The Rise of The Powers vol. 1

Chapter 8: The Shae

Chapter 8: The Shae

There were six of them, all male. They studied us for a moment and then one of them laughed.

"Oh, they're just humans. Nau. They're nothing to worry about, we can just send them on they're jolly 'Ole way."

A Shae in the front whose hair was lighter than the others, an almost auburn brown, stepped forward, pushing the Shae who laughed aside. "You are foolish, Farrogan. These aren't ordinary Nau. Who are you?" His eyes narrowed on Lilith.

Lilith furiously wiped away her tears. "I am Lilith, daughter of Essence, daughter of Eugene, daughter of Exmaiae, who was the spouse of Edinite."

The auburn haired guy's eyes widened. "You're a Power." His voice was soft, almost undecipherable.

Lilith laughed. "Yes, Nyx, I am a Power. My mother's, mother's, mother's spouse, nearly destroyed you. I plan not just to nearly destroy you, but to wipe you off the face of Alembria."

The guy, Nyx croaked. "Why, Lilith? Why do you hate me? Why do you hate Shae?"

Lilith's eyes narrowed. "I thought you would've known, Nyx of Aeden."

Nyx seemed to snap out of his trance. "Tarrogan, bind them and throw them in the calousi, to rot for eternity." Then his eyes seemed to notice me for the first time. "You, you're not a Power are you? You, you're a Partial, aren't you?"

My heart thumped against my chest. This stranger, he could see. . . My brain threw names at me.

Ahilian Partial

Saphara Partial

"No," I said, my voice wavering. "I'm not a Partial. I'm-I'm a Whitings."

Nyx's eyes narrowed. "What's a Whitings?" It was a question I wasn't supposed to answer. I stared at my feet. He stared at me for a moment more. Then ordered for the guards to start the binding.

Invisible ropes tied Lilith's and my hands together, but not ordinary ropes, burning, flaming ropes. They made my skin turn black and flake away in the wind. They put black collars, with silver spikes poking out around are necks, choking us, but not enough to kill us. Then they dragged and I mean literally dragged us toward the camp.

When we got there, wrists scorched black, covered head to toe in dirt, everyone was silenced.

"Where," Nyx shouted. "Is Lord Mahogan?" A small girl pointed to a purple tent, outlined with gold trimmings and guards posted outside.

Tarrogan dragged us toward it. The guards saw Nyx and opened the flap. Inside, was a beautiful Shae. His eyes widened when he saw Lilith.

The guy, Mahogan sputtered. "Nyx, you've brought a, a Power to our camp?" He stared at Nyx in horror.

Nyx looked up from his bowing position, startled. "Lord, they were outside the camp-"

Mahogan's eyes flamed. "A Power was outside our camp?"

Lilith despite everything that had happened, was happening, smiled. Mahogan's eyes than landed on me. His mouth opened. He spoke softly. "A Partial, I thought they had all died out . . ."

Another one, who thought, knew that . . . "I'm not a freaking Partial! Okay? I'm just a normal guy! A Whitings, okay?"

Mahogan smiled. "Denial, it's okay. I would be ashamed if I was a Partial too, that Ahilian, he'll be one to remember. Such a coward, such a self-centered coward."

Ahilian

"I-" I didn't know what to say to that. I knew it was true. I knew I was a Partial. I just didn't want to say it out loud. Doing that would finalize the fact that it was true, I was a Partial. Although fortunately, I didn't have to finish my thought.

Mahogan smiled at me. "Okay, Nyx, you can send them to the calousi now."

As Nyx's men dragged us to the calousi, whatever that was I looked back at Mahogan and I could've sworn that when I did, he winked.

The calousi turned out to be a huge pit in the ground, a few hundred feet from the camp. The entrance was small only a few feet wide. Inside all I could see was black. Nyx's men laughed and pushed Lilith, face first into the hole. I heard a scream and then a few seconds later a thump.

I gulped. The guards looked at each other. "Take his weapons." The guy named Tarrogan ordered. They stripped me of everything, but a couple of daggers. I watched longingly as they took my blade. One of them looked at the name engrave on the handle.

"Saphara Partial, eh? Your sister?" He paused and laughed. "Now you can't deny that you're a Partial, Nau." They gave me one last glance, then pushed me into the hole.

I fell. I opened my mouth, as if to scream, but no sound came out. I fell on top of Lilith.

"Ouch, you dumb-ass. Do you have to hurt me anymore?" Her tears choked her words. We sat in an awful silence, for a while. I wasn't going to apologize. She was a monster, just like her mother.

"I'm so sorry, I acted that way, Duke." Her watery eyes, that I could barely detect in the dim light, stared up at me. "Would you be okay if I told you a secret?" When I said nothing, she sighed, but continued. "My mother, Essence has incredible, unbelievable, impossible magical powers. I told you that. You know that. So, sometimes-sometimes-" Lilith choked on her own words. Tears streamed down her scarred face. "Sometimes she controls me, takes over me. I have no power of what I do or say. So, I guess it happened that she took over me at that moment. I'm so sorry, I should have told you, warned you. I just thought . . ."

Lilith continued to cry, her sobs choking because of her metal collar. and I sat there trying to comprehend what she just said. All I managed to say was, "Really?"

Lilith nodded. "Yeah."

We sat in the dark, until Lilith drifted off to sleep, but I continued to sit there pondering over what I had become.