Shamans of the Dark

Chapter 9: Kaleb

Kaleb Pov

My fist hits against the rock, creating a dent where it lands. My knuckles bleed, but it only takes moments for me to heal now. The magic finding a way to protect me, almost like a second skin.

I know I lost control when I saw her alone in the forest and again when Kylo became a threat to her. The thought of Iris getting hurt in any way makes me push away any sense of logic.

That's why I put them down. I had to be more careful with the first one, not wanting to create suspicion about my involvement, but with Kylo my restraints had been unlocked.

Nothing to stop me from unleashing my anger.

Seeing her for the first time after all these years of keeping my distance had been unbearable. 

The trepidation, the uncertainty, but primarily the dearth of remembrance, swimming within her eyes.

But the worst part was that I couldn't blame anyone but myself. It was, after all, my own doing.

I wait near the water as Adelram speaks to the few people left, giving them hope about a safe haven that doesn't exist. It's better that I keep my distance while he talks to them, especially after the spectacle I demonstrated earlier.

No one had intervened, but it wasn't out of respect, it had been out of fear.

Fear I would do the same to them, as I had been doing to Kylo.

Only Iris had been brave enough.

"Let's go."

I turn to see Adelram walking in the same direction Noah had headed not too long ago.

Fucking Noah.

I could not fathom the fact he had let Noah leave with Iris. A simple human could not protect her, not the way she needed protecting. Especially one that barely joined their group.

The day breaks, giving us the light we need to navigate through the maze of trees we once called home. I would spend most of my days here in isolation, making sure no threat could get through.

And yesterday I had failed.

But right now, all I want... all I need is to be close to her again.

Silence greets our journey through the woods, neither one of us having anything to say.

We are getting closer to her, I can feel her energy with each step we take. It is that same energy that keeps putting her at risk.

"I thought I told you to keep your distance." he says, breaking the peace we had managed to keep. His voice is sharp, making the distaste for me blatant.

Adelram has never been fond of me, but I can't say I didn't return the sentiment. He is the reason I'm not allowed to build a relationship with her. His threats of leaving me in the dark about their travels was enough to keep me away.

"As you can see, I didn't have a choice." I stop, making Adelram turn around to face me. "She was defenseless and scared. And you have the audacity to question why I did what I did."

He stays silent, refusing to agree in my favor but knowing I was right. "Did she see anything?" he asks instead.

"That's what you're fucking worried about?"

Since her mother died he has sheltered her from all kinds of magic, believing it would offer some type of cure to the magic brewing inside of her. But he was wrong. It's only growing stronger.

"It doesn't matter," he shakes his head. "We'll erase it again."

"She's in danger. You can't keep erasing her memories." I take a deep breath, trying to control my rising anger. "She needs to know, that's the only way she will truly be safe."

"I'll keep her safe."

"How?" I ask, the deep breaths failing to work. "If they didn't know she was alive before, they'll know now. They took Sena, for fuck's sake! One look at her and they'll know."

"We don't know that."

The calmness of his tone was pushing me towards the edge of insanity.

"They'll know that both of them got away and that she's still alive." I rub my face in frustration. "You know I'm right. She's almost eighteen. Who will teach her now that Sena's gone? Who will show her?" Adelram breaks eye contact at the mention of her upcoming eighteen year. The hesitation in his eyes brought to light the one thing I had been dreading since we began messing with her memory, since I began messing with her memory. "You were never planning on telling her."

He ignores my new found revelation, facing away from me. "We will follow the plan. The same plan we always do. We will get the herbs you need to make this work and then you will disappear again."

"We can't keep following that same pattern. She needs to know."

"I know what is best for my daughter," he says, beginning to show anger for the first time since we began the conversation.

"And if I refuse?"

"I will find someone who won't."

"You can't without exposing her."

Finding someone new would mean telling someone they don't trust about her existence and location. He wouldn't, even if it wounded his pride.

"According to you, she has already been exposed," he says, walking away from me. "I have been doing this for the most part of eighteen years, if you think I'm going to let the infatuation you have towards my daughter get in the way of what her mother wanted, you are gravely mistaken."

"It's not about an infatuation and it's not what Adaline wanted. It's about her safety. With practice, she can learn to control it."

The mention of his wife makes him turn back around. "Don't pretend to know what her mother wanted."

"She was only a kid when you first told her Adelram," I insist, trying to swallow the anger towards the man in front of me. "Without practice it will kill her, you saw what happened back there."

"Practicing it almost did," he pauses. "The sorcery you all possess, it's dangerous. There's no controlling that."

With that he turns back around and continues down the path we had been following, leaving me with no other resolution.

I will have to be the one to show her.