by N. V. Rose
There was hesitancy in Bailyn’s step and then he stopped. When he descended, and his feet touched the ground, Bailyn turned to face his fellow council member. Bailyn respected Reign. He was one of the elders of the council. Reign and Danas were the best of friends. Reign missed Danas terribly and directed his hurt and anger toward ensuring the council remained everything Danas envisioned it to be. Reign was hundreds of years older than Bailyn. That in and of itself was enough to warrant respect. But that was not the foundation for Bailyn’s appreciation for who Reign was. Reign was the one who found Bailyn. He was trapped in a world that didn’t understand magic. Their fear put Bailyn behind walls of cement blocks, locked away, to be forgotten. Bailyn’s parents tried to fight against the citizens of the small Dutch town in which they lived. But they had no powers of their own and not enough resources to mount a sufficient fight against those who hold all the power. So there Bailyn sat; not even a teenager, starving, unkempt and nearly broken, inside and out.
Bailyn’s mother, Anastasia, would sit on the outside of the prison wall. Her heart beat for her son and even though it was imprisonment to the young Bailyn, Anastasia knew it was also her son’s protection. It pained her greatly to have to live separately from him. But at least behind the cement blocks, Bailyn was safe from harm. When Anastasia was just a few weeks pregnant with her only child, she had a visitor. A stranger approached her in the most unassuming way and said the most profound things to her when all she was doing was her daily household chores. When the man knocked and opened the door, Anastasia did not retreat from him. He never said his name but somehow, Anastasia felt connected to him. And when he spoke, Anastasia heard the words not with her natural ears but with a mother’s heart.
“The child you carry has a special gift. His gift has the capacity to change the world as we know it. Most will not understand, and he will be punished for the thing he cannot control. But he was given to you Anastasia because you too have a gift that you have kept hidden away from fears of your own. He will be taken from you but will always be with you. And when I return, I will remove him from those who don’t understand him. Take comfort in knowing that he will be safe.”
Reign returned to the small town just as promised. He stood outside the wall, much like Anastasia, under cover of night. The only light was from the brilliant stars that Bailyn could barely see through the small window at the very top of the cement cage he’d been in.
“Bailyn, come out of where you are.”
The young boy’s ears piqued as the voice traveled down from the tiny window and into the darkened space in which he cowered.
“How? How do I do that?”
Bailyn’s voice was weak and tired. It had been more than two days since his captors fed him and it seemed even longer since he had fresh water to drink.
“Stand to your feet and break the wall with your hands.”
“What? I can’t,” Bailyn replied. “I’m not strong enough.”
“You’ve always been strong enough,” Reign encouraged.
“Just stand to your feet and use your hands.”
Through the thickness of the walls, Reign communicated his convictions to the young Bailyn; encouraging him to trust that he had everything he needed to break free. There was a calm that descended on the young man; a feeling he’d never experienced before outside of the presence of his loving mother. That sensation made Bailyn believe that what the voice said may indeed be possible. Although his knees were weak and hadn’t held Bailyn’s full weight in weeks, the young boy put his dirty hands on the hardened soil and pushed himself up to standing.
“Ah,” he cried, as the blood began to move through the veins in his legs again and sensation returned. Getting his bearings, Bailyn looked down at his dirt covered hands. The more he looked, the more the soil that covered his hands began to glow. It was low at first and Bailyn thought hunger and thirst caused his eyes to see what couldn’t have been there, but then the light on his hands increased and began to illuminate the space he occupied.
“Use your hands to break down the wall.”
Bailyn tuned his hands over and looked from palm to the back. Then his eyes trailed to the wall that held him captive. At first thought most would consider striking the wall in hopes that it would collapse. But that was not Bailyn’s thought. There was a connection to the soil. Bailyn’s eyes moved from the wall to what the wall stood on. If he could penetrate the ground underneath; move it in such a way to destabilize the bricks that sat on top of it, the wall would fall.
Reign smiled as he saw the thought inside Bailyn’s head. He didn’t have to command the child again, for he already had the answer.
Although it hurt, Bailyn bent down again, this time allowing his knees to touch the soil. There was energy there he felt for the first time. The soil under his knees began to take on the same glow as the dirt on his hands. Bailyn wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but suddenly, he balled both his fists and struck the ground. The quaking stirred the rocks and Bailyn’s eyes darted around to see the cement blocks began to disengage from one another. When Bailyn struck the ground the second time, Bailyn felt strength greater than he knew he had. This time, cracks started to form in the thick blocks and debris started to fall away.
Standing to his feet, Bailyn again looked up at the window overhead. He needed to measure how much space he had to avoid being struck from the very thing that held him. Moving as close to the cement wall as possible. Bailyn stomped his foot and a thunderous quake moved underneath him. The window disengaged from the iron clamps that held it and fell in the center of the cell. Then, one by one, the blocks disintegrated; falling away into piles of dust.
Bailyn could hardly believe it. His head fell between his shoulders as the gentle breeze that blew where the wall once stood grazed his body. Bailyn opened his eyes and watched as the breath that escaped his mouth had an expanse of space to disappear into. When Bailyn’s eyes finally found the voice that spoke to him from beyond the wall, he smiled. It had been a long time since he had reason to smile.
Reign rescued Bailyn that day, more than 200 hundred years ago. Bailyn was still the youngest member of the council. Reign knew, that when the last savior failed to defeat Kaine, Bailyn thought he would have been the one chosen as the next in line. But that isn’t what happened. Bailyn’s council vote was out of respect and loyalty; not in the truth of how he felt.
“Your place is here with me, Bailyn. The position you hold is held in the highest regard by humans and near-humans alike. The gift you bear is special, but your influence is greater than your greatest gift. Brielle is the savior, of that I am sure. But if you want to help her, that can be arranged.”
The crystallized metallic door slid open as Zephryn slipped through and entered Maude’s den. Zephryn crept silently, and the doors shut behind her with barely a noticeable whisper. The room held a saccharine fragrance and was designed like an ancient Japanese chamber.
“I’m trying to rest, and it is rude to enter without knocking first,” Maude’s stoic voice called. It hadn’t been spoken out loud but communicated telepathically since here at The Council headquarters there was no need for vocalization.
Standing idly before Maude’s sleeping cot, adorned in her African tribal cloak, Zephryn placed her long slender arms behind her back and waited for Maude to calm before speaking. Understanding her supreme friends’ nature, Maude breathed a sigh then sat up in bed and Maude’s black bob cut hair held deathly still as she waited.
“You’re not really resting. Your mind is in disarray.”
“You’ve been in my head again.” Maude stated the obvious.
“I don’t have much of a choice since we’ve been linked since our ascension.”
Maude and Zephryn, along with the other ten council members, were a part of an ancient body that governed all mortal and near-mortal behavior. When Maude and Zephryn accepted their roles in the supreme government many centuries ago, they’d been linked along with Danas Conclay, a Chief Eld
er who’d been killed by Kaine Kross. The connection provided a spiritual backup, like a police officer to his partner. The three linked members held each other accountable and provided answers when there was indecision.
“She’s not catching on fast enough,” Zephryn said answering the question before she had a chance to ask Maude.
The she Zephryn referred to was Brielle Leblanc, the chosen savior of humanity.
“I don’t need your help,” Maude stated, holding her firm pose on the bed without so much as a blink of her eyelid.
Zephryn took another step toward Maude, bringing her mocha chocolate skin and elongated dreadlocks under the scrutiny of the moonlight that cast through the lone window.
“Oh Maude, after all of these centuries, one would think you understood by now why we work together.”
“On the contrary, I understand well. I never said I don’t want your help,” Maude responded. “I said I don’t need it. Eventually, I will figure out a better way for Ms. Leblanc to master her powers.”
“Or…” Zephryn added, “you could take my advice now, instead of waiting for an epiphany. Besides, who knows how long that’ll take. Time, we don’t have I suppose.”
Maude rushed a heavy sigh from her lips and narrowed her eyes on Zephryn.
“Are you going to tell me about this sage wisdom you have on the situation or not?”
Zephryn smirked. She knew all too well that Maude wasn’t the type to ask for help; even when she desired it. Zephryn strolled back and forth in a slow pace across the room, taking her time to reveal the piece of knowledge she had. Maude almost rolled her eyes, but instead, Maude kept her lips tight and her eyes thinly cut at Zephryn.
“The power that Brielle possess goes back centuries. Some of the eldest and most powerful hybrids wielded the supremacies that hide within her. She will not be able to master them all in a short time if at all.”
“This is supposed to be helping,” Maude said.
Zephryn stopped her pacing and turned slowly to face Maude.
“One at a time,” Zephryn said.
Maude arched a sharply curved brow.
“You are throwing everything at her at once. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, levitation. She cannot handle them all in a package right now. Teach her how to wield one power at a time. Don’t move forward with the next one until she masters it. You know, one power can defeat many evil plights. She doesn’t need to train using them all until she’s mastered them all. She can’t master them all until she’s completely focused within herself and believes in her ability to win using each one. So…” Zephryn strolled to the window and spoke with her back to Maude. “You’ve been with her long enough to know which one of her supremacies she takes a liking to most.”
Before Zephryn could ask the question Maude spoke.
“Wind…”
Zephryn smiled. “Start with meditation and pull her into that power. She’ll begin to master it much faster than trying to do them together, and you’ll be grateful. We all will.”
Maude let out a slow breath.
“You know I would have thought of this if you would’ve let me stew,” Maude said as they continued to communicate telepathically.
Zephryn held her smile. “Yeees,” she said, “Eventually…”
Chapter Three
Brielle reached for her bath towel and stepped out of the shower, tossing the cloth around her shoulders. She dried her skin, applied lotion, then brushed her teeth and combed her black shoulder-length hair. As she stared back at the green eyes that watched her in the mirror, Brielle thought about her mother, Katherine. She hadn’t seen her in weeks since Kaine Kross broke into Brielle’s apartment in Atlanta Georgia and sent she and Vita Sorex transporting back to the white realm.
When Vita came strutting through Brielle’s door, at first, Brielle thought Vita was there to kill her. But Brielle found out shortly after being tossed out a window that Vita was not her enemy.
“Who is she?” Brielle had asked Maude.
“She is your predecessor,” Maude replied. Brielle looked at Vita again, this time up and down, from head to toe.
“You mean, the first savior?”
“Yes,” Maude affirmed. “This is Vita Sorex, the council’s first chosen savior.”
Brielle’s mind had been in a tailspin ever since. According to Maude, Brielle’s lineage was magical, and Vita was a part of it. Brielle continued to wonder why her mother hadn’t told her, but Brielle wasn’t sure her mom knew, and that Brielle had to find out.
“It’s not safe,” Brielle heard Maude’s voice. “Everyone knows who you are now, you can’t be out alone.”
Brielle let out a breath. Wouldn’t that mean her mother was in danger, too? Brielle grabbed her jeans and tossed a cashmere sweater over her head. It was time she pay a visit to Katherine LeBlanc. If nothing else, Brielle was sure Katherine was worried; and at the same time, Brielle was worried about her mother.
Brielle approached the bathroom door and it slid open allowing her to walk through. She stopped quickly, seeing Markus’ tall frame lingering in her bedroom doorway waiting for her to exit.
Brielle let out a long sigh. “Don’t tell me she sent you back to get me.” Her eyes roamed over his curly blonde hair, gray eyes, and oval chin.
“No one sent me,” he paused rotating a ball of energy in the palm of his upturned hand. “I came to say thank you.” Closing his fists tightly, the flame dispersed, and Markus slipped his hands into his pockets. “Thank you.”
Brielle shrugged and folded her arms. “Honestly, it happened on instinct. It wasn’t anything remarkable.”
Markus smiled easily. “Maybe to you, but if you hadn’t interfered I’d still be in medics right now.”
Brielle smirked. “It’s cool, kid,” she said.
“Kid? Aren’t you like twenty?”
“I’m twenty-two, thank you very much.”
“So am I,” he said.
Brielle gave Markus another once over. He was built like a scrawny kid. The one that picked on you on the playground because he had a secret crush.
“Well, if you really want to make it up to me, I could use some backup.”
Markus was intrigued and the lift in his brows said so.
“What do you need help with?”
“My mother. She’s back in Atlanta and I haven’t seen her in weeks. I don’t even know if she’s okay.”
“And you want to go visit her,” Markus finished.
“I’m going to go see her Markus, but I was hoping I could get someone to tag along. You know, just in case something goes awry.”
Markus let out a breath. Going anywhere with Brielle could stir up trouble. She had a bonafide target on her back.
“We’re going to have to bring Jefferson,” he said.
“Why? Our secret would go right out of the window.”
Markus laughed. “No man, Jefferson’s not like that.”
“He’s a part of the Osmo police force.”
Markus shrugged.
“What do we even need him for?” Brielle asked.
“You said it yourself. He’s an Osmo. Jefferson can cloak us while we’re out.” Jefferson watched the reaction Brielle gave. She didn’t have a clue what Markus was talking about. “No one’s told you.”
Brielle let out a harsh breath. “No one tells me anything around here. The only thing I know about Osmos is their purpose as the police force of the magical realm. For that reason, they can absorb powers. Oh, and that Kaine has this gift which is why I’m supposed to take him out. What am I missing?”
Markus smirked. “Well that’s the basics. Because Osmos can absorb powers they carry around a variety of them. Cloaking is like making you invisible to the magical and physical realm. You can’t be detected when you’re cloaked.”
Brielle frowned. “Why is there power like this? That can be dangerous if in the wrong hands.”
“Yeah but you can’t be actionable while under the cloak. In other words, if you wanted t
o lift something, you’d have to reveal yourself. Even if you wanted to move past something like a box for example, revelation would be required. You wouldn’t be able to walk through it like a ghost, if you needed to pick it up or push it out of the way. You’d have to reveal yourself to do so. The cloak is only to go undercover. Our ancestors designed it to use against our enemies in the case that war was on the horizon. And it’ll only last four hours.”
Brielle’s mind tumbled. “What happens after four hours?”
“No more cloak. The person with the gift would have to recharge for twenty-four hours before being able to use it again.”
Brielle sighed. Four hours, she thought. She could get to her mom and be back before then. Brielle nodded, trying to convince herself that this was a good thing. Looking on the bright-side, Brielle didn’t have this option before, so she considered it a sign.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
Markus and Brielle headed for the door. It slid open and they quietly walked down the cemented floors past the brick walls of the council’s dormitory headquarters. When Markus approached the exit, Brielle reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Where are you going?”
Markus looked back at her. “We’re going to get Jefferson. The only ones allowed to live in this building is the council… and, well, the savior.”
Brielle released his hand. “Oh,” she swung her hands in the air. “Well, let’s go.”
They skipped through the front door and ran down across the council’s lawn to cross the street. All was quiet except for mother nature and Brielle couldn’t help remembering when she saw the white realm for the first time. Merely a month ago, Brielle had gone to an interview looking for a job. Maude was her interviewer. Not only had Brielle found a position that day, but she also wasn’t getting compensated for it. Savior of the world. It was the last thing she expected to hear. Brielle was hoping more along the lines of, “you’re hired. Starting pay is 16 bucks an hour.” Cha-ching! There was plenty of things Brielle could do with that kind of money. However, what Brielle found was a realm filled with magic that no one in the real world knew existed.