Vulture (25 page)

29 - Poisonous Flowers

Something buzzed next to Kaliel’s ear when she woke up. She wasn’t sure what it was at first, and as she blinked at the hot sun on her face she forgot where she was. One minute she was on the beach, sprawled out in the place Krishani had killed someone, and the next she was waking up, locked in a cocoon of sand. Worse, when she tried to move she found she was trapped, her arms stuck firmly to her sides by thick, hardened sand. Strands of hair were plastered on her face, obstructing her from seeing exactly what was going on.

Tears pricked at her eyes as she realized nobody knew where she was. She didn’t heed anyone’s warnings about Terra, and now she was a prisoner. The incessant buzzing reached a crescendo. She told Klavotesi that she was ready to help Krishani with his fight against the Horsemen and she meant it. Following him in nightmares and knowing what he became because of her weren’t going to make her change her mind. All it did was give her the insatiable urge to change him back.

Crunching sounded beside her ears, but the buzzing didn’t stop. Humming started, like a hummingbird only higher-pitched and shrill. She wanted to cover her ears but her entire body from the shoulders down was encased in sand. She lifted her head enough to shake away curls and turned her head to the right.

A small stone jar sat haphazardly in the sand. That’s what was buzzing. It was only a few inches from her face and because of that she looked the other way. Another stone jar. This one was clicking. Knots pooled in her stomach as she wondered what could be in either of the jars, and a face appeared above hers, an upside-down, beautiful glass-like face.

Sun-spun strands of blonde hair framed the woman’s oval shaped face while perfectly smoothed out cheekbones supported her sparkling blue eyes. Her face was painted in white. Blue powder covered her eyelids, bright pink lipstick stained her lips, and black outlined her eyes. Even her blonde eyelashes were defined, long, and elegant, sweeping gracefully across her cheeks as she blinked.

“You’re awake,” she said, piqued, the sound grating.

Kaliel gulped. There were no words in her. All she could think about were the other Flames: Lotesse, Shezeel, Cossisea, and Tiki. She remembered how Crestaos and the Daed hunted them down one by one, locked them in catacombs, tortured them, and killed them. She remembered the way he came for her, made her writhe in pain before he even touched her, lacerations snaking through her ribcage and torso, lancing into her heart. She remembered that pain, and yet all she could feel locked in her sandy chamber was numbness. She tried to speak but the beautiful woman cut her off as she clapped her hands and held them near her ear. Kaliel noticed her ears were elongated, elven. That made her immortal. She also noticed as she craned her neck that the woman wore a dark blue velvet and satin gown with stained peacock feathers sown into the fabric. It showed off her cleavage while making her look resplendent.

If it weren’t for the buzzing, clicking, and sand cocoon, Kaliel might not have been alarmed.

“I have a proposition for you, Amethyst Flame,” the woman said, her voice screeching like nails against shale rock. She had an accent that made some words sound incomplete. Kaliel’s skin crawled at the sound, while her heart thudded at the way the woman addressed her: The Amethyst Flame. She kept her eyes open as the woman paced around the sand castle, shaking the jars slightly as she passed, her dress scraping along the sand. Kaliel struggled to free her hands.

“Who are you?” Kaliel asked. Her voice was as low as a whisper, trembling, but she tried to sound brave. Brave enough to die, brave enough to face whatever was in either of those jars.

The woman growled and kicked the sand, sending a pang across the girl’s shin. Kaliel squeezed her eyes shut and twisted her face up to try and protect herself from a blow, but it didn’t come. Instead the woman’s face hovered over hers, perplexed but pristine, showing no sign of the angry outburst.

“You know who you are. How could you not know who I am?” She frowned, lines creasing her forehead, her eyes, nose, and mouth. Even her cheeks sagged a bit, showing off her age.

Kaliel pursed her lips, not willing to speak anymore.

“I’m Cassareece. You
know
me, or at least you
knew
me.” She darted away from the Flame. “It’s such a shame you don’t remember. I used to bring you flowers when you were a little girl. I told you not to tell your father, and you never did.” Her face appeared again. “Why did you have to ruin everything?”

Kaliel had no idea what she was talking about. She squirmed, her arms getting looser as she struggled. She shot Cassareece a blank look. She didn’t have a father in Avristar; the land was her mother, her parent. She never had a father, not as far as she could remember. Cassareece frowned.

“It’s not the First Era anymore, is it?”

Kaliel shook her head, only because if she didn’t Cassareece might knock over one of the jars and she’d know firsthand what the buzzing was, or the clicking.

Cassareece sighed. “That’s why Morgana looked so pale.” Kaliel’s eyes widened, and Cassareece caught the minute gesture. “You know Morgana?” she smirked. “You didn’t think I was one of them, did you?”

Kaliel didn’t know how to react. She rotated her hands, but it was no use. Every time she carved out a small bit of space it filled with more sand, locking her hands in. They weren’t exactly by her side anymore, but they were stuck.

“Would you like to know a secret?” Cassareece said. She crouched, her face hovering closer to Kaliel’s ear and subsequently closer to the stone jars. Kaliel’s nerves shot up, tremors coursing through her. She tried not to let Cassareece see her shake but it was useless. The woman with the breath that tasted like trough water had her lips at her ear.

“Morgana brought us back, and we’re going to destroy the lands.” She squeaked on the last word and drew away, abruptly clapping her hands. Both jars shook and Kaliel felt her stomach drop.

All of them. Mallorn warned her about the eleven members of the Valtanyana locked in Avrigost by High King Tor at the end of the First Era. They were never supposed to escape, except the Daed released Crestaos and Morgana followed. She brought the Horsemen for Krishani. Tears pooled in her eyes but she didn’t dare cry, whimper or scream.

Cassareece appeared again and she looked sad. “We have a problem.” Kaliel asked the question with her eyes. “You’re the problem. You—the rest of the Flames—they’ve always been the problem,” Cassareece continued.

Kaliel swallowed. A lump in her throat burned and she winced at the prickles, like shards of wood were scraping along her insides. “Then kill me.”

Cassareece cringed. She looked genuinely worried. “I can’t, you know that.”

Kaliel laughed softly, almost to herself, but Cassareece heard. She knew what Cassareece was talking about; if she so much as touched her Krishani would hunt her down and torture her. Kill her with his bare hands. She’d seen enough of him fighting and killing to know it was true. He practically defeated Crestaos by himself. There was no telling what he would do if they hurt her. She held onto that thought and pushed away the nightmares of Lotesse, Shezeel, and Cossisea. They were trapped in orbs, waiting for Tor. They were safe.

Safe until the Valtanyana came and took them all at once.

“You want the others,” Kaliel whispered, almost choking on her own phlegm. Her fingers worried away at the sand but her hands weren’t clawing themselves out very fast. The buzzing was getting louder, angrier, and if something didn’t snap soon the jar would tip over on its own.

Cassareece smiled. “There’s the girl I remember!”

“I won’t give them to you,” she said with all the determination she could muster. She squirmed, attempting to loosen the sand around her chest, but it didn’t budge.

“I didn’t think you would, so that’s why I’m willing to offer you a boon.” Cassareece circled the sand cocoon, humming a screechy tune that made goose bumps spread along Kaliel’s skin.

“They don’t understand how important you are. Darkesh, Rahedra and Pendalyn are raising beasts, Joviasson, Grimassi and Zion want to lure Tor out of hiding, while Morgana, Syx and Quinna want to storm that village of yours and kill everyone until the Flames belong to them. I’m smarter. I know we won’t win without your help.” She stood beside the unbearable buzzing jar. She crouched down. “I came to find you,” she said innocently. “You were the one who made all the difference.”

“Why?” Kaliel stuttered. Tears streamed down the hollows of her temple, even though she didn’t want them to. She wished she could call out to Krishani the way she used to, but she was afraid that, because of their fight, he wouldn’t listen.

Cassareece smirked. “You made the stars fall.”

Kaliel gulped. She didn’t want to hear to this. The prophecy wasn’t true. It was only a warning, except for the past. Bitter self-hatred welled in her chest. She wanted to lash out but she couldn’t. Instead she gritted her teeth and glowered at Cassareece, who laughed.

“I promise to help you,” Cassareece said. “You know you can trust me. You used to trust me. Do you remember what the flowers tasted like? The ones I used to bring you? I know you can remember. It’s still a part of you.” Cassareece tapped on the sand above Kaliel’s chest, on her heart, as though the power she possessed to make the stars fall was still within her.

Kaliel didn’t want to remember what she was or what she could be. The volcano exploded; that told her enough about her untapped potential. She wanted to hold it in rather than let it out. All she wanted was a life, a beating heart, lungs, and a body she could call her own. She wanted a perfect life with Krishani in Avristar. She wanted the life she had, the one that was lost forever. Cassareece stared at her like she could hear her thoughts, and a pensive expression crossed her face.

“Whatever you want, it’s yours. I’ll make sure it happens.” Her expression was deadpan, serious.

Kaliel pursed her lips and shook away her dreams and fears. “I don’t want anything,” she whispered, the wood-like splinters scraping her throat.

“Yes you do,” Cassareece snapped. “You’ll tell me what you want because you don’t want what’s in these jars.” She glanced at the buzzing one and shrugged. “You could take my boon, or I can turn you into my pawn and make you retrieve the Flames for me.” A sly smile crept across her face. “Do you remember the game we used to play?”

Kaliel clamped her eyes shut and shook her head. Her heart thumped hard, begging her to tell Cassareece what she wanted more than anything, but she couldn’t do it. She pushed away the memories. She didn’t want to hear about the game; it was vile, uncouth, but Cassareece wasn’t listening.

“The flowers tasted like all sorts of things. I always gave you the good ones, but then I gave you bad ones, too. You let the boys and girls in the village eat them because you didn’t like the colors of the petals. All the boys and girls got sick. One of them died.” She giggled, but Kaliel felt worse–all the innocence she thought she had was gone. She couldn’t run from the bad things even if she wanted to. They would always haunt her, hunt her down, and ruin her.

“Krishani,” she gasped, opening her eyes and surprising herself. “I hate him being a Ferryman.” She pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t say anything more but there was no holding it in. “And Avristar, I miss it.”

The dam she built for herself broke. She began sobbing because all of it was true and she was so afraid to admit it. She hated living on Terra, hated being away from Krishani. She felt like a fool for crying in front of Cassareece, but the woman reached over and stroked Kaliel’s brow, pulling strands of hair off her forehead.

“I’ll make it perfect again, I promise,” Cassareece cooed, smoothing out her hair. “Will you bring me the Flames?”

Kaliel nodded, tears streaming down her face, but she couldn’t deny it anymore. Her life had become a nightmare, and she would do anything to change it. “Yes, I’ll bring them to you,” she said between sobs.

Cassareece smiled and picked up the jars. Kaliel heard her step away and release the contents into the sky, the buzzing and the clicking dissipating in a crescendo of wind chimes. When Cassareece touched the sand cocoon it crumbled into a pile of dust. She extended her hand and Kaliel took it carefully as Cassareece pulled her to her feet. Her legs were wobbly but she managed to shake them out and brush the sand off her black dress.

“Can you really make it perfect?” Kaliel asked, hesitant about the promise. Her head swelled, salivating over the idea of getting everything she wanted.

Cassareece smirked, the sky churning with thousands of small blue falcons. Their cries pierced the din, and Kaliel blanched. “I won’t underestimate you if you don’t underestimate me,” Cassareece said. She snapped her fingers and whistled loudly. The brown mare raced across the beach alongside the water, a traveling knapsack attached to its rear. It trotted into the sand cocoon and bowed its head to Cassareece. The woman clucked something softly in its ear. Kaliel knew what she was doing–training the horse to be her eyes and ears, to make sure Kaliel didn’t cross her. She turned her perfect glass-like face to Kaliel and Kaliel’s breath caught in her throat. Cassareece was more beautiful than originally envisioned. She was tall and thin with blonde hair falling to her waist, perfectly straight. She had delicate fingers and shocking blue eyes. They were a crackling, lightning blue, the same color as the flattering dress she wore. Kaliel was sure that next to her she looked plain and dirty, like one of the human villagers.

“Hurry now. They’ll be looking for you.” Cassareece clucked. Kaliel cautiously mounted, her eyes trailing over every inch of Cassareece’s perfect body. She felt wary and elated at the same time, but as she met Cassareece’s stony blue eyes she knew what she had to do.

Save Krishani from himself.

She kicked the horse and sped into a gallop, trailing up the winding path towards castle Tavesin.

* * *