"You're a monster," I whispered. He regards me for a moment. A war in eyes waged as if he wished to say more but doesn't know if he should.
"No. The real ones pretend they're not," he said quietly before giving me a long look and then going back to the cockpit.
"That's why my sister ran from you. She realized you're a monster."
"Interesting theory," Cielo mused. "Care to test it?"
"Test it?" I asked dumbly.
"Yes. If you're right I'll let you and your sister go."
My heart plunges because I feel the heavy weight of what I'll lose. It hung in the air but I asked all the same. Wondering what nefarious thing he would ask for should he win.
"If I'm wrong?"
"You become my pupil."
"Me?" I asked incredulously.
"Do you see anyone else around?"
"Is a pupil worth all this?"
"Yes." He said without missing a beat.
"Why?"
"Why do your knights wish to teach others the way of Lunar Mana?"
I wrinkled my nose at such a stupidly obvious question.
"Because it's considered the highest honor to pass down what one has learned. What does this have to do with you?"
"I want an apprentice. I want to teach--"
"Solar Mana is very unpredictable. It's more likely to manipulate you than a conduit," I recited. It was almost word for word from the Mana text I poured hours into reading.
Cielo gave me a cattish grin.
"I don't use Solar Mana. Not exclusively at least," He said, his eyes silently laughing at some inside joke. "Do you agree with the test?"
"And you'll let my Rhian and I go? Just like that?"
"That's if you win. I'll even fly you both to Rhydian."
"That won't be necessary. We don't have a brother," I said though as the words left my mouth I felt myself hesitate. I could feel my conviction turning on its own head with everything else that had happened in the last few weeks. Though I loathed to admit it maybe Cielo, aside from slaughtering knights, maybe knew something I didn't know. That very thought was enough to send me into state of deep denial.
"Sure you don't. Do we have a deal?" I could feel the smile in his voice and I shivered at the scary thought of becoming his apprentice. There was a danger to it. And though I loathed the idea of making a bet with him I would loath myself even more if I didn't do everything in my power to protect Rhian from him. After all she probably didn't know about his little stint on Alca. I could warn her and then we would flee. It wasn't a perfect plan but, it was a start.
"Yes," I said and I signed a deal with the very devil that plagued my nightmares still. But, I knew that I couldn't be wrong. From the bits and pieces I had remembered of Alca he was a true lethal monster.
"Good. Brace yourself for landing," He called out.
Before I could even muster a retort the gravity of the ship shifted and slammed my body back into the couch. My teeth jarred together under the harsh pressure of gravity and my ears started to pop. It felt as if my body had been stuffed into a trash compactor. Never had I felt the heavy weight of gravity like this before.
A three seconds tick by but, it might as well have been an eternity. The ship kicks up as it entered the cloudy, snowy landscape of Landis. Even from my vantage point of the front wind shield of the ship I only saw blinding white fat snowflakes attack it. Another few seconds and I felt the ship land with a graceless thud. Cielo tapped another few buttons and a harsh blast of heat rumbled through the pipes of the ship. It stung my cheeks and I was transported back to Myrah with its blistering sun.
Cielo dashed from the pilot seat and back into a farther corner of the ship and disappeared. A few seconds later he was dressed in a thick wool cloak that conceals the shiny black sticks behind his back. He gave me a wary look as if trying to decide something. I gave him a glowering look right back. One that I hope was intimidating.
"You're staying here," he decided as he leaned towards me adjusting the straps and binding my hands. My cheeks sting with heat but, I don't know if its from the ship's heat or the close proximity of this man. He was very handsome with his angular features and dark hair. Stupid, traitorous heart!
Cielo was kind enough to double check that the straps were only tighten enough to keep me tethered to the seat. He was careful to tie the knots where they wouldn't rub my skin raw or cause blisters should I try to move.
"Is all of this really necessary?" I asked aloud which caused Cielo to startle. He fixed his dark gaze towards me just inches from my own.
"I can't have you stooping. And I can't take you with me," he said as he quickly retreated a few good paces away from me and then disappeared into the bathroom. When he emerged, my breath caught and I swear I almost slipped back to Alca.
Cielo was wearing the terrifying helmet with its jagged toothed smile and narrow eyes. His voice is all distorted and with a deeper pitched tone that I know is the helmet. What really made it all the more terrifying were all the silver gray scratches that marred the helmet's cheeks and eyes making it look all the more unnerving but something else niggled at the back of my eye as the image of the helmet flashed through my eyes.
The one that attacked, the one that killed had a jagged scar near the left eye slit. But it all makes no sense because now that I think about it, the helmet I saw didn't have a jagged bit of wire near the edge. And yet I remember seeing it with one. I blinked a couple of times and my head felt as if its being split open and gouged out. If only I could cradle my head in my hands.
"You don't look too good," Cielo said through the helmet.
"I don't feel well," I admitted though it felt foolish to admit it to the monster. I flinched as Cielo lumbered towards me. He looked so very lethal. But before I could even scream. I felt all the straps click open and before I could even register anything else he was hit a button on the panel of the wall and out popped a bed. He gently led me there, fear and dumbfoundedness made my urge to flee vanish. How? Why? I feel my body hit the bed and my bones finally realized just how tired and stiff I was. Granted my hands were still bound but, its still a step up from being strapped into the stiff couch.
"Just sleep," he said the helmet masking his face and his voice. I wanted to argue but, it had been forever since I actually slept on something that wasn't as hard as concrete or a steel shelf. I weakly nodded hating myself all the more. But the heavyweight of stress and minimal sleep won.
The last thing I saw as my vision blurred was the swish of Cielo's black cloak as he walked away. There was a momentary chill as the hatch to the ship opened but, as soon as it shut I was entombed in the warmth of that scratchy wool blanket and the heat from the ship.
Dear readers,
This is finally the end of chapter six and my oh my was this a fun chapter to write. I didn't realize it was a longer chapter until I went back and reread it yet again.
As for chapter releases I try to release one weekly unless its a bigger chapter than it's multiple through out the week.
Have a nice day/evening where ever you are!
Thank you again!
Maple
YOU ARE READING
Among the Cosmos
Fantasy"Still. If it's for you. I will." "I can't lose you again," Rhian said. "You aren't. I'll see you again," I said. "Yet, another thing you don't understand. He's a cosmos breaker...and with Rhydian captured he's an exile." "You don't understand Rhi...
