Creatures of Snow (34 page)

“
You had your reasons,
good reasons. You were providing for us, and you love your job.”
Sky shrugged, it wasn’t what he really wanted to say, but it was
the right thing to say. He shifted uncomfortably and pushed back
the feelings of bitter resentment that were creeping in from the
corners of his mind.

“No, I like my job, but I
love you. And lately…I just knew that you would be leaving and
just…” His dad placed a hand gently onto his shoulder, “I want to
make things right again,” he shook his shoulder a bit, trying to
make Sky look up at him, “But you’ve got to talk to me,
okay?”

It wasn’t until he placed
his filthy Iko hand on him that the hate inside him began to start
on fire.
Zar, stop. Please.

“Are you okay?” His dad
kept a hand steady on his shoulder while he slapped the panel on
the wall, calling down a lift.

“No.” Sky shook his head,
doing all he could to keep from screaming. He couldn’t lose
control. Not here. Not in front of his dad.

His dad stared at him,
panic starting in behind his eyes. “How long has it been this bad?”
He tightened his grip on Sky’s shoulder, “You want me to go get
Zeph?”

His head began to clear a bit. The blaze
inside him smoldered to the point that he could find his own
thoughts again. “Naw, I’m getting the hang of controlling it.
Just,” the lift door opened in a woosh of compressed air, “don’t
touch me.”

His father nodded quickly and retracted his
hand as they entered the lift. “Whatever you need, just tell
me.”

Sky leaned on the opposite
wall, feeling miserable. “Dad…” He didn’t even know where to begin.
“Soul…he said some things to me…”

“Soul is just in a bad
place right now, but he’s still your brother and he still loves
you, no matter what he says or does.” His father straightened from
his casual slouch, his droopy eyes sparking to life, “He can come
back from this.”

Zar laughed in his
head,
What were you gonna tell him, hmmm?
Were you going to tell him the truth about what you are? You would
be enemies.

Sky shifted from one leg
to the other and back again, as much as he hated to admit it, Zar
was probably on the right track. And besides, it wasn’t the time or
place to talk about it.

Of course I’m right. Just
look at him, he could never hate you, so then, what happens to him?
It would crush him – destroy him mind and soul.

Having someone share his
thoughts would definitely take some getting used to.
You’re annoying.

The lift doors finally
opened to his relief. He flew out as fast as seemed polite and led
the way back to the Commons. Once there, Lee, for some strange
reason, was still hanging about, sitting alone at one of the tables
in the middle of the room.

“Heya, Lee, didn’t you
like your room?” His dad asked casually as Lee sprung up from his
seat to stand at attention.

“Yes sir, it is quite
sufficient. I was just waiting for you so that I may ask a
question.”

“Ask away my friend.” His
dad opened his arms invitingly and swaggered farther into the
room.

Lee did a poor job at hiding his alarm to
Sky’s disheveled appearance, “Are you all right?”

Sky waved the question away. “Oh, I’m fine,
wonderful in fact.”

Lee chanced a step closer,
looking quite concerned. “Did you fall into the waste
repository?”

His dad didn’t even try to
stop his belt of laughter as Sky dropped his head to better hide
his own smile.

When he was finally able to lift his head he
found Lee still concerned and completely serious. “You’re close. I
got the pleasure of cleaning out a gigantic fish tank full of seven
year old neglect for Sara.”

“Oh, did she bring
fish?”

His dad restrained another
bought of laughter, “I’ll let Sky explain that one, but first, you
had a question for me?”

“Yes, Sir.” Lee
straightened, addressing his father as if he was actually a highly
ranked officer. “I would like to talk in private if it is all right
though, Sir.”

He shrugged in his usual
way, “I don’t see why not.”

Lee finally broke into a
small smile and gave him a respectful nod, “Thank you, Sir.” He
turned briskly to Sky, “No offence to you Sky, we will speak later
and you can tell me about the fish.”

Sky nodded lazily back at
him. He had no doubt in his mind that Lee wanted to tell his dad
about his earlier episode at the table. It was fine though – all he
wanted was to find his room and take a long, hot shower and go to
bed so he was thankful when they headed off towards the bridge. He
backed up a step, watching them disappear around a corner with eyes
half closed in anticipation of warmth and rest.

“
So it’s true then? The Children of Chaos have to sleep
underwater or else they go crazy?” Roland’s voice snapped him back
to a somewhat lucid state of mind.

He turned to see Roland there, standing in
the doorway, a stack of books in his hands.

“Oh, hey, Roland.” Sky
looked down at his grubby hands and wiped them on his filthy shirt.
“You’ve got the wrong guy, Al’s the one who knows everything about
anything.”

Roland just stood there,
in his way, strangely pondered his words thoughtfully as if he’d
said something brilliant.

Sky crossed the distance
between them, the dread of conversation kept his steps slow and
measured.

“
Well, I’m pretty certain
that it’s true judging from my research. It would be interesting to
study such a behavior though, don’t you think. How her body has
adapted to such a thing, and why would being unconscious underwater
have anything to do with mental health.” Roland spoke eagerly at
him.

Sky moved past him, continuing on down the
hallway. “Good luck with that. I’m sure it would be your physical
health I would be worried about if you approached Sara with a
question like that.”

Sky let out an internal groan of self pity
as Roland decided to follow him down the long, narrow corridor.

“
You know, it’s just that
kind of ‘it is the way it is’ attitude that makes this whole galaxy
weak and allow fools like the ones we have in power stay in
control, it’s ridiculous.”

Sky gave him a more
serious look, dropping his pace until they were walking side by
side. “I don’t know much about her people, just old
stories.”

They had come to the
observation deck. It was only about twice as wide as the hallway,
with floor to ceiling widows on one side, and benches on the other.
It was actually one of his favorite spots on the ship – a place
where he could spend hours, just watching space.

“I know they are an
ancient race and they fought alongside the Iko’s and Telic’s when
the Furies came during the war.” Sky gestured for Roland to sit as
he began extracting the old legends from his brain – most textbooks
conveniently left out the War of Corruption, better known as the
First War. “The Blue Star’s were special, they couldn’t be
possessed, they couldn’t be changed, they saw through any illusion
or trick. It was said the Haven races could have never won without
them, and that the Furies cursed them for it.” Sky had to think
back, way back to when Al’s mom used to tell them stories to get
them to stay quiet once Marcus came home. “Although the Furies
could not posses their bodies, they could scream into their minds
while the Blue Star slept, stealing their dreams and corrupting
their hearts. It was the great Telic LeYantos that taught the Blue
Star to create a holy barrier out of water that could block even
the strongest Fury, but it came at a price.” Sky stole a glance
over to Roland and was pleased to see him entranced with his little
story, “LeYantos told the Blue Star that in exchange for her
knowledge they would have to become Children of Chaos and forever
be charged with guarding the Gate.”

“What gate?” Roland’s eyes
were wide behind their glass enclosures, peering out with a
childlike wonder. “Oh, right. The Gate!” Roland laughed. “Of course
– the Blue Star are the Guardians.”

“Well, I’m glad you seem
to know what the heck that all meant. I never thought to ask.” He
let an airy chuckle through, it had been so long since he had
thought about those old stories.

Stupid boy. You laugh at
the reason the girl is in danger. Why do you think the Councilmen
need her – her blood is the key to opening the Valley of
Ruah.
Zar scoffed.

“So, they sleep underwater
so they don’t have bad dreams?” Roland wrinkled his
nose.

Sky bounced up, seeing his
opportunity to break the conversation and finally get to his room.
“I don’t know, Roland. It’s just an old, silly story. Maybe they
share an ancestral history with an aquatic mammal. Does it really
matter?”

“
Everything matters Sky.”
Roland’s eyes drifted out into the vastness of space. “Everything
has a reason. Everything has a purpose.” He squinted his eyes and
furrowed his brow in a look of determination, “The hard part is
figuring out what it all means.”

“
Maybe we don’t need to
know.” Sky’s brain couldn’t handle a deep conversation at this
point. Or ever, really. If Roland wanted to get philosophical, he
had absolutely come to the wrong person. “I mean, if we were meant
to know, don’t you think we would.”

“Oh, but we can.” Roland
said simply, turning his attention fully onto Sky. “And that is
exactly what I have dedicated the subject of my graduate thesis
on.”

“
This is about your
paper?” Sky could see his door. If he just started running, Roland
could never catch him.

“
Of course.” Roland stated
as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“I’m really tired, Roland.
How about you tell me tomorrow, how I can understand the universe,
okay.” Sky pushed open his door.

Roland nodded with a bit
too much excitement, “Yes, I think that would be a great lesson for
you, maybe for the rest of them too, even if they are student’s of
REALM they still would benefit from such a lecture.” That was
probably the strangest thing he could have said. “By the way, you
smell like fish.” He finished and walked away.

Sky shook his head slowly;
some people just weren’t worth understanding. He walked the last
few paces to his door and fell against it, letting his dead weight
swing it open.

By morning they would be
at Haigon, completely off the grid at Rinten’s fortress of
solitude. When he was young they had always joked about it and how
much of a cranky old hermit Rinten was, but now, given their
situation, it was a blessing.

Sky looked longingly at the bed as he
passed. Soon, soon he could sleep. But first, he needed the hottest
shower his body could take to remove the hardening layers of
filth.

Thoughts of their summers
on Haigon crept into his mind, the happy family they had been, and
how it had all changed. He pushed back his memories and
concentrated on the task a hand. He stole a glance in the mirror
and regretted it. Get clean. Go to bed. That’s all he needed to
do.

For the longest time he
just stood there, letting the scalding water run over his reddening
skin. Every time he closed his eyes he regretted it. The images
that flashed through his mind as he struggled with consciousness
were the worst things he could possibly imagine. Zar was playing in
his mind, burning just below the surface of every thought, twisting
them into nightmarish images so real they could have been
memories.

“Leave me alone.” He
leaned his head against the cold metal shell of the shower
stall.

Why?

“I’m tired, I just want
–“

I don’t care what you want. You’re boring
and I’m bored. I want to play.

A knock at the door startled him back to
life, causing him to nearly fall out of the shower.

“Al, that better not be
you.” But who else would be there at this time of night.

Someone else wants to play.

“
Shut up, no.” He
whispered harshly. “Just go away.”

I already told you I don’t
listen to you, young prince, so stop telling me what to do.
Zar hissed into his mind, sending a physical
shock of pain down the center of Sky’s spine that dropped him to
his knees.

“
Why would it be Al? You
guys are so weird.” Sara’s voice came through the door.

No, anyone but her. Sky
scurried to his feet and slammed the bathroom door when he heard
the main bedroom door slide open. “Not a good time.” He yelled
through the door.

“
Get out here now.” She
demanded. “Or, I’m coming in.”

“Are you kidding me? Just
hold on.” He had enough time to put on his pants before she burst
through the bathroom door. “Are you serious woman?”

She looked him up and
down, her face never more stern. He didn’t notice until she stepped
past the threshold, the paper she held in her hand, at the ready,
like a weapon. He couldn’t make out all of it, but from what he
could see, it was a seal of some sort.

“
Lee told me to check on
you.” She stood up straighter, still looking over him cautiously.
She backed out of the bathroom, gesturing for him to
follow.