Awakening the Mare (Fall of Man Book 1) (11 page)

“Oh, I think you’re freaking hysterically
funny.”

“Thank you,” I answered proudly. “I do not
get—” I stopped. I heard something. A noise, or rather
nois
es
that I had not heard before. They flowed through the
air, blending together. “What is that?”

“What?”

“It sounds like tones. Lots of tones.”

“That?” Tanner pointed back with his thumb.
“That’s music. They’re playing guitars.”

“It is beautiful and soothing. I am amazed at
so many things.”

“Don’t you have music?” Tanner asked.

“We do. But they are only singing and that is
it.” I listened and soon voices were singing along to the music.
“What are they singing?”

Tanner listened. “An old Bon Jovi song, I
think.”

“I love spiritual music. This is really…” I
leaned forward and was greeted with yet another thing I had never
seen. Two people, a man and a woman, who originally were huddled
closely to keep warm now seemed as if they were sharing air.

“What’s wrong now?” he asked.

“Why are their mouths locked?”

Tanner looked and then ran his hand down his
face as if he were trying to swipe away a smile. “They’re kissing,
Vala. Don’t you know what kissing is?”

“I know what kissing is. My mother kisses me.
She never kissed me like
that
.”

“I should hope not.”

“They keep going.”

Tanner reached out, touched my chin, and
turned my head from staring. His touch set me back and I jumped.
“Vala, you need to relax. It’s not a crime or sin to touch. It’s
normal. It’s… human. And I promise, after you go through
deprogramming, you will feel like you had a fog lifted. You may
just want to try a kiss.” He winked.

“I doubt that. It cannot be sanitary.”

“That was funny,” Tanner said. “You’ll feel
different. I promise.”

“How do you know?” My eyes shifted back to
the couple.

“Because that’s what others say, and quit
staring at them.”

“I am not understanding it. What is the point
of holding lips together?”

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff behind it.
Things you probably know but don’t understand. Deprogramming is
going to teach you about human nature. Actions, expressions,
speaking.”

“I do not get this deprogramming. Why do I
need it?’

“If you say things like your mother never
kissed you like that, then you need it. It’s a cool thing. It
really is. It was designed years ago by someone that arrived in
Akana when they were eight years old. Then after you deprogram,
you’ll see why and understand how people interact. How we joke and
jest, gripe and flirt.”

“Flirt?”

“Yeah, it’s a playful thing a man and woman
do. They joke around. Innocently touch. Do the flirting nudge?”

“What is that?”

“This.”

Tanner bumped his shoulder into mine. I was
not ready for it and flew sideways to the sand.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” Tanner laughed
loudly.

“That is rough play.” Sand had hit my lips
and face, and not wanting to taste the grains, I lifted my head and
blew out.

That moment was when everything changed.

The music stopped abruptly, and as if a war
cry, the sound of many screaming Savages carried in the night air.
The shadows of the Sybaris poured over the wall. So many of them,
they flowed like a black river. Gunshots rang out, arrows sailed,
but it was not enough.

Tanner yanked my arm and pulled me to my
feet. “Get to the water, Vala, now!”

“I ... I cannot, I am afraid!”

“Now.” He scooped up his weapon and pointed.
“Now!” He took off to go battle, firing his weapon with every step
he ran.

People were running to the water as they
cried out. Savage Sybaris braved the ocean air, swooping down,
grabbing people, and lifting them high.

It was all too reminiscent of a memory from
my childhood.

Frozen in fear, I did not know what to do. I
had no choice but to run for the water. As I turned, I heard a
child’s cry.

Twenty paces from me was a forgotten child;
she could not have been more than three. Lost in the confusion of
the run, I thought of myself when I was that age, crying, holding
my ears, not moving, just like that child in the sand.

I could not leave her alone, I had to get
her. Right when I made that decision, she was spotted by a Savage.
It moved quickly to her, like a simian, using its hands as well as
its feet to run.

I did not have a weapon, and the only thing I
knew that was deadly was that Poison.

In my dash, I swiped up the Poison cassette,
raced to the little girl, and without stopping, swooped her in my
arms.

Head for the water
, I thought,
Head
for the water
.

She clung tightly to me, her arms around my
neck, legs around my waist.

I turned to run for the water and the Savage
Sybaris had leapt over us, landing right before me and the
child.

He twitched his head and opened his mouth,
readying in typical attack mode.

I had to use my only option. Hoping with
everything I had it worked, I hurled the cassette at the Savage
beast.

It bounced off of him and landed in the
sand.

The poison did not work. Or did it?

As he moved forward to lunge for us, I
thought hard for it to work and wished with everything I had.

Please work. Please work.

An arm’s reach from us, the poison kicked in
and the Savage Sybaris exploded. It was like nothing I had ever
seen. Every ounce of his body erupted outward, spraying me and the
small child with Sybaris blood and guts and only a wiggling arm
remained. It twitched on the sand in the midst of the remains.

Seeing that as my clue to get to the safety
of the water, child in my arms, I raced as fast as I could.

I was terrified. I did not know what the
ocean would do, and I was not just responsible anymore for only my
wellbeing, I had the child to protect. I moved into the water until
it encompassed my lower legs.

It was hard to stand there, the power of the
water kept making me sway, but I turned so I had a view of what was
happening on the beach. I wanted to see the battle.

The fighting ensued, but something caused the
Savage Sybaris to change their minds.

Suddenly they started to flee as if scared.
They ran from the beach, leaping to the wall and making an
escape.

The guards and soldiers continued to fire
their weapons, trying to take out as many as they could.

I witnessed it all, all while the little girl
cried in my ear. Her mother must have spotted us, because a woman
raced through the water to reach us.

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” she cried as
she reached for the child.

“You are welcome.”

“You saved her, thank you. I just turned for
a moment…”

“It is alright.” I released the child, who
jumped into her mother’s arms.

My eyes stayed on the beach. I searched for
Tanner, for Davis. Were they alright?

The commotion died down, and a whistle blew.
People began to leave the water. It was then I spotted Davis and he
approached the remains of the Savage I had killed.

“Val!” Tanner rushed over. “Are you
alright?’

Slowly I took my eyes from Davis and turned
to Tanner. “I am. Are you?”

“Yes. You saved that girl. You… you took out
that Savage.”

“I had an advantage,” I said and walked
toward Davis.

“I’d say you did,” Tanner commented.

Davis crouched down by the remains of the
Savage Sybaris. “I saw it, Vala.” He reached down for the cassette.
“I saw what happened.”

“Do not pick that up. Please. You know what
that does.”

“Vala…” Davis grabbed the cassette and stood,
“why is this here?”

“It was the only weapon I had. I threw it at
him.”

I heard a snort and turned my head. Tanner
held up his hand, holding back a laugh. “Sorry.” He snorted
again.

“What is funny?” I asked. “Davis, if we can
get more, that poison cassette could be a weapon in battle.”

“Vala, didn’t kill the Sybaris.”

“I do not understand. I threw it at him. If
that did not kill it what did? What weapon made it explode like
that?”

“You,” Davis said. “You’re a Mare.
You
are the weapon that made it explode.”

I was the outcast. People were friendly to me
before, yet avoided me. And after the Sybaris incident, no one
wanted to even look at me.

“They’re afraid,” Davis explained. “I don’t
know how to tell them or what to tell them, except it’s a
gift.”

“It is also a curse, as Iry told me.”

“Iry? The boyfriend?” Davis asked.

I actually tried to stomp my foot like a
pouting child, but it was useless in the sand. “No. My former
educator.”

“Let’s sit, Vala.” Davis led me near the wall
where we took a seat on the stairs. “You have brought this man up
before.”

“He is not a man, he is a Civilized
Sybaris.”

Davis cocked back. “And he knows for sure
you’re a Mare?”

“He told me about things. Said I was a
blessing for some, a curse for others. He must have meant I was a
curse for man.”

“No.” Davis shook his head. “Far from it. You
are a curse to them. What you did to the Savage was
unbelievable.”

“Iry said I can make things happen by feeling
it or thinking it.”

“I’ve heard that as well.”

“What if I get angry and hurt someone that
isn’t bad? Like Tanner?”

“Well, I can see Tanner pushing those
buttons.”

I gasped.

“I’m joking. Yes, it is a risk, but it is
something you have to work on. Just like the other parts.”

“Other parts?”

“When you were a little girl and the Savages
would come, you’d close your eyes and cover your ears. That created
an invisibility about you. We have to work on making that happen
without covering your eyes. The weapon portion, another part. The
transporting can be a big thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of the abilities that we are certain of
is an out of body experience in which the Mare can travel anywhere,
by direction of the mind. You have to have been there, though, I
remember being told that.”

“So if I trained, then I could go to the sea
and look for people instead of you sending Tanner and Marie
out?”

“Conceivably.”

“How do you know so much about Mares?”

“Because we had one for the longest time.
Problem was, she was quite older and couldn’t do much more than
mental work. She was the one who blessed you with the gift, and
hoped one day you’d come back.”

“I did. Sadly, I have missed her.”

“I have people going through the library and
her notes. We’ll piece it together. For now, things are calm. You
should try to rest.”

“My heart still races and I feel as if I am
being shunned.”

“Nah, people are just a little taken back.
They’ll be fine.”

“Will I see Tanner?”

“Probably not. He’s on cleanup. Body burning.
You’ll see him tomorrow.”

I stood and prepared to walk to my area and
fire pit. I paused and looked back. “Davis, you were playing music.
You were even leading it. You are very good.”

“Thank you, Vala. I should hope. When the
world ended, I was topping the country charts.”

I smiled awkwardly. Not having a clue what
‘topping the charts’ meant, I took it as an accomplishment because
Davis stated it with such pride.

Rest was not easy. My body felt as if my
blood was still pumping at full speed. I lay there listening to the
ocean and the absorbing the sound it made. I could feel the pull of
it, even with my eyes closed.

Then it happened again.

A state of sleep, yet in a realization of
what was happening.

My mind knew my body was sleeping, yet I was
aware of all that was going on. Aware that I felt pulled at my
center core. Physically, I felt as if I were spinning.

Spinning. Spinning.

Release.

I’d experienced it before, two nights earlier
when I was floating on the sea. Perhaps it was the water. Whatever
the case, I was filled with the sensation of flying. Moving fast, I
soared through the night sky, flashes of light hitting my eyes. A
part of me feared I had died, because when I turned from the
flashing lights, I found the ground far below me.

I was being pulled, and that was the only
thing I could think of to describe it. I had no direction
whatsoever, lassoed by an invisible rope and quickly reeled in.

Over the fields, the mountains, the desert
until finally… I ascended on Akana.

It was night and the village was dark, except
for my home.

I knew the reason for that. My poor mother
was sick with worry over me, and could not sleep. She was probably
pacing the floors, sobbing.

Was it a lucid dream, or had I traveled some
way to Akana? Traveling like Davis said, using the ability I had as
a Mare.

I landed behind my home and used the back
entrance to get in.

The eating area was dark and the light came
from the living room. To get there I had to pass my own room, and I
paused.

Even though it was only a couple days, I
missed my little sister Sophie and I stepped into the bedroom.
Seeing she was sound asleep, I walked to her bed. The thin cover
had dropped halfway down and I reached for it.

My hand was translucent. I could see the
blood pumping, but it did not look like blood, it was illuminated.
Streaks of light pulsated through my veins. I reached for the
covers and brought them to her shoulders.

Sophie groaned and rolled over, her eyes
opened slightly.

“Vala?” she said groggily.

“Shh, Sophie, I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“Go back to sleep. You are dreaming.” I
leaned down to her and placed my lips gently to her forehead.
Sophie rolled to her other side.