Darkness Within

by Carli Castle

  He rummaged through the cupboards, not even paying attention to anything in them, even forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be looking for tea.

  Soon, he realized he had no ingredients for any kind of brew, so he turned and walked outside instead. It was cool that morning, which told him it would probably rain. He had a sense about the weather, which was mostly useless, but came in handy sometimes. He liked the cold, it helped keep him alert.

  Walking down toward the trees, he looked around. There was no moon, as it was very overcast, so there wasn’t much he could see. The valley was quiet, probably because most people were still enjoying their warm beds.

  He didn’t walk fast, but took his sweet time going down the hill and entering the forest. There were fairies already working on bushes and trees, but he paid no attention to them.

  He thought that if he had his brother’s ability to make plants grow, he would have his own bushes and herbs for tea. He liked tea. It was one of those things he could say he couldn’t live without.

  He continued walking along the nice, clear path, over the little, ornate bridge and over to the other side, where he knew there was a high concentration of dragon berry bushes and flowers he could brew.

  As he reached the area, he watched someone appear beyond, enveloped in fire. She crouched down as the fire turned into a smoky mist around her.

  A Phoenix.

  He hadn’t seen a Phoenix outside of their home land in a long time, except for Ash.

  She started plucking dragon berries from a bush, and putting them into a small, black pouch. She seemed oblivious to the fact that he was standing there, and he didn’t make any sudden noises, so as not to startle her. She was using a tiny orb of light, which floated just above her to give her light.

  She was petite and had long blonde hair. He couldn’t see her face, just part of her profile. She was wearing a long, yellow, summer dress and her feet, which were peeking from under the frilly ends of the dress, looked like they were bare.

  She stood, drew on the strings of her bag and closed it. Then she turned, and looked at him. Straight into his eyes. He froze. Her eyes were almond shaped, and a shade of gray that made him think of the ocean during a storm.

  His first thought was that she was gorgeous. The next was that she looked a little familiar. But how could he ever forget a face like hers? The tiny mole—sexy—was just above her top lip, which was just a tiny bit fuller than her bottom lip.

  Maybe talking to a pretty girl was what he needed to stop thinking of Harper.

  “Hello,” he said, lifting his hand in greeting. Her lips moved, but he didn’t hear what she said, because he was too busy looking at the little mole by her lip.

  She squinted her eyes, and they turned from gray to completely green.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, coming nearer to him. “You’re not blinking.”

  He cleared his throat.

  “I’m sorry. Sleep deprived.”

  “Is that what I should call you?” she asked, leaning her head, the little orb moving as her head did.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sleep deprived.”

  He suddenly got her meaning and couldn’t stop a laugh that broke free. It had been so long since he laughed, it felt strange. His face muscles were a little stiff.

  “Caleb,” he clarified.

  “Caleb,” she repeated, but didn’t offer her name.

  “Shouldn’t you be wearing shoes?” he asked her. “It’s going to rain and it will get cold. It is cold, actually.”

  She crossed her slender arms over her chest, the little black pouch dangling under her elbow. Her eyes were dancing with humor.

  “I’m from the land of fire,” she offered as an explanation.

  “Right,” he said, mimicking her move and crossing his own arms. “And you Phoenixes never get cold.”

  “We do, it just takes a lot more than this gentle weather.” She cocked her head. “So, you live around here?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” he said, wondering if she was joking or not. Surely everyone knew who he was. Not that he presumed himself a celebrity of any sort, but he was the president of the council. It was hard not to know who he was. You’d pretty much have to go out of your way not to know.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. “You don’t seem like you’re from around here at all. Are you stalking me or something?”

  He held back a smile, more amused than offended.

  “Will I have to hurt you to get an answer? Because I really don’t want to have to do that.”

  He didn’t doubt for one moment she could kick his rear end if she had to. She could also burn him alive, and he really wanted to avoid that. He figured it would be pretty painful, not only for his body, but for his pride, if a woman that small beat him up.

  “I can promise you I’m not stalking you,” he said. “I’m just here to pick up some berries, just like you are. I’m a member of the council.”

  She took a step back, unsurprised at his revelation, looking like she was biting back a smile.

  From where did he know her? He’d met a lot of people from Cionaodh, so she could be just about anyone, but someone with a face and personality like that would be hard to forget about.

  “Right,” she said. “But you’re not just any member, Caleb Sillen.”

  “Ah, so you do know who I am.”

  “Have I been living under a rock?”

  “I’m humbled.” He put a hand over his heart and she snorted. “Where have we met?”

  “In Cionaodh,” she said, looking just mildly interested.

  “I assumed as much.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  “You seem very familiar to me. I just wanted to know if we’d ever talked, because I can’t place you.”

  She raised a brow and pursed her lip. “I don’t really know,” she said. “We could have met, I just never pay attention to anything that doesn’t interest me.”

  “Ouch.” He brought his hand to his heart again.

  “Sorry to have bruised your ego, Mr. President,” she said starting to turn away.

  “Are you going to leave without telling me your name?” he called after her.

  She turned back.

  “Why should I tell you who I am? I am obviously not important enough for you to remember me,” she said, not making a move to come closer to him.

  “You must understand, I meet a lot of people,” Caleb told her. “It would be impossible to remember every single name and every face.”

  “Wait, aren’t you the youngest president to ever be called to the council?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Well, as far as I’m aware, you were called because you were extremely smart. A smart person remembers things.”

  “I’m smart, but I don’t have an eidetic memory. I wish.” He said, though, on second thought, he was glad he couldn’t remember every single detail of everything. It would drive him nuts.

  “All right, then,” she said.

  “So are you going to tell me who you are?”

  “Maybe I should let you figure that out by yourself.”

  “You’re mean.”

  She laughed. It was a nice laugh.

  “Alright, I will tell you,” she began, but stopped and looked beyond where he was standing.

  He looked back, saw nothing. “Everything all right?”

  “There was movement over there.”

  He looked again, but seeing nothing, he turned back to her.

  “Probably fairies.”

  She continued to look away from him, toward the trees, her back very straight. She was completely alert, her eyes darting from side to side very rapidly.

  “No, not fairies,” she said, moving forward.

  Caleb turned and shock ran through him in waves.

  There were several of them. Men with distorted features, filthy, ragged. They were moving from in between the
trees, fast, almost running, their bare feet pounding on the ground.

  They moved rapidly toward Caleb and the young woman, almost as if they had begun gliding inches off the ground. Then there was a yell. The girl was now engaged in hand to hand combat with one of the men, or whatever it was. He wasn’t sure who was screaming, or why all of a sudden he had pain shooting up and down his chest. He fell on his knees, and when he looked down at himself, he was confused by the amount of blood on him.

  “What is happening,” he muttered to himself as his vision started to get dark around the edges. Someone was calling his name. He was on his back, laying on something hard and jagged, but he couldn’t move to get more comfortable. It physically hurt to breathe.

  He wasn’t sure why he was looking up at the dim sky, or why it hurt so much. He wanted to scream, but he wasn’t sure he had the energy for it. He didn’t know who kept saying his name, he didn’t recognize the voice, he didn’t understand why he felt so hot. And soon, he gave in to the darkness.

  ***

  He woke up and didn’t recognize his surroundings right away. His head felt woozy, and there was much pain on his side he couldn’t even move an inch without going nearly blind. His arm was as heavy as a log beside him.

  He tried to talk, call for help, ask why he was in so much pain. However, he could form no words, it all came out as a moan.

  A door opened across from where he lay, and the young redheaded healing assistant walked in, followed by his father.

  “Son, can you hear me?” His dad shined a light into his eyes.

  “Dad.” His voice was hoarse, so much that it was barely audible. “What happened?”

  “You were attacked this morning,” his father explained, putting away his pencil light. “Do you not remember anything?”

  Caleb searched his mind for an answer to it, but he couldn’t remember anything.

  “How long have I been here?” he asked.

  “About eight hours,” Dad said. “You were brought in by a young woman.”

  “A young woman?” That sparked him memory a little. He did remember the pretty blonde in the forest, talking to her and trying to get a name out of her. Then nothing. “Where is she? Is she alright?”

  “She’s out there with her family. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up.” His dad said and turned to the healing assistant. “Parker, I think it’s about time to administer a pain potion. Full dose.”

  Parker moved around the other side of the bed and picked up the potion.

  “I don’t need it,” he mumbled at the same time a stab of pain went through him.

  “Son, stop trying to be a hero,” Dad said. “You’re in pain. That much is obvious.”

  “I don’t want to fall asleep again,” he murmured as Parker tipped the potion into his lips. It was exceptionally bitter, but the relief washed over him right away. “Thanks.”

  She smiled a little. It was cute how she thought he didn’t know exactly who she was. He wouldn’t say anything, she was good at her job, and he was not one to make her more nervous than she probably was already. Also, he had plenty of other things to think about at the moment. Like why he was at the healing house, laying on a bed, and in pain.

  And the girl he’d met. She was okay, otherwise his father would have told him.

  “What’s the extent of my injuries?”

  Dad sighed. “You had a wide gash across your chest, which made you lose a lot of blood. Your arm is broken, though it has been healing quickly, probably because that young lady brought you in so quickly.”

  “And she wasn’t injured?”

  “She was a little bruised, but nothing more. She refused to be magically healed, wanting the attention only on you.” Dad sat on the edge of the bed.

  “The men that attacked me…” He didn’t finish the thought because dad grimaced almost unperceptively. But Caleb noticed the change, and it intrigued him just as much as it made him nervous.

  “The Princess gave her declaration to the authorities already, they’re waiting for you to question them about it.”

  “Does mom know?” Caleb asked him before she was even done. He had to talk to his mom.

  “Yes, mom, Lucas, and Noah were here and just left to eat something.”

  “Okay,” he said, his eyes starting to become really heavy. “I need to talk to her, dad.”

  “I know, son. I think it’s time.”

  “Yeah.” His eyes closed again, and he fought for a moment, but it was too strong. “Did you say princess?”

  “Yes, son, the girl with you was…” It was all he heard before the potions pulled him under, and he let them.

  When he opened his eyes again, light was still streaming through the windows, and he thought he must have only slept for one or two hours. That was just as well, he had to get out of there and get to work.

  Just as he was thinking of getting out of bed, the door opened and his dad walked in.

  “Oh, you’re finally awake,” he said, further confusing Caleb.

  “How long did I sleep?”

  “For about nineteen hours since the last time you were awake,” Dad said and a matter-of-fact tone as he checked the chart.

  “Nineteen hours?” It came out a lot louder than he’d intended, and he tried to move, but that shot pain down his chest so he lay back against the pillows, grimacing and cursing under his breath.

  “Easy, you can’t just get up and leave, Caleb. You have a serious injury.” Dad tried putting another potion to his lips, but Caleb moved his head away. He was not going to sleep anymore. “Son, stop acting like a child, you need these potions to heal completely.”

  “No, I can’t just lie here anymore, I have to get to work.”

  “You can’t get to work until that gash on your chest is closed. I will not let you, so you might as well get used to your bed.”

  “You can fix this quickly, right? I need to heal quickly.”

  “Your body will heal in its own time,” Dad simply said.

  Caleb suppressed an exasperated sigh, then the door opened.

  Mom, Lucas, Olon, Jaleil, and Daniel walked into the room one by one.

  “How are you feeling?” Mom asked as she came forward to put her hands on his forehead, just like she used to do when he was a little boy and she thought he was sick.

  “Woozy from all these damn potions,” he mumbled and dad threw him a look, but he ignored it. “Sore. Also, a little confused as to what happened. No one will tell me anything.”

  “It would be hard to tell you anything when you have been sleeping for twenty seven hours,” Daniel said as the door opened one more time and the beautiful blonde from the forest walked inside with a package in her hands.

  It was then that it hit him. She was one of Ash’s sisters! It was strange how it came to him, because none of the members of her family were in the room, but it clicked for him when he saw her. How had he never made the connection before?

  Maybe it was because he saw her sister a lot more often than he saw her, and Kaia—the twin—loved playing with her appearance so most times they didn’t actually look that much alike.

  “Hello,” she greeted everyone and set the package on the bedside table, avoiding his eyes. “My mother and father send their regards and well wishes.”

  “Thank you,” he responded, trying not to ogle. “I understand you brought me here. Thank you.”

  “I wasn’t about to leave you for dead in the forest,” she said. “You got injured before I could do much, but I was able to subdue them all before I had to bring you here.”

  “You fought them all,” Lucas asked her, sounding incredibly impressed, as if he didn’t know Phoenixes could do that and more.

  “I’m trained for it,” she explained to him with a small smile. “There were too many of them, though, and I had a hard time containing them.”

  “And who are they?” Caleb asked and everyone shifted a little. He was afraid to ask, because he had a pretty clear idea of what they were. He
just didn’t want to be the one to have to say it out loud, because that terrified him. “Was it…”

  He didn’t finish the thought when his mother jerked her head to stop him from talking, but Lucas did nod.

  “I think they were,” he said.

  Caleb watched mom’s reaction. She only closed her eyes tightly for a moment, but said nothing else.

  “Who else knows?” Caleb asked.

  “None other than palace authorities at this point,” Olon said. “We have been waiting for you to get better to ask what you think we should do.”

  Caleb thought about that for a moment.

  “I think I need a meeting with King Patrick and the High Priests first, to know what the next course of action will be. I will inform you all as soon as I know,” he finally said, knowing it sounded inadequate, and that there was nothing else he could do for the time being.

  “Sounds like the best course to take,” Jaleil said.

  “I have taken over double duty in the sleeper realm, overseeing every report of suspicious deaths. I will let you know if anything catches my attention,” Daniel said.

  Caleb nodded. “All right. For now, go home, talk about this with no one until we have word from the High Priests.”

  People assented, but Caleb wasn’t paying attention because the blinding pain was back. His chest was throbbing, and his father, without waiting for any kind of complaint, put the potion at his lips, and he drank.

  As everyone began to file out, his vision began to gray. He held out his hand when Princess Olivia walked by and grabbed her wrist.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” he mumbled, his words slurred.

  “You’re welcome, President Sillen. Get better soon,” she said and he let the darkness take him in once again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  That night, Lucas walked Elle home after spending the evening together. It was late, much later than normal, and it made him uneasy.

  He was alert the entire time as they walked out of his house so they could teleport. There was something strange about the night, although his feelings of dread could have been influenced by what had happened to Caleb.