Fale tried to find a place in herself where magic would hide. She searched her mind, attempting to think it out. She felt warmth in her core, so she focused on her belly. She was no closer to doing it herself when she stopped to breathe deeply and let it all go. Fale was giving up, she stopped trying and melted in Keron’s hands. That was when her toes began to tingle, all her extremities began to tingle. She repeated the words Lucien was saying now and she felt an energy building in her body.
Fale felt her body get lighter, as if she were floating and her arms automatically opened, her palms still facing up. She felt, rather than saw, Lucien come to stand over her. She opened her eyes in slits to see him holding an orb between his hands made of blue light. She closed her eyes again as she felt heat begin in her shoulders. White hot streaks rushed down her arms, and when her hands got warm, she said, “Now.”
Lucien’s hand slammed the orb into Fale’s heart, and her body arched off the couch stiffly. As Keron was about to say something, Fale opened her eyes and white light shot out of her hands like rays from the sun. It was more than a flame. Fire burned like twin pillars for minutes and Fale cried out. She was afraid of herself. The rush of power surged through her like lightening. It burned every vein in her arms.
“How do I stop it?" She cried, tears streaming down her face. Keron was helpless to do anything but hold her and wipe her tears.
“You have to stop it,” Lucien said forcefully. “It’s your power. Feel it. Remember where it came from so you can call it again. Then reign it back." The flames continued to burn blue and white in rushing streams from her palms.
“I can’t,” she sobbed, closing her eyes.
“We can,” Keron said.
Fale opened her eyes to see into his sky-blue depths and said, “Please, help me.”
She could see Keron’s heart breaking; he didn’t know how to change this. His whole existence was built on fixing things and he couldn’t fix this. Keron instinctively pressed his left hand onto Fale’s heart as Lucien had done. “Look here, love. Just try.”
Fale felt the weight of Keron’s hand and focused on the sudden rush of power she’d channeled when Lucien had added his magic to hers. It had unlocked an inactive part of her spirit. She held onto the feeling of Keron as she grabbed onto the pillars of fire like rope and followed them inside her to their source. Always a master of her emotions, now her feelings were spiraling out of control. She felt a need to cry and laugh at the same time. Tears streamed down her face. Fale pulled back, calmed down, sucked the power in like she had a straw. Her stomach tightened and her body sunk back into the couch.
“It’s working, Fale,” Keron said. Fale looked at her hands to see the flames turning blue, orange and red. She continued to pull it back, imagining putting it in a box, deep within herself.
Panting heavily, Fale closed her hands. Her fists glowed yellow, but she put the flames out. “I did it,” she breathed. “I did it.”
“You did,” Lucien agreed. Keron wiped her hair from her damp forehead.
Fale lay still for several minutes. Then she asked, “So how do I know what gifts I have?”
“Those flames could do some damage as a scorching weapon, if you can learn to control them,” Keron said.
“But I mean, what makes me special?" She sat up. “I want a super- ability. Like healing or invisibility or flying.”
Lucien looked at her strangely, “You have no idea how special you are. Your other gifts, however, will be revealed to you through the Ondah.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
Lucien reached into his bag and pulled out a shallow golden dish, decorated on the outside with an assortment of jewels. It was beautiful in its antiquity. “This is the Ondah. It is used in awakening rituals. Your powers are already inside you; they simply need to be aroused. Make sure you are with your Wardsman, or someone you trust implicitly to guard you. Then, fill the disc with any clear liquid. When you examine it, the Ondah will show you your true spirit. You will know what to do.”
Fale took the Ondah from Lucien, “Thank you.”
“Practice your powers. Soon you will be able to heal on your own.”
“How do you know?”
“I have a gift of insight,” Lucien began.
“I was afraid of that,” she said.
“And the gift of healing. Give me your injured hand, Fale. You’ll be needing it." He took Fale’s right hand and it warmed comfortably. “There. I think you’re good. Now, I should go," Lucien said.
“Wait," Fale pleaded. “I know you know my gifts. Can’t you tell me something else?”
“I will tell you this, my queen, there is not much you can’t do."
My Queen?
Then Lucien stood up and walked out, leaving Fale and Keron on the couch.
“I guess he knew we needed to rest for a minute,” Fale joked.
“You okay?" Keron asked.
“Fine. I can’t tell if I want to go train or if I’m exhausted.”
“Let me see your hand.”
She placed her bandage wrapped lump in his palm and let him unwrap it. The bandages unveiled a perfect hand, Fale’s fingers long and thin, with no infection or swelling. Keron twined his fingers with hers. “You sure you need me anymore?”
“More than ever,” she said.
“How often do you think you can do that? Throw flames?”
“As much as I have to, I guess,” she said.
“I’m not ready to watch it again.”
“Don’t worry,” Fale touched his face.
“Need a nap?" he asked.
“I might, but I’d rather be with you.” She felt raw from the magic and didn’t want to be alone. She was tired, but she felt exposed and needed his strength.
Keron pulled Fale over in front of him and swung his legs up on the couch behind her. “We can do that,” he said. Wrapping his valezsan alloy arm around her, his bicep under her head, he pulled her back to him.
Fale sighed deeply. “Later, I really need to let Izzy know where I am. She’s always worried, like my little mother. I don’t know how to tell her any of this. She’ll never believe it.”
“Maybe Izzy can help you with your disguise,” Keron offered.
“You don’t like my disguise?" Fale was shocked.
“I like your disguise too much, and so will any other man who sees you in it," Keron said darkly. “It’s kinda the opposite idea of a disguise.”
“Oh really?" Fale teased, wiggling innocently against him.
“Fale, are you trying to drive me crazy? I don’t think you know what you’re doing, but I’m not a saint.”
She thought about what he said. She really didn’t know what he was talking about. She had no idea how to act sensuously with a man. She had been training at the TacTrac since she was five and working there since she moved in with Nelson. She didn’t know about anything else. She’d taken classes there until the University. Nelson had told her about how babies were made, but he didn’t tell her how good a kiss would make her feel. He’d made it sound like something so far into her future, she’d possibly never experience romance at all. Fale thought about Nelson; she missed him so badly, he’d been all she’d ever needed as a girl. He probably meant to shelter her. For many reasons, his life would have been easier, simpler, with Fale never knowing about her feelings. The unfairness of it hit her. Why hadn’t anyone told her what lived inside her? First her father, not revealing her gifts, then Nelson not giving her the full truth about love, then at fifteen Keron not giving her a chance to find out what her own feelings were. Fale wanted more. She wanted to know what she was missing.
“I’m not a saint, either," Fale said. “I’m just a girl." She took his hand and laid it on the bare skin of her stomach, to feel the delicious touch of skin on skin. She made a small sound of contentment.
Keron was stiff for a minute, then he splayed his fingers across her abdomen, only to bring his hand closed. He did it again and again, his fingertips touching h
er with infinite softness. Fale didn’t think she would, but she fell asleep to the massaging motion on her belly.
~*~
Keron wondered what had caused her to be so bold for someone as naïve as Fale. He decided to ask her later. If she was thinking he required more of her, he would have to set her straight; but if she needed more of him… the thought stirred his blood more than he thought it would.
Chapter 11
Once Fale had woken Keron, who swore he wasn’t asleep, they ate and planned to go to Izzy’s. “For all I know, Izzy’s the one who called Control when I went missing," Fale said. “I need to let her know I’m okay.”
“I know. You don’t have to explain to me, Fale.”
They disguised themselves and slinked into the city, going immediately to Izzy’s apartment. “Who’s there?" she called.
“It’s me,” Fale whispered furiously. “Open up, Iz.”
Izzy yanked the door open, “Fale!" She hugged her friend, pulling her in the door. “Oh, hey, Keron.”
“Hey Iz." He chuckled.
“It’s about time you brought my girl over here,” Izzy admonished.
Fale took a deep breath. “Actually, Izzy, I need to talk to you." She looked over to the bed. “Oh. Lisle. What are you doing here? Are we interrupting?”
Izzy snorted, laughing. “Lisle and me?" Lisle looked so guilty, Fale couldn’t help but think she was missing something.
“Lisle?” Fale prodded.
“She made me, Fale. I’m sorry. I told her everything. I told you I can’t lie to Izzy.”
“Yeah,” Izzy said. “About that…”
“I never told him to lie to you, Iz. Just to give me a couple of days.”
“Well, princess,” Izzy put her hands on her hips, “it was sucky of you. As well as keeping all this a secret from me. Didn’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do, Iz. It’s so crazy. Would you have believed me?”
“Probably not. Until Nelson went missing and Control came looking for you. I’m not sure I really believe all of it yet. How are you out here in public?”
Fale held up her wristband, “Meet Bryla Palmquist. Nelson got them for Keron and me from the mages. They’re hiding us. We need better disguises, though. Could you maybe change our hair color?”
“Oooh." Izzy clapped. “A double makeover. You talk to Lisle; I’ll go to the store and be right back.”
“We have credits,” Fale said.
“Save it for when you’re disguised. Then you won’t have to hide so much,” Izzy said. “Daddy still gives me credits without telling mother."
Fale laughed. Izzy took her jacket from the peg by the door and dashed away. Keron sat on Izzy’s lumpy fold-out couch and motioned to Fale. She looked at Izzy’s bed and Lisle’s bowed head and fidgeting hands. “Lisle,” she drew his name out. “Why do you look like that?”
He lifted his blond head and chocolate brown eyes. “Like what?” he asked hopefully.
“Guilty," Keron said from across the room. Fale nodded in agreement.
Lisle sighed. “I got a promotion of sorts. I went up in rank, because of all my additional work. Then, in the event I heard from any of my ‘missing friends,’ I should make a report because Control was involved. My allegiance has also earned me some knowledge,” he said.
“What do you mean?" Fale asked coming closer.
“When I described the encounter you had with the boy, Taran, the grassy field, the castle and machines, Gasten and the masters knew I was talking about Garrith. So, they let me sit in on a council meeting. Gasten called Effailya’s followers ‘despicable vermin.’ He hates them, but I don’t know why. He absorbs their magic as long as they are in captivity. He just continues the enchantment that’s been over them all this time. He has no idea how to actually steal someone’s power with an original spell. So, they have sent the machines to enslave the growing number of Effailya’s people.”
“We knew, Lisle,” Fale said sadly.
“But did you know Nelson has been sent there?”
“What?" Fale walked to Lisle and gripped his shoulders. “Is he a machine?”
“What?” Lisle asked taking her hands and holding them.
“The machines are people, Lisle,” Keron said. “At least they used to be.”
“How?” Lisle asked.
“You don’t want to know, man. It’s a whole-body transition. That’s got to be painful.” Keron looked at his own biomechanical arm and leg, and winced. He opened and closed his fists, flesh, and wire.
“It’s frightening- and fascinating. What do they look like? Have you seen them?” Lisle leaned forward a little.
“I have,” Fale said. “They’re massive. Of course, they’re built taller, thicker, and stronger than they were as humans. They are like an army of monsters. I have to get Nelson out of there as soon as possible.”
“They didn’t say if Nelson had undergone surgery. They only mentioned he wouldn’t be a problem in getting to you anymore," Lisle told Fale, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles. “I don’t even know if they’re using me right now by telling you, but I’m done being used. I don’t want to be a part of slavery, death, and evil. It’s all for more power.”
“What will you do? You can’t leave," Fale asked.
“I’ll stay there, but I’ll try to get information for our side.”
“Our side?” Keron narrowed one eye at Lisle’s hands.
“Yeah, I’m on your side.” Lisle jumped a little and let go of Fale.
“Are you okay betraying your brotherhood?" She asked him.
“Well, it’s better than betraying innocent people who are being turned into slaves and machines without a choice, because someone needs to rule like a king." Lisle fumed with agitation.
Fale looked to Keron. “It’s as good a reason as any, I guess.”
Izzy returned with three packages of hair dye and a large bag of folded clothing. “Who’s first?” she asked brightly.
“Keron is,” Fale said. “I still want to talk to Lisle." Keron looked from Fale to Lisle and frowned.
“Come on,” Izzy said. “Let’s use my bathroom. It’s huge, grab that chair.” She took Keron by his valezsan elbow joint and tugged. They left the room and Fale sat next to Lisle.
“Are you really okay?” she asked, placing a hand on his bicep. Lisle’s face turned red, but he didn’t jerk his arm away.
“I will be. It feels like being stabbed in the back. I gave my loyalty to the brotherhood, expecting them to be good and they’re evil. Who does that to people? We’re supposed to be wise," Lisle lamented.
“I’m so sorry, Lisle.” Fale soothed his feelings as she gently circled her hand on his arm.
“How are you and Keron doing? Is he making you miserable yet?" Lisle snickered.
Fale smiled. “He hasn’t been bad. We’re staying in tight quarters, so we kind of have to get along.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flashed across Lisle’s face. “Have you been back to Garrith?”
“And have Keron meet Taran? Are you kidding? I think that would be a disaster.”
“Why?”
“I can’t see Keron being okay with me becoming Taran at particular times.” She blushed.
“I see,” Lisle said. “Are you two together?”
“We haven’t talked about it. I don’t know. I’ve never done this whole relationship thing before, Lisle.”
“But you like him?”
“Yes. Of course, I do. You do, too,” Fale evaded.
“You know what I mean.”
She laughed. “Yeah. He’s been my hero. He takes care of me when things happen. Oh! That’s what I meant to tell you.”
“What?”
“What happened this morning. I found the root of my power. It was brilliant and terrifying. I scorched the ceiling with white flames.”
“Can you do it again?” Lisle asked. He looked like a little boy being given a prize.
“I can try." Fale held out one hand and summon
ed a flame. She touched her heart with two fingers of the other hand and focused on the magic. She smiled when she felt her shoulder heat up and began to reign herself in as the liquid warmth ran down her arm. A green flame erupted from Fale’s palm eight inches tall. “Why is it green?" she asked.
“The color green generally means tranquility or peace,” Lisle offered. “Maybe your flame is cognitive.”
“How so?”
“Your magic reads the people or situation around you and your flame glows in the color that defines it.”
“I don’t know what the colors mean," Fale said.
“I do,” Lisle said. “I’ll teach you." They both leaned over her flame as she pulled it back to a burning disc of color in her palm. Their heads touched. “If you can make a flame like this in certain situations, your magic could lead you out of danger.”
“Could it help me find someone?” she asked.
“Who are you looking for? Nelson’s in Garrith.”
“I want to find whoever took him. They have answers. I know they do; they will know where the machine is. I need it now more than ever.”
“If you can sense evil with your flame, you could be sure you’re on the right trail. But please be careful, Fale. The wizards’ magic is just as real as yours, but darker.”
“I will. Thanks, Lisle, for helping.”
“I would never let you down.” Lisle spent the next half hour teaching Fale about the meaning of color in magic.
“Ta da,” Izzy crowed.
Fale and Lisle looked up, Lisle’s hand lightly cupping hers, and they pulled apart quickly. Keron looked at Lisle with a murderous glare.
Keron stood in the doorway, his mechanical parts covered in a blue checkered button-up and navy slacks, topped by a headful of thick black hair. Izzy had died his brows, and his torch blue eyes were luminous.
“Wow," Fale said appreciatively. “Looks good on you.”
Izzy stepped between them to haul Fale to her feet and head to the bathroom. “It’s a great disguise,” she agreed. “No one will recognize you.”
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 16