Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 (25 page)

            
 
“Where are Ash and Erion?” I growled, throwing as much confidence into my voice as possible.

            
 
“Oh you mean those Legion imbeciles that shouldn’t even have passed their training? Yeah, they won’t be giving us any trouble.”

              I gulped. Were they okay? These two were menacing enough, but could they really take down Ash and Erion so easily? I remembered the sickening thumps I heard from outside and my stomach lurched. I could picture their bodies side by side with eyes of glass. Ash’s pale face burned in my mind, the fire wiped out from those charcoal eyes. I had seen Wiley in action before; he trumped Bram with a single Cast. Bram’s fighting skills were not something I was particularly knowledgeable about, but even as a kid I would ask him if he used to professionally wrestle due to his monstrous biceps. Who knew what this psychopath could do to two teenage Elementals?

             
Stop, they’re fine. They’re fine. They have to be.

            
 
“If you hurt them, I swear…”

            
 
“What?” Wiley stood, “What are you going to do? You have no clue how to use your powers. You’re just a useless girl and you’re not getting away this time. I told that body guard of yours back at your party that I would get my revenge. Well, this is it.” His eyes glowed brighter blue.

            
 
“Why are you doing this?”

              He didn’t even skip a beat, “We watched you for weeks before your birthday, did you know that? Of course you didn’t. We watched you boss everyone around, including your twin brother. It’s always about you, isn’t it Mira? That plant Elemental killed my sister over you. Xavier never shuts up about you because you’re just so special. Well, did it ever occur in that huge head of yours that my sister is dead because of you?!”

              The light above me flickered as the terror surged through me.

              Wiley shifted his gaze down to where my hands curled into fists by my waist and smirked, “Ah, perhaps you
do
have some Wielder blood in your veins after all.”

              I lowered my eyes and saw that my hands were covered in a brilliant blue light. Shocked, I glanced at the window and saw my reflection looking back at me, but my eyes were no longer their typical gray. My irises shone a brilliant electric blue. The eyes of a Wielder.

              My jaw dropped in surprise. I had never once so much as attempted to summon the energy of a Wielder. I had been solely focused on figuring out my Knowledge that I had neglected my Wielding side all together. I could feel the Cast tingling up my arm, filling my whole body with glorious power. I felt in control and unstoppable.

              I grinned at my reflection and then back to Wiley, “You bet I do.”

              His smile faltered and I used his moment of hesitation to my advantage. I raised my hands as fast as I could and focused on the electric energy that gathered in that spot. I felt the power surge through me. It was much different than the power I used to practice my Knowledge. With my Knowledge, I felt warmth spread through me and happiness radiate from the core of my being. The Cast though, felt as if an electric current sizzled through me without harming a single cell in my body. I felt exhilarated beyond all comprehension.

              Concentrating with all my might, I pushed the electricity out from my body towards Wiley. A blue stream of energy left my hands and shot towards him, hitting him square in the chest. I was pleased with my strangely accurate aim. He fell backward, surprise illuminating his face as he hit the ground. The Shade snarled and launched towards me with amazing speed. Somehow, I managed to sidestep him and missed the razor sharp claws that sprouted from his fingertips. He swiped his blade-like hands at my neck and I only just managed to duck in time to keep my head where it is. My knowledge of Shades might have been limited, but I did know that they thrived in darkness and it gave them power.

             
So what would concentrated light do to a Shade?

              The idea, like most great ones, came out of nowhere. I glanced up at the light bulb that flickered above me and focused on the light it produced, felt the warmth as it spread through me. It wasn’t much energy, but it would have to suffice. I needed to act quickly, with the Shade already rearing up to try and decapitate me again. Shades reflexes were significantly faster than any other supernatural being, so my time was scarce. I urged my light power to invigorate me, compelling it to become a part of me just as I had practiced for those few hours back in Nostos. I checked my reflection in the window again and almost laughed in disbelief: my skin faintly glowed and my eyes switched from a striking blue to a dazzling light gold.

              I spun around as the Shade attacked me from behind and I heard Kelsey’s warning scream. But I was ready. I transferred the warm light that flowed through my body into my hands and struck the Shade with a beam of golden light. The Shade screeched, an inhuman wail of agony, and crashed to the floor in convulsions.

              I felt the warmth drain from me and I placed my hands onto my knees, drained from the effort. I stared at the Shade on the ground, still shaking in pain, and winced. I could sense his pain, waves of his dark aura crashing against me so I could feel every bit of his agony. I stared down at him apathetically, almost happy to inflict pain upon him.

            
 
“MIRA!” Kelsey shrieked.

              I looked up too late. A blue ball of energy hit me square in the chest, sending me backwards and slamming me into the far wall. I fell to the ground painfully and cried out involuntarily. I lifted my head to see that Wiley had pulled himself back to his feet and crept towards me now, a vicious sneer twisting his features and blue energy sparking on his fingertips, preparing to Cast.

            
 
“Impressive. Xavier said not to underestimate you, I guess he was right.” Wiley crouched down and leaned over me, his face less than an inch from my own. I could smell his sweat and the red aura teeming around him gave me a very clear answer as to his mood: rage, pure and unfiltered rage. His eyes glowed bright and he breathed heavily as he spoke, “he told me to bring you alive. He’s always going on about you, the great
Boni Coniugator
. I honestly couldn’t care less about you, a stupid girl who can hardly even manage a simple Cast. But I can’t decide which I want more, praise from him or to just go ahead and kill you myself.”

              I glared back at him, and since I can never keep my anger to myself, I spit directly on his face.

            
 
“Kill you. Definitely kill you.” He sneered and raised his arm above his head, the blue light gathering in his palm, “Goodbye, Mira.”

            
 
“Stop.”

              Wiley paused, his aura morphed from furious red to uneasy yellow in a flash. Fear?

              Suddenly, Wiley was yanked from above me and a new face filled my vision, one that I vaguely remembered. An image of an emerald green robe filled my mind and I met the wide blue eyes that stared down at me, “You’re the one who took my blood, back at the farmhouse.”

            
 
“Indeed,” he replied in a silky voice, “and do you know who I am?”

            
 
“Xavier.”

*

            
 
“This is freakin’ awesome!” Caspian shouted over the howl of the wind.

              It had taken a few tries, but he had finally gotten the hang of it. He felt so graceful and powerful as he pumped his wings, white tipped with sea blue, like a bird of prey soaring through the endless sky. Laurel said that he picked up the concept of flying way faster than she had expected and he thought he might have even seen her smile, like genuinely smile at him, a sight that made his heart soar along with the rest of him.

              They glided over the Elemental Kingdom now, and Caspian couldn’t help but occasionally let his eyes flit over to where Laurel flew only few feet away from him. Her face free of its usual tension as she swooped across the starry sky, her stunning green Knowledge sparkling beautifully in the moonlight. She was pretty, with her midnight hair flowing behind her in the wind and the way her eyes dazzled and…

             
Holy crap, pull it together.

              He ripped his gaze away from her and focused on the motion of pumping his Knowledge and he was pleased to notice that the longer he flew, the more natural it became. He whooped with joy and swore he heard Laurel’s laugh chime blissfully in the breeze.

            
 
“Caspian!” she yelled and he looked over at her, “In order to cross dimensions, we need to fly directly at the point above Center Hill, where the four Kingdoms meet, with enough speed to break the dimensional barrier. Follow my lead!”

              Caspian all of a sudden didn’t feel so confident in his new-found ability. Laurel sped up suddenly and he struggled to maintain her same pace. His breathing grew heavier with the exercise, but he endured. They were gaining on Center Hill now and his stomach completely twisted in knots from anxiety. When they reached the mound, Laurel changed her direction, without warning, to a vertical climb with amazing speed and agility. Caspian tried to mimic her but felt that his maneuver seemed shaky and uncoordinated in comparison.

              He flapped his giant wings double-time to keep up with her, but still fell short. The movement still felt awkward and strange. They were coming terrifyingly close to the point where the Kingdoms met and Laurel shouted back to him, “BRACE YOURSELF!”

              She reached the point in the sky where the four kingdoms collided and it appeared that the sky simply absorbed her as she flew through it. Caspian’s instinct was to slow down and he felt his wings falter slightly as he met the point.
I’m not going to make it. I’m not going to make it…

              An uncomfortable sensation of needles pricking his skin enveloped the entirety of his body. And then, total blackness immersed him into its depths.

              *

            
 
“
You’re
Xavier? As in, the Xavier that married my mom?”
The Xavier that is my father?
I thought.

“Correct again, perhaps you
are
smarter than you first appear?” he smiled but not in a friendly way, “So I suppose you know some of my story then?”

            
 
“I know that you married my mom and got her banished from Nostos. I know that she was scared of you, enough to run away and keep on running for my whole life. I know that you are psychotic and live in the enemy country. And I know that, for whatever reason, you took a sample of my blood, which is not normal social behavior if you’re wondering. So, yes, I suppose I do know your story.”

              He chuckled softly, sending chills down my spine, “Ah, but child, it seems that your knowledge of me is much like Swiss cheese, lots of holes in it I mean.” He stood up and sat comfortably on Kelsey’s bed next to a pathetic looking Wiley whose aura deteriorated farther into timidity with each passing minute. I could feel the fear radiating from him, caused by his close proximity to Xavier.

            
 
“It is true that I married your mother. We were in love, so in love that we decided it was worth being exiled. So we chose to have a baby. Of course, as you know, we ended up having twins, a boy and a girl, a little more than we bargained for but we were pleased. Our children were born in Nostos, but having two wailing babies is not something you can hide for long. We were soon discovered and sent away.

            
 
“The night before we were to leave, the entire Council knocked on our door. We were staying in the Wielding Kingdom at the time, so your Elemental mother was obviously not supposed to be there. They told us they were there to make sure everything was ready to go for the next day, for our banishment.

“Then they asked to see the children alone. I, of course, was wary. But you do not say no to the Council, so we permitted them to the nursery. They took only a moment, and when they exited the room they simply bid us farewell and left our house. Rain and I were baffled but thought nothing of it.”

              Xavier spoke as if retelling a war story, his eyes distant and seemingly traumatized, “Our babies were just infants at the time, bald and generic as all are. But the next morning, when we left Nostos and I carried our baby girl,  something seemed off. I couldn’t place what it was. Something about the way she acted or the way she looked was not right. But Rain insisted it had to be our child, of course it was! But I was not so sure.

            
 
“We crossed dimensions using a Legion portal and wound up in the middle of nowhere, somewhere to live away from humans and away from anything that could expose us. For as you may know, humans and magic have a treacherous history with one another. It was a small farmhouse in the middle of a forest and we couldn’t have been more isolated.”