Searching for the Key

Chapter 30

Katia sat with her knees tucked into her chest as she stared down at the view below her. Snow was drifting silently toward the ground in a light flurry. It sparkled against the waterfall as the light reflected off the white specks.

Katia wasn't cold though. She got to keep the jacket Saladin gave her when she went on the quest. She wasn't cold, but she shivered anyway. Anytime she thought about the quest, a chill went through her.

The four of them accomplished the impossible, and Katia was thrilled and relieved. But she didn't know how to just go back to her normal life. She changed. And more than that, she died.

Katia felt different and she knew others saw it too. They stared at her as she passed by and she could hear the whispers behind her back. It wasn't anything new to Katia, but it still made her feel like an outsider in the place that was her home. It didn't help she felt distant from her friends too. They acted normally enough, but Katia still felt like there was a gap between them.

She sighed heavily. She twirled her finger and watched as a swirl of water grew from the waterfall and danced in the air.

Katia heard a sound behind her and she whipped her head around. Nathan's mouth parted in shock and he put his arms in the air.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Nathan apologized.

Katia let out a breath and forced a small smile. "No it's okay. I'm just a little jumpy."

Nathan walked forward and Katia made room for him on the rock she was sitting on.

"You okay?" Nathan asked after a while. "You've seemed a little off lately."

Katia shrugged her shoulders and didn't talk for a while. Nathan stayed quiet though, knowing she would speak when she was ready.

"I don't know how to describe it. I just don't feel like myself," Katia said helplessly.

"Is it what happened to you? The curse?" Nathan prodded gently. He grabbed Katia's hand and gave it a squeeze.

Katia took a breath and released it shakily. She nodded once. "Yeah. That's part of it. I keep getting random glimpses from when I was under it. I hurt people, badly. I may have even gotten them killed."

Tears fell from Katia's eyes and trailed down her cheeks. Nathan pulled Katia into his side and gave her a hug. That only made her cry harder and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"It wasn't you Katia and you have to believe that," Nathan told her firmly. "You're powerful. So powerful I'm sure you could have killed all of us easily. But you didn't. I think somehow, even then, you were fighting the curse."

Katia sighed heavily. "I like to believe that. What I remember the most is this all consuming anger. I've never felt anything like that before, and thinking about it scares me. What if it's not completely gone? What if I turn into that...monster?"

Nathan looked intently at Katia, begging her to believe him. He couldn't take seeing her think about herself in that way.

"Katia, listen to me. The curse is gone, completely. You died breaking it," Nathan told her, his voice breaking slightly. "You're not a monster. You never were. Even when you were under the curse, that wasn't you."

"I'm different though," Katia said, her tone wistful.

Nathan leaned back and made a point of looking Katia up and down. He put his finger to his chin as he pretended to think.