SWNOVELS Chapter 12
“I just want to set the record straight. I’m sorry we argued. Can we just forgive and forget?”
An idea popped into my head. Grinning mischievously, I shot him a quick, sly, sideways glance.
“Sure. But you have to answer my questions first.” Okay, okay, call me nefarious, or deceitful, I could literally ask anything. But I was only curious, because of everything that had changed in the last day.
Ash shifted nervously in his “seat” i.e. log, wincing. “What do you want to know?”
“Who’s after me? Why? Who dealt out the powers in the first place?” I paused. “How does Thalia have such good language if she never learned to read?” I reeled off questions, one by one, unable to stop.
Ash laughed lightly as he heard the last one. The sound shook me, as I realised I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed myself. Or at least, laughed honestly. I force my laugh all the time without it having meaning. “Her dad had an inexplainable interest in literature. He insisted on reading to her each night, which she told me she hated, though I knew she was lying.” He stopped, and changed his tone noticeably, which marred my mood slightly. “Take a chance on her, okay? She’s not had the best life ever, though she hides it very well.”
“What do you mean, hides it very well? When we found her she looked like she’d been dunked in the bin, rolled in mud and dragged through a hedge! Backwards!”
Ash smiled again, and I accepted it gratefully, peacefully knowing that my humour had been appreciated. “Next!”
I leaned forward in anticipation. “Who’s after me?”
His face darkened. His fists clenched. As if sensing his discomfort, the air around us soured. “The last surviving member of the Victores,”
“Who, though?”
“I don’t know, but they have a lot to answer for.”
I didn’t push him, but I could tell something was bothering him. “Anyway,” Ash carried on, his face clearing and his cheerfulness slightly forced, “are you going to explain what happened today?”
Now it was my turn to grimace.
“Where do you want me to start?”
He smiled. “From when Sasha cornered you at school, and I had to be the superhero and come and save you.” He grinned again at me, and I crossed my arms in mild annoyance. “Haha, very funny.”
But I obliged, and started from the horrific visions of Sasha the monster, to my mysterious Destin in detail, and the test he gave me.
He was a good listener. Earnestly, he sat through my nervous babbling, because once I’d started I just couldn’t stop. It was as if the information was a bubbling, spitting volcano, and it had finally erupted. Finally, I stopped. I was left gasping, only just realising how little breath I had taken throughout the whole thing.
“You okay?” He sounded genuinely concerned, which I was grateful for, after being teased, ridiculed and traumatised the past few years.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just ran out of breath for a second there,”
“No.”
I looked up, confused.
“I mean, are you fine emotionally? You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”
I stopped again, but this time I stopped my whirling mind. I stopped to think, and as I pondered about my life, particularly my parents, and stifled a sob. Embarrassingly, I began to break down crying. I was vaguely aware of an arm around me, through my blurred vision. I didn’t really care though. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I was grateful, but… yeah. Thalia’s small arms wrapped around me, and I could distantly hear her voice calling to me. It didn’t matter though. Life wasn’t fair. I felt more alone than ever. I sniffed for a few minutes, then pulled myself together.
“Sorry. Wait, Tal, shouldn’t you be in bed?”
Earnestly, she nodded her head at me and replied. “I need to brush my teeth.”
I glanced at Ash for help, but for once he seemed lost for an answer.
“How were you going to do that?” I asked her again.
“I’ve got a bag of toothpaste and five spare toothbrushes. I was going to brush by the stream!”
I blinked in surprise and giggled, exhaustedly. Then a panicky thought struck me.
“Wait- what about the book?”
Ash scooped it from the floor and blew a layer of dust from the cover. A thick veil of it hung in the air, causing the three of us to break into a coughing fit.
“Okay,” Thalia ripped the book from Ash’s hands, bored of his choking.
“Don’t break it!” I tried to snatch it back from her quickly before any damage could be done, but it was stuck in her hands. She screamed, terrified.
“I can’t let go!”
But it was as if the Scripts could speak for themselves. The withered pages flipped open to a page somewhere near the middle. Ash and I huddled around Thalia, scrutinising the words on the page. Unfortunately, the title was in Latin. Fortunately, Ash could speak Latin, for some unknown reason.
“Hsec verba decantant ut perdant memoriam. Dic nomen eorum. Let them sing these words to destroy their memories. Say their name.”
Us girls stared at him, astonished.
“Excuse me?”
He glanced back sheepishly. “I had to learn Latin to read the Scrolls.”
“Of course,” I muttered, and carried on. “oblivisci neque esse in aeternum sine fine somno, Mya Zoleka.”
A cool breeze swept through the woods, and gingerly, Ash pulled the Scrolls from Thalia’s hands, and they came free this time. Wait, no… the Scripts… urgh, there were too many books to remember.
“Be careful. Latin is a dangerous language. It has ancient power.”
Processing that slowly, I barely noticed Thalia pass out, and Ash catch her, calling her name.