by C. S. Moore
Nell was surprised at how much being pulled through the portal felt like falling into a Scar; she was actually a little worried that a Scar had taken her right before the portal did. But when she came out of the other side she was still surrounded by the group of Healers. She blinked back the light that stung her eyes.
How is the sun still up, it must be two a.m. She thought. As her eyes relaxed she took in her surroundings. They were on the roof of a skyscraper that overlooked a large city. Geometric high risers were scattered about the city and each of them had a unique design. One had distinctly triangular shapes throughout its architecture while another was rounded like a cylinder. Red roofs could be seen in the far distance like a field of roses. There was a busy river directly below them. Big colorful boats floated past carrying flashing billboards advertising McDonald’s and other businesses.
Where are we? She wondered, but before she could vocalize her question. Armaan stretched his arms across the scene. His fair hair was glowing in the evening sun and the look on his face made her wonder if he was actually going to embrace the view before him.
“Welcome to Shanghai!” He said with a smile. The older Guard member stepped next to him and whispered in his ear. Armaan nodded his head once, but not before Nell saw a string of emotions flash across his face. They didn’t stay on his face long enough for her to understand what he was feeling, and his face was all that she had to go by. She couldn’t read his emotions at all, which was a very strange thing for her.
“Well everyone, please thank my good friend and superior Joseph. Without his help every single one of those halls would have been running with Guard members.” Armaan said. “And thanks to his strategic master mind, the Guard was always moving around us.” He gestured at his friend and the Healers all began thanking him. Joseph’s face was stoic and it didn’t seem that he cared much for their gratitude.
“Yes, your welcome and all that. I must be going. Good luck in your new home.” Joseph said and then turned to Armaan. “And I am sorry to be losing you Armaan.” At that he turned and walked away.
Will he have to get a plane ticket to go back home? She wondered.
“Come on everyone lets get you home.” Armaan said as he turned away from the river.
“And where is that?” Nell asked without meaning to. He turned and faced her, his eyes bright with excitement.
“Some Healers call it home; some call it a safe haven.” He paused and searched the faces around him. “But most just call it New Hovel.” He said to a sea of stunned faces.
“New Hovel? You mean there are enough Healers for a whole new city?” Someone asked in awe.
“New Hovel is a hundred times larger and just about as populated.” He let the statement sink in before he told them something even more shocking. “And don’t freak out when you see a sassy old woman wondering the grounds talking to herself. It’s her power that keeps New Hovel safely hidden.”
“One woman, how is that possible?” Nell whispered.
“Well it’s not all that difficult for her, she is an Ancient.”
Chapter 15
Amanda landed lightly on the soft forest floor, she knew that she was back in the camp site and felt little need to open her eyes. She couldn’t even bring herself to peak, just to make sure that she was where she should be. The bright sparks of light that Bill had vanished into were still imprinted on the backs of her eye lids. She watched them get brighter as she closed her eyes more tightly. Happiness and peace shot threw her every time she pictured him leaving. She didn’t open her eyes until she heard Cole clear his throat next to her.
When she opened them, she was surprise to find him so close to her. He hovered over her, inches from her face. His warm breath smelled sweetly of citrus. His dark eyes were shining with the rush of energy that comes with Healing a Scar. She had never seen him so unguarded. So many emotions flooded off of him that it was hard to read just one.
Happiness, peace, longing, desire. The first two make sense, but what is he longing for? She wondered. She couldn’t bring herself to think about the desire that he was feeling. She shook her head attempting to clear it. A thick fog had invaded her mind and it was hard to think straight.
She glanced back up to Cole and regretted the action, seeing the way that he was looking at her made the fog return. She raised a hand to his cheek and he shivered at her touch. He leaned down towards her, closing the space between them.
What is he doing? She wondered, lying perfectly still.
He was so close that she could taste his breath on her lips. He put his hand on the nape of her neck and lifted her head, gently kissing her cheek. The soft touch of his lips on her skin snapped her control and she pulled him closer. A wave of surprised bliss rolled off of him before he laughed.
“I could lie in your arms all day, unfortunately we have an audience.” He whispered into her hair before pulling away. She looked over and saw Madgie staring down at her. She jumped up so fast that she knocked heads with Cole.
It took her a few seconds to right herself, but she couldn’t seem to look at Madgie. She knew the rules about getting that close to a man, and although she didn’t care about any rule laid down by the Ancients, she was terrified at what Madgie might think.
“You know, I could go search for more fire wood if you two have more teenage hormones to get out.” Madgie said bluntly, which hit Cole’s funny bone.
“No, Maam. I have myself in check, though I don’t know that she does.” He said while suppressing his laughter. Amanda’s face turned beat red before turning and punching him in the arm. “Ouch!” He said rubbing his arm. She felt much better and less embarrassed after hitting him. She was actually more energized too, though she couldn’t understand why hitting him would do that. She turned her head and realized that the calming of her nerves was more likely due to the giant furry creature leaping out of the woods and landing next to her, though hitting him might have contributed a little.
Hey buddy I missed you. She thought absently stroking the giant head in her lap.
“Okay, enough fun. I need to talk to you about what just happened.” Madgie said flatly. “Amanda, what you did in there was amazing, but extremely confusing. I’ve never met a Healer that entered a Scar with more than one spirit. Let alone more than one Healer, you just seemed to suck us in with you.”
“Wait, how do you know that you or Cole didn’t suck me in with you?” She interjected, looking at them defiantly. Not wanting to be the odd one out-yet again.
“Well there are a few reasons that I’m guessing it was you. Let’s see, you were the one that knew what was going to happen, you connected with those spirits, and you were the one that stepped forward and healed the Scar. Not to mention the fact that you are apparently powerful enough to completely heal from a demon poisoning after four days!” Madgie said in frustration.
Amanda looked down at herself lifting up her arms and seeing that they looked normal, if not a little too bright. No dark venom tracing her veins, no pain came with her movements. She was healed. She wanted to tear off her clothes and see if her whole body looked like her arms, then remembering Cole, she realized that it wasn’t a great idea. Blood rose to her cheeks and Cole looked at her questioningly. She fought back her joy and thought about what Madgie was trying to tell her.
Is she trying to say that I am special or something? I am not anything; I am only healed because of my wolf. She thought looking down at his head as she stroked it. Her hand was almost glowing against his silver fur and she turned it over and saw that the strange pattern was still on her palm. It looked like a complex figure eight, as if an ice skater had gone wild while making it. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten it, but she knew it had to be from the demon.
“No Madgie, I am not completely healed. See?” She said turning her palm to Madgie. Her friend’s eyes grew wide in recognition. Madgie slowly moved towards Amanda with her hand over her mouth.
“What’s going on Madgie, you’re scaring me!” She y
elled. Madgie reached out and gently took her hand. She lowered her head closer to the mark.
“When did you notice this?” Madgie asked quickly. Cole was at Amanda’s side with a hand protectively on her shoulder, apparently she wasn’t the only one freaked out by Madgie’s odd behavior.
“I said when did you notice this.” Madgie asked a bit louder while shaking her hand.
“I, I guess that it was Cole who really noticed it-the night you were missing.” Amanda stuttered. Madgie was silently studying her palm for what seemed like a lifetime before Amanda shouted. “For God’s sake Madgie what is the big deal, why are you freaking out?” Madgie straightening her tall frame and finally looked into her eyes.
“That is the Ancient’s mark.” Cole stiffened at the mention of the Ancients, a reaction to anger or fear she couldn’t tell. “I am sorry if I scared you, I am just trying to understand what it means.” Madgie finished in an apologetic voice.
“Well what does it mean? Why have they marked her, will she be easier for them to find? Is it some kind of tracking spell?” Cole asked in a rush.
“I honestly don’t know. I am a Healer and a teacher. I have never felt the wrath of the Ancients, though I don’t know how long I will keep that track record. This is way beyond me. I haven’t ever seen the mark on a Healer.” Madgie looked at her curiously. “How do you feel?” She asked.
Amanda thought about answering with a simple ‘I feel fine’, but she didn’t think that was completely honest. She felt power flowing through her like she had never before experienced. She wondered if it was the lingering rush of healing the Scar, but couldn’t be certain.
“I feel great.” Madgie and Cole both looked unconvinced as she said it, so she continued. “No really I mean, better than great. I feel healthy and powerful. I know ‘powerful’ probably sounds cheesy, but that is how I feel. I don’t know if I can find a better word.” Amanda finished, feeling awkward. Why did I say I feel powerful? That sounds so idiotic! She thought.
“Well, whatever the Ancients did, I think that they accidentally did you a favor. If that mark is giving you power, maybe it is why you healed so quickly.” Cole ventured. “I think it’s hilarious!” He laughed. Amanda thought that the mark might be giving her power, she could almost feel it. And if the Ancients did it on accident, then it was pretty funny. She felt a smile stretch across her face, mirroring Cole’s, but when the two looked at Madgie their smiles faded.
Her brow was creased in worry and she didn’t look happy at all. If anything, she looked more confused than when Amanda had first woken up after being attacked.
“I don’t know, the Ancients don’t do much by accident.” Madgie said. “I don’t like it, the sooner we get you to Shiphra the better.”
“What do you mean ‘we’, I thought you said that we should split up.” Amanda said. As much as she hated the idea of being away from Cole, she knew that he would be safer away from her.
“That was before this happened.” Madgie said gesturing to the mark. “If it’s a tracker, then splitting up won’t help your chances.”
“But it will help yours!” Amanda shouted, though she didn’t mean to raise her voice. Cole spun her around to face him, but she wouldn’t look him in the eye. “You have both done too much for me. We need to do whatever is best for you. I can take care of myself. But I can’t stand here and let you put yourselves in danger for me, it isn’t right.” She could feel Cole’s eyes boring into her, so she met his gaze. His dark eyes were wide and pleading. They pierced through her like a diver breaking the surface of water.
“Isn’t right?” He growled. “Would it be right for me to walk away and leave you unprotected? You know that I can’t leave you, you know that I won’t. So why even talk like this?” He asked fire burning in his eyes.
She looked down at her palm and the mark burned into it. ‘The Ancients don’t do much by accident.’ Madgie’s words replayed in her mind. She is right, whatever this mark is it isn’t going to help me. The Ancients don’t make mistakes. If they have marked me, I am as good as dead. She thought, realizing that she had to try to change their minds.
“Cole, you know that I want you with me, it’s just that…” She bit down on her lip to keep it from trembling. “I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you. The Ancients have marked me, I want you as far from me as you can possibly get. Just take Madgie and leave. Please.” She begged. Cole’s expression was unchanged and she knew that he wasn’t going to leave her.
“Don’t you think that I feel the same way about you?” He asked tightening his grip on her arms. “Do you think that I could just carry on if something happens to you? I spent two years of my life away from you and I’m not going to just turn and walk away. Not just because you want to be brave. If you don’t want me around, I’ll leave, but not until you are safe.” He loosened his hold and turned to Madgie. “So where do we go from here?”
“Well like I was saying, Shiphra is our only hope at survival.”
“And she can help me find Kaedin, right?” Amanda asked quickly.
“I don’t know she might be able to. Forget that for now, if your dead you sure as Hell can’t find that Scar. We all need to meditate, thinking of Shiphra. Her face, her name…it will be harder for you Cole because you haven’t ever seen her, she was long before your time.” Madgie took a breath and Cole quickly interjected.
“If the Ancients have been hunting her for decades, how do we even know that Shiphra is alive?” Reading his emotions, Amanda could see that putting their hope in someone that was practically a myth was not exactly what he wanted to do.
“Well that’s easy.” Madgie smiled. “How many Ancients did you see at Amanda’s trial?” She looked at them expectantly.
“Five.” He said certainly.
“Well there are always six Ancients in existence, if one dies another rises from the ranks. So since there were only five at the Hovel, Shiphra is still out here somewhere alive.” Madgie’s voice was so full of hope that Amanda couldn’t help but jump on board.
“See there you are, she is definitely who we need to find. So let’s get meditating. Unless the skeptic has more to add?” Amanda said looking at Cole. He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, just tell me what to do.” She said to Madgie.
“Concentrate on her name, think of nothing but her. Try not to let your mind wander. It is quite hard, but some monks can meditate for days, so fifteen minutes shouldn’t be too hard. Even for you.” She said pointing at Cole.
“What? I’m not going to meditate!” Cole said. Seeing the anger on their faces he explained himself quickly. “It’s not because I am trying to be stubborn. I just don’t think it is a good idea to have all three of us sitting in a circle with our eyes closed, we are probably being hunted.” Madgie’s face relaxed.
“Good point, I guess I’m not very strategic.” Madgie said with a laugh. “Okay it is just you and me.” She looked at Amanda. “Try to think of Shiphra and location. Tie the two together as if they were one thought. When the time is up we will get together and discuss what we felt. I am hoping that we will have the same direction in our minds.” Madgie sat down and folded herself into a meditative pose that showed off her flexibility. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Amanda followed suit.
“Well if it is this easy to find her, how have the Ancients not found her?” Cole asked. Madgie stayed in the same relaxed position, but peeled one eye open.
“Because we will only find her if she wants us to. So if we have different directions at the end of this session, we can consider that an answer.” Madgie said in a patient tone, though Amanda could tell that her patients was wearing thin.
Once her eyes were shut, Amanda started to close out the environment around her one sense at a time. First she started with the sounds around her, the animal noises, and the wind moving through the trees. Every noise was muted one by one. She shut off all of her senses, saving scent for last. Scent was always the strongest, at least she thought so. O
ne aroma had the power to take you back in time.
The smell of roses took her back to helping the nuns prune the garden at her orphanage. Every time she smelled the clean sent of rain she was back to cold nights on the street, when she had ran from the Hovel. Forever searching for shelter. Whenever the heavy scent of earth reached her, she was brought back to the first time that she had entered a scar. She remembered coming out of it quickly and trying to dig herself back in.
She slowly shut out all of the scents floating towards her, saving Cole’s for last. It was a strange sensation, being alone in ones mind-with no outside stimuli. It was like sitting in an empty theater waiting for a movie to start. She took a deep breath and began to roll through her memories of the person that had shared her cell back at the Hovel.
She brought herself back to the moment that she had held the large iron cuffs; the remembered sting of the cold metal was as real as the first time. Her muscles flexed at the memory of their weight in her small hands, not just their physical weight, but their emotional weight as well. She let the emotions flow through her, pity, frustration, sorrow, and anger. Slowly she brought up the image of Shiphra, letting it gain clarity before really studying it.
The woman’s face was just as sunken and haunting as the other Ancients she had seen, yet somehow joy and life pored from her. Seeing her wild hair waving in the wind made her seem so much more tangible than the others had seemed. Shiphra looked solid and real, she looked like she belonged in this world. The rest of the Ancients almost seemed like mirages to her, glimmering people that upon approach turn into cactuses. She remembered her first impression of them, thinking that they looked like crude two dimensional drawings.
You’re not thinking of Shiphra. Amanda chastised herself and returned to the task. Thinking of the strange Ancient’s name and face and location, over and over again. It was very hard to keep her mind from wondering, it felt like it took all of her energy to keep on task.