Kenai

Chapter Nine - Plans

The next morning, I left Katie asleep and returned to the room to study. Isiah Warrenheath's words haunted me, and I was curious to know what sort of secrets this old building was hiding. I decided to spend a few hours in the study, and only once the words started to blur together did I leave and begin my solo exploration.

I felt awful for yelling at Katie yesterday. I wanted to find her and tell her how sorry I was, but this place was so huge that I didn't know where to start. I picked a corridor and followed it, unsure of what I would find. The silence was deafening, punctuated by the occasional creak of the old windows. It must have been wonderful to study in a place as beautiful as this. I imagined what it would have been like, being Blooded as a child and growing up here. Knowing who I was from the very beginning. I wondered if things would be different; if Mum and Dad would still be alive.

At the end of the corridor was a room labelled 'Library'. I stepped inside, and the smell of musty books was almost enough to knock me over. The room was cold, almost as cold as the study, and was full of bookshelves that stood from floor to ceiling. I walked among them, and in my mind I was back in the normal library, where the librarian had given me the name of this place and I had given Katie a heart attack.

"Kayla?"

I heard Katie calling my name down the corridor, and I stuck my head out of the library door to get her attention.

"I'm in the library." I shout.

"I'm in the kitchen! There's food!"

"I'm on my way."

I leave the library and jog down another corridor to find Katie standing in a large white kitchen.

"There's nothing here." I say.

Katie opened one of the cupboards; it was full of tinned food. She opened another and it was piled high with loaves of bread. Every cupboard was stocked with enough food to feed a small army, or at the very least, us.

"How is it all still in date?" Katie asked, stunned.

"I think it's because of me." I reply, looking around at the cupboards.

"That would make sense."

I wanted to tell Katie that this was now my building, but I wasn't sure how. I decided to wait until she had some food in front of her before I said anything, knowing what she could be like when she was hungry and cranky.

---

Once we'd eaten, I decided to take Katie to the study. We walked in, and she gasped. I showed her the letter, and she read it faster than I'd ever seen her read anything before. She then spent the next five minutes staring at me as it carefully tidied up the books I had left all over the floor.

"What?" I ask, finally irritated by the staring.

"This place belongs to you." She said.

"Looks that way."

"So what will you do with it?"

I hadn't actually thought about that. I faced her, lost for words.

"Why don't we stay here for a while?" She suggested.

"That could work," I agreed, "it's away from prying eyes and we know it's safe."

We stayed in the study for a while. I showed Katie the books I'd been reading, and part of me wanted Isiah to appear for her, just so I didn't feel like a lunatic when I described him to her. But he didn't, and we were able to sit together and plan our next moves.

"So what's the plan?" Katie asked.

"I personally want to go after Deacon." I confessed.

"But what about the Zerstörer?"

"I don't even know where to begin."

"Then let's start with what you do know."

I thought for a moment before grabbing a book from the shelf to my right and throwing it open.

"There," I said, "Zerstörer. It's a German word meaning 'Destroyer'."

"Sounds friendly."

"But listen to this. This says that it was sealed away in a tomb of ice by the ancient Kenai, who fought against it as it tried to destroy the world."

Katie took the book from me and continued to read it.

"This says that the Kenai were opposed by the Cult of Shadows," She said, "I've never heard of them."

"If the Zerstörer thing is already locked up, what does that have to do with me?"

Katie flicked through the pages until she eventually landed on the one she wanted.

"This says that when the Kenai trapped it in the ice, they performed an ancient ritual over it. The ritual meant that only when their numbers were down to one would the monster awaken."

My heart stopped. "I'm the last one." I said quietly.

"That means we've gotta get you ready for a fight!" Katie cried, jumping up.

---

We stood together in the Grand Hall. Katie twirled a wooden staff between her fingers and threw one to me, which I caught with one hand. We were barefoot on the cold stone, our bloody jackets discarded on the steps, and all of the doors leading into the Hall were closed and locked for good measure.

"The Varaat will try and get you again," Katie said, "and those protecting the Zerstörer won't want to play nice either, so I'm gonna teach you how to hold your own in a fight."

I laughed, twirling my staff between my own fingers.

"You're the one who can fall over your own shadow," I say, still laughing, "and you're gonna teach me to fight?"

"No," Katie replied, "I'm gonna teach you to use what's locked away in your DNA. All Kenai have an inborn ability with regards to combat. Every martial art is locked in your DNA, as is mastery of every weapon. It's locked in there, and I'm' just the locksmith who's gonna get it out."

Without warning, Katie swung her staff at me, smacking it across my knees. I jumped back, caught off guard, and gripped my own staff with both hands. She attacked again, but this time I was ready. I sprang backwards as her staff cut through the air where my head had been, and I blocked her next series of attacks almost effortlessly. She brought the staff down on my head, and not only did I block it, I caught the end of it in my hand, struck her wound with my staff and kicked her in the stomach. She collapsed on to the steps, coughing and spluttering.

"Holy shit," I cry, throwing down my staff, "are you ok?"

"Nicely done," Katie said, getting slowly to her feet, "do it again, but faster."

---

We sparred for hours until we were both out of breath and hungry. Bruised and sore, we hobbled to the kitchen for some dinner, and I glanced outside at the night sky. We'd been here for two days, and it felt more like home in two days than my old house had in ten years. I stood by the window for a moment, watching the old dirt road, and I was sure that I could hear children shouting in the gloom.

Katie appeared at my side and handed me a bottle of water. I took it, grateful, and continued to watch out of the window. Katie stood by me, saying nothing, and I could hear her heartbeat. It was unsettling, but I was slowly getting used to being able to hear every little sound the Academy made.

"You ok?" Katie asked after a long silence.

"I can hear children outside." I said, still watching.

"Kay, there's nobody there."

"I know, but I can hear them as clear as I can hear you."

"Maybe you're just tired. Come on, I'll show you the dorms."