44. KAINE
Lethe had been running for so long now. His little legs burned with urgency, but his mind was clouded and confused. He didn’t know where he was running to. The only connection to this different world was the kind-eyed female. The one that pressed the bloodied sleeping-sun necklace into his hands.
Lethe looked down to the necklace in his bloodied hands. It was warm from being held so tightly, and it was splattered with the female’s blood.
He looked around the forest. The thick air clung to skin even though the double-ringed moon sat high in the night sky. He pressed himself as close as he could into the trunk of a tree, its bark biting into his skin as he made himself small. He looked up to the sky, hoping that his mother could hear him.
“Mother? I’m ready to go home now,” he whimpered.
But Cerri did not answer.
He was alone in this world that she had called Faery, and he didn’t know what to do next. His mother had told him that he would be safe with the female and that from this different world he would enter another. But that hadn’t happened.
He waited and waited, all alone, hungry and confused, but no one came to find him. As the night grew long and his mother did not respond, he had to wonder if she had lied. She tended to do that. Every time she was crying or angry, she would push it away and said that everything was fine, even when it wasn’t. He was a child, but he could tell the difference. Or when she got angry and would lash out at him, she said she loved him. It was all so confusing. Perhaps this was his mother’s way of punishing him because he didn’t do something right. She tended to do that too.
The longer he waited in the dark with the necklace clung to his chest, the more the feeling of dread rooted itself inside him. Had his mother abandoned him? Had she lied to him? What game was she playing?
All he knew was that he was angry. He used to get upset, seeing other children in the Godlands being held and cared for by their mothers. His mother was never like that with him. There were nights when he so badly just wanted to be held, by anyone. Nowadays, he learnt that being angry was the only way to protect himself.
The sharp crack of a twig snapping sounded in the air.
Lethe whipped his head toward the noise, just a few metres away from him.
A beautiful female, with blood-red hair and skin so white stepped from out of the shadows. Her face was filled with concern as she approached him.
Lethe sunk back into the shadows. It wasn’t the female that his mother said would keep him safe. His heart pattered with uncertainty as his mind warred between whether to trust her or not. She seemed nice enough, Lethe thought.
“I won’t hurt you,” the red-headed female said. Her voice was soft as she moved closer to him. She knew where he was hiding.
Lethe peeked around the tree he was hiding behind.
“There you are,” she breathed. “Are you hurt?” The female moved closer to him and crouched down before him. Her eyes were golden yellow and her features sharp.
Lethe shook his head in response.
She held out her hand for him to take but he did not move from his spot against the tree. She pulled back her hand into the red cloak she wore when a few more moments passed. “Are you scared?” she asked.
Lethe nodded.
“I thought so. Take this, it’ll calm your heart. You don’t want to be scared anymore, do you?” She held out a small vial of purple glittering liquid.
Lethe shook his head. No, he didn’t want to be scared anymore but he didn’t want to take something from a stranger without knowing what it was.
“Your mother sent me.”
Lethe’s heart lurched at the words, stepping outside of the shadows just a little to take a better look at the female.
She smiled warmly, extending the small vial of purple liquid between them.
His mother did have a roundabout way of communicating things she wanted. She wasn’t always so clear but if the woman before him said that she was sent by his mother, then what other option did he have? He was stuck here all alone.
Lethe reached out to grab the vial of liquid. It felt cold in his hands.
“Once your heart calms, we can get moving. Do you like the sound of that?”
Lethe nodded. He did like the sound of that. And perhaps this female was working with his mother. His mother had clearly stated that they were going to go to another world after this one.
Lethe unplugged the vial and downed its contents. It tasted like grape lollies and fizzed down his throat with a bit of magic.
Suddenly, he felt sleepy. Calm. The female was right. He was about to thank her for the reprieve when she yanked him closer by the wrist and snapped his neck back by his hair. The pain of it etched across his scalp, making him wince. Her spindly blood-red nails danced in his vision, as she muttered words he did not understand. He felt the magic run through his head, like a cold wind.
“From this day forth, you are known as Kaine Dormarth Aaryn. You are an orphan born in Summeira. I am your queen and your saviour. You will fight my fights and be a warrior in my Elite,” the female hissed.
The words she spoke wrapped around his throat and then eased.
“Kaine, are you ready to go back to the castle now?”
“Yes, my queen,” Kaine muttered. He didn’t understand how he got into the forest. The queen before him looked concerned and there was a feeling that brewed inside of him. Determination. Determination to serve her and whatever she stood for.
She held her hand out for him and he took it with surety, wiping his eyes but not entirely sure why they were wet to begin with.
Together, they walked toward a castle surrounded in a blaze of fire, its two spires piercing into the dark night sky.