by Kira Stüssy
She looked at Bram, “We have to tell him.”
“Are you sure, Rain? It’s not quite time yet.”
“I’m sure. He deserves to know.” She returned her gaze to her son, her face soft and sympathetic. Caspian had always appreciated his mother’s unfailing kindness and her servant spirit. The face that looked upon him now embodied all the fantastic qualities he had ever loved about his mother. His anger subsided and he sat back calmly, showing that he was ready to hear whatever she had to say.
“Where are they taking Mira?”
She breathed deeply before responding; her voice so quiet that he thought he might have misheard her, “They are bringing her home.”
“I thought you said…?”
She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, “No, her true home. They are taking her to Nostos.”
“To...where?”
“It’s a place I have failed to tell you about until now,” she grasped his hand and squeezed reassuringly, but it did nothing to calm the nervous pit in his stomach, “and we will be meeting her there.”
*
“You know I can walk on my own, right?”
“You’re quite sassy, has anyone ever told you that?”
I ripped my hand out of Ash’s grip as we stepped out of the room, “You just did.”
He offered me a crooked smile before shrugging and turning back around. The hall outside the prison cell that had contained me looked just like one you might find in any typical house. A bathroom a little ways up and to the left and the hall ended in what looked like the master bedroom. Ash held a finger to his lips, urging me to keep silent as we tip-toed towards the stairs. I glanced to my right and had to stifle a gasp. Two guards slumped against the wall, unconscious with scarlet wounds peeking through large tears on the legs of their pants. My eyes flickered to Ash and then back to Erion, knowing that they were the ones responsible. I glanced down at the wooden knives they held and swore I could make out a black stain of dried blood
They are helping you escape. They are the good guys.
But seeing the guards sent a shiver down my spine. Checking the hallway, I noticed that the doors had been shut, refusing to reveal their secrets. The boys stomped ahead, peeking into every room we passed to make sure no guards were hiding out. We passed a room where the door had been left slightly ajar. The boys glanced inside quickly before moving on, but my curiosity had been peaked. Why was this one left open while the rest closed? As I walked past it, I made an extra effort to peer inside. The room’s walls sported a calm, creamy yellow. Toys had been neatly stacked onto a shelf against the far wall and two baby cribs seated themselves on either side of the room, one pink and the other light blue. Two large letters had been placed as decoration upon the wall above each crib; M above the pink and C above the blue. I blinked rapidly, thinking the image would wipe from existence. But every time my eyes reopened, the room remained.
I picked up the pace to match Ash’s brisk stride, choosing to desperately try and ignore the coincidence. There were plenty of explanations, and there was always an answer that made sense. Always. When we reached the stairs, Ash carefully placed the toe of his shoes down slowly and without a sound. I did my best to imitate his actions but failed miserably, causing the stairs to creak and moan with every shift of my weight. A stream of unprintable profanities streamed through my mind in irritation.
Somehow we made it to the bottom without any trouble. The first floor seeped in nightfall, the only illumination being the silvery light of the moon. From what I could make out of the house, it was decorated with old style furnishing. Lace and frills wherever room could be found and a number of ceramic statues. The carpet plush and the air smelled of musty flowers and mildew. Ash remained in the lead, the moonlight casting on him in a way that looked like someone had extracted all the color from his features. His graceful movements reminded me of a cat slinking to catch its prey. Our small posse turned a sharp corner and the front door revealed itself to us, a beautiful sight indeed. We edged towards it, never letting up our guard. Every minuscule noise, every tiny flutter made me want to jump up and run out as fast as I could. Only my pride and the fact that two seemingly crazy teenage boys with corny costumes surrounded me kept my behavior in check. Ash crept to the door, gently turned the knob, and let it swing open. He made no sound. He stuck his head out for a brief moment, scanning the perimeter before ushering us out. I scurried out the door and into the driveway with Ash and Erion close behind.
I released my breath, having held it for the majority of our escape. I spun to examine the house that held me captive moments before. Before me, a quaint farmhouse painted white with chipped blue trim. The sort of house you would see in a pretty painting of a rural farm. A dense forest encompassed it, providing plenty of privacy and shelter. Something tugged at the corners of my memory, but being unable to identify the nostalgia, I abruptly turned away from the farmhouse and back to my rescuers.
If you could truly call them that.
“That was too easy.” Erion murmured, analyzing the house as if to dissect it’s every riddle.
But Ash waved off the notion, “Don’t fight it. When life gives you lemons, right?”
“Do you even know the meaning of that phrase?”
Ash mean waved the comment away and started towards the woods.
The two boys walked ahead of me, their concern for my safety now, apparently, subsided. Ash, who wore a pair of slim fit black jeans, pulled a chocolate granola bar out of his back pocket and started to peel open the wrapper. That is, until Erion tried to snatch the snack out of his grasp with an angry remark, “Hey! That’s mine. You already ate yours.”
Ash nimbly evaded Erion’s reach and chomped down on the bar, ripping off a huge bite and only leaving a small portion. His mouth full and still chewing, he snidely offered Erion the last little bit, a giant grin plastered on his face. Erion pushed his hand away with a look of disgust and rolled his eyes. “Grow up.”
When Ash finally swallowed, he smiled tauntingly at his friend, “Maybe you should start packing your own snacks.”
“Maybe you should stop being a pig.”
“Oink.”
I couldn’t help but snicker at the two of them, which earned me a raise of the eyebrows from Ash. I shrugged and looked ahead, “So, where are you two heroes taking me?”
Erion, having forgotten about his granola bar failure, widened his eyes and looked to Ash with an expression of faux wonder, “Heroes? Did you hear that? She called us heroes!”
Ash thrust his fist up in the air, “Hoorah! The fair maiden has deemed us worthy of her affections. ‘Tis the pinnacle of our career.”
I blinked, “Uh, what?”
“Sorry, we tend to get a bit carried away,” Ash lowered his arm and chuckled softly, “and to answer your question, we are taking you to the Courts.”
“And where is that?”
Erion sighed in annoyance, “You sure have a lot of questions, don’t you?”
But Ash tilted his head curiously. His eyebrows scrunched and he peered at me, his eyes straining to look into my mind. After a moment he spoke, “Nostos, of course.”
“Nostos?” The word itself felt heavy in my mouth, a short and almost guttural term that somehow sounded beautiful and unearthly. When I spoke the word, a warm feeling rushed through me, like the sun had come out and decided to shine its lovely warmth only on me. But as soon as the sensation washed over me, it ran away.
He nodded slowly, gaze quickly going to Erion and then back to me. His dark eyes seemed to pierce my very soul, “You don’t know what Nostos is, do you?”
“Of course she does.” Erion sputtered, but Ash’s expression remained questioning.
Ash’s sharp eyes bore into me with such intensity that it took my breath away. Somehow, I found the ability to speak, “Should I know?”
They both nodded.
“They wouldn’t send us to retrieve a human, would they?” Erion asked Ash in a hushed tone as
if I couldn’t hear him. Ash shook his head impatiently, as if Erion’s comment was absurd and a nuisance.
“Human?” I laughed, “What else would I be?” They did not laugh. My stomach dropped. They were crazy, they had to be. But one quick glance at the wings that hovered above their shoulders informed me that perhaps I was the one going nuts; because the longer I stared at them, the more real they became.
Ash’s eyes never left me, “You think that you are human?”
I nodded my head, “Duh.” My tone dripped in sarcasm, but my confidence slowly drained from me.
He inclined his head, clearly surprised, “I see,” he looked to his companion briefly who simply shrugged and jut his head forward as if to say, Go ahead. Ash sighed and our group came to a stop in the middle of a small clearing. I had hardly realized how deep we had ventured into the forest. The farmhouse could no longer be seen, only the tall spires of trees and the wildlife that flourished among them. In the distance, I could hear the love song of two birds chirping their affections to one another. A soft drizzle of rain pattered on the canopy of the forest, with only a couple stray drops finding their way to the floor. I felt the cold sting of freezing rain as it landed on the bare skin of my arm. I watched absently as the water soaked into my pores, barely leaving a trace.
Ash motioned for me to sit. I chose a decent sized boulder and wiggled a bit in an attempt to find comfort. Realizing this was a lost cause, I gave up and gazed up at Ash. He remained standing as he began to speak, “So, to be clear, you have no clue as to what Nostos is nor do you know about anyone who lives there.” It was a statement not a question.
I shook my head slowly, stress clutching at my heart, “No.”
“I’m going to scout the area. I’ll make sure we weren’t followed.” Erion proclaimed suddenly and without another word he disappeared into the trees.
“I have never heard of this before.” Ash murmured, his eyes glazed and lost in thought.
I squirmed, “Heard of what?”
He gave a small smile but his eyes remained unseeing, “This is so odd. I have never met an Elemental who is ignorant to their heritage, who grew up thinking they were human.”
A flicker of confusion surged through me unexpectedly, revealing itself as anger, “Why do you keep saying that?” I snapped. “I am human. And what are you talking about? Elemental?”
He remained serious but I caught that strange fire flicker in his dark gaze, “No, you’re not.” As if sensing my bafflement, he hurried on, probably so I could not interrupt him, “You are an Elemental. Are you sixteen?”
I nodded numbly, not processing or understanding the new information he had just given me, “Today is my birthday.”
“No kidding.” He whispered, something like realization dawning on his face. “Do you know what time you were born?”
It seemed like an odd question, but then again, everything that had happened in the last few hours had been odd, “Yeah,” I racked my brain, searching for the number, “I think 11:52pm…yeah I’m sure of it, because Caspian was born at 11:45 and he never lets me forget that he’s seven minutes older.” I grinned at the thought of the lifelong rivalry with my brother about who was superior and why. But thinking about Caspian made my heart ache, and I desperately hoped he was alright, Bram too.
“Wait, you have a twin?” I nodded. “Oh, wow. Okay, so you only have about an hour and a half until you receive your Knowledge.” Ash mused. He scanned me up and down and I felt the urge to put a paper bag over my head. I’m generally a pretty confident person, never before have I felt so insecure and nervous when someone looked at me. But as Ash’s scrutinizing eyes raked over me in a most objective way, I could not help but want to hide. I was suddenly achingly aware of how ratty my hair was and how my torn up clothes draped over me unattractively. I knew that over the course of the night, I had become dirty and disheveled. Since when do I care this much?
“What?” I said finally, wishing he would stop looking at me.
“It’s just that I can’t identify what your Knowledge will be.” he muttered and he looked away. I was able to breathe again and I swiftly combed my grubby fingers through my long tangles in a desperate attempt to tame them. “Normally you can tell by the eyes or sometimes there is a tint to the hair. But I have never seen anyone like you.” I felt my cheeks burn red, a rare occurrence for me.
“Knowledge?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know.
“It’s like…” He seemed to be searching for the right term, “your magical talent, I suppose.”
“Magical talent?” I snorted. I waited for him to laugh with me and admit to his jest, but he remained silent and serious. My chuckles faded into the empty night air, lost whispers in the wind. I felt my heart beating unevenly in my chest. “You’re crazy.”
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, “Most likely. I guess you’ll see soon enough.”
*
Caspian stared back at his mother and Bram, waiting for further explanation. But to his extreme annoyance, they remained resolute in their decision to refrain from giving him all the information until their arrival in this foreign land they called Nostos. It took all of Caspian’s restraint of temper to keep from screaming in frustration.
Time ticked steadily on and he still had no idea what was going on or where Wiley had taken Mira. According to Bram, the Legion would have no trouble finding and retrieving her; but this fact did little to ease the tension that slowly built in the pit of Caspian’s gut over the course of the evening. Danny had already tried to call and ask about the sudden conclusion of the party and it was more than difficult for Caspian to convince his best friend that everything was alright when, in fact, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. His phone alerted him for the fifth time that he had missed a call from Danny. Caspian sighed and tossed his phone to the side. Caspian had never flat out lied. Ever. Sure, the occasional white lie to make someone happy, but never anything that withheld important truth. When he explained to Danny over text not to worry, that Bram just thought it was getting late and that’s why the party had been shut down, the words tasted like desert sand in Caspian’s mouth and forcing his fingers to type out the words caused physical soreness. But it had to be done, because the truth was insanity, and he hardly even understood the truth at all. Danny would never buy the lame excuse given to him, but it would just have to make due for now.
The only further information his parents had managed to leak to him was that a small group from the Legion had been notified to retrieve the three of them from their house at exactly eleven o’clock, that something drastic would occur at 11:45pm tonight, and that his heritage made him something called an Elemental. They failed to explain what the heck that meant. They told him he would find out soon enough.
Well soon enough isn’t soon enough, he thought.
A quick glance at the old kitchen clock alerted him of the time: 10:59pm. Any minute, now the Legion would be arriving to take them to Nostos, an unknown place that held a certain unexplainable fascination for Caspian. The thought of traveling with this mysterious task force sent nervous shivers down his back. He ran his fingers through his hair; it had gotten unruly and long; he made himself a mental promise to trim it when possible. As a distraction, he pictured himself with a Tarzan haircut, wondering if he could pull it off.
The minute hand closed the final distance and the bell began to chime eleven times.
A knock rapped at the door.
Rain Daily stood briskly to her feet, her face a mask of worry as she absently brushed herself off and strode to the front door. Bram pushed off from the wall where he had been leaning and went to join his wife, motioning for Caspian to follow. After a brief hesitation, he did.
Caspian turned the sharp corner that led into the foyer and saw the doorway crowded with three stern yet beautiful faces. Two of the visitors were guys with set expressions, both with brown eyes. But the third person really caught Caspian’s attention. Standing between the two boys, the
most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her silky, chocolate hair pulled into a loose ponytail and he swore he could see green streaks running through it here and there. Her emerald eyes shone in the silvery moonlight. Her face set in a fierce expression, but something in the soft curve of her eyes and the way she tilted her chin upwards to appear taller that allowed Caspian to believe more might be hidden in this girl than just being a soldier…or whatever her title was. All three of them wore black tank tops with sturdy looking pants colored forest green. But the most shocking characteristic of their appearance were the wings that loomed above each of their shoulders. Each of the men had a pair of brown feathered wings that reminded Caspian of eagles. The girl, on the other hand, wore a more delicate pair, more like an emerald butterfly. Caspian blinked in shock, sure he imagined them. He felt his jaw drop to form an “o” and he hurried to shut it.
“This is the residence of Bram Gale and Rain Durrant, am I correct?” the girl said in an accented voice. Caspian couldn’t tell what accent she had but it sounded as if she spoke in cursive, a lovely lilting of the voice. It barely registered to him that the girl had given the wrong last name for his mother. He prepared to tell her that their last name was actually “Daily” but his mother answered before he could get a single word out.
“Yes.” His mother responded.
“Come,” the green-eyed girl nodded out towards the front lawn, “the Courts are expecting you.”
*
When Erion reentered the clearing with a small pile of dry firewood in arm, Ash bounced to his feet, but not before grabbing my hand to pull me up with him. I stumbled awkwardly with the exertion before regaining my balance.
“Well, you took your dear sweet time! C’mon, chap,” Ash released his hold on me and trotted forward without glancing back to see if he was being followed, “time is of the essence.”
“But I just gathered all this tinder!” Erion exclaimed, throwing his stack up into the air with frustration. The pieces fell around him like splintery rain. His light blue eyes narrowed with the type of exasperation that only a close companion can cause someone.