by Stacy Lee
Chapter Six
Wind is whipping past my ears in a loud roar, my hair is flying about my face in a cloud of knots and tangles, someone’s hands are wrapped around my waist and a gentle hum is reverberating through my head. Cautiously I crack my eyes open, a male chest meets my hazy view, beyond that the sky has darkened to the deepest of blacks, stars twinkle far out in the distance. With a moan I try to lift my head only to find it weighs more than my entire body forcing me to drop it back to the chest it was resting on.
“Welcome back.” Xavier’s body vibrates with his words. The gentle hum grows to a dull roar with the loudness of his voice. Closing my eyes tight I try to will the headache away however it only increases the more I try. With a sigh I give up, allowing myself to relax against Xavier. “How do you feel?” To loud, his voice is too loud. Why is he shouting?
“Shhhh, not so loud, I’m right here.” I mumble. His small chuckle forces me to once again open my eyes and look up to him.
“I’m not shouting, Sam. I’m barely whispering.”
“Could have fooled me.” I huff as I burry my head in his chest once more.
“You didn’t answer me, how do you feel?” This time I can hear the under currents in his voice, fear, concern, anger.
“My head and body hurt but I’ll make it.” His heavy relief filled sigh was not what I had expected, neither was the fact his entire body seemed to relax with my words. “Why are we flying at night? I thought Axel said we couldn’t land in the mountains at night?”
“We had no choice but to move our camp. They know you are here now. They may not have realized who you were but the fact you have undeveloped wings and used magic that hasn’t been seen in more than a century, it won’t take long for them to figure it out, Evangelina.” There is an edge to his words that make me want to cringe away from him.
“Did I do something wrong, Xavier?” I ask perplexed. I had saved our butts how could he be mad at me?
“No. It’s just… well… It’s….” He drifts off not even trying to finish the statement.
“It’s what?” I ask hotly.
“You put yourself in danger, Samantha! You used so much that you passed out cold for hours, what if I wouldn’t have been close enough to get you out of there, what if Axel hadn’t been there to help me? What would you have done if you passed out and Raider had still taken you before we could have reached you? You can’t overextend yourself like that!” He growls out in a fit of anger.
“Well excuse me. I don’t even know what I did or how I did it, it just happened. And if you are talking about Navy, he was gone from his perch before I lost consciousness. The Ranoy were gone, he was gone, I had no reason to fight to stay awake after that.” Defending myself for saving us was not what I thought would happen when we got away from the Ranoy but then again nothing had been what I thought since I arrived here!
Silence, that is the only answer I receive. I want to ask if Axel was alright but a glimpse of violet wings a short ways behind us tells me he is, so I keep my silence, as does he. The peace gives me time to ponder the events on a deeper level.
They said I could only have the bond with one person, my Kindred. They also said that person was Xavier because the bond had tried to form upon our first meeting. If that is true then why did Raider, I’m sure Navy is who Xavier meant with that name, have the same effect on me? Was it a lie? Would every unbound male I come upon have the same reaction till I pick one? No, if that was the case then Axel would have been in that list, he hadn’t provoked the strange feelings like the other two men had. Then there is the fact they said no one had broken the link before. Maybe because I didn’t let it finish it was trying to find another? Or that there was more than one Kindred out there however no one had been able to break the first link to try the theory out and they had assumed there was only one.
The fact that I didn’t know enough about this whole Kindred business was hurting my ability to figure out what the causes of it were. I knew Xavier wouldn’t answer any of my questions but maybe if I was able to get Axel alone again he would. If I only knew more about it, until then I would keep the fact that Raider had affected me the same way Xavier did to myself. It was childish but if they wouldn’t supply me with answers then why should I give them a reason to force this bond with Xavier. I’m sure if they knew there was a chance I could bond with Raider they would do nothing short of holding me down to insure the bond with Xavier stuck. Just the way Xavier had spit out his name told me there was bad blood between them.
Why had a Phranoy been helping the Ranoy in the first place? By the command he gave it was almost as if they were obeying him, like a captain of an army or something. Axel had said the Phranoy were good, if that man was good then I was sure hell had frozen over because his eyes were pure evil. How he stayed a Phranoy when the bad ones were supposed to turn into those monsters, I had no idea, but somehow he had beaten the curse.
“Hang on, I’m going to land.” As my hands are tied around his neck and his legs are intertwined with mine holding me captive, I’m not sure where he thought I would go but I keep my mouth shut and let him concentrate on landing. Once he sits me down he bends low enough for me to pull my hands from around his neck then unties them for me. As soon as I’m free I stalk off to the nearest boulder and sit with my back to him.
A short time later Axel comes over to sit beside me placing a plate of cubes in front of me. “You need to eat, Sam.” I nod but only pick at the small squares pushing them around the plate. “What’s bothering you?” Unlike Xavier his voice holds nothing but compassion and gentleness prompting me to ask my questions.
“Was what I did really so bad? We made it out of there alive, didn’t we?” He sighs.
“Sam, it wasn’t so much what you did, it was how you made him feel that bothers him.”
“And how did I make him feel?” I ask sarcastically.
“Scared.” One simple word, the only word I have not used in comparison with Xavier. He wasn’t the scared type.
“I doubt that.” I huff to his chuckle.
“I know you don’t understand our ways and we haven’t been forthcoming in explaining them because of other things we can’t help. However I will say that knowing you are his Kindred makes him want to keep you safe and away from harm. He doesn’t want anything to happen to you and watching you sink to the ground not knowing if you were alive or dead wasn’t easy for him. The power you wielded today was tremendous, more than you should have been able to control. He thought you were dead.” The last is spoken so quietly I almost miss it.
“What makes a Kindred so special? The only thing Maddox explained was and I quote, ‘The link basically pairs you together mentally and psychically, he is your other half.’ I don’t get what all the fuss is about.” He eyes me for a minute then glances back to where Xavier sits alone eating his dinner.
“This can go no further than me and you. Do not tell Xavier I explained this to you. Understand?” He gives me a stern look that shows little doubt that he would somehow punish me if I did. The idea makes me shiver. I never wanted this man on my bad side. He seemed fun-loving and gentle but inside him was a warrior not to be trifled with. After all if Xavier wouldn’t have stopped him the first time we met he surely would have snapped my neck without a second thought.
“Yes, I promise.”
“Very well. A Kindred spirit or maybe soul mate would better explain it to you?” He waits for me to answer but I stay silent wanting anything he would tell me. “When A Phranoy’s essence or soul is formed it is then split in two pieces, each piece going into its separate host. One male, one female. When that essence finds the other half it knows it instantly, which is what makes the bond form the second the eyes meet. The eyes are the windows to our souls, one essence sees the other through the windows and they are reunited in a bond so deep, so true, nothing can break it. The magic’s you cannot do, he can and vice-versa. You couldn’t call the wind because your Kindred is the one with the power to cont
rol it, not you. Understand?”
“I think so. What happens if you already have someone when your Kindred comes along? I mean humans know there is someone out there for them but they settle all the time for someone to love who makes them happy even if it isn’t ‘the one’. Did Xavier have someone like that before I showed up?” The idea I have broken him and his love apart doesn’t sit well in my gut and I pray he gives me a no. Also somewhere in the back of my mind the thought of Xavier with anyone else makes my blood boil a little. I push the feeling aside and try to focus on Axel.
“No. We don’t ‘settle’ Sam. Your Kindred is made just for you. Take me for example. I will only ever love one woman, I will only be allowed children with one woman, I will search till my dying day to find her and no other woman will do. I have held you close to my body, I have spoken to you, am getting to know you, but you hold no interest to me as a woman because you are not MY woman. Does that make sense?”
“Yes. What do you mean ‘allowed to have children’? Who allows you?” He chuckles.
“Only our Kindred can conceive our child. I could try with any woman I wanted but until I met my Kindred it would not happen. On that same note I have never once ‘tried’. Nor has Xavier. Only our Kindred holds that place and no other will do.” He gives me a hard look as I mill over his words. Was he seriously telling me him nor Xavier had ever been with a woman in that way? From his intense look I believe he was. They were a hundred years old but yet were waiting for their perfect match. Okay, if they took it that serious then that tells me the Kindred was a very meaningful thing to them. No wonder Xavier was so hurt by my decision to wait.
“What did he mean by psychically and mentally? And Xavier said we would be stronger, what did he mean?” He sighs.
“Mentally you have already experienced a little of. The speaking without speaking. The emotion transfer. Those type things only on a much stronger level. Psychically is when you join your minds to work as one. You can wield his powers and he can wield yours or you can combine your strengths and work together. In battle he is right, you would be stronger. He would give you the strength you need right now and you would give him the power to protect you.” I needed to know about Raider. Maybe if I word it very carefully he will answer me.
“Hypothetically speaking let’s say there is another person out there that could also cause the bond, what would happen to the small link I have with Xavier if I bonded with the other man?” Not that I wanted to bond with Raider but if for some reason he captured me, or I couldn’t break it again, I needed to know.
“That isn’t possible, Sam.” There is finality to his voice that makes me cringe.
“I know you keep saying that, just humor me, please.” I beg.
“I would imagine it would be severed permanently, possibly killing the other person. The only way I know to sever a bond is death and even then the one left alive mourns for life. But as I said it isn’t possible. We only have two halves and you and Xavier are them. You are meant for each other. Even your powers match up to make a complete basic set, almost. You proved you could syphon today, now if you can accomplish warping the two of you will be unstoppable.” He gives me a huge grin. Unnerved by his words I can’t manage to match it. I don’t want Xavier to die because I was too stubborn to finish this then inadvertently let Raider have control of me. However I wasn’t ready for it either. There was something in the back of my mind insisting it couldn’t happen yet, it wasn’t time. It could just be my subconscious knows I am hesitant about it but then again it could be more.
“If I was to finish the bond with Xavier would that hypothetical person be able to sever it?”
“Sam.” Aggravation has crept into his voice telling me I was pushing too hard. I needed to drop this before he begins asking me questions I didn’t want to answer. “Why does it matter? It is impossible.”
“I know, I’m sorry. So you really think what I did earlier was syphoning?” I ask trying to change the subject however all I want to know is who Raider is and how he was still a Phranoy. My gut told me if I was to change to that line of questioning he would catch on so I bide my time with the magnanimous power I felt earlier.
“I do. I have seen nothing like it before. Can you tell me how you did it?” His curiosity was peaked now and his earlier aggravation wanes.
“Nope. I have no clue. I think it had something to do with my hand in the dirt but I didn’t ask for it or imagine it, it just happened.” I say nonchalantly although the feelings the energy had evoked in me scared the living daylights out of me. Nevertheless I wouldn’t tell them that.
“Well don’t let it happen again till you can control it.” Xavier’s angry voice floats to us and I wonder how long he has been able to hear our conversation.
“If I had just sat there and done nothing they would have taken me. Is that what you would have preferred?” I spout off just as angry as him while I stalk over to face him.
“No.” He deflates a little but the anger is still there.
“I did what I had to do, Xavier. That….man told them to take me. Three of them were coming for me. What else would you have had me to do?” This wasn’t the time or place to be arguing but if we didn’t get a few things straight we would stay mad at each other for the whole trip. He couldn’t expect me to sit back and wait on him to come to the rescue every time I was in trouble. It wasn’t feasible.
“I had already taken out six of them. If you would have given me a minute I would have been there to protect you!” He shouts jumping to his feet.
“I didn’t have a minute. You both were fighting one each and I had three in front of me. I may be new to all this crap but I am not weak and helpless! You will not be able to protect me in every fight we come across, Xavier. There will be times we will be outnumbered, we are but three people. You have to trust me to do what I can to help you and protect myself!” Throwing my hands in the air I stalk off to the boulder and resume my prior seat. I hear Xavier leave the campsite behind me with Axel hot on his heels trying to calm him down. They don’t go far as I can hear their muffled voices but far enough I can’t make them out.
I suck in deep breaths trying to calm myself. When that doesn’t work I lean forward on the rock I’m sitting on and place my hands flat against it, my cheek presses against the cold surface as I flatten my body to it. After a few minutes my entire body relaxes upon the cool stone, a few more and I become aware of a current running just under the service of the jagged rock. Pressing my body closer to it I let my eyes close.
In my mind’s eye I can see an angry red pulse running through the interior of the stone like a road map. It’s almost as if the stone is alive, the lines of energy its veins, the pulse its heartbeat. The veins towards the surface are thick, coursing with power, others branching off those are thinner with less energy flowing through them as they make their way winding through the cracks and crevices imbedded deep within the mountains themselves. An entire network of these veins of energy pulse throughout the stone.
I’m very aware that my body that was only moments ago relaxed was tense and vibrating with need to reach the power within the stone. Very carefully I visualize a small amount of the energy flowing into my fingertips. My breath catches as I feel the flow begin. Slowly as not to remove my hands I drag myself into a sitting position inadvertently causing my visualization to drop, allowing the power to be drawn into me at an alarming rate. I try to hold in the cry of pain from the way it makes my body burn but am unable to. Quickly I retain the image in my mind slowing the rate of transfer and the pain eases minutely.
“Sam!” Xavier’s voice is so loud I flinch once again losing my control. I gasp while trying to fight to slow it back down. “Sam, stop before you hurt yourself!” I try to ignore the worry in his voice as I continue to slow the rate of transfer. I had to keep focused on what I was doing or the power would burn my insides to dust. How I know that, I don’t know, I just do.
“Xavier, don’t distract her. Just watch. Keep
going Samantha.” Axel’s awe filled tone soothes me giving me the strength I need to successfully stop the flow.
My body was alive with power and energy. I could feel the hairs on my arms standing on end. Intermittent feelings of rage, power, anguish and death course through my body. My mind races with so many options on how I could use such power. Revenge, destruction, terrorize the people, I could rule the world with this much power running through me! This is the thought that brings me back to myself. I had no desire to rule anything, much less the world. Neither did I want to hurt people or go on a reign of terror. The energy coursing through me was making me drunk on the feelings of anger, destruction, power and greatness, that wasn’t me, would never be me.
I needed to get rid of it before these feelings consumed me. Opening my eyes I hold my hands out, palms toward each other and visualize the energy coalescing between them. At first there is only a flash of light that withers quickly, then another, then another, then a fourth that stays. Feeding the energy into a sphere I let it grow to the size of a glowing cantaloupe. Red tendrils of energy snake from my palms to the ball feeding it. The edges of it snap and crackle as if it were fire waiting to consume miles of dry earth. I can feel the power drain from my system, the burning eases, the thoughts and feelings wane and the pain subsides with each increment that goes into the sphere.
Taking a chance and hoping I won’t lose control of the power, I glance around our surroundings. A small cave barely big enough for a rabbit or armadillo sits at the base of the boulder I had been sitting on. With a measured sureness I kneel down then carefully visualize the tendrils severing to release the sphere from my control before freeing the glowing orb into hole. I step back then visualize it being devoured by the rock to go back where it came.
BOOM!
The sphere explodes caving in the rock and knocking me backwards. Strong arms catch me before I can hit the ground.
“Ow!” Xavier stands me quickly then backs away. “You are as hot as fire.” He shakes his hands as if that would soothe the ache. Axel, not one to be left out of something, walks over and touches the skin at my neck then quickly pulls back his hand with wide eyes.
“I still have energy coursing through me. I need to get rid of it. Obviously that way didn’t work.” I point to the now crushed boulder. “Any suggestions?” Neither speaks up.
The pain in my back is threatening to knock me out, the fire in my veins is growing by the minute, I had to dump this power somewhere before I passed out and burnt up all at the same time. All of a sudden an image flits through my mind.
“Back up incase this doesn’t work.” I warn as I walk towards another boulder. I don’t let the heated voices behind me distract me as I lay my hands on the rock. I let the network of crimson energy appear in my mind then visualize the power flowing from me to them. With a deep breath and a prayer I let the energy go in a steady stream merging it back into the rock. Close to five minutes pass before I can once again breathe properly, my body has cooled and the fire was gone. Cutting off the flow I step back and fall to my knees. Instantly Xavier is by my side.
“Are you okay? Do you need to sleep?” He asks with concern. I shake my head. Surprisingly I’m not overly tired this time only very thirsty.
“Drink.” I manage to croak out. Axel’s footsteps leave then return.
“Open your mouth.” I do as I’m told, a water cube is slipped through my lips and I close around it with a sigh. The fresh burst of liquid refreshing.
“Thank you.” A hand tentatively touches my skin before the entire palm encircles the back of my neck. With a forceful nudge Xavier turns my face to his. The glasses he wasn’t wearing earlier are now in place as he looks deep into my eyes. Fear, concern, and pride wash over me as his emotions take me. The one that surprises me most is pride. “You’re proud of me?” I ask weakly.
“I’m very proud of you, Samantha. You can do something no one else can. I was proud of you earlier to, I was just so worried about you I couldn’t tell you that. You scared me, Sam. I have never been scared of anything before. The knowledge the bond isn’t even complete and yet you could affect me so much scares me just as much as watching you fall to the ground did. If this is a partial bond, how much stronger will it be when it’s complete?” He pulls his emotions away from me with a slight flick of his eyes. How was I supposed to take that? His honesty and sincerity are felt each time he links us together like this, how can he be lying to me?
My thoughts are put on hold as I arch my back with the pain from all the magic. He pulls me into his arms and holds me cooing softly in my ear while wave after wave slams into me. When it finally subsides he has had to stand, the length of my wings now reaching past my knees and just above my shoulders. Each wing was rolled tightly in upon itself, tucked securely against my back, as they were still forming they were unable to open, however the thickness of each roll was growing.
“If they keep growing in length their going to be longer than you.” Axel jokes once the pain has fully left and Xavier has released me.
“What color are they?” I ask trying to see them in the soft moonlight.
“They don’t have one yet. They are a shimmering iridescent with many specks of color but no true one yet. Give them time, it will come.” Axel ruffles my hair playfully then heads to his bedroll. “You have first watch Xavier. Wake me in a couple hours.” He rolls over with his back to us. The tent had been destroyed by the Ranoy so tonight we had to sleep under the stars. I wasn’t complaining, they were beautiful. The deep onyx sky was twinkling with fireflies too far away to catch. An almost full moon hangs precariously in the night sky dousing us in its soft glow, it was truly gorgeous.
“I think I’ll lie down to. If you need me to take a shift at watch, just wake me.” He nods to me but I’m sure he would never do it. “Good night, Xavier.” I say quietly as I curl into my bedroll.
Several minutes later I hear a whisper soft ‘Good night, Masu’ inside my head, as I drift into a deep sleep.