The Raver (The Raver #1)

Chapter 24

Just a few days after the fire, after my sixth birthday. I could recollect the very first moment I had felt that pain. My aunt was contacted by the doctors. She opened her arms. That was the time she took guardianship over me. Under her care, I had begun seeing those nightmarish images. The haunting pictures of the house capsulated in flames. My family still inside. My memories messed up.

I spent the next week at my aunt's house, sleeping in that extra room. But while I was dozing off, my chest began to have painful contusions. I woke up crying nonstop. Being young, I didn't know how to stop it. The suffering was so extreme. I felt my chest ripping apart. My skin burning. My insides hurting like balloons popping. I didn't know what caused it. I was so freaking out. I was hysterical. I cried, screamed for help. Aunt Verdi was helpless during those first few weeks. She did what she could. She gave me the best pain medication in Dawning. However, my chest continued to be in an agonizing discomfort. But it stopped. Soon Aunt Verdi got in contact with her friend, Dr. Ryland, to help me deal with those nightmares.

Eventually, as the years go on I discovered the burnt mark was the culprit. The mark I thought was part of me. It was tied to the fire, the event that defined me.

Falling on my knees, I feel a state of shock. I lean my eyes down, pulling the neck collar of my shirt. I quickly glance back at the mark. It's still there. The scar remains part of my chest However, the pain that came from it—or somewhere else, I still don't know. Wherever the pain originated, that's now gone.

I'm not my six year old self. The first time I felt that pain, I wanted to crawl underneath a rock. Hide away from the anguish. Yet, the ache continued to happen year after year. Up until the very moment I hold onto this blade. It was a spontaneous effect.

Looking at the blade, I stare sublime. How could this item hold such power? Does it have some sort healing effect? Or is it like what Icarus told me during the training, how he and the other Shadowhawks are bonded with their weapons through blood and magic.

I understood what he meant. The bond he shared with his weapon, and like the others. I suddenly hold an instant, unique bond with the blade.

"So is that it?" Terra asks. "The Triadic?"

Glancing back at her, I see how she is a bit scared and confused. But as I stare at the blade, the funny feeling runs through my nerves. It's not like having a power. It's like the blade is steering what I should do. It's like a part of me has been cleansed.

The blade isn't the Triadic. The blade is part of it.

"This is nothing more than an extension." I don't know how else I can explain it.

"But was the tablet supposed to bring us to the superior power."

"Not sure." I then hold tight onto the blade's handle.

I believed the tablet was formed as an atlas of the dimension. Whoever placed the blade here, must have wanted to give it to someone. Made me wondered how my father gain possession of it. Did Raudan set the fire to kill my family, so he could have gotten his hands on the tablet?

There's a nagging feeling in me, I think Raudan may not be the firestarter. I know I'm not even though part of the tablet told me.

"I'm certain the Triadic still exists." She says.

I want to say something but then the power of the Triadic, I can sense it. I let her know the Triadic is still out there. But through the blade, we can find it much faster. I then sense more from the blade. My eyes close, feeling the odd sensation guiding me.

"With the blade, I think I can find a way out of here."

"You're sure?" She looks worried. Her head partially down, not knowing if I can truly lead us out. Then after several seconds, she sees me. "I don't know about this, but I trust you."