by Adria Eustis
“For real?” She reached out and tried to feel something.
“He says he can feel heat in his lungs.”
“Why is he following me?”
“You killed him. He wants you to take it back.” His tone bordered on enjoyment of the fact. As though he liked knowing what un-forgiveable things she had done. Psycho.
“Oh. Sorry.” She rubbed her arms and frowned, but take it back she would never dream of, he had deserved everything that came to him.
“He'll be gone soon, some of them linger in the shadow realm after death, the more faded they are the sooner they leave. There's barely anything left of him now.”
“Where do they go?”
He shrugged, “even they don't know that.”
“How about we don't talk about ghosts anymore?” She laughed shyly as a shiver ran down her spine.
“Deal.”
“What else can you do? Back there, you were invisible?”
“The shadow realm is a dark place, created for the dead to walk in before leaving for where ever they go after at. Those who are alive are not meant to see it or those within it. But I can go there temporarily, that means you won't be able to see me, but I can see you.”
“But I can hear you still? I heard you in the orchard.”
“No, I was just hiding then.”
“Can I see it? Do it again?”
“The shadow realm's temperature is below freezing. it's not a place I want to go if I don't have to.”
“The Oculus can still see you right? If you're in there?”
“It can. There's only five places that thing can't see.”
“Where are they?”
“The five realms beyond the shadows. One for each of our moons. They're identical in every way to the mortal realm, aside from that their day cycle is the opposite of ours. They say the goddesses of the moons, five sisters, created them so that they could always walk in a realm where the moons shone. By night they lived amongst man, and when the sun came up, they retreated to their own realms where the sun was going down. Once there they were completely concealed from every living thing, they could see our world, but no one could see theirs - aside from the other gods, who could enter as they pleased.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“Anyway, enough of the history lessons. I'm boring you.”
“Nothing you say could be boring,” she said, before regretting her cheese. Cringing she thought to change the subject quickly. “So how long do you think it'll take to get a full score, I can't bare to imagine how much worse my sister has gotten by now.”
“I'll get you a full score Nina, but it's not going to be what you expected. Patience.”
They climbed over a tall wall, and jumped down onto the beach. Twilight was on the horizon now, almost obscured behind those towering those lightning-charged bars.
“I've come to the conclusion, that you're looking for a specific type of weapon. We have more daggers than I can count, a rifle, you've got a bow now. So what exactly is it that you're a master of?”
“Bad first impressions.”
“Well that's true. But I'm suspending my hatred still. Though I can't understand any of it. Are you purposely this confusing?”
Cain turned his head towards her, curved his mouth into a tiny grin, another dose of breathtaking charm. “Does it annoy you?”
“I'm passed annoyed.”
“Oh, where are you now?”
“In between wondering why I'm still here with you, and knowing that I need you.”
He turned away again, hiding his face behind that luscious hair. “You talk about your sister needing you, where are your parents?” He asked. More of an expert topic changer than her.
“They're dead.”
“Blunt. I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. There's only one person who should be sorry,” she offered a leering stare towards her Oculus, “no doubt he will never pay for what he did, and you know the worst part? I can't even name him, he'd have my head cut off for blasphemy.”
“You don't have to say it. I can guess who. Our hatred is comparable. He took people from me also.”
“My parents were rebels, when all of this started, they were amongst the first protestors, and they were made a show off. A warning to any others who might stand up for what they believe in.”
“And now only few try,” he said.
“But none succeed. My mother's blood, my father's blood, wasted. Spilled all over the pavement where they walk day and night. Mum believed in the freedom to make mistakes. And she died for the exact thing I lost my freedom for. A mistake.”
“Freedom, I sort of remember that.”
“Me too. Sort of. Do you remember the times when courtrooms existed? And the justice system allowed you to learn from your errors?”
“Its a vague memory.”
“Stop,” she whispered, pointing at her computer screen, “its green.”
They ducked down behind an overturned rowing boat. Cain sneakily peered out, “there's no one.”
“Has to be look it's green.” Her head dropped backwards against the rotten wood. Why so soon after the last battle? My ears are still ringing from the explosion, and now we're up again.
“Its Lasiah,” Cain whispered.
“Lasiah?!” Nina stood up and followed his gaze but saw nothing but the pebbly beach, huge clumps of seaweed, shallow rock pools and the cliffs that ran along the coastline.
“Under the seaweed,” Cain pointed him out.
She looked again, sure enough there was a streak of shiny blue-black hair and a pale face peering back at them. No wonder he'd survived with no points for this long. No one would have spotted him if they hadn't looked twice. They'd have walked right passed him if she hadn't looked at the screen.
“Greetings friends,” Lasiah called, climbing out from his hiding place.
She did not feel worried that Cain would attack, they had seemed to be friends back in the prison yard. But there was a little speck of doubt, floating around. He was an easy kill after all, but she'd hate him forever. He whiffed of the ocean and was drenched through.
“Join with us,” Cain said.
“Cain, Nina. I've been waiting for you.” Lasiah sniffed the air, “mysterious isn't she? How lovely the ocean? A quiet serenity.”
“Cain's right, you should join us,” Nina said.
“You're just in time,” he smiled and twirled his lavender pendant through dirty fingers. “Eina told me you would be. Eina is never wrong.”
Nina laughed a giddy laugh. Cain smiled too, the first time he'd ever really smiled, flashing his perfect teeth. His blue eyes danced with the flaming red of the twilight. The music of a merry-go-round played, and the beach was lined with golden fairy-lights. Nina floated backwards, dropped down and sat cross-legged on a carpet of red roses. Taking in their sweet floral scent, she watched as Cain ran down to the ocean, too close to the lightning-charged fence for her comfort. No, no, it's fine. She giggled. Bit of electricity won't hurt. Cain knelt down in the soft waves, letting them wash over his legs, he splashed the water over his face and shook it off.
“You're doing it again Lasiah,” she said as she watched the Elven priest pirouetted on the spot.
“Nina. Shh.” Lasiah pressed his finger against his lips. He winked at her. “I know where I am now Nina, I know for sure. It's my fate, my destiny. This world isn't meant for me. This is merely a short stay before my true revival.”
In her haze of calmness, his words only made her smile. Worry didn't exist anymore. Death was merely the spreading of wings before the eagle soared on to a better place.
Cain returned to them, the ocean dripping from his hair. “Lasiah,” Cain said, his usual hard-shelled tone gone, replaced with a care-free timbre, “take your magic away from me. You prancing idiot.”
“My gift will only last a short while friends. Look around you, we're not the only ones here.”
Nina investigated the landscape, admiring the way the moons ripple
d on the surface of the rock pools. How beautifully mesmerising.
“The boat?” Cain said.
“Not the boat, the boat doesn't play tricks.”
Cain approached her unhurriedly, “may I borrow your rifle.”
“Of course.”
He used the rifle's scope to scout the cliff tops.
“Make more sense Lasiah,” he said, handing the rifle back, “there's no one here but us.” Cain laughed a friendly laugh and bumped his fist into Lasiah's arm.
“Friends, the fear is close, come, let us find it.” Lasiah took off quickly down the beach, his pace speeding as he went.
Cain pulled her to her feet, a spark from his hand on hers burned her skin in delight. Together they followed Lasiah, running through the wind, without a care or doubt for anything. Their footsteps crunched loudly. They jumped over pools and came to a curve in the beach. Around the curve was a white light-house with no light on, it was so different than anything else on the island, modern with a fresh looking paint job. Nina looked around, sure enough there was a tall pile of jagged grey rocks ahead, they looked like upright daggers, pointed and sharp. They mirrored Lasiah as he slowed to a walk, they passed in front of the rocks and towards the light-house.
Nina saw the trickster standing there, leaning over a white railing that led to the structure's door. He was so close to them that she could make out the small details on the ram's skull tattoo on his half shaven head. The trickster's elbows were bent and his hands raised, swirling with a black mist. The blackest black she'd ever seen. Even the night seemed darker around him. Regulus' smirk held hints of destruction. Standing firmly in his spot, imploding with confidence. Even the bitter air didn't make the trickster tremble. His smirk faded, replaced with confusion.
Lasiah began chanting wilding in Elven tongue, dropping to his knees, clutching his beaded pendant tight.
“Regulus,” Nina said, “he killed Bridget. He killed my friends.”
“Quickly,” Lasiah called, “my magic fades.”
Cain reached for his bow, loaded an arrow, and before she could even blink, he sent it flying through the air. She looked back towards the sick trickster, watched the look of horror wash over his face. And that look he took with him as the arrow impaled his neck and he fell backwards and flipped over the railing. Regulus lay spluttering blood as they approached him. Nina tugged a blade from the strap in her corset and plunged it into his chest as she looked away. Hatred coursed through her veins, yes, but this was only for the half a point.
“Enjoy hell,” she told him, as his life faded away.
“Friends,” Lasiah said. “Eina calls to me. I must answer her now. I bid you farewell.”
“You're just leaving?” Nina said.
“The Goddess put me here for a purpose, that purpose is fulfilled.”
The calmness was fading, she could feel dread returning, and see it in Cain too. His smile was gone and his usual cryptic glaring was back.
“Thank you,” Cain said.
“Thank you,” Lasiah replied. They exchanged a nod and she felt she was missing something that the two clearly saw.
What she did know though was that without Lasiah and his crazy bubble of serenity, they too could have suffered Bridget and Davie's fate.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
Lasiah placed his hand on her shoulder, his silky hair twisted and turned in the wind. “The immortal maiden waits for me. But we'll meet again Nina. Every gem that you find, there will be a tiny sliver of me inside.” He flashed her his gracious smile, turned and walked away down the beach.
“Wait. No!” She yelled, as he waded through the tide.
Cain clutched her arm, “Let him go, what he believes and what you believe are completely different.”
“No! Lasiah, No! Please!” Her lips quivered. The last thing she saw of the Elven priest was his narrow eyes as he gave her one last look before reaching out and grabbing hold of the lightning-charged bars. Looking away, she heard the sound of static discharged, and for a few seconds the sky illuminated around her. She'd remember the splash that his body made as it crashed into the ocean forever.
Face buried deep into Cain's chest, she sobbed. His warmth the only thing she had right now. Everything else was out of reach. Way way out of reach. He cradled her trembling body as her legs threatened to stop upholding her.
“I'm afraid we don't get to choose how some things end,” he said.
There wasn't much time for grieving, an explosion rang out far down the beach from where they had just come, followed by angry voices.
“Let's go,” Cain said. He grabbed Regulus' backpack from the doorway and they took off up a steep sandy path that led back to the tops of the cliffs.
~
Hiding amongst shrubs they watched two heavily armed girls go into the light-house, no doubt they'd seen the replay and knew they would be around somewhere. Nina peered at her info-pad, the last clip showing was the two girl's throwing a grenade at the overturned boat. You couldn't even see the person inside, but according to the screen, his name was Kraig, and he was now dead.
“Lasiah didn't have a tablet, I didn't see any items at all on him. My green light was coming from the boat,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I saw him through a hole.”
“Why didn't you say something? Is that what you two were on about in your weird conversation?”
“He was just a little kid. Come on, they're going to come looking for us.”
“So let's take them down for this vantage point, shoot them with your bow, you're such a good aim.”
“No.”
“Do you ever want to get out of here?”
“Yes. But I'm not killing them.”
“Are you the same Cain I saw on the news back in Nanta?”
“Come on, they're leaving the light-house. Let's move.”
Cain took off before she could complain again. They moved across the grassy plains, bowing low as they moved through the darkness.
“I'm tired, I just want to stop moving,” Nina said, losing the will to walk any longer.
Cain scooped her off her feet into his arms. His warm embrace like a blanket, the beauty of his face up close. She rested her head upon his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Swiftly he moved over the bumpy terrain, somehow able to see in the dark. After a while she started to drift off, overcome by exhaustion. He was almost everything she'd ever dreamed off in a man, almost. If she could only break through his secrecy and see who he really was. Because him being that murderer back in Nanta, was impossible to believe.
~
The hooting of an owl woke her. The last thing she remembered was being carried across the cliff tops, with Cain's arms sheltering her from the gust. She must have fallen asleep, for how long she didn't know, but it felt like only seconds ago that they'd been near the light-house. Now she lay a patch of soft grass, it was unusually dry here. Above her a stone structure jutted out, acting as shelter.
“Where are we?” She asked sleepily.
Cain was sitting against a wall, shining his torch into Regulus' backpack. “And old mine entrance. It's blocked up. Don't worry, we're safe.”
“Find anything in there?”
“That blanket,” he said, pointing towards her.
Pulling the blanket up close around her chin, she felt guilty about taking it all for herself. “We can share it.”
Cain hesitated, rubbed his hands up and down his arms. She could almost see the ice vaporising from his muscles. Her eyes fell closed, she was too tired to stop them. Before she knew it, the blanket over her was ruffling, and his masculine scent twirling around her nostrils. He rolled on to his back, and without even thinking, she found her self snuggling close, lay her head on his heavy chest and felt an arm slip under her neck. Though she tried to reason it was survival, keep warm by keep close, she knew she was falling for him, and she couldn't lie to herself any longer. The torch flicked off
. The squeeze she gave him as her arm fell over his waist, was awkward and shy. As his lips kissed her head, Nina couldn't help but think how big the possibility was that Cain wasn't going home. He was a Rank 3, he needed to score three hundred points. Even if she did make it off the island, it pained her to think she'd be leaving alone. Or even more so, it tormented her to think neither would gain their freedom. What lurked in the shadows around them? She could never always know. Any second a bullet could pierce her skull. Any moment a Firemancer could torch them to death as they slept. The shifter could creep up on them and tear them apart one by one. She'd never get to feel those tempting lips against hers. And even if he was a psychopathic maniac killer parading as a mysterious price charming, she'd never get to figure it out. On the surface she wanted to believe that he didn't commit that hideous crime back in Nanta, but deep down she knew the evidence was strong that he did do it. And so she lay still and quiet, and instead told herself that right now it didn't matter if he was demon-spawn or not, because he was all she had. And sometimes she just needed someone to hug her and understand the torture she went through. Smiling, her thoughts faded into the background, as sleep took over.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
She snapped back her hand from the handle of an arched iron garden gate, just in time. The hideous spider crawled on, as she watched, waiting for it to skitter far away, then she reached out once more, pulled down the handle, with a long rumbling creek it opened, inwards towards the flagstone steps. She stepped back, taking note of the bearded face, above the gate, carved in the stone archway. The stone walls that surrounded this place where barely visible. Hidden away by creeping vines and the dark of the night. Whatever this place was, it wasn't maintained. Her heels clicked on the steps as she made her way towards a maze of weathered tombstones. Horse's hoof-steps were getting closer, coming up from behind, trotting slowly.
“When only four moons aglow, that be your time to show,” he whispered into her ear.
A roaming shadow, the silhouette of a crooked, horned beast, that stood tall like a man, sneaked beside her and sank into the tallest grave, where a fresh white rose lay. Four moons rose high and shone dimly across the lonely willow tree that guarded the sleeping dead at the helm of their beds. Her pace sped as the horses came to a stop, a neigh breaking the silence. With a gasp she halted at the last row of engraved stones. The goddess's silver hair glittered against her ebon gown.