Page 28 of Heavenly Bodies
‘And what if I refuse?’ Elara said, forcing her voice to remain even.
Enzo’s eyes found hers, arresting her in her seat. ‘Then you won’t stand a chance against Ariete.’
She turned back to Isra, her entire body rigid.
‘Will you use the Light on me?’ Elara asked.
‘No,’ Isra replied. ‘I don’t possess the Light. From my father’s side, I received the gifts of an oracle. To seek answers, to see glimpses of the soul, of the past, present and future. But I’m also half-Svetan. From my mother…I received a darker kind of sight. One that can commune with the dead. As well as a magick, cold and powerful…’ She trailed off, waving a hand through the air.
Icicles formed before her, crystal clear and viciously sharp, the temperature in the room dipping.
Then with a tap, Isra finished crushing her herbs, as Elara fought back a shiver.
‘If you so please,’ she gestured to Enzo, who pushed himself off the wall. He gave a flick of his wrist and the herbs ignited into flames, their earthy smell pungent as they burned. The smoke curled around Isra as she breathed it in.
Isra held her arms out, palms up, and Elara held them, trying not to display a tremor. Isra’s touch was frosty. The moment she touched Elara, Isra sucked in a breath. Her eyes clouded over, turning milky white. Elara shivered but continued to grip on to her as Isra muttered in a language she didn’t recognize. It had the same guttural tone of Svetan, but the language sounded archaic, powerful. The candles around her flickered, casting intermittent darkness.
She felt Isra’s magick settle over her gently, like a blanket of snow. Light, pure and clean. When she closed her eyes, she sensed it searching tentatively, hoar frost creeping through her soul, trying to clear the shadows.
Hide the box. Hide the box.
Elara’s breath began to come in shallow gasps as panic took over. She squeezed her eyes steadfastly shut.
Isra fell suddenly silent and Elara could feel as the frost searching her mind suddenly found the box, as the temperature in the room around her dropped sharply.
The magick from Isra didn’t stop, and now she could feel a strange pressure in her head as the ice tried to find a way inside the box.
‘No,’ Elara rasped. But Isra persevered.
The shadows that had been wrapped around the box tried to fight the ice, but they were useless—stuck inside Elara—and the ice continued to work until the box cracked open an inch.
A truth drifted out of it, the very one that Elara had tried so hard to bury.
Isra’s magick paused, as the oracle viewed the memory. Tears were streaming down Elara’s face—she could feel them; she was both inside and outside her body. And then, a cool layer of ice was placed carefully over the memory, before it was put gently back into the box. When it closed, Elara breathed again. But just as Isra’s magick began to retreat, as she saw it wind a path out of her, silver light flared within her, and sank its teeth into Isra’s magick.
‘Elara?!’ she heard Enzo say.
She opened her eyes, to find a frigid breeze filling the room. Isra’s eyes were still full white, and frost was rapidly coating her entire body. She shook as the temperature plummeted.
‘What the fuck was that?’ she said, voice high with panic.
‘What?’ Enzo demanded. ‘What’s happening?’
But Isra groaned, and gripped Elara more tightly.
‘Enzo!’ Elara gave a strangled cry. The candles spluttered out, plunging them into darkness.
‘Shit.’ She heard Enzo move. A ray of light flared behind her as he lit the room, and for the first time in Elara’s life, she did not fear it.
Isra moaned, plumes of arctic mist billowing from her mouth. Elara shook as a strong hand rested on her shoulder, and she felt Enzo’s light suffuse her being. It was soft and warm as it melted the frost creeping up her limbs. Her shadows spun rapidly within her, bubbling up, up, and in another breath, two small streams of darkness whispered out of her hands, swirling around her and Isra’s clasped hands.
‘Stars,’ Enzo whispered.
‘Don’t move,’ Elara strangled out. She didn’t take her eyes off her shadows, twin wisps, only a little bigger than the one she had seen on her balcony the night before.
‘I won’t,’ he murmured, squeezing lightly. Isra groaned, a low keening sound that fast became a wail of agony. Elara’s gaze flew back to her, her hands clenched painfully in Isra’s grip. The oracle was rocking backwards and forwards, speaking in tongues faster than before, her head shaking from side to side, eyes still milky and translucent.
Elara tried to tug away, but Isra clutched her more tightly, reeling her in. Her wisps of shadow dissipated in the air, and Elara gave a cry of frustration. Ice was gathering on the table, burning as it bloomed upon Elara’s wrists. The gale howled around them, Elara’s hair swirling wildly in the tempest. With a loud shriek, glass shattered. Elara screamed in terror as sharp, glinting fragments of it scattered.