Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (14 page)

“Flames? Are you serious?” Legon asked.

Kovos took the sword and inspected it. “Is there
something wrong with them? Did I mess one up?” He almost held the
sword against his face as he looked for the mistake.

“Yeah, you put flames on it. I mean, it was fun to
put on wooden staves when we were kids, but flames on a real sword?
You have got to be kidding me. Are you planning on your opponent
laughing to death?” Legon was smiling at Kovos.

“I hate you. Now what do you want?”

“We need to talk.”

“Whoa there buddy. I don’t mean to sound rude, but I
just see you as a friend. Sorry, I don’t go that way. Sasha will be
so heartbroken when she finds out . . .” Kovos began, trying to
look like he was wary of Legon.

“Shut up! I don’t mean like that!” Legon shook his
head but gave a small laugh.

Kovos laughed. “Let me tell dad I’m stepping
out.”

Kovos walked over to Brack and said something Legon
couldn’t hear, and he doubted Brack heard either as the man pointed
over to a set of clamps and nodded his head vigorously. For a
moment, it looked like Kovos was going to try and tell his dad that
he was stepping out again, but then decided otherwise. He motioned
for Legon to go out the back door. The new sword gleamed in the
sunlight, and Legon had to admit that, flames or not, it did look
good. Inwardly he thought, “
It’s a good thing he has that. We
may need it in the months to come
.”

* * * * *

Kovos looked at his friend. “So what’s up?” Now in
the light it was obvious that there was something wrong. He could
see that Legon was trying to figure out what to say and how to say
it.

“Come on, what’s up?” he asked again. Legon started
to talk.

“You know that tattoo on my back?”

“Yeah, the strange looking thing?”

“Yeah… well, take a quick look at it.”

Kovos frowned and motioned for Legon to turn around.
He came and lifted up the back of his shirt. He looked where the
dark green tattoo was supposed to be and felt his breath catch in
his chest. He looked harder at the now purple mark, as if by doing
this it would somehow change its appearance. For a fraction of a
second he thought Legon was playing a joke on him, but the look on
his face told him this was no joke.

“What did that? Please don’t tell me magic.”

Legon’s answering silence told him more than he
wanted to know. He felt a strange sensation in his stomach, the
same he got every time he’d gotten in trouble as a little kid.

“Ok, lay it on me.”

Legon relayed the story to him, a story that, if he
hadn’t just seen the purple tattoo, he wouldn’t have believed. He
heard about Legon being part Elf and his dead mother, what he might
turn into, and way more than his mind could wrap itself around at
the moment. At the end, Legon appeared to be feeling better. Kovos
rolled the new information around in his mind. He needed more time
to think about this. He thought that paying Emma a visit might
help.

“Ok, so how does this affect me?” he asked.

“Sasha is going to come with me when I leave. You
were right—anything that might happen to me and her on the road is
better than what will happen if she stays here. How it affects you
is this: I understand if you don’t want to go with us, and if you
do, we would like to go somewhere south, but if that doesn’t work
for you then…” he said, tapering off.

He was surprised by the pleading look on his friend’s
face. Legon was tough, and if he was this upset he must be
expecting the worst. Kovos knew Legon would go to any length to
protect Sasha, and would go south regardless of what he had to say
about it. He also felt worried at the look on Legon’s face. If
Legon was scared or worried about something then it had to be bad.
A visit to Emma was definitely in order. Kovos only felt a moment’s
hesitation in his head.

“The story you just told me is one of the most
messed-up things I’ve ever heard, and a smart man would tell you to
shove off, but . . .”

Legon interrupted, “But you’re not a smart man.”

“Lucky for you, I’m not. You’re my best friend, and
if it’s a question of sticking with you, then you know the answer.”
Kovos smiled and stretched his arms. “I think I’m going to enjoy
the warmer weather in the southlands. And I hear the women wear
fewer clothes down there.”

Legon laughed. “They do not, and even if they do, I
doubt it’s the ones you want.”

Kovos chuckled. This was probably true. “I’m going to
get back to work. We’ll talk later about when we’re going to leave.
I won’t tell anyone about your freaky back, don’t worry.” As he
said this he turned and walked back into the shop.

As Legon headed home he felt better. For the first
time he felt a slight edge of excitement come over him at the
thought of the adventure that Sasha, Kovos, and himself were soon
to have.

The Hunt

“
Our instincts keep us alive and out of
trouble, but sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes they lead us away
from trouble that is good for us and others. The question is this:
When is it a good idea to trust those instincts? Certainly they
aren’t always wrong; if anything they are rarely wrong, but then
again, that depends on your definition of right.”

-Tales of the Traveler

Kovos’ feet hit the ground hard. He looked up into
the smiling face of Emma in the window. Her sable hair was playing
around her face in the dawn breeze. He couldn’t see her brown eyes,
but he knew they were looking right at his. Even at this time in
the morning with almost no light, her smile made his heart leap a
bit. He waved and got on his way. These little visits they had were
nice. There was something about waking up next to her that he
loved, and there was the excitement of her parents being in the
room next door. Emma’s dad hated Kovos with every ounce of his
being, and if he knew that once a week or so Kovos was spending the
night with his daughter he would probably try to kill him.

That wasn’t why Kovos went over, though. There was
something about Emma; she was always in his head. He knew she was
probably “the one”, and that scared him just a bit. He was leaving
soon and wasn’t sure she would join him. He thought she would, but
he had been too much of a coward to ask last night, and it would
have been perfect. She had told him that she loved him right before
they fell asleep. He should have asked then, but he couldn’t change
that now. It didn’t help that her parents didn’t like him, but
Kovos’ father had gotten over that hurdle back when he was
courting. He had been shot in the arm with an arrow while running
away from his now father-in-law. Kovos hoped that wouldn’t happen
with him.

No one was up yet, so he was a little surprised to
hear the sound of horses in the street. As he turned the corner he
saw five of the queen’s soldiers on horseback, presumably looking
for a place to rest.

One of the men called out to him. “Hey you, come over
here.”

He did as he was told. The man’s face was a blur to
Kovos. The sun was coming up right in front of him. “What can I do
for you?” he asked sincerely. He didn’t fear the queen’s men. He
was a good fighter; he also didn’t think they had a reason to
bother him.

“We’re here looking for a man about your age,” the
soldier said menacingly.

There was a hint of hesitation in Kovos’ voice when
he spoke this time. “Ok, can you tell me his name or what he looks
like?”

“We don’t know his name or what he looks like, but
we’ll know him when we see him. Do you have any tattoos?”

“No,” said Kovos, his mind racing to figure out what
these men were up to.

“I don’t believe you. Take off your shirt.” As he
said this, another one of the soldiers who’d circled behind him
reached out and started to pull at his shirt. Kovos pulled away,
taking the garment off on his own. He was mad now. “
Who do they
think they are?”
he thought to himself.

“Whoa there, buddy. You keep this up and you’re going
to have to buy me dinner.”

“Shut up,” said the soldier with a sneer. “Is there
anything there?” he asked the soldier behind Kovos. The other
soldier shook his head.

“Well then, I guess you’re not who we’re looking for.
Do you know anyone who has a tattoo on his back, someone around
your age?” asked the soldier.

“What, am I not your type?” He was always more
confident and stupid after seeing Emma. These were certainly not
men to be toyed with and he knew that he was walking a fine line. A
few of the soldiers laughed at his comment, so he knew that he was
fine for now.

“No, you’re not. Sorry to disappoint you, but do you
know anyone with a tattoo? I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Not around my age. A few of the old guys have
them…”

“Well, if you do see someone with one you’ll tell us,
won’t you?”

Kovos just nodded his head. This seemed to satisfy
them and they continued on their way. He needed to find Legon. It
was clear that these men were looking for him. But the men were
already heading toward Legon’s house. Kovos thought he could go
around the town, but he wanted the cover of people going about
their daily business. The soldiers would probably go to the town
center and start asking around. He headed home to get changed so
the next time they saw him he would be harder to recognize. He
would also drag Keither along so it would just look like he was out
with his brother running errands. Legon would be safe for now.
People in town would be slow to talk, and Legon didn’t venture into
the town center often.

* * * * *

Sasha came out of a restless sleep. She had been
waking up every few hours with lists of things to do rushing
through her head and an eerie feeling that not all was well. She
decided to get up and on with her day. The sun was coming up now
and she wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway.

She rolled out of bed and began to get dressed. There
was a lot that needed to get done. Late last night she came to the
conclusion that her and Legon needed to be able to leave at the
drop of a hat. After that, the lists had started to run constantly
in her mind. The thing was, they weren’t just leaving to go camping
for a few days, they were leaving for good, and if they were forced
to leave quickly they would need to pack light. This was a problem
because when it came down to it, they needed to take a lot or they
would be unable to start a new life somewhere.

She paused for a moment to decide what she wanted to
wear for the day. She settled on an earthy green skirt and white
blouse. She inspected herself in the mirror. It wasn’t good. There
were huge bags under her eyes and her face was pale and looked a
little odd to her. She leaned closer to the little mirror above the
vanity. As she looked she noticed a slight twitch beneath her left
eye. “
That’s odd, I wonder what it
…
”
she began to
think, but the thought stopped as she felt her body become rigid
and her vision blur. There was the sound of something hitting the
ground and she felt incredible pain all over her body. She was
faintly aware of herself on the ground thrashing about, but the
pain was so bad she couldn’t think anymore. She had to be dying.
And then she thought and felt nothing as the episode shut down her
conscious mind.

She awoke to the usual scene: Legon was holding her,
her parents were fussing. A dull pain in her left hip told her
where she hit the ground. She didn’t remember much about it and was
still trying to get her bearings. It felt like her mind was
disconnected until she heard Legon’s calming voice. As his voice
came, most of her mind came back with it, like someone had
uncovered a candle or removed a blindfold. This wasn’t uncommon.
She had never told anyone in the family, but she noticed that if
Legon was around after an episode her mind seemed to start up
faster then if he wasn’t. Stranger still, she knew that even though
the episodes made her unconscious, she sometimes had flickers of
thought or images, but they were just flickers, and only when Legon
was there.

“Sash, Sash, are you ok? Are you back?” he said
concernedly.

“Ye… yeah I’m back. How long was I out?”

“Only for a moment, dear. We heard you hit the
floor,” said her mother. Sasha tried to raise herself from the
floor.

“No honey, just wait a minute before you try and get
up,” came her father’s voice.

Sasha raised her hand to block the now dazzling light
that was starting to come in through the window. Everyone was still
in their bedclothes. Legon was on the floor beside her. He placed
his hand on her shoulder and this seemed to give her strength.
Having an episode in the house was the worst. Every time it
happened she got a huge bruise from hitting the hard floor. At
least when it happened outside the ground was softer. A dull throb
on the side of her head confirmed this.

“I’m fine now, really I am. I’ll try to take it easy
today. I just need to run an errand or two so it won’t be bad.”

“Don’t worry about going out, Sash. I can pick up
whatever you need when I go over to visit Kovos. I don’t mind. I’m
sure whatever you need is on my way.” Legon squeezed her shoulder a
bit in a loving way, but also one that made it clear that there was
not going to be any debate. It was things like this that made her
love him so much. He had a lot on his plate, but still he was going
out of his way for her.

* * * * *

Legon helped raise Sasha from the ground and walked
her to her bed. He could tell that she was a bit tender on her left
side. As he steered her along he also noticed a slight tremble. The
bags under her eyes made it clear to him that she hadn’t gotten
much sleep in the last few days, and for all he knew that may have
been what had caused the episode. She lay down in bed and he got a
list of the stuff she was planning on buying that day.