Kindred (Akasha Book 2)

by Indie Gantz

  “No. I really don’t want to,” I finally respond, much to Bo’s surprise.

  Oleander, however, seems delighted. He offers to grab a call stone from the house himself, and then he bounces out of the store with a smile on his face.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Knowledge Minus Wisdom

  When I return to the house after sending Finn my regrets, I find Tirigan in the backyard, his left foot high in the air and surging towards Avias’ face.

  Before I have a chance to react, Avias pushes my brother’s kick away without touching him. There’s a slightly bored, but teasing, look on the Aérasian’s face. Tirigan tries again, this time faking a right hook that he pulls at the last second, just to slam his left fist into Avias’ abdomen. Avias coughs as he doubles over.

  “Oi!” Vi calls from a chair on the back porch. “Let’s be careful boys, yeah?”

  Avias rights himself as Tirigan looks on smugly beside him.

  “It’s all right, Mother,” Avias replies. “Lucky shot.”

  Tirigan’s eyebrows rise in challenge, but Avias doesn’t look his way. Instead, he pretends to be interested in something on the porch, right before he simultaneously lunges forward and pushes Tirigan off balance with a quick flick of his wrist. With Tirigan caught off guard, Avias kicks my brother’s legs out from under him with a crouched sweeping motion. I flinch as Tirigan lands hard on his back.

  “What are they doing?” I ask, just as Kor opens the back door and joins me. He has Cyra in his arms and Robin at his heels. He must have just returned from the fields.

  “Sparring,” Kor answers. He walks over to Vi, a faint odor of disinfectant trailing behind him. He offers Cyra to her. “Sorry we’re late.”

  “Mama sleep,” the toddler says as Vi pulls her into her lap and accepts a kiss on her cheek from Kor.

  “Yes,” Vi nods then rubs her nose against her daughter’s. “Mama sleeps, but Mama is awake now. Would you like me to read you a story?”

  “No!” Robin cuts in. “We want to watch Avias and Tirigan fight.” The boy looks up at me earnestly. “Are you going to spar too?”

  “Um...”

  I look back to my brother and Avias, who are engaged in what looks like a tug of war. It isn’t until I’ve watched them for a few moments that I realize Tirigan is losing. His body is being pulled closer and closer to Avias’, his feet skidding in the dirt as he resists.

  “I don’t think so,” I finish.

  “Well, I am,” Kor responds quickly. He bounds down the steps towards my brother and Avias, his hands outstretching once he’s closer to them. Suddenly, Tirigan and Avias are cleaved apart, their bodies flying backwards and away from each other. They land hard on the ground, groaning as they try to catch their breath. Neither of them try to get up right away.

  Kor lets his hands fall to his sides then claps them back together. “So, what’s next?”

  “Two against one?” Avias responds once he’s made it back to his feet. He dusts off the back of his pants.

  “Two?” Kor questions. He turns around and faces me. “I count three.”

  “Wouldn’t two against two be more fair?” I respond, taking the bait and descending the stairs into the backyard.

  “No,” Avias replies with a chuckle. He and Tirigan make their way back towards Kor warily. “My father can hold his own. Trust me.”

  Kor continues to look on at me, a small smile on his lips. “Come on, Charlie, leave your woes behind and battle out those lingering frustrations.”

  “I’m currently woe-less, thanks,” I respond shortly, not entirely sure why I choose to lie. I’m full of woe. I’m basically a walking woe-a-thon. Still, something in me doesn’t want to give Kor the satisfaction of being right.

  “Your furrowed brow implies otherwise,” Kor replies, not missing a beat. “I think you’ll find hand-to-hand experience invaluable.”

  “Just put a knife in my hand,” I challenge, crossing my arms but still slowly closing the distance between us.

  The corner of Kor’s mouth quirks up. “What if I said you could do the same amount of damage without it?”

  I stand there a moment, looking the older man dead in the eyes. It feels like every interaction we have is some sort of dance, and I still haven’t learned the right moves.

  I know he’s waiting for me to answer, but I don’t know how to reply. Eventually, I just shrug. I walk around Kor to stand in between Tirigan and Avias. They both look ready to pounce at any moment.

  I open my mind to Tirigan.

  How long have you two been out here?

  A few hours.

  Hours? Why?

  We need experience in physical combat, Charlie. Avias offered to spar.

  “You haven’t sparred yet, have you?” Avias asks me. I shake my head no.

  “I’m a fast study, though.” I turn my gaze back to Tirigan. You seemed to be doing okay.

  He’s better than me, but I’m learning quickly. There is a formula to his battle style. Easily deciphered.

  I guess it’ll be useful when we’re out there on our own.

  Tirigan’s mind shifts suddenly. He’s deliberately moving thoughts around, hiding something. Sure. Exactly.

  Kor looks back at the house and requests for one of the kids to start a countdown. Robin cheers and begins to count down from fifteen.

  “Time’s running out,” Kor says with a grin. “Hope you’re ready.”

  “Are there rules?” I ask, trying to focus on sparring and not on whatever it is Tirigan is hiding from me.

  “Maybe stay away from Fotiá,” Avias suggests. “Just until you have a better understanding of it.”

  “I understand it fine,” I shoot back. When I receive a bemused look in return, I continue, more deflated. “Control it? I’m not so sure.”

  “Ten!” Robin yells. Avias, Tirigan, and I square up and prepare to attack.

  Should we be formulating a battle plan?

  Open your mind to Avias. It will be a valuable advantage for us.

  “Nine!”

  I don’t really know how to do that. I’ve never—

  Just seek out his signature and open. He can’t connect with you otherwise.

  “Eight!”

  Then why don’t you do it?

  Tirigan ignores me, so I shut my eyes and try to concentrate on finding Avias. I expect to have to locate and overlook Kor’s mind, but I can’t feel a mental signature coming from him at all. Stunned, I open my eyes and try to find some hint of his energy, his presence, but it’s useless. There’s just a void surrounding him. A void of… nothing. It’s like Kor’s mind doesn’t even exist.

  “Seven!”

  Why would someone develop such a strong mental defense unless they had something to hide?

  Kor returns my accusing gaze with some confusion, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he expects to understand the source of my discontent. Then his stance becomes less casual and a lot more prepared, ready for battle.

  I don’t have time to think about this now.

  “Six!”

  I reach out and pull Avias’ hand into mine, using his touch as a guide to his mind. Avias doesn’t resist my touch, which is a very surreal experience. I’ve never initiated contact like this with anyone who wasn’t a member of my family, and if it was Tirigan, he’d be pulling away. But Avias just slips his fingers easily between mine, offering only a slightly furrowed brow to signal his confusion.

  “Five!”

  Shutting my eyes again, I use the energy I feel coming from Avias’ skin to locate his mind. It’s easy enough to do, since it seems to be the only other mind in close proximity besides Tirigan’s.

  Avias’ mind is intricate and perfectly ordered. Despite its organization, there are small areas of rebellious chaos that probably fuel some of the more brazen comments he makes. My lips twitch slightly, amused by this possibility.

  “Four!”

  Avias.

  Avias’ hand startles in mine as his eyes widen slight
ly. He controls his expression quickly and squeezes my hand once.

  That feels odd, Avias replies. His voice in my head doesn’t quite match his true one. It’s less deep, softer.

  I let out a short sigh of relief.

  “Three!”

  Any suggestions as to how we are going to take down your dad, Avias? I ask.

  Tirigan can hear my question to Avias, but he can’t hear Avias’ response. It’s odd to have them both in my head, but not have either of them able to reach the other. I’m sure Tirigan could if he tried, but he’s obviously not ready to open himself up like that.

  Keep him moving. He’s very powerful and difficult to distract, but between the three of us we might be able to force a mistake, Avias answers.

  So basically, tire him out? I roll my eyes. This is going to be harder than I thought.

  “Precisely,” Avias replies aloud. He smiles confidently in his father’s direction.

  “Two!”

  Tirigan, Avias says to keep him moving. Try to distract him.

  All right, Tirigan replies, his body relaxed but his gaze intense.

  “Are you ready?” Kor asks, his lips curving slightly into a smug grin. “Or do you three need more time to go over your battle plan?”

  He thinks he has it in the bag. I don’t like how confident Kor is that he’ll be able to defeat all three of us.

  What bag? Tirigan asks. I don’t have time to explain it to him.

  Never mind. I’d like to wipe that smile off Kor’s face. What do you say, Avias? I raise an eyebrow at him and a devilish smirk turns up the left side of his mouth.

  After you, he replies.

  “One!”

  I don’t hesitate. Something Kor said a moment ago gave me an idea, and I go with it.

  I don’t need a knife to throw. I have air. Trusting Kor to be strong and fast enough to deflect my assault, I pull my arm backwards as if I’m about to throw one of my knives. I concentrate on compacting the air pressure accumulating around my hand, then forcibly rotate my arm forward, just as I would if I were releasing a knife.

  Kor manages to place a hand out in front of himself just as my targeted assault reaches him, presumably putting up some sort of shield in front of himself, but he still takes a hit. The Aérasian is thrown backwards hard enough to knock him off his feet, but before his back hits the grass, he’s already vertical again. Kor’s eyes widen with shock as he stares back at me.

  “I feel like I should be offended by your surprise,” I challenge.

  “I’d say you’re justified,” he responds with some amazement.

  Before he can say more, Kor’s busy deflecting and subduing a geyser of water that erupts under his feet at Tirigan’s behest. Off his feet again, Kor hovers in the air right beside the water cannon that’s just drenched him. He looks down at his wet clothes and grimaces.

  “Little known fact?” he quips as he flies overhead. “I hate being wet.”

  With a small gesture of his hand, all three of us are lifted off the ground in a violent thrust upwards. Avias handles the assault the best, quickly flipping himself backwards and out of his father’s controlled atmosphere.

  “Choosing a Néroian for a wife was a rather unwise choice then,” Avias replies smartly. I can’t see him because Kor has begun spinning me in the air at a rate I fear will cause me to vomit at any moment.

  Push through his atmospheric control. Push through and escape, Avias instructs.

  My body continues to spin faster and faster, my head throbbing even as I relay Avias’ thought to Tirigan.

  How… exactly… oh shi—

  Concentrate, Tirigan replies. He doesn’t sound affected. He’s managed to push through.

  I stop focusing on the sickness and the overwhelming feeling of vertigo and concentrate only on my body. I imagine the manipulated field of air around me and push my own power through it. The spinning stops, and I instantly fall to the ground. My ankle sprains on impact, but I ignore it. Kor has Avias and Tirigan on the ground, each of them completely rigid as Kor stands over them.

  What’s he doing?

  Compressing the air around us, Avias replies, his thoughts incredibly strained as he struggles. Keeping us immobile.

  Before I have a chance to react, brown roots begin to slide up and out of the ground, wrapping themselves around Kor’s legs.

  When he begins to lose his balance, I strike with another knife-like throw of air, but this one much less powerful. The assault hits Kor dead in the chest, throwing him backwards and knocking the breath out of his lungs.

  Kor coughs and holds his hand to the wound on his chest as the roots grow up his pelvis, holding him to the ground. Tirigan and Avias stand up beside me, the cast on them released.

  “That won’t keep him for long, Tirigan,” Avias says, looking down at his captured father.

  What will? I ask.

  Avias lets out a little laugh. If you figure that out, let me know.

  As if on cue, the roots Tirigan continues to pull up and weave around Kor’s body begin to crumble.

  “Plants need carbon dioxide to live,” Kor says, as the roots around him quickly turn to dust. He stands and brushes himself off. “What else you got?”

  I’m irritated. There’s no way the three of us can’t take him down. Tirigan and I are practically invincible. This is ridiculous.

  Gritting my teeth, I decide to try something I know is probably a bad idea, but my exasperation with the situation wins out over logic. I have to do something. Something powerful. Something unexpected. I extend my hand up towards the sun.

  Kor’s eyes widen just as his own hand outstretches in warning.

  “Charlie! No!” Vi’s voice from the porch is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Pain Begets Scars

  I’m itchy. It feels like there are small pieces of wool scratching every layer of my skin. It’s maddening. It’s dark. Senseless. No, not senseless. Itchy. So very itchy.

  That was very stupid. Tirigan. My brother is here. Maybe he can take away the itching and the... Pain. The sudden, violent, excruciating pain that overwhelms me. Crushes me.

  There’s only so much I could do with you unconscious.

  It hurts… The sheer volume of agony I feel can’t be contained to words. My mind screams. I can’t… it’s… Tirigan!

  “Charlie, you’re okay,” Tirigan says aloud. “Don’t try to open your eyes. Don’t move.”

  “She’s awake?” Avias’ voice comes next, heavy with surprise and concern.

  “Yes. She’s in a lot of pain.”

  “Well, of course she is,” Vi cries. She sounds like she’s fighting exhaustion. Her voice soft, her words slurring.

  “Charlie, we’re going to lift you and put you into a pool Tirigan cast,” Kor sounds less affected than the others. If I wasn’t in so much pain I’d try to dissect his disappointed tone, but my internal screams immediately become external when my body is lifted from the ground and moved through the air.

  Once I’m lowered into the pool, it isn’t the feel of the water that causes me to cry out again, it’s the sizzle of my skin as it descends into the water.

  My screams echo through the backyard. My throat throbs from the exertion. Waking up to ashes in my throat and smoke in my nose isn’t new, but this isn’t a nightmare gone wrong. I did this to myself. Everything hurts. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.

  You pull, I’ll push.

  It’s an echo of my instructions to my brother after he was stabbed. I know what I’m supposed to do. I have to pull the water into my body. I have to heal myself. I pull; Tirigan pushes. I have to focus. I have to… Scream.

  I descend back into darkness.

  ◆◆◆

  This time when I awaken, it’s in the bed I’ve called my own for the last few weeks.

  I open my eyes slowly, finding it difficult but not impossible. They’re dry and scratchy, but I can see relatively clearly.

&nb
sp; I’m alone. There’s no one sitting at the edge of my bed or hovering over me. If Calla were here, she wouldn’t leave my side. She’d hover incessantly until I begged her to leave. The ache in my body is momentarily overshadowed by the ache in my heart.

  My neck is stiff. It throbs when I turn my head towards Tirigan’s bed. I find him sitting with his back against the wall, no book in his lap, just staring at me blankly.

  What are you staring at?

  My arrogant, incompetent sister.

  His insults are so surprising, at first, I don’t realize what he’s said. It takes me a moment to recover.

  A little harsh, Tir. I hope he hears my pain. Not the physical pain my body still endures, but the emotional pain he’s just caused.

  Harsh, yes, but also accurate.

  Shifting so I can pull myself up to sit, I roll my eyes at Tirigan’s defense. There’s no point in trying to get an apology out of him. It’s not like he’s wrong.

  My arms feel weak and over-used, like I’ve done a thousand pushups and then ran a bêru on my hands. My back is sore too, a dull ache permeating down into my pelvis.

  How about brave? I prompt him. Surely he can admit that trying to harness the power of the sun was brave, even if it didn’t work out in my favor.

  Try foolish, Tirigan replies, expression still blank.

  I just wanted to see—

  I know what you wanted. You wanted to win. At any cost.

  It was just a game, Tirigan. I didn’t think—

  That’s right. You didn’t think. You never think.

  “Really?” I challenge, feeling more snarky than hurt now. “You’re going with never?”

  Charlie, what you did was ill-conceived and extremely reckless. The only reason you are alive is because I was able to heal you enough on my own to keep your heart beating long enough to get you into the water.

  “You healed me? Without water?”

  I pulled some from the ground, but largely, no. I used the same methods that trained healers use.