Awaken (29 page)

“
They are refugees from
Skytown are they not?” he says.

Orakel leans back in her chair and
studies Tater with shrewd eyes. She is trying not to show it but I
can tell she is taken aback by his question.

“
Aye, that they are. And
what do you know of this little man?”

He shrugs and takes a sip of his
tea.

“
I have heard...things.
Rumors about experimentation being carried out by the Prezedant.
Experiments that end badly and leave his subjects strangely
marked.” Tater says, answering Orakel.

Her loud “Hah!” rattles us all and the
fist she slams on the table makes the tin cups all wobble but they
don’t fall.

“
Marked! Is that what they
call it? Try deformed and diseased and minds so damaged that
madness is all they know! And they are the lucky ones! Marked.” She
snorts the last word with derision.

“
The Prezedant did this to
them? But why?” I cain’t even begin to understand the reasoning for
something so cruel.

“
Because he is the maddest
of them all!” Orakel says. “His whole life he has been obsessed
with hunting your kind...new bloods. Why, no one can say. Once he
has found one though they are never seen again, that we do know. He
has brought your kind to the point of extinction I am afraid. There
haven’t been any true new bloods for years now, not any possessing
Chi anyway. So what do you do if you can no longer find the object
of your burning desire? You try to make it yourself.
His...experiments as your friend refers to them as...number in the
hundreds...maybe more. Most end in death, for the fortunate ones.
Some end like the ones you see here, deformed, disfigured. But none
yet have ended in what he is so desperately searching for...or so I
have been told.”

“
Is it true what they say
about him Orakel? Is he really magical and hundreds of years
old?”

Finn, who had been real quiet up ‘til
now, speaks and his question makes her cackle again.

“
Mayhap it is boy, mayhap it
ain’t. I could say the little man over there has a boil on his arse
the size of a toadie... that don’t make it so.”

This gets a chuckle from Jax and Finn
but Tater...he ain’t finding it so funny.

I’m still too full of questions to get
any amusement out of this either.

“
Why Orakel? Why does he
need new bloods so badly?” I say. “And why seemingly wipe them out
on one hand and then try to create his own on the other? It don’t
make a lick of sense.”

She shrugs. “Like I said child, no one
knows what he does with them but I’m guessing it isn’t anything
pleasant. And he’s a madman...as crazy as they come, he don’t need
no reason.”

This coming from the queen of the
crazies....kind of funny.

“
So you give shelter to the
ones that get away?” I say.

She nods and shoos the tall woman away
who’s trying to refill her cup.

“
The ones we can help. If
they are lucky enough to escape…to find their way to us. They are
always young’uns...that much we do know. Most of the time there
isn’t anything we can do for them...they pass on quickly to meet
their gods. But sometimes, if they’re strong enough we can nurse
them back to health...physically anyways. Mentally...well we aren’t
sure if they can’t remember what has happened to them or they
choose not to remember the horrors they have endured.”

It’s starting to make sense to me
now....some of it anyways. Why he sent his men into the sand lands.
He was looking for new bloods. And he takes the young’uns on the
off chance they may be what he is looking for or at least more
fodder for his experiments. I desperately hope Tater is right and
my kin were sold off as slaves or put to work in the iron mines. It
would be a much better fate then becoming a diseased mad creature.
Just that thought alone fills me with despair but I push it down
deep. I cain’t think of that, not now, not with everything else I
have heard. What the old woman is saying...what she is telling me,
it’s overwhelming and the weight of it crushes me. But there is one
more thing I need to know.

“
What exactly is a new
blood? What exactly do you believe I am?” I whisper to her and all
my fears, my frustrations, my anxieties...it all comes out in that
one burning question. It’s like she understands my inner turmoil,
my need to know, and she leaves her chair and hobbles to my side.
Taking my hand in her wrinkled one she stares at me
fiercely.

“
You, my child, are hope. A
new blood, born of the land, chosen by the gods, able to heal and
purify and repair all that has been destroyed. Our world...what the
settlers did to it with their wars and their plagues, it was left
in ruins. Our kind nearly wiped out, unable to survive in what was
left after The Shift. But then the gods made the new bloods.
Stronger, better beings then us, able to withstand this harsh
world....thrive in it almost. You and your kind are the reason we
still exist. It is said that your Chi...the power that comes from
within, it is a part of the gods themselves. You are a symbol of
all that is pure and good and that is why the Prezedant fears and
reveres your kind so. You can heal this world and bring back the
light to everything he has worked so hard to keep in darkness, for
in that lies his power over the people.”

I stare into her feverish eyes and for
a moment she has me truly convinced I am something special. That I
could be the one to bear truth to their prophecy. Then a harsh
laugh from Jax breaks her spell.

“
That’s a load of mule shite
if I ever heard it. Tara may be a new blood, but she’s just a mutie
with a different name. A bit stronger than most, and a lot more
irritating, but a mutie all the same. She’s no earth healer and no
symbol of ‘pure goodness’ anymore then I am.”

“
And yet you follow her
willingly and without coercion.” She don’t take her eyes off of me
but her words are directed towards Jax. “That in itself speaks
volumes boy. You are a true believer....you just don’t know it
yet.”

“
I know that you are one
crazy old bast....”

“
Jax!” Tater interjects
smoothly. “I think it’s time we thanked Orakel for her hospitality
and her words of wisdom, but I think we should be on our way. Get
back above ground. I think it would make us all feel much
better.”

I can hear Jax whispering to Tater
about Orakels sanity but like her, I pay no heed. I still have
questions and this old lady standing in front of me is the only one
right now who has the answers I seek.

“
Jax is right,” I say to
her. “I’m not any healer. I have done things...things I cain’t
explain...things that terrify me to no end.... but I ain’t got no
control over ‘em. How am I supposed to do these things you people
believe I am capable of? I don’t know how to fix or heal anything.
I don’t think I’m the one you are waiting for Orakel.”

She smiles at me then and in her eyes I
see the sparkling reflection of the dozens of lit torches ‘round us
and it gives them an almost unearthly glow.

“
Don’t rush it child...it
will come. We have been awaiting the arrival of a true new blood
for many years. Some had even given up believing that your kind
would ever appear again...but yet here you are, in the flesh. The
prophecy will be fulfilled and the darkness will be defeated, of
that I have no doubt.” She stops talking and looks over at my
companions, studying them for a bit with her piercing eyes, her
head tilted to the side as if she was listening to something that
the rest of us could not hear. Finally she gives a slight nod and
leans in to whisper in my ear words that make my stomach drop. A
numbness seeps over me and a foul taste fills my mouth.

“
True followers they may be
child, but be careful with who you share your secrets ...one of the
three will betray you greatly. It will be so.”

Betrayal! That’s all I have been able
to think about....all that has occupied my mind ever since we had
left the city of iron bones and Orakel’s whispered words. Days of
watching my companions, wondering if her warning of betrayal was
true. Wondering if any of what she said had been true. Sometimes I
feel more confused than ever from what Orakel had told me. Her
explanation of what I was expected to be, of what I was expected to
do....well it left me with more questions than answers. Did she
truly believe I could do as their prophecy said? Or was it all just
a bunch of hokum like Jax believed? Talbert and Beanie seemed to
think there was truth to it. They had wanted to accompany us on our
travel to Littlepass, insisting that the mistress of light needed
their protection, much to the dismay of the others. I don’t know
who had protested the loudest, Finn, Jax or Tater, but I had
politely refused their protection and said our goodbyes. They had
been truly disappointed at my refusal but thankfully they had
heeded me. The one thing I did not need was more craziness in my
life.

I sit staring at our campfire, keeping
watch over the others as they sleep, Cat at my side. I can feel her
purring with pleasure as I scratch her ears and head, her fur still
holding the warmth of the day’s heat. I lift her paw to have a look
at her injuries. They were healing quite nicely... whatever Orakel
had given us to treat them had worked well. I had that to thank her
for at least.

I drop Cat’s paw and turn my attention
back to staring at the low campfire, my mind wandering again. If
Orakel’s calculations were correct we would be upon Littlepass in
the early morning. I ain’t quite sure how I feel about that.
Littlepass meant finding Lily and Lily meant answers, and by the
gods I had a lot of questions. But it also meant the end of the
journey...for them at least. No more Finn or Cat or Tater...or Jax.
I would have to say my goodbyes to this motley little crew of
travelers. It don’t sit well.

And did I truly want to hear those
answers Lily supposedly had for me? Was I ready to hear what she
had to say? Maybe the only question I needed to ask...the only
question that I needed to know the answer to was how do I find Ben?
That was the most important thing right now....wasn’t it? That was
the whole point of my journey...the whole point of finding Lily, to
help me get my kin back. The rest of it...of them, didn’t matter.
And if Orakel was to be believed, one of them would betray me
anyway so why should I be worrying about any of this?

More confused than ever, I lift my
flower from inside my tunic and hold its warmth to my lips. Shizen
Ben...if there was ever a time when I needed to talk to you...for
you to tell me everything was going to be okay, well, now would be
that time.

“
I will find you Ben,” I
whisper against my flower as if doing so would help my promise to
reach his ears across the distance separating us, where ever he may
be. I can feel the tears prickling at the corner of my eyes as a
great feeling of loneliness and self pity threatens to overwhelm
me.

“
You okay?” The unexpected
voice confuses me and for a split second I believe it to be Ben.
Then the shadowy figure moves into the fire light and I drop my
flower back inside my tunic and turn my head so Jax don’t see my
moment of weakness.

“
Aye,” I say gruffly as he
sits cross legged on the other side of Cat.

“
Well why you talking to
yourself then,” he says.

“
I wasn’t talking ....” I
start to protest but realize he had caught me red handed so I
change the subject, snapping at him irritably.

“
Why are you up? It ain’t
time for your watch yet.”

He shrugs, staring into the low flames
of the fire, and running his hand through Cats fur like I had been
doing. Cat arches her back with pleasure, accepting his touch.
Accepting him. When had this happened? When had Cat accepted him as
one of us?

“
Can’t sleep,” he says, not
seeming to notice my displeasure at Cat’s behavior.

“
I keep dreaming about those
crazy bastards we just left behind. Especially that tall thin
one...”

He gives an exaggerated shiver. “I’ll
have night terrors for years.”

I don’t want to but I find my lips
twitching in amusement at his words.

“
Truly? She was the one who
scared you? I kinda think she was sweet on you. I think Sky maybe
has some competition,” I say.

“
Ha ha…not funny new
blood…not at all,” he says scowling at me. “Besides, you’re one to
talk. The way Talbert was following you around like a love sick
young’un….I thought he was gonna cry when you turned down his offer
to take us to Littlepass. I think you broke his heart.”

What the…? Was Jax actually teasing me?
Did he actually have a sense of humor?

“
You wanna hear something
weirder?” I say, going with it and grinning at him. “Just before we
left he gave me that creepy skull from ‘round his neck. Said it
would bring me good luck. I was gonna throw it away but….who
knows…maybe it will.”

Jax raises his brows in
surprise.

“
You kept it?” he
says.

“
Aye…it’s in my slingbag,” I
say.

“
Well that’s just creepy as
hell. Sure wasn’t good luck for the poor animal it came from. Best
be careful about that though. Some may take that sort of thing to
be a betrothal gift. Missus Talbert….has a nice ring to it don’t
you think?”