by Quinn Loftis
Cassie had never seen such elegant beauty. The room looked as if it had been carved from ice. It shimmered as pillars rose high to the tall cathedral ceiling. Sitting all around, sculptures of animals and people, also looking as if carved from ice, stood proud watching over the great hall. Large, long windows lined the walls, allowing light to pour into the room creating a wonderland of crystals and rainbows. It was breathtaking.
Syndra motioned for them to follow her and Tamsin. They walked through the great hall and out of a large pair of silver double doors containing a beautiful crest carved into them. The crest was of a large tree surrounded by all manner of creatures, both foreign and familiar to Cassie.
They continued on down a long hall as light shined in through windows along the hall and lit their way. Finally Tamsin turned right into another room. As Cassie and Elora made their way in, they saw what they might call a den, or family room.
Large couches formed a circle around a table that held drinks and food. Shelves full of books and odd looking knickknacks lined the walls. The room was painted a light periwinkle blue and candle light white.
“Please have a seat,” Tamsin instructed.
Both girls took a seat on a large white couch and sunk into the softness. Cassie gasped as once again pain tore through her chest.
“Cass, what’s wrong?” Elora asked.
“She is feeling the pain of the separation from Trik,” Syndra explained.
“She’s going to go through what happened in her room?” Elora referred to the first time Trik had left Cassie and she had watched her friend writhe in pain on the floor.
“The pain will come and go because a part of Cassie truly does want to be away from him, but then her soul longs for him.”
Syndra whispered something to Tamsin and then left the room quickly.
Elora looked up at Tamsin waiting for an explanation.
“She is going to deal with Cassie’s parents.”
“Deal with them how?” Elora’s eyes narrowed.”
“Calm yourself, human. She isn’t going to kill them. She will simply suggest to them that Cassie is going to be staying with you for a while because you are going through a difficult time. Lisa will be informed so that she can corroberate the story if they call her.”
“At some point they are going to want to see her,” Elora pointed out.
“Once we have sufficient protection on her she can periodically go back to her realm.”
Cassie took slow deep breaths and then sat up, unfolding herself from the fetal position the pain had caused.
“Am I to stay here for the rest of my life?” She asked Tamsin.
Tamsin sat on the couch across from them and looked at her. His eyes softened as he saw the fear and worry that marred her young face.
“You will never be safe again in your world. I am sorry for that. You were supposed to be bound to Trik and he would protect you and you would…”
“Live happily ever after?” Cassie interrupted. Her words dripped with sarcasm. “I don’t believe in happily ever after, not anymore.”
“I understand your anger Cassie, but I think you need to learn some things about Trik before you judge him too harshly.”
“What things could lessen my anger? What could you possibly tell me that would shed light on why he lied to me?”
“Things that even I had forgotten. I am going to tell you about Triktapic, who he was, who he is, and who he is meant to be.”
“Queue the end is coming music,” Elora said dryly.
“You might want to get comfortable,” he told them. “This could take a while.”
Cha pter 13
“Love isn’t supposed to be easy, I know that. Nothing worth having is ever easy. But it is supposed to be honest; it is supposed to be true and unconditional. Love is messy and painful and joyous and not without sacrifice. Love is supposed to conquer all. Is it enough if the love only comes from one side? Is the love of one person enough to conquer the hurt of two?” ~Cassie Tate
Trik stood at the door to the lab. It was taking everything in him not to go after Cassie. He could find her. He would always be able to find her as long as her soul was in her body. Something told him the time wasn’t right. He didn’t know what it was but there was a feeling deep inside him that was directing him to a path he never intended to follow.
He pushed the door open and walked into what looked like a scene from a movie. Tables lined the walls and beakers and tubes and bubbling liquid topped them. A sweet aroma filled the air as smoke wafted from a large suspended basin where a red liquid was being continually stirred. From the bottom of the basin a tube protruded and periodically one of the elves would turn the dial on it and the red liquid would pour into the vial they held.
The production of Rapture had begun. The next step would be the trials. Lorsan would need to test it on humans to make sure it didn’t have a negative effect on them , too negative effect that is. He also needed to know how much they would have to drink to achieve the desired effects.
Trik walked over to a thin, dark haired elf with eyes black as coal and hair the color of chrome, Tarron, Lorsan’s top chemist.
“How is everything going?”
Tarron took a vile of Rapture in his hand and held it up to the light. He swirled the liquid around and around in the tube. Trik didn’t know what he was looking for but he must have found it because Tarron smiled and placed the tube back in the holder with the others.
“So far everything is as it should be,” Tarron finally answered.
“When will he be testing the first batch?”
Tarron didn’t look at Trik as he answered. “From what I understand, he is in the process of securing the humans he will be testing on.”
Trik nodded and started to walk away but was stopped by Tarron’s words.
“Is everything as it should be with you Triktapic?”
Trik turned to look at the chemist.
“Speak plainly Tarron. I do not have time for your riddles,” Trik snapped.
“There are rumblings that your Chosen is human and that she has fled your protection,” Tarron watched Trik closely, a spy for Lorsan no doubt told to keep an eye on Trik.
“She has left.” That was all Trik said as he turned and walked quickly for the door.
“I will be back tomorrow to check on your progress,” Trik called over his shoulder.
The door closed behind him and he let out a deep breath. Pain was beginning to pulse through his muscles and he knew the pain of the separation was only going to get worse. He closed his eyes and wrestled with himself. He needed to protect her, but she didn’t want him anywhere near her and Lorsan had forbid him to go near her. He had to see her, just one more time he had to see her.
If Lorsan thought he could keep tabs on his most accomplished spy, then he didn’t fully understand the depth of Trik’s talents. Trik was only seen when he wanted to be and right then he was done being seen. He stepped into the shadows and followed the line of the building until he was moving into the forest beyond. He moved quickly and soundlessly through the forest until he found a small lake. Trik walked up to the edge of the lake and looked down into it. He saw himself staring back at him. He took a step and his leg sunk into the water but instead of getting wet it emerged dry in another forest.
As he slipped into the realm of the light elves, he crouched down low and looked around the forest. He was deep in their lands and would have to travel on foot the rest of the way to their castle. Tamsin had wisely enchanted his kingdom so that anyone entering their realm that wasn’t a light elf, or welcomed by the light elves, would be traveling quite a distance to get to them.
He moved swiftly through trees, careful not to disturb the plants around him. He felt eyes on him everywhere and knew that Tamsin would have the forest watched. He didn’t know the light elves land like he did his own, but he was a very good tracker and would have no problems finding the light elves’ stronghold.
~
T
amsin watched Cassie’s face as the enormity of what he had just shared sunk in. He hadn’t told her everything; she wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t ready to know that if Trik didn’t choose her, if he didn’t choose to love her, then all would be lost. Not only was she not ready to know but she didn’t deserve that kind of burden either. Cassie would feel responsible if Trik made the wrong choice and she would blame herself. Tamsin didn’t want that for her. She was so young, so full of love and compassion.
“Trik is a King?” Cassie asked for the fifth time.
Tamsin nodded.
“And then he chose not to be a King anymore because…,” Cassie drew the word out as she waited for Tamsin to fill in the explanation.
“Our people were fighting amongst themselves. We were once all pure and good. The Forest Lords showed their favor over us, their creation, and we flourished as a whole species. Then,” he paused and looked away from her, his eyes losing focus as he remembered the long buried past, “then something inside us changed. Selfish desires began to take over and some elves grew vain and conceited. They thought themselves above the Forest Lords, and above the one who had been appointed King. It was a difficult time. We each struggled with our own darkness, however great or small. Some gave in and some fought and are still fighting. The final straw was…”
“Trik,” Cassie whispered.
Tamsin nodded. “He was tired. And instead of seeking the help of the Forest Lords, he walked away. He had the weight of a race on his shoulders, a race that was dividing itself more and more every day and it just became too much.”
Cassie sat silent. She didn’t know what to say. Who was she to judge? She’d never ruled a nation, never had the wellbeing of a race dependent on her.
“So the Forest Lords just let him walk away?” Cassie finally asked.
“There were consequences. Trik became the man he is now.”
“Wait, he wasn’t always the way he is now?”
“He wasn’t full of darkness, he wasn’t a killer. But he was always powerful and still just as sure of himself.”
“You mean to say that he was just as much of a cocky ass back then as he is now?” Elora interrupted.
A low chuckle came from Tamsin. “Yes, I suppose that is a good way to put it.”
“So he walked away from his responsibility knowing that he would become an assassin, knowing that he would be evil?” Cassie’s eyes brimmed with tears as she pictured a broken King, a broken Trik.
Tamsin didn’t answer, he didn’t have to.
Elora looked from her friend back to Tamsin.
“What does it mean?” She asked him.
“What does what mean?”
Elora rolled her eyes. “Okay we may be human and not old as dirt, but we do still have active brain cells. You can’t tell me that you figuring this all out now isn’t significant, that there isn’t some purpose in this information.”
Elora and Cassie watched Tamsin as his lips tightened into a thin line.
“I knew it,” Elora said as she shook her head. “What is it with you pointy eared leaf huggers that you can’t just spit out the truth all in one sitting?”
Tamsin let out a deep breath and in a very human gesture rubbed his forehead where wrinkles of stress were currently marring his flawless face.
“There is more, much more, but this isn’t the time.” He raised his hand when Cassie started to object. “Later, let me at least show you to the room you will be staying in.” He stood and waited for the girls to do the same. Seeing that they weren’t going to get any more information from the Light Elf King, they stood up and followed him out of the room and back into the hallway. They walked from the throne room down a long twisty corridor, brilliantly illuminated by the same crystal-like walls. After several turns they arrived before a large shimmering door. It carried the same theme of the ice sculpture and diamonds and, though it should have appeared cold and uninviting, seemed to welcome them in. There was peacefulness about the castle that neither Cassie nor Elora had ever experienced. The door opened on its own accord as they approached and they followed Tamsin inside.
“I take it that whatever it is you do, it is lucrative,” Elora mumbled as she looked around the large bedroom.
Cassie’s eyes roamed the room as she winced against the pain that still attempted to overwhelm her. There was a large four-poster bed made of rich wood on the far right wall of the room. The posts and headboard were intricately carved with scenes of the forest so lifelike that Cassie half expected them to come to life at any moment. The silver blankets that lay across the bed beckoned to her, tempting her to curl up under them and push the pain and worry away. The walls were silver and shimmered as the candle light danced across them. There was a beautiful desk made of the same wood as the bed on the opposite wall. The carvings in the wood appeared to match the ones in the bed. In the center of the room was a large white couch with pillows stacked around it, clearly made for serious lounging. There was a fireplace across from the couch and a blue flame flickered to life as Cassie stared at it. Under different circumstances she would have been impressed, but currently she just couldn’t bring herself to care.
“I will leave you to get settled. There are clothes in the wardrobe,” Tamsin pointed at a tall cabinet that stood to the right of the desk, “and you should find that they will all fit.” As he opened the do or he looked back at Cassie. “Please don’t give up on him. We will figure all of this out.”
Cassie stood frozen as she watched him close the door behind him. Elora sunk down onto the large couch and laid her head back. Cassie walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a tee shirt and shorts. Syndra must have stocked it if there were such human clothes. She pulled the dress off and her heart fell as she saw the ring Trik had given her fall to the floor. She had forgotten it. She picked it up and stared at it. She wanted to throw it out the window, she wanted to hold it close, she wanted so much at that moment. In the end, she couldn’t part with it. Call her crazy but it was the only thing she had of him. She slipped it on her finger but turned it so that the top of the ring was facing her palm so that if someone saw her hand it would look like all she wore was a plain band. She walked over to where Elora sat and collapsed next to her friend. She was so tired and she hurt all the way to the marrow of her bones. Her arms felt like lead and her brain was having a hard time processing all of the information that Tamsin had given her. She laid back and closed her eyes thinking she would just rest for a moment, and before she knew it she had slipped off into darkness.
~
The leaves flew past his face and the warm breeze brushed his skin as he ran. The pain continued to course through him and it was becoming a part of him. He was running as fast as he could, running from a darkness that was determined to keep him cold and alone. He was tired of being alone. He was tired of feeling empty. Cassie had changed him. She had made him feel. She had filled him up and now he couldn’t go back to what he had been before, without her. He ran and ran, his footing was sure and his movements swift and lithe as is common of his race. He had been running for hours and it wasn’t until he saw the tree with the same missing bark, in the same place as the last one that he realized he was running in circles. He hadn’t made any progress, hadn’t gotten any closer to his goal.
He stopped. Trik’s breath was slow and even and he looked like a man who had simply just walked down a hallway, rather than sprinted for hours. He walked over to the tree with the missing bark. He felt like he should know it, like he had been there before.
“Triktapic.”
Trik stepped back from the tree his head whipping around. He’d heard his name, a whisper on the wind, but it had been his name.
“Triktapic.”
Stronger that time as the wind began to pick up speed. The limbs of the trees swayed and the leaves rustled, sounding as if they were speaking a language only they understood.
“Show yourself,” Trik called out into the forest. The wind continued to blow, growing stronger
as he stood in the forest of the light elves. Suddenly, the sky darkened and thunder boomed overhead. He showed no fear, as nature around him began to unravel. Lightening cascaded from the dark sky, striking the ground as the sky opened and rain began pouring down. Trik leaned his face back and closed his eyes. He felt the first drop hit his face and suddenly he was covered. The rain pelted him relentlessly and Trik knew this storm was for him. He felt the water washing away the dark places, carving through them like a river carves through a mountain with its overwhelming force. The thunder and lightning continued their dance in the sky as the rain continued to drench everything below. Trik fell to his knees, driven there by the weight of the memories being unlocked one at a time. Each door was forced open as the water pushed its way into every unclean place in him. Every life he had taken, every lie he told, every deed done in the shadows. He was stripped bare, his very soul exposed and he saw what he was, he remembered what he had been, who he had been. And he wept. The storm raged around him, the trees reached up with their braches to the life giving water, all of the realm cried out for it, cried out for restoration. And Trik knelt on the soaked ground, an assassin, once a King, now humbled by the memories that had been covered in the darkness of his selfishness.
He wept for his race. He wept for the destruction he had caused when he left the throne. He wept for the hurt and pain that he had caused and that he had allowed. He tilted his head back and threw his arms out and wailed with everything in him. He yelled until he had no more air left in his lungs to do so. And when his voice was silenced, the rain stopped. The wind died down and the thunder and lightning were gone. Everything was still, waiting. All of nature seemed to hold its breath as the wounded King sat broken before them. And then in the stillness Trik heard it again, his name.
“Triktapic,” the voice boomed through the stillness. “The greatest of our creation, the appointed King of the Elves, the one in whose care was entrusted all that we love, we are calling you back.”