Spirit

Chapter 4

       I'd never been so happy to be on dry land. When we finally got off the ship we arrived at an ancient looking island. There was overgrown vegetation and tall trees. It looked like it hadn't been a single person in thousands of years. The city looked lost, the crumbling stone buildings and the flattened homes that still held belonging. I trudged forward climbing the small hill in wonder of this ghost town. I wonder how many people lived here. Or how it even became so vacant.
       Looking upon this place I could tell it was once beautiful and thriving.
       The thought made me sad as I approached one of the collapsed houses. It looked burnt to a crisp, but the ashes were long gone. The one thing that did remain were bones. So many bones. They all were gathered near the edge where a wall once stood. They all varied in size. It was like a mass grave.
       With the bones of children.
       What shocked and angered me the most was the chains among the ivory remains.
At this point I was shaking. And I didn't know if it was from the anger or the absolute sorrow that tackled me upon seeing this tragedy. Who could have done this? And why?
       I felt a strong hand grab my shoulder and I immediately spun around ready to attack, until I saw Leon's concerned green eyes. He glanced over my head and a pained expression crossed his face before he spoke.
       "We should go, Sylvaine said there was a place untouched that we could lay low in for now." I nodded robotically and mumbled,
       "Sure."
       He dropped his hand and walked ahead of me, apparently knowing where he was going. I kept my head down so I wouldn't be taken on another emotional rollercoaster from the desolation before me.
       We walked for what seemed like an hour but the sun hadn't even set over the horizon. I knew we arrived when I bumped into Leon's broad back.
       He chuckled deeply, "You alright back there?"
       I rubbed my head and yawned, "Sure you giant walking wall of concrete." When I walked around him my jaw dropped in awe.
       This place was completely untouched by the calamity we left behind us. It was a true diamond in the rough.
       It was made of the same stone I saw earlier but it had glorious arched windows. It was charming because it wasn't symmetrical. I never like symmetrical homes, they always seemed so boring. But this place had bay windows and huge open areas. It looked like it could fit a family of ten. Definitely would not see something this spacious back home.
       "Well what are we waiting for, I'm exhausted." I continued. I walked past him and into the house, refusing to make eye contact. I immediately went towards the back of the house. There were long sheer curtains blowing in the wind hanging on the arches, and just past it was a large body of water. It looked so clear and inviting i just wanted to get lost in it splendor but I couldn't do that, not anymore. I looked at my pale arm now scarred with the blue markings of my wonderous dragon. It was both a curse and a blessing to have this. the curse was the danger I now posed to everyone I met, but the blessing is knowing I can change things for the good.
       Either way, now wasn't the time to get lost in my thoughts, I have to get some rest so I'm an actual functioning human being. So I chose the room closest to the water naturally i plopped on the bed and was surprised I didn't find a blanket of dust greeting me, but soft blankets that smelled of the herbs we wash our clothes with back home.
       Home, Could I even call it that now?

      

       I woke up to the sound of voices arguing; I rolled over in bed and groaned. I looked out the window and saw the sun was barely over the horizon. Why the hell are they arguing so early? I groaned internally and then snapped my head up so quick I got whiplash.
       They? Who the fuck is here?
       As I tried to get up from the bed I got tangled in the blankets and fell off the side with a loud thud.
       "I literally cannot catch a break." I sighed to myself. I moved my long hair from face and saw two huge figures standing before me. I craned my neck so I could see their faces but only recognized Leon but not the other man. He was a little shorter than Leon but of course that meant he was still a hell of a lot taller than me. I grunted as I got up from the stone floor and eyed the two men.
       “Totally didn't need any help there, I’m fine thanks for asking” and still they both said nothing “Well don't stop on my account; Whatever you were yelling about so early in the morning seemed important so please, proceed.” I walked to the kitchen to make myself food, not really sure what but at this point anything would do. To my surprise the kitchen was stocked with fruits vegetables and meats. In half an hour I had breakfast ready for all of us. Not knowing where those two were I simply yelled into the house
       “Foods ready!” Almost immediately I heard the echo of footsteps resonating coming towards me. Men could never resist food. They both sat down at the table and quietly dug into the food. I sat down with them and practically inhaled my food. When I finished I looked up to find both of them staring at me.
       “What, I was hungry.” I shifted uncomfortably in my chair and changed the subject. “So who are you?”
       “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?” I made a confused face and looked at him a bit closer, then it hit me. 
       "Nik? Nik Petrov? No way it's been so long!" I got up and bolted to hug my long lost friend. Leon made a sound of disapproval and I looked over at him; Was he really going to be that childish right now?  Their fighting already woke me up this morning. Nik was a childhood friend of mine along with Leon. All three of us were inseparable, that is until Nik was sent off right after middle school and by them the boys hated each other for some reason.
       "How have you been?" Nik said still holding onto me. I focused my attention to him and smiled, 
       "Oh you know,  finally got some magick and now I'm running from power hungry people who killed my brother that probably want to destroy me and the world.  No biggie." I pulled away and sat back on my seat across from him and Leon. "What about you?"
       He sighed and paused before he replied "Well around the time we were in middle school my parents got into a nasty fight and so my dad left and took me with him while my mom stayed behind with my grandmother. I was mostly training with my dad, hopping around from place to place so he could work. It sucked not being able to stay in one town but that's how it is sometimes. Then a couple of days ago Sylvaine sent a message that you were going to have the ceremony soon and she was worried; She had me set out here as soon as possible, my dad didn't like it but he respects Sylvaine, and that's how I ended up here."