‘Do you ever feel hungry?’ Sloane asked as she trailed Rhyn into the courtyard outside the castellum.
She’d been bugging him to let her train since the moment she woke up, but he insisted that she wait until he could be there to guide her. However, he hadn’t found any free time since the day Sloane had returned to consciousness. He’d been neglecting his duties while she was asleep, and now that she was awake he didn’t have a moment to spare.
‘No.’ Rhyn shook his head. ‘Sometimes we will eat rashi during celebrations, but it is never because of hunger.’
Sloane grunted unhappily at his explanation. She almost missed the growl her stomach made when she was hungry, and she yearned for the satisfied feeling she got whenever she ate a good meal, particularly after a gruelling training session.
She wished she was having the same problem with her thirst. The Unfaih rarely drank anything, but Sloane kept guzzling water to try and quench the unusual dryness in her throat. She knew it wasn’t normal behaviour for an Unfaih, so she’d been keeping it to herself. She knew there must be a reason behind her insatiable thirst, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what it was.
The suns shone down on them from above as they crossed the courtyard, and while Sloane could feel the chill in the air surrounding her, it didn't seem to affect her body temperature. Her skin felt perfectly content despite the cold nipping at it.
‘You’ll get used to not eating,’ Rhyn said.
‘Perhaps I don’t want to,’ she muttered under her breath, causing him to smile. Her eyes zeroed in on his lips, and all thoughts of food and hunger drifted from her mind. She’d always thought Rhyn was devastatingly handsome, but it was only now that she had developed heightened senses that she realised how incredibly flawless he was. It was an exercise in restraint every time she saw him to avoid becoming completely overwhelmed by his perfection. As it was, Sloane frequently fell into a soundless stupor each time she allowed her eyes to linger on him for too long.
Rhyn’s lips cracked open as his smile grew wider. ‘I thought you wanted to train,’ he said, pulling her from her daydream.
Sloane quickly shook her head and strode past him towards the armoury. ‘I never said that I didn’t,’ she replied.
She could sense his knowing grin spreading across his face as he followed after her, and it caused her skin to bristle with irritation. He had been treating her differently since she’d awoken from her injury. He’d been acting so careful around her, as though she was fragile and weak. She had been beginning to worry that perhaps he was treading so lightly because he didn’t know what changes the Liftsal would bring. It was a relief to hear him tease her again, as he usually would.
Sloane struggled not to constantly consider her potential future as a Braky. She truly hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but she was already living on borrowed time. She should have died in the Liftsal cave, and every moment she lived was a blessing. She wanted to do as much as she could to help solve the Unfaih’s problems with the humans while she was still herself.
The courtyard was usually heaving with warriors in training, but it was empty today. It was the first time Sloane had been outside since she recovered, and she was surprised by how silent the place was.
The last time she’d walked through the courtyard, it had been filled with wounded Unfaih fighters. She could still feel the haunting sorrow permeating the air around her, and she knew she would never be able to walk through the courtyard again without remembering that day.
Once Sloane reached the armoury, she paused and turned to Rhyn. ‘Where do we start?’ she asked.
‘Not with weapons, that’s for sure,’ he replied, causing her to pout. ‘You need to get used to your new strength. You were already lethal before, and I’m not allowing you near a weapon until you can control yourself.’
‘I can control myself,’ Sloane replied.
He lifted one annoying, disbelieving eyebrow at her.
‘I can,’ she repeated.
Rhyn simply shook his head. ‘You don’t know what your body is capable of right now. Until you do, no weapons.’
Sloane huffed out a breath but didn’t argue with him. ‘Fine, no weapons,’ she agreed. ‘So what are we doing?’
‘Drills,’ he replied. ‘You need to understand how your body works now. How fast you can run; how high you can jump.’
‘Okay…’
He moved past her and disappeared into the armoury. After several minutes he returned with a large wooden barrel under each arm. Sloane felt her eyes widen as she watched Rhyn stroll back into the courtyard, gripping the barrels under his thick arms like they were as light as two cushions.
‘We’ll start with a few jumps,’ he said.
Sloane shrugged as she followed him out into the middle of the courtyard.
He placed the barrels down and stood back, waving his hand in the direction of the first one. It was about half as tall as Sloane, and she knew she could have easily jumped over it before she was given the Liftsal. Sloane smirked as she jogged towards the barrel and jumped over it with ease. When she turned to see Rhyn’s reaction, she found he was already reaching for the second barrel and didn’t seem to have even watched her.
He lifted the barrel up over his head and brought it down to rest on top of the other one. Sloane frowned. While she’d jumped the first one easily enough, she wasn’t sure she could clear something that was double the height. Once the barrels were stacked on top of each other, they were as tall as she was and far too high to leap over.
Rhyn waved his hand again, indicating for Sloane to run at the obstacle. But she froze. She wasn’t an idiot, and while she certainly felt stronger and faster, she didn’t particularly feel like ploughing straight into the solid wooden barrels.
Rhyn smirked when he saw her hesitate. ‘Scared, Sloane?’
She shot him a dirty scowl, before focusing back on the barrels. She knew from the tone of his voice that he was goading her into attempting the jump. She was never one to back down from a challenge, and he knew it.
‘Sloane?’ Rhyn prompted.
She refused to look at him and kept her eyes fixed on the obstacle before her. She’d seen Rhyn do some incredible things before, but she’d never seen him jump from the ground over something so tall in one bound. Would he really ask her to attempt the jump if it wasn’t possible though? She had to trust him. She had to try.
She gritted her teeth and started to race towards the barrels. Her feet moved quickly beneath her and time seemed to slow as she approached. Adrenaline pulsed through her as she urged herself to move faster and faster. Using her speed and momentum, she launched herself from the ground with all her strength. Her body burst from the courtyard floor and soared into the air. She looked down in shock as she saw the barrels pass below her feet. She had cleared them easily, but suddenly Sloane realised how high up she was and braced herself to land on the other side. She hadn’t been expecting to jump so high though, and as she hit the ground, she misjudged the impact and stumbled to her knees.
She slowly righted herself, feeling slightly numb with shock as she turned to stare at the obstacle she had just cleared. It hadn’t been the most graceful landing, but she couldn’t believe she’d managed to jump so high. A small grin crept onto her lips.
‘What else can I do?’ she asked with enthusiasm, as she looked eagerly at Rhyn.
He had a matching grin on his face as he shared in Sloane’s joy at her newfound strength, and she could see a hint of pride in his eyes as he walked over to her.
‘You did really well,’ he said.
She nodded along with him. ‘Yeah, I know, I’m awesome,’ she agreed with a cheeky shrug. ‘So, what’s next?’
He laughed at her excitement, and she could see him thinking through his options, trying to pick another impossible challenge that would test her.
‘Are you feeling brave?’ he asked.
Her smile dipped a little at his words. He was obviously stepping things up a n
otch. Jumping over the barrels hadn’t taken that much courage.
‘Sure,’ she replied, despite her reservations.
Rhyn laughed, and Sloane suspected he could tell that she was suddenly feeling a little more cautious. He began to lead her away from the courtyard, and she slowly followed behind him, her mind racing as she tried to predict what Rhyn would throw at her next.
It was only when he started mounting the steps that led to the castellum walls that she really began to worry. She’d seen Rhyn jump from the walls once before, and she had a bad feeling he was about to ask the same of her. Her fears were confirmed when he paused at the top of the wall and peered over the edge.
‘Haven’t I nearly died enough for one week?’ Sloane asked, as she fell in beside him and craned her neck to look over the side of the wall. Sloane could see the snowy ground glinting far below them as the suns’ rays bounced off the icy surface. The wall was at least fifty feet high. There was no way she could survive the drop.
Rhyn laughed and turned to look at her. ‘You know how to land from a fall,’ he said.
‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘But not from this height. This is suicide…’ she said, waving at the drop.
‘For a human, perhaps,’ he replied. ‘But a drop like this is possible for someone who has drunk the Liftsal. You would never have cleared those barrels before the Liftsal. You can do this, just like I can.’
Sloane crossed her arms over her chest, not willing to budge. He was right; her jump over the barrels had been impressive. And she had seen Rhyn drop from the wall himself. But she didn’t feel as confident in her new abilities as Rhyn was.
He seemed so sure that she was like him. But the truth was that neither of them knew what she had become and what her limits were.
‘You said I was transitioning still. What if I’m not strong enough to do this yet?’ she asked.
‘You are,’ he shot back.
‘I’m not stupid,’ she replied. ‘I know you think I’m reckless enough to try anything you challenge me to, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Even if I’m strong enough, I might fall incorrectly and injure myself. I might not have that much time left; I can’t spend it back in a hospital bed.’
Rhyn scowled at her. ‘You have plenty of time,’ he replied.
‘Do I?’ she asked. ‘I know you want to think that I’m becoming an Unfaih, but we can’t know for sure. Even if what my father said is true, and I am a descendant of your people, I’ve also got a whole lot of human blood pulsing through my veins. There are no guarantees.’
‘Stop speaking like that,’ he growled.
‘What? Stop speaking the truth?’ Sloane’s voice began to rise with emotion, echoing out over the castellum walls and across the plain. ‘You need to face it, Rhyn. Since you gave me the Liftsal, it is just as likely I will turn into a Braky as it is that I will become one of you—probably more so.’
‘I did it to save you,’ Rhyn said softly, his voice tinged with guilt.
‘I know, Rhyn. And I’m alive, but we have no idea what is happening to me now. What is going to happen to me next.’
Rhyn recoiled as she spoke. His eyes squeezed shut, and a frown scarred his brow as though Sloane’s words were causing him physical pain.
‘Yeah, it sucks,’ she continued. ‘But there’s nothing we can do about it now. I’m not going to wallow in self-pity, and I’m not going to cry myself to sleep at night. But you can bet that I will spend every last breath I have in me keeping my sister safe and trying to stop my father from causing any more death and destruction.’
Rhyn slowly opened his eyes again and stared at Sloane, utterly speechless after her rant. After several long moments, he looked like he was about to say something but stopped, seemingly unsure about what to do next. Sloane knew she was right; Rhyn didn’t know if she was becoming an Unfaih, and there was nothing he could say to change that.
Silence stretched between them. Sloane hated the tension, but she couldn’t bring herself to back down. She couldn’t bring herself to ignore the truth and pretend that everything was fine when it wasn’t. Rhyn may have saved her life that day in the Liftsal caves, but he may have also committed her to a fate worse than death.
‘We both know you’re only lying to yourself,’ Sloane said, keeping her eyes locked on his. ‘You can keep pretending that I’m going to be okay, but I’m not going to waste my time wishing that things were different or hoping for the best. There are people that need my help before it becomes too late for me to do anything.’
Sloane turned away from him before he had a chance to respond and started back down the stairs to the courtyard. The wind pulled at her hair, tugging it in every direction as she walked, but she barely noticed it. Her words to Rhyn had been strong. Hard to say and harder still to accept. She had seen how much it pained him to hear the truth, and a part of her felt like her words had broken him in some way. She couldn’t help but feel an echoing fracture through her heart as she left him standing alone on the wall.
Chapter Five
Rhyn kept his distance from Sloane after their discussion on the wall. He had felt such joy and happiness when she finally woke up, but the girl who had returned to him was still in grave danger. Whatever fate she headed towards, he was powerless to change it, and the reality of that truth was starting to sink in.
He began throwing himself into the things he could control. He spent hours going over maps of possible routes that Sloane’s father could have used to escape and sent scouts as far as the Brakys’ lair to look for him and keep an eye on the creatures’ movements. He also held frequent meetings with his father and Elyx to solidify their defences and make plans to ensure the humans wouldn’t attack again.
His every waking minute was spent trying to keep his people safe, but no matter how busy he was or how much he attempted to ignore it, he couldn’t stop thinking of Sloane.
‘You can’t keep blaming yourself,’ Kai said, as Rhyn paced from one wall of the room to the other. Kai usually stayed in his home in the village, but since the battle, he’d remained in the castellum.
While Rhyn’s bedroom was basic and sparsely furnished, Kai had a suite of rooms in one of the unoccupied corners of the castle. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture in Kai’s rooms either, but there were so many books and potions everywhere that the space still felt cluttered. Most of the books were stacked precariously on the ground, and the walls were lined with shelves that were covered in glass containers filled with mysterious coloured liquids and powders. The walls were so crowded with items, the light that usually filtered through the ice was obstructed, and Kai’s rooms were relatively dark.
‘She wouldn’t be in this position if I hadn’t given her the Liftsal,’ Rhyn said.
‘True,’ Kai replied. ‘She’d be dead.’
Rhyn paused to scowl at his brother.
‘Is that what you’d prefer?’ Kai asked.
‘No,’ Rhyn grumbled in reply.
‘I didn’t think so.’
Rhyn blew out a long breath and returned to marching around the room. ‘I just wish we could find a way to know for sure.’
‘I’ve already told you, I couldn’t sense one way or another what she would become,’ Kai responded. ‘It seems to me like she is displaying the traits of a young Unfaih.’
‘That’s how the Brakys seemed before they turned,’ Rhyn said. He pushed a hand roughly through his hair as he tried to remain calm.
‘But they started exhibiting other traits as time went on,’ Kai added. ‘They became angrier and more violent.’
‘Yes, and Sloane is angry and violent on a good day,’ Rhyn grumbled.
‘Maybe,’ Kai shrugged. ‘But not in the same way as the Brakys. There has always been an evil darkness to their actions. Any anger and violence that Sloane displays is always the result of her trying to do good.’
Rhyn sighed. ‘There’s just no way to tell.’
‘No,’ Kai agreed. ‘Not right now. It’s too early.’
<
br /> Rhyn paused and stared at one of the books on the shelf in front of him without really seeing it. His mind kept going over every interaction he’d had with Sloane since she’d awoken. He kept analysing her every move, searching for clues as to whether she was turning one way or another. But Kai was right. It was too early to know either way.
Kai cleared his throat. ‘I’m not saying she is, but if Sloane is destined to become a Braky, don’t you think you should be spending these last moments with her rather than avoiding her?’
Kai’s voice was tentative, as though he was worried he’d overstepped his bounds by asking the question. But Rhyn knew he was right. He should be spending every second he could with Sloane because if she became one of the Brakys, she would be as good as dead.
‘I should be,’ Rhyn finally replied. ‘But every time I see her I’m only reminded of how completely powerless I am. I can’t help her, but I can help our people, and they need me more than ever right now.’
‘Maybe she needs you too?’ Kai responded.
But Rhyn shook his head and huffed out an exhausted breath. ‘She won’t even talk to me about what’s happening to her.’
‘That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need you,’ Kai replied. ‘You might not be able to fix her, but that doesn’t mean you can’t support her.’
Rhyn blew out another long breath as he turned and looked at his brother. ‘I’ve been wrong to distance myself, haven’t I?’
‘Perhaps,’ Kai said, wearing a reassuring smile as he nodded.
Rhyn wanted to laugh at how his brother had so easily directed him towards that conclusion. ‘You always were good at getting me to see things your way.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Kai’s eyes twinkled, and his smile widened for a brief second before he turned back towards the table and returned his focus to the glowing green stone in front of him. The Oblivion Stone wasn’t nearly as bright as it had been during the battle, but it was far from the deadened piece of rock Kai and Sloane had brought back from Joran’s village.
The Rift War (The Liftsal Guardians Book 4) Page 5