Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (34 page)

Durien
suddenly hopped up too. “Hey wait. What happens…if this all goes to hell, if you know what I mean?” he asked.

“It won’t. I’ll leave
before that happens. I’ll have a few from my group around in the background to keep watch too. Keep her safe for me until then.” I told him.

Backfire as it may, I didn’t care.

I’ll leave alright, and I’m taking her with me. I thought to myself with an inner smile.

XVII: Starling:

            
 
If I really wanted to gloat about kicking Jamie’s ass on the grid, I would have run through it backwards with my eyes closed. It was difficult and dangerous but I enjoyed every moment of it. I had no idea just how capable I really was. Much like the trampoline, my form, grace, and balance, were all like a second nature to me.

If I joined the Olympi
cs right now, I would own everyone. I could easily take home the gold in running, jumping, climbing, and all of the gymnastics events. Acrobatics and gymnastics—those skills fit me perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece
.
             

I waited
for Jamie to catch up, hearing her huffing and grunting in frustration over the last steep, high, rock wall climb. I waited for her head to appear over the ledge, to see me grinning at her failed effort to show me out.             

She pulled herself up with a heave
, and quickly shuffled to her feet; breathing hard, though not completely out of breath. It was more anger and irritation if I could guess.

She glared at me
for a moment, as if she were contemplating complimenting my efforts, which she obviously wasn’t expecting.

             
Something solid slammed into me so hard, it knocked the wind out of me. Suddenly, I was falling back down to the ground. I panicked initially, but my body naturally turned on its own, and I landed on my feet in a perfect, low crouch.

             
What the hell just happened?

Before I could even answer my own question, another hard thump smashed me in the side of my head and sent me flying backwards. I
slammed into the rock wall, back first, bouncing forward, and then landing face down. With a cough, I rolled over, shaking off the surprise attack that left me stunned once again, and then did a quick kip-up back onto my feet.

Jamie stood in front of me, smiling wickedly.

Everyone else simply stood around and watched with enthused interest, as if we were simply sparring.

“Get
up; let’s see what you’re made of!” Jamie urged.

Was she
attacking me? Before I could even react or speak, her fist slammed into my face, again knocking me backwards off my feet.

I
didn’t even see Jamie move. She was already next to me when I refocused my vision.

M
y jaw throbbed with a dull ache as I steadied myself to rise back onto my feet again.

“You suck! Come on Starling, fight back!” She roused.

              It wasn’t until I felt her foot connect with my chest, sending me flying yet again, that I realized what her obvious essence was.

Shit! I screamed in my mind. The crushing blow to my chest hurt!

“Quick and agile doesn’t cut it here! You think the fallen are going to stand around to wait for you to catch your breath? Wield your weapons, let’s do this!” She said.

“That’s enough Jamie! No one likes a sore loser.” I heard Spencer’s voice.

“Sore loser my ass! I’m helping her, she’ll thank me later.” Jamie replied.

I did try to wield my weapons
but it wasn’t happening. She was pissing me off. I could feel fire begin to fill and surge throughout my veins. Sean’s words were a distant whisper in my head, ‘Control your anger, we don’t want anyone to know what your essence is yet.’

Screw that!

Even if I did erupt into hallowed fire, it would hurt her.

I was barely up on my hands and knees before Jamie
came at me again. She was superfast. So fast, that I was being hit before even realizing she had moved, let alone seeing her move.

She kicked me
in my side and I bit my lip to stifle a cry. A few ribs cracked on impact. I distinctly heard them, and the sharp jolts of pain ricocheted throughout my entire body.

I cursed under my breath, afraid to
breathe as I wrapped my arms around my middle to protect myself. I tasted the sweet, coppery hint of blood begin to fill my mouth.

“I said stop it!” Spencer’s voice was more demanding.

My eyes were pinched shut. Hot tears moistened my lashes, and when I opened my eyes, I could see Spencer holding Jamie back.

There was a wild, yet…scared look i
n her eyes.

“She’s alright. She should be able to take it.
Dark ones hit way harder, and they don’t wait for you to get up or recover either.” Jamie stated harshly, but it was more directed at me.

“You’re asking for it. We don’t make enemies out of each other.” Spencer warned her.

“Enemies? I said I was helping her. That’s what training is all about, isn’t it? She can’t even wield her weapons! If she can’t take it or fight back, she’s useless!”

He looked at her wryly.

A strange movement, like bones grinding against each other began to vibrate inside of me. I was healing. My bones were fusing and knitting back together. It was an uncomfortable feeling —almost painful in a way.             

I was hurt and pissed, but my anger was more interna
l right now. I had to calm down even though I wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of her ass in retaliation. She had essentially sucker punched me in more ways than one. She knew exactly what she was going to do, and that I had no idea what her essence or talent was.

Phantom
fighter is what I thought of, given her lightning quick movements, and the degree of strength in her hits.

Spencer jogg
ed over and crouched beside me, taking my arm to help me up.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp and he looked at me with surprise.

“You okay?”

My ribs were still sore
but they had repaired themselves already.

I glared at Jamie with a message
that conveyed every ounce of a, ‘Sleep with one eye open, bitch.’ threat.

I got to my feet on my own, spitting
out a glob of blood and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

Spencer looked at me incredulously
, and then back at Jamie with a scolding expression. She had a semi-satisfied smirk on her face. I was so angry that I was probably glowing, on the verge of bursting into white flames. I worked to calm myself down internally. I didn’t say a word to either one of them, as I walked away, back towards to the Hall.

                                                                      ~~~******~~~

I took a blanket and pillow, and headed up to the bell tower, where Durien brought me on my first night here.

The lily had wilted completely and died. As much as it bothered me to throw it out, I finally did.

I planned to spend the night up there, but quickly remembered that the bells tolled early in the morning. Being right under them when that happened, wouldn’t be such a great idea. I purposefully avoided everyone else and ate dinner alone in the bell tower, gazing out into the strange horizon that was the spirit realm.

I know they all knew where I
was but they were giving me my personal space for right now…for obvious reasons.

T
he stars were vividly bright and I was mesmerized by their sparkling patterns.

The longer I stared at them, the more anot
her distant memory began to force its way to the surface of my brain.

I was looking through
a telescope and the stars were moving. They moved together to form a heart. No, two hearts.

Hearts?

That was we
ird. Here, I could see it happening but that memory couldn’t have been from here. I just got here.

I
felt as if I had been with someone then, but who was it, and where were we? I tried my hardest to push that memory forward to produce more images, but it was a no go.

I
sighed and stared down at my brandings. I traced a finger along the patterns and thought of the blades.

I envisioned them as I saw them in my mind during the ceremony.

They were each the length of my forearms, the hilts were slender, fitting perfectly in my palms when I gripped them. In them, were finely grooved marked patterns that formed glyphs. I imagined holding them in my hands, feeling them elongate from my palms, and then curling my fingers around the handles.

Nothing happened.

Why was it this so difficult for me? Maybe Jamie was right. If I couldn’t wield them, I was essentially useless, save for the hallowed fire ability. Even that I couldn’t control either.

The warmth of another presence immediately caught my attention. I
tensed and scanned the dark recesses and corners for movement, which broke my concentration. It was a familiar presence. Something moved in the shadows, and then slowly floated towards me.

I sighed
. I remember her saying that I wouldn’t be able to hear her, but that she’d be able to hear me.

“
I’m okay. I really just want to be alone, Lira.” I told her.

Her expression showed sadness and co
ncern. I appreciated her caring but I meant it. I wanted to be alone for a while.

After a moment, she nodded sadly, and her ethereal form began drifting upwards.

“And, don’t tell anyone that I’m up here, just for tonight, okay?” I added. Though I was sure it wouldn’t take any of them long to figure it out, especially Durien.

                                                                                    ~~~*****~~~

                            Things just couldn’t get any suckier. I ended up sleeping in one of the smaller, courtyards, at the base of a wide willow-like tree. The slender leafed branches hung down low enough to the ground, which allowed me a frilly curtain of semi-privacy. It was actually quite restful. The sweet, fresh, cool scent of morning was refreshing.             

             
              I rubbed my eyes with a yawn, and slowly opened them—to a set of six, round, blue eyes staring down on me. It scared me initially. I quickly sat up, fully roused, only to realize that they were three, very large, all-white owls, with gold speckles along their wings. They were perched in a line, on a thick branch; about four feet above my head.

Elementals.

                            They were gorgeous creatures, pure white and regal. They watched me curiously with human like curiosity. I suddenly realized, that elementals or not; sitting right underneath them, was not where I wanted to remain.

I
investigated my surroundings from in between the leaves of the tree.

There were many people out and about
already, but they were engaged in quiet conversations among themselves, with only a few discreet glances my way.

T
he bells hadn’t tolled yet, so I assumed that I was up a little early. The smell of breakfast beckoned to me from the dining hall. I made my way back to my room to get a change of clothing and freshen up. When I entered, I was surprised to see that the linens on the other bed, had been cleared off.

Apparently, Jamie
either had moved out on her own or had been asked to move. All of her things were missing from the chest of drawers too. I smiled with relief. Thank you lord.

On my bed
, was a note and set of generic blades. I wondered who left them.

I went over and eye
d the blades, picking up and examining one of them. I gingerly hefted and twirled it lightly in my hand. I was amazed at how adept I was with it. It was light grade but definitely real. I sat down on the bed and picked up the note. It read:

‘Starling, I am really sorry about what happened yesterday. Training does get brutal, but that was no excuse for Jamie’s behavior.
I recommended that she move out and give you some space for now. You’re welcome. Durien brought you these this morning. You can use them until you can wield your blades. I look forward to seeing you in class. Take the east corridor all the way down, past the training rooms, and head up the stairway on the right hand side at the end of the corridor. It’s the third room on the left. Afterwards, we can get started training one on one. P.S you have kitchen duty this morning, so I’ll excuse you if you’re a little late. Head to the kitchen beyond the dining hall and meet with Keiko San. Be sweet, sexy—Spencer.’