Awethology Light

by The Awethors

 

  Kendrall’s Concern

  Kendrall didn’t like the idea of a Bul’ith having a headache. The last time it had happened, something had gone wrong, though he couldn’t remember what. It was time for the history books.

  Seeking out Joz in the library, he requested the books on rare medical conditions with Bul’ith.

  “Is everything alright, Kendrall, anything I can help with?” she asked.

  “Yes, fine thank you Joz, I just wanted to check something out before I approached our Mistress.” He smiled calmly.

  “Here you go,” she replied. “I’ll bring the scrolls over to you, in case you have to go back further.”

  “Thanks Joz; you’re a gem,” he said, walking away without seeing her blush at his compliment.

  Settling down to read, he sighed, hoping he could find the relevant information quickly. He knew it was there.

   

  Qwaun the Bird Keeper

  Qwaun wasn’t pleased his falcon had chosen Briar for her energy strikes; she was too wild for his tastes. Needless now, the Falcon had chosen; he’d have to train her for the coming battles.

  Dulcie settled on his shoulder, biting his ear. He lifted a hand to stroke her feathers, making her preen with delight. She snuggled into his neck.

  “Well Dulcie, I can’t say I’m surprised with your choice, though I do wish you’d thought about this a bit harder,” he muttered.

  Dulcie bobbed her head up and down in excitement; she loved her challenge and knew training would be fun this time.

  “We’ll get her tomorrow?” He smiled. Dulcie flew up into the air, doing a somersault. “Show-off,” he called out with a laugh.

  Qwaun was the handsome twin, with his long, deep red hair plaited with beads of many colours, his startling golden eyes with green flecks and a face any woman would adore.

  His eyes twinkled with amusement as he walked the forest pathways, watching Dulcie flit to and fro, diving for her dinner and sitting regally on a branch, waiting for him to catch up. She offered him the mouse before taking off into the air again.

  Thanking her, Qwaun watched her soar, looking down at the dead mouse. He blew gently on its face. The mouse wriggled wildly, so he let it go to live for another day.

  Kendrall appeared beside him, muttering, a frown on his face.

  “What’s the matter Kendrall?”

  “I’m not sure. I was talking to Briar earlier.”

  “She’s all right?”

  “Apparently she had a headache this morning—an excruciatingly bad one; you may have to watch her carefully when you’re training her.”

  “We don’t get headaches.” Qwaun frowned.

  “Exactly, I haven’t found anything in the old books yet, so I thought I’d warn you.”

  “Thanks Kendrall,” he said, though Kendrall had already disappeared. “Dulcie,” he called out, holding out his arm. She flew back and settled down, looking at him, her head to one side. “You keep an eye on Briar when we collect her,” he said softly, stroking her feathers. A nod of her head and she was off again.

  Briar was happy in Ruben’s arms; he felt good, though she knew they could never be together in life. She enjoyed his friendship.

  “Ru,” she said, looking up at his face.

  “Yeah Bri,” he said, smiling down at her tenderly.

  “I’ll be gone soon, you’ll wake up one morning and I won’t be here. Please don’t panic. Call out for Kendrall if you need anything.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to go Bri,” he said, kissing her head.

  “Ru, you can’t love me; we can never be together,” she said sadly, stepping away from him.

  “Why?”

  “My destiny is with another Bul’ith,” she said, turning away, her eyes filling with tears.

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Briar turned back to him, lifting her face and looking directly into his eyes.

  “We have to produce another Bul’ith—it’s part of our world —after which, we can choose to be human, or stay Bul’ith; we then provide more children to protect your world.”

  “Complication after complication,” he muttered, sitting down. “What do I have to do to become Bul’ith?” he said, his hands flowing like a conductor.

  “You can’t, you have to be born Bul’ith,” she said.

  “Shit,” he muttered. “I’ll be back later Briar, I need some fresh air.”

  “Take care, Ru,” she said, kissing his cheek.

  “We go into her dreams tonight, Dulcie,” said Qwaun. “He’s getting too close to her. Tomorrow her training will begin.”

  Dulcie nodded her head in excitement; she loved the dream world and sharing her energies with another.

  Ruben hadn’t returned by the time Briar went to bed. She was worried about him, wishing she could help him through the pain he was holding close to his chest.

  Tossing and turning Briar finally fell into a deep sleep, welcoming the falcon to her with a smile. Dulcie landed on her shoulder, nuzzling Briar’s neck, her talons sinking deep into her shoulder, making her wince. Powerful energy surged through her body. She jerked in shock as the talons withdrew and the falcon rose into the air, flying away. Briar sank to the ground, her body trembling; unconsciousness claimed her.

  Ruben couldn’t wake her, he shook her shoulder violently. He’d returned just in time to hear her scream.

  “Wake up Briar,” he urged. “Damn you, Kendrall, something is wrong!—Briar needs you,” he yelled out.

  Kendrall materialised beside him. Pulling Ruben out of the way, he placed his hand on Briar’s forehead. Light pushed inside her body, slowing, combing her body for problems.

  “What are you doing?” Ruben said.

  “Trying to find out what’s wrong with her,” he muttered, his head down in concentration. “Her brain is fine,” he murmured. The ball of light continued its journey, closing in on her heart. The light wavered and stopped. Kendrall lifted his head, looking at Ruben.

  “Tell me,” he pleaded.

  “She has evil in her heart,” he said.

  “No, she’s not evil,” he cried out clenching his fists.

  “I didn’t say she was; I said she has evil in her heart. I need to take her now before it gets stronger.”

  “Take her where?” he said.

  “Ruben, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry,” he said, disappearing, taking Briar with him.

  “Noooo,” he cried out, flinging himself down on her bed and beginning to sob.

  “Joz, I need you to call the Mistress—someone has invaded Briar’s heart.”

  “Oh no!—This is terrible,” she replied, rushing away.

  Kendrall set Briar on a couch in the library, brushing her hair from her face. Qwaun suddenly appeared; anger on his face at the injustice.

  “What happened?”

  “Evil did, Qwaun,” he muttered checking the rest of her body.

  “She’s meant to start her training tomorrow,” he replied.

  “Not going to happen,” he said, sitting back with a sigh and looking up at Qwaun. “We need to repair her heart. I’m not sure how much damage has been done yet; she may not survive.”

  “How the hell did this happen?!”

  “The shadows are obviously improving their techniques.”

  “Do you know what’s wrong with her heart?”

  “The Mistress will reveal all. I can only say something is amiss.”

  “Dulcie won’t be happy about this.”

  “Stay with Briar, please, Qwaun. I need to check on Farron and collect the other trainees.”

  “How many trainees this time?” he asked, sitting down beside Briar.

  “We have a total of seven,” he replied.

  “Go find them, Kendrall,” he said, “Farron is fine, Qwain has her training in the forest—no medical issues so far.”

  “Must be great being a twin,” he smiled and faded into nothing.

  The Mistress arrived quic
kly, gasping when she saw Briar motionless on the couch.

  “What has happened, Qwaun?”

  “Kendrall said there is evil in her heart,” he said sadly, “he said you’ll be able to fix her.”

  “Bring her to my medical rooms; we’ll find out.”

  “She’s meant to start training in a few hours, Mistress,” he replied, picking Briar up.

  “Put a hold on Dulcie—she will understand.”

  They hurried through the compound, crossing into the medical area. Qwaun placed her down, nodded to the Mistress, and disappeared.

  “What can I do?” the Mistress muttered as she scanned Briar’s body. Just like with Kendrall, the light hovered over Briar’s heart. Pressing the light deeper, checking the heart layer by layer, she finally came to the gem. Only the gem didn’t look right. Something was off. Puzzled, the Mistress pushed harder still and got rebuffed.

  “Joz,” she called out.

  “Yes, Mistress?”

  “Please ask the keeper of souls to attend me, along with Briar’s soul.”

  “Yes, Mistress.” She nodded and disappeared.

  The Mistress paced the medical room restlessly while she waited. He appeared moments later, carrying a bottle with a soul in it.

  “Mistress, what can I do for you?”

  “Briar has evil in her heart. I can feel it, though I can’t remove it. It’s trapped between her body and her soul. I want to know why, and how we can repair the damage before it’s too late.”

  “Her soul should be fine, Mistress.” He frowned.

  “Well, it isn’t. You feel her heart.”

  He leant over her, pushing his light deep, coming to the same place and not being able to go further.

  “Strange,” he muttered. “I can see her gem, though it isn’t right; it’s as if it’s not real.”

  “The shadows?” she asked, “but how?”

  “The Bul’ith soul only comes to me when they dream; the soul takes a while to adjust before it lifts. It’s possible the soul was stolen before it reached me.”

  “Can you release her soul to me? Maybe we can replace the gem with a new one.”

  “Mistress, I can remove the gem, as can you, though if we do she’ll become human, no Bul’ith has a spare gem.”

  “We need her for the battles, Soul Man.”

  “Has she had her first energy blast?”

  “Yes, by Dulcie, the falcon.”

  He turned away deep in thought, pondering about the difficulties of training a human.

  “Have we ever trained a human before, Mistress?”

  “Yes; once, many centuries ago. Why?” she asked.

  “What happened to the human?”

  “They survived, just,” she said.

  “If you think it’s worth the risk, we can remove the gem from her soul’s heart and still train her, with two energy blasts and her knowledge she should be stronger than…”

  Kendrall appeared at her side.

  “She has a human love; it will probably be for the best.”

  “So be it; please, Kendrall, let her young man know.”

  “So be it,” he echoed her words as he faded from view.

  Kendrall found Ruben sitting on the couch in his apartment, his head down, his hands between his legs, tears of anguish dripping on the floor.

  “Ruben,” Kendrall said gently, touching his shoulder.

  “W-what?—Oh, it’s you. What do you want?” he asked, wiping his eyes.”

  “Briar will need you, are you willing to come with me?”

  “Briar!” he yelled, standing up. “Is she all right?—Please let her be all right.”

  “She needs you in our world, Ruben—will you come with me?”

  “Yes; take me to her,” he said with a glare.

  “She’ll survive, though she’ll need your support, especially during her training.”

  “Why?” he said.

  “Come, I’ll show you.” He smiled.

  “W-w…” his voice trailed off as the apartment disappeared. “Where are we?” he said, looking around.

  “We’re in Chantari,” he smiled, “the world of Bul’ith.”

  “I’ll leave you here, Ruben; someone shall be here for you shortly. Take care,” he said, disappearing.

  “W-where did you go? Well damn,” he muttered.

  “You must be Ruben; I’m Joz. I’ll take you to medical and the Mistress; she’ll tell you what you need to know and do.” She smiled gently.

  “Thanks; I think,” he said frowning.