Splintered Fate (11 page)

Garin stood a few paces behind
him, watching curiously with Seff. Ardin growled a low threatening
growl. Kaiden was trying to send Ardin a message that he was
friendly, though for this to work Ardin would have to be willing to
receive it and let in the energy. Given the circumstances Kaiden
was unsure if the wolf would allow for it. But what other option
did he have?

He yearned for this to work as he
felt a push from within and the ball floated out of his hand and
towards the white wolf. The gray eyes of the wolf watched Kaiden
while the ball made its way to him. Not once did the wolf look at
the energy drifting towards him and for a moment Kaiden thought he
would reject it for sure.

The barrier that the wolf had
created lit up at the ball’s touch and the ball went through.
Restraining a sigh, Kaiden slowly stood and took five large steps
back till he was standing just behind his brother. Garin stood
still, staring at the wolf waiting for what was about to happen,
excited that his little brother seemed to do something that
breached the wolf’s barrier.

The ball touched Ardin’s nose and a soft glow
came over the wolf. As Ardin stood over Lana, the glow transferred
from him to her. In that moment Kaiden hit his brother from behind.
Garin’s unconscious body fell limp to the ground.

Seff began to draw his sword but
he was too slow to realize what was happening, unable to react fast
enough. Before he could fully even unsheathe his sword Kaiden sent
a strong charge from the palm of his hand, knocking Seff
out.

“
I’m sorry brother.” Kaiden said
softly as he looked down at Garin. “I hope you find it in your
heart to forgive me some day.”

Kaiden looked at the now silent wolf and took
a step towards him before he began snarling again.

“
Look I am not going to hurt you
or her,” Kaiden said gesturing to the body the wolf was protecting
so fiercely. “If I was I would not have just done what I did, you
have no choice but to trust me. Others will be headed here soon and
they wont be out for long.” Kaiden gestured to the two Rami men who
lay on the ground behind him.

Ardin of course knew Kaiden had a
point, but he didn’t like allowing his shield to fall, making them
vulnerable. Still he had not been left with much of a choice. So
Ardin took a step to the side, allowing Lana’s body to be fully
visible as he let down his protective shield.

Kaiden came up to the girl, laying
there, and scooped her into his arms. He took a moment to look at
her, her face so serine. Never had he thought it possible that he
would be able to hold her again. Ardin grumbled and took off into
the woods. Holding Lana against his chest, Kaiden began running
after the wolf, into the woods.

Chapter

Five

Kaiden came to a sudden stop in
front of an old Madonian man, two children and four horses. He had
not expect such an odd company. Ardin ran past him, stopping near
the old man and turned to face Kaiden, looking up at the Madonian
he held in his arms. A small high pitched whine escaped from the
wolf.

No one said a word.

Kaiden could feel his heart beat
in his temples while he took irregular breaths. He looked at the
people before him, wondering who would bring children into all of
this. After a short silent moment, he turned and gently put the
girl’s limp body down onto the ground.

“
I’m Donn,” the old man said while
Kaiden stared at the motionless body he had laid down. It was odd
to be surrounded by Madonians, but Kaiden didn't find the old man
and a couple kids threatening. Still he found the old mans calmness
when he emerged from the forest carrying Lana’s limp body
unusual.

Donn knelt by the body, he gently
grasped Lana’s wrist and held it a moment. He then held his hand
above her body, moving it slowly over her. “She is alive, her pulse
is very weak, and she has almost no strength.”

Kaiden heard the old man but made
no move to respond. He stared at the still face of the Madonian he
thought he would never see again, the face that haunted his darkest
dreams, that caused him to react and betray his brother. He
wondered why he had done what he did. His brother would have a hard
time understanding everything. In this moment he almost hated the
girl before him, for what he had to do to his brother because of
her. He and his brother were not friends, but they were family,
they grew up together, the were the only thing they had in this
world. No matter how cruel or dark their relationship had been in
the past, Garin was still his blood, and blood sticks with blood.
That is the Rami way.

A nudge at Kaiden’s shoulder forced him to
look away, turning to the white wolf. Ardin eyed Kaiden, once he
had his attention he looked to Donn and then to Lana. Kaiden
assumed the wolf was trying to say something to him.

“
You want energy?” Kaiden asked
and Ardin’s tail moved in delight to have been understood so
quickly. Kaiden turned his eyes to the motionless body, he may as
well help, he was in this mess now. “It will have to be slow. It
has been years. I don’t want to harm her or you.”

Ardin positioned himself next to
Lana. Slowly Kaiden released energy into his hand and a ball of
light formed in his palm. A small gasp came from one of the
children, but he did not look at them to see which one. His eyes
stayed on the light in his hands while he focused the strength into
a contained sphere. He released the light over to Ardin and a soft
glow came over the wolf and then Lana.

A moment later Kaiden made another
ball in his hand but a growl from Ardin stopped him.

“
What?” He asked looking at the
massive wolf.

Ardin eyed at the light in his
hand.

“
You want more?”

The wolf nodded a single nod.

“
Fine, if you blow up know that I
warned you.”

The first time Kaiden and Lana had
learned that he could give her strength through Ardin was an
accident. They were goofing off as children, not aware of what
exactly they had done. Once Lana felt the strength that she was
able to receive they began practicing regularly. There were many
times that things ended up horrifically bad, with someone getting
injured.

For this to work, Kaiden had to
exhibit control and Ardin had to be in a receptive state, which
also meant he was vulnerable and completely defenseless. Over time
they perfected the technique. However, all of that was long ago,
time had passed and they were strangers to each other
now.

The concentration of the energy in
Kaiden’s hand grew as he fed more strength into it and the light
intensified. Carefully, he released it to Ardin. Watching the light
travel between them, Kaiden held his breath, hoping that this would
not hurt them. A glow came over Ardin and then flowed down to
Lana.

* * *

Ugh my
head.
Lana’s thoughts were accessible to
Ardin. He jumped up with a wag of his tail, resembling a massive
pup.

Donn came over to Lana Casteel,
once more assessing her as her eyes fluttered open. She raised her
hand only to bring it down with a smash on her forehead. Her head
was pounding, her ears ringing, and her hand felt too heavy. Her
body felt astoundingly sore.

Lana pushed off
the ground in order to get to a sitting position, hoping that her
head would stop spinning if she sat upright. She opened her eyes in
an attempt to get some understanding of where she was and what had
happened. Ardin immediately came into her line of vision, bringing
his face inches from hers.
If you ever do
anything like that again I will kill you myself.
He lifted his lip with a low
growl.

“
What happened?”

By the grace of
whatever powers be you were saved today Lana. I will not forgive
you for this.
Ardin snarled, hair standing
on its ends around his neck. His eyes were piercingly sharp as he
glared at her. A cold shudder ran down Lana’s spine at the thought
of her last memory. The memory of her being held against the tree
by her throat and feeling as if she were being ripped from within.
She pushed away the thought, though she was still very confused on
how she ended up getting away from the Rami.

“
No need to be so dramatic.” Lana
replied, trying not to think about how completely helpless and
afraid she last felt.

Ardin growled in response.

Lana raised her hand to touch the side of her
Aorra’s face. He, however, ducked out of her reach.

I am truly sorry Ardin. It was
impulsive of me, I thought I could… well it doesn’t matter now. How
did you get me out of there?

It was not I alone who got you out
of there. We were lucky today. Stupid luck, that’s what saved
us.

Lana stared at him quizzically,
unsure of what Ardin meant. The wolf moved to the side, allowing
for her to better take in the surroundings. She saw a man standing
to the side, behind Ardin, previously blocked from her
view.

It was evident
he was Rami. Her first gut reaction was to get away but recognition
washed over her before she could react. She saw the eyes of a boy
she once knew peering at her from the body of a man.
This can’t be.

Lana looked to Ardin for
affirmation, afraid that she was perhaps seeing things,
hallucinating.

It’s him.
Was Ardin’s only response.

Lana’s wide eyes darted back to the Rami
before her.

He stood there looking at her,
unsure of whether to approach her or not while Lana sat on the
ground, looking up at him with wide green eyes. It was as if his
whole body was somehow in her grip, he found that he could finally
breathe when she turned away to her Aorra. When she turned back to
him his muscles would tighten, making it a challenge to fill his
lungs with air. Kaiden tried to shake the feeling, to regain
control of himself. He was uncertain why he was feeling this way,
unwillingly allowing for her to have this power over
him.

“
Kaiden?” Lana asked
softly.

Relief washed over him, she
remembered him. Kaiden walked a few steps towards her and knelt
next to her. She was close enough that he could reach out and touch
her if he wanted to. The thought made his pulse race. Hadn’t he
just carried her? But she was not conscious then and having her
eyes watching him was very different.

“
It’s been a long time Lana
Casteel.” This was the first thing he could think of in response.
He cringed at using her full name, it felt so formal, so distant.
As if they were strangers. Kaiden stood and held out his hand to
her.

Lana eyed it a moment, as if
wondering what to do with it, and then took it.His pulse quickened
at her touch. This was real. The two of them standing together,
existing, it was real.

Lana managed to get to her feet
but her head pounded back at her in protest. The world was doing
somersaults in her head. She could feel Kaiden’s arms grab her in a
strong but gentle hold, steadying her while keeping her at arms
length. He helped her back down to the ground to rest against a
smooth boulder. She obviously needed more time to
recover.

Ardin gently nudged Kaiden's hand,
looking to Lana and back towards the Rami.

“
I can give you some energy if
that is what you need.” The Rami said in a cool voice to
Lana.

Lana blushed at his offer,
embarrassed to seem so weak, but nodded in response. The quicker
she could fully function the better. Her hopes that the Rami who
came onto their shores were refugees was false. Madonians were in
danger. There was no doubt that Arkhip Dukran would use this to get
the war he had always wanted. Lana needed to pull herself together,
she needed to warn her father.

A light erupted in Kaiden's hand.
For a moment she looked at it with horror, being brought back to
only moments ago at the Rami camp. Brought back to the feeling of
having every cell in her body ignited by the energy forced into
her, burning through her.

He’s not going
to harm you, it’s okay.
Ardin reassured
her, feeling her fear as he stepped between her and Kaiden. Kaiden
sent the soft glowing light from his palm to Ardin who allowed for
it to wash over the wolf and then Lana.

Sweet relief washed away Lana’s
pounding head. After a moment she gently rose to stand on her own.
Her eyes met with Kaiden’s. Guarded and withdrawn eyes looked back
at her, she couldn’t read him, couldn’t tell what he was
thinking.

Her heart hammered against her
ribs. He was standing in front of her, he was really there. The boy
she still had dreams of.

It was as if they were in some
sort of a time warp. She felt like she had known him for all the
time they had been apart, yet at the same time it was as if they
were strangers. As she was staring into Kaiden’s blue eyes she
understood why the Rami Lieutenant’s eyes seemed so curious to her.
The joy flustering within her at such an unexpected reunion
immediately settled down.