As his eyes met hers he nodded. He had to, she was his only hope of finding out who he really was, he had nothing left here on Zyon. Rising to his feet he pulled his cloak around himself; suddenly moaning, he raised his hand to his chest.
Jumping up quickly Arweyn reached out her hand to him.
“Are you still in pain?” she asked concerned.
Shaking his head he backed away from her raising his hand.
“No it is okay I’m fine,” he said sharply. She frowned at him, startled by his abruptness, and pulled her hand back. Seeing the hurt look in her eyes his voice softened. He had not meant to snap, not after everything she had done for him. He was angry, but not with her. He was angry at himself.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m fine really. It has just been one hell of a day that is all,” he smiled gently. His chest did still hurt but he was never going to admit it to her.
She smiled her understanding.
“It is all right Kainan, but if you are you must tell me. I can help. I have herbs that can take away your pain,” she said insistently. “There is no need to suffer.”
“Don’t worry you will be the first to know,” he replied, turning his face away from her. He found it hard to look at her. His feelings of guilt were overwhelming. This was his entire fault, the people from his village, his brothers, his mother and now her world. Was this his destiny, to become some kind of a destroyer? His head was beginning to throb again. He had to find out his true identity, find out who he really was, where he was from. Most of all he had to get back their Crystal try and make amends for what he had done, put everything right.
He knelt down at his mother’s side. He could not bring her back, or the others, he knew that. Looking up at Arweyn he watched as she straightened what was left of her skirt, but he could help her. He could help her people get their Crystal back and stop the destruction of their world.
Kainan ran his fingers back through his hair.
“I need to bury her first, before we go. I do not want to leave her out here for the wolves.”
Nodding, she understood he wanted to say a proper goodbye.
“Okay. Look what about over there?” she said, pointing to a small crevice tucked away in the rock face that was large enough for a body. Kainan looked to where she was pointing.
“Yes that will be fine,” he replied and reaching down he took Arweyn’s cloak off his mother, passing it to her.
“Thank you,” he whispered gratefully. Taking it off him, she smiled as she held it tightly to her chest, watching as he gently lifted the body of his mother into his arms and carried her to the rock; carefully placing her inside the crevice. Bending forward he stroked her brow softly.
“I’m so sorry I failed you mother,” he whispered leaning forward, his heart grieved desperately and it took all his strength to hold himself together. Lightly kissing her on the forehead, he said goodbye.
Looking around him he spotted plenty of rocks that had fallen from the cliffs, he would not have any problems covering her. He began to collect them.
“Kainan wait,” she called to him. In her arms she had collected some fallen leaves. “Please let me place these over her first.” Nodding he watched as she dropped the pile of leaves onto the ground. Then, pulling her skirt up she ripped off a large piece of material. Kainan watched puzzled, he was not sure what she was doing.
“Is it okay if I….” She lifted the cloth. “Cover her face?” Now he understood, and nodded gratefully. She placed the torn material from her skirt over his mother’s face then placed the leaves covering her entire body. Lastly, she placed on top a bunch of red flowers.
“They are Starflowers,” she whispered quietly stepping back, lowering her head. Kainan smiled at her gratefully; she really was truly kind-hearted. One by one he placed the stones over his mother’s body until she was completely covered. He stood for a moment just thinking, his hand resting on top of the rocks. He was trying to understand why fate would deal such a terrible blow to one person all at once. Why was it him who had to lose everyone? What had he done so wrong that fate should decide that this was how it was to be?
Taking a deep breath he wiped away the tears that would no longer hold back. “I will get my revenge for you mother, this I swear for you, and for my brothers.” As Arweyn stood in silence watching, she felt a tear run down her own cheek, quickly wiping it away she felt herself sigh sadly. She looked at him puzzled; why could she feel his pain so intensely?
He felt her eyes watching him, and goose bumps ran down his arms. Funnily the feeling felt familiar, although he could not place where he had felt it before. He turned around to her, smiling.
“Sorry about your dress,” he nodded his head towards her clothes.
“What?” She looked down at herself, she was covered in his blood and her dress was torn.
“This old thing; don’t worry,” she said, swirling her skirt about. “I probably needed to throw it out anyway,” she smiled at him coyly. He caught the gleam in her eye and he felt his heart flutter. She was incredibly beautiful and had the most luscious long dark hair that he had ever seen. Rubbing his hand across his stubbly chin he quickly looked away embarrassed when he realised he was staring at her. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted movement. Bending down he began to untie his boot lace.
She looked at him mystified.
“What are you doing?” she questioned raising her eyebrow at him. Crossing his lips with his finger to let her know to be quiet, he whispered.
“Are you hungry?” He knew he was, he had not eaten for days, nodding his head towards the clearing through the trees.
“Oh. I see, rabbits,” she whispered back, as she followed his gaze.
“Wait here, I will not be long.” She nodded but was sceptical. How was he going to catch a rabbit using a boot lace? She watched him as he crept along, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible, into the clearing.
Quickly and quietly using his boot laces and a stick, he set a snare by the rabbits’ burrow. He lay down quietly and waited. She watched him through the trees; he was so intriguing, and strangely she felt incredibly attracted to him. It was not long before a large plump rabbit emerged. Arweyn held her breath as she watched. As quick as a flash Kainan pulled the snare and the rabbit was caught. It wriggled and kicked fighting the snare. Grabbing hold of it, and in one swift movement, Kainan broke the rabbit’s neck. Untying the snare from around its neck, he bent down and re-laced his boots. Picking up the rabbit he grinned as he made his way towards her, and holding it up in front of her, he gave her a wink.
“Dinner!” She smiled at him, clearly impressed by his hunting skills.
“Can I use your knife?” he asked, and as he walked behind her he patted her shoulder reassuringly and smiled. “It’s okay I only want to skin the rabbit.” He knew she still felt unsure about him. She looked back at him and nodded. Bending down she lifted her skirt pulling the knife from her boot. As she handed it to him she hesitated.
“I have another one.” Her voice was even and controlled and with a slight edge of warning. Kainan grinned at her taking the knife. Then looking into her deep hazel eyes he whispered reassuringly,
“It’s okay you can trust me.” She held his gaze for a moment; his eyes were such a gorgeous deep dark brown that she found it hard to look away from him. He grinned, then turning, threw the rabbit onto an old tree stump. She whispered quietly to herself as he walked away.
“I know.”
Watching as he competently skinned and gutted the rabbit, she squirmed in disgust. Her only experience of a rabbit was when it was nicely cooked in a pie, not watching it having its insides ripped out. That she found quite repulsive. When he had finished he picked up a stick and sharpened the end, poking it through the rabbit like a skewer.
“There, all done. I had better get some firewood to take up with us. Can you hold this for me?” He lifted the rabbit towards her.
Reaching out she took hold of it, hold
ing it at arm’s length. He cleaned her knife, spun it around and gave it back to her handle first.
“Thank you, it’s a good knife,” he complemented. He looked at her as she held the rabbit at arm’s length and then chuckled as he walked away from her, shaking his head to himself. She was a lady for sure, probably never had to hunt or cook a thing in her entire life.
“You are welcome,” she whispered, as she put the knife back into her boot. Watching him intently as he collected the firewood, her eyes lingered on his strong muscular arms, she watched as they easily broke the large sticks in half to make them more manageable. Smiling to herself she thought it was just unreal how much he looked like Gareion. He was a bit rough round the edges, firmer in the face and he was definitely much stronger, but unlike Gareion, whom she loved dearly but as a brother, there was just something about him. He made her tremble inside, not in a horrible scary way, but in an exciting kind of way. He was so easy to be with, and she felt comfortable around him. She had no idea why, for all she knew he could be trouble, but her instincts were telling her he was not. It was as if he was almost familiar to her. She had to try and find out who he really was before they went back to the castle and faced everyone. She knew for certain that he would be taken to the tower for what he had done to their people. As soon as they found out he was the one who had taken the Crystal he would not stand a chance, and she could not allow that to happen.
As she watched him she noticed a blackberry bush laden with fruit. Putting the rabbit to one side she opened her bag, pulling out a small bowl. Fastening her bag she threw it over her shoulder, picked up the rabbit and wandered over to the bush and began collecting the berries.
Having gathered enough firewood and tying it into a large bundle using some vine, Kainan wandered over to her, noticing the bowl in her hand.
“You have been busy, what have you got there?” he asked, trying to peer into her bowl.
She held it up. “Blackberries.” Kainan smacked his lips together raising both his eyebrows in approval. She smiled at him; he really was quite comical. Closing his eyes he took in a deep breath, he had noticed a sudden change in the weather.
“Can you smell that?” he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her. She shook her head puzzled.
“Smell what?”
“Rain.”
“Rain?”
“Close your eyes and relax,” he instructed, as he moved around behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders he turned her into the wind.
“Now close your eyes and inhale a deep breath through your nose.”
Arweyn inhaled deeply closing her eyes. His hands felt firm on her shoulders, somehow comforting. She could smell something; it was like the water droplets from the waterfall at the lake back home, it was a wonderful fresh smell.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I can smell something.” She turned her head towards him; he looked into her eyes, feeling her breath on his face. Stray wisps of her soft hair caught in the breeze touched the side of his face. Kainan swallowed hard, forcing himself to break their gaze. Glancing back up at the sky, he could see storm clouds massing on the horizon. Looking back at her he smiled, releasing her shoulders.
“There is rain in the wind. Come on I don’t think we have long before those clouds break, so we had better get going unless you want to get soaked?”
Arweyn shook her head at him grinning. She certainly did not relish getting soaked. Hitching her skirt up a bit so she could move quicker, she followed him back up the path to the cavern.
The darkness had come quickly and there was a chill in the air coming off the mountains. They quickened their pace up to the cavern just as the rain began to fall. The two Groundlings entered the cavern and shook the water off their backs. It felt strangely quiet and eerie inside. Kainan reached up and took out the torch he had used earlier; luckily for them it still had some life in it. He relit it using his flint and steel, and the cavern glowed in the light. Raising the torch in front of him, he could see there was not much room inside the cavern. He glanced at the portal then turning he looked for a suitable place to set a fire. Not too close to the entrance for the draught, but not too far into the cavern so as not to allow the smoke to escape.
He found a small crevice in the rock, and placing the torch upright inside, he knelt down and set about building the fire. Using some stronger sticks he made a makeshift spit and placed the rabbit on it. The rain drove down hard outside, and the wind began to howl sending a shiver down Arweyn’s spine. She waited until he had finished and then knelt down on the floor next to him, offering him her bowl of berries. Taking a handful he popped them into his mouth, nodding his appreciation; they were indeed sweet and succulent, and a small relief to his empty stomach.
There was a sudden silence between them. Kainan poked at the fire and the flames licked high, giving out its warmth. Warming her hands against the flames she fidgeted with her skirt pulling it back across her feet; taking a deep breath she spoke first, breaking the awkward silence.
“Kainan.” He looked at her and smiled as he continued poking idly at the rabbit.
She twiddled with her hair nervously.
“Maybe if you can tell me a bit more about yourself, where you come from it will help, you know, to figure out who you are?” Turning to her he looked deeply into her hazel eyes, smiling again. He owed her that much. She had saved him from certain death, and strangely he felt some kind of a connection with her, a feeling he could trust her and tell her anything.
“I lived in a village a few days from here called Oakhurst,” he began. “I had two brothers, Michael was seventeen and Ryall was just fourteen. My father died when I was seven, just after Ryall was born, so I really do not remember much of him. My mother….” hesitating he poked aimlessly at the fire. “Well, I thought she was my mother. We were pretty much a normal family. I used to hunt and I had a wood-shop, you know, for making furniture, that sort of thing.” Stopping as he thought, his brow creased. Arweyn felt herself reach for his hand as she saw the memory in his eyes, and the suffering and the pain that it caused him.
“It is okay,” she whispered reassuringly squeezing his hand then releasing it. “Just take it slowly.” He smiled at her understanding and continued.
“I suppose I always felt a bit different from them, I always felt that there was something or someone missing from my life.” Shaking his head he looked across at her. “I don’t know, I suppose I thought I just missed not having my father around.” He leaned forward turning the rabbit over, and then sitting back with his arms cuddling his knees he swallowed hard and bit his lip. It was almost too hard for him to talk about.
“Here.” Sensing he was struggling, she delved into her bag and pulled out a flask of water handing it to him. Taking it from her, he drank. She watched as he swallowed, tiny droplets of water missed and trickled down his unshaven face; her eyes lingered on him as he wiped his hand across his mouth; he handed the flask back to her.
“Thank you,” he said, gratefully. Smiling at him, she put it back inside her bag.
Sighing heavily, he continued. “Everything was pretty normal until that morning a few days ago. I had gone out early, hunting.” He turned and looked at her. “I caught a deer really quickly so I headed back home and as I got to the top of my valley I saw smoke coming from the village. I ran back as fast as I could and when I got there I saw them, these Gorzars. They had killed everyone in my village. The big one, Hadzor….” hesitating, he felt himself choke as he remembered what happened. His body rocked back and forth as he fought the pain. “He killed my brothers in front of me; there was nothing I could do. My mother screamed at me to run.” He frowned hard, shaking his head. “But how could I just leave her to die!” A tear finally escaped and rolled down his cheek, he quickly wiped it away. “They were too strong, I tried to fight them but…” he shrugged. “I don’t remember much after that I think I must have been knocked out. When I came round we were deep in the forest my hands were bound and my mother had go
ne.” Turning to her, his eyes were full of sorrow. “I just don’t understand why they had to kill them all, even the children? When I asked why I was so important to them, they said I was the only one who could travel through the portal and get them the Crystal.” Arweyn moved in closer to him, she felt so sorry for him, and her heart ached for him.
“What I don’t understand Kainan is how you have the portal mark on your hand. You have to be a Groundling Elder or one of their children of age to have one. The Gorzars obviously knew this. Did anyone else in your family have one?”
Kainan shook his head. “No only me.”
“That is why they wanted you alive then. No-one can open the portal unless they have this mark, the magic stops it.” She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “It would mean you have to be from royal blood.”
“Royal blood?” he questioned, frowning. “Arweyn I have another mark. My mother said it was a tattoo, she told me my father had done it when I was a baby, but now I’m not so sure. I saw the same mark in the Gate Room on Malgar and in the Crystal Dome. Does it mean anything to you?” Pulling up his sleeve he turned his right arm towards her. Leaning forward she looked at his strong muscular arm, her eyes locked onto the markings he was showing her and she could hardly believe what her own eyes were seeing. Noting the surprise on her face he asked.
“Do you recognise it? She looked at him in disbelief.
“How could this be?” she mumbled, shaking her head, still looking at him. “It’s impossible.” Running her fingers slowly down the mark on his upper arm, she studied the symbol. Suddenly Kainan jumped as a blue spark of electric arched from her finger onto his arm.
“Sorry!” She blinked startled, pulling her finger back sharply. “I must be a bit static.” Her heart pounded, hoping that he did not realise that it was magic; magic she had not yet learnt to control. When he said nothing, she turned her attention back to the symbol on his upper arm.
Deragan Sword Prophecy: Book 01 - Kainan Page 8