While Zebedee wouldn’t call herself and Aiziah the sharpest tack in the box, they’re pretty damned close to it, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there’s something wrong with their bestfriend, Elly.“Where is Nathaniel, Dane?!” Zebedee cried in panic, she was grabbing onto Aiziah’s sleeves tight. Her knuckles are turning white.“Calm down.” Aiziah replied as she stared at Elly’s body. He was cold as ice, and his skin turned blue, almost purple and the veins on his body were visible against his odd skin. The veins looked like a map.The arteries on his heart could be traced. He's looking more dead than alive. Nothing but a remnant of his old self.Day by day, they notice the small changes in Elly’s body. How the sun burns begins to face, turning his reddish burnt — almost auburn skin into brown. And then it began to peel, scabs appeared.And the next morning — when it was Nathaniel’s turn to look after the two men, they saw this. The anomalies before aren’t glar
This must be one of his most unluckiest day. Never did Kane thought that he would have so much trouble fending off Elly. One ball of fire after another, it doesn’t seem to have an effect on him.Yes it was hurting him, but Elly would still jump and fight, even as his skin burnt. It’s like his brain was wired only to fight. The Keeper can be compared to a Zombie — Kane thought as he tried his best to fight off Elly's strange power, strength and rage.He stared at Elly with cool eyes. They’re both sweaty, panting, and frustrated. It’s been hours, and they’ve been through this at least twenty times.“Just go back to sleep, Elly, please! I don’t want to hurt you–” Kane sighs, running a hand irritably through his hair. Let’s try this again, the long-suffering, painfully patient set of his mouth says. But it seemed like Elly couldn’t understand him.Kane is half-convinced that Elly’s somehow controlled by something, and he is not himself. But how? And who.It’s his fourth time to throw a ba
A knock at the heavy wooden door disturbed the quiet of Kanisa’s study. The delicate touch of brush on paper jarred and the ink blurred at Kanisa’s surprise. A mild curse escaped her lips while harsher ones flew through her mind. A scholar did not curse out loud.She bade the intruder enter and was even more surprised at Jaddah bearing a tray of dinner many hours before dinner.Or so she thought. The light in the window burned gold with the sunset, and her stomach grumbled loudly. How many times had that happened without Kanisa noticing?Letter ruined, he put aside the parchment and smiled at Jaddah. She wore the heavy frock of the village, the brown linen a far cry from the softer and more varied colors of the city. But her hair was covered by a vibrant red shawl, a color worn and displayed proudly in the village.Kanisa learned the color represented knights of the past who had settled the village after helping the king defeat invaders from the sea. That was a long time ago, before t
“I was born into a family with too many daughters, and they were excited to finally have a son, but being the youngest of nine meant I was left alone a lot. I read. I studied history and music. I learned. It was what I enjoyed most. When King Ahn came into power, after usurping the last king, he called upon everyone that could read, to go through the history.”“Rewrite it, like many kings.”“Maybe a little, but King Matthios is frustrated with how many holes there are in history and he is frustrated that his people are not educated in sciences, mathematics, reading, and instead rely on superstitions and shaman for their beliefs.”“Hence, why you are here, to fix our bastardly ways, is that it?”Kanisa smiled even though Conrad Hydrock was anything but humorous in her accusation. “No. There is nothing wrong with your village or villagers, Conrad Hydrock. I am only here to make sure you can follow the king’s, your king’s” She added pointedly “orders and decrees. If you do that, you’ll b
Kanisa staggered and lost her footing. She fell with a shout and then stayed on the ground. The light disappeared, and heavy footsteps pounded toward her.“What are you doing here?” Conrad Hydrock demanded. “What did you see?” Conrad Hydrock grabbed his open robe, hauling him to his feet, and Kanisa moaned, pitched against Conrad Hydrock's strong chest. Warmed. Warm skin. Warmed by fire. Controlled fire.“Oh god,” Kanisa gasped, and Conrad Hydrock shook her again, and her stomach lurched. She pushed away from Conrad Hydrock and fell to her knees to finish expelling the rest of last night’s feast.Conrad Hydrock moved away from her and Kanisa cursed in her head. What did she see? Nothing that was possible, that was for sure.A firm hand landed on her back and slid along her body to lift him up. Kanisa whimpered.“Sh, just drink,” Conrad Hydrock whispered.Cool water splashed over her mouth, and Kanisa gulped down the spring water. Another one of her favorite things about this village w
Conrad must have told Kindle Lou that Kanisa knew about his ability. Or that look meant Kindle Lou knew about their kiss. Or both.Conrad followed his glare to Kanisa, but his look did not linger, and he hugged Kindle Lou tightly. “I’ll be fine.”The village had another feast but a more subdued celebration with many prayers and offerings for the safe return of the fisherman. They prayed not to a god like many in the city but to the elements, to the wind and the water and the earth. They prayed for smooth water, they prayed for favorable winds, they prayed for bountiful fish.Kanisa pondered this new development. He had never heard of people praying to the elements.A week after the fishermen departed, Kanisa sat upon the cliff watching a storm move in from the sea. Wind whipped her clothes around and she did not dare to take out parchment in case it blew away. But it was a warm wind, heralding the start of summer. Not that the temperature really changed this close to the sea. It was s
She nodded and added a slice of fruit pie to the tray because she knew Kanisa liked it. Kanisa went to her room and ate the food slowly. She wished she could write down her thoughts, that was always easier for her to think through things, but she did not want the papers to fall into the wrong hands. She did not want Conrad’s trust in her to be taken away so quickly.Instead, she opened her own history book, the one that was as thick as her arm. She pondered the differences, where this one only spoke of kings and their reigns. It spoke of many wars, but nothing of one that ended in the massive destruction of the world. The tome covered history back over a thousand years, but there was no mention of anyone but kings who ruled.The only clue was in the reign of King Arthur who spoke of legendary knights of the king’s army who fought bravely and almost like gods with powers beyond man’s abilities. But it was just two lines, giving credit to the king for the victory.Just as the Knight of
They did not speak of the novels or the elements again. Sora assigned Kanisa as a reading and writing teacher to a class of children whose parents had been killed in the last war. “To get him out of his depressing funk.”He had chosen well because Kanisa adored children and she loved to teach. She was also very glad that hrt next assignment was not away from the castle, or its resources and history books.Sora provided the reading materials for her lessons, mainly children’s stories about the elements, and the characters who used each one for good.Kanisa grew anxious. She had to talk to Sora about what she knew. But she also knew that Sora knew much more about the inner workings of this castle and he would have to trust her to talk about it when they were safe.Or he was gathering more evidence against Kanisa to take to the king to accuse her of treason.Another sign, or coincidence, were the fresh flowers and plants that soon filled her room. She had not asked for them, or seen anyo