The Species of Power [Draft 1]

Chapter 28

After Ruth had spent a few hours with her friends she retreated back to her room and opened up the map of Zarr. The next point was surprisingly close by... just outside of the city. That couldn't be a coincidence. Was it possible that Elder Nev purposefully built her empire near the final blade? But how... Ruth sighed. Elder Nev must have known about the full power of the Children of Rage, that would be the only way she could see more than what the map had showed her. Then what was stopping Nev from organizing a surprise ambush for them at the temple? Shit. Nothing was stopping her... unless...

Ruth placed her fingers on the map and manipulated the glowing ethereal energy and concentrated it on the location of the final blade. It was no different than how she distributed the energy of a soul throughout all her weapons, except this was much easier. She manipulated it further and further until it zoomed in enough for her to see its location in great detail. A spark of panic ignited in Ruth. There would be no ambush, at least that was for sure. Ruth grabbed the map and went back to the lounge; everyone was still there, laughing and talking, just like how she left them.

Caton noticed her immediately, while nobody else did. With one look Caton knew that she needed to talk to him in private. Immediately he left the group, and he and Ruth walked to the meeting room. He closed the door and locked it, while Ruth placed the map on the table. She then sat herself down, and waited for Caton's response. She looked at the ruby red snake bracelet that she had almost forgotten was there, and watched as the light danced off the charm as she moved her wrist.

"Well?" Caton asked. With her eyes, Ruth indicated towards the map. Caton placed his fingers on the map the same way Ruth had done and she watched as his busy eyes scanned the map. She watched as his hard expression barely shifted; from blank, to concerned, then determined. Finally, he started speaking. "Okay," he said as he looked up from the map. "This is a problem." His tone was calm, it didn't reveal a single hint of concern.

"Yes," Ruth said, just as calm as he was. "It is."

"It's almost funny," he said. "You'd think that this one would be the easiest to handle because it's so close..."

Ruth nodded. "I know."

Caton was silent again. Ruth didn't know what she expected to gain from telling him this. There wasn't much that he could do, when it came down to it she would have to go to temple, Caton couldn't make that go away. Yet, she still had to tell him. There was something about him, that made her feel safe. She could see so much of Marsh in Caton, so much that it took her back to her twelve year old self, where she spent her days with Marsh on the steps of the old church. There, she didn't have to be afraid of being bullied, or her odd infrequent rages... Ruth closed her eyes and shut out the memories, they did her no good at this point in time.

"You're going to be fine," Caton said. "We know that, remember? You have to be fine."

"I'm not worried about me," Ruth said.

Caton nodded, and took a seat on a chair beside Ruth, and the two of them sat side by side, like they had given up. They were both tired, and out of ideas, there was no way to plan themselves out of the dangers that came with this temple.

"I guess," Caton said. "Make sure you rage as much as you can before you get there, and try to keep control, I know the anxiety won't help your rage levels but you'll just have to finish the job as soon as possible."

Ruth kept her face blank as a tear slowly made it down her cheek. She didn't bother brushing it away. She looked back at the ruby bracelet again, and once more she watched the light that shined off of it. Caton looked at the bracelet too, as if he was memorizing every inch of detail that was carved into it with such precision.

"That might get me through a day," Ruth said. "If I'm lucky." More tears leaked down the side of Ruth's face, now she brushed them away with a gentle and swift motion. "But I'm usually not... I guess that's what happens when you rage more than the average Child of Rage." Without meeting Caton's eyes Ruth stood up and went towards the map, and started folding it into squares with care, Caton said nothing as she did this. "There are perks though," Ruth said, as more tears found their way out. "You do figure out little ways to control it, not much but just the slighest influence... I can remember things, I don't black out like the rest of you do... but sometimes, I almost wish I didn't... the things we can do..."

Caton stood from his chair and started pacing. He didn't seem bothered by the news, not shocked or horrified, like how Ruth expected others to be. He was puzzled, concentrated, but he was handling it well. "How often do you rage?"

"Normally," Ruth says. "Twice a week, but these days it's unpredictable. But I can always feel it there, when I'm not distracted at least."

"Wow," Caton said. "How do you manage that? Especially with the others around?"

"There's no method," Ruth said. "I have to, so I do."

"Then I guess you'll have to keep doing what you do," said Caton.

"I know," Ruth said. "I just needed to tell somebody."

* * *

At the beginning of dawn on the following morning, Ruth and the others set out for the final temple. Since it was nearly impossible to reach their destination by mirror, they took one of the rebellion's vans instead. They had it packed full of supplies, even though they planned on only taking the essentials, it was still almost completely full. After an hour of driving they reached a lonely dirt road that seemed to go on forever. The only ones who were awake in the van were Margaret and Ruth; Margaret was driving and Ruth was navigating. Ruth sat with the knees resting on the dash while Margaret changed the radio station every once in a while, which Ruth thought to be pointless since you could hardly hear the music anyways.

"Are we getting close?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah," Ruth said. "We are almost there, just keep going straight."

Ruth heard some stirring from the backseat, and she turned her attention towards Mark who was starting to wake up. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, and cleaned them with his shirt before slipping them back on. Ever since Ruth had told Mark the truth about Joseph, he had been distant with her. She wasn't surprised, she expected him to react this way; that was why she put off telling him for so long. Ruth turned her attention back towards the map, and waited for the right moment to tell Margaret to stop.

"How much longer now?" Margaret asked, as she looked at the road ahead with uncertainty.

"Just a little more..." Ruth said. "Okay stop."

Margaret pulled over and cranked up the volume on the radio so that it blasted everyone awake. Hero and Samia awakened with a jolt. After everyone was awake they all excited the van and Ruth looked at their destination, and she could feel the compass radiate with an intense energy. In front of them was a clear path that branched off the road. The path was surrounded by tall old trees. Each tree looked abnormally twisted. Their branches curved and stretched into odd places, by the look of it, someone could travel from branch to branch with ease. Ruth took note of that, and started unpacking their van. Together they pushed it off the street and covered it with fallen branches and dead leaves.

"Alright," Margaret said. "Let's get this camping trip started."