James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

“Torin?” he whispered. “What is happening?”

Wirr paused uncertainly, then swallowed a lump in his throat. The loss of blood was starting to disorient his father. “You were stabbed,” said Wirr, keeping his tone as gentle as he could. “You saved me.”

Elocien groaned. “You’re older. I don’t understand.”

Wirr held his father’s hand tight. Elocien was fading fast. “Everything’s alright. I’ll be here until the end.”

Elocien shook his head in desperation. “No. I don’t want to die. Help me.” He grabbed Wirr by the shirt, pulling him close so that all Wirr could see was the fear in his eyes. “Help me, son! I beg of you. I know you can heal me. Do not let me die.”

Wirr looked away. “I’m so sorry,” he said, barely choking out the words. “You told me not to.” He swallowed. “I love you, father.”

“No,” whispered Elocien. “No.”

His hand went limp, and his eyes stared sightlessly into the night sky.

Wirr just knelt there, wracked by sobs as he bent over his father’s body. He stayed like that for several seconds; then he took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing down his emotions and wiping his face, doing his best to regain a semblance of composure. There would be a time for grieving, but for now, he needed to make sure his father’s sacrifice had not been in vain.

"Oh, no."

Wirr’s head snapped up at the horror in Asha’s voice. She was staring at Elocien’s motionless form as if she had just understood something terrible.

"I’m so sorry, Wirr," she said softly, dazedly. She shook her head, looking at both him and Davian. "There’s something I have to do. I… I have to go."

She hurried off before either of them could respond.

Wirr watched her go, too numb to wonder at her reaction. “Raise the alarm,” he said dully to the soldiers nearby, who were looking on in mute dismay. “The Blind have tricked us. We need everyone back to the Shields.”

He watched the men leave, then turned to Davian. "And we need to go to Tol Athian."

Davian was still staring at the three bodies on the road, bloodied sword hanging limp in his hand. "Why?"

"Because it’s time to end this," said Wirr heavily. He got to his feet. "It’s time to change the Tenets."

Asha darted through the eerily deserted palace hallways.

Most able-bodied people willing to fight had left for Fedris Idri hours ago; only the city’s governing structure remained here now, along with those too young or too old to wield a sword. Asha’s footsteps echoed as she hurried along, doing her best not to panic whenever she thought of what was happening at the Shields, trying instead to focus on locating the next Lockroom.

And trying to decide whether she was hoping to find Erran there, or was worried that she would.

Erran had been in a Lockroom in his vision - Asha had even stopped back at her room to read his description again, to make sure there weren’t any further clues in it as to his location. There hadn’t been, unfortunately - nor had there been any indication of exactly what was going on.

No hint as to why he had Seen Elocien’s death as if it had been his own.

She was fairly certain that was what had happened; the description fit, and Hael’s death meant that the man wouldn’t be stabbing Erran anytime soon. As to what that implied… a theory had begun to form as she’d made her way back to the palace, and it was one that made an increasing amount of sense the more she thought about it.

She just desperately hoped it was wrong.

"Asha!"

Asha looked over her shoulder to see Kol and Fessi hurrying towards her, and stopped just long enough for them to catch up.

"Have you seen Erran?" she asked them.

Fessi shook her head. "Elocien told us all to stay here until he sent for us," she said in a worried tone. "But Erran disappeared a couple of hours ago. We were just looking for him."

"I think he’s in a Lockroom," said Asha.

Kol frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"He foresaw it." Asha hesitated. "He needs our help."

Fessi and Kol glanced at each other. "There’s a Lockroom a few corridors over. It’s Erran’s favourite. He goes there to be alone, sometimes," said Fessi.

Asha nodded. "Lead the way."

When they arrived the door was locked, but it took only one solid blow from Kol to open it. Asha’s heart sank as she took in Erran’s prone form in the middle of the room, a pool of blood around his head.

The three of them rushed in, kneeling beside the young Augur’s prostrate body. Blood seeped from his eyes, his ears, his mouth – but, Asha realised with a relieved sigh, he was still breathing. She checked his pulse. It was faster than it should have been, but regular.

Fessi gently cleaned away the worst of the blood with a handkerchief, then grabbed a pillow from one of the couches and laid it under Erran’s head. As she did so, his eyes fluttered and he gave a wracking cough, sending flecks of blood onto his shirt.

“Just breathe, Erran,” said Asha. “You’re alive. You’re going to be okay.”

Erran groaned. "I’m going to have to take your word on that."

"What happened?" asked Kol.

Erran hesitated, then glanced up at Asha. As soon as she saw the guilt in his expression, she knew her suspicions had been right. Her heart sank.

"Tell us," she said softly. "Everything."

Erran gave a slow nod, then winced at the motion. He levered himself up onto one elbow, his gaze encompassing all three of them.

“I’ve been… keeping something from you. From all of you,” he said, his voice small. “Do you remember what I told you about how Elocien and I met?”

"Of course," said Fessi.

"It’s only partly true." Erran swallowed. “The Administrators did find me, and they did bring me to Elocien. He came into the cell where I’d been tied up, and…." He grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut against the memory.

"It’s okay, Erran," said Asha, her tone gentle.

Erran took a deep breath, giving her an appreciative nod. "He started beating me. He didn’t ask me any questions, but whenever he was taking a rest, he’d tell me a story. Each time it was about one of the previous Augurs he’d captured. The ones… the ones he’d already killed."

Fessi took a step back, paling. “That’s not true. Elocien wouldn’t have done that.”

“Not the Elocien you know,” agreed Erran quietly. “He was about to kill me, and something just… snapped. I was inside his mind, somehow. I made him stop, made him take me down. I was just going to get him to let me go, maybe try and make him forget all about me, and then I thought….” He gave a slight shrug. “There were going to be others.”

Kol sat heavily as what Erran was saying sunk in. “You’ve been controlling Elocien?”

“Not always directly, but… yes. For the past three years.” Erran stared at the floor, unwilling to meet anyone’s gaze. "To start with, I just sat in this room most of the day and made sure that he didn’t try to kill anyone. I don’t know why, but after a while the link became… more permanent. Easier to sustain, to control. And then my feelings, my ideas, began replacing his. Bleeding into him, I suppose. He started to think like me. Started doing what I would have done in a situation, but of his own volition." He grimaced, looking awkward. "After that, I just made sure that when I felt the old Elocien starting to take over again, I suppressed him."

There was silence for a long few moments as they all tried to process what Erran had told them.

"He really murdered the other Augurs he found?" asked Fessi, distress evident in her tone.

Erran gave her a sad nod. "Four of them. One was eight years old."