The Markings

by Catherine Downen

  The next step you need to take is getting to freedom. I have seen so many wonderful things happen for you, but I’m afraid if I let you know it might interfere with how they eventually turn out. I want to let you know that you were very right in going to Libertas. There you will find freedom and so much more. Just like any other adventure, you will run into more obstacles that will challenge you, and force you to use your gift.

  Adaline, you need to be careful about how often you use your gift. As you have just witnessed if you overuse your gift you will freeze up and be incapable of moving. The biggest risk you face is that there is a large chance that you can't regain movement. Also, I’m sure you know now that you can transport people to places you want them to go. However, this only works if you know what the place looks like. I could explain everything you need to know about your gift, but I’m afraid it’ll overwhelm you. Make sure Alexander gets this information as well. Pace yourself, Adaline. It’ll all be okay.

  The words end and my mother cuts me off again. I close the journal and place it back in my bag. Reading it always seems to leave an empty hole inside. I know it’s because I would much rather have my mother actually here with me to help me through this. I still can’t get myself to be okay with her or my brother’s death. I know I need to move into the bunker, so slowly I pull myself to my feet. As I walk across the clearing I take in as much fresh air as I can. When I descend into the hole I pull the lid closed and lock it. I stand on the ladder for a bit and have to convince myself that I’m not truly locked in. I can still get out. When I’m convinced I continue down the ladder and scan the bunker.

  Alexander is lying in his bed. I can catch the light of the candle reflecting on his eyes. I don’t say anything to him though, and he says nothing to me. I go over to my bed and crawl under the covers, feeling dirty in the clean linens. I bring my knees to my chest and hold myself there in a tight ball. My heart feels like it’s been smashed to pieces. I’ve not only lost all of my family but possibly even my best friend.

  I lay here for around an hour and nothing has changed. I roll onto my back and I stare up at the ceiling of the bunker. The stone has small sparkles in it, dusted across its surface. The glowing candles make the shinny flakes dance, and it’s as if we have our own sky of stars above us. But even the fake shining stars can’t make me feel better. I don’t know what to do. My life feels like it’s crumbling apart again. The ceiling begins to blur as more tears begin to stream down my face. I don’t hold them back this time. I just keep letting them come.

  I hear Alexander shuffling and the next thing I know he’s by my side. He takes his arm and wraps it around my shoulders.

  “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” he asks as we look up at the sparking ceiling stars together.

  “Incredible, and breathtaking,” I say through the tears.

  “Just like you,” he whispers. I turn my head and look at him, our eyes meeting just inches from each other. He takes his thumb and gently wipes away the tears on my cheek.

  Suddenly Alexander leans in kisses me lightly on the forehead, and I’m overcome by a swelling in the pit of my stomach.

  He pulls away and says, “Thank you for saving me.”

  “You’re not mad?” I ask, wondering what changed his mind.

  “No, I can’t believe I was just about to hand myself over to Paylon. I’ve done a lot of stupid things, but that would have topped them all.” I feel his arms wrap around me as he holds me tighter. “Adaline, promise me you’ll never leave me. I can’t lose you again,” Alexander whispers.

  “I promise.”

  I don’t know what time it is when I wake up, but I do know that it is as painful as it was when I woke up on the forest floor. Slowly I roll to my side and come inches from Alexander’s face. This is the first time in a while that I’ve gotten a good look at him.

  He’s relit the candles and it’s easy to see the dried tear stains on his cheeks. His face is completely washed of color and his brilliant green eyes are like none I’ve ever seen. In the blacks of his pupils, I can see my own reflection and I don’t look much better.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he mumbles as he drops his eyes from mine. He starts to move away, but I place my hand on his shoulder and pull him back toward me.

  “No, you didn’t,” I choke out, and I’m surprised at how my broken voice sounds.

  “So, you didn’t come back to camp until late last night. Where’d you go?” he asks, his voice much stronger than mine. Now those green eyes can’t leave mine and I don’t want them too, but I know I can’t let him close to my heart in that way. It’s only going to get more painful the deeper we get in this fight with Paylon.

  “I’m not sure what happened. I was running and then I completely passed out. Here, my mom explains it better.” I take the journal out from my bag and hand it to him. He takes it without saying a word. I watch his facial expression change as he reads through it.

  “It’s going to take us a while to master these gifts, isn’t it?” he asks, handing the journal back to me. “I’ve known about mine for a while. I can use it, but sometimes I feel like I’m not doing something right.”

  We are quiet for a minute until I ask, “Alexander, if green eyes mean you have the gift then why are Paylon’s gold, and my mother’s blue?” It’s the first time I’ve really given it some thought.

  “I heard that once you turn 18 you get the power to change your eye color because you need to hide your gift more as an adult,” he pauses for a minute and then sits up straighter. “Adaline,” Alexander’s voice draws out, and a questioning look falls over his face.

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  “Zavy should have been down here by now, right?” he asks and looks to me. Worry starts to rise inside. She was supposed to come down and get us early this morning. I don’t know what time it is, but I feel like I’ve slept late into the day.

  “How long has it been?” I ask and Alexander doesn’t know.

  “You slept for a long time,” Alexander admits. “We should go check on her.”

  We don’t waste another second. We throw our backpacks on and grab our swords. I climb the ladder first and Alexander follows close behind. We race out of the bunker and into our clearing, the morning sun beating down, but I freeze when I see him. Alexander nearly knocks me over when he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t have to ask why I stopped running because he sees him too.

  In front of us is Paylon. He holds a fighting Zavy. The quick unexpected attack from behind me sends a shriek out of me. I fall to my back and see Codian kneeling above me.

  Next to me, Chadian has Alexander in a headlock, struggling to get a brown sack over his head. Before I know it Codian has one over my head and my world goes black.

  My face is in the dirt when I wake up. I take in deep breaths and I’ve broken out into a sweat even though I’m shivering from the icy air. The cool air burns through my throat, but it seems impossible to calm my quickening heart.

  My muscles all ache and I remember passing out in the middle of the woods, unable to move any part of my body. For a moment that’s where I think I am until I remember my conversation with Alexander when I awoke and found him next to me.

  Slowly I pull myself to my knees, and I’m caked with dusty dirt. I try to understand my surroundings, but it’s all unfamiliar to me. When my eyes adjust to the darkness of the forest I am terrified when I see the metal bars of a cage enclosing me. Out of instinct my hand launches up and strokes the slick metal surface, freezing my fingers, but I don’t stop, even when they become numb.

  I’m caught in a trance from when I lived back in the prison. I would spend my days running my hands over the smooth surface repeatedly wanting to break through them. I stand and pace the edge of the cage, running my fingers across each bar, and I count. 1. 2. 3. When I get completely around the cage I hit 38, and then I do it again. I don’t feel strong and brave like I did the other day when my mother and Titus passed. I don’t feel invincible with my gift tha
t gave me such strength. I feel small and worthless. I cling to my numbers again, as if I were still in that prison.

  “Freedom has been taken from me again,” I think.

  I feel empty like my gift has been stolen from me. This thought makes me suddenly stop stroking the metal bars. Have I lost my gift? I feel so weak I’m not sure, even if I had it, I could accomplish anything. I see small rocky pebbles scattered around me, pressed into the dirt. I focus hard and picture them rolling around and I am able to move them, shaking them around on the ground with my mind. I relax a little knowing my worst nightmare is not in fact true.

  I see a spark out of the corner of my eye and raise my head. Codian has started a fire not too far from my chambers, ten maybe fifteen feet away. I don’t see anyone else out here with us. Not even Alexander and that startles me for a minute, but before I try to worry about saving him I need to save myself.

  Even though it doesn’t seem like anyone is around I still don’t risk raising my voice. “Codian,” I hiss.

  He looks around frantic and sees it was only me that called his name. He ignores me and turns back to his fire. My hand moves to my hip and I notice my sword is gone. My bag is laying in the corner of the cage I crawl to it and reach into it to take out my mother’s journal. I pull out the photograph of me, my father, and Titus, and the gold coin from the guard in the castle, food rations, but find the journal and knife missing. A chill creeps through me as my heart skips a beat. I fight to steady my breathing and stay calm so my mind can start searching for ideas to get out of here, but my thoughts are frantic. How can I find a way to escape? I need to get out of here. I start to feel as if my small chambers are pressing in on me and I realize I will do whatever it takes to get my freedom back.

  The first question is how do I get out of this cage. I don’t see any locks or keyholes visible. The bars seem to be coming out of the ground. I could try and dig down under them, but I don’t know how deep they go, and I’m sure Codian will notice that. I try to see if Codian has a key on him but the only thing out of the ordinary is a silver necklace that he has been constantly pulling on and no sword. I wonder why Paylon would leave him here with no protection unless they were running low on supplies. This must mean they haven’t found their horses that ran off in the battle. I know they took my sword, and I’m sure Alexander’s was taken too. Three of them, our two swords, I guess Codian pulled the short straw. They’ve underestimated me to think he won’t need protection, I need to use this to my advantage.

  I’m trying to think of some way to get Codian over here when I remember a story I had heard back in the prison about him and his brother. The rumor was Chadian was appointed to be Paylon’s right-hand man first and Codian was supposed to be left behind to tend to less important matters at the castle. A rivalry between him and his brother may be all I need to get his blood pumping. I pull on my backpack and get ready to outsmart him.

  “Codian,” I hiss at him again. When he looks over at me, I wave him toward me.

  He rises slowly, throwing another piece of wood on his fire before walking to my cage. “What do you want?” he asks, kneeling face to face with me.

  “I just wanted to know if the rumors were true,” I say through gritted teeth and I watch the curiosity flash in Codian’s eyes.

  “Rumors about what?” he asks and draws out his question, trying to figure out where I’m going with this.

  “About your brother being Paylon’s first pick,” I say and tilt my head innocently. I watch the muscles in his face tense and his lips press into a straight light.

  “If that were true then why am I here?” he questions back to me. He stands and I match his movements to stay at his level.

  “I heard it was because your parents paid Paylon to take you both.” At this comment he squints his eyes at me. He’s losing sight of why I’m asking these questions and is getting lured into defending his integrity.

  “Who told you that?” Codian huffs back to me.

  “Your friends that work in the prison at the castle talk a lot,” I say and take a step back from the bars. He rolls his eyes and starts to turn away from me, but I can’t lose this opportunity.

  “They said you failed your first three attempts to be a part of the army,” I call out and he freezes with his back to me. “They said if it wasn’t for your parents’ money you would be nothing.” His hands close into tight fists and I know I’m getting to him.

  “What’s it like to share everything with a twin that’s better than you?” I question and raise my voice. “Birthdays, first days of school, holidays,” I list off and I watch the muscles in his neck tighten. “All while everyone around you is saying how he is the better twin. He is the successful twin. He is the one who will make the family proud.”

  Codian spins on his heels and comes straight at my cage. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” His voice roars and I watch him fly through the metal bars of the cage. The silver necklace around his neck burns bright red as he effortlessly passes through the bars. That’s the key.

  Codian reaches for me but I use my small size to my advantage. I drop and miss his grasp. I come up behind him and rip the silver chain from his neck. Swiftly I clasp it around my own neck and launch myself through the bars. Just like before, the necklace glows red and allows me to fly though the metal cage, and Codian is left, shocked, behind bars.

  With my blood pulsing through me I start to regain strength and confidence in my gift. “Where’s Alexander?” I ask sternly.

  “Why should I tell you?” he spits back in my face. His cheeks are flushed red with embracement that he fell for my trick.

  “Look, you’re going to answer the question. Where is Alexander?” I growl.

  A look of fear passes through his eyes and he mumbles, “Just around the lake, to your right.” I look over my shoulder, and through the trees and tall grass I see the lake off in the distance. I’m about to leave when I stop and ask, “And my mother’s journal?”

  “Paylon has it, I swear,” Codian says. I turn to leave and he calls after me, “You’re just going to leave me here?”

  “Be happy I didn’t kill you,” I say, my voice low and scratchy. I turn away from Codian and make my way off to my right.

  I don’t have to walk far when I see the hint of flames a few paces ahead. I drop to my knees and crawl the last few steps. I peek through the bushes in front of me. It’s just a small clearing, almost looking identical to where I was being held captive. Chadian is sitting around a fire wearing a similar necklace to the one I now have on. Alexander is trapped in a steel cage just behind him.

  I crawl over to Alexander trying my best to keep quiet. He sees me out of the corner of his eye and relief spreads across his face. I put my pointer finger to my lips to remind him to keep quiet. Then I notice the black eye and gashes on his face. What happened to him?

  I take the necklace and slide it through the bars. It glows red as it passes through. Alexander seems to understand what to do. He puts on the necklace and quietly comes through to the other side. I gently touch the black circle under his eye and give him a questioning look. He nods toward Chadian and I notice the sword in Chadian’s belt. Alexander’s sword.

  I stand and walk into the clearing making my way to Chadian. Alexander hisses at me to stop, but I ignore him. I have to get to Zavy somehow, and Chadian is the only one who will know where she is. Alexander urges me to stop but he is being too loud and Chadian turns around and gets to his feet.

  He draws his sword, but the next thing he knows I have it in my hands. I’m grateful my gift is coming back and getting stronger as the adrenaline pumps through me. I draw the sword and hold it to his neck.

  “Where is Zavy?” I ask.

  He swallows and I can see the fear in his eyes, similar to Codian’s. “About a days hike up ahead. You’ll have to cross a bridge over a river. Her brother is with her.”

  “And my mother’s journal?” I ask, just to see if it lines up with Codian’s answe
r.

  “Paylon took it with him.” I think about killing him right here, but I just can’t seem to do it. This is different than the guards at the castle or the army back at our camp. Killing Codian or Chadian just seems wrong. I realize I not only need to stop using my gift so often because of how tired it can make me, but also because of the monster I’m starting to turn in to.

  “I’ll let you go this time, but don’t follow us.” I turn behind Chadian and with the sword to his neck I lead him to Alexander’s cage. The key around his neck allows me to shove him inside and I make him throw the unlocking necklace back through. He does and I clip it around my neck so Alexander and I each have one.

  I slide the sword through my belt, and finish, “I won’t be so forgiving next time.” I return to Alexander and help him to his feet. “I suggest when you dig your way out you go back and let your brother out of my cage.” Then, Alexander and I move further into the forest in the direction of where Chadian said Zavy is being held.

  Chapter 10

  I match my pace with Alexander and instantly I feel the need to explain to him how I escaped from Codian. It’s almost as if I’m now always second-guessing whether or not he trusts me. If I don’t tell him every little piece of information about me will he get mad again?

  “Do you want to know how I got away from Codian?” I ask him and he glances down at me.

  “I just assumed you used your gift,” he says coldly, although I don’t think that was his intention. I tilt my head for a second and realize that I didn’t. I didn’t even try to.

  “Actually no,” I say to him and he’s curious as to why not. “It wasn’t my first instinct. I just brought up how much better Chadian is than him and he went into a fit.”

  “You outsmarted him,” Alexander says and I see a smile cross his face. “That was smart.”

  We continue to walk in silence for a mile or so, just letting the sounds of our footsteps speak. Finally. Alexander says he thinks we should stop and make camp because it’s better to sleep at night and move in the daytime when we can see where we’re going. I nod and say that I think we would be safer staying up in a tree. I know that doesn’t seem the most comfortable spot, but if Codian or Chadian come after us I know we’ll be better hidden up there.