Dark Swan 2

by Yumoyori Wilson

  “Did you hear me?” She looked at me curiously.

  “I didn’t understand what you were saying,” I confessed. “But yes, I heard you gently whispering.

  “Yes,” she nodded and delicately placed the smudge stick on a plate to keep it from burning anything else in the tent. “That’s what I was doing.”

  “That one is really cool looking,” I said and pointed to one the same color as midnight and my hair.

  The woman picked it up. “This one is black tourmaline.”

  “What does it do?” I asked and glanced between her and the rock.

  She stroked the smooth surface with her thumb and index finger. Her voice was ethereal and wise when she spoke again.

  “Black tourmaline is considered to be one of the most powerful protectors in the crystal world. The forces of negative energy that try to enter a space will immediately be rejected by the black tourmaline.”

  “That’s reassuring to hear,” I said with a chuckle, sitting down and crossing my legs in front of the woman and her crystals.

  She narrowed her eyes and studied the stone. “But that’s not all. The negative energy has to go somewhere, right?”

  I nodded as if I had any clue what she was talking about, though I was starting to understand better. “Yes.”

  “Well the crystal will repel the negative energy away from the one intended to receive it and will then launch it right back in the direction of the sender.”

  “It sounds like its energy is very protective,” I admitted.

  The woman nodded with vigor. “It is. This is a truly remarkable piece of stone.” She looked at it as if she too was fascinated with its beauty and shielding qualities. “It is also known to remove the torturing abuse of the mind that anxiety, fear, and stress might bring about or represent in a person.”

  “Can I hold it?” I asked.

  “Of course.” She smiled and extended her hand, offering it to me. “I’ve already cleansed this one.”

  I held it in my hand. It was heavy. I looked up and met her gaze. “It feels nice in my grip, like it belongs here, like it appreciates me as much as I appreciate it.”

  The woman chuckled. “That’s probably true. The energy of the crystals never lies to the source.”

  I inhaled with relief, happy to know that I wasn’t a representation of the toxic energy she had referred to. I felt like I needed to be honest with the woman as well. I didn’t know why, but I felt guilty about not being more forthcoming with her about my own background.

  “I, uh…” I began and trailed off with a nervous chuckle. “I feel like I should share some things with you because you have been so inviting to me.”

  The woman smiled as if she already knew exactly what I was going to say. “You are a special shifter,” she said. “One who is unique. Your talents are rare, and that is why there are so many shifters out there who would be jealous of your capabilities.”

  I looked at her, feeling awed that she knew that about me in the first place, but also by her tremendous compliments. “How can you tell?”

  The woman shrugged as if it wasn’t rocket science. “I can tell by your vibrations. Your energy and your aura readings.”

  I was confused. “And you know this just by being around me?”

  The woman gave me an ambiguous smile. “More or less. I can help you, if you allow me into your life,” the woman said with maternal graze.

  “You can?” I edged closer to her with intrigue, leaning in with optimism.

  “Yes. Your magic is within you, just itching to burst out.”

  “How do I get that to happen?” I noticed a slight twinge of frustration laced in my own voice. “How can I manage my talents better?”

  “By summoning it from the depths,” the woman stated.

  I sighed. “I can do it sometimes. Most of the time, though, it’s just my wings that I can control with a bit more graceful ease.”

  “Your wings are very important,” the woman said. “Never view them as something boring or insignificant.”

  “I don’t really think that,” I said, feeling somewhat sheepish as I shifted my gaze from her back down to the black tourmaline crystal I was still clutching in the palm of my hand.

  “They are a part of you, the same as your eyes, your ears, your nose, your mouth, your beating heart…your arms and legs…everything about you. They make up your DNA.”

  “I know,” I said and looked at her blankly, not really understanding her point. I figured it had something to do with embracing self-love and who I was as a dark swan shifter.

  “I’ve always wanted to be a white swan,” I confessed.

  I blurted out the sentence without the filter of my mind to stop me first. I felt shame at the admittance. I glanced down at my lap so that she wouldn’t be able to see my red cheeks, although I knew that she probably already saw right through me anyway. I cringed because I didn’t want her to know that I felt inadequate in my own body.

  “Never let go of a dream, dear child,” the woman said empathetically.

  I gave her a soft smile. “My parents were white swans.” I felt the sting of hot tears in my eyes. I was embarrassed for showing that emotion to her.

  “I’m sure they would be so proud of the woman you are becoming today.”

  I looked at her through teary eyes. “Do you really think so?”

  The woman reached out and folded her hands over mine, so that the stone was cradled in between. “Absolutely.”

  I peered up at her, feeling her strength and energy pouring into me.

  “It’s not just the wings that I can summon,” I said.

  The woman smiled as if she had been waiting patiently for me to admit this out loud.

  “What else can you do?”

  I took a deep breath and glanced up at the roof of the tent. “Well…” I began and trailed off as I debated what to tell her about my abilities and the experiences that had made me aware of them in the first place.

  “They are things that I can’t really control. They seem to be random occurrences, but at the same time, I’ve noticed them getting stronger.”

  “Like setting fires?” she asked.

  I audibly gasped and cupped my hand over my mouth to suppress the sound. Then I narrowed my eyes. “How did you…know?”

  “I just guessed,” the woman said, although I didn’t think she was being exactly truthful with me.

  “You…guessed?” I cocked my head to the side. I was absolutely stunned by her target assumption. She hit it right on the mark.

  “Well, not entirely,” the woman said. The edges of her lips curled with mischief. “It’s a common quality in the rare dark swan.”

  “Oh.” I felt crestfallen at being called a dark swan, something I didn’t want to think about very often. “I also love to dance,” I said and perked up a little. “It’s what keeps me going.”

  “You should always embrace the elements of your favorite hobbies,” the woman agreed. “Anything that brings your soul comfort, you should do.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her more about the passion for dancing I harbored deep in my heart when I heard a male voice clearing his throat behind me.

  My heart dropped. I felt mortified when I saw Ayden standing at the entrance of the crystal woman’s tent. He had a perplexed expression on his face and his blond hair was tufted at the top as if he had been sleeping on that side.

  “Sophia?” he asked in a puzzled tone. He scratched the top of his head where the blond strands were pointing upward. “What are you doing out of bed?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I, uh…I couldn’t sleep so I just came in here…”

  Ayden looked disturbed as his eyes scanned the tent suspiciously and then lingered for several grueling seconds on the woman. He firmed his jaw and looked like he wanted to chew her out.

  “It’s fine, Ayden.” I stood up abruptly, more willing to exit the tent with him peacefully than to have a confrontation in such a serene setting. “I’ll come bac
k to bed.”

  His face instantly washed with relief. I subtly waved to my new friend as I left with Ayden.

  “You shouldn’t do things like that,” he said. “We are at war. I worry about you. I want you to be safe, but I can’t protect you if I don’t know where you are.”

  The empathetic way he explained his grievances made my gut stir with guilt. “I know. You’re right. I’m really sorry.” I tried to promise him it wouldn’t happen again, but I had a drifter, gypsy heart. Curiosity always won the battle raging in my mind.

  Then I felt that it might make more sense to Ayden and help him feel at ease if he understood where I was coming from and my reasoning behind wandering off.

  “I just feel like the crystal woman is pure,” I explained. “I don’t feel unsafe with her. I don’t think she would ever hurt me.”

  “I just want you to be careful.” Ayden squeezed my hand as we entered our own tent together.

  In that moment, I felt his love wrap around me. I was lucky, even if I still felt like I had a long road ahead in order to find myself and my purpose. How could I piece back together an unraveling world? It wasn’t going to be an easy journey, but after meeting with the crystal woman on this night, I could feel a turning point was coming. Something had to be done, and it might just be up to us to fix it.

  28

  Ayden

  The next morning, I felt stiff both physically and mentally. There were talks among the group of moving on without the rest of the rebellion camp of shifters. I didn’t know how to process it. I was still on the fence.

  I felt a certain loyalty to Leo and Otto. Somehow it seemed like it would be a betrayal to abandon them and just move on, out on our own. Besides, where the hell would we go? We had no belongings, no true home. I felt like in some strangely dark and poetic way, we were lost souls roaming with no purpose. I wasn’t exactly the nomad type.

  We were sitting in silence around one of the campfires, eating oatmeal. It was mushy and cold, but it was food, it was fuel. It would keep me going, no matter if it had no taste and felt like slime sliding down my throat. I ate it anyway, stuffing it into my mouth and forcing myself to swallow each cold bite of mush.

  I was the first one to notice Cameron approaching us from the woods. He looked haggard. His shoulders were slouched, and he walked with a slight limp, but I didn’t know if the hobble stemmed from an injury or sheer exhaustion.

  His eyelids were swollen and puffy with dark circles under them that almost resembled bruises. It didn’t take me long to realize he was alone. He didn’t have the escaped Master with him, nor did he have the missing shifters.

  Sophia glanced up, noticing him second. As soon as she fixed her eyes on Cameron, her jaw dropped, and her face drained of color.

  “Sorry I’m coming empty-handed,” Cameron apologized. “I tried my best.”

  “You look so tired,” Sophia said gently, standing up to wrap her arms around Cameron. She stroked his bearded cheek. “Poor baby.”

  He chuckled, visibly relaxing slightly at Sophia’s tender gesture. He looked like he had been through a war.

  “I found him,” he said, visibly out of breath. “But as soon as I began to shift, he got away.” He looked down, staring crestfallen at his feet.

  “It’s okay.” Sophia gently stroked his back. “We will figure something out. We’re talking about a plan.”

  She glanced over her shoulder and met my gaze, already knowing that I was going to be the one to protest the most. I wished I could make her feel more confident in my loyalties to her, but I was conflicted. I felt like I had something to prove to everyone, and in the end, I was going to have to make someone unhappy. Looking into her eyes, I knew I had to show her that I would support her no matter what happened.

  “We are considering whether branch out on our own or stay with the camp,” Blaze said. “We aren’t sure where we are safest.”

  Cameron scoffed and rolled his eyes. “We are safest nowhere at the moment.”

  A sinking feeling plunged into my gut like a heavy stone because I knew Cameron was right.

  Sophia continued to keep her gaze fixed on me. “Maybe we can talk to the others, discuss the options with them. Perhaps the leaders can be talked into trudging on to a different location.”

  “The logistics would be difficult, but I suppose it’s worth a shot,” James said.

  I heard the soft patter of footsteps behind me. I turned my head and noticed the crystal woman approaching us. I braced myself, noticing how every muscle in my body tensed at her presence. I didn’t know why. She was certainly strange, but there was no justification for my unease. She hadn’t done anything to any of us to warrant this kind of mental discrimination.

  Sophia’s eyes brightened, twinkling with delight as soon as she saw that the crystal woman was approaching us. We didn’t even know her name. Perhaps that added to her unnerving mystery.

  “Pardon my interruption,” she said, halting in front of our breakfast circle. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but voices carry through these confined spaces, and I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation—”

  “It’s okay,” Sophia said with an inviting smile. “You are welcome here, among friends.”

  The crystal woman returned her smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  Sophia cast her a slight nod and bow of respect.

  “If you want, I know where we can go and seek refuge, a place where no Masters or guards will ever be able to find us. If you come with me, I can show you where the restoration of peace and harmony begins.”

  I instantly opened my mouth to object, but Sophia held up her hand and gave me a stern look. Once she was confident that I wasn’t going to sharply and verbally protest before we had all the information, she nodded to the crystal woman.

  “Go on…”

  The woman eyed our group as if she was suddenly suspicious of us. She leaned in and curled her lips mischievously. “But it has to be you all. And only you.”

  My mind was exploding. I couldn’t take another second of this ambiguous description of where safety was hiding.

  “What does that mean? Only us?”

  “Meaning you can’t tell anyone else about this journey.” A darkness shadowed over the woman’s features and I saw the graveness like stone in her eyes. Something was dangerous about this trip.

  “Why not?” Cameron stared at her with a blank expression.

  Her eyes scanned the group and her curls tossed in the wind. “You just can’t. I can’t bring other leaders to this new place. They won’t be safe there.”

  I laughed. “That doesn’t seem like a very good reason to me.”

  “His friends,” Sophia told the woman. “They are here. They are the leaders of this rebellion camp.”

  The woman shook her head. She turned on a heel and began to walk away.

  “Wait,” Sophia called out behind her.

  The woman stopped and turned around, giving Sophia a somber glance.

  Sophia looked around the group with panic flickering in her eyes. She seemed desperate to convince us to listen to the woman.

  “I don’t know what it is about her,” she said and pointed to the lady, “but I trust her. I just think that we should listen to her.” She locked gazes with the woman. “I really think she knows what she is doing.”

  I groaned and lifted my head to look at the clouds moving overhead. I stood up and began to pace around the tent.

  Sophia eyed the crystal woman. “Don’t leave us. Will you give me some time to talk to them?”

  The crystal woman nodded. “Yes. I can do that.”

  “Thank you.” Sophia breathed a sigh of relief.

  As soon as the woman left to give us some privacy, Sophia turned her attention back to us.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in as empathetic as a tone as I could possibly muster. “But I just don’t trust her, Sophia.”

  Sophia wrinkled her forehead in distress. She frowned but didn’t say anything.

/>   “We can’t just leave without telling Leo and Otto. We never would have even gotten here without them. They more or less saved us, gave us a place to stay.”

  “I know that…” Sophia trailed off as if she was personally offended that I would assume otherwise from her.

  “But it couldn’t harm us to try and see what the woman has to offer,” Blaze suggested.

  “But on the other hand, it could be a trap,” Cameron pointed out.

  “I don’t think it is.” Sophia closed her eyes and shook her head adamantly.

  I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples. I needed more time to mull this decision over.

  “We have to sleep on it,” I said. “We have to rationalize. Hastiness will get us killed, or worse.”

  Cameron laughed. “What’s worse that being killed?”

  “We can ask her if we can sleep on it,” Sophia said and cast me a warm smile that left me staring at the brilliance of her elegance.

  “I really want to tell Leo and Otto,” I whispered to her as she took me aside to speak privately.

  I could tell this was her way of calming me down. I didn’t mind it. I wanted the one-on-one attention so I could gaze into the sexiness of her ocean green eyes. I hoped that one day I would be able to swim in a divine ocean with her, naked, salty and where the root of all new beginnings surged.

  She lifted her slender hand and stroked my cheek. It felt so sensual and incredible that I closed my eyes and pictured her naked body intertwined with mine.

  “I know exactly why the crystal woman wants to leave,” she said softly. She glanced warily over her shoulder. “Think about it. The Master knows where we are now. He can bring an army back and take us out, obliterate us in seconds while we are sleeping.”

  She had a point. I had to admit that much.

  “I understand where you are coming from and why you would feel the urge to tell Leo and Otto,” Sophia said. “It’s true, they have done a substantial number of things to keep us afloat.”

  “Yes—”

  “But,” Sophia said, “what if they don’t want to come with us, or try to stop us from leaving? She stared intently into my eyes.