Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 (11 page)

We walked through the front entrance and into a foyer that put our small entryway back home to shame. The interior of the castle was exactly how the outside led you to believe it would look: luxurious and dazzling. Everything shimmered from the chandeliers to the pillow cases on the settees. From here, all that could be seen was a winding spiral staircase to the right and a brightly lit corridor to the left.

“Wow.” Caspian said. Since I had stricken mute, I could only nod in agreement.

“C’mon now.” Ash broke our awestruck wonder by grabbing my wrist, gently but forcibly, and started to lead me up the spiral staircase.

I ripped my hand away from him and stopped mid-step, “Excuse me? Do you have any manners?”

“No,” and he reached again for my arm.

I prepared to yank away again when I glanced down at where we had left Caspian and Erion only seconds before. But could not find them there.

“Where-?”

“Erion led Caspian to his room, and I’m leading you to yours.” Annoyance coated his tone. “Now
please
let me do my job, we only have a few moments.”

“A few moments until
what
? My Knowledge or whatever? And quit trying to pull me around like a dog on a leash.”

“You’ll see in a few minutes.” I followed him up the stairs, my anxiety increasing with each lift of my foot. Thankfully, he didn’t try to grab my hand again. Did receiving your Knowledge hurt? What if mine never came and they were wrong about me, what if I was actually human like I had been insisting the whole night? This thought was no longer a relief to me. A strange despair washed over me at the very idea.

We climbed and climbed. I figured we were almost up to the top of one of the tall towers I had seen outside while walking in.  Neither of us spoke. I wasn’t sure I was capable of such a task at the moment, between the struggle of breathing through the exercise and the growing stress level. Finally, the staircase flattened out and opened up to a short hallway with only three doors, two on one side and one on the other. The landing dimly illuminated by a flickering wall candle. Part of me wondered if Elementals had yet to discover electricity or if they were just weird traditionalists. Neither option comforted me.

“This one is yours.” He said gesturing to the lonely door facing the other two. I reached for the golden handle and twisted carefully, sure that if I broke anything I might shatter this dream I still swore I was living.

The door opened to reveal a large room of class and luxury. The walls had been painted a deep purple with everything else in the room accenting the color in shimmering whites. Lamps, rugs, desks, everything white. A plush king sized bed pressed against a large four paned window with a gorgeous view of the flowered meadow beyond the castle grounds. I could see the glistening waterfall in the near distance rushing magnificently. 

A young woman with black hair and eyes like the sea sat on my bed.

“Mom?”

“Mira!” she exclaimed and rushed to where I stood. Her arms wrapped around me like a security blanket, “I’ve been so worried! Are you alright? This is probably so much to take in!”

“You could say that.”

She loosened her grip on me and stepped back, observing my face, “You’re upset.”

I was. I couldn’t explain it really, but a simmering confused anger boiled inside me, a feeling so foreign that I couldn’t even identify specifically what it was, “You knew?”

“Yes,” she said, “but you have to understand the circumstances…”

“I don’t
care
about the freaking ‘circumstances’. You should have told me. How could you keep something like this from me? Do you realize that everything you have ever told me is a lie?”

She opened her mouth but no words came out. My heart raced in my chest, threatening to burst out and run away. I did not want to be angry with my mom. Deep down I knew there had to be an explanation for the lifetime of secrecy. But at that moment, it did not matter. I glared at her, sure that I was close to shooting deadly laser beams from my eyes. I had always regarded my mother as a gentle and kind person, and above all, a trustworthy confidant. But the events of that night crumbled the entire foundation of my world, including my view of my own mother.

Ash cleared his throat. He still stood at the doorway, “Pardon me, but it is 11:50…”

My mother’s eyes widened, “Oh dear,” she turned to me frantically, “You’ll be receiving your Knowledge any minute now. I’m going to stay here and tell you what is going on while it’s happening alright?”

I just stared.

“Sweetheart, I know you’re angry. You have every right to be. But I need you to listen to me and try to understand what I tell you, okay? I’m trying to help.”

I paused, and then slowly nodded, refusing to drop my unrelenting glare.

I waited for Ash to leave and close the door. The way that everyone spoke, it sounded like receiving your Knowledge was a somewhat personal matter, so I expected him to give us some privacy. But instead, he stepped further inside and shut the door behind him.

My mom seemed just as baffled as I was, “Um, soldier?”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he casually slumped into the huge white armchair in the corner of the room “King’s orders that a soldier be present.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, “I just do the dirty work. I don’t get to ask questions.” I detected bitterness in his tone. He started examining his fingernails as if they were the most interesting things in the room. But my focus couldn’t stay on Ash for long. A strange tingling began tickling up my spine like a dozen squirming insects. Without thinking I pressed my hand to my back and felt a strange warmth emanate from between my shoulder blades. The prickling sensation intensified. It was neither unpleasant nor pleasant, just something my body was experiencing. Although I had never felt anything like it, I could sense that this was natural, that it was supposed to happen. Similar to losing a tooth; it was simply another phase in my life. But that did not stop me from being surprised.

“What the…”

“Right now, you’re body is accepting the Knowledge.” My mother narrated, “Most Elementals experience discomfort in the back and some overheating. This is because your body is working overtime to prepare for your power. Your Knowledge is focused from the part of your spine between your shoulder blades, which is probably where you are feeling a tingling sensation as I’m talking. Your dress is actually perfect for this since it exposes that part of your back. In a moment, your body will feel very hot…” I actually started to feel feverish. “…this is the way the Knowledge works to indicate that it has been successfully received. Any moment now, you will see your Knowledge in its physical form, the source of your power…” As she spoke, a stabbing pain shot from the tingling spot on my back. Short lived but accompanied by a new feeling I could not place, a sense that there was something extremely different about me. The overwhelming heat faded from my skin, though the sheen of sweat remained. I felt exhausted, as if I had just run a half marathon. All over my body, muscles ached. My skin prickled as the cold air in the room rushed against the perspiration. All I wanted was to sleep. But, of course, curiosity got the better of me and forced me into continued consciousness.

“So, did it work?” I looked up and met first my mother’s eyes and then Ash’s. Both of them stared at me like I was some exotic zoo animal. I reached behind me, expecting to feel the bare skin of my back. But instead, my hand met something silky and thin, something that was most definitely
not
my back. My stomach clenched as I whipped around in search of a mirror. Across the room stood a large vanity and I strode towards it, panic beginning to set in. I thrust myself in front of the mirror and stared, my emotions a confusing mixture of horror and astonishment.

Floating behind me, about two feet above my head, was a pair of silvery wings. I gaped at the delicate beauty of them, sure I was imagining them. They reminded me of Tinker Bell’s wings from the old Peter Pan cartoon but of course bigger, glitzier, and far lovelier. They sparkled and shimmered, catching all the colors of the rainbow in the dim lighting of the room as if made of diamonds. I slowly pivoted to get a closer look at the spot where the new limbs attached to my skin. It was no surprise that no seam could be found. My skin connected to the glimmering objects flawlessly. They were, without a doubt, a part of me. With a gulp, I concentrated on contracting the muscles between my shoulders blades and watched as the wings flapped once. I distinctly felt the air against them as they sliced through the slight breeze that wafted through the room thanks to the window ajar on the far wall. It was then that I noticed my breathing had transformed into hyperventilation. My breath intakes rapid and short, practically no air actually reaching my lungs. 

I whirled around to face Ash and my mother. I knew my expression was pleading and, more than likely, pathetic beyond all reason. But they were supposed to know what was going on. They were supposed to be telling me what was happening and what it all meant.
So why weren’t they?

The two of them were made of stone, their eyes wide and shock clearly displayed upon their faces. They gawked at the objects hovering behind me as if they had never seen anything like them. A few hours prior, and I would have understood their bafflement. But I knew for a fact that the two of them were well-informed about this world. So their appalled looks did not help my already over-the-top nerves.

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” I squeaked.

“Uhh…” Ash grunted. He had not blinked once.

“Oh gosh, I think I’m going to pass out.”

“Could she…is she a Moon?” my mom whispered in Ash’s direction.

He shook his head, “No, no. The Queen is a Moon and hers are silver but they don’t reflect colors like that, and they aren’t translucent. The Queen’s glow like the moon, hers…” he looked at me now, wonder shining in his eyes, “hers are like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“Will someone please explain to me what’s going on?” A whimper escapes.

I witnessed Ash wipe his expression of shock and replace it with a look of relaxed disconnectedness, “We can’t explain because we don’t know ourselves.” I waited for him to continue, there had to be more, something he left out. As if to answer my questioning look he said, “Look, I know every Knowledge by heart. But this,” he gestured to the glistening wings behind me, “is nothing I’ve seen. Your Knowledge does not match any known description.”

“Description?”

“Would you care to demonstrate?” Ash looked to my mother who nodded. She peeled off the wool jacket she wore to reveal the tank top she wore underneath. To my great surprise, two aquamarine colored wings sprang up to waft  behind her. They were slightly smaller than mine and less defined in shape. They seemed to ripple and roll slightly, like water wading on a sunny day.

            
 
“I’m a Water Knowledge.” my mother whispered, watching me intently as she spoke, as if I might explode from shock at any given moment, “See how my Knowledge represents that power?” She shimmied back into her coat, forcing her Knowledge to once again be concealed.

            
 
“How have I never noticed those before?”

            
 
“Sweetie, can you actually remember a time when you have seen me in anything with an open back?”

              Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t. I could only recall images of my mom in thick tee-shirts, bulky jackets, or her loose hospital attire. Even when she life guarded, she wore a loose sweatshirt over her swimsuit. I always just assumed she was modest. More bits of the old trust I used to bestow in my mother fell away.

            
 
“So these…wings are called my Knowledge?”

            
 
“We don’t ever refer to them as wings, but yes. They are the physical representation of your power or Knowledge so it is just easy to call them your Knowledge. Your mother’s Knowledge is easy to identify based on color and style, as many Elemental Knowledge’s are. But yours…” Ash broke off wonderingly, as if losing his train of thought. I turned my head to catch another glance in the mirror and once again was caught off guard by the striking appearance of the Knowledge attached to my back, enthralled by the brilliant way they reflected the light into an array of dazzling colors.

            
 
“I think some sleep would do you good.” My mom suggested and I couldn’t disagree. A wall of fatigue suddenly hit me as I realized how much had transpired in the last few hours. The two of them stood up to exit the room. Ash strode out of the door with one last squint of the eyes, seeming to mutter something under his breath. My mother stopped at the doorway, bid me sweet dreams, and gently clicked the door shut behind her.

              And I was utterly alone to face my thoughts.

*

            
 
“TWELVE!” the correction officer shouted as he brought the whip down onto Ash’s back.

              Ash clenched his teeth and withheld the scream of agony that threatened to burst from his lips. Erion did the same as his own correction officer struck him with his twelfth lash. Ash could not help but feel terrible resentment boil within him as his personal Fury from Hell lifted his arm for another blow. He could feel the open gashes that licked his back, displaying where the whip had contacted skin. The wounds burned and rippled white hot pain throughout his entire body. So much pain for such a small offense. He internally scoffed at the justice of the Courts.