Authors: S.E. Myers
As soon as they touched Ryleigh closed her eyes listening to the thrum of energy that was around her and recognizing it was Tristan’s. She felt Tristan send an energy thread towards her – she did the same.
Ryleigh opened her eyes. She thought for a moment how wrong this was. But that it wasn’t.
Tristan and Ryleigh were locked in an eternal gaze. His eyes translucent violet and hers a translucent green. The Chi thread, normally invisible took shape displaying the intertwining, melding of their Chi.
The drumbeat of Tristan’s energy sped up to match Ryleigh’s and hers slowed down to match his. As their energy melded the room became electric. The lights flickered and furniture shook. Palm to palm they knelt. Their faces inches from each other looking as if they were attempting to drown in the others gaze. The imps rocked back and forth from one foot to the other. Nervous and jittery. This was different.
Ryleigh whispered, “Tristan.” They lowered their palms and he grabbed Ryleigh around the waste and pulled her into him. She leaned her head into his shoulder breathing him in as he did the same with her. With each inhale he would exhale. They were one. She lifted her head to gaze into his eyes once more and met his lips instead.
His lips were all she had imagined. Soft and inviting. Their kiss seemed to last for an eternity. The toaster exploded behind them but they did not hear it. Ryleigh reached her arms behind Tristan for an embrace. They continued to cycle energy through each other until Tristan pulled away.
Ryleigh followed suit and pulled her energy back inside of her. Tristan still needed to use Vee because he hadn’t learned how to reserve and pull it back inside himself since absorbing Illeana’s.
Ryleigh smelled something burning and turned to look around. She noticed the toaster smoking and stood up slowly. All the light bulbs around her exploded. She jumped and screamed as each one popped. Anything that had been plugged in was no longer in working order.
Tristan laughed a little and said, “I knew this moment was going to happen.” Ryleigh looked at Tristan, “What do you mean?”
“The first time we met.”
“In the office?”
“Yeah. Do you remember getting shoved?” Tristan asked her.
“Yes,” Ryleigh said slowly. “I do.”
Tristan laughed, “It was Vee. I think he knew the whole time. Didn’t you Vee?”
Vee looked at his master pleasingly, “Yes Master, I did know. I did.”
Ryleigh smiled at Tristan, “I am glad I don’t have to feel as if what I am feeling is taboo anymore. I am a little fuzzy right now though.”
“Don’t worry, it will pass.”
“I think I knew that,” Ryleigh smiled.
21
To become a tracker
“Her journal said to find my parents. I need to find them. Vera felt that my father was still alive.”
Tristan nodded. “I would imagine that if your dad is alive, your mom would be too. Finar more than likely will use them against you.”
“I know. I think I’m ready.” She really wasn’t sure if she was ready. She was scared. Out-of-her-mind. She was just getting used to this idea and everything was happening to fast. She could feel the end coming and she felt sick to her stomach. She knew she needed to save her mom and dad. They needed to confront Finar and do something about him. But she just wasn’t sure what. She knew that Tristan wanted to kill him for what he made him do. She was prepared for that, but she wasn’t sure what or how she could handle dealing with it if her parents were dead or she couldn’t find them.
“I think I am ready. I really do,” she told Tristan. “But… But I am really scared.”
Tristan pulled her into a tight embrace sending warmth over her body, “I am scared too. I am. I am also pissed. You need to push it down inside. “He pulled her to look in his eyes, “Push it down and save it. Use it when we need to.”
Ryleigh closed her eyes and attempted to subside her fear. She breathed deep, pushing it into her core until she felt nothing. She looked at Tristan. “Ok.”
“Let’s go.”
Tristan and Ryleigh packed their backpacks with supplies they might possibly need. Ryleigh – always prepared. Once done, Vee and Nissa alighted on their shoulders and pulled them into the Sanctum.
***
Ryleigh felt as if her insides were being pulled through her belly button. By the time she opened her eyes, they were there. Sandalwood and sulfur invaded her senses and she doubled over to puke.
She wretched until her stomach was empty of its previous contents. She hadn’t expected that and Tristan didn’t tell her. It took a few minutes but Tristan allowed her to regain her senses.
She stood up and drank in the scenery. It wasn’t anything that she imagined. When she thought of a prison for her kind, she imagined flames and chains; instead she was greeted by cave walls and gardens of strange plants.
They called them Fae, but they weren’t fairy winged creatures in children’s stories. They beings of all sorts. The purveyors of energy. They kept things grounded and together. They assisted and helped humanity. And then thrown into prison because of Valen. And now Finar was just like his own father. Tristan and Ryleigh had to save her parents and kill Finar. But they weren’t even sure where they were going or even if they could.
“I saved you that night,” Tristan admitted. He figured it was as good a time as any to come clean.
Ryleigh gave him her raised eyebrow, “What night?” She wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
“The night of the accident. Mia came to me and told me about you. I saved you.”
Ryleigh stopped walking for a moment and looked at him. “You knew? You knew this whole time?”
“I. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, “he continued to explain. “Mia said there was a girl who needed my assistance and faded me to the road.” Tristan took Ryleigh by the shoulders and looked into her eyes in all sincerity. “By the looks of it, you were almost dead but I could feel the energy inside still ebbing and flowing without a heartbeat.”
“What did you do?” Ryleigh asked.
“With the help of Mia, I was able to save you and bring you back. You had a metal rod shoved through your abdomen and we healed you and brought you back.” Tristan turned away closing his eyes thinking about the alternative, “Had your energy been gone, you would have been gone. You’d have been in the
nether.”
The nether. A place where their energy dissipated. Some believed that once one passed into the nether, they returned another time. Much like reincarnation. But in the nether, they sometimes would not return.
Ryleigh started to remember her dream. The caves, the incantations. She knew that for whatever reason, this was where she was supposed to be.
“I’ve been here before,” Tristan looked at her strangely. “Well, not physically, but I dreamed of this place before.”
“Well, that has to mean something,” Tristan started to wonder about Ryleigh’s abilities. Premonitions, extra sensory perception… this was not unheard of among the Fae community. Usually, they left those abilities to the witches. They were used to channel the energy and provide help and healing to humanity. They helped build the communities that they lived in, but the witches had the premonitions and precognition. Precog was not predispositioned for the Fae. The Fae were healers and creators. They were the building blocks of life. The energy they siphoned helped create life, prevent death, set balance, and even brought those back from the brink.
“I don’t know what it means, I only know that I am supposed to be here and I’ve been here before,” Ryleigh started to feel a little bit of pressure in her chest. Maybe a little bit of nervousness. Tristan grabbed her hand to reassure her. He could feel how shaken she was because of the connection they now had. Because they were threaded
together
they shared more together. This was a connection that they would never be able to break, unless one of them died. Ryleigh remembered Vera’s diary and reading about how much she was connected to and loved Finar. She remembered how much she longed for that. And now, now she had that with Tristan. She’d had it before she even knew what it was. Now she understood why she’d felt so incomplete before. That or it was because she was supposed to be a twin. The void she’d felt before, her entire life before this, was now filled.
Ryleigh was ready for whatever was to come their way. She felt a pull, almost an urgent need to move forward. The detail inside the cavern was incredible. The walls were chiseled and yet looked as if it were man-made instead of stone formation. Six-foot stalagmites seemed as if they might crash to the floor at any moment. On the tips of each stalagmite, were points of light that illuminated the pathway. Strange and beautiful plants lined the walkway with burnt orange and purple hues. Ryleigh was entranced by the beauty around her.
Tristan also felt a pull but he was feeling it through Ryleigh. He grabbed her arm, “Do you know where we are going?’
“No,” she replied quietly. “But I feel it. Can’t you feel it?”
Tristan didn’t answer her. Ryleigh sounded as if she were in a trance almost. Drugged by this place and its undercurrent of tones and music that it played. Tristan couldn’t hear or feel it. He could only sense it, and that was only because of his connection with Ryleigh.
He followed her down the winding path. He hadn’t seen the rest of the Sanctum when he was released from his cell and didn’t know where they were.
They could feel another presence around them, watching them move forward. Ryleigh didn’t want to call out and find out who or what was there. She wasn’t even sure what the Sanctum held or the types of creatures or Fae that would be present. Nissa was still sitting on her shoulder and grabbed her hair tightly.
Ryleigh knew this was just for reassurance because Nissa was a little uncomfortable. This was Nissa’s home and if she were worried, maybe Ryleigh should be too.
Ryleigh stiffened and Tristan stopped. “What is it,” he asked.
“Don’t you feel it? Something is coming.”
It was something. Something large and dark, lumbering towards them, headed their way. The smell of Sulfur continued to increase in strength. Tristan told Ryleigh, “Get ready.”
Nissa and Vee moved behind the pair and grabbed hands to help the cycle of energy they may need to fight. Tristan took his form and Ryleigh stood there silently watching as the creature continued to move forward.
The creature was a shadow with glowing yellow eyes peering from a place where its head should be. When it opened its invisible mouth to speak, the smell of rotting fish escaped its body. Ryleigh almost tossed her stomach - again.
“What are you doing here?” the creature asked slurring each word placing extra emphasis on the vowels. “You are not allowed.”
The creature stood there, waiting for an answer.
Ryleigh was the brave one, “We are looking for … Finar. And my parents.”
The creature laughed aloud, deep startling sound that reverberated throughout the room they were standing in.
“You younglings are all the same.”
“Can you help us?”
The creature’s eyes narrowed to slits. The eyes barely visible as it looked at Ryleigh and Tristan up and down. It noticed Tristan in his form. And raised a globular hand to point at him.
“There is no need for that here.” It said. “No harm will come to you.”
Tristan backed down and waited for an explanation.
The creature hissed each word that came through the stench of its mouth. Loud baritone bass echoed through their body as he talked with them. He explained that younglings, as they are still called, are never to be harmed as told by the Elders. The Elders. Ryleigh read about them in the diary. They were the rule makers, the keepers of secrets, and the ones who should be able to help.
Tristan and Ryleigh told the creature why they were there and about Finar.
“Can you take us to the Elders?” Ryleigh implored. “We need help. We need Finar killed, locked away, anything. He is dangerous and killed my Aunt.”
Soulebad, as the creature was called, thought for a minute before replying, “I can talk to the Elders. I am sure that they can help you. But, you must wait here.”
Ryleigh and Tristan agreed to wait and Soulebad sauntered off to speak with the Elders.
As soon as Soulebad rounded a corner, Ryleigh was moving forward.
Tristan hesitated, “I thought we were going to wait.”
“I’m not waiting. I’m going to find my parents,” and with that Ryleigh followed her gut and went the opposite direction of Soulbad.
***
Tristan had no choice but to take Ryleigh’s lead. Pushing forward and taking the opposite path of Soulebad, the pair ventured into the darkness merely lit by the lights above. Ryleigh was unafraid. She felt…okay. She knew that if anything harmful happened, she would be able to make it and survive. She only wanted to find her parents.
They continued along the path forward and felt other beings - creatures watching them. They dared not to show their faces because they knew what her and Tristan were about. This empowered Ryleigh. Gave her the courage to stand forward and keep going.
She was the epitome strength. She felt as if she could take on the world.