18.

The 'dungeon' in the cave can barely be considered a dungeon. Eric and Malik arrive moments after us, staring around in shock. Like every other room here, there are no doors, simply a sheet hung in the entryway, cutting it off from the hall. But this room has metal cuffs attached to the walls, and only one lantern in the far corner, providing a small light. But the most devastating feature of all—it's empty.

"Cassia, you were supposed to be watching her!" Eric scowls.

"I-I'm sorry. The healer said she needed to check on me. I was only gone for five minutes and when I got back..."

"How did she escape,?" Elias says. "This place is like a labyrinth. Did you see anyone go down there, Cassia?"

She shakes her head. "Malik, where were you—"

Malik raises his arms in surrender, but Eric speaks for him, surprisingly coming to his rescue. "Malik and I were together, neither of us saw her." He looks at me. "Milena?"

"You can't really think I helped her escape, right?"

"Someone must've. And you've always been soft. You cared about her wellbeing more than any of us."

I scowl. "Are you serious?"

"Stop being stupid, Eric," Elias interjects, "Milena and I were both on the beach. She helped with the nets."

I send him a snotty look and he huffs. "Great. Just great."

"Calm down," Elias says. "She got out. The hollower is gone and there's nothing we can do about it."

Silence settles around us. "What do we do?" Cassia asks in a small voice. "If she tells anyone where we are, we'll compromise the safety of the whole elder village."

"They don't care about the elder village," Malik says, "they care about getting Elias, and probably Milena too."

"We have to get out of here," I say. "And we have to warn the elders, we have to help them escape. We must—"

"They won't come here, not if we lead them away," Elias says. He nods to himself. "I have to lead them away."

We all stare at him. "What?" Eric asks.

"They'll catch my trail, if I can somehow lead them in a different direction, maybe I'll buy us some time."

"Elias, we're not letting you go off on your own."

"I don't want you to risk your lives, it's safer this way."

"No," I say finally. "Eric's right. We're in this together now, all of this. We'll all lead them astray."

Elias meets my eye, and though he looks like he wants to argue, he doesn't. Maybe because he knows there's no point. Malik, Eric, Cassia and I all wear similar expressions—there's no way Elias is going anywhere without us.

"That's it then," Eric says. "We'll make sure we get close enough that they can track us, then lead them in the wrong direction. And then what?"

"Back to our village," Elias says. "We can lose them over in the east mountains."

"They won't stop tracking us, there's nothing for them in the east mountains, nothing for us," Cassia says. "And sure, we can try and stop leaving trails, but it'll only be a matter of time before they realise we're not there."

"She's right," Malik agrees. "The east mountains are desolate, and if we leave them there, we'll have no way of knowing what their next plans are. They'll be too hard to track."

We settle in silence, thinking his words over. I still don't know the geography of the land, but it makes sense. We have to lead the hollowers away from the village, but somewhere close enough or familiar enough that we can still have someone keep track of them. Somewhere they might stay for a while before deciding to come to Elias' village.

"My village," I say. "We should lead them to my old village."

They exchange glances. "It's not safe there," Elias starts to say.

"No, she's right," Cassia murmurs, eyebrows furrowed. "That hollower settlement has been abandoned since Cynthia ran off. We lead them there, start to cover our tracks, and once we get back to our village we can send someone to keep tabs on them."

"It's so close to our people," Elias says.

"At least if it's their village, they might stay longer, giving us more time to prepare," Malik says. "They'll come for your people, either way, Elias, no matter where we lead them."

"And we'll be ready when they do," I say, looking at Elias.

"I can't ask my people to risk their lives for me."

"If there's one thing I've learnt the past few months, it's that every single person in that village would do anything to protect you," I say. "You're their leader. It wouldn't even be a question."

He knows I'm right, and it hurts because I know he'd punish himself for every single death that occurred because the villagers were protecting him. But it doesn't matter. We don't have any choice.

"What about the shadow?" Cassia asks.

"We'll take it with us," Malik says. "We'll need it when they eventually come."

"I want to activate it," Elias says. "Now."

Malik looks hesitant. "Elias... if something goes wrong, if you do something wrong, you might destroy—"

"I'm ready," he says. "Show me how to activate it."

Malik nods, but doesn't look convinced. "Meet us in the elder's quarters in an hour."

~

Cassia, Elias, Eric and I wait outside the same room we'd met the elders in the first morning we were here. We sit in silence, the thought of the task that lies ahead dauntingly loud. Cassia drums her finger on her thigh and Eric twitches in agitation. But Elias, leaning against the wall, is dead still.

A weapon that was believed to no longer exist. A weapon that Eric and Cassia still don't truly believe in. A weapon that is our only chance at stopping the hollowers from creating an unstoppable army—and the fate of it lies in Elias' hands. The thought weighs heavily on my chest. No matter what he does, the fate of us all somehow seems to become his responsibility. And you can see the burden in his eyes.

"We leave as soon as this is over," Elias says. He looks at each of us, gaze lingering on Eric. "Deal?"

Eric's jaw clenches, but he nods.

"Are you sure you're okay to go already?" Cassia asks.

"We can't risk the hollowers coming here." It's not an answer to her question, and we all know what the real answer would be. But it doesn't matter; his tone is final. The decision has been made. And he's right. If the hollowers followed him to the elders, we'd have even more lives to worry about. Leaving now is our only option.

It feels like hours have passed when Malik finally emerges from the elders room. His lips are pressed in a firm line, eyes serious as they rest on Elias. Then, he nods.

"They're ready for you."

Elias pushes off the wall and turns to look at us behind him. We all know he doesn't want any of us in there. He knows we won't give him a choice. With a sigh, he pushes on into the room and we follow.

Just like the previous day, the elders sit mounted on the wall, Elder Rosemary in the centre. She meets my eye as we wander in and tilts her head in acknowledgment. Her words rush back to me, and a wave of shame washes over me for the sudden thrill of hate I feel towards Ana again.

I avert my eyes and focus forward. The shadow is in the centre of the room lying flat on a stand carved from grey stone. Elias steps in front of it, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. Malik stands on the opposite wall, and we stand behind Elias, far enough away that if things were to escalate as they did in the forest that day, we won't get caught in the crossfire.

"So, what now?" I ask, earning the stare of all five elders.

Eric nudges me in the ribs and shoots me a sharp look. I shut my mouth and look at Malik. He meets my eye and grins, easing the tension in my shoulders.

Elder Rosemary rises to her feet, chin tilting upwards. "You need to burn it, child."

Elias rolls his shoulders back. "Here?"

"A shadow belongs to the wispers. It can only be created by a wisper, activated by a wisper, destroyed by a wisper." She leans forward.

"If wispers are extinct, who created this shadow?" Eric asks.

"The wisper who created this shadow is dead," she says. "To create a shadow, a wisper transfers the very thing that makes them a wisper—their essence. You cannot create a shadow and live to tell the tale. And you cannot destroy a shadow without destroying the wisper that activated it."

"Wait!" I say, ignoring Eric's death glare. Everyone stares at me, but I don't care. "If Elias activates this, and someone destroys it, he'll die, too?"

"It is a risk you must be willing to take," Elder Rosemary says. "Wispers and shadows are linked by something deeper than blood—magic."

My heart skips a beat and I stare at Elias.

"Don't worry," Malik adds. "Destroying a shadow is an incredibly difficult task, almost impossible without a wisper." He looks to Elias. "That's the whole point—right now, anyone could destroy it. But once Elias activates it, anyone who tries to destroy it will suffer a painful death. They'd need a wisper's help to truly get rid of it."

"Do the hollowers know that?" Eric asks.

"If they don't already, it won't take them long to figure out if they get ahold of the shadow," Elder Troian says.

"Created, activated, and destroyed," Elias murmurs. "It all needs a wisper."

"Precisely," Elder Troian confirms. "And you are the only one left."

Silence falls upon us, his words, while empowering, only reinforce the idea Elias accepted long ago—he's the only one of his kind left, a race once thought of as desirable and powerful dooming him to a lonely life.

"I'll do it," Elias says. "It's our only option. Malik, step back."

Nobody objects as Malik steps back to press himself against the wall. We all watch as Elias steps up to the shadow lying on the raised, stone platform. My heart hammers as I watch, entranced as he reaches towards it with his right hand, fist spreading to reveal his palm. Nothing happens for the first few seconds, but then, a fire ignites in his palm. I watch, wide-eyed as his skin begins to glow, a similar gold colour his eyes shine in the darkness. I've only seen Elias light fire twice, the first in the forest when he'd lost control, and the second when he lit the sheets on fire the other morning. But never have I seen fire emanate from his palm in a controlled manner. He looks terrifying and beautiful all at once.

A small flame turns into a stream as he aims it at the shadow, and flames engulf the small dagger. I can't see it within the fire, but I hear it, the roaring of the weapon within the fire. But nothing extraordinary happens. The fire dies out. The knife lies flat, unmoved, the small flecks of blue gem simply glowing brighter.

I hold my breath. "Did it... did it work?"

Elder Rosemary leans closer. "Did you feel anything, child?" Elias shakes his head, no. "Pick it up. You must not hold back."

Elias doesn't hesitate. He picks up the dagger and holds it facing towards the stone pillar. This time, the fire starts in his palm and then moves up his arm until he's entirely engulfed in flames from head to toe. Eric grabs me and pulls me backwards, further from the flames. On the other side of the room, the elders watch with awed faces, and I mimic their expression. A few seconds, and he burns brighter, the flames growing bigger, and a strangled cry escapes the ball of flames. I want to leap closer, drawn to him, but Eric holds me back. His scream continues until the fire dies out and he drops to the ground, the knife clattering to the ground.

"Elias!" I call.

Several things happen at once. All the elders rise to their feet, the dagger scatters across the ground, rising with smoke, and Cassia rushes towards Elias. Eric holds her back, but that causes him to let me go and I rush towards him instead. He lies limp on the ground, his clothes littered in holes the fire burned through. I kneel next to him reach out to touch him, his skin burns to touch. I roll him over, tugging him closer.

Eric goes for the knife. Malik tries to stop him. "Wait, don't touch—"

As soon as he picks it up, he yelps and drops it like it burnt him. He shakes his hand, gripping it tightly and cursing beneath his breath. "Only Elias can hold it," Malik explains. "It will hurt us because we aren't wispers."

I go back to Elias, panic flooding through me. "He's not awake!" I say. "Elias? What's wrong with him?" His eyes are closed, but they twitch. I shake him. "Elias!" Eric starts to move towards us just as Elias' eyes flash open, burning more than I've ever seen them. But the relief doesn't last long because within a second his entire body is on fire, and I'm caught right in it.

~

DISCUSSION:

1. Do you think it's a good idea to lead them astray?

2. Would you try to activate the wisper knowing the risks?

3. What do you think might happen next?