by ylugin
After a moment Nadina smiled “I like that theory.” She stated with a nod of her head.
Alex, who was sitting in a space between Nadina and Donn, suddenly got up and walked away a small distance from the fire before kicking a rock and plopping to the ground. He began picking at the blades of grass on the earth.
Lana turned to Donn, questioningly.
“The boy gets all sensitive about not having an Aorra every now and then. He will get over it soon. Some day he will learn that he is capable of more than he now knows.” The old man said with a shrug.
Kaiden silently got up from the fire and walked over to Alex. Lana watched him kneel next to the boy. Even in the darkness she could see Kaiden’s lean muscles underneath his shirt, flex as he reached out for a stick Alex had created. It was strange seeing him like this.
She used to be taller than him but now he towered a full head above her. His body had been honed over the years they had been apart, he grew into his strong jaw, his shoulders broadened, his hands were still capable of the energy control she had taught him. He was the same and yet different.
He is being kind to the boy. Ardin mentioned when Lana turned away, turning back to the flames of the fire. Indeed, he was. She sat in silence for a short while before Nadina asked her another question.
* * *
Kaiden strolled over to the blond little boy with the big brown eyes. He thought about what to say but the boy spoke first. “I don’t want to talk about stupid Aorras.”
“Fair enough,” Kaiden kneeled next to the boy. “I don’t have one of those pesky creatures either, good riddance I think.”
“Your Rami, I am Madonian, it’s different.” Alex said very matter of factly. He yanked up a few more blades of grass from where his hands fell on the ground.
“Donn mentioned you had really awesome abilities, even without the help of an Aorra,” Kaiden stated.
“Yea, well all I can do is make sticks and twigs. How awesome.”
Kaiden let out a small laugh and the boy looked at him with such fierce eyes that it shocked him a moment. “You remind me of myself a bit. My brother was always the more powerful one when I was little. Then I went to Ucu where I learned how to use my strengths.”
“And now you are better then your brother?”
“Is that what you want? To be better than your sister?”
Alex shrugged and Kaiden continued, “In some ways yes, in others no. We each have our own strengths. He was always stronger, able to generate more raw energy at one time, but I am now good with control, better than him in that way.”
“Great, I can be the king of making sticks.” The boy replied bitterly.
“Can you make them any shape or size?”
Alex shrugged, making a convoluted stick with twists appear in his hand before tossing it to Kaiden.
Kaiden observed the stick, it was brown, the color of wood, which in its self was impressive. Usually Madonians couldn’t create things in color, everything they made was silver. It was rare for a Madonian to be able to make things so life like, which in itself made Alex special.
Kaiden looked up as a thought entered his mind. “How close must you be to this before it loses its form?”
Alex shrugged, “I don’t know… I used to make them and build forts in the woods and then I’d forget about them till running across the forts again.”
Kaiden’s eyes grew large. He stared at the little boy who really had no idea how amazing he was. When Lana came to the school it took her a huge amount of practice before she could keep the form of something without physically touching it and even then she had to have it within a few feet of herself. But Alex could do it with ease, without a second thought, and he was younger than Lana had been.
“Can you make a straight one, perfectly straight? And pointed at one end?”
Alex formed another in his hand and gave it to Kaiden to examine. He held it in his hand, pressing his thumbs on it, testing it. The stick had a good give to it without being weak or flimsy. Alex silently watched, interested in what the Rami was doing.
Kaiden looked around a moment before he found it. A tree with a soft bark, soft enough that a sharp stick could stick into its flesh without needing too much force. He threw the stick Alex had created at the tree. It whizzed by, cutting the air before landing in the tree’s flesh.
“Make some more and practice, trying to hit that stick.” Kaiden said, looking at Alex. “I have an idea. We will make you outshine your sister.” Kaiden said with a wink.
Alex grinned in response, creating another stick in his hand.
* * *
“Why are you so fond of butterflies?” Nadina asked.
Lana was lost for a moment at the sudden question. Before she gathered her thoughts Nadina added, “With Kirill the other day you made a butterfly and you wear one in your hair,” explaining her reason for asking.
“Nadina!” Donn’s sudden stern voice made the girl jump. “Enough of your questions. Stop badgering Ms. Casteel!”
Nadina’s apologetic eyes met Lana’s for a brief moment before Lana cut in. “No, it’s okay…” She glanced at Donn. Why did he react that way? Did he know? It wouldn’t be surprising if he did, the old man seemed to know a whole lot.
“My mother used to like butterflies, the pin I wear in my hair used to belong to her.” Lana replied softly and everyone fell silent. Nadina dropped her gaze.
Kaiden rejoined the group just in time to hear the end of the conversation. He looked at everyone’s faces, gathering that something bad had happened to Lana’s mom.
“What happened to her?” He asked before being able to stop himself. Everyone turned to him, but he kept his eyes on Lana. He could feel heat reach his cheeks, regretting asking as soon as the words left his lips. Now all that he could do was watch Lana, who for a fleeting moment seemed lost, as if un sure of how to respond to his stupid question.
“She was killed, boy.” Donn said in a low voice.
Lana’s mind took her to another place, far into the past and she began speaking without really meaning to. “It happened a while ago. Father and I were making the journey to Gorthyn from the Ucu gates. I couldn’t wait to tell her all about the school and instructors, to be in her arms, to taste her cooking again. They had good food at Ucu, very good, but not like hers. Nothing could compare to hers.”
Tears began forming in Lana’s eyes as she continued. “We smelled the fire before we saw it. The entire town, once beautiful, with the buildings and cottages built amongst the trees, was burned. Smoke was still rising from houses. Father told me to stay while he looked closer, told Ardin to keep me there. I didn’t listen. I walked up to the only un-burnt house I could see. It seemed safe enough, so I opened the door. Maybe there were survivors in it? There was so much blood, it was as if the whole town were massacred in this one cottage. A woman lay in a pool of it. Her long blond hair was drenched in it. Then I noticed a pendent in her hair, a beautiful butterfly…” Lana’s eyes snapped up at Kaiden. “She, like my father, was murdered by a Rami.” Sher voice had an edge to it. Anger rippled through her.
Stop it, Ardin suddenly in her mind.
Kaiden remained standing, holding her gaze. “I am sorry for what you have gone through.” He said through clenched teeth before he turned on his heels and walked off, not wanting to say something he regretted to Lana Casteel.
His pulse raced as he wondered into the near by woods. A small part of him felt sorry for his old friend, for her losses. But a greater part was angered by her blame. He had lost too. At this point his brother, his only family was alienated because of her. He was stuck in a strange world with nothing but a bizarre old man, a couple kids, and a woman who hated him for company.
Kaiden had given up everything to save Lana’s life, only to have her looking at him and treating him as if he were little more than a common murderer. A light erupted from his palm destroying a tree in front of him. He needed to let off some steam, to get away.
As Kai
den walked off Ardin suddenly appeared in front of Lana. Come with me. Now.
Lana stared at him, when did you become so demanding.
Do not get cute with me, Lana. There is something you need to know. With that he walked away. Lana watched him go down the hill away from camp before she decided to follow him.
“What do you want from me, Ardin? And why did we have to leave camp? No one can hear you lecture me from the comforts of the warm fire.”
Ardin stopped by a tree in a small opening just down the hill from camp. They could still see the fire of camp. This would be far enough he decided.
Sit.
“You’re kidding,” she stared as he simply sat there looking at her. Lana was baffled by Ardin’s sudden distance and one worded commands. Kaiden was no longer a helpless boy, Ardin shouldn’t feel the need to protect him so much. With a grumble of protest, she obliged her Aorra’s command and sat down.
Your anger at Kaiden is misdirected... Let me finish. Ardin cut her off before she had a chance to object, and to his surprise she didn’t fight him on this.
He didn’t kill your mother, and a Rami may not fully be responsible for your father’s death. I didn’t share this with you because I didn’t know how you would react especially since your recent erratic behavior, so I had to get you away from Abder. Erratic behavior? If he were not her Aorra she would strangle him. Ardin walked over to Lana, his nose nudged her hand and images appeared in her head.
It was a memory, not her own.
Lana saw herself crouching over her father then the view turned to Kirill who stood stiffly taking in the scene. She was seeing things from Ardin’s eyes. Kirill’s steel gaze turned to Ardin. “Arkhip.” The words hardly came out in a whisper from the steel eyed Dukran before he nodded over to Lana and her father. Abruptly the memory was over.
Lana jumped to her feet “What does this mean?” her pulse was racing.
Bile rose in her throat and her head spun from the sudden jolt of emotion. She leaned her hand against the tree trying to steady herself and her breathing, her world was crashing down around her and it seemed that she knew nothing of it. “Arkhip killed my father?” She was finally able to get it out. Arkhip was crazy, she knew that, but to be responsible in her father’s death? She didn’t want to believe a Madonian Council member would do something like that.
We saw a Rami do that. But what of Valdor’s Aorra, Earmon? How, with all of Arkhip’s powers and wolves did a council member die?
Lana fell to her knees. She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she thought of her last moments with Valdor. He told her that his death would have happened no matter what she would have done and to be careful of whom to trust. Could that have been him trying to warn her, his way of telling her that the Dukrans were to blame?
“Leave me,” she whispered to her Aorra. Her stomach turned. She knew Arkhip Dukran wanted control of the Madonian Lands, but this, murder. What’s worse is her Aorra didn’t trust her with this information, he kept it from her till this moment. Never had she felt so alone.
Ardin obliged, leaving her not only physically but mentally.
Chapter
Eight
Kaiden had not realized how far into the woods he had ventured until he began heading back towards camp. His body felt sore, aching with each step, as he found his way out of the wood. The anger he felt was subdued though it was replaced by frustration for allowing himself to venture aimlessly into an unknown forest. He stopped walking and smelled the air, the faint burning smell of wood filling his lungs, letting him know he was close.
Turning to the woods behind him, Kaiden peered into the darkness. He could just leave, he thought to himself. He could go back to his brother, apologize. He could leave this trouble and free himself of the guilt of acting out against his blood like that. Striking his brother from behind, was not something to be proud of.
An odd feeling of being watched came over him while he pondered of his brother. Kaiden froze, cautiously examining the forest behind him. To his surprise there was nothing there but silent trees. He gazed over his shoulder a moment longer, unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling. When he turned back, there was a large white wolf standing in his path.
“Ardin” he spoke with relief, calmed to have found the root of his sudden unease. The wolf sat tall in front of him, making no movement. A moment passed before Kaiden turned towards camp but a low grumble from the wolf stopped him. He turned to Ardin who now walked a few paces away from him and gestured to a tree at the bottom of the hill, in the other direction. Kaiden walked over to the wolf and squinted. He could barely make out a figure near the tree on the ground. She sat with arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried in her knees.
“You want me to go to her?” Kaiden asked the white wolf, feeling somewhat odd talking to an animal. The Aorra gave him a single nod. There was no arguing with the wolf for he could not hear the animal’s words.
Exhaustion pulled at his eye lids and he thought of his options. It would probably be easier for him to just oblige the wolf’s request. With a mere sigh and without protest Kaiden made his way to her. He felt fatigued, too tired to venture into the woods again in order to calm himself a second time, so he hoped things would go better with her this time. If she were to speak to him as if he were a traitor again then he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep himself from snapping back.
Lana raised her head when she heard someone approaching. Her eyes stopped Kaiden in his tracks, holding him in place. The grip her gaze had infuriated him. She was just a woman, there was no reason for him to behave in such a manor. Lana turned her eyes back at the ground, neither one of them made a sound.
She no longer looked like a strong woman of the council but like a girl. A small-lost child sitting on the forest floor, waiting to be found, waiting for someone to tell her everything will be all right. But Kaiden knew that would never happen, because as soon as someone would try she would push him or her away and punish them for even trying. Infuriatingly stubborn is what she was.
Neither of them seemed to know what to say so Kaiden decided to be the one to break the silence. “We should go to the camp, it’s getting cold out here.”
The girl on the ground before him just shook her head in silent protest without looking up. Sighing, Kaiden looked over to the fire in the distance, the two kids and the old man seemed to have gone to sleep. His gaze turned back to where he had walked from, by the moonlight he could make out Ardin sitting alert at the edge of the tree line. The wolf’s eyes and ears facing their direction, he was trying to see what was going on. Kaiden glanced back at Lana and understood that the two were no longer connected, something had happened between her and her Aorra. He assumed that that must be why Ardin had wanted him to go to her, Ardin was worried and Lana wasn’t letting him in.
Kaiden turned and made his way to the camp, leaving Lana. After a short while he returned with a thick blanket, which he gently draped around Lana’s shoulders. His finger brushed against Lana’s skin and suddenly he felt an urge to pull her into his arms, and to comfort her. The feelings confused him. A moment ago he was fuming, angry with her, contemplating just flat out leaving. He thought he may hate her. Wanting nothing more than to leave and not look back and now, more than anything, he wanted to console her.
Kneeling in front of Lana, he watched her for a moment in silence, hoping she would say something but she didn’t even acknowledge him. He was about to get up and leave her when her eyes suddenly connected with his, freezing him.
“How are you so kind? I do not deserve your kindness. You saved my life and I…” her voice broke off and her brows came together as if she was thinking of what words to say. “I was so angry.” She looked back down at the ground.
Kaiden’s hand momentarily hesitated before nudging her chin up so that he could see her green eyes. They were swollen from the tears she had cried. His urge to comfort her was overpowering, he pulled his hand back. “I understand loss. Anger is an understanda
ble response to what you went through. I am just happy it didn’t last much longer and you didn’t sic your massive wolf on me.” He said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.
Lana looked back down without a smile and Kaiden cursed himself for bringing up Ardin when there was clearly something going on between the two of them. He wasn’t good at this.
Her eyes found their way back to his and she spoke again. “I am responsible for my people now. I can feel it, feel the pressure of them. Once Valdor passed its as if the weight of them got transferred to me, it’s heavy. And instead of dealing with it the way any one charged with protecting their people should, what did I do? I am a horrible leader. My father died and I ran away.”
Kaiden shook his head. Her words were so simple, I am horrible and I ran away, so black and white. Life was not as clear-cut as she made it out to be.
“No, you left to get help for your people.”
“And now I have even more reason for it.” Lana said mostly to herself. There was something so strong about the way she said it.
Kaiden was unsure of what she meant.
“What you are doing now, you do for your people. Even if you don’t yet see it. If you are even a fraction of the girl I once knew, then you already are and will forever be an amazing leader for your people.”
Lana rewarded Kaiden’s words with a small smile that did not reach her eyes. Her smile was purely for the person who was trying to cheer her up. “You are being kind.”
“Will you come back to the camp?”
“I prefer to just stay here.”
“I will stay with you then.”
With a shrug Lana laid back on the soft grass, blanket wrapped around her. She stared up at the star littered sky. Kaiden joined her on the ground.
The sky was dark, apart from the stars. On the far horizon rings from the big moon could be seen coming into view. Soon the moon would be overhead and its blue light would dimly lighten the sky.
