In Pursuit of Light

by Sarah B Meadows

  Rolland moves around so he can see Kia’s face. “Trust isn’t easy when you’ve been through what you have, but you have my word that it’s gone, and Jack is here if it comes back. Just drop the shield so I can take the pain away and if you want to put it back up, then you can do so with all of us in it.” His chiseled face is hard with concentration, like he’s trying to solve a puzzle. His usual warm beige skin tone has faded around his face and there is a ghost of a shadow under his tired lobelia blue eyes.

  Her hold on the shield finally drops completely and I lower it, drawing the energy back. Rolland moves forward faster than someone of his size should be able to and plucks her swiftly, yet gently, out of my arms. I run my eyes over his face and I swear I can see his eyes glistening. I watched as Kia’s breath evens out and begins to calm down as Rolland strokes her hair and kisses her temple before running his hand down her arms and along her back softly.

  I look over to Jack and Seb who seem to be having a silent conversation, even though I know Jack can’t speak through any of our minds telepathically.

  “She’s too weak, Jack, and I’m not doing it so soon after she was attacked," Seb insists as he mirrors Jack’s stance. What the hell? Have they changed roles or something? And why doesn’t Seb want to heal her? I stand up and move closer to them, wondering what the hell is going on.

  “Someone needs to start talking,” I demand, looking at Jack first, though why I do, I haven’t a clue. It’s like pulling blood from a stone. I turn to Seb, but he just rubs a hand over his face and looks up at the ceiling. “Seriously, one of you needs to explain some of this.” Why are they both acting so weird?

  “Which part, Matt?” Seb grinds out with frustration as he looks me square in the eye. His chocolate orbs glare at me as though he’s on his last ounce of patience. “If you want me to explain why you couldn’t drop your shield, then ask Jack. If you want to know why I won’t heal her, then to put it simply,” he pauses as he takes a visible breath and gives a quick glance over at Kia, “I’d rather not trigger another flashback to a memory that was most likely a result of the thing that was just here!”

  Crap, they weren’t just nightmares, they were all real. Something must have given my thoughts away because Seb’s face becomes questioning. Bugger.

  “What?” Seb asks tightly as he straightens his body out. I turn away, hoping to avoid his questions a little longer. “What was that, Matt? What was that look?” he asserts with a steely tone. No such luck apparently. Screwing my eyes shut and hoping to go unnoticed, I take a step toward the door, but my path is blocked by a hand and I feel a zap of Seb’s hot energy shoot through my chest.

  “OW! What the hell, Seb!” I hunch over, rubbing my chest. I hear movement, followed by a grunt from Rolland who is still sitting on the floor to my right. Remaining hunched over, I open my eyes to see Kia trying to get up out of Rolland’s lap to come to me.

  “Woah, whoa, sweetheart, he’s fine. He just needs to start talking before Sebastian zaps his brain and renders him useless for the rest of his days.”

  “ROLLAND!” Seb shouts. Kia tries even harder to get up.

  “I’m joking, Kia, joking, joking, I’m sorry. He’s not going to do anything to him… much,” Rolland placates. Seb lets out a frustrated breath and my head feels like it’s going to explode. Kia looks at me as though she wants to comfort me but settles back into Rolland’s arms again.

  “Start talking.” This comes from Jack this time. Darn, I forgot he was in the room. My chest returns back to normal and I straighten up to find all the guys waiting expectantly. Oh man, that door is looking really inviting just now. As is if reading my thoughts, Jack steps in front of the door, blocking my path entirely. “Start talking, Matt, or I will make you.” His steely voice remains flat as always, but his tone has an air of authority to it. Idiot.

  I take another glance at Kia, but she looks away and hides her face in Rolland’s neck. Not going to get much help there, it seems. Turning my back on Jack, I walk over to the window and try to think of the best way to put it all into words. Rubbing my hand over the back of my neck, I try to ease some of the tension I can feel building there. My glasses slip slightly, so I push them up with my finger as I turn back to face Seb and Jack. Rolland still hasn’t moved from the floor on the other side of the bed, but I can see his head as he looks over at me. His honey-blonde hair doesn’t look like it’s been brushed, but that doesn’t detract from the prince charming appearance that never seems to leave him.

  “About seven months ago, I started having nightmares and in each of them, I saw her… Kia. The first few times I couldn’t remember much of them, but I would wake up in a cold sweat with the deep need to find her,” I start. Jacks eyes close, and his jaw tightens. Slightly confused by his reaction, I continue. “In every dream, I would see her being-” The words seem to get stuck in my throat as images flash across my vision and I feel sick to the deepest parts of my soul. Guilt riddles me for not speaking up sooner and my eyes begin to burn. The need to escape the room overwhelms me and I take a step in the direction of the door, but Seb moves in front of me. His eyes are wild, and his dark features make him look even deadlier as he glares at me. I turn away from him to find Kia trying to pull herself out of Rolland's arms once again.

  This time he lets her go as he stands up with her, supporting her weight fully, so her feet aren’t touching the floor. He steps closer to me, bringing Kia within reaching distance. Her eyes remind me of the sea at night, reflecting the stars in the night sky. They’re swirling steadily, and I feel as though they’re tugging at my soul.

  Guilt for not getting her out faster moves through my chest and I draw away from her gaze to look down at my feet.

  A small hand pulls at my head and I feel energy slipping down my neck. I can tell it’s the same energy that was being used to control my shield earlier, but there’s something different about it now. The feeling is similar to how I feel when I relax into Seb’s crystal pool, but stronger. Energy travels deeper down my neck and shoulders, easing the tightness that's formed in my chest from all the guilt. My head is encouraged up and I find Kia’s sapphire eyes swirling slowly. All I want to do is lose myself in them.

  Kia pulls me closer, wrapping both of her small arms around my neck. Her energy travels deeper and lower into my belly, as though she’s trying to soothe the guilt away. I close my eyes and fold my arms around her gently but find Rolland is still holding her against his chest. Carefully, he eases her into my arms so that I’m now fully supporting her weight, but he keeps a hand on her lower back.

  My eyes begin to sting from the relief and overwhelming emotions of having her in my arms. A tear tracks down my left cheek and I bury my head deeper into her right shoulder, breathing her in. She smells like the forest after it’s been raining - fresh and clean with the undertone of damp wood. More energy trickles through me, soothing the tension etched within my heart before her head moves, followed by her lips on my cheek.

  As I look back at her, I see her eyes flick over my face. Small specs of silver appear within the pools of her eyes and I watch them swirl within their depths. They’re incredible. Kia’s eyes catch on my lips and her head inches forward a fraction.

  “Nope,” I hear, as she’s pulled away from me. “Not now, Kia, that's not happening right now,” Rolland’s voice warns. Her brow furrows but her energy lingers deep within me as Rolland plucks her gently from my arms and back into his. “Later maybe, but not just now. We need to hear him out, which isn’t going to happen with his mouth otherwise occupied,” he reprimands softly as he takes her over to the bed. Kia’s face is full of frustration.

  I look over at Seb and Jack, who are both watching Kia with curious eyes. Not sure as to what the big puzzle is, I turn away from them to walk back over to the window. Looking out over the open grounds that surround us, I see the sun is just coming up, reflecting its colours onto the lake that is to the right of the house. Seb’s window opens out onto the side gardens that are enclo
sed by old oak trees as well as beech and sycamores. I can just hear some of the early birds starting their morning songs and it helps to ease some of the anxiety still crawling its way through me.

  Taking a deep breath, I try to find the words to describe all that I’ve seen happen over the last several months. “In each nightmare…” can’t call them nightmares if they are real, “whatever you want to call them, I would see Kia getting tortured, abused, forced to endure things that I didn’t think were even imaginable.” Images flash across my eyes of a man force feeding Kia some kind of liquid, then her being drained of her energy and injected with black fluid. Sometimes she would spew it up and other times she would pass out straight away.

  Nausea begins to bubble up, so I take a steadying breath to calm myself and close my eyes, trying to bring my focus back on the singing of the birds outside. “I couldn’t move or speak to her and there were beings in the visions that, according to the information I found on them, aren’t from here. Beings aren’t even the right name for them, they're more like creatures, part lizard and part humanoid. The lizard-like thing was the worst, but I only saw it once.” I hope for everyone’s sake that my information on that thing is wrong. “There was another thing, a creature that would return to her repeatedly. That thing that was just here looked damn close to it, but it was more solid than it had been in any of the visions. Whatever it was, it always left her weaker than when it first entered.”

  I take my glasses off, wiping them on the lower part of my shirt, more to give my hands something to do than anything. “On a few occasions, I would get a glimpse of their location, but I had a hard time figuring out where it was. When I did finally find it, I went to check it out but there was nothing there. The buildings and places were just as I had seen them in the dream, but there was no evidence or trace of anyone having been there.”

  I inhale deeply as I prepare myself to tell them the rest. Placing my glasses back on, I turn around to face them all. “The mission last month that I had no intel on was based on a hunch. I saw a landmark that I knew, and I felt like I just had to go, to see if it was all in my head.” I watch Seb’s face screw up in concentration as it finally dawns on him which mission I’m referring to.

  “Paris? Are you talking about Paris?” Seb asks incredulously as he folds his arms over his chest.

  “Yep. I couldn’t wait for you all to agree on the logistics, so I just went myself.”

  Seb runs a hand through his ebony hair and looks up at the ceiling. “Matt, you should have told us. One of us would have come with you without question,” he stresses as he lets out a heavy sigh.

  “And what would I have said, Seb?!” I seethe. Frustration leaks into my voice as I struggle to keep calm. “Oh, hey guys, I’m going to Paris on a hunch based on a series of nightmares. Do you wanna tag along?” I let out a breath in irritation.

  “You would never have agreed to it, Seb. Not without getting more information on the layout of the grounds and then asking a hundred questions. I didn’t think you would have believed me. Hell, I didn’t believe it myself until I walked in and saw her just ten minutes ago!” I rant. My voice has risen and all I want to do is get out of the room, preferably with Kia in my arms, but that’s not going to happen.

  I look over at her to see she’s fallen asleep and her brow is slightly wrinkled, as though she’s uncomfortable. Rolland catches my eyes and I see him make a ‘keep it quiet’ gesture. He runs a hand over her head and down her arms, drawing her further into his solid chest.

  I turn my gaze back over to Jack and Seb, wanting to finish up the conversation as quickly as possible. “The last dream I had of her wasn’t far from where you found her. I don’t know why, but something told me they knew I was tracing them and that they were going to move. So, I looked for the next nearest abandoned building and found that crumbling heap of stones. When I got there, it was total mayhem. Brad told me to stay in the chopper, while he made a diversion round front, and Jack disappeared once we got within five miles. You both took off before I could even say anything. I was left torn between keeping the craft secure and taking off in search of her. My gut was twisting so much, I was nearly about to abandon the chopper. Then Rolland came walking back and my chance was gone.”

  I look again at Kia and take in her small form curled into Rolland. Possessiveness settles in my chest and my arms feel heavy with the need to pull her into them.

  Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I use Jack and Seb’s silence as an excuse to leave. I make my way toward the door without looking at either of them, but I only get a few paces before Seb’s hand shoots out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. I let out a breath of annoyance and look down at the floor.

  “Matt, don’t be so hard on yourself. I understand why you didn’t speak up, but don’t hold back next time, no matter how stupid or crazy it sounds or feels. Just promise to speak to one of us.” Seb’s words lift some of the weight resting heavily on my mind. I look up to see compassion and understanding in his intense, deep-set eyes. I nod in response and he moves his hand away so that I can leave. Making my way back to the kitchen, I pick up the water bottle I dropped earlier as my thoughts return to Kia and the energy - her energy - that still lingers deep within me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jack

  Matt’s words are still bouncing around in my head. Seven months. Kia has been mind sharing with him for seven long months. How long has she actually been here?

  Seeing a Gjinn, as humans call them, was not expected. The possibility that she has a Draconian looking for her is another matter altogether. A Gjinn can be dealt with, but a Draconian… even I do not have the ability to take one on alone. Gjinn’s can be warded off by certain stones, of which I only have a few. The couple I do have we could use to ward Sebastian’s room, but it is uncertain how long they will hold.

  I need to speak to Kia but Sebastian is right, I cannot push her. Her mind needs respite and her body needs more time to rejuvenate. I look over at her and I can tell she is not sleeping, although I am sure Rolland believes she is. She may be resting her eyes perhaps, but she will not rest her mind, not now. It will take her several hours to calm down after seeing the Gjinn.

  I move over and sit on the bed which presses in under my weight. Turning so that I face Kia, I use my home tongue in the hope that I can ease her with some comforting words. “Kia, I need to speak to you.” Kia turns further into Rolland’s side. Her obvious dismissal hurts. “Kia, please, my angel, I need you to listen to me.” She raises an arm to cover her head.

  “Rolland, I will be back in a few minutes with some stones to ward the room. The creature that was here is known as a Gjinn, but it goes by many different names. I have weakened it enough that it will not return for at least a day or two. I will explain more to Sebastian, which he can pass on to you through your connection. Speaking about it around Kia right now is not going to alleviate her fear.” I take another look at Kia before I stand, then head for the door.

  “Sebastian, if you would help me carry a few stones, I would be very grateful.”

  Walking through the house toward the other side of the building, my mind returns to Matt and why he did not speak up sooner. Perhaps my own lack of disclosure is partly to blame.

  “Jack, I know we don’t see eye to eye on pretty much everything, but-” Sebastian says, pausing as we arrive at my door. It suddenly occurs to me that none of them have ever stepped into my section of the house. I turn to him fully, so we are face to face, almost eye level. Sebastian is a few inches shorter than I am, but his frame is slightly broader in the chest.

  “For Kia’s sake, I wish to start afresh and try to build more trust between us. I know you have never lied, but something holds you back from speaking openly with me, or with any of us for that matter,” he finishes. His words are full of sincerity as his mahogany eyes remain steady on mine. They remind me so much of his forefathers in Grandor, with whom I spent many cycles. They were some of the most rational and l
ogical beings I ever met and all of them had varied abilities in healing and the ability to mask themselves in the shadows. Sebastian’s skill in transferring pain from one being to another, like he did to Matt, is not common amongst his people, but rather a result of his hereditary bloodline. In regard to their physical appearance, they are similar to the Persian’s of Gaia. Most of them have silky, very dark brown or ebony hair, medium skin tone and dark, exotic features.

  Opening my door, I gesture him into my room. He hesitates but continues through, then abruptly stops in his tracks. I wait a moment, but he still does not move.

  “Sebastian, if you could move over just a little so I can shut the door, I would be very appreciative,” I request. He edges slowly to the right which gives me enough room to close the door.

  This is where I feel most relaxed and at peace. Large arched windows look out onto the east side of the gardens, letting in the summer light. The cream coloured walls are broken up by the many ‘fantasy’ paintings, as humans call them, breaking up my cream walls. Wide steps lead up to a separate chamber that I use as my sleeping quarters when I am in need of them. The large black and white marble table which sits in the centre of the main room is used when I am breaking up large crystals. Shelves line the walls and are full of stones, gems and crystals that I have collected from across Gaia. Some are a lot larger than others, but most would fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. Those I brought back from my homeland are kept separately in the room above this one. There is more light up there, which keeps them energised for slightly longer after being used.

  The stones required for keeping the Gjinn away come from the Donegal Mountain in Ireland where I shall need to return to soon to find more. Taking two from the shelf, I pass them to Sebastian as his eyes continue to feast on everything in the room.