Dark of the Tide [Shadow and Bones]

Chapter 23

I came out of my room and softly padded down the hall, careful not to make the floorboards creak and wake anyone up.

    A door opened and Matthias poked his head out, gesturing for me to get in quickly, then he shut the door once I got in.

    "I found out something. Something important." Matthias said, letting me sit on his bed as he opened a drawer and rummaged through a pile of leather-bound books until he came across one with black and yellow orbs on the cover: light and dark. Sun and shadows.

    "What is that?" I asked when he sat next to me, opening up the dusty book.

    "An ancient Grisha book. Abilities that have been long since forgotten. It even has a section on Tidemakers and the extent of their ability to manipulate and control water." Matthias said, flipping a few more pages until he came on a blue page with the Tidemakers crest on it.

    I ran my hand over the page. "Where did you get this book? I don't even think the Little or Grand Palace has a book like this."

    "They don't. Because years ago, this became a forbidden book to read or mention. Rumor has it that the Black Heretic's grandfather created all these new uses to-to expand the Grisha's abilities. See?"—he pointed to a picture above an ability that said: Black ice.

I looked at the above picture and saw a Tidemaker in kefta robes with her hands above her head, lifting water into the air and fusing it with the coldness of the temperature, creating particles of ice.

"Woah. That's awesome." I muttered to myself.

"Yeah. And that's not all. I also found the extent of Healers." He flipped to another section and pointed to another picture of a young woman in Healer robes, with her hands on a shriveled body lying under her; it's face was completely melted in and shriveled like a raisin.

"That's . . . that's morbid." I said as I looked at the picture.

"I know. Listen to this." He skimmed his finger down the page to a paragraph, tapping it and reading it.

"'Healers were the most feared of the Grisha in the year of 1890. They had the ability to not only heal a life, but, if need be, they could take a life and absorb their essence, therefore, immortalizing the Healer. But in the years following, a group of farmers torched the Healer's homes in order to drive them from the town; As the years turned into decades of the Healers not able to use their gift, that power went out of knowledge, being as the only book was burned in that house fire. But in the early 2000's, a young Grisha man by the name of Zachery Oretsev."

I looked at Matthias and he looked back at me with an equally shocked face.

"Listen to this. This is where it gets really trippy." He bent his head again and continued to read the passage:

"'Unknowingly, due to Zachery's untimely death, his wife bore three children. Two boys and a young girl."

"Wait. No. That's got to be a typo. Mal is my only sibling." I said.

"Books like this don't lie, Arabella. But listen here. This might make you vomit, so, here's the trash can." He reached over for a black can and handed it to me, patting my back before finishing off the passage.

"'Due to the grief of losing her husband, the wife of the children gave one boy to a royal Grisha family, and placed the other two in the orphanage. The young boy developed powers beyond what his father possessed; he had the ability to manipulate and control shadow. Later on, becoming the most feared Grisha in the land: the Darkling.'"

My eyes widened and I hurled in the trash can, setting it down on the floor and just sitting there in shock.

"Arabella?"

I turned to Matthias, eyes wide as saucers as I processed this information, mouth agape. "I-I-I kissed him. My freaking brother!"

"Arabella—"

"No. Come outside with me. I need to vent. And throw up again." I grabbed his hand and walked outside into the deserted streets with him and out to the docks, where I promptly jumped into the freezing cold water and screamed.

Bubbles flying everywhere as I rose up and broke the surface, creating a giant tsunami and a heavy thunderstorm, lightning flashing wildly as Matthias shouted at me to stop.

"ARABELLA! STOP!" He shouted, his voice faint over the howling wind and rain.

I flew up in the air as my eyes turned all white, my hair flying around my face as blood started to drip from my nose.

People started to come out of their houses and looked at me with a gasp, backing away and holding their children close.

"BELLA!!" Kaz's voice shouted, ringing clear in the air and having me snap out of my trance; dropping my arms and having exhaustion pull me down and plunge into the ocean, barely conscious.

———

"-lla? Arabella? Can you hear me?" A soft voice asked, floating above me as I slowly opened my eyelids, receiving a skull-shattering headache.

"Arabella?" That same voice asked with worry. By now, I could recognize that voice. It was the voice of Nina.

"Nin?" I muttered, turning my head slightly before a pain shot through my neck.

"Not so fast. You took quite a fall. You'll heal up in a few weeks, if we're lucky." She replied in her soothing voice.

"And if we're not?" I croaked out.

". . . I estimate at least a month. Maybe a month and a half." She replied, stroking my arm.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

She sighed. "You exhausted yourself. Draining your battery and pushing the limits of your power. You got a nosebleed from all the work. Of your body trying to heal itself, but not being able to."

    I blew out a little sigh. "So, can I not get up?"

    "Not for a while, Arabella. We need to make sure your vitals are stable. Until then, I think the best we can do it wait." She said, stroking back my hair. "Is there anything you want me to know? Anything that might help?"

    "Um . . . yeah. Talk to Matthias. He knows." I replied.

    She nodded. "Okay. Is there anything else you need before I head out to check on him?"

    "Can Jesper and Kaz come here? Please?"

    Nina sighed and thought about this for a second. "I think . . . it's best if Kaz stays away for a little. He raises your heart rate a lot, and I'm not sure if it's healthy for you at this moment."

    I nodded, having the feeling of a ton of stones hit my stomach as she said that. Not being able to see him for a few weeks? Or a month?

    "As for Jesper . . . I think it should be safe for you. Just don't strain yourself. If you feel anything slight discomfort, tell Jesper to come find me. Okay?"

    I nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Nina."

    She smiled. "Anything for you, Arabella. Get some sleep. I'll get him in here tomorrow."

    "Sounds good."

   "Okay. Get some sleep. I'll check up on you a little bit later to make sure everything's alright." She said with a kind smile, getting up and exiting the room, shutting off the lights to let me sleep, only having the moon illuminate the room.

Bro. This chapter. It got me tripping. And I'm the author! Anyways. Hope you liked.

Question of the day: what do you think the Darkling will do with this new information when he hears about it? Will he think of Arabella as a sister, or still have feelings for her?

I hope he thinks of her as a sister. Nothing more🤢.