The Blaze Ignites (45 page)

I realized I was standing next to one of the
Galad Kas compartments. The sight of it made me smile softly. What
fond memories I had here. The little four-foot-high walls and empty
wooden archways serving as doorways and windows were so cute. There
were no roofs except the thick twisted tree branches that made the
floor to the compartment above. I had a ground level compartment
this time, and the floor was just the forest ground, complete with
a carpet of rich golden leaves like the ones in the tree tops. I
could hear the surrounding waterfalls which had lulled me to sleep
every night the last time I was here. I loved Galad Kas.

I saw the neatly folded set of clothes
waiting for me to change into once I bathed, but I rested instead
on the bed. My shoulders slumped in exhaustion. “Rest first, then
bathe,” I declared aloud. We hadn’t slept last night and I needed
it. I didn’t even bother taking off my boots as I crawled into the
bed and fell quickly asleep.

When my eyes opened again, it was dark. Only
pale silver moonlight illuminated my compartment. I stayed in bed
for a few minutes and let my senses wake up. I sighed and wished I
could just sleep forever. I eventually breathed out and rubbed my
hands over my face. When I moved, I realized I was naked under the
covers. But I hadn’t undressed!

I sat up with a start, clutching the silk
quilt to myself. I frantically felt around my bed, but it was only
a moment before I felt the smooth, hard diamond hilt of my sword
and then the cold metal chain of the necklace. Both of them were
next to me under the covers. I wrapped the necklace chain around my
wrist a couple of times to keep it there and gripped my sword
before slowly getting out of bed, holding it at the ready. I didn’t
feel or sense any danger, but who had taken off my clothes while I
was asleep and why?

I went to the table where I’d seen the set of
clothes folded neatly before falling asleep. I sighed in relief
when I saw they were still there. They sat there now with a robe
and three familiar vials of liquid on top of them. I put the robe
on, gathered up the clothes and vials, and headed to the bathing
pools on the east side of the island.

As I walked with only moonlight to guide me,
I listened to the merry singing voices of the Salynns. They had
lost a lot of people in the two day battle with the Gibirs and
Gorkors, but when a Galad Kasian died, they celebrated the life of
the person that was lost rather than mourned him. They sang and
celebrated now and I smiled.

The last time I heard them singing merrily
like this, my father had just died, and I had nearly died too. I’d
been in no state to really appreciate the songs then, but I did
now. Their voices made me feel happier and lighter and more free. I
sighed in relief as I listened to them in the distance. I closed my
eyes and began to sway to the sound of their singing as I walked. I
was even able to hum a few notes to a few songs I recalled from my
last stay here. My feet, rather than my eyes, led the way to where
one of the pools lay.

I opened my eyes and saw the edge of the land
that looked like it dropped off completely. Leaning slightly over
the edge, however, I could see the small rock cove ten feet below.
A narrow section of the cliff at my feet angled out, making a
natural staircase down onto a small platform of solid rock that
ended at another sharp drop. To the left of the “staircase” was a
small shallow pool of water from a natural cold spring that bubbled
up right out of the ground. The water in the pool steadily
overflowed, running through a ring of rock that surrounded it, then
over the edge into a series of tapering rock shelves until it
joined the small stream below.

I almost smiled, but then I heard something
splash. My grip on my sword hilt tightened. Someone was here. I
leaned to look over the cliff edge a little more and saw the water
in the pool was rippling. Damn. I got on my knees and slowly crept
closer to the edge of the cliff to peer around a piece of rock
jutting out and denying me full view of the pool. I got the water
in full view just in time to see someone’s back pop out of the
water. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and turned slightly
until I could see the side of his face; it was Ortheldo.

My insides turned to liquid. I slowly got
down onto my stomach and just watched him for a little while. He
was so beautiful, but he seemed different somehow, more serene and
vulnerable. He seemed to have an almost childlike innocence when he
didn’t think anyone was looking at him. The moonlight glowed off
his wet tan skin and my heart raced. I could barely catch my breath
while I was looking at him. He looked like a prince in a fairy
tale.

My heart ached to be close to him. I felt so
safe with him, even if he kept my father’s secrets from me. That
didn’t matter right now because when he held me in his arms nothing
could hurt me. I wanted him to hold me now, to feel safe, like I’d
felt today when he carried me across the lake.

I jumped off my stomach, made the necklace
and my sword disappear to keep them safe and out of my way, and
gathered my bathing needs and made my way down the natural
staircase. He eventually heard me and turned around to look up. I
smiled softly, “Hi.” Oh my goodness, it hurt my eyes to look at his
beauty right now. I had to look at the ground for a moment.

When I looked back at him he looked strangely
nervous. “Hi.”

I made it to the ring of rocks and sat down
on the edge, putting my hand in the water to feel the temperature.
It was still pretty warm. The pool was conveniently placed where
the sun could warm it all day without shadow falling on it. I
looked at Ortheldo and realized he still looked nervous.

I looked at him with concern. “You okay?”

He swallowed heavily, but then seemed to
flinch a little and looked more normal. “I’m fine,” he said, and
finally smiled at me.

I smiled back and looked down into the water.
Why wasn’t he close to me yet? I guessed I’d upset him more than
I’d thought earlier, though I had no idea how. I looked up at him
and couldn’t stand it anymore. I wanted his arms around me right
now. I wanted my arms around him and my face pressed into his
chest.

I took my robe off, stepped into the
thigh-deep water and went straight towards him. I thought I saw his
eyes go wide for a second before I wrapped my arms around him and
pressed my face into his chest. He hesitated for a second and my
heart nearly exploded in panic before he finally put his arms
around me as well. He’d never hesitated to embrace me. In fact, he
usually gathered me up in his arms eagerly, no matter what kind of
fight we’d had.

Finally he relaxed and sighed, then started
to pet my hair like he often did when he hugged me. We didn’t say
anything for a long time. We didn’t have to. I just absorbed the
completely safe feeling he provided when I was this close to him.
Oh how I loved him. How I wished I could tell him that right
now.

“What the hell?” a voice suddenly cried out.
I froze in shock recognizing it, but it couldn’t be!

“Azrel?” I heard my brother say.

I turned around just in time to see a second
Ortheldo, fully clothed, jump over the side of the cliff staircase
and charge full speed into the water past me. I watched in horror
as he grabbed himself, the first Ortheldo, by the hair and started
punching his face.

What was I seeing? What was I
seeing?

My brother was in the water quickly with me,
gathering me up in his arms and carrying me away like a helpless
toddler in the face of a masked murderer. I watched over Rabryn’s
shoulder as both Ortheldos struggled. The naked one didn’t offer
any resistance though, so it really wasn’t much of a struggle—it
was more of an expression of the clothed Ortheldo’s rage. Rabryn
set me down at the bottom of the cliff staircase, quickly threw my
robe over my shoulders, then picked up a couple of loose rocks and
stood in front of me facing the fight happening in the water.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t. What had just
happened? I covered my face with my hands but looked out from
between my fingers at the fight. It didn’t take long until the
clothed Ortheldo forced the naked one onto his knees in front of
Rabryn and me. He was bleeding from every orifice of his face,
including his ears. I gathered the robe around myself quickly,
trembling the entire time.

“Who are you?” Rabryn asked dangerously.

“I’m sorry,” the naked Ortheldo panted. “I’m
so sorry, Azrel.” Then his appearance started to fade and change. I
felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach when Reese remained
kneeling in front of me when the transformation was finished. I
jumped to my feet and looked at him in horror. Ortheldo and
Rabryn’s expression mirrored mine.

Betrayed? By
him?
No! This…this
couldn’t be. Not Reese!

I couldn’t. Shaking, I turned and ran up the
cliff staircase faster than I thought I would actually manage. I
heard someone coming up behind me but I didn’t wait. I ran to the
trees, eventually falling to my knees, and spilled my lunch all
over Galad Kas’ fair grounds. I threw up even when I had nothing
left to throw up. I was vaguely aware of someone holding back my
hair.

Reese. Reese, my friend. The one I’d
connected with the most of our new company, had betrayed me. The
one who had lived my entire painful past through my eyes with me,
the one who understood the torture and senseless hatred from the
people of The Pitt, had betrayed me. Sepp, Reese’s brother, had
disguised himself as Addredoc in Rocksheloc to have his way with
me. Now Reese had disguised himself as Ortheldo for the only reason
I could think of—to have his way with me. Betrayed by both. But
Reese had been my
friend!
We’d shared two battles together,
just he and I, yet he’d
betrayed
me!

When I was finally done throwing up, my
entire body collapsed to the ground in emotional exhaustion. I’d
known something didn’t look right when I’d first seen him bathing
in the pool. He hadn’t looked the same, too innocent. Ortheldo
hadn’t been innocent since he was ten years old, when he’d
decapitated his older brother. Innocence, once lost, never returns.
Reese was not as life-and-battle hardened as Ortheldo, which is why
he’d looked so different. Why hadn’t I trusted that instinct that
something wasn’t right? It was because I’d wanted Reese to be
Ortheldo. I loved Ortheldo and my heart wanted it to be him—and I’d
been betrayed because of that. I couldn’t even trust my heart
anymore. The realization of that sunk into my soul, a sour taste in
my mouth. What could I trust now if not my heart? My heart had
betrayed me.

“I’m glad you’re done,” a voice suddenly
said. My muscles recoiled and I spun around so fast I made myself
dizzy. Ortheldo forced a smile. “I thought for sure I was going to
see some organs lying on the ground.”

I crawled backwards away from him. I couldn’t
be near him right now. But why? It wasn’t his fault I’d been
betrayed. It was Reese’s!

I paused in my retreat and froze. Looking up
at Ortheldo, I saw the pain in his eyes. He wasn’t sure how Reese’s
actions would affect our relationship and he was terrified it had
been damaged.

Anger and rage towards Reese filled my entire
being. I clenched my teeth and started panting heavily through my
nose. I even dug my fingernails into the ground and scraped up some
soil, gripping it so tight in my hands that my shoulders shook. I
was so tired of being betrayed! Ortheldo looked fearful for a
moment and backed away from me. I averted my eyes to the cliff edge
and he relaxed, realizing this rage was not aimed at him. This pain
of mine and Ortheldo’s was Reese’s fault!

I had one thought in this moment: Reese was
mine.

I jumped to my feet and went quickly to the
cliff’s edge again. How fitting that Reese was about to share the
same fate as his brother. As I made my way down the staircase I saw
Reese still on his knees with Rabryn holding a fistful of his hair.
Rabryn glanced at me, then did a double take as I approached. The
anger melted from his face and his eyes went wide. “Uh oh,” I heard
him mutter before he hastily backed away from Reese.

Reese’s red and puffy tear-filled eyes turned
to me. Oh yes, I was about to give him a good reason to cry and he
knew it! My pace quickened as every muscle in my body tightened. As
I got in front of him though, he did something unexpected. He
didn’t argue, he didn’t fight, he didn’t resist; he just bowed his
head in complete acceptance of the death sentence I knew he saw in
my eyes. When I was within arm’s reach, he squeezed his eyes shut
and bowed his head. Two big tears fell from his eyes, splashing
silently to the ground.

I was trembling with rage. I intended to hit
him. I intended to hit him hard, and a lot, until he was nothing
but a bloody pile of mush on the ground, but something stopped me.
I slowed my march towards him until I paused and just looked at
him. He was naked on his knees, trembling in front of me, swollen
and bleeding from Ortheldo’s beating, and crying.

My rage unexpectedly melted into pity. He was
terrified, as he should be! The look in my eyes nearly scared
Rabryn to death, and I wasn’t even after him. But Reese wasn’t
fighting the fate I had in mind for him. He just graciously
accepted what he knew I was going to do. That was the kind of
bravery I admired.

I realized how terrified he must be and it
was my fault.

I realized in that moment that I did not want
to be something to be feared, not anymore. Not by my friends, not
by any entity except agents of evil. I
had
to become
something to be feared in The Pitt so they would stop torturing me.
But we were not in The Pitt anymore.

Beings of flesh were not complex and big
enough to understand much outside themselves, and that included me.
Who was I to judge them? Even if they hurt and betrayed me, why did
that make them deserve death? I was just flesh and blood like them.
No better. No worse. So they hurt me. Beings of flesh did this kind
of thing to each other a hundred times a day and none of them were
killed because of it. Just because I had the power to kill Reese
didn’t mean I had the right to. What was some emotional turmoil
compared to a life?