Shadow's Dangers (35 page)

Garreth gave her a dirty look before nodding with obvious reluctance.

“None of us are actually brother and sister, by human definition. But for us, as we were born at about the same period and were raised together, it's as if we were. We don’t have the same blood in our veins, but it doesn't matter. As protectors of the community, we are all considered brothers and sisters to each other. And it was necessary that everyone believe we were around seventeen or eighteen years old in order for us to be in the same class as you and be able to protect you and get to know you, that’s why we haven't revealed the truth to you or anyone else,” explained Leighton, visibly annoyed with herself.

“Nevertheless, we consider,” Garreth gave her an eloquent look and she corrected, “well, rather we considered ourselves a real family since we all lost ours.”

Thus, even though they weren’t relatives, Leighton and Travis had also lost their loved ones. It was sad to see that we were all in the same situation. How many other people in their community or in all the other communities existing in the world had no more loved ones because of this war? The more I learned about the
Enimae
who had suffered the ravages of this war
,
the more I wanted to help to stop this massacre. But I didn't want to follow the prophecy because too many people were already dead and it was time to stop.

“Why are you here, Leighton?”

Garreth voice was as cold as that of my sister a few minutes ago. He had definitely not liked the revelation she had made to me by mistake.

“After what happened last night, I wanted to make sure Deliah was fine,” she replied seriously before looking at him. “I also wanted to know how you were doing. Darnell told me about Aidan.”

It took me a moment to realize she spoke of Garreth’s brother who had just died. I looked at him, but his face was again impenetrable.

“I’m fine and Deliah, too. No need to worry.”

Not fooled a bit, Leighton sighed.

“Unfortunately, it won't last.”

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“Since Travis joined the insurgents, the community is shaken. He knows too much and nobody likes it because it involves making changes faster, so that we don't have more dead on our side. We must quickly find Travis for trial in order for him to reveal to us what he said to the insurgents. If we fail to find him soon, he might not be the one to pay for what he did.”

“You mean...” Garreth began, his face paled imperceptibly before becoming a mask of composure when he saw me looking.

He didn't go further, but Leighton guessed what he meant.

“Because you have already saved him from judgment once and as you vouched for him, we need to find him to avoid losses caused by possible revelations he could make to the insurgents.”

Leighton paused and a sad expression crossed her face. I knew nothing good was coming.

“If we can't find him before something happens to our community, they will consider you an accomplice to his crimes.”

16

Myths and Legends

Nose in my school books, I tried to focus on my homework and my revisions. For several days, it was my ritual. I tried to forget my worries by working while Garreth and Leighton looked for Travis. They were so caught up in their quest that I didn't see Garreth for days and I only saw Leighton in class because it was important that someone watched over me when I wasn't safe in my house--a house that I wasn't allowed to leave except for going to school. Garreth missed me but more than anything, I was worried for him. He had just learned about the death of his brother, the very man who had killed their parents and now his life was at stake. I didn't know how he dealt with all this and worst of all, I didn't know if in a few days, he would still be alive. Since Leighton had said these fateful words, two weeks ago, they were obsessing me. I was hoping they would get their hands on Travis or Garreth would otherwise be designated as his accomplice and suffer a cruel death, considering what he had told me about the sentences imposed by
Enimae.
I shuddered uncomfortably at the thought and forced myself to concentrate again on the text before my eyes. Better studying rather than letting my mind wander over the different kinds of death Garreth could suffer.

The notion of time escaped me and I kept working until the beep signaling the arrival of a text rang in my room. I got up and went to take my cell. It was a message from Leighton. “I'll be there in five minutes.” It was one of her new habits: to come by each night to inform me of the results of their search. She didn't inform me on the progress when I saw her at school because usually Hayden, Elisha and others were around us.

Exactly five minutes later, Leighton opened the door to my room. I didn't know how she unlocked the door of the entrance, but I didn't care. She had the gift to go unnoticed by Annabelle and that’s all I had to know about it.

“Hi,” she said, closing the door of my bedroom.

“Hi. What is the news today?”

She sighed pointedly.

“Nothing, like all the other days. Travis should have left an energy track somewhere in the local area...but nothing. It's as if he was never around. Yet, my instinct tells me he's close. I don't understand how he does it...”

“With his power?” I suggested.

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “His gift leaves a trace like mine. There is another explanation but I don't see how it would be possible because there is only one
Enimae
able to clear energy traces and make someone undetectable. But he would never help an insurgent.”

Garreth had told me something similar but he said very little about this man. However, he was also convinced he would never support the wrong people.

“How is Garreth doing?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

“He is as well as one can be when the threat of imminent death hangs over you.”

I winced, feeling stupid for asking when the answer was obvious. I wanted to say that I understood and I rarely felt in danger because I knew they were watching over me.

“Sorry. I shouldn't have asked you but since I didn't have any sign from him...”

“I know,” she said gloomily. “My brother sometimes behaves like a heartless idiot, even if from his point of view, it's quite the opposite.”

My gaze was questioning. She was never this harsh when it came to her brother, but now she was especially hard on him.

“According to his reasoning, it's best that you stay away from him. He doesn't know what the future holds, so he prefers to stay away from you and have you do the same without a word from him. That way, maybe you'll blame him for it and you'll even come to hate him.”

When I took in the meaning of her words, I was horrified.

“You mean...”

“Yes,” she said when she realized that I couldn't finish my sentence. “He thinks that perhaps your feelings will become less strong for him and in the event of his death, it would be easier for you to cope with it. While I can understand his desperate need to spare you, what he does is ultimately futile and stupid, because whatever he thinks, what you feel for him won't decrease because of his behavior, even if he hopes more than anything that it will be for your own good...”

She paused before shaking her head, as if trying to chase away some unwanted thoughts. She approached me and placed her hands on my shoulders. She sealed her gaze to mine and I saw she feared for Garreth’s future as much as I did, although she tried to be strong in order to help me and give me hope.

“I assure you that nothing will happen, Deliah. I don't plan on letting him pay for the mistakes of Travis.”

I nodded hard, my throat tight. Leighton didn't say anything more and I was unable to reply, my mind haunted with even more terrible thoughts than before. One of them being that if Garreth was indeed convicted of the crimes of Travis, I wouldn't even be able to say goodbye to him. It was stupid to think he'd do any good by burning bridges, surely believing my mourning would be easier if I blamed or hated him because of it. His plan was doomed to failure, because whatever he did, his death would plunge me into a hell of suffering.

“I brought you something,” Leighton told me while I thought the silence would drag on until her departure.

She pulled something out of her jacket and handed it to me. I picked it up and examined it carefully. It was a book, the size of a paperback with a thick cover made of black metal. It looked antique with symbols of all colors finely engraved on it, forming a kind of arabesque of runes and signs that might be the
Enimae
alphabet
.
I remembered seeing something similar on Garreth's blades when he came to save me in the meadow. Suddenly I saw the colors of the runes changing, but I immediately doubted it because the next moment everything was just like before. The book was a wonder to see.

“Uh...thank you. What is it?” I asked her after a few seconds, a bit lost.

“The
Megshaae.
”

I raised an eyebrow, inciting her to explain because the word didn't tell me anything.

“This is the name for it. Open it; you will understand what it means.”

Curious, I did what she said and opened a random page. I remained speechless in front of what I had before my eyes. It was a sublime and very realistic drawing covering two pages. At first, I thought the image was of a centaur, before noticing that his body was too broad and legs too short to be that of a horse. Perhaps a minotaur, but I recalled a minotaur had a bull's head and a human body and not the contrary as this was the case. Whatever the nature of the beast, he was in the middle of the forest, surrounded by men armed with pitchforks, torches and sticks.

There was still the famous colored letters, but they were very small this time, appearing on the outer edges of both pages. It was probably the caption for the image, although it was strange that it was placed all around in a writing so small. Even if I couldn't decipher the words, it wasn't difficult to understand the scene taking place between the panicked animal and the angry humans who surrounded him. They certainly wanted to kill him.

I turned the page to see the rest of the story. I frowned when, on the next page, I found another picture, this time representing something that I had trouble identifying. It looked like some kind of gigantic black snake with scales making me think of those of a dragon with three kinds of fins, one on his head, one on his right and the last one on his left. All three went to his head and extended to the middle of his body. These fins might be as sharp as razor blades because in the drawing, the left was making a deep cut into the flesh of another animal, a kind of imposing red jackal-headed beast with an elongated face and fangs of inordinate length. Apart from the two animals, there was only sand and blood everywhere in the sketch. Like the other representation, tiny colored runes framed the outer edge of both pages. I closed the book abruptly. I knew nothing of it, but it certainly wasn't full of happy tales. I didn't want to see pages and pages of bloodshed. I had enough in my life like that.

“I don't understand...What is this book? Why do the drawings have no relation to each other? I mean, what is the relationship between a centaur and a...”

“A bucentaure,” she interrupted me and I gave her a confused look. “The first image you watched was a beast with the head of a man and the body of a bull. That's a bucentaure.”

“Okay, a bucentaure. What's the relationship between the bucentaure and other creatures that don't even exist in the real world?”

I thought about it for two seconds and rectified: “Well...creatures that don't exist in the human world, I should say.”

Leighton moved to the edge of my bed and motioned for me to do the same. I did. She took the book from me and opened it to another random page. I took a look and saw that the drawing was of a man in a boat at sea. A woman was in the water and clung to the boat as if not to end up drowning. However, the scenario was unlikely because of the two, it was the man who seemed more frightened while the woman was staring at him with an expression filled with tenderness, compassion and concern. I noticed the letters of different colors were there, once again bordering the outer edges of the pages. Unlike the two previous sketches I had seen, no animal was represented this time. In fact, the picture was almost trivial compared to the previous, if not the stroke always accurate and the skill with which the painter had managed to recreate the feelings of the protagonists.

“I don't get it,” I repeated again, looking at Leighton. “Why did you bring me this book?”

It took her some time, but she answered me.

“I know Garreth told you about the prophecy and your role in our war. I'm sure you're still lost about this, and perhaps you don't believe that you are the chosen one. But you are, I am sure of it. And to help you, I thought you'd appreciate to discover this book.”

The uncontrollable anxiety that overwhelmed me every time the prophecy was mentioned won me over again.

“How could some drawings help me to accept becoming a killer?” I inquired with a certain dryness in my voice.

She sighed and her light blue eyes caught mine.

“I know Garreth told you that you must kill the
Grakmae
...”

“The what?” I asked, frowning.

“
Grakmae
. This is the word in
Enimazekrdae
we call rebels, insurgents or whatever term you use for these traitors.” She shook her head, looking disgusted and angry just thinking about them before regaining her comely expression. “Anyway, you're supposed to kill them, but personally, I think there must be an alternative. We aren't what you would call peaceful people, but we don't use excessive violence. I am convinced that if the Everything have...”

“The Everything?” I cut her off, utterly lost. “What do you mean?”

She gave me an eloquent look as if to say it was obvious. Suspicion finally took place on her face. “Garreth didn't mention that?” She stared at me for a few seconds before raising her eyes to heaven. “Obviously not. The Everything is the human translation for
Kegramae.
Tell me, he has already told you what the
Kegramae
is?”