Secret Worlds (320 page)

Jiren appeared in a red cloak, the hood pulled over his head. He turned toward Tobias and slowly removed his hood. I had to force back the scream that lodged in my throat. My heart pounded painfully hard. Jiren’s true image stood in my vision. Made completely of ethereal, his body was translucent and glowed with a purple hue. Small bolts of lightning buzzed over the surface of his head.

Pure energy? How in the great Netherworld are we to defeat pure energy?

“Tobias,” Jiren said, “eager to die?”

“My death is only the beginning for some. For others, it marks their end.”

“Speaking in riddles, old friend?” Jiren asked with a sadistic smile on his face.

“I’m surprised you can even say the word without choking on it,” Tobias said.

“Well, I can understand why it would surprise you,” Jiren said in retort.

“Enough of this talk, let’s be done with this.”

“First, give me the girl.”

“She’s not here. She took off this morning, searching for you.” He let his words slow toward the end to indicate a suspicion. “Did she not find you? Another game of yours?”

“She didn’t find me, I assure you. I would be too happy to be rid of her and that filth she’s carrying. Abomination. Ancients shouldn’t be mixing blood with humans,” Jiren hissed.

“You were human once, remember?”

“Bah! I was Wizard, better than human. Higher.” Jiren lifted his chin in the air.

“And yet you’ll never cease to stoop to new lows,” Tobias noted.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “She’s strikingly familiar to someone you and I once knew, isn’t she?”

“I have no idea what you are referring to,” Tobias said.

“Your wife is who I was referring to. Relena bears an unnatural resemblance, don’t you think?”

I sucked in my breath. That was why he held on to me back at the goblin camp. He was protecting me. I couldn’t help being flattered and saddened at the same time. My face reminded him. I couldn’t imagine how that must have been for him.

“She does bare my love’s likeness, yes. But she is
not
my love.
You
made sure of that.” There was a slight growl from Tobias on the last few words.

“Still pointing the finger…” It was more a statement than a question. “Well, I guess you won’t have to suffer for much longer. You’ll be joining them soon enough.”

I ducked back behind the tree and pressed myself against it as far as I could, and waited. The sound of metal clanked together with shuffling feet. Dirt kicked up, pelting the trees. Exchanges were made. A grunt from Tobias made silence fall.

I peeked from around the tree. Jiren had used his robe to clean off his sword and kicked Tobias’s lifeless body. He tapped the tip of his sword against the toe of his boot. “You can come out, Relena. I caught your stink from across the field.”

I stood up slowly and stepped cautiously from around the tree. With as hideously frightening as he was, it was his smile that set me on edge.

“I suppose we shall discover whose cockiness will win out today, now won’t we?” I asked.

“Tell me, how’s Marren holding up?”

“You would know better than I.”

“Would I?” There was far too much intrigue in his voice. Too much happiness. Like he thought he already won.

I held up my sword toward him. “You will pay for my suffering.”

He laughed. It sounded like static from a lightning storm. “Your facade will fade. You’re no match for me.”

“Oh, you are right, there,” I said. “Because, I will defeat you!”

I ran forward as he sidestepped. I halted, immediately swinging my sword toward him. He defrayed my attack.

“I’m going to enjoy tormenting you to death!” Jiren’s words were full of promise.

“How original,” I retorted and attacked again.

“I thought so. Imagine it, if you will.” He stepped slowly around me, deflecting each attack I sent him. “I torture you, I become you, and I defeat you by killing Marren, disposing of both of your worthless bodies, take on your essence under the guise of Marren’s orders, and keep the people here under false claims of returning home. By the time they find out the truth, it will be too late.”

“Assuming you would defeat me, how would you go about keeping up my appearance?”

He stepped forward quicker than I had time to react, grabbing me by my throat. I dropped my sword. The thud was barely heard. Jiren squeezed so hard I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air as I stared into his eyes. He explained, “Easily. I’ve already absorbed part of your essence.”

He shifted and released me.

I fell to the ground, gasping for air. I struggled to stand and grab a hold onto my sword. By the time I could breathe enough to fight, I was staring at myself. He smiled a reflection of my own.

“You see, you failed to think things through. And now, it’s led to your ultimate demise. I’ve absorbed everything about you in mere seconds, even your terrifying fear of your own image in your poor mate’s eyes.”

I used Jiren’s gloating to think through how I could get him to drop his guard enough to defeat him. I had to make him crack somehow. It couldn’t be
that
hard, he did just fight Tobias. He called him friend. That had to have done something to him.

Then it came to me.

“You’re wrong,” I said.

“Am I now?” His teasing tone grated upon my nerves more than ever. I had to work to control my composure.

After taking a deep breath, I said, “Yes.”

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” he said, again in my voice.

“It wasn’t my image that terrified me.” I admit that I was reaching, but I thought this would buy me some time.

“Oh? Pray tell, what was it?”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s an issue only someone who was once a mortal would understand,” I said.

“Ah, I see.”

“Ha! You see nothing. In fact, you are the one that is so blinded by your fears and your own image. Why else would you have to steal everyone else’s?”

A crack appeared in his image. I made headway…I thought.

“I’m the blind one?” He dramatically laid a hand over his chest.

“Everyone has been aware of it, except for you,” I said.

“You have no idea what you are talking about.” He spoke to me like I was a child that he had run out of patience for.

“I don’t, huh? If that’s so, why get defensive?” It was my turn to be sarcastic. He stood as still as me, mirroring my image except that his lips were pressed firmly together where mine were parted and relaxed. “Too close to the truth for you to handle?”

“You will pay for your folly!” He charged at me, sword aimed at my heart.

I dodged his attack quickly. He kicked the back of my knees, forcing them to give out on me. I fell to the ground, landing hard on a rock. I was aware he braced for the final blow. I grabbed a handful of dirt and thrust it into his face. He staggered back a few steps, crying out in pain and frustration. I stood and went to attack.

Jiren quickly recovered, blocking my approach and each attempt I took. He caught my arm and took his hand in a downward motion across the width. A searing pain shot through my arm. I cried out, dropping my sword. A dagger shone in his other hand, used to cut my sword arm and prevent me from being able to fight. I took in the deep gash and the blood that poured out. The wound started to heal, but I was bleeding too fast to keep it up for long.

He kicked me in the stomach; I fell back onto the ground. My elbows, scraped by the dirt and rock, stung badly. Jiren approached, still in my image and held the point of the sword to my throat, nicking my skin. It made me remember when Marren and I fought, when his sword kissed my neck. The cut stung just as badly, but that one was a sweeter pain to endure.

The lips of my likeness curved up slightly at the corners and stared at me with cold eyes—colder than what could belong to me.

“Having second thoughts, coward?” I said.

“You either have a lot of courage to mouth off, considering I’m the one with the sword or you’re a lot more stupid than I originally thought. Humans have no place in this world and should be killed, not mated with! That abomination within you will suffocate to death as you take your final breath, which will be as soon as you watch all your friends fall.”

“You seem to think that you are winning,” I said and did my best to chuckle believably.

“I
know
I am.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.

“Bah! Enough with this! I tire of your mind games!”

“Why does torturing me give you so much satisfaction?” I stood up slowly with my hands in the air.

“This is why,” he approached me and placed the blade of his sword against my neck, “the fear that plays in your eyes!”

A loud growl filled the air. Jiren was flung to the ground.

Run to the rest of the group, now!
Marren’s voice sounded like a miracle in my head.

No!
I struggled to breathe through Marren fighting Jiren in my form. I was frozen with fear and filled with incredible joy to hear and see him awake. My heart skipped a few beats, and my head became light. I couldn’t breathe.

Relena, do it,
he commanded.

I…can’t…Before I could say, or do, anything else, the world tilted in front of me. When I hit the ground, blackness took over.

Such a strange sensation, fainting is. Like tumbling through darkness, permanently falling. I couldn’t recall the ground greeting my body in the hard and painful thud my fall ended in, or the painful pricks of the pointed rocks that surely jabbed into my skin. Only a sense of floating on air, drifting weightlessly down.

A loud scream pierced my ears and soul. The only sound that came to me, as though it sounded from a distance. The darkness was too thick to see through, like a blanket covered my head and blotted out all light. Then, the sound faded, echoing listlessly into the dark.

Slowly, things came back to me. Sensations. Things like the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. The scent of dirt and wood. The aroma of grass and the tangy scent of leather. And him…Marren. The woodsy scent of his body.

My eyes were sealed shut. I forced them apart, desperate to set my eyes on him as I remembered my overwhelming fear of him fighting Jiren in my form. At first, things blurred together, as if being viewed from underwater. But then focus came to me with each blink, and the sight of Marren crouching at my side, his eyes full of worry. The baby flipped inside me, my stomach growled a reminder I hadn’t eaten in quite some time, and my head spun with the dizziness that still clung to my body.

“Marren!” I breathed through the dizziness and sat up as quickly as I could, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and tucking my nose into his neck. “You’re alright.”

“Relena,” he whispered into my hair, wrapping his arms tightly around me.

“I thought you would never awake again.” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care.

Shush, uwoduhi. Shush. I’m here. I’m here.
His voice spoke to my mind as his body trembled.

Tears spilled down my face as I pulled away from him. I poured out everything inside me that I had bottled up, kept safe until we were together again. “I’m so sorry for everything, for being stubborn, for not listening, for being jealous and selfish, and not—”

Marren stopped my downpour of emotional babble by placing both hands on either side of my face and forcing me to look at him. “Shush. Everything is all right. Gvgeyu.” His lips pressed firmly into my forehead, burning my skin with the heat I thought I’d lost forever.

“You don’t understand, Marren, I—”

“I don’t need an apology or a reason for your behavior. I should have taken the time to explain things better to you. I am the one that should be sorry. I’m the one that thought pushing you away or keeping you at a distance would keep you safe. I’ve only done things to hurt you worse.”

I forced myself to pause, experiencing fear rising within him. “What do you mean?”

He hid something, albeit not that well, from me.

“Relena, Danst was injured. You should go to him while he’s still clinging to this world.”

My breath escaped me and failed to return. My lungs contracted, restricting the air from entering. My best friend, the one who helped me through all of those horrible nights after finding me in the woods, the one who taught me how to fight and sent my life in a chaotic tumble when I thought he betrayed me in order to save himself from the pain and torment that would kill him. My friend. My closest, dearest friend. No one could ever come close to him in my heart, not even Marren. Though Marren had my heart, a space would always remain in a place no one else could touch besides Danst. Danst was my only real family. He was all I had.

My eyes began to burn as tears stung them, yet they didn’t seem content to fall. I sat suspended in guilt and disbelief.
No, he can’t die. He can’t. Can’t you save him? Can’t the elves?

Marren’s eyes darkened. My heart sank further.
He was injured protecting you and the elves. There’s nothing they can do. I’m so sorry. We need to go before we’re too late.

I couldn’t make sense of that. How can Danst die? How did Marren know? He stood up and held his hand out to help me up. I stood, deep in my thoughts. So deep, the muscles kinked in my forehead.

I was aware you were protected by Tobias. I didn’t think he would betray me to get to Jiren. I woke and fought my way toward you. On the way, Danst was stabbed by Jiren.

I tried to make sense of what Marren explained to me. He discovered this before he found me? We started walking as Marren continued to explain.

I stopped to help him, understanding how much he means to you. But had I been aware of what Tobias was up to…

I don’t blame Tobias. I understood. Given the circumstances, I may have done the same thing.
I’m not sure if my defending him helped Marren. Though, he gave a gentle squeeze to my hand, continuing out of the trees and into the tall grassy field, now covered with blood, acrid green ooze that steamed, and masses of bodies strewn all about.

All the blood. The bodies…

Marren stopped walking and pulled me into him, sensing I was no longer sure of all this death being worth the means to an end. People lost their lives. Because of me.