Aya looked past Keira and to the bear. With every step he took, blood spilled to the dirt below. She could only imagine the pain it was causing to put weight on his injured legs, but despite the gruesome injury, his pace remained constant.
“Keaul. Luterid. Luta!”
Aya turned and her mouth dried. Closing behind her were countless spear-wielding men. They were still a distance away, but at their pace, she was sure they would be on top of them in no time.
“There’s the bridge!” Keira cried.
“Kuaul. Kuaul!” The screams got louder by the second.
Aya and Keira stepped into the wooden bridge. It rocked dangerously as the girls dashed across it.
Aya gulped as she noticed the sheer fall that awaited her if she took a wrong step. Her jaw did not unclench until they had set foot on the other side of the bridge.
“C’mon, Loriko!” cried Keira at the bear who still stood at the other side of the bridge. “We’re across, so you don’t have to worry about putting too much weight on the—”
Loriko turned to them. He held his clawed hand up in the air, swinging it forward and ripping the rope that held the bridge.
“Ahhh…Loriko?” Keira stood motionless, as her voice became a squeak. “What are you doing?”
Loriko stood on his hand legs and roared.
“He’s saving us,” said Aya.
Keira remained in place. “No. I will not leave her to die.”
Now it was Aya who stood in shock. Loriko is a girl?
The next few events transpired in seconds.
Loriko rushed the dozen weapon-holding silhouettes. From afar, Aya said a silent prayer as the large shadow engulfed half a dozen men. Maybe there was hope for her after all.
A second later Aya’s hope shattered as a silhouette snuck behind Loriko and dug its spear in her back.
“Gota. Gota!”
Aya recognized the voice as that of the chief’s.
Loriko turned and delivered a vicious swing of her paw, sending the chief to the floor. His head landed a foot away from his body.
The reaming savages dug their spears into Loriko, each attack sending a roar of pain through the air.
“My friend!” cried Keira between sobs. She rushed toward the cliff. “Lori!”
Aya jumped and held her back.
Keira struggled to break free. “Let me go. S…she needs me!”
Aya fell to the ground with Keira, refusing to release her. She sadly gazed at Lori, wishing she could help.
Lori beat down the last of her attackers. Then her silhouette stumbled to the ground, releasing a mushroom of dust around her. Half a dozen spears penetrated her back. Lori lifted her head. Her last tired, low whimper moved through the air.
A second later her head crashed, and her movement ceased.
CHAPTER 22
“Like this?” asked Falcon as he dug his feet into the sand.
Demetrius cast another line into the crystal-clear lake. He swung his wobbly fishing rod around, as if that would change his luck.
Falcon sighed in frustration. “Demetrius? Am I doing the technique right or not? I’m never going to learn how to teleport if you never teach me.”
“I am teaching you, youngling,” said Demetrius, not bothering to turn toward the young wielder. He reached into his bucket and pulled out another worm. Ever so carefully he set the worm in the hook and threw it into the lake again. “With this bait, I’m sure I’ll catch a delicious meal for us.”
“I don’t care about meals. I need to know how to teleport if I’m going to bring in Lakirk for questioning. I’m sure he has been aided by Volcseck, and I’m going to capture him and make him reveal his whereabouts.”
“Then you should stop talking and concentrate on the task at hand.”
“Yes, but I need more to go on than ‘close your eyes and think’.”
Demetrius walked to the basket he’d set up by the water and took out a large pichion egg. He tossed it at his pupil.
Falcon caught the egg and shrugged. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
After a minute of Demetrius holding his finger to his chin, he held his head up. “Aha. I got it. I want you to bring one leg up, so that you’re only standing on one leg.”
“Like this?” asked Falcon, lifting his right leg.
“Yes, that’s good. Now set the egg down on your knee and hold that pose as long as you can.”
“Er…okay.” Falcon carefully put the egg on his lifted knee. He took a deep breath as he remained ramrod straight. He didn’t see the purpose of the exercise, but Demetrius was a master. He was certain he had a reason.
Demetrius looked on with admiration. “Not bad.” He poked Falcon’s stomach a few times, causing him to wobble slightly. “You have strong legs. But chaos requires more than physical power. I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on your family.”
“I don’t have any fami—”
“Shhh…. Don’t speak, simply concentrate.”
Falcon closed his eyes. He vaguely made out the sound of Demetrius casting his fishing rod into the water again. But in moments, every outside noise was drowned out by the sound of water splashing. He looked on as his mother stumbled toward him.
“Mother!” cried Falcon inside his head. He reached for her, but as he did, a bloodied sword appeared through her stomach.
“Why didn’t you save me?” she asked. “You hid behind a bush as I died. How could you be so cowardly?”
A lump formed in his throat as he tried to say the right words, but nothing came.
“Weak coward, weak coward, weak coward.”
His mother disappeared, replaced by the sight of his father, Anson. He looked down on him with fierce eyes. “You could have saved her, but you didn’t. I’m ashamed to call you my son, you spineless worm.”
A spear appeared out of seemingly nowhere and pierced his father’s head. As the spear dug into the skull, the image of Anson dissolved into a black mist.
“Hello, brother,” said Albert.
Falcon staggered back. “A…a-albert?” He had on the same brown tunic he’d worn the last time Falcon had seen him.
“You don’t want to believe that I murdered the council. But the truth is that I did. I craved power. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. Unlimited power. There is nothing better.”
“No. This is not real.”
“I’m as real as you. And like you, I’m a monster too. No, what am I saying? You’re the real monster here. You are the chaos wielder, after all.”
“Shut up! Just shut—” Falcon closed his mouth as he took a step back. No. I need to take control. I must not give in.
“Don’t shove me away,” said Albert. “I’m your brother, your own flesh and blood. Don’t you want to be like me?”
“You’re no brother of mine. You’re the chaos inside of me.” He envisioned a barrier in his mind. With great effort he brought his trembling hands together as a golden ring encircled his brother. The ring shrank in size, squeezing the life out of Albert.
His brother held out his hand. “You can’t do this to me. You can’t do this.”
Falcon’s eyes snapped open. He wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt. His leg was still up, and the egg safely rested on his knee. “I did it!”
“Did what?” asked Demetrius, pulling his string of bait through the lake.
“I controlled the chaos. I thought you were crazy with your methods, but it actually worked.” In his excitement he forgot to set his foot down.
“No!” cried Demetrius as the egg rolled down Falcon’s leg and to the ground. It shattered loudly atop a rock. “I was going to eat that with my fish.”
Falcon scratched his chin. “Sorry.”
~~~
“Thank you,” said Faith as the lady handed her a loaf of bread. She took a whiff of the blueberry wheat and set it in her basket.
“I got the potato.” Iris held the vegetable over her head. “The man gave me a discount because he knows I’m wit
h you.”
“That was nice of him. Did you say thank you?”
“Of course, Faith. I haven’t forgotten what you taught me.”
Faith took the girl’s hand and led her down the path into the forest. “That’s good.”
Iris smiled. “Do you think Falcon and the old geezer have made any progress in the training?”
“Iris!”
“Oh. Sorry. I meant to say Mr. Demetrius, not old geezer.”
“That’s better.” Faith took in the fresh breeze that coursed through the air. It reminded her of her home, Asturia. “And as for Falcon, I’m sure he’s doing fine. He’s very good.”
“But he gets angry quickly, doesn’t he?”
Faith glanced at Iris, admiring her awareness. “Yes, he has a hard time staying in control sometimes. But he does a good job at it, despite what he thinks. He…” She took a deep breath. “He doesn’t hate me after what I did to him.”
Iris’s eyes narrowed and her steps slowed. “What did you do?”
Faith felt an ache in her chest as she forced the words out of her mouth. “Falcon’s parents died because of me.”
“Really?”
“Shal-Volcseck attacked my village because he was looking for me. It was during this attack that both his parents were killed.” Faith took another breath, attempting to keep steady. “It’s all my fault; and yet, he’s never been unkind to me. On the contrary, he’s been the total opposite of that. So you see? He is kind despite the chaos inside of him. He just has a hard time seeing it sometimes, that’s all.”
“Yes. I’m sure you’re right.”
“How about you, Iris? I told you a little about me, but I still don’t know much about you.”
Iris dragged her feet as a slight frown formed on her lips. “Not much to say. I was found as a baby at the doorsteps of the infirmary. The nurses looked after me until I was three. Then all of them left to the capital cities. Since then, I have been on my own.”
Faith felt a knot form in her stomach. “How did you survive?”
“People always throw away scraps of food, especially during the holidays. I also started offering my services as a guide to K’vitch. That got me a few coins to keep me fed once in a while. That is how I found you.”
“And I’m so glad you did,” said Faith. “I promise you that you’re never going to have to eat out of trashcans again. I’ll see to that.”
Iris squeezed Faith’s hand tighter. “Thank you. That means so much to me.”
“No!” A cry echoed in the air.
Iris’s head darted about. “What was that?”
“It sounded like it came from the lake,” said Faith. “C’mon, let’s go see if everything is fine.”
The girls hurried down the path. It led them around a large rock, beneath a wooden bridge, and out into the yellow sand.
Demetrius was on his knees. “No, my egg!”
“Don’t worry,” said Faith. She lifted the basket of eggs. “I got plenty here.”
Demetrius smiled. “Great job, youngling.” He stood and returned to his fishing rod. “All I need now is to catch a fish and I can have my sandwich.”
Falcon shrugged as he stared at Faith. “I actually managed to control some of the chaos, but he’s more excited about eggs.”
“That’s great, Falcon!” shrieked Faith. “That’s such a good step for you. I knew having someone who knows your element would help.”
“How did you do it?” asked Iris excitedly.
Falcon took an egg from the basket and raised his knee. Taking great care, he set the egg on his knee.
Faith wore a face of confusion. “Is that really necessary?”
“Yes, according to Demetrius. It’s a way to keep me focused physically and mentally.”
Demetrius snickered loudly to himself. “I’m afraid you’re overthinking things a bit, youngling.”
Falcon handed the egg back to Faith. “What do you mean?”
“The only reason I had you hold the egg like that was because I thought it would be funny to see you struggling to keep your balance. I was getting bored and I needed some form of entertainment.”
Falcon’s jaw dropped. “So that was for nothing?”
“No, not for nothing. Weren’t you listening? It was to give me a good laugh.”
“Do it again, Falcon,” said Iris between giggles. “Do it again. I want to see you fall and break an egg.”
Falcon licked his teeth, unable to believe he’d fallen for the old man’s trick. “You know, you’re not at all what I expected.”
“And what did you expect, youngling? You thought that because I was a chaos wielder I was going to be silent, brooding, and humorless?”
“Well, yes, actually.”
Demetrius grinned, exposing crooked dark teeth. “You would do well to not pass judgment on people simply by the title they carry.”
Falcon’s thoughts drifted back to Aya and the day he’d met her. “A friend told me that once too.”
“I got one!” cried Demetrius as he pulled the rod back. A squirming gray fish landed on the sand. The old man rubbed his stomach. “Sandwich time!”
Falcon grinned. Yes, indeed, this man was not what he had expected. But that didn’t necessarily seem like a bad thing anymore.
CHAPTER 23
Falcon took in the aroma of the sweet bread as he stuffed it in his mouth. The egg inside it melted on his tongue, causing him to sigh with satisfaction. At first he had thought this night picnic to be a bad idea, but now he wasn’t too sure.
“Falcon!” said Faith, looking absolutely aghast. “I had no idea you could eat like that.”
Iris too stood with mouth wide open. “I suppose he was very hungry.”
“A man with no patience with food is also a man with no food,” said Father Lucien. “And a man with no food can never watch the birds fly.”
“That’s very true,” said Shal-Demetrius. He leaned on the thick branch of the tree.
Falcon felt his cheeks redden as he forced the food down his throat. “I’m sorry, Faith.”
“Sorry?” asked Faith. “Don’t be. It’s fine. I was just a bit shocked to see you eat with such ferocity. That’s all.” She returned to braiding Iris’s long hair. “It’s actually kind of funny. I never have seen you act that way.”
Iris, who sat cross-legged in front of a kneeling Faith, caressed the ponytail that had been finished. “Wow. It’s so shiny.”
Faith ran more water through the girl’s hair. “It’s amazing what a little wash can do.”
Falcon nodded. He had to agree. Iris did look much better now that Faith had washed her in the lake.
All of a sudden, Iris clasped Faith’s hand. A silent tear dripped out from her eye as her gaze remained locked on Falcon’s. “You two have been so kind to me. No one has ever treated me this way. No one.” The girl’s voice was full of sadness and gratitude. “Th…thanks so much for saving me, for everything. I don’t deserve—”
Faith held the girl in her arms. “Don’t you say that. Of course you deserve it. You’re an amazing person.” She looked up at Falcon, her eyes demanding that he say something.
Falcon, not sure what to say, cleared his throat. “Um…that’s right. You deserve the best.”
The little girl remained sobbing quietly while Faith held her tight.
“Not that great with words, huh?” said Father Lucien. “Have you figured out my little riddle from back on our wagon ride?”
Falcon sighed, not sure why Faith had insisted on bringing the father along. “No, I can’t say that I have.”
“Perhaps if you spent less time thinking about your sword and wielding and more about words and their meaning, you would make some progress.”
“Can we get back to training?” asked Falcon.
“In your case this is training,” Demetrius said. “Learning to relax is a virtue you would do well to remember. Besides, the moon has just passed the middle of the sky. We should have gone to sleep hours ago.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Then meditate.”
“Meditation never helped me get any answers before. I doubt it will now.”
“Is that so?” asked the chaos wielder. He took a seat in front of Falcon.
“What are you doing?” asked Falcon as Demetrius took his hand.
“Shush and close your eyes.”
“But—”
“Do it!” Demetrius turned to Faith. “Could you join us as well?”
Faith appeared as confused as Falcon, but she remained silent as she put her hands over Falcon’s.
Falcon closed his eyes. At first he saw nothing. Felt nothing. But after a few seconds, the wrinkled hands of Demetrius grew warm. Then he saw it.
He now stood in front of a small cottage. The fields around it as well as the pine trees were covered in snow. A tall man with sharp features stood at the door, apparently unaware that Falcon was watching him.
“Be gone, boy,” ordered the man to a kid who couldn’t be more than eight years of age. “The winters in these mountains are harsh. My wife and I barely have enough for ourselves. We can’t share our morsels with any stray who comes calling.”
“Demetrius!” A beautiful, red-haired woman called as he came out from inside the hut.
So the man is Demetrius. But why is he showing me something that happened so long ago?
“Yes, Lunet?”
The woman put her hand over a bloodied gash the boy had on his neck. The holy pearl on her hand brightened as the cut closed, leaving no sign of an injury. She took hold of the malnourished boy and led him into the cabin. “We always have room for those in need.”
Demetrius took in a deep breath and held it. “Of course, dear.”
“What is your name?” asked Lunet.
The boy looked up at the woman. He rubbed his bony cheeks. “Volcseck. My name is Volcseck.”
A tornado slammed into the scene, carrying the images away. A moment later Falcon stood by a lake. Before him, Demetrius towered over a young man who couldn’t be a day past twenty seasons old.
“Come at me, Volcseck.”
Volcseck grinned as he unsheathed his sword. His cheeks looked much fuller now, and the dark bags under his eyes were nonexistent. He rushed forward with a flurry of sword strikes.
Legacy of Chaos (The Void Wielder Trilogy Book 2) Page 16
