‘Yes, of course, why?’
‘Give it to me and I’ll pay off my debt to you for saving my life once.’
‘If you can do that,’ Felix said, starting to feel slightly more at ease, as hope surged through him. Walking over to the wooden box he kept the magic hammer in, he soon found the key and unlocked it. ‘If you can bring my wife back to me, I’ll return the hammer to you. I meant to anyway, as I no longer use it. I remember you liked my cheese, I’ll provide you with free cheese for the rest of my life, or anything else that you need, if you can save her life. But tell me, Oro,’ Felix asked, remembering the hammer’s skill in turning things, anything, to salt. ‘what good can the hammer do for my wife?’ The image of the men turning to salt was still clear in his mind. He picked up the hammer, cocking his head, and walked over to the dwarf. Oro was looking a little too eager at the hammer for Felix’ liking.
‘I’ll show you,’ Oro replied.
‘I didn’t know dwarfs could do healing?’ Valera asked, coming over after sending Almaz and Jolaz to their rooms to play.
‘And I didn’t know little girls could have such big ears?’
Valera opened her mouth in shock, touching her ears, realising she wasn’t wearing her headscarf to protect her unusual pointed ear tips! She normally didn’t wear it inside their home and they didn’t have that many guests…
Oro’s dark eyes showed an evil glint. She felt sick and uneasy. This was not a nice person. How could her father have been so wrong about him?
‘Passed on to her by my wife who has the same ears, not that unusual!’ Felix tried to save the situation, knowing he would see his wife’s ears in a moment, and placed the hammer, a little reluctantly, into the dwarf’s open hands. Sula had taught him not to trust anyone, but this was an emergency. Surely she would have agreed? But hadn’t she also taught him to trust his instincts?
Oro turned towards a comatose Sula and Felix heard him whisper in a language neither Valera nor he understood. Father and daughter stood close to Oro, who seemed to examine the hammer as if he had never seen it.
‘It not only turns rocks into salt, but anything else.’ Felix said anxiously. ‘I’m grateful for it, Oro, but you could have warned me!’
‘I know, I know. I’ve seen it. I’ve followed its trail,’ he replied excitedly.
‘Its trail? What do you mean by that?’ Felix asked, puzzled.
Oro shushed him and touched Sula’s neck, then her forehead and continued his chanting, the hammer in his other hand. Valera was alarmed immediately; to her it appeared very similar to a Mindmerge and she laid a warning hand on Oro’s wrist. She was only twelve, but knew when she saw evil.
As if being caught out, Oro quickly raised the hammer above his head at which Valera started screaming.
Aigle awoke in an instant, jumped up and came running over as Felix and Valera managed to hold on to the dwarf’s hands and hammer before it could come down on Sula!
‘What are you doing? This will kill, not heal her!’ Felix yelled. Has he found out I told her about the hammer and his mine? And that Sula knows about the Unicos? Is this his revenge?
‘That’s what he wants, dad! He means to hurt her!’ Both Aigle and Valera shouted in unison. Felix held on to the hammer and tried to pry it out of the dwarf’s hands, but the little man was immensely strong, and wouldn’t let go. Instead he tried hard to swing it down on Sula.
Valera and Aigle concentrated on their breathing and started chanting to go into a Mindmode. Aigle couldn’t cast the Protective Shield back up, as apparently his father unwittingly invited the evil dwarf in, so it wouldn’t work now, Aigle remembered from his mother’s teachings. Oro somehow must have suspected!
How and why? Was all the boy could think of.
What Aigle could try was to become the tiger! Valera’s Mindmode failed but she helped Felix fight the dwarf off in the meantime.
Aigle came roaring over and crashed into the dwarf’s side, which made him tumble and fall over. Felix and Valera also fell back untouched, whilst Oro, or whoever was in his body, started changing rapidly in front of their eyes on the floor! Aigle managed to get hold of the hammer, which he then quickly gave to his father.
Oro was now no longer a dwarf, but a tiger, a real one at that. He had sharp claws, strong jaws, very sharp teeth and huge muscles. Aigle was fast and strong from the tiger imprinting his physical abilities on him last year, enabling him to go into tiger-mode, but would Aigle be able to fight this?
Valera watched helplessly as she couldn’t do this yet, she could only merge with birds and innocent animals. Small cats yes, but not large and deadly ones like this. This was only because she had not met with a real tiger before, but however gracious and intriguing they were, Valera didn’t think she would want to merge with one. This meant she couldn’t assist Aigle in his fight. Valera was sweating and her heartbeat was racing. Worse still, her fear would never allow her to merge. How come the comyenti weakness didn’t affect Aigle this time?
Felix watched the tiger roar and attack his son in anguish, and he ran to grab a long knife from the kitchen; the only weapon he could think of. Aigle swiftly managed to avoid the tiger’s charges again and again, and went for his neck in a brave counter attack. His imagined tiger’s teeth felt just like a real tiger’s and surprisingly drew blood! The tiger had not suspected the boy’s strength, cried out in pain. With Aigle still locked on, both fell to the ground. Aigle let go for a brief moment before lashing out with his imagined claws, but missed. The other tiger lashed out and caught Aigle full in the chest. The boy fell backwards from the force and glanced down to check the damage. The tiger had ripped his tunic open and left three bloody nail marks across his chest. Aigle didn’t feel the pain yet as he was on such a high from adrenaline. He looked up with angry green flashing eyes that rapidly changed from emerald to dark jade, interspersed with firing orange specks, to stare right into the creature’s eyes.
He gasped to see his fear confirmed; the tiger’s eyes black, almost blue, with narrow vertical pupils; very unlike a real tiger but just like the eyes of the slave hunter lizard man from years before. With that knowledge, he lunged at the tiger with all the power he could muster and effectively slashed the tiger’s neck, cutting it deeply. The tiger screamed loudly and roared from the back of his throat which now bubbled and spat up blood.
Felix drew Valera close and hid her face in his armpit so she wouldn’t see. Aigle then sliced the tiger’s neck again, deeper still. The tiger, or rather the vision of one, slumped on the floor, and shortly uttered his last breath.
Aigle, still on top of the body, had a fury in his eyes which Felix had never seen in him before and it scared him slightly. He reminded himself that Aigle had acted out of love for his mother and his family. That was what made him kill the beast. Felix again admired the strength of the comyentis and felt himself inadequate and worthless; a feeling he thought he had lost since he owned the hammer. It should have been him, not his young son, who protected his family, but more importantly, Felix wondered why he had not trusted his gut instinct and just refused the dwarf entry?
With coiled fists he regarded his son who now stepped away from the body, as he rubbed his hands on his black leggings and stumbled. When he walked over to his father, Felix opened his arms and embraced the shaking lad. Aigle was just a boy again, and Felix felt pride and love for his boy swell up inside of him and was glad for it. The corpse of he tiger, started changing shape again…
This time, the body changed into the lizard-like man he had really been; with scaly yellow-green skin. His face was horrible with a wide mouth and sharp canine teeth, dry eyes half open, still showing the vertical black pupils. He had a normal sized man’s body, but with limbs that were longer and heavily muscled.
It was the big man, the slave hunter, it had to be. Apart from having the same eyes, Aigle recognised his aura and felt the essence of his very evil being.
~~~
Bright…it was so bright. Sula opened her
eyes and tried to look for the source of light; the sun, but couldn’t see. She was standing and looked down to stare at her hands. When she spread them, her fingers glowed and gave out rays of light! They were warm too.
Looking down at her body she noticed she was naked, but not only that, her whole body gave off light and heat; she was the source of light. She was the sun!
Sula felt powerful and terrific. She shone on the trees and birds. She saw so many birds; geese, skylarks and swallows. She immediately thought of Feline! A figure appeared before her and Sula knew it was her. Feline was just as beautiful as Sula remembered her to be, only now she was dressed in white. Her fair wavy hair around her shoulders she seemed to glow in Sula’s light. She smiled at her and they spoke their secret words, ‘My sun,’ Feline said.
‘My moon,’ Sula replied.
Feline reached for the other woman’s hands and her expression grew serious.
‘I have come to warn you, Sula.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re not safe any more, but you knew this. However, the danger is not only from the source you thought, it’s also your own kind you can’t trust.’
‘My… family?’
Feline shook her head fast, ‘No! Other comyenti.’
‘Shazar?’
Sula’s light dimmed a little when she thought about him and it was as if she shrunk a little in size. Even Feline’s brightness seemed to dim as she nodded gravely.
‘How? Why?’
‘I cannot tell as time is different here, but be careful around him. Stay far away from him, my love. Your family is safe with him, but…you’re not.’
Sula didn’t understand, she hadn’t seen or heard from Shazar for more than seventeen years. Feline picked up on this as if she could somehow read Sula’s mind.
‘Don’t think, use your instinct and trust yourself.’
‘Feline, I don’t get it. Where are we?’
‘We’re in a place in between life and death. Your body is fighting to stay alive. You’re strong though, Sula. You’ll live and I will remain with you as I wasn’t able to in the flesh.’
‘What happened, Feline? How did you lose your life?’
Feline’s image wavered and she shook her head, ‘It’s doesn’t matter now. What is of importance, is you and your future, your children’s future.’ She emphasized her words. ‘Your family awaits you, go back to them now.’
Their hands lost touch and Sula felt herself being pulled back. She didn’t want to lose her all over again, but Feline had said she would remain with her, as a guardian angel? What had she done to deserve that honour? There was so much to tell Feline, to ask her, but then all went dark again.
~~~
This time, her head was clearer and she focussed on her breathing and opened her eyes, only to look into Feline’s ocean blue eyes again...
She felt tears welling up and her heart beating fast. With what miracle was this possible?
‘How…how come I can still see you?’
‘I came as soon as I felt something was wrong,’ Feline, very real, answered.
‘But… you’re dead? I just saw you.’
Feline looked worried and her brows knotted in such a way, Sula recognised and only then she noticed her ears: Fay! It was her daughter Fay!
Thank Bhan you’re safe! Sula thought.
And you, Mum! Fay squeezed her mother’s hand lightly. There were tears in Sula’s eyes, and a faint sheen of sweat still on her brow, but she was out of danger. Her body had somehow managed to overpower the poison and it had left her body with her sweat.
Felix was there too and he held his arm around his daughter’s shoulder and with his other hand he reached for Sula’s hand; their fingers intertwining. He launched himself forward and fell onto her and with his wet face in her neck he said, ‘Miss Sula, I thought I’d lost you!’
She cried at that and smiled when she felt his emotions overflow with hers at the same time. Soon Fay joined in their group hug, and then Aigle and Valera and the little ones came running in.
Her family: Children Of The Sun.
Part III Shazar
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
-But who is that on the other side of you?
T.S.Eliot
Chapter 13 Soulwind
Six years later
Standing by her grave at first light, he said his final goodbyes.
To stand here and never to be able to see her familiar features and expressions again didn’t seem real yet. Never to hear her soft voice, see that twinkle in her eyes, smell her sweet scent, feel the warmth of her body or hear her soft voice and laughter, which had been so seldom. Never to walk the sandy beach hand in hand again...
He had expected to outlive her, of course, but her sudden death had come as a great shock nevertheless. Shazar squeezed his eyes against the pain of the fresh wound that throbbed in his heart, tearing him open ever since he found out that she had died. A breeze lifted a few strands of raven black hair from his bronze forehead.
Ashanna…
She had really been too young to die and they should have had more years to spend together. At least time enough to prepare for the loss; if one could ever truly prepare oneself for that. She had passed, and just as her precious oracle stone years before her, her shell had also been given back to the earth. Her immortal soul had been set free, truly free.
Shazar had known her many years and yet her life had touched only a small part of his long one. He had innumerable more years to live whilst she had died, way before her time, at fifty. Having known her for more than twenty years, being her partner and lover, he felt privileged. He had known her like no one else had. He had shared her mind, her thoughts, soul and body and to feel so connected and loved was something that was irreplaceable.
What was left was a great emptiness in his heart, as if it was being ripped in two. It literally hurt and pained him, and would most likely leave a physical scar. Shazar could easily use the eyesight of the dolphin through echolocation, enabling him to see past flesh and bones. When he looked in the mirror he could see his heart beating along with tiny scars left from the grief he had endured. The loss of his murdered family, and the pain he felt from others whenever he came across a creature suffering, with comyenti empathy.
It wasn’t always easy being comyenti. With their enhanced senses, the natural world with its wonders of sound, smell and sight could, in an instant become their greatest enemy. This, added to the fact that his kind were easily overwhelmed by feelings and emotions radiating from others, leaving them feeling drained.
Especially when comyentis witnessed suffering, they experienced it too. The compassion for others not only left their souls in intense pain and anguish, but also their bodies which would pick up on emotions physically. Other people’s and animals’ pains would result in him feeling nauseous, having headaches, and could get the better of Shazar if he didn’t focus on the task of helping the victim in need. Sometimes, although he struggled to do this and maintain it, he even had to shield his sensory input, and those feelings completely, to be able to truly help. That was how he had managed to save both Ashanna and Twello all those years ago.
“Ours is a wondrous gift, but it comes at a great cost…” he heard the voice of his late father say in his mind.
True, all too true. We can close our eyes to pain and suffering, but we cannot close our hearts for too long, Shazar thought.
A gust of wind blew through his shoulder-length dark which looked almost crimson, in the rising sun. It whipped a few strands across his face, making him look up. It could have been her spirit, telling him not to be sad, or to let her go, who knew? Souls were in the wind, she used to tell him i
n her wise voice. He knew she had to be right; she was all-knowing because of the oracle stone she had served with for years.
Was it a Soulwind that awful stormy day three weeks ago? Had the wind, the souls, come for her that morning? Standing on a cliff near their home by the sea, she had slipped, or had the wind taken her? Whatever had happened, their son had witnessed it from afar, and was only able to tell that one moment he saw her, the other she was gone: Soulwind.
And Shazar, her hero, hadn’t been there to save her…
Through their Heartmerge he had felt something was wrong the moment of her fall and had rushed to find her. However he hadn’t been able to; she wasn’t at her school or at home. When he saw Twello come running towards him, his face as white as a sheet, Shazar instantly knew he had come too late. His son had managed to point to the spot on the cliff where she’d disappeared and both men went searching; Twello down the cliff by the rocky shore while Shazar dove into the sea. It was there he’d found her broken body at the bottom of the sea; entangled in seaweed, her body had rocked with the waves so near the shore. It took great strength and risk to his own life to get her out.
Both men had been devastated.
“All is well now,” she would have spoken to ease him.
And what now? Shazar had nothing to stay for. Their son, Twello, was all grown up; a young man living in a house of his own. Shazar and Ashanna had no other children, or a running farm, to stay for.
Shazar felt at a loss.
He had always been a little restless in their isolated home by the Cohel coast; Ashanna had inherited the cottage from an aunt. Often he had felt a bit bored.
He was, after all, destined to be and do more than this life of seclusion allowed; it was a life of hiding. However much he loved and needed it. He could spend hours a day painting his popular oil creations, after a morning’s easy work on their small piece of land, or wander the woods to communicate with wild beings. Ashanna left most mornings to teach in the nearest village of Randaria, ten miles away. Sometimes if she was late, or the weather was bad, he would carry her to work using the power of flight of the spine-tailed-swift; the fastest level-flying bird. They would arrive in the blink of an eye. Well wrapped up, she enjoyed the exhilarating rush of speed that made her blood hasten, and the eerie sound of the wind in her ears. He knew she felt alive at those moments. They would go so fast and so high that no one would see them; otherwise they would be in trouble, risking exposure of the inhuman man with unusual abilities, carrying a female through the sky!
The Comyenti Series Book Bundle, Volume 1 and 2 (Epic Romantic Supernatural Fantasy) Page 37
