Chapter Twenty Two
Remnants of Soul
Victoria had never been in water. Well, aside from the washtub and the stream that ran along the outside of the village. The ocean was very different from a small stream that you can stand over with one foot on either side. The ocean swallowed you up. It tried to pull you to its depths with its enchanting song of the sea. She was not sure how long she could hold her breath.
Spending most of her time in the air, she had become accustom to the changes in pressure and the shortness of breath that would happen occasionally. That was much easier than feeling the weight of the water press in on her. Her body felt like the air inside her was ready to burst out. Flailing as she was trying to reach the surface, her heart raced with fear.
She was failing miserably. With every awkward stroke, she felt as though she were sinking further. A hand reached out for hers and as soon as it touched her, she knew it was Alex. Peace washed over her and knew that she would be okay. Alex helped her up and when they broke the surface of the water Victoria gave a great yelp.
Air had never felt so good in her lungs. She wrapped her arms around Alex and they sunk back under the water for a moment and surfaced again. Alex laughed and shook her head as they headed toward the shore. It was slow going, but Victoria felt like she was getting the hang of swimming.
At least she could keep her head above water on her own, that had to count for something. They crawled on to the sandy beach and sat for a moment. Victoria leaned back on to her forearms with her feet stretched out in front of her.
“Well, look at you.” She said to Alex. “Dry as a plant in the dessert.”
Alex just giggled a little and said, “Just a little perk of having a water element for power.”
She gave Victoria a wink.
Victoria’s stomach did a few flips.
Motioning to her wet clothes she said, “Mind helping a girl out?”
“Sure.” Alex said with a smile.
Victoria’s breath hitched a little when Alex leaned in closer. She smelled like wind, salt, and something sensual, like hundreds of fluttering untamed lilies. It was intoxicating. She thought she could sit there all day and just languish in that smell. Their eyes met and slowly Alex touched Victoria’s lips with her own.
It was not hurried. There was passion just under the surface, buried deep, waiting for excavation like some lost ancient treasure. Victoria kissed her back, running her hands through Alex’s silky black mane. She had wanted to do that since the first time she saw her. Their kiss deepened.
Alex ran her fingers down Victoria’s arm, they were cold, and left a chilly trail of bumps. She didn’t mind though, it was invigorating to feel the cold from her fingers against the heat of her skin. She wanted more of her, but too soon, Alex pulled away.
Giving her a flash of a smile Alex said, “Any more complaints?”
Victoria took a moment to examine herself. She was dry. Every bit of her, even her satchel that somehow managed to stay around her, was dry.
“Nice work. Thank you.” She said.
“Maybe we should look for the others.” Alex suggested.
“I think you are probably right.” Victoria said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before jumping up and brushing the sand off herself.
It took them a while to find the basket. They feel into the ocean long before the others crashed on the shore. They found the basket, but nothing else. Victoria noticed some blood on a bolder nearby, but nothing that would indicate a struggle.
Observing some woods not far from where they were she looked at Alex and said, “I think they went into the woods, probably to make camp, it’s getting pretty dark.”
Alex agreed and they headed for the woods. Just before they reached the beginning of the tree line, she heard a scream. It was unlike anything she had heard before. It was scary and she did not scare often.
“What the hell was that?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know, but we have to find them. What if they are in danger?” Victoria replied.
Alex nodded and took her hand, “Let’s go.”
Everything in her wanted to run the other way. Those screams were not natural and she definitely did not want to meet whomever or whatever was making them. The strange scream seemed to be getting farther away. Then she heard one that was a lot closer, only it was most certainly one of the other girls. It did not take them long to find the campsite the others were using. Oddly, water soaked the ground, someone intentionally put out the fire.
“What now?” Victoria asked.
Alex threw her hands up, unsure.
“They can’t have gotten far, we’ll find them.” Victoria said, more to herself than to Alex.
They headed deeper into the woods. Leaves littered the ground and it was nearly impossible to walk quietly. Anyone would have been able to hear them coming.
“Look at this.” Alex pointed to the ground.
There was a trail of drag marks through the leaves and dirt. Someone had dragged a body through that area, and recently. Following the trail was difficult, as their only light was the moon. Even that did not help much under the trees. Finally, they stumbled into a small clearing.
There was a tiny hut, that shown a dim glow through its one window. Victoria motioned for Alex to stay where she was, then crept closer to the hut. Trappings hung just outside the door, over a low hanging tree limb. She nearly screamed when she stepped onto a pile of bones under the window. Gathering her wits, she took a deep breath and peeked in.
A large man sat a table with his back to her. His clothes appeared dirty and tattered. She was not able to see much of the room, but she thought she could make out the shape of a person on a cot. The sound of snapping branches made her jump. Alerted to the sound, the man turned toward the window. Victoria ducked quickly, hoping he did not see her.
Glancing over at Alex, she gave her a questioning look. Alex shook her head and then pointed across the clearing. Someone was stumbling out of the woods. It was Ryhan. Victoria waved at her to get down, but it was too late. The man marched out the door and straight for her.
“Stop!” Victoria yelled.
Alex ran out of her hiding spot and stood next to Victoria. The man stopped moving toward Ryhan and turned towards them. His long beard matted with food and grime, fell down to the middle of his chest and he looked as though the concept of a bath was foreign to him. She wanted to run, but she knew she needed to get inside his hut. Trying as hard as she could to use their connection she willed Ryhan to go into the hut.
Instead, Ryhan screamed and ran straight at the man, jumping on his back. Ryhan’s eyes were glowing with rage, a brilliant deep blue with bright red flecks burning like flames.
“Ryhan no!” Victoria screamed, but it was too late.
Ryhan burst into flames while she still had a hold of the man.
He cried out in agony.
Victoria took Alex’s hand and concentrated, Victoria trying to draw all the air out of the flame and Alex flooding them with water. Ryhan’s anger was too strong. Her power blazed through everything they threw at her. Doing the only other thing she could think of, Victoria began to pull all the air from Ryhan’s lungs. Several moments later, the fire died out and Ryhan looked at Victoria with pain in her eyes.
Victoria released her. Ryhan took deep ragged breaths. The man moaned. She could not believe that he was still alive. Half his face was charred and oozing burns covered his chest and arms.
“Ryhan what have you done?” Alex shouted at her.
“Seriously? What have I done? He was going to kill us, just like he did Lillian! I saw him drag her off into the woods and followed him here. You should be thanking me.” Ryhan screamed back at her.
Victoria could see the rage building in Ryhan’s eyes again, “Lillian’s not dead. She’s inside.”
They both turned and looked at her, “At least I think she is. There is someone knocked out in there.”
The three of them ran inside quickly. Evangeline w
as sitting on the edge of the cot looking as if she were about to be sick.
“Evangeline, I’m so glad you are okay.” Alex said and embraced her.
Evangeline returned her affection with minimal effort.
“What’s wrong?” Ryhan asked.
“I…I can feel...” Evangeline gasped and then stuck her head out the window and vomited.
“I can feel him, his pain. It excruciating.”
“I’m going to kill him.” Ryhan said angrily.
Evangeline stopped her, “No, Ryhan, it’s not what you think.”
Victoria watched as Evangeline stood and walked outside. She knelt down next to the man and wept.
“I’m too weak.” Evangeline said.
Wiping her tears from her face, she began to rub them on his wounds. Her sobbing continued for ages and every now and then, she would wipe her tears and rub them onto the man. Victoria had no idea what Evangeline was doing, but she seemed so distraught that she did not want to disturb her. After a while, the man stopped moaning and began to lie still.
Victoria was sure that he had finally died, when he sat up violently and screamed. She ran towards Evangeline, but she motioned for her to stop, so she did. He looked around and then at Evangeline. His wounds were gone, only faint pink marks and burned clothing left evidence of what had took place. She had to look twice and thought for sure the night was playing tricks on her.
Sure enough, he was sitting there, dazed, unsure of what had happened to him. The man began to sob and Evangeline wrapped her arms around him and let him weep. They eventually convinced him to get up and move inside. Alex lit a small lamp while Ryhan sat in silence in the corner. Victoria did not know what was going on with her, but at that moment, Ryhan looked to be in a place where no one could reach her.
Evangeline gave the man a drink of water. He spilt a little, and dribbled down his chin. He looked much different with his beard burned away. Almost familiar. Evangeline boiled water and began to clean the man with hot rags, soothing him and asking questions.
“What is your name?”
He looked at her, opening his mouth and closing it again before finally uttering, “Ayden.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him. He did bare some resemblance to the king.
“Have you lived here long Ayden?” Evangeline asked softly, ignoring the obvious.
He shook his head, “I move from time to time. Never staying in one place too long. But I keep to these woods.”
“What horrors do these woods hold?” Evangeline asked.
“The Wendigo.” He said with a shudder.
Evangeline proceeded carefully, “I’ve never heard of the Wendigo before. Did they take Lillian?”
Victoria admired her strength. Evangeline knew exactly how to keep him calm and still get information out of him.
“Yes.” He said sadly. “I tried to help her, but she fought me and they took her.”
“How do we get her back?” Ryhan asked angrily.
Ayden leaned out from the shadow and into the light, His eyes were remarkable, a pale violet that reflected the light intensely.
He said, “You don’t.”
At that moment, the room went into chaos. Ryhan tried attacking Ayden again. Alex screamed at Ryhan. Evangeline threw herself between him and the others while also asking him to stay calm and seated. Their voices so loud and grating, she could hardly think.
Victoria covered her ears and yelled, “Stop!”
A huge gust of wind forced the door open and blew through the hut. It did what she intended. Everyone quieted and sat back down.
“Now, why don’t we give the man a chance to explain what these Wendigo creatures are?” Victoria demanded.
They all sat silently waiting for Ayden to speak.
Eyeing them all curiously he began, “The Wendigo are nothing to trifle with. You are in the forest of Bastrioph, where no one dares to venture and it is because of those creatures. They are cannibals. They eat the flesh to become more like gods. Vicious does not even begin to describe them. They are savage with no regard for life.
“Sometimes you will find them living in small groups, but they fight and eat each other, there is no allegiance. Even when they mate and have children, the children rarely make it into adulthood because their parents eat them. They are clever, but also feral. I have never heard them communicate through speech, only grunts and gestures, and of course, the screeches you heard before. Like I said, you don’t get her back. She has probably already become dinner.”
Victoria had a hard time wrapping her mind around creatures like those that he was describing. She could not just sit there and dismiss Lillian’s death as if she was nothing the way Ayden was.
“No. We will find her. We need to know for sure whether they have done something to her. If you want to sit here in your shack and be the coward that you obviously are, then be my guest. Or you could put your clearly extensive knowledge of these beasts to good use and help us.” She said.
Ayden looked at her amused.
Ryhan scoffed, “He won’t help us.” Ryhan got closer to him and continued, “We know who you are, prince Ayden. You let everyone believe you were dead, and now we find you hiding in this grovel amongst savages. For what? Look at you. You’re pathetic!”
Ryhan threw her hands up and yelled at everyone and no one, “This is the prince of light that is supposed to rally the troops and take back the throne? It is ridiculous. He won’t even fight for one girl.”
Ayden stood up angrily and growled, “Fine, it’s your death wish.”
Victoria was not sure if she wanted to scold or applaud Ryhan. It did not matter, what she had said worked. He had thrust what few weapons he had into their hands and marched out of the hut. She held an axe with a long handle between her hands, it felt heavy and awkward, but hopefully it would do some damage if needed.
They followed him silently through the thick woods until they reached another clearing. The stench of rotting flesh wafted through the air. Victoria gaged and tried to hold her breath. Blood soaked dirt softened their footsteps, but left clearly visible tracks in their place. Bones of various sizes littered the ground in small piles. Raccoons, deer, and even birds lay half-eaten and decomposing on the ground. It was clear that the Wendigo did not discriminate and would eat whatever creature they could find.
Ayden placed his finger over his lips and pointed to the far side of the field. A group of six Wendigo was huddled together, pounding their fists into the ground and growling angrily at something in front of them. Heaving a sigh of relief, Victoria smiled at the others and pointed out what she saw. Lillian had shaped the earth, and made herself a cage of rock.
They could not get to her, but neither could the Wendigo. One of the savages sniffed the wind and turned toward her suddenly. Victoria did not even have time to react before he was on top of her. She thrust the handle of the axe between them and tried to shove him off. Snarling at her, he gnashed his sharp pointy stubs of teeth. His eyes were blood red and his strength was incredible.
Trying again to force him off, he pushed back hard and lunged at her face. Something sailed through the air towards them. It was not until the knife made a sickening thunk sound, that she realized Ayden threw it. The blade lodged solidly into the creatures ear and hot blood dripped down onto her face. Thrusting the creature off her, she stood shot Ayden an appreciative glance and waited for another to attack. The other Wendigo were circling them, about to charge.
They could not stand there and deliberate, Victoria took Ryhan’s hand, and the others joined. Just as the creatures leapt to attack, Victoria sent a huge force of wind to knock them back. They fell to the ground confused. Taking advantage of the few seconds of reprieve Ryhan created a massive fireball. Angrily the wendigo recovered quickly and ran at them. Evangeline used her power to whip the fireball around, surrounding them in a circular motion. Victoria created a whorl wind to keep the momentum going.
The fireball g
rew in width and height and they were safe, enclosed in a swirling wall of fire. A brave wendigo attempted to reach through the flames and screeched out in pain as he pulled his charred hand back and clutched it to his chest. In that moment, Lillian burst from her rock haven. The Wendigo were confused, but followed their instincts and ran toward the available meal and away from the wall of fire.
Lillian closed her eyes and raised her hands slightly. Slowly moving them farther apart, the ground vibrated violently. Victoria struggled to keep her balance as the ground shook aggressively beneath her. Small cracks formed in the ground and she watched in astonishment, as they grew larger until the earth crumbed open. The wendigo focused on the savory morsel in front of them, noticed too late. Just as they were about to reach her, they fell into the opening with loud screeching noises. One of the creatures managed to grab hold to the side of the hole and pulled itself up and over the edge. Lillian reacted quickly and kicked the creature hard. It lost its grip and frantically searched for something to grasp.
Finding nothing, a look of success crossed its face when it latched onto Lillian’s leg and knocked her hard onto the ground.
“No!” Someone shouted, though Victoria was not sure who had broken the silence of the intense scene she was witnessing.
Dragging her down with it, Lillian kicked at its face several times before it released her. Scrambling away from the edge her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Victoria could not tell how deep the cavern went, but it was apparently enough to keep anyone from crawling back out. Lillian stood with her arms out wide and her eyes closed. Bringing her hands together slowly, she closed the earth and trapped the wendigo inside.
Evangeline, Ryhan, and Victoria released the fiery whirlwind and a small breeze swept over them. They stood in silence, unsure of what to make of the event, before finally running to embrace Lillian. Reuniting with her increased the power of their connection and Victoria felt stronger. Ayden stared at them, his jaw hanging open slightly.
He was wary, but approached them anyway, “What the hell did I just witness?”
Victoria laughed and said, “Don’t you know? We are the daughters of the sapphire star! And apparently we are going to help you get your throne back!”