Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

‘Hang on.’ Increasingly frustrated and desperate, she scrolled down the document list. There were so many; should she open every

single one? Even if it all looked like innocent homework, there could be useful information disguised behind an inane document name …

Something caught her eye. She scrolled back up to it.

Found Items

Not so mysterious, as names went. But it was password protected.

She tried again.

cassandra

No …

She chewed on a nail. Well, it was worth a try. She typed in her birth date.

Bingo!

Torvald was leaning over her shoulder, tense with interest, as the PDF of a scanned document loaded. Some kind of manuscript, pages

and pages of it. ‘What is that? It looks ancient,’ he said, his voice tight, curious.

Cassie took a breath. ‘Yeah it does, doesn’t it? Could be a fake, of course. Something he found on the net …’

She was talking nonsense, and she knew it. This was an old document and she knew immediately it was something important. The faded

writing was antiquated, but she could just about make it out – and not just that: there were symbols, designs, ancient script similar to

images she’d seen before. And one image in particular that she’d seen everywhere from New York Public Library to the Arc de Triomphe to

the broken version on her own shoulder blade …

She knew one thing: she did not want Torvald peering over her shoulder while she deciphered the document. Swiftly she clicked the print

button and closed the window.

‘But what was it?’ He stepped back, disappointed and a little annoyed.

‘I … I dunno, really. It might be something or nothing. I’ll take a copy and check it out, OK? I, ah … have a class now,’ she lied.

He scowled. ‘All right. I get the message: this is Few stuff, right?’ He stopped for a moment, relenting. ‘Look. You promise me you’ll let me

know if you find anything?’ He hesitated. ‘I miss him too, you know.’

‘Course I will.’ Forcing what she hoped was an unconcerned smile, she closed the document and rolled up the printout, keeping it well

away from his curious gaze. ‘As soon as I know anything. But let’s not get our hopes up yet, eh?’

She was afraid he was going to delay her further, but he didn’t. Once outside Ranjit’s room, with the door shut firmly behind her, she ran

for her own. It was time to try and figure out what the hell was going on.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

As Cassie got back and closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath and pulled out her desk chair. Placing the printout pages on

the smooth wooden desktop, she sat down and shuffled quickly through them, desperate for some clues. The pages were blurred in some

places, indecipherable in parts, but she was getting the gist of them just fine. Sitting in the too-quiet room, Cassie could hear the blood

rushing in her ears as she ran her forefinger across the heading of the topmost page.

Powers and Nature of the Eldest Few

The Eldest Few. Just the name made her shiver with a sensation that was all Few instinct. It seemed that the very first Few was,

according to this document, the most evil of creatures, and as those who succeeded him grew in number, his power had got out of control.

He was apparently the one who created the Knife. With the tip of her finger Cassie traced the picture on the page: the blade, the elaborate

handle, the mythical creatures that writhed around it. She involuntarily grimaced, remembering the real thing. Many seemed to hate or fear

that blade, but Cassie couldn’t bring herself to feel anything but fascination. It was beautiful, and alive, and lethal. Why did she feel such an

attraction to it, and what did that say about her?

Something else about the Knife grabbed her attention, and her breath caught in her throat. According to the manuscript, it had a special

purpose. The Knife was the only thing able to sever the link between Spirit and Host …

Only this Knife, or Death itself

may break the Bond

Cassie was stunned. This was the answer she had been looking for at the start of last term, when she’d been so desperate to find a way

to get Estelle’s spirit out of her for good. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the discovery that the means may have been right under her

nose that whole time.

No, Cassandra, let us not think back to that dark time. We’re together now, we are strong …

There was a distinct edge of nerves to Estelle’s voice, but Cassie’s growing astonishment was drowning her out at the moment.

Because it seemed that the Eldest had created more than just the Knife.

Rubbing her forehead, trying to shift the headache she could not afford right now, Cassie squinted at the text, reading and re-reading the