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 |  The Legend of the Eyebright was thought to be just a myth... |
| Vivele pulled Radi down the deserted hallways of the West Wing of the Vé Mansion. Their steps left dusty imprints in the embroidered rugs. Rust scabbed the once gleaming doorknobs, and the enamel covering the mahogany doors was peeling. The two sisters, however, did not seem to notice their derelict surroundings. Radi followed her sister obediently, her dark hair tousled from sleep. Vivele’s eyes were clouded with preoccupation, and she kept her hand over the bag hanging from her shoulder. “This way,” Vivele whispered once they reached the end of the hallway, and the door to their left swung open with a creak. They walked into a library. Faint moonlight from the bay windows bathed the sisters and the bookshelves around them in an ethereal glow. Vivele let the door shut behind them and led the way toward the window. She sat down on the window seat and Radi curled up next to her. Vivele reached over and drew the heavy curtains, secluding the sisters from view. Vivele opened her bag. She took out a crumpled page torn from a book, a desk knife stolen from her Uncle’s office, and a small glass Orb. She picked up the Orb and held it up to the moonlight. The two watched it curiously for a moment. Then it was as if the light from the moon had transferred into the Orb. A sudden silver glow flooded the sister’s faces, and Radi clapped her hands in glee. “Sh…” Vivele told Radi. “She’s still away but I don’t know when she’ll be coming back…” Radi nodded, and rubbed her sleep-laden eyes. Vivele gave her a hug and ran a thin hand through Radi’s tangled brown locks. She shook her black hair out of her eyes and studied the crinkled piece of paper. She pulled Radi closer to her and placed the Orb in her sister’s lap. “Veradien, called Radi, identity be forsaken,” Vivele whispered. “I take Vé from your name and forever renounce any ties to this earth. In place of Vé I give you the name Aderin, for nobility and freedom. By ancient power and blood, I set you free of destiny.” Her hand shook as she picked up the knife. She saw Radi’s expression of simple curiosity reflected in the knife’s surface as she reached for her arm. She held Radi’s arm down as she carefully nicked it with the knife right below the elbow. A small drop of blood rolled down her arm and hissed as it hit the Orb. The names Veradien and Aderin materialized crimson on the Orb’s surface as the blood dissolved in a steamy whisper. Radi screamed, but the dusty drapes muffled the sound. “I’m sorry, Radi,” she whispered. “This is for your own good.” Then, in a low, mystical voice, she chanted, “This blood is no longer of Vé, but free to roam.” Then she stopped, and for the first time, hint of hesitation passed over her face. Then a look of determination set in, and she whispered, “By my sacrifice I set you free.” She grasped the Orb in both hands. “Take my destiny, and by dawn’s first light seal my fate and set my sister’s free.” Vivele stiffened for a moment as the Orb burned a translucent pink while the two names on the surface glittered red. Then the light inside the Orb went out, and she relaxed. Radi sniffled in a woebegone manner, and Vivele hugged her sister, dropping the Orb. “I’m sorry, little sister,” Vivele murmured, wiping Radi’s tear-stained cheek. “But do you know what I’ve given you? I found this Orb in Uncle’s study, and I knew right away it could give you—” The door flew open, and everything darkened. The two girls huddled together. Radi whimpered, and Vivele clutched her legs to her chest, rocking nervously. “Give it up, Vivele,” announced the entering person. Vivele crawled out from under the curtain and faced her elder sister. “What brings you here in the middle of the night, Valorén?” she asked stiffly, her gray eyes darting across her sister’s pale, beautiful face. “A small influx of magic, Sister,” Valorén replied, narrowing her eyes. “I am very sensitive, you know, and even someone as uneducated as you could create a disturbance in my aura with the…right instruments.” “I’m sorry for disturbing you, Valorén.” “As you should be. Why don’t you call out the small monkey? I know she’s hiding somewhere here, too.” Radi crawled out from behind the curtain, but upon seeing her eldest sister, she dove back under it again. “Tut. Such cowardice. Come here, little sister.” Valorén waved her hand so Radi, whimpering, was drawn toward her. Valorén’s eyes found the small cut on Radi’s forearm as if she already knew it was there. “What do we have here?” Valorén muttered, waving a pale white finger over the wound. Radi screamed in pain. Valorén ignored her as a small wisp of a memory floated over Radi’s arm. She studied the gossamer memory for a moment, and then turned toward her sisters, no longer mocking but serious, her face drawn in anger. “Give it to me,” Valorén growled, pushing her youngest sister aside. Radi scurried out of the way like a wounded dog as Vivele, her face set, waved her hand so the knife and the Orb settled at Valorén’s feet. The oldest sister picked them up and studied them. After a minute or so, she threw both down on the floor. The Orb, more resilient than ordinary glass, merely shattered into several good-sized fragments. The knife landed point-up in the dusty rug. Valorén stared at Vivele. Her face was frosty white and blended with the long, ivory-blonde hair that swept back from her face. Her eyes, midnight black and glowing, burned with a dark anger. “Do you know what you’ve done?” Valorén whispered. “It is unthinkable that you used my Orb on this brat. You didn’t complete the ritual, did you?” Vivele didn’t move. “Sister, you do the most idiotic things,” Valorén continued. “First you reject your invitation to the Academy, and for what? Do you think the little monkey will remember the sacrifices you have made? I will tell you right now, she won’t. She will never thank you. There will be a day when she will spit in your face and turn her back on you forever. And this! You did not give up—just to take her out of my control—” Vivele stood with her hands planted on her hips in a defiant gesture. Valorén strode towards Vivele, her black eyes fiery with rage. “Do you know what it means to be Nameless? It is not the same as what this brat will be, having the ability to choose her own path, to wield great amounts of power... Being Nameless means you have no future, no control. You are giving everything you have to her by completing this. All your talent will be gone. Your spirit will dissolve. Is it worth it? Veradien will never be able to control the power that comes with this Orb. She will never fully understand its potential. Vivele, you must know by now that Veradien is not talented or gifted at all. Transferring the Orb’s power into her is like…throwing diamonds to pigs!” The two older sisters were only inches apart now. Yet Vivele didn’t even flinch. “You are still young, Sister,” Valorén cautioned, adopting a motherly tone that somehow sounded colder than her anger. “You don’t know what you’re doing. We can reverse it if we complete it before dawn strikes. You cannot even imagine the horror of the sacrifice. Or else at dawn…she will have power greater than anything you or I could ever achieve,” she whispered. “She deserves it more than you,” Vivele responded, narrowing her eyes. “Beside, you were going to use me for the sacrifice one way or another. I’m not stupid, Valorén! Only a blood relative can make such a sacrifice…who else would you have used?” “You cannot understand what you’ve done, Sister!” cried Valorén. “That power was for me and for me alone. And at dawn, the power and the sacrifice will be irreversible. Vivele, giving this up to Veradien won’t purge you of your guilt. You need to let go of the past! You hurt the little brat, but that was years ago and—” “Don’t talk about that,” Vivele interrupted. “What happened then has nothing to do with this. It’s too late, Valorén. It is almost dawn and you have broken the Orb. I cannot reverse it now.” Valorén closed her eyes for a couple seconds, her long white fingers tapping on her leg. Then the fingers moved downwards and picked up the fragments of the Orb. “The power still lingers on the pieces,” she murmured to herself, “and if I take blood just as the sun rises, the power should transfer. Yes, this is the only way,” Valorén sighed. She suddenly leaped onto Vivele, pinning her to the floor. Somewhere behind Valorén, Radi shrieked. Valorén waved her hand and Radi flew back, hitting the door. Keeping Vivele suspended with one hand, Valorén drew open the curtains. Faint, pink tendrils reached into the sky. Dawn was near. She yanked Vivele close, picked up the silver knife, still crusted in Radi’s blood, and plunged into Vivele’s right shoulder. The first rays of the sun hit. Vivele screamed. Radi screamed. Valorén laughed, an odd glitter dancing in her black eyes. Then a splintering of glass crackled through the air as the window burst, tiny pieces of sunlight falling into the gardens below. “I feel the power,” Valorén breathed. “So the power was transferable,” she mused, a trickle of laughter in her voice. “Thank you, Vivele. You saved me the mess of committing the sacrifice.” She threw the shards of the broken Orb out the shattered window and glided out of the room. |
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