Circle of Death

by Thais Lopes

  “Wait, K’inich.” He noticed the signs that I was about to leave, and by his use of my old name I knew he wouldn’t say anything I would like. That name was long gone, forgotten, as was the man I had been. “Release me, and I’ll reward you. You can have you family and your people back. Erase the mistakes of your past.

  I forced myself to meet his gaze for a moment. He knew exactly what my weaknesses were. My people was destroyed because of me. If I could change that, go back in time and don’t make those mistakes… But Kelene’s words were clear in my mind. “Anything he offers now will be only an illusion”. Keeping her words close, I turned my back to the mirror and left.

  24. Kelene

  Lucio came back two days later, at sunset. I was sitting on the lawn, playing guitar and singing with the guys from the complex, but stopped as soon as I saw his face. It seemed my attempts to hid the truth had been useless. The Nameless had spoken about me, if I was reading Lucio’s expression correctly. Quickly, I passed the guitar to one of the guys and got up, barely hearing Alice’s comments about my haste.

  I stopped in front of the building almost at the same time he did.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucio asked, and I could hear the anger he was trying to hide.

  “The last person who knew that much about me tried to destroy me. Do you really think I would tell me secrets easily after that? I sighed before continuing, making sure I didn’t sound so harsh. “Let’s go up.”

  He nodded and we went up to my apartment. I was glad to notice he didn’t carry the Nameless’ mark. At least he hadn’t made any deal with him. It was a relief, I feared the Nameless’ plans for him.

  I locked the door and sat down while he went to his bedroom. Lucio was probably still trying to understand all that the Nameless had told him. A couple of minutes later he came back, walking slowly, and sat down beside me.

  “What are you, Kelene? Only a Hand?” He asked, his expression unreadable.

  “No,” I gathered all my strength to be able to tell the whole truth. “I’m the White Hand, and the Nameless’ daughter.”

  He stared at me, silent, and for a fleeting moment I saw the hurt in his eyes. Surprised, I realized what bothered him was that I didn’t trust him enough to tell my secret before, and not the fact that I was the Nameless’ daughter.

  I didn’t know how to react to that. I never thought he wouldn’t care about who my father was, as everyone who knew what the Nameless had done hated everything connected to him.

  But I knew how I felt about it.

  “Do you think I’m proud of it? That I like knowing I’m the daughter of the man who almost destroyed everything humanity had built? That I’m proud of being the one who takes everyone who try to escape their deaths and follow their dreams for a little longer? Do you really think that, if I had any choice, anyone would know it? Do you…”

  Wordlessly, Lucio pulled me to him and hugged me, not holding me so tight that I couldn’t move away if I wanted, but tight enough to make me feel wanted. I put my hands against his chest but didn’t move away. Instead, I tried to get my feelings under control. I don’t know for how long I stayed like that, but I didn’t move until I felt I wasn’t about to fall apart again.

  “I’m sorry. I learned to accept what I am, but it doesn’t mean I like it.”

  “Then learn to like it, Kelene, because that is what turned you into who you are today.” Lucio whispered, surprising me, and I nodded, knowing he was right.

  “I’ll tell you the whole story.” I said, moving away and taking a deep breath. “Do you remember the last time the Nameless escaped?” In the Middle Age, using the chaos of that time to hide what he was doing.

  “Yes”

  “He is still human, despite the powers he stole and being immortal. When he escaped the last time he didn’t start killing straight away. He wanted to wait until Death stopped hunting him, and hid in a small village. There, he met my mother and they got married. She died in childbirth and he raised me until I was ten, when he decided he had waited long enough and disappeared from the village. I was lucky one of my mother’s friends accepted me in her home and took care of me.”

  “This doesn’t make sense.”

  I smiled. It wouldn’t make sense until he heard it all. And I wondered what would be his reaction when he realized we had met before.

  “It was just after he left that I started to notice I wasn’t like everybody else. There was something different, something I could do and that no one understood, or even believe. I had inherited something more from my father, one of his powers. The elements obeyed me – it was subtle, but they did obey. Do you remember the fire circle?” I waited until he nodded. “I was making the fire follow us.”

  “And you were singing one of the old chants, the ones used in the most powerful rituals.” He added softly.

  I didn’t answer. He knew he was right.

  “Back then, when I realized what was happening… It was a nightmare. That’s when I found out about the Otherworld. The Fae had a village hidden not very far from where I lived, in the woods. I don’t know how they discovered what I could do, but a young man from the village approached me one day, a sidhe. The Nameless had been gone for almost a year, and I thought I was going crazy. It was Avés, the same one you asked to protect me. The same one who always protected me, since then. He taught me how to control this power, and told me about what the Nameless had been doing since he left the village. All those meaningless deaths, villages and cities destroyed… And then, when Avés realized he was moving toward the Fae’s village, he asked for my help. I was fifteen then, a strange orphan no one wanted to marry.” I smiled. Now that sounded funny, but back then it had been all I could think about.

  Kelene hid her shoes in a bush and went into the woods barefoot. Her adoptive mother would be mad if she saw her like that, after all, she was already fifteen and should behave if she wanted to get married. But she was going to the Fae’s village, hidden in the woods, and it would be rude to arrive there wearing shoes.

  As soon as she was into the woods, the girls stopped and tied her skirts between her legs and above her knees, so that it wouldn’t get in the way, and almost run toward the village. They had sent her an urgent message, and she wondered what had happened, what was the emergency, as Avés had never sent a message like that before. Only when she was already on the edge of the flower fields that surrounded the village she released her skirts and slowed, now carefully choosing her path between the flowers.

  Avés was waiting for her at the edge of the village, his expression telling her that there really was an emergency. He greeted her with a wordless hug and took her to the square in the middle of the village, where many other Fae waited.

  “What happened?” Kelene asked.

  “The Nameless is coming toward us.” Avés told her. “And this time, he will destroy us. We need your help to stop him.”

  She hesitated, remembering how she had been happy with her father, how he had given her more freedom than any other girl her age ever had, and how he had talked to her as an equal. But she trusted the Fae, and trusted Avés. They had kept her sane when her father walked away. And, after everything her father had been doing… She sighed.

  “What do I need to do?”

  She could see the relief in many of the faces around her. Without Kelene and the abilities she had inherited from the Nameless it would be impossible to contain him.

  “We will bind him in a trap made of fire…” He started explaining.

  The day passed in preparations. On the path the Nameless would have to take, across one of the flower fields, a large circle was drawn. Its outline was made of the strange fuel the Fae used, and they left it ready to be ignited. Those with the stronger imprisonment abilities were called, and then they waited.

  At the first sign of the Nameless approach, they lit the fire and Kelene controlled it, keeping it weak and barely perceptible. Soon a man entered the field a
nd stopped in front of the circle. The girl moved forward, passing over the weak flames and stopping in the middle of the marked area.

  “Hello, father.” Her voice was strong, confident, and nothing of the whirlwind of emotions she felt after spending so long without seeing her father was visible.

  “Kelene! You shouldn’t be here. What are you doing with those abominations?” His answer was cold, his eyes narrowing as he saw all the Fae spread among the trees.

  She crossed her arms, disappointed with his answer but not really surprised. The girl held his gaze without flinching, with a strength no one that young should have.

  “After being abandoned by my not very ‘normal’ father, I had to find someone else to teach me how to deal with my inheritance.”

  A surprised expression crossed the Nameless’ face and he moved forward, the circle and the Fae forgotten for one second.

  “Your inheritance?”

  “Yes.” Kelene’s answer was followed by a smile, as he now was exactly where she needed him to be. “My inheritance.”

  On her command, the fire rose, making a dome, the flames touching above their heads. The fire strengthened the Fae’s bindings, and now the Nameless was locked there, at least for as long as those who sustained the imprisonment were still standing.

  “Why, Kelene? Why? All of this just because I needed to leave? Only this, and you joined my enemies?” The man’s voice had completely changed, and now he sounded like a loving father disappointed with his daughter.

  “No. I became your enemy the day I found out my father is a destroyer and nothing else.” She stood strong, ignoring the voice in her conscience that reminded her that she was of his blood.

  Kelene turned her back on him, making a wall of fire behind herself, while the flames parted to let her leave the circle. Out there, the village priestess invoked Death. The girl lost herself in the middle of all the Fae that were around the fire, she didn’t want to be forced to face her.

  Soon a woman appeared, looking like a human peasant. But her eyes had a coldness that couldn’t be seen the living’s eyes and her voice, when she spoke, could freeze the soul.

  “Lady, we have something that belongs to you.” The priestess spoke, bowing before she pointed to the dome of fire.

  “Who controls the fire? I need to enter the circle to bind him properly.

  Kelene trembled before that voice, but moved forward. Death started at her, as a strange staff made of bones appeared in her hand. Fighting a shiver, the girl looked away and repeated the same process the used to leave the circle to let Death inside it. Everyone heard the Nameless’ furious words, but no one understood them, and soon Death spoke again.

  “You can lower the circle.”

  The bindings were released and Kelene let the fire die. For a fleeting moment, everyone could see Death’s approving nod before she disappeared, taking the Nameless with her.

  The celebration started right there and moved to the village. They had delivered the Nameless into Death’s hand, and she wouldn’t forget it. Kelene and those who worked to make it happen were greeted as heroes, but the girl didn’t stay long. She had been away from her village for too many hours, and even though her adoptive mother was used to her disappearances, she would start worrying.

  On the next day, as soon as she was alone at home, Kelene received a visit from Death.

  “You did a good job yesterday.” She said, appearing beside Kelene’s bed.

  “Thank you.” The girl’s voice shook when she answered.

  “I should take you too, as you are the Nameless’ daughter. But yesterday you proved he doesn’t have your loyalty. And so I wonder: who has it?”

  “Me. I’m loyal to myself, to what I believe is true and right.”

  “Then why did you act against your own father? Is this right, in you opinion?” It was a challenge, but not only that. The girl had spent enough time among the Fae to recognize a test.

  “No. And yes. It wouldn’t be right if it was anyone else… But he destroyed all those cities, and would destroy even more! No one could stop him, and if I could do it I would be doing what was right, saving the lives of hundreds of people, maybe thousands, I don’t know!”

  Death nodded in approval. The girl had what she was looking for.

  “Do you know how Death’s work is done?”

  “A little. The Fae told me.”

  “My White Hand is weak. I will need someone stronger soon, and I see potential in you. Your spirit is strong; otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to control the fire. Would you go through a test? If you don’t have the power I think you do you will be only a Hand. But if you do…

  “White Hand.” Kelene whispered, surprised, overcoming her fear now that she saw Death apparently approved her. “Yes. Yes, I’ll do the test and will become the White Hand.”

  25. Lucio

  “Six months later I was the White Hand and the man who had that role before became a simple Hand.” Kelene shrugged, as if what she was telling me wasn’t any big surprise.

  But it was. How could she had been born in the Middle Age? It still didn’t make sense. With effort, I swallowed my questions and nodded for her to continue. She hesitated before dropping her gaze and running her fingers over one of the scars in her arm.

  “When one scar is crossed by another, it’s because it was paid. My first request was to have permission to visit my father. I already knew he had deceived Death and, if I was to serve her, I would rather know everything there was to be known. I didn’t understand the world I was joining, I was just a naïve village girl. It was because of that request I stopped being Death’s favorite, but I don’t regret it. The Nameless’ warnings were what saved me, later.” She took a deep breath and raised her head, meeting my gaze. “The Fae didn’t like it… But Avés said I had no option. Death would have taken me if I had refused her offer that day, and we all knew that having the White Hand as a friend could be useful for them. I visited my father many times… He tried to pretend I didn’t help imprison him there, and I think he wanted to trap me or convince me to help him.”

  “That’s what he does best.” I muttered.

  “Yes. Three years later I met Seth. I was a village girl pretending to be a noble, trying to find a way into the court… I had all the money and none of the bloodline, and it seemed like a good idea. He had connections enough that no one would challenge my presence by his side. He was supposed to be just my way in but… I already told you I fell in love with him. And, for a little while, I was happy.”

  She held my gaze, and I tried to figure out when all that had happened. Seth had always liked to live among nobility, and I remembered how most of the time he didn’t even hide what he was.

  And then it hit me.

  “You said Avés always protected you.” And I remembered the sidhe approaching me, telling me there was a human he was sure I would like to meet. A human who happened to be Seth’s lover.

  I didn’t remember the woman’s name, but she didn’t look anything like Kelene. The only similarity was the strength I could see in her eyes – the strength I had only seen once before, in a woman who died a long time ago. I narrowed my gaze, wondering if I was right, and she smiled.

  “He protected me. He was the one who explained to me that all vampires were forced to obey Death. And my father told me that most Hands were turned before serving five years. I didn’t want that… I didn’t want to be subject to another’s will, be it a vampire Master or Death. That’s why I refused when Seth offered to turn me. He dropped it for a while, but then started talking about how I wasn’t safe, how all his enemies would come after me. I still refused. I had already met too many vampires to believe that, everyone feared him… With one exception.”

  Her words seemed to echo around us, and I needed a moment to understand what she meant. It was her. The woman Avés had introduced me to and who had surprised and fascinated me with her strength. I remembered her delicate appearan
ce, her bright copper hair and the confident way she walked. She had died during a ball, after I offered to help her flee from Seth, and I never knew what had really happened to her.

  “You should have let me protect you.” I whispered.

  “It wouldn’t have made any difference. Death would have found me.” She took a deep breath, still holding my gaze. “That night, on the ball, you warned me it was a trap. You told me you knew Seth would do something that left me no choice but accepting his offer. But I knew something like that was coming. I already knew something might happen. I just didn’t expect that Seth, someone I trusted and loved, was only playing with me. I was only a task he needed to complete.” Kelene sighed. “I used to wish I had met you before him. Things would have been different.”

  They would, and we probably wouldn’t be sitting in her living room now.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “He saw us together and used it as an excuse to drag me to my rooms. He said I was recklessly risking my life and his existence by refusing to be turned, that it was because of people like you that he was worried about me. I said I’d had enough, that it was all over, and told him to go. He didn’t. He said I was his woman, and I would do what he wanted… And then he tried to force me. But he didn’t know the Fae had taught me how to fight, and I dodged him. I banned him from my rooms, knowing that it would weaken him enough that I might have a chance. But I didn’t.”

  She looked at her arms, rubbing the scars that covered her forearms. In silence, I waited.

  “All Hands have one power that doesn’t depend on our own strength. It’s Death’s gift to us if our lives are at risk, a way of making sure she won’t lose us. I called upon that power and Death denied me. That’s when I realized Seth was following her orders. I knew what it meant, I would have no help and he wouldn’t stop until he turned me. But there is one of the powers of death that let us use our life force as we want. I knew what would be the price for using it to attack Seth, but I would rather die than be turned. I thought maybe I would have enough power to destroy him, but I was wrong.”