DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) (2 page)

-3-

l
ight
exploded around her. It
took a while for her eyes to adjust to the brightness and to focus on
the
surroundings. But when they did, the beauty of what she saw froze her in place. She couldn’t decide where to look first, what to put to memory. Everything was so much more than how she had imagined it in the in-between. The grassland was clothed in vibrant purple and yellow flowers. On the far side of the field was a tall tree twisted out of the earth. Its mahogany bark gave the illusion of skin, and it’s leaves waved at her in the light breeze. She noted how the Surface smelled so differently than the Deep Kingdom, so alive and new. Above all the sights, she was drawn to the sky.

It went on forever. She had never seen anything so large and so full of light. As long as she could remember, she had longed to see the sun. And now, standing under it, feeling the heat of its rays radiate across her skin and dance through her
bright-red
curls, it caused a jolt of electricity to course through her body. The sensation empowered her, making her feel invincible. The healing essence of the sun’s warmth began to erase the dark hopelessness the Deep Kingdom had scarred in her heart. And for the first time in her life, she felt limitless.

Sugoi was deep in contemplation as he watched her tilt her head and twirl while she stared at the sky. He wondered if Mari was right, that nature really could activate any dormant powers an Elemental had.

Sollara’s
light blue dress clung to her body as she soaked in the warmth of the sun’s embra
ce. The breeze pushed a lock of
hair across her ivory cheeks, and she smiled at how stimulating nature was.

Caught off guard with her ever-increasing change of state, Sugoi decided he had to intervene. He was about to say something when a rustling nois
e filled both of their ears,
simultaneously they turned to see its source.

Sollara’s
eyes
rested
on a young man lying in the field. He seemed a perfect fit to the natural beauty around him. The sun reflected light through his golden hair and had masterfully warmed his skin, leaving him with a bronze glow. His perfection gave the illusion that he was not real. How could anything so perfect exist?
she thought.
She tried to rationalize that he might be a work of art, a sculpture. Yet despite her logic, she was wrong, for he moved and turned toward her.

With her mouth agape,
she watched him for what seemed an eternity.
Her heart thumped against her chest, matching beat for beat in rhythm with her breath. E
verything around her melt
ed into nothingness

s
he was transfixed on this stranger. He confused her, mesmerized her. 

His piercing blue eyes locked with hers, calling her to him. Her body reacted of its own accord, lunging towards him. But Sugoi held tightly to her bindings, keeping her in place. She was a torrent of emotions. Everything seemed to make sense and confound her all at once. 

The stranger effortlessly pushed himself off the ground and started towards them. His
hand outstretched, continuing the call
his ey
es bega
n. It was as though he had a secret, a secret about her. She could feel it. She needed to talk to him, to find out what he knew.

"It’
s time for us to leave," Sugoi interrupted, his words laced with something she had never expected him to possess. Panic.

"What? Why? We just got here. This isn’t fair!" she pleaded with him, her body shaking in frustrated anger, yet her eyes remained unmoved, locked on the perfect blue eyes of the stranger in front of her.

Sugoi grabbed onto her, clawing at the flesh of her arm as he forced her backwards toward the stone pond. As if it were a perfect mirror to her feelings, the sky instantaneously turned grey, releasing a clash of thunder and lightning. She struggled against his grip, desperately wanting to run into the arms of the man approaching her.

He opened his mouth to tell her something. Every ounce of Sollara ached to hear him speak words that acknowledged her. But before his words made their way to her ears, the grey sky twisted and transformed into the dull and familiar bedrock walls that made up their dwelling. It all happened so fast that she didn’t even register the painful sensation of her body being thrust back into the Deep Kingdom.

T
he only thing on her mind was the handsome stranger and what it was he was trying to say. For some reason, not knowing made her furious.

"Y
ou promised me a full hour there!" She snapped her attention to Sugoi. "Why did we have to leave?” With great strain Sollara worked hard to control her breathing, but the anger growing within her fought her every effort.

"I hate it when you call me Sugoi. Why don't you call me father?" he grumbled, as he waved his hand dismissing her question.

She couldn’t be bothered wasting her time arguing with him and stormed down the corridor towards her room. The steady echoing of feet slapping against the stone floors helped to drown out her interna
l struggle. The quick
anger-fueled stride caused her to reac
h her quarters in no time. W
hen she went to open her door, she struggled to move her hands and realized that they were still tied behind her back.

"Sugoi!" she screamed, as she stomped her foot and kicked her door. "Get these bindings off me!"

Mari floated around the corner, her feet seemed as though they never touched the ground. Yet her graceful movement and elegant bearing did not mask her frightening presence.
Her
pale
flesh clung to protruding bones and
her scarlet lips lay perfectly across her face, accenting her features. Her dark e
yes, the
mirror image
of the stone pond, complemented
her wild raven hair. She looked a picture of death, but at the same time, she was beautiful.

"Sollara, why are your hands bound?" she chimed, her voice penetrating like a gong.

Before Sollara could answer, Sugoi was in front of her undoing the bindings. "It was just a game I played with the child, my love." His eyes didn’t hold the certainty that his tongue had, and Mari was quick to read through his lies.

"Sugoi, if I find out that you did anything stupid before the council meeting with the other Descendants, I will personally have your head. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, my love, I understand." All signs of his self-assurance diminished with Mari’s growing anger. Sollara struggled to stifle her laugh; she found amusement in Mari intimidating Sugoi.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mari caught a glimpse of Sollara’s poor attempt to hide her smile and shot her attention back on the girl. "Sollara, is there anything you would like to tell me?" her tone offering a threat her words did not speak.

Sollara knew Mari was hard to surprise and figured one of her servant-spies had already told her that Sugoi had taken her to the surface. It aggravated Sollara that even though she knew, Mari still felt the need to test Sollara’s response. That annoyance, coupled with Sugoi cutting their trip short, caused all of Sollara’s rationality to vanish.

"To what purpose
? You already know what you ask.
" Sollara turned from Mari and went to enter her room.

Before her hand reached the handle, Mari slapped her across the face. The force o
f the blow caused Sollara to stumble
across the hall and slam into the door of the library. She blinked, trying to regain focus. Mari was over top of her with her hand outstretched.

She wiped the blood off Sollara’s face and paused to admire it as it glistened in the light cast off the lamp in the hall. The blood-coated fingers mesmerized her, and for a brief moment she forgot about Sollara and Sugoi.

Sollara struggled to prop herself up but was forced back down. Then, to her disgust, Mari licked the blood from her hand. In an instant, Mari’s eyes filled with alarm. It reflected the same panic Sollara
had sensed in Sugoi when he
forced her to leave the Surface.

Mari
, with a face like glass,
lo
oked to Sugoi for understanding
.  She did not want to give away any sense of fear, but fear she had, for in the girl’s blood Mari had tasted power.

"Sollara, my child, when will you learn to respect your mother?" She put her hand to Sollara’s head and closed her eyes as she forced her internal sight into the girl’s memories.

Sollara tried hard to think of anything other than the Surface, hoping that Mari wouldn’t be able to pry the images from her. But it was of no use. Mari shifted through Sollara’s most recent thoughts with ease. 

Images of the field and the handsome stranger flooded Mari’s mind as if she had been there as well. Mari’s face flushed and instantly she snapped back from Sollara. Her body shook uncontrollably as she forced her hand away from Sollara’s head. For the first time in Sollara’s life, Mari looked scared.

"Sugoi! What have you done?" she demanded. She stared at Sollara as if death itself were before her.

-4-

L
ying crumpled against the doorframe was starting to add extra strain to Sollara’s now aching body. Careful not to overexert herself, she pushed up off the floor. Mari and Sugoi
were gone. I
n her concentrated effort to stand she hadn't even seen them leave.

“Thanks for making my coming-of-age day so wonderful!” she yelled sarcastically down the empty hall. When she asked Sugoi to take her, she knew M
ari was going to be angry. S
he had not expected a reaction like the one she
just witnessed. One thing she knew is that she was
so
very
different
from her parents
.

Forcing thoughts of Mari and Sugoi from her mind, she concluded that no matter how hard she tried she would never understand them. Plus, she desperately wanted to return to her memories of the Surface, especially the stranger with the blue eyes. Hoping to soothe her aching body with a warm bath, she made her way through her dressing chambers to her bathing room and crawled into her bathing pool
,
with her dress still on.

The heat
from the natural hot spring
embraced her sore limbs as she floated, letting her fingers glide over the rough stone. It was her favorite place in the Deep Kingdom. The fresh waters seemed as though they cleansed her soul along with her body.

Closing her eyes, she put her head back and let the water wash over her, refining her thoughts and granting peace to enter her mind. It seemed like only seconds had passed when two strong arms reached in and pulled her out.

The coldness of the stone floor permeated her body, and she lay listening to Asima, her waiting maid, who was frantically trying to get her to breathe. Sollara’s thoughts slipped from Asima and drifted back to the stranger in the field. She wondered what he was about to tell her.

Even though her eyes were shut, she could perfectly imagine Asima’s stout frame, round face, sandy hair, and kind eyes.  Asima was after all her closest friend. In fact, at times she was more of a parent to Sollara than a waiting maid. And now, she diligently worked, compressing Sollara’s chest and blowing air into her mouth.

Her actions
distracted Sollara from her thoughts of the stranger. It aggravated her that she could not keep her focus. She opened her lips to tell Asima that she was fine, but no sounds came out. It confused her. Why couldn’t she speak? Trying to find understanding she focused harder on Asima
’s pleas
.
Her waiting maid was praying to the Fates, begging them to spare her life and bring her back.
And when she finally realized what was happening, Sollara knew that she must be dead.

It disappointed her that the feeling of death
was so inconsequential. She
often dreamed of death as a means to escape the Deep Kingdom. She didn't fight it. Instead, she focused her last thoughts on the stranger from the Surface and the feeling of power the sun had given her.

Unexpectedly, a surge of electricity coursed through her, shocking her heart to beat and her lungs to contract. Before she could register what had happened, she was in Asima's arms coughing up water.

“Sollar
a, what were you thinking?”  Asima’s
brow furrowed as her gentle
eyes searched for understanding
and her tender hands wiped the wet hair off of Sollara’s face.

“I was only in the bathing pool for a few minutes. How could thi
s have happened?” S
he studied Asima for answers. Asima’s worried expression confused her; it was not like Asima to be overly dramatic.

“Just a few minutes? Are you mad child? I checked on you an hour ago, and you were then as I found you now. I should have pulled you out when I first saw you, but you looked so peaceful. When I came back to ask you what you wanted for dinner, I found you like this, and I thought for sure we had lost you. Thank the Fates your body sent a painful shock through me and you started to breathe.” She smiled at Sollara as she spoke, and relief washed over her troubled appearance. “Sollara there is no reason you should be alive right now. What were you thinking about?” Asima’s brow seamed with incomprehension.

Sollara never lied to Asima. Even if she were to try, Asima knew her far too well and would have figured it out anyway. “Sugoi took me to the Surface today for my coming-of-age gift, and while I was there, I saw a boy with eyes so blue
the sky would be jealous. T
here was something so familiar about him
.
I have b
een thinking of him ever since
.” Sollara let her mind slip from the image of the boy and replayed the words Asima had said to her.

“Who have you told about this boy?” Asima interrupted.

Her tone of voice caught Sollara off guard. Asima had never been so forceful before.

“No one. Except Sugoi was there with me, and he saw the boy as well.” Sollara studied Asima closely; curious as to why she suddenly seemed so firm.

“I must
go and talk to Sugoi about this.
” She rose, readying to leave and paused, turning back to Sollara.
“
But first I hear that your actions were not very appropriate this afternoon. In fact, I heard that you had a tantrum a
nd even kicked a door. I
raised
you better than that. You can’
t let your temper take over.”
Her head
cocked to the side and her eyes bore into Sollara’s
as she
scolded in her famili
ar, motherly tone.
Sollara understood that she lectured out of love not anger.

“I know, it’s just that Sugoi makes me so frustrated sometimes.”

“No one can make you feel or do anything. The choice is yours.  In situations where you feel you have been wronged, the best course of action is to be the more mature person. Throwing temper-tantrums makes you a victim. And remember, all you have is….”

“My soul! I know Asima, trust me I know. I was acting foolishly. I was so mad that Sugoi forced
me away from the boy. I’
ve never experienced what I felt when I saw him. It was as if the world suddenly had meaning. Is that strange? The farther I was away from him, the more upset I seemed to get.” She looked back over to Asima, who had the look she gave when she was not impressed, plastered across her face. “All right, no more excuses now. I am sorry that I acted so poorly. You have raised me better than that,” Sollara finished.

“Good, now put thoughts of the boy far from your mind. I must go to Sugoi immediately about all this.” Asima was already out the door before she even finished her last words to Sollara.

“Asima?” she yelled after her. But it was of no use; Asima was overly focused in pursuit of Sugoi to respond.

N
ow fatigued
,
Sollara shimmied out of her we
t dress and made her way to bed. She didn’t even bother
to stop at the library
to get
a book to read for the evening.
As she lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling
, her mind quickly returned to the thoughts of the blue-eyed stranger and remained there until the da
rkness of sleep flooded over her
.