by Jade Frances
“Aw sweetie,” I stroked her head, “maybe after I’ve been to see someone? I’ll come find you straight away and you can hang around with us all day after that. Maybe you would like to watch us train?”
The disappointment that was in her eyes faded as she thought about watching us train.
“Promise you will come find me?” I looked into her doe eyed face and like when we first met at the village, I couldn’t resist.
“Pinkie promise. Now you go find Theodore and I’ll come get you soon,” I ruffled her hair and gestured to the door. She looked hesitant at first, but lifted herself off the bed and walked out.
***
Walking into Demetrios’ office felt strange. It hadn’t been that long since I had seen him, but it felt like so much had happened since.
“Evangeline, I am so glad you have come for a talk. What is it that is on your mind?” We sat in our usual seats, only this time Demetrios didn’t have his notepad. It wasn’t one of our usual sessions after all, just a quick visit.
“You were the first to mention Oneiroi, you seemed to know before anyone else. Why didn’t you say anything, even to Avetta?” I asked, trying not to sound accusing. His purple eyes flashed a darker colour for a moment, and he exhaled.
“Avetta was all too aware of my concerns Evangeline, it seems she didn’t take them seriously enough.” What? Well, that didn’t sound right, I thought. Why would she ignore that, had the tour been that much more important, it made little sense? “I have been, how do you say... caught up to speed? And with some research, I have concluded that the Oneiroi you have interacted with is very inexperienced. But do not underestimate Evangeline, any Oneiroi is dangerous to counter. They can warp your mind, your dreams become reality and vice versa. Tell me, have you had a visit since the last warning?” I shifted uncomfortably, not sure whether to share more information. After hearing that Avetta had been forewarned by Demetrios and had said nothing made me wary.
“No, nothing since then,” I mustered all the confidence I could in my voice, remembering he had a knack for sniffing out a lie.
“Mm, odd that he would suddenly stop reaching out to you. With his warning, he may have conflicting feelings on who’s side he is on in this war. Most peculiar,” Demetrios started muttering to himself and flicking through a book. I figured I wasn’t going to get much more information out of him and stood up to leave. “Evangeline, before you go... do not blindly trust. He may have warned you, however, that does not mean he is to be trusted. Oneiroi walk two paths. One of two gates needs to be passed through into the realm of dreams. The first, made of horn, creates prophetic dreams, in your case, memories from your past. The second, made of ivory, creates imaginary dreams. This Oneiroi visiting you is passing through neither one nor the other. He is visiting your prophetic dreams whilst bending them to his own will and imagination. This is a very dangerous insight.” Demetrios stuck his nose back in the book he was flicking through, leaving me more confused than when I had walked in. Muttering a goodbye, I left.
As I made my way across the grounds, I noticed the few new faces of the Zaruba clan wandering around aimlessly. Approaching one, I asked if he knew where Theodore was.
“Dining hall, I believe,” he replied. I said thank you and fastened my pace.
Once I reached the dining hall, I scanned the tables looking for Theodore. He was sitting with his family members and Kady. Walking over, I felt a bit nervous. I had never had to deal with so much grief in one room and didn’t know what they expected of me. Reaching the table, I politely bowed to each of them and asked if I could take a seat.
“You are more than welcome, Evangeline,” Theodore said. The usual spark in his amber eyes was missing.
“Have you all settled in ok?” I asked awkwardly. Zafira was the one to answer me.
“As well as we can. Everyone has been most accommodating,” she leaned over to pat my hand quickly and I had to fight the urge not to recoil. I hadn’t forgotten about our last encounter and still didn’t feel comfortable with her.
“As you were to us. I am so sorry this has happened to you,” I cast my eyes down, unable to look them in the eye. Guilt coursed through me.
“It is of no fault of yours, Nzuri. We made our choice. We are not warriors as I stated previously. But now we must do what is right. The loss we have experienced is great, but it will be greater if we do not make a stand.” He pulled my chin up to look at him. “None of this is your burden to carry.” I nodded and gave him a weak smile.
“Do you mind if I steal Kady for the rest of the day? We will be training but I promise I will keep her safe,” I glanced at Kady who was teetering on the edge of her seat.
“Of course, I may swing by myself if that is ok? I’m intrigued to see the progress you have made since leaving us.” A small twinkle re-emerged in his eyes.
“Not a problem. Shall we head Kady?” I held my hand out to her as I stood. She jumped off of her seat fast and ran around to me. Bowing to everyone again, we left.
Once we were outside, I bent down to Kady and told her to give me a minute, then reached out to the girls.
Hey ladies, where are we training?
Back of the main building, edge of the forest. We are here now with... well... everyone, Rose replied.
Ok, be there in five. I switched off, took Kady’s hand again and headed for the other side of the building.
Once we turned the corner, we could see that everyone had congregated at the forest edge. Kady’s face lit up when she saw Adam. I let go of her hand and nodded for her to go to him. I laughed as she ran wildly toward him with such innocence.
Pearce was the first to disband from the group and meet me halfway.
“How was your chat with Demetrios?”
“Learned a couple of things, but mostly ominous. Everyone’s always telling me not to trust someone,” I told him.
“Yeah, it’s certainly getting that way, we can talk later, the others are ready.”
We wandered over to the group, who were dispersing off to different sections. Leaving me and the girls.
“What shall we work on?” I asked them.
“We thought we could work on us uniting our gifts to strengthen each other,” Rose said sheepishly.
“We’ve managed only just to strengthen one. What if we could strengthen each other without siphoning our energy?” Sandra said excitedly. She had obviously put a lot of thought into this.
“Right let’s get to it then.” Energy surged through the air as everyone started their own forms of training. Our guardians were using a mixture of combat and their elements. Taylor was using his magic with Darryl, it looked like they were doing a catch with magic, kill by wolf routine. Adam had taken Kady over to the forest and they were both perched on a log and watching.
Taking both the girl’s hands we walked into the centre, I had an idea of what we could try but whether or not it would work only the Gods knew.
“If I surround us with fire, Rose, could you use your air to propel it around us?” I asked her.
“I could try,” she replied.
“And Sandra, your water is needed to cool the fire that will directly surround us, that would remove the heat and the two of you shouldn’t burn. Think you’ve got that?”
“Girl, I got this,” she smirked at me and took up a firm stance.
“This is an enormous task to start with Evvy, are you sure it’s safe?” Rose faltered and pulled her hand back.
“Only one way to find out, we won’t know unless we try. Let’s open the bond and start there.” I reached out my hand to her again and hesitantly she took it.
Opening up the bond, I closed my eyes and focused on their energy. Once I had homed in on them, I focused on the flow of energy between us all, gentle as a stream. Not giving or taking more than was necessary. Once we established our connection, I let go of their hands and called for my fire. It started off as small flickering flames in my palms. Concentrating, I spread it out. Wisps reached toward bot
h the girls who flinched slightly at the close contact.
Relax, this will work. Place your hands on my shoulders and keep our connection.
I felt them comply and pushed my fire even further. Tendrils stretched and danced around us. Once we were completely surrounded, I held it steady.
Sandra, Rose, you’re up.
I felt their concentration through our bond. Sandra’s water was gentle, dousing the tendrils that were escaping toward us rather than out of the way. Rose was successfully pushing the fire even further than I could with her air. Without reason, everything stopped, our elements dissipating before us.
“What the hell?” I looked around, trying to find the source of the disruption, but nothing stood out. I caught Theodore clapping and holding his thumbs up next to Kady who was jumping up and down.
“Bravo! Bravo, again please,” He was shouting.
“What happened?” I asked the girls. They both shrugged. “Ready to go again? I think we have got this,” I smiled at them.
“Sure we do,” Sandra replied smugly. Rose nodded.
Getting back into position, we went through the same steps again. Once the fire engulfed us the second time, I focused more on keeping it steady and less on the transference of energy. I rose it higher than I had before, forming a wall of crackling flames around us. Sandra had mastered the heat control with her water. Now we were only waiting on Rose to propel it outward.
All of a sudden, an energy filled the air that didn’t belong to any of us. I dropped the wall of fire and felt ice run down my spine. A momentary flashback of the last time I had felt that sprung into my mind. My eyes went wide with fear and I turned toward the forest.
“Kady! Run!” I screamed. She went pale and froze, staring back at me wide eyed. Adam had already changed into his wolf and was the closest, other than Theodore, to her. “Adam, get her back,” I screamed again, hoping he understood me. It didn’t matter if he never, Theodore jumped into action and threw Kady onto Adam’s back. As soon as she was positioned and gripping his fur tight, he took off at a run toward the academy. Theodore, unnaturally fast, was a green blur and standing beside me within a second.
“What can I do, Nzuri?” His voice held panic but was steady.
“Raise your siren alarm thing. They’re here, Theodore.” Just as I spoke the words, portals opened up before us.
The guardians were the first to jump into action, catapulting their elements at anyone who was trying to step through the portals. There were too many of them and too few of us. A shimmer rippled in the portal closest to me. For a second I couldn’t move, and fear surged through me. Come on Evangeline, there are children here, you’ve trained for this, I told myself.
A moment later a man appeared, stepping through the portal. Without thinking, I called to my fire and threw a blast of it in his direction. It hit him square in the chest, sending him flying back into the portal.
Girls, do you want to help me over here? Another one is appearing. I yelled through the bond. I couldn’t look around to see what everyone else was doing. I had to focus on keeping whatever was on the other side of these portals back. Throwing another ball of flames at the next person stepping through, I widened my stance to ground myself.
Girls? I tried again.
Bit busy.
Sorry, can’t.
Damn it. I felt a presence beside me and swung around with my fire ready. Theodore had green wisps of his magic flowing from his hands, ready to fight beside me. Turning back I faced the portals again, no more had appeared yet but still the two opposite us remained open.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Theodore.
“It is time to make a stand,” he murmured back as his magic spun through the air toward the second portal.
Time and time again we launched everything we had at the portals. My brows were dripping with sweat, but still I pushed on. So far we were successful at keeping them at bay. That was until I heard a commotion from behind us and quickly glanced over my shoulder to see that three had broken through a portal that had opened much closer to the academy, in a spot that no one had been defending. Another glance forward and I spotted guardians emerging from the trees. On a whim, I shouted to the only one that I recognised, LJ.
“Help Theodore.”
Tailing back around, I took off at a sprint for the three who were gaining ground on the academy. Throwing flames at them, I was narrowly missing. I couldn’t aim and run at the same time. Frustration coursed through me. Think, Evangeline, think. With as much concentration as I could muster, I summoned an enormous mass of fire and threw it past them. It ignited the grass infront of them. They drew short only two feet away from it. I pulled it up, raising it higher. All three turned on me at the same time. Nasty glints in their eyes. Taking up a wide and steady stance, I readied myself for their attack.
All three charged me at the same time, but none used magic. I noticed belts around their waists, holding what looked like grenades. They were going to blow up the entire building. By the time I had come to that realisation, one was on top of me. I blocked his punch with my left arm and grabbed his wrist with the other. Twisting it, I crouched my body underneath him and rolled him over my back, throwing him to the floor. I didn’t have much recovery time before the next was on me. He landed a swift sidekick to my ribs. Doubled over, I heaved as pain radiated through my core. I lit fire in my palms and threw it toward him, giving me time to recover. But the third had caught up now as well, and the first was getting to his feet. There was no way I could take on all three. With no plan, I took off at a run back to where the others were still fighting.
Darryl’s wolf bound towards me and I ducked as he soared over my head. Taking out my closest attacker. But that still left two, and everyone looked occupied. Everyone except Pearce, who was sprinting toward me.
“Keep running, Evangeline,” he shouted as he past me. No chance, I can still fight.
Whipping back around, I saw him collide with the second guy. They both bounced back up and started circling each other. The third was hot on their trails. Raising my arms, I winced as pain shot through my ribs. Maybe not then. If I ran fast enough, I could tackle the last guy before he meets them. Deciding that was my best course of action, I put it into play. But he anticipated my move and swept my feet from under me before I could tackle him. He had me pinned down under one arm and was landing blow after blow to my stomach. I screamed in agony when his fist connected with my cheek. Writhing underneath him, I tried to break free when I felt his energy. He was changing right before my eyes. But I couldn’t tell what animal it was. Only half of his face had turned. His canines were growing longer, and he started snapping and snarling at me only inches away. I was struggling to hold him back; I felt his teeth scrape down the same side of my face he had punched. It burned. A pain I had never experienced ripped across my face. The scream that escaped me would have awoken the Gods. Then he was torn away from me and flying through the air. I watched as Darryl’s wolf met his body mid-air and flung him about in his jaws until I heard a snap of bones. Looking away, I winced. The pain was unbearable. Pearce held his hand out to me and brushed his knuckles over my face. Ripping a part of his t-shirt off, he held it up to my cheek. When he pulled it back, I saw the white fabric soaked in my blood. My mind was fogging, and I was losing sight of him standing in front of me. Darkness swept in and took away all of my senses.
***
“You got her here fast, the venom didn’t spread, thankfully,” I heard someone whispering near me. My eyes fluttered open, and it was only then that I noticed the pain that was tearing through my face and ribs. Sputtering, I waited for my eyes to adjust before I sat up.
“Evangeline, don’t try to move, you need to rest.” Pearce laid me back down.
“Where is everyone? Is the academy safe?” I croaked and closed my eyes again. Holding a hand up to my face, I gently felt the swollen lump that had formed just under my eye.
“Everyone is ok, minor injuries. Our defence was su
ccessful. Don’t worry about that right now. Go back to sleep, you need to rest.”
“I can’t.”
“Evangeline, the healers still need to work on your ribs and face. Trust me when I say you do not want to be awake for that.”
I huffed in response, but I also couldn’t deny the fatigue that laced me. The pain in my body wasn’t as excruciating as it had first been, but it was still bad. Particularly my face.
“Alright then, can they give me something to help me?” There was no way I could fall asleep peacefully.
“Sure, I’ll get them to put something in your drip. I’ll be right here when you wake.”
I kept my eyes closed and blocked out the sounds around me. What felt like hours later, a calm wave washed over me. Eliminating the pain bit by bit. Seconds after that, darkness took its hold on me, again.
***
It isn’t over.
The words kept repeating in my mind. Was that Pearce? But I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything.
“Wake up, little siren,” a whisper reached me.
My eyes flew open. The scent of scrambled eggs hit me hard, making me heave. Bolting upright, I looked around.
“What isn’t over? How long was I out?” I asked Pearce.
“Shh, it’s all over, don’t worry. You were out long enough for the healers to do their best with the few rounds they could spare. It’s morning.”
My hand flew up to my face. There was no longer a massive protruding lump there, but it still felt a bit tender.
“How bad is it?” I groaned.
“Where the teeth penetrated the skin is quite bruised. But nothing that won’t heal in time. How are your ribs?”
I shuffled and twisted. Nothing felt broken or even bruised.
“They’re fine. Why was my face so bad?” I looked at him properly. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked weathered.
“Certain species have a venom in their saliva. Similar to that of an Inland Taipan snake. It can be fatal if not treated immediately. Luckily, you only had surface wounds, the venom didn’t have time to spread.”