The Rebelero Brothers' Curse

Two

Amelia always encouraged me to get close to him and befriend him like she has done with Adrian, but I couldn't do that. We each had distinctive lives. Besides, I had Dale.

He was halfway up to me when a man burst into the arena panting and calling for Lucian and David. Lucian stopped mid-step but kept his eyes trained on me. Even as David called to him, I could see the hesitation. He wanted to speak to me. He wanted to know who I was, but David's stern voice made him turn.

I took that as my cue to duck out of the arena. I always sat near the exit at the top. I could enter or exit without being seen. If I stayed I'd only be a distraction.

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She was absolutely mesmerizing. She had silky black hair that was braided down to her waist, her eyes were gray, and her skin is a shade light of olive.

She stared right at me with those shimmering gray eyes of hers and the Dark presence I felt melted away. It's as if we had known one another forever. I felt the magnetic pull of her presence which did not allow me to look away. Normally it was I who had that affect on people, especially women.

There was just something about her that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was driving me insane. I needed to speak to her. I was halfway up the steps when a messenger burst in shouting for David and I. My father needed us. I was torn, but David's stern voice made me turn. I took one step down and when I went to look at her to at least ask her what her name was, she was gone. I bit back the disappointment and trotted back to David.

He began ordering the troops to run laps around the arena and left the senior trainee he sparred with in charge.

"What is going on?"

"Your father needs us." He said leading the way out of the arena and toward the East forrest.

"For what?"

"Rolonians." The color in his face drained and I stopped asking questions.

The forest, just a 15 minute walk from the arena, was indeed where we were going. David, the messenger, and I jogged down to and through the dense Forrest. With the messenger's help in navigation we soon came upon a clearing where my father, our army's secondary commander, two other soldiers, and a healer surrounded what looked like another body. The body was of a soldier and it remained motionless. The other men were speaking in tense tones, and were all on edge. My father's face was scrunched in one of worry while Rafael's, our commander, was tight and expressionless.

As we approached, I heard the healer mumbling something with his hands working over the long gash in the man's abdomen. I immediately knew partly why I was here, and without being asked I told the healer to move. He gladly got up when he saw it was me.

I got down on my knees by the fallen man's side. The men around me backed up and my father left to the side with David. They knew what I was going to do and didn't dare stick around to witness it.

Pretending as if we were alone I place my hands two inches above and below his wound. He moans in pain and I lighten the pressure on his abdomen. Blood was seeping through the cloth meant to impede him from bleeding out, and was drenching my hands with his blood. The blood doesn't frighten me though.

I imagine the gash as if it were on my own body to help me take some of his agony. I will the black threads of pain to fall upon me by concentrating on his ragged breathing and what I felt in his warm blood. I winced as the first ounce of pain entered my body, but I held strong. I took a deep breath and welcomed it into me. I began to feel it travel up through my veins to my own abdomen. I could bring a balance between his damaged body to my own healthy one this way. It came slow at first, but as he accepted what I was doing the pressure was being built up as it flowed faster. I felt as if a thousand needles were being stabbed into my body and as if the knife was stuck in me. I couldn't describe the burning in my body any better than it feeling like hot iron being moved into my flesh. My breathing became heavier, and it was becoming more difficult to bear. I closed my eyes just as they began to tingle indicating they were changing; I didn't want to scare anyone. My breaths were coming in short gasps now, and I knew I had to stop. It took all I had to force my arms to move. In an instant I ripped my hands away and let my head fall back to release what I had taken. Just that quick and it was over.