The Wings of Storm

14.1- The Mystery of Souls and Stones

Tsubasa hurried out, assuring me that the horse, a mare called Kin, was gentle and wouldn't bite my hand off. Mr Cesar went back into the enclosure, murmuring something to his horse, Jun. With a sigh of relief, I turned back to Kin.

I ran my fingers over her coarse fur, along her muzzle and around her ears. She grunted as I rubbed her neck. My muscles relaxed and a wave of contentment spread across me. All the stress from the last few days, all my worries, melted away like ice cream on a summer's day. The only thing that existed was this beautiful horse.

'So, what kind of mage are you?' Mr Cesar's voice came from far too close to me than it should. I jerked around to find him leaning on the gate opposite Kin's, his eyebrows quirked.

It took me a moment to comprehend his words, but even when I put them together, the question made little sense. 'What do you mean? I'm not a mage.'

He snorted at that, narrowing his upturned eyes. 'Really?'

'Yes!' I said, knitting my brows.

'You must have run from something. Even Tsubasa's birth parents,' he snarled at the word, 'abandoned him to the streets as a toddler. He would've ended up like you if his mothers hadn't been kind enough to take him in.' I opened my mouth to tell him he's got me all wrong, but he shot me down with a wave of his hand. 'Or do you expect me to believe a completely normal boy braved the storms to get to Saishuu Riku just to become a swordsman?'

'Well, that's exactly why I came.' I narrowed my eyes. 'Wait a minute, how do you know that?'

'I have my sources,' he said with a smile that this time, didn't reach his eyes.

A chill crawled up my spine. Who was the source-- Minister Banji? Was he trying to see if there was any credence to the theory that I was a spy? Or was this something else entirely?

'My reasons are my own either way. The law says so.' I curled my fists.

Mr Cesar waved his hand again. 'The law! No one's listening in on us, and no one would care.' Does that confirm he's acting on Minister Banji's orders? He took a step closer, and I moved away, my back hitting against Kin's gate. She trotted further into her enclosure, though whether on her own accord or because Mr Cesar made her, I couldn't say. My palms prickled with sweat and my heart rammed into my ribs.

'Now, you can't be an elementalist. There hasn't been one since what went on in the Graveyard of Stars.' His gaze locked onto mine as if he was looking for a reaction. I glared back. 'Not a nature whisperer with the way you handled the horses, though perhaps you're good at hiding your ability. Not a seer, or whatever country you were from would've locked you up to use your power. Then perhaps, a witch?'

'I told you. I'm not a mage.' And even if I were, this was none of his business.

'There's one way to check that.' He smirked. 'Allow me to control your life spirit. Then I could tell if your supplementary spirit can be pushed out as easily as a witch's.'

He was crazy if he thought I might agree to that. Back in the day, or based on Tsubasa's past even now, nature whisperers were feared for how easily they could kill. They didn't even need to push someone's life spirit out. They could simply make a person walk to their own death off a cliff or into the ocean. With sufficient will, any human or animal could throw off their control. But if I allowed it? He'd have too much control of me too soon. I trusted Tsubasa, but not Mr Cesar.

In fact, if he wanted to kill me, he could do so right now, by forcibly pushing out my life spirit. My muscles trembled at the thought, but I clenched my fists harder so he wouldn't see. I need to get out. Now!

'I'm sorry, but no. It was nice...nice talking to you.' My voice cracked as I walked away. The stable now seemed to constrict, closing in on me. Outside the door was escape, away from this insane man and his could-be plotting with the Minister.

My hands stopped short before I could turn the doorknob. Something like a faint breeze tickled within me then spread out and enveloped every part of my body. It clouded my senses like I was stuck in heavy smog. Mr Cesar! I struggled to scream as it latched on to a tug in my gut, the fog creeping across, away and out. Out to my other self.

The haze flickered away.

'Stop!' I yelled, swirling around. But it was already over, and the last faint grasps on my inner spirit were gone. My pulse beat into my ears like a drum. I wanted to run away, but his expression stopped me in my tracks. His tan complexion had lost its colour, and his eyes were wide with fear. Had he learned something?

'What...what are you?' he asked, voice in a whisper.

'What do you mean?' Dammit, has he figured out I live in two worlds? What would happen to me now? Even if he figured that out, he wouldn't know about the manga. But would they lock me up, trying to see if I was a new kind of mage?

'Your life spirit...a part of it is outside your body.' He stared at me as if waiting for an explanation. His brows crinkled and the fear morphed into concern.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' I said and rushed out of the stable.