The Child of Light and Shadow

Turbulent Winds

I wind up finding Yukiji and Snow perfectly safe, hiding out in his room. It isn't the old room, however, and this one is far bigger. They're gorging on a whole buffet of food, with a golden medal around the boy's neck. As soon as they see me, they rush toward me, completely throwing away the snacks they were just munching on.

"I won! I won!" the boy cries.

"Jonah," Yukiji adds simply, sticking to my side like a cat.

"You did?" I ask, and the wonder in my voice deflates his confidence a bit. "I mean, of course you did! Great job, kid." I reach out to pat his head, and Yukiji's aura noticeable darkens. Yikes. "What was it?"

Snow gives me a bright smile, his teeth nearly the same color as his skin. "I had to kill a kraken!"

I turn as pale as him at that. What!? This kid – this little kid – was taken to a desert and killed the most dangerous animal alive!? What does that even have to do with him having both light and shadow!?

"Raksha helped," Yukiji whispers, and Snow glares at her.

"Only a little."

"He saved you seventeen times."

"Only sixteen. First one doesn't count. I didn't know the quicksand was there."

"First one counts. Seventeen."

"Sixteen."

"Seventeen."

I pull each idiot by the ear until they stop talking. "That's enough. Snow, great work. Yukiji, tell me how that helped deduce if he has shadow and light or not. What of the other two competitors?" I bet Marcus died.

Yukiji's hold on my arm tightens. "They all won."

Huh?

"Yeah, the krakens only come to attack people with light in them," Snow explains. "That's what Sammael said. We all had light, so three krakens came to attack us."

"And you killed yours... How?"

"Raksha linked," Yukiji answers in the boy's stead. "Snow's good with ice, so Raksha's mana just helped him freeze the sand. The kraken couldn't move, and was easy to kill after that."

Snow pouts at her. "Not that easy."

"Super easy."

"Enough," I tell them again. "Where's Raksha now?"

Yukiji cocks her head to the side, slightly pulling me toward the table. "He went to find you. He was mad." Oh, boy.

"Did he mention anything to you?"

"He did," Snow replies, taking my other arm and helping the girl bring me to the table. I'm starving, but not really in the mood to eat. When was the last time I ate, anyway? Well, whatever.

"What did he say?"

Snow shrugs. "Wasn't listening." Oh, brother. I turn toward Yukiji, but she shrugs as well.

"Neither of you listened to him?" I frown, forcing myself to pick up a piece of meat and chew on it.

"He's very annoying," the two say in unison, glare at each other, then pretend nothing happened. Lovely.

"No clue where he might be?"

Yukiji points upward. The sky? "He goes on the roof to think. He talks to Obi there."

Right. Obi. I'm gonna have to strangle that snake. I get that it's not really his fault for not risking his life to save a bunch of strangers, but he might be a liability, now that Medea is out of commission. If he tells the other Apostles about how sneaky I am, and to what lengths I'm willing to go, it might make them even less likely to let me enrol, and that's still high on my priority list.