Life - Life & Death Book 1

Chapter 30 - Zivena

"What?" Mictain chokes. "H-how? What's going on?"
I can't meet his eye. "I-I don't know. Everything happened so quickly. Mictain, I don't know what to do. I don't — I don't know how to fix it."
"Tell me what happened."
I take a deep breath to help steady myself. Even thinking about it makes something in my chest crack and bleed. "Someone took over your body and walked into the Pillar pretending to be you."
Mictain gives me a blank stare. He drops my hand and takes a step back. "I don't remember. I don't remember any of this."
"I noticed that the soul in your body wasn't yours," I continue, "and Taregan and Hod helped me lock you up, just in case. Hod, Kali and-and my brothers kept an eye on your cell," I stop talking. Mictain's presence seems to withdraw from me. It feels like there's more than just a few feet of space between us. I push down on the pain and force myself to say, "Ulfric was killed when whoever took over your body broke out of the cell. They kidnapped Ahren before running away."
Mictain doesn't say anything. I don't blame him. What could he say to that?
"We need to get back to the Pillar. Everyone is going to be wondering what's going on." I walk back through the trees. After a while, Mictain starts to follow me, his head down, a panicked look in his pale eyes.
As we make our way back to the Pillar, a numb feeling creeps through my body. It takes everything with it. Until I'm nothing but a shell.

✲✲✲✲✲

I enter the Pillar ahead of Mictain. Guardians fill the lobby.
"Zivena!" Taregan calls from the reception desk. He runs over, a worried look on his face. "Are you okay? Did you find Mictain?" I nod and point outside to where Mictain is standing, his hands in his pockets. Taregan gestures him inside. "We've been waiting in the conference room for you." Taregan leads the way as Mictain joins us.
As we make our way into the room, Taregan closing the door behind us, the three Council members turn to us. There's an uncharacteristic look of concern on Hod's bruised face as he examines Mictain.
"So this is the real Mictain then?" Kali says, sounding annoyed.
"Yes," I say bluntly.
"Where'd you find him?" Artemis asks.
"Central Park."
"Can we assume that the person who's kidnapping and killing humans is responsible for this?" Artemis says, then shifts her gaze to Mictain. "The question is though; how'd they get to you?"
The rest of us turn to look at Mictain, standing close to the door.
"Mictain," Hod speaks up, "You need to explain what happened. Otherwise we will not be able to stop this from happening again."
Mictain's eyes flick to everyone in the room before landing on me. "I'm sorry. I-I can't. I can't say."
"What's the matter with him?" Artemis steps forward. "Is something stopping you?"
Mictain doesn't answer. He doesn't even nod his head. There's panic written all over him.
"What are we going to do if he can't tell us?" Kali asks. She's leaning against one of the desks, her arms crossed.
No one speaks for a long time. We watch as Mictain continues to struggle, his head in his hands.
"Zivena," Taregan says, "Isis could search someone's mind. Do you think you could do the same thing?"
My mind jumps back to the one time Isis crawled through my memories. A shudder runs down my body.
"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Taregan pushes. "You know this is what you need to do. We need to know."
"It's okay, Zivena," Mictain glances up at me, "Please just do it."
The others watch me, waiting for me. I hate the pressure.
"We don't have a lot of time to find Ahren," Taregan states.
"I get it," I snap at him.
"Then get on with it," Taregan snaps back.
I sigh and let the numbness back in. "Are you sure, Mictain?"
He nods, pain and worry feeding on him.
I gingerly place my finger on his forehead. Apprehension and doubt swarm me. I've never had a reason to do this before. I've never wanted to do this. I suck in a breath and release my consciousness into my hand.
Images flicker and change so quickly that I don't have a chance to examine them. Before I know it, I'm in the mind of a five year old. His parents stand in front of him and explain they need to go away for work. Little Mictain turns away and races into the arms of a girl. She couldn't be more than eighteen. She tickles him and he giggles. The girl's face brightens at the sound.
Before I can get a handle on Mictain's memories they flash forward. He is still a child but this time he's standing over the bodies of his parents as they lay dead. He glances out the window and I snatch a peek at his reflection. Blood cakes his hair. Tears stream down his face and he crawls between them, trying with all his might to pull them closer. He vows to never let them go.
I force my will into Mictain's head and stop the memory. In the real world, I feel Mictain's body stiffen as he stares at a sight best left in the past. My heart breaks but I can feel something wrong with this sequence of memory.
"I'm sorry, Mictain," I say as I start the memory over again and watch closely. In the few minutes leading up to Mictain killing his parents there's a fuzziness and Mictain's movements are jerky.
Focus, Zivena.
This isn't the time. I need to find out why Mictain can't talk to us about this afternoon.
I begin to fast forward. Traces of the young woman's face crops up here and there during his childhood. I come across a memory of Mictain and a man out in an open field feeding the livestock. Mictain's memory becomes fuzzy again and his movements erratic as he moves towards the man. Moments later, a young Mictain is running from the smell of death toward the big house in the distance.
Beneath my hand, I feel Mictain's body shaking violently. I place my other hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Guilt rages in me as I make Mictain relive his most horrible memories. Gods, I hope he can forgive me one day.
Mictain's memories change abruptly from the day he killed his uncle to a pair of bright green eyes. They disappear and are replaced by a memory of a classroom. The first moment we met. Tolinka's apprehensive expression upsets Mictain and as he moves away, his gaze falls on a girl with short, black hair and green eyes. For a moment I don't recognize myself. Surprise fills Mictain's memory as he notes my eyes and I can see the surprise written all over my face. I thought I had hid it well. Guess I was wrong.
My hold on Mictain' memories slip. I'm not sure if Mictain's taking back control but I watch as one memory starts with a blurry image before solidifying into the forest that surrounds the Hub. Mictain is walking down a path and stops when he spots light coming through the trees. Shadows pass over his body, making him almost invisible. He creeps towards the light source. There's a break in the trees and he sees... He sees me.
Mictain's body stills under my hand. Before I know what's going on, Mictain forces the memory away and other memories flick past. But there are moments of blurriness, almost as if he can't remember them.
The memories slow down as we reach New York. Mictain loosens his control and I take over, an urgency filling me. As I rifle through Mictain's memories, there are huge blanks. Even this morning is a blur as he watches me leave to go see Imogen.
I withdraw from Mictain's head and take a step back.
"I'm so sorry, Mictain. I didn't mean to," I whisper.
Hod is standing next to him, a hand under his arm. He guides Mictain over to a chair and sits him down. Mictain slumps, his head in his hands. He doesn't say anything.
"What did you see?" Taregan asks under his breath. Hod walks back over.
I glance at Mictain, the guilt tearing me up. "I saw his parents and uncle." There's an intake of breath around me. "But there's something weird with a lot of his memories. Most of them are really blurry. Especially since he turned eighteen."
"Do you mean he can't remember them?" Artemis asks.
"I don't think so. Since we've been in New York, the majority of his memories have been blurry. I don't see how he could've forgotten them already."
"If we are running with the theory that a warlock is somehow powerful enough to transfer souls, would it be a big leap to assume that they're blocking Mictain's memories as well?" Artemis asks no one in particular.
"If that's right then that would mean they've had access to him since he turned eighteen," Taregan says. "What have they been doing with Mictain since then?"
Something clicks in my mind. "Ander," I murmur. "Ander and the hiker."
"What about them?" Taregan asks.
"That would fit!" Artemis exclaims, her eyes bright. "The killings in New York stopped when Mictain started at the Hub. Two people were killed while he was in Canada. The killings only started up here again when Mictain was a day away from arriving, so if they had access to him that entire time then that would match why Mictain's memories were blurry since his birthday."
"There's a lot of 'ifs' in this conversation," Kali drawls. Everyone ignores her.
"Kali's right. How can we find out if this is true?"
"You'll need to break past the blocks, Zivena," Taregan says.
Mictain sits silently, waiting. He obviously doesn't want me seeing any of this.
"Just do it, Zivena." Mictain looks straight at me, his face expressionless.
"What if I hurt you?" I whisper.
Mictain shakes his head. "I know you won't. Just do it."
I walk over to him and place my finger on his head again. This time I try to find some kind of spell. I hesitate. If I couldn't find the one in the park, how was I supposed to find one in his head?
I start searching. I pour my power into his mind, being careful not to harm. I delve past the feelings of loneliness, anger, self-loathing, hate. I push past the jealousy and longing. Underneath all of this, I find a strange energy that's latched itself onto Mictain's mind. It's dug its claws in deep. My power lashes out at it, cutting the arms but they don't die. They wiggle and grow until they reattach.
Instead of trying to slash the magic, my power smoothers it and squeezes. It weaves it's way through any gap, seeping into every crevice.
Light fractures through Mictain's mind. Something pushes my body away from him and I'm flung into the tables and chairs. My head slams against a table leg and I black out for a second. Yelling erupts around me. My head clears but I wish it hadn't.
A mass of dark energy is gushing from Mictain, clumping into blobs tainted by loathing and anger. A phosphorous gas spills from them, filling the room and making the air hard to breathe.
Mictain roars in excruciating pain as the stuff seeps out of his skin, burning every part of his body. Whatever this black goo is, it doesn't stop. The blobs start to form into monsters, the black goo covering their skin, bubbling and pouring onto the floor. The monsters begin to move, leaving scorch marks on the carpet in their wake.
"What the hell is going on?" Taregan yells as he jumps out of reach.
Beneath each of the monsters' skin, the energy swirls angrily and forms into chains. When two of the monsters touch they absorb into each other, growing bigger and their chains join, lengthening and becoming heavier.
The sound of Mictain crying out in pain keeps piercing me.
A large shard of purple light spears into one of these monsters. The thing shrieks, curling in on itself. Its body starts to melt, the goo boiling. The five of us watch as the thing burns up and nothing but a patch of smoldering carpet is left behind.
"Well that wasn't too hard," Kali says casually. She closes her eyes and breaths in deeply, a smile spreading across her face.
"Considering we're still surrounded by at least fifty of these things, one isn't going to make much of a difference," Artemis growls and swiftly steps aside as a blob launches itself at her.
Kali shrugs, "I don't see you trying."
"Move aside," Hod shouts. I leap out of the way, using the air to carry me.
Hod sweeps a hand in front of himself and spears of ice follow his movements. They stab the black goo, burying deep in their bodies. As the ice touches them, it starts to freeze and crack. Their bodies explode into fragments.
"That's more like it," Kali grins. Her hands come up and purple shards of light appear floating in the air. They fill every space in the room. Kali slams her hands down and the shards follow. They cut into the remaining monsters and I move quickly to clear the air of the gas that billows from their dying bodies.
We all turn to Mictain as the last body twitches. Mictain's skin is burnt so horribly it's black. I rush forward, my power enveloping him. Light spills over as I heal every skin cell, every muscle, every inch of him. All I leave behind is the scar on his face.
Mictain groans. He struggles to open his eyes but when they do tears fall from them. Relief flows but it's quickly replaced by anger.
"I didn't kill them," he mutters, "He did. He killed my uncle and parents."
"Mictain, what are you on about? Who?"
He looks at me, fury in his eyes. "He's the warlock that put a spell on me," Mictain's body is shaking with rage, "The warlock that modified my memories so I believe I killed my family, when it was actually him. He did it. He murdered them!"
"Who are you talking about, Mictain?" Hod steps forward.
Mictain glances around the room but doesn't meet Hod's eye, "His name is Bloodwynd. He's been, been helping me control my power."
The expression of betrayal that crosses Hod's face surprises me. All along Hod thought he'd been Mictain's mentor but in reality it's been a warlock who killed Mictain's family.
"Start from the beginning," Hod says, his voice cold. Mictain's head shoots up at Hod's tone. Guilt burns in him.
"I'm sorry, Hod. I-I didn't mean. You're still-"
"Start from the beginning, Mictain," I interrupt. I can feel the blood rushing from me.
Mictain gives me a pleading look but I can't find it in myself to make him feel better.
"Bloodwynd approached me after my eighteenth birthday. He said he could help me control my power so I didn't hurt anyone ever again," Mictain stares at his shoes. Outrage swells through the room. "We would meet in the forest outside the Hub and train. He would have me meditate. We've been meeting up every day since coming to New York. But we don't know if he's the Central Park killer. We don't know if he's the one tha-that took my soul out," Mictain shudders, revulsion clear on his face.
Silence falls like snow, coating everything around us.
"There's only one way to find out," Kali says.