If I were not so passive, I would have been awestruck by this young woman.
She reached down and firmly grabbed my arm. She dragged me close to the wall and past mages who didn’t want to get in my way and out the other side to where an exit shimmered into focus. The huge bodyguard, fat and bulky nodded when she did. When we were out of sight, she flung me down an empty tunnel and pierced daggers at me.
“Naïve mage. Do you not know what type of place this is?” She demanded fiercely. I shook my head and averted eyes. “This is a place where creatures and shifter dogs are allowed to be themselves. Little mages who decide to come in can quickly die because they negate any type of magic, even your veins.”
“Why did he attack me?” I asked in a small voice.
“Who knows what half of these Shapeshifters are thinking. Most envy their housemasters, so they come here hoping for ignorant mages like you to step foot into their territory to kill or to kill time,” she shrugged and leant around the corner. Her sword was half raised.
“Are you here to kill time or to kill?” I asked.
“No, I have a stupid . . . No, I have a Mistress to protect,” she rephrased probably because she would get in trouble if her Mistress had heard her.
“Then why did you save me?”
“Because if I hadn’t, you would have died?” she leant back around the corner and said in a confused voice as she narrowed her brows further, “Is there a problem?”
“Thank you but . . . can we save my brothers?”
“Those devious mages can, unfortunately, survive a war. This will be nothing to them. The one who needs saving and getting out of this place is you.”
It doesn’t work on her. It has made me slightly curious. She must be incredibly powerful if it doesn’t affect her at all.
“Sorry to trouble you. I can find my own way.”
“Stupid, ignorant mage,” she grabbed my arm when I went to walk and slammed me against the wall. “You will die without my help, and I do not wish for the guilt. You’re going to follow me whether you like it or not. No one will touch you when I am around.”
She spun on her heel and marched off. I trailed behind her hesitantly. Her hair swayed as she walked, and when she released her grip on the sword, it shimmered out of focus.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“You never . . . Valeria,” she said and then glanced at me as if she expected me to react somehow. When I didn’t, she said, “Your hair is getting longer.”
“Do you know me?” I asked.
“Everyone knows you. You’re the girl who was in rune wars. Your hair has grown since then.”
“Such strange small talk,” I mused, and she firmly pressed her pink lips together. “There was a Valkyrie called, Valeria the Last. What Shifter would you be?”
She muttered something in a small breathy voice. I only caught, “When . . . she . . . talk,” before she answered. “The type who doesn’t want to answer that question. Why are you talking so much? It is annoying.”
“I find you interesting,” I answered while she grabbed the cloth part of her sleeve and wiped my face over with it. She was getting rid of the droplets of blood from that creature who tried to murder me.
It is true that when I find a rune interesting, I immediately go forth and have a closer look. There have only been two beings that are the conversational type that I have met and found interesting. Lawliet and now this Shapeshifter. As she glared at me for a moment longer suspiciously, I knew she was hiding something, but I was not as interested as in trying to pry it out of her. By the set of her jaw, she was irritated that she slipped up this much. I found it somewhat amusing, as we walked down into the darkened tunnel in utter silence.
Pulling down the sleeves of my top, I glanced around and wondered what Lawliet had done today. While I have done something incredibly stupid and tried to bond with my brothers, he probably slept the day away as per usual.
Hopper may possibly be distraught. Hopping around adorable as he sought to find us. Those fluffy ears would be twitching with every delicate sound.
Isilies most definitely is soaking up all the quiet space at home. Happy that Donte and Nixon left for a longer period.
I happened nearly to get myself killed in a massive Shapeshifter mosh pit filled with unfriendly creatures who didn’t seem to care. I suppose it would be like that. Walk in at your own risk. It makes me wonder how Donte and Nixon heard about this place. It is evident that this place is difficult to find, and mages wouldn’t have had a clue. This place is for shapeshifters to let loose, kill things and fight without being chastised by their masters. Or Shifters who were venting their vindication towards mages out on other Shapeshifters. It makes me curious about what happens when the master of the home was waiting for their Shapeshifter, but they have died below their feet, and they have not been aware of this notion. Would they care? Upset that their beloved servant has disappeared and would never come back. If that happened to Hopper, I suppose I would wait outside with carrots and hope that he would come home. Losing someone is hard. Grandfather disappeared, and my mum and Dad are the organisation. All I would need is for Hopper or my brothers to vanish without a trace as well. It would break me apart.
“Shit,” Valeria broke me out of my thoughts and grabbed my arm.
Raising her hand, I expected the sword to materialise, however, instead, swirling blue and green light heightened while everything else flushed bland, dull grey and black colours. My heart thumped and was breaking in my chest as well as a cold sweat was breaking out on my forehead. Flourishing right before my eyes were individual blades. They struck out of two large slits near her shoulder blades and dripped with crimson. She didn’t seem bothered, as we ran forward a few paces and dived to the side between the cracks. Her wings folded and slid along the bricks. Her feathers ruffled with the motion.
Exhaling, the swirling blue and green essence of magic vanished, and the walls and floors turned into its sharp jagged shades of grey and black. Seconds later two mages that wear the same types of clothes and the exact same symbol as my mum and Dad wear on their shirts walked down with vibrant white veins and blue runes. Once they were out of sight, she leant out of the gap, grabbed my arm and flew me out right after her.
“Those fucking bastards were patrolling the area. I believe they’re making sure there aren't any mages down here,” she said in a hushed tone, yet the disgust and anger were prominent in her black eyes.
“How?” I asked in a soft voice. I struggled to make it a demand, as I ignored the most important issue here, her anger towards the organisation.
“How, what?”
“You used the gears of time. Please, I want answers?”
“Damn,” she tilted her head back and heaved a long exaggerated sigh. “I suppose this was inevitable. Eileen –”
“MY MISTRESS!” A wailing screech disrupted Valeria, and I tore my eyes away for a second before I glanced back to notice the key ingredient to knowing my past and how I got this gift vanished. Nothing but the odd black feather that was alone on the ground. Cold and lifeless. Just like my answers, cold, dead and non-existent.
I have never been so disappointed to see Hopper in my life. Not until now.
Chapter 27.
Eileen – winged creature.
Caught red-handed in a place where I shouldn’t have been, I was escorted out with a furious Hopper who rambled on with reasons why I shouldn’t be in there and then grateful that nothing has happened. Fortunately, for him, I will not usher a word of me being attacked and nearly stabbed in the neck by a short dagger type blade. Nor will I speak about Valeria. I fear that talking about befriending an angel type creature that sliced an arm of the enemy off and knows the gears of time wouldn’t appeal to Hopper as it does me. If anything, I would have another lecture similar to the one about Lawliet. How it is dangerous to be friends with mages that have anger management or Shapeshifters who carry a sword around and is rumoured to be a story to scare children i
nto not roaming carelessly in darker places. However, she didn’t seem as dangerous to mages as the myths foretold her to be.
She disappeared for a reason. It was apparent that she wanted to get away with not giving me answers. It seems I am a step closer to figuring out the gears of time, but still very far away on the reasons why I have it.
It is painfully obvious that I am not a natural magic based mage. I have grown to learn, but still uncomfortable for the reasons behind my advancements. Am I advancing because I am a fast learner, or am I getting off easy with all this other essence unknown that was withering inside of me? It is making me question everything about me. Something I have never done before. It is making me want to ask questions and have conversations with other mages more. Something I have never done before. Either it is finding out about myself more, figuring out if this is the real me or if I am drifting slowly away from my mind and into a mage unknown.
Slowly, I doubt who I am.
Forced back into the safe haven of home, I wasn’t allowed in my room because I am untrustworthy at the moment while my brothers are still missing. They are not missing. If they were missing, their whole life would be, ‘my missing brothers, again’. I merely call it, ‘Can’t find Donte and Nixon because they ran off to do something incredibly stupid again’.
Curling up on the lounge, I stared at the television. The screen was blank while Hopper made lunch because I only had a peanut butter sandwich and in his eyes, a small eatable ‘snack’ is unacceptable with him. He made a salad because I haven’t eaten anything green since coming here. I always steered to sweets, so he was giving me bird meat. I think it was Ostridge or Emu. Most o-d-h would have been repelled by the word or animal. I rather find it appetising when we’re not allowed dragon eggs.
Thinking about dragon eggs, I always wondered if Lawliet would be offended. I am eating what he made a contract with. It isn’t as if we steal dragon eggs to eat. No, a dragon lays 100 eggs a year. However, only one is a good one, and sometimes two, but it is rare. The rest they roll off the cliff. The unhatched dragon would already be dead and turned into sweet nectar I enjoy the most.
Picking the green leaves individually by fingertips, I stared at the rune book in front of me and became confused. Flicking page by page, my mind drifted to wings that flourished out of a Shapeshifter’s back. Blades that were sharp struck out and created seeping crimson to flow and stain the cloth material of armour. Puffing cheeks, I pushed the rune book back and turned towards Hopper who was staring intently at me.
“Hopper,” I murmured. He straightened up the slightest, moved from around the counter and sat stiffly beside me. Ever since the conversation with Mum and Dad, Hopper seemed to have been avoiding me. “Hopper, you’re my best friend,” I admitted, and his eyes widened a lot. “And family,” his eyes widened further, and his cheeks flushed. “I would like to have a Hopper day. I want to know more about you and my grandfather.”
“You don’t have to force yourself into talking to me. If you’re only doing this because you found out about the –”
“No,” I disagreed. “I don’t care about the contract.” Besides the fact that I don’t want to be in one with Hopper. To hear my mum and Dad say that he feels the pain we’re in, that’s when he knows we’re in trouble isn’t something I wanted to hear. I broke my leg, burned my arm as well as my brothers, Donte and Nixon. He would have been in pain as well, not just us. How inconsiderate. How disgusting for mages to do something to a beloved household member. Family. It aggravates me. However, Hopper cannot see it, as he tilts his head innocently to the side, and his fluffy white ears flopped down, passive. “So, fluffy,” I murmured and reached up to touch them.
“My Mistress,” Hopper leant away. His face was burning a bright red. “Can I ask something from you?”
“Ok,” I nodded, disappointed that I couldn’t pet his ears.
“Did you . . . Did you see someone down in the tunnels?” Hopper asked as he averted his eyes.
“I saw many Shapeshifters,” I admitted, confused.
“Anyone with wings, my Mistress? And did they talk to you?”
I see, so Hopper does know the strange shifter angel in armour. The last Valkyrie.
“No, Hopper. Why?” I asked. “Do you love her? Does she think you’re handsome?”
He cracked a smile and breathed little airs of laughter as he leant back and sat comfortably on the sofa. He wasn’t as formal as he has been towards me since the talk.
“Highly unlikely, my Mistress. She is somewhat an acquaintance that often causes more trouble than she may think. If you have not met such a creature then there is nothing for me to be concerned about, however, if you do ever see her, walk the other way and where there are many mages around you.”
“Why?” I persisted.
“This winged creature undeniably hates mages and would do anything in her power to eliminate your kind from the face of this earth. She is a friend to me but an enemy to you.”
“Ok, why does she hate us?” I asked.
“It is not my place to tell such stories. I apologise my Mistress. Would you like some ice cream? We can watch a movie while we wait for your brothers to come home from their walkabout?”
“Ok.”
With a smile, he straightened up and walked into the kitchen while I took out my phone. I have never used it for anything besides web browsing so writing a message to someone is foreign to me. As my fingers tapped against the screen, I pushed send and waited for a response while Hopper dramatically made ice cream. It had chocolate chunks he was chopping up as well as fruit and waffle flakes.
*Yeah, I know the place. Sure, I can go find them. Did you happen to go with them? *
*Yes, but Hopper caught me. *
*You’re a moronic mage. I can’t even type without wanting to break the stupid phone! Whatever, I’ll go search for them. *
Furrowing browse, I went to type back when another message came through. It made me highly amused.
*Can you come to your bedroom window, please? * he asked politely. I can imagine his hands were shaking as he wrote that.
“Where are you going, my Mistress?” Hopper asked with two bowls of ice cream in his hands.
“Pyjamas,” I answered, and he nodded.
Walking into my bedroom, I shut and locked the door to see Lawliet sitting on the windowsill. His legs were dangling over the other side. He glared up, a whole lot of anger was registered on his face while I hesitantly walked towards the dragon. Going to my cupboard, I pulled out my bunny pyjamas and started to change. Lawliet’s eyes instantly locked onto the setting sun ahead.
“You’re obsessed with rabbits,” he muttered.
“Their ears are fluffy,” I agreed. “I met a Shapeshifter in the tunnel.”
“I bet you met plenty who wanted to kill you,” he said.
“She saved me,” I said, and he turned, surprised and then flickered a look away as I looked up from buttoning up my flannelette top. “Her name is Valeria, and she used the gears of time. I believe she knows me but doesn’t want to say where.”
“So, what do you want to do?” he turned around when I said I was dressed and rested arms on his legs. “Do you want to figure out what happened with the betrayal and find your grandfather or go off and search for a creature who can tell you about the gears of time? Eileen, we won't be able to do both as well as pretend to be basic mages that hide magic from the organisation as well as go to school and pretend that we aren’t breaking any type of rules.”
“I want to know who I am even if I don’t like it,” I murmured and then puffed cheeks with annoyance.
“Alright, then we will go and find this winged creature.”
“You ok?”
“I would do whatever you want to do, even if I think it is a waste of space and time.”
“How so?” I asked.
He leant in, touched my cheek and said in a serious tone, “Because you’re Eileen Frost.” He kissed me delicately on the forehead, move
d back and shuffled out while muttering. “Now after that, I have to go find these assholes instead of spending time with the stupid droid of mine. Fucking karma.”
Chapter 28.
Lawliet – The Dragon.
With a large thump, the boots brought up lingering residue that fell through the cracks in the rocks. Shrugging hands into pockets, I rose from the landing, straightened up and narrowed eyes down the dimly lit tunnel where the creatures reside in.
Yawning, I voiced complaints on how I was stuck doing something that doesn’t appeal or benefit me at all while I walked down this godforsaken darkened tunnel to the annoying mosh pit of sound. Going through the back entrance that has been shut down for years since the last encounter with the organisation was another pain I had to go through all because I couldn’t say no. It's hard waking up to a pleading message from someone who can’t beg and agree to rescue two dim-witted Highborn mages that snuck into a place that won’t potentially get them killed but will get them killed.
Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Page 30