In the Ruins of Hope (Centauri Asaris: Book 1)

The Mark Surronded by Blood

"Alisa! Alex! Come here! I need your help!" I shouted as I scrambled to Michael. Michael was drenched in, presumably, his own blood. He was the same man that came to our house a week ago asking if we knew where our parents were. This resistance fighter, who is also an ally and friend of our parents, was now crouching on my porch holding his chest.

Spasms overcame Michael's body as he faded into unconsciousness, and the puddle of blood increased while I waited for Alisa and Alex to come. Under his hand, the crimson blood flowed from the unseen wound. I undressed to reveal my tank top and placed my t-shirt over the wound. While I pressed my shirt to stop the bleeding, the wrinkled, white cloth quickly became a soaked, red mound. Michael was bleeding out fast, and he would die soon.

Finally arriving, Alex and Alisa quickly went into action. The two of them manhandled Michael into the living room, as I raced to find several towels. The closest closet held mountains of unused towels, so I grabbed a column and met Alisa, Alex, and Michael in the living room. In the living room, I placed two layers of towels on the couch, so Michael would have a place to rest. The remaining was used to stop his bleeding. I pressed on the wound, Alisa grabbed the first aid kit, and Alex checked his vital signs. With the three of us, Michael became stable but unconscious.

"We need to call an ambulance," Alex plainly stated as he reached for a nearby phone.

I placed my hand on the phone and explained, "Michael is a part of the Dain resistance. If he came to us, he probably knew that he couldn't trust the local hospital. It just shows how much Dain already controls."

Alisa began to cut open Michael's shirt, and Alex put down the phone. "Willow," she said strangely, "You need to see this." Alex followed me as I peered over Alisa to see Michael. His shirt was cut open and peeled away from his body. Alisa cleaned around the wound, so the skin could be seen. On his dark skin, Michael's body had tattoo-like symbol racing across his sides. The white symbols laced around his body on a black line that looked like a belt. I ran my fingers across his skin and found that they were laced in his skin. This was magic.

The symbols were called a mark. When a strong form a magic is used on something, a mark is formed. Each mark is different depending on the mage. However, a mage cannot change their mark, and this mark was familiar. To make sure, I restudied the mark. The black, belt-like string threaded around the body. Around the front and back of the body, the black belt tied around Michael's chest. On the binding, there was a distinct word etched in white: ligabis. The Latin word for "bind" was used as a mark, and a mage's mark will never change. I knew who did this to Michael, and it meant trouble.

"Is this mark whose I think it is?" Alisa whispered dishearteningly.

Grimly, I answered, "Yeah."

Alex, not knowing who we were talking about, asked, "Whose mark is it?"

I looked at Alex and saw a hint of fear race across his eyes. However, it was gone as soon as it had come. I stared into his determined eyes and broke. Looking away from him and to the ground. I said, "It belongs to my mom. I saw this symbol too many times to mistake it." A sudden burst of sadness came over me. The realization that my mother would do something like this shook me to my very core. I don't know what happened, but I knew for a fact that this was the mark I grew up with. Throughout my childhood, I loved to see it, but now, it tore me. It ripped my heart apart.

I sat on the couch adjacent to Michael's. Alisa was at Michael's side, so she was cleaning and stitching the wide gash underneath his well-defined chest. Alex sat next to me, not saying a word. I bet he wanted to say something, but nothing ever came.

Alisa sat next to me when she was done. We did everything we could possibly do. Now we have to wait. Alex stared at the stranger sitting five feet away from him, I thought about my mom's mark, and Alisa comforted me. We waited an hour until Michael woke.

Drowsy from his nap and loss of blood, Michael examined his body and his surroundings. He faintly smiled when he saw us and said, "You saved me two times now. My debt just keeps rising." Now staring at my expression, he added, "From the look on your faces, I'm guessing you saw the mark. I'll answer any questions you have, so ask away."

"Just tell us what happened," I ordered impatiently.

Detecting the angst in my voice, Michael began, "In the rebellion, different people work different shifts. I drew the short stick a few days before and was assigned to work the night shift, so I went to work around eight. I did the normal stuff: patrol the perimeter, check the locks, and sit on my ass."

"Around midnight, I worked my way around an old storage building. Everything outside was fine, but when I was about to walk away, I heard somebody, or something, rummaging inside. I waved my flashlight into one of the windows. The light revealed a pitch-black snake wrapping around the pillars. Knowing I had to get rid of it, I slammed my way through a door close by."

Michael paused and let out a sigh. His joking manner ceased and turned serious. He resumed, "However, this wasn't a snake; it was magic. The magic of your mother. As you know, each mage has a specific type of magic and depending on the mage, they have many forms of their specific power. I have sphere magic. Your mother has binder's magic. The 'snake' was a solidified version of her binding magic. It looked exactly like the mark on my chest, without the letters. When I came close, it attacked me. It shot straight through my chest. I collapsed, and after several minutes, Emily and Scott appeared."

"Willow's parents came to me as I bled. Emily kneeled down and stared at me. As I examined her, I noticed something; she had an unfamiliar mark on her. The mark was a black star broken in half. It was on her neck right under the ear. Her smile pushed me out of my thoughts. However, she didn't wear her usual warm smile. Her smile was wicked and tinted with darkness. In her madness, she told me, 'You should have joined Dain while you had the chance. I had no choice but to kill you.' When I heard that, I knew that she wasn't the same person as before. She pushed herself off of the floor and left, leaving Scott behind. He followed after her, but before he left, I noticed that he had the same mark as Emily. The same broken star in the same location. After he left, I knew that I was about to pass out, so I created a barrier around my wound. If I didn't do that, I would be dead right now."

Michael finished, "My guess is that Dain did something to them and that was his mark. Dain is already taking action. If we don't hurry, this nation will be destroyed. However, that's not the worst part. Willow's parents, two powerful Magus, joined Dain."

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Picture Details:

This is the building that Michael was patrolling. The Rebellion has unnecessary buildings like this everywhere. However, they still have to patrol it, just in case intruders find their way in.

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I found this picture here: http://zfein.com/photography/detroit/harbor_terminal/

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