Authors: Jordan Mendez
Gidian
looked at me with a guilty face, and looked behind his shoulder. “I don’t think
I should take you there. Maybe Vaze or one of your brothers would be willing.”
“No!”
I slipped with my voice rising, but I quickly regained my act. “I mean, I don’t
want them to see me cry anymore. Please don’t tell them I am going. You can get
us there and back in under a day right?”
Gidian
looked so torn. I almost slipped and felt bad for deceiving him. But no, I had
made it this far, I wasn’t ready to go back. Finally, Gidian bit his lip and
looked over his shoulder again.
“Alright
fine, I’ll take you at noon, when the rain starts.” Gidian looked behind his
shoulder again. “Meet me at the main gate, and I can teleport us there. But
make sure you’re armed, because I can only teleport twice, so I can’t use any
magic to fight if the need arises.” Thankfulness welled up inside me, and I
made sure to show it.
“Thank
you, Gidian!” Fake tears formed in my eyes.
Gidian
looked away quickly and said, “Just don’t tell anyone I’m doing this for you.”
“I
won’t! I promise.” Gidian left and I looked down at the ground with guilt. “I’m
sorry that you have to be the fool in this…”
Alone
in my room, I walked over to the window, looking through the clear glass out to
the other towers of Moraj. There had to be at least twenty in all, and it still
didn’t rival the mass of the entire kingdom. Through the window I spied one of
the open aired hallways connecting two towers a little ways away from the one
my room was in. It was far away, but I could faintly make out Vaze striding
across it slowly, his steps filled with regret. When I thought about leaving
Jake, Seth, and Darren, my heart filled with pain. Embarrassingly, I felt the
same when I thought about leaving Vaze. It was no use hiding it at that point.
I had feelings for him. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. And I would
never tell him. If I admitted it out loud, I feared I wouldn’t be able to go. I
also wouldn’t be able to fulfill what I was setting out to do. My new mission
was to kill Alastair, Raven, and Enzio. I wouldn’t let my brother’s death go. I
was intent on revenge, and I would not be denied. It was a goal that I did not
expect to survive, but would pursue regardless.
It
was hard to let go of Vaze and my brothers, but it was harder to let Al go. It
was a fate I was not going to run from.
~
At
noon, just as expected, a heavy rain plagued Moraj, drowning out the sun with
black clouds and rain so thick you felt like you would almost have to swim. I
slipped out of the castle with no one noticing for everyone had the notion that
I was tucked away in my room mourning over the loss of my brother. My cloak
weighed my body down slightly, but I trudged ahead towards the large gates
without breaking my composure. Two roses were tucked under my cloak along with
my sack, staying nice and dry next to my sword. Gidian stood at the foot of the
gates, looking around constantly for people. A weak yellowish flame burned on a
torch under the overhang enough to cut through the thick rain. The gate was
enormous, reaching to the sky with large iron bars and gears that were meant to
open easily when needed and hold as strong as a mountain under an attack. A
repeating square pattern laced up and down the strong iron doors, but I had no
interest in them. Gidian caught sight of me and waved me over.
“Are
you prepared?” he called over the deafening rain. I simply nodded, and Gidian
checked around again like a guilty child hiding from his parents. “Grab my
hand, and hold on tight.” I did as told. Gidian’s skin was as cold as stone,
but felt warm against my icy skin. He jumped a little, and looked at me in
surprise, as though I had the temperature of a dead person.
“Don’t
worry,” he said loudly with his long golden hair plastered to his face from the
rain. “I heard that it’s sunny by the sea right now, so you’ll warm up rather
quickly.” I simply nodded, trying to mask my face with sadness, when in reality
my blood was boiling at the thought of avenging my brother.
Teleporting
is a rather interesting way of transportation. I in no way recommend it, because
it gives those with stomachs not suited for lightning fast transportation
terrible aches. My body was enveloped in light, and in the blink of an eye, we
disappeared from the castle grounds, shooting up into the sky with our bodies
twisting to the wind. My stomach contorted and squeezed at horrible angles, and
I was glad I decided not to eat anything before. I caught sight of Gidian’s gaze
during the flight, and my blood froze. There was suspicion in his eyes. He
wasn’t as spacey as I thought. He could sense something was wrong. I prayed for
a quick method of escape to be revealed to me when my plan went under way. Just
when I thought my empty stomach couldn’t take it anymore, we landed, dropping
on the ground harshly, causing my knees to throb in pain.
Luckily,
we had landed right in front of the grave yard, so there was no one to notice
our out of place cloaks and arrival in the shining sun. Bustling activity
drifted from the bazaar that was a little ways off, and my mind began to reel
with ideas. My first step was to get to that bazaar, then the rest I would wing
and hope for the best.
Gidian
and I removed our cloaks and made our way into the small graveyard. Old graves
were easily distinguishable from the new ones, and in almost no time at all, we
found the grave of Al’s parents. They stood side-by-side, identical in
everything with the exception of their names: Francis Lucelles and Susanne
Lucelles. Under bother their names was the same sentence:
Driven
into loneliness from loss of their son, the grave bearer had only their spouse
to leave behind in death
.
It
made me sad, but at the same time I didn’t know them. I set the roses on their
graves, probably the first flowers set on them since they died. I looked back
at Gidian, trying to find the best lie I could. I couldn’t say I wanted to get
Seth a book, since Moraj was full of them. I couldn’t say I wanted to get
Darren anything, because he has no specific thing he likes, and I couldn’t say
I wanted to get Jake drawing utensils, because once again Moraj had an endless
supply. Then something came into my mind, and I found that it was perfect.
“I
want to get Vaze a present at the bazaar, can we go for a bit?” I asked Gidian
innocently. I showed him that I had gold, but he simply stared at me with total
and utter shock.
“You
want to get
Vaze
a present?” Gidian couldn’t help but gawk. It’s true
that my affection levels had never been good…in fact they were almost
nonexistent, so it would be shocking that I would show anything of the kind.
“I
want to get something to say ‘thank you’ for saving me and my family,” I said
blushing. It annoyed me at how much the thought actually bugged me. Gidian
looked at me, never losing his surprised look, but eventually agreed.
The
bazaar was so crowded that I was absolutely certain I could get away from
Gidian with no trouble at all. We passed many vendors, and I only half observed
everything, rejecting each thing as if I were actually putting thought into it.
It
was only when we passed the ninth or tenth vendor that I actually looked at
what I was pretending to consider. It was in no way impressive, and I was
surprised it actually caught my eye. It was only a little ring, made from a
light grey metal that was the same color of my eyes, and had a tiny scarlet
stone inlaid in its center. Gidian was especially surprised when I pointed it
out, which only added to how unnoticeable it was. I grabbed it off the table
and looked at the dark skinned vendor who looked as though he was about to fall
asleep.
“Hey,
how much is this?” I said, completely void of politeness, which shocked the
vendor. He was probably used to girls my age being very polite and having a
little class, not leaning over the table shoving a small piece of metal in his
face. The vendor examined the ring, and scoffed.
“That
thing?” he asked, and Gidian flinched in slight embarrassment. “I’ll give it to
you for three pieces, if it means that much to you.” I could tell he was
haggling me, and he knew the ring didn’t cost nearly that much, but I didn’t
care. I shoved three gold pieces onto the table and took the ring. I had a
split second plan, and decided it best.
“Gidian,
my pockets are full, can you hold the ring for me?” I shoved it into his hand
before he could object and scanned around the bazaar. Finally, my eyes closed
onto a suitable target.
“Look
Gidian, a perfume stand! You should get Kyra something. I bet she’d love it!” I
pushed Gidian over to the stand, the whole time with him trying to object,
blushing so red he resembled a tomato. I hit the table and started pointing
things out to confuse him. It worked. Within no time, the young vendor had
pulled him over to examine some ‘exotic’ perfume, and his attention was
completely reverted away from me. With one last look at the blonde man, I
turned tail and disappeared into the crowd. I estimated I had five or ten
minutes to get away without him noticing. It would be plenty.
At
the edge of the bazaar, I spotted a young man dragging along a stubborn horse,
cursing and screaming at the mare to move. I made my way over and examined the
horse. It was young, strong, but a liability to the boy.
“Give
me that horse,” I said straight forward to the boy. He looked at me in
disbelief and told me (with words I won’t repeat) to get lost. I shoved my
entire coin purse to him.
“Fifty
pieces of gold,” I demanded bluntly, and he stood dumbstruck. I took the reins
from his hand and jumped onto the saddle. The black horse whined in protest as
I shoved its head in the direction of the town’s exit. Losing my temper, I let
a lick of fire bite its rear. The horse responded with a cry of pain, beginning
a bounding gallop out of the town.
The
wind whipped my hair back from my face, stinging my nostrils with thick salty
air from the sea. I knew where I was going. I could feel the direction deep in
my bones, and I had no doubt that it was the right way.
I
was going home.
It
only took about two weeks to reach my destination: The Warehouse. It had been
my home for the past fourteen years (possibly fifteen at that time). I tied the
black mare to a tree outside. The horse was very obedient after the two weeks,
ever since it realized I could punish it more than any other master if it
didn’t obey. I wasn’t cruel to the creature—just strict. I had named it Shade,
according to the likeness of its color to the color of a Shadow’s skin.
I
stood as still as a rock I gazed up at the old Warehouse, and Shade nuzzled my shoulder
affectionately with her nose. It had been so long since I had seen my house,
and when I finally returned I was afraid to enter. Mustering up my courage, I
walked forward with an alien confidence. I pushed back the makeshift curtain
door and entered, the smell of damp moss greeting me. Sunlight peaked through
the cracks of the metal roof, and I could clearly see the five moldy cloth
hammocks that had once been my family’s beds. Each one had below it had some
sort of item that defined us, making each hammock distinguishable from the
others. Mine hung by the broken window, a place where I used to gaze at the
stars, and beneath it rested a collection of burned wood and other random
objects.
Seth’s
hung in the corner across the room. It was close to the ladder that led to the
second floor where he kept a makeshift bookshelf with some books that the Bookworm
had given to him. A book ruined beyond repair lay open underneath his hammock,
a sight I knew Seth would be pained to see. Darren’s hammock was lazily hung
right next to Seth’s, beneath it sat rotting food that he never finished along
with assorted junk that he stole.
Jake’s
was near to the door, a place where he could easily attack anyone who trespassed,
and under his hammock were assorted pictures he drew. Jake was quite the
artist, and he had drawn pictures of our family countless of times, each one
incredibly life like. A certain picture caught my eye. I strode over and
carefully folded it up, tucking it into my pocket for safe keeping. It was one
of all of my family, laughing and happy. Finally, I made my way to Al’s
hammock.
It
was beside mine, as he had always been close to me when we lived there, almost
as if he were my shadow. Under his hammock was a small box. I reached for it
hesitantly, hoping it wouldn’t be invading his personal space. I opened the
latch, the hinges giving a soft squeak from the rust.
Within
it, to my surprise, were bronze coins, and a drawing of a knife with a small S
scratched onto it. It took me a little while to realize what it was. I threw
the box down to the ground in anger.
“You
idiot…” I bit my lip and tried to keep my tears from spilling over. Al had a
thing for getting people gifts each year, and up to the time we met Vaze I had
been complaining to Jake about not having my own knife. Al had been hiding the
money in order to save up to buy one for me. Tears trickled down my cheeks and
I dropped to my knees, finally allowing myself to weep. Outside, a bird began
to sing alone, its song resounding throughout the Warehouse. The bird’s song
was beautiful, but its voice sounded sad, as if it desired more to sing with
it. It was not answered.
“I
swear Al…” I managed to say between my sobs. “I will get him for this…I will
kill all of them. I promise.”
Outside,
the bird’s song was cut short by a hiss of a cat as it swiped out its paw,
killing the small bird at its time of blissful weakness.
To
be continued...