Borne Rising Read online

  Noctis grinned. “I used to be a pickpocket, remember?”

  “Old habits, right?” Madigan smiled and clapped him on the back.

  Noctis returned the smile. It was so good to see his brother, to feel the old banter return. He wanted nothing more than to fall into their casual camaraderie, but the stakes were too high. He forced himself to focus, to remember why he was there, finally. “Really, though, it was Cephora. I found her in Undermyre.”

  Madigan drew back and frowned. “And she filled you in?”

  “As much as she could. You didn’t leave her much to go on. I just got lucky with the rest.”

  Madigan eyed him and some of the joviality left him. “Will, are you okay? You seem—”

  “Of course he is. He’s better than ever, actually.”

  Both brothers turned to look at Morella. She stood, arms crossed in much the same fashion as the Shadowborne on the levee. Her face was turned down in a half frown, but she smiled when they turned. Noctis noted that it didn’t fully reach her eyes.

  “Morella.” Madigan’s smile matched hers. “Good to see you.”

  “Likewise.” She approached and intertwined her fingers with Noctis’s. Something in Madigan deflated. Morella inclined her head toward the distant figure. “Who’s your friend?”

  Noctis glanced back over his shoulder. The Shadowborne had not drawn any closer. She’s not happy we’re here, he mused. I wonder if she knows that we suspect.

  “I’ll let her do the introductions.” Madigan held up a hand and waved for her to approach. When she made no move to do so, he dropped his hand and turned back, shrugging. Whatever his reservations about Morella, they were quickly overcome as he took in Noctis again. “Shit, kid, look at you. You look like a total badass. How the hell have you been?”

  Noctis smirked and shook his head. “That’s a hell of a question, Mad.” He glanced at Morella and squeezed her hand. “Mind giving us a minute?”

  “Not at all.” She squeezed his hand back then leaned up to kiss his cheek. When she drew back, she shot a quick wink at Madigan then turned and strode away, looking as cool and calm as if she owned the place.

  “What’s going on?” Madigan’s enthusiasm was dimming visibly. “Will, how have—”

  “Just . . . give me a second, Mad.” He looked around, scanning the foundation, looking at the charred tree trunk. “It’s a lot to take in.”

  Madigan nodded. “I know. It was hard. Coming back was . . . everything was a mess still. Overgrown, yeah, but still a mess. Clearing it took some time.”

  Noctis was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, nearly breaking. “Did you find him?”

  Silence.

  “No. I didn’t find him.”

  Silence.

  “How long have you been back?”

  “I don’t know, really.” Madigan ran a hand through his hair. “I got out of the habit of keeping track of time the way we used to. Ever since I left Cephora. A few years. Three-ish, probably, given the weather changes.”

  Noctis closed his eyes and nodded. “I saw the date on the way in. Somehow . . . it feels both longer and not at the same time.”

  “Me too. I didn’t know we’d been gone for so long.” Madigan smiled. It was distant and sad. “Some people go spend four years in college. We just spent that time getting a different education.” The silence lingered again.

  “Alright, go ahead,” Noctis said.

  “Jesus, finally.” Madigan whirled him around. “Look at you, man. You look like you’ve been through hell. What happened? What happened with Valmont? What the hell is happening in Aeril? Where the hell have you been?”

  Noctis chuckled despite himself. “First, a lot happened. Second, din’Dael got us out. It was bad.” He shook his head, pushing the memory down with the rest of the baggage he didn’t like to think about. “Third, I genuinely don’t know. And fourth,” he sighed, “I’ve been in the Sapholux.”

  Madigan raised an eyebrow. “The Sapholux?” Realization dawned on his face. “Jesus, Will. Were you there with din’Dael? What did he do to you?”

  “He trained me.” Noctis avoided any mention of the other surviving Lightborne. Not until I know he’s still the same Mad. His eyes darted to the Shadowborne in the distance. Not until he can be fully trusted.

  “Trained you?” Madigan looked him up and down. “Trained you how? Did you find out what the hell he did to your Shade?”

  “The Shade is gone.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Mad, it’s gone. You were right. I’m something else.” He held up a hand. Blue and white lightning crackled across its surface. He shrugged, as if the whole matter was inconsequential. “Lightborne.”

  “Will—”

  “It’s Noctis now.”

  Madigan stared at him. “Noctis?” The word dripped with sarcasm. “What the hell do you mean Noctis?”

  “The fires of the Sapholux burn away weakness.” Noctis spoke with grave determination, as if reciting an ancient oath, a code. “What emerges from its fires is born anew. The old, weak shell is burnt to ash, charred away until it is nothing. All successful Lightborne are reborn and renamed.” Saying it to his brother made the whole thing seem like the most ridiculous load of crap he’d ever heard. He cracked a smile and winked. “Hence, I am Noctis.”

  Madigan eyed him and laughed. “Seriously, kid, you really had me going there. Did they really tell you to say that shit?”

  “Jero was very dedicated to tradition.” Noctis ran a hand along the velvet fuzz of his head. “Not gonna lie, I bought it. I absolutely bought it.”

  Madigan clapped him on the back. “Of course you did, kid. You’ve always been a sucker for that type of noise.”

  “Yeah, well, they knew all the right words.” Noctis shook his head. Gods, did I really let myself get so caught up in it? “I don’t know. It felt right. But maybe . . . maybe I need to regain some sense of self.”

  “Don’t go getting all culty on me.”

  Noctis chuckled dryly. “I’m working on it.”

  “Grandda worked damn hard to drill all that ‘no one’s tool’ shit into us.”

  “Heh, he sure did.”

  Madigan smiled and pulled him close again. “I’m glad you’re here, Will. Or Noctis. Whatever you want me to call you, you’ll still be a pain in the ass.”

  “Whatever you want, man. I’m not gonna lie, though. Noctis sounds pretty cool.”

  “Ha! That it does. Latin, right?” Noctis nodded and Madigan chuckled, shaking his head. “Jeez, did you pick it out yourself?”

  “Surprisingly, no. That was a din’Dael thing. He thought it was poetic. That you were the Shadowborne but I was the one who operated from the shadows.”

  Madigan chewed his lip and scratched his beard. “So, you didn’t tell him about your Shade, then?” Noctis shook his head. “There’s a chance then, right? There’s a chance you could still get it back.”

  Noctis sighed. “Sure, there’s a chance. But the people I’ve talked to about it don’t give me much hope. The truth is, Mad, I’m okay without it. I didn’t spend my days in the Sapholux lamenting my Shade.”

  “Oh yeah? You’ll have to tell me about that sometime.”

  “We’ll see.” Noctis rolled his eyes and threw his hands to the sky in mock exasperation. “Ancient secrets of the Order and all that.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Madigan said and the pair laughed. “Come on, kid, let me introduce you to Ileta.”

  Ileta, not Aurellaine. Noctis followed his brother automatically. Maybe it isn’t her. Maybe this whole Aurellaine thing is just one big damn mistake.

  The Shadowborne did not move to meet them when they drew near. Noctis could feel her eyes upon him, drilling into him, inspecting him. She was beautiful in a severe way. She kept her emotions guarded, the cool smile on her face more of a sneer than anything resembling a welcome. He could sense her power and saw her Shade billowing around her feet. He had to fight back the sudden urge t
o Flare, to send electricity through the air and demonstrate his own power.

  So, this is what din’Dael meant. Opposites.

  She was dangerous, he could feel it. Some people hide their intentions, their instincts behind masks of coy civility or demurring behavior. Ileta was not one of those people. She wore her ferocity like armor. She exuded power and control in a magnetic, almost hypnotic way. Like Valmont.

  Noctis realized he was clenching his fists and forced himself to relax. There was no way she knew that he knew. If what I think I know is accurate.

  Morella was striding casually. She seemed calmer and more at ease than he had ever seen her, although her crooked smirk was betrayed by her intentional eyes. She must be as on edge as me, he mused. She’s just hiding it better.

  “Ileta,” Madigan said when they approached, “this is Will, my brother. Or Noctis. He goes by that too.”

  She didn’t move, only snickered. “Lightborne.”

  Noctis felt his brother tense. “Nice to meet you, Ileta.”

  “And . . . and this is Morella Darklore.”

  Morella and Ileta peered at each other, neither speaking for a moment. There was something dangerous in their interaction, something Noctis couldn’t place. The moment of tension stretched a half second too long before Morella’s loud, boisterous laugh snapped it like a twig.

  “Ileta.” She beamed and clapped her hands together. “It’s a pleasure. I never imagined I’d meet another Shadowborne after Madigan.”

  “Is that so?” Ileta’s words were pointed, harsh.

  “It is.” Morella smiled a little too broadly.

  “Ileta’s been great,” Madigan said, a little too forcefully. “She’s a fantastic teacher. Different than Grandda, that’s for sure. But she’s got a lot of knowledge and is relentless in drilling it into my thick skull.”

  He was the only one who laughed.

  Noctis’s skin was crawling. There was definitely something in the air. He felt defensive and aggressive at the same time. He peered at the Shadowborne. His key began to crackle and pop against his skin. He focused harder on Ileta, wondering what she was planning. But she too seemed to have noticed something. Her gaze had drifted away from them and back in the direction they had come from.

  “Alright, well, this is just damn awkward.” Madigan ran his hands through his hair. “Don’t everyone be too cordial now.”

  Noctis could feel the anger rising in him. It’s got to be her. Look at her, she even looks like Valmont.

  “Come on, guys.” Noctis heard the nervous trepidation in his brother’s voice. “Will, lighten up a bit, kid. Help me out here.”

  “Madigan,” Noctis began, “I think that—”

  “Quiet,” Ileta snapped.

  “Excuse me?” Morella glared. “What do you—”

  “I said quiet!”

  Morella’s face twisted in rage. Ileta stepped toward them, drawing her hands together. Noctis groaned and reached for his knives. He hadn’t thought to look before, but Ileta was wearing a noctori. Lightning crackled across the hilt of the blood fangs as he closed his fists around them. He prepared to strike.

  But Ileta was still looking past them, had not even noticed that he’d armed himself. Noctis turned, following her gaze to the road in the distance. The key was vibrating, popping, twitching. “Something’s coming,” he said.

  “Yes,” Ileta responded. “Something big.”

  Madigan cursed. Noctis couldn’t help but smile at the sound. Just like old times. His brother’s Shade misted around them, then, similar to Ileta’s but very different in color. Mad’s was more earthen colored, dark browns and blacks, whereas hers was based in dark greens that flowed and twisted. Seeing the two colliding, intermingling, clouding, sent a pang of nostalgia through him. That was supposed to be us. The Brothers of Darkness.

  “Perhaps this might be a good time to mention that Morella and I had a bit of a run-in in the Ways.”

  Ileta didn’t look at him. “A run-in with what?”

  “Necrothanians.”

  Madigan cursed again. Morella stepped back into the trees and out of sight. Ileta, however, seemed to relax. No, not relax exactly, but something. She seemed less tense, more casual. That isn’t a good sign. Noctis looked for Morella but she was gone. That was good; she could take care of herself.

  Lead the attack. Choose the ground. Decide. Jero din’Dael’s words in his head, Noctis strode away from Madigan and Ileta. His brother called out to him, went to grab him, but he shrugged it off and ignored him. Noctis walked down the levee and directly to the end of the drive. Madigan and Morella were both at his back in the distance, which was good. If Ileta tried to attack him, they would be able to protect him. That meant he could focus entirely on the threat at his front.

  A figure appeared in the distance, but it was not big by any means. It moved like a man but walked with a strange gait, as though the legs were too long for the body. At first, Noctis couldn’t make out the features, could only feel the waves of power pouring off it. But as it drew closer, Noctis recoiled.

  There were no features to make out. The face was a near-blank mask of stark white flesh. No nose, no eyes, no hair. Only a mouth broke the single plane of tight skin. The mouth stretched nearly halfway around its skull and twisted up in a terrifying, permanent grin of teeth, too long and too many. It stopped a short distance away from him and, though it had no eyes, Noctis felt the grotesque creature’s gaze upon him, boring into him.

  “Child of Thornnnnne.”

  Noctis paled. Images of death and destruction surged back to his mind’s eye. The profound sense of loss that he kept buried deep inside began to claw its way to the surface. He clenched his fists and fought down the waves of panic. “Senraks.”

  The moment lingered between the two, Senraks with its fanning grin of razored teeth, Noctis steeling himself.

  The crackling, roaring bolt of lightning took Senraks full in the chest and sent the creature reeling backward. Noctis followed it up with blast after blast as he brought the air to life, awash with blazing fire. Senraks recovered with a hissing roar and surrounded itself in its Shade.

  Noctis drew the blood fangs and launched at the creature, the blades glowing from the surging power he coursed through them. Then, he was flying through the air, battered by the Shade. He landed hard on his side and rolled away while the storm of his lightning raged and crashed into the creature. Senraks was transforming, growing.

  A figure raced past him. Noctis caught sight of a bastard sword held high, of a Shade whirling. Madigan met the creature full on as its tentacles lashed out toward him. His brother’s Shade solidified into an impassable wall that stopped the battering tentacles short. Madigan severed one tentacle with his noctori and propelled himself back with his Shade as Senraks swatted at him with solidified darkness.

  Noctis rushed back in, mindful of his blasts now that his brother had joined in the attack. He spaced himself far enough from Madigan that his brother was out of range, then he unleashed a wall of white-hot fire and lightning around him in a whirlwind. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran for Senraks.

  Jervin had been a master of blades, but he had not been Borne. As the two brothers engaged the creature, Senraks roared in fury and pain. Under their combined onslaught, coordinated through years of training, the creature gave ground. We’re winning, the thought raced through Noctis’s mind. We’re finally going to kill the bastard.

  He was knocked away suddenly by the creature’s Shade. Senraks beat at him repeatedly in a full assault. The wall of fire disappeared and Noctis rolled away a second before the blood beast crashed its full weight onto him.

  The creature was gone from his reach, then, retreating. Madigan was a storm of viciousness as he battered at the blood beast. Then, Noctis saw another Shade winding through the chaos. Ileta joined the fray, fighting alongside his brother. Suddenly, Senraks gave ground before turning into full flight. The blood beast ran.

  Noctis glared at Ileta. She wa
ited to join until the bastard was already retreating. Madigan was yelling for him, urging him to his feet.

  “We’ve got to get after it, Will!”

  The blood beast was moving away far faster than they would be able to keep up. Noctis rose to his feet, still glaring at Ileta. “Tell me you’ve got a car, Mad. Something.”

  Madigan nodded. He whirled, running full speed back toward the trailer. Noctis locked eyes with Ileta. She had not released her Shade. “Where the hell were you?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You need to check yourself, Lightborne.”

  Noctis couldn’t contain his boiling fury. “I know who you are, Ileta. Who you really are.”

  She smirked and shook her head. “I doubt that.”

  The sound of spinning tires on gravel interrupted them. Noctis was thrown completely off as Madigan screeched to a halt driving an old, beat-up minivan. The windows were down and his brother shouted through.

  “Move your ass, Will!”

  Noctis threw open the passenger door and jumped inside. Ileta followed a moment later. Noctis threw his head out the window, scanning for Morella, but she was still hidden in the trees. Madigan pressed the pedal to the floor and the van lurched forward.

  Today’s the day, Grandda. Senraks dies.

  23

  Void

  “Where the hell did you even find this thing?” Noctis was clutching the door and had his feet firmly planted on the ground. He drew a sharp breath as Madigan barreled around a corner and pushed the van to move faster.

  “Cheapest thing I could find on the lot that ran,” Madigan said, not taking his eyes off the road. Noctis turned and glanced at the backseat. Ileta was eyeing him with . . . wariness? Suspicion? He couldn’t read her face.

  “There it is,” Mad shouted. Noctis whipped his head back around and sure enough, the blood beast was in front of them, off in the distance. They were gaining on it.

  “We should turn back.” Ileta gripped the driver’s seat and pulled herself forward. “This isn’t right.”