Dirt (The Dirt Trilogy)

by K. F. Ridley

  Straif hits Rowen with an open hand throwing him across the room, and my wrath unfolds. Something starts to happen, but I don’t know what, as the rock above us begins to crumble, Alder’s chains fall from the ceiling. Alder looks at me as if he’s seen a ghost. Alder swings his sword hitting the shackles wrapping Coll’s wrists. They open at the blow and Rowen’s twin is released. With his sword Coll does the same for Alder, freeing him from his metal cuffs. All the motion happens in the swiftness of a thought. Rowen is losing the battle and my anger resurfaces. Now, it’s three on two: Alder, Rowen and Coll against Ruis and Straif, when two more goons come in to break the odds.

  I see my paintings hanging on the wall. As the battle ensues, I take Bran’s assignments from the wall and rip them apart as my frustration steams. As I tear, smoke rises from the canvas and soon the paintings turn into flames, I step back as my afflicted artwork burns to ashes. With a demonic look, Ruis grabs me by the wrist and pulls my back up to his chest, facing the others almost as if we are in a violent tango. He has a knife to my throat. This isn’t a dance I want to be a part of.

  “Now what will you do my brethren?” Venom pours from Ruis’s words. My predicament has gotten everyone’s attention, and their swords come to a rest at their sides.

  “Take your hands off of her,” Rowen says.

  “Now, why would I do that?” He pauses.“My lord, I have a gift for you.”

  “Ahhh,” Straif sighs. “The brethren has its weaknesses.” The words slither across his grey lips.

  I place my hands around Ruis’s arm, trying to pull away his trembling blade as it teases my throat.

  “Don’t cut her…we need her alive,” Straif reminds him, reaching out his hand toward me, as if I’m a piece of fragile crystal. Ruis is as green now as a Thorn as he was as a sentry. His hands tremble as good and evil battle for his soul. My heart breaks for Ruis as he struggles because I know deep down within him is an innocent boy who is genuinely merciful.

  As I hold tight to his forearm, I feel him fighting my relinquishment, when he abruptly lets go. He pushes me away throwing me with all of his strength into the stone wall. I hear the cracking of bone when my arm hits the surface. I agonize in pain and the arm feels broken. It hurts but at least I’m free. Alder, Coll, and Rowen pull their swords and place themselves in front of me. Ruis runs from the room, shamed in front of his new leader.

  Straif and his two sidekicks engage what is left of the brethren and Rowen. Alder keeps Straif at bay. Rowen and Coll make mincemeat of the other two which leaves Straif standing alone, his back to the exit. He realizes his predicament and fleas the room, his long black cloak picking up the wind as he speeds away up the stairwell.

  Rowen scoops me up and carries me out with Alder and Coll following behind us. My arm is definitely broken. I can’t move it and it’s disfigured. I support it with my other hand as we rush out.

  Now that we’d lost Ruis we’ll have to leave without the sister key. The paintings have been destroyed and for now that’s as far as we’re going to get.

  As we run, the pain in my arm is overwhelming, and I bite my lip to keep from screaming. Rowen cradles me in his arms as we rush through the corridors. The roaring of the masses in the distance moves toward us. Alder leads the way and Coll cover us from behind. The crowd gains on us when we get to the exit and a huge man with scraggly blond hair stands at the exit door. He’s gigantic, probably seven feet tall and as wide as a mobile home. We aren’t going through him, so some way or another we’re going to have to take that tree down. Alder goes blade to blade with the giant, when Coll takes his sword and whacks him at the knees bringing him down a couple of feet. We step over him as he bleeds to death without waiting to see what is left.

  We sprint toward the valley where the horses wait for us. I brace my right hand around my left forearm to keep it from rattling the fracture.

  As we fly over the mountain, Ruis looks up at us as he stands perched on a rock with his black robe fluttering in the false serenity of the wind. His palomino soars the sky alone. We’ve lost him, and he’s lost himself. A feeling of emptiness fills my heart as my hope for him dies.

  19

  Every time we hit a bump in the wind, pain shoots through me, making me want to pass out. We’re headed to Ivy’s. “Hang in there,” Rowen encourages as he holds me close to his chest. “Whenever we’re together, you get hurt. I may not be so good for you after all.”

  “ Don’t say that. It’s our circumstances. Things won’t ever settle down for us. Not until Straif is gone.” I strain to speak under the searing pain.

  Ivy ’s house comes into sight and not at all too soon. I dread the landing knowing it’s going to hurt. I think Ruamna senses my pain. Her demeanor is much calmer than usual and her landing much smoother than ones I can remember.

  Rowen carries me inside. Ivy has returned from Congramaid and she meets us at the door. Arcos along with Cy and a couple of other dignitaries sit in the living room dressed in white robes, except for little Cy who’s wearing purple burlap. Rowen lays me on the couch as gently as possible.

  “What’s wrong?” Arcos asks as he stands.

  “ Her arm is broken,” Coll answers looking me over like livestock.“This is going to hurt.”

  I’m not at all prepared for what Coll is about to do. “Squeeze my hand,” Rowen tells me.

  “What ….AHHHHHHHHHH!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Coll quickly jerks my arm and I hear the crisp sound of bone snapping back into place. This is more than I can handle.

  “Sorry, sorry,” Rowen recites as he holds my face with his hands trying to get me focus on something other than my arm.

  “Oh, my God! You could have at least warned me!” I scream with tears rolling down my face.

  Coll’s expression is flat and disconnected. It’s as if he’s only doing his job. How can someone with such a wonderful gift be so uncaring and cold? The healer continues holding my arm with his hands wrapped firmly around the break. The pain slowly subsides and the swelling is gone a few minutes after Coll releases his grip. I still have some stiffness and soreness but overall it looks as if I’ve been healed.

  “Thanks,” I say for lack of words. Coll doesn’t respond. He hates me. He only healed me because he had to. If he had his way, I’d be dead and nothing would’ve happened to his precious brethren, which has dismantled. Only two are left in his group, which is all because of me.

  “He really hates me doesn’t he?”

  “He’s confused,” Rowen says pulling the stone key from his pocket and putting it around my neck. “I believe this is yours.”

  “The key!” Cy shouts. “It should not be in her possession.”

  “It belongs to her,” Arcos says.

  “But my lord, she doesn’t even know what it is, or how to use it.”

  “Then we will teach her.”

  “Pardon me, my lord,” another of the dignitaries chime in, “but it’s much too powerful. It puts all of us at risk.”

  “She is the only one that has any use for it. And after all, it was her mother’s.” Argos is firm in his decision.

  For a moment, the silence in the room is deafening.

  I sit up on the side of the couch, Rowen beside me. Alder gives Arcos, Cy, and the others a run down about what took place in the caverns.“We don’t have the sister key and that could present a problem. If Straif locks the door from this side, it will make it impossible for Ashe and Henry to return to the human world.”

  The conversation soon turns to my sudden abilities in the caverns. “It seems she possesses the gift with the living as well as the nonliving,” Alder comments.

  “Interesting,” Arcos muses.

  “She has inherited your gift, Arcos,” Ivy says.

  My grandfather poses a small grin and a bit of pride makes his face glow. “Her gift goes far beyond mine.”

  I’m starting to think my gift is invisibility because everyone is talking about me as if I’m not here, so I interject. “Ex
cuse me a second, but can anyone tell me what’s going on?”

  Arcos has to think about what he’s going to say.“Ashe Leigh.” He pauses in thought. This is the first time he’s called me by name. Actually, no one ever calls me by my full name and it’s kind of awkward.“Transference is a rare thing. It can be good or bad. If you and I aren’t careful, we can destroy things we cherish along with things we detest.”

  “Like when I destroyed Duir?”

  “You destroyed one of The Thorn?” Alder asks.

  “Yes, but I didn’t mean to.” I thought destroying The Thorn was a good thing, but the expressions on their faces make me unsure.

  Rowen sees my confusion and jumps in. “During our confrontation with Duir, Ashe turned him to stone…well partially.”

  “When Ruis had you at knife point, what were you thinking?” Alder questions.

  “Well, I wanted to get free. I remembered my concern for Ruis and the heartache I felt for him. I wasn’t angry, I was empathetic. I wanted him to choose good. I wanted him out of his predicament. I know deep down he is kind-hearted. Really, I care for Ruis and want him back.”

  “That is why he let her go,” Rowen adds as he has a revelation.

  “You see, my dear Ashe Leigh, my gift of transference only allows me to affect inanimate objects. My feelings and emotions inflict action only in the nonliving. You, on the other hand, seem to have the power to affect living things as well,” my grandfather explains.

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” I ask, unsure.

  “It can be,” Cy says. “It can be deadly.”

  “My lord, would you approve of testing?” one of the dignitaries asks reverently.

  My skin crawls. “Testing?” I ask. “What kind of testing? Don’t you guys think I’ve been through enough today? I mean I broke my arm.”

  Maybe, Arcos is going to care for me as his granddaughter and keep them from using me as a guinea pig.“It is very important we see what you are capable of. Wolfsbane, you may proceed.”

  Okay, he’s going to go through with it. He’s going to let them do God knows what. I turn to Rowen. “What are they going to do to me?”

  “I’m not sure, but I do know Arcos is not going to let them hurt you,” he whispers.

  Everyone gets up as we follow the one they called Wolfsbane, outside. He’s an awkwardly tall and slender man. I trust Rowen, but I have to admit I’m scared to death. I guess it’s not knowing what they’re about to do to me or make me do.

  Everyone watches as Wolfsbane stands in the middle of a flower garden, closing his eyes and putting out his long slender robe-covered arms. His white hair is wrapped tightly in a bun. He stands there motionless, like a statue. He looks ghostly as his snow white robe glows in the sunlight. Then, suddenly a huge violet and yellow butterfly lands elegantly on his shoulder, then another, and another. They swarm around him in a frenzy. In a few moments, he’s covered in butterflies. They are the size of blue jays and every color you could imagine, their wings moving in slow motion keeping them balanced. Wolfsbane’s white robe now looks like a moving patchwork quilt as a menagerie of multicolored butterflies envelops him. It’s magical.

  Wolfsbane looks straight into my eyes. “Come here.”

  I approach him with uncertainty. He moves slightly and the butterflies flutter off in unison into the wind, except for one which sits quietly in the palm of Wolfsbane’s hand.

  “Hold out your hand.” I do as he instructs. He places the red and white butterfly in my palms, its wings moving up and down to steady its oversized body. “Now, think of something that makes you happy.” So, I thought of Rowen. Our first kiss, his hand in the small of my back, him holding me. I remember times with Taylie. When we were young. Growing up together. Slowly, the butterfly glows and shimmers in the sunlight. It lies in my hand as if asleep, tranquil and content.

  “Now, think of something that makes you angry, something that infuriates you.” That wasn’t hard. Straif’s vile and distorted face immerges from my mind. I think about my house burning down, about him trying to kill me, about him torturing Rowen. Suddenly, the butterfly grows sharp fangs and spikes emerge from its back, puncturing my hand. Its wings become pointed and its color turns to black and brown. It screeches as if it is in pain. The shrill pierces our ears as the poor creature endures a horrific mutation.

  “Enough!” Arcos demands with a regal authoritative tone. Wolfsbane brushes the suffering creature from my hand and it lands on a rose bush, morphing back into its natural state.

  Everyone is speechless as we walk back to the house. “How did I do?” I ask Rowen, unsure about what all of this means.

  “You did great. Remind me not to cross you off,” he says with a grin.

  “Don’t ever leave me, and you’ll be fine,” I say, as if I’m okay with what happened. I don’t really know what I’m capable of. I don’t want to hurt anyone: I don’t want to hurt Rowen, or anyone I care about.

  Then it all comes back to me, Ruamna’s unexpected outburst, the broken desk in the dormitory, and my paintings bursting into flames. I have to be careful. First, my blood is wanted by the darkest of beings and could destroy the universe. Secondly I can kill people by getting angry.

  I study my hands. What am I? I want to go back to being simple Ashe Leigh Fair from Darby, Montana. I don’t want to be this…this thing. I sit on the couch next to Rowen, hoping I’m not a monster, wishing I could simply be in love like a normal human being. I’m reminded I’m not human when I hear my name.

  “Ash-a-Lei-eigh,” Wolfsbane speaks my name as if he has a speech impediment. I think he has a hard time saying my name because by doing so he is acknowledging me as a real being and not a bithling. “Now, that you have become of age your powers are being revealed. This is a huge responsibility. You must be aware of your feelings at all times and you must learn to control them. Otherwise, you could hurt the ones you care about as well as those you despise. It’ll be a long lesson learned. Be very careful. This isn’t something others can teach you. It’s something you’ll have to learn on your own and unfortunately, at the expense of others.”

  It would probably be best if I left and hid myself away like a hermit. I’m a danger to everything and everyone around me.

  The leaders continue to discuss me and the predicament the world is in. I’m taken aback by all I hear. I’m in my own deep thought as the sound of their voices became indiscernible distant mumbling. I’m not sure what to do with all I’ve learned about myself.

  Coll stands on the other side of the room with his back against the wall and hands slid into the front pockets of his jeans. He stares at me with a smear of abhorrence across his face. I stare back at him. I understood now why he hates me. I can be deadly. I have destroyed his whole world, taken his brother, and now I can destroy him with a single thought and the touch of my hand.

  20

  The door slams, rattling the windows. “It’s gone! It’s gone! All of it!” Ivy’s voice echoes through the house. I’ve never heard her demure voice move beyond a loud hush.

  At the sound, Rowen jumps from the bed and opens the door. “What’s going on?” he asks Alder.

  “Don’t know.” Chaos floods the air.

  I rub my eyes trying to wake up. Rowen rushes out of the room. I jump out of bed and run out behind him.

  Ivy sits at the kitchen table, her white robe painted with dirt. “It’s gone, all of it. I’m supposed to be its keeper…and….it…it’s gone.” Her demeanor goes from panic to despair.

  “Did you check everywhere?” Arcos asks. By now the entire house has come to life and everyone is standing in the kitchen, their faces blank with confusion.

  “Everywhere. The entire area.” She’s out of breath. “They’ve taken it all. How did they know?” Ivy’s crystal eyes pour clear blue drops like a tropical fountain. It’s yellow muck, but she acts as if she’s lost a loved one.

  “Ruis,” Coll speaks up. Up until now, he’s hardly said a word. “He’s told them everything.�
� His brethren is falling apart. I thought I’d lost everything, but in fact Coll is losing his entire world. At least, I’ve got Rowen. I’ve taken him from Coll’s world into mine.

  The window provides a perfect view of the mounds of dirt cluttering the ground. The once immaculate yard surrounding Ivy’s house now looks like a graveyard waiting for freshly assigned corpses. The serum is gone.

  “What’s Ruis up to?” Rowen asks panning the disrupted view. I take his hand to try to relieve his despair.“What will we do now?” he asks.

  “We go back to Montana. I know where there is more muck,” I hold up the key.

  Rowen towers over the empty holes in the ground. “I don’t know if we can go back. Straif has the sister key, which locks the Doorway of Feda from this side. If he’s locked it we won’t ever be able to go back unless we get his key, plus bringing your father out of hiding would put him at risk too. Straif can never find out he’s here, especially now that he knows about the serum. Your father is our only hope for the future.”

  “Come on,” I say pulling him away from the yard and leading him back to the house.

  Ivy sits on the couch her face pale and empty.“Aunt Ivy, it’s going to be okay,” I say kneeling at her feet.

  Everyone sits around the room discussing options, while Cy perches in the corner of the room with his eyes closed, apparently trying to see something in his mind. As they ramble on amongst one another without a viable decision, I speak up, “I know where there is more serum.” I look back at Rowen for assurance. Everyone stops at my comment.

  “Where?” Alder asks.

  “In Montana, buried in my yard.”

  “Impossible. We can’t risk it,” Coll interjects. I knew he’d be the first one to dismiss anything I said.

  “Not impossible,” my grandfather says patting Coll on the back. “She does have the key. But returning will be dangerous. And we have to hope Straif has not already locked the door.”