31.
The night passed in a fury. Not only was I not allowed to finish training until dinnertime, but also the elder had dropped the funny act all together. For the rest of the night, I was yelled at, badgered, and shamed for every minor mistake I made. Just when my limbs felt like they were going to drop off, he forced me back onto my feet. When we moved on to the removal and growth of my own limbs, I drifted in and out of consciousness.
It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, the bright gold power surging to protect my nerves each time the blade was brought down to remove a chunk of my skin. It got to the point where it had actually begun to feel good, tingles running through the stumps when they began to regrow. But my brain was tiring, and I could feel the power had begun to eat away the energy in my muscles.
Alvar wasn't helping. Each time Lucius got a hit in with his blade, I automatically healed him.
"Ugh, Lyra!" Alvar yelled over the field as the latest scrape on his arm healed.
I was on the ground, waiting for my right foot to regrow.
"Stop bloody stabbing each other!" I yelled back. To the elder, I said, "when can we stop with the limb cutting?"
The tiny red fibres of muscle and nerves had slowed with my exhaustion. Sighing, I plucked the bloody old foot that lay next to my head, the shoe still intact and began to untie the laces.
"Yeah." The man sighed and pulled his cape tight over his ears. The temperature had dropped. "We will move on to telekinesis tomorrow. We can't work on your nature control because you aren't tied to this plane, and I believe you already have some combat training. It will have to suffice, we don't have time for much physical training."
I laughed, my foot completely regrown. I waited for my toe nails to form before putting on my shoe.
"I'd say cutting of my legs is a pretty physical job." He waved his hand in response.
"That ain't nothing compared to what your bodies going to have to go through once you merge with The Umbra. That's going to be a lotof power, girl. You may well implode under its weight."
I shivered. His voice was devoid of any humour. It only made my imminent death, whether by the merging or by the subsequent battle all the more real.
"Hey."
Alvar's breath was warm in my hair as he approached from behind, wrapping his arms around my chest. He pulled me up onto my feet, holding me upright as I adjusted to the fresh nerves in my foot. I squeezed my toes experimentally. Apart from the cold, they were as good as new.
"Hey." I whispered, falling into his arms.
The energy I had depleted and I sunk back heavily. Alvar scooped up my legs, carrying me bridal style, and began the short trip back to the building.
"We need to get some food I you." His lips were warm on my forehead.
A few moments passed in silence. But that silence only made everything more terrifying.
"Do you think I'm going to die?" I asked, staring up at the black sky. There were no stars or planets, just the blackness of a never-ending existence.
"No." Alvar said quickly, too quickly. I couldn't decide whether it was because he was lying or because he was scared too.
"I think I might." I said quietly, fiddling with the torn material of his shirt.
"You won't." He responded quickly again and adjusted me in his arms.
I stared up at him, waiting for something to be revealed in his eyes. But just like the night sky, they were black and endless, the answers lost in the absence of the stars.
"I might." I pushed. My horns poked into his side.
"It's not an option." He bit out. He turned his head; he was done with the conversation.
"No, but it is a possibility."
Alvar didn't answer. Kicking open a door to the palace, he walked faster.
"You're going the wrong way." I hummed, realising he was travelling towards the throne room, not towards the kitchen.
He stopped in his tracks and angrily turned around.
"Down the stairs to your left." I threw my arm over my eyes and felt myself begin to dose.
He huffed, the motion of his chest jostling my position on his chest.
"I don't want to think about you dying, okay?"
He spoke as he lowered me to my feet. We had entered the kitchen where one man with a net over bright green hair was plating up what smelt like curry beef.
"Okay." I smiled and shrugged, pulling a bowl of the food over.
I was too exhausted to argue and the food was sending my stomach into a crazed overdrive. The curried meat came with red rice and a sweet hot drink. Losing my elegance and manners, I began to quickly shuffle food into my mouth. Alvar stared for a moment before sitting down next to me.
"I got you into this mess," He began and began to poke the sticky rice, "so it's my job to see you out of this alive."
"Don't be dramatic, Alvar," I mumbled through my food, "We both know it wasn't your fault that I am here. It's much more complicated than that."
"But Ipicked you. I was in charge of finding a performer and Ipicked you."
I stopped chewing and swivelled in my chair. A grin grew on my lips.
"My boy's being sus', he was shady enough, but now he's just a shadow." I sung lightly, grapping onto Alvar's legs.
Alvar's eyes widened, but he didn't seem amused.
"My boy loves his friends like I love my split ends, and by that I mean
He cuts 'em off."
I grabbed his hair and pulled his face closer to me. Our noses were touching, my teeth shining with my smile.
"Come on, Alvar! I know no one can resist this voice, not even your kind."
"Oh, so now you're full of yourself?" Alvar scoffed, but there was a small smile on his lips.
I shoved his shoulder playfully and went back to eating. Lucius entered the room, clearing his throat.
"What's with the new found confidence anyway?" Alvar said quietly, smiling into his cup of sweet tea.
"I don't know." I shrugged into my rice, "Guess it's the horns." I winked at Lucius. He gagged.
"I don't know actually, my moods all over the place lately." I downed the rest of my food and thanked the cook, "I'm heading up to the room. I really need to crash, you know with the whole saving the world thing."
Lucius scoffed and pulled his bowl of food close. Alvar got up after downing his tea and held his arms out for me. I raised an eyebrow and laughed. Waving my finger, I gestured for him to turn around before jumping onto his back. He waddled all the way up the stairs to my room, occasionally knocking into the walls. When I finally flopped down onto the small bed, my eyes began to roll into the back of my head.
Just as I had begun to drift off, a sharp pain travelled through my temples.
"Ah! What the hell!" I screamed, grabbing my temples.
Alvar rushed to my side, his hands running down the sides of my face.
"What's wrong, Lyra? What's happening?"
His words seemed far off, like he was calling from a distance, and my vision was blurred. I could vaguely see his fingers running down my cheeks, but the sensation was lost to the creeping pain down the sides of my face. My teeth ground, my cheek caught on the points of my teeth. But as soon as it started, it was over. The pain in my temples stopped, as did the tingles that had started in my fingertips.
"What? What is it?" Alvar whispered, his fingers continuing to run down his face.
"It-its gone..." I mumbled. "It was so painful, like someone was electrocuting my temples or something.
"Mmm." Alvar suddenly pulled on my horns, yanking my head down, "Mmm!"
"Alvar, what the hell what do you see?" I cried, clutching at my hair.
"Well, it's definitely different." He shrugged, pushing my head side to side gently.
"What is it?" I grabbed his lapel and shook him, eyes probably as wide as a deer. He didn't say anything, but he grimaced and smiled cheekily. "What you asshole!"
"Its shiny now!" He laughed, reaching under the bed to pull out one of the shards from the mirror.
In the mirror, the horns shined; intricate golden patterns burned into the length of the curls.
"What the actual hell." I laughed, and laughed, until I was hysterical. Tears streamed down my cheeks. "I don't want to die, Alvar." I sighed and fell face first into his lap.
"You wont. I wont let you." He whispered and spent the rest of the night rocking me to sleep.
"We wont be doing any more limb removals today." Said the elder the next morning, scratching his head.
"What about decapitation! I want to see if the animal can regrow my head." Lucius yelled from across the field, shooting me a wink.
I scowled.
"Decapitation would be unwise. While Lyra could grow back the tissue for you, she would still need to perform the possession ritual before your soul could return to your body." The elder called back.
"Party pooper." Lucius yelled back, frowning.
"Now—"
"Hey! What happens if you cut Horney straight down the middle, what side regrows? Or would I have to deal with three Horney's?" Lucius interrupted.
Alvar stuck his side with his blade, but Lucius only laughed harder.
"In all seriousness," the elder said to me quietly, not loud enough to be heard by the fae men, "I honestly have no idea what would happen, but for your sake lets just say the right side would grow back, hmm?"
I nodded wearily, scratching the base of my horns. Overnight, the patterns had grown and had begun to creep over my scalp. Not wanting to freak myself out, I refused to think about what they meant and concluded it was just a simple side effect.
"So," the old mans voice interrupted my thoughts, "Telekinesis. Theoretically, if you focus, you will not just be able to move objects. What you did to Lucius was easy, no? So the issue there will not be the force or the will, it will be working on the intricacies of moving smaller, fragmented things, like a shattered bullet from a body." I nodded stiffly, "In the other Plane, you will be able to move the ground beneath your feet; command the earth to do your bidding as a part of your telekinesis. But the earth is living and breathing; it needs more than a command to be summoned. We will prepare for that by attempting to move an objective in someone's mind from a top priority, to of less significance."
"You mean mind control? Isn't that a violation of their rights?"
"It depends how you would like to see it. It does not take anything away from the person, it cannot control them completely like witchcraft, but it can trick people into thinking doing what's in your best interest is in their best interest. It is what you must do to the earth when we begin to take down the barrier that separates the Planes."
I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek. The entire ordeal sounded way more complicated than I was expecting. He wasn't going to teach me basic telekinesis on the basis that I already knew how to do it. But I had no control over myself when I had thrown Lucius across the room and definitely wouldn't be able to extract a bullet from a body without hitting a vital organ. Thinking it over, I knew that these details needed to be overlooked. I didn't to be perfect, no one was asking that of me; they were asking me to be resilient and to have control over the strongest of my abilities.
"How do you know so much, anyways?" I asked gently, kicking the dirt at my feet. He sighed lightly and spoke reluctantly.
"I was the Umbra's first advisor before she died. For many life times I have served her, and learnt both the limits to her abilities and those of her counterpart." I puckered my lips, impressed.
"But she's not dead, she's living inside of Ly, right?" Cocking my head to the side, I watched as he struggled to provide an answer.
"Not entirely. To soak up someone's essence is to become them, as they become you. It creates a new person entirely."
"So you're saying I wont be me after Ly and I merge?" I questioned, taken back.
"No. You will be new. Perhaps even something better."
I pursed my lips. I wanted to throw a fit, refuse the entire situation I was in and go straight back home to my warm bed and my loving sister. But the choice wasn't mine. I was either stuck in the shadows, condemning its entire civilisation and possibly the human world, or I could become something else, something new. Whatever that was, whoever she was, I'd just have to deal with it when I got there.
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Hey guys, sorry I'm a day late!
Part 4 is here!
Comment your thoughts!
Vote if you enjoyed :)
xx Charli