by Logan Byrne
“I’m with Charlie,” Blake said, setting down the girl.
“Blake! You’re in no position to fight and you know that. Take care of the girl and make sure she’s safe,” I said.
“I don’t care if I get hurt. All I care about is saving as many lives as I can,” he said, ignoring me, before he started to shift. He grunted, his fur growing in fast and thick, as his skull morphed and elongated into that of an angry wolf. His eyes turned red, spit hanging off his fangs, as he and Charlie ran out into the fray.
“Damnit, why are they doing this?” I asked, panicked, before running after them.
“Lexa!” Britta yelled, as she stayed with the girl.
The duskhowlers came in droves, their numbers strong. Their magic was mature and practiced. I did what I could, blocking spells and disarming the wizards who would have all our heads. I stopped for a second, looking around, as everything seemed to fly by in slow motion.
The camp was falling, burning everywhere, as some citizens were shot down with death spells while others were tortured. Why wasn’t Pote transporting us away? Where were the rest of the camp’s warriors to help us? It seemed we were alone.
“Lexa!” Faus yelled, running towards me, holding Rosie’s hand.
“Get to safety! Hurry!” I yelled, as two duskhowlers came up behind them in a shroud of smoke.
They struck Rosie, toying with her, as she fell to the ground. Faus stumbled, his glasses falling off, before one of the men laughed and stepped on them. I heard the crunch from where I stood, as I watched Faus’s face. He started to shake a little, spit falling from his mouth, as his face began to turn red.
“Look at this kid. What a big scary man you are,” one of them taunted him, as they laughed.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Faus said, his voice getting deeper.
“Oh yeah, and why’s that?” the man asked.
“I’m not very pleasant when I get upset,” Faus said.
Then it happened. Faus began to shift, his body growing three times its size as his thick brown fur coated every inch of his muscular frame. His head grew, horns forming from the top, his feet turning into cracked black hooves, before he looked at me.
For a brief second, our eyes were locked together. I nodded, telling him it was okay, and he blinked, slowly, as if he knew exactly what I was saying. He turned around, roaring so loudly it could shatter a glacier, and the men started to back up slowly, tripping over their own feet.
“You shouldn’t have made me angry,” he bellowed, before starting to beat the living hell out of them.
“Rosie, hurry,” I said, grabbing her and leading her over to Britta and the girl.
“Is that…?” Rosie asked, in shock.
“Yes, that’s it,” I said nervously.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, her eyes wide as she stared at him in awe.
“Where are the boys?” Britta asked, looking all around.
“There!” I yelled, seeing them work in tandem as they struck down duskhowlers. They were in perfect harmony, yin and yang, as Charlie spring-boarded off Blake’s back and pounced on any enemy who came near.
I ran to them, throwing off bolts, my spells whizzing straight by them. Blake looked back in anger, thinking I was one of them, before his demeanor changed when he saw me. As I looked him in the eyes, he was struck in the back, a bolt of purple light flashing behind him. His eyes opened wide with shock, and he fell to his knees.
“No!” I screamed. I felt my body overwhelmed with energy, as if I had a thousand batteries plugged into me at once. I looked down, seeing my hands glowing brightly, my vision looking slightly different. Everything was hazy, but I could still see, if not better than I normally could.
The duskhowlers stopped, staring at me, before I put my hands out in front of me, sending bolts of blue energy firing straight towards them. My magic hit them, blue smoke billowing off their jackets, as they lay on the ground moaning, unable to get up.
“Lexa,” Blake mumbled, looking at me. “You’re glowing.”
“Welcome back,” Charlie said, smiling, as a horde of duskhowlers came rushing towards us.
It must’ve been all of them, maybe two or three dozen, screaming as they approached with their wands out. My mark was no longer a secret to Kiren’s forces. I stood up, walking in front of Blake and Charlie, ready to take them all on. This was it, this was my moment, and I was going to show them why they shouldn’t have come here in the first place.
I focused on them, feeling the vibrations of their footsteps through the ground. I could hear them breathing, their charged voices yelling, as if there were no other noises anywhere around me. I looked up, seeing the translucent bubble rising as Pote and the others began the teleportation process to our new home.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We can’t leave them behind like this.”
As the duskhowlers shot bolts at me, I raised my hands, their spells hitting an invisible barrier, as if I’d created the largest shield ever. The spells floated around me, their energy surging through me, before I turned them around, firing all of the duskhowlers’ spells back at them. They ducked for cover, some of them trying to block their own spells but panicking as I delved into magic that I’d never experienced before.
The bubble finished forming and I felt myself being twisted through space and time before falling back down onto my feet. Looking forward, I saw no duskhowlers around us. We left, but they stayed right where they were, in the old camp. The power surge left me, my hands turning back to flesh as my vision returned to normal. I fell to my knees, as if every ounce of energy had been sapped out of me, before Charlie ran over.
“Are you okay?” he asked, propping me up.
“Yeah, I’m just really tired. I think I need to just catch my breath,” I said.
“Take your time, there’s no rush, we’re safe now. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Can we get somebody over here?” Charlie yelled.
I fell to my hands, then onto my side in the grass, before I closed my eyes and gave in to the allure of sleep.
I moaned, opening my eyes, my vision taking a few seconds to focus. I was lying on a cot in the infirmary tent. The place was packed. Paola ran around, other citizens helping her as they could. People were lying on cots with all kinds of injuries, from broken bones that mages were tending to gashes and lacerations that required surgery.
“Lexa,” Mirian said, rushing over to me.
“What happened? I remember us leaving the old camp, but that’s it,” I said, putting my palm to my forehead and rubbing my pounding head.
“The camp was under attack, and you helped save us. It was only after you took away their attention that we were able to commence with the camp-wide teleportation. They weren’t allowing us to finish it until then,” Mirian said.
“It just happened again. The mark took over my body, and my mind, and I felt as if I were unstoppable,” I said. “Now, I feel like death.”
“It appears entering that state has a profound effect on your energy. It could be something that will always happen, or perhaps it’s just because you’re new to the mark and haven’t learned to control it yet. We’ll work on a solution, but for now you need to stay hydrated and regain your strength,” Mirian said.
“Blake, what about Blake?” I asked, shocked, as I’d forgotten all about him being struck.
“He’s fine, he’s being treated outside. His injuries, the new ones anyhow, were quite minor. Luckily the spell he was hit with wasn’t serious,” Mirian said.
“That’s such good news,” I said, exhaling loudly. “Where are we now?”
“We’re somewhere safe, that’s all that matters. They won’t be able to find us here,” Mirian said. “Now get some rest, you deserve it.” He walked off, tending to some other patients with Paola. I rested my head back against my pillow and tried to replay the day’s events in my head.
How did they even find the camp in the first place? That was twice it had
happened now, and neither time could be easily explained. I wondered if somebody here was feeding them information about us, but why would they risk their own lives in the battles, and what would they have to gain from it?
One thing was certain, though. I started the day in a hospital bed, and now I was ending it in one. Guess life really does always come full circle.
9
“I’m back here,” I mumbled, looking around at the Japanese gardens that I’d once visited while meditating with my mark. It was the same, but clearer, as if I’d broken through a foggy haze that had been clouding me before.
I looked around, walking over a curved wooden bridge, the sound of wind chimes gently clinking in the distance. Pink and white petals fell from a cherry blossom tree. Frogs leapt around a nearby pond covered in lily pads without a care in the world.
“Welcome back, it’s good to see you,” a woman said, and I spun around.
“Kaia,” I said, before tilting my head, realizing I suddenly knew her name.
“Yes, I knew you would eventually start to reconnect the dots to construct your past,” she said, smiling. “Come with me.”
The two of us walked towards a small wooden hut in the center of the gardens. It had a triangular roof with a red wooden beam on top. When I walked closer I noticed there weren’t any doors or walls. There was a beam, one on each corner, and something sitting in the middle.
“What is it?” I asked, curious.
“It’s to communicate with and pay honor to the mark. I built it ten years into my tenure as bearer,” she said, extending her hand. “Please, sit.”
I sat on a cushion, Kaia sitting across from me, as I smelled the light odor of incense burning near a brass bell underneath the shrine. “Why is all of this clearer now? What happened to me?” I asked.
“You’re in a coma,” she said, smiling.
“What? How? I wasn’t even hurt, I was just tired,” I said.
“Well, I suppose it isn’t so much a coma as it is a cocoon. You’re being protected,” she said.
“How is that protecting me? Will I wake up soon?” I asked.
“Quite soon, actually. When you entered the state you were in to ward off the duskhowlers, you consumed much more of the mark than you are trained to control, especially so soon after your encounter with the harpies in Africa. This is your body’s way, or the mark’s way, of protecting your spirit and rejuvenating you,” she said.
“But that doesn’t explain why all of this is different. The haze is gone, and I knew your name! I didn’t know it before, did I?” I asked, starting to seriously question myself.
“You weren’t able to completely connect to us until you realized the full power of the mark. When you did those two feats, it triggered a mitochondrial response inside you that sort of opened the floodgates. With that, you were able to see us more clearly and gain a better grasp of the mark. It flipped the switch for you. All of us experienced it the first time we entered it,” Kaia said, smiling.
I looked around again, feeling the calm breeze brush against my face, before a pixie flew by me, carrying a flower. “A pixie,” I said, watching her fly off.
“Oh, yes, I work with them extensively. They’re such great workers, and friends, if you get to know them. They help keep the gardens tame, and in exchange I take care of them. They love to see the gardens flourish,” she said.
“But isn’t this not really, you know, real? Couldn’t you make the gardens amazing at will?” I asked.
“Nothing ever comes in life, or after life, without a little work, Lexa. I could will for three hundred foot lilies to appear, but I don’t. I enjoy taking pleasure in the simplicity and hard work of raising a single lily to maturity. If you want to bear the mark and be successful with it, like most of us before you, you need to learn patience. Patience and timing will be the key,” Kaia said, looking at the bell.
“What is it?” I asked, as her eyes locked on it.
“It looks like it’s time for you to leave, young one,” she said, turning back to me. “You are free to come back at any time, but right now your time is up.”
“Wait, I want to talk more. What if I have more questions I need answered? The crystal wand! What do you know about it?” I asked hurriedly.
“Trust your instincts, and trust in the mark,” she said, her voice fading as she started to disappear. The bell tolled four times before the gardens melted away.
“I don’t know what to tell you, she’s just not waking up. She’s been like this for three days,” Britta said.
“W—what?” I mumbled as I opened my crusty eyes to see Britta, Charlie, Blake, and Faus standing over me.
“She’s up!” Charlie shouted at the top of his lungs, before looking embarrassed and apologizing to the other patients.
“Lexa, are you okay?” Blake asked, kneeling at my side. He grabbed my hand, kissing it, before putting it to his forehead. “We were so worried.”
“I was in a cocoon,” I said as confidently as I could.
“Come again?” Britta asked, looking like she was about to have Paola come check my head.
“I talked with one of them, a past mark-bearer. Her name is Kaia, and I saw her in a meditation session a while ago. We talked, and when I asked what happened to me she said the mark put me in a cocoon so that it could protect me as I built up energy again,” I said.
“Interesting. So the past mark-bearers are inside you,” Faus said. “That shakes the very foundation of life and death itself.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie asked.
“Well, if past mark-bearers somehow live inside Lexa, or maybe she can just visit a spiritual plane that they reside on, it makes you wonder if all of us have that same ability locked down deep inside us. Is it possible to contact loved ones who have passed? The possibilities are amazing,” Faus said, readjusting his glasses.
“All I know is that I feel great now. I haven’t felt this amazing in a long time,” I said, looking down at my hands, before gripping them into fists and biting my lower lip. “Let’s get to Greenland.”
I hopped out of bed, my bare feet planted firmly on the canvas floor, before Blake grabbed me. “Whoa there, you should take it easy. Greenland isn’t going anywhere. We don’t have to rush.”
“Why wait around, though? We know the wand is there, and the sooner we get it, the sooner the attacks on the camp stop. That was the second one since we started here, right? What’s to stop them from finding this place, too?” I asked.
“I just want to be smart about this. I want to make sure you’re at full health before we rush off to an icy landscape that we all know is wildly unforgiving,” Blake said.
“Paola!” Britta yelled, catching her attention.
“What’s going on? You’re up,” she said, walking over and grabbing a stethoscope.
“Yes, check me out and tell them I’m fine,” I said. The metal end of the stethoscope was cold, but I breathed calmly in and out, letting Paola shine lights in my eyes and even in my ears, as she checked me all over.
“She seems to be in full health and spirits. I’d say she’s fine to do whatever she pleases. I’d still suggest taking things a little slower, just to make sure there aren’t any underlying conditions, but other than that, you’re discharged,” Paola said, smiling, before walking to the patient next to me.
“You see? I’m fine, now let’s go pack,” I said, marching out of the tent with the four of them following right behind me.
“Okay, this is good. So we’re leaving today?” Britta asked. “I have to make sure I can get everything packed in time.”
“Why not tomorrow? Give me one more night of warmth before you thrust me into the cold,” Charlie said. “Remember, I’m a jungle cat, not a snow leopard.”
“You’re sure about this?” Blake asked.
“I’m sure. Trust me, if I’m sure of anything, it’s this,” I said.
I was doing what Kaia said, trusting my gut and my instincts. Ever since I heard about Gre
enland, it had stuck with me. I just knew the wand was there, and no matter how hard the journey to find it turned out to be, I was going to see it through. I couldn’t listen to anybody who wanted me to slow down or try to stop me. They could either come with me or stay behind, but I wouldn’t let them stand in my way.
“It will take me a little bit to get my equipment together. It’s already noon,” Faus said. “I vote we leave first thing in the morning, just after sunrise. We can eat a hearty breakfast and teleport out.”
“I agree,” Charlie said.
“Same here,” Britta said.
“Okay,” I said, turning around. “I’ll agree to the morning, but that’s it. No more delays after that. Promise?” I asked.
“Promise,” the four of them said, as I gave in a little and relented, even though I wanted to leave right away.
“Lexa, you’re up,” Rosie said, walking up to us with an older woman. “This is my mother, Janine.”
“It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for what you’ve done for my family and for this camp. I will never be able to repay you,” she said, hugging me, with tears strolling down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Janine. I appreciate your kind words, but there’s nothing you have to do to repay me other than just live your life. You’re free to be with your daughter, and to do whatever it is you want to,” I said, smiling.
“You were right, Rosie, she is the sweetest young woman,” Janine said, her hands to her mouth.
“Where are you guys headed off to? You look serious,” Rosie said.
“We’re going to Greenland tomorrow. We’re going on another hunt,” I said.
“The wand? That guy in the antiquities shop got to you, huh? Can’t say that I blame you, he did have some interesting evidence,” Rosie said.
“Why don’t you come along?” Faus blurted out. We looked back at him as he blushed a little, realizing that he’d done something he likely had never done before.
“I would love to, but I have a lot of work to do here. Now that they have me on duty, I’m busy all the time, but I love it. Getting to work here is amazing,” Rosie said.
