Halfblood Journey

by Rheaume, Laura

  “That makes perfect sense. I think you did the right thing.”

  She paused, and he could tell that he was supposed to say something, so he tried, “You are right in your statement.”

  She frowned. She really was like a puppy; there was no mistaking what she was thinking at any time. “Yeah…”

  “Was I wrong to say that?” he asked.

  “No, not at all. So my second question is…”

  “What did you expect?”

  “What?”

  “What did you think I was going to say?”

  “Oh, well, usually if someone compliments you, you thank them.” She added hurriedly, “But you didn’t need to do that at all…”

  “You were complimenting me?”

  “Um, yeah. I said you made a good choice.”

  “Ah.” He guessed it made sense, even though she was being presumptuous, as if he was asking for her evaluation or as if its being ‘good’ relied on her opinion. They both already knew it was a good idea. Human speech had so many superfluous elements. “Thank you, for saying that I...have good ideas.”

  She was shaking her lowered head and waving his comment away, which seemed to make the whole thing a waste. “Okay, moving along. My second question, which was really my first, was, why did you choose to be a doctor?”

  He realized that he had been looking directly at her for a long time, and quickly looked aside. He couldn’t believe it! He had been watching her face, staring at it. His mother would definitely smack his head and give him an even more painful lecture. Why was he forgetting his manners? If she had any understanding of Kin etiquette, she’d think he didn’t respect her at all.

  What had she asked? Remembering, he said, “I already know you won’t like this, but I didn’t really choose it.”

  “Do not tell me it was your family again.”

  Hm, that was tricky.

  He caught himself looking again. Ah! Now he knew why he kept looking at her. It was because he couldn’t figure out what she was saying, or, more difficult, what she meant, without reading the clues in her face! He felt the tension in his back ease. Finding the reason behind his aberrant behavior made him feel much better. Now that he had solved the mystery, he could keep from dishonoring his ancestors by flirting with a girl he had no intention of committing to.

  He sighed. He knew it was futile to gauge her reaction without his Human decoding strategy, but he tried it anyway, “It was my family again.”

  “What did I tell you? You don’t listen.”

  He closed his eyes. It was starting to hurt. Physically hurt. A tiny pain behind his eye. When he had first researched it, he had been cynical about the term ‘psychosomatic,’ but now he could refer to it with confidence.

  “Your parents decided that you would be a doctor, and you were fine with it.” Her tone was both doubtful and astounded at the truth at the same time. It seemed like a question, the way she said it, but he also got the feeling it was some kind of condemnation.

  What...do...I say?

  He opened his eyes when Temper, the only other person still awake since Summer and Steve were asleep, interrupted, “Mercy, his name is Heron. That should tell you.”

  She blinked. Just like a puppy.

  “Heron,” Temper began to speak very quickly and in a formal dialect that Mercy was sure to have difficulty with. “She is Human, she is completely unacceptable to your family, she is too young, and you are not her choice. Stop this behavior.”

  He was completely horrified. The Watcher thought he was flirting with a Human. He could feel the heat begin to spread across his face, so he said, “Yes, Watcher. I am going to rest now.” He grabbed one of the sleeping bags to use as a pillow, and lay across the bench, facing the wall.

  “Okay, good night,” Mercy said with a hint of confusion from behind him. He nodded.

  “Mercy,” Temper said sternly.

  “Yes?” she responded timidly.

  Humph, he thought. She didn’t talk to me that way. With me she is always...impossible.

  “You must take care with how you speak to the Kin. Your manner is not appropriate.”

  Vindicated!

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I...Scythe told me that.”

  “You should listen to him.”

  Yes, listen to the halfblood.

  “I am very sorry. I wasn’t trying to be offensive.”

  “That is clear. I will explain about Heron’s name and then I am going to rest as well.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The heron is a noble creature to the Kin. Do you know the bird? Good. Well, it is Kin mythology that the heron flew across the earth, passed into the afterlife and crossed the bridge to eternity in order to find and bring back the secrets of healing to the Kin. For that reason, Kin children with that name usually work in medicine.”

  “That’s wild. So, if I name my son Flower, he has to be a florist?”

  So painful. It felt like a nail was shooting into his brain.

  “The family chooses the name carefully, weighing its ability to support the upbringing necessary. To name a child Heron is to commit fully to that child from the moment it makes its first cry. It is a sign of the dedication of all members to the child’s preparation, something you can’t really understand since you haven’t witnessed anything like it. The child wants to fulfill its namesake, in honor of its family’s sacrifices, and because it trusts its family to choose well for it. In this case, it is also a meaningful profession.

  “The child doesn’t have to follow in the profession its family chooses and sometimes they don’t, but then they are often looked down upon by others, because it shows that they disregarded their family’s wishes, plans and efforts, all of which were dedicated to their well being.

  Heron agreed. It had never occurred to him to doubt his path. It was such an honorable one and every detail had been so carefully planned and executed. His life up to that point had been a fulfilling, exciting journey made perfect by his family’s loving direction. He had been given everything he needed and would give anything to realize their shared dream for him. It would have been a terrible disappointment to the people he loved the most if he had just thrown it away, and for what? Some impulse born from an immature selfish desire? The very thought of it gave him a chill.

  “If a family doesn’t want to give the child a strong name, then they choose something that goes with any profession, like my name. I could become anything, and because of that I was not given any special training or tutoring or experiences for my profession until I chose it, around the age of ten. I was not supported from a young age, and I had the burden of choice. Fortunately, I am suited to such things. It worked out well for me.”

  “It still sounds so…limiting, for the child.”

  “Your people look at choice as a reward, or a privilege. To the Kin, choice is a burden, one you don’t want to have to face alone. Remember: Kin children begin their career studies at age ten and get very serious around twelve. When you were ten, were you ready to choose your profession?”

  “No.”

  “The Kin rely on family to support, to advise, to teach, to motivate, to discipline, to know them better than they know themselves. Then, when they are older, they take on the responsibility of guidance. This is why Heron will not leave his family later. He takes his responsibility to his okin seriously. He will be there to do his part in all the things I said for his children, and his siblings, and their children, and later grandchildren. Because he is a doctor, he will serve them that way as well. He will be a solid, strong, central family member with a very important name. A name which his family gave to him, but not lightly, and not without sacrifice.”

  There was silence behind him for a moment. Heron had never heard the Kin tradition of naming explained so well. He felt renewed pride in his people and a strong desire to do well by them. He almost pitied the Humans, especially their children, because it was clear that they were both abandoned and imprisoned. They were tossed into life’
s strong currents, but not given the tools to fly until they had already begun to drop, all the while with their wings clipped. It was no wonder they were a fallen, crippled race.

  “Thank you, for explaining. I think I understand much better. May I ask one question?”

  Temper sighed.

  “I know you are tired. This is the last thing, I promise.”

  “All right.”

  “What type of name is Scythe?”

  Chapter 20

  “I’ve got to take care of several things right away, and I need to be quick, so the rest of you are on hold here until I get back, probably the rest of the day,” Scythe explained to them as he and Heron got ready to leave. “Don’t forget to keep your head down. Remember, we are supposed to be in Juniper.”

  “Can do,” Orin said, hefting a large box and carrying it into the building.

  Mercy moved her package to the edge of the truck, but didn't pick it up. While they waited for her dad, she took another look up and down the street.

  When they had arrived at the outskirts of the Kin capital of Quo Ire, Scythe had led them to the large, older structure that would be their home temporarily. What looked like an apartment building in the sparsely populated neighborhood turned out to be a business complex and storage facility. The high, wide walls were dotted with large, round windows and broken up by six doors evenly spaced out from one end to the other. Next to each door was a short incline that dipped down to a small garage. The downstairs was like a house, with a tiny kitchen, bathroom, two other rooms and stairs that led up to a warehouse on the top floor. Scythe said it was rented to small business owners that occasionally had to entertain prospective customers; the bottom level was similar to a Kin residence because the best way to honor and impress potential buyers was to provide an environment like the one found in the home.

  Looking at the buildings more closely, she marveled at Kin architecture. Something about them made her feel as if she were supposed to be inside; maybe it was the view of the interior through the windows or the doors that were set back and framed by an inviting enclosure. They beckoned to her. It was the opposite in Menelaus. When she drove by apartments at home, they reminded her that she was outside and warned her to stay that way, barking at her like a bulldog on the other side of the fence. Move along.

  She had asked to see Scythe's real home as soon as she found out that it wasn't where they were staying, but he only said, “Maybe, we'll see.” If her parents had said it, she would have known the answer was a definite, “No.” Since it was Scythe, there was at least some chance of visiting it. While they worked, she imagined what his home would look like. Would it be a house, like hers, or an apartment? It wouldn't be messy, like Auntie Lena's, that was for sure. It would be kept neat and organized. She knew that there would be books everywhere, but what else? Maybe a workout room?

  Mercy was brought out of her musings when Scythe called to her father, who was just coming out of the garage.

  “Alright, I am leaving. I’ll be back as soon as I can. As long as you stay inside, no one should know we are here until Heron gets home later, and then he will try to keep the information about our presence here within the family.” He checked with Heron for confirmation, and the young man nodded.

  “We’ll be fine. We can sit around and do nothing for a little bit longer, no problem,” Ian said, grabbing Scythe by the shoulder. “We want you to be careful.”

  “I am not doing anything dangerous, just errands, so don’t worry.”

  Mercy hugged him and wrapped a quick ribbon around him, Scythe, be safe.

  I will.

  We love you.

  “I’m going to be right back, Mercy,” he complained, but she knew how he felt about being told. He loved it.

  “I know. Don’t worry.” We’ll be here.

  He nodded at her and then at Ian, who clapped him on the shoulder and smiled, and climbed onto his motorcycle in front of Heron.

  “It was interesting to meet you,” Heron said to Mercy and then grinned, “and a challenge knowing you.”

  Mercy smiled at the way Scythe and Ian laughed at that, saying, “Really funny, Doc-in-a-Box.”

  Too much smiling. You’re making him nervous, Scythe said through the ribbon she had left around his waist. I can tell that you want to hug him good bye. No hugging.

  “I’m not!” she objected and made her polite face. “I enjoyed meeting you. Good luck. I hope we meet again.”

  Heron’s face smoothed out and he frowned slightly, “That is nearly impossible, but I am glad that we met.” He put on his helmet and fixed the strap.

  “Uh, okay, bye,” she said, and stepped back.

  Don’t worry. He’s fine. Scythe was thinking that she was always worried about people, which was not true. Now that you’re not pestering him, or pressuring him into…

  You need to die.

  He laughed at that, and she saw an image of her auntie pop into his head. Then, they started down the street. When her ribbon continued to cling to him, he asked her what she was doing.

  I just want to see how long I can hold it. Until she had seen her vision where she held on to Phillip, she had not considered using her power that way. She held on to Scythe as long as she could, letting the band stretch out from her and pouring more power into it to keep it from thinning out so much that it lost connection.

  After all, she told herself, I have a lot of power, I should be able to hold it a long time. However, even as she thought that she began to feel the strain.

  How far is this?

  Nearly a block, pretty good… He disappeared as her ribbon broke at the point where it connected to his body. It flew back to her and smacked her hard in the chest.

  She stepped back, suddenly dizzy, and put her hand up to steady herself against the side of the truck. With her other hand, she reached up and rubbed where her own power had struck her. When she looked down, she saw blood on her hand and spreading outward across her chest, but when she blinked, it was gone. Wow, what…

  “You okay, honey?” her father asked, returning from taking in another load. What’s the matter?

  “I’m okay. Just got a little dizzy.” I held on to Scythe as long as I could and he went a block until I lost him!

  Wow! That’s great. I haven’t tried that before. Where’d you get the idea? He moved her over to the edge of the truck and she sat down.

  “My vision,” she said, holding her as it swerved drunkenly on the inside. “The one…” Everything tilted...no, she tilted...and fell into a vision.

  The blood on her hand twisted into an enormous red dragon roaring over a woman and her son, marching toward them and then standing over them protectively, one leg on either side. The child looked up past his mother’s bowed head and Mercy saw that he had his father’s piercing dragon eyes. The dragon belched out flame and Mercy rode the fiery waves until she crashed against a smooth curved wall and spread across it. She curled around the ridge of the shield and looked at the dragon’s enemies. A man with a bow stood behind the one holding the shield. As the fire lost its strength, the shield dipped and the archer shot. One arrow, then a second, then a shot for the dragon. The dragon roared again and the shield came up, but it was too slow. Fire consumed the dragon’s enemies, and a piercing roar shook the world. Although he had obliterated his enemies, the dragon’s cry was not triumphant. The dragon’s cry shattered Mercy’s heart.

  She cried out, too, and then began to sob. Even though it was over, she still felt the dragon’s piercing agony. To lose something so precious, so irreplaceable, was unbearable. She held onto her father and cried, at first with the dragon and then, as the vision left her completely, for him.

  “Shhh. It’s okay,” he whispered.

  Not. Not. Not.

  “What has occurred?” She heard Temper’s voice. She and Summer and Jin had appeared, their expressions a mixture of surprise and concern.

  Ian hesitated and then said, “Another vision.”

  “Ah. Two
within a day?”

  Ian shrugged. “They don’t give us their schedule.”

  “A woman…” Mercy pulled away from him and said, “and her son. They will be killed, but we can change it, I know we can.” She wiped her face rapidly and then shuddered, remembering the blood she had seen on her hand. She asked quickly, “Did I get blood on my face?”

  “What? No, honey, there’s nothing there.”

  Then she thought to look at her hand; she stared at the clean skin. “Oh, it’s okay. There was some blood, but it’s gone.” She shook her head and said to her father as the urgency she sometimes felt after visions began to fill her. “We can stop it.”

  “Okay, just...calm down, Mercy,” he said, also feeling the determination start to rise in her.

  A woman and her son! We can’t let that happen! The...the dragon...it was so...

  She sent him what she felt and he cringed from the intensity. “Okay, we’ll try. What was it?”

  “There was a dragon, a red dragon. It was huge! And it stood over…”

  “A dragon? As in a real dragon?” Jin asked.

  “No, just listen.”

  “But...dragons aren’t real,” Jin insisted.

  She felt like the dragon was stirring inside of her, urging her to get moving, to save his wife and his son. She almost screeched at Jin, “Listen! The red dragon stood over his wife and their son, and shot fire at two men. One had a shield with a triangle and a cornstalk on it, but behind him was the dangerous one…”