Ever Fire (2 page)

“Well, he can ‘guard’ my body anytime he wants to, if you don’t want him I mean,” Brisa added.

“Stop that!” Shade threw an empty can of soda at Brisa, which she promptly dodged. Both girls laughed as they began to smack each other with Shade’s bed pillows.

“Are you girls okay? What’s going on in here?” Shade’s mother Jade pushed the door open and scanned the room, finding them both frozen in swinging positions. She shook her head as her eyebrows rose in a suspicious arch.

“Shade, how ‘bout tidying up your room while I make us all some lunch. Brisa, you can help her, and I’ll make one for you too. Sound like a deal?” The girls nodded and quickly began to reassemble the trashed room as Jade turned away and disappeared down the hall.

“Your mom is so cool, Shade. My mom would have told me to get out of the house for that. Anyhow, I’m starved. You’ll figure it out Shade, you always do. That’s why you’re Queen of this castle, besides your mom of course.” Brisa snickered as Shade rolled her twinkling eyes back at her, letting her pillow bounce once more off Brisa’s head.

*****

SHADE SLIPPED HER
plate into the sink while scanning her eyes across the lawn out the kitchen window. The dusk was absorbing the day away in colors of tangerine, red, and gold. Rinsing the dishes and putting them away, she looked again out into the dimming evening. She spotted Dylan standing near the edge of their lawn. He was staring into the woods behind her house. The property was large, and extended a couple acres beyond the grass and into the woods slightly. The house was surrounded by forest, and was spaced far enough away into the trees that no one could see the house from any other house on the road. Shade thought her mother had probably loved the privacy of the lot when she had bought it.

The gentle breeze swayed Dylan’s hair, teasing it into a halo that swirled around his head. It hung past his ears and lay straight in jet-black chunks. He looked almost like a statue out there, alone and still. Shade wondered what he was doing.

Brisa had taken off before it had gotten too dark. Shade wiped the counter clean and headed out the back door towards the Teleen Warrior. He remained where he was, still and as straight as a board, even when she came to a stop beside him. She took a long look into the forest, hoping to catch what he was watching.

“Hey Dylan, you okay? Did you eat any dinner?” When he didn’t respond, she turned to study his face. His white skin had tanned a bit since leaving the Teleen caves and now had a healthy glow. His shining black hair framed his face nicely as his grey-steel eyes glowed in the sunset and scanned the trees and tall grasses.

“Dylan?”

He turned his eyes to Shade and took in her face, acknowledging her before turning back to the remnants of the day. The seriousness that clung to his face worried her.

“I thought I would be home by now, Shade.” His solemn voice made her shiver.

His arms hung at his sides, never wavering from his statuesque stance, as though his feet were rooted to the land under him. Shade stared at him; he seemed so lost and alone. She wondered often what went through his head. At the graduation parties she had dragged him to, he had hung out at the edge of the rooms or in a corner, trying to fade away and become inconspicuous. He would nod and smile at the friends she would introduce to him, but he would leave that as the extent of his conversation. Getting him to mingle was like pulling teeth.

“I know, I’ve been thinking about that same thing. Look, I’m seeing Ilarial tomorrow and I’ll talk to her about it. Maybe she has an idea of what must be done to break our bond. You are coming tomorrow, right? It’s weapons training day, and I really would like it if you were there.” She watched his face for any hint of emotion. His eyes were full, but like a deep well that one would fear to fall into, they remained elusive. All her pals from school had immediately become infatuated with him. His piercing grey eyes and smooth skin drew all of them in and caused them to become stuttering, lovesick, fools. He never seemed to take notice of it, or pay them any kind of attention though. Either that, or he just didn’t care.

“I will go with you. I am of no use there though. I don’t see why you would need me there at all.” He sighed while crossing his arms and lifting his face up. He turned towards her. Shade pressed her lips together. She hated that he felt useless to help her with weapons training now. Ever since they had first started weapons training and he had gotten that good knock on her in the face with a solid thump of a wooden sword. They had found themselves wide-eyed with matching split lips and blood dripping down their chins.

Apparently, a side effect of the blood bind that kept them together had grown stronger, and now caused them equal injuries if Dylan caused Shade any sort injury or vice versa. This had ended being paired with Dylan for sparring, and left him an infinitely frustrated sideliner. It didn’t help that Soap; whose given name was Rylan, was now her sparring partner and didn’t receive any injuries when she got hit. She had watched Dylan steam with jealousy when Soap had tripped her and her right arm received the brunt of scrapes, blood dripping from her scratches. As long as she was injured by someone else, Dylan would not receive injuries like hers, but he could feel her pain thrashing though him as it coursed through her. They were all the casualties of the fight training.

“Dylan, you are a huge help with the weapons. Who else could teach me how to clean, inspect, and name all of those weapons? I can sharpen a knife better than a butcher now because of you. Besides, your insight on my fighting techniques is amazing since you know what to look for, and you show me how to correct things when I mess up. I don’t think Soap would be as good with that as you.”

“He’s not as good as me in a lot of things, Shade.” Dylan’s lips snarled at the mention of the Teleen Changeling. Bitterness stuck to his voice like thick syrup, making Shade sigh. She felt like she was beating her head on a wall when talking to Dylan about Soap.

“Fine, Dylan, do what you want to do. Your pouting isn’t going to help us any. So get your head on straight before you become dead weight that I have to lug around. I’m doing the best I can, and it really hurts to be dragged down because of your insecurities about things. I’m going to bed. I have a long day tomorrow. I suggest you do the same, grumpy pants.” She swung around and marched back towards the house, not seeing the shock on Dylan’s face as she slammed the porch screen door shut.

Dylan stared back towards where Shade had disappeared. Turning back to the forest that called to him in a sweet caress, he closed his eyes. Life in the city had been intriguing at first, but the forest and its power called to him, singing in his head, and growing stronger. Every day was more intense than the last. He squeezed his eyelids shut and let his head spin with the songs of the trees and lands. He was missing his home in the caverns. He felt a surge of resentment as thoughts of his brother Darren slammed into his serenity. Darren had changed so much since they were children, and watching his brother grow more mischievous and becoming outright evil had been exhausting. His mother had been right to be concerned for Darren and his sadistic mannerisms. He had almost killed Shade, but failed when her untapped magic had trapped him in his own magic mirrors. He had caused Dylan so much grief that he felt almost nothing when he disowned him. Dylan was done covering up Darren’s screw-ups; especially when it involved attempted murder.

Dylan wondered exactly what sort of magic was brewing in Shade that no one else seemed to know anything about. She was unique for sure. He had enjoyed sparring with her, and the occasional touching and bumping into each other had sent a thrill through him like he had never experienced. He found himself wanting to hold her again, to stroke her hair and kiss her deeply, like they had done at the Santiran Fountains. He didn’t even know if she felt the same towards him. She seemed so distracted and busy with her family, her magic, and fight training that it didn’t seem like he could ask her much about it at all. His feelings had grown, burning inside him like the bluish-white fire that flowed along under his skin and flickered with electricity. He doubted Shade even had a clue about it.

Opening his storm-filled eyes, he chanced one more longing stare at the woods before turning back towards the house.

Chapter Three

THE CRACK OF
a wooden sword filled the air, as Soap swung hard against her shield. Shade had to back up with each blow as she felt the hits vibrate through her arm. Shielding her face, she attempted to swing her sword at him, searching for his weak spots in her limited vision. She found one and swung as hard as she could, slamming the sword into his left thigh. He winced but did not retreat at all. She flung herself down to the ground. And with her shield, she slammed him behind his knees, sending him crashing down to the ground almost right on her as she rolled away.

Shade hopped to her feet and pointed the sword to his throat before he could regain his position. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking up at her with a grin spreading across his face.

“Winner is Shade! Great job!” Than jumped and clapped from the sidelines, hollering out his praise. Shade smiled down at Soap, her face flushed pink with sweat beading down her face.

“Hey, you got me, how about that? That’s a first. You’re on your way to becoming the next Amazon Queen, heh?” Soap said as Shade smiled. She tossed her shield and sword to the side and held her hand out to him.

“Queen? Not quite. Warrior of some sort? Probably.” She gave him a toothy smile and laughed as he started to pull himself up, but instead he yanked her down onto him, hugging her tight.

“Hey not fair! I’m not heavy enough to pull your heavy butt up!” They wrestled around letting the dirt fly up around them in a bellowing cloud. Their laughs rang through the air until Dylan’s angry and haughty voice rang through the air as he grabbed Soap, pulling him up and shoving him to the side with a thump.

“What the.., hey, watch it man!” Soap had rolled along the dirt and now stood slapping clouds of dust off his leather armor. He glared at Dylan, his green eyes flaring like jewels on fire.

Dylan returned the stare with his even colder steel-grey eyes. “Don’t touch her. You might inadvertently hurt her, you dumb ox.” His face was blanketed like stone, hard and still, daring Soap to return the challenge in his eyes as the Changeling pressed his lips together, wrangling in his fury.

Soap turned towards Shade, who had positioned herself between them. She was hoping they wouldn’t start a brawl with her in between them to take a hit. “Shade, I’m thinking we’re done for the day. You did want to see Ilarial, right? She would definitely be better company than some people we know.” He snickered at Dylan, but he remained planted with arms crossed and narrowed his eyes at the warrior.

“Ya, I think that’s a good idea. Ilarial is probably waiting for me.” Shade glared at both warriors before she headed to grab her backpack lying on the ground nearby. She wiped the dirt and sweat on her face with her towel and shoved it into her pack. She sighed as she stood, turning back to Soap who waited patiently as he gathered the wooden weapons strewed across the training yard. He smiled and nodded at Shade while hugging the swords to his chest.

“I can take you there, Shade. It looks like someone has some junk to put away.” Dylan hissed as he motioned to her, stepping between her and Soap. Glancing over his shoulder, she could see Soap rolling his eyes at him.

“Go ahead, Shade. You don’t need my permission anyways. Seems like someone is getting a bit jealous and needs some of your precious time.” Soap smirked at Dylan’s back, but Dylan didn’t turn to acknowledge him at all. Instead, he waited as Shade shook her head and headed towards the Guildrin mound. Walking briskly, she hoped she’d lose both of them. She didn’t feel like putting up with their bickering today.

She was sick of those two fighting and constantly putting her between their bouts of jealousy. She knew Dylan hated being left out of the training and resented Soap for it, but what could she do about it? Dylan and she were not allowed to spar anymore; obviously the powers of Faerie did not want them in any kind of physical fighting with each other. She didn’t understand it any more than Dylan did. It didn’t bother her so much, but it baffled him enough to turn him into a puffed up heifer.

She dashed to the great Oak Tree entrance of the mound. Reaching over, she chanted the words she now felt the utmost confidence in, and waited as the ground shifted for her to enter the realm below. Stairs formed in the hollowing earth below the tree roots that led down into the darkness of the Seelie Court. She skittered down them, and half ran down the halls until she reached Ilarial’s ancient wooden door. Dylan had kept up without a sweat, and made her slight attempt to escape his annoying presence futile. She knocked on the door and waited until Ilarial’s soft voice bled through the door, telling her to enter. Inside, she turned to close the door behind her, and watched Dylan step back to disappear behind the door to await her in the hall.

She sighed as she leaned against the closed door, relieved to not have to deal with him and his overbearing antics for a bit. She smiled as Ilarial came out of her room and held her arms out to give her a tight and warm hug. Shade felt instantly calmer, as she usually did around the gentle Oracle.

“Shade, I’m glad you made it today. I have so much to talk with you about. Please, come over and sit at my table.” She motioned her over to the sea of pillows that softened the cave’s rough appearance with a blend of shiny soft fabrics. Shade sank down onto the soft pillows and relaxed by the table where Ilarial did her magic. The wooden table was empty except for a mirror that lay in the middle of it, shining like a pool of liquid silver.