Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 5 - Calliope

Chapter 5: Calliope

Yseult Dwelling: Border of Delos and Karil

On the same night that Sebastian and Calliope captured the cyclops, she had the strangest dream. And it was a dream. She had to reassure herself because, at the time, it had felt so real. She could have sworn that these images were something she was experiencing, not just seeing. She heard the clatter of metal ringing out against metal, smelled the iron-tinged blood, felt the flames licking against her face, and that voice. Disembodied but ever present, hovering over her, whispering against her subconscious as violent visions and grisly conceptions flitted through her mind. Always saying the same thing, always making her fingers tingle, her palms burn.

Take them off, it hissed and she knew without asking that it meant her gloves. Her irremovable gloves. Take them off...

Calliope woke in a cold sweat, her chest rising and falling as she fought to catch her breath. She raised her hands, eyes snapping down to the gloves in question. They were still there. They were always there. She rubbed her hands together and sighed.

Just a dream, she told herself, it was just a dream.

But she could swear, even as she rose to ready herself for the day, that her palms were still burning within the fabric.

She wouldn't let it ruin today though. Not today. Because today, Gabriel was allowing her and Sebastian to assist him in transporting the Cyclops to the Institute's campus in the city of Vroifburg. A journey out of the Yseult Forest, and so close to the Delosian capital was not something he had ever allowed them before. But either her demands to be treated as an adult had finally been heard or he had a lesson in store that she wasn't yet aware of. Regardless, she would let nothing spoil finally seeing one of the grand Delosian cities she had heard so much about. And seeing the Institute, the place of academic study that the Yseult sent so many of their captured monsters to, was icing on the cake. She couldn't wait.

Apparently, Sebastian couldn't either. Because Calliope found him milling about just outside of her room, trying not to look as if he had been impatiently toe tapping away the jittery feeling of excitement all morning. He asked her a thousand questions at once when she emerged though she still wasn't quite conscious enough to answer a single one of them. Did she think Vroifburg would be as big as everyone said? Would they see any scholars or maybe visiting royals? Did she suppose the Institute would let them sit in on their examination of the cyclops?

She didn't have answers for him even if she wanted to. So she sat quietly and let Sebastian verbalize his daydreams about the Delosian city as she ate her cold porridge.

Gabriel was in Bruin's office discussing something or other about the hunt for the Chimera but Calliope and Sebastian knew that, once he was finished, they would be leaving. So they finished their breakfast and headed out to the stables. They didn't saddle the horses. They knew they wouldn't be riding them. The Yseult Dwelling did not have enough horses to accommodate the three of them, one hulking cyclops, and an entire party of hunters setting out in search for the Chimera again today. So, instead, Calliope and Sebastian were rigging up a makeshift carriage of sorts. More of a cloth stretcher upon which they could bind the cyclops for transportation into the city. They had just finished when Gabriel entered, two younger men hauling the cyclops in its magic chains behind them.

They said the words which bound the monster to their stretcher, distributed the weight between four horses, and set off. Gabriel led the way, holding the reins and leading the horses with gentle pulls and muttered commands from time to time. Calliope and Sebastian pulled up the rear, watching the cyclops for any sign that it was awakening from that magic-induced slumber but knowing it wouldn't. They never did.