The Quickening

by Antonia Tiranth

  His tail whipped back and forth like an angry cat's but he shook his head. “You could have found another way."

  "There was no other way,” I snapped, pausing when Phi stirred. She settled back into sleep, and I nodded toward the kitchen. Shirak moved to the kitchen as I moved Phi off me and lay her down on the couch.

  Once in the kitchen the conversation, or should I say my self-defense, continued. “I didn't know of any other Rikashi in this area and besides, a Rikashi couldn't get close to that house without getting caught. A human could."

  He growled softly. “I hate it when you are right, but the Council will still punish you."

  "If there are any left,” I muttered. “Were the others awake?"

  Shirak nodded. “The twins are Carnesir. We need to leave and find the others. It would be better if we left before your friend awakes."

  I hesitated, knowing he was right but ... “No, I can't just run out on her again. I need to at least say goodbye."

  "Then make haste. We must go before the humans come looking for us."

  I turned to go back into the living room to wake her up, but she was standing in the doorway. “Phi? What's wrong?” I asked, putting my hands on her shoulders.

  She shook her head, her eyes troubled. “I don't know, Aer ... I feel like something is coming."

  I looked over my shoulder at my purple haired brother. “Shir?"

  His eyes unfocused for a moment, when they refocused, he was frowning. “She is right, a Rikashi and humans,” he said in draconic. “How did she know?"

  I shook my head, feeling Phi's muscles tense beneath my hands. “Phi can understand you, brother."

  Shirak's face echoed my own earlier shock. It would have been funny if the situation weren't so desperate.

  "How?"

  "I don't know,” she snapped at him. “And you can stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room."

  Shirak bowed low. “Forgive me,” he said, in a soothing voice. I recognized the use of our Gwindor power and shook my head at him. If Phi found out he did that, she'd kick his ass.

  "Can you tell if they are friend or enemy?” I asked Shirak, and he sent his thought out again.

  Before he could speak, a window broke on the other side of the house.

  "Definitely enemy.” Phi looked toward the back of the house as if she could see through the walls.

  Shirak's claws clicked on the linoleum as he pushed passed us. “We need to leave. Now."

  "No shit,” I growled at his retreating form. I took my hands off Phi's shoulders. “Come on,” I said to her more gently than I had spoken to my brother.

  "They are after you, right? Just go, I'll tell them you broke in here. You can move faster without me,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  There was no way I was leaving her behind now. “Like hell,” I said. “We have no way of knowing if they would believe you and even so I'm not leaving you. I got you into this mess, I'm going to keep you safe,"

  She looked at me for a long, breathless moment and then the quiet was torn by Shirak's roar. “Traitor!"

  Phi jumped and shook her head. “No,” the word escaped her lips but she stopped any other cry and the two of us moved cautiously into the living room.

  Shirak stood on one side of the couch, his wings outstretched in a defensive posture. The two red Rikashi we'd rescued, now in their hybrid forms, stood across from him, hissing. The silver was curled around the neck of one of them.

  "What the hell?” I blurted. I recognized them. I had seen them before but in their human forms and thought they were just that.

  "Traitors.” Shirak hissed again, tail lashing back and forth. “They are the ones who captured me."

  "It is you, Gwindors, who are the traitors,” one of the twins replied. “You will die by his hand, just like all the others."

  I shoved Phi behind me, quickly shifting to hybrid form, ready for a fight. “Who are you working for Carnesirs?” The Carnesir were warriors. With few exceptions, they were good at sticking to the battle plan with single-minded determination but when it came to making that plan, it was always someone else making it.

  They laughed at my question and moved forward. Shirak let out another roar. “I will not go so easily this time,” he cried, reaching for the couch and tossing it at the Rikashi across from him.

  "What was that?” Phi asked from behind me, her hands touching my back as she tried to see around my wings, but I didn't have a chance to answer the question. Shirak turned toward me.

  "Go!"

  There was no time to argue with either Phi or my brother. Shirak was already running toward me. I grabbed Phi around her waist and tossed her over my shoulder as I ran for the back door and kicked it open.

  I paused at the beginning of the wooded area behind the house and looked over my shoulder. None of our pursuers had made it into the backyard yet.

  "Do not just stand there.” Shirak shoved me from behind. I stumbled but quickly righted myself and started running into the forest. We ran until we no longer heard the sounds of pursuit. I stopped and set Phi down before leaning forward to rest my hands on my knees and catch my breath.

  She backed away from me. If looks could kill, the glare she was sending my brother would have Shirak keeling over dead any second. “What the hell? I thought they were prisoners too!"

  "Apparently I was mistaken,” Shirak answered, crouching nearby, breathing as heavily as I was.

  I saw her hands ball into fists. My brother was walking on thin ice with my firecracker. I froze at the thought, when had Phi become “my” anything? Yet, it felt right.

  "Mistaken? Mistaken is underestimating how many. You were fucking wrong!” she said, her voice rising a few octaves.

  I took a step toward her. “Phi,” I started.

  "Don't you dare,” she said, turning on me and shaking her fist at me. “Don't you dare tell me to calm down. It's the middle of the night, I'm running through the woods, away from dragon men, who seem to want to kill you, going who knows where. I will not calm down."

  I stepped back realizing she needed time to adjust to a world that was nothing like she'd thought. She'd come through for me and Shirak like a trooper and now she needed to accept all that had happened. Brother or not, if Shirak pushed her I was going to kick his ass.

  She moved a few steps away from us and sat at the base of a tree, pulling her knees up to her chest. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and comfort her, but I knew her too well. What she needed was space and time to adjust. Minutes passed and I could tell Shirak wanted to move on, but every time he stepped toward Phi I stepped between them and shook my head.

  "Now what?” she asked.

  "I don't know.” I shook my head hoping she could hear the sincerity in my voice. I turned to look at my brother. “Any ideas?"

  "We know now how they discovered our existence,” he replied, standing, flaring his wings briefly. “So, it will be easier to avoid them. But who is leading the Rikashi assisting them, and why have they turned against their own kind?"

  "Phi said she heard voices saying they were ready for hatching,” I mused. “Do you think they are breeding Rikashi, trying to create an army?"

  Shirak shook his head slowly. “Anything is possible.” He looked at Phi. “I am very curious as to how you can understand our speech and hear the hatchlings. You also sensed the Rikashi approaching."

  Phi shrugged. “I don't know. I told Aer, I've been dreaming about your kind."

  "I thought you could share her thoughts, Shir, see what she sees and maybe we can figure it out,” I suggested.

  Shirak nodded. “As long as you are willing, Josephine."

  "Yeah, fine, whatever, but first do you mind if we find someplace a little warmer? I don't know about you Rikashi but I'm freezing,” she complained, rubbing her upper arms. I realized she wore only a thin shirt and a pair of jogging pants.

  I held a hand out to her, and she took it. I pulled her to her feet and to my side,
wrapping my wing around her. “Better?"

  She just nodded, refusing to meet my eyes. I couldn't tell if she was angry, freaked out, or something else. I looked at my brother again. “You're blocking us, right?"

  He nodded. “As best I can. I have not had much practice with blocking. You both should stay close to me."

  "All right, let's keep moving. There is a motel not too far from here. We can go there for now."

  It took us another hour to reach the motel. While Shirak and I hid in some bushes in hybrid form, Phi went in to rent a room.

  It was a typical inexpensive motel room—two beds with beige spreads, soft mushy pillows, a bathroom, TV and a phone. Although it was nothing fancy, it did provide us with a hiding place from our pursuers.

  Shirak immediately went to sit on one of the beds and informed us that he was going to attempt to contact some of the Tasartir. He closed his eyes, shutting us out, his mind now far away.

  Phi sat on the other bed, looking lost. I sat beside her. “You all right?"

  She shrugged. “I will be. Funny how seeing my best friend sprout wings and a tail didn't bother me but men breaking into my house in the middle of the night does."

  I put an arm around her and for a moment she stiffened before relaxing against me, setting her head on my shoulder. “I won't let them hurt you, Phi."

  "Who's going to keep them from hurting you?"

  Her reply surprised me. I was Rikashi and she just a human, but her first thought was my safety. She clicked on the television, flipping channels until she found CNN, and turned the volume down. With no answer to her question I did the only thing I could think of, I pulled her closer, offering comfort.

  The only sound in the room was the television, the CNN anchor's voice repeating the same news every thirty minutes, and filtering through the walls from the room next-door one of the annoying daytime talk shows.

  I don't know how long we sat like that. When the headlines began to repeat for the third time, Phi slumped against me, all the tension released from her body. I thought she might have fallen asleep, but she stood and moved to the window, peeking through the curtains. She turned back to me, and I raised an eyebrow in question.

  "I don't feel them anymore,” she said.

  "They won't be able to find us for a little while at least. Unless they can break through Shirak's shield."

  She turned to me, shaking a bit of hair out of her eyes. “Now that we have some peace, why don't you tell me why you disappeared,” she said, folding her arms.

  I avoided her gaze. “I'm not so sure now is the time to discuss that."

  "Now is a perfect time,” she said firmly. “If it wasn't because of this, what was it?"

  I still refused to meet her eyes and got up, walking away from her. I felt Shirak's eyes on me.

  "You came to England five years ago to avoid this very thing. You cannot tell her, Aerandir."

  "Don't you think I know that?” I glared at him, regretting ever confiding in him my feelings for the human woman standing across the room.

  "Aer, stop avoiding,” she said, and I could hear the annoyance in her voice.

  I turned to face her, meeting her gaze. “I—I was afraid."

  "Do not compound your offenses, brother."

  I ignored Shirak and concentrated on the woman in front of me.

  "Afraid? Afraid of what?” She wasn't screaming, but I could still hear the hurt and anger in her voice. She threw her hands in the air. “Afraid I'd find out what you are and turn you over to some scientists once I did? That hurts, Aer. You know me better than anyone, you know I would never do something like that."

  I shook my head. “No, Phi, it wasn't that."

  She crossed the room to stand in front of me, her head tilted back to look up at me. “Then what was it? I've spent five years wondering what I did wrong. Five years, worrying about your dumb ass.” She poked me in the chest with a finger. “Tell me, what were you so afraid of that you couldn't take five minutes to write a letter? Hell, you coulda said, ‘You're a bitch. Kiss my ass. I never want to see you again.’ That would have been better than leaving me with nothing."

  A lump rose in my throat. My heart was telling me to say it. My mind and Shirak were telling me to keep my mouth shut.

  "Remember the Erestor. We are in enough trouble as it is."

  The hell with the rules. There were obviously other Rikashi who didn't give a damn about our precious Erestor. I'd already broken several rules, why not go all the way and break the rest?

  Phi was continuing to berate me for leaving without a word, Shirak was admonishing me to keep my mouth shut. But I'd had enough, I couldn't keep it bottled up any longer, couldn't not tell Phi what I'd fought against for five long years.

  "Fuck it,” I snarled, startling both of them to silence. “I was afraid of falling in love with you more than I already was.” Her eyes went wide, her mouth open slightly as she stared at me. I heard Shirak groan behind me but ignored him for now. “There, are you happy, damn it?"

  "Why—why didn't you just tell me?"

  "Because he could not,” Shirak answered for me. “It is the first rule of the Erestor. Humans can never be our lovers."

  "Bullshit,” she spat. “You never gave a damn about any rules. You were the first guy to cut class on a nice day. So what was stopping you?"

  "This is different.” I narrowed my eyes at her, my own temper rising. She was right, though. I would have told her in a heartbeat. I would have told her everything. The truth was I had been afraid of being rejected, of her thinking I was some kind of monster. “And you made it obvious you only cared about me as a brother. I wasn't about to reveal my real feelings only to have it thrown back in my face."

  If possible her eyes widened even further, her mouth worked up and down as her cheeks flushed bright red. I wasn't surprised to see the anger that flashed in her eyes, but the tears that followed chilled my anger like a bucket of ice water. I never saw her raise her hand, or it move toward me, but I stumbled back a couple steps as it connected with my cheek with a loud crack. I stared at her, putting a hand to my stinging cheek.

  "What the fuck was that for?"

  "You self righteous son of a bitch. You think you know everything, don't you? You don't know anything. If you would have just asked me, maybe you would have gotten the answer you were looking for."

  I was so stunned I made no move to stop her as she marched across the room and stormed out the door. The cold breeze snapped me out of my shock and I started after her. “Phi? Jo? Wait!"

  She whirled on me again, her eyes flashing. “Get the hell away from me. You obviously know what I think and how I feel better than me anyway and don't give a damn about how I really feel. So just go. Don't worry, your fucking secret is safe with the pitiful human girl."

  I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I just stood there, watching her go. I had blown it. My fear had blinded me to what was right before my eyes. That's what had changed between us. We both knew our feelings were more than what we'd first thought. Certain she'd return as soon as she calmed down, I went back inside and sat on the bed, my eyes glued to the door, feeling like a complete and utter fool.

  "That went well,” Shirak said sarcastically.

  "Shut up, damn it,” I snarled at him.

  Naturally he didn't listen and continued to berate me, as he had for five years, for falling in love with a human. Eventually he gave up, and silence filled the room.

  After the fourth time through the headlines, I knew Phi wasn't coming back, and I turned to Shirak. “Find her. You know her mind. You can find her."

  "It would be better to let her go, brother."

  "Fuck that. Find her or I'm going to kick your ass."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 11

  Josephine Erlina Moreau

  I walked for a while, turning corners at random, wanting to get as far away from Aer as possible. A part of me was demanding I turn around and run back to him and forgive hi
m, but there was no way I was going to be the one to apologize. He was the one being a jackass.

  I turned another corner and felt the techno thumping coming from a bar a few doors down. I started toward the bar, needing a drink or maybe several.

  How dare he? Who did he think he was? Did he think he was protecting me from something? Did he think I was just going to reject him if he told me? Oh no, my best friend's a Rikashi, get away.

  "Stupid bastard,” I muttered under my breath as I stomped down the pavement, mindless of the cold now. I was so angry, I was literally shaking with it. I think I might have crossed against a light because I heard a car horn blare at me. I gave the driver the finger and kept walking. Stupid Aer. “Stupid, stupid, stupid ... man!” A few of the people in line for the bar looked at me. I glared at them and kept walking.

  Reason reared its unwelcome head reminding me it wasn't entirely his fault. I had kept my feelings to myself. I had been afraid too, afraid that he thought of me only as his best friend. But right now I needed to blame him.

  Maybe I could find some guy to buy me a drink and just forget about all of this for a little while. Make me feel attractive and desirable, because right now I felt neither.

  As I neared the door of the club, the bouncer at the front waved me in. I smiled and pointed to myself, making certain he was waving at me. He nodded.

  "Yep, blondie, you're in,” he said, pulling back the rope.

  I gave him a quick smile as he checked me out, that certainly helped to boost my ego. Inside, closing my eyes a moment, I let the beat wash over me and vibrate through my chest. Maybe it would soothe an aching heart.

  I walked toward the bar with my best sashay. Someone was leaving their stool, so I squeezed in and sat down. I looked at my reflection in the mirror behind the bottles, then ran my fingers through my hair to give it that tousled look guys seemed to like. I rested an elbow on the bar and put on my best “bored but looking” face.

  It didn't take long before no less than five guys offered to buy me a drink. I tried not to let my surprise show as I smiled sweetly at each of them. I expected one, maybe two, but not five. “Why thank you, gentleman."