by Adria Eustis
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
It was a small orchard, more like a grove of apple trees, not like the big orchards back in the city where she grew up. Cain plucked a red apple from under yellow leaves and threw it towards her, she flailed around to catch it, grabbing it between her elbows, what must he think of her inabilities so far? What did he think of her at all? He was so hard to read, so quiet, she got more conversation out of the wind. But then again, she was just as quiet herself, Velle had always said it was her downfall, guys never spoke to her cause they didn't think she could speak. She found herself staring at him as he leaned against the bark and took a bite of his lunch. He made even eating apples sexy, his dreamy eyes stared off into the grey clouds.
“The scenery here is maddening,” she said, mirroring his stance against the next tree, “everywhere I go is so different from the next. But it's pretty, I half expected a burnt down forest, or a mass mud-pit grave stretching out for miles.”
“Nobody lived here for a long time, not since the incident.”
“Why did no one come and rebuild it? Are tsunamis here a frequent thing?”
“The tsunami wasn't natural, it was man-made, god-made even. They say that the waves kept coming for years. They didn't stop until the day the gods left Etath. After that, it was thought to be cursed. Small groups of people lived here, people seeking life away from the cities, away from civilisation, they wore masks and scared away newcomers - who then went away and told of the curses. Then the king took it for himself. Who knows what happened to the locals after that.”
“Guess you did your homework on this place.”
“You could say that.”
“Guess you knew you were coming here.”
Cain tossed an apple core to the ground, it gathered muck as he kicked it with some force, Nina watched it fly through the air before landing at a pair of feet.
“Hi darling,” Astra said, “would you look at that, Nina found a baby sitter. Guess she don't be needing me. Guess I don't be needing her.”
Nina's chest tightened, the hair on her arms tingled in the wind. How could she have not noticed her new worst enemy hiding inside an overgrown blossom bush? I should never have let my guard down, I should have kept my face glued to that yellow circle. Her info-pad had been tucked away in her backpack since Bridget's demise. She'd let herself get to engrossed in Cain's beautiful face, and hot body.
“Hide Nina,” Cain said, moving his body in front of hers, shielding her for those evil eyes ahead, “get behind the trees.”
Nina darted up close to a trunk, “we should run, Cain, she has astral powers, I've seen, she's too good.”
He didn't look back at her, only matched Astra's stare, she wasn't sure which one held the most of the devil. Nina couldn't not look, she had to assess the situation. Astra moved away from her floral place, stamping petals into the ground, her long white hair blew behind her.
“Cain please, let's go.”
If he didn't run, it wasn't surely the end of him, she'd barely got to know him. He pulled a set of three throwing knifes from his combat belt. At first Nina thought about running, getting a head start before he was knocked out and it was her turn. But the longer the two of them stared each other down, the more confidence she had in him. There had to be about twenty feet between them, he had thrown his dagger much farther when he'd downed Bandana-Man in the stream. But flash backs of her blowing up big rocks that came towards her on the beach came back to her. Why doesn't he make a move?
“Just gonna stand there lover-boy?” Astra asked.
His jaw set, he remained still, as if calculating the force and direction of the churning winds, waiting for the right time. But what was Astra waiting for? Nina pointed her empty rifle around the tree. How did she reckon her chances at dodging a bullet?
“Walk away,” Cain said.
Astra snorted a laugh, “only reason you're still standing there honey, is cause I like looking at you.”
Astra tilted her head. “Shame that you dress yourself in rags though,” she said, nodding towards Nina.
“Gonna shoot me sweet Nina? No? Could it be that you used up your boomstick material on the last guy? Oh I enjoyed watching that, very cute. Oh and Cain, stop trying to do that – your pathetic magic won't work on me, I'm too cute to not be immune.” She blew him a kiss.
Magic? What magic?
“Last chance to walk away,” Cain said, passing one knife into his throwing hand.
“I ain't walking no where honey, not till she cries, yells and begs for her life. Not till the stars pierce through her lungs and her last breath dazzles right before my eyes. See Nina I-”
Cain's arm drew back, before she could blink a slither of black hurtled through the air. It moved so fast, she could only see it's shadow in the overgrown grass, galloping towards Astra. But half way there it collided with a ball of violet light, that shattered into thousands of sparks as they met.
“You're fast, but I'm faster. Now if you're finished interrupting me, I'll continue,” Astra said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Her other hand shimmered and she clamped it opened and closed repeatedly as if it was burning.
It was all happening so fast, a hundred thoughts whizzed through her head, none staying long enough to register, and imagining her words right now would be useless for anything, she remained silent. Though her body was filled with loathing for Astra.
“See Nina I am a bright star, the brightest. And you are just a dim piece of rock, floating around in spacial blackness like you're not even there. Yet somehow Nina, it's stars like you who-”
Cain hurtled a second dagger, and a third straight after. Astra stopped mid babble, flung out her hand, palm facing the sky. She matched his attack with two quick shooting stars, breathtaking to look at, but deadly to cross paths with. The throwing knifes scattered across the floor in fragments. Cain turned to the side, his expression full of poise, he reached into a pocket and clasped something tight in his balled fist.
“Gosh you're rude, anyhoo, as I was saying, she smacked her gum, Nina cringed, she would hate that sound forever – if she ever got out of this alive, “somehow Nina, it's faded stars like you who always get the guy. Why is that?”
Astra whipped out her arm at waist height, as if throwing a frisbee. Cain hit the floor with a thud, flattening the overgrown grass. He grunted angrily, reaching for his ankles that were now tied tightly together with illuminated bolas. They pulsed white light, and when he tried to remove them, he pulled back his hand and grimaced in pain.
“Why is it Nina? What do they see in you? Sure you have the perfect face, pretty hair, but you're weak. Feeble and weak. Ooh, I get it, they want to play hero, save the helpless princess.”
Nina hid behind the tree, shaking out her backpack onto the ground, she threw a long dagger with a crystal handle onto the ground near where Cain was hoisting himself along to a tree truck. She armed her self with two short jagged blades, she wasn't coming this far to die without trying.
“Run Nina,” Cain said, pulling himself up on a tree, ankles still bound, “run whilst she's out of energy.”
Nina glanced back around at Astra, she didn't know a lot about Diviners and their magic, but she did know that they could run out of powers for a while after using a lot. That some spells cost more than others, but how did he know that was the case now? Her eyes flicked up and down the laughing girl's face, searching for a clue.
“Nina go, now! Get out of here!”
“Yes run Nina run, run whilst she's down, it's your only chance,” Astra said, mocking Cain's voice.
She choose in a split second to believe him, perhaps only because she was going to die or die trying and time was of the essence. Astra's sadistic smile maddened her, the girl was powerful, but would her downfall be her hesitation? Digging her heels in the dirt, Nina took off running, her teeth grinded together as she let out a grumbling roar. She picked up speed as
she ran, defying the strength of the wind, darting like an arrow towards Astra, a blade in either hand pointed downwards, ready to impale where ever she could hit. Their eyes locked in an agonisingly fierce glare. Nina drew her arm back as she soon as the scent of strawberry bubblegum floated past her. Only seconds had gone by, suddenly Astra was laughing no more, her eyes widened with a silent scream. The astral bitch faltered for a moment, eyeing up escape routes, but there was nothing but blossom bushes behind her and to her sides, towering over her. A whoosh whipped past her ear as Nina lunged a blade into her shoulder with brutal force and the crack of bone. The second dagger hovered in the air, Astra's fingers firmly wrapped around her wrist, skin on skin. A knee came up, clattering into Nina's stomach, Astra pushed her backwards letting go of her.
“Wow,” Astra said, as Nina staggered around trying to keep her balance in the soggy field.
As soon as she steadied herself she lunged forwards again with the blade, but fell straight through thin air and smacked her chin on the muddy ground, a snap of purple sheet lightning filled the space where the girl had stood.
Nina rolled onto her back, flung herself to her feet. Astra stood by the apple trees, all three Astras. Cain was no where to be seen. He'd took off, abandoned her. The multiple Astra's winced as they looked at the blade impaled in their shoulder, glowing red with blood. Their faces dismayed, turned to fury and then back to spoilt little brat in a matter of seconds.
“My life was perfect, I had everything I ever wanted. But Jordan Stone. He only wanted her. Her, her, her! I'm so over him now,” she leaned against the bark, the sleeve of her white blouse turned red. Colour draining from her face. “Where is lover-boy? Has he deserted us?” The three mimic's voices spoke together, each one a complete copy of the other two. There was no way to tell which was the real Astra, if any of them.
“I just want to go home Astra,” she said, looking at each one.
“Darling, shush now. I'll make it all alright. Lover-boy needs another star. Fate isn't fair, but I'm afraid we've no use for you.”
Swoosh! Something passed inches in front of her face, causing her hair to brush her eyes. Could this get any worse? Thunk! An arrow hit a tree beside one of the Astra's head, splintering the bark around it. All three of them ducked. Was it Cain? If it was, why would her try to hit her too? The bastard! More arrows came, Astra and her illusions stumbled around the orchard. Nina had no choice but to sprint towards the cover of the grove too as more swooshes passed her by.
It was darker under the canopy of the trees, the bleak sunlight dappled the wild grass. The wind still slapped against her stinging cheeks as she twirled through the hardwood shields, loosing sight of the astral echoes.
“Hide and seek, Nina, Hide and seek!” Astra's voices still tormented her from somewhere and her cruel laughter drifted through the rustling leaves on the breeze.
Every cell in her body willed Nina on, blood rush to her ears and her only thought was; survive. Swoosh! Thunk! An arrow embedded itself inches from her arm. Least now she knew the direction of the shooter, she tucked herself in behind the tree that it had hit. She was far into the orchard now, the trees were spread far apart, leaving lots of room for an archer to move.
Nina jumped out of her skin. Heart doing over time. She could have sworn she heard a twig snap right next to her, but there was nobody there. In the distance Nina glimpsed Astra, tip toeing around, oblivious to her position. Blood still seeping out, running down over her breast now. Her arm hung limp and her expression full of pain. Not so impressive with one arm are you?
The arrows had stopped coming, hopefully they'd run out.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Astra sang, her voice alone now, her mimics gone. “Promise I'll make it quick, I'm done playing with you now. Shouldn't have played too long, got hurt... you hurt me Nina.” She cried out in agony as she tugged on the intruding blade. “But I forgive you, maybe you're not like her after all. She stole him from me! You look like her you know, same green eyes, hair like autumn. Niiiinaaaa. Sweet Nina.”
There was a stir behind Astra, something moving through low-hung apples. Nina saw her there, the Elven girl from the daisy patch; Sheeba. She'd watched her on the info-pad, against an orange haired girl with a sword.
“Is that you Nina?”
Sheeba grasped at an apple, retrieved an arrow that had stopped half way through it and disappeared behind the thick of a trunk. Astra lumbered towards where Sheeba hid, with what she thought looked like dark matter floating above her only able hand.
“Boo!” Astra said, leaning around, coming face to face with Sheeba. A burst of prismatic purple surrounded them, their screams merged.
“Move away,” Cain's voice said. “Get out of the orchard.”
She glanced full circle, but he wasn't even there. “Cain?”
No response, Nina fled away from the area, unsure of anything. Glancing back as she ran, she saw Sheeba moving away, an arrow pulled back against the string of her wooden bow, and Astra was transparent, shimmering and sparkling like a crystal statue. Except this statue moved, and towards her it looked. Nina dived to the side, as a beam of glimmering stars raced towards her.
“You're lucky I'm injured!” Astra yelled.
Panting for breath she swiftly got back to her feet and pushed on, and found herself back at her backpack. Inside she grabbed the vial of poison and in a panic emptied it all over her dagger. There was no way she was getting close to either two of them again, she'd have to attempt to throw it – maybe she could graze them with the poison.
Boom!!! The sound resonated through her throbbing head. Louder than anything she'd ever heard. The ground shook beneath her feet and the whole area lit up like a heat wave had suddenly murdered the gloom. What the?
Sheeba appeared before her, they exchanged glances, the girl's eyes told only a story of endless misery. The elf's arm lurched forwards, grabbing at an arrow nested in a lump of tree sap. It was now or never, she wasn't that far away and she was unarmed, but for how long? Who attacks first wins.
Nina threw the blade with all the force she had left within, it arced through the air, spinning. The arrow was stuck, Sheeba whined and cursed, her eyes darting from the arrow to Nina constantly. The dagger dropped hopelessly in the grass before even reaching it's target. Nina grabbed her rifle from the floor where she'd dropped it minutes before and pointed it at the Elven girl's head the same time as the girl swooped down and retrieved the dagger, giving up on her cemented arrow.
“Oww,” Sheeba said, taking the weapon by it's blade accidentally in her frenzy.
Cain appeared, flitting into existence behind Sheeba, as if he materialized there. His thick arms reached around the girl. Was that frost clutching at his skin? It wasn't that cold. Gripping both of her wrists tightly, she dropped the weapon with a whimper. Sheeba collapsed against his legs, her eyes rolled soullessly backwards.
“Careful, poison!” Nina cried.
Cain dropped her slowly into the grass. She flopped down like a rag-doll and lay still and lifeless.
“Astra?”
“She made an incredible firework,” he replied.
“She's dead?”
He nodded.
Nina dropped to her knees, clutching her side, her body racked with burnout now that the adrenaline was receding.
“Sorry,” he said, standing beside her.
“Sorry? For what?”
“Blowing up your ornament. I'll buy you a much safer one when I get you home.”
Nina laughed. His intense gaze, full of desire. Cain was no rainbows, no fluffy kittens or happy cloud. He was surrounded by death and destruction, it's all she knew of him. Smoke rose up over the trees and ash fell from the sky, greying his dark brown waves. He was an mystifying black crow. A diamond bottle of absinthe, and she was drunk on him.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
Since nearly perishing at the orchard, Nina had
spent every second focused on scouting the terrain for contenders, and making sure the yellow circle was there at all times. Cain had collected all of Sheeba's arrows and her somewhat feeble short-bow and now carried it in a scabbard on his back. There had been nothing left of Astra but her black leather boot swinging from the branch of an apple tree and a charred crater in the ground where she had stood. Now Nina had 5/50, it was a long way to go and she was questioning whether she'd make it or not. Lasiah and Opal were still alive, thank the gods, they both remained on 0/50. She was however not pleased to notice that the great wolf and the trickster were still on the island. Now they were leaving the orchard, and heading back around to the beach - but not through that damned dark, creepy cave - now that it was safe of falling stars.
“So you're a Diviner?”
“I guess so.”
“What kind?”
“The kind who doesn't want to be.”
“Why not? Which one of those gods gave you gifts?”
“Cevrasil, God of Shadows.”
“A Shade-Walker? Wait, aren't those the ones who see ghosts?”
“Yes. Hopefully that answers your other question.”
“Holy crap, do you see them now?”
“You don't want me to answer that,” he said, as they walked through fields of flowers.
There was a light rain and Nina was beginning to forget what warmth was, the sun was dying out and Cain collected rain water in an empty bottle as they went. And just when her hair had finally started to dry too, was he forever going to see her looking like crap?
“I do, you can't peek my curiosity and not tell me.”
“Yes. There's a boy right next to you.”
Nina shuddered and moved faster.
“You're lying,” she said, praying that he was.
“No, he's been there all day,” Cain stopped and moved his gaze up and down the space beside her, then turned to keep on going. “He has a bullet hole in his chest, and his face is half burned.”