38. Raya
RAYA
“Promise me you’ll take care of each other. I love you both.”
- ELIJAH
Fallen leaves, blown in from Goddess knows where, crunched under our feet. All of us ducked low to fit beneath the low walls of the tunnel. Khol, Joy and I practically bent in half. Barely able to see our hands in front of our faces, we stumbled and tripped, our eyes never really getting used to the immense darkness.
I reached for Khol’s hand instinctively, wrapping our fingers together.
He pulled his hand away quickly, as though my skin had charred his. Wretchedness crawled under my skin like insects, how had I been so foolish? Why hadn’t I confessed to the truth months ago, when my heart stirred and twisted for the first time?
Forgiveness seemed too far away for me to grasp.
“How much further?” Jodie whispered from behind us.
“We’re almost there,” Khol whispered back, tripping over a rock.
A laugh poorly hidden by a cough sounded from Joy’s throat, I marveled at how similar we were.
“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you, Jodes?” Joy whispered. Everyone’s voices sounded far away and extremely close at the same time.
“No…” she whispered timidly, causing a few laughs from people around me. But I couldn’t even bring myself to smile. Each step Khol took reminded me that I had betrayed him.
“You guys are awful,” Jodie pouted, which only made the others chuckle more.
“I like the dark,” I claimed, desperate to rid myself of my own thoughts. “It was good for stealing food from Matron’s kitchen.”
“Good for picking pockets,” Jameson agreed.
“Good for hiding from murderous mothers,” Khol dropped in casually.
“Good for plotting to murder your mother,” I mumbled.
“You guys are really awful,” Jodie spoke again, her voice littered with humor.
Light spilled into the abandoned tunnel, the sound of moving water now slipping into our ears. Elijah stood in what looked like a hollowed-out cave. He was hidden beneath a brown cloak, a hood draped over his head, next to a row of canal boats, most of them crumbling through rot and decay.
“Elijah!” I whisper-shouted.
As all seven of us spilled from the opening, Elijah’s hood dropped, and surprise plastered against his wrinkled skin.
“Khol, what is—” he began, before his eyes found Rafael, standing sheepishly in the corner.
“Rafael?” The word caught in his throat, tears already threatening to spill from his silver eyes. “Is that really you?” He stepped forward uneasily, although he was afraid to move.
“It’s me, Elijah,” Rafael said. “Not a ghost, I promise.”
A laughed bubbled wetly in Elijah’s throat.
“Rafael my boy, I thought… I thought you…”
“You thought I died,” Rafael smiled sadly. “It’s okay, Elijah. That’s what my mother wanted.” He wrapped his arms around the old man. “She did not have the guts to kill me, so she locked me away,” he glanced up at Khol, “and threw away the key.”
A somber chill settled over the room, all of us unsure how to proceed. Elijah rested a hand against Raf’s cheek.
“You must go, get away from here before your mother finds out you’re gone.” Elijah spoke in a hurried whisper, handing a cloak to Khol and I.
“Your clothes are too recognizable, you’ll either be robbed or discovered, these are better.” He smiled as we pulled the fabric over our bodies. The blue dress now covered, a mark that our night was truly over.
“I’m sorry I did not bring any clothes for… for your… friends?” Elijah spoke, motioning to Joy, Jameson, Erin, and Jodie.
“You have done more than enough, Elijah,” I spoke, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled, silver lining his eyes.
“Quick, quick,” he ushered us with his hands, I knew it was because he did not wish to cry again.
“I have packed you enough food to last a month…” He looked over at our expanded group. “Perhaps a week.”
He heaved at a rope, pulling the biggest canal boat I have ever seen toward the concrete edge we stood at. A large tunnel sat at the front and the back of the room, I didn’t know where we were going, but anywhere had to be better than here.
One by one we stumbled into the boat. Jameson with his hand outstretched for Rafael, Erin patting the bench next to her for Jodie and Joy, Khol’s hand shaking gingerly on my waist as I stepped onto the vessel.
Forgive me, I wanted to shout. Forgive me, please.
He removed his hands as soon as my feet touched the wood, sitting as far away from me as possible.
Elijah stood watching us as we began to drift.
“Thank you, Elijah, for everything,” Khol said gruffly.
“Promise me you’ll take care of one another. I love you.” Elijah’s voice cracked softly.
“Thank you, Elijah, you saved my life.” I smiled. “In more ways than you know. I love you.” Tears filled with love wetted my cheeks.
The tunnel drifted closer as Khol steered the boat toward the entrance of it. The journey ahead hung high in the air. Elijah smiled once more before pushing the rusty boats on the canal back into place.
“What of Florence?” Jodie said as Elijah turned toward the tunnel to the dungeons.
“I have no idea,” Joy replied flatly.
“Florence?” Khol and Rafael said at the same time. Joy nodded.
“What is she? Your long-lost wife?” Jodie joked, her head falling into her hands.
“Not quite,” Raf laughed.
“But she could possibly be our sister,” Khol spoke nonchalantly. “Mother’s favorite, she’s been gone for years in?—”
“In the Southern Continent?” Joy asked, rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe she created this elaborate plan just to hitch a ride home,” she scoffed.
“I suppose Captain Harlow was in on it too,” Erin mumbled.
“It doesn’t make sense, we knew Florence, we lived with her. She was part of Harlow’s crew for months before she escaped. Why would Harlow search for her if he was in on her plan?” Jodie’s head swayed in her hands.
“My head feels like it’s about to explode,” Jameson groaned.
The tunnel enveloped us, all our figures blurred slightly in the darkness.
“One day she was in training with us,” Khol spoke softly, “and the next she wasn’t, mother said she had completed her training and taken the trials in secret.”
“She just left?’ I asked him. He nodded softly, shrugging.
“We need to regroup,” Joy said. “We can’t keep going off half stories and blurred truths.” She looked around each of us.
“We need to know how each of us got to this very moment,” she spoke again. “I’ll begin… It was Kai’d, the day we celebrate the Goddess of the sea…”
One by one we shared our stories, I told them about my burst of power, Alias, and The Temple.
Khol spoke of his mother, of what he had overheard from her study.
Erin and Jodie shared their time with Captain Harlow and their journey with Joy.
Jameson and Rafael explained their time in the prison.
“She put me in the dungeon because she feared me. She feared my power, what I could do.” He looked over at Khol.
“She wanted to be the most powerful person in The Temple, in the entire world,” he heaved a sigh. “No one fails the test, Khol,” he whispered.
“She takes the most powerful of us all and drains us of our abilities, she takes it for herself,” he choked on his words. “She took mine.” A small sob found its home in his throat. “I have almost nothing left.” We watched as a tiny fire spluttered in Raf’s hands, barely big enough to light his face.
Jameson wrapped his arm around Raf’s shoulder as he began to cry.
Although we knew each other better now, we still had so many unanswered questions.
Was the war in Zetka related to Ezra’s hunger for power? Did the other Sorcerers know about this?
Surely the humans knew about this.
Why did Florence lie about her intentions and why had she been gone for so long?
How had Ezra been stealing power from others?
My eyes began to spin behind their lids.
Another question pressed into my mind. One that asked,
What had happened between Joy and me? When our hands touched and our minds became one?
The moment had seemed to last a small eternity.
Time was afraid to tick by when we were joined.