Ike Penworthy

Chapter ~| 26

Ike's expression changed slowly. Her shock wearing off to mortification and then something akin to understanding.

She stood, sliding up the wall until her knees locked. Her skin was paler than normal, her eyes duller, her head lulling from side to side and eyelids barely able to stay open, but she was there. Her mind was back. The slow calculating mind that Sorn had first met with the name Ink Penny was shoving out the enraged one and filling her with cold comprehension.

She settled a glare on the old Wizard. Her jaw was tight, although that could be her way of holding in the pain. "Congratulations."

Sorn frowned, looking from Liam to Ike. Something just passed between them. Something angry. But nothing happened.

Ike walked away, using whatever was around her to keep from falling. Sorn turned to Liam, hoping for some answers, but found the Wizard had vanished. Cloud and Jax were the only ones left in the stall. The Lýkos was looking concerned and the Dragon appeared lost in consideration.

Sorn looked after Ike, but she'd left.

"Take her away." He jumped at Jax's voice, still unused to Dragons speaking aloud.

"What?"

"Take her away." Jax repeated. "Far away. Maybe to the Mainland, or Earth. Somewhere she doesn't know anyone. Take her there and never return."

Sorn frowned. "I don't understand. Why?"

"Because she knows. Her mind is quick, especially with her pain. It's slowed her thoughts but quickened her understanding."

"I still don't–"

Jax sighed slowly, shaking his large rectangular head. "Crest might have been her tormentor, but he was only the face."

"You mean..." Congratulations, she'd said. As if something had been fulfilled. She'd said it to... "Liam?" That didn't make sense. Sorn had known Liam for as long as he could remember. The old Wizard had been his father's friend and consultant for even longer than his memories could provide images to. "How..." Something triggered a memory that was fuzzy in his mind but he could recall it enough to realize Jax could be right. Liam had brought Crest forward to become his father's advisor. He'd also been the one to suggest that he go to the front after his wife died.

"Jax...?" Sorn's voice was soft, full of conflict and confusion... and weariness. "What will Ike do?"

Jax looked at him with sad eyes of deep ocean blue. "She'll die trying."

Sorn barely remembered running from the stable, or trudging through the snow, or slipping up the stairs, or the damp hallways. His first true recollection was the sound of Ike's door banging off the wall.

No one was in there.

Something snagged his sleeve. Cloud had followed him. Her jaw latched around his wrist and she pulled, whining.

Lýkos were dangerously smart creatures. Built like a wolf with a deep, rich coat and large paws, they held the aggressiveness of an angry bear and the intelligence of a crow. Cloud's red pelt was a rarity that matched the Human she cared for. Like a mother knowing something was wrong and having the intuition of where her child could be, the she-wolf led Sorn out of the room and down the hall.

She stopped outside a classroom and scratched at the door. Looking at Sorn once, Cloud made no sound as she trotted away. Because, like a mother, Cloud knew when the battle was to be finished by someone else.

Sorn was slightly intimidated by the door. It was ordinary. Unmarked. But behind it was someone that could classify as scary. The Wizard was powerful and brought fear, but Ike was unpredictable, clever, and fearless. It made her the scarier of the two.