spellbound | book #1 | completed

X I V

[edited: 11/07/2017]

It was mid-afternoon by the time that Maksim reached Astrakane, and as soon as he did, he made sure to separate himself from the other warlocks and witches. Only Tykon remained with him as they began to explore the small town—and small it was, with only a few crumbling buildings and wildflowers that had clearly not been tended to engulfing the cobbled pathways.

"I hardly doubt that my brother would stay here for very long," he thought aloud, eyeing a rundown bookstore whose walls were consumed by vines and moss. "He is not one for quaint towns."

"Which is precisely why he may be here," Tykon argued. His brilliant blue hair looked incredibly out of place in a town where everything was decaying. "He knows you would not think to look here."

"Perhaps," Maksim said, though he didn't sound very convinced. "We should use a tracking spell. If any dark magic has been used, we can find out where exactly it was."

His friend nodded and Maksim held his palm out, preparing himself. A moment later, a blaze of white sparks erupted from his palm and rose into the air, creating an orb of silver fire that began to float towards the wooded area in front of them. Tykon smirked at Maksim mischievously, and the two began to follow it, their gazes never leaving the glowing ball in front of them.

When their feet moved from the stone to the soil, the orb moved further away until it was the only thing visible in the shadows. Maksim couldn't help but notice how much darker this forest was compared to the one in Astracia, where there were plenty of gaps in the trees for the sunlight to pass through. Here, there was none; instead, the pair were buried beneath a dark canopy of leaves, and it was difficult to remember that the sun was still up; that above them, the sky was still pink rather than deep purple.

"This is more like it," Maksim muttered to himself, eyeing the darkness surrounding him and imagining Ackmard and his comrades hiding in the midst of it. The further they walked, the more silent it became and the colder Maksim felt. It was as though the life had been sucked from the heart of this woodland and all that was left was dead foliage and oblivion. The leaves were not vibrantly-hued and there were no streams nearby. It was an endless abyss of trees and blackness. He thought that his brother would fit in quite well here. 

The light shifted suddenly, taking them into a small clearing where thick logs lay, charred as though they had been burnt. The stench of sulphur stung Maksim's nostrils, and beside him, Tykon coughed. "Dark magic," he whispered in a hoarse voice.

Maksim nodded in agreement. "They have been here recently. Very recently."

Anxiety rose in the pit of his stomach, so suddenly that his breath was taken from him for a moment. He had not seen his brother in months. By now, the dark magic would have taken its effect on him; he would no doubt be worse than he had been before, and though Maksim was not quite afraid of his brother, he was not exactly looking forward to their reunion either—if there was to be one, of course. It was not quite his newfound abilities that made Maksim uneasy, though. It was the idea of looking into his brother's eyes and knowing that he could not save him from himself. It was the idea of seeing his elder brother, whom he had loved and hated ever since he knew how, and knowing that any part of him that Maksim had once known was long gone now. It was the idea of looking into his colourless eyes and seeing the potential for destruction inside of him, all the while knowing that they shared the same blood.

The orb vanished then, extinguishing any light they had once had so that everything around them faded into indistinguishable silhouettes. Tykon's blue magic lit up the clearing soon after and Maksim cast a grateful glance in his direction.