Chapter Ten
Unexpected Enemies
The day had been long and full of silence. Normally Evangeline would not have minded the peace but with no shade or protection from the sun, they had to stop several times to rest and drink. Trying to use the little water they had sparingly was more of a challenge than she had expected. The sun was finally starting to set and the air was less sticky.
She helped set up camp and willed her limbs to cooperate. Her lungs felt full and heavy from the humid air and even a little effort left her feeling out of breath. A longing for the cool air of the mountains overwhelmed her.
A young man from the crew approached her. “I know your feelings about the forest miss, but we think it might be best to stick to the tree line.”
She knew he was right, “This sun isn’t helping us move any faster. Let’s take a break, get some rest and we will travel through the forest first thing tomorrow.”
He smiled and ran off to tell the rest of the crew.
“That was awfully understanding for someone who was so convinced we should stick to the coast.” A voice said bitterly.
“Ryhan, what is it you want from me huh? I am trying my best here. I’m dealing with everything the same as you.” She said irritated.
Ryhan huffed and walked away.
Evangeline liked it better when she ignored her. Ryhan had a sharp tongue and did not hold back often. The few times she had spoken to her since the previous night’s events, Ryhan had not hesitated to unleash all sorts of cross words her way. Under normal circumstances, her patience was unwavering, but at that moment, she was ready to throttle her. She glanced over at Ryhan and felt chills as Ryhan greeted her with and icy cold glare.
“THAT’S IT!” She shouted and stalked off toward the woods.
She grabbed the first few branches she could that looked suitable and went back to camp. Picking up the one that felt good in her hand she stepped in front of Ryhan.
For a moment, Ryhan looked alarmed, “What? Are you going to whip me?”
She wasn’t sure how to respond, the thought actual felt good in her mind, she pondered it a moment longer than she should have and then did the only thing she could muster…laugh. It was a deep, gut wrenching laugh, which left tears in her eyes and an ache in her belly. The rest of the crew, who up until that point had look on with apprehension, joined in with her laughter.
Ryhan crossed her arms and shifted her weight around. It was clear that she was uncomfortable and unsure of what to make of the scene before her. Evangeline felt bad and composed herself,
“Of course not! You clearly have a lot of anger built up. I thought it best that you learned to handle a sword.” She said a little more excited than she had wanted to.
Ryhan raised an eyebrow and looked at her skeptically, “You do know that is a stick right?”
“Yes I know it’s a stick,” She replied impatiently while adding, “Do you see any weapons around here?”
“I thought you were supposed to train me to use my powers?” Ryhan stated, more impetuously than Evangeline cared for.
“Actually, my responsibility is to get us all to the stronghold. I was willing to help you, but YOU decided not to use your powers. Which isn’t making anything easier.”
She could tell she was hitting a nerve so she continued.
“In fact it’s just making things WORSE!”
“I DON’T HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS.” Ryhan shouted.
“Like it matters, you don’t listen to anything I tell you, you sulk all day feeling sorry for yourself, instead of trying to make things better.” She knew the next part would be the final blow but did not care at that moment. “No wonder Gavin left.”
Ryhan grabbed a stick and screamed as she ran at her.
Evangeline had not wanted to hurt her, but she knew that making her angry was the only way to motivate her. Ryhan swung at her and missed several times, which only fueled her anger. Evangeline held the stick in her hands, and braced herself.
Stepping into the next attack she allowed her body to absorb the hit and let the shock roll through her and into the ground, then parried the next few blows. She could tell that Ryhan was calming down as the force of her attacks lessened.
“You are kind of a natural. Have you used a sword before?” She asked.
That was obviously the wrong thing to say because the next thing she knew Ryhan’s stick was on fire and she was not relenting. Evangeline was nervous but stepped aside just as Ryhan lunged at her and watched as she lost her footing and hit the ground face first. She got up cursing her and spitting out sand.
Evangeline kicked Ryhan’s stick away from her and said, “I only wanted to teach you to defend yourself. We cannot merely walk and complain, feeling sorry for ourselves on our travels. We might as well start preparing.”
“Prepare for what?” Ryhan asked through gritted teeth, “Some stupid war that may or may not happen? Our destiny?”
Before she could respond, a huge wave of seawater rushed over the shore. They did not have time to react as it washed over them. Soaked and confused, neither of them had it in them to argue anymore. Evangeline looked towards the water and saw someone walking toward them. The sun was setting on the horizon and she could see nothing more than a shadowy figure.
When the person reached the beach, she looked as if she had never been in the water at all. She was bone dry, which made Evangeline a little jealous as her sopping wet clothes clung to her uncomfortably. Only a few delicately placed shells and some sheer fabric, the likes of which she had never seen before covered the girl’s curvy body.
A rope of pearls held down her midnight black and wavy hair. Sapphire eyes, bright with flecks of aquamarine, swept over the scene.
“Angel, I never thought I would see you in a screaming match.” She said amused.
“You know her?” Ryhan asked accusingly.
Evangeline quickly introduced them, “Ryhan this is Alexandra.”
“Alex, please. Alexandra is such a mouthful. About as much as Evangeline.” She said lightly.
“Alex, you know how I feel about Angel, I prefer Evangeline.” She said.
Ryhan was furious, “Well Alex…You mind telling me why I’m soaking wet right now?”
Laughing she responded, “You looked like you needed to cool off.”
Ryhan stomped away and Evangeline embraced Alex welcoming her.
“She‘s got a temper, that one.” Alex said motioning toward Ryhan.
Evangeline waved the comment away and with a frustrated sigh said, “I was worried we would have to spend too much time searching for the city of Aurora, and here you found us.”
Alex responded seriously, “Times are dark, even Aurora is effected by the ripples of Axiom’s reign.”
She paused a moment as if remembering something specific then continued on, “We can talk more about that later, tell me everything that has happened with you on this journey!”
Evangeline enjoyed the company. It was nice to have a conversation without angry sarcasm taking over the discussion. It grew dark quickly and they made a feast out of the crab and fish Alex caught. The crew had helped, but it seemed as if the fish just jumped right into her hands, it was quite a spectacle.
Evangeline was surprised at how much lighter she felt, everyone felt, with her around. With one exception of course. She scanned the beach for a head of red hair and was relieved to see Ryhan sitting by the fire. Sitting down next to her, Evangeline offered her some of the crabmeat. Ryhan shook her head. They sat in silence for a long while. She could feel the anger coming from Ryhan. It came in waves, rolling over her like a dense fog.
The anger was so strong that she almost didn’t notice the other emotions behind it. Loneliness. Heartache. Grief. Ryhan did such a good job at hiding those emotions that Evangeline was surprised at how well she actually controlled herself. One of the young men pulled a small windpipe out of his pocket and began to play. Alex laughed and danced along with a few others.
The sound of her laughter seemed to irritate Ryhan. The fire went out suddenly, as if it had snuffed itself out, then reappeared blazing hot as ever. Ryhan played with the fire a while longer and Evangeline said nothing, just watched as the flames seemed to dance along with the music, licking the night air in rhythm with the melody.
“It’s beautiful!” Evangeline exclaimed.
For a moment, she thought she saw Ryhan smile, but it was gone as quickly as it came. The music stopped and the fire returned to normal. Ryhan sat up a bit as Alex came over and sat down.
“That was fun. I always love dancing in the moonlight.” Alex said as if it were something she did often.
Evangeline thought it was curious the way the men looked at Alex. She could not remember a time when a man ever looked at her that way. Alex was voluminous, she had curves in all the right places and wide eyes that looked right in to you and seemed to know your darkest secret. Her full lips begged someone to kiss them.
Evangeline was nothing like Alex. Her small petite body was more childlike than womanly. She wondered what it might feel like to have men desire her the way the desired Alex. Her silent contemplation was broken when Alex tried to reach out to Ryhan.
“I know about your dreams, I can help you.” She said sincerely.
Ryhan stared at her coldly and then looked at Evangeline with disappointment.
“You told her?” It was more of an accusation than a question.
“Ryhan, we shouldn’t have secrets from each other, we need to help one another.” Evangeline said.
Ryhan crossed her arms. “I don’t need her help.”
“Ryhan, dream walking is one of my abilities. I’m very good at it.” Alex reassured her.
Ryhan stood up, “No, I am not going to let another person inside my head.”
“Fine, deal with it on your own then.” Alex said as she threw her hand up.
Ryhan stalked off, putting the fire out as she left. Alex murmured something about her being childish and then struck up a conversation with one of the crew. Evangeline debated on whether she should go after her and decided to give her a few moments to calm down. A scream in the distance made everyone jump.
They all rushed toward the sound and found Ryhan on the ground, her arms wrapped around a small child. Evangeline pulled her up and Alex took a hold of the little boy. After pulling them apart Evangeline realized that the boy was actually a man.
“Farwen?” Evangeline asked.
“That’s not Farwen.” Ryhan yelled, then added, “Let go of me.” As she ripped her arm free of Evangeline’s grasp.
On closer examination, she realized he looked nothing like Farwen. He had a big bushy black beard that look as though he some sort of furry animal was eating his face.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“My name is Thad.” He said with a gruff voice while struggling to get free of Alex’s grasp.
“Thad? Don’t you work for the council?” Evangeline asked.
“Aye, and if you don’t let me go, they’ll be hearing about this.” He barked at them.
“Why would they send you? Aren’t you kind of important to them?” She asked skeptically.
He stared at her coldly before replying, “They knew tension might be thick, they sent me to help ease the transition for you.”
“Well you sure are doing a bang up job.” Ryhan said sarcastically.
“He’s lying.” Alex said.
“Am not.” Thad replied quickly, and then added, “How else would I know where to find you?”
“Trust me, he’s lying, I can tell.” Alex said.
“Why are you really here?” Evangeline asked him.
He said nothing.
“He’s working for Axiom.” Alex said.
“I saved your life from that furry monster back in Corafeldon,” He said motioning to Ryhan, “Why would I do that if I was working for him?”
“That was you?” Ryhan asked curiously.
“Aye, if it weren’t for me, you and that fella would be Haldengar dung by now.” He said.
“I don’t care what he did. I am telling you he is hiding something. I can sense his corrupt motives. He is working for Axiom.” Alex said.
Thad sneered at her angrily and spat out a string of curses before settling back down and denying her revelation. Everything made sense to her now, especially Ryhan’s constant anger and their bickering. Thad could influence emotion and it had become clear he was the one who had been following them.
“How could you?” Evangeline asked him, and then added, “The council trusted you. Why would you turn your back on them?”
Thad said nothing, only looked past them as if they were not even there.
They took him back to camp, and placed him under guard for the night. He could not be trusted, but they all thought it best if they rested and questioned him in the morning. Their journey was getting more complicated and Evangeline hoped that she could keep everyone on the right track as things got more dangerous. On the other hand, at the very least that she could keep Ryhan and Alex from killing each other.
Fated Volition: The Sapphire Star Saga Page 11