Marked

by Jasmine Derriman

  “Well, I’m here now…and I can protect myself,” I told him, trying to let myself calm down.

  “You are here, and you can protect yourself, I believe that…but can you protect all of them?”

  I wasn’t angry anymore, well I was, but it wasn’t controlling me anymore. Odon was making me realise that it wasn’t just Isaac in this room that needed to be protected. My eyes first jumped to Rhys. Rhys was so innocent in all of this, and they would kill him first to hurt me. Eve and Seth had been nothing but good to me, never looked at me like some source of power, they treated me the way I wanted to. Hadley treated me like I wanted to be treated, like someone learning who I was, and she helped me more than I ever thought she would, and Felix was nothing but nice to me, and I really trusted him, I trusted all of them, I needed to protect all of them. I needed to do something.

  “What do you want?”

  Odon turned on the balls of his feet so he was directly facing me. He stood directly on the other side of Isaac so he was the only thing in between us. Isaac was still rolling on the floor a little, in complete pain and I just wanted to help him, or at least get Felix to, but I couldn’t. The more Odon smiles, the more I noticed the age lines under his eyes. He couldn’t be that old, but maybe all these years of plotting and planning have aged him.

  “You know what I want, Lily, I’ve made that quite clear,” Odon stated. “I want the dagger, and I need you for that too.”

  “You want more marks,” I nodded.

  “No, I need more marks,” he told me strongly. “I can’t expect the demons to continue to follow me with only a strength mark, and the humans definitely won’t follow me then. These demons only bow down to my mercy because I’ve promised them safety in the future I’m going to create.”

  I shook my head slightly, only at his madness. “You will let everyone go if I hand myself to you? You will let them all leave safely and leave them alone?”

  “Of course I will,” Odon nodded calmly. “If you have the dagger.”

  “I do.”

  “No.”

  The voice was so faint I was surprised I heard it, but I realised Odon heard it too. I turned slightly to see that it was Eve who had spoken. She had this completely concerned and terrified look on her face and for a moment I was confused. She knew the real dagger wasn’t on my belt right now, so why would she be scared? Unless, that was part of her act. She wanted Odon to believe that I really had the real dagger. She wanted me to do something.

  “Well, let’s see it then.”

  I pulled myself out of Felix’s grip and I thought he might’ve been in in shock or something because I broke away from him so easily, I was surprise. My eyes caught his and he was just staring at me, so wide-eyed it scared me. I nodded at him though, just a little as I tried to reassure him that I wasn’t doing something so unbelievable stupid, but I wasn’t sure he got it.

  I started to walk forward and I made sure I walked near to Isaac, maybe to just get a look at him, see that he was still at least conscience. I knew he was though when I felt his hand suddenly grip to my ankle as I walked by him. I turned to him immediately and tried to pull my ankle away. His eyes looked like they were struggling to stay open and he looked…so scared…it made me want to cry. I breathed in though as I found it easy to pull my ankle from his grip.

  “Trust me.” I only mouthed it at him, I didn’t speak it out loud, and I didn’t need Odon to hear.

  Isaac just looked at me for a moment, still curled up on the floor, so helpless. His hand suddenly flopped back to the floor and that was when I knew he was going to trust that I had an idea, another way out of this. Whilst right in that moment, I didn’t have an exact plan, I knew I had to think of something.

  “Well, where is it?”

  I stood in front of Odon then and I was looking at him rather than Isaac. I felt myself grit my teeth together, and my heart quickened. I let my hand go to my belt and I slowly pulled the fake dagger from my belt and held it towards his face. Odon tilted his head and his brows pressed together and confusion crossed his face.

  “That is a simple fighter dagger,” Odon stated, obviously quite confused by what I had in my hand.

  “Exactly,” I nodded. “It’s perfect when you think about it. It’s been here all along, in the protection of the council, so it was never lost exactly, just hidden in a place where it would always be safe. I could sense it though…that it’s not just a normal dagger.”

  I wasn’t sure if Odon believed me, and I wasn’t sure if I was good enough liar to convince him. When I saw a smile come across Odon’s face though, I wanted to smile too, but I couldn’t.

  “Of course! Its genius,” Odon stated.

  Only he would think something like that was genius.

  “And have you used it yet?” he asked me, straightening his head.

  “No, not yet,” I had to keep this lying going, he couldn’t know about Isaac’s mark either, “but I know I can…I know I’m supposed to use it.”

  “And why would that be?” Odon was still smiling.

  “Because of this,” I said, holding out my right forearm for him to look at my shield mark, “but you already knew I had a second mark, didn’t you? One of your little demon friends told you.”

  “You are a smart girl, Lily,” Odon nodded. “Yes, I was told about your second mark from your little rescue mission from the hospital, but that’s all they could tell me, most were dead, from you, I believe.”

  I didn’t speak instead I just nodded a little as I curled my fingers around the fake dagger. I could feel the real one; I could feel it burning a hole in Rhys’ belt. I felt it the more I lied about the fake one, the real one called to me and I tried desperately to ignore it.

  “Well, how about we give the dagger a try?” Odon suggested suddenly. “I would love to have two marks like you, Lily. I was thinking something in the elements department; I hear your fire mark is quite impressive. How about you give me one of them.”

  I looked at Odon who pulled up the sleeve on his long white buttoned shirt and exposed the flesh of his left forearm. In that moment I felt myself smile. I knew what to do.

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  No one expected me to do what I did next. I knew it from the gasps and the sudden scuffle I heard immediately after I made my move. I moved the fake dagger towards Odon’s skin and for a moment I just let the point of the dagger hover over his foreman. I took a deep breath in as I looked slightly at Odon, and all I wanted to do was wipe the smile of his face. With one quick motion I moved the dagger high in the air and with all my strength I directly plunged the dagger into Odon’s arm.

  It went straight into his arm and then straight through, and I can’t hear anything over the sound of Odon’s screams of pain. I was sure it had gone all the way through his arm, but it was hard to tell from the outpour of blood that was now dripping down Odon’s arm. I let my hand come away from the dagger immediately and jumped back as quickly as I could, but I would soon find that matter how far I jumped back, it would never be enough.

  Even with my reaction to move away from Odon, I didn’t think I could have gotten away fast enough no matter what I did. I had angered this man beyond belief, I knew that from the moment I decided to stab him, but I wasn’t going to give him what he wanted, and we were still going to get out of here all alive.

  I didn’t see it, I could only feel it. Odon unleashed his hand towards me, and I realised he managed to hit me with the back of his hand, striking me directly on the left side of my face. It was a force I didn’t expect, it was so strong. I could feel it vibrate through my whole body. I fell directly to the floor and the whole impact was so much shock I could barely feel the pain…at first.

  It took a moment but as I tried to think about dragging myself back off the floor to see the chaos that I knew I must’ve created, all I could suddenly feel was my head pounding intensely. It was making me see black dots in front of my eyes. I managed to turn my head from the floor and I realise
d I was near Odon’s feet. He wasn’t looking at me though; he was too busy trying to get the dagger out of his arm.

  Behind him though I could see the scuffle starting. The demons and the other Insigne had sprung forward and as my hearing started to regain its beat, I could hear fighting. The others must’ve started to fight the moment I stabbed Odon, and I was glad they did. I could still see black dots in front of my eyes but I could also feel myself recovering. An Insigne perk was that my body tended to recover quicker than most.

  I was able to use my arms and I put them both side of me and pushed myself up from the ground and on to my knees. My eyes immediately turned back towards Odon who suddenly noticed my quick recover. His eyes narrowed as he stared me down and I realised I was still not on my feet, but I also realised that the dagger was still wedged into his arm. That wasn’t coming out of his arm anytime soon, but I knew how much I had angered him.

  Almost on cue Odon’s foot suddenly swung towards me but something inside me found the ability to stop hm. I brought up both my arms and caught his leg and pushed it back immediately. It threw off his balance and for the moment and I took his momentary lapse to jump to my feet. I could feel something swirling around inside me. Something that was ready to fit, something that was ready to protect everyone, not matter how hurt I was right now.

  I swung my fist at Odon, mainly aiming for the dagger still sticking out of his arm. I knew that was now his weakest point and I had to target something that would give myself an advantage and keep him weak. He tried to use his arm to stop me but instead I saw his face flinch and his whole buckle slightly from pain. For a moment he was just in pain, but that emotion was quickly erased by the anger of knowing I was the reason he was in pain. He used his good arm to try and punch me, but I was fast enough to push it back like it was nothing.

  I had this whole new anger, this whole new strength that I could feel flowing through me like nothing I had ever felt. I thought it was my marks, I thought it was just my nature controlling me, but it felt like more than that and I couldn’t explain it. I could feel the dagger still in the room and in the back of mind I knew Rhys was still here, probably watching me. I needed to get everyone out of here and end this.

  My moment of thought gave Odon enough time to hit me, and he did directly on the top of my head. I stumbled a little and Odon and I changed positions slightly, so now I faced all my friends and he faced all of his. I looked at him quickly, very quickly, but when I did saw anger, one deeper than mine, and deeper than the story he just told.

  Odon struck at me again and I ducked away from it and felt myself take a step back as he stepped towards me again. I realised now, I didn’t know what else to do but to fight Odon. I could fight, and that much I knew, but how did this end? How did I get everyone out of here? I couldn’t…kill him. Morally I didn’t have it in me; well at least I didn’t think I did anyway. It didn’t change the fact that in my mind there wasn’t going to be the outcome.

  Before I could even think of a real way out of it, Odon hit me in straight in the face, and whilst he was weak, his mark was still working, and when I fell to the floor again, I knew that I was right. I didn’t have a second to recover though. Before I could even get the chance to see straight I felt his hand grip around both my arms and forced me back to my feet. I was not on my feet long though and with one loud grunt from me I felt myself get slammed directly into a wall.

  “You think you can get out of this?” Odon asked me, as he leant forward towards my face, speaking so strongly that he spat slightly into my face. “You think you can defeat me?”

  I struggled against his grip desperately trying to get away. “I…I know I can.”

  I was able to move my leg into a better position and I kicked him towards his abdomen. The impact of my foot forced him to let go of me, and I managed to hold my position against the wall, but realised I was also near a window, one of the dull white windows. Odon recovered quicker than I expected and I was ready to block whatever attack he threw at me but when I didn’t see a fist I ducked immediately.

  I didn’t even notice that he had gotten the dagger out of his arm, but I didn’t know how I missed the pool of blood forming towards his feet. He threw the dagger at me though, and if I hadn’t of ducked it would’ve most likely struck me in the head. The dagger made contact with something and I was surprised at the impact it had.

  The sound of the glass window breaking behind my head echoed around the room and everyone must have paused for a moment. I was the closest to the window and I was the first one to actually see what was outside the council. The glossy white windows had hid the truth of this location from anyone inside, but as I looked outside now, with sun rays breaking through the window, I wondered if the window was also there to protect something more than just its location, especially if someone was afraid of heights.

  I couldn’t tell where the ground was from just looking out the window, all I could see was at the shrubby towards the bottom that hid the ground beneath it, and other than the blue sky and the faint view of a town in the distance I couldn’t notice anything else and I definitely didn’t have time to notice anything else.

  I felt Odon’s arms grab onto me again and he pushed me back towards the window. He used his foot to kick more of the window in, near my feet, and with the glass broken from the fake dagger he had created enough of a hole for me to fall through. I could feel the wind on my back, blowing my hair forward. I felt myself look down again, but I wasn’t scared. Odon wasn’t going to kill me, he needed me, he wasn’t going to kill me.

  “Lily!”

  “Don’t you dare take another step forward,” Odon warned suddenly.

  I snapped my head towards the voice and I was surprised to see it was Isaac. He was back on his feet although I wished he wasn’t. He was weak, I could see it, and I could tell from the way the that Hadley stood closely to him with her telum at the ready.

  “You can’t kill me,” I told him. “You need me. You still don’t have the dagger.”

  “I’m not stupid, I know it’s here,” Odon said aggressively. “One of your little friends must have it for you. Besides you think falling down will kill us? I will take you with me, and I’ll hold you to your friends decide to give me the dagger. So unless one of you have the dagger, don’t walk near us, or I take her.”

  Now I was scared. I could feel my heart rate increasing at an alarming rate. I was already sweating but my palms automatically felt worse than any other part of my body, and I felt this lump in my throat and a sickness in my stomach. I didn’t know what to do, but he couldn’t have the dagger, I wouldn’t let him have it. I had to think.

  “Who has it? Which one of you is it?” Odon asked, gripping tighter to his am so much so that his blood was dripping down onto me.

  I didn’t mean to, well at least I didn’t think I meant too. I felt my eyes wander towards the pull of the dagger without even realising it, and before I knew it I was looking directly at Rhys and he was looking directly at me.

  It took Odon a second to realise that I was holding my stare to Rhys and it took me a moment to realise it to.

  “Ah, of course, the mortal one,” Odon muttered and he looked at Rhys. “You make it too easy.”

  Odon turned his head towards one of his Insigne fighters whom stood close to both Isaac and Hadley as he was ready to fight them too. He gave the man a small nod towards Rhys and as he started to walk towards him I realised I had to do something…and Odon wasn’t looking at me anymore…I had to do something now.

  “NO!”

  I was already forcing him off as I screamed, but the moment I did, I felt the tension in his arms and he tried to hold me still, but it was too late for him. I pulled his arms off me and my plan was to kick him back, get myself away from the window but Odon didn’t exactly let that happen. I didn’t think he meant for what happened to next to actually happen. I think he meant to grab me again, hold me in place, but it all went terribly wrong.

  I felt my foot s
lip near the ledge and instead of grabbing me, Odon pushed me back. I knew I couldn’t hold on, I knew the moment I felt my foot touch nothing. I grabbed onto Odon though, my instincts told me to frantically grab onto something, stop myself from falling, so I grabbed him, but even as I did, that was too late.

  I screamed as I felt myself fall, but I let go of Odon in the process. I could feel his body next to mine though falling too. I reached desperately for something but my eyes were closed I didn’t know what I was going to grab onto. I thought I was falling. I thought I was going to die. I felt panic, I felt fear, I felt scared…I felt too much.

  Suddenly, though I realised I wasn’t falling. That feeling caught me quicker than I expected. I opened my eyes slowly and found I was face to face with a wall. I felt relief immediately, but it didn’t last long. I realised my hands hurt, my fingers hurt too and as I tilted my head up I realised I was barely holding on. I had managed to catch myself on the ledge of the window.

  “Lily!”

  I looked up to the window and I realised Isaac was leaning over the edge, and for a moment he looked terrified, but then he saw me and that look disappeared, but then it came back slowly only moments after. His hands immediately grabbed onto my wrists and he started to pull me up from the ledge.