My mother would escape the same way we came here - through a Celestial orb. She constantly wore one of those devices on her for when that day came.
I looked at it every night. It was the same thing that Leigh had spoken about in my dream. It was dark grey and had an oval gel substance in the middle. It looked just like a funny looking object with a sticky back that would attach to any wall, door, tree, whatever you could think of and then it would magically activate. The orb let you jump through worlds and from place to place. An excellent getaway tool.
They would come soon as Dad’s sand was almost finished. It was the only thing that protected this cabin from the real world and from the other Dream Casters, good and bad.
“When they come, what will you do?”
“Act like a victim.” I spoke like a soldier, these questions had been had been drilled into me so many times.
“If, by some miracle, they tie me down, what will you do?”
“Nothing, I won’t yell out for you, I won’t cry, I’ll do nothing.”
“If they tell ask you who I am?”
“I’ll tell them I don’t know. You kidnapped me while I was on the run after the day my sand came, I haven’t seen my mother since, and that you tried to change me. Will they really believe that?” I stared at my mother.
“The Shadow Caster’s believe that if they can get close to Light Casters when they are your age, they might be able to change them to fully dark by influencing their beliefs.”
I could feel my frown knitting both my eyebrows together. “You mean like brainwashing them?” I couldn’t imagine what person in their right mind would like to go and live in the Oblivion by choice.
Mom smiled. “Something like that.”
“Will they do the same to me, if the Shadow Casters find us first?”
“I doubt that. I haven’t used my sand beyond the wall for a long time, they can only track other Shadow Casters when sand has been used, and new fresh Dream Caster sand, no matter the color. We’ve been practicing a lot with yours so I doubt that if you used it behind the shield that they could detect it easily.”
“But the Light Casters would.”
She nodded. “Those Seekers didn’t come for me that day, Chastity. They came for you. You were not ready which is why we left them there. I’m sure that Selene already knows about you and about me. So if you ever meet her, which I’m sure you will, just keep to our story. That a woman with blonde hair found you and that she tried to change you, but you don’t know how. The less you tell them what you know, the better. If they know that you have the Shadow Caster’s blood inside of you, Selene will cast you out.”
I nodded. “What if I can’t do this? What if I screw up? If anything happens to you…” I couldn’t think about it.
My mother smiled lovingly back at me. “If you can’t watch, roll yourself up in a fetus position and look away Chas. I can get myself out of any situation, but I doubt that I could get your ass out of Oblivion. I’ll try my best, but…” she shook her head.
“Then I don’t have a choice. You can’t go back there.”
Mom took my head softly in both her hands and kissed me on my head.
“If there is any chance that they realize who I am, they would say stuff Chas, stuff that used to be true, horrible things. But know that I changed the minute they laid your tiny body inside my arms.”
I grabbed mom tight around her neck. “Promise me you’ll be okay?”
“Chastity, I’ll be fine, as long as you promise to keep the golden sand and never show them the black.”
I pushed her away at arm’s length. “But I don’t have black sand, Mom.”
She stared at the ground and the expression on her face told me that she was hiding something.
“Mom?”
“You could still get it.” She turned her back to me and fiddled with her fingers.
“How?”
“Your dark side can trigger it, Chas. You need to be super careful. Any sign of weakness, anger, frustration, anything that can open your darkness, can bring on the black sand.”
I gave an unbelievable laugh. “You never thought of telling me this earlier? Mom, what if…”
“Shhh, don’t think like that. If you feel frustrated, or angry, just walk away, Chastity. Until the anger disappears. Don’t ever wield your sand if you’re not sure about your emotions. It has to be good, in every way before you wield something.”
“I don’t understand. I didn’t feel good when I used my sand on those assholes at the lake.”
Mom smiled. “That’s a good sign, but you need to be careful, Chastity.”
“Dad was a Light Caster. Why didn’t his sand ever change dark when he fought against you guys?”
“Because he was a Light Caster, he was fighting against the evil, not with them. We are not sure what you are yet. You could be either. If the Shadow Casters get a hold of you, Chas!”
“It won’t happen.”
“Just be careful. You only get one chance in Revera.”
Mom glanced at her wrist watch. “I need to get some lunch into that stomach of yours. Pack all the weapons away and meet me in the kitchen.”
I watched Mom as she left. I hated this feeling of not knowing what was going to happen. Were we going to still have tonight together or not? I sighed and bent from the waist down to pick up the first weapon. It was a cross bow. This one had small arrows that had the ability to shoot out one after the other in less than five seconds. Mom didn’t need the arrows. She wielded her black sand and hit all bull’s eyes. I, on the other hand, was lucky if my arrows appeared, not to mention hitting the target board.
I truly hoped that Mom was right that it would become easier now that I’d wielded the dagger.
I picked up the next weapon, a whip. It was another of Mom’s favorites and I learned the past few weeks that it was the main weapon she used to fight with. My father had had his bow. I could just imagine how he had used it, shooting out bright golden arrows at those nasty dogs. I made a mental note of asking Mom how the Shadow Casters managed to wield them. It must be from a lot of hatred.
I picked up something that reminded me of small daggers. It came with a wrist glove which you pushed the daggers inside and when you needed it, you just flicked your wrist in a sideways movement and they came flying out of the glove. It was a really cool weapon.
I placed all the weapons in a small chest. It wasn’t the one that had been hidden in the attic for years, but it was very similar.
Once the room was clean, I went to the kitchen. Mom was busy making her famous mustard and cold meat sandwich as I plopped onto the nearest high chair. I watched her add the mustard and pickles onto the sandwich.
“Can I ask you something?”
Mom looked up. “Shoot.”
“Where do the Shadow Hounds come from?”
She huffed and a small smile appeared on her mouth. “Nimgolians. They’re not as vicious as you think, Chastity.”
“They’re not?”
She shook her head “We each get one on our tenth birthday. They’re these small puppy whisks of dogs, beautiful.”
“You had one too?”
“I did. She was a gentle creature and most of the time was misunderstood.”
“Why do I get the feeling she no longer is?”
“My father killed her when he found out about your dad.”
“What?”
“He thought it would be a way to make me fear him again, but he was wrong. I hated him more than I feared him.”
“Why do they seem so vicious then?”
“Because they feed off fear. We’re not afraid of them because we nurture them from puppies. Light Casters always have that fear inside of them when they see them. As you know, they aren’t your average-looking dog and I don’t think the disfigured face and huge teeth help them much with gaining trust from the Light Casters.”
“So, basically, they’re like real dogs?”
Vinique laughed. “Basicall
y, but they can do vicious things if their Shadow Caster orders them.” She took out a couple of plates and handed them to me to set the table.
“But where do they come from?”
“We have shrines inside Oblivion. They’re like a Level Four Light Caster but dark. Her bloodline are the only ones that can wield them. Mine was wielded by a woman called Seamora. She didn’t like being a Shadow Caster and when she wielded Kiara for me, she put a lot of love into her. She also put a bit of mischief and too much energy, but overall it was the perfect recipe for a Shadow Hound.”
“Can Light Casters tame them?”
“If they can look beyond the darkness and evil emanating off them, I don’t see why not. But then again, the Light Casters have their own animals.”
“They do?”
“They are called Anitules. Their Casters are known as Tulas, a very old name for someone gifted to bond with Anitules. If I remember correctly, your father had an eagle called Lima, who would come to his rescue whenever things got out of hand.”
My eyebrows knitted as I thought about that.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“Why wasn’t he there that night, when you needed him?”
“Because Lima would’ve killed me.”
“But he was just an eagle.”
She laughed. “Animals in Revera are not like the animals we have here, Chas. They are huge, so big that Casters can ride them. Lima was a giant eagle.”
“What?!”
“He showed me a picture of Lima once, he was a beautiful creature.”
“Did he die too?” I had to know.
She shrugged.
“So the Light Caster animals are just like the Shadow Caster animals.”
“You are one smart girl.”
“What can I say? I guess I get it from both my parents.”
Mom bumped me softly. “Eat your sandwich, smart mouth.”
We dug in and I had to say, it was the best sandwich I’d ever had. I enjoyed every single bit of it, up until Mom told me to finish my milk because we still had plenty of training to do.
Training carried on until late in the evening. Around nine o’clock, I watched Mom part with the last bit of my father’s sand. She stood outside the cabin with a blanket over her shoulder, just staring out into the woods.
It couldn’t be easy on her, knowing that she didn’t have anything that strong of Dad’s with her anymore. That thought and watching her just standing there brought tears to my eyes.
They would come, any day now. My mother had spoken so many times of this night. The night that could be our last. Still, it didn’t matter how many times she spoke about it, trying to get me strong for this evening, I wasn’t ready to part ways with her. There was still so much I needed to know, but she said I knew enough. I would learn the rest in Revera and the less I knew now, the better off I would be when they did come.
THE NEXT DAY I FOUND A PLATINUM BLONDE AT
the table, reading from a newspaper.
“The color suits you,” I smiled down at her and plunged myself onto the opposite chair.
She smiled. “They say a change is as good as a holiday. In my case it’s probably something like ‘time to find your old self again’.”
I laughed. My mom was a natural platinum blonde, Tim used to joke about that on numerous occasions, but she refused to go back her normal color. Now I knew why. She was unrecognizable as a red head.
For the next two days we talked about so many things. We actually spoke about boys and it was sad not knowing if my mother would ever get to be there when I was grown up and ready for them.
Still, the drilling about what I had do when the Pursuers came, got worse. It became an hourly thing. I could even say it in my sleep if I had to.
I woke up and stared at the morning sky filling the room. Every day now, I thanked God for another morning with my mother. They were getting short now. Breakfast was the best time of the day. Mom would talk to me about so many things, about how I’d changed her and the full life I’d given her. I knew she wasn’t ready to let me go either. She wanted so much more than just fifteen years, but the cards weren’t in our favor and the minutes were precious, we didn’t know how many more we would share together. I began to understand what she meant by a couple of hours spent with loved ones felt like nothing.
At ten, I would go about my wielding lesson. We didn’t do it outside anymore and did it inside the fighting room. She was right. The more I did it, the easier it got. It wasn’t as hard as the first time, I didn’t even have to imagine the Shadow Hound anymore.
When I opened my eyes, my dagger was lying in the heap of golden dust. I had three daggers now, all locked up inside the chest. They didn’t vanish like Leigh’s had in the dream which was another good sign. Strong blood flowed through my veins.
“Tell you what,” Mom said as she walked over to the chest. “Let’s try this with a bow.”
“Mom!”
“You’re ready, Chas. It’s not so hard.” Mom had an overexcited tone to her voice as she ran to her room where she kept Dad’s bow.
I giggled as I watched her exiting the door. She came back two minutes later with Dad’s bow wrapped in a blanket.
The minute she placed his bow without the arrows or string in my hand, I started to second guess myself. I’d only seen it once, from Leigh inside my Initiation dream. He was really good. But I know I wasn’t ready for this.
“You can do it, sweetheart. It just takes practice. Imagine yourself pulling back the string and imagine the arrow.”
“That’s a lot of imagining, mom.”
She chuckled as she stood right behind me and I pulled the imaginary string of the bow back. “Take a deep breath, visualize the arrow, feel the strong grip of the string. When you are sure you’ve got it, release.”
I closed my eyes and imagined what my arrow should look like. I put strain on my arm and pretend it was a string that couldn’t move back anymore. Then I imagined Leigh, the way he’d released his arrows and they magically appeared in thin air. Long, pointy, golden arrows. I let go and opened my eyes immediately.
No arrows.
“It’s okay. Try again.” My mother smiled and I raised the bow to my shoulder again.
After the umpteenth time, when my shoulders ached and I couldn’t pull back the imaginary string anymore, I lowered the bow.
“I can’t do this anymore, mom.”
“You have to try, Chas. I don’t know how much time I have left.”
“Mom, I don’t feel my sand. I think I used it’s quota for today.” I gave a small chuckle, but didn’t get the same response from mother. Mom just stared at me with huge round eyes. “Mom, It was a joke, unless—”
“It’s not that, Chas. They’re here.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY…NO!”
“When other Light Casters are near, Initiates, or Level One Casters feel a bit drained, which stops the sand from flowing naturally. We didn’t train enough today for you to feel so tired Chas.”
“Are they in the house?” I didn’t want it to be today. I still needed to know so much more.
“Close your eyes.”
“Mom, I’m not ready.”
“Neither am I.” She stroke my face gently. “But we have no choice. Now close your eyes and do what we practiced.”
“What if we just stay here?”
“They’ll find us, Chas and the plan will be ruined. I can’t go back to Oblivion and you won’t survive there either. Now do as you’re told.”
I closed my eyes and knew that Mom was going to scratch herself on her face to make it look natural. I took the deepest breath I could master and screamed.
I opened my eyes as Mom put a thick rope around my wrists behind my back and a bandage over my mouth. I couldn’t help but give her a look of fear. What if I screwed up and give away the fact that she was my mom?
I watched her make the transformation, her eyes became dark, black and an ice cold finger traced down my spi
ne, making my skin crawl. Millions if goosebumps rippled on my arms. She looked like pure evil and I closed my eyes, trying to remember her beautiful blue eyes. I knew they’d had to change to play her part. To make her role in this convincing and become the Shadow Caster she once was.
The door to the arena flew open, but it wasn’t an arena anymore. It was the inside of a huge closet.
“Found her!” A woman with a pale complex, wearing white clothes with a short haircut that fit with her outfit yelled.
She grabbed me around my arm and pulled me gently out of the closet. The bandage over my mouth disappeared instantly.
“Where is she?” A male asked. He was huge with raven black hair tied into a pony tale. He wore red and white leather paints and had a pair of sunglasses resting on his head. His jacket was pure white, just like the woman who’d ripped of the bandages covering my mouth.
When I didn’t answer, he switched over to Mandarin.
“English is fine,” I whispered.
“Your name?”
“Chastity Blake.”
“Where is the Shadow Caster?”
“The Shadow what?” I said, just like my mother had drilled into me. I know nothing. The man gave me a blank stare before he nodded once. A couple of other guys, one wearing a cowboy hat, and two dark men with long coats resembling Ponytail’s, which was called Tom, gear, started moving silently in the cabin. All of them had weapons in front of them. The cowboy was walking in front with a huge crossbow while the other two held guns.
A small Asian dude walked in and stayed closed to us.
“Do you know what you are?” The woman asked.
I shook my head.
Why hadn’t I sticked to my mother’s version,? She’d drilled it into my head over and over and asked what, the way I had that night when Leigh asked me the same question.
“Why was this woman after you?” The woman asked again.
Fear crawled into my gut and I couldn’t answer. Where was my mom? I remembered looking at her and when this woman opened the door, she was gone.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” She gave me a soft smile.
“A couple of days ago, my hands were covered with sand…without me picking any up.” My tone was shaking, breaking up, and I sounded scared. It sounded like I didn’t make any sense. I looked at both of them, her and then the Asian dude as the woman exchanged a look with him.
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