The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) (15 page)

            “You could stay here
forever, you know. But, I thought there was something you needed to do back in
your world,” Lawrence calls to me from the cliffs above.

            I call back, “I was just
remembering how I used to go to the lake with my sister. I wish she could have
seen a place like this. She would have loved to paint it.”

            “Then paint it in your
memory and tell her about it in the next life. You can tell her of your
struggles among this peaceful background as I mold you into a warrior.”

            “We will train here then?”
I ask, suddenly excited. The land itself seems to be feeding me power.

            “If that is your wish,
then yes. But now, we have to go back and prepare for the ceremony,” Lawrence
tells me, pointing me to a spot where I can climb out.

            I reach him with
surprising ease and then he pulls me upright. Lawrence gives me a look of pure
pride and I smile back at him with the satisfaction of knowing that he thinks
there is a potential inside of me to be a great warrior. Then, I also
understand that he will absolutely push me to my breaking point in order to
make me reach a level that is satisfactory to him. I’m in for a hell of a ride.

            Lawrence pats me on my
back. “Come. We will run back to the village. You will try to keep up,” he
orders.

            “Fine,” I say, knowing
this is going to be interesting. He bolts in front of me before I even have a
chance to gather myself. I can already tell that he’s going to be a bit of a
show-off.

            It is interesting alright.
What I didn’t know, on top of me not having any kind of footwear, is that I’d
be zig zagging through trees, running up hills, jumping across divides, and
much more. I get lost once or twice when I can’t keep up, but Lawrence comes
back for me, encouraging me, or rather, pissing me off by laughing at me until
I try harder, run faster and finally make it back to the village.

            We traveled one hell of a
distance in a short amount of time. My muscles feel amazing as if they are a
brand new model. I begin to understand my strength and my speed, when to push
it, when to keep it in check. My mind is quicker as if all my synapses have
begun to fire; more of my brain is being used. This feels like the state I was
meant to be in all along. The power is swirling through me as if it is finally
free from a prison, long forgotten with no hope to ever be unbound. There are
no longer any invisible chains holding me back. Only forward. One step at a
time.

◊◊◊

            “Let us prepare,” Diana
states as she appears from the entrance of her enormous home. I look around at
all the homes in the village. They are all grand in some way, from the gold
that trims them to the sheer size. Each one is built in a design from a
different era, probably a time that each liked best. I see villa styles, Roman
designs, temple-looking homes, and even some that look like small castles. I
guess when you have nothing but time to acquire wealth, this is what you get.
There is no excess dirt on the paved road, hardly any commotion, and everything
seems to be in its place. This land has had a long run of peace.

            “Kaede! Take her to her
chamber. We will being at dusk,” Diana orders.

            I look around for this
Kaede until I see a girl who looks no older than ten peek around the corner of
the doorway. It creeps me out that in reality she’s probably over 900 years
old. She bows to Diana and then me. I do the same, not knowing the proper
custom for greetings. Diana then looks towards me. “Go now child. There is much
anticipation over you.”

            I nod and follow Kaede
until I reach the room I woke up in. She follows me inside and points me to the
bed where there is an elegant red robe with intricate black flame patterns
covering it. There is also a black sports bra type thing and some type of
spandex looking shorts. I pick each item of clothing up off of the bed and
examine them. The quality is good and the material is breathable. Although I’m
not digging the idea of these spandex shorts, I know that they serve a purpose.

            Finally, Kaede speaks and
I’m aware that I’m getting more used to the surround sound of their voices.
Hers is more like a soft wind chime than the powerful melody of Diana or deep
drum of Lawrence. “You must purify yourself first by bathing in our special
herbs and salts. When you are done, you will dress and I will then escort you
to the receiving chamber. When you arrive there, you will light all three
candles and wait to be called upon. The rest of the ceremony will be easy to
follow.”

            “Who will all be in
attendance for this?” I ask as she walks me to the pre-made bath.

            “The ceremony itself will
consist of our twelve elders and maybe a few others. When the celebration begins,
the numbers will be much more. It has been a couple hundred years since the
last ceremony and I’m sure all are excited to see what makes you so special.”

            Great, so I will basically
be put on display for the entire world to see. How fun.

            “Where will Selene be?” I
ask her.

            “Your witch will be
allowed entry into the chamber but I do not know if you will be allowed to
converse with her or not,” Kaede further explains.

            I become slightly
irritated. I will be extremely excited when I can do things on my own terms,
especially seeing my girlfriend.

            “Do not get upset young
warrior. You must understand that you now have responsibilities that must be
taken care of before pleasure. Is that not why you are here?”

            I turn to face Kaede who
is looking at me with a serious look on her face. I frown. “Did you just read
my mind?”

            “I cannot simply pull any
thought from your consciousness; however, I am attuned to heightened emotions.
My empathy can weaken the barriers of your mind and allow me to glimpse those
deliberations,” Kaede explains matter of factly.

            My temper begins to flare
at the violation as I recall how Diana had pulled thoughts from my mind, but I
quickly put myself back into check for fear of being exposed once again. I will
have to remember to be careful about what I’m projecting around these Immortals
because if they discover something they decide they didn’t like about me, I’ll
be in no position to do anything about it.

            “That is an interesting
gift Kaede, thank you for sharing that with me,” I tell her as sincerely as
possible.

            “I will take my leave now.
When you are ready, all you have to do is call. I will hear you.” She bows once
more and then disappears from the room leaving me standing alone and not
entirely trusting of these Immortals.

            For now though, I’d have
to just stay on guard and learn all I need from them.

            I hope I purified myself
correctly by soaking, then submerging myself in the bath for a while. I don’t
feel any different and it isn’t like it’s something that I do on a regular basis.
After putting on the under clothing, I drape myself in the robe. It feels soft
and silky against my skin and for a second I feel as though I’m back at home in
my robe getting ready to watch movies in my bed. My heart aches and I wonder if
I will ever not feel the big gaping hole in my soul from the loss.

            After a couple minutes, I
call Kaede who appears just outside of the doorway. She motions for me to
follow and I fall in step behind her as we travel through the halls, courtyard,
the center of the village, and into a small arena. The sounds at night are much
more alive than during the day or maybe it’s because I am focusing harder this
time. I can hear crickets chirping see lightning bugs dancing in the distance.
The sound of the lake gently caressing the shore calms my nerves and the
laughter of people preparing for my celebration in the distance makes me feel
welcomed here.

             Kaede points me to a door
which must be the receiving room and I step through. The room is musky and dank
and has the feel of a holding cell. I look around and find three different
sized candles on a small round table. For a couple seconds I look around for
something to light the candles with, but I quickly realize there is nothing.
They must have forgotten the matches or something when they were prepping for
the ceremony.

            Then suddenly, it hits me
as if I’ve had the knowledge the whole time. Reflexively, I walk to the first
candle and state. “Life.” It flickers to life right before my eyes and
amazement washes over my entire being. I step to the second candle and say,
“Death.” Again, it begins to burn brightly. At the third candle, I smile, and
think of my un-making, how I felt a new me had arisen. I begin to understand
the cycle of the life of an Immortal and how it ties in to the test that I had
endured. Loudly, I say, “Rebirth.” The third candle shines brightest of all.

Chapter Thirteen

           
A
s I turn away from the three candles, attempting to still
understand the knowledge that I was somehow gifted with, my mark begins to
glow. I place my hand over it and feel the warmth radiating from it. Beneath
it, I can feel my heart pounding excitedly for what’s coming next. The wall in
front of me slides away and I am facing the center of the arena, with twelve
glowing faces looking down at me in a c-shape, from their seats above. I become
still as the force of their power hits me, threatening to knock me over. I can
tell that it is a purposeful thing and I know that I am still being tested. As
I look around, I see Selene to my right, standing in anticipation.

            “Rayne Whitmore. You have
proven that you are indeed worthy of the promise we made to your kind many
millennia ago. You may step forward young warrior,” a voice prompts.

            I step into the center of
the floor and wait.

            “You were able to reach
inside yourself when death and defeat were claiming you as their own. You found
you power, a power that was embedded deep within you, a power that was allowed
to stir due to your mark, and that was broken free of its chains by your will.
This is not something to take lightly. Power can create chaos and destruction
in one’s life if it is not cultivated in the correct way.”

            I nod and bow. I know full
well the price that power could have on one’s life.

            “Now, show us what you can
do,” another one of the Immortals says, standing up and clapping his hands as
if calling on something.

            Selene walks up to me and
kisses me on the cheek before taking off my robe. “We have a gift for you,”
Selene whispers to me, a fire in her beautiful eyes and I look around, wondering
what it could possibly be.

            I feel its presence before
I see it. My mouth becomes dry and I have to lick my lips a few times. Lawrence
appears with a longsword and hands it to me. I look him square in the eye, then
he kisses me on the forehead.

            “Destroy it. You have a
fighter’s instinct, just listen to your gut.”

            My heart rate quickens. I
didn’t think that revenge would come this soon or easily. I’m almost
disappointed at that. Two more people, cohorts I’m assuming since they are not
immortals, bring in the Devourer, chained and fighting back, its mouths
snapping every which way. Its footsteps pound loudly against the stone floor
and I clutch my sword tighter. I stare at its dirty, massive body that seems to
be covered in years of grime and filth. I didn’t notice that before, but now,
I’m more aware of the smallest features this monster possesses. I watch its
face turn towards me, saliva dripping down its fangs, two slits on its face
sniffing the air. I hope it remembers me.

            “Release it,” demands
Diana. The cohorts quickly unchain it and I steal one more glance at Selene
before motioning the Demon to come and fight me, sword clutched in both hands,
my stance low as I wait to strike like a viper waiting for its chance.

            This time it’s different. This
time, the Devourer knows that it’s not the predator and that it’s fighting for
its survival. The pure animalistic instinct kicks in as it lets out a
thunderous roar that shakes the walls of the arena and comes barreling towards
me with the size and speed of a small truck.

            I think about my father’s
martial arts lessons and root myself firmly into my stance. As the Devourer
gets closer, swinging its massive arms towards my face, I sidestep with a speed
that matches its own and throw it off balance. The Demon crashes into a wall
with pieces crumbling all around it. With fury, it grabs a large stone that
broke off the wall on impact and hurls it towards me with such speed that I
barely have time to raise my sword and react.

            I swing fiercely and bat
it away, but in no time, the Devourer closes the distance and lands a blow that
has me skidding across the floor like a grounder in major league baseball.
Finally, my back finds the wall and the wind is knocked out of me followed by
stars in front of my eyes.

            Then, I’m being slid up
the wall by my neck and I barely get my hands up in time to block the blow that
is directed at my face. I find enough leverage to push off of the wall to knock
the Demon down and roll free of its grasp. It’s clear to me that waiting for it
to attack is not going to get me anywhere except for pummeled, so I go on the
offense, trusting that my speed is superior to its own. I sprint toward the
Devourer, sword raised, but at the last second switch my grip to land a slice
right in the midsection of the monster.