Awaken (36 page)

“
Why? Why did he need to
find me so badly? And how did he know I would become what I have
become?” I say.

“
He didn’t. No one did. We
hoped…prayed that you would take after your mother. That you would
be as strong as her. And from what I have been told it appears we
have been right. He wanted you badly because he wanted to kill you.
We needed you badly to stay alive because we want you to kill him.
Just like your mother was attempting to do...and would have done
had she not fallen herself.” She says the words calm and off hand
like it was just normal conversation, like we were just talking
about the weather.

“
Are you crazy?” Jax ain’t
said a word up ‘til now but he’s looking back and forth between me
and Lily. I ain’t sure but I think his words are directed at
her.

“
You want Tara to go up
against a powerful immortal being who’s protected night and day by
his Army and kill him? Just like that? She’s just a girl...a child.
She may be a mutie but she doesn’t have the ability to take on
someone like that! She would just get herself killed!”

Lily don’t seem to take no offense. In
fact she nods like she’s agreeing with Jax’s words.

“
You are quite right, she
doesn’t have the ability...not yet. But she will. That is why her
gra’da sent her back to me. That is why he protected her to the
end. He knew she had to stay alive.”

Her words confuse me. How did she know
so much? How did she know what gra’da had done for me that day?
Before I can ask though I hear Finn whisper “Tara!” and I look at
him cross the table. His eyes have gone all big and he is pointing
towards Lily. But it ain’t Lily he’s looking at. It’s the flower.
The bright yellow flower rising from the pot which, only a moment
ago, had been a wilted stem. Shizen! What kinda magic was
this?

Lily see’s what we are looking at and
her smile grows wider.

“
You asked me what you are
child? This is what you are. All your power comes from
within...there are no limits to it. This chi, or bio-energy as it
is truly known, is said to exist in everyone. A gift from the gods?
Maybe. But in new bloods it is immensely powerful. While others can
only use their chi within their own bodies, new bloods can use it
externally. Apply it to others or objects as we desire. Our chi
flows freely through our energy field. Some never learn how to use
it while others have enormous chi…it overflows…crying to be
released. Ours is abundant and until you learn to control it, it
can overwhelm you. Through us it has the ability to impact anything
it comes into contact with. We are able to control and
manipulate....well, life energy itself.”

“
How is that possible?” I
whisper, still not believing what I’m seeing. “It was almost dead.
I cain’t do something like that...” I trail off but then another
question pops into my head.

“
Why didn’t I know I had
this energy…I ain’t had a clue about this chi ‘til the attack on
Rivercross. Why didn’t it show ‘til then?” I say.

“
It has always been a part
of you Tara. Your hair…those white stripes, they are a result of
this massive energy trying to manifest itself. Your ability to heal
quickly, to control the sands….all bio-energy. Your chi was always
there, it was just brought to the surface by the stress and grief
you suffered. And it flows strongly through you Tara, I can sense
it. It flows through your blood...that’s where your energy is the
most powerful. When you learn to control it you can awaken new
possibilities of strength and influence. That is why he needs you
so badly. He takes new bloods and drains them of their power, their
blood and uses it for himself. Our bio-energy carries the ability
to heal this earth and make it livable again for all mankind, yet
he chooses to keep us from doing so. Instead he depletes us to make
his own life prosperous while the rest of the people live in
despair....starving...sickly. Why should such a callous, ruthless
creature continue to live? You have to be the one to finish what
your mother started Tara...it is your destiny.”

None of us speaks for a bit… Finn or
Jax or me. It’s like what we are hearing and seeing is just too
unbelievable for words to even express. I cain’t even pretend to
begin to understand what Lily has just told me…but I do know one
thing for certain. If the Prezedant is looking for me so badly then
I cain’t put the two sitting across the table from me in any more
danger. I cain’t expect them to follow me anymore. They need to get
as far away from me as possible. Maybe Jax would find it in his
heart to let Finn go with him back to Gray Valley...him and Cat.
Keep them safe. But I also cain’t expect to do what Lily is asking
me to do. It’s just craziness! How does she expect me to go up
against the Prezedant and his Army?

“
No,” I say simply, but she
looks at me like she don’t understand. “I cain’t do what you are
expecting of me. I am sorry Lily but I ain’t who you expect me to
be. I am just...Tara from Rivercross...I cain’t do the things you
think I’m capable of. I don’t know nuthin ‘bout no bio-energy,
whatever the hell that is. Like Jax said I am just another mutie
who can pull off a couple of tricks and I cain’t even control
those. The only thing I want to do right now is find my kin and go
as far away from this prezedant as we can. You’re a new blood...you
found me...there’s probably a hundred more out there somewhere, you
just gotta find the right one.”

She don’t react at all like I expected.
Instead of getting angry at my refusal she merely smiles and takes
my hand causing that tingling again.

“
I’m sorry...I have rushed
this. This is not at all the way I wanted this conversation to go.”
She sighs and gives my hand a little shake. “I know this is a lot
to take in right now child and that you are scared
but...”

“
Hah!” I say cutting her off
and pulling my hand away. “Scared? I am terrified beyond words to
have a madman breathing down my neck wanting to kill me, according
to you. I am afraid for my kin, for what they may be suffering
right now. For my friends and their safety even to just be around
me. I am angry at what he did to gra’da and to everybody I ever
loved ...they died ‘cause of me. Nah, scared ain’t the word I would
use to describe how I feel at the moment,” I say.

“
You are feeling doubt Tara,
questioning your abilities. That is normal. But we will help you
with that. We will help you learn and grow into your powers. Trust
me. You are the one. We have been waiting for you for a very long
time,” she says.

“
Who exactly are we?” I’m
getting a little frustrated now that she ain’t taking no for an
answer.

“
And what exactly is this
place? And how is it that the Prezedant ain’t come for you? It’s
not like you are exactly hiding here.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I have found
the best way to hide is to stay in plain view. This is Sanctuary, a
place of healing and recovery. We are well known for our treatments
and get paid quite handsomely for our services. The Army bring
their wounded here quite often.”

What the hell?

“
You heal the Army? The same
men you want me to defeat?” I am starting to think she is even
crazier than Orakel.

“
The best way to fight is
from the inside Tara. Over the years I have gained their trust,
their respect. They have no idea what I am. In this way I have been
able to plant many of my own people...spies if you will…into his
elite circle. It is the only way we are able to stay ahead of him
at times.”

“
Aye, well your spies didn’t
help with saving Rivercross now did it?” I say bitterly. For the
first time she drops her gaze from me.

“
No...and for that I am
truly sorry. We tried to get warning to you when we heard of his
men traveling to the sand lands but my messenger...he was too late.
He did however save you all from the raiders and the Army...at
least it was some form of redemption,” she says.

“
You mean the
mutie...Po...he’s one of yours?” I say, surprised, and she
nods.

“
He’s one of us Tara...a new
blood in his own right. We all share a connection...a blood bond if
you will. He tracked you across the sand lands, following you...
protecting you.”

It makes sense now, the feelings of
being followed...of sensing something...something I just couldn’t
put my finger on. I look up sharply.

“
We lost track of him at the
attack...is he..?” I say but Lily knows what I am about to ask and
she eases my fear.

“
He is well. They did not
capture him.” It makes me feel better. He did save our lives after
all.

“
So all the people that
rescued us last night...they work with you? What are you...some
kinda little army yourselves?” I say. She laughs at
this.

“
I guess you could call us
that. We are in our own right a rebellion I guess. We try to warn
as many people as we can when we get word he is on the move...we
provide shelter to those attempting to flee his oppression and help
them with their journey into the sand lands. We try to save the
mutants from the games.”

At my questioning look she explains and
her voice hardens with each word.

“
Oh yes, he is very fond of
his ‘mutie games’ as he calls them. He captures these poor innocent
altered souls from the outlying areas and forces them to fight each
other in arenas...just for the sheer enjoyment of watching them
fight to the death. Many of them are women...even children at
times. But it all ends with the same result. You are given the
choice to beat your opponent to the death or a wild starved
wolfling is let loose in the arena with you and you are both torn
to shreds anyway. It is quite the popular past time among his
elite.”

Jax and Finn’s faces are both mirroring
the horror I feel at hearing this. Is there nuthin this madman
ain’t capable of? It makes my fear for my kin and the two sitting
across from me grow two fold. It’s like Lily knows what she is
saying is terrifying us and the hardness in her voice drops
away.

“
So you can see why it is
crucial we stop him Tara. With each passing year his madness grows
and spreads to those around him. And it is the innocent, the
mutated, the righteous that suffer from it. Your mother knew this
and she gave her life in her attempt to stop it. Will you let that
go unpunished?”

I hold onto my flower, clutch it in my
hand tight as if expecting an answer to come from it telling me
what to do. The things Lily is telling me...they are horrible and
savage indeed ....and I admire this little band of rebels for
trying to fight back. But it ain’t my fight. There ain’t nuthin I
can do about the Prezedant or his Army. My concern...my only focus
was to free Ben and find Jane and Thomas. Find them and run, hide
far enough in the sand lands so that he would never find us.
Besides, they had that magical weapon that made me weak as a new
born babe. How was I supposed to go up against that? I look up to
find Jax’s eyes on me, silently asking what my decision would be.
Surely he would understand. The prezedant had killed his pa and his
sister...he never went looking for revenge ‘cause he knew it would
be just asking for his own death.

“
I’m sorry Lily. But I ain’t
the right person to help you with this. All I’m aiming to do is
find my kin and go...far away...somewhere safe,” I say. I tense
waiting for her response to my words but at that moment a voice
that I ain’t never expected to hear again interrupts what she is
about to say.

“
Ah, so the rebels were able
to free you successfully. That is good news indeed. It is wonderful
to see you safe and sound my friends.”

I think I would have been less
surprised to see the Prezedant himself standing there in front of
us than the half man. He was smiling that toothy grin of his,
looking not the least bit ashamed for what he did to us. I don’t
even stop to think what I’m about to do. My chair flies out from
underneath me and before I even realize it I’m on top of the little
man, the knife I had used earlier to butter my bread pressed
threateningly into his throat. His eyes pop from his head in
surprise and he is clawing at my hands, trying to get them off of
his neck.

“
Tara...stop....for
the.....gods sake...” he is gasping words at me and I can hear Lily
yelling from behind me and Finn too. But I don’t take no heed. All
I know is that Tater will pay for his betrayal! I press harder on
the knife and a drop of blood appears at the point pressing into
Taters neck.

“
Tara stop! He hasn’t
betrayed you!” I hear Lily’s words...I do. But just like every time
before my anger is so overwhelming it’s like I cain’t control what
I’m doing. I watch as the drop of blood turns into a bead and
trickles down his neck.

“
Tara you
promised!”

Finn’s plea is what stops me. I look up
into his beseeching brown eyes and I know I cain’t do it. I cain’t
go back on my promise to him. I cain’t betray his trust like Tater
had done to me. In disgust I push myself away from the little man
and immediately Lily helps him to his feet. His hand is covering
his neck but his eyes watch me warily as if afraid I will attack
him again. Lily examines the wound.

“
He’s fine...it’s just a
flesh wound,” I say coldly, indicating that he was lucky it wasn’t
much worse.