Darkness carved in bone

Chapter 16

Helen

Helen was a bit puzzled by his sudden anger towards her and the prejudice he had shown. But there was also a part of her that understood. If someone had told her that the only way she could have ended a potentially life-threatening storm, was to befriend a dark one before she had met Ten, she would have thought it impossible as well.

But there was a strange certainty inside her that told her that if their friendship was a necessity for the prophecy, then it would happen. Her sister, Solis, came to her mind. She was the closest friend that she had. But when she thought about it, she really wasn't that close with anyone else of the Sòlung in her village. And the way she felt like she understood Ten, and the way he seemed to listen to her and perhaps understand her as well, he was already closer to her than perhaps even her sister was.

That realization made her mood suddenly shift. She was on the one hand strangely glad that she had met Ten, but it was sad to think about the fact that she really wasn't that close to any one at home. But it was perhaps not so surprising to her, considering she had made a choice to leave the village after all. She tried to fill herself with the happiness she felt about the fact that they had figured out what they had to do to end the storm.

The look in Ten's eyes when she had contradicted his statement about there being nothing similar between them which made them incompatible as friends, had told her that he really hadn't meant what he had said. That he too actually believed they could become good enough friends to end the storm. But something in the back of her mind told her that he would perhaps not admit to that right away.

"So, what do you suggest that we do to become friends?" Helen asked, her tone a bit teasing as she looked at him.

Ten shrugged apathetically before he stood and walked over to his spot on the bench beside the far wall. So, he was going back to his dark corner to mope, Helen thought.

But she would not give him that luxury and decided to walk over to him and sat down opposite him. She started shuffling the deck of cards that lay on the table and looked at him with mischief in her eyes and lifted her brows for a short moment as she asked him; "Same rules as yesterday?"

Ten looked at her for a long time, not giving any reaction to her question, but then he pulled up the bottle of liquor and nodded for her to deal out the cards.

Helen tried to conceal a conceited smile, but her lips parted into an awkward smile.

Ten's only reaction to her reaction was going back into his stone-face modus, which made him exceptionally hard to read, which would perhaps not give her any better odds at winning over him.

Three games inn, and Helen had lost miserably all three times. He had asked her to tell him about almost meaningless things about what it was like to be a Sòlangr, as if he was sabotaging her plan to get them closer through this game of cards. But the fourth time, and at least as many sips of alcohol, he finally asked her something that made her heart skip a beat; "What was it like to drown?"

Helen felt her mouth going instantly dry. She didn't exactly know why, but the question felt more intimate than it should be. Not private, but if she told him the truth, she would offer up a part of her soul, that she was somewhat hesitant to show him. What if he didn't like what he saw?

"It wasn't really cold," she said as she lit a match of golden flames and lit the candle between them, as darkness was setting outside. Ten instinctively drew away from the light, but her quiet voice seemed to draw him back, closer to her. "It was frantic and desperate for a moment, when I was still conscious. But then it was almost as if I felt darkness knocking on the door to my consciousness and I knew that I wanted to open that door, and welcome that darkness in." She found herself staring into the flames instead of looking at Ten as she spoke, relieving those short but crucial moments under the ice. And she somehow subconsciously knew that the storm outside calmed as she spoke.