Fractured Soul

Chapter 11: Starting Over

The village Mella had found in the night wasn’t really a village. It was more of a small city. The lights she had seen were on the wall surrounding the city, to keep watch for the king's armies. Stephen had hit the city hard looking for elementals, and the people living there wanted more warning than the twins just showing up whenever they pleased.

One of the guards had just started the dawn shift when he looked out across the river towards the trees.

"Hey! New kid!" he called.

A boy ran up to the guard. "Yeah?"

"I need some guards to go check something…" he said, trailing off and not even looking at the boy as he ran off. His eyes were fixed on the person on the other side of the river.

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"What happened to her?"

"She looked like she walked through an oven."

"Where are her shoes?"

Mella's entire body hurt. The voices and the birds singing in the trees were making her head ring. She cracked an eyelid and wince from the glare of the sun. She blinked and saw the ocean staring back at her. Mella blinked again and saw three worried faces crowded around her. They were all boys, not much older than her.

Mella's eyes widened in fear and panic. She tried to sit up and scoot back away from them, but she was stopped by a tree. Ngh! Okay, that was a really bad idea… Her head swam and she was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness again.

"Hey, it's okay. We aren't gonna hurt you." One of the guys smiled at her and patted her shoulder. It was meant to be reassuring, but Mella flinched away. "Get away from me!"

"Guys! Are you really that stupid? Give her some space!" A new voice chimed in.

The guys all backed away, and the three faces became one. A boy, like the others walked up and sat on the ground next to her. He had brown hair that stuck out everywhere and calm, kind grey eyes that made Mella instantly relax. He's kinda cute…of course that's what I notice first out of all of this!

"Where am I?" Mella asked, wincing as she tried to sit up again. The boy gently helped Mella sit up and she leaned up against the tree, looking towards the wall.

"This is the city of Ryn. Well, it's the sorta-kinda city of Ryn. It's barely big enough to be called a city. I'm Alex, by the way. The dorks over there are Kai, Kev, and Dilan." He looked down at her feet. "You did one hell of a number on your feet. Do you want me to fix them?" His hands glowed blue.

Mella glared warily at Alex and moved her feet away from him. Alex held his hands back in an 'I didn't do it' gesture and the glowing stopped. "It's alright, I'm a healer. I know what I'm doing, and your feet look painful."

They were painful, and Mella knew she was in no position to refuse help. Mella stretched her legs back out. "Fine."

Alex's hands started glowing again, and an orb of water flew from the river and started to sparkle, like the healing fire Mella had learned in Berna. Pain sliced through her head, making Mella yell involuntarily. It felt like the first day back in Berna all over again.

"Alex! What are you doing?" One of the other guys said. Mella barely heard him. It was as if he was speaking from a very far way off.

"Not…now!" Mella forced out. The pain in her head mounted, and the memory finally surfaced…

"You're learning water magic today. Try summoning it towards you. This is how it all starts…"

Mella couldn't take it anymore, and she passed into darkness once again.

The four boys stared at the unconscious girl.

"Alex, what did you do?" Kai asked again.

Alex looked up. "I didn't do anything, Kai. I just tried healing her…it probably won't be enough if I try again. She needs to go into the city for treatment. Kev, Dilan, can you two and Kai take her?"

The boy Kev piped up. "Sure. But where are you going?"

"I think someone has to tell her. Even though she's probably just another refugee, something's…strange about this one. I'll find you guys later."

Alex stood and turned back towards Ryn. His friends knew what 'her' meant, and they knew how much he hated it. But he was in charge of their little group, so he had to go tell her.

He ran towards the city, the river not even slowing him down, and straight through the wall. It always freaked him out, just passing straight through a solid wall, and he had to give her credit for thinking it up. Alex ran through the streets, taking all of his shortcuts, and arrived at the heart of the city moments later. He walked into the grandest building there, and proceeded to barge through the main floor-ignoring all the complaining officials-up to the topmost floor, where a girl in a blue dress was already waiting.

"Well Alex, what do you want? It's got to be important if you actually showed up here."

"Wait, how did you know…ugh, never mind. We found a girl just on the other side of the river. There's something…strange about her. She's different than the other refugees."

The girl turned around. Her eyes were a deep blue, half-hidden by long brown hair.

"Hmm…Nadai's prediction might be about to unfold…tell me, what did she look like, Alex?"

"Well, she looked like she ran through an oven, and she had no shoes. Her eyes are violet."

The girl's eyes lit up. "I think it's her. Where is that girl now, Alex?"

"Kev, Dilan, and Kai were taking her to infirmary. She passed out when I tried to heal her. Why? What's so special about her?"

"Alex, I can't tell you…Nadai said not to tell…" A knock echoed off the door, and it slowly opened. It was Dilan.

"Hey, Alex…oh. My lady." He said, turning red and bowing quickly as he realized who else was in the room.

"What is it, Dilan?" the girl said.

"The girl we found, she's at the infirmary. The healers are patching her up right now. She still hasn't woken up though. Just...just thought you should know…"

"Thanks, Dil." Alex said. Dilan left. The girl turned back to Alex.

"I'm pulling you and your friends off guard duty. I need you to take turns watching the girl. If she's what Nadai says she is, I'll need to talk with her right away. And don't," she said this loudly as Alex angrily opened his mouth to speak. "even try to argue. Just do it."

"Fine." Alex said pointedly. "As you wish, Lady Gwen." He turned and stomped through the door.

Gwen waited for him to leave, then rushed to a different room. She scribbled a note and tied it to a hawk's leg. Gwen threw open a window and tossed the bird out into the world, watching it soar away. I hope she wakes up soon, we have a lot to discuss…