Sorcerer's hill

23

She blacked out.
Kayden's grip became too strong for her to take and she was simply led to the realm of darkness. As her eyes slowly closed, it became a peaceful moment - one where she didn't really care about what happened to her mortal body. She was drifting in her thoughts, being caged within her mind. She didn't find it that bad. What was for sure just a few seconds seemed like an eternity. Was it even possible?
When she woke up, it was dark around her. For a moment, she thought that maybe, maybe, she really died and got into another realm. But when the coldness spread through her bones and her throat send a painful message to her brain when she took a breath - it was clear she was alive. Yet.
She was on the hill. On the very hill which she learned to cherish and love. The night was cold and the only source of light was provided by a nearby firepit. Kayden stood in front of the fire, his back turned to her.
She contemplated whether her body was strong enough to outrun him. She could probably try - but before she made the decision, Kayden turned around.
His empty eyes met hers. She fought an urge to shiver. This was not the Kayden she knew. This was someone different. What could've happened to the sweet, slightly annoyed and sarcastic boy who was always in good spirits and had a smile on his face?
"You're awake," he stated.
She didn't feel the need to confirm this statement. Something flashed across his face. Was it regret? A shame? Whatever it was, it was gone the next second.
"Am I a prisoner?" Keira managed to get out, her voice sounding cracky. She gulped and winced at the pain.
"Not if you listen to me, liar."
"I'm not a liar," she disagreed. She wanted to say more but her throat didn't let her. She took a breath. It was all for nothing. Whatever it was she would say, he wouldn't believe her. She hugged her legs and tried to fight the cold.
"Yes, you are," he snarled. Then, he regained his composure and averted his gaze. He took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Take it."
She looked into his eyes. "In return for what?"
He looked as if she slapped him. Then he frowned. "Just take it."
"What are you going to do with me? Does it matter if I feel cold for a while?"
"I won't hurt you," he whispered and laid the jacket next to her.
"You already did," she pointed out. She was surprised it didn't sound bitter.
He didn't reply to that.
"Seriously, Kayden," she went on, "what happened? You are good, you're not evil-"
"I am good," he hissed. "It's you who's on a bad side."
"I don't think I'm on any side," she fumed. "And yet it seems I'm constantly being put into positions I never asked for."
Kayden seemed confused about that but let it go.
She continued. "I just don't understand it. Why?"
"I loved her, Keira," he whispered. "I loved her, and they killed her."
"But they didn't-"
"Yes, they did!" he yelled.
Keira stood up and walked towards him. She wasn't afraid anymore. She didn't mind the pain. What could be the worst thing to happen? She would die. She would black out again. If that was the price for the chance of knowing his reasons, she was up for it.
"Listen to me," she muttered, slowly taking his hand in between hers. He was deadly cold.
Keira had trouble breathing, her throat burning. "I'm her descendant. How else do you explain the white horse that evening?"
She felt the pain in his voice as if it spread right through her.
"What are you saying," he whispered, his eyes looking past her as if he weren't even there.
"Seth didn't kill Raven-"
His hand found its way to her neck again. She moaned in pain and internally rolled her eyes. Why must he always go for the neck?
"Seth didn't kill Raven," She repeated, diving into his face which somehow softened at her gaze, but his grip was even tighter as if it was a learned reaction whenever something doubted his truth. She couldn't help but see the boy, sad and lost.
"That's not true."
"It is," she tried to say, but it came out only as a whisper. "And I'd appreciate you letting me-"
The white spread in front of them and pushed Kayden far away from her. As the grip loosened, she fell to the ground and coughed between her tries for a deep breath. The air felt amazing in her lungs and the burning sensation was magnified. She felt arms wrap around her.
"Are you alright?"
She recognized him even before he spoke. Her body somehow sensed his presence.
"You're late," she coughed.
"I was busy," he whispered and helped her back on her feet, his arm not leaving her waist. He shot a look towards Kayen. "Does he know?"
She nodded. "Surprise, he doesn't believe it."
Kayden looked at the two of them with hate she never thought she'd see.
"You really deserve each other," he gritted his teeth.
"Oh for Christ sake," Keira has had enough. "Raven loved Seth!"
There was a silence that spoke louder than any words. She could almost hear Kayden's brain work on a hundred percentage.
"That's not true," he said for the second time that night.
"Seth knew Raven was in danger," Thane's voice was loud and clear. "He helped her escape and sacrificed himself to destroy the only magical source of power."
Keira looked at him, her eyes wide. "What?"
He looked at her, thinking. "The tree."
"The tree," he nodded.
"How did you find out?" Keira gasped.
"Later," Thane mumbled.
Kayden stood still and watched her and Thane stand next to each other. She saw the disbelief in his eyes.
"I know you don't trust me," Thane said, the softness of his voice surprising them both. "But why would I lie? Do you really think Seth would get away with murder just by becoming a spirit?"
"He's a demon!" Kayden yelled. "Who knows what rules apply to them."
"The same rules that apply to anyone here," Thane noted, his voice remaining calm. "And if not anything else, Keira is the perfect proof."
"What does she have to do with this?"
Keira looked at him, her eyes wary. "I told you I'm her granddaughter."
Kayden looked as if they were making him lose his mind. "No, you're not. You can't be!"
"I am," she said, her voice proud. "And I finally know why I feel like I belong here. Why any of this has made more sense than it would to any other person." She took a deep breath. "I'm the last of the bloodline of Protectors."
Kayden stood there with his mouth hanging. "No, that's the same lie you're saying all over again," he whispered.
Suddenly a different voice declared the same. Melly. "It's true, Kayden."
Once she agreed to that, Kayden finally seemed to accept the possibility. He looked from Melly, standing no more than two feet away from them, to Thane and Keira. Thane tensed and defensively hid Keira behind him, letting a minimum of her be seen by Melly.
"It's true," Melly repeated once more. "And I have to say, you kept your guard longer than I thought you would."
The last words were addressed to Thane. He smirked. "With you still having the intentions you had back then, how couldn't I?"
Melly smiled in response. "That is also true. But I learned something over the years of ageing."
Keira listened, afraid to make a sound.
"Nothing matters when it's forever. But everything matters once your time is limited." She sighed and walked around them.
What was Melly saying was the exact opposite of what Mrs Rivers believed in.
"Thank you, Kayden," Melly purred towards him. "I'll take it from here."
Kayden caught Keira's gaze and quickly looked away. She cursed.
"What did you put into his head?" She accused the woman.
Melly looked at her as if it was the first time she saw her. "Only the truth."
"Oh boy," Keira managed to let out a sarcastic laugh. "And what truth was that?"
"The power in Rosehold can be brought back. But there has to be a sacrifice."
"Yes, a baby!" Keira hissed. "You want to sacrifice a baby-"
"It would only turn her into a human, no one would even notice for a few years," Melly noted while walking towards them. "If only Lelia wasn't so bound with her."
"What did you do to them?" Keira whispered.
"Actually, we found them," Thane said to her. Then he turned to the Sorceress. "She let them go."
"Why?" asked Keira. Kayden looked also confused.
Thane continued. "Either she aborted her plan, or," he squinted his eyes, "she thought she found someone better."
Melly laughed. "I always said you were the smart one, Thane."
Keira suddenly realized. She was the prey. She was the one whose magic was supposed to be sacrificed.
Not that she could comprehend what it would actually mean. She wouldn't mind being a true human. She lived her life so far as if she were. It wouldn't be that bad. Maybe they could bargain their way out. It was a solution for everything. The bloodline of Protectors would end with her, no one would try to harm them-
"Wait," she paused and cautiously looked at the old woman. "It was you."
Melly's smile was sweet as a summer evening.
It was Thane who confirmed her thoughts. "She was the one who tried to kill Raven."
Kayden watched their exchange, bewildered. "What?"
"You tried to kill her exactly on this day, years ago. Seth found out it was you moments before they left. He decided to overpower you by depleting your powers. He destroyed the tree."
Keira gasped. Melly was silent.
"Melly," Kayden whispered. "It's not true, right?"
Melly ignored him. Her attention was all on Thane. "How did you find out?"
"It took me long enough," he admitted. "But I had my suspicions."
"Of course you had," she nodded. "I realized it was a wrong move on my part to think we were the same. I shouldn't have brought you with me to the town."
She meant the town which didn't exist anymore, Keira realized.
Kayden looked shaken. Keira couldn't help but almost feel sorry for him. He hated two men most of his life for the murder they had not committed. And what's more, he decided to help the woman who was responsible for this mess.
"You're such a joke, Thane," he mumbled. "You spent all the years in isolation, being hated by everyone, only to protect your brother? That's so pathetic!"
Keira stood there, her pity gone. How could he say such words to him? Didn't he really see the truth?
"You are a mere Sorcerer. Your brother is a freaking horse! And what did you do to help him?"
Keira watched him with hatred, fury slowly rising within her. She caught Melly's smile as she shrugged, watching Thane with amusement.
Something went over Thane's features and the next second, his hands left her waist and he sprinted forward.
Keira at first thought Kayden's words got to him, but to her surprise, they both changed their directions towards Melly.
Thane's hands emitted a white string of light while Kayden's strong hands were reaching towards the Sorceress.
But the old lady seemed to be prepared for the attack. She dodged the light and at the same time, her spell made Kayden fall on the ground. He cursed. Keira caught his gaze. There was something peaceful about it.
"That's not what I call loyalty," she hissed towards the hybrid. Before any of them could think of anything, her hands created light in a shape of an arrow. As she pointed at the body below her, the arrow seemed to change its direction to the one she pointed at - and Keira watched how it pierced through Kayden's body.
He didn't make a sound. There was no painful cry, no weeping or hoarse whispering. There was nothing. It was quick, precise and definite.
"Kayden," Keira whispered, her eyes becoming blurry. His torso didn't move a bit. His eyes were open wide in her direction, the corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards. She wept.
Thane looked a bit shaken but recollected himself quickly. "You didn't have to do that."
"No," she admitted, not even slightly bothered by the lifeless body. "But he was a lost cause."
Keira looked at her, fury in her eyes. Thane warned her. "Stay back."
It was Sorcerer against Sorceress. The same dark power meant to stop and destroy.
It wasn't a battle of strength. It was a battle between someone longing for more and the other, hungry for a release.
Keira couldn't tear her eyes away. Her heart was raging and she focused with all her senses on the man in front of her, whom she wished to live more than anything.
Melanie attacked.
Her deadly white stream of curse missed Thane's head only a few centimetres.
Keira screamed, but Thane already launched ahead. She realized, horrified, he didn't fight back. He was only dodging Melanie's attacks which came with increasing speed. It almost looked like she had a loaded, shooting three bullets at a time.
Thane was quick but not as much to make Keira sure he wouldn't get hurt.
She cursed.
If she only managed to summon the spirits, it would be much better than just simply watching, hoping.
Melanie stopped after what seemed like an eternity. She wasn't even breathing harder than usual, as if the massive attack didn't cost her any energy at all.
"Fight back, coward," she hissed.
Thane didn't answer, his face calm. "You don't want me to fight back."
Melanie snorted. "Oh, come on, boy. Show me what you've got."
Thane was protecting her, Keira realized. He didn't want to unleash his full power. Which would be deadlier than Melanie realized.
He dodged another of her attacks.
This is going nowhere, Keira thought. Melanie seemed to come to the same conclusion. She slowly looked at Keira, a small smirk appeared on her face. "Let's see, Protector. Will you fight?"
"No," Thane warned her, worry breaking into his cold endeavour. "This is between you and me."
"It is," she agreed, "but she's a part of you. Which means she's a part of this."
"Melanie, I swear," he called her, his voice trembling a bit. "Don't make me do this."
Keira's mouth was hanging open when Melanie approached her, the white starting to spread through her fingers.
Her bracelet started to burn on her wrist. She swore the skin would just melt off. Keira's eyes were darting frantically towards Thane, asking for anything she could do.
She didn't know how to fight, how to use her powers. How can she protect herself?
Isn't that ironic, she thought. Every time Thane's in danger, something clicks and I know how to do it. But once this bitch is coming at me, I'm useless.
Suddenly, a white light spread through her chest. She fell.
The light pierced through her and left a burning hole inside of her. She felt as if Melanie ripped her organs out of her body and she was left with blood pouring out - even though there wasn't any.
It was only a feeling, she thought, it will pass.
But it didn't. She wanted to scream, cry in pain, the hurt being the only thing on her mind. But she couldn't. She couldn't make a sound. Was that how Kayden felt?
She was burning from the inside. Literally. She could feel her body dry and grow hot, sweat breaking through her pores.
"Keira!"
She heard her name from afar as if she was drifting.
Suddenly, the pain stopped. She didn't feel her body anymore. She was floating upwards, leaving the ground.
Is this what it feels like to die?
She didn't feel anything. No pain, no anger, no worry.
"Keira..."
She heard her name and dared to open her eyes through the darkness around her.
She saw her own body on the ground, white and lifeless. She saw Melanie, watching Thane with anticipation.
"She wasn't that resilient as I thought," she noted as if she was talking about the weather.
Thane was silent. He closed his mouth, eyes darker than anything she's ever seen.
The white light spread through his hand with an intensity she had to close her eyes.
Melanie gasped as a stream of silverish white swished to her. She managed to dodge a few of them, but some had pierced through her body and she screamed in agony.
Thane didn't stop. "You wanted this," he hissed. His voice was calm, death promising. "I'll let you have it."
He raised his hands above his head.
A wall of light raised from the ground. It was a bit different. The substance wasn't the noble stream of bright white. This was pure silver, mixed with violet.
"What is that-" Melanie uttered, fascinated by the display.
Keira thought she had seen something like this. It was when Thane took her to the woods to see the past. His magic was somehow merged with one of the dryads and the colour was mixed with yellow.
Now, it was mixed with purple. That would mean...
"You can do demonic magic?" Melanie shouted, furious. She realized her disadvantage.
"Seth thought me," he smiled coldly.
"That's forbidden," she whispered. Keira could almost sense her brain trying to work out ways to escape. "Still, you're not strong enough, magic or not."
She took a step forward and raised her hands. The white was somehow greyish, something Keira didn't notice back then - only now when the two magicians were ready to fight each other.
Melanie wasn't fighting fair. She attacked once again without any method. She was incredibly fast... and deadly. Her attacks were precise and sharp.
Thane dodged her attacks and from the wall of light behind him, thousands of white arrows darted towards Melanie.
She managed to create a shield but still, one arrow found its way through and was now stuck inside her thigh. She cursed.
Keira couldn't decide who was the stronger one in this fight. Their techniques were different - Thane mainly protecting himself and Melanie's attacks were getting faster and more disoriented - with more mistakes.
Melanie just pushed a stream of light, the same one Keira got, and it shot Thane right at the shoulder. He screamed in agony. Keira couldn't help but cry out - but no one heard her.
Melanie didn't wait and attacked again - the deadly white arrow drifting through the wind. Keira saw it all in slow motion.
Thane's eyes widening, realizing he's not able to move away in time. He closed his eyes just as she squeezed hers.
Suddenly, she heard a horse neigh. Her eyes darted open and her heart broke into a million pieces.
It was Seth. Out of nowhere, he jumped in front of his brother - and the arrow got lost in his head. The horse shook his head, not able to absorb the energy. Before Keira could do as much as take a breath, the black horse erupted in white light and then - he disappeared. His body turned into a mixture of black and white, forming a cloud of steam which slowly dissolved in the air.
Thane let out a monstrous scream which made her heart ache even though it was all felt from a distance. At the moment, she was glad she wasn't conscious. If she felt the grief so strongly now, what on earth did Thane feel.
This was 't going anywhere. She had to do something.
As if the flying above her made it all so easy, she also raised her palms. One look at Melanie, preparing to finish this once for all, and she knew exactly what to do.
I'm sorry, she whispered to those who started to appear under her command. I'm sorry for waking you up from your peace.
Slowly, bodies appeared behind Thane. They didn't have a face but they had eyes. They gleamed with white, almost as if tiny light bulbs were pushed into their skull. Their bodies were all dark, floating behind Thane, whose hands were still raised towards the sky, trying to protect himself with his magic. He shot at her, a gleamy violet stream of power. Melanie wasn't fast enough and fell under the pressure.
The bodies were now in full display. Thane noticed them and slowly looked at Keira's lifeless body.
He realized. He knew she was alive. He knew it was her. She was protecting him, once again.
When he looked at Melanie who managed to stand up, his eyes were all dark. There was no white. As if his black irises spread all over the bulb.
It was the first time Keira noticed Melanie shake.
"What is this-"
"You think you're so powerful you deserve to be above everyone?" Thane whispered. "You were always so power-hungry you forgot to see the things right in front of you."
"No," Melanie moaned, her voice low. "That's impossible."
Thane laughed, coldness spreading from every syllable he uttered, yet his eyes were like black fire. "You tried to kill a Protector. Twice. And don't you try to tell me the same fairytale you told Kayden. It's not to revive some tree. You wanted to have power over this, right?" He motioned with his hand to the shadows behind him.
"Then," Melanie whispered, her eyes cautiously watching the shadows behind him, "what in the seven hells are you?"
Thane watched her, curiously, like when a lion watches his prey. "Do you know who they are?"
The shadows seemed to double, triple in numbers. Keira gasped, watching from above. She only expected a few of them to appear. This wasn't any good. It would almost be an army.
"They're the people," he hissed, "you killed throughout your whole existence."
As he said those words, Melanie seemed to notice one particular shadow. Keira also realized. The height, the built, the shape. It was Kayden's shadow.
Melanie didn't have the time to react.
The white light spread through his hands and the shadows moved at the same time, flying towards Melanie.
She screamed and raised her hands in a desperate attempt to save herself by creating a white cage, surrounding herself.
The shadows weren't at all bothered by the light. They went right through.
Keira didn't see what happened there. She only heard Melanie's screams.