Chapter 18
Arkukkari Island, 2020
Ash
I woke up soaked in sweat from another nightmare, they were becoming more and more frequent. Today, Ivanna wanted to meet with me for some reason but I still had time. I changed into clothes then headed to the kitchen. I made some waffles for me and steak for Stella who bounded into the room at the smell and hopped onto the table. She grinned at me and pounced on the steak, quickly devouring it.
Since training had not resumed I went down to the gym to work out for a little.
At about one o'clock I headed back to my hut, showered, and changed then went to go meet Ivanna.
I stepped into the building, it was chilly with the air conditioning on. I made my way out of the elevator, took a few steps, and then someone smashed into me. We fell to the ground in a tangle on limbs. I read the person's thoughts.
"Damn it! Ash again!" It was Sofya, a boy she had a knack for running into people, or maybe just me. She quickly jumped off of me and stood. "Sorry." She said a deep blush spread across her cheeks. She offered her hand. I grabbed it and got up.
"It's fine but try not to make a habit of this Sofya." I took a step closer to her. "Are you ok?" I asked.
"Yeah." She said checking herself for any sign of injury. Then looked back at me. She gave a small smile. "Well uh sorry about that, I'll see you tomorrow, for training." She said then gave a little wave before she turned around. Then I remembered I needed to tell her about my brother, and other important information I hadn't told her yet. I grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, I have to talk to you about something, can you come to my hut?" I asked, completely forgetting about my meeting with Ivanna, whoops. She looked at me then answered.
"Ok."
I led her to my hut and we sat down on the couch. I took a deep breath then exhaled.
"Thousands of years ago our ancestors were connected, mine were the guardians of your people, the firstborn of each generation were paired together if it was the child's time to rule, but about a thousand years ago one pair fell in love with other people and they separated the bloodlines. About eleven years ago, my parents were killed and my brother was kidnaped by Alek." I explained leaving myself out of the equation, she didn't need to know yet.
"Wait, am I supposed to go with you?" Sofya asked with an eyebrow raised. My face fell and my heart ached. I shook my head
"No, you're supposed to go with my brother, you two are both firstborns of the generation, it has been said that you would feel a sort of pull towards each other. I need your help to get him back." I said solemnly.
"I don't get it, are you sure?" She asked. I wished I wasn't but I had seen the birth certificate when I was younger since I had been such a snoop. I had obviously been looking for other things but found that instead.
"Yes, he was the firstborn," I said.
"Ash." Sofya started to say. "Ash, you can't be serious? This isn't possible."
"Yeah? Well, it is." I all but growled. I looked at her and she looked nervous.
"I do feel a sort of pull." She said. My eyes widened, she could help. It might just break my heart to do this, but I did want to escape Alek and it's said that the guardian and heir using their powers together would be more powerful than anything, it was just a myth but it gave me hope. But then Sofya continued. "But not towards someone else, towards you." She finished. I almost gasped. She did too. I wondered if it was the same. I felt like I couldn't be away from her, something was always drawing me to her and her touch made it feel like I was on fire. But this still didn't change anything, laws were laws. And it also didn't change who I was.
"So do I," I said in a whisper.
"Then aren't you, my guardian?" Sofya asked a spark of hope in her voice. This was crushing me.
"I can't be. I wasn't born first, there are laws I could be killed if I didn't follow them." And she could be killed as well. Sofya nodded a look of disappointment clearly written on her face. My expression hardened as I pushed my feelings away.
"I'll still help find your brother," Sofya said.
"I'll walk you back to your hut," I said and stood up.
"Fine!" She snapped. I flinched back in surprise but didn't say anything, there was nothing left to say.
I walked her to her hut in silence, keeping my thoughts to myself as I was faced with realities cold truth, just to think my life couldn't get any worse than it was. At the door, we said a quick bye.
I went back to my hut and collapsed onto my bed Stella was curled up at my feet, she could sense my heartache, unfortunately. Everything pulled me towards Sofya but everything that had happened in the last few weeks pulled me back. Unless my brother died I couldn't be Sofya's guardian or have any romantic relations with her or she would be killed, it would be treason. One of my ancestors from the past had been killed because of it. How could this happen, it felt like everything inside me was tearing. The one thing I wanted, ever, I couldn't have. But maybe it was for the better, Sofya deserved more than me.
More than a broken monster.