The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (22 page)

"I told you, that I would follow you to the
ends of the earth, if that was where you lead me Kayden," Jocelyn says,
her eyes burning with a fire that I know well; A passion that drives her in all
of her actions.

"You can't come with my Joyce. Where I'm going,
it's dangerous. You ought to run, now, while you still have the chance," I
say, ignoring every emotion within me, every emotion that tells me to hold onto
her, to keep her close. I am able to accept the fact that if I have to burn, at
least she would be safe, if she came with me than she would burn also.

Her petite hand flies up and places itself on my
chest, over my heart. I look down into those amber eyes, that burn with anger
but can hold all-consuming love as well. "I know where you’re going, the
why evades me still but Kayden, I don't care. I'm coming with you and there is
nothing that you can say that will change my mind." There is no point in
trying to refuse her, not now, not ever. Pulling her into my arms, I place a soft
kiss on her lips, which grows and burns ever brighter as it lasts; she is all I
need. We may both burn, but at least we will be together to the very end, that
is more than I could ever ask for.

Shade's P.O.V

When I was a boy I had learnt a lot of things, the
minor things like learning how to tie your shoes or how to dress yourself never
really change, and so you don't ever really forget them, but the major things
such as morals and beliefs and religion, well after I had died a lot of those
things had died with me. When I had awoken from my transformation, when I had
opened my eyes, and realized that I was no longer human, that in fact I had
been turned into a vampire well a lot of what I had believed had changed as well.
I was no longer able to live with my family. I could remember their screams,
their terror as if it were playing out in front of me. I had been cursed and
condemned, and finally after searching and searching for a place where I would
not be unwelcome, I stumbled upon the opening to the Underworld, and from there
I had turned from being an outcast, a dead man walking among the living, to an
'elevated' human walking among the supernatural. I searched for a long time for
a place to make my own, and it was only by the grace of God - if only I could
speak
the word! - had Kayden found me.

When Kayden found me, I had been starving, a wild
creature so far gone, and relying on my animal instincts that I was barely even
human. For some unknown reason, he saw past the atrocity, and lent me a hand,
one that I took a bite of when he had offered it to me. Of course, being
Kayden, he simply laughed it off. Kayden took me back to Victor's kingdom, and
helped me become human again, or at the least civilized. He taught me how to
fight, to protect myself in this world that I had only just been introduced to.
It was because of Kayden and his kindness and generosity that I survived for
this long, and now I was on my way to a place that I had been banned from and
in all possibility I was riding, on my grey stallion Fog, toward my death.

Along for the ride are Nate, Charlton and Mason.
They aren't brainless soldiers, they have wives and children, they each have a
family, something that they could always belong to, and I was jealous of them
because of it. I couldn't begrudge them of it, but a family was something that
I had not been part of for a long time, and it was hard at times, to see them
with their wives and not feel the zealous zap of jealousy.

The ride so far from Victor's kingdom to Antadovia,
the Fae kingdom, was long and quite boring as we had nothing to see or do for
hours. We are only just approaching the Suzae Ruins, when we notice the dark
cloud of smoke billowing up toward the heavens. I pull Fog into a slow trot as
we approach the ancient rubble buildings and Nate, Charlton and Mason follow
suit. We approach the Ruins slowly, prepared to fight if we have to.

We stand outside of the Ruins for a while, looking
into the camp. As far as I can tell there are only three of them, but you can
never be sure. As we get closer I can tell that they aren't the same, that they
are of different race, and thus they are, for lack of a better term, Nomads.
One appears to be a Warlock, from the spiked demon horns that are on the top of
his head. The other two could be anything, and we aren't prepared to attack if
one of them turned out to be a Skin-walker. I feel something rubbing against my
legs, and when I look down I could see a giant black dog, with vicious sharp
teeth and intelligent yellow eyes. When I look down at it, it growls viciously
at me, and before my eyes it changes from the shape of a dog to that of a man.
The man before me is tall, but you can clearly tell that he has spent his days
labouring underneath the sun. His eyes are mismatched, one being blue and the
other yellow. This is the trait of a Shape-shifter. His black hair hung in his
eyes.

"Emery! Sage!" The man yells and I can
hear the shouts of his friends echo back to us. I realize then that we have
been discovered, and that Nate, Charlton and Mason are waiting to copy my every
move, whether it is to fight or flee, they are prepared for their orders. What
I am not prepared for, though, is to encounter something like this. The man's
friends are quickly approaching, and there is little time to do anything before
they arrive.

"What is it Sachi? What did you find?" The
other male says, and I turn my eyes to Sachi's left on which side the other
man, Emery, is coming from.

"What Emery means to say is who did you
find?" The woman, who must be Sage, says. She has golden hair and azure
eyes that sparkle like the ocean in the soft afternoon light. I wonder where
I've seen those eyes before, but I cannot place them though they seem so
familiar.

"Vampires, one being a fledgling; all
male," Sachi says, to his friends and I realize that he had sniffed out
what we were while he had been shifted. I shake my head clear from the dizzy
spell Sachi had unknowingly placed on me.

"We are not here to harm you, Nomads. We are
only just passing through, on our way to Antadova," I say softly,
desperately trying to ease the tension. Sachi's mismatched eyes turn toward me
again, piercing me as they try to comprehend why I am speaking, let alone why I
am here.

"They may seem dangerous Sachi, but they're
auras tell me otherwise. Please friends, join us in our camp." Emery, the
warlock with the sharp pointy demon horns, says to us, his black eyes glinting
dangerously in the dim afternoon light. We join them in their camp, Nate and
Mason setting up their tent as Charlton and I set up our own tent. In the
corner of my eye, I can see Emery and Sachi talking quietly behind us, their
eyes darting over to watch us. I can feel a cold shiver crawling up my spine,
as if they are plotting ways to deceive us, to draw us in and torture us
slowly, their cold laughter echoing in my mind. I have to remind myself, as I
turn away from them, that we had only met them, and that none of them are the
skin-walkers.

"So what do you think of them?" Charlton
asks, as he begins to hammer in one of the pegs, his eyes are focused on the
task, and I grab the other hammer and mimic his actions.

"I don't know, they give me a bad feeling
though. I keep thinking that they are plotting ways to torture us, but I've
never been able to trust strangers completely," I reply, feeling the
hammer thrumming in my hands. I can feel his eyes on me and I look up quickly,
our eyes connecting for just a moment. His eyes fall back to his task as he
moves on to the next peg.

"Trust never really was your strong hold. I
remember when we first met. How Kayden got me to train you, you were a weak
little thing, hardly had any muscle on you, and well look at you now, leading a
group of warriors to meet a woman who despises you on the order of our King,"
Charlton says, I can see the tiredness in his features, how truly old he is
despite how young he appears.

"Well when we first met I had just been brought
out of a rather barbaric state, and not to long before that I had been
murdered. It's kind of hard to trust people when you end up on the wrong side
of a knife," I reply honestly, unable to keep the bitter tone out of my
voice. The night of my death wasn't one of my favourite topics, it wasn't
something that I liked to think of or discuss, and remembering it was even less
enjoyable.

"You have come a long way since then Shade.
However, just be careful of what thoughts you allow to creep into your mind,
the thoughts that we allow to mislead us are the most dangerous," He says,
and I can hear the caution in his voice, and I feel deflated because somehow
I've managed to disappoint this man, whose been more father-like to me than my
own father, who was the same man to turn his blade on me.

We finish setting up the tent in silence, but I can
feel his disappointment in me as well as the eyes of the nomads on us. Charlton
and I seem to be the centre of everyone's attention, and it makes his
disappointment burn deeper within me. I sense Nate and Mason moving to unpack
their loads from their horses, and Charlton goes and does the same for us. With
nothing to do, I make my way over to the nomads, and sit down with them,
caution and mistrust burning through my veins, as their conversation quiets as
I approach them.

"Welcome, I am Emery, one of the few remaining
warlocks." Emery, the warlock, introduces himself to us once Nate,
Charlton and Mason join us at the fire. "The gentleman to my left is
Sachi, he is a shape-shifter, and to my right is Sage, a born vampire. Together
we are the Cantu Nomads," Emery says the soft smile on his lips look
sinister in the firelight. I am already feeling the distrust racing through my
veins, bringing every cell of my body to life as it burns through-out my body.
Charlton has an easy going smile on his face, and it makes him look young and
innocent, a boy who could be deceived easily, but I know the knowledge and
wisdom of his years that hide underneath his young appearance, and I wondered
if he feels the uneasiness within me.

Speaking up I introduce my team and explain why we
are passing through the in-between areas of the kingdoms. "It is nice to
meet you Emery, Sachi and Sage. My name is Shade and I am the leader of my
group here. On my left is Charlton and on my near right is Mason and on my far
right is Nate. We have been ordered to enter into Antadovia to recruit. I'm not
sure if you're aware of the problem that lives within our society, the disease
which affects us all?" When I'm met by nothing but silence, I breathe a
heavy sigh. "I'm talking about the Skin-walkers. I have been sent by King
Menédez of the Vampires to recruit the Fae, as King Menédez has declared war
upon the Skin-walkers." There is a look of seriousness on Emery's face,
his black eyes looking dead in the fire light, but I can tell that he is taking
in my words with a deep consideration.

"We are aware of the dark deeds that the
Skin-walkers do, kidnapping, torturing, things that make them despicable, but
we cannot join you in your quest. I personally cannot join you for the sole
reason that being one of the last with magical blood I cannot afford to let my
kind die, not even for the benefit of my world. I apologize deeply Shade, and I
wish you all well." I nod my head in understanding, the slow deep bow that
is custom for all of us. He mimics my action, and light conversation and
laughter echoes around the campfire as we eat our late dinner.

It isn't until Charlton and I are lying down in our
tent, the dim candle-light snuffed out so sleep doesn't evade us that Charlton
speaks up. "What you did tonight Shade, speaking with the voice of a
leader - who doesn't fear the unknown, and doesn't distrust strangers - I was
proud of you, of your strength and courage. You embodied the true meaning of a
leader," He says, his voice is soft so that his voice does not travel far,
but I can hear his sincerity in his words, even though there is nothing for me
to see.

"Thank you, you know how much that means to
me," I whisper sleepily as my eyes slide shut. Sleep is elusive for a
while, and there are times where I wake up in the night, whether from my
distrustful nature toward the Cantu Nomads, or from the nightmares from my
human life I cannot say, but it's there haunting me, keeping me from truly
entering into the world of dreams.

The time with the Cantu nomads passes quickly; I
still do not trust them even though they try their hardest to make it easier
for me, when we reach the Black Mountains our time with the Cantu nomads’ ends.

"We wish you well warriors of the Underworld,
May the blessing of the Lasting Ladies and Lords stay with you on your quest.
Sage, Sachi and I are going on to the Black Mountains where it is safe for
people like us, nomads who have no allegiance to any Kingdom," Emery says
before walking away from us, Sachi does not say a word and his iciness toward
us does not disperse as he leaves our side.

Sage does not seem as eager to leave us, and Mason's
eyes are filled with sorrow as he looks at Sage. "If I could join you I
would, but I cannot depart from my arrangement with Emery. Perhaps I will see
you all again someday. Goodbye Shade, Nate, Charlton," Sage says before
leaving our side, Mason follows her for a moment, and we turn away from them,
allowing them a moment of privacy. When Mason returns his eyes are wet with un-shed
tears. The shining, bright lights of Antadova shimmer in the air surrounding
the Kingdom. I urge the others on, knowing that we can arrive before dark if we
leave now.