Mythara

Chapter 26

"What the-?"

"Sh!" Sable put a hasty hand over Sphynx's mouth. Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered, "They don't know you're here, I'm suppose to be cleaning out the laundry."

"But why-?" 

"I said 'be quiet'!" she hissed. "I just saved your life back there! Annick isn't who everyone thinks he is! He's a half-breed!"

"What's a half-breed?" Sphynx silently got up from the ground and into a crouching position. 

There position was on top of a cliff, with a strong wind blowing around fall's orange and red leaves. Sable's black shirt was surprisingly new, with a small, white silhouette of an oak tree on the front. A navy green pattern was strewn across her pants which she wore a high-tech belt with. By high-tech, it had many 'touch-screen' buttons and was a flexible but durable length of clear material. Sphynx had seen old ones in the dumpsters he used to scavenge. At Sable and Sphynx's backs was a group of large jacked rocks pointing upward, almost like a mini sculpted rock mountain range. The rocks blocked the furious winds from attacking  their bodies and was slanted off the cliff, so it provided a little bit of shelter from rains. 

"A half-breed is a mix of Mythara and human. Some have the Mythara's powers, others don't. Amber and Pierre think he's human but I've grown up with him for so long that I knew something was wrong with him. Well, not wrong," she corrected herself, "just...odd. I mean-!" 

"Wait, whoa..." Sphynx put a hand up, "Then doesn't that mean you should be a half-breed also? Seeing that you're his sister?" 

"That's the weird thing. I'm fully human. Amber tried testing me and Annick to see if we had Mythara in us after we told her that we are supposed to be half-breeds. The results were negative."

Sphynx bit his lip and frowned. "Wait, but what's this about you saving me from Annick who is a half-breed?"

Sable wrinkled her nose and brushed her glossy hair back which caused Sphynx's heart to skip a beat. "Well, he really doesn't like you because you supposedly were Amber's er...boyfriend. She talked about you a lot when we asked about her past and well, he's jealous. Which is just wrong because Amber always said she would wait for you to come back and wouldn't have a relationship with anyone until then or you were proclaimed dead. But even if you were proclaimed dead she said she might not ever have a relationship again. She really really likes you, Sphynx. And if Annick had done something to you, I wouldn't have been able to bear with the knowledge that I could have stopped it. So I stopped it." 

Sphynx squeezed her hand. "Thanks," he whispered and then let go, heart thudding wildly. 

"No problem. After all, I think even Rye would have hated Annick if he had thrown you off the cliff."

"He was going to throw me off the cliff no later than a day from meeting me? What the Brazil?" He suddenly stopped for a moment when he realized that Amber swore by places around the world. 

Sable gazed at the ground. "Annick is quick to do and slow to think. He often holds a lot of prejudices against people. I know, he sounds like such a horrible person. I'm sorry that you had to meet him when he's like this..." Sighing, she relaxed into a comfortable position, leaning against the slab of rock behind her. 

"Oh, well...there has to be people like that in this world, or it wouldn't be complete, you know?" Feeling an awkward silence drawing out, he quickly asked, "So have you met any other people? Mythara? Humans?" 

"Humans, but only when we are desperate for supplies. Mythara can't create anything..." Glancing quickly up she apologized, embarrassed, "Sorry, it's just I'm so used to talking to only humans. There was only Amber out here and so I tend to explain things."

"That's alright, I understand," Sphynx chuckled kindly. 

"But could you confirm this for me? The closest thing, I've heard, you do is make stuff grow, but it drains you of strength because the plant uses the Mythara's own energy."

"Amber must have taught you a lot about us Mythara. That's correct," Sphynx chuckled. 

"Well, actually I took a whole bunch of mythology and folklore classes when I was back in the human cities so I learned a lot about your race," Sable replied. 

"So you haven't been out here in the wilderness for long?" 

"No, this is my second year. But we accomplished a lot, when Amber found us." 

"H'm. This is a wonderful place," Sphynx commented, gesturing with a sweep of his hand at the view over the cliff and the rocks around them. 

"Yea, no one knows about this except for you. When Amber goes on trips to spy on the man and it's only the boys and I then I escape here." 

"Amber goes to spy on the man?" 

"Yea. According to what she tells us, she's looking for info on any Mythara around. That's how she rescued Pierre, actually. He's Mythara too." 

"I see." 

Approaching the subject casually, Sable asked, "So, do you run off often when you're on guard?"

Sphynx grimaced and Sable immediately said, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy. You don't have to tell me, I was just kind of curious."

Sphynx shook his head, a clump of dirt falling off. "No, no, I didn't mean that. It's just that Rye was giving me a hard time."

Sable nodded and pursed her lips. "Rye sucks sometimes. Especially when Amber tells us what he's  tactophrening." Pause. "Er, mind if I ask where your Ewynne is?" 

A pang of longing hit Sphynx. "I-I...well, I do, actually. It's um..."

"Oh, sorry, I seem to be asking a lot of touchy questions today," Sable giggled nervously. 

"It's alright. My Ewynne...er...died..."

Surprising Sphynx, Sable reached over and pulled him into a bear hug. 

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. 

Unused to this sort of thing, Sphynx hugged her back but didn't say anything to her. 

"SABLE!" A loud voice called. 

"Oh Fiji Islands, Pierre needs help making up something to eat," Sable jumped to her feet and was about half-way up over the rocks and back to the cave when she made a gurgling sound and was thrown back onto the ground, heavily.

Rushing to her, Sphynx tapped into his Mythara powers and sensed for anyone around. Suddenly, he stopped abruptly and in horrific surprise as Annick materialized in front of him.

"Making out with my sister, weren't you? And Amber says you still like her! I can't believe she'd wait all these years for someone as worthless as you," He rasped haughtily. 

Backing into the wall behind him, Sphynx searched for a way out. As if reading Sphynx's mind, Annick grinned. 

"There's no way out, Mythara boy. You're going to settle this with me."