Only a Glow

by Nichelle Rae

  We stopped at the edge of the creek and Ortheldo dismounted first. Before I could, he was at my side holding out his hand to me. I looked at him skeptically for a moment, wondering if he really thought I needed help getting off my horse. Then I reluctantly placed my hand in his.

  “What’s this all about?” I asked once I stood beside him.

  “Nothing,” he said with a shrug and started walking toward the creek, holding the basket. “I just thought you might enjoy a nice, peaceful picnic for a change.”

  “I’d much rather prefer a nice, peaceful bath.” I gave him a sidelong glance, seeing if I struck a nerve. The hurt in his eyes made my heart sink, and I sighed. “I’m sorry. I just think I would enjoy it more if I was clean.”

  He brightened. “The lake is just beyond those trees.”

  I nodded and gathered up my bathing needs, including the robe Norka gave me upon our first meeting. “I’ll be quick.” Ortheldo nodded as he and Rabryn sat on the ground and started digging through the basket.

  I walked a short distance through the trees until the lake opened up to me. Oh, my—this would be the most scenic bath ever. I stood there gapping at the sight for a long while before I smiled and shed my clothes. I wrapped the necklace chain around my wrist as I slowly submerged myself in the water. It was surprisingly warm.

  I washed my hair and felt the same exhilarating feeling I got every time I used the strong floral scented liquids. I was enjoying this bath thoroughly as I began washing my skin.

  Suddenly, I froze in horror. Something was wrong. That damned shadow came into my mind again.

  With wide eyes, I dared not make a sudden move. I slowly turned to look over my shoulder; nothing was behind me. Slowly again I turned, putting one foot cautiously in front of the other, wading to shore.

  I stooped down and grabbed my sword first. Then I picked up my robe and, still moving slowly, put it on and tied it closed at my waist. I slowly made my way through the trees toward the clearing where I’d left the boys. As I entered the trees, each step seemed to thunder in my ears. I’d swear all Casdanarus could hear me. I wished so badly I could walk like a Salynn, silent and light. If I could, even forest ground would be soundless. I did my best though to remain silent as I crept closer to the clearing.

  When I reached the edge of the trees, I crouched just inside of them and peered out at the grassy area. Ibalissa was there! I was going to kill her! She was kneeling in front of both my boys, engaging in a conversation. Ortheldo was lying casually on his side, propping himself up with one elbow; Rabryn was sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees; and she was there!

  I lifted my foot to run and beat the life out of her, when I was suddenly thrown into that awkward detached state of mind.

  No, no, no! I screamed in my mind. I wanted to punch Ibalissa in the mouth!

  Rather than take a step like I intended, my foot silently lowered back to the ground and I continued to look out at the clearing.

  What am I looking for?! I screamed in my head, extremely frustrated that this happened again, and I didn’t even know what exactly was happening.

  Suddenly figures in the trees surrounding the grassy area began to glow black. I felt my eyes widen, but I doubted my face reflected the surprise I felt at seeing them. The darkness of the figures seemed to suck the very light and warmth of the sun. I studied them, trying to make out what they were. Finally, an elbow moved. They were humans—humans holding loaded bows pointed at the clearing.

  I wondered if the others had noticed.

  I considered what I could see of their eyes. Rabryn’s were filled with terror, but not for himself—for someone else; he was worried for someone else’s safety. I looked in Ortheldo’s eyes; he was saying something with them. I narrowed my own eyes as I studied them. He kept glancing away nervously, so the words came broken and mixed up. But finally, I got the message.

  Don’t come out, Azrel! They’ll kill you, they said repeatedly.

  I looked at Ibalissa and realized my rage was gone. I saw only one side of her face, but suddenly I felt myself willing her neck muscles to turn so she could face me. I couldn’t believe when Ibalissa indeed began to turn her head, her eyes now fearful of the force that was making her move against her will. I blanched as the left side of her face came into my view. Blood was dripping down the side of her head.

  I looked again at the scattered black lights in the trees. Think! I screamed at myself.

  I took the necklace off my wrist and wrapped it around the hilt of my sword. I placed my sword on the ground and hid it under dead leaves. I stood to my full height and walked out into the clearing, the flowing satin of my robe gently caressing my ankles. I screamed at myself to stop, but of course my body wouldn’t obey.

  This was it. I was going to be killed.

  As soon as I stepped out onto the field, all three heads spun in my direction, “Run, Azrel!” my two companions screamed.

  “Fire!” a familiar voice commanded.

  Fifteen arrows shot at me from the woods across the clearing...or fifteen arrows were supposed to be shooting at me. Suddenly the air in front of me became very thick, as if it had turned to mud, and everything around me slowed to a near stop, including the arrows. I casually looked at each one in turn as they hovered in mid-air a few feet from where I stood. The air hummed with the thickness around me. It would have been uncomfortable if it wasn’t saving my life.

  I then raised my palms and pushed them forward, as if I were shoving a person rather than air. Amazingly, the arrow tips went straight up, then turned backward and pointed in the opposite direction. In that instant, there was a soft snap as the thick air ebbed, everything returning to normal, and the arrows flew back in the direction they had come.

  Most of the men were hit; three managed to duck in time. I placed my hands on my hips and waited for them to charge. Two men rushed forward, clubs raised. I recognized them as the two blonde guards from the Dirty 30.

  One swung his club at my head, and as easily as walking my fighting talents came into play. My arm shot up to block the blow and I instantly bent my hand backward and grabbed his huge wrist. I twisted his arm behind his back, breaking the bone in the process and causing him to scream out in pain. I couldn’t help my surprise. I didn’t know I had such strength. These men were huge, and here I was handling them as if they were no bigger than children.

  Suddenly, the second guard’s club came toward my head. As I held the first one’s wrist behind his back, my leg shot up to block the oncoming hit. The second guard immediately swung at me again, but I had enough time to bring his companion’s broken arm up, allowing me to twist myself under it. I put my back against him, bringing his arm down in front of me, flipping his entire massive body over my shoulder, and put him face down on the ground. I brought my arm up to block the attack from the second guard, then drove the heel of my foot down into the base of the first one’s skull, breaking his neck.

  Before the surviving guard could swing a third time, I punched him in the nose; it broke on contact. Blood exploded from his face and he dropped the club, bringing both his hands to his injury as he doubled over. I spun my body around with my leg in the air, and my heel caught him right in the jaw. He stumbled to the side but didn’t fall. I spun again, but instead of kicking him I wrapped my leg around his neck and changed the direction of my momentum, slamming my knee forward into the ground and taking him down with me.

  Suddenly, a blade sliced at me from behind! I ducked in time though. Apparently this third adversary had a death wish. He knew who I was, yet he still challenged me in open battle. I looked up just in time to see Jaravel change his sword’s direction with incredible swiftness, but my hand shot up and grabbed the blade before it got near me.

  I wanted to scream from the pain I should have felt from getting my hand chopped off—but my hand was still there! My bare flesh had stopped the blade in mid-swing! I couldn’t believe it! I did feel a stream of blood running down my arm, but there was no pain an
d I was still in one piece.

  Jaravel’s eyes got so wide they looked ready to roll out of his head. My arm holding the blade trembled violently, but whether it was from the effort of holding it or rage, I couldn’t say. I looked down at the man wrapped up in my leg as if I had all the time in the world. I gave a powerful twist, snapping his neck in two. I looked up a Jaravel and slowly rose to my feet. Jaravel stared at me in horror. Suddenly, with a twist and a yank downward, I snapped the blade I was holding in half. The steel metal blade just broke at my will, as if it were made of bread! Jaravel could only look at his broken sword and tremble.

  “You know I’m going to kill you, don’t you?” my voice asked. He gave a small, forced nod, still looking at his broken sword. In the time it would take someone to blink, my fist flew upward under his nose. The powerful hit knocked him clear off his feet. He landed dead fifteen feet away.

  I casually looked at my bleeding palm with a smirk of satisfaction. “That was invigorating,” I said to myself as I wiggled my fingers. A white flame appeared from inside my sleeve and traveled over my palm to my fingertips. I watched as the gash in my hand seemed to knit together and heal in seconds. Then I sighed, placed my hand on my hip and evaluated the damage I’d just done.

  “Um, excuse me,” Rabryn’s voice said suddenly. My head turned from the dead bodies to look at him. He held Ibalissa by her wrist and around her waist as he dragged her toward me. As soon as my eyes fell on her, she shrieked and cowered away from me as if I were about to kill her with my gaze. But Rabryn had a firm hold on her. Her heels dug into the ground laterally as she tried to break his hold and get away from me. “This is my friend, Ibalissa. I was wondering if you would mind healing her? She’s got a few nasty injuries to her head, as I’m sure you can clearly see.”

  He was speaking to me as if he didn’t know me! Why was he doing that?

  “Of course I will heal her,” my brow arched, “if you stop talking to me as if you didn’t know me, little brother. It doesn’t help my purpose.”

  Rabryn’s eyes flooded with confusion as my mind did the same. What was I talking about, “help my purpose?” Rabryn glanced back at Ortheldo, who was on his knees. At my words, he slapped a hand to his forehead, then rubbed over his eyes and down his mouth in frustration. He rested his elbow on his knee and gave a helpless shrug and shake of his head. They both looked defeated, and I couldn’t understand why. Then it clicked. They thought they’d figured out what was wrong with my magic, an explanation to this detached state of mind I was in right now, but something about what I said didn’t support the theory they’d just decided to test.

  Rabryn looked back at me. “Sorry about that, sis. Would you just heal Ibalissa already?”

  I felt my face smile and I looked at Ibalissa. She screamed and tried to back away, but Rabryn held her firmly. She stubbornly dropped her bottom to the ground so Rabryn couldn’t pull her toward me. She tried to scoot away by those means, but Rabryn held fast to her arm. Ibalissa continued to scream and flailed about frantically to get free of my brothers grip and away from me. Rabryn soon lost his grip on her arm, and she scrambled to her feet and ran toward Ortheldo…toward Ortheldo!

  “Stop!” my voice boomed powerfully. The sound of my voice more than my words stopped her, no doubt. She slowly looked back at me over her shoulder with wide eyes. I strode toward her, and she dropped to her bottom and began screaming again. She desperately began to crawl away backward, keeping her terrified eyes on me, but a wall of white fire suddenly sprang up from behind her and she bumped into it at if it were a solid surface. It stopped her retreat, and she only screamed louder in short repetitive bursts, which sounded annoying.

  I closed the distance between us and squatted down in front of her, resting my elbows on my knees. Still screaming in that annoying manner, she covered her head with her arms as if I might strike her. A little sympathy washed through me as I saw the ugly wound on her head. I sighed through my nose, then brushed my fingertips along the back of her hands. Her screams stopped immediately, though she was still breathing heavily. She slowly brought her face out from behind her arms and looked at me, stunned by the fact that she had calmed down against her will.

  My face gave her a soft smile. “I’m not going to hurt you, child.” I slowly raised my hand, making her flinch and cower. My smile warmed. “It’s okay,” I reassured her as I slowly rested it against her wound. She squeezed her eyes shut as if waiting for a fatal blow and made frightened squeaking noises in her throat. I rolled my eyes, though I know they didn’t really roll. White fire enveloped my hand again and she sucked in a gasp, and sighed heavily, as if a great calm had come over her.

  When I lifted my hand, she opened her eyes and looked a bit dazed— peacefully dazed, but seeming not to be in the present time for a moment. “That was wonderful,” she whispered. She started to come to her senses. “Who are you?”

  My smile widened. “If you have Goodness in your heart, I’m your best friend.” My head turned back to look at the three dead bodies on the grass before I looked back at Ibalissa. “If you have Evil in your heart, I’m your worst nightmare.”

  Rabryn kneeled at my side, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  I looked at him with a smile, then stood up. “I’m fine.” My eyes fell on Ortheldo. “Thank you for your warning.”

  He flinched a little. “Warning?”

  “I read the warning of the ambush in your eyes before I stepped out into the clearing. Thank you for that.”

  “Oh. You’re welcome,” he said a bit awkwardly.

  As he walked toward me I realized that I was still in this horrible detached state of mind. I suddenly became frightened. Why hadn’t I snapped out of it by now? Would I come out of it at all? I had to! The battle was over, so why was I still…like this?

  “I didn’t want anything to happen to you,” Ortheldo said with caution. I could tell he wanted to say something else.

  My face smiled and my hands went on my hips. “What is it you wish to ask, my friend?”

  He smiled, still looking a little awkward. “Curse you and your ability to read eyes so well.” My smile widened. “I actually have a lot of questions.”

  “I can only hear one at a time.”

  His smile widened but quickly melted away as he grew serious. “Rabryn and I both know that Az…uh, your magic…um, well, we think something is wrong with it. My first question is, are you still in danger of it? Is your life still threatened?”

  Still?! What?! My life wasn’t in danger because my magic was going haywire! What was he talking about? It was my magic!

  This had gone on long enough! I wanted control of my words and my movements! Ortheldo and Rabryn were scaring me with the strange way they were talking to me, as if they didn’t know me! It was still me, despite the awkward situation—which could be explained with enough thought. I needed control of myself! I wanted it! I demanded it!

  Unexpectedly, I found myself coming back into control, back into myself, and I only willed it more!

  “Yes,” my voice managed to say. “My life is still in danger. So is Casdanarus.”

  I snapped back into myself and collapsed to my knees, rudely finding out I had no strength to hold myself up. Then the pain came! My head felt like it had just exploded. I screamed at the top of my lungs and clutched it, hoping to somehow ease this horrid pain; pain I never thought could exist! I grasped my head harder, feeling that if I didn’t, it would break into a million tiny pieces. Throbbing, burning pain, and my screams couldn’t even ease it.

  Ortheldo and Rabryn were quickly on their knees at my side. Ortheldo gathered me in his arms with my head against his chest, and Rabryn wrapped his arms around my stomach from behind and pressed his forehead into my back. I had to squeeze my eyes shut and scream again! Pain! Burn! Darkness! I was panting to try and catch my breath before I screamed again in pain! I gathered the back of Ortheldo’s shirt in my fist while my other hand reached back and clutched Rabryn’s should
er. The pain didn’t go away. I screamed through clenched teeth. I wished with all my heart I would pass out!

  A sudden coldness was pressed to my forehead. I forced my eyes open and saw that Ibalissa had ripped off a piece of her dress, soaked it in the creek, and was pressing it to my burning forehead. I closed my eyes again and screamed through clenched teeth one more time.

  “Lie down, Azrel,” Ortheldo said, and with his help I managed to lie on the grass. My head throbbed so badly. Suddenly, my conscious started slipping and darkness toyed with my vision. Rabryn placed my head on his lap just as I passed out.

  I came to awareness sometime later. The pain was gone but I felt tired. Slowly my eyes opened to see the graying sky. Gray? How long had I been out?

  A cup was suddenly put in front of me before I could try to sit up. I shifted my eyes to the person holding it— Ibalissa. “Go on, take a drink.” she said softly then she gave a barely there smile, “I promise it’s not poisoned.”

  I would have laughed out loud had I the strength or voice. I think I managed a little smile. She placed the cup against my lips and I drank all its contents. “Thank you,” I said in a raspy voice and rested my head on the ground again. I looked around. We were still in the grassy clearing, but Ortheldo and Rabryn were nowhere to be found. “Where are the boys?”