The Blade of Dawn

Chapter 13

A jolt pulses through my body. I feel like I just stuck my fingers in a light socket. My ears buzz and my body aches.

I hear a low steady beeping noise and muffled voices.

"Her heart stopped. But she responded to the defibrillator. Her pulse is still weak and she hasn't regained consciousness. We will monitor her and let you know if anything changes." A male voice says with practiced formality.

"Thea, my dear sweet child. Can you hear me." This next voice is one I know. It is Aunt Joan. "Wake up, darling."

I want desperately to answer her, but I can't. I can't will myself to speak. I feel trapped in my own body.

"Wake up sweetheart. Wake up." Aunt Joan's voice slowly softens as if it is getting father and farther away.

Aunt Joan's words fade away and are replaced by Easton's voice, "Thea! Thea! Wake up, please. Thea!"

I open my eyes and see Easton leaning over me, gripping my shoulders. When our eyes meet, he exhales and his shoulders drop. "Thank the heavens. She's awake! Sarah! Xander! She's awake!"

My heart twists in anguish. I was so close to Aunt Joan. I was home. If only I could have said a few words to tell her that I'm ok and that I'm going to find a way to get home to her.

I take a deep breath. The air is cool and fresh. I lay in a bed of wet leaves. Mist winds delicately around my body. A canopy of branches and leaves extend above me, blocking out the sky.

"Where are we?" I ask. Birds chirp and leaves rustle around me. There is the sound of water trickling nearby.

"We are in Burmia ," Xander leans against a tree a few feet away.

"How can you be sure?" Easton asks as he lifts himself to his feet. Dark red blood stains his shirt.

"I'm sure." Xander says with finality. Xander seems more on edge than ever.

"You brought us all here somehow." Easton explains as I sit up.

"You also brought the remaining two Dark Soldiers who were after us. Next time, feel free to leave the enemy behind." Sarah adds. She slowly wraps a piece of fabric around a gash on her leg. Two dead Dark Soldiers lie a few yards away.

"We need to find somewhere to hide. We can't stay here out in the open." Xander says. His eyes dart around the forest as if he is looking for something.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me why you have my dagger and why you are hiding it from me." I demand. I stand and approach Xander.

"What dagger?" Easton's brows knit together in confusion. Sarah stiffens.

"After you disappeared from the merchant's shop, I searched for you." Xander says. "I learned from the guards that you had been arrested, found guilty by the Seer, but then you had broken free from metals enchanted with the strongest magic in Cora. I remembered the dagger we found in the desert and realized that if you were truly a breaker of magic, the dagger might be the Blade of Dawn. Kyzalah's blade. If it is truly the Blade of Dawn, it is dangerous and powerful. I knew one of the guards would have confiscated the dagger when you were arrested, so I hunted down the guard that had the dagger and I bought it from him before he realized it was valuable."

Sarah's jaw drops. "You have the Blade of Dawn?" Her gaze jumps back and forth between Xander and me.

I ignore Sarah and keep my focus on Xander. "Why wouldn't you tell me this in the caves? Why keep the dagger hidden?" There is more to the story than what he is telling me. I'm sure of it.

Easton's his fingers twitch near the knives on his belt.

Xander shifts from one foot to the other. His shadowy edge fades and the charm I had seen him use in the desert resurfaces. "I was keeping it safe for you. You were being hunted. If you were captured, Kronos would get the dagger. The dagger is your only chance of beating Kronos. I had to get it back. If the legends are true, then, in the hands of someone born with magic, it only takes one cut by the Blade of Dawn and the person who has been cut will be rendered powerless. Their ability to wield magic will seep out of them like sap from a tree."

"I want the dagger back." I hold out my hand.

"Of course," Xander says. His voice is silky smooth. He pulls the still sheathed dagger from his belt and hands it to me.

I unwrap the cloth that had been wrapped around the hilt and pull the dagger from its sheath. When the smooth metal of the grip touches my fingers I feel as if a void that I didn't know was there is filled.

"Now, please, we must go." Xander urges. "The animals on this island will be able to sense your magic. They will lead the people of this island to you."

"How do you know this island so well?" Easton presses. "No one besides Kronos and the Dark Soldiers have been allowed to travel between the islands in decades."

"He is one of them," In a flash, Sarah's bow is in her hands. She points an arrow at Xander's chest.

"I am not. I promise." Xander speaks slowly and calmly, like a parent trying to calm a child. "I... I made a deal with Kronos once."

"To help someone I care about." Xander quickly adds. A pained expression flickers across Xander's face.

Is his emotion real or is this all an act? I bite my lip, frustrated by how hard it is to read Xander.

"What kind of deal?" I demand.

Before Xander can answer, whoops, yelps, and shouts fill the air.

Xander curses. "We've been found."

Figures begin dropping from the trees. They move with the ease and agility of monkeys but they are clearly human. They are dressed in camouflage. Black ink tattoos cover their light skin.

We are surrounded.

A man shouts and waves another over man. They have found the Dark Solider's bodies. Several draw their knives.

"We come in peace." Easton says.

I shift my weight and a twig snaps under my foot. Every eye turns toward me. I freeze.

"Evil!" a girl with a fiery look in her eyes shouts. She spits by my feet.

"No," I protest. I look down for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts and I realize that my skin is giving off a faint glow.

"Please let us explain," Xander says. He holds his hands up in a sign of surrender. Something small flits through the air and Xander's body drops to the ground.

I spin towards the shooter just as I feel something sting my neck. It feels like a bee sting. An intense desire to sleep tugs at me. My limbs crumple beneath me.

Voices surround me.

A woman's voice is the last thing I hear,

"Tie them up. The Kah can decide what to do with them."