Arcane Rising: The Darkland Druids - Book One, R Nicole [suggested reading TXT] 📗

can wrap ourselves in a veil of reality, but it’s only thin to avoid the Chimera from detecting us. To make it worthwhile and not break the moment someone looks in our direction, we need to trick the minds of those around us.”

“We can do that? Alter people’s perceptions?”

“Only a little.” Rory shrugged. “Actually, it’s a genetic anomaly passed down to us from the first Spirit Walkers.”

I thought about it for a long moment, twisting a lock of my green hair around my finger. The strands shone emerald, lime, pear, and olive.

“Maybe all Druids used to be Spirit Walkers,” I mused. “A long time ago.”

“Perhaps. No one really knows.”

“You don’t know your people’s origins?”

“Do humans know how they evolved with one hundred percent certainty?” He smiled. “Some mysteries are too old to ever solve. Besides, it’s our people, Elspeth.”

I grimaced as we sat on the pillows. It was difficult enough trying to understand my new reality, let alone the origins of a supernatural race of people.

“So, what’s it going to be today?” I asked, steering the subject back to my practical training. “Can I move on from plants yet?”

“I want you to try to make an illusion,” Rory replied.

My eyebrows rose. “An illusion? Are you sure? I mean…it sounds complicated.”

“It’s not, really. It calls on the basic building blocks of a Druid’s Colour. If you can master this, then you might be able to create a portal one day.”

“Wait. I thought everyone could make portals?”

Rory shook his head. “Everyone has the power to, that’s why we’re so attractive to the Chimera, but not many have the skill required to open one.”

“I feel like I’ve been tricked into thinking you’re more awesome than you really are.”

“Harsh.” He laughed, but then became uncharacteristically serious. “One day, I hope to master them.”

I studied him for a moment, then asked, “So you can go to the Darklands?”

His gaze found mine, then he coughed, blinking away his expression. “Illusions,” he stated. “Let’s try together.” He rose, gesturing to me. “Stand up and close your eyes.”

I did as he said, allowing his expertise to guide me.

His hands found mine. “Now close out all outside sounds and focus on my voice.” Our fingers entwined. “Find your Colours and bring them to the surface…slowly. Just a trickle.”

I felt the now familiar warmth of my Druid abilities rise, the threads that formed the prisms I’d been diligently practicing shimmered and awaited my command.

“Good,” Rory murmured. “Remember to focus on your intent. A faint curtain to separate you from the perception of those around you.”

I let my intent entwine with my Colour and felt the air shift. Light played across the outside of my eyelids and I opened my eyes.

Rory was gone.

My expression faded into confusion as the training room faded and a thick fog twisted around my ankles. Whispers echoed from someplace far away, the words too faint and garbled to make any sense.

I felt myself slipping away and I began to panic. “Rory?”

Answering my call, he emerged from the mist and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards him.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

The training room came back into focus like he’d flicked a switch, and I stood there dazed.

“I wasn’t supposed to do that, was I?” I managed to ask some time later.

He shook his head. “No, and if you’d gone any farther, I’m not sure I could have pulled you back.”

I sucked in a shaky breath as my stomach gurgled. I felt like throwing up. “What did I do?”

Rory frowned, but didn’t reply.

“That wasn’t Colour, was it?” I whispered. “That was…Fae.” A cold shiver prickled down my spine. “Freak.”

“Hey, you’re not a freak. You’re two for the price of one, okay?”

I snorted shook my head, my green hair fluttering. “Like a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner.”

“She’s making jokes,” he said with a smile. “That’s good.”

Looking around the room, I wasn’t sure what to do. When I’d stepped into the fog, it felt like I was out of control, like I’d set something into motion…

“C’mon,” Rory said, placing his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“I don’t want to go out there.” I sniffed and lowered my gaze. “I don’t want them to see me rattled.”

“I want to show you something,” Rory said, pulling me against his side. “It’s worth it, I promise.”

I tucked my trembling hands into my sleeves and nodded. “If you say so, neach-gleidhidh.”

“Well, colour me impressed. Your pronunciation is finally getting better!”

* * *

The library was empty when we walked in.

I gazed up at the amethyst dome, the sight of it taking my breath away just as it did the day I first met the Elders. Was it only a week ago? I felt like I’d gone through a metamorphosis that’d lasted years.

“These books hold the collective knowledge of the Druids,” Rory said as we wandered past the shelves. “Well, the Druids who came through the Darklands. Knowledge is important to our people, so the first Druids wrote everything they remembered from the time before.”

“The first Druids…like Delilah and Rowen?” I asked.

Rory nodded. “There are accounts of their journey through the Darklands and what they remember from their time on the other Earth. But there’s more than that. There are books on botany, zoology, Colour, history, runes, languages… Also human books. There’s a mean fiction section.”

I laughed and ran my fingers over some of the spines. There had to be thousands of books here. How could so few Druids have written them? I supposed there was an eight-hundred-year window of productivity.

“You’re welcome to read anything you like,” Rory added. “Though it must be done within the library. The only books you can take out are the novels.”

I walked the length of one shelf, reading the spines as I went. “Are there any on the Fae?”

“We didn’t know of them until the Chimera showed up,” he said with a frown. “So there isn’t anything useful. The Fae were confined to Ireland until recently…as you know.”

“Until the Witches opened the portals,” I