Chapter Five
I’m still here, in one piece. Is this some kind of sick joke?
Do they like to toy with their food before they eat it?
I un-scrunch one eye to assess my surroundings.
I am now eye-to-eye with the biggest elion I have ever seen.
He must be the leader because his pack loiters a few feet behind him.
His hot breath wets my face, and his once white fur is now stained red with the blood of his last kill.
Yellow eyes throw daggers my way. What is it doing?
Hovering, his face level with mine. I open my other eye, and the world around me falls silent and slow. His stare intensifies on mine, but his demeanour changes. Suddenly, I don’t feel so afraid. His breath slows. My hand reaches up before my brain can realise what it’s doing.
‘Click, Clickkkkk, Hmmmm…’ I hear. The beast tilts its head and looks at me curiously. Was that him? Is he talking to me? His head nudges into my hand gently as it is lost in his thick fur. Something inside me tells me to mimic his clicking back.
“Click, Clickkkk, Hmmmm,” I repeat.
He stops and waits for a minute. I see myself in the reflection of his eyes as he scans the length of my body up and down.
Was he sizing me up to kill me? His eyes land on mine again, as if looking into my soul.
He huffs his warm breath at me through his nose and then flies gracefully back to his podium to continue licking the bones of his leftovers.
It is as if he told his pack to stand down because, one by one, they all follow him.
Veronica sees an opening, and I feel myself being dragged back into the safety of the room.
She slams the mighty door behind her, and I watch as the dial spins anticlockwise, locking itself as the bolts click into place.
We all stand still. The only sounds that fill the room are those of our lungs fighting for breath.
I look down at my hand, its once pinkish flesh now tainted with the smears of that elion’s last meal.
I feel Veronica’s eyes hot on mine. What just happened?
“Are you hurt?” Nala asks between breaths, looking at my hand.
“No, it’s not my blood,” I whisper, not wanting to draw any more attention. I can tell she has more she wants to ask me, but she grits her teeth and shakes it off, clutching my arm and following the rest of the class back towards the cable carts.
The ride down from the top is a quiet one. Everybody is still shaken up, and I don’t blame them. We almost became lunch.
Miss Worthington had everyone go to second meal early because of the incident that had just unfolded.
I sit staring at my plate, a chicken burger and fries.
I don’t feel like eating much. The meat keeps reminding me of the slaughtered tamer, and I can’t seem to get it out of my head.
Nala has not said a word to me since the written room.
She sits across from me staring; her gaze intense as if trying to figure me out.
The hustle and bustle of the other students around us distracts her from her thoughts.
“What the fuck was that?” she blurts out in a kind of whisper-shout.
“What was what?” I respond, taken aback by her outburst.
“Don’t give me that. What was that in the stables? You said you have never seen an elion before, and now what? Suddenly, you can talk to one of them?” This was more of a statement than a question. Her eyes did not move from mine.
“I don’t know,” I confess, but she doesn’t buy it.
“I don’t know!” Silence breaks out between us again. Her eyes are now scanning my face slowly from left to right. “I promise. I am just as surprised as you. Maybe the elion realised we weren’t threats and backed down by itself,” I say as if trying to convince myself.
Nala shakes her head as if I am crazy.
“Do you know how many elions my mum has been around?” Her head leans closer to mine.
“She told me that once they get spooked, it usually turns fatal. Not once have I ever seen one back down like that, not even to a tamer, let alone a stranger. The way it hovered by you was almost like it knew you,” she states.
“Elion’s only click to humans when a bond is formed.
My mum’s took months.” She pauses. “Months!”
I try to hide the shock on my face. I know she is right. I have read many books on elions, and it doesn’t make any sense.
“What do you think it means?” I ask, hoping for an explanation, and Nala’s gaze softens.
“I don’t know. But we’re going to find out together.”
She grabs my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine. “Oh, and thank you…”
“For what?”
“For stepping in front of me. It was stupid. Don’t get me wrong, and I never want you to do that again, but you kind of saved my bacon.”
I give her a consoling look.
“Are you still going to take the taming class, or are you put off for life?” I joke.
“Are you kidding? I’ve never felt more alive in my life.” Her eyes sparkle in the light of the orb. “I think you should take it too, then we can see if it was a fluke or not.”
I nod in agreement, trying not to think about the tamer that is now mincemeat.
“That might be a good idea, and then maybe you can save my bacon this time,” I wink at her, and she giggles.
“I knew you’d be trouble,” she says, loading her fork with the contents on her plate and shoving it into her mouth.
The click and clack of Miss Worthington’s heels fill the dining hall, and all the years fall silent.
“First years, I know we have had a busier morning than expected. Combat is tomorrow, so I suggest you take this afternoon to rest and get used to the castle. I will see you all tomorrow at first meals. If anyone has any questions, my door is down the first hall on the right,” she says, and the click and clacks of her heels diminish as she retreats down the hall.
Combat, finally something I’m not a complete disaster at.
“I have an idea.” Nala begins to stand up. “Let’s go to the library.” She beckons me with her eyes as I scoop a few fries off my plate and eat them in motion following behind her.
***
“So, what exactly are we looking for?” I turn to look at Nala as she is making her way through a book called The Nature of Elion’s. I budge up next to her.
“I’m not too sure. Just anything that will give us some answers about what happened earlier.” I take a glance over her shoulder to see the page she is on.
‘Elions are the ultimate weapon. With the strength of a lion and the cunning nature of an eagle, there is not much that can harm this creature. They generally travel in packs with one leader of the group. This leader is usually the biggest in the pack and the most ferocious. Their scent glands are so spectacular that they can smell the pheromones from humans when they are afraid. Their mighty nose also allows them to locate prey from great distances. When an elion picks a target, that target is as good as dead. Elions rarely change their mind when it comes to food.’
“You see.” Nala points at the last line and looks back up at me. “I don’t know why we didn’t become dinner.”
I shrug my shoulders in response.
“I saw the way it looked at you. Like the way Fenn looks at my mother. He knew you. I know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s the only explanation I can think of.”
“But how could he know me?” I question, even though she does not hold the answer.
“I don’t know, but something tells me we are not going to find it in one of these books.” Nala looks around at the levitating books surrounding us.
My eyes veer off to the corner of the room where Charlie is leaning by the door, making eyes at Nala.
“I think someone wants your attention,” I nudge her arm and gesture to Charlie. His dark caramel skin glows under the dim lights of the library. Nala looks back at me, fighting a smile.
“But we need to figure this thing out.”
“It can wait. I’ve never been one to cock block,” I wink at her. “Go have fun.”
She squeezes my hand and piles The Nature of Elion’s into her bag.
“See you back at the room.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” I joke, and she smiles at me before approaching Charlie with a skip in her step.
I move myself from the red lounge chair and sit in an alcove by one of the library windows.
The window is cracked open so I can feel the breeze cooling my face.
Now alone with my thoughts, I can no longer fight thinking about him.
The blindfolded one. My dream. Was he messing with me?
Maybe a book on the Moonkind can tell me more.
I look at the overwhelming variety of books around me. My eyes dart across the alphabetically ordered rows looking for section ‘M’. Just my luck, it is on the seventieth row. I get up and trace the room. There should be an Influencer around here somewhere.
“Looking for something?” a familiar voice questions me. It’s River.
“Oh, it’s you.” A smile plays on my lips. “Just looking for an Influencer to find me a book.”
“At your service.” He salutes me humorously.
“You! You’re on library duty?” I taunt. “I wouldn’t pin you as a book kind of guy.”
“Why? You don’t think a man as handsome as me could be book smart too?” He places a hand on his chest and acts hurt, but I know he is just teasing me.
I raise an eyebrow, taking part in his game. “Well, are you?”
“I could be… But I am in fact covering for a friend,” he banters. “You’re right. Books aren’t really my thing.” He pauses. “But helping pretty girls is.”
His smile melts through me. I fight the rush to grin up at him playing hard to get.
“Well, are you gonna help me or not?” I mock, wondering if I can trust him with my request.
“Hit me. What book are you after?”
“Do you have any on the Moonkind?” I ask, blatantly averting my eyes from his stare. Hopefully, he does not read too much into it.
“The Moonkind, huh? What does a pretty face like you want with a book on the Moonkind?” he pries with intrigue plastered on his face.
“Just curious. I want to get ahead in history class,” I smile nonchalantly.
“You are just full of surprises, aren’t you, Asha Calloway?”
I hear a shuffle, and three books glide down from the seventieth row.
“This is all we have here. The rest were burned years ago, orders from RHE. If you still can’t find what you are looking for, this school has an archive hidden underneath the castle.
Maybe I’ll take you there if you ask nicely enough.
” He bites his lip flirtatiously. “It can be our little secret.”
“Is that where you take all the other girls?” I remark in jest.
“Would you hate me if it were?” he says with boyish charm.
I ignore the question. “Thanks for helping me out.”
I take the books out of his grasp and place them into my bag.
“Any time, princess.” He smirks, and I make an effort to sway my hips as I walk away, knowing he is staring at my ass. I leave the library and head back to my room.
I unload the books from my bag and place them on my bed, glancing over at Moon Castle from my window as if looking at it will give me some much-needed answers.
But it doesn’t. I turn to the book at the top of my pile - The Way of the Moon - and skim through its pages trying to find something that would explain my dream.
I land on the page titled The Wonders of the Dream Veil.
My eyes scan the paper, but all I can find is information on the Gift of Mourna.
‘Those who possess the Gift of Mourna can travel between two planes. This is called Veil Shifting. If a person has this Gift, they will be able to communicate with people on both sides of the veil through dreamlike states.’
Could this be the answer I am looking for?
Is someone using their Gifts to mess with me?
I go to read more, but find myself disappointed.
The pages are clearly missing. My fingers run over jagged edges, the only evidence of the pages that used to be there.
I grab another book, and it is the same.
River wasn’t kidding about the RHE. They must have had something to do with this.
I may have to check out the archives after all.
The last book in the pile, titled Moon Sovereign, seems to have all its pages intact.
My fingers pluck through the pages, and motes of dust rise off them, making me cough a little.
It looks like an old yearbook. There is a date located at the top of each page.
These are the students who roamed the halls of Moon Sovereign over twenty years ago.
I look through the array of different photos spread throughout the pages.
Some look around my age, and some look a little older.
Under each photograph in silver engraving is the name of each student and their Gift.
‘Arin Foresithe. Gift of Xoro’
‘Blade Cameron. Gift of Silo’
My eyes scan down each photograph, mesmerised by the treasure trove of data oozing out of each page. My gaze lands on something that looks vaguely familiar. Are my eyes deceiving me?
I rub them and look a little closer to make sure I am not seeing things. A man with broad shoulders sits on the staircase of what must be Moon Castle. He looks tough and is covered in tattoos: ‘Luca Thorncroft. Gift of Mourna’
His hand grips the handle of a red suitcase. That looks just like my mother’s.
Wait.
I look closer; the pink love heart key chain hangs like a beacon on the zip of the bag.
It is hers.