by J. D. Wilde
Grace and I are highly skeptical, and it shows as we slowly inch closer to him. His navy robes may make him look like a priest, but we have no idea if he is as saintly as he appears. Adira does not have any reservations though and quickly accepts his offer of some coffee and lays back comfortably in her chair as she sips on her fresh, hot cup. But really, I’m the one that is too trusting? The way Adira is acting around Kenley one would think they had been best friends for ages; not two people who literally met ten seconds ago.
Grace and I cautiously take the other two seats across from him, but we do not touch the drinks and snacks offered. It takes all my willpower not to. My stomach is pleading with me to grab one of the various cookies and tiny hand-made sandwiches, but my mind warns me of poison.
When Kenley notices we are not going to accept his food or beverage, he wonders aloud if we do not like coffee to which Adira pipes in stating we are being a little rude by not accepting his offer or at the very least thanking him for it. It is a good thing I am the one sitting in front of her because if it were Grace, Adira would have been slapped right across her face.
“Ah my dear child of life it is quite all right,” Kenley says, and even Adira is little taken aback. Well, he has my attention. I will kill to know how he knew Adira is Jenesis’s daughter. “Though I admit,” he continues when neither of us say anything, “While I expected this skepticism from Death’s, I figured you light would be friendlier like Jo.”
“Why would Lux be more like Jo? She isn’t even from here,” Grace states while practically puffing out her chest, but her attitude is not what I’m concerned with. I have not told Adira or Grace about how we are all supposed to technically be one person, and I am the current anchor. Kenley’s statement leads me to believe he knows about this, and my suspicions are confirmed with his next few statements.
“You do not know? Do you know?” he asks turning to Adira. Adira and Grace are confused and ask what he is talking about. He then turns to me and tells me he is astounded and disappointed I have not informed my sisters of the situation in its entirety.
Grace scowls at me, and Adira is frowning. I desperately need this man to stop talking. Now. If he keeps going, if he tells them about me being an anchor, these two will only turn on me first and then each other. I try to interject, but Adira and Grace stop me saying they want to hear what he has to say. My eyes are pleading with him with all their might begging him to cease this from going any further. At least before they were only arguing. There is still a chance we can all work together if Kenley stops talking.
For a moment, it looks like it might work. He appears to really see and understand my distress, but alas, it does not stop him. When I say he tells them everything, I mean everything.
He explains to them I am currently the anchor for accumulating knowledge between all of six of the grand dragon’s daughters, but really it can be anyone of us as it is really the last one standing that will hold all the knowledge and power that comes with it. He informs them the dragons sent five of the daughters down to the world to gain experience and learn important lessons while they kept one daughter completely safe. But worst of all, he explains that the dark creatures in the world can only be vanquished if all of our powers are working cohesively, so they know the easiest way to solve the problems is to kill each other.
I want to punch him. I want to reach across this table, throw every single fancy snack and drink on the ground, and beat this old man senseless. He took what little I have been able to accomplish and annihilated it before Adira could finish the petite sandwich she grabbed earlier to go with the coffee.
Tears are coming down harder than when Jo died. I’m anxious because Grace and Adira have not made a sound since Kenley finished. I’m angry because Kenley just ruined everything and made murdering each other seem like the best option. But most of all, I’m despaired because I want so badly for this to still work. As much of a pain in my ass these two have been, my experience with having them around has actually been good. It has been nice to have company, people to talk to.
Did they argue more than they helped on our journey there? Of course they did, but that is within their natures. Both of them are used to being in charge with little questioning about what they are doing. Because of this, they frequently clashed. But both are also strong warriors, intelligent fighters, and honorable people. With the right amount of time, I’m sure I could have had all three of us working together, but not anymore. I’ll be lucky if they will spare each other and only kill me.
Grace reacts first, and my nervousness multiplies. She storms off without saying a word. She just hops out of her chair and takes off towards the forest. Adira also wants to be alone, but at least she excuses herself first. She heads to the forest as well but opposite of where Grace went. All of a sudden I find myself alone with a man I’m pretty sure I hate and honestly considering killing.
He tries to say something, but I do not give him the chance. I don’t care if it is an apology; I do not want to hear it. I hoist him in the air by his neck and tell him to give me a reason not to kill him. Incredibly, he does not appear the least bit concerned. He actually appears amused and notes that I have some of Jo’s fire, but like my other sister Elizabeth I am misplacing it.
“You just ruined everything!” I yell at him as I pull him away from the wall before slamming him back into it.
“I cannot possibly ruin something that was destined to fail to begin with,” Kenley replies coolly despite being held by someone enraged. I get ready to argue, but he continues before I can, “Do you really think those two trusted each other? That they trusted you? Set me down child, for if you have proven anything thus far, you are no murderer.”
I set him down because he is right. I may be vexed, but I am not a killer. So long as I can help it, I will not become one. I ask him how he knew all of this. Who is he or what is he?
Kenley instructs me to be patient for we have not finished our first conversation. My first lesson according to him. “They knew you were hiding secrets from them, Lux,” he says, “and they were also keeping their own. None of you trusted the others. This way the air is now clear. Everyone knows and understands what is happening. You may feel your heart was in the right place when you lied to them, but in actuality you were being selfish and just as mistrusting. Tell me. How could you expect them to have faith in you, when you did not have any in them?”
I am silent. I do not know what to say, so I take a seat back my chair and think about. My mind is analyzing everything and searching for another answer, a better answer, but there is none. I do not know why I thought I could make them trust me if I did not trust them. I was so concerned about what they would have done—No, what they could have done. I did not know for a fact they would behave a certain way; I merely assumed it.
I have been the problem the entire time. My lack of faith in Grace and Adira is simply being returned by them. Kenley takes a seat again, but this time he sits directly in front of me. I bury my face in my hands, so he reaches out and grasps one of them gently. This small, simple action is enough to stop the flood of tears from streaming down my face. I feel comfortable around him, and I know this feeling is Jo’s, not my own. A new disturbing thought suddenly appears out of nowhere into my mind, and I understand I have no idea who exactly I am. I don’t know when my feelings and actions start being my own and stop being my deceased sisters.
“Lux, it is fine,” Kenley says soothingly as he begins to massage my hand. I do not believe him. These are nothing but hollow words. Of course things are not fine. He cannot really believe that. Shame and guilt overcomes me. Grace and Adira no longer like me, and I have absolutely no idea who I really am!
Am I just a place holder for all of my sisters’ emotions and knowledge? Can I really ever truly be my own person? I cannot say for sure, but I do not feel like it. Right now, I feel like a puppet. This comfort around Kenley, not wanting to kill the captain back in Saphira that was Jo, not me.
“Lux,”
Kenley speaks my name softly. He repeats a few more times in this soft manner until I snap out of it and look at him. He reminds me Adira and Grace will be back shortly, and we need to discuss things before that. Whatever he has to say, he better make it quick. Grace was positively livid when she discovered I had been lying to them, and I doubt Adira is feeling much better.
Chapter 15
“What do we need to discuss exactly?” I ask Kenley.
“Saphira and these,” he says as he takes my other hand with the claw on it. “The armalos. Gifts given to you and your sisters by the Grand Dragons. Do you know how they work?”
This is a weird question. “I’ve practiced with them all, so yes, I know how they work,” I answer.
“Really?” He raises an eyebrow at me. “So you already know how to use them all together then?”
No. No, I do not. I had never even thought about using them all together. “What do you mean use them together? Who are you?” I ask exasperatedly. I am coming across more aggressive than I wanted, but I’m frustrated. I spent nearly two decades training and learning from the dragons, yet this man who has lived in Nilohm his entire life knows more than I do about my own armalos.
“I am priest of life. A devout instructor and follower of the Balanced Principle, quite possibly the last,” he explains. “The grand dragons spoke to me about your sisters’ arrivals as well as yours.” He then further talks about how Oran and Mors never directly spoke to him, but he received visions and has spoken twice to Jenesis. “I preach the need for balance,” he finishes, and I am perplexed. Not once was I told about priests preaching the dragon’s philosophies.
“So what? Jenesis told you how to use the armalos together?” I ask skeptically.
“No, he just told me they could be used together,” the priest clarifies. “But only those gifted by the same dragon will work together. So for the claw to be its most powerful, it will need to be working simultaneously with the other life armalo.”
I shake my head in sheer frustration. I lived in the Otherworld for twenty years, and I feel as if I know nothing. They never taught me these things, and this is vital information we are talking about here! We might have actually been able to kill that devilin back in Saphira if we knew this!
I ask the old priest about Saphira next to try and take my mind off the dragons not bothering to tell me anything. Kenley explains he left Saphira because it was growing too dark. Jo had been investigating, but she died before anything could be done to stop the dark presence there. Kenley firmly believes Sethos has a devout in Saphira, and that is why the darkness is largely ignoring the capital of one of the richest countries. To further his point, he brings up the nation of Elsen where the devlins’ attacks first started. Elsen is the only that can compete with Oriare’s economy.
As I begin to ask more, our conversation is interrupted by several deafening cracks. I turn to see multiple trees falling down and realize Adira and Grace are already fighting. I rush to get up, but Kenley grabs a hold of me. “Wait, Lux,” he says, “This could be beneficial to you! If those two tire themselves out, it will be an easier fight for you.”
I forcibly slap his hand away. I don’t want easy. I want my sisters alive, so I run as fast as I can to where all the noise from their fight is coming from.
I don’t know why they are fighting each other. I thought for sure they would come after me first, but that does not matter right now. I need to stop Grace and Adira before they kill each other. That is my priority.
The fighting grows louder as I approach. When I finally find them, I immediately yell for them to stop. Neither of them heed me. I do not know if it is because they cannot hear me or are intent on ignoring me.
They have turned an entire portion of the forest into a clear landing in matter of seconds. Adira is gracefully dodging Grace’s scythe swiping at her by jumping from tree to tree, and every time Grace misses another poor tree either loses a limb or its life. I yell at Grace to stop, and she turns to me with the angriest and meanest expression I have ever seen from her.
This isn’t Grace, or at least not the Grace I thought I knew. She is bleeding from her left shoulder where Adira more than likely stabbed her. Although that concerns me, there is something very off here. Grace’s eyes are red like the devilins we have been fighting, and when she opens her mouth to yell back at me, I can see several of her teeth have become sharp and carnivorous.
Death is often mistaken for darkness, but the two do not equal. This I know as true, however, death is far more susceptible to hear and mind darkness’s calls. And it looks like Grace has listened. She has become corrupted, and it is all my fault!
I’m so caught up in my guilt, I nearly let her strike me. Thankfully, Adira called my attention just as Grace got within range, and I successfully avoid her scythe slicing at me. As I watch Grace fly past me, I notice her eyes are not the only thing like the devilins. Her blood is no longer the bright red, but putrid black.
Grace is moving so fast, she cannot stop herself without sliding quite a distance away. Adira comes to my side and quickly explains Grace found her and said they should take me out together. When Adira disagreed, a fight broke out, and Grace lost it.
“I think she is afraid,” Adira turns to face me and continues, “And if I am honest, Lux, so am I. Was your intent to kill us the entire time?”
“No!” I exclaim as I push Adira out of the way of Grace’s attack and dive back landing on my stomach. We really should not be discussing this right now, but I do not think I can take Grace on by myself. She is hyped up and full of the nastiest dark energy I have ever seen or felt. So I turn to Adira and quickly say, “My goal is to save you. I wanted the three of us to work together!”
I am forced to lunge away from another attack from Grace and have to quickly maneuver around again as Grace has become keen on us being able to avoid her first strikes. We cannot let this fight continue on. At this rate, a corrupt Grace is going to win.
“Do you remember the cave? I could have easily killed you both while you were in that vulnerable position,” I yell at Adira who is standing off to the side while Grace concentrates on me. “But I didn’t because I didn’t want to. Please, Adira.” Grace aggressively continues her relentless attack. The first attack I dodge successfully. The next one is also a miss but a third? Shit! I am in no position to get out of the way. Grace is going to land a direct hit on me!
I don’t know how many times Adira is going to save my life, but the number is bound to be up there. Just as Grace is about to hit me, Adira kicks her with so much force she goes crashing through several trees. “That will not keep her down long, Lux,” Adira says as she offers me a hand up. “What do we do? Even if the two of work together, Grace is much more powerful in this state.”
She is right, but the two of us beating her together has much better odds than trying to take her on alone. I take off the shadow claw and hand it Adira. She looks puzzled, so I explain to her what Kenley told me. The armalos are more powerful when they are working together. Adira nods signaling she understands, and asks me how exactly to use more than one armalo at once to which I admit I have not the faintest idea.
I am however able to instruct her on how to get the claw to work. She puts it on, and it is a perfect fit. The hidden blade matched up to the claw like a puzzle. Adira not only looks pleased but a little excited, like a child getting a new toy who just can’t wait to play with it. She asks me what mine is, and I pull out the magnifying glass.
We both look perplexed. Although the shadow claw and hidden blade make perfect sense, we both fail to see how a magnifying glass is supposed to work with a bow and arrow, and there is not an abundance of time to figure this out. I can hear Grace storming through the trees that are still standing to get back to us.
Adira tells me she will do her best to hold her off but asks me to please hurry. She creates a world portal and pops up right in front of Grace. Grace is caught completely off guard and doesn’t have any time to react. She is
sent flying in the air as Adira kicks her straight up against her chin. Grace does not panic though and simply repositions herself so she can come crashing down with an even more devastating strike thanks to gravity. If I wasn’t terrified of the two of them killing each other, I might actually be enjoying this. My sisters are unbelievably great fighters.
I refocus on trying to figure out the way the magnifying glass and bow and arrow work together. I take the necklace off and look over it closely, but I do not see anything. Maybe it is my bow.
I have had this bow for my entire life, but I never thought another piece would be used with it. I am about to give up and try my best to help Adira without it when I see it. In my bow there is a tiny crevice right about where I my arrow is placed but not quite. It is just large enough to hold the magnifying glass. When I place the magnifying glass’ handle in the through the hole, it snaps in place so that it is angled in such a way that it is directly in front of my arrows when I fire them. It is great that I figured this out, but if I fire an arrow, I’m pretty sure I will be destroying the glass.
“Lux!” Adira screams at me. She is on the ground, and Grace is on standing on top of her pushing the scythe’s blade into her. Adira is holding the blade back with her bare hands and is in a great deal of pain as blood drips from them. I do not think; I react. I position and pull an arrow back.
The bowstring violently vibrates as I unleash the arrow through the magnifying glass armalo turning my ordinary arrow into a blinding white flash. It strikes Grace directly in the wound Adira already gave her, and the force pushes Grace off of Adira. Neither of them are moving.
I run to Adira and kneel down next to her to ask if she is well. After she catches her breath, she slowly lifts her bloodied hands above her head but stresses she will be fine. They look far worse than they are.