Island of Secrets and Sacrifice by Deborah Grace White

Author:Deborah Grace White [White, Deborah Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2024-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Excited, Ember followed Haiden out into what was proving to be a sunny morning.

“The magic comes from the ground,” Haiden said, as soon as they were outside. He squatted down with his palms against the dirt, the sight comical given his hulking shape. “Try to feel it.”

Ember copied his gesture, hiking up her skirts to better get down to ground level. She pushed her fingers into the dirt, closing her eyes.

“I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be trying to feel,” she said, after a prolonged moment of silence. She looked up to find Haiden rocking back on his heels.

“Hm. It’s difficult to know where to start, given you’ve quite possibly had no exposure whatsoever. You say there are no other singers on your island?”

“That’s right,” Ember said.

Haiden seemed skeptical. “And yet, it’s in your blood, so it came from somewhere. It can skip generations, sometimes several. But it’s definitely in the bloodline at some point. And I’d be surprised if you’re the only one.”

“Wouldn’t I know if there were others?” Ember demanded.

He shrugged. “Not necessarily. They might not even know. You didn’t, right? It may have gone unnoticed for their whole lives if it was never activated. Usually children discover their singing gift when they hear someone else sing, or hear music, and try to sing along without knowing why. That’s how it happened for me.”

“And for me, I suppose,” said Ember, struck. “But in my case it was a bird.”

“I’ve never heard of a bird triggering it for anyone before,” said Haiden. “Or of it being undiscovered until your age. Which suggests that opportunities for it to be identified in the normal ways were nonexistent.”

He narrowed his eyes in thought. “I wonder if there was magic in the ground on your island. I’ve never heard of any land completely devoid of it. But there must be some if you managed to mimic the bird at all.”

He sighed, gesturing with his ghastly head. “Try again.”

Obediently, Ember pressed her hands into the dirt and closed her eyes again. They flickered back open in surprise a moment later when a low, melodic song issued from her companion.

It was beautiful. Haunting and soulful. It felt like an embodiment of the land itself. As she focused on it, she could almost feel the essence of the ground beneath them rising up and into Haiden. Not into, she realized, but through. His voice released into the world.

“I feel it!” she said, excited. “Not for myself, but I can sort of…sense…the magic passing from the ground into you, then out.”

Haiden nodded, his song dying out. “Good. That proves that you have the susceptibility to magic. Only singers can sense its presence like that. Now we just have to work on you learning to sense it for yourself. It will take a while for your mind to comprehend that it’s accessible to you. Maybe we would do better to focus first on your actual singing.”

“All right,” said Ember.

“So let’s hear it,” Haiden prompted, when the silence stretched out.

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