by Kade Cook
Arramus’ eyes pinch at the corners, the lines of centuries crease handsomely outward toward his peppery hairline as he breathes out his amazement. “It’s only been a day.”
“I know but she seems fine. Other than a few light pink marks at the sites of marring, she is no worse for wear,” he assures his friend. “Ethan was just here and helped me assess her level of wellness—reading her energy levels and peering into her inner psyche. Other than tons of unexplained imagery, her mental state is fine, just exhausted.”
“Huh. Well, I guess that doesn’t really surprise me.”
“No, her Boragen gift must have been driving her regenerative ability into overtime on this one. After I cleaned her up, and removed the metal bar lodged under her rib cage, there wasn’t another mark on her.” Kaleb slips forward, placing himself back on his feet and turns to rest his hands on the ledge looking in on his patient. “Any trace of fire damage has been repaired. It’s quite impressive really.”
“You are certain that it was her Boragen gift that did this?” Arramus peeks down over his shoulder with a wide-eyed inquiry.
“Yes, quite.” Kaleb halts his observation. His eyes lose their focus as his mind whirls within the question asked by the Fire Marshall standing to his left, dishevelling his certainty. “Why, you are not?”
Arramus disengages his glance from Kaleb, drifting somewhere else—choosing his words as he peers into the dimly lit room, watching the girl as she rests. “Not from what I witnessed last night.”
Kaleb lifts his eyes and turns his head to measure his friend’s expression, gathering there is something more to her recovery than he is aware of. “Well, you found her. What do you think the reason is then?”
Arramus’ face twitches. His tongue wets the edge of his bottom lip as he turns to face Kaleb again with his answer—eyes wide, his pupils dilated and stormy. “When I found her...” He pauses, sucking in a breath, then turns toward the sleeping girl in front of him. “...she was still on fire.”
51
EVENTFUL REITERATION
GABRIAN’S LASHES FLUTTER as the soft early light filters in through her room and wakes her from the darkness. She senses the gentle presence in the room accompanying her. In the corner chair, hulks a familiar form. At first, her pulse surges, heart playing tricks on her while her mind hurries to catch up—the sweet smell of a childhood memory lingers in the air, deceiving her senses.
Dad?
She lurches forward, clearing her eyes to look upon him before the mirage is gone but it is too late. Her uncle Tynan sits up, noticing her sudden movements, and his face warms to greet her awakening, relieved to see the light in her eyes is still there. An elegant whisper of an approaching essence pulls both their eyes to greet the visitor standing in the open doorway. Vaeda, Lady of Zephyr, holds a cup of hot coffee within her hands that makes Gabrian’s mouth water. She swallows hard at the welcomed relief, her mouth dry and still tasting of smoke and ash.
Tynan returns his interest to his niece and Vaeda’s eyes follow course. “Oh, she is awake?” Her voice chimes, words singing out across the room in a melodic hum. Tynan nods then lifts from his chair and waltzes across the floor in a hurried pace, Vaeda trailing behind him like a shadow.
“Hey, kiddo,” he whispers to her and his lips carry the hint of a tremble on them. His voice catches in his throat as he reaches out to take her hand in his. “How are you feeling?”
She grips his large fingers and sighs. She has not seen much of him as of late, their paths never crossing. It seems as if the last few months have swallowed her up—stealing all her time from her and leaving behind nothing more than empty memories she wishes were not true. It feels good to see him, wearing away some of the aching in her soul.
“Um, all right I guess,” Gabrian croaks out the words, her throat raw and rough, the damage of smoke still harbouring in her lungs. “How...hmm.” She coughs to try to release the dry ball of gritty substance still stuck, refusing to let go. “How long have I been out?”
“Just a day or so, maybe three.”
“Days?” she gasps, lifting her hand to swipe through her tangled mess of hair.
“Yeah, not bad for having been blown up, impaled, and set on fire.” He laughs, deepening the gentle creases at the edge of his eyes.
“What?” She exhales loudly, causing her body to convulse and launch into a coughing fit, finally riding herself of the fiery remains.
The brightness of the explosion lights up her mind as the horrific events rewind through her memory. The loud ringing of the deafening silence pierces her ears as she remembers, and her pulse increases, drumming through her ears. Gabrian feels it rushing through her veins as her pupils widen, reliving her attempts to escape in her head.
Her eyes focus and narrow, returning Gabrian to the present. “Was there anyone else there?” she stutters. “Did they find anyone else?”
“Hmm...” Tynan clears his throat, determining how to break the news to her, and knows she will hate hearing it. He glances shyly to his left. His eyes fall upon Lady Vaeda and she steps into the conversation, placing her hands to rest on his elbow, and keeps them there in a tender yet familiar hold Gabrian takes notice of.
Well, this is new, she thinks, wrinkling her nose. Her mouth sneaks into a sideways smirk in witness to this interesting development and her heart twists. She is missing so much of the little, yet important things in her world because of the monstrosity her life has become.
“I am afraid two members of our Boragen family were lost in the blast,” Vaeda divulges, her voice soft and steady, but it holds a weight within it. “Two of our Peace Keepers.” She pauses and looks up into Tynan’s eyes. He shifts his focus on Gabrian then returns to the Elder with a nod of encouragement. “And now the house is calling for an immediate inquiry into the matter...an investigation, one that for the most part, revolves around you.”
Gabrian’s heart sinks and she chokes on her breath. The jovial smirk that had pulled at the corners of her pouty lips is now ripped clean from her face, replaced by a lifeless straight line.
“Due to recent developments in your abilities and the unfortunate occurrences, losses, and the destruction of town property in such magnitude—one that you were found unconscious at—it is an unavoidable requirement,” Vaeda sighs, gripping Tynan’s arm then moves forward to touch the top of Gabrian’s hand, resting in her uncle’s hold. “I am sorry, Gabrian. It is mandatory.”
Gabrian grips her uncle’s fingers, squeezing harder than intended, fueled by anger in the obvious insinuation she caused this—that she is the reason for all the destruction. Well, rightfully, she is, but not in the malicious accusation they are making it out to be. “But I didn’t...”
A rustling, then a knock at the open door interrupts her plea.
“May we enter?” a familiar voice asks, filling her heart with a flicker of hope.
He will know I am telling the truth, he will see it for what it is. Gabrian sits straight up in her bed, releasing Tynan’s hand. “Ethan!” she yells out, half with her mind and half in a voice doused with desperation. “I need your help. I need you to make them see that it wasn’t me, that I was not the cause of all this.” Her heart leaps in her chest, getting stuck in between her ribs as she cries out, “I was set up, someone did this to me.”
Ethan and Orroryn flip each other a startled look then exchange glances with the others in the room. “Easy, Gabrian, slow down...you just went through some major injuries. You need to calm yourself and rest.”
“To Hell with resting, the Covenant wants to blame me for this mess and it wasn’t me. It was those men.”
“The Peace Keepers?” Orroryn sets himself closer to the frantic girl and tries to reason with her. “Gabrian, I hardly think they would...”
“They were trying to kill me!” she screams out, gripping at the blankets around her, straining to be heard.
“What?” they all seem to say at once.
“I read their minds...their intent
ions were to kill me.” She stops for a moment, trying to remember the words the men used. “They kept saying the abomination must be destroyed, I must be done away with—that he said to get rid of me and that failure wasn’t an option.”
“Oh, Gabrian, dear, you must be confused,” Vaeda hums, her eyes soft and filled with pity. “Why in the Realm would the Peace Keepers be instructed to do such a thing, I...”
“Then read my mind if you think I am lying,” she yells out at them all, upset that they do not believe her. “Ethan, show them, please. I am telling the truth.”
“Gabrian, really, it is not necessary...” Vaeda advances toward her, stretching her hand out as she closes in on Gabrian, seeing her aura bloom all around her in a calico assortment of colours, switching violently in her dismay.
“Not necessary? This is my life, my future, once again being put on trial.”
“Gabrian, please calm down. This is not...” Orroryn orders, his shoulders back with an edge to his stare.
“Do it!” she cries out, frantic to make them hear her, needing them to hear her.
Ethan holds his hand up to silence the chatter so he can speak to her in a calm rational manner. “All right, Gabrian, I will,” he says, his eyes dancing around the room at those attending this private invitation to peer into her recounts of the night. “I believe you, we believe you.”
Her eyes, watery and red from the busted blood vessels flooding her irises, are strained from her pleading. Gabrian draws in a ragged breath, trying to calm herself and settle the images so Ethan see them clearly and understand without a doubt what actually happened.
Ethan dips into her thoughts as Gabrian allows him entry into her nightmare from the beginning. The Coffee Hound enters her images and she expels all the heart ache of the encounter with Shane. He sees her trek through the rain in her despair to the College, and into the Turret building—the images of the boy on the stairs is distorted, but he hurries on to where she accepts Cimmerian’s warm offer. Then the strange whispers in the darkness are heard in cooperation with Theo’s odd arrival, and his frantic warning of the upcoming event.
Ethan watches the pursuit in silence, projecting everything she pushes at him—hungry to show them all she is an innocent, that use of her gifts were in defence and the undoing of the guards was the strike of their own hands, not hers.
Releasing his connection with Gabrian’s mind and unveiling to the group the truth as Gabrian lived it, Ethan sets his body down on the bed beside her, and takes her hand.
“There is something wrong in all this,” Orroryn voices, stepping closer to the others hovering over Gabrian’s bed like a mob attending a wake.
Ethan leaves Gabrian’s side and edges away to stare out the window knowing there was no command for their pursuit from the Covenant of Shadows. Talking to the pane of glass in front of him, his thought of the matter continues out loud, “Within the guard’s thoughts, I found an unnatural presence, a forced idea they blindly followed to their deaths. Someone compelled them to seek her out, to destroy her because of what she is or the idea of what she represents.”
“This, of course, resolves some of the issues that will be addressed tomorrow night, but it still doesn’t explain anything, it only adds to the confusion and makes the decision to hold the meeting resolute.”
“Of course, Lady Vaeda, but it does demand change in the course of action,” Ethan adds, his mind spinning like a top as he scratches the shadowed edge of his chin.
An echo of a voice jolts Gabrian from her present company. She looks away, absorbing what Ethan has uncovered. An unnatural presence, a strange thing to say but it would explain why they—her own people—had acted the way they did.
With the meeting within the Shadows inevitable, she blinks only once then turns to face them. “When is the meeting at the Covenant of Shadows?”
“Tomorrow night, at dusk,” Tynan announces, looking awkward all of a sudden—holding onto something. “I will escort you since...” his words cease. He takes a peek at the large Elder behind him, feeling his angst about the recent upset with his son, and doesn’t want to finish his thoughts. “Well, since you and Sh...”
Gabrian bites at her lip and holds her hand up to save him from having to continue, staring at him with wide knowing eyes as she feels Orroryn’s silent stare on her. “Thank you, Uncle Ty.” Her words release a silent sword to slice through her heart. “Did he come to...?”
“No, Gabe.”
Gabrian only lingers within her self-pity for a fraction of a thought. She does not have time to punish herself—the Covenant will make sure it is done properly.
Her life has become nothing more than a nightmare, one that she cannot wake up from, and she is forced to deal with the monsters within it.
The worst truth in all of this is she may be the biggest monster of all.
52
RUN TO THE HILLS
HAVING BEEN GIVEN A clean bill of health with nothing more than an irritating ache haunting the space in her lower abdomen where the bar had been lodged, Gabrian sits in the silence of her room and thrums her fingers on the back of the novel in time with the sound of the clock—tick-tick-tick on the wall, reminding her that time is running out and the meeting is drawing near. The sound echoes louder and louder through the empty space around her, beginning to pound against her eardrums, making them ache. No longer able to sit idle and await her doom, she jumps out of bed, gets dressed, and trudges down the hallway toward the kitchen in search for her caffeinated elixir, hoping it will work its Magik.
With her cup in hand, she sips back the warm mood-stabilizing liquid, letting it dance on her tongue as she drowns out the rest of the world for a mere moment. But her thoughts will not be still, the strangeness in the words Ethan had used earlier keep catching, grabbing her attention and pulling at her, sending her to a dark and barren ground where the words seem more fitting. She cannot help but wonder if there is more to the place than she understands.
It may have been where Adrinn tried to kill her—the place that haunts her dreams—but it may hold the answers to this riddle, or moreover, he may. Returning to face him is the only way she is going to find out.
But first, she needs to slip away from the eyes of her guardian.
She peers through the patio doors and sees lights in the guest house, Tynan’s abode. Pushing her senses out to see if he is alone, a sigh of relief escapes her lungs when she finds the familiar essence of Ethan and Vaeda within the walls, and hurries her departure.
STANDING IN THE DARK, Gabrian spots the small opening in the trees that will lead her in. The Derkaz gift she has been given proves to be an asset, at least tonight it does. It allows her to see past the shadows of night’s cloak. So she makes her advance into the hollow, following the sound of the roaring waves in the distance as they crash through the cavern below, in search of answers.
The images charge at her again, just like the last time she was here, flooding her mind with blurry memories and visions of confusing alterations in what took place. The closer she gets to the blackened earth, the more intense they become.
Voices drift in the darkness all around her, setting her nerves on edge, and some of them scream at her, making her fingers tingle, and an itch grows in the middle of the palms. She flips them over to see a trace of violet hovering just above the center of her life line. The fringe of night calls to her but she pushes back with a gentle nudge in her mind, trying to quiet them, and wonders if they are pressing against the boundaries of Erebus—if somehow the link between Earth and the underworld is thinning—and why they are the loudest here as she moves forward.
Her eyes sharpen as the familiar location comes into view, open and daunting, the place that calls to her in her sleep, the place Ethan and Shane continue to insist she stay away from. Gabrian stills herself. The heaviness of it makes her feel uneasy, but she is here, regardless of what the truths of that night are.
She edges herself forward and lowers to the ground, crouching, and
gathers earth within her hand, letting it fall, the grains of dirt sifting through her fingers like the sands in an hourglass running out of time. She opens her senses up and releases her aura, readying herself for whatever may join her tonight upon the precipice. It glows in a brilliant show of calico colours—flaring like a borealis—a beacon against the black wall of night that surrounds her. She closes her eyes and inhales.
Something is amiss.
Her eyes rip open to scan the shadows, but her world is dark, making her dizzy. Her night vision is gone along with her balance as the world around her shifts in a loud roar of thunder. Back on her feet, she turns her back to the edge of the cliff. An unnatural sense of fear creeps in and overrides her need for answers. Gabrian rushes forward, running blindly toward the direction of her car, and tries to recall the way out of the woods.
“Gabrian,” a voice whispers close against her ear, the words tickling the edges of her skin.
Her head swerves to the right, in the direction the voice taunted her. The tips of her fingers burn, sparking in the darkness with her distress, and she swats at the air beside her. The surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins has her on high alert, making it hard for her to think straight.
“Gabrian.”
Again, she swings her hand out violently to the left to swat away at the invisible tormentor.
A heckling cackle sounds in the darkness before her, taunting her. Having just about enough of this, and unable to get away, Gabrian grits her teeth, a surge of energy bursting outward in a ring of calico light detonating from her body, aching to find the source of the voice provoking her.
She sees it. A blip in the wave of energy detected—just for a moment as it melds around an upright form—its identity undeniable. It is him. The one she came looking for.
All of the accusations of what he did to her that night floods through her in a wave of panic. Now unsure of what to do or how to feel, she turns, running blind once more—partially by darkness and partially by the rush of anger fogging her sight. The possibility of deceit and the underlying truth of it all makes Gabrian desperate to get away.
