We all stared across the meadow and
watched as several excessively white individuals exited. They were ghastly in
every way right down to their sunken eyes which were like obsidian stones in
their sockets. Frankly, it was hard to take in their appearance and not blink
back at the brightness. Three emerged from the thirty or so clan members and
they approached the table.
Chris addressed the man, “We have
our package, where is yours?”
The man ignored Chris and turned to
me. He spoke with a high pitched perfectly smooth voice, “You were the
slowest?”
I nodded.
“The dynamics of this trio has
changed. Now, the fastest is the slowest and the average one is
inconsequential. You are the leader and I will only address you, Calli
Courtnae.”
I
did not
foresee this
happening in my visions. Panic electrocuted my heart into rapid beating. I
stepped forward and addressed the scary man, “We have our package, where is
yours?”
He turned and nodded to the guards
at the tent who brought out the hostages. I heard murmurs all throughout the
crowds circling us. The captives’ hands were bound and they appeared pale and
defeated. Dirk, John and Macey were easy to spot as they had on similar green
running suits. They were young, like me.
“Now, Calli Courtnae, mystery
member of all clans, Runner, Reader, Seer, Healer, Hunter, Mind
Extractor—Witch, present the package.”
Mind Extractor must have been the
newest power which held Justin’s hands on my shoulders while I sucked out his
mind and future by force. It would seem Justin didn’t waste any time informing
the enemy of my new talent. I looked at Chris as he pulled out the box to give
to the leader. The man didn’t even acknowledge Chris so Chris handed me the
diamond. Again, something I never saw in my visions.
Chris sent me a quick thought as I
took the stone.
“Don’t you dare put yourself up as a sacrifice to save me!”
I directed my gaze down to my hands
and the faux stone. How did Chris draw the conclusion I’d be sacrificing
myself? Had I been too obvious with my words and actions? I glanced up to the
white man and probed his body trying to detect any weakness only to find none. I
tried for his future, of course he didn’t have one, and I had no reason to read
his mind so I handed the stone to him making sure our skin didn’t touch. The
last thing we wanted was to create a mass murder by accidently extracting his
thoughts.
He was hesitant at first to take
the stone. I understood why. No doubt he feared its power but also he seemed
shocked that Chris and I were unharmed after holding it. He took the diamond
and his two other members of the trio walked forward. He turned the diamond
over examining it closely. The other two did the same and then gave it back to
the leader shaking their heads. The leader turned to the tent and waved his
hand and the hostages were ushered back inside.
His high voice roared out across
the field echoing against the mountains surrounding us, “You have betrayed us
Calli Courtnae! Where is the real stone?!”
Chris and Justin stared with their
mouths gaping in utter confusion. Sweat beaded up on my forehead. I knew I
needed to speak misleadingly, “This is the diamond the gem cutter gave us. We
are delivering the stone he personally handed us in his private office. The
three of us were all present and are all present now at this delivery. No
deception is going on here.”
“The Sanguine Diamond is so
powerful it cannot be handled with bare skin. This one is counterfeit. Where is
the real stone, Ms. Courtnae?”
I simply stared at him.
The three white men huddled
together.
“I don’t understand what’s happening.”
Chris said.
Justin whispered, “We’ve been duped
by Harold Bates. He’s sent us on a suicide mission.” Then Justin’s head snapped
in my direction, “He told us ‘sometimes the weakest can be the strongest.’ What
did he mean, Calli?”
But before Justin asked further,
the three turned back and the same man as before addressed us, “Retribution
will be sought for this grand deception. All Runners will be held until the
stone is found. If anyone tries to flee, they will be killed. Runners, to your
tent!”
The immense power and control the
Death leaders had over the clans’ members stunned me. Everyone feared for their
lives, knowing the unnaturally white men could kill them instantly. The Runners
all went into the tent. Our trio was the last to enter, followed by twenty or
so Death Clan members.
Mrs. Winter tried to talk with the
leader but was ignored; he only wanted to speak to me. I was ushered into the
cubicle with the leader. It seemed inconceivably odd to be alone with an alien-looking
two-hundred year old man.
“Care to explain the situation,
Miss Courtnae?”
“Believe me, if I knew why the
master cutter would deceive both you and I, I would tell you.”
“Our witch tells me you know where
the diamond is.”
“Your witch? Can I talk to her?”
“She wishes not to.”
“Do you believe her?”
“Why should we not?”
“Well, I’m new to this world of
abilities but what I’ve learned so far is witches are not to be trusted. I find
it rather amazing that wise men of several hundred years would put such stock
in what a potentially evil spell-caster has to say.”
“Only someone with something to
hide would say such things.”
“Perhaps she’s cast a spell on you
to believe her.”
“Tell me where the stone is!”
“You have the stone the master
cutter gave us. That is the only answer I can give you.”
“Alright, we’ll handle this matter
a different way.”
He ordered me to exit the cubicle
and stand next to Chris and Justin. He addressed the crowd, “Until the real
stone is presented to us, one member of your clan will die every day starting
right now.” A huge gasp drifted through the tent and heads were swiveling back
and forth. “Ms. Courtnae will choose the first to die, for this deception must
be punished.”
I yelled at him, “This wasn’t our
deception! We gave you the diamond Mr. Bates gave to us! Surely you could give
us one day to try to get an answer from him?”
“The number of Runners in this tent
is the amount of days you have to find us the stone before your clan is wiped
from the earth. Make your choice, Ms. Courtnae.”
Dangerous ground. I glanced around the
room, not to find the first to die, but to take in the faces of my clan. I
found trust, fear, respect and angst. I held one of their lives in my hands; at
least that’s what they thought. I stared for a long time. My eyes rested on
Chris and his mind told me to choose him.
“Make your decision!”
“I can’t. I cannot issue an
unnatural death sentence to a friend.”
“Very well, we shall hold a
lottery. Numbers will be issued to all Runners.”
Time seemed to move forward in slow
motion as I watched my companions each receive a number. This was not in my
vision, but I knew no matter what, I would not give up the stone willingly. It
was the only way.
“Now, you shall pull a number out
of your head, Ms. Courtnae. You have ten seconds to do so.”
“You still have me choosing a
friend for death.”
“Until the stone arrives, you’ll be
assisting in the deaths of all your friends.”
I totally didn’t foresee this in my
vision. I wondered if keeping the stone was the right decision, but I
remembered the vision with Chris. He would live because I would die.
“The number, Calli.”
“I cannot.”
He glared at me with piercing eyes.
“The one with the number twenty—” he didn’t finish because of a disturbance
spreading through the other Death members. He looked over his shoulder and
stepped aside.
I cast a quick glance at Chris and
he twisted his hand, showing me his number; twenty. He had sweat rolling down
his forehead as he pointed his thumb to his chest.
A smaller, much withered, cadaverous
old man appeared and walked slowly to stand beside the leader. I quickly
deduced that this bent over man was in fact the real leader of the Death Clan
because all Death members stepped back a couple of steps with their heads
bowed.
His voice, nearly a whisper,
commanded respect. He said to the man who had been speaking to me, “Markus, why
are you going to kill to expose the diamond? This clan has done nothing but try
to appease us; they’ve risked much and lost more in the journey of this
delivery. They are ambassadors to their clan; a clan which we need and will
need in the future, and you are so willing to wipe them out, all because you
are too weak to realize?”
“My apologies, Great One, realize? Realize
what?”
“The Sanguine Diamond is here, in
this very tent.”
“Master?”
“You do not sense its power? Its strength?”
“My apologies, Master, I do not.”
“Then it is your own folly.”
This
shriveled up man knew I had the diamond, he could sense it.
“The air is
alive with its presence and an aura emanates from its bearer. For you not to
acknowledge this means you are weak and not fit to make the decisions of the
clan.”
“Master, I beg you
—
”
“Begging! Further verification you
are not fit to lead. The fraudulent diamond was a decoy given as a means to
attract those who would steal it before arriving here. Attempts were made,
unsuccessful albeit. The genuine diamond was brought here through a different
means; through trickery. Everyone needed to be fooled, including the
delivery-team members. Now, one will die to demonstrate our clan’s
trustworthiness.”
Yeah right!
I thought to
myself.
The only thing this clan could be trusted to do was killing.
“Master
—
”
“You will die for your intentions
to harm the Runners simply because you are too pathetic to be a proper leader.”
“Mast—” his eyes rolled into his
head and he fell to the ground before finishing the word.
The other Death members bowed their
heads even further in respect to their wisest; or more likely because they
didn’t want to be next. The dead member named Markus had instilled tremendous
fear in so many different clansmen over the last two hundred years and yet, in
an instant, it was all over for him.
I watched as the old man brought
his eyes to mine and I waited for my death, “How does an entire clan become
fooled by one of their own? By the least likely individual possible; the
slowest. As time went on, she became your fastest. Every ability and power emerged
through her, setting precedence. Why? How? You must have asked yourselves this
many times, yet no one thought to investigate further.
My name traveled through the crowd on
whispers and gasps. I didn’t look at anyone; I kept my eyes on the leader.
“Bring forth the diamond, Calli
Courtnae,” his voice sounded different now, almost like he had needed time to
warm up his decrepit vocal chords. Now he had a deep authoritative intonation
which almost forced me forward.
My vision into Chris’s future
showed him living because I did not give up the diamond. Do I give it now? Do I
force them to kill me? I do not know. I walked away from Chris and toward the
little old man trying to descry his future, but naturally, he had none.
He stared at me, angling his head
to the side, studying me, waiting for me to produce the stone. His eyes
traveled over my body looking for the unmistakable bulge but not finding
anything.
I came to stand directly in front
of him, “I will not give the diamond to you.”
“You are afraid?”
“No, I’m not afraid to die.”
“And yet you know that is what will
happen to you.”
“Yes.” I said.
“Why? You could hand the stone over
and live. You don’t have to die.”
Behind me Chris whispered, “No,
Calli. Give him the diamond.”
How would I even begin to explain
that this is the way it had to be in order to save Chris? That I’d tried
repeatedly to find a way to successfully deliver the diamond? Yet Chris always
died in my visions, and sometimes many people died. The only successful choice
was to keep the stone. Yes, I will die along with the Death dudes, but Chris
will live.
“I won’t give you the diamond. You’ll
have to take it from me.”
His anger literally shot through
me. I realized he was blasting me with his thoughts.
“Stubborn girl. I don’t
want to kill you. But you are making this impossible. Hand it over!”
“You’ll have to remove it from my
pocket yourself.”
“I suppose you think you’re safe
because you’re human. You’ve probably been told our clan only kills people of power.
Well, Ms. Courtnae, that’s not true. We can kill humans. Is that what you
want?”
“I’m not afraid.” In truth I was
scared spit-less.
His eyes narrowed and his jaw
clenched. He placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. Then
he glared at me and spoke with his mind,
“Clearly, you have a protection
enchantment. My powers don’t work on you. We will kill you the old fashioned
way after we absorb the powers of the diamond.”
I was all astonishment. He had just
tried to end my life!
He spoke out loud, “Usher her to
the altar. She will die for her insubordination after we extract the powers of
the stone.”
Cries of protest arose from
everyone, but the one voice which mattered most to me cut to the absolute
center of my soul. I heard him say, “No, Calli—me, take me!”
They led me to the center of the
clearing and bound my hands behind me. Then they laid me down on my back on the
rock altar which was uncomfortable due to my hands being under me.
The withered leader spoke, “Bring
two slaves.”
Two emaciated individuals in
shackles were delivered to the Grand Master. They had Runners’ aromas.