by Jade Frances
Cole held his hand up to halt everyone. Then cocked his head and looked behind us. Adam and Dakota did the same and sniffed the air. I blocked everything out and tried to focus on listening.
“Sorry, I thought I heard something,” Cole muttered.
“No, you’re right, I thought I heard something too,” Adam reassured him, “who knows what is in these mountains.”
Satisfied that there was no imminent danger, they started to walk again. I shuddered as the same feeling of dread that I’d had earlier coursed through me. I picked up the pace, and practically dragged Pearce with me. I pushed past the others and overtook them.
“What’s wrong?” Pearce asked.
“I just want to be out of this passage. Like you said before, they are too narrow to fight in.”
The sound of crashing water was thunderous as we exited the passage. The falls cascaded from high above our heads and into a deep ravine filled with an overflowing pool of water. And there, standing in front of it in all his glory, was Aresollo.
Chapter 18
We didn’t have time to react to his presence. Hissing filled the air from every possible direction. I twisted to face the passage we had just came through. The others were still filtering through. Rose placed Sandra on the ground and stood defensively in front of her. Barak and Egan joined them. Adam, Cole, and Dakota rushed toward me. I saw Cole’s eyes flit to Aresollo for a brief second, then back to me. His face was void of emotion.
“Could do with some of your magic ice right now, Father,” I snapped. I heard his approach, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off the passage.
“There are only three jars left, they need to be used wisely,” his voice was calm, he seemed unperturbed with the impending danger that was headed our way.
“Then use them when you need to,” I growled at him.
“Oh no, I’m not fighting those things. I am here to help you, not save your friends,” he grabbed my arm, and before anyone could react, he dragged me to the water’s edge.
I looked up to see Chimeras crawling down the walls. I looked down into the ravine, the water current was strong, waves sloshed over the edge and soaked our feet.
“You need to go in and retrieve the scythe,” Aresollo shouted. I backed up a few steps and looked behind. The others had started fighting, the sound of the water drowned them out. I could sense the energy of their elements, as they threw everything they had at the oncoming Chimeras. Dakota and Adam were in wolf form. Pearce turned and met my eyes.
“Get the scythe,” he mouthed.
Aresollo grabbed me again and pushed me back to the edge. Without warning, his hand shot out behind me. With incredible strength, he threw the Chimera he had grabbed to the ground. With his free hand, he opened a jar and poured a small amount of ice into its open mouth. I looked on, frozen to the spot. His show of strength had taken me by surprise. The Chimera writhed and screamed, then evaporated into small dust particles.
“You have no time, your friends will not survive this,” he shouted at me.
“I… I’m not ready,” I mumbled.
“You have to be ready,” he shouted again, and with no warning, he pushed me. I fell backwards, my arms flailed as I sought to stay upright. But I had already teetered over the edge. With a crash, I hit the water below. The shock of the cold had me gasping for air. Waves crashed over my head; I couldn’t see. Stay calm, just stay calm. Where the hell would the scythe be in here?
“Go under, it is under the surface current,” Aresollo yelled from high above. I was struggling to stay afloat, going under was my only option. I filled my lungs with as much air as I could and dived under the oncoming wave. I pushed and kicked, traveling deeper. Until the current alleviated, and the water was calm. I was aware of every second that I held my breath. I wouldn’t have long under here before I needed to resurface. Frantically, I looked through the murky water for any sign of a scythe. I wasn’t even sure what it would look like. A gleam not far from where I was caught my eye. I kicked wildly. My chest was starting to tighten, it wouldn’t be much longer before I would lose the ability to hold my breath. I reached the gleam and could see a black handle jutting out between rocks. Without taking a second to think, I grabbed it and pulled. It came free easily. I inhaled water, my body wanted to cough and splutter, but that would only make it worse. Using the rocks, I kicked off them and made my way back up. With one hand clutching onto the object I had grabbed, I didn’t have as much strength to propel myself through the water. Just get above the current, get your head above water. It’s too far away, I’m not going to make it. My body convulsed as I swallowed more water. The strength in my legs had vanished. I tried to tell myself to keep going, keep fighting, but I had lost the will. My eyes were fluttering closed.
Then I felt a surge of energy, something was pulling me up. I could vaguely see the waves of the current directly above me. Then I could feel them all around me. A hand reached in, and the water turned red around it. With the little strength I had left, I raised my arm. It gripped my wrist tight and yanked me from the water. I coughed and spluttered as I gulped in the air.
“Lay her down,” a voice demanded.
“Evvy, Evvy, are you ok?” I thought I heard Rose. But my mind was laced with fatigue, and all I wanted to do was fall into a peaceful sleep. “Evvy, wake up,” someone shouted, then slapped me hard across the face. I gasped and shot up, holding a hand to my cheek. The same hand that had been holding the scythe. I shuffled around, feeling the ground with my hands.
“The scythe,” I croaked.
“It’s ok, it’s here…” Adam’s voice calmed me, and I slumped back down. My eyes focused on the space above me, which was filled with faces.
“The Chimeras…”
“Left as soon as you came out of the water,” Rose replied.
“How…”
“I wrapped my air around you to lift you out, then Pearce grabbed you,” she said.
“Where is he?” I attempted to sit up, but every muscle ached.
“He got hurt, burned by the water…” Rose grabbed my arms and pulled me up, she then turned me to place my back against the wall. Over her shoulder, I could see Pearce with his brothers cradling his arm. Ava was with them and holding out a jar. I cannot go in, I am tainted, were Aresollo’s words. Which meant, Pearce was tainted. He had taken an innocent life. I felt a piece of my heart tear away. That can’t be true. His piercing grey eyes met mine, but I couldn’t hold his stare. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
“Can we take a break?” I whispered.
“No, we need to keep going, the Chimeras will only keep coming back,” Aresollo’s voice rose above the others who were muttering their agreements with me. I groaned and peeled my eyes open. He was standing directly in front of me. The others had shuffled back.
“To where? Where could we possibly go, they’ll find us anyway.” I sounded as exasperated as I felt.
“We keep moving forward. You,” he pointed, “you carry her, now.”
Adam looked at Aresollo, then back at me. When I didn’t argue, he sauntered over and lifted me in his arms. His warmth spread through me, drying my skin and hair. That only made me more tired.
“Close your eyes Evvy, I’ve got you,” he whispered.
“The scythe…” I said again.
“It’s ok, it’s safe, he won’t get it.”
I roused from sleep, when Adam’s heat was torn away from me as he placed me on a cold ground. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes. My chest was burning and my muscles still aching.
“Woa, lay back down, you inhaled a lot of water Evvy. You need your strength,” he tried to coax me back. I shoved his hands away and glared at him.
“How long did I sleep for? Where are we? Who has the scythe?” I rambled on.
“Slow down ok. A couple of hours, who knows where and I have it, here,” he held his arms out and there in his hands lay the scythe. It was of medium size, with a black hilt and what looked like an ivory
blade. From where I was sitting, it didn’t look like anything special at all. I reached out a hand, hesitant to touch it. You already did, in the water. I grabbed the handle and squeezed my eyes shut. But nothing happened, no reaction to my touch, no spark of energy, and most of all, I didn’t keel over and die. I opened one eye and twisted and turned it around in my hand.
“You have to activate the power within it,” Aresollo said as he walked toward me. I groaned and turned away from him. “I am here Evangeline, get used to it. Trust me, if I believed anyone else had the power to banish Ares, then I wouldn’t be wasting my time with you and your motley crew.”
“Charming,” I bit back. “You can leave now I have it, not that you were any help other than pushing me into the water.”
“Actually, you won’t be able to unlock the scythe without me,” he drawled, as if dragging out his words would put more meaning in them.
“Well, tell me how to, then you’re free to go on your merry way. I’m sure you have kittens to steal from innocent children, families to ruin, lives to destroy. You know, all the terrible acts you like to commit.”
He laughed, a deep hearty laugh and clapped his hands together.
“You have your mother’s bite, I give you that.”
My head snapped around to look at him, if there was one thing that I knew to be true of my father; it was that he loved my mother. Before she betrayed him anyway.
“May I sit?” he asked and gestured to the ground beside me.
“Do I have a choice?” I retorted. He shook his head and took a seat. Adam gave us a dubious look, I reassured him with a smile and tilted my head to let him know to leave us. Reluctantly, he made his way over to Dakota.
“She was breath-taking… your mother. She would walk into a room and instantly have everyone’s attention,” he muttered. “You are a lot like her. You have her drive, her passion. Your willingness to sacrifice yourself for those you hold dear certainly didn’t come from me.”
I snorted; I think that was pretty obvious. He didn’t seem to pay attention to my rudeness, and instead, carried on speaking.
“When she left, with you, I didn’t know if I was angry that she had taken you and my power, or angry that I had lost her,” his voice cracked slightly. “If I hadn’t already been on a dark path then, it certainly set me on one after.”
He was making me uncomfortable, after everything he had put me through, put my friends through; all the death that he had caused. I just couldn’t muster the belief in his words. A bitter feeling ran through my veins, and like Ava, he couldn’t be forgiven. I was certain it would never happen, no matter what either of them did. But a small part of me couldn’t shake the longing for peace.
“What about Cole? Where did he come into this?”
Aresollo sighed and looked to where Cole was standing with Adam and Dakota.
“I tried to recreate what I had with you and your mother. When the opportunity arose, I thought he would give me the strength I needed to create a better future. Instead, I have brought a terrible evil into this world, and destroyed the only chance of reconnecting with family.”
I had heard enough. I lifted myself off the ground and took steps to walk away. I turned to look back at him.
“You never had a chance at reconnecting, you destroyed that by believing in a prophecy and using it for your own gain. We aren’t your children, and we never will be,” I told him, then left him sitting on the cold floor, alone.
Cole met me halfway before I reached the others. He snaked an arm around my waist and supported me. I was grateful, moving was agony for me.
“Nice chat...” he mumbled.
“Nothing like a daddy, daughter, talk to raise your spirits,” I told him sarcastically.
“You know, he raised me. It wasn’t all bad, he treated me fairly well until, well... you know,” Cole stopped and for once, looked me right in the eye.
“I know,” I said. I looked back to where Aresollo was still sitting, staring at the ground.
He will never be your father, don’t let his darkness worm its way inside your mind, I told myself. But a small part of me, I knew, would always wish differently.
Chapter 19
I could feel the intensity of Pearce’s stare burning into the back of my head. I had avoided him for hours, busying myself with the others and helping Sandra change her dressing. But I knew in that moment that I’d ran out of time. I would have to face him. I felt his energy behind me and walked to the furthest corner away from the others. When I turned around, he was standing right in front of me, like I had expected.
“Little siren...”
“Don’t Pearce, don’t call me that. So many lectures... so many times you’ve told me not to give in to the darkness, not to feed it... and you, you’ve taken an innocent life before! Maybe even lives!” I tried to keep my voice steady and calm, I didn’t want to draw attention to us. But I was finding it difficult.
“Just hear me out, close your eyes,” he said and reached for my hands. I clenched my fists and held them tight by my side. He dropped his arms and looked at me, his eyes shone with unshed tears. “Please, close your eyes,” he whispered. There was pain in his voice, it was raw. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
“We were sent on our first mission, my brothers and me. We had only just graduated, top of the class. There was a lot of pressure on us as triplets. It was unheard of, and to control the elements like us, well no one had ever come across it. The Veil had been attacking nearby villages, on the hunt for a young boy. He was supposed to be the key to find what they were looking for, you.”
I drowned out the noise of the others and focused only on his voice.
We arrived just as they were attacking. It was a small village, not many gifted lived there. People were running and screaming in every direction we turned. But we were trained not to react, not to feel. We walked past the wounded, there was only one destination on our mind. My brothers flanked me on either side as we pushed through the hordes of people trying to escape. We reached the house that we were told the boy resided in. The door was hanging off of its hinges, the glass in the windows was shattered. I thought we were too late. But then we heard screams. I ran in, leaving my brothers bewildered. We’d had a plan. But it went out of the window when I heard the blood-curdling screams of a child. I ran from room to room looking. Bodies were strewn all over the floor of each one. I reached the bottom of the stairs and could feel an energy in the room directly above me. My brothers had joined me at this point. We had never seen so much death and destruction. By the time we had made it up the stairs, more Veil members had entered the house. We decided to split up and look for survivors. I ran into a bedroom that overlooked the front of the house. In the middle of the double bed were a man and a woman, bound with their throats slashed. And beside them on the floor was a young girl. She was screaming and rocking; and repeating the same words over and over.
“I warned them, I warned them.”
I grabbed her and lifted her into my arms. She barely noticed. I whistled for my brothers; I knew that we couldn’t take the stairs. I could hear the pounding of footsteps as the Veil ascended. With the girl flung over my shoulder, I jumped from the second-storey window. I could hear my brothers fighting their way out. They couldn’t have found the boy, was all that I could think. I was about to run back in to help them, when they came crashing through the window frame. Without a thought, I called to my magic. I focused on the foundations of the stone house, the concrete that held it in place. It started to shake, and just before it collapsed, the girl snapped out of her trance. “My brother is still in there,” she screamed, “I hid him in the basement.”
But it was too late to pull my magic back. The house had already started to collapse in on itself, with the Veil members inside, as well as the boy that we had set out to save. My magic killed him. But what killed me was that little girl's scream as she watched her entire world fall apart. Sometimes I sit and think about what I could have done
differently, what if I hadn’t of panicked, or what if I’d not gone running in without a plan. But most of all, I think, what if...
“I hadn’t used my magic,” my eyes snapped open as I finished his sentence for him. Tears dropped down my cheeks. I looked up at his forlorn face and reached out to take his hands. I was careful to be gentle with the one that was bandaged. “I’m so sorry Pearce, I just assumed...”
“It’s ok, it’s a secret I’ve held for a long time. Now I can unburden not only myself, but my brothers of it.”
“You knew what would happen if you reached into that water to pull me out, yet you did it anyway,” I pulled him closer to me and laid my head on his chest.
“I’ve got you little siren, always,” he muttered.
The piece of my heart that I thought had broken earlier, swelled with emotion. Sadness for Pearce, living with guilt over an accident, anger for all that the Veil had destroyed, and love. Love, for the man who vowed to stay by side, and hasn’t once given me reason not to trust that he is good.
“What happened to the little girl?” I didn’t want to make him feel worse, but something was niggling away at me.
“You know her, very well actually,” he replied “I had no idea, Avetta didn’t say anything. One day it just seemed to click.” My breath caught in my throat.
“Ava,” I gasped. I felt him nodding. I looked over to where she was standing with Aresollo and thought of all the times I had been jealous of her natural gravitation toward Pearce. “Does she remember it was you?”
“No, Avetta wiped her memory. She had already begun to build a mental block. I guess that was why no one knew that she was a seer.”
“Your information was wrong, it wasn’t the boy they were after. It was her; it had been her all along. Are you going to tell her?”