A World To Lose

by Frances Ellen

  “Are you all right?” Sky asked. He hoped that the German girl had already been taught a bit of English. All Affinites were expected to learn the language. It varied per family and per city how early the teaching started.

  The girl’s pale brown eyes shifted to Sky. She had a very frightened look on her face.

  “Are you lost?” Sky asked.

  The girl nodded. Her bottom lip trembled slightly.

  “Where do you need to go?” Sky asked.

  “Out… outside,” the girl stammered. So she did know English. Sky let out a sigh of relief. This would’ve been a whole lot harder if she had no idea what he was saying.

  “I can take you,” Sky suggested, offering his hand.

  The girl’s eyes filled with hope and she took Sky’s hand. It didn’t escape him that the Band around his wrist caught her eye. Sky smiled down at the girl as he led her back to the main corridor and towards the entry hall.

  “What’s your name?” Sky asked.

  “Lena,” the girl answered. She had obviously got some of her energy back. There was no hesitation in her voice as she spoke.

  “That’s a pretty name. I’m Sky,” Sky said. They were at the entry hall now. If Lena had walked any further, she probably would have found her way there herself.

  “I know,” Lena breathed, her face reddening. “You’re an Aster.”

  Sky laughed and looked down at Lena. “Yes, that’s right.”

  “The greatest, yes?” The girl’s English was impeccable. There was a German accent, sure, but this level of English was surprising coming from a ten-year-old girl.

  Sky gave the girl a mischievous grin. “You bet.”

  Lena giggled.

  The two of them made it to the entry doors and they stepped out into the fresh winter air.

  “There!” Lena pointed. Sky looked over the stone railing that stood along the platform outside of the entry doors. Two sets of stairs on either side led down to the courtyard in front of the castle. Nora Amsel was sitting on a picnic blanket on the courtyard. She was holding her three-year-old sister in her arms. A boy who looked about fifteen was lying on his back and holding a book up above his face, reading, while another boy, who looked slightly younger than Lena, was running around the blanket like an idiot.

  Sky was about to let go of Lena’s hand, since she didn’t need help finding her way anymore, but Lena held on tightly and pulled Sky along behind her. As they neared the Amsel family, Nora looked up from her youngest sister.

  “I see you’ve made a friend,” she said in English.

  “I got lost,” Lena admitted. Then she said something in German to her sister.

  Nora nodded once and then said something back in German as well. Sky frowned, recognising none of the sounds the girls made as actual words. Lena in turn responded again in her native language. She had quite a shocked look on her face. Sky looked from one sister to the other, trying to understand what the hell they were talking about. Then suddenly Lena burst out laughing and pointed at Sky.

  Sky frowned again, and realised they had been making fun of him. Sky looked over to Nora, clearly offended. He even noticed the oldest brother trying to hide his smirk behind his book. The oldest Amsel smiled at him apologetically, before turning to her sister and saying, “Go and play with your brother.”

  Lena rolled her eyes, but obeyed. She let go of Sky’s hand and ran over to where her younger brother was still running around.

  “You don’t have to be offended. You’re not the first to fall for it,” Nora chuckled.

  Sky raised his eyebrows. “You mean this happens more often?”

  Nora smiled. “Yes. Making these jokes seems to be Lena’s way of coping.”

  Silence fell between them. Sky looked down, not quite sure what to say.

  “Thank you,” Nora said, breaking the silence. When Sky frowned, she added, “For bringing Lena here.”

  “Oh, yeah, of course,” Sky stuttered. “Anyway, I will uhm…”

  “You can sit if you like,” Nora offered.

  Sky sank to the ground gratefully. He hadn’t wanted to leave awkwardly, and was glad that Nora had given him the option to stay or go. He hadn’t really been in this kind of situation before. When orphans came to Saluverus they mostly kept to themselves, and it had never occurred to Sky to introduce himself in those desperate early days after an orphan lost their parents and had to leave their home and move to Saluverus. But here he was, sitting next to a girl who had just lost her mother and was now responsible for her four younger brothers and sisters.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “About your mother.”

  “Thank you,” Nora replied. She looked down at her youngest sister. The three-year-old had fallen asleep in her arms.

  “Are you all right?” Sky asked.

  Nora looked at him. There was a sadness in her pale brown eyes; they were exactly the same colour as Lena’s. Sky wondered how long it would take before they would liven up with joy again. “She died doing what she believed in. Though they won’t tell me what she was doing, precisely.”

  Sky bit his lip. He knew he shouldn’t, but he divulged, “She was sent to Brazil to find out exactly how Gayle Mendosa was killed so we know how that King works and thinks.”

  Nora stared at him for a moment, obviously surprised that he told her all that. “A noble cause. She would have been proud to die for that.”

  Sky closed his eyes. “You aren’t supposed to know that.”

  “No one does,” Nora promised. “Right, Stefan?”

  Sky could punch himself. He had completely forgotten that her oldest brother was lying a few feet away reading his book. The fourteen-year-old boy lowered his book and made the movement of zipping his mouth and throwing away the key with his hand, before turning back to his book.

  Nora chuckled slightly. “He won’t tell,” she assured him.

  Sky let out a low breath. “Well, I hope not.”

  “Thank you,” Nora said. “For telling me. It brings us more peace knowing how she died. She died doing what she believed in. And with honour.”

  Sky frowned. He hadn’t told her exactly how her mother died. Sky didn’t think even the Small Council knew that yet. As far as Sky knew, Diallo’s team hadn’t found her body yet.

  “What was her affinity?” Sky asked.

  Nora thought for a moment, probably translating in her mind. “Aim and preci-zion,” Nora answered, her German accent thicker as she tried to pronounce the last word.

  Sky looked at the girl for a moment. She could only be a few years younger than him. There was too much calm wisdom in her eyes for her young age.

  “Do you have the same affinity?” he asked.

  Nora shook her head. “None of us do. Maybe Amelie,” she said, looking down at her youngest sister, asleep in her arms. “We all have calm from our father. We are never fazed and can always think under pressure.”

  It made sense now. All of them. How they were handling their mother’s death. Sure, the youngest brother was running around like an idiot, but it was better than breaking down and crying. They had all just lost their mother, and somehow, they seemed calm and composed through the whole situation. There was a sadness in their eyes; it wasn’t like they didn’t feel anything at all. They were grieving, but they would go about it in their own way; their affinity helping them along.

  “Do you like it? Your affinity?” Sky asked. He realised he’d never had a conversation like this before. He’d never really shown much interest in Affinites, with the exception of Ashu, Kemal and the Moroccan twins. And his interest in the girls he slept with was never more than physical. He had one great female Affinite friend: Camille. She worked in a café somewhere in Canada; Sky always forgot what the place was called. She was one of Felix’s Watchers. She hadn’t come to Saluverus during the emergency or for the Memorial. From her Sky had learnt most of what he knew about Affinites. But it was interesting hearing about them from someone else.

  It was nice talking
to Nora; she didn’t ogle him like many of the other girls on the island did. Truth be told he didn’t mind the ogling one bit, but it was nice to have an interesting conversation with someone just this once.

  Nora looked towards Lena and her other brother. “I want to be a soldier like my mother,” she admitted. “I will never be one with my affinity. I find that sad.”

  She was right. Affinites whose affinity had nothing to do with combat only got the bare minimum of combat training. Nora, with her affinity, would never be a soldier. It surprised Sky that, even with everything that had happened to her mother, she still wanted to be one.

  Sky was about to ask her more about it when a voice behind him stopped him.

  “Miss Amsel.”

  When Sky turned around at the same time Nora did, Sylvia had a great look of surprise on her face. “Sky,” she said, bewildered. She then turned her attention back to Nora and said, “We have to talk about your family’s permanent move to Saluverus.”

  “Yes, of course,” Nora agreed.

  “I’ll leave,” Sky said. He stood up.

  “Thank you again,” Nora said once again. Sky looked down at her. He knew she was talking about him revealing what her mother had been doing before she was killed. But when Sylvia asked them what she was thankful for Nora only mentioned Sky leading Lena back here when she got lost.

  Sky bade both Nora and Lena one last goodbye before leaving Sylvia to whatever the Consul needed to discuss with the German Affinite. As Sky walked away, he wondered how long the Amsel family would stay on Saluverus. If Nora turned eighteen soon, it would be her decision whether to move her family elsewhere. If she could find a way to earn a living, there was nothing to stop her from moving back to her mother’s home in Berlin. Sky doubted that she would. She had four younger brothers and sisters to care for. She wouldn’t be able to do that without some help; and Saluverus would help for as long as necessary.

  She was a nice girl. Sky felt bad for her that she had been left to take care of her siblings all by herself. Maybe she needed some support. He wondered if Nathan would be interested in her. His brother was always such a romantic that he never really got the courage to ask a girl out. Maybe Nora would be someone for him.

  Sky grinned to himself as he finally headed for the dining hall.

  Chapter 11

  The days wore on. Percy Kelly sent back reports as his investigation in Brazil moved forward. Sky had recognised the two soldiers he had taken with him to South America. Female Affinite Yua Tanaka had portalled in from Japan especially for the job, while Icelander Kristjan Stefansson had been on Saluverus already. Both of them had been part of Percy’s battalion back in the war against Astaroth.

  There was a collective sigh of relief when Percy Kelly confirmed that Eva’s rescue team appeared to still be alive; they had left clues behind in the camp that had been their last known location. For some unknown reason, their communication systems had been smashed.

  One of the clues was found within a detailed report of their investigation, left at a smaller camp they’d set up before heading deeper into the jungle, and setting up a camp there. The report ended with the information that Eva and her team would be spending the next few days finding out everything they could about Zangar’s death before returning to the home base. The report included coordinates for where they had found Zangar’s body. Percy, with the two Affinite soldiers accompanying him, had decided to set off to find them, rather than wait around at base camp for their return.

  In the five days that followed Percy’s departure, Sky was bored out of his mind. There was the constant worry that something might be happening in North America, so he had to stay alert in case they would suddenly be called in. But as the days wound on, nothing seemed to be changing. Yes, there were many more Disciples on the Surface, but as long as they weren’t attacking Affinites or holding humans hostage there wasn’t anything the Asters needed to do. They didn’t even need to be sent out to investigate; there were enough of Felix’s Watchers amongst the Affinites living in North America to get enough information on what the Disciples were doing.

  Shockingly little, apparently. Which only irritated Sky further.

  Before Percy’s departure, Sky had found out what Percy had meant by spell me. Axel had informed Sky that a spell had been placed upon Percy that he could call for Sky if something were to go wrong, or if he got terribly injured. Only people possessing magic themselves could call for an Aster or Ceder of Speed and Flight, but with this spell, so could Percy, temporarily. For this spell, perhaps in response to Sky’s frequent complaint about the Asters being side-lined, or the fact that Madeleine was busy in Perth, Sky had been chosen. Although Sky was aware of the spell, he had never experienced it himself before. However, now that Eva’s rescue team was believed to still be alive, and Percy was days away from catching up to them, even that piece of action didn’t seem to be happening either.

  Annoying Nathan about Nora Amsel had also become boring. Sky guessed that his brother probably had eyes for another girl – that was the only reason Sky could think of for Nathan not giving things a go.

  Nathan had joked about why Sky hadn’t gone after Nora himself; he seemed to go after literally everybody else. Sky had been offended. First of all, he was three years older than the German Affinite, while Nathan was only one year older. And also, why would he hook up with someone who had just lost their mother? That was just cruel. It wasn’t cruel if he was actually interested in more than that; but the whole world knew that he wasn’t. Nathan on the other hand…

  None of it really mattered. Sky needed to find other ways to keep himself occupied until the Asters were sent back out into the field. He was itching to get into action. But as the days wore on, it didn’t seem to be happening any time soon.

  When Sky had wanted action, he hadn’t expected this. Just less than a week after Percy Kelly had left Saluverus with Yua Tanaka and Kristjan Stefansson, a scream shattered through Sky’s body in the middle of the night.

  For a moment, Sky lay paralysed in his bed. The scream had come so suddenly that for a moment he hadn’t known what came over him. The scream had been in his head. It was a desperate call for help; as if someone had called his name so that he would shimmer towards him.

  Sky clutched his head. There was a ringing in his ears as the echo of the scream faded away to the back of his mind. Sky got out of bed and headed for the chest of drawers next to his bedroom door. He hurried; he didn’t understand what had happened, but he knew he would either have to leave the island fast, or quickly let Axel know that something was going on. Someone was trying to contact him, or was contacting him by accident. Someone with magic, or spelled with the magic for an emergency call.

  Just as he pulled a shirt over his head another scream ripped through his mind. It was so loud that Sky instinctively placed his hands over his ears, as if that would’ve made a difference. This time, instead of being frozen to the spot like he had been in his bed, Sky quickly pulled open the bottom drawer of his dresser and took out a belt and two short swords that lay in between his socks and underwear. He put the simple weapons belt on and attached the short swords to it. And with the scream still very much alive and echoing in his brain, Sky set his magic to work. The Band on his wrist started pulsing and he let his magic follow the scream, searching for where it came from.

  The blue light enveloped him and he shimmered from his room.

  When the light vanished, Sky was no longer standing on the hardwood floor of his bedroom. No; the ground underneath his feet was softer and… damp? Sky opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the sudden brightness of sunlight. He was still looking down, and he realised that he was standing on earth; brown, muddy earth. Sky lifted his head and gaped at the sight around him. He was nowhere near Saluverus; he knew that much for sure. He was almost one hundred per cent certain that he wasn’t even in Europe anymore either, for he was surrounded by trees the height of skyscrapers and the width of some of the smaller towers of Saluv
erus’ castle. There were lush bushes everywhere. Green… it was so green. Sky looked around him. Nathan would go mad with envy when Sky told him about this.

  There were trees with fuzzy branches; there were trees growing out of other trees. Vines hung all around him, and shrubs covered the forest floor. Sky could barely see his feet in the dense shrubbery. And it was humid beyond belief; his clothes were already damp and clinging to his body.

  Sky looked at the ground near his feet. Wherever he could see through the large green leaves he could see the dark ground underneath. But there was something a few feet away from him that wasn’t brown like everywhere else. What he saw there was something lighter, something beige, something…

  Sky’s heart froze. He was looking at human skin.

  He rushed closer and dropped down to the ground. With his bare hands he pushed away the leaves blocking his view. Gradually a torso was revealed. Sky ripped a few plants from the ground to get a better look. As Sky’s gaze moved up the arm and shoulder and reached the face, his hands slowed; he recognised the man immediately.

  Kristjan Stefansson, one of the two soldiers Percy Kelly had taken with him on his investigation to Brazil.

  Brazil… Sky was in Brazil…

  He placed his hands quickly under Kristjan’s jawline and found no pulse. Kristjan’s skin was cold. The man had been dead a while. He couldn’t have been the one who called for Sky with his scream.

  Sky got up and scanned the forest floor. He moved slowly, his eyes flitting in every direction, just trying to spot something that was unnatural for a jungle. Something man made. And then he saw it.

  The dense and grown-together plants on the jungle floor just up ahead of him were flattened and torn. Sky hurried forward and followed the path of destruction. He tried to make as little noise as possible. Whoever killed Kristjan could still be here somewhere, and if he were strong enough to take on the Icelandic soldier, then he was someone to contend with. Even with magic.