The Fallen Ones

by Katelyn Campbell

CHAPTER 16

   

  Ilyana:

  Morning came too early for me today. I had hoped Levi would at least let me sleep until 6, but since Ephraim is training with us as well, we got started before the sun even began to crest the horizon. After all that Alya told me last night about Ephraim, I can’t even manage to look him in the eyes. So I skipped breakfast and got ready in my room luckily for me we are jogging the long way to the training grounds today so I don’t have to face Ephraim for quite some time. I have my headphones in my ears and my iPad is singing to me an angsty song that I am pretty sure is about video games.

  By the time we reach the training grounds, I am too hyper to sit down. I am running on adrenaline and know that if I focus my energy on turning off light switches in my head it is likely I will fall asleep. I plead with Levi to understand this when he instructs me sit down and he steps back and offers for Ephraim to take over. Ephraim quickly steps in front of Levi and with a smirk on his face, instructs me to run up the stairs in the arena seating again. I know the correct response would be to pitch a fit – my thighs are still burning from yesterday, but right now I am grateful for the time I get to myself. I try to take the steps one at a time, but before I make it up the first flight, he catches what I am doing and instructs me to start taking every third step. I let out a groan, and then do as he says. He has me run for as long as I can stand to and then I come to the middle of the field to meet him, he instructs me to begin fighting him. I rush at the opportunity and surprise him by landing a punch in his jaw, but before I even have a moment to enjoy the small victory he grabs my wrists in one hand and twists me around, the contact feels too familiar. I know he is trying to get a rise out of me, but I just don’t have it in me right now.

  He lets go of me and allows me to give me a chance to right myself. Then as soon as I get across from him he follows and knocks me to the ground, I am irritated but know that he would never truly hurt me, so I stifle the feelings of annoyance for the time being as I reach up and take the hand he offers me to right myself. The moment I take his hand, he twists me around, holding my hands over my head, with my body to the ground and his knee gently hovering over my back. It is an awkward position, but I feel the strain in my arms and in no time I go slack and just hang there. He lets go and takes a step back and starts pacing back and forth in front of me, I am shocked by the angry expression he is wearing on his face, I mentally prepare myself for an attack but it doesn’t come, instead he runs his hands through his hair “Why aren’t you fighting back? I know it is not because of the stairs I made you run, you ran twice as long yesterday and managed to fight twice as hard, we will never be able to access your gifts if you refuse to work with me!” he is practically yelling at me, my eyes begin to water and I feel tears beginning to sting, I realize immediately that this is the wrong reaction, my nerves are on edge and I am exhausted so I begin to brush them away.

  He sees what I am doing and looks away “Bloody Hell! You’re crying? This isn’t even a real fight! It’s training! I can see I am going to have to piss you off again…” I look up just in time to see him charging after Levi who is happily drawing on the ground with a stick. I can’t hold the tears back anymore I begin sobbing and scream with as much power as I can “Levi, run! He’s going to hurt you!” Levi, stands up quicker than I would’ve thought is physically possible and moves before Ephraim ever reaches him. I know he has to be using his abilities because it is physically impossible to move so fast. Levi stands confused a moment and Ephraim, like an angry bull turns around and steps heavily towards me “You see me charging your friend and you yell to warn him? What good do you think that would do with a regular person or a Nephilim less powerful than Levi is? You are more powerful than the both of us combined! I felt the force of what you could do yesterday, but today you aren’t even trying! I am completely dumbfounded! If I had known that kissing you would’ve turned you into a babbling idiot – trust me, I never would’ve risked it.” His words sting, but I know that he is angry and telling the truth, he is trying so hard to help me and I am not doing anything to make it easier for him. I catch my breath and stop crying “It isn’t your kiss that has me broken today. You have lived hundreds of lifetimes like this, you forget that just a few days ago, I was an average girl living in the suburbs with a Mom and Dad. My biggest problem was remembering to feed Sasha dinner and now everything has changed. I am not a babbling idiot and I am not an object for you to talk down to like that. I am a person and right now, just for a moment, I am weak. Can’t you just let me be?” his eyes soften slightly and in response he turns to walk away “I am going for a walk, you should work with Levi for a bit.” He looks like he has more to say, but he notices Levi and shakes his head no as he turns back around and continues to walk.

  Levi is staring at me like a bomb just went off, I don’t know what to do or how to act so he begins to step towards me, and before I have the chance to say anything he wraps me in a big protective bear hug “It’s okay, Little Princess. He didn’t mean a word he said, we are all just tired, but that is not your fault.” He is rubbing the back of my head and pulls away to look me in the eyes “We believed last night that maybe we were the anchor, maybe we were the key to unlocking your gifts. I could see you were tired last night, but I pushed to train today because I was so excited to see if there was any truth to it. But there wasn’t. That’s ok though, we will keep looking and in the mean time I will stop pushing you so much – Ephraim will too. He is a hot head, but he means well and would never want to break you.” I dry my eyes and begin to nod “Thank you, Levi. But neither of you are pushing me harder than I am pushing myself, I think I just need to lighten up a bit and stop fighting my instincts to stay human. When it overtook me yesterday – I became something else. I think I was afraid of what could happen if I were to do that again.” He pats my back and looks at me with understanding – I know he understands better than I do, what it feels like to lose control of something so much bigger than yourself. He looks at me for a moment and a crease begins to form in his eyebrows “Ilyana, I just want you to know that you aren’t weak. You said you are, but you are wrong. Ephraim and I both know it. When he described your power yesterday, he was awestruck. Because of his brute strength and background, it is hard to overpower him like you did – you didn’t scare him, you amazed him. We just need to find out what caused you to have such a strong surge yesterday. Usually our abilities are like a water faucet, you can turn it on and it takes effort to stop exerting your abilities or turn the faucet off. Maybe for you it is more like a fire truck, there is a lot more power behind it, but it needs to build. Yesterday could’ve just been too much – there’s no shame in that.”

  I begin to think on what he just said. I did have a big burst of power with Ephraim, but less than an hour later, I had a burst of power in the cave that felt even bigger. That’s when it hits me, maybe my anchor isn’t an old relic or any new friends of mine, maybe it is in the cave. If Kailand was telling the truth and they have all been trapped there for a long time, it is possible many of their personal items could be considered relics now. I feel like I am finally onto something, but I can’t blow our cover so I calmly look up to Levi. “I am not sure if I am ready to give up for today, I think I just need to go for a walk and maybe have a moment to myself. Do you think I could go for a walk alone? I promise to stay close by and I will be back in no time.” He looks conflicted for a moment then smiles and tells me he will be waiting for me when I get back. I hate myself for taking advantage of his light hearted, people-pleasing nature. But I have to talk to Kailand and see what I may be able to find out from him and if I don’t go now, I don’t know that I will ever get the opportunity to.

  I walk away from him towards the woods and as soon as I am out of range, I take off running towards the ocean and the caves.