Chapter Forty

The Unmarked: Book One

Table of Contents:

[Prologue] [Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.3] [Ch.4] [Ch.5] [Ch.6] [Ch.7] [Ch.8] [Ch.9] [Ch.10] [Ch.11] [Ch.12] [Ch.13] [Ch.14] [Ch.15] [Ch.16] [Ch.17] [Ch.18] [Ch.19] [Ch.20] [Ch. 21] [Ch.22] [Ch.23] [Ch.24] [Ch.25] [Ch.26] [Ch.27] [Ch.28] [Ch.29] [Ch.30] [Ch.31] [Ch.32] [Ch.33] [Ch.34] [Ch.35] [Ch.36] [Ch.37] [Ch.38] [Ch.39]

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Corbin.

A young, unmarked girl padded Dawn’s forehead with a damp rag. The servant girl was not one of the rebels. She was one of many children that Corbin’s father had purchased from the villages when he’d established the mining camp. Technically, up until the age of fifteen, children, whether from the cities or the villages, could not work. Their sole purpose was to study to become worthy Members of Erom, in hopes of being chosen when the time came. However, a little money, and a promise of future glory was enough for unworthy parents to give away their children.

Corbin did not worry about the servants running away or rebelling. They did not know how to navigate through the mountains, and they were treated well by the soldiers. They were no older than twelve years old – the youngest being eight – and they served obediently in hopes of proving their worth and gaining the Governor’s favor so they could one day be chosen.

A sigh heavy with exhaustion left Corbin’s lips. Currently, the Counsel oversaw the affairs back in the city while Corbin was away. Word of the Governor’s death had not reached them. Corbin had forbidden it. Although all the members had been fiercely loyal to his father, and it had been established that Corbin would succeed him as Governor, Corbin still feared. What if the Counsel’s loyalties weakened towards him? What if one of the members tried to gain power? What if one of them decided to meddle in the camp affairs? Corbin rubbed the ridge of his nose, where the headache was beginning. The whole point of founding this camp was to find the powers that would make Corbin and his father untouchable. Like his mother had been. Like Wolfe was. Having his father alive had been like having a shield and a sword. Now Corbin was left to fend for himself, weaponless. The lack of his father’s counsel also set a heavy burden on Corbin’s shoulders. His father’s wisdom had always guided him in making the best decisions. Now Corbin felt like a sailor without a compass. He was left to constantly second guess himself.

Damnit! He wasn’t ready to be Governor of Torrem and Commander of the mining projects. Father was taken away from him too soon. Corbin seethed with anger. He would find Wolfe. And he would get his revenge. Somehow.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed the servant girl shuffling. She stood awkwardly by Dawn’s bedside; her hands neatly folded in front of her. “You’re dismissed” he told the servant girl. There was not much to be done. Dawn was asleep.

With a bow, the servant girl scurried out of the tent.

Corbin glanced towards the bed. Dawn lay in his own cot. He didn’t want to leave her out of his sight, and he wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight anyways. Too much on his mind. He sat by his desk and watched the girl sleep. Despite her fair complexion, the sight of her unsettled him. He curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to get rid of the stiffness he felt in his joints. When he’d grabbed her earlier, coldness had shot throughout his arms as if he’d plunged them into an icy lake. Despite the heat of the lanterns in his tent, he still felt a chill in his bones. The very presence of the books she had carried, which lay opened on his desk, made the entire space feel ominous.

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You are venturing into dangerous territories… her voice echoed in his mind.

Then her eyes shot open.

Corbin tensed.

She blinked several times and looked at him. She wore a troubled frown on her face. “Wolfe?” she whispered.

The name made Corbin’s blood boil. “What do you know about Wolfe Bloodwood?” he demanded.

Dawn took a moment to prop herself up in the cot. She winced, as if in pain. “He left me” she said weakly.

“How do you know him?” he asked impatiently.

“He saved me, from prison. Brought me to Ardus. Then left me”.

“Why?”

Her gaze became distant.

“Because he was afraid of me” she answered faintly.

Corbin leaned back in his chair, “when’s the last time you saw him?”

She spoke in a slow cadence, her tone lethargic: “Over six weeks ago? We were in Greywell. He was supposed to come with me to Ardus. Then he disappeared on me”.

Corbin exhaled. Typical. He didn’t think the girl was lying. Wolfe was a master at disappearing and failing to protect the people he cared about. Corbin would question her further about what she knew about Wolfe, but right now, he had more pressing information to gather.

“Tell me who the Bookkeeper is. What is the Shadow Realm?”

Parting her lips to answer, she instead fell into a sudden fit of coughs. Annoyed, Corbin grabbed the cup of water at his desk and brought it to Dawn. She clasped it with both hands and took several long gulps of the water. Corbin settled on the bench besides the bed and leaned towards her. Dawn rested the cup on her lap and wiped her mouth with the back of her arm.

“The Bookkeeper is the one who lent me the book of Epathi” she began, her voice raspy. “The Shadow Realm is what we call ‘The Rayless Woods’”.

A shiver ran down Corbin’s spine. The Rayless Woods was how all of this had started. Several years ago, he’d sent Wolfe in there along with a group of guards his father had wanted to dispose of on an “expedition”. None of them had returned. Save for Wolfe.

It was also the place where his mother claimed to visit on nights when she’d disappear from home. For years his father had accused her of using lies to cover up her whoring.

But he had never been certain. Especially not after Wolfe had returned.

Corbin’s attention drifted back to Dawn, “And what is the Epathi?” he asked.

A knowing smile spread across her lips. “I believe it’s what you’ve been mining for”.

Frustration seized him and Corbin suddenly felt overwhelmed by the questions that coursed through his mind.

“What is it!” he demanded.

“Power” she replied, her smile vanishing at his outburst, replaced with an annoyed look, as if she were being shouted at by a child. Corbin tried to compose himself. Father wouldn’t have lost his temper like that. He needed to act more like Father. He took in a deep breath through his nose.

“What kind of power?” he asked, calmly.

“Power that gives people supernatural abilities”.

Then yes, the Epathi was what he and his father had been mining for.

This girl, she was the answer.

“The books you carried with you. They are in a dead language. Can you read it?”

She nodded. “Some of it”.

“How? Why not all of it?”

She smirked, as if amused by his eagerness. “The Bookkeeper only allows me to understand sections of the book. Like I told you, the text is only a loan. The knowledge in it is not mine to fully know and share until I fulfil my obligation to him. A book for a book”.

“And what happens if you don’t fulfil your obligation?”

“The knowledge I’ve acquired will be my own, and the Bookkeeper will kill me before anyone else can discover what I know”.

“And if someone else were to bring the Text to this Bookkeeper you speak of?”

She shrugged. “There’s no guarantee that he’ll accept whoever brings him the Text”. She looked down at her mug and trailed her finger around its rim. “He’ll likely kill me for not being worthy enough to fulfil his mission,” she met Corbin’s gaze, “and he’ll kill the messenger out of spite”. She took another sip of water. “This is the Rayless Woods we’re talking about, Commander. Few who enter ever return”.

The truth of that statement made him shiver. Mother. Wolfe. The Guards.

Corbin tensed as he felt Dawn grab his forearm. “Please, Commander. Let me bring the texts to the Bookkeeper”. Suddenly, her touch became cold as ice. He watched in horror as black tendrils began to crisscross along her neck. Her gaze drifted from him, and she stared into nothingness. “Before it’s too late” she whispered. The dark veins slowly began to fade away again. Dawn lay back down in the cot. Her eyes fluttered closed.

In a faint, singsong voice, Dawn whispered: “The Bookkeeper grows impatient.”

Then she fell asleep.

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