“What is it?” Sei asks.
“Northwest. Second nearest watchtower.” Marek calls out, “Radovan! We’ve got company.”
Radovan rushes back over. On a distant mountaintop, the violet-white light is barely visible.
Sei’s pulse thuds. “Does that mean a wraith is coming?”
“Could be heading west to the village instead.” Marek swings up onto the harness. “You two wait in the tree line. Once you’re under cover, don’t move.”
“Wait.” Sei touches a harness strap behind Loska’s arm. He doesn’t dare ask to help with magic—Marek would never agree. But Sei wants to see this for himself, even if wraiths sound terrifying. “Can I go with you?”
“That’s far too dangerous!” Radovan exclaims. He puts a hand on Sei’s shoulder.
Sei shrugs him away. “Please, Marek. You don’t have to use me. I just want to see the wraith.”
“No.” Marek buckles his helmet on and leans down in the saddle. “Go hide. Now.”
Sei stumbles away. As soon as he’s clear, Loska launches into the sky. Sei ducks away from the gusting winds, but even though he protects his face, his eyes still sting. Mere seconds later, Loska and Marek are a dark spot in the sky, surging northwards.
Another mountain flares with the warning fire. This one is much closer. Which means the wraith isnotheading for the village farther west.
“Let’s move,” Radovan says at Sei’s side.
“Just a minute.” Sei hugs his gray jacket closer, wishing he’d said something else before Marek left. Something nice.
Maybe it’s silly to worry. This is what Marek does. Sei still should have said something better.
“No, we’re going now,” Radovan says, and slips something around Sei’s throat.
Sei jumps at the touch of cool leather. He yanks away—
“Stand still,” Radovan barks.
Sei stands still. He doesn’t struggle as Radovan buckles the collar around his throat. Sei can’t feel anything beyond the valley’s chill and Radovan’s careful hands. Nothing binds him in place, but he can’t move.
“Don’t scream or speak.” Radovan circles in front of Sei, eyes narrowed. “Don’t touch the control collar.”
Horror crests through Sei’s confusion. His chest tightens with the useless urge to scream. He thought they were friends. What is Radovan doing to him?
Why?
“Good.” Radovan stoops to grab a bag from the ground. He slings it over his shoulder, then points towards the tree line. “Walk with me. Don’t be scared. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Sei’s body moves against his will, falling into place at Radovan’s heel. Scattered, scrubby grass crunches under their feet. The thing around Sei’s neck—the control collar—has limitations. No matter what Radovan orders, Sei is still very scared.
That’s good. The collar isn’t perfect.
Sei looks up, just to prove he can look up as long as he keeps walking. Light flares far away, and the sky darkens in a new twist of storm clouds.
At the other end of the valley, Radovan pauses at the second device. Sei stops too. Another brass cylinder sits atop another tripod, but this one hums with a shimmering silver aura.
“This can summon wraiths,” Radovan explains. “I wish I could take credit, but it’s a very old device. All I did was rediscover it in the archives.”
Sei’s mind races, trying to figure out the parameters of the control collar. It can’t control his emotions. It enforces obedience for simple, physical movements. The orders are either time-limited or nuanced; Radovan said, to walk with him. And when Radovan stopped walking, the order to walk must have ended too. Sei was able to stop without another order.
Was he able to stop walking, or was he required to stop walking? Sei takes one step back as a test. It works.
“Don’t run away,” Radovan snaps.
