28. A History Lesson
A History Lesson
Kaiden
He tossed and turned all night until there was no point in sleeping.
When the sun finally rose, he had already worked up a sweat by going through his drills.
At some point in the night, a sleepless Jasper had slipped out of the camp, returning at daybreak with a small nod.
Jasper never explained where he would slink off to.
Perhaps it was his only time for himself, where his shadows would give him reprieve.
Kaiden corrected his stance once more as the rest of the camp awoke. He was one with his whip, slicing and moving with fluid grace.
Rhydar built a small fire quietly, humming the tune of his country.
He sliced up last night’s kill of rabbit, hanging it on a spike above a fire, and cooking it slowly.
His deep voice drifted around the camp, a warm contrast from the morning chill rolling down from the mountains.
The smoked meat brought a sharp pain to Kaiden’s stomach, reminding him he hadn’t eaten last night due to his nerves.
Jasper and Cahira disassembled the tents. Fintan brushed the horses down, glancing at Aradia’s tent nearby.
Not a peep had come from it.
“Come and eat,” Rhydar called.
Kaiden stopped, sweat clinging to the back of his black tunic. He glanced at her tent and found Fintan’s pointed gaze on him. Fintan threw a small nod, lifting his brow.
Great.
Kaiden rolled his eyes against the hammering in his chest which had nothing to do with his exercise. He made his way toward Aradia’s tent and stopped at the entrance. He glanced back at the others. They watched with smug smiles, snickering together.
He cleared his throat loudly. “Aradia.”
No answer.
“Aradia, are you awake?” Kaiden gently lifted the tent flap, his eyes adjusting to the dimness.
“Yes, I’m awake.” Aradia’s voice was sharp as she appeared from the side.
She was dressed in the same suede pants and forest green shirt which brought out her eyes. Her hair was tied in a braid and swung down the wool vest she wore. She adjusted her dagger onto her hip and stared at Kaiden.
“Why are you still in my tent? I’m awake, now get out.” She crossed her arms, pinning him with a chilled look.
He couldn’t help but smile. If she thought her attitude would make him retreat, she was painfully mistaken. He could thank Cahira for the years she spent building his patience.
“Rhydar made breakfast. We eat pretty fast, so if you want any you’d best hurry,” he said.
Aradia's jaw opened, a retort already rolling off her full lips. A loud grumble in her stomach rippled in the space between them, silencing her.
He raised a brow but said nothing.
Aradia snapped her mouth shut, eyes creasing into slits. “I’ll be right there.”
Kaiden nodded and turned away. The flap barely closed before he heard her fling it open behind him. Her loud steps were the only defiant noise she made, ensuring he knew how much space she put between them. It only brought another smirk to his face.
“Good morning!” Rhydar’s booming voice was heard as they crossed the clearing.
To Kaiden’s surprise Aradia didn’t jump at the sound of it. He tossed one look behind him. A small smile bloomed on her face but she quickly frowned when their gaze locked.
She cleared her throat, looking away.
They sat around the fire in a surprisingly comforting silence.
Rhydar dished out a bowl of soup for everyone.
“Fintan, Jasper, come eat,” he called.
Kaiden watched Aradia observing his friends. Their idle chatter and teasing brought a curious expression to her face, making her nose crinkle ever so slightly and brows dip down. It was as if she was mesmerized by his fearsome group being so normal.
“How did you sleep?” Kaiden asked her. He shoved a spoonful of his stew nonchalantly in his mouth and waited for her reply.
“Good.”
Kaiden chewed on his inner cheek, thoughtful. “We’ll continue traveling to Randale.”
Aradia put the bowl down. “To the Veil?”
He nodded. “What do you know about it?”
She shifted nervously.
“The Gates of Osiris is what my mother called it. It’s a dark place full of death and chaos. No one has journeyed there in centuries and if they have, they certainly never made it back,” she said.
Cahira paused her eating. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. The Veil was supposed to hold Ukoron for eternity.
But Lilith of Cranzinum, the original sacrifice, rendered a crack in the making of it by her desire to live.
She cursed the gods with her dying breath, weakening their abilities to create a prison strong enough to hold Ukoron.
In the very same prison meant to hold him captive, he patiently waited for his time to rise again and destroy the gods who turned against him and the mortals who plotted with them. ”
Kaiden thought back to the king’s curse Idalia had explained and hid his nerves behind another spoonful of meat.
Aradia took a deep breath. “All I know is that my ancestor, Ravina Damali, was present the night the Temple of Qualan sacrificed one of their own to appease the gods. The old priestesses passed their knowledge down the lines as every magi does. My mother was thirteen when my grandmother died but she kept practicing the old religion and its customs.”
“Did she not teach them to you?” Cahira asked.
“Only basic herbs used to heal wounds or scrapes.” Aradia’s eyes darkened. “She taught the wrong people once and swore to never teach it again.”
“Who did she teach it to?” Kaiden asked.
“My father, who was one of the protectors of the old religion, the King of Gail and … another whom she never spoke of. They had believed it would bend the war against the gods in their favor. It’s not something she’s proud of.
It ultimately ended up costing her life.
She used dark magic to bend the will of the gods.
The old religion was supposed to end with her.
Split between four individuals they could keep it under control. Then, the unexpected happened.”
Kaiden hung onto every word in fear if he didn’t, his one chance of taking the king down would die with the past.
“Me,” Aradia said. “The fear of what would always hover over my life was stronger than her desire to be a mother. She feared bringing me into this realm. The unbalance of the old religion tipped, pulling on her magi blood and seeped into me. I think that’s why my power is so —”
“Potent?” Fintan asked.
“Hazardous.” Cahira corrected.
“Daunting.” Rhydar threw in.
“Dangerous,” Jasper whispered.
Kaiden threw a look at them in warning. “Familiar.”
Aradia blinked at him.
“We’ve all felt these emotions. The only difference was we were provided the training to control our magic. Whereas you ran from yours.”
“I had no choice.”
“I’m not putting blame on you.” Kaiden shook his head. “Anything without practice is chaotic, you simply must learn how to control it”
She nodded but Kaiden caught the slight eye roll.
“I’m a direct descendant of Cybelle, the goddess of light. Her blood runs through me not once but twice over. My blood is a key to opening the Gates and accessing Qualan.”
“Your blood is a key?” Cahira asked slowly. “Why does it sound like there's more to it than that?”
“From what I researched years ago, one must know the language of the gods and Stygian words must be spoken when a life is taken. It’s the only way the gates open — a sacrifice.”
Kaiden shared a glance with Fintan. The Aariv resources stretched far. Countless libraries from the citadel in Randale, down to Arkan, were full of historical scrolls, languages, and laws. The King of Arkan had access to them all.
“Wait,” Fintan rubbed his temples in concentration. “Go back to the special group of protectors your father was a part of.”
“They’re called kompidons. When a priestess is born, somewhere in the realm, a protector is also born. Their sole purpose in life is to serve and to protect. A bond is formed between the two. My mother had one, who later became my father.”
“Where’s your komy-thing?” Rhydar scratched at his beard.
Aradia huffed a laugh. “I don’t know if I even have one.”
“Well, how do we find him?” Fintan asked.
“Or her?” Cahira butted in.
Kaiden rolled his eyes but turned to Aradia, waiting for her answer.
“My mother’s death bound my magic so our enemies could never find me or use me. It would have severed any link I had in finding my kompidon.”
“But you said when you’re born a kompidon is also born?” Kaiden scrunched his brow in confusion. “You were older when your mother died. Wouldn’t you have found your protector already?”
Aradia stilled. Hatred as pure and bright as the sun shone in her eyes. “If I did, your father made sure to wipe out any existence of them when he torched my home and massacred my city. He all but hunted every protector and priestess into extinction.”
The air around him stilled at her words.
Cahira sucked in a sharp breath and looked away.
He glanced at the guys who looked back at him.
“There’s no amount of apologies I can give to compensate for your pain and your loss.
But I’m sorry,” he said at last. “You're the last descendant of the Damali line. The significance of what this means can restore hope throughout Peraynia. I won’t lie and say there are those who still fear your magic and the change it can bring about; mainly my father.”
Aradia’s gaze was full of torment and pain, shame and the weight of disappointment. He was familiar with the very feeling.
“I’m no savior. I can’t control my magic and the visions I have …” she waved her hand around her. “They’re unreliable and sporadic.”
“Visions?” Fintan, Rhydar, and Cahira spoke in unison.
“I see the past. Past lives, wars, happy and sad times. In order to prevent terrible things from happening in the future. For the past three years, they’ve become stronger, like the saints are trying to tell me something. Whatever it is, it’s connected to our future, I can feel it.”
“So, you shoot golden light and have visions?” Jasper questioned. It was the first time he seemed genuinely interested.
“For the most part. I haven’t felt this much power since before my mother died.”
Fintan cleared his throat. “Well, normally if you are not raised with your magic and learn how to control it at a young age, it takes a traumatic experience for it to come out of … well hibernation you could call it.”
Aradia twitched and glanced down.
“All magic is a living substance which works with you through a bond. It can tell when you’re happy, sad, safe or in danger.
Magic will react to your emotions. Hence, why you must learn how to control them at a young age.
” Fintan looked at Aradia and Kaiden wished to wipe away the pity shining in his eyes.
“The night your magic appeared,” Cahira said, “you were protecting Quinn from the harvesters.”
Aradia cleared her throat. “It was before all that. But yes, I was still protecting Quinn.” She turned to Cahira. “How is he recovering? Is he still in Vidrena?”
Kaiden cocked his head to the side at the mention of the boy. He glanced at Cahira, ashamed he had no idea what she did with him after he had left.
Cahira smiled. “I sent little Q back to Gail the minute he could stand. With a fast horse, he should be with his family in three days' time.”
Aradia blew out a breath of relief and rubbed her eyes. She seemed exhausted and they hadn’t even begun their journey.
“The attack on the city was a much bigger show of magic though. It certainly took its toll.” Cahira added.
“Everything was on fire and there were so many already dead. I couldn’t let —” She stopped, taking a deep breath.
“I tried to save as many as I could. But Quinn —” She shuddered.
“He was trying to save his sister and avenge his father. He’s not a fighter.
I-I couldn’t watch him die, all I knew was I had to stop him — to catch him.
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I actually got there.
Perhaps throw myself in front of him and let the harvesters feast on me so he could run. ”
Kaiden winced at the idea but said nothing.
“But that’s when her magic saved us. It saved the whole city,” Cahira finished.
“And since then?” Fintan asked.
“The tent was the first time I used it but I was just angry.”
“It’s still an emotion. Albeit a strong one.” Fintan rubbed his chin.
“We can help you bond with your magic and find a way to control it more,” Kaiden said.
Aradia sucked on her bottom lip in thought.
Kaiden’s attention drifted to where the color changed from a light pink to red as blood rushed underneath her skin at the pull of her teeth. He cleared his throat and glanced around. His gaze snagged on Jasper who stared at him with a raised brow. Kaiden looked away.
“Before Randale became the deadly city, it was under the protection of Keres, god of the sky and proctor of Peraynia. What better place to find a kompidon?” Aradia said.
Cahira laughed quietly. “Hate to break it to you but there’s nothing but lowlife mercenaries and greedy councilmen behind Randale’s blackened gates.”
“Then Randale holds answers for the both of us,” Kaiden said.
A quiet conversation traveled the distance between him, Fintan, and Cahira.
“Oi, sounds like an adventure. When do we leave?” Rhydar stood with a stretch, and dumped water on the burning embers.
“Now.” Cahira used Fintan’s shoulder to push herself up before offering her hand to him.
He reached for it, and Kaiden didn’t miss the way their hands stayed joined together for a time longer than necessary.
Aradia nodded. “I’ll pack up.” She turned without a glance and disappeared behind her tent entrance.
“Do you trust her?” Jasper asked, glancing at the entrance of her tent.
Kaiden thought back to her words and what Master Wilouhby had told him before he left.
“Trust is earned over time, Jasper,” he said. “I trust her as much as she trusts me.”
Jasper huffed. “So, no.”
Kaiden remained quiet even as Jasper mumbled under his breath that he was making a mistake.
Jasper blended into the shadows as he left to take down the tents, leaving Kaiden alone with his thoughts.
Fighting fire with fire hadn’t proved to be the solution in saving Peraynia.
What they needed was a different approach and she would be the one to bring it.