by Laury Falter
He rotated at the waist to examine me, his eyes lit mischievously. “I told you,” he stated, “I am your escort.”
I remember him using a different term the other night, one jarringly similar to the name he had given himself and his legion in the afterlife, but I wasn’t able to mention it.
“You are mistaken if you think I-”
He interrupted me without any sign of guilt. “I don’t mistake you for someone interested in protection, Friedricha. I’ve seen the way you handle a sword…and I’ve come to understand your sense of independence.” He added under his breath in a not so complimentary way, “or rather your demand for it.” Before I could show any sign of offense, his voice rose to its normal level. “I am escorting you solely out of a need to understand what happened the other night between you and the three individuals who caused you to panic. I don’t know where they are, but I do know where to find you. So, the only way I can accomplish my goal is to remain by your side until you and your three nemeses cross paths again.”
“And what if we don’t cross paths?”
Without hesitation, he replied blithely, “Then you will be gifted with my charming personality for a rather lengthy period of time.”
I sighed through my objection, which made him feign insult.
Leaning toward me, he teased further, “You never know, Friedricha, you might actually enjoy it. I’ve been told I’m fairly charismatic.”
With him so near, his scent moved past me causing my heart to do something unexpected. It skipped a beat. I had to calm it before I could muster a concise thought, which turned out to be in his favor.
It was easy to see how he would be told this.
With my thoughts deceiving me, I redirected them.
“And what will you do once you learn why the three individuals affect me, and me them?”
“I’ll leave you alone,” he said casually. “Be gone from your life forever…as you so clearly wish.”
I almost stumbled at his promise but caught myself in time.
That was what I wanted, wasn’t it? So why did I stumble? Why was I torn between relief and disappointment? I spent the remainder of our walk to our destination analyzing these reactions and failing to come up with any reasonable answer. But once there, something else tore my attention away.
The sting at the back of my neck, the perspiration and the shakes didn’t begin this time until I had paid off the guard at the wall to allow us to pass. As he tucked the coins into his pocket, smiling a wide gap-toothed smile, I grunted and absentmindedly rolled my shoulder back to stop the pain.
Before I knew it, my hand was at the back of my neck pushing down the fine hairs there.
One look at me told Eran that the panic had returned. His hands came swiftly to my shoulders, pressing with tender, consoling resolve.
“Friedricha,” he said, although his voice sounded hollow and warbled, as if it were coming down a tube. “Friedricha, look at me. Look at me.”
“She going to be sick?” the guard asked in disgust.
“No, she’s not sick,” Eran said. “Friedricha, look at me.”
I did, although it was a struggle. The muscles in my neck had grown rigid.
The effort ended up being worthwhile because for some reason Eran was a comforting sight.
“You’re not alone,” he said, his voice returning to its typical stubborn determination. “I’m right here beside you. Do you understand? Nod your head if you understand.”
I nodded.
“Good, now do me a favor. Breathe. Draw in a slow, deep breath from here.” He placed a hand on my stomach, which was unexpected, and sent a pleasant, distracting jolt through me.
I followed his request, concentrating on his hand.
“Now hold it,” he instructed. “And release it.”
I exhaled, which sounded like a wheeze.
“Repeat.”
When I inhaled this time, my heart slowed its pace and my hand on the back of my neck stopped its shaking.
“Better?” Eran asked, his entire focus seemingly on me.
I smiled, grimly.
His hand dropped from my stomach.
“You should go back,” he insisted.
I noticed how he mentioned only me…
In response I furiously shook my head and he sighed irritably.
The guard, who had been watching my episode with lip curled in disgust, interrupted then. “Get on now. Go before I force you back out the wall. I don’t want her leaving anything behind,” he added, the repugnant expression never departing his face.
We started in the direction of our destination, slower now.
“How…,” I said and paused to shove back the fear still clawing at me from the inside. “How did you know that breathing would help me?”
“I’ve seen men twice your size go through what you just did, and I’ve seen it often. Breathing from the stomach tells the nerves in this body…in your body that there’s nothing to fear.”
“Thank you,” I said, humbly.
He kept his head up and eyes alert as he replied. “You’re welcome.”
He surveyed the house we were now passing with remarkable vigilance, in only the way someone who had been in similar situations knew how, and a sense of peace washed over me. This home was again within a densely populated, walled city. There were plenty of places to hide, yet Eran’s diligence made me feel protected, as much as I opposed it.
When we reached the home we had come for, Eran placed a palm on the door, blocking me from knocking.
“Remember, breathe… It might be the only way to get you through the night.” His lips turned down in a frown before he muttered to himself, “Since you seem to insist on going through it.”
Before I could argue my reasoning, he swung open the door and entered without waiting for the hosts to greet us.
This shook everyone in the packed room, including the three with blindingly white hair, which I instinctively knew was Eran’s intention.
As I saw them, the panic did rush back to its most intense level, but as I took a deep breath Eran’s hand came to my lower back and instantly calmed me. He escorted me to the only vacant chair and slid it back in the direction of the door before allowing me to sit in it. From then on, he stood at my right side. I couldn’t see his eyes as the guests began filing toward me, but I knew they were pinned on the three who caused me so much terror.
As I took messages from each guest, the crowd circulated back to their spots along the wall until only the three were left. They hesitated, eyeing me with suspicion. The girl was wringing her hands; one boy was twitching his shoulders, the other was flexing his neck. All of them appeared to be in pain.
An uneasy standoff commenced with Eran and me watching them as warily as they were us. It lasted several tense seconds, long enough for others in the room to begin to notice. Before it could go any farther, Eran drew in a breath, apparently to end the evening but one of them found the courage to step forward.
She looped a strand of her bright hair behind a delicately small ear and then tucked both quivering hands under her armpits before moving to stand before me, outside arm’s reach.
“I didn’t think this was a good idea,” she began stiffly. “My brothers insisted on coming. They are…inquisitive. They’re the ones who heard about the other messenger and thought it would be entertaining to meet her.” She narrowed her eyes at me before commenting with an eerily flat tone, “We no longer find it entertaining. If it was up to me, I’d end this pain right now.” At her veiled threat, Eran’s hand slipped inside his cloak. He didn’t withdraw it but waited with alert patience to see what she would do next.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
My question seemed to startle Eran, who I’m guessing didn’t think an amicable conversation was the best approach at this moment.
“I am Kaila. The tall one,” she said motioning to her brothers behind her, “is Deschan. The other is Cedric. We are the Kohler triplets.”
&
nbsp; “If you no longer came to meet me, what is your purpose here?” I asked.
She didn’t blink as she answered my question with one of her own, which I detected as having an interest in seeing my reaction to it. “There are more like you, aren’t there, Messenger?”
My muscles stiffened at her knowledge. “Why do you ask?”
A faint upturn to her lip made me think she was beginning to find me entertaining again, as she exposed an unknown fact to our listeners. “There was another of your kind in the eastern territory.”
The room broke into a hum of curious whispers at this revelation, but I kept my face frozen in serenity.
“We weren’t lent the chance to meet her, the other Messenger, before her untimely demise, but we felt the same way around her as we do around you.” Her eyes narrowed as she waited for my reaction.
“I see,” I replied keeping my voice as steady as possible. Considering the tension in the room, I was surprised at my success. “And what was her demise?”
Kaila sighed in a bored manner. “A blade to the stomach.”
My muscles contracted as she delivered this news. A string of words ran through my mind a second later: They knew of the first messenger to die eternally… More importantly, they knew details about her death.
“Were you present when she died?” I asked, listening as my voice faltered and quivered with emotion on the last word.
Kaila dipped her head and smiled up through her lashes at me. “So you are connected…,” she replied as if it was a foregone conclusion.
When I didn’t respond a curious light grew in her eyes. She was getting the information she came for now.
“I wonder…if Horace would feel the same pain with you as he did with her and whether it might be enough to end your life too…”
Before she was finished, the sound of blades scraping along their sheaths filled the room. When I looked up Eran’s sword was drawn above my head while the Kohlers also held blades in a readied position. The other guests rushed clumsily to distance themselves from us, given that the door was their only exit and Eran stood in front of it.
“I wonder,” Kaila postulated, “do we really need to wait for Horace? Shouldn’t we simply end the pain now?” Slowly, as she let this speculation sink in, her expression turned into one of anticipation and she breathed excitedly, “Yes, yes, we should.”
Then she lunged.
Her blade didn’t get far. Eran’s sword broke its speed and angle, deflecting it from me. By then, I was standing and withdrawing my own sword, trying to assess all that was happening through the chaos.
People were screaming, rushing to dodge others who were moving arbitrarily in search of an escape. Eran was taking on all three of the triplets in a spectacular array of swift fists, agile kicks, and precise swordsmanship. It was a sight that left me in awe for the few seconds I was able to watch.
The swords fell from the Kohlers hands one by one until they were scrambling for the door, which was accessible now that Eran had stepped aside from it.
The feeble piece of wood slammed inward, cracking down the middle, and exposing the cold, dark night. The Kohlers disappeared into it, fleeing as quickly as if they had taken flight.
Eran and I stood facing the dark gap, waiting for one, for any of them to return. The noise behind us quieted, but there was movement outside in the streets.
“They’ve woken others,” someone said through an exhale. It sounded like he was still trying to catch his breath after the commotion.
Without another word, Eran took hold of my elbow and led me through the door and out into the night.
CHAPTER NINE: TEST
THERE WAS NO DOUBT IN MY mind that the Kohlers were my link to understanding the messengers’ demise, but I needed help determining exactly what connected them. I needed Hermina.
That night in the afterlife, I entered the clearing to find that it was not in the midst of chaotic scrimmages, as was typical. Instead, Daniel and Jacob had cleared it and instructed the messengers to form a single line, leading into the brush.
Hermina, who stood in the middle, found me stepping up to the back of the line and raised her eyebrows. After furtively, backing up to join me, she whispered, “What’s the occasion?”
“I know, I’ve missed the last few practices.”
“Only the last few?” she challenged.
I shrugged. “Who’s counting?”
A fluttering disturbed the peace around us and Jacob landed beside me, his wings ruffled after his jaunt across the clearing to us. “So nice of you to bless us with your presence,” he said, frowning.
Hermina leaned in and said, “Someone has…”
“Will you be missing anymore of our trainings?” Jacob inquired haughtily, making it clear by his tone that it was not recommended.
“Yes,” I said bluntly. “I’m just stopping in.”
He scoffed in disgust before admitting defeat and retreating back to his place beside Daniel.
I leaned toward Hermina. “I need to speak to you.”
“Of course.”
“So much has happened that I don’t know where to start.”
“At the beginning,” she suggested.
“Right…”
A scream echoed through the jungle and several yards in a cluster of trees trembled.
“What kind of practice is this?” I asked, hesitantly.
“Daniel and Jacob have created a course. They claim that anyone who makes it through is ready to fight Fallen Ones.”
“Has anyone?”
“Not without injury,” she muttered, disdainfully.
The messenger, who had been in the midst of an attempt, appeared in the trees, struggling to stay aloft with only one functioning wing. His name was Stoyan and he was known for maneuvering sinuously in the air. The next messenger stepped forward sheepishly until she had disappeared into the shadows.
Keeping my voice low, I said, “I know the name of the person who took one of the messenger’s lives.”
Instantly, I had Hermina’s attention again.
“His name is Horace. He was in the east to where I’m living now.”
“To the east of you?” Hermina muttered. “Then that would have been Anna. The first messenger.”
“Yes, that’s correct. He didn’t like the way he felt around her, so he took her life.”
“Didn’t like the way he felt?”
“That’s what we were told.”
“By who?”
“That’s the second reason why I came to find you. Have you ever felt…scared? No, terrified? With your heart pounding fast and your hands shaking and sweating suddenly without any exertion?”
Her eyes briefly rolled skyward in reflection. “No, I can’t say that I have.”
“Twice I’ve encountered them, the Kohler triplets, and both times I’ve felt that way.”
“Your reaction was physical?” she asked, curiously.
“Yes, sick and distracting but most definitely physical.”
“No,” she said slowly, observing me with curiosity. “I’ve never felt that way and I’ve never known anyone, messengers included, to feel that way around strangers.”
Another scream rang out and the messenger who had entered the jungle moments earlier fled skyward, shooting from the trees as if they were coming after her. Her upset more likely came from the flames engulfing her appendages. She pumped them ferociously, hard enough to pass the boundary of this painful dual world I had created for training and be healed.
She took her time returning to us, floating slowly and methodically, without any urge to reach us sooner. When she did, even though her charred feathers were white once again, she sent a cold glare at Daniel and Jacob before joining Stoyan at the edge of the clearing.
“All right,” Hermina said, turning back to me, “how are the Kohler triplets connected with Anna’s death?”
“They were there, watching it take place.”
Despite all that she had seen in her exis
tence that information caused her to gasp.
“And what do you know about the Kohlers?” she asked, rigidly.
“Their names.” I cringed, feeling feeble in admitting it. “Not much.”
The next messenger screamed then, almost immediately after entering the course, and emerged limping. Slowly, he made his way to Anna and Stoyan and the others who had attempted the course before I’d arrived. They were a growing number now as the line of those remaining was beginning to dwindle.
“Horace…,” Hermina mumbled. “Do you know if he has taken the other messengers’ lives?”
“No, it’s probable, but not definite.”
She reflected on this a bit before offering with unmistakable sincerity, “Is there anything I can do?”
“No, but thank you for asking.”
She smiled warmly. “You aren’t alone in this, Magdalene. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” I said. What I didn’t tell her was that I preferred to be alone. I had a feeling that my interaction with the Kohlers was a significant discovery and that it had brought me that much closer to danger, the kind I didn’t want Hermina or anyone else involved in.
Another messenger bolted from the jungle, this one with blood trailing down his arm. The next messenger in line stared hesitantly at the entrance to the course until Jacob prompted, “Show us what you can do, Darya.”
She gave him an uncertain look but moved forward slowly until she too was consumed by the shadows.
Hermina sighed before admitting, “Despite our training, I am thankful for my guardian.” Knowing how I felt about them, she looked my way and caught sight of my upturned lip. “You might feel the same someday.”
“Don’t bet Alban on it. The one I have now is ruining any hope for it.”
“The one…?” she said and twisted toward me. “So Eran has finally assigned one to you?”
“No, he is the one.”
She tipped her head in astonishment. Taking our history into account, she asked, “And how is that working out?”
“I’m not acknowledging him as one.”
“As your guardian?” she asked, intrigued.
I shook my head. “Just as I forewarned I would…”
