Loyalty [Dianite]

C H A P T E R • F I V E

Jordan's retaliation for the conduit prank was to fill Tom's house with the sand he had excavated whilst building the new room under his temple. Tom had gone with Riley to visit the wizards - a trio of quirky robe wearing, spell casting beings who seemed to know more about everything than anyone else.

Declan was the eldest, an orange haired man who was dressed simply, his wizard robes hanging loosely from his shoulders as though he'd only donned them that morning as an afterthought. James was the second, as Tom had informed Riley before their arrival, although Tom addressed him as Wag, and Riley wondered where the nickname could possibly have come from. James' hair and eyes were brown, but the hood of his dark blue robes almost entirely hid his head from view. Orion, the youngest, was a little more spirited than both of the other two, and began teasing Tom good naturedly about his skull temple as soon as he saw him.

The three of them appeared to have known about Riley's arrival on the islands before it had happened, but were somewhat surprised at her memory loss.

"That shouldn't have happened," said Dec, the eldest and wisest of the wizards. "So you really can't remember anything?"

Riley shook her head no, as Dec brushed his orange hair out of his eyes, and moved over to a shelf to fetch a journal from it.

"If you knew of Riley's coming, then why did you not warn us?" Tom wondered. "And are there any more people who will be washed up on our shores without warning?"

"And do you know where I come from, then?" Riley put in, her tone betraying her curiosity.

"So many questions," said Orion, shaking his head. "We knew of your coming, not who you were, or where you would come from."

"And as for any further newcomers," said Dec, glancing up from his journal, "You'll have to wait and see."

"Dec, come on," Tom laughed. "Why can't you tell us?"

"Because! How long is a piece of string? Twice as long as when you fold it in half."

"I hate you," Tom muttered.

"Very nice. Now let me ask you a question." Dec eyed Riley curiously. At least, he would have, if his eyes had been visible from under his long fringe. "Have you chosen your allegiance yet?"

"My allegiance?" The girl repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Your godly allegiance," explained Orion. "I'll be very surprised if no one has tried to convince you to join their team."

"You're not wrong," Riley gave a slight smile. "But do I have to make a decision? I haven't even met any of them yet."

"None of the heroes met their respective gods before they had chosen their allegiance," Dec replied. "I'd advise you to think about it, Riley. It could shape your whole future."

"You don't have to chose a side," said James, speaking for the first time, and everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "I never did," he continued. "And I was one of the heroes for some time before I became a wizard."

"I'll think about it," Riley said hastily, for she could see that Dec was about to prevent his fellow wizard from continuing that line of thought.

"And on that note, we'll be going, I think," said Tom, laying a hand on Riley's shoulder. "Any last words of wisdom from you lot?"

Dec raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'd tell you to stay out of trouble, but, well..."

"Be true to yourself, Riley," said Orion, ignoring Dec and Tom. "Make the decision for you, not for anyone else."

"How do I be true to myself if I don't even know who I am?" She sighed.

"You'll know," he replied. "When the time is right, you'll know."

Tom and Riley returned to a house filled from top to bottom with sand, and spent the next three hours or so with a spade each, hauling all of it out the doors and into the sea. Tom had been tempted to just burn his house down and start again when he saw the mess, but Riley had convinced him it wasn't unfixable.

"It's a good prank, I'll give him that," Tom laughed. "What makes me happy is the fact that it would have been more work for him to cart the sand over here than it is for us to push it all into the sea."

"True, that," Riley smiled at him. "Hey, Tom, can I ask you something?"

"Fire away," he responded, pausing for a moment to rest his spade against his legs, and shift his blue hair away from his eyes.

"Which god do you think I should choose?"

"Well, that's a loaded question, isn't it," Tom stated, picking up his spade, and swinging it around to rest it over the blade of his shoulders. "Personally, I think you'd fit in Team Dianite just fine, but the others keep telling me off for trying to recruit you, so..."

"Why do they keep doing that, though?" Riley asked him. "I get that Jordan thinks I'm some fragile being that needs to be protected, but I knew how to fight in my past life, that much we know for sure. I've clearly been through some kind of insanity to get here, so I don't think I need sheltering as he believes I do."

"Jordan has the ability to subconsciously convince himself he's doing the right thing and veiling his true motives, even from himself," said Tom. Then he paused, and laughed a little. "Wow, that sounds much more sinister than it really is."

Riley, whose eyes had widened in alarm, joined in his laughter. Eventually, he continued his point.

"What I mean is that Jordan may have convinced himself that he's doing it to protect you, but in reality he's doing what's best for Ianite. I suppose he told you how young the gods are?"

"Not exactly," said Riley. "He told me that they're young, but..."

"They're about our age," said Tom. "Maybe a little older. That's not very much time to get used to wielding the kind of power they do, and it's not a secret that Jordan is concerned about Ianite. He says that she's very sensitive, and emotional. He'd want you to join her team because the more followers she has, the stronger she becomes, and she'll be better equipped to handle her powers."

Riley was silent for a moment, as her mind ran over Tom's words, whilst Tom himself returned to digging, understanding that the girl needed time to think. Riley had half expected to feel a pull towards one of the three gods that would help her make her decision, but she had barely felt anything, and wondered if it was something she had simply made up in her head.

She could rule Mianite out, that much she was sure of. But it was the fact that she could appreciate the beauty of the order that Karl had created on his island for what it was that made her think she ought to be an Ianitee. Because surely, that meant that balance was her calling, considering Tom's tumultuous jumble of an island strongly appealed her her as well.

Riley bit her lip, and shook the thoughts from her head, wishing for one more day where she didn't have to worry about making this kind of decision.

A/N: so is Riley gonna choose team Dianite or nah?

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