by Oxford, Rain
As quickly as the bedroom had appeared, natural daylight flooded the room. The bedroom door opened and a man walked in, not loudly enough to wake the still-sleeping couple. His ring matched the victim’s.
“Aurora,” he called, his voice broken.
I focused on his face. It was weathered, but not to the point of being unattractive. Although his Roman nose and angular jaw made him appear almost angry, the puffiness and redness of his eyes told me a different story.
The couple on the bed woke with a start and sprang from the bed, shock turning to matching embarrassment and horror as they spotted the wronged husband.
“Jason… I’m…” Aurora struggled to speak.
Her eyes clearly betrayed the thoughts racing behind them as she tried to think of a lie to get her out of trouble. There was no guilt.
“Aurora, please don’t. I can’t take it right now.”
“How did you…?” she asked, breathlessly.
“Emmy told me you were here with Mark. I knew for a long time you were cheating on me, I just didn’t think it was with my friend.” Mark avoided his friend’s gaze.
“Then why aren’t you upset?” Aurora asked.
“I am. But I also know this is partially my fault because I’ve been spending so much time at work. I know I’ve been neglecting you. I’m going to fix that. I already filed the paperwork at work and booked the tickets for a surprise second honeymoon. I asked Emmy to make sure you made it home on time tonight so I could take you to a romantic dinner, during which she would pack our bags. That’s when she told me where you were.”
The room melted around me and I thought it was completely black. After a few minutes, however, a candle was lit, which was used to light five more.
Aurora was now in a circle with four other women. The room was darkened with black walls whereas the floor was hardwood with magic symbols carved all over. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, the woman joined hands to form a circle.
As soon as they began chanting, I heard static and the scene broke up. When it finally reformed, a demon stood before them. He was not an Ancient, but he was powerful enough.
“What have you called me here for?”
“I want you to kill my husband. I love someone else and he’s not letting me go. I can’t stand to be married to him for another day.”
“And what do you offer me?”
Aurora frowned and her friends looked frightened. “I offer his soul.”
“Unless he is your child, you cannot offer his soul.”
“I’m pregnant. I can offer you the baby right now. Then you will kill my husband?”
The demon growled at her. “Even I have scruples, woman. Call me again the moment the child is born. It must be a living and healthy child.”
Once again, the vision melted, only to reform in the same room. The women were all wearing different clothes while Aurora held a bundle wrapped in pink blankets. I wanted so desperately to go to her and take the baby, to protect it from the horrors that were to come… but I couldn’t. This was a vision of what had already occurred.
The demon appeared is smoke, which quickly dissipated. “Hand her to me,” he said briskly. Aurora handed off her baby as if it were an inanimate object. The demon, however, cradled the child carefully. “She is healthy. I see you took good care of her.”
“You said she had to be healthy. Now, hold up your end of the deal. I want Jason dead.”
“You are a fool,” the demon snarled at her. When she gaped, he snapped his fingers. Right in front of her baby and all her friends, her heart exploded from her chest, painting the room in her blood.
The women screamed and ran from the room right as the witch hunter appeared beside the demon, who rocked the quiet infant soothingly. “Go after the rest of them.”
“What are you going to do with that?” the witch hunter asked.
“I will get her back to her father.”
* * *
I woke staring straight up at the ceiling. I realized slowly that Edward and Abigail kneeled on either side of me.
“Are you okay?” Edward asked.
I nodded, sitting up, and twisted back to look up at the woman on the table. “She deserved what she got. Let’s go. If I have to look at her again, I might just choose to support the demons over the humans.”
Chapter 3
Hail
I would never have done anything to hurt my brother. Even when the darkness was more in control than my brother, I was close by. The problem was that I could never lie to him, not even about what I wanted.
Ron liked Vretial and had already made up his mind where he wanted to be. He tried to hide it from me, but we could hear each other’s thoughts. He wanted us to be the Noquodi of Raktusha. The problem was that I hated Vretial. He helped us so many times, helped me to understand my visions, yet something about him drove me nuts. That was why I wanted to create the same magic Ron was using in order to protect his mind. Still, Vretial was able to talk to us, because Ron let him.
Ron didn’t have the same morals as Dad did; my brother was more like his mother. He was perfectly happy lying and keeping secrets when he thought it was to protect me, just like our mother did to our father. I just wanted the truth. Nevertheless, I stayed for the same reason my dad stayed with his mate; I loved Ron. He was my little brother. I was there from the moment he was born and I would be there for him until the end.
I just needed a break. Keeping my opinion private was very difficult. Ron was used to demanding the attention of the room and always assumed I would agree with him. If I could keep him from sensing my discontent, it was all the encouragement he needed to go full steam ahead with whatever he wanted.
Unfortunately, he did get something other than his looks from our dad; if there was even a hint of mystery, he went at it like a dog with a bone. He could also think his way out of any situation. He could even predict the moves of people before they knew they were being played. As close as we were, as well as he knew me, I didn’t stand a chance.
Therefore, when I met Sari, a sweet girl who was not really any more interested in me than I was in her, we made good friends. She offered me a place to get away from my family and I managed to keep Ron from eating her entrails. It helped that she had no power whatsoever and never had an unkind thought for anyone; she was no threat to the balance.
I planned to spend the few days I had away from Ron to figure out a way to change his mind without him knowing I was involved. I just wasn’t very good at being deceitful. Oh, I could be plenty stubborn, pushy, and vengeful, but that wasn’t the way to handle my brother. I had to come up with something, because really didn’t want to be Guardian of Raktusha.
What made the decision difficult for me was that Avoli only wanted me as his Guardian of Lore, not my brother. Avoli was afraid of Ron because my brother was too much like our parents. Vretial wanted us both. I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t and I knew I would give in to what Ron wanted.
“Do you want some salt?” Sari asked. I looked at her over my book. She was a gorgeous young woman with long strawberry blond hair pulled back in a strap and light green eyes. Her shirt was fitted, the same light green as her eyes, and her black pants fit snug on her hips.
“Why would I want salt?” We weren’t eating or anything; I was lying on her bed, reading one of her fairy tale books while she sat on the floor, working on her computer. She was a writer and historical interpreter… not at the same time; she wrote fiction novels.
Her room was littered with bookshelves full of books she wrote or interpreted. What little wall space that was left consisted of ancient maps and framed letters from people long dead. The floor was made of a sort of foam-wood, which was very common to Duran. It was strong as hardwood, water-resistant, and slightly flexible. The bed I laid on was soft and low to the ground with light green sheets and a blue blanket.
Sari got off the floor and left the room for a moment before returning with a small jar of salt. “You were clinchin
g your teeth. That will cause irreversible damage,” she explained.
“How would salt help?” I asked, not seeing her logic.
She patted my cheek until I opened my mouth, then she sprinkled a little of the salt on my tongue. Having eaten nothing yet that day, the salt woke my taste buds in the worst way. I held out my tongue and scrunched up my face. I couldn’t even say anything because I didn’t want my tongue in my mouth.
Sari laughed. “See? You cannot clinch your teeth like that.”
I glared at her as she handed me a napkin to wipe the un-dissolved salt off my tongue. Once I could speak, I really had nothing to say.
She sat beside me. “Is it Ron?”
“Isn’t it always?”
“Does it bother you to be here with me knowing that he dislikes me?” she asked. Sari had met my family only twice, and both times Ron not only dominated the attention, but was extremely rude to her.
“Actually, he doesn’t dislike you. When you’re not around, he is very civil about you. He doesn’t mock you like he does most people.”
She laughed. “It’s just to my face that he has a problem.”
“Yes, but that’s with anyone. And there are two sides to Ron. There’s the sweet, quiet boy he was when he was little, and there is… well… the one you met. But despite the things he does and says, he really just wants to know that he is loved and isn’t about to be abandoned.”
Ron said things he didn’t mean and acted outlandish to divert attention, usually away from me. He constantly worried about my safety and my visions. I knew he really cared about my opinion, like in the matter with the Raktusha and Lore, but he never really asked for it. He always assumed I would agree with him. I didn’t tell him that I wanted to choose Lore, because that would leave Ron out of being Noquodi.
“Do you want something to eat?” Sari asked. I nodded. She patted my arm and left for the kitchen.
Sari’s father had died a few years before, so she was being raised by her mother. Luckily, the woman adored me. When she had to leave for work for several days, she had no problem at all with me staying with her daughter. Honestly, there was too much trust in Anoshii. If this were Shomodii, there would be a father sitting on the porch with a shot gun… even if it wasn’t the girl’s father.
My headache came on quick; a telltale sign that I would have a vision soon. Even though Sari was aware that I was a seer, I wanted to give her a heads up before it happened.
It occurred to me that Sari was taking too long about the same I realized it was too quiet. Ron always made a lot of noise in the kitchen. I got up and went to the door. There was no sound. “Sari?” I called. It was uncomfortably familiar to be calling her given name without her title, but we always kept up the pretense of being a couple. Of course, I called people of Earth by their first names…
There was no answer, so I walked down the short hall, checking the empty bathroom as I made my way to the kitchen. The closer I got to the kitchen, the more my head pounded. I couldn’t push this one off.
When I saw Sari, my vision was the least of my worries; Sari was unconscious on the floor. I ran to her side, knelt, and checked her neck for a pulse. It was strong, and when I put my fingers in front of her nose, I could feel her breathing. I turned her over, but there was no sign that she would be coming around any time soon. There was no blood or bruising, either.
Summoning my Iadnah energy, I scanned for any injury or clue as to what could have caused her to faint. Instead of a mental image of ruptured blood vessels or broken bones, lethargy flooded my system. It was my only excuse for not reacting quicker when I felt the sharp sting in my right shoulder. Even as my limbs became limp, I managed to halfway turn to look behind me before something heavy and hard came down on my head.
* * *
It was my nightmare again. I would never admit to it being a vision, even though it became clearer and more vision-like every time I saw it. When I first saw my uncle kill my father, it was very foggy and confusing. The worst part about it was that even though Ron saw it too, I couldn’t sense him.
Mordon and my father stood facing each other, both of them with a resigned expression. Mordon had blood all over his front, his claws were out, and his chest heaved as he panted… It looked like he had been in a battle. Mordon raised his black-bladed sword just a little.
The sword made with the legendary azurath metal actually belonged to my father, but since Mordon was his brother, his balance, he was the only semi-mortal in the universe able to wield it. My dad was not one for swords. He usually came up with the plan and used the magic, but when he needed strength, Mordon was there for him.
My father stood still and remained calm as his brother slid the blade into his chest. Blood blossomed over my dad’s blue t-shirt. The vision faded.
I couldn’t smell anything or hear anything. My visions always came with clues as to how to stop it from coming true, but I couldn’t figure it out. That was more Ron’s area; I would have a vision and he would come up with a plan to let it happen or stop it. In the five years that I have been enduring this nightmare, hiding it from our parents and Mordon, we never came up with a plan or even figured out why I saw Mordon killing his brother.
* * *
My entire body hurt. I felt like Ron looked when he tried to work out. I think every single muscle in my body hurt, including those I didn’t know could hurt. I tried to send my magic out in a pulse to check my surroundings… but it didn’t respond. My Iadnah energy felt sluggish and confused.
I rolled over onto my back, slowly and carefully, but kept my eyes closed. “Ron? Can you hear me?”
No answer. We were able to communicate pretty much on opposite ends of the world, so the fact that he couldn’t hear me meant one of us was no longer on Duran. Since it would have been impossible for a mortal to transport me in my sleep, I had to assume it was Ron who was off world. I couldn’t feel him.
“He is awake, Kade-mas,” a woman said in Sudo. So I was at least with sago, for mas was the title for a medical doctor. I didn’t like that.
“Yatunus-tai Samhail. It is nice to meet you. How do you feel?”
I opened my eyes to find myself in little more than a cage. At least I was lying on a thin futon instead of on the metal floor. Oddly enough, the bars were made of stone, not metal. The cage was about six-by-six-by-six; a disturbing cube. The floor and ceiling were metal, but the bars looked like some kind of dark granite. Breaking out would be child’s play for a dile, even a half one like me.
“Can you hear me?” the doctor asked when I didn’t answer him. He looked at his assistant. “Can he hear me?”
The doctor was an older man, maybe in his sixties by appearance. The man’s eyes were light blue and his hair was white, cut short and styled cleanly with no facial hair. He was tall and thin with a white lab coat. If my magic was responding, I could have determined if he was a wizard, but I was drawing up blank.
The woman beside him was younger, probably about Mordon’s age. She had a computer tablet in her hand, checking it every few seconds for reference. I focused on it and heard the soft, rhythmic beeping. It was recording my vitals. I really didn’t like this.
“Physically, he is functioning fine. The drug is still in him, so he will be slow to respond and may have difficulty focusing.”
“And his magic?”
“The gordzite is doing its job.”
The doctor walked around to the side of the cage and crouched down, only a couple of feet from my face. He examined me carefully as if he were fascinated and concerned at the same time. “It’s not affecting his health?” he asked the woman.
She hesitated. “It is impossible to tell with alien substances. There are no current physical effects that I can see. However, you should come away from the bars.” The doctor stood and returned to the woman’s side. “Maybe we should come back when he is more awake,” the woman suggested.
I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but nothing came out. It took too much ene
rgy and I was too tired. Instead, I closed my eyes and fell back to sleep.
* * *
I woke again. This time, I felt like I slept too long, and also a little bit like the time Ron had dared me to drink a full cup of coffee. Dad always made his coffee strong and instead of warning me, he laughed the entire time it took me to choke it down. Mom got onto him about encouraging Ron to bully me, but the damage was done.
I opened my eyes and sat up. The doctor and woman were gone, but I could hear a soft whimpering from somewhere in the room. Outside the cage, the room looked like a basement. The floor and walls were stone, there was an overall smell of wet dirt and mold, and there was very little light. What I could see was three more cages, all with metal bars. They were flimsier than the one I was in.
The whimpering stopped just as I noticed a small lump shaking in the cage directly opposite of me. I pulled myself to my knees and crept closer to the bars. Feeling an odd sense of heat, I reached out and touched them. The stone bars were warm.
I felt like the Iadnah energy shuddered before it retreated further inside me. For the second time in my life, I was completely out of control of my energy, and I didn’t like it. While I rarely used my mortal magic before my Iadnah energy overcame it and the ability evaporated, I liked having it there, as it was much less volatile than Iadnah magic.
“Who’s there?” I asked when the whimpering started again. My voice was scratchy, but at least I was able to speak. The little lump in the cage sat up and leaned against the bars so I could see her face. It was Sari. She looked unharmed, but really scared. “Are you hurt?” I asked. She shook her head. “Do you know why we’re here? Did they say anything to you? How long have we been here?”