Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

“The ring, princess,” he urged. “Don’t let it stop spinning or we’ll have to start over. I’ll guide you.”

“All right.” The excitement in Lucia’s eyes had dissipated and was now replaced by steely determination. Cleo was impressed by her willingness to embrace this unexpected turn of events so easily. Then again, it was her destiny.

Our destiny, Cleo corrected herself.

Lucia concentrated and the ring spun around and around. The amethyst cast its own light upon the map, turning it violet and sending a cascade of sparkling light onto their faces and the stone walls.

“Good, princess,” Alexius said. “It’s working.”

“What do I do now?” Lucia asked, her voice growing strained.

“Think of the Kindred. Four crystals containing the purest essence of elemental magic. Amber for fire, moonstone for air, aquamarine for water, and obsidian for earth. Picture them in your mind. See them.”

“I can see them,” Lucia whispered.

“Now you should be able to feel where each belongs—the chosen place of power in Mytica where the element is meant to be awakened.”

“I don’t understand.”

Cleo watched them both tensely, her gaze moving back and forth between sorceress and tutor.

“Trust your magic, princess. It is ancient, as ancient as the Kindred itself. It knows what to do. Let it guide you.” He hesitated. “And if you can’t, then we know it’s not yet time. We can wait a day, a week—”

“I can do it,” Lucia insisted. She kept her gaze on the spinning ring. “I can see it. I can see the earth crystal . . . where it will be awakened . . .”

And so could Cleo. The spinning ring moved across the map of Mytica. The light then transformed before Cleo’s eyes, giving the image more dimension and depth. She suddenly had the sensation that they were hawks, flying high above the land, looking down at the surface. The spinning ring moved along the line of the Imperial Road until it stopped at a point near its origin in Auranos. Cleo recognized it immediately.

“There,” Lucia whispered. “The Temple of Cleiona . . . it’s the chosen place of power for earth.”

The earthquake. Earth magic.

“I awaken the earth Kindred,” Lucia said softly, but with the weight of a command.

Amazed, Cleo watched the display before her, which now showed the outline of the temple itself. Then a symbol appeared, burning, as if it had just been physically branded onto the magical landscape.

A circle within a circle.

Alexius inhaled sharply, his gaze snapping to Lucia. “You did it, princess. You’ve awakened the earth Kindred.”

Lucia’s mouth stretched into a shaky smile. “That felt natural. Hardly any effort at all.”

Cleo could tell she was lying. Whatever she’d just done, it had taken a lot out of her. The sorceress trembled, her forehead damp with perspiration.

Cleo couldn’t help but be amazed.

“So all it will take,” Cleo ventured, “is to do what you mentioned—draw the corresponding symbol in blood at the actual site—to claim the crystal.”

“Yes,” Alexius said, but his attention was fully on Lucia. “Can you continue, princess, or do you want to stop?”

“I can go on.” Lucia didn’t blink, her attention still fixed on the spinning ring. Cleo realized with sudden shock that Lucia’s eyes had turned amethyst—the color of the gemstone, and they were bright with light.

The map shifted to another location along the road, one in central Paelsia. It looked like a small village enclosed by a wall.

“The former compound of Chief Basilius,” Lucia said.

“You know this place?” Cleo asked with surprise. Her own knowledge of geography was not nearly as vast.

“I didn’t before.” Lucia smiled shakily. “And yet, now I do. I know it with such clarity . . . Cleo, I can’t even explain it.”