For years the smell of it taunted him, haunting his dreams. There were nights he'd woken, having wandered from his bed in sleep to stand in this hall that called to him. But over time the smell faded until he’d nearly forgotten it. So why had it suddenly returned more potent than ever before?
He knew he ought to continue to his quarters but the dark way compelled him, beckoning him like a siren's song, too tempting to ignore. Following the twist of the hall, he passed a single arched window to the awaiting door. A tremble graced his long, ink-stained fingers as he felt his way along the stone wall, searching for an opening, a clue,anythingwhen a great crash erupted against the glass down the hall.
Outside, a raven, black as obsidian stone, thrashed against the arched window. Its strong curved beak pecked the edges first and then moved towards the center with a persistence that brought spider-webbing cracks at each point of pressure. Any moment, Icarus knew the glass would give way and shatter into the hall. Quickly, he went to it, releasing the latch so that his brother's familiar could flop itself inside.
Horacio ruffled and stretched his wings, regarding Icarus with a cold stare not unlike the ones his own familiar doled out.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded after the avian had righted itself, hopping along the curved stone sill.
Horacio only cawed loudly, an ear-piercing shriek that had Icarus throwing his hands up over his ears. The creature flapped his wings again, insistently, and after so long surmising the will of his own feathered companion, he started to understand.
"He's here, isn't he?" Icarus looked past the raven, out to the storm-veiled field that separated Calami from the wood beyond. Like a sixth sense, he knew that his brother, desperate to speak with him, waited somewhere in the shaded treeline.
Anger welled within his chest, a burning fury that only Cal could manage to get out of him. He was tempted to shoo the raven away and slam the cracked window shut out of sheer spite. But Horacio made a strange, coughing sound, grainy and unnatural. When a smokey green orb slithered out from between his beak, Icarus took a step back, suspecting poison or treachery. Instead, a voice emanated from the small shining bead. His brother's cool drawl, though tinged now with an unfamiliar pleading edge.
"Icarus, meet me at the boundary line at dusk."
Again, the raven coughed. The green orb dissipated into nothing before he flapped back off towards the swaying forest beyond.
Cool, stormy wind slapped against the exposed skin of Icarus’s arms. He'd rolled back the long white sleeves of his dress shirt and shed his suit jacket before jogging the field between Calami and the Whispering Wood. He didn't dare use a portal to instantly reach the edge as it would leave him vulnerable for a moment once he landed at the edge of the boundary. With a wizard like Calder, vulnerability could mean a death sentence.
He approached the treeline, neck slick with sweat, and stopped a few yards inside the magical boundary. Soft rain patterned against his cheeks, slipping down like tears, and in the distance, thunder rumbled. The hair on his arms rose.
Sensing a presence at his back, lurking in the shadowed woods, Icarus turned. Two blazing orange eyes peered through the gloom and his brother stepped forward, limping on his wounded leg. He came to a stop as close as the boundary line and compulsion spell would allow him and grinned, but the usual malice wasn't there. Icarus had to admit that his brother looked awful; warm skin now washed out with a pallid, almost green tinge. Dark circles clung in crescent moons beneath eyes that shone with a feverish gleam. Cal was in pain, he knew, but also knew he'd never be the first to admit such weakness.
"You look terrible, Calder." Even through his irritation, an undertone of pity rumbled out with Icarus’s words.
Dark hair limp with rain, Cal smirked back. "Really? I feel great."
"Great? What an interesting word choice. Not the one I'd use if I were in your position. Already, there are rumbles of dissent among wizard kind. You can’t hide what you’re doing. You know how this ends, you’ve seen it before,” he hesitated, “and whatever you did to Arabella Marudas last night was dangerous. Unpredictable. You could have harmed her, or worse."
He watched Cal stiffen. The strong line of his jaw tensed as his gaze lingered over the Tower in the distance and he drew in a deep breath. "She's a means to an end. Just as Seren was. I took and gave what I wanted, nothing more."
Calder had never been a liar, and Icarus could see the bold pretense for what it was, painted clearly across his brother’s face. He may be able to put on a cold front for the world, but Icarus knew what lay beneath the mask. The kind and caring boy he’d once been before Cyrus twisted him in his bitter image. That couldn’t be all lost. He was just angry. Misguided, "If that was really the case, Calder, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be off plotting with our deranged uncle, or pursuing another set of helpless sisters."
Calder snarled, the movement and sound transforming his face from a sick boy to something lethal. "Do not bring Uncle Cyrus into this." His teeth gnashed together when he moved forward too quickly. The barrier rippled, administering a powerful dose of pain that rocked him backward. Recovering, he spat, "And those two are anything buthelpless."
Icarus pictured Seren, her ebony locks and the cold power that bled off her, the snake at her side, ready to do her bidding. Calder was right about one thing, at least. She wasfarfrom helpless. But that remained to be seen with her sister, though with the haunting light she’d displayed the night before...perhaps his brother was right on both accounts.
"Why are you here, Calder? If you don't care." Icarus was losing what little patience he had left for the day.
"I’m here because you don’t know how to keep your nose out of other people’s business." He tossed a crumpled piece of parchment onto the ground between them.
Icarus raised a sharp brow.
“Do not play the fool, Icarus. What is it about betraying your own blood that gets you so hot? That you just cannot seem to resist?” The cut beneath Icarus’s wrapped palm began to throb as Calder stepped forward, testing the compulsion spell’s limits.
"If this is the letter I sent our uncle, you should know it was for your own good. You are trolling dangerous waters, things you don’t understand," Icarus couldn't keep the bite from his tone. It echoed in the air the same way his brothers had and the wind picked up, pushing more thick, rain-bearing clouds overhead.
"I have come further than any Darkmore before me, save Atlas himself!" Calder spat, hand hovering at the edge of his dark cloak.
"Enoughof your games, Calder. This is serious. I don't want to hear about Atlas or the grimoire or omnis stone or how the Marudas sisters are linked to it all. This is real life. Livelihoods are at stake. Wars have been fought over less and they would kill you to avoid one. There are some who would kill Arabella and Seren, as well, if it meant preserving the peace.'' Icarus's voice was a blade that cut. In his frustration, he longed to step over the boundary line and throttle his brother until he understood the price they might all pay for his daring.
To his great annoyance, Calder smirked again. Though sickly and in pain, it became clear he was still enjoying this. Like a wolf sensing the weak points of its prey, the younger wizard couldn't seem to resist a chance to torment Icarus. Slowly, despite his injured leg, he paced the length of the invisible barrier. "Have you forgotten the story behind your name,brother? The warning.The fall of Icarus, boy who flew too high, wings melted, and plummeted into the lapping waves below to meet an untimely end . . . andyet, here you are, soaring blindly towards the sun," he paused, glancing at the Tower far off in the distance again. "or, perhaps the moon in this case. Dark, twisted Seren, who doesn't care for anyone but herself."
"I’m not sure what you believeshehas to do withme,but I know she cared for you, Calder. She must have to let you cross the boundary. To risk her place here at Calami,” Icarus paused, closing his eyes, as he recalled the indecipherable expression on the young witch’s face as they stood in the library.
She’d lied to Icarus and met Calder in the dead of night. What he’d stumbled upon could have been an act of rage–or passion. He hadn’t wanted to know. Hadn’t wanted to imagine what events could have led to such a display of emotion. His eyes shot back open. “And yet you lured her sister to that courtyard to do something horrible for your… for this…obsession.”
