Creatures of Snow (37 page)

“Stop that.” Roland
demanded, “I turned it back down, stop contaminating
it.”

“Sky, can you hear me?”
There was a gentle slapping on his face as his dad pulled him back
up into an alert state of mind. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Nothing’s
wrong.” He slurred out his words, swimming back up to the surface
through the haze.

Roland paced around the
room, searching with his beady little eyes every surface in every
corner. “No, this isn’t Soul’s pattern.” He shook his slowly,
pushing up his glasses with a thin finger, “I see a trace over
there, but this weight in the air…this was Con.” Roland’s face
turned to an even paler shade of white as his eyes searched
frantically around the room, “Con was here.” His gaze landed upon
Sky, “He’s not still here, is he?” His voice reflected the
fear.

“No one’s here, calm down.”
His dad furrowed his brow with a disapproving glance in Roland’s
direction. When his focus shifted back towards Sky, his face was a
mess with worry, “Was someone here?”

“Hard to tell what’s real
and what’s not.” He was only half lying.

“That boy is a monster.”
Roland stormed his way over to the bed, “His ability probably can’t
affect you fully, but his power over persuasion can’t be taken
lightly.”

His dad thankfully held out
an arm and stopped Roland from coming any closer, “I said calm
down, boy wonder.”

“You don’t understand,
Captain. We don’t know who Con obeys anymore…he could have killed
us.”

Sky choked out a laugh, it
was just the way Roland had said it so dramatically.

Roland leaned over the
Captain as much as he was allowed, “He’s an abomination. He wiped
out an entire army base once, by himself.”

His dad gently shoved
Roland back, “I’m all for fairy tales kid, but this really isn’t
the time.”

Roland straightened to his
full height. “He is one of you, you know.” He looked almost
disgusted as he spat out his words, “He’s an Iko.”

“What?” Sky found himself
speaking in unison with his dad.

“I said that mainly for the
shock value, because, in all honest, he isn’t like you at all,” He
gestured with a long hand at his dad, “he is literally an
abomination just as I said – an Iko born in the land of the Living.
His powers were perverted by this realm so he can not only control
the Craze, but can amplify it.” Roland seemed to be enjoying their
captivated attention, “With just his will alone he can control a
persons mind and actions. Like I said before, he’s wiped out entire
battalions before – he generally likes to have his victims kill
themselves, or each other. Never get’s his hands dirty, you
see.”

Sky’s dad turned towards
him, concern etching its way into every aspect of his expression,
“What did he want with you?”

An abomination. Those
words alone sent a riot of anger into the cells of his body. He
realized it wasn’t his resentment that was burning its way to the
surface. He closed his eyes, feeling his blood pressure rising, and
then, a flash into his mind.

Tutus.

His mind and body calmed,
and just like that he was fine. “He taught me.” Sky breathed,
unclenching his jaw, feeling his body relax back down, “He taught
me how to control the Fury.”

Maybe he had said it wrong,
maybe those weren’t the right words to use judging by the looks of
disbelief and horror on both his dad’s and Roland’s
faces.

“I don’t want Rinten to
seal it.” He spoke slowly and directly to his dad. “I can control
it - you don’t have to be afraid anymore.” They had to believe
him.

There was a fleeting moment
where he thought they understood – where their looks of worry
melted into kindness. Then, obeying the faint gesture from his dad,
Roland moved from his position.

“Don’t!” He cried and tried
in vain to sit up, to reach out, to stop Roland from crossing the
small distance to the IV stand.

The rush struck him harder
and faster then ever before and the dreaded waves of oblivion
washed over him.

And then there was just darkness.

Slowly, so slowly, his mind came back. A
mind finally aware of feeling and senses – so much so that he could
hardly bear it. The lights were too bright, the slab of metal they
called a bed was too hard. The smell of stale, sterile air was
enough to choke the breath from his lungs.

He blinked hard and stretched out his jaw.
He wanted to talk, but his throat was so dry it didn’t seem
possible.

“
Just relax, kiddo.
Rinten’s on his way.”

“
We’re here?” He managed -
his voice too loud to his sensitive ears.

“Yup. We landed a bit
ago.” His dad came in and out of focus, he was standing too
close.

“
Please, don’t do this.”
He pleaded, although, he couldn’t remember why exactly.

“
It’ll all be over soon.
Right as rain.”

The hand that smoothed
over his hair was infuriating rather than comforting. The words of
encouragement that fell out of his father’s mouth fell on deaf ears
as Sky pulled up on the restraints, testing their
strength.

“Are these too tight?” His
dad must have noticed his struggle. “I can take them
off.”

“Stop.” Sara’s voice cut
through the air. “It’s better if you leave those on for
now.”

Why was she there?

Rinten swooped in out of
nowhere, flashing a light into his eyes, poking at his neck,
pulling at his ears. He hadn’t seen Rintin in almost three years,
and he didn’t even say hello.

His big, blue eyes, still
covered in spectacles they didn’t need, studied him in a scholarly
fashion. “Let’s begin, Captain, if you would stand outside please,
we will call you in if you are needed.” Rinten’s sharp voice was
always to the point.

He forced his eyes to focus on the room.
Sara stood next to Rinten with a small, brown book cradled in her
arms.

“Skyden, I’ve asked Sara
here to help me since her people have a history in dealing with the
Furies.” Rinten spoke as if addressing a class of mindful students.
“It’s Sara, correct? Please prepare him, and I will set things
up.”

With a strong stride Sara
walked towards him. He tensed, and tried to lean back further into
the metal.

What could have been mistaken for kindness
and concern graced her features as she gently sat down beside him.
“Hey,” She softly touched his shoulder reassuringly. “We made it.
We’re on Haigon.” A genuine smile crossed her lips, “It’s beautiful
here. I’ve never seen so much green in all my life.” She spoke
lightly, her eyes steady on his.

“
Don’t do this, Sara,
please...” He didn’t want to scare her away, he wanted her to stay
there beside him, but mostly, he wanted her to listen to
him.

Rinten hovered on the opposite side of the
room quickly looking through books and rifling through papers. “Are
we almost ready over there?” He asked without stopping his
reading.

She pushed the hair out of his eyes, “Don’t
be scared.”

His eyes closed and he tried to block out
the steady hum of electricity that was overpowering his senses. It
was no use to fight it. They would never listen to his plea.

“
Trust in your friends.
This will all be over soon.”

“Right.” He closed his
eyes once again, feeling nauseous.

“
You’ll be fine.” Sara
leaned over him, giving him a strange look that he wanted to
interpret as reassuring, but he was kidding himself. That look in
her eyes was pure fear. It’s how everyone looked at him
now.

Con was wrong. He had to
be. This was what he needed to do if he wanted to regain any sort
of normality again.

“
Let’s get started.”
Rinten finally said crossing the room with an armful of books that
he dropped heavily beside Sky.

He stood over Sky with a
confident look that faded with a shake of his head. “I have no idea
where to start.”

“
Are you serious?!” Sara
pushed him aside, her true brass finally breaking through. She
grabbed the thick leather straps that tied him down, reinforced by
burnt in seals. “First, we make sure these are secure.” She looked
only at Rinten in order to avoid the sudden panic that was
overcoming Sky. “Then, we draw the Fury out.”

“
Good,” Rinten agreed and
helped Sara with the restraints, “Once its power is drawn out I’ll
be able to see where the mark originates.”

Sky’s heart was beating so hard against his
chest he thought it might break through his bindings

“What is the fastest way
to bring it to the surface?” Rinten began flipping through one of
his books.

Sara walked over to a tray
of medical instruments that was towards the back of the room. Sky
lifted his head and craned his neck, trying see what she was
grabbing.

“A Fury will protect their
marked bodies, no matter what.” She made her way back to Sky with a
fierce look in her eye. “Rinten, sir, are you ready?”

Rinten bobbed his head
with a stance of determination. She didn’t ask Sky if he was ready,
because she could probably tell that the answer was a resounding
no. A glint of metal flashed before his eyes, then came the small
sting as the scalpel she held sliced a long gash down his
arm.

“Ow.” Sky cried out, a bit
of anger flashing through him,
Abeo
his mind involuntarily responded.

Sara and Rinten stared at
him for far too long.

“
How long does this take?”
Rinten asked after a few more minutes of waiting.

The cut on Sky’s arm was
nearly healed. “This isn’t going to work. I memorized a whole bunch
of seals to hold him back automatically. You can’t draw him out.”
Since pleading obviously didn’t work, reasoning was worth a shot.
“Let me go.” He demanded.

Sara blinked a few times,
focused on the ground. “We can’t.” Her voice was shaking as her
hand began tightening around the scalpel in her hand. “The Fury is
weak right now because of the full possession and the sedatives. If
it’s true that your mind can block us from him on these smaller
attacks, then...”

Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him as
she drove the small blade into his chest. She didn’t stop her
forward momentum until he heard a crack from somewhere inside of
him.

Her bloody hand pulled back slowly. “Come on
out, you bastard.” She hissed.

“Sara!” Rinten grabbed her
arm and pulled her back. “Sky!” Rinten’s wide, dark face filled his
vision.

Sara was able to pull him back out of the
way before Sky could spit in his face.

“
You’re new. I don’t think
we’ve met.” Sky was thankful that the transition had been painless,
save for the scalpel to the heart.

“
Astonishing.” Rinten
breathed out the word

Sara was right that Zar
had been weakened, he could feel the Fury straining to stay in the
forefront, and he had left Sky with some physical
control.

“I missed you Sara,” He
heard himself saying to her. “I was thinking about you this whole
time.” He knew the satisfaction in her mortification wasn’t his
own.

“
Shut up!” She screamed at
him before trying to regain her composure.

Zar, they want to seal you
– we have to stop them!
He screamed inside
his head.
What do I do?

So now you want to work
with me, prince? Now that you need me.
Zar
retreated back farther, already losing his grip.

Come back! Con said we
can’t let them seal you – they won’t listen to me. Soul said you
are holding back my power, well, I need it now.
Panic filled his mind and body. He had been fooling himself
thinking that Con would have been wrong. He had to stop
them.

“Stop.” Sky’s eyes went
dark and his head began to spin. Zar had lost control. “Listen to
me! It’s me, just me.” he screamed. “You see, I was still able to
push him back!”

Zar, please!

Sorry, prince, I’m just too weak.

“Master Rinten!” Sara
yelled, her hands clamped around his skull and pressed his head
firmly down into the table.

“
Don’t do it, Sara, I
thought you were my friend.” He growled angrily at her, falling
back to his default emotion, “I won’t forgive you!”

Sara hesitated, her mouth forming a word
with no voice.

He finally had broken
through to her, “I can control it, Sara, this is silly, just let me
go.” He said as calmly as his rage would allow.

She nodded her head slowly, then directed
her attention to Rinten, “Do it now.”

Rinten pushed a stiff
parchment into his bloody chest, chanting words of antiquity. The
sensation that overtook him was different this time - it wasn’t
quite as sharp or defined as when Zar marked him, but it was just
as effective at making him scream

“Stop!” The power of rage
overwhelmed his senses and canceled out the physical hurt, “You
can’t do this!”

“
Shut up!” Sara yelled and
slapped him in the face.

He found himself laughing
through the hurricane of pain, his stare burning her down. “You
don’t know anything!” He screamed, forcing her to back
away.