Wind rippled across a quiet pond, disrupting the stillness. Levi Heiland stopped the motion without thinking, making the air pause as if holding a breath. His skin flared in response, burning from his mouth all the way to the dip of his collarbone.
He crouched beside the pond’s edge, the air still unnaturally subdued, the water smooth as glass. He gazed down. At the monster who wore his face.
Scars. Dark and unsightly, spreading from his lips, down to his chin, and scrawling over the column of his throat like a spidery spill of black ink. It was far worse than his blind eye had ever been. So much worse.
It ravaged his skin. With every bit of magic he used, it was like he was being branded by the devil’s hand. Spreading. It was spreading. Had already cleared his throat, and was now curling over his collarbone.
Levi released a scraping breath. As did the wind, finally released from his grasp.
He had to stop this.
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“If I get the Celestial Chalice . . . you will get rid of them?”
“Yes.”
A pause. “Okay.”
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If you drink from the Celestial Chalice, it gives the ability to control all elements. When he’d first gotten a hold of it Levi hadn’t intended to use it. But the pull of magic was strong, deliciously so, especially for him, who’d never been touched by the elements. As soon as the Chalice caressed his lips a warmth had spread through his veins.
He could still feel that warmth, though it had grown from a flame to a wildfire. It licked at his edges, blistering and smoldering. Even now, as the cold wind bit into his skin, screaming at him.
He ignored it.
Spread out below him was a grand estate of pale stone and gabled roofs. Wisps of smoke puffed from brick chimneys, and satin curtains were pulled back from open windows. It was picturesque, but for the worn edges. But for the boy who studied it with hell painted on his skin.
Bile made Levi's mouth taste bitter as he thought of what he would have to do. What he had to be willing to do. The only way to get the Chalice was to use his powers. However, to use them on that scale would wither his already monstrous face into something inhuman.
His lips and throat throbbed in time with his quickening heartbeat. The air ripped at his hair. Levi came to a decision.
Below the estate, the earth shifted. Above, the sky cracked with a viscous downpour. Within, fire spat from within the hearth. And around Levi, the wind’s screaming hit a crescendo, begging for mercy as it was forced into servitude. Alway the wild one, that element. Always so rebellious.
The doors to the estate slammed open with a burst of pained air. Inside, flames danced up walls, and acrid smoke made everything dingy. Dirty.
Levi’s skin cried out. He ignored it. Servants scattered like rabbits, the whites of their eyes like slivers of stars in a deadened sky. He ignored it.
Levi forced himself through each room, staggering until he came upon the estate’s vault. He pried it open with a gale. Inside, the wealth of the duchess glinted gold and silver and copper and brass, and in the center of it all was the old woman herself, bowed like an ancient willow tree. Past her, the Celestial Chalice sat atop its grand pedestal.
The duchess’s eyes were like flint. “Who are you?” The flint sparked. “What are you?”
Levi’s eyes slid away from hers, unable to bear it. She had been kind to him once, back when he had been but a guard. Back when he'd selfishly used her most priceless relic. Now she could not even recognize the demon before her. “Give me the Chalice . . . Please.”
Smile lines now crinkled with fury. “No.”
Levi breathed shakily. His skin cried out with agony. He needed it to stop. Now.
Below the Duchess the earth cracked open. Pain exploded across Levi’s chest and face, as if his skin had been incinerated. It was blinding, the pain. He couldn't see past it. But it did not matter. He didn’t want to see as he stumbled past the ruptured earth and toward the Chalice.
It was heavy in his hand, just as he remembered. Intricate patterns digging into the palm he clenched around it. In his mind’s eye he could see the way it gleamed; the gold of ichor and the crimson of blood. Levi burned, mind and body. It was the ugliest thing he’d ever seen.
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The warlock kept his end of the bargain. Once he’d weighed the Chalice in his palms and determined it to be authentic, he pressed a hand to Levi’s chest, over his heart.
For a split second Levi fractured, becoming nothing but suffering. And then it was gone. He no longer burned. The only thing left was the buzzing warmth of magic.
“They will come back if you use your magic,” the warlock warned, before he kicked Levi from his home.
Levi stood on the stoop, dazed. He looked down at his hands, shook his head slowly. A second passed.
Levi broke into a run.
The pond was just as it’d been before. Still, but for a breeze. Dropping to his knees before it, Levi saw no monster. Only pale skin flushed gray from exertion; unblemished. Perfect.
There was no happiness as there should’ve been. No relief. He was supposed to be smiling.
Why then, were his lips curling downward instead of up?
Inside him, a tempest stirred. Thoughts clashed against thoughts. Somewhere in it he could hear the crack of earth splitting; a woman’s scream. He shook his head. The sound faded away, replaced by the wind. It laughed.
Tugging at his hair, it pulled strands out of place. The laugh grew louder; mocking.
Without thinking, Levi made it still.
His skin began to burn. And in his ear, the wind’s phantom began to cackle.
