The Opelux and Other Monsters || Book One

CHAPTER 5 (PART 1) - UNKNOWN

I was going crazy. That's what this was. That had to be it. This was a nightmare. One of those maddening ones where real life, personal facts, even memories were elusive. It wasn't that they were gone. They were just on the tip of my tongue, just out of reach, waiting for me to be awake enough to fill in the spaces.

But I wasn't waking up. Everything was just getting worse.

A fresh jolt of dread and panic rocked through me as my fingers traced the raised design on my neck just below the silky material around my throat—material stuck to my skin so entirely I couldn't lift it away.

How could I know nothing?

The man had mentioned a concussion, that some things might come back eventually. But he'd also said it wasn't amnesia.

Then what the hell was it?

Could they have been taken? Could magic do that? Or...Poeir?

If they could be taken, could they be given back?

I slipped out of bed, over to the glass doors. The curtains covering them, sheer enough to see the rain falling endlessly outside, didn't so much as ripple as I sank to the floor beside them, my legs trembling pathetically with the effort. I reached up to swipe them aside, to get a look at one of the door handles, and discovered quickly that my strange senses had been right about a shield covering them. My fingertips met only hardened air, stopping within an inch of that curtain.

I scooted back a bit and my thighs burned as I knelt up slowly, examining and tapping on the shield from different angles. But it didn't budge.

With a grumble, I pushed myself shakily to my feet and padded across the room to the huge red doors, half hoping they'd been lying about posting guards outside, half wanting to see what in the world a Kovei was.

The heavy door didn't make a sound as I pulled it open a few inches and peered out, dimmed lights glowing high above at intervals too wide to be of much assistance. Pulling the door wider, I narrowed my eyes at what I could see of the empty hallway. Had they lied? Had they thought I'd be too scared to check?

The icy, marble floor stung my feet as I stepped out, my toes just brushing the edge of a soft rug as a gold glow burned to life above me.

I spun, stumbling backward over the rug, my back slamming into the opposite wall so hard the breath left me.

It took me a moment to comprehend what I was seeing.

Perched along the arch of the doorway, two strangely shaped suits of armor peered down, long copper rods gripped in copper, gauntlet covered hands too long and curling to be human. The ends of the rods, pointed toward one another, glowed with gold light, the angle of which warped the shape of the creatures' armor even more.

Their legs were too long, their arms equally so. Their torsos were too thin, and their helmets—no human head could fit inside something so narrow.

An eerie clicking sound erupted from both of them, the meaning of which became obvious as the glowing end of their rods snapped back, pointing toward the ceiling, and the creatures dropped, landing soundlessly in front of me, their long, slender bodies towering over me.

I pointed to the door I'd left ajar, the light streaming out giving me more of a look at the horrible creatures than I wanted. "I'll just...head back in."

I grimaced as their clicking intensified and they lowered themselves into a spider-like crouch, pointing the glowing ends of their rods at me. From close up, the gold light shifted in a rippling sphere, letting off a high-pitched buzzing sound that smelled metallic. I pressed my back harder against the wall. I didn't need my strange instinct to tell me it was something I didn't want to be touched by.

My hands shook as I raised them in front of me, no higher than my chest. "I'll just go back inside. I meant no harm."

The clicking turned furious and they jabbed their rods toward me, stopping inches from my hands.

I balled them, pulling them tight against me, away from that crackling heat, closing my eyes and bracing myself for immense pain.

But their clicking slowed, sounding almost irritated. I peeked open an eye to see them stepping to the side, still in their long-legged crouch, and the one on the right pointed an armored, four-jointed finger at the bedroom door.

I stared at that finger, as if the rest of the creature's appearance didn't already prove it wasn't human.

Another slew of impatient clicking snapped me back and I nodded quickly, pressing my hands tighter to me. Their rods followed me as I passed between them, through the doorway, and I shoved the door shut the moment I was through it.

There wasn't a lock on the door! How could there not be a lock on the damn door? What kind of room was this?

One I wasn't allowed to have control over.

I cringed again as my hand went up subconsciously to the brand. Not yet. I couldn't think about the brand just yet. That Tritteon had to have lied. That they had branded me for some reason...

And there wasn't even a lock on my door to protect myself from them.

I slid back onto the armrest of the nearest chair. Even with a lock, these people were magic. It probably wouldn't keep them out anyway.

I ran my hands over my face and dug my fingertips into my eyebrows. The weird slits beneath my fingernails strained uncomfortably so I stopped. I needed to sleep. I could feel my body wearing down, a heaviness in my head that would only worsen as the night went on. The man...Rilyin...the Emperor...had said they would be putting me through some kind of test tomorrow. I didn't have any idea what it could possibly entail, but I was pretty sure being utterly exhausted was unwise.

But how could I relax at all knowing anyone, those horrible creatures in the hallway included, could walk in at any moment?

I straightened and scanned the room. Several ideas flooded my head, but I was so tired I didn't want to mess with any of the complicated ones.

I slipped around the chair to one of the small, side-tables and lifted it to test its weight. Satisfied, I carried it over to the doors, setting it two inches in front of them. I went back to the chairs and took one of the thickest throw blankets, folded it a couple of times and slid it under the two legs closest to the doors, tilting it forward just enough that a slight tap would knock it right over.

I glared at my efforts for a long moment, furious it was even necessary, and then crawled into bed, pulling the sweet-smelling blankets up around me. I knew the smell of cassia and orange, but I didn't know my own name?

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