In the Absence of Light

Chapter 8: The Brigand's Camp

Chapter 8: The Brigand's Camp

I turned back toward the man, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ears again. It was time for the interrogation to begin, and I just hoped the man gave me the answers straight away. I was grimy, and I just wanted to wash off. I really didn't care to use torture methods to find out what I wanted to know.

I glared up at him, realizing he was about a head taller than me as I approached. I hated it when people were obviously taller than me. I wasn't short, and I could normally be considered quite tall compared to other girls, but I still hated it when people were taller than me, and red head was definitely and annoyingly taller than me. "Who is the girl my partner is trying to save?" Start simple, build up the trust, make them relax the guard, and then something they didn't want to say might slip.

"That's Zireana, Belain's girl." He waved his hand over toward one of the dead men Darin had killed. His eyes were glazed over in slight shock from the sheer scale of his friends being dead. He looked as if his mind wasn't excepting it.

"And what about the other woman?" I pointed at the woman I'd given the mercy stroke to.

His face lost its composure as he looked at her, and then back at the men I killed, "That is..." his voice choked on his words, "That was my... My friend Gielan's wife Sarhea." His cracking voice and bright eyes were the only warning to his sudden break down. His voice barely hitched before he was bawling.

I turned away, unable to feel anything for his pain. Tyva came over, and gave me a questioning look toward the man. I nodded, understanding what she wanted.

I listened and heard the girl walk over toward the man, and felt with my senses as she gently patted him on the head. I continued to pretend to give him privacy by turning the other direction, but I opened my mind up to the picture behind me.

The pale big read headed man looked down at the young light brown skinned girl. She starred up at him, her brown eyes staring into his blue eyes, kindness, and horror at the carnage around them shone in her eyes. The man hiccupped once or twice, and wiped at his eyes, trying to pull himself together for the girl. "Can't believe they are exposing one as young as you to this," the man whispered to the girl, his eyes showing compassion.

"I used to wanna be a fighter like my momma, but I saw the death in the city. I saw the cruelty of people, and though I wanna avenge my mother, but I also wanna heal the wounds." Her shaky voice became stronger. "Dyrana there will help me. She knows she owes me a debt, and she's fair if cold hearted. She'll help me get my revenge, and her partner, Kyra will teach me to heal the wounds left. Chrisin tells me that I can heal the wounds of people's souls. Says the twins favor me 'special cause of the conflict in my soul," I hadn't seen anything like this girl before, I hadn't thought about her being anything except a fighter.

I saw a light blue thread of light gently move up her arm, slowly into the man's arm where her hand touched. I watched in shock as the young girl smiled gently and the man watched with shock as the blue entered him and fixed something unseen that was torn.

Darin dismounted his horse, and came toward me. I opened my eyes to him, standing quietly in front of me, "Chrisin says he thinks the twins intervened at her birth and brought her forth as one of the children of the twins. Healing, love, war, and hate are perfectly balanced in her."

"She heals their very souls," I could hear the shock of such a power seeping through my voice. I had never heard of anything like this.

"Chrisin found records of a similar child that was male, and it is considered a gift of the twins in times of need. It often coincides with one of the gods or goddesses sending their mortal half to become incarnate," he gave me a strange look as he said this, "the child is said to keep the balance. The last child's gift was a medium green color. Tyva's is blue. The twins have the medium value of all colors, just as you are no color at all, and Kyra is the combination of all colors."