautiful land,’ or... something like that. I asked him why and he said, ‘that twisted father tried to play with destiny before its time, and this is what happened.’” Aeden looked around.

I couldn’t help it, my insides were churning, my mind was spinning. Yes, the land here once has been very beautiful. Water flowed in the aqueducts, green grass and colorful flowers bloomed in the gardens. The world had been built on broken, dusty, rocky ground. A magnificent stone city had grown and life had been made.

And then my father had come along, and he had known everything. And with that knowledge he destroyed exactly that: everything.

“Either way, the ghost still had hope that the world would be fixed. He said he was putting his faith in ‘the one’, whoever they are. He didn’t know, just that their father might’ve pushed the date of salvation back some.” Aeden shrugged. “Still, it made me start thinking, so I went back to the door and still! Those stupid vines!”

Shaking off my shivers and heavy feelings of shame, regret, and anger, I said, “That probably wasn’t the best idea.”

“No, probably wasn’t. But hey, Timothy says that I’m one part powerful.”

“And the other parts?”

He smiled giddily. “One part powerful, one part procrastinator, and the rest I’m a fumbling idiot with no sense or direction or hand-eye coordination.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Quickly I slapped my hand over my mouth, but I couldn’t stop. I started laughing again. “He said that to you?” I exclaimed, still laughing.

He was smiling too. “No, I just said that to make you laugh. And it worked didn’t it?” He shrugged. “He’s probably right anyway, half my Phoenix’s miss the monster and hit the wall.”

I laughed again. It felt good to laugh. Like an antidote to a poison that had slowly been eating me from the inside out. And to have someone who seemed to care for you even though you had only met them… what? Four days ago? It was nice. I’ve known all along that Howard only kept me hidden and alive because of my destiny, and Croaky never said anything because he couldn’t talk. And then Blaze had come waltzing back into my life.

Downhill. My life equals downhill.

And then when the uphill came it seemed too steep to climb by myself, but then that one person came barging into my life. I didn’t know them, they treated me like a long lost best friend, and they gave me that extra push I never thought I would get.

Aeden...

“It’d be nice though, you know? To see this place in its glory?” Aeden looked around. “Not like it’s not beautiful in its own kind of way now, but everyone is so unhappy. I don’t know what happened, but if it were up to me I’d want to make this place green again.”

I didn’t really know what happened next. I was startled so I stopped walking. His words showed me something none had. I had been thinking only of myself. I didn’t want to take on my destiny, I didn’t want to do what my father had wanted me to, I didn’t want to face my fears. I hadn’t thought of the people I’ve harmed. I, I, I.

“Hey, you stopped walking. You okay?” Aeden asked, turning around.

“No, I’m fine,” I responded and hurried up next to him. “Just having second thoughts on my life.”

“Hmm, that’s always a good thing. What quest do you need to finish up anyway? I know you said it could wait, but I’m curious.”

I shuddered. I had nearly forgotten. “Nothing important, just a short boss. Tried it before and got defeated, thought I’d give it another shot.”

“Another shot is always good. I always tell that to my little sister, she gets frustrated a lot with Firecat Alley. I always tell her that just because something goes wrong the first time, doesn’t mean every time it happens will go the same.”

Could this guy read my mind?! Does he already know everything!? It was true, it was so, utterly and completely true. Because I’d been harmed once by my destiny, I suppose I had begun to think that anything concerning it would end in some tragic disaster.

“You really are a fumbling idiot,” I muttered to myself.

“Huh? What was that?”

“Nothing. You know, I think I’ll go do that quest now.”

“Okay, need any help?”

“Nah, solo dungeon. By the way, if you go to end of this area and take the second house door to you right, it’s a secret passage way back to the Atheneum. See you later!”

Before I have to answer his, “How did you know that?” I was off back the way we had come, back down ramp, past the Crystal Guide who gave me a startled expression. She had recognized me, or thought she had, but I didn’t care. I made my way to a specific tomb where many purple colored tiger-lilies bloomed. Above the door on a plaque read: Tomb of Amelia Dustheart.

I pushed open the door and slipped inside.

†††

Inside was pitch dark for a moment before torches flared up, illuminating the hexagonal space. It was quite dusty, and every step I took was like walking on pillows. Bookshelves lined the walls, some covered by bars, others eaten away by mice. A turned over table was to my right, glass shards from broken jars covering the ground. No monsters were in sight.

I walked towards the spiral staircase descending down. There was no metal gate guarding the way. The staircase was long and took several minutes to go down into the final room, slightly bigger. There was nothing decorating this room, just more dust.

A doorway to my left led an antechamber. Following the torches as they flared up a few steps ahead of me, I came to a much larger chamber. It seemed to be carved out of the ground, for the walls and the high ceiling were made of obsidian. The floor had been tiled over with flagstone, and what remained of an ornate rug lay tattered on the floor. An oblong box was seated on a stone table intricately carved with Storm symbols. The box was made of purple marble. A vase sat on the lid. It must’ve held flowers at one point.

A young woman sat atop the coffin, her legs crossed, a book in her hands. She was reading it intently, and at first I thought she was a lost Wizard. It was then that I saw she was slightly transparent, and I realized that she was Amelia Dustheart.

I slowly approached her. As I did, Amelia picked her head up and smiled. “Ah, Suriyah Drakehammer. Lovely to see you. I almost thought you would never come.”

“You’re Amelia Dustheart, the one who foretold my destiny.”

“Yes, quite some time ago. That’s the problem with foretelling, if you foretell something in the way off future you have to wait forever to see it happen.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I can’t leave this world until you fulfill your destiny, or decide to shatter it, which is probably why you’re here in the first place. Silly me, I nearly forgot.”

I looked down. “Yeah…”

Amelia cocked her head to one side, as if observing me. “You are troubled. Why?”

I looked back up at her. She had long, blonde hair that curled around her shoulders, and her violet eyes glimmered with an inner light. Her face was delicately cut with Queenly beauty, and her skin was like roasted cheasnuts. I somewhat envied her beautiful skin, my own skin was like milk-cheese and burned at the smallest rays of sun exposure.

Amelia was dressed in the ceremonial burial garb for a Storm Wizard: a long purple dress cuffed with gold and yellow, sashes sporting the other school colors adorned her waist. The cloth clung to her figure in a beautiful way, which was interesting since most burial garb didn’t look that great on people.

“I really wanted to get out of my destiny. But my friend is making me think…” I said slowly.

“Well, I always say -- sorry, said that thinking too much limits your perception. Sure, sometimes its good to notice the unseen, but when you overthink you begin to wonder why we’re alive at all, and that’s no good. Over thinking leads to unhappy endings.” She looked up, just past my shoulder. “I would know.”

“Okay…” I said, trailing off, wondering what in the Spiral she could be thinking of. For being a famous Diviner she certainly had a shady history.

Shaking her head, as if brushing off an old memory, she said, “Alright, quiz time. Lets see how much you know yourself. First question. What is your name?”

Before I could reply, Suriyah Drakehammer, I said, “Suri Nightriver.”

“What is your school?”

“Necromancy, the School of Death.”

“What color are your eyes?”

I saw my mothers face clearly before me. She always told me I had her eyes. “Dark sapphire.”

Amelia was silent.

“Wait, that’s it?” I questioned, disbelieving.

“In a way.” She gave me an innocent look. “What were you expecting?”

“Something a lot deeper than those three questions.”

Amelia laughed. “Well, in those three questions you revealed a lot more about yourself than you could in three hundred questions. More than me asking how you like to spend your free time, more than what your favorite memory was. Yes, I could very well have asked you those, but you revealed that already.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Explain.”

“I asked you your name. You replied ‘Suri Nightriver.’ Now, that’s not your birth name, it’s the name you gave yourself three years ago. It means that the true person you are is the person you are now.”

I guess it made a certain kind of sense. “And the second one?”

“I asked you your school. You replied ‘Necromancy, the School of Death.’ Your father was a Necromancer, no? Right, it means that you respect and honor your father, no matter what he did to you, because otherwise your would’ve given up Death magic a long time ago.”

Glaring because she was right, I snapped, “And the last?”

“I asked you what color your eyes were. You replied ‘dark sapphire.’ You saw your mother when you answered this question. I know, I’m a ghost, I get certain privileges. Anyway, you were remembering the time your mother told you what color her eyes were, the same color as hers. You love that memory. You treasure it dearly.”

“This is creepy that you know so much.”

Amelia kept right on talking, as though I hadn’t said anything. “You know a great deal about yourself, and you don’t even know it. But I do, and I hope soon you will as well. Anyway, that’s the test, and you passed. Now I have one last question for you.” She gave me a demanding look. “Do you or do you not wish to fulfill the destiny I have foretold for you?”

My answer was immediate. “No.”

“No, you do wish to fulfill it? Or no, you do not wish to fulfill it?”

“No.” I repeated. “I do. I want to fulfil my destiny.”

Amelia threw her hands up. “Then why did you come all the way down here?” she exclaimed. “A waste of time! A bloody waste of time. You’ve wasted your time! Get on out there and fulfill your destiny, Miss Nightriver, who gives a Blood Bat now if you don’t want to. Go on! Out with you!”

Stunned by her exclamation, I stumbled backwards and back up the stairs, back through the door, and out into the heat of the Necropolis.

“That was rather quick. Did you defeat the boss this time?”

I turned to Aeden, too confused and stunned to snap about why he is here. “No, that was easy. My job just got a whole lot harder.”

“Well, where do you need to go now?”

“To the Headmaster. He should know.”

“Know what?” Aeden gave me a skeptical look. “You look sick. And slightly relieved.”

I stumbled forward and he catches my arm. “Oh Storm Lord,” I muttered. I just barely made it over to a dead garden before I empty my lunch onto the dried dirt.

Aeden made a face and looked away. “Eugh, I better help you to the Headmasters.”

I nodded, wiping my mouth with a spare hat. “Sure,” I whispered.

†††

As I walked through the Commons I slowly regained my confidence.. It had been so long since I’ve been here. Sure, three years wasn’t that long, but daylight? Man my eyes hurt. Everything was so bright and colorful. Not many people were around since the school day just started, due to this we didn’t have to sneak by Cyrus on our way out of Dragonspyer. Aeden was practically running to keep up.

“What do you need to tell him about?”

“Stuff. Family stuff.”

“Okay. Do you want me to come along? Family stuff can be personal.”

I stopped mid-step and thought it over. I had been slightly, unexplainably excited, but sudden hesitation turned my stomach over and I threatened to throw everything up and out again.

I swallowed, took a breath, and nodded. “No problem. I need moral support.”

Once at the door I paused, remembered I need not knock, and walked in.

It was just as I remembered. The room was brightly lit with many candles, piles of books lined the shelves and the floor, papers were spilling over the large desk, and a worn ornate rug lay atop the wooden floor. A couple of big, red chairs were in the corners and crystal ball glittered on the desk. Headmaster Merle Ambrose was turned away, inspecting a paper through his eyeglass.

Without looking up, he said, “Shouldn’t you youngsters be in school?”

“Headmaster sir, there’s kinda something I need to talk to you about,” I said quietly, almost hoping he wouldn’t say anything and tell me to go back to school.

However he seemed to recognize my voice immediately. His head jerked up and his eye widened. “Suriyah…”

I nodded meekly. “Hi.”

“Wait, Suriyah? You said your name was Suri,” said Aeden looking at me confused.

“Does he know?” asked Ambrose accusingly.

“No,” I replied. I turned to Aeden, “I’m sorry.”

“Then… who are you really?” Aeden looked slightly hurt.

I looked down. “Well... May as well tell you...”

The Headmaster nodded thoughtfully. “Then let me re-introduce you. This is Suriyah Drakehammer, the Princess of Dragonspyre.”

By
Emma Dawnrider



P.S.
Ooh! Here's a thing. I'm updating my fan-fic page (check it out, by the way) and I realized that all of my stories happen after Malestaire turns evil. So after I finish most of them or decide I'm going to discard one, I'll make it a challenge to write a fan-fic that takes place before he turns evil.
Challenge... ACCEPTED!