Marked by Time (The Mark Series Book 1)

by Victoria Basnuevo

  “She has mastered her blade, has a stronger connection with nature than anyone I have ever seen—”

  “I don’t need your perspective, son. I need the facts. We are running out of time.” Daris deflated and continued.

  “She can easily grow her own food, has decent flight control, and harnessed the hurricane the other day.”

  His mother frowned and shook her head. “Speed it up. We tried another invasion a few weeks ago and failed. We didn’t even locate the book.”

  She sighed and combed her hair back like Daris sometimes did when he was frustrated. “We need her ready.”

  “She will be.”

  “Not at this rate.”

  “Everything takes time.”

  “Then speed it up. Have her train during the night or something, but have her ready.”

  The screen went dark with a final beep to signify the end of the call. I looked at the computer. I was angry, furious even, that this woman was pretty much insulting me. She was putting down her son who only seemed to look highly on her. She definitely did not fit the mold that I had constructed of the woman Daris spoke so highly of.

  “Get dressed, Skyler.” His voice was cold and his eyes were dark, almost like Travis’s.

  “Daris—” I reached out to touch his arm, but he just pulled away sharply and snapped his darkened gaze at me. An unpleasant shiver snaked through me and I stilled, my arm still outstretched.

  “Now.” He looked back to the computer, responding to a message that popped up in the chat. It was his mom again, but Daris answered quickly and shut the laptop before I could see it.

  I ran to my room, got dressed into workout clothes, and went outside. The morning around me was cool. A small breeze brushed the loose strands from my ponytail off my shoulders. The sun was high; it was probably about ten. The trees parted for me, moving to their sentinel positions to watch the carnage that would soon occur. I moved to the peach tree and plucked a fruit only to have it blasted out of my hand and into the fence by a strong, concentrated blast of wind.

  I turned to see Daris dressed and ready for the day with a focused look in his eyes. His body was tense and stiff. When I looked closer into his eyes, I saw the wall he had put up. It was dark and defensive; but instead of just keeping me out, the wall threw me outside of Daris’s mind. When I closed my eyes, I could barely sense him. Daris had shut me out entirely and when I searched for him, he shoved me away violently.

  “Daris?”

  “Watch closely.” He got in a similar stance as the one he used when he was teaching me the hurricane and breathed deeply. His arms moved in quick circular formations: left over right then right over left. Eventually, a small vortex formed over his hands, growing slightly with every movement until, similar to the hurricane, he shot his arms forward. Quickly, the tornado rushed to the targets, sucking them into the whirlwind and shredding them with the violent lashing winds.

  The wind died down and what remained of the targets floated to the ground. Daris took a breath and stood up straight. Four more targets grew in a straight line and Daris threw a punch. A fierce rush of wind broke through the tightly knotted center of the targets with a sharp crack. Again, Daris exhaled slowly as the plants repaired themselves.

  “Your turn.” He moved away and I took his stance. As I moved, my footsteps were light and my movements were swift. My balance was off, though. I felt it when my feet crossed over each other. “Faster,” Daris called to me. I sped up, my hands in smaller circles and my feet tripping over each other. Eventually, as I thought would happen, I tripped over my own two feet a small explosion sending me a few feet back.

  “Crap.”

  “Get up and do it again.”

  The jokes and facial targets were gone. The encouragement was gone. Daris was gone, replaced by this ruthless trainer who appeared in the presence of his mother. Whatever she told him was ruining him and shutting him down. Nevertheless, I rose and kicked my shoes off. I inhaled as my toes burrowed into the cool dirt and the stretching grass.

  I rose on the balls of my feet and began again. Daris’s sudden attitude adjustment was not going to hinder my training. It may, however, interrupt whatever connection I thought we were forming.

  As I moved, I formed the pictures in the targets myself, feeling the plants twist and turn until I knew who I was aiming for. Travis’s stupid smirk was front and center and was followed by the calculating, selfish grin of my father. Next, was Camille’s giggly face. After that was Daris’s mom. She seemed nice at first, but then she took away my fun and energetic trainer and replaced him with a harsh, demanding person. At the very end, on a smaller target, was the cold, stern version of Daris that I was currently exposed to. I didn’t like him, and I wanted to destroy the person who was teaching me and replace him with the one who was watching movies with me the night before.

  I closed my eyes and focused, recalling the way Daris effortlessly glided through the movements. My steps increased and became more deliberate. My arms moved quickly and steadily until I felt the air around me gather into a deadly twister, one laced with fire and a green light that was new to me. I opened my eyes and jumped at the size of the tornado that had formed quite literally in the palm of my hand. The power was breathtaking and I nearly lost control in my shock, but the wind just picked up speed before I guided it towards the target. I watched with satisfaction as it tore up the landscape that stood in its way until the faces were uprooted and shredded into pieces the size of a small blade of grass.

  Before I even looked at Daris, the faces formed once more. One punch and they were gone. I shrank the remains back into the ground and flew up into the welcoming height of the mango tree to cool off.

  It was up there, safely perched in the leaves and fruit that I realized something: the trees in the yard were larger than they should be. I suppose that made sense, seeing as Daris and I could control when they could bear fruit. Why couldn’t we also control their height to keep the fruit safe from the several training sessions occurring on the ground?

  I watched the shadows and sunlight play as the warm afternoon breeze shook the leaves. I laughed as a branch crept close to me, a peach resting nicely in a small cradle. I took a bite as I thanked the trees around me. Even when I was upset, it was evident that Nature was on my side, eager to help and please me in all my endeavors.

  I heard Daris screaming a few feet below me and was satisfied to see that the mango tree was hard at work in keeping him away from me. I asked it to let him go and chose to free fall to the dirt. By the time Daris reached where I was in the tree, I was on the ground, sinfully enjoying my peach in the shade of the cherry tree. Around me, small blossoms fell and the yard was bathed in pinks and whites and sweet scents. Daris seemed frustrated, his body stiff and his face contorted into an expression of anger I hadn’t seen since I first snuck out to train. I knew I wasn’t making his life easy, but I was too annoyed with his Mr. Hyde to care. Nature answered my call and made his journey towards me as difficult as possible, guiding trees and bushes in Daris’s path. I laughed when he emerged before me with leaves and twigs caught in his hair. He was seething.

  “Earthquake; let’s go.” He glared at me.

  “Gladly.”

  One natural disaster after another, I observed, attempted, and somewhat achieved. With each one, he seemed to just get angrier, as if the progress occurring in the past few weeks was detrimental to him. Earthquake, tsunami, fire, blizzard. Each one came with a barely differing stance, a different arm movement, and the same dominant and destructive energy that controlled me.

  I gave myself to it.

  It was addicting, an intoxicating feeling of exhilaration that I never wanted to go away.

  As the sun set, Daris was emitting so much negative energy that I was sure he would have been considered a feast in the world of Acerlums. I stopped sensing the energy that was his and began feeling the anger constantly rolling off him with more strength than the ocean’s currents. I knew he was reaching
his breaking point, that moment every person has where they just snap. He was getting there. If he was going to be an ass to me, fine. I reciprocated the silent treatment, adding sarcastic movements or small remarks when I saw fit.

  When darkness finally settled over the yard, the light of the moon and that from the house illuminated our corner of the world, the same one I returned to its immaculate condition whenever either Daris or I felt the desire to be destructive. Unfortunately, staying up late the night before and training all day with few snacks in between made it so that, by the time I saw stars, I was ready to see the ceiling.

  “Again,” Daris yelled.

  He had had me repeating each destructive force of nature for the past two and half hours, varying the order until I was sure he had run me through every possible combination; but this time, I just turned and strolled to the house. Sure enough, he followed me and blocked my path just like he had done several times before. “Where are you going?”

  I cocked my hip. “I’m going to eat, shower, and go to bed.”

  I moved around him, but he grabbed my arm, his hand touching the mark on my upper right arm. It burned, more than it did when Travis had grabbed me. I pushed him off me quickly with a small shout, covering the tattoo with my other hand. I shut my eyes tight and gripped the dagger with my right hand. When I opened my eyes, I was still in control, but the shock on Daris’s face was enough to tell me that I looked dangerous. He started backing away, a hand on his own knife and his expression becoming defensive.

  “Step into control, Skyler.” His voice was a hard command he expected me to obey like a dog, but it gave me all the clues I needed to know that I looked like a feral predator ready to strike.

  “I am in control.” I snapped at him.

  “Then drop the dagger.”

  “I will when you stop acting like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like a heartless bastard.”

  He recoiled like he had just been slapped.

  “One day, you’re nice and caring. You teach me well and tell me to take my time; but the next, you’re telling me to go faster and shaking your head when I do something wrong. Then, you don’t even tell me what’s wrong. You just stand there and watch me fall over my own feet!”

  “You learned everything you had to. Look how far we got.”

  “I am looking at how far we got and it just looks like we’re going backward,” I muttered lowly. Even I heard the hurt and sadness in my voice.

  Daris stayed silent and I walked past him. He reached for my shoulder again, but the briefest of brushes of his fingers had me screaming and clutching my mark. I turned and ran for the shower, desperate for the cold water to try to soothe the aching burn that ignited my arm, shooting a small twister his way to stop him from chasing me.

  The water did more than just getting rid of the heat. The water reacted to my mark as if the flames were real, and steam erupted around me with a loud hiss. Sweat collected on my brow and the heat was murderous, but the burning was gone and I was left to sigh in relief. A knock sounded on the bathroom door, but I ignored it, defiantly turning the shower to full blast and throwing my clothes against the door. Each one hit with a small indignant thump before crumpling to the floor. The pounding continued until the water shut off.

  Without even looking at him, I walked past Daris in nothing but a towel and stood in front my dresser until he got the clue and closed the door. Five minutes later, the knocking started again. It was annoying and persistent, so I put my headphones on and was finally able to relax myself to sleep as my running music filled my dreams.

  One week, three days, seventeen hours, twenty-four minutes, and nineteen seconds. That was how long I had been ignoring Daris. Add a few more hours to that tally and it would be how long it had been since I met his mother. Subtract a few days and that would be how long it had been since he had trained me.

  I was miserable. I rarely left my room other than to eat or use the bathroom or to see something other than the four bare walls I had confined myself to. I hadn’t watched any movies. I hadn’t even baked!

  Daris hadn’t spoken to me since I started ignoring him. It looked like we had given up on each other. I kept training every so often when I was bored out of my wits, but even then, I made sure I didn’t see Daris. If he came outside, I took to the trees, hiding among the blossoms I always loved to train under. On the bright side, without his closed attitude and with all the emotions bouncing around inside me, whenever I set up the targets, the same thing happened as when I was learning the hurricane. My field of vision sharpened and my heart quickened. The power behind my movements increased, but it seemed like I was walking on air. My midnight training sessions started with aimless attacks and blade work to release stress. I could then focus for a few hours before remembering why I was mad and trying to refrain from aiming at the house. In the time we had been ignoring each other, I had perfected the hurricane and tornado. Too bad I was too upset to want to celebrate or even be proud.

  I knew I would have to come face-to-face with him eventually, but for now, I was content to be alone. I only cooked when he was out, hiding the food in my room and trying to air out the room before he got home. Unfortunately, my perfect routine began to falter when it became evident that Daris wanted to start talking again.

  If Daris came out during my training, he would stay for longer times, often staring at the trees with something that I could only describe as longing. I would scatter the fallen blossoms in the wind and hide the others. He came knocking at my door more often and stayed up later to try to catch me. It was most difficult when I felt the urge to cook. He would leave for the store just to come back minutes after I started. Several of my dishes have been made in silence or not made at all. After losing several batches of brownies to the trash or the oven, I snapped one day while he was watching me bake.

  “Can I help you?”

  He didn’t respond. I put the mixing bowl on the counter with a bang and turned to him. He had bags under his blue eyes.

  I held in my gasp, choosing instead to keep up the cold exterior I had grown accustomed to wearing around him. “If not, leave me alone.”

  “Blossom—” The name sounded soft, but I didn’t want to hear it.

  “What?” I finished mixing the chocolate then put it in the oven. He didn’t say anything. I walked past him, setting the timer on my phone, grabbing my dagger and heading outside. He followed me.

  I got outside and grew the targets, the action taking mere seconds at this point. Each one had Camille’s face on it. Those went down quickly. Travis’s face was next and I watched him burn. Following him was my father, his expression blown away. Finally, Daris showed up. I brought the targets closer to me and extended the blade. One by one, each face fell. Every emotion he had ever shown me dropped to the ground. The stone-cold one was last and it fell just like the others. I kept swinging, though, sensing one more obstacle. My eyes opened when metal clanged.

  Inches away from me, sporting a determined look with joyful eyes, was Daris. His mouth curled upward and I jumped away from him. His blade was the same size as mine and glowing red. I made mine glow blue before shutting my eyes once more, allowing the power of the dagger to guide my movements. Each of his attacks was blocked and the sound of metal was loud in my ears. I sensed his hesitation; it was present in every move. He didn’t trust me with my eyes closed. He knew I was mad, and he was wary of it. Smart man. I growled when he blocked me.

  The fight kept going. He started using the elements against me, but I felt the uncertainty. I dodged one after another, shrinking the distance between us until the fight became hand-to-hand. I hadn’t had much training, though, and I was forced to back off just enough to pull the dagger. Swipe after swipe, I met air until my impatience took over. The timer beeped as I grabbed Daris and pushed him to the ground. He grabbed my upper arms and I screamed as he brought me down with him.

  I landed under him and kept screaming, the burn returning from th
e last time he touched me and increasing the longer he touched me.

  “Ha! I win.” He smiled as if this had been a game the whole time instead of him interrupting my venting. I would have relished in the smile that I hadn’t seen in almost two weeks had I not been in pain. Dammit, it hurt. I screamed louder and Daris covered my mouth. Unfortunately, he used the hand that wasn’t searing me from the inside out. My yells were muffled. “Will you shut up and listen to me?”

  I closed my eyes and struggled, trying desperately to get him off me. He was too strong, though, and while he laughed at my struggling, probably thinking I was just mad, I started crying.

  “Sky?” He loosened his hold and I shoved him away from me. I sprinted to the small pond in the corner and submerged my arm. The steam rose around me and I sighed sadly finally able to breathe normally. The tears kept falling; the pain wasn’t receding fast enough. I looked for Daris and saw that he was gone, but he soon returned with the brownies and a bag of ice. Daris sat next to the pond and silently handed me the ice. I eagerly grabbed it and placed it on my arm, hissing as the ice quickly melted against my feverish skin. I lay down on the grass, moving a bit away from Daris.

  We sat there in silence, eating the chocolate treats under the setting sun until the sky started to darken, the only light coming from the house. The heat was slowly subsiding until I could finally feel the cool of the rapidly melting ice. Every so often, I looked at Daris out of the corner of my eye. He was always staring at the pond with a conflicted expression on his face. I kept moving away from him until I felt that three feet of space was enough.

  “Are you okay now?” His voice was soft and quiet, nothing more than a whisper lost amongst the whispering trees.

  “The weird burn is gone.” I watched the small fish dash around the water.

  “It’s a not-so-subtle way of your Naturtem reacting to your reactions. It burns others when they’re hurting you, but for the most part, it’s your emotions reacting to the other person’s touch.” He paused and took a breath. “You must really not have wanted me near you.”