CHAPTER SEVEN
Aunt-Drea's fever had spiked again during our conversation, so we gave her the medicine Jules left and left her to rest. Sairen and I sat in the study over an hour later, searching up the symbol we saw at my house, and I was still glaring at the back of his head.
I shut the book and flung it into the growing pile. The question had been simmering on the tip of my tongue since the sentence had left his lips but I gave myself some time to reel in my frustration. "Why did you say you'd train me? "
"Because I will. " He didn't look up from his screen.
"I would've trained myself."
"You need an opponent. That way it'll be like you're actually in battle. "
"I could've enchanted a tree or something." I pushed his laptop close and his gaze finally reached mine. "Sairen I'm serious."
"So am I. I've been a Raven for six years, that's five years longer than average. I know my way around dangerous Creatures. Power doesn't make someone dangerous Sol, it's their intentions. So unless I'm wrong– which I doubt I am– and you do want to hurt me, then it's going to be alright. Anything else?"
I racked my brain for a valid excuse but came up dry, because as much as I hated the idea, Sairen was a Raven, and his job was hunting and killing dangerous Creatures. It shouldn't be too hard to train one. "No."
"Good." He flipped open his laptop again and continued his ceaseless typing. "Did you find anything worth looking into? "
I shook my head and grabbed another book from the pile I still had to go through. "Nothing. All these symbols are old Décalthian runes that don't pertain to what we're looking for."
"Did you try the old history books? There might be something before or soon after The Divide; A lot of cults formed around those times."
" I checked those first. Nothing."
"I've got nothing either so it just may be something created for him; like a crest or coat of arms." He closed the laptop and cracked his knuckles with his thumb, rotating his neck once we was done. " I sent Tomas a picture of the symbol yesterday so he'll look in the academy library in case it's in there somewhere. If not, we have our answer."
"I swear I'll be severely pissed off if all this searching was in vain. If that asshole made me get a migraine because of his narcissism I'll kill him twice." I groaned loudly as I pulled myself from the floor, pausing for a few seconds to steady my equilibrium. " I'm going to check on Akali, she didn't look too well earlier. "
"And you need a break?"
I sighed. "I need a break. "
"Alright." He stood to his towering height and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Meet me in the gym after. We should get started on your training."
Akali's room was a few doors down from Aunt-Drea's like Sairen said, but when I looked into it from the already open door, she was nowhere to be found.
"Akali?" I turned to head back downstairs after I was met with silence, but then I heard the faint sound of retching coming from the bathroom. I knocked but there was no answer so I opened the door, and I instantly spotted the figure bent over the toilet, spilling the contents of her stomach into the bowl. "Kali ? Are you okay?"
She flinched when she heard my voice and regarded me with what looked like concern as she wiped her mouth with a shaking hand. " Yeah, it must've been something I ate—"
The rest of her sentence was swallowed up by the sound of her retching and I stepped forward to hold back her short hair as she held on to the toilet as if it were her life line.
When I tried, I was able to feel what a person felt and I was able to manipulate that feeling however I wanted— whether to ease or magnify, but when I touched Akali I didn't just feel her nausea, or her sadness, I felt something else beneath it. I felt someone else beneath it.
"You're pregnant." The sentence slipped out before I had chance to process what I just felt and she froze the moment the words left my lips, her hazel eyes wide and moist when she looked at me.
"How-how did you know? "
"I felt it." 'And I saw it in my dream' was what I didn't say.
Akali flushed the toilet and stood, she took a moment to wash her face and mouth before she continued, but she still watched me with that wary expression. "Can I trust that you won't tell anyone? You're the only one who knows. "
"You can." I nodded. "I promise."
She slid down the wall and I followed, until we sat side by side on the cold bathroom floor and I took her still shaking hand. "Can I ask why you were crying this morning?"
I felt the pain in her when she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall, but it wasn't a physical pain, just a mental one. " I thought I was losing the baby. I've had.... miscarriages before— three. "
"I'm so sorry, Kali."
She shook her head as if the memories were too painful to bear— and they were, I felt them as her fingers tightened around mine . "I haven't told anyone I'm pregnant yet because I want to make it past this period. Matty wants to be a dad so, so bad and I don't want to get his hopes up again incase—" She placed her other hand on her stomach, rubbing small circles over the skin left exposed by her tank top. "Incase they leave me again."
I couldn't have imagined that pain if I wasn't feeling it from her at the moment; that feeling of love and attachment and that sudden, aching emptiness. "How far along are you?"
"Four months. By the Goddess and all the Greats, if I can make it to five I'll tell him. It will be the longest I've carried for. "
"May I?" My hand hovered over her stomach which was not noticeable at all, and she took it, placing it over the one one her stomach, and I felt for the life inside of her. I felt its life force slipping and grasping for life and I took hold of it, strengthening its need for survival.
"What's your secret?"
The question caught me off guard and I stilled momentarily. "What?"
"I've told you mine, you should tell me yours. " She shrugged. " You must have one, it doesn't have to be huge. That way we'll have an even burden to bear. "
"My secret?" I thought whether or not I should tell her, whether or not I was ready to tell another soul because saying it out loud would make it real. But I felt her pain as I held her hand, and mine was insignificant compared to hers.
"I had always been a sickly child," I began, "I was given too much power for such a small vessel– that's what everyone said– and it grew day by day until I couldn't contain anymore within me and it left fissures in the vessel and my power slipped through. They grew until they became cracks, and cracks became chasms and I became unstable... Mom and Aunt-Drea thinks that if I learn to control the power I was given then I would be alright, that it wouldn't burn me out and make me sick like it had always done."
I sighed, preparing to tell a secret no one but Schadeux knew. "But it's not a candle, or a bonfire; it's the furnaces of Mount Seeres itself, and no matter how much control I gain it would still incinerate me. It would feed off of me until all that's left is my corpse." I felt warm liquid pool in my eyes for what felt like the millionth time today, but when I wiped it away, this time it wasn't tears but blood. "My secret is that I'm dying."
The seconds seemed to stretch as the words were out in the open and Akali's hold tightened on mine so she was holding me now, and not the other way around. " Well f'kasin," she swore.
"My thoughts exactly."
She shifted her body so that our shoulders touched. " What are you going to do?"
"As far as I know? There's nothing I can do."
"But there's got to be something, isn't there?"
A laugh that sounded more like a hiss than anything else escaped me as I shook my head. " We've been trying medicines and herbs since I was little and none ever works. I think the idea of me gaining control will make me better is a sort of last resort for them, you know? Because if that doesn't work then they'll come to the same conclusion I did."
Kali's eyes were welled up with with water as she rested her head on the wall, the wet streaks rolling down her cheeks. " How long do you have?"
"Honestly?" I looked down at my fingers that were pink and raw from continuously picking at them and I placed them under my legs to keep them away from each other. "I don't know, but it could be anytime soon. I can't remember the last time I actually felt okay, and recently it's just worse and I'm weak all the time." I sighed and brought my knees to my chest, using it as a pillow. " I'm just trying to hold out until I find mom and Rae."
" How about you hold out until October?" She nudged my shoulder and I smiled. " That way you'll get to see the baby and we'll have you around for a few more months."
"I'll try."
Sairen stood by the far wall of the gym, his back to us as he spoke into his phone and his Mark almost fully visible with the black sleeveless shirt he wore. The dark ink started at his wrists and crawled their way up his forearms and his biceps, disappearing under his shirt. His eyes found us through the mirror that ran along the wall and he ended his call a few seconds after, pocketing the phone and facing us. "Kali. How are you feeling?"
"Much better actually, it was just a little migraine." She sent me a secret smile and walked towards a corner of the room where gym equipment was lined up. "Soli said you guys have your work cut out for you."
" We do, which is why we should get started."
Sairen was a beast.
He somehow managed to dodge every attack I threw at him, even the ones Aunt-Drea couldn't. His twin swords acted as extensions of his arms, moving in harmony with him as my fire bounced off his blades. His movement were fluid, and so were his defenses until it felt like I was the one under attack, not him. It wasn't that I wasn't skilled, on the contrary, I was great in the art of combat, but he was just...better.
"I understand... " I gasped between breaths, my lungs on fire as they struggled to provide me with enough oxygen, yet he somehow seemed perfectly composed after hours of this continuously . "...how you managed to survive six years as a Raven!"
"Oh no," He had an annoying smile on his face, only it wasn't annoying at all. The usual strays fell to his face and he shook them away from his eyes that had an amused glint in them. " This is only basic defense training. First week I think. "
A shaky whimper left my mouth and Kali laughed from the corner of the gym where she sat comfortably on the floor, peacefully meditating while I was in the midst of dying. "That's why I dropped out; I realized I valued my life halfway through."
"But you're a Dove?"
She shrugged. "I'd rather die in combat than training."
Before I knew what was happening Sairen had me pinned on the mat and his sword at my throat. " You're dead."
"I was having a conversation, that wasn't fair." I pushed him off me and winced at the slight pain in my shoulder. "And rude."
" War isn't fair, that was an opportunity that your enemy saw and took. " He held out his hand to me which I took, and he hauled me to my feet with no effort at all. "Again . "
He took a few steps back until we stood at opposite sides of the room, then we pounced. I sank into my shadow and came up behind him, but as if he sensed me he turned and I missed. Hot energy shot from my palms and he rolled and came towards me in an agile blur of black. I sent my tendrils of shadow out and they rushed towards him like angry hands grabbing for him, but they missed every time they striked as he evaded their attacks with such speed and accuracy alien even to Dècaltians .
What he did next I would have missed if I chose that second to blink; one moment he stood a few feet ahead, simultaneously evading the fire I threw at him and the tendrils that yearned to claw at him, the next, he disappeared into the tendrils and emerged before me not even a second later, his swords at either sides of my neck and a smile on his face.
" You're dead. " He stepped back again and I chose that moment to attack. A shadowy whip reached for him and pierced his skin. I waited for a grunt of pain or the sight of blood, but neither came. Instead, he took hold of the whip and pulled it out without so much as a wince. There was no blood, only a spot blanketed in shadow where I had pierced his arm .
"How...did you do that?" I walked forward and touched his hand which was already solid again.
" I utilize the shadows. That's why you don't hear me approach, because they mask my sounds, and why you couldn't cut me, because they shifted to protect me. One of the reasons I said I'd train you, Sol, is because for some reason we happen to share this power and I can teach you how to properly wield it. "He stepped closer and touched a spot on my waist I hadn't realize was burning until now. It burned even more under his touch. His fingers came away wet. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really." There was only a slight sting that was already easing but I had smaller similar cuts patterned across my body, yet I hadn't managed to land a single blow on him. A new fire of determination burned inside me; if I couldn't take on Sairen, how was I supposed to defeat him? I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. "Lets go again."
" I was hoping you two had time for a little break? " The new voice had me stumbling on my feet as I turned towards the door. The man held an uncanny resemblance to Matt, but unlike his son, his hair was an untamed brown, not blond.
"Uncle Tommy?" I was on him before he had the chance to answer and his arms came around me in a vice-like grip.
" Look at you!" He laughed as he spun me around. " You're not a little smurf anymore!"
I laughed through my tears. " I know, I grew a bit. " My eyes darted to the three figures behind him I hadn't noticed before; one was aunt Jules, but the shorter two... My hand came up to my mouth. "By the Goddess and the Greats... Erin? Asli?"
The twins regarded me carefully, the way you did a stranger. I admit that it hurt, but I didn't expect them to remember me since they were only two when I left. They had their father's hair but everything on their face from their piercing blue eyes to their plump lips were their mother's.
"I doubt you'd remember me, but can I have a hug? " Their smaller arms wrapped around my waist albeit a bit awkwardly, but nevertheless it was something.
"We know who you are, we saw your pictures," Erin said. I distinguished her by the freckle under her left eye and the faint scar that cut through her brow.
Asli nodded. "We just don't remember much. "
"I didn't expect you too. " I poked their dimples like I did when they were babies and they smiled. " You've both gotten so big, you're almost to my shoulders!"
"Papa says we're going to be tall." Erin's eyes drifted to the side and her face lit up. "Siya! " The girls jumped into his arms and he lifted them both, placing them on each shoulder.
"You're here!" Asli cupped his face and shook it. " Why didn't you visit sooner?"
"I wers busi.. " Sairen tried to speak but the words came out garbled with her hands squishing his face.
"Invalid excuse!"
" Girls, " Jules called from the door, " Leave your cousin alone. "
"But he doesn't want to be left alone, do you Siya?" Erin had Sairen in a chokehold and thankfully for him, he seemed to get the message.
"I'm quite fine aunt Jules. Suffocation is fine."
"Okay you monsters, " Akali tickled them until they fell to the floor laughing and Sairen disappeared to the furthest corner away from the twin terrors. " Leave the poor man alone. "
Akali and Matt were keeping the girls occupied at the other side of Aunt-Drea's room while the rest of us gathered around her bed in conversation. I saw the look on Matty's face as he played with his younger siblings, and the look on Kali's as she watched him and my heart went out to them. Soon he would have his own kid to play with... I hoped, sincerely for the sake of them both.
We had agreed on keeping Aunt-Drea as inactive as possible so the evening was spent in her room to keep her in the loop and give her company. I had filled everyone in on the latest dream that I had, keeping our voices in hushed whispers as to not worry the kids, though I had a feeling that they knew something was seriously wrong.
Uncle Tomas perched his glasses up on his nose and studied the symbol I sketched out earlier. "I had my students help me search through the library but we came up empty, and they're still searching so I can't say for sure if it's an old rune or a new one." He handed me back the worn page that had teared at its edges from being passed around countless times and I tucked it into my pocket. "But there are hundreds, if not thousands of old runes and sigils so I'll get their progress when we return to Eçalis tomorrow. "
"We?" Erin perked up.
" Tomorrow? " And so did Asli.
"You didn't think you were going to miss school did you?"
" Yes, " Asli nodded. "Actually we did."
"Well you're not." Tomas closed his glasses and tucked it into his shirt pocket. " By the way, shouldn't you two already be in bed?"
" Oh come on daddy! Erin and I wanted to go by the lake tomorrow, and I'm sure grandpa wouldn't mind us missing a few days of school. "
It was Jules who spoke this time. " Just because your grandfather owns the school doesn't mean you get to slack off. "
Erin groaned. "What's the point of having privileges if you don't get to use it."
"Aunt Jules, maybe one more day wouldn't hurt? " The twins looked at me like I were their savior, but I had to diminish their hopes a bit. " But I agree that they shouldn't be here for too long, it won't be safe with everything going on. "
I would've loved to spend more time with Erin and Asli, but I didn't need anymore casualties on my hands. I wouldn't be able to live with that, for however long I had left.
"Fine. " Jules sighed. "Okay. But you're going back the day after tomorrow."
They nodded enthusiastically.
"And it's time for bed. Take a shower and brush your teeth, I'll come tuck you guys in after. " Some of their enthusiasm fell but they ran up to me anyway and gave me a hug before they left, whispering 'thank you's' into my ear.
" I forgot how active kids were, " Aunt-Drea whispered from the bed, that was the most she could've done at the moment.
"Please Drea," Jules rubbed her eyes . " Wait until the morning, they're low on energy right now. And to think you and Lesa used to wake Matty up after I took hours to get him to sleep just because you were bored."
Matt laughed from the corner of the room. "They did?"
" Oh yeah, especially Lesa. You two were partners in crime. "
Aunt-Drea shook her head at the memory. " Or the time we made Tommy babysit the kids so we could have a girls night, " she paused to breathe. "...and I fed you guys sugar to terrorize him. "
"That was you!" Tomas threw a glare at her but there was only amusement in his gaze. "I knew there was something off when these two started misbehaving. They were always angels compared to my menace of a son. "
"Hey," Matt waved his finger at Sairen and I. " They were always up to mischief, they were just too quiet that no one noticed. "
"And who," Sairen's voice held that mischief Matt spoke of. " introduced such mischief?"
Matt paused for a bit. " ...That would be me. But it was aunt Lesa who made me like that;" He smiled as he sank back into his chair. " I was her little underling. "
Kali laughed from beside him. " Soli your mom sounds great. "
She really was.
She is.
I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to close my eyes and slip into those crippling dreams because I was afraid he would be there waiting for me, looming with that menacing smirk that I knew was hidden behind his shadowy face. I held Mr. Bearingtonn in my hands as I watched out the window into the night sky above; The moon shone down on the distant lake, painting the water silver like the springs of Mount Ouries— the highest and most sacred peak of Eçalis, and I thought that maybe after all of this was over, and if I were still alive, I would visit.
"Schadeux?" I called into the empty room, the silence becoming too heavy for me alone. " I know you're there. "
For a moment there was nothing, then the surface of the wall shifted in front of me and out they stepped. Their inaudible whispers seeped into my mind and I tried focusing on what they was trying to say, instead of just hearing. Slowly the whispers formed audible sounds, then they formed words.
'You.... called for us? We don't think we can remember the last time you did so.'
" You never answered. "
'We did, you just—'
" I just didn't listen? " I finished the sentence I knew they were going to say and they nodded. " We were speaking earlier, before you vanished. "
' The Arçenault boy was coming. '
" Sairen? He wouldn't do you anything. "
'We know, but we are only to reveal ourselves to you. "
"Why?"
'We just are. '
"And you don't care to elaborate? "
Silence.
I sighed and laid back on the bed. "Can I ask a question? Do you know anything about my mother? Where she is? "
'Unfortunately, no. But we have heard whispers in the inbetween; Shadows carry secrets better than loose lips."
I sat back up at their words.
'There have been large sums of sacrifices in the past months that sent a ripple in the inbetween. The energy is identical to an ancient ritual that drained the essence of one being to transfer and strengthen another.'
'In one month, I'd have enough strength and I'd be free... ' That was what he said. My dinner churned in my stomach. "These rituals, do they involve restraining the victim on a pentagram and slitting their throats? Then they were reanimated?"
'They were placed on a pentagram, yes, and their throats were slit, but they didn't come back. '
"Then he altered the ritual. I'm guessing you know how powerful you have to be to reanimate a corpse on your own?"
"We do."
"So we're severely screwed." I sank back into my bed again, stifling my groans into a pillow. "Can you keep an ear out for me and let me know if you hear anything else? "
'Of course.'
"Thank you, Schadeux." They disappeared again and I was left alone with only my thoughts to haunt me. I heard the door to the room on my left shut close and I quickly got out of bed to tell Sai my newest discovery.
"You're heading out?" He paused when I spoke and turned. He was dressed in black, from his shirt to his shoes, the silver ravens at the bottom of his coat was the only colour on him apart from his eyes. His twin swords were strapped across his back.
"I have an assignment. " He held up a mask I hadn't noticed before. The wolf's face matched the colour scheme of his clothes in black and silver.
"Why the mask?"
"We wouldn't want the things we plan to kill knowing our identities if they happen to slip through our fingers, though we rarely allow that to happen."
"Oh. That makes much more sense, I thought it was just a fashion choice."
He took a few steps forward. "Did you want something?"
" Yeah," I admitted. "but I'll tell you when you get back. "
He seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, then: "Get dressed, "
"Why? "
He gave me a smile in return, laced with the same mischief Matty spoke of. " Training."