Back and forth they sent the blade, each throw more powerful than the last, the air humming with the knife’s passage. And still they ran up and up.
As they neared the small crest, the sky welcomed them with a break in the clouds. Between were stars, vibrant to the Apprentice’s eyes. Painted upon the backdrop of the galaxy was a sight he had hoped he would see: the aurora borealis, green and pink, in an electric dance above them.
The knife came so fast he couldn’t follow it with his eyes; he could only rely on his sense of the Young Dread’s motion. He pulled the blade from the air as easily as breathing.
They stopped running at the same moment. They had reached the place. He could hear the wind across the slope, the sound of it snaking between crags miles away, the snow near and far shifting with the night.
“You were very fast,” the Young Dread told him, suddenly beside him. “Perhaps the fastest yet.”
“It’s good to be awake.”
From the outside, the cave looked like little more than a cleft in the rock. Inside, it was a small rounded nook, large enough for two. Each Seeker house had once had a hidden place for its members alone. The Apprentice Dread and the Young Dread had found this place when he’d first begun his training, and now they called it their own.
The Apprentice built the fire, as was his duty, while the Young Dread began to prepare their meal. In the orange light of the flames, their cave became a warm shelter against the northern night.
They sat side by side as they ate, saying nothing and needing to say nothing. The Apprentice felt his mind returning to familiar tracks briefly: he thought of his grandfather’s fortune, of the crashed airship that had once again required repair, of his cousins vying for control of the money. How strange and distant those things were. He had given up his position and the vast wealth that came with it. Now it was hard to understand what it had ever meant to him.
“You are thinking of your life,” the Young Dread said.
“Yes, but it’s not my life. This is.”
He did not smile as he said it, because there was no need. They both understood how he felt.
The Apprentice moved closer to her, so that they sat shoulder to shoulder, her warmth bleeding into him and his bleeding into her.
The coming days would bring grueling training for him, and when it was time to take a break from training, they would both attend a Seeker oath ceremony on the Scottish estate. By then, the Apprentice would feel more human, and so would the Young Dread. They might even kiss each other, and experience life for a time as a boy and girl. But these were small matters of human comfort and not nearly as important as he had once thought they were.
He saw himself reflected in her eyes, as she was reflected in his. They were John and Maud, though they hardly used those names anymore.
They were Dreads.
Detail left
Detail right
I’ve never written a series before, and now that I have, I can assure you that it is a leap of faith. From the top of a cliff, you see the world of your story spread out below—well, you see some of it, because a lot is obscured in fog and beneath the cover of dense forest—and you glimpse, peeking at you from near the horizon, the seductive destinations you hope to reach. And then you jump.
So many people made this jump with me and have my profound thanks.
First came Jodi Reamer, who took it for granted that I would land on my feet and may have even shoved me over the edge.
Then there was Krista Marino, who I often feel must have a small cottage somewhere near the Scottish estate and may have dated both John and Shinobu at some point in her teen years. Her willingness to inhabit this world with me and help me breathe life into each part has been wonderful.
Barbara Marcus, Judith Haut, and Beverly Horowitz, for your support, encouragement, and guidance throughout this undertaking, and for running what is, quite simply, a wonderful publishing house.
For the beautiful, beautiful books, gorgeous inside and out, thank you so much to Alison Impey and Stephanie Moss.
To Felicia Frazier, for being a warrior in the service of books.
John Adamo, Kim Lauber, Stephanie O’Cain, and Rachel Feld, thank you for bringing the series out into the world of real readers.
Tamar Schwartz and Monica Jean for making everything work.
Bara MacNeill and Colleen Fellingham, please accept my heartfelt thanks for fine-tooth-combing these books.
To Andrea Doven, for bringing so much good energy into my life, and to Sky Morfopoulos, for being my in-house cheerleader and friend.
To my family, for making life a joy. I couldn’t have asked for a better set.
Arwen Elys Dayton is the author of the Seeker series: Seeker, Traveler, Disruptor, and the e-novella The Young Dread. She spends months doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid at Giza, Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland.
Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can visit her and learn more about the Seeker series at arwendayton.com and follow @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram.
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Arwen Elys Dayton, Disruptor
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