DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) (14 page)

-28-

P
hoebe tried to grab her as she ran by, but Sollara didn’t stop. She kept running until she had made it to her room. She dove face first onto her bed just as the tears flooded her eyes.

Time seemed to stand still; all she could do was concentrate on her confused and bruised heart. The door creaked open, and Sollara could hear the concern-filled words of Hannah.

“How’re you doing?” When she got no response from Sollara, she continued. “I could hear your heart beat accelerate and then drop, so I came looking for you.” She made her way over to Sollara and sat down next to her on the bed.

“You could hear my heart beat?” Sollara asked as she rolled over to face her friend. Her curiosity helped her to temporarily forget Kai.

“We all can. Super power hearing comes with the whole Spawn of Darkness thing,” she explained as she tapped her ear and smiled down at Sollara.

“I guess that makes sense. It probably helps you when you are searching for food. Did you hear I lit myself on fire?” Sollara sniffled and wiped her nose before propping herself up.

“Yeah I heard; wish I could do something like that!” she giggled. It was her best attempt at trying to cheer Sollara up. And it almost worked, but Sollara was not quite ready to completely let go of her mood.

“And look at this,” Sollara said as she held up her wrist for Hannah to inspect.

“Did your flames do that?” Hannah asked in wonder as she looked over the marking that wrapped around Sollara’s right arm.

“Yes, and, and Phoebe made Kai stop the flames,” Sollara blurted out, her bottom lip quivering. She was trying hard not to break down again.

“H
ow was that?” Hannah hesitantly asked.

“I’m trying hard Hannah. I was ready to forget about him forever. Then he helped me and held me and told me he was sorry for what he had said. I was angry and happy. I can't control myself around him. I forget how to breathe. My stomach churns. He literally makes my knees weak. I can't walk. I say stupid things. I used to think of myself as a strong person. But I am not strong; I must not let myself love him.”

The words shocked her as they came out of her mouth. In a backhanded way, she had just admitted she was falling for Kai.

“I felt like that once,” Hannah confessed. Her voice cracked as if she were trying not to cry, and her eyes flooded with distant memories.

“What happened?”

“He uh, well he slept with my sister.” Tears were now running down her cheeks.

“Oh Hannah, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how much that hurt.”

Hannah held her head up and forced a fake smile.

“That is why I can't… I just can't… give over to my feelings for Kai. I am afraid that once I give him my heart he will break it. And I am not strong enough for that, not after everything I have already been through.” Sollara choked over the words she had finally allowed herself to speak. Saying it out loud was even harder than she had imagined. But pretending she did not have feelings for him, well that wasn’t working too well for her.

The two girls sat on the bed and embraced, both working through the pain that love had caused them. After a few moments, Hannah pulled back and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She started to laugh and soon Sollara joined in.

“Look at us Hannah, we are ridiculous!”

“But seriously Sollara, I wouldn’t have traded my time with Nathanial for the world. Even now knowing what he was going to do to me, I would do it all over again,” she said.

“What? Why would you put yourself through all that?” Sollara couldn't imagine anything that would make that kind of heartbreak worthwhile. Then Hannah said something that would change her life forever.

“Sollara, don't you see... it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. A famous poet said that and it’s true!”

For some reason Sollara’s mind drifted from her friend and went to memories of Aurora yelling
“Kai, I love you, forgive me.
”

Hannah sat on her bed as Sollara got up and washed her face. In an attempt to hide her puffy eyes, she added some mascara and eyeliner.

“Let’s go get somet
hing to eat,” Hannah suggested.

Sollara nodded in agreement and followed Hannah to the meal room, all the while replaying Hannah’s words in her head. She knew she had to find time to talk to Kai.

When they got to the room Sollara followed Hannah to the buffet. It consisted of different types of fruit and a choice between bottles of red liquid or plain water. Sollara chose a couple of nectarines. Even after her pride-filled boasts to Phoebe, she still couldn't quite comprehend how casually everyone around her drank blood.

Hannah went ahead through the buffet line and was in the corner of the meal room talking to Josiah and the rugby team. As Sollara waited to grab her water, she scanned the room and saw Kai sitting beside the girls from their class, Rael and Sophia.

She was about to leave the line and walk toward him when a sharp object jabbed into her back.

“Give me your goods,” a low growl demanded.

Sollara turned around, afraid of who her attacker could be. She was relieved to see Andrew smiling at her and holding a banana that he had just used as a weapon and jabbed into her back. He was proud of the reaction he had provoked.

“See girlie, you need to be more prepared. I just caught you off guard. My banana could have done some serious damage if I were a bad guy. You can never drop your guard!”

“Seriously Andrew, I can’t even take a break to eat?”

“Bad guys don’t rest,” he said as he turned from her and walked over to a table of girls.

After a few moments of staring after Andrew in a state of curious bewilderment, she decided to stop procrastinating and go talk to Kai. As she walked toward his table she mentally prepared herself, trying to bring forth some hidden inner courage.

Andrew caught her eye as she crossed the room. And she motioned with her head for him to meet her at Kai's table. It amazed her at how gracefully Andrew maneuvered through the crowd to meet her. Then suddenly he froze. His eyes darted behind her. She watched his expression change from a confident grin to a determined glare. Then he shouted.

“No! Sollara drop!”

-29-

B
efore Sollara could register what he was saying, Kai jumped in front of her, pushing her to the ground. The shock caused her spill her bag and fruit; she searched around for her things and looked up in time to see a man slam a knife into his back.

“No!” she screamed for Kai, but she was too late. His eyes rolled back into his head as he slumped to the floor, blood dripping from his wound.

He would never get to know how she felt. Too shocked to say anything and barely able to take control of her movements, Sollara crawled over to Kai. She pulled his broken body into her arms and begged him not to leave her as she rocked back and forth.

Andrew made it to her side and created a protective barrier from Kai and the now fresh-blood hungry young Dark Ones that surrounded them. The assassin turned to leave when he realized he h
ad not hit his intended target.

Before he ran, his eyes caught Sollara’s, “You will die next, just like the fool who tried to save you,” he shouted.

Anger erupted in Sollara. She focused her mind to summon the flames. All she had to do was follow the steps she had the last time she summoned them. Concentrating on her hand, she mentally guided the electricity coursing though her veins. The mark on her arm began to burn as a ball of blood red flames ignited in her palm.

She closed her eyes to focus. How could she project her flames across the room to reach the man she was after? An image of Mari throwing a wave of energy at her illusion and pinning her to the wall flashed in Sollara’s mind. She could shadow the ability of Mari!

Blood curdling screams echoed off the walls. She opened her eyes to see the assassin being consumed in a wall of flames. Her mouth dropped open in disbelief. It had actually worked.

“Did I...did I just do that?” she ask as she looked down at her hands. Squinting to focus her eyes, she stared at the mark of the flames. Was she seeing things or did the mark faintly glow?

Andrew nodded while he watched the fire consume the attacker.

Sollara couldn’t stand the sight or smell, so she turned back to Kai who lay unconscious. Coeus had made it to his side and was tending to him. He yelled at Andrew to keep the students back and told another to run and get Phoebe.

Most of the students had left, trying to avoid their desire to eat Kai. But the few who remained managed to overcome their thirst. And they were now helping clear a way for Coeus to carry Kai to the Medicos.

“Sollara, you have to let go of him. His vital signs are encouraging. I have to get him to the Medicos to get him stabilized,” Coeus informed.

She looked up at Coeus and then back down to her arms
that clung
tightly to Kai’s broken body. Letting him go, Sollara sat on the floor and watched Coeus carry Kai away.

By the time Phoebe got there, the fire was consuming the last of their attacker. Her face dropped when she saw Sollara covered in blood. Andrew began explaining to her what had just happened.

“This is terrible. How did he find them? I didn’t see him come through my shield,” she mumbled to herself. “He must be very powerful to get past my shield.”

“What are you talking about Phoebe, who found whom?” Andrew demanded.

“The Descendants,” was all she could manage to say.

“Why would the Descendants try to kill Sollara?”

“They have promised the seat of Empowerment to the first to drink an Elemental’s blood,” she clarified. “Aurora warned me of this. I thought for sure they would be safe here. I have shields; they are supposed to keep unknown Dark Ones out,” she said to herself.

The shock of Phoebe’s words held Sollara rigidly in place. Aurora knew; that's why she made her leave and took her form. She knew they were going to kill Sollara and eat her. But it didn’t make sense.

“But Aurora was an Elemental! They drained her of her blood. I saw them. Why would they still need me?” Sollara’s fears were driving her to desperation.

“Rumor has it that they drank Aurora's blood and went to claim the seat of Empowerment, but the seat would not appear. It was discovered that Aurora was not her true form when they killed her. That meant her blood did not count for the terms they signed to gain the seat of Empowerment. I know now that that is not just a rumor. There are four full blood Elementals left. You, Kai, and the twins. We must protect you. We can not risk having Mari seated on that throne.” The anger in Phoebe caused her to shake and her words to spew forth. Sollara concentrated on what she had just heard, trying to connect everything together.

“The twins?”

“Yes, and as soon as Kai is stable we must go to them. Andrew do not leave her side, I must go see to Kai.” Phoebe did not wait for his response but rushed off, leaving the two alone.

“Sollara, you better go wash up. You can't very well go around campus looking like Carrie.” Andrew was trying to lighten the mood.

“Who’s Carrie?” Sollara asked, as she kept her eyes on Phoebe.

“You haven't seen the movie ‘Carrie’?” he gasped. She shook her head, confirming his suspicions. “Well then, we will have to educate you. But first go get changed.”

Deciding it was best not to argue, she headed to her room. Hannah was nervously pacing back and forth, and when she saw Sollara she threw her arms around her.

“Don't ever do that to me again Sollara! I thought I was going to lose you. I heard Andrew scream and saw the deranged man running up behind you with a knife. What the hell was he thinking anyway, to attack you in a crowded room?”

It felt good having a friend like Hannah, someone who genuinely cared about her. She hadn’t had anyone like that since Asima. Sollara smiled at Hannah, and as she looked upon her friend, she noticed a colored marking on her cheek that had not been there earlier. She brushed off her observation, figuring she must have just missed it.

Andrew had been deep in thought as he watched the two girls reunite. “Now that you mention it Hannah, that was a bold move to attack in public like that. It must have been a distraction technique. But what were they trying to distract us from? It must be a distraction technique,” Andrew thought out loud.

“Stop that Andrew; you’re not helping!” Hannah scolded him.

“No, he is right. Perhaps they are trying to get us to think that that was it, catch us with our guard down. They must be planning something bigger. We can't stay here until Kai is better. We have to go now.” Sollara was panicking. And for good reason, the world's most powerful beings were hunting her.

“I think you’re right, Sollara. Hannah, go tell Phoebe what we think. I’ll stay here and guard Sollara. And tell them to never leave Kai unattended. I don't think the attacker realized he was an Elemental. Most likely he was told to go after Sollara because she is an easier target.”

“That's not fair!”

“Sollara, I don't mean weaker, I mean easier, such as easier to spot in a room full of people. If you haven't noticed, you do have very unusual hair.”

“Great, now my hair is going to get me killed!” She slammed her fist into her dresser and tried to act like it didn’t hurt.

“Sollara, if you’re leaving, I’m coming with you.” Hannah was insistent.

“Obviously I am too. I almost killed you with a banana today. You need me!” Andrew declared.

“Should I even waste my time arguing with you two about this?” Sollara massaged her aching fist.

They looked at each other and then looked back at Sollara, both were grinning. “I guess that answers my question.” In the short time she had known them, one thing she knew for sure was that they were both stubborn.