Lumen

by Joseph Eastwood

  He pushed higher into the sky, repeating the word ‘expose’ to himself in a mumble. He wasn’t thinking properly, he was angry at Reuben. She wasn’t angry like him; she didn’t mind him being off the island. And then he realised what he looked like, a seraph, a winged boy, swooping down over the town.

  He reached the roof of the building and landed on his hands and knees. Mia jumped off and playfully hit him. “That wasn’t funny,” she said. Daniel turned his head slightly to see the huge grin on her face, only thinking, no, it really wasn’t.

  He stayed on his hands and knees for a moment and then a huge gust of wind knocked him, taking the first feathers from his wings. He started to molt, the wind picked up, hitting him from all directions, each taking a hand full of feathers with it, picking the bones of the wings clean. The bones receded back into his body, leaving gaping pools of blood where they’d once been.

  Mia had asked several times if he was okay, each time she asked her voice more strained. “Why are you bleeding?”

  “I’m fine. Really, I am. The bleeding happens every time; it will heal over and look like it never happened.” He looked into the sky, watching his feathers being taken away into the clouds.

  Mia had caught a feather. She rubbed it between her forefinger and thumb, and then stroked the side of her face with it. “How come they’re—” she turned around to see Daniel standing beside her.

  He looked into her eyes, and touched her hand. He turned his head to the long feather in her hand and touched it. The feather dissolved, and Daniel’s eyes rolled back as the energy hit him.

  “How did—” she began, turning to look at Daniel, and as she turned, he kissed her. She pulled away and gasped. “Um.” Then she kissed him back. “I think you should get dressed now.”

  “It is getting a little cold,” he laughed, tucking his hands under his arms.

  Mia picked up the bundle of his clothes and chucked them to him. “I can’t believe it. And you even did it half-naked.”

  “Well, I was warm when I did it. Probably because I wasn’t exactly human, I was more bird than I was boy. My blood changes and everything, my senses become sharper and my skin, well I’m not sure about that, but I know it means I can stand very, very cold temperatures,” he explained, slipping the t-shirt over his head.

  “Are you going to tell me what you are then? Bird boy,” she said, brushing the hair out of her face.

  “I’m human,” he grinned, “in fact, I’ll probably be dead tomorrow if the law has anything to say about it,” he grinned, and that soon faded as he realised it was true.

  “I doubt it. He wouldn’t have given you this privilege just to kill you. He’s knows that you’re special, just like I know you’re special. But you’ll still have to call me tomorrow, to make sure that you’re still alive.”

  They kissed again before she left through the rooftop door. Daniel sat on the ledge of the building for several minutes, thinking about the girl he saw in the coffee shop, the same girl he’d seen today. He didn’t like her, not how he liked Mia. She made him question himself, she was like Karsar. Was she another Luminary? He gasped at the thought. She was, she has to be.

  When Daniel got back to his room he was alone. It was the evening now, almost time for dinner, but he wasn’t going to step another foot outside that door. He’d contemplated going home, going to see his mother, but she’d only be more worried than she needed to be.

  He curled up into a ball on his bed. He cocooned himself in his duvet and let himself drift off, falling into a sickly white slumber.

  The white surrounded him. “Come with me,” a heavenly female voice yanked at him. “Come–come–come with me,” it pulled again, this time waking him, waking him into a whole new sense.

  “Hello,” he said, swiping his hand out in front of himself. Something clung to his fingers, white sticky fluff and it was taking over his body.

  “Stay still,” the voice drowned him.

  How? He thought.

  A warm rasping breath caressed the nape of his neck and the back of his ear. “You’re born wrong. You’re born strong. The scum is that beneath you. Not right through you. Errors of size, have been dealt. Skin and flesh, will always melt. Try to realise, what’s been done. Think on your feet, little one.” A woman, made of mist logged features spiralled around him.

  Before Daniel realised it, he was breathing the smoke in, and out, in, and out. Getting light-headed, he pinned his eyes open to get a bet look at the woman’s face.

  “I don’t understand,” he murmured, his head wavering on his neck.

  “You’re stuck. Go un-stick yourself,” she said, vanishing, and taking the gloop that had enveloped him.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Daniel wiped the palms of his hands down the sides of his pants. He held a hand up to knock on Reuben’s door, but before he could, the door flew open. Reuben’s face covered in pulsating veins.

  He slammed both of his fists on his desk. “What are you waiting there for?” he asked. Daniel jumped and then hurried into the room, the doors slamming behind him. “You broke the rules!” Reuben slammed his fists against the table again. “What do you have to say in your defence?”

  “Um. I—I—I was angry.”

  “Oh, so that’s okay then, I went out on a limb for you, Daniel. And I might have been fine if you didn’t pull that little stunt. It could have exposed us all.”

  It had occurred to him, he knew what he was doing, and he kind of wanted to be caught on camera. He glanced behind Reuben to the grey cloudless skyline. He thought, they’re probably paying a price much worse than mine… is there anything worse than death?

  “Did someone see me?”

  “Did someone see you? Someone?” he laughed.

  So it’s true, someone else is going to pay a price worse than death. Daniel butted his lips together and blinked away the tears from welling in his eyes. “H—How many people?”

  “It doesn’t really matter, does it? Do you feel bad for what you’ve done? You put more than just your own life in danger, and you still don’t really understand the repercussion. People can lose their lives.”

  “But you don’t have to say anything. I promise I’ll stay on the island.”

  “If it was up to me… but it isn’t, the footage went straight the capital.”

  “What if the Luminary doesn’t want you to kill these people?”

  “We do this to please them, so of course they want us to. However, I’m willing to get those at the capital to just erase the footage.”

  “Are you g-g-going to kill me?” Daniel asked, the back of his legs started to tingle and fall weak. He remembered telling Mia that he was happy to accept any punishment, he wished he hadn’t lied to her now.

  Reuben snorted and threw his arms back as he lounged in his leather office chair. “No,” he said, “but punish, yes. I need a vile of your blood, for insurance purposes, in case this comes back and bites me.”

  The glands in Daniel’s throat throbbed as he choked on Reuben’s reply. He looked up at him, his eyes turning pink from the need to cry. He nodded, without a care for what Reuben needed his blood for, as long as it wasn’t his life.

  “You’re not going to class today, but the rest of your week will stay as planned, including Tuesday,” he continued.

  Daniel nodded in agreement; there was no room for him to protest. Reuben signalled for him to approach.

  “I’ll need that blood from you now. And then afterwards, you will go to get your breakfast and you will take it back to your room, there you will eat it, and only come out when it’s time for lunch,” he explained.

  Reuben pulled Daniel’s arm close, he pushed his sleeve up his arm and with one smooth flick of his wrist there was a huge cut across Daniel’s palm. Reuben held Daniel’s hand over a small pyramid-shaped glass where his blood trickled down his fingertips and drip by drip, the blood filled the vial.

  Reuben shooed Daniel away when the glass was full. “Go get your breakfas
t,” he said, screwing a cork into the top of the glass.

  Daniel hurried off, cradling his bleeding hand in his arm.

  “That should heal,” Reuben shouted after him.

  Daniel didn’t stop for breakfast, and even though the blood he’d just lost made him weak, he managed to summon the frailest of vibrations to teleport him back to his room.

  “Screw him! I did nothing wrong!” Daniel shouted, wiping the tears from his face and smearing the blood from his hands in its place.

  He finally calmed himself down and sat on his bed. He’d tried several times to get a hold of Jac, but every time he felt close, an abrupt wave of white noise crashed down inside his ears. He tried again, and again, and soon after, he started to get a nosebleed, that’s when he decided to call it quits.

  He did nothing, he could do nothing. The lady in white, and the man in black were the only people he could meet, and they were in his dreams, so he decided to sleep.

  Daniel woke, seconds before his alarm could chirp. He gasped, throwing his duvet to the floor. He took a deep breath and then sighed. He glanced at the time; not even enough to get a quick shower. What worried him even more was the fact that he’d almost slept 18 hours.

  “Jac!” he called out, closing his eyes and trying to push his name out there, trying to connect with him.

  He sighed and walked over to the sink. He picked up the dry flannel from across the faucet and wet it with cold water. He blotted his face and body with the cold flannel, there was a wave of instant pleasure as he wiped at his sweat-stained skin.

  Quickly, he dressed and rushed out of his room. He skipped breakfast and headed straight for the stables.

  “Today, we’re going to be fighting in our animal forms. We must all learn how to do it, and we must all be able to fight,” Enek said, standing as people formed a circle around him. “Even if you’re an elk.” He turned around to a small chubby girl and grinned. “I've been advised on pairings, and your opponent will be the one who you can learn from.”

  Jasper glared at Daniel and snarled. It was a sudden feeling, the feeling that he knew what was going to happen, Daniel would be paired with Jasper, and the school know how that went down last time, besides, Daniel didn’t even shift form that time. He tried to return the same snarl, but his stomach knotted; it felt like it was chewing on itself, and the expression Daniel gave was full of pain.

  Enek began reading a list of names out and then he got to Daniel’s name. He hummed and bit on the lid of his pen. “Daniel, you’re with Charles,” he said.

  “Huh?” Charles said.

  Daniel recognised him, he was from the Tuesday class, but he seemed nice there, now, here, the look on his face like he’d just been told his whole family had been massacred. Daniel didn’t know much about Charles, his animal form was the snake and he was friendly with the teachers… that’s probably what everyone knew.

  “Enek,” Charles said, getting the teacher’s attention, “our animal types are off,” he protested, swiping a hand through his gelled back hair.

  “You’re going to have to deal with it,” Enek said, and then moved on.

  Charles flared his nostrils and stared at Daniel from across the stable. Daniel was slightly relieved; the look Charles gave him was nothing in comparison to the cold stomach wrenching ones that Jasper seemed to throw around. This also gave Daniel a chance to release some anger, and he was suddenly a bit disappointed that he hadn’t been paired with Jasper.

  Each pair took a different section of the barn. Charles’ lips curled as he met with Daniel. “You do know my venom is dangerous, right?” Charles said.

  “So guys, I want you to keep this clean, no other use of energy and no weapons. If you do kill,” Enek grinned, “then you too will be killed. Even if accidental, you know your own threshold and must submit if you’ve gone too far, similarly if you think you’re going to kill, pull back. Now, on with the show.”

  The thought of death took Daniel back to yesterday morning where he feared that his own life had come to an end. And then his thoughts whirled to Jac, he’d only ever killed with Jac, and most of the killing was done by Jac, Daniel could fly, swoop down and injure with his talons, but the smell of blood made his stomach bubble. Even now, just thinking about it, he clutched his stomach.

  “It can sometimes inhabit your other abilities, and even keep you in your animal form,” Charles continued, “are you sure you want to do this?”

  Daniel grinned. “I’m ready.”

  Within seconds of Charles rolling his eyes he landed in a heap at the ground as a snake. Daniel jumped back as the snake cocked its head and readied itself to strike. The snake was huge, and its glossy skin had been coloured in whites and blues.

  “A little warning,” Daniel laughed, “but what pretty colours you have.” He took a step back and within seconds his body had changed to that of a huge eagle with a solid silver beak.

  Daniel snapped his beak as Charles squirted his venom. They both took on defensive stances across from each other, and before they could figure it out they’d taken to the centre of the stable, while others fought around them.

  In a corner Jasper as a lion clawed at the elk. She tried to kick him in the face with her hoof, but that didn’t work and Jasper kept on clawing. He hit her, but his claws were retracted, so he’d just petted her leg with his soft paw. She skipped across the straw, smiling to herself. Jasper’s claws were out this time and he swiped again, scraping her leg. She whined and shifted back, submitting to the pain. She picked herself up from the floor and slapped the lion across his face, and then she continued to rush away, limping.

  Daniel took to the air. He flapped, shooting powerful blows at the snake, missing him, each time. The snake would slice through the gusts and then fire thick squirts of venom at Daniel, but they didn’t reach.

  “Daniel! I said fighting, that’s a defence tactic staying up there,” Enek called from the balcony of the barn.

  Daniel cocked his head to Enek and nodded. He knew it was right, he knew that he had to get into some real fighting. He looked back down at Charles slithering across the ground when Jasper pounced and grappled him out of the air.

  “Get off!” he shouted with a squawk.

  Jasper pawed him, pinning him down by his wings. Daniel pecked at Jasper’s neck, pulling out a clump of his fur, leaving him yelping and weak enough to brush off. Daniel glanced up at Enek; he shrugged and grinned, and then held his hands up like there was nothing that he could do.

  Daniel now had two people after him, a lion with a bite and no venom, and a snake with no bite but enough venom to kill. It was in the split second when both Jasper and Charles exchanged glances that Daniel realised they would both rather go on the chopping block than have ‘scum’ continue to study at the Academy.

  Daniel turned around, getting ready to catch some air when something hit him. Jasper’s claws were inside Daniel’s wing. He pulled his wing back, and batted the lion around his head. It hit him again, this time the claws sink into his skin and his blood is drawn. Daniel begins screeching a low pitched whine from the bottom of his vocal chords, and that's all that’s needed to drive someone insane, or an audience to the barn doors.

  “Which one’s Daniel?” a new comer to the audience asked.

  “The one being beaten up,” a girl replied.

  By now, everyone else had stopped fighting to watch what was happening. They kept glancing from Enek to the fight, and from his half-smile, it seemed he approved.

  Daniel screeched once again, it made everyone flinch, except for Jasper and Charles. Jasper tried to roar back, tried to roar louder, but it was nothing in comparison to the power of Daniel’s voice. The snake hissed, lifting its head, bobbing and weaving, threatening to fire it’s toxins.

  “Just shut him up,” someone shouted.

  The snake jumped, throwing its all at Daniel and wrapping itself around his neck. Daniel went silent as he tried to peck at it. The snake had started to constrict, and only whimpers
could be heard as he opened his beak to screech.

  “Finish him!” someone starts to chant, and then they all start. “Finish him! Finish him!”

  I’m finished, I’m finished! Daniel shouts at himself, hitching at breaths and flapping his wings aimlessly. Daniel dropped to his knees, whacking himself with his wings, trying to get a feel for the snake and his throat.

  “Enough!” Enek said, waving a hand from the balcony.

  The chanting stopped and everyone glared up at him.

  “Go on, shoo,” he said, flicking his wrists and sending the barn doors swinging shut. “And you three, shift back!”

  The snake became loose and dropped from around Daniel. Jasper and Charles were back to normal within the instant, while Daniel stayed on his hands and knees, choking as his exterior started to drip from him. There was a shared gasp between all the students, and then as they watched Daniel squirm up from the ground, they started to snigger.

  “Out, all of you,” Enek said.

  Everyone left, even Enek. Daniel was left alone on the floor of the barn, surrounded by clumps of feathers and the powdered mess of excess bones.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Daniel stayed in the barn for another ten minutes, he wandered around in his head, thinking about what had just happened. He’d almost been killed, his arms were properly bruised, yet he didn’t get a scratch on Charles or Jasper, and then he thought about how full of himself he was at the start.

  “I’m going home,” he said aloud, “there’s nothing keeping me here now, is there?” he started rubbing the bruises on his arms. “And I need to find Jac, and I can probably go home and he can teach me what he knows. I can go to the libraries.”

  “Sounds good,” Enek said from the balcony of the barn.

  “Oh,” Daniel sighed, picking himself up from the floor. “I thought I was alone.”

  “You know, people would kill family members to be at this school,” he said, walking down the steps. “And Reuben chose you, so you must be special.”