by S. E. Myers
Ryleigh geared up to throw another energy ball. She increased the mass of this one, thickening it, making it much more dense than the one previous. She ignored Tristan’s pleas. Tristan stood his ground as Ryleigh threw the mass. Instead of deflecting the ball; he pulled it inward attempting to transfer it to the barrier he created.
He fell to his knees. It was too much for him. “Ryleigh watch what you are doing,” Tristan pleaded one last time. “See the truth for yourself. I did not do this!”
Ryleigh projected another ball which increased to the size of Tristan’s bubble. Before she could throw it she heard a familiar voice, “Ryleigh, he didn’t kill your mother. It was my fault.”
Ryleigh’s energy fizzled out immediately, “Daddy?’
Ryleigh fainted.
***
Ryleigh’s eyes flickered as she came too. The first face she saw when she opened her eyes was her father. At first she was happy to see him, she had been looking for him for so long and craved the interaction, but remembering what he said to her before she blacked out she started to back away.
“No, no, Ryleigh,” he said grabbing hold of her. “You need to listen to me.” Ryleigh stopped struggling and stared at her father inquisitively, hesitating, waiting for the words to come out of his mouth that would make everything okay. That he would take back what he said to her.
“It was my fault all along. Her becoming my mate is what started it. It was my entire fault, Ryleigh.”
24
A sad reunion
Ryleigh was still in shock. Her dad standing before her, her mother on the ground next to her. A shell of what mother was before fading into ash. She wasn’t sure what happened, twin girls behind her and Finar nowhere in sight.
Ryleigh shook her head, “I… We need to get out of here.”
Tristan agreed, “We do, and I need to take these girls to the house.”
Ryleigh looked at Tristan remembering he was holding the blade. But also that she tried to kill him, “Why? Why do you have a knife?” she asked.
“Finar. He stabbed your mother with it. It is bewitched. The only way to stop the magic from killing her inside, is to remove it. She made me. And…, “ Tristan started to choke up with tears and swallowed it back down. “She wouldn’t let me heal her. She just wouldn’t.” A tear escaped and rolled down his cheek.
Ryleigh believed him and felt terrible. She could feel that he was telling the truth. His emotions carried the truth through her body.
“We need to get out of here,” Ryleigh commented.
Tristan started looking around the room for Vee. He reached out to see if he could trace him with energy. He felt something close to the pillar where he was flung.
Running over to the pillar he moved the rocks around that gathered from being shattered by the force of his body and found Vee. He was badly injured. There was still life force flowing through him. Tristan could hear the little pitter patter of his heart.
He could not heal him alone though, it took an imp, “Nissa! I need you! Please! Vee is hurt.”
Nissa appeared next to Vee and looked at Tristan. She placed her small hand on Vee’s wrinkled forehead. He looked so much older than he was. He was only seventeen, but imps aged twice as fast at Halflings.
Ryleigh came over and knelt beside Vee’s fragile body. She sucked in her breath looking him over, “Will he be okay?”
“Yes, Nissa can heal him. He has a strong heart.”
“Mistress, he will be fine,” Nissa reiterated.
Ryleigh’s father was in the background watching and standing with the twins. Ryleigh looked back at her father just wondering what the future was going to bring.
Nissa started to channel energy using Tristan as a conduit. The color started to return to Vee’s body and his breathing regulated. The purple tones to his skin seemed to brighten and he opened his beady little eyes.
Tristan blew out his breath, he wasn’t aware he had been holding it, “I am so glad you are alright.”
“Yes, Master, me too,” Vee said and he stood up. He stumbled for a second and regained his balance. Tristan picked him up and put him on his shoulder.
He looked to the others, “We need to get out of here.”
Ryleigh looked at the shell of her mother’s body knowing it was now ash, “Let’s go to the house.”
Tristan and Vee faded with the twins. Ryleigh with Nissa and her father.
***
At the house, Ryleigh cleaned the girls and tried to find something to wear. Luckily, Illeana had been small enough in sizes and had clothes small enough to fit the girls. After their showers, Ryleigh gave them the shorts and t-shirts she’d rummaged. Standing in the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror.
She thought she looked much older than her age. So much had happened in a short amount of time. She bent over the running sink and splashed water onto her face. She just needed to breath for a moment.
Shutting and locking the door she sat on the edge of the tub. She tried to put in order everything that she had learned and seen, but all she could see was her mother’s face as she channeled her own life force into Ryleigh.
Ryleigh grabbed a towel from the rack, rolled it up, pressed her face into it and proceeded to scream. The scream turned to sobs erupting from the deepest part of her. Her body physically ached from the sadness and frustration she felt. She’d found and lost one of the most important people in the world to her. And then thought that Tristan killed her. The tears continued to smother the towel she had to her face.
A knock at the door startled her, “Ryleigh? Are you okay?” Her father’s voice echoed through the door.
She wiped her face and stood up turning on the sink again, “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute. I’m just… cleaning up.”
Tom didn’t believe her, but he knew that she needed a moment to collect herself. As it was, he wasn’t even sure where he was or what he was doing. He’d barely escaped with his life. He was torn between being reunited with his daughter, and losing his life mate.
Ryleigh emerged from the bathroom, her eyes still swollen from crying. Tom reached out to her but Ryleigh hesitated, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked.
Tom knew this was coming, he just wasn’t prepared how to answer it. Swallowing he said, “We wanted to protect you. And, not - not saying anything seemed to be the only way to protect you.”
“Protect me?” Ryleigh half shouted. “Had I known, I would have been able to start protecting myself from the beginning!”
Tom agreed, “You’re right, you are. I am so sorry.” Tom’s eyes started to threaten to release the tears he was holding back. “I am just so happy to have you back.”
Ryleigh could see the anguish in her father’s face and couldn’t bear to hold a grudge. She half ran and crushed him in an embrace. “I missed you dad, I thought you were dead.”
“I know sweetie, I know,” Tom kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “I thought I was dead too. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of there or find you again.”
Ryleigh pulled away looking seriously into her father’s eyes, “How did you get out of there?” she asked.
Tristan also took interest and wanted to know what happened. He walked into the room after having a shower himself. He was still feeling a bit of pain and ache from being tossed against a marble pillar. “Yeah, how did you escape?”
25
Tom’s story
“I was in the cell next to your mother. Fin continued to use her in order to get me to talk about you and give him information. See, you are different.” Tom said.
Ryleigh interrupted, “I know. I am more than a Halfling.”
Tom looked a little shocked.
“It was in Vera’s diary and we kind of pieced things together, “Ryleigh acknowledged.
Tom nodded his head and continued, “He’d had that witch. I don’t even know how he brought her down into the Sanctum, but there she was. Creating spells for him. “Unbreakable magic” h
e called it. He’d threatened to kill your mother so many times I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t want to give in, but he was and is, so strong.”
“Your mother and I - we knew that we needed to get you away, a long time ago. We could see the signs from the time you were small how special you were. You knew things that you shouldn’t know. I don’t know how many times that your mother and I tried to keep things away from you. Including Christmas presents but you would always know what was in what box without ever seeing.”
Ryleigh smiled. She remembered the Christmas she told her parents they should just let her have the doll she wanted because it was already under the tree.
“It was very hard to keep secrets from you. Your mother and I didn’t think anything of it, until one day, one of your little playmates from school became very sick.” Motioning to Ryleigh, “Do you remember that?”
Ryleigh shook her head, “I don’t. How old was I?”
“I think you were probably three or four. I think her name was Allison. There wasn’t any moment in your free time that you two were not playing together. One day, she started getting sick. Her parents took her to the doctor but they couldn’t figure out what it was.”
“One afternoon was feeling well enough to come over and play with you. You were just sick to death because you hadn’t been able to play with her. You wanted to fix her. So you decided to play doctor and fix her. You mother heard you in your room tell her to just lie down, like she was on an examination table. So she walked into the room to check on you both.”
“You were healing her. It was just not possible at such a young age without an imp. To even know what to do. You know,” Tom continued.
“Allison had healed. She left the house better than she had ever been in her life. Her parents were shocked and wanted to know what we did, but we continued to insist that nothing happened. Then Allison told her parents that you made her all better.”
“That’s when they demanded to know the truth. I told them to take her back to the doctor. A few weeks past and we didn’t hear from them again. We moved. Immediately. We kept you home after that, remember?” Ryleigh nodded. She had to beg to be put back into public school when she was a teenager. She always argued that she was a freak and recluse anyway. That she needed the social interaction to make her a normal person. Her mother always laughed and said she was the most normal person she knew. How far from the truth that was right now.
“When your mother was pregnant with you,” he continued. “She was pregnant with twins, as it is for our kind. But something happened and one of them, died…” her dad looked forlorn when he said that. “But, the funny thing was - one day there were twins, the next, there was just you.”
Tom looked lost in thought for a moment. His eyes glazed over. Ryleigh knew he was thinking about her mother. She reached out to console him. Tom smiled and said, “We love you, you know. We knew there might be something different about you. We were willing to sacrifice everything. This is why we left. We did not want people like Finar to get their hands on you. We didn’t want the Elders involved in our affairs. “
Ryleigh reassured her father, “I understand. I really do.”
“We were going to tell you when we went camping. And then the accident.” Tom’s eyes wetted with emotion. “I thought we lost you. When Finar appeared –“
“Finar? What do you mean Finar,” Ryleigh demanded to know.
“He caused the accident.”
26
The accident
Ryleigh was sleeping in the backseat of the truck and her parents were having just a random conversation. Adrianne and Tom were excited and nervous for this trip. They knew it was a long time coming and it would be well worth the experience for Ryleigh. But also confusing with how much they needed to explain.
They’d driven for a few hours already, silently fallen into their routines. From New Mexico to Yellowstone took about fifteen hours. Ryleigh loved driving through Colorado and seeing the mountains. The constant jostling of the car would always rock her to sleep. Even when she was a baby.
They’d driven through to nightfall with Tom and Adrianne taking turns driving. Along the interstate was dark and there wasn’t much traffic. Rounding one of the many bends they came to expect on the trip, Tom noticed a strange illumination ahead. As they drove closer, Adrianne by habit started to slow down but it was too late. Finar was standing in the middle of the road in his true from. Completely embodied and surrounded by energy.
Pulling the car to a slow stop, Adrianne grabbed Tom’s arm. They looked at each other not knowing what to expect. Ryleigh was still sleeping in the back of the car. Adrianne was able to pull some energy from Ryleigh to keep her sleeping. Just in case. If things went wrong, she would rather her be asleep than awake.
“I’ll go,” Tom said opening his door.
“No, wait!” Adrianne said hurriedly. “We don’t know what he wants, or even how he found us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tom said. “He found us now and we need to deal with it.” Adrianne knew he was right. She listened to her husband and he stepped out of the vehicle.
“Both of you!” called out Finar. Adrianne’s heart lurched. She took another look at Ryleigh. Finar still was unaware that she was in the backseat. He didn’t even know that they had a child.
Adrianne exited the vehicle and stood beside her husband Tom. Adrianne started to grab for her husband’s hand and Finar appeared in-between the both of them as quick as a lightning strike and vanished.
Mia stepped forward from the shadows. The imp turned his palm upward toward the sky and motioned his fingers toward him. The car began to roll and pitch forward landing on its roof.
As he closed his fist, metal began to pop and crumble into itself. That’s what he heard it. The girl. The imp cocked his head to his side and listened again. Yes, he was sure he heard it.
The imp came close to the vehicle and peered inside. Inside the car was a girl. When he flipped the vehicle and crushed it, part of the metal from the door pierced through her abdomen.
The imp grabbed the girl and pulled her through the window. He breathed her in and could tell she was quite powerful but not so much controlled yet. He decided he would let her live. His master wasn’t there and he didn’t much like all the bad things he was made to do. So he moved her out of the way and continued to make the car explode. On the side of the road, Ryleigh cried out in pain. That is when Mia decided to tell Tristan.
He faded away to Tristan’s location and brought him and Vee back.
When Mia appeared Tristan was taken aback and immediately thought that Finar was summoning him. “What does he want now?”
Mia shook his little head, “Nothing, you must come with me.”
“Well if he doesn’t want me, why should I come with you?”
“You just must come; I need help to save her.”
Tristan was intrigued and agreed. They faded to the accident.
Mia pointed. Tristan looked at the imp to thank him but by the time he turned around, he was gone.
27
Dreams never let you sleep
“I knew that you would be okay,” Tom continued. “I’d ensured that if anything ever happened to your mom and I, that my sister would get you.”
“I was put in the hospital,” Ryleigh said. “I had some pretty bizarre injuries.”
Tom’s face darkened with anger.
“But I’m okay,” Ryleigh reassured. “Aunt Vera was nice to me also.”
“Mia brought me to Ryleigh,” Tristan popped in. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything but decided now was as good of time as any. “She was severely injured. Vee and I saved her life.”
“Yeah but, I’m okay now,” Ryleigh paused for a moment and then changed the subject. “Dad? How did you get out of your cell?”
Tom hesitated, “He let me go. I don’t know why he did it, he just did.”
Tristan wondered, “Where were you?”
“I wandered all over the
Sanctum. I was trapped. My imp was killed by Finar. I tried to find a way to release my wife and the twins. But, without my imp, I am useless. I heard the screams and headed back toward you. “
Ryleigh was suddenly overcome with exhaustion and could feel how tired her body was. Even though Nissa helped heal her, mentally she was spent. She needed a rest and needed to escape into the darkness for a while.
“I have to sleep,” she told them.
Tristan and her father both nodded her way.
She stopped and hugged her dad, “I missed you.”
She headed into the back of the house to find refuge from the current madness.
Ryleigh dreamt a fitful sleep. She kept dreaming about her mom and the look in her eyes. The pleading for Ryleigh to just accept what was happening. Waking up multiple times she even wondered why she closed her eyes. All she could see was the pool of blood beneath her mother’s body.
She knew that her mother gifted her Chi to her. But it wasn’t like Tristan. Tristan explained how he could feel Illeana inside of him. She couldn’t feel her mother inside of her. It was impossible. She sometimes would talk to her twin, since she found out that she had one. She knew that it had to have been boy. Although, with the twin girls, this meant that there was something different about them too. Something eerie with the way they looked at you. Their eyes seemed to pierce through her soul.
Her dream took her back to finding Tristan with the knife. Instead of missing him and her father appearing, she killed him. She could feel that she reveled in it. She was enjoying making him afraid of her. It was as if she fed on it, completely, and it felt natural. As if this was what she was meant to do.
She woke up covered in a sheen of sweat. The day was still bright and although it felt as if she slept through the night, it had only been an hour. She was a little afraid of the darkness that she felt. It worried her. She wasn’t sure if she could even talk to Tristan dad about it. Although, she knew he would possibly understand what she was going through.