The Clan of Outcasts [Season 3]

Part 34: "The Crow Prince"

She sat Trevon into a chair, and although Kaidan saw no bonds in the memory, he detected the distinct sensation of being unable to move. Mallory set a platter on the table before him, but whether it was piled with cookies and cakes, or lined with syringes and surgical implements, he could not tell.

"Soon, it will all be over, brother," Mallory crooned, stroking his arm. Where her fingers touched, Kaidan felt the sensation of burning, of ripping and tearing under his skin. "You will be Gifted, I promise..."

"STOP!" Boomed Trevon's voice. "PLEASE! IT HURTS!"

"You'll understand.... it's over..." Kaidan could hardly hear young Mallory's voice over the blaring alarms, and the crashing and screaming coming from across the room. "Let it... break free...This is... meant to be!"

The cacophony rose to such a fevered pitch that a white light engulfed all sight and sound. The pushing ceased, and Kaidan once again saw the base of the outer walls of the White Castle. Still seeing through Trevon's eyes, he watched as Trevon climbed over the massive wall, landing in the garden behind the Castle. There were more tall shrubs and flowers to conceal himself behind, all the way to the nearest tower of the castle, which boasted an overgrown door under decades of ivy growth. Trevon wrested the door open and pushed his way inside, preparing for an indefinite period of living in secret tunnels and shadows underground for as long as it would take...

Finally, the connection broke, and so, it seemed, did Kaidan. He collapsed onto the floor, every joint and ligament lax, barely enough energy to breathe. Standing over him, modern Mallory smiled--but there was no warmth and acceptance in this smile. She waved to the side, and Kaidan heard rather than felt the purple hissing snakes approach him and wrap around his arms and body.

"Take him to the dungeons and lock him up with the others," she ordered.

"Yes, my Queen," Kamau responded, and Kaidan let his eyes close as the snakes dragged him away after their master.

Mallory turned her attention to the giantish young man sitting on a second throne besides hers. His chest rose and fell; that was good, it meant he survived the ordeal. She tenderly stroked the back of his palm, which was the size of her whole hand. Finally, his eyes opened, and he lifted his head. She let him look around, from one end of the room to the other, and then when he looked at her, she smiled.

"Welcome back," she said. "What is your name?"

He stared at her, frowning as if he didn't understand the question. Finally, he opened his mouth, and in a booming, hollow voice, he replied, "Trevon."

Her face never changed from the cool, calm grin. "And do you know who I am?" Her fingers still traced over the back of his hand.

Trevon watched her eyes, wondering why her name felt so new to him--and yet she felt as familiar as family to him. "You are Mallory," he said, then as an afterthought he added, "my sister."

Her eyes gleamed, but she remained stately and firm. "What do you remember?"

Trevon breathed deeply. Some part of him felt as though he must have been asleep for a very long time, because old memories seemed new, and new memories seemed old--but all of the narrative and explanations seemed to be there, ready to pull to the front of his mind, without any gaps. "I remember... everything," he answered.

Her hand grasped his, no longer stroking. "Do you know what you must do?" she asked.
No information had passed between them, but Trevon understood her like a brother would his sister. She'd told him what to do at one point, and his muscles remembered what his mind hadn't yet fully grasped.

"Yes, I do," he said. His memory told him to stand, and as he did so, his body began to shift and change. Feathers unfurled from his skin into large wings, and his chin lengthened and hardened into a beak, while huge talons burst from the boots he wore. Trevon, as a man-sized crow, croaked twice and took off toward the large hole near the roof of the tower, flying off into the night sky.