Nykara

by Katie Holland

  Her mom handed her an envelope with “Alix” written on the front. Alix took it very slowly. What would she find in it? She wanted to read it but didn’t think she was quite ready. She still had to process the fact that her parents had to give her up to protect her.

  “Um … mom, do you know what they were protecting me from? Why they had to leave, and never come back?”

  “No honey that we don’t know. But after what happened yesterday I think that Natalie and Rick will have answers to that.”

  “Can you guys tell me more stories about them? I want to get to know them better.”

  “Of course, we can,” her mom said.

  They moved to the living room and she listened to stories about them for hours. The three of them laughed and cried, but everything felt like it was going to be okay.

  Chapter 25

  Later that evening as she was hanging out with her parents she got a text, it was from Ben.

  Ben: We start your Nykara education and training tomorrow. Be at my place at 8am.

  Alix: Oh, I’m doing fine after everything yesterday, thanks for asking.

  Alix: Tomorrow is Monday, we have school!

  Ben: Sorry. No, we don’t.

  Alix: Yes, we do, it’s not a holiday.

  Ben: We have the week off. For training.

  Alix: Are you serious???

  Ben: Yes, ask your parents.

  “Mom, Ben says that we have we next week off. Do you know what he’s talking about? That can’t be right.”

  “Well honey, he’s right. From what I understand you need some training to learn what you can do and they’re going to take the week to help you.”

  “But what about school?”

  “From what I’ve been told a lot of the teachers at the school are Nykara as well, so they will understand the need for you learn what you have to.”

  Alix gave her mom an incredulous look. “What do you mean a lot of the teachers are Nykara?”

  “From what Natalie said Sunset Creek is one of those places that Nykara like to be.”

  “Hmm.” Was all that Alix could say. She thought about it for a while then asked her mom, “So is that why my biological parents asked you to move here?”

  “I think so.”

  Alix texted Ben back.

  Alix: Ok, guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

  Ben: Told you I was right.

  Alix: Whatever. See you tomorrow

  She went back to her book when her phone went off again, this time it was Shay.

  Shay: Hey mom just told me I’m off for the week. You know anything about this?

  Alix: Ya, I just found out myself. I guess I need “training” to learn Nykara stuff. No one told me, but it sounds like you’re going to be joining me. Cool.

  Shay: I agree. Cool. When and where?

  Alix: Ben’s place at 8 am.

  Shay: Seriously?!?! We can’t even sleep in!

  Alix: Sorry, not my call. ☹

  Shay: I think we need to put me in charge, we wouldn’t start until 10.

  Alix: Unless you can teach me what I need to know I don’t think either one of us can be in charge.

  Shay: Fine, be all logical! ☺

  Alix: ☺ See you in the morning.

  Alix went back to her book, she needed to do something relaxing and familiar to her. She had never expected the weekend to turn out the way it did. She found out she was a magical being, possibly the Chosen One and that her parents had to give her up to keep her safe. That was a lot for two days. All she wanted to do was get lost in the imaginary world of her book.

  ****

  Alix’s alarm went off at seven am the next morning. She had a quick shower, got dressed, and made her coffee. She had no idea what to expect of the day. Would she actually be able to do something magical? The thought had her excited. Alix didn’t know if she would be learning theory or doing something else, so she decided to grab a notebook just in case she had to write anything down. She decided she’d stop by and get Shay on the way to Ben’s so Alix grabbed her go mug and headed out the door. She was surprised when she stepped outside, and Ben and Shay were already waiting for her in Ben’s mom’s SUV.

  “What are you guys doing here?” she asked, as she got in the back seat.

  “It’s still not safe for you to be alone,” Ben answered.

  “What do you mean not safe?” she asked. “Does this have anything to do with the man in my window?”

  Ben glanced over his shoulder at her. “Yes and no. It’s a little bit of a long explanation and it might be something better for my mom and dad to tell you. I’m not trying to be rude, but they have way more experience with this than I do. Okay?”

  “I guess. Doesn’t seem like I have much choice in the matter,” Alix mumbled.

  Alix’s feeling of excitement to learn something about magic was now a little dampened and instead, she was feeling more wary, and confused. She didn’t understand the need to keep her safe. Other than the face in the window, nothing had been out of the ordinary.

  Alix looked at Shay, “What do you know about this?”

  “Not much,” Shay answered.

  “So why aren’t you freaking out? Normally you want to know everything about everything.”

  “I’m just doing what I’m told.”

  “Since when? You almost never do what you’re told,” Alix said with a smile.

  “Very true, but when it comes to you Alix, I have to listen even if I don’t understand at the time. You are the very bestest best friend, I need to make sure we’re together for a very long time.”

  “Bestest?”

  “Yep, that’s what I said.”

  Alix wasn’t sure how to respond to that but luckily, they were already at Ben’s house, so she didn’t have to say anything else.

  They went into the house and followed Ben to the kitchen. His mom and dad were already there, and it looked like they were making breakfast.

  Alix looked around a little confused. She thought they would have gone to the study or the library, but certainly not the kitchen. “I thought you guys were going to teach me how to be a Nykara?” Alix asked. “Why are we in the kitchen?

  Natalie stopped what she was doing to answer Alix. “First of all, you can’t learn anything on an empty stomach,” she said with a smile. “And your training won’t be something formal like a classroom. It’ll be more questions and answers and trial and error. Does that sound good to you?”

  “Um … yeah, I guess so.” Alix sat down at the table with her hands on her chin. She felt so out of her element. She liked being in control and knowing everything she could. Now she felt like everyone but her, knew what was going on.

  Ben went to help his parents and Shay went over and sat next to Alix. “Talk to me. I can see all those thoughts racing around your brain. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Alix thought about saying everything was fine, but she knew Shay wouldn’t buy it. She took a moment to figure out what she wanted to say.

  “It’s just that I feel like everyone knows what’s happening but me; and I hate that. I’m confused, worried, a little angry, and kind of excited. I guess overwhelmed is a good word for what I’m feeling. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. How could I be something as special as that book said? Learning about my parents. It’s just everything all at once and I don’t know what to do.”

  “It’s been a very intense couple of days for you Alix. You need to give yourself a break. I don’t know anyone who could have handled all of this like you have. No one is expecting you to know everything right away. You’ve had some very big shocks since Saturday and you’re most likely going to get a few more in the next week. Just let yourself be and don’t expect so much of yourself right now. It’s okay to feel the way you do. All of the feelings you have are normal. Ben and his parents are good people and aren’t going to let anything happen to you. You have the support of your parents, me and my whole family as well as Ben, Natalie and Rick. And rumor
has it that there are a quite a few Nykara here in Sunset Creek to add to that support. Allow yourself to take any help you can get and let go of some of that control you like to hang on to. We’re all here to help you so get used to it.”

  Alix couldn’t help but smile at Shay. “When did you get so smart?”

  “I think it’s my natural Lossat abilities kicking in.” Shay grinned. “Or it could just be that I’ve known you forever and I know what to say to make you feel better.”

  “Very true. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need more of that advice along the way so I’m glad I have you to turn to. I don’t care how it happened, but I’ve never been happier that you are part of my life.”

  “Don’t go getting all sappy on me now.” Shay grinned at Alix.

  “Okay girls,” Ben said, as he stepped in the middle of them. “Let’s grab breakfast and then we can get started.”

  The five of them filled their plates and sat at the table. The conversation was light and there were many smiles during breakfast. It was just what Alix needed before she faced whatever they had planned for her.

  After they all helped clean up Alix thought they would be headed to another room in the house, but she was surprised again when they headed to the back door and out to the cabin. She was really happy that her education appeared to be taking place in the cabin. After all of the dreams she had about it, she felt at home and relaxed there.

  They all sat down at the small wooden table. Alix had no idea what to expect. It was Rick that spoke first.

  “Alix, we’ve never had to explain all of this to someone who knew nothing about being magical, so we think that the best way to start is to see what questions you have. So … what questions do you have for us? Shay, we know this is new to you too so please feel free to ask as well.”

  Alix thought that when it came time for her to ask all her questions that she wouldn’t be able to stop, but instead she found that she didn’t know where to start so she just sat there staring at Rick.

  “Are you okay?” Ben asked her.

  “Um … I thought I’d have a million questions when I finally got to ask them, but I think I’m so overwhelmed that I really don’t know where to start.”

  “We can understand that,” Rick said looking at Natalie and Ben. “We can’t even imagine what you have gone through in the last two days. The three of us grew up knowing what we were. The only thing we had to wait for was to find out what type of Nykara we would be when we turned seventeen.”

  Alix stopped him. “Let’s start there. So, you had no idea what you would be until you turned seventeen? Like no idea at all?”

  “No,” Natalie answered. “No one knows at all until they see their tattoo for the first time. It doesn’t matter what their parents, grandparents or other siblings might be. The magic in your body knows what you are going to be the best at and love.”

  “Okay, so I remember reading in The Book of Nykara that the different types of Nykara are designated by the different kinds of tattoos, but I don’t get why all of one type isn’t the same tattoo. Like you two, you guys have different birds, but you are both Theorists?”

  “Yes, that’s right Alix,” Rick answered. “Both Natalie and I are Theorists and have different kinds of birds as our tattoos, hers being a hummingbird and mine is a sparrow. Again, no one really knows for sure why certain tattoos are chosen for each person, but we think that the type of tattoo that the person receives will be partly due to their personality as well as their strengths. For example, a Warrior with a bear tattoo is generally strong and steady whereas a Warrior with a wolf tattoo is typically more cunning and calculating. This is just a general guideline though. The only exception to this the Protector of course. They all have the same tattoo as Ben does, but they are quite rare, in fact, Ben is the first Protector we’ve ever known.”

  Alix thought about that for a minute. “So, about Ben being a Protector, does that mean he’s here to protect me?”

  “Yes Alix, he is,” Rick answered. “That’s the reason we ended up here. We were very surprised when Ben got his tattoo earlier this year. In August Ben had a feeling that we needed to move. This is typical with a Protector. They never know when they will get the call to find the one they are meant to protect. We were shocked that it was happening when Ben was so young. But we knew how important it was so, Natalie and I gave our notices at work and packed up the house we were living in and just started driving. Ben would get a feeling of what direction we were to go, and we would head that way. After a few days, we ended up here. As soon as we entered Sunset Creek he knew we were in the right place. We could tell it was a special place for Nykara. We made a call to the Almati Council and they told us about the house.”

  Alix interrupted him. “I have a question. Why did you have to call the Almati Council? Is it some kind of a requirement when you move or something?”

  “No, we can move anywhere we want at any time we want. We called them because with Ben being a Protector, the council needs to know when a Protector has found the place they need to be. Less than one percent of Nykara are Protectors and when one figures out where they need to be the Council has to be aware of it, so they can keep a closer eye on that area in case the Grynn are involved. Since most Protectors end up protecting someone important to the Nykara people it’s always vital to them when a Protector finds the one they need to protect. When we called them they directed us to the house? The house didn’t actually belong to our family. It’s more along the lines of being a safe place for Nykara.”

  “So, I get that Ben is here to protect me, but how did he know it was me he was looking for?”

  It was Ben that answered her. “As soon as I felt you walk on the property I knew it was you. Well, I didn’t know it was you specifically but that it was the person who was here. I made myself invisible and went to investigate. When I saw you for the first time I knew it was you. To be honest I watched you girls for a few minutes before I introduced myself.” he grinned.

  Alix just shook her head. “I thought you just seemed to appear out of nowhere. At least I know I’m not crazy.”

  “Wait,” Shay piped up, “What do you mean you made yourself invisible?”

  “It’s one of the things that we can do. We can’t actually turn invisible, but we use nature to camouflage ourselves to appear invisible.” Ben said. “Speaking about being invisible, Alix I need to apologize to you. The day you and Shay were coming over to talk about the coin I was following you and I think I scared you, so I’m sorry about that.”

  “You were following me? Why?” Alix asked.

  “Just part of the Protector in me. I’ve actually checked on you a lot when you didn’t know it. I didn’t know you were going to be the Chosen One, but it makes sense now why I had so many feelings to check on you.” he told her.

  “Um … I don’t really know what to say.” Alix admitted.

  “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know, in case you were getting paranoid or something.”

  “Me … paranoid, no way.” she said sarcastically.

  “Let’s get back to the invisible thing because that’s really cool.” Shay said.

  Alix put her head down and mumbled into the table. “It’s going to take me forever to figure out all this magic stuff. And I’m supposed to be The Chosen One, it’s like a joke. Give the most important job to the person who knows nothing about it. Oh, and good luck with that.”

  Natalie put her hand on Alix’s shoulder. “It’s okay Alix. I know this must be terribly overwhelming for you, but I promise it will all work out. You have a lot of people here to help you. Us, Shay and her family, your parents and there are a lot of Nykara here in Sunset Creek. No one expects you to be an expert overnight. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

  Alix took a moment to take in what Natalie had said. She was the type of person who expected perfection from herself and when that didn’t happen it was hard for her to deal with. This was going to be a whole new life for her,
so she guessed she needed to give herself a bit of a break. That was going to be difficult at first, but she decided she could do it. She had to, or she might drive herself crazy.

  She raised her head off the table to find the four of them looking at her. “Alright. I’ll try to give myself a break and not expect so much of myself at first. I don’t know how well I’m going to do with that but I’m willing to give it a try.”

  “I know how hard that is for you,” Shay said to her. “I’m here to help however I can.”

  Rick cleared his throat. “Alix, it’s up to you where we go from here. Your learning will be in our hands but we’re going to leave it up to you to figure out how and what you want to learn. So, do you have any idea what you would like to do?”

  She thought about it for a while. “I know I’ll have a ton of questions but I’m dying to see some real magic. Can you guys show me something simple that I can learn?”

  “Sure,” Ben said getting up from the table. “Let’s go outside. We’ll be able to learn better out there.”

  As they went out of the cabin Alix was super excited to see some real magic done right in front of her. Sure, she’d seen the cabin camouflaged, but it was still hard for her to comprehend that magic really existed until she saw it.

  Ben walked over to the closest tree, touched it and even though it was October and the leaves had mostly turned yellow and were falling off, a new branch started growing right before her eyes. It started out as a little twig and grew to be as thick as her arm with green leaves on it.

  Alix was speechless. She walked over to Ben and the tree. She reached up to touch the branch to see if it was real. Sure, enough it was just like the rest of the tree and not an illusion. She was amazed.

  “I know you said magic is real but hearing about it and seeing it happen right in front of you are two different things. I can’t grasp that you just did that Ben. I mean I saw it, I can touch it but it’s … it’s … I’m not even sure I have words for it.”