Unchained Hearts

by Ash Night

  “Kalden Crossfire’s son is alive!” My heart sank when an audible gasp erupted from the crowd of villagers. A Fae as young as myself shouldn’t know that name. What had gotten into me, anyway? Why was I up here, standing on a small platform like it was a giant stage? I’d just started talking without a real point. I felt more like a mouse than a lion.

  My parents were looking at me, nearly bursting with pride. They’d always wanted me to come out of my shell. Well, this was as far out of my shell as I could get.

  Liam was looking at me like I was crazy, but when I caught his eye. he smiled encouragingly. I nodded, grateful for his support, and continued my rambling speech.

  “He’s here and he’s come to help us all get back what’s rightfully ours! Three hundred and twenty years ago, our magic was stolen from us. Most of you know what it was like to have it. Don’t you want it back? That feeling of power? Of feeling like you could actually live free, not like you’re wrapped in cotton?”

  I saw more than a few heads in the crowd nod in agreement. My confidence rocketed upward. I had them right where I wanted them. Now I just had to engage everyone without screwing it all up.

  “I have lived with my Seal my entire life. Cam opened my eyes to things I’d never thought possible. He tapped into my locked magic and allowed me to feel it. I’d never felt so alive! The grass beneath my feet vibrated with energy. The trees sang to me. I felt life all around me. Magic is life. It’s the energy that surrounds us. It’s a force within us that should not be locked away! Kalden Crossfire understood that and many of you fought for him or knew someone dedicated to him.”

  I locked eyes with as many of my elders as I could, silently pleading that my words would reach them. I needed support. Cam needed it.

  A few times, I caught myself scanning the crowd for his face and I quickly chastised myself. If I was going to do this and actually convince people to fight, I needed to focus. Cam would be fine.

  “Kalden couldn’t protect his family! Are we really supposed to put our faith in a kid of the man who ran away and left his wife and unborn child to die? What if he abandons us too?” someone in the back yelled.

  I froze. Kalden did what? I’d never heard that before. My mind stuttered to a stop and people in the crowd were visibly getting more restless the longer I searched for an answer. Now what did I say? Could Kalden really have abandoned everyone?

  Liam pushed his way through the crowd and hopped up onto the platform. He smiled at me before facing the crowd. “Kalden Crossfire was an honorable man! He never would have abandoned his wife and child! That was just damn propaganda the Seven spread around to make us doubt him, and you all know it! And I’ve met Cam. Despite our, um, differences, I know he would never go back on his word.”

  My heart soared as a few frowns turned into hopeful smiles. It was working!

  Liam talked for a little bit about how he dreamed of how magic felt without letting on that his Seal was broken. Suddenly he grabbed my hand, lifting our intertwined fingers high into the air, and gave me a quick nod. I smiled. I knew how he wanted to end this speech. It was exactly how I had wanted to. Together, we shouted the words that had once set the world on fire.

  “Magic is a right, not a rule!”

  My heart was still racing with excitement after the crowd dispersed and we took the platform stairs two at a time. A slow clap caught my attention. Cam was lounging against a tree, his face bathed in shadow. Stepping out into the moonlight, I saw his familiar grin and I couldn’t help but run up and hug him.

  He quickly moved his hands away as I held onto him. “You did amazing, Sunshine. You never told me you were a public speaker.”

  I shook my head. “First time.”

  Liam snorted. “What, no hit to the back of his head?”

  Turning to look at Liam, I stuck out my tongue. “I was getting to that!”

  Liam rolled his eyes. “Sure, you were.”

  “Are you okay?” I asked, searching Cam’s face for pain. He looked amused by my concern, which pissed me off.

  “I’m fine, Sunshine.” His hands were behind his back.

  “Could you be any more obvious? Lemme see.” I tried to get a better look, but he kept blocking my view.

  “I’m fine. Nothing is wrong with my hands.”

  “You look tired,” I accused.

  He laughed. “You’re just determined to see something wrong, aren’t you?”

  “No, you really do look exhausted,” I insisted. “Did you use your magic? Liam had the same reaction. You both look ready to drop.”

  Cam scoffed. “He would drop way before I would.”

  “You wish.” Liam’s hands balled into fists.

  “Does Snowflake wanna fight? Cuz that Shadow Knight was barely a warm up.”

  Liam’s eyes flashed angrily. “Sure, Cuff Boy, any time, any place!”

  Hugging Cam tight, I held him back. “Wrong time and wrong place!”

  Cam smiled and gently pushed me away. “Again, Sunshine, I appreciate it, but I don’t need a bodyguard.”

  “Do not tear each other apart,” I warned, “or public speaking isn’t the only new thing I’ll do tonight.”

  Both of the boys just laughed. I sighed and shook my head. Did those two have any worries at all? At least they looked like they had regained some of their energy. Too bad they were just going to waste it all again.

  The rain had finally stopped and the wind had died down. There were still a few gray storm clouds in the sky, but they were too little to be a threat. The moon was full and bright. Perfect night for a walk to clear my head.

  My parents were busy checking on the house after someone had announced the flood had magically dried up. Luckily everything in our house was magic-insured so everything was sealed with a protective barrier. Water wouldn’t ruin any of our things. Most folks weren’t so lucky.

  I stopped to watch a few late sunlillies close. The pink and purple flowers would open again at sunrise. I envied them. They were able to close out the darkness of the world and only let the light in. It was almost as if a few of them every season closed later in the day as if they were curious about the night. A sunlilly open at night was a beautiful, rare sight.

  Fireflies lit up like small fireworks as I wandered the woods. For the first time tonight, I felt myself truly relax. The forest was a beautiful place during the day, but it was only ever truly calm at night. Sure, animals still moved around at night but they were quiet, more peaceful.

  “Hello, Serena, enjoying the night as well?” Master Cisco smiled. He was sitting on a fallen tree trunk. “This poor tree. If I still had use of my magic, I’d be able to restore it to full heath with little effort. Back in the old days, I was quite a powerhouse, you know. I wasn’t always a frail, old man.” His eyes twinkled. “Of course, as kids, we never think we’ll get old, but it happens to everyone.”

  I joined him on the log. “Yes, I suppose we don’t. I can’t imagine getting old.”

  He chuckled. “Believe me, it creeps up on you until you have creaks you never noticed before. Your speech tonight was beautiful, by the way. It was like I was listening to Mary-Beth all over again. She had quite a talent for inspiring people, just like her husband. Together, their flame burned brighter than any wildfire.”

  “Really? Thank you so much for the lovely compliment, Master.” I blushed. I hadn’t expected any compliments on my speech, other than the ones my parents had given me before they left. If anything, I had expected to be called crazy.

  “You moved me to tears, you and Liam both. I’m extremely proud of you kids. You inspired me to believe that I may feel magic in my old bones once again before I die.”

  “Unless Liam gives you a heart attack first.” I let out a nervous laugh. I’d always hated talking about death. Being a creature of the forest, I was taught at a young age that death was a part of life. Our bodies would feed magic back into the earth once we passed away so, in a sense, we would be returning home, but I still didn’t like th
e idea of anyone I loved dying.

  Master Cisco let out a hearty laugh. “Aye, that he might! I was a lot like him at his age. Couldn’t move fast enough. Now, I’ve slowed down quite a bit, but my heart still understands his energy. Liam is a fine young man. He is my son, even if we do not share the same blood.”

  “I’m glad you took him in.” I stared into the forest. “He’s fighting with Cam Crossfire right now.”

  “Oh, is he now? Twenty snowsweet berries on Cam.” I raised an eyebrow. He just laughed. “If you knew Kal as well as I did, you’d understand.”

  “You knew Kalden Crossfire?”

  He looked into the forest, as if seeing into the past. “Back when I lived in the Castle district, I lived across the street from Kalden for a time. We became fast friends. He was eleven but my group of friends, who were all much older by then, accepted him into our competition circle, the Spell Games we called it, because he was absolutely fearless. He performed powerful spells as though they were as easy as lighting a candle and he took on the toughest opponents without batting an eye. His stamina was legendary. To this day, I’ve never seen a creature with more determination and drive.”

  I sat silent, listening intently. I couldn’t picture Kalden as a kid doing typical kid things. The same went for Cam.

  “He never lost a fight. Some of the boys he fought had every advantage possible, but he still beat them. Because no matter how much his opponent wanted to win, Kal wanted it more.

  “The day they took it all away is a day I will never forget. August fifth, XX7. Known as ‘The Day the Whole World Cried’. We were awakened by soldiers barging in to our homes a fair bit before sunrise and ordering everyone to gather in the marketplace. Women in one line, men in another. All the children were to line up according to height.”

  My stomach turned. Those children, especially the youngest, had to have been terrified. I tried to put myself in Master Cisco’s shoes. To have your magic one moment and then not have it the next must been like ripping out a part of themselves.

  “We were given a brief, confusing explanation of what was to happen to us, but even the best speaker in the world couldn’t have prepared us for what happened next. We were herded into one of three cabins—they had been built overnight—and commanded to head into a back room, one by one. Once we were inside the main room of the cabin, we strayed out of line and stuck close to our friends.

  “Kalden noticed a few of the younger children, not much older than babes, were alone so he took it upon himself to leave our group and sit with them. He smiled at me from across the room and then talked with the kids to keep them calm. He even entertained them with snowflake and ice art. He truly was a kind soul. Despite his own fear, he was still thinking of others.”

  “What about newborns?” I asked, so enthralled in his tale I was on the literal edge of my seat.

  Master Cisco’s heartbroken expression made me immediately regret asking. “That first day, all the babies were shot. Many of the children under five summers old were killed in the first year.”

  “Boys and girls?” I was disturbed at the thought. Killing anyone was horrific, but babies…

  He nodded. “Yes, unfortunately the panic over strong magic was so great that if the newborns came from strong families, they were executed not long after they took their first breaths. That’s why a lot of stronger family bloodlines from history have effectively been erased. Many did not survive the Sealing process, anyway”

  “What happened next?”

  “Kal was the first of my friends to be called into the back room. I don’t think my heart started beating again until he came back out. When he did, his smile was gone. His will to fight, that determination that had helped him win so many fights, seemed to have been snuffed out as easily as wind blowing out a flame. He kept his head down and wouldn’t talk or even look at anyone. No one approached him, almost as if his dead eyes were like a poison and no one wanted to risk infection.

  “To me, it felt as though the room had become even more gloomy without Kal’s light to give us hope. I felt that exact same gloom the day he died. It was like ice sliding into my heart, freezing it from the inside out.”

  “Didn’t he try to fight them off?”

  Master Cisco chuckled. “Yes, he did. I distinctly remember hearing more than a few cuss words from the soldiers and even heard someone’s back hit the wall. However, it wasn’t enough. I’m sure they had to have threatened his family or someone else very dear to him. That’s the only way he would have given up a fight. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left that room alive.”

  I smiled. “Cam said he was part demon.”

  He smiled briefly. “Kal bragged about being half demon all the time to the boys dumb enough to challenge him. They were never scared by that until after they got their butts handed to them. After that, if you even said the word demon, they would break out in a sweat.”

  “Wow.” I was suddenly extremely worried about Liam.

  “The boy will be fine, Serena, my dear. If he were in any real danger, he wouldn’t have fought in the first place. He’s smarter than that.”

  “I hope so. I’m sorry. Go on with your story.”

  He sighed. “Ah, yes. After what felt like eons, my name was called. By this time, I’d watched almost all my friends go in and come out looking like exhausted zombies, as if they had had their souls ripped out. Not a single one would tell me what had happened and what I should expect so, like them, I was going in blind. It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I still, to this day, have nightmares about it.”

  I let out a small gasp. Master Cisco was afraid of something? All my life he’d always been so cheerful. I’d never expected him to be carrying this dark weight around.

  “Closing the door behind me, I saw a small cot. A soldier was standing beside the cot with a small tool in his hand. The tool resembled a pen. It was so small, yet I was instantly petrified of it. The soldier behind me instructed me to take off my shirt and any and all jewelry that I was wearing. I was wearing a necklace that Olga, my childhood sweetheart, had given me. Well, like any stubborn young man halfway into his second century of life, I refused to take it off. The soldier just chuckled and said I’d regret it.

  “I laid down on the cot, which was about as comfortable as laying on a rock, and the soldier to my left held my feet while another came in from a back door and held my arms. The scent of blood and gunpowder was strong on him. Little did I know at the time he had murdered the Lynstrom’s baby just moments before. The Lynstroms were kind people and they had tried for a baby for years. The baby had been born a few days before.”

  “Oh…” I felt tears prick at my eyes for this baby who had died three hundred years ago. He would have been a bit younger than my dad.

  He sighed. “Mrs. Lystrom never got over it. She and her husband left the country by boat a few years later and I never saw them again. Anyway, the soldier with the pen-like tool hovered over me with an evil, twisted smile on his face. I could live a thousand years and I’d never forget that look. You could tell the fool enjoyed his job. His eyes were two empty black orbs that revealed only sick joy in what he was about to do. The pen spit out a small beam of light onto my chest. And then the pain began.”

  My heart beat faster and faster as I processed what Master Cisco was saying. His eyes were full of pain. There was no doubt in my mind that he could still feel every prick as the light ripped out his soul, locking away his magic forever. My fingers dug into the log angrily, threatening to break it. How could this have happened? How could the government just wake up one day and decide to take away what made our souls sing?

  “It was like fire and ice had collided to make a new brand of all-consuming pain. I had heard many of my friends scream, but I still wasn’t prepared for the sound that clawed its way out of my throat. Memory after memory flashed before my eyes. I saw my parents’ faces as they watched my baby brother walk for the very first time. I saw the joy on my friend’s face as
he opened the letter of acceptance from one of the best schools in the country. I saw my mom’s heartbroken expression as they buried my father’s picture in an empty box after he never came home from war.

  “I was convinced I was going to die. The pain felt like it was never-ending. But it did. I had no idea how long I stayed in that room. After it was over, it felt like my soul had been ripped to shreds and then shoved back inside me, missing pieces I couldn’t quite get back. I was pulled to my feet and shoved out the door, where I promptly landed on my face. Or, at least I would have if Kal hadn’t been there to catch me. I tried to find my voice to thank him, but he just shook his head and gave me a pathetic smile that lacked all but the faintest traces of hope. I’d never felt more lost than I did in that moment. Except for the moment it was announced Kal had died, of course.”

  I sat there speechless. There were no words for the story I had just heard. The only emotion I felt was pure anger. How could the government do that to anyone? They had no right to cause so much pain. So much heartbreak. The unfairness I felt at my magic being taken away couldn’t ever possibly compare to those who had been there at the beginning.

  Master Cisco fell quiet for a long moment. I broke the silence with a question. “Where are your friends now?” Master Cisco was a reclusive old man who liked to keep to himself and rarely ventured into town, but he always welcomed visitors with open arms.

  He sighed. “They all died fighting for Kal. I nearly did too, but the Goddess spared me. When it was all over, everyone lost that glimmer of hope he had provided. It was the darkest day of my life.”

  “Your limp…”

  He smiled at me. “Yes, it was the reason I slowed down. Kal visited me in the sick bay when he heard I had been injured, rode a horse for five days straight just to see me. The exhaustion was written all over his face, but he was all smiles when he walked in. I tried to explain to him that I’d be up fighting for him in no time. He just simply laughed and said, ‘My friend, we don’t even know if you’ll be able to walk again. You’ve given enough. It’s time to slow down.’ After I recovered a few weeks later, I visited him and regretfully told him I’d have to take his advice whether I wanted to or not because I was no longer able to run or fight.