The Legacy

Kain watched the woods, her thoughts running wildly. If they see the fae they will kill them, and they won’t think twice about it. Thinking quickly, Kain grabbed Sophia’s hand and pulled her towards the fae who stood frozen and bewildered near the building. The safety of the building won’t hide them now. It won’t protect them. “Breezes, you and Wison have to get away from here and fast! You should take Sophia with you!” she said, looking towards Sophia with stern eyes, “you can trust them,” she assured Sophia.

Breezes grabbed hold of Kain’s arm, “wait, what about you?” she asked in a quiet tone, her eyes creasing together with concern. “I’m going to hold them off as long as possible,” she said and heard Sophia give a gasp.

“They will kill you Kain!” Sophia yelled hysterically. Wison grabbed hold of Sophia’s shoulders, holding her back. Kain looked over her shoulder, back towards the noise getting louder and the footsteps coming closer. “If Abbadon wanted me dead, I’d be dead already,” she turned back to three pairs of wide eyes, “Abbadon knows what I am. There’s a reason why I’m still alive and I’m going to find out what that reason is,” she added, determination laced her voice.

Wison started to back away, his hand clasped around Sophia’s wrist. He gave Kain a curt nod before turning away. Sophia gave Kain a worried glance before allowing Wison to pull her away and disappear deeper into the woods. Kain turned to Breezes who still haven’t moved an inch. “GO!” Kain yelled desperately at her, “get away from here!” she added, pleading with her eyes. Breezes took one defiant step towards Kain. “No!” she said boldly, her back straight and her shoulders pulled back, “we lost you once. I’m staying by your side,” she added firmly.

Kain moaned desperately as she looked over her shoulder once more. She could make out signs of movement beyond the shadows of the trees. “I can’t protect you!” she directed towards Breezes, trying to take her pleading to a new level. Breezes gave Kain a weak smile, “you won’t have to. I can protect myself!”

Kain was about to try and convince Breezes otherwise when she heard a branch snap behind her. Slowly, she turned around and stared into Abbadon’s narrowed eyes. She heard a burst of rustling leaves and caught the glow of green light orbs with swirling leaves in the palms of Breezes’s hands. She had to give it to the young fae, she had fire in her heart, but Kain didn’t know if that fire was going to be enough. “Kain, what are you doing?” Abbadon asked her with a mocking tone while more hunters expanded from behind him. Kain raised her chin hight, “we are wrong about them Abbadon! They are not our enemy! They aren’t the ones who are monsters!” she said, loud enough for everyone around him to hear. She caught Gavin’s eye. He was standing in the shade of a tree a little distance from Abbadon. He was locking his jaw as he stared back at her, his eyes holding a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

Abbadon shook his head as he stared at the ground, “poor Kain, what have they done to you?” he lifted his eyes back towards her. Eyes that held a humorous glint in it.

She had never stared Abbadon in the face, but she didn’t dare show submission to him, now knowing what and who she was. Kain lifted her chin even higher, straightening her back and holding herself high. “My name is Kainun Bloodleaf! I am one of them. I am a fae! Are you going to kill me too?” she stared at Gavin when she asked the question. Wondering if he would kill her, knowing that she is the thing they have been hunting ever since they were taken in as children. The thing she wondered most was, if he loved her enough to choose her side over Abbadon’s. No matter what.

Gavin showed no signs of emotion which made Kain’s heart skip a few beats and her hope sinking a little. She could have sworn that he would be the one to stand by her side no matter what. She would have! Furious, Kain focused her attention back towards Abbadon. He clicked his jaw so fast that she thought she had imagined it, “kill the fae girl! No harm is to come to Kain, she is all confused,” Abbadon said, with a lazy wave of his hand, turning his head to the side as he spoke to the anxiously waiting hunters behind him.

Kain released her daggers from their place at her belt and took a defensive position. She heard Breezes hiss as she too took a defensive position. The first of the hunters including Greg moved in, and drew their weapons. “Don’t do this Kain! Don’t fight! Don’t make it harder on yourself!” she heard Abbadon call impatiently but Kain focused on Greg and chose to ignore Abbadon. The first hunter launched towards Breezes and Kain swooped in front of him and deflected his sword before plunging her own long dagger into his side. She felt the warmth of his blood touch her fingers and she let go of him. He collapsed to the ground as she watched him begin to bleed out. Kain lifted her head just in time to see the second hunter being wrapped by squeezing thick veins that sprouted from the ground. Kain turned towards Breezes and gave her a proud grin, “nice one!” she complimented then turned to throw her dagger at the third hunter. It hit the woman square in her sternum.

More hunters came storming towards the two of them and every time they go closer, Kain or Breezes fought them off. Kain could tell that the hunters were fighting angrily now. Most of them did have such short tempers. To be a great hunter you had to have patience. That was one of the lessons they learned at the start of their training. Their footing and sword swings were becoming lousy and uncoordinated. Yet another mistake any hunter cannot afford to make. Kain had the upper hand and they all knew it. Not just because she was considered a great hunter but also because she didn’t waver or slip up.

“Enough!” Abbadon shouted, his face burning red with anger. “Kill the fae and get it over with!” he ordered. The hunters ignored Kain and moved towards Breezes in unison. Almost as if they were robots being controlled by a switch held in Abbadon’s hands. Kain made to move to Breezes’s side in attempt to defend her but a pair of strong hands clasped on her wrists and bended her arms painfully back. Her arms were pinned against her back while another pair of hands grabbed hold of her shoulders. That was a lousy mistake she had made as a good hunter. Never take your eyes from your opponents. That was what Abbadon had said when Gavin bested her in the arena. Kain bit down on her teeth with frustration as someone yanked her weapons out of her hands. She turned her head to the side to see who was holding her. Her face turning pale when she saw that it was Gavin. His eyes were cold and unreadable as they avoided her face and stared at Breezes instead.

“What are you doing?” Kain shouted at Gavin, “why aren’t you helping me?” she scolded, her heart pounding painfully inside her chest as her face paled. She hoped he could hear the pain in her voice. “I am helping you Kain!” he snapped, furiously.

“Don’t do this! Please Gavin!” she tried to persuade but he ignored her. She kept on pleading, helplessly trying to push her body away from the gripping hands but it was all useless. She was held in an iron grip. A flurry of leaves brought her attention back towards Breezes just as Breezes sent out a vine which impaled a hunter through the heart.

Kain watched helplessly as the hunters closed in around Breezes, no matter how hard she fought back but there were too many of them. “Breezes watch out!” Kain yelled but it was too late. Greg shoved his dagger into the fae’s chest just as she turned to defend herself from him. Kain felt her own breath escape her mouth at the same time the dagger pierced Breezes’s green skin. Metallic green blood began to leak out from the side of the dagger, flowing faster as Greg pulled out his dagger with a satisfied grin. Kain screamed, fighting with every bit of strength against the hands holding her back. She watched through blurry eyes as Breezes sunk down to the ground and remained there unmoving. “NO!” Kain screamed. The pain she felt in her heart was unbearable. She hadn’t known Breezes that long, but she had not wanted to see the girl killed by the same people Kain grew up with. Breezes was innocent and now she was dead. It was all her fault, Kain thought with blurred eyes. Through the squeezing pain, Kain began to feel an uncontrollable anger build up inside of her. There was a strong energy building up in her veins, burning with fierce power and before she could understand what was going on, the energy burst out of her, knocking everyone in its path off balance.

“What the hell was that!” Greg yelled once he recovered his balance. He stared at Kain with a murderous expression. He wasn’t the only one. Abbadon had his eyes fixed on her as well. Only he didn’t share in Greg’s murderous expression. His expression was of great interest. Greg moved towards Kain with the intention of killing her, his dagger clenched in his hand. “Stop!” Abbadon warned him lazily, as he got up from the ground. Greg glared at Kain, “she’s one of them! She should share the same fate!” he spat with disgust burning on his face.

“I said Kain remains unharmed! Should I repeat myself?” Abbadon growled with irritation laced around every word. Greg winced slightly but his glare remained on his face, “no sir.” He mumbled in submission.

“Take her back to the academy and lock her up in the Grey room. She will remain locked up until the fae’s influence washes out of her system!” Abbadon ordered. He followed her with his cold gaze, as the others pulled her along, back towards the Academy.

The hunters holding Kain, held her with weary hands. All except Gavin, who avoided her gaze. She wondered if he felt just as disgusted by her like the others were. Or was there some part in him that remained on her side still, after all that has happened. Kain looked up at Gavin, wondering if he still loved her, or did he burn with disgust by knowing that he had been fooled into loving a fae. Kain managed to turn her head back, just enough to glance back at Breezes’s body.

The woman coated in golden light, Kain had seen right before she woke up from the black-out, stood beside Breezes’s body. She was normal size instead of a giant, which made her almost seem vulnerable. It didn’t seem like the others saw her at all. Kain wasn’t even sure about what she was seeing either. The woman stared down at Breezes’s body, her face coated in sadness. Don’t fret my child, I will make sure her soul finds its way to the spirit realm of Luana, she said in Kain’s mind as she lifted her head and glanced at Kain. The last thing Kain saw before they shoved her forward was the beautiful white orchid that sprouted in the place where Breezes’s body had been.

“What about the other fae and Sophia?” Kain heard Greg ask Abbadon as they walked towards the Academy. No one noticed the white orchid sprouting out of innocent blood spilled by cruel hatred. Abbadon was walking behind everyone at a fair distance but close enough to hear. “Do not bother with wasting your energy. We will find them soon enough,” Abbadon said calmly. Kain didn’t miss a beat, she had caught the hidden meaning between his words. She could tell he had a plan already carved into stone. It made Kain worry for Sophia and Wison. She hoped that they were safe and well out of sight.

They reached the academy just as the sky began to take on the purple stains of twilight. Passing students turned their heads towards Kain, gawking at her and the hunters holding her like it was something they had never thought that they would ever see. It probably wasn’t something they would have thought to ever happen to Kain, the ex-favourite of the great headmaster Abbadon. “Send word to Rodger, he must prepare the Grey room!” Greg called out to a nearby student. He gawked at Kain for a moment before turning on his heels and running into the Academy.

Abbadon made his way up to Kain’s side and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “you can choose how you want the next moments of your life to play out. Either you give up your friends and swear allegiance to me or I can make your life hell and make you wish you were already dead.” Kain glared at him but remained silent. He was a fool if he thought she will stab her friends in the back the same way Gavin did. She turned her head towards Gavin, his face still set in an unreadable expression. She wondered if he regretted the fact that he had betrayed her or was he hoping that it will all be over soon?

They walked through several hallways before they came to a stairwell that led downstairs. The Grey room was built in what used to be a basement. They didn’t use it a lot but when they did it was usually to interrogate prisoners or torture them. Today the grey room will be used on one of their own. But Kain wasn’t one of their own, not really. Turns out she never had been one of them. It had been a lie all along, an illusion to keep her from discovering the truth. Now that she has, she’s happy not to be one of them. This is a dark life. A cruel life and she had been set free even if she remained a prisoner of Abbadon. “Lock her up!” Greg shouted. Abbadon didn’t come down with them, he had decided to move towards his office instead. Gavin and another hunter dragged Kain towards the wall and locked her wrists in manacles that was bolted to the ceiling, leaving her arms suspended. Another pair of manacles were clamped around her ankles to keep her from kicking anyone.

They made sure Kain didn’t have anything on her which she could use as a weapon or means of escape before they left the room. Gavin was the last to leave. “What do you hope to gain?” Kain called after him just as he was about to shut the door behind him. He froze, she watched his shoulders grow tense. “I thought you were always there for me! You had promised me that you were!” Kain continued once she knew that she had caught his attention. He didn’t turn around or relax his shoulders. Instead his body grew more tense. He turned his head sideways, “I am there for you Kain,” he sighed, “just tell Abbadon what he wants to know, Kain, and he will let you go,” Gavin continued over his shoulder. He closed the door behind him, before she could say anything else. The flat tone of his voice sent pinpricks to crawl all over her skin.

She was alone, locked up like a prisoner and betrayed by the people she grew up with. The people she loved. Breezes was dead and she had no idea if Wison and Sophia had gotten to some place safe. In her solitary confinement, Kain wanted to allow herself to break down, but her tears wouldn’t come. All that came to the surface of her pyramid of emotions was a steaming desire for revenge and boiling anger. Anger for herself and anger for Abbadon as well as anger for Gavin. The one person she thought would choose her side, and he just turned his head the other way.