Skye's Arrival

I ignore him and speak to Nate. “What worries me is Heathe. He is drawn to Dawn’s power, not to mention mine. I can control my emotions, but when Dawn gets angry, it’s easy for him to feed off of her. This means, he can siphon my energy. He can use the power he steals from me and funnel the energy into the Mystical Advisor, so he can keep summoning more demons that’s gone off the dark end, or his family.”

“Let’s try to avoid that.” Nate agrees as he grimaces.

“Why would it be bad to get celestial energy?” Gerrickson asks.

“Because then he can try to access the celestial gate.” Rafi answers, stepping into view. “What are you doing out here, Skye?”

“Gossiping?” I say with a question in my tone, his gaze making it clear I’m likely in trouble.

He rolls his eyes. “I meant how did you get out here?”

“Then why didn’t you ask that?” I return his eye roll then nod my head towards Gerrickson. “He gave me a lift.”

“He entered your tent?” He asks, eyebrow raised.

“I was standing outside my tent when he caught me. He force fed me breakfast as punishment.” Why is he being weird?

Rafi’s face twists a little in an odd expression then shakes his head. “If Koan catches another man’s scent on you, he’s going to kill that man.”

“So you’re immune to his primal instincts?”

His face flushes then rubs his face with his hand. “It’s too early for this. I’m just saying he’s less likely to kill someone related to him.”

“Considering I saved your life right before he mentally ripped out your heart, I highly doubt that.” I cock my head as he grimaces. “You’re a little bit uncomfortable right now, aren’t you?”

He folds his arms as he shakes his head. “Skye just…whatever. I need coffee.” He waves us off as he walks away.

“That was new,” I say as I watch him leave. “He normally likes to keep going.”

Gerrickson chuckles. “I don’t think he’s mentally here today. Seeing Koan like that has really shaken him. Maybe it’s making him a little protective of you after seeing, and hearing, how his brother was treating you these last few months. I think he feels responsible.”

“How is his brother jumping off the deep end his fault?” I ask, jerking my thumb towards Rafi’s back. “I don’t know what happened to Koan during our time apart, but he started cracking before any of this started.”

“During your time apart?” Nate asks. “He was like this before this?”

I chuckle. “That’s one way of phrasing it, but yes. I mean he’s always been possessive, but nothing like now. It’s almost like his paranoia is his personality. I don’t even understand why Koan left me alone that day. He was talking to Celestial Priest Alexander outside the room I was in. Up until that moment, he only left my side when I was changed into different clothes.”

Gerrickson’s eyes widen. “Priest Alexander? That back alley twat is helping Koan?”

I nod. “He’s a slave to the money, we all know this.”

Gerrickson shakes his head. “All priests are heavily watched and made to follow strict guidelines. If Priest Alexander were to physically see you, he would be forced to report it to the Celestial King. However, he could feign ignorance if he never physically saw you. He wouldn’t risk exposure for anything less than a sure thing.”

“Well that explains why he left me alone, but not why I was unguarded.” I muse as I think about it.

“If he’s truly as possessive as Rafi and you claim, then he probably didn’t want anyone alone with you. You know, with the off chance of hurting you and stuff. He’s working with dark demons, so they’re likely not credible.”

“Maybe, but there was still no one patrolling on my way out.”

“That might have been Rafi’s and my fault.” Gerrickson answers as he rubs the back of his head. “You see, we were there to kidnap the king and prince. We may have forgot that the king suffers from dementia, and he called the guards for help when we stumbled into a pack of them.”

I groan, “Well that explains that.” I give a small sigh. “However, since you took the king, his Mystical Advisor has the power to create a state of emergency and rule until the king or his heir is found.”

“Drippin,” Gerrickson says as he spits on the ground. “Well we screwed that one up. Where were you earlier?”

“In a trance,” I say to him as if he’s stupid.

He grimaces. “That reminds me. Did you try to steal a cloak three months ago?”

I give him a warning look. “Yes, why?”

He twists his face as he phrases his answer. “It’s starting to dawn on me that I may have saw Koan…attacking you outside the capitol that day.”

A variety of emotions race to meet me but Dawn is the first to echo her sentiments. “What!” She demands from him, appearing next to me. “You saw him attacking her and didn’t try to stop him? Never mind the fact that it was Skye. Why didn’t you help?”

“Well we weren’t supposed to draw attention.” He says quickly as Dawn gets closer to him. “And Rafi said not to get involved since it was likely some servant trying to escape the palace. We didn’t even know it was Koan until after it happened. Then once we realized who he was, we were too focused on hiding from him to notice who the girl was.”

“You’re all certifiably imbeciles.” She screeches. “Do you have any form of integrity in you? The girl was clearly in need of aide, and you did nothing? Never mind that the girl was clearly stardazed. You let her go back with her attacker.”

Gerrickson winces, “Well yeah, when you put it that way, it was obvious what happened. We still didn’t know it was Skye though.”

“And if it was Skye, that does explain the large pile of rubble near the merchants.” Rafi says as he sits next to Gerrickson’s other side, coffee in hand.

“Oh, now that make sense.” Dawn stands, clearly upset. “And you two think you’re able to protect her? No, I’ll do it. Skye get your horse. We’re leaving.”

Surprised I start to stand and walk away as she starts yelling at the two boys. I’m not going to let this chance slip through my fingers. My legs are begging me to stretch them. Best not to argue with her when she’s this mad anyway.

Several people are watching the scene behind me, and paying me no mind. I’m honestly curious as to when I get to buy new clothes. Maybe I’ll get Dawn to let me do a bounty. It’d be nice to wear things that I feel comfortable in. I go to their supply and check out a saddle, signing my fake name on the registry. The guy is watching the argument anyway.

I glance at the scene when I exit the supply tent, catching Rafi’s eye. That was a mistake, and his smirk confirms it. Still, I doubt he’s brave enough to cut off Dawn. I still think I can get out of here before Dawn notices her mistake.

So far, I was proven right as I saddled Fidda. She’s still laying into them, they’re still defending themselves, and I’m still being unwatched. It’s honestly a little nice to spend time doing something by myself, even if it’s something routine.

Right when I was about to lead Fidda out of camp, a loud, “Excuse me,” breaks the argument seconds before I feel strong arms scoop me up. I groan while Rafi speaks. “Do you even realize what you told Skye to do?”

“I’m fine.” I mutter as I try to wiggle free, ignoring Dawn’s dumbfounded expression. “Now put me down.”

“You’re sweating and panting.” He argues, still not looking at me.

“Only a little.” I grumble as he walks towards Dawn with me still holding onto Fidda.

Once we reach Dawn I sigh and hold out Fidda’s reins to her. “I got my horse.”

She glances at the saddle then back to me, then to the horse, before looking at Rafi. “Okay, maybe I’m being a little judgmental. I will concede that if you had intervened that day, things might be a lot worse.” I give her a questioning look. How did Rafi win that argument?

Rafi chuckles as he sets me back down in my original seat. “Thank you for conceding that. I admit, we should have been more willing to help. However, once we realized it was Koan, we knew we were out matched. I swear, if we had known it was Skye, we would have tried to intervene.”

“So you let some poor girl get sent to what was likely her death?” I ask, trying to revive the argument. Please just let me be alone for even a moment.

Dawn grimaces. “I guess she would have been a sacrifice, even if it was because of an act of cowardness.”

“Cowardness?” Rafi yells.

“Yes cowardness. You’d let some girl die, because you were too scared to even try to help?” Dawn shoots back. “It’s pitiful but understandable.”

“Pitiful?” Rafi demands. “If it wasn’t Koan, we would have intercepted. The fact that it was Skye he was after would have been lethal for us.”

“So if you knew it was Skye, you still wouldn’t help?” Dawn demands.

“No of course not.”

“That’s just what you said.”

“I said it was lethal, not that we wouldn’t have helped.”

“So what makes Skye so different from a different girl?”

Rafi and Dawn both clench their fists and are unconsciously leaning towards the other, focusing on the other and not me. And bingo. I slowly start to stand, barely an inch off of my seat. “Because Skye’s involvement with Koan is devastating. Sit right back down.” Rafi demands as he forces me to sit, holding me in place by keeping his hand on my head. “You have to admit that Skye is a little more important to us demons and celestials than a mortal girl.”

“She’s still alive and breathing.”

“Not if she was bitten by him she wasn’t. A demon bite is lethal to a human. After a few hours of paralysis they die. It’s ineffective to another demon so that is why we thought mortal.”

“But not celestial?” Dawn demands.

“No. All celestials are being kept in the Celestial Kingdom until Esmeralda and Heathe are captured. They both swore to slay any celestial she sees until her dad speaks with her. You wouldn’t know that, but now you do.”

“So you never considered it was Skye?” Dawn demands, refusing to accept his answer.

“We thought she was dead!” Rafi yells. “Until I saw her throw a blade into my brother and temporarily kill him, I truly believed she was dead. Do you have any idea what seeing her has done to me? To find out that she’s breathing after all this time, and being abused by my brother? If I can spare my-any of our kind the pain of losing her again, I will. That is why I would sacrifice my life for even the chance for her to live. She didn’t deserve the sentence she was given, so I’ll be damned if I’m going to make it worse by letting my brother near her.”

He holds my head in place so I cannot turn my head to look at him. His arm is obscuring the rest of my vision. Judging by Gerrickson’s wide eyes, his face is something to behold.

Dawn is the one to pull back. “I see your point, and I thank you for your dedication to Skye. However, it is faster if we are to travel alone. We only will require one horse, and I can watch over Skye as she sleeps. With my senses, I’ll be able to tell when trouble is coming.”

“When do you plan on sleeping?” Rafi argues with her. “You need mine and Gerrickson’s help if you run into trouble.”

“I won’t sleep.” She answers.

“That will be taxing on Skye, and you know it as well as I do.” Gerrickson says, standing up. “Besides, Skye will need my help when it comes to replicating that text. I know it backwards and forwards.”

“Does Skye get a say?” I ask, still unable to move my head.

“No,” Gerrickson and Dawn shout at me.

“What do you think Skye?” Rafi asks, removing his hand from my head.

I stand up, looking at Dawn. “Dawn, you know as well as I do that Koan isn’t going to rest until he achieves his goal. Eventually, he will try other ways to get to the Celestial King and Demon King. Especially if it means speeding up his end goal, which is to rule all three worlds with his bledded one.

“Also, Koan knows me. He knows I’m not going to go into hiding. He’s never learned what spells I’m capable of doing; but he does know I’ll be trying to find ways to stop his plans. That is one of the reasons he sedated me for so long, instead of just chaining me up. To keep my mind paralyzed, and my mouth immobile.”

Dawn groans. “Fine, but I’m going to keep an eye on you as much as I can. If Koan happens to capture you, we’re doomed. It’ll take him about two weeks to figure out how to break your spell, less if he can force you to reverse it.”

I grimace. “Just kill me if that happens.”

She gives me a dark look. “Don’t push your luck.” Dawn vanishes at that point, making me feel incredibly lightheaded.