The Last Silvermaw Hunter

Chapter 19

I don't feel much as I hit the water. The first thing to get through is cold, so much cold, and then...nothing. The cold is gone but as I open my eyes, my power swirls around me. It shocks me but also doesn't. I can feel it, like another part of me, begging to be let out, so I do

I close my eyes and go through my memories. I used to do this when I was younger. Submerge myself in water and let all the memories that drag me down, flow through me and acknowledge them, then let them go.

I think of Sander. Sander who when I was eight he let me enter his shed outside to see his current hobby. He was covered in soot, working a piece of metal into a blade. I was loud in there and hot, but I still watched in fascination as he hit the piece of hot metal, and it molded into something else, he did it until it was in its preferred shape.

He was the one who made my dagger. The one who taught me how to imbue my power into the dagger to start the enchantment he placed in it. He was the one who taught me to fight, he was the one who taught me to control my power until I could get somewhere safe to release it. He was the one who taught me everything.

He was the constant in my life when everything always changed, but nothing stays the same. I have to refrain from crying out as I think about him, of how he helped me through the lowest of my lows. He was the only one who knew what the black mark on my arm meant. I feel it growing through everyday and night, it's one of those things that stay with you until the end.

My chest tightens and my oxygen level lowers, and I wonder, would it really matter if I make it back up, what if I just stay down here with the quiet, so I don't have to live without my brother. He meant everything to me, and I don't know if I can make it without his light with me.

When my power flares, I let it go, I release the leash and let my power swirl around me, the water warms, but I don't feel it as the pressure in my chest releases and dissipates.

I start going up when the pressure in my chest begins to feel unbearable. I gasp and I break the surface and I laugh. I know I might look and sound crazy but I just, for the first time in my life let everything that holds me back, burn and I did it without turning everything around me to ash and flames. I may have boiled some fish but I finally didn't burn anything into ash.

Slowly the laughs start to taper off and I just float on my back as I breathe, my power is still out, but it's not going to destroy anything. I watch Vashak hover above me. And I know that, he hasn't spoken to me, and I know that even though all my bonds are dampered but he could still get through and talk to me.

I can still feel his feelings - others too but his is the strongest. Fear is the strongest and I think there's a hint of pride, but I can't be sure.

I watch him for a little longer before I decide to leave. Vashak lowers his foot into the water and I swim to it, before I climb up his leg and get onto his back. I walk on his back before situatiating myself back at his shoulders. He stays low to the surface of the water, by my request, as we fly back. His strength is faltering and it's very cold up high and that way if he falls and takes me with him, it won't be as long as a fall.

I'm laying on Vashak's back, looking up at the night sky as we get back. I'm studying my power, black fire with white mixed in. I'm currently thinking of what to name it. Shadowfire. "I don't know," I look down to Vashak, "what do you think bud? Is Shadowfire a good name for my power?"

He just looks over his shoulder at me and I swear his eyebrow lifts in answer. I shrug, "Okay then, Shadowfire it is."

I'm back to look up at the sky when he lands in the outside courtyard with barely more than a whoosh of air. I slide down his shoulder and land on the ground hissing through my teeth as I land a little off, sending a twinge of pain through my leg. I run my hand along the side of Vashak's neck, My way of saying goodbye, before I let him go off and get rest. I stop at his head, I look into his eyes and place my hand onto his muzzle. "Thank you." I whisper, watching him go, before dropping my hands to my side.

Mother's voice echoes through the yard followed by a clamor of sound. I look over to her direction and before I know it, I'm wrapped in her arms and she's shaking. It takes me a while for me to notice that she's crying. Slowly I wrap my arms around her and my power which was swirling around my arms moves to also swirl around us. I don't know the full extent of my power but the fact that it looks and acts like fire makes me tense, but after a few seconds I relax and hold her tighter.

Slowly her tears stop and she composes herself. She steps back and within seconds the concerned mother changes into the queen. She looks me over from head to toe, scrutinizing me. "I hope you know the amount of damage you've done from that stunt you've caused."

I startle for a second before I recover. Then it hits me, "What?"

"You've heard me."

I close my eyes and shake my head. "That's not what I meant." I say, opening my eyes and looking her in the eyes, "What do you mean 'the damage I've done by the stunt I've caused'? I don't understand what you just said to me. What damage? And what stunt did I do? You seriously can't expect me to know what you're talking about without telling me what I've done."

She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, "What I mean is that you've destroyed all of the north east tower."

"What?"