R U [ I ] N E D

When Life Is But a Beautiful Lie

"Is she really fine?" he asked, pulling over a nearby chair to sit with Soleil.

"Her fever broke, and the medicine is starting to kick it," Sol murmured, "I know she looks bad now, but we have to give it time. She's fine."

"What happened to her exactly?"

Soleil carefully grasped Ismerina's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "She was underdeveloped as a child... No one even thought she'd survive her first few years, but Rina's a fighter. She fought those odds, and she won. But, well, ever since Ferndale, she's been getting worse." Sol cleared her throat, but Cal could hear the tears in her voice. "It was like she lost her will to fight when she lost her dad. She lost hope... He was going to help her with her magic, and she lost that too."

Callan placed his hand on the sorceress' shoulder and gave a squeeze, similarly to what she'd done to comfort Rina. "I'm so sorry..."

"My family has lost so much, and no one deserves to go through what they have... what I have..." Sol brushed Cal's hand away and offered a weak smile. "Don't feel bad for our past. We're doing our best to live the lives we have now. That all anyone can really do, isn't it? Live life to the fullest and hope for the best."

"Or you can be the change that makes it better," the shifter offered.

Sol chuckled deeply at that. "Don't tempt me, Callan. You don't know the sort of monster you'd be awakening." She looked again at Ismerina, brushing a few strands of hair back from the young girl's face as she stirred.

Rina's eyes fluttered open, and she tipped her head curiously at Callan as Soleil helped her to sit up. "Easy there," Sol warned her cousin, "you almost collapsed earlier..."

She averted her gaze, looking down at the bedspread as Sol scolded her. That was, until Cal spoke up.

"It's Ismerina, right?"

A nod.

Cal waved, a simple gesture meant to show the girl that he was a friend. "I'm Callan. A pleasure to meet you."

Rina's sullen expression eased a bit at the shapeshifter's greeting, and she returned it was a small smile and wave of her own. She tapped Sol's arm, pointing to a notepad that lay on a table nearby.

"Okay." Sol nodded, fetching the pad and a pen, then passed them over to Rina.

The girl scribbled on the page for a moment before lifting it for Callan to read. Are you like Sol? it said.

"A Runeholder?" Cal asked.

Rina nodded again.

"Yeah, we all are."

Rina flipped the page and started to write enthusiastically again. Can I see it? it read this time.

"She's obsessed with the runes," Sol explained with a gentle laugh. "You don't have to if you don't want to..." Her fingers drew across her own rune, which wrapped around her wrist like a band, as she spoke, but they flittered away after only a brief moment there.

Ismerina pouted at that, and Callan smiled. "I don't mind." The shifter carefully rolled up the sleeve of his shirt so that the dark mark on the side of his bicep was clearly visible.

Rina waved the notepad at him again with a sheepish smile. Can I touch it?

"Ismerina!" Sol protested, but Cal just laughed. And laughed even harder at the look of abject horror on Soleil's face. After all, it was a wholly innocent request.

"Sure. Though so doubt you're in need of any extra humility," he teased.

The girl was just about to trace over the mark when a sharp noise shifted the group's focus elsewhere. "Was that..." Sol started, her eyes widening as she heard voices. "The window in the guest room," she whispered. "Rina, come with me. We'll get Reighn and Oma." Helping Ismerina to her feet, Soleil told Callan what he needed to do. "Get the others. We can't stay here, not like this."

Cal didn't need more than that to bolt out of the room and back down the hallway. In a matter of seconds, he'd swung the door open to find Braedyn distraught and wide awake, Phoena stirring in bed, and Sachi out like a light next to her.

"Get them up. Now. We need to leave," he said to the telepath. This was urgent, and he was going to treat it as such.

"Callan?" Phoena mumbled sleepily, "what's going on?"

Cal just shook his head. "There's no time to explain. We're leaving. Get what you can, quickly, and let's get going." The shifter went around to the far side of the bed, shaking Sachi's shoulder lightly.

"Wha—what's wrong?" The boy asked as he stared up at Callan's terse expression.

"I'll tell you later," he said simply, lifting the small kid up into his arms. "Hold on tight, and don't let go."

Sachi nodded, his gave pressed into Callan's shoulder so that the shifter more so felt the motion than actually saw it.

"Let's move," he commanded, in true fashion of what would be expected of the Grand Commander's son, and headed for the door without hesitation. He trusted the others to follow. They could sense it too. Something was amiss, and the shouts from outside were only growing louder and more wild as the time passed. Sooner or later, the situation was bound to escalate further, and none of them wanted to be around when that happened.