by Jess Bowen
He, of course, thought this highly amusing. Phoebe, on the other hand, found it horribly embarrassing. She was apparently very whiny and demanding after her lessons, insisting that he stay “or may his life end in some horribly tragic way.” She also reached around like a two-year-old wanting to be picked up until he was by her side. He let her see the memories, but she could never hear the thoughts or feel the emotions attached to them; he was very good at hiding those. That made her wonder if it bothered him. He never seemed to mind, but she could never be sure of anything with him.
During these past weeks, something truly amazing had happened. Three weeks after they had begun training, they were dismissed early. Dorian was actually excited about something. When they got outside, they saw that everyone watched the tunnel entrance expectantly.
“What’s going on?” Phoebe whispered to Dorian, even though it felt criminal to break the silence.
“Watch,” he whispered back, anticipation on his face.
She did watch. Within ten minutes, figures started to move out of the tunnel. They were all extremely dirty. There was a tall, powerfully built man, two sickeningly thin figures, one clutching something to her chest, and two very short, emaciated figures clinging to the taller ones.
Phoebe wondered why everyone was standing back so far; only the elves were at the tunnel entrance to help them out. Everyone else was on the other side of the river, where the homes and shops were, staying at least four hundred yards from the entrance.
“I don’t understand,” she replied, completely confused.
Dorian didn’t tear his eyes away from the people at the tunnel and the elves who were now escorting them to the Annexus. “The biggest one, there, he’s a scout; he brought a family back with him.”
Phoebe immediately understood and tried to examine the group more closely. It brought tears to her eyes. People were being helped; the proof was right before her. Someone, this scout, had risked his life to bring in this family of four.
Make that five, for seconds later the small bundle in the woman’s arms wailed, and Phoebe realized it was a baby, only a few weeks old. She also understood why everyone was staying far away. They could be carrying diseases inflicted by the Four Horsemen, and they had to be put in isolation. Only the elves were immune.
Phoebe’s hope was marred slightly. Would this family continue to suffer? Could they be carrying disease that would destroy them? Would the effort expended to save them be worth it in the end? She had to believe that it would be. She had to believe that they would be okay. She had to hold on to hope.
One Saturday afternoon, Phoebe and her friends sat beside the lake. They were in desperate need of a break, so Dorian had given them this Saturday off to relax. The sun was just nearing the midline of the sky. Ethan and Lucy still lived in their blissfully happy little world eighty percent of the time. They had advanced from hand holding to being glued at the hip whenever it was manageable. Right now was one of those times. They were sitting side by side in the grass around the lake, and every few minutes one of them would laugh. Evan, Jared, and Cynthia all watched them like they were crazy, and Phoebe tried to read them again, but as always, she was blocked.
“You guys do know that that is completely annoying, right?” Cynthia said.
Ethan looked over at her and smiled. “Sorry, does it bother you?”
“Of course it does,” Evan exclaimed. “You two look like an advertisement for a love elixir.”
Phoebe laughed; he was right. They looked at each other like they had never seen anything quite as wonderful as the other. Ethan glared at both of them. Then he laughed again.
“Are you two, like, having a silent conversation or something?” Jared asked, examining them both closely.
Lucy laughed. “Something like that.” Phoebe never really got over her voice. She so rarely spoke, but when she did it was amazing. Her voice was melodic, like music, and her laugh sounded like an instrument playing.
Phoebe shook her head, frustrated. They were keeping a secret, and she couldn’t figure it out. Phoebe heard Cynthia groan, and within seconds she knew why. Her sharpened senses came in handy at times like this.
She heard the clicking of heels against the cobbled stones, still about three hundred yards away. She also smelled sweet, burning incense. She knew that her intense dislike for the person approaching was what had led to the memorization of the sounds and smells associated with her. Phoebe could tell from the way the sound reverberated that Kali was heading right for them. She didn’t even need to turn her head to know any of that.
The clicking stopped as the cobbled street met the grass. Phoebe was never sure why Kali wore heels instead of their regular shoes; heels were not practical here. Phoebe could just see herself with them on and trying to walk outside. The heel would get stuck in a crevice in the cobbled lane and she would twist her ankle or it would sink down into the soft ground, making it impossible to walk.
One hundred yards to go before Kali would be standing behind Phoebe. She still didn’t turn and did her best to put on her mask of calm.
Fifty yards. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. Five, and Kali stopped. Two other pairs of footsteps also halted. Great, she brought Kara and Beth along. Phoebe could feel her hands clench in her lap. She still didn’t turn. Kali liked to pretend Phoebe didn’t exist, and likewise Phoebe did her best to pretend Kali didn’t either.
Kali was feeling smug, so Phoebe shot a warning glance at Lucy, who was very good at reading Phoebe, more so than she liked at times, but now was a time when it was convenient. Lucy nodded and faced Kali.
Cynthia’s back was also to Kali, and Jared already had a hand on her arm.
“Is there something you wanted?” Lucy asked politely.
A sickeningly sweet voice answered. “I was just here to talk with Cynthia.”
Cynthia turned slowly. Phoebe knew what was coming; she could hear the words in Kali’s thoughts already. Kali had been waiting for this chance, waiting for when they were alone.
“I was going to offer you the chance to sit out of the tournament. I know you don’t want to embarrass yourself. Why not save your dignity? I’m sure your family would hate to have you tarnish their reputation. Not that they have much of one anyway.” Phoebe could imagine the smirk on Kali’s face as she said that.
Cynthia moved swiftly to her feet, her anger rolling off of her. Phoebe saw red. This was it—justified action. She turned, her eyes narrowed and her hands shaking. She too, rose to her feet. The air around her tensed as people turned to observe their standoff. She could feel the others stand up behind her. Three boys stepped forward to pick up Kali’s flanks, Aiden, Orin, and Daniel. They had recently taken to following Kali and her friends around like loyal puppies.
Cynthia smiled maliciously. “Oh, so you think winning the trophy is going to win you Dorian’s heart?” Kali’s eyes narrowed, but even as they did, Phoebe could see the victory celebration in her head. It was taking all she had to restrain herself. Cynthia continued. “I really do hate to bust your swelled head, but in case you haven’t noticed, Dorian can’t stand you. Funny though, that you felt the need to get rid of the competition. I didn’t know you were so insecure.”
“You don’t even have a chance,” Kali replied. Her smirk had vanished, and her own anger was freely flowing. Phoebe could feel it coming. One more push would be one too many.
Cynthia pushed. “You know, maybe that’s true. Hmm. On the other hand, Dorian did tell me I was doing quite well, and I can’t really remember him saying that to you…ever.”
That did it. Flames shot out of Kali’s hands right at Cynthia. Phoebe was already prepared. A wall of water burst forth and put the flames out. Kali turned to glare at her instead. Phoebe could feel her hate, could see that this is what she had really wanted. As fast as lightning, Kali conjured a fireball and threw it at her. Phoebe’s shield went up immediately to block it. At the same time, she conjured a ball of water and threw it at Kali.
Kali’s ref
lex was slow as she examined Phoebe’s shield. Meanwhile, the water engulfed Kali and her friends, causing them to fall. Each one of them was sopping wet when they got to their feet. Phoebe dropped her shield, amused by the wet rat look. Kali steamed dry as she engulfed herself in flames and leaped toward Phoebe. Ethan’s shield went up this time. Kali bounced back, but landed on her feet. Kara, Beth, and all three boys stepped forward, as did Phoebe’s group.
Phoebe laughed. “Seriously, you think your little friends are going to do you any good?”
Kali growled in fury. It was amazing how much Phoebe was enjoying this. Kali jumped forward again. She was the catalyst, and now everyone was fighting someone. Phoebe couldn’t see who was fighting whom. She was concentrating on her own fight. Kali was fast but nowhere near as strong as Phoebe was.
It wasn’t even a challenge. Phoebe blocked every move as soon as Kali thought of it and fought through her defenses easily. Soon Phoebe was crushing her down into the ground by her forearms as Kali gasped for air. She saw Kali think it just before it happened. She engulfed herself in flames again. Phoebe felt the heat on her arms, her chest, her legs. Within seconds, Phoebe encased Kali in ice.
Phoebe only had enough time to straighten up before Kali melted her way out. Phoebe fell back for a second to regain her position. Everyone backed away at the same time so that now Phoebe only saw Kali. She was flipping through different ways to catch Phoebe off guard. Too bad Kali didn’t know that was impossible.
A shot of flames traveled lightning fast across the grass. At the same time, a vine whipped out and wrapped around Phoebe’s wrist. Evan immediately broke the vine, and Phoebe sent a flood of water across the ground, putting out the burning flames around her legs and twisting the water around Kali’s body so she was encased. Phoebe was just getting ready to throw the sphere of water, with Kali inside, across the river when everything froze.
Phoebe couldn’t move at all, not even her eyes. But she could hear the distinctly familiar rhythm of footsteps approaching her. Dorian. She fought against her frozen limbs, wanting nothing more than to be moving again as Dorian came into her view. She fought harder. He couldn’t break this up. This had to be settled now. With one last Herculean effort, she unfroze.
“What are you doing?” Phoebe exclaimed.
He jumped and looked extremely surprised. “How did you do that?”
His silver eyes distracted her; they had a tendency to do that. “What?”
“Get unfrozen.”
She thought about it. “I don’t know. I just really wanted to tell you that we are in the middle of something here.”
He frowned. “I can see that, which is why I’m here. To stop it.”
Phoebe started to protest, but he unleashed his eyes on her again, and the protest got lost. When he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to say anything more, he unfroze everyone else and put his shield up between the two groups. Everyone regained their standing positions, and they all looked a little worse for wear. Kali and Phoebe were still glaring at one another, although Kali’s eyes flickered frequently to Dorian.
“I don’t know, or care, what you’re fighting about, but I suggest you save it for the tournament and remain civil to one another the rest of the time.” Everyone turned to him and opened their mouths in protest about having to be civil. He spoke loudly. “Or avoid one another if that isn’t possible. Don’t we have enough to worry about without you all fighting?”
Phoebe turned her glare from Kali, not wanting to give herself an excuse to fight her again. Dorian was right—enough fighting was going on outside; she should have held her temper better. Even if Kali did start it. Phoebe was at least mature enough to not try to play that card, but she still couldn’t help but be angry at Dorian for breaking them up. There would have been no need for a future battle if Kali got kicked off her pedestal now. As it was, it looked like there would be another fight; Kali was already planning it in her mind.
Phoebe turned first to walk away. She wanted to get as far away from Kali’s thoughts as she could manage. Kali was starting to fantasize about Dorian telling her how well she had fought and how he had only wanted to get rid of Phoebe so he could be with her. Phoebe’s jaw clenched uncomfortably. She heard the others walking behind her, dragging their feet. They were ashamed for fighting, while she was just angry. She stomped her way through the peaceful hallways and stairwells of the Annexus before she wrenched the door open to her room and sank into the couch in the sitting room. She was still burning in anger. She could feel it in her arms, on her legs, and in her neck and chest.
20. Burning
Phoebe felt a little better now that she was away from Kali and the girl’s thoughts no longer plagued her. She was able to inspect everyone else. Jared looked the worst, like he had been cut from head to toe with thousands of razors. Evan had a black eye. Ethan’s nose was bleeding but looked unbroken; he also had a few cuts along his arms. Lucy and Cynthia looked all right; their clothes were rumpled and torn in a few places, but they were fine other than that. Then Phoebe realized she was burning. She had thought she had only been feeling her hot, burning anger, but now that her anger was fading, she began to think it was something else.
She looked down. Her arms were blistering and blackened. Her skin looked like it was peeling off and melting. Her clothes were covered in singed holes, and her legs were burned just as badly. Now that she realized what the burning was, she also realized it hurt. Her eyes were already watering, and her throat constricted as she tried not to cry out in pain. She felt like she was still on fire. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed her injuries. Evan looked over and stared in horror at the look on Phoebe’s face and the burns covering her arms and legs. She knew it would be worse if she moved, so she didn’t. She also knew if she started screaming, she wouldn’t be able to stop, so she bit down on her tongue. She barely noticed the taste of blood.
Jared jumped up. “Phoebe, are you okay? What do we do? That looks horrible!”
Tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t stop those.
“Get some water!” Cynthia yelled. Phoebe shook her head furiously. Water would make it worse.
Lucy jumped up and sprinted out of the room. Ethan slid to the floor and knelt in front of Phoebe.
“It’s okay. Hang in there. Lucy’s getting help. Is there anything we can do?”
Phoebe shook her head. She could feel stinging as she did this. There must have been some mild burns on her neck as well. Ethan looked lost as he tried to figure out what to do. He reached out like he was going to pat her arm and then stopped. She couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t even swallow the blood that pooled in her mouth.
Ethan’s expression changed to relief. “Lucy’s coming, Phoebe. She found Dorian; he’s coming to help you. They’re almost here. You know how fast she is. He’s going to take you to the infirmary. We’ll all come, of course.” Phoebe shook her head; they didn’t need to see that. “You don’t want us to go?” She shook her head again. “Okay, we’ll check on you when it’s over. Is that okay?” She nodded. When the fire stopped, it would be okay. “All right, they’re almost here. Two more hallways.”
Phoebe knew he was keeping up the commentary to distract her. She also realized at the same time that the only way he knew what was going on was through some connection to Lucy. She couldn’t think about it any further. Lucy burst through the door, and Dorian was right behind her. Before Phoebe could even think, he scooped her up and was running again, leaving the others behind. Dorian was very gentle, but the slightest movement made the fire worse, and she screamed. Dorian pulled her closer to his chest and ran faster. Phoebe cradled her horribly burned arms in front of her as best she could.
“Make it stop,” she cried.
“It’s okay; it’s okay. We’re going to get you help in just a minute. I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” Dorian was running down stairs now. “I thought it was just soot and ash.”
Phoebe should have had someone else take her. Even through all the fire, she couldn’t bear to have him look so upset. She clamped her jaw shut again. A minute later, he stopped and kicked a door open and ran inside. She heard the scuffling of two sets of small feet as they entered, and she was laid down on a bed.
“She’s burned, her arms and her legs, and a little over her neck. Help her.”
Two small figures popped up on either side of her. She couldn’t take in their appearance. The fire was burning; she was trying not to scream. Something poked and prodded at her burns, and she started shaking. It was like having a knife stuck into her with every prod.
“What are you doing? She’s having convulsions. Just help her.”
“Sir, you must remain calm. We have to assess the injuries.”
Dorian growled and started pacing. With every touch, a thousand knives made the burning worse. Phoebe wasn’t sure if she was even still breathing. Everything was blurred as she shook uncontrollably. Then she felt ripping, horrible awful ripping, pulling her skin away. The burning raged out of control. She screamed. Dorian’s carefully controlled, reined-in emotions broke free of their cage, and everything went black.
Phoebe didn’t know if it was ten minutes or ten hours later. She only noticed that the burning was gone and was replaced by something else. Something cool and soothing as a feather-light pressure traced the side of her face. The smell of burning skin was gone, and she heard soft murmuring around her. She cautiously stretched out her arms, seeing if the fire was really gone. They felt whole. She took a deep breath of relief.
“Phoebe? Phoebe, are you okay?” A silky soft voice whispered in her ear.
