The man who had spoken to her was large. At first that was all Anah could think to describe him. He had messy, black hair framing his kind eyes. However when Anah turned her face toward him fully, it hardened into an anger that scared Anah. "Who did that to you?"
"Excuse me?" She put her hand over the side of her face. "It's none of your business. Who are you?"
"Don't scare her." The woman he was with wrapped an arm around his waist. She was very curvy. Not fat in any way, but she had a curvaceous figure that Anah envied. Her hair was a golden brown, waving gently around her face. Altogether she reminded Anah of an early twentieth century pinup girl. "Sorry, my husband can forget how scary he looks. My name's Kendelyn. This is my husband Kellen."
"Kellen?" Anah stood, her hand falling from her bruised skin. Her Kellen? Her pulse quickened. Could the man before her really be her dead brother?
The anger fell from his face. "You remember my name?"
"No," She admitted. "I don't remember anything from then. I only just found out about you yesterday."
"Oh...So not quite the happy reunion." He stared at her, but his expression was hard to read.
"I thought you all were dead." She shook her head. "How did you survive? Why did you never tell me?"
Kellen shook his head. He looked near tears which was odd from a man his size. "I'm sorry, it's been years since I've seen you, Anah." He stepped forward, wrapping her up in his large arms.
"Oh!" She squeaked as her feet left the ground. "Hi..." She mumbled, not really sure what to do with that kind of affection. She never received a hug from a family member that she knew of, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond.
Kellen laughed as he set her down, his face splitting into that big grin that she'd memorized from the photo. "Hi. We have a lot of catching up to do."
"I think so," she agreed. Her brother was alive. Maybe then her mother and father...she blocked those thoughts from her mind before she got her hopes up. "How did you survive?"
"Mother had just enough time to save Jakoban and me."
Despite Anah's precautions, her heart fell. "They didn't make it."
Kellen shook his head 'no', his eyes sad. "I brought Jakoban to his grandfather, lived on the streets for a long time before getting a job as a busboy, and eventually a scholarship to college...where I met Ken. Sorry, you probably don't remember Jakoban either, do you?"
"No, but he moved back here a week ago after his grandfather died. He goes by Jack now. He had found some old journals of his parents and I sort of followed him...there." She still wasn't sure what to call the place they'd been visiting.
He smiled. "I knew you'd find your way back one day. You were so happy there when you were little, always running off and scaring the hell out of Mother when you'd disappear."
Someone put their hand on my shoulder. "That sounds like Anah."
She pulled away from Rendel's touch. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you."
The anger was back on Kellen's face. "Are you the one who did that to her face?"
"I'd be the last person to hurt Anah," Rendel promised.
"Then who are you? Her boyfriend?"
"God, no," Anah mumbled. She couldn't even imagine Rendel as her boyfriend. He had the most irritating personality, and he was really creepy.
"Her stalker," Rendel corrected.
Anah snorted in agreement. At least he knew he was creepy. "What happened to 'guardian angel'?"
"I'm a little bit of both really." He pulled a small leaf out of her hair. "And how are you doing?"
"Fine," She lied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
He gave her a knowing look. "Lina contacted me saying she'd found something and not to worry about getting her, so I went back. I imagine you saw the same thing I did."
They were still kissing? Anah felt sick all over again, seeing a similar sadness in Rendel's eyes. He must've been sad because he knew now of her feelings for Jack. Anah turned away from him. "No reason not to be perfectly fine," she lied again, knowing Rendel didn't believe a word of it. If she was really okay with it, she wouldn't have run off like she did.
"With what?" Kellen asked. "Is something wrong, Anah? We heard you swearing, and you still haven't explained the bruise on your face."
He was getting really nosey. Sure he was her brother, but she'd only just met him. Anah didn't answer his questions. She didn't want to talk about Jack anyway. Rendel put his hand back on Anah's shoulder; that time it was more of a welcome gesture. He squeezed lightly before letting go of her again. "The bruises are from Mary. The swearing's unrelated," he explained to Kellen. "Do you want to go back?" Rendel looked back at Anah with empathetic eyes. "I can take you to Jack's, or home."
"That's not my home. I told you, I've run away. I want to go back."
"You ran away?" Kendelyn asked.
Anah gently touched the bruises on her face. "Let's go," she told Rendel. Looking at Kellen and his wife, she knew she didn't want to leave him yet. "You can come with." She offered.
"We'd love to." Kellen smiled, relieved that she wanted to stay with him. She remembered how happy the boy in the picture seemed to be with his little sister. Perhaps he missed that as much a she longed for that kind of bond.
Anah reached for Jack's knife to get back through, but Rendel pulled it from her hands. "No getting hurt while you're with me," he reminded her.
She laughed quietly at that lie. She was hurting plenty. Rendel understood what she meant and shrugged. "Some things even I can't protect you from."
Kellen and Kendelyn followed them like practiced veterans. "How often do you come here?" Anah asked.
"Whenever we can. Less lately because Ken's trying to get pregnant. When she does we'll stop visiting for a while for the health of the baby."
"Pregnant?" She'd only just found her brother, and she was getting a sister-in-law and a niece or nephew, too.
He beamed at her again. She liked that smile. It was already so familiar to her. "Hopefully soon. You asked why I didn't tell you I was alive," They started walking down the wood steps of the bell tower. Anah was still in awe of the size of the building, not to mention the size of her brother. "I wanted to. You can't even know how much I've missed you, but it was dangerous. I had to go into hiding, and if was ever found, I didn't want you getting hurt too. Jack's grandfather had insisted you'd be safer on your own, with them. It wasn't an easy decision for a ten year old to make, but living on my own was best for everyone."
"Or not." Anah touched the bruise on her cheek again to emphasize her point.
"I've been attacked by worse than a fist," Kellen argued. "But I'm sorry. I never thought Mary would hit you, or I would've left you with someone else."
Anah shrugged. "You couldn't have known. It doesn't matter; I'm not going back."
Kellen was silent on that matter. Maybe he didn't want to pry more than he already had, or maybe he agreed with her. Either way she was glad for the break. The day had already been much too full of new information and new emotions, and it all made Anah sleepy.
Jack nearly walked right into Anah at the base of the stairs. "Anah," he eyed Kellen and Kendelyn with curiosity. "I was just about to go looking for you. Lina thought you and Rendel would beat me here."
"We did," Rendel lied with ease. "I just thought Anah needed a bit of normal after the dragon."
"Dianalla?" Kellen asked, interrupting Rendel's smooth lies.
"You know her?"
Kellen nodded, his warm, brown eyes full of a new concern. "They've been acting odd lately. Dianalla and several others keep wandering off from the flock, sometimes attacking towns, but never killing any Elvita, or even livestock. It's a bad omen."
Kendelyn ran a hand diagonally over her heart. The gesture reminded Anah of religious people making signs with their hands while praying. "I hope not. The last time the dragons were so restless was before Shritaum, and earlier before the hundred thirty year civil war. I think they're trying to warn of something, but no Elvita or man is able to communicate with them."
"Though what we would give to be able to," Felidy poked her head around the door past Jack. "Hello," she smiled cautiously at the newcomers. "Southern?"
"Human," Kellen corrected. Felidy's face immediately lit up, and cautiousness thrown away.
"Fascinating! Do all of you get so big?"
Anah's brother laughed, Kendelyn along with him. "No, dear," Kendelyn explained. "My husband is large in any race. I think humans are more like Elvita than you realize. I'm Kendelyn and this is Kellen."
Jack's head snapped to Anah once he recognized the name. "Kellen? Your Kellen?"
"My brother, yes." She hadn't meant to speak so coldly to him, but from the offense in his eyes, she could see she had snapped at him. "Sorry, it's been a long day."
Jack nodded understanding, his gaze held on hers like they shared some sort of secret. Shouldn't he be giving that look to his beloved Fe, Anah thought bitterly as Felidy led her guests into the room they'd designated as their living room.
"I'll make some tea," Felidy offered. She lit a fire in the pit at her feet with a flick of her wrist. "No worries," she said to Anah. "I asked Rendel, most foods we eat are plenty safe for humans as well."
Anah just nodded curtly, knowing she wouldn't be able to act civil to Felidy after what she'd witnessed earlier. Felidy smoothed a piece of ginger hair behind her ear as she placed a round tea kettle over the flames, humming a happy tune under her breath. Jack hovered to her left, watching her work while at the same time eyeing Anah's new family.
Rendel walked around the fire to put a hand on Felidy's arm. She jerked out of his light grip to glare at him. "What do you want, elf?"
He gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that," he growled, grabbing her arm again and half pulling her from the room.
"But the tea," Felidy protested. She seemed much more concerned about the hot beverage than the angry boy dragging her from the room. Jack glared at Rendel, unhappy perhaps with the treatment of his girlfriend.
"I can make the tea if you'd like," Kendelyn offered.
"Thank you," Felidy gave her a white smile before disappearing out the door.
With Felidy gone, Jack left his spot next to the fire to sit on the bench next to Anah. The smell of old leather from his jacket overwhelmed her. That and the memory of him kissing Felidy added to her nausea. She stood up almost as soon as he sat down. Jack frowned at her with a question in his eyes. "I'll be back," Anah said.
"Where are you going?" Jack pried.
She turned to give him a stern look. "I have to pee," she lied, slipping out the door after Rendel and Felidy.
Anah didn't know where she was going, but she needed the time to think. The bottom rooms of the bell tower must've once been used as living quarters as well since there were designated bedrooms, living areas, kitchens, and bathrooms which just consisted of a bench with a hole in it and a wash basin on a stand. The smell wasn't as bad as Anah would've expected, but she still closed the door quickly behind her.
The rooms were arranged in a maze-like pattern sprawled around the whole bottom level of the oversized tower. Anah quickly found herself lost in the corridors, but was perfectly happy that way. It allowed her to get just as lost in the maze that was her mind.
Thoughts of Kellen and Jack vied for her attention, but it was the dragons that won out in the end. The great Dianalla with her terra cotta coloring and the way she grieved for her daughter's death. Anah had no mother who would avenge her death. Mary felt no love for her; she was sure of that.
Maybe Jack would grieve for her. Maybe he'd realize that they would've been perfect together, and maybe then he'd regret Felidy. Anah shook that foolishness from her head, reminding herself that she didn't want to think of him.
Forcing her thoughts back on the dragons, she wondered where anything so large could ever possibly live, much less a whole flock of them. Kendelyn had spoken of the dragons as being a warning for hard times. Dianalla certainly didn't look like she was trying to help anyone. She looked pissed.
Anah stopped at a dead end in the corridor she was walking through. She turned back around, intending to go down the corridor to her left, only then hearing a low voice. "Fe," Rendel's voice was muffled slightly, gruff and deep.
Anah peered around the corner to see Rendel and Felidy not too far from her. The only reason they hadn't seen her seconds before was because they were completely entwined in each others' arms. Felidy's legs were wrapped around Rendel's waist as he kissed her neck.
Anah's face burned as she quickly turned away from them, covering her mouth with her hands. What? She peeked back around the corner to make sure she'd seen right before looking away again. Swearing to herself, she looked for a way out, but there was nothing around her except a door that led to a dark bedroom with no other exit.
Rendel and Felidy clearly didn't want to be disturbed, and Anah didn't want to get caught snooping so she stayed where she was, frozen in place by a secret she didn't want to know.
"Rendel," Felidy's tone was soft, but scolding. "Stop."
"Stop?" Rendel's deep voice changed to annoyance. "Since when?"
"Just, don't!" Anah heard a light thud as if Felidy had hit him and then another thud as he dropped her to the ground, swearing as he did.
"Seriously? Because of Jack?" Rendel wasn't making as much effort to keep from being heard as Felidy was.
"Would you keep your damn voice down?!"
Anah cringed, wishing she was anywhere but there. She considered exposing her hiding spot and confessing that she'd gotten turned around, but it had been too long for that to sound innocent.
"One kiss doesn't commit ya to being his girlfriend, Fe!"
"Obviously not or you and I would be married by now!" They argued in hushed voices, but Anah could still hear every word, even when she covered her ears.
Rendel sighed heavily. "Then what is it? Is this 'cause I hit you earlier? I barely touched ya and you would've done the same thing."
Felidy let out a laugh of disbelief. "That's exactly the problem, Rendel! Can't you see how twisted this is?! We can't stand each other."
"So?"
"So it's sick!"
They were both quiet for a while. Anah was afraid they'd started kissing again, but then Rendel spoke softly. "I can stand you, Fe."
"That's so sweet," she responded with sarcasm. "Every girl's dream: a guy that can stand them. I want something real, Rendel. I think I may just have a chance at that with Jack. Quit being your usual bastardly self and trying to ruin this."
"I want you," Rendel said in that deep voice again.
"No, I'm done. Find someone else. Go mess around with your Anah; you're clearly obsessed with her."
Rendel made a frustrated noise. "No, I'm not. Charles asked me-"
"But it's more than that! You're obsessed!"
Anah chanced another glance around the corner to see Rendel with his head against the wooden wall and Felidy standing several feet away from him, arms crossed over her chest, knees bent ever so slightly like she was prepared to run.
"Fe-" Rendel began, but she cut him off before he could say more.
"I'm done with this. Just leave me alone." She turned, walking the other way down the hall.
Rendel swore and to Anah's horror, started walking down the hall toward her. In a panic Anah ducked into the room next to her. Lanterns around the room sprung to life by magic as soon as she stepped inside, illuminating a terrifying scene.
The room clearly belonged to either Felidy or Lina: whoever was messier considering the amount of clothes and weapons haphazardly thrown to the floor. In the middle of the bed was a metal pike, sticking straight up into the air, dripping with orange blood. At the top of the pike was the decapitated head of a middle aged Elvitan man.
Anah screamed for Rendel, not caring anymore about getting caught snooping. He was in the room in seconds, sword drawn in one hand, a sleek, metal gun in the other. When he saw the head, he froze, all blood draining from his face. "No."
Light footsteps were followed by Felidy, still flushed with anger. "Gross," She said when she saw the head staining the blankets on the bed. She tried to move closer to it, but Rendel put his hand out to stop her.
"It could be a trap," Rendel explained in a weak whisper.
"Looks more like a warning to me," Anah said, trying to keep her voice as smooth and non-squeaky as possible.
"Lina?" Felidy shot a pleading look at Rendel. "Where is she?"
"With the dragons. She said she'd found something she wanted to look into." Rendel was shaking his head slowly back and forth. "I know him. That's my landlord. He has three kids, he-" the rest of his sentence was drowned out by Anah's scream.
The pain was so sudden and so powerful that it brought Anah to the floor, curling up into a ball, screaming in a pointless attempt to ease the burning in her skin.
Rendel was on the floor next to her, holding her arms. "Anah!" She could barely hear him over her screams. Anah didn't even notice when Kellen, Kendelyn and Jack joined them. All she knew was the burning pain. For that minute that stretched on like hours, she begged for anything to make it end.
When the pain stopped, she found her face streaked with tears and her voice hoarse from screaming. "I'm sorry," Rendel was saying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
She took a deep, shaky breath, finding herself woozy from lack of oxygen. "Are you okay?" Jack's face came into focus before her eyes. He had one hand on her shoulder and another under her head, and his expression conveyed fear and worry.
"No," Anah's voice came out raspy. She longed for something to ease the dry pain in her throat.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"It burns." She pointed to the skin over the bottom of her heart where there had always been a black mark on her skin. Without looking, she knew that was where the pain had been coming from.
"Get her out of here." Kendelyn said. "That head's too much right now. Bring her to the living room. We'll get her a cup of tea and Felidy and I can try to figure out what was hurting her while you boys clean up in here."
Despite her still young age, Kendelyn had a sort of mother-like authority over them. Kellen scooped Anah up in his strong arms, carrying her like she weighed less than nothing.
Once Anah was settled on a pile of blankets, propped up by several pillows with a cup of tea in her hands, Kellen and Jack left the room. Rendel however hadn't taken his eyes off the spot on her chest that she'd pointed out for several minutes. He knelt next to her, staring with a dark look in his eyes that made her uncomfortable. Was he really so obsessed with her?
"Rendel, leave," Felidy demanded.
"No, I want to see the mark," Even his voice was dark and quiet. He was slowly going from creepy to scary, and how could he possibly know about the mark on her chest. Had he seen her undressed? That thought sent a shiver up Anah's spine.
Felidy smacked the back of his head. "Pervert."
The hit seemed to shake Rendel from his trance. He blinked at Anah. "Sorry. I'm sorry." He left the room without saying anything else. Anah watched him go, deciding she never wanted to find herself alone in a room with him.
"Alright, hon. Where'd it hurt again?" Kendelyn asked.
Anah lifted her shirt to the black mark on her skin. She'd always had the tattoo-like mark. When she was younger, she thought it was some sort of alien symbol and had done all sorts of research, trying to find anything to match the shape, but her searches never revealed anything about it so she had given up. Just then, all of her old theories were brought back into her thoughts. What kind of birthmark would burn like that?
"Is that a tattoo?" Kendelyn asked, almost looking impressed that Anah would have ink.
"No. It's a birthmark, and it's never done that before."
"Are you sure that's where the pain was coming from?" Felidy asked.
"Yes," Anah said. "It burned like someone was stabbing me with hot metal."
They studied the mark for a moment before Anah pulled her shirt back down. "I've never seen anything like it," Felidy confessed. When Kendelyn took Anah's empty cup to get her some more tea, Felidy leaned in close to Anah's ear. "What did you hear between Rendel and me?" She asked.
Anah shrugged. "I wasn't trying to spy on you. I just got turned around. I'm sorry."
Felidy frowned at her and Anah knew she didn't believe a word of it. "Just don't tell anyone, please. Especially not Jack."
"Of course," Anah promised. "But why Rendel?"
"We'll talk about it later," Felidy said with finality. Anah had a feeling that conversation would never happen.
Kendelyn handed her the tea, and fixed her bangs across her brow. "Have you seen many pictures of what your mother looked like? I swear you could be her twin."
That made Anah smile. "Really?"
"Yes." She smiled widely. "I'll go check on the boys." She left Felidy alone with Anah which neither of them were happy about.
Anah searched her mind for something civil they could talk about, but could only come up with one thing. "Why was the blood orange?" She asked.
Felidy seemed confused. "All Elvita bleed orange. Do humans not?"
"No. Our blood's red."
Her eyes sparkled. "Fascinating."
"Alright, we've made a decision," Jack announced as they reentered the room. "Anah, you and I will head back now. You need to rest in our world. You'll recover better. Rendel and Kellen will go out to look for Lina-"
"I'm coming with," Felidy demanded.
"No you're not." Rendel eyes kept flittering between her and Anah. "You and Kendelyn will stay the night here. You won't leave unless we call for you. In the morning you two, Anah and Jack, will come join us."
"Why do we have to stay here?" Felidy glared at him.
"Because I don't want to have to babysit you, and I can travel far quicker with two people than four. And you need to watch Kendelyn."
"Why can't Kellen stay here with Kendelyn?" Felidy still wasn't going to give on the issue, but Rendel was just as stubborn as her.
"Because I'm stronger than you, and I can make you stay here."
Her face turned red. "You're a-"
"Spare the insults, Felidy. I'm sure I've heard worse. I'll find Lina, don't worry. Kellen and I are leaving now."
"So are we," Jack said. "If you're good to walk."
"I'll be fine." Anah was inwardly pleased that he'd be staying with her. She missed when it was just them.
"Tomorrow then," Kendelyn smiled, standing strategically between Rendel and Felidy so she could stop them if their fuming turned into physical blows. "Get lots of sleep, Anah."
"I will," she promised, not knowing that was a lie.