DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) (23 page)

-48-

“I
will never forgive you because you did nothing wrong to merit it. You thought it was me, I know you did. I trust you.”

The strain of loss that had cre
ased his brow
disappeared, replaced by a wave of joy.

“Oh Sollara, you have no idea how much that mean
s to me. I thought for sure I’
d lost you.” He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face into her neck. After a few moments, his body tensed and he pulled back, studying her face. “I did
not
sleep with Laora. I pushed her away. It didn't feel right. I knew it in my heart that it wasn't you. You are not just what you look like to me, you are so much more.”

Gratitude flooded into her as if it were oxygen given to a drowning victim. 
He knew. He didn't have sex with Laora because he knew. She thanked the Fates that he was still hers, all hers. Then they held each other and
with each tear that left Sollara, her heart slowly erased all the painful memories of his time with Laora.

Peace filled the void, a peace she had dreamed of many times. The very peace she would have never thought she would be able to experience. The peace of knowing she was not alone and that she was loved.

“Sollara, you had best be getting ready,” a strangely familiar voice called out.

“What? Who said that?” Sollara pulled out of Kai’s grasp and looked around. A stabbing pain began to clutch at her head. She pushed her palm to her temple and tried to lessen it.

Strong arms grabbed her shoulders. “Sollara, look at me. Look at me, damn it!” Kai screamed as he shook her violently.

“It is Nicola. Asima sent me to wake you.”

“Asima is gone. Dead. This isn’
t funny. Who is speaking?” Sollara whipped her head about, ignoring Kai’s pressing screams. She had to see who was talking, the voice, the name Nicola. It was all too familiar. Her heart began to shoot forth bursts of her electricity, and she fell to her knees clutching her chest.

“Sollara, what’
s happening? Please don’t listen to the voice. Come back to me!” Kai begged as he clung helplessly to her body.

“My lady? Asima is well… I just spoke to her… Are you feeling ill?”

Sollara rocked her head back and forth and put her hands over her ears. The ground seemed to spin, and she could not make sense of anything. Who was this familiar person? Why was she purposely hurting her by pretending Asima was alive.

“No, I don’t understand. Who are you?”

For a brief moment her world went black. Then reality met her, and she awok
e in the comfort of a warm bed.

Opening her eyes, she squinted and waited for them to adjust to the half-lit room. What had just happened? She seemed to recall Kai yelling for her, pleading with her to stay with him.

What a strange dream that had been.

Rubbing her eyes, she pulled the pillow off her head and sat up. She hadn’t even remembered going to her room to sleep.

“My lady? Should I get Asima to check on you?”

“Asima?”

Instantly, Sollara was aware of her surroundings. The room was familiar, but it was not her room at the school. No, she was somewhere else, somewhere worse.

“Nicola?”

“Yes Sollara?” The door muffled her words, but Sollara could make them out.

“What day is it today?” Sollara asked as she held her breath and waited for the response.

“Why, it is your coming of age day, your eighteenth birthday!” Nicola replied.

“No, no this can’t be. Nicola, you’re wrong. That was months ago.”

“Months? You must not feel well. I am coming in!”

“No. Nicola wait…I’m fine. Just leave me. I’
ll be out in a minute.”

Desperately she searched her room for something, anything th
at would tell her it was a lie

a
n especially
nasty
lie. If what Nicola had said was true, then Sollara had been dreaming this whole time. She swallowed the knot that was rising in her throat. But it
couldn’t
have been a dream. It was all so real.

No!
Being here again
wasn’t true. She refused to accept that Kai and everything else had been a fantasy of her imagination. She had to pro
ve it to herself. Kai was real.

Being back in the Deep Kingdom
—
that was the lie.

Hoping that she could return to Kai and remain with him forever, Sollara once again did what she normally would do. She pulled the pillow over her head
—
blocking out the world around her and concentrating on her world, the in-between.

"Better never to have met you in my dream,

than to wake and reach for hands

that are not there.”     

                                                          
-Otomo No Yakamochi

book two

~1~

“S
ollara come back to me!” Kai cl
ung to her frail form rocking her
in his arms.

A blank face and
hollow gaze looked up at him,
her limbs hung limply to her side. She wasn’t there, her body was, but she had left it somehow.

“Sollara, please ignore the voice, hear mine and return to me!” He buried his face into her chest and collap
sed to the ground crying. She’
d just forgiven him, they were supposed to liv
e their happily ever after, now she’
s gone.

“Kai?”

Her gentle voice broke through his grief and he raised his head to stare into her eyes. “You came back!” he said as he wiped his tears and kissed her face. “Where did you go, I thought I’d lost you?”

“One moment I was hear and the next I was back at the Deep Kingdom.” She paused and thought over how to explain it to him. “It was the day you first visited me as Lark.” Her brow furrowed as she thought over what had happened. It was unexplainabl
e, both seemed like reality,
one must have been a lie. But which? Was being with Kai the dream? Or was returning to the Deep Kingdom one?

She was shaken up from the ordeal, and although she felt comforted being back with Kai, she knew staying there was only going to make her doubt her reality. "I really don’t want to move, but maybe we should go check on Phoebe’s progress with Laora.”

His concern filled eyes studied her face. “We have to tell her about this.”

In an effort to appease him she nodded her head in agreement, although deep inside she wasn’t ready. Sh
e wanted to figure out what
happened on her own.

Satisfied with her answer he took her hand and led her after him to the school.

Every once in awhile Kai would stop and watch her. It was as if he wasn’t sure she was really there, with him. And that didn’t help the uncertainty Sollara was feeling one bit. Somehow she mustered the strength to smile at him, she hoped it was enough to calm his nerves. If he was ok, then she could lean on him to get through whatever had just happened.

All she knew was that if she opened her mouth to say anything she would once again fall victim to her fears. Fears of not knowing if the perfectly complex world she was in with him, was the makings of her mind, or her true reality.

Despite the awkwardness of their walk, they seemed to make good time. Now all that separated her from facing Laora, was one door.

Phoebe and a group were engrossed in an argument. So much so, that they didn’t even noticed Sollara and Kai’s approach.

"What happened, why is everyone yelling?" Sollara asked, jumping right into the group and out of Kai’s worried glance.

Phoebe titled her chin in the air, squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and turned to Sollara. "I let her go."

"You did what?” She turned to Hannah. Hannah would tell her the truth. If this was a joke it was cruel. When Hannah refused to make eye contact she knew it was true. “Why would you do that? Are you crazy?"

A strong hand pressed down on her shoulder and she turned to see Iresh offer her a smile.

"I got the information from her I needed and now we can watch from a distance and see where she goes," she explained.

"She’s a shifter! Possibly the hardest person to track!" Sollara was baffled. Phoebe normally thought everything through. “You’ve made a grave mistake.”

"I understand that you think that, Sollara. But what you don’t know is that Josiah and Kai will be able to sense her. Shifters print in those they have been intimate with, it is like an emotional tracking devise." She turned to Josiah, "Since rumor has it that you have been the most intimate your bond to her is strongest. Are you be willing to come with us?"

Josiah's face reddened as much as a SOD’s face could. Despite his hope, he now knew that the incident was not put behind him just yet. He nodded his head and looked to Hannah to confirm with her that his participation would not cause her trouble.

In understanding to the situation, Hannah nodded and smiled to confirm it would be ok.

"Good then it is settled, we will pack and head out immediately. Your training will continue during our travels." With a flick of the wrist Phoebe gave her commands.

Even though what she had done infuriated Sollara, Sollara did not argue. What was left for her to do? All that that was left for her, was hope. Hope that Phoebe was right.

They quietly went their own ways, to pack and prepare for
the journey that lay ahead.

Being in her dorm room felt strange after what had happened that morning. The first thing she did was go to the dresser and make sure the
sacred book of Prophecy
was still there. When she could not find it, she began to panic. She was about to run to Phoebe’s office when she noticed a package on her bed. She sat down and picked up the precious package and carefully unwrapped it. The sacred book lay beneath the cover. She paused to run her fingers over the worn leather cover, and then opened it to reveille the blank pages.

Even though it was not practical to bring a book, when room for basic necessities was limited she didn’t care. Careful not to bend it, she re-wrapped it and stuck it at the bottom of her bag.
Justifying the choice with the fact that it
might come in handy.

B
ecause
of its size,
it
left little other room in her bag. It pained her to have so m
any
new clothes and have to be frugal with her choices. 
But now was not the time to be self-centered. They were going after Laora. It was time to be focused.

             
After much deliberation over what to bring, she still couldn’t fit all her things in her one bag. S
omehow
she managed to convince
Hannah to let her put some items in
her bag
. Feeling satisfied with her choices she left with Hannah to collect
Kai
on their way to her car.

Phoebe was already
at the cars. She was busy instructing,
Andrew, Iresh, Oya and Josiah
on the proper way to pack the vehicles
. The truck had been
stacked
with coolers of blood and
various other
camping supplies.

Coeus
once again
was
staying behind and
start
planning
with their allies. They hoped to build an army of Dark Ones
. An army that was
willing to fight
,
Mari and the Descendants.

"Due to the time restraints we will not be
stopping
for food. You will have to make do with our blood supplies. They will keep you nourished and full of energy. Also for you Elementals the blood will strengthen you and you will not require sleep. This will allow us to travel through the night and
save us invaluable time.
" Phoebe looked to Iresh
, knowing that he would not like her orders. As expected he crossed his arms and glared at her defiantly.
             

Sollara stepped in the path of there non-verbal fight, blocking Iresh from escalating his glare. "Phoebe, you can’
t force those who
have chosen not
to drink blood to do so
—
even if it’
s to the benefit of the group. We will make time to eat and drive and sleep in shifts. This way
those who
choose to not drink
the
blood
will not hold
the others
back."

Sollara wasn't going to risk a fight between Iresh and Phoebe, not now. Not when everyone needed to be working together. If they had any chance of success against Mari and the Descendants they would need to work as a team.

"Sollara, you need the strength that blood can give you. It will toughen your skin, make it resistant to weapons of magic. It gives you energy that allows you to disregard sleeping. It makes you faster, stronger, you will heal quicker and be an overall better weapon."
Phoebe turned to glare at Iresh.
"I kno
w Iresh has warned you about me.
I can sense his discord towards our ways. But you forget
Iresh, that Sollara’s
magic is the most powerful and hold
’s
the key to end the war that looms before us. If I were you I would want
her
to be prepared no matter what the cost." She turned back to Sollara and softened her voice. "Child, change is scary, I know. But we need you, the Dark Ones need you, Atlanticus needs you, the Elements need you, hell even the humans need you. Don't you think you should use anything that can help you with your cause?"
             

"I never asked for this Phoebe.
I…I just don't think even the strength blood can give me will make me strong enough."

Sollara wasn't looking for pity. Honestly, she thought someone else was better suited to lead ever
yone to war. "I’
m an emotional
mess
. We needed someone who is head smart and powerful to defeat Mari."

"No you are wrong, we need someone who loves, who feels emotions, who understands why we protect the way of the humans. Because
a humans
little emo
tion
is what brings joy to our eternal life. Without them we have nothing. You understand that better than anyone. You will one day see that. The road ahead of you is tough and you will have to make hard decisions. Let your heart guide you and we will all be saved." Phoebe spoke
to Sollara as though she were
in a trance and was looking at something none of
them
could see. It was frightening but her words struck a cord within Sollara.

"What have you seen Phoebe?" Iresh demanded.
"
You must
tell us if you know of something that will help
.”

"I have seen many
things in regards to Sollara. The mirror’s strength has
become stronger around her. But I fear I cannot say what I have seen
. I
f I
were to
put ideas in her head
,
it may jeopardize us all. Sollara must
choose the path
that she feels necessary

not the one I have shown her." Phoebe turned and climbed into the truck
ignoring the frightened looks of the group before her
.

To say i
t overwhelmed Sollara,
would be an understatement. She felt as though her body weighed beyond her strength to bear. And
knowing t
hat
she was about to face Mari again
, well that burden was not just pressing on her, but her closets friends. She could tell by the look on their faces, and their broken stances
. She didn't move but stood and watched everyon
e as they took their time filtering into the two vehicles, hoping praying she would have the strength to save them all.

Phoebe watched them through the window.
"Josiah, Hannah and Andrew you ride with me. Oya and Iresh go with
Kai
and Sollara."

Hearing her orders snapped them into motion. Kai
grabbed the keys out of Sollara’s hand and escorted her to the passenger seat of the car
. He offered her a smile as he held the door and
helped h
er in. Her movements were rigid; he had to move her body for her. She couldn’t concentrate on anything but what Phoebe had said.

"It will be ok Sollara.
I will not leave you no matter what." Although his words were heart felt, something inside of her told her it wouldn't be so.

Check out
the rest of
book two