Kingdom of Lies (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 9 [part 2]

Submerged in deep darkness, I found myself in the same dream that had caused me palpitations a few weeks earlier. I was on top of a white horse, only that this time I knew it, I knew I could trust my horse. His name, his name was Perry. My armor felt heavy, but I knew I needed it. I raised my sword and shouted with all my strength. Many, many men and women accompanied me and magical creatures. Creatures that I could now see in more detail, some had wings, others had horns. The two dragons flew over my head and when I looked down, next to me I saw him.

Russell.

But he wasn't the same boy, he was different. He was a warrior and I just knew that whatever happened, he would give his life for me.

I woke up unable to breathe. 

'It was about time, I used so many herbs that I thought I would faint from the smell.' The deep voice was easy to recognize. Tryx smiled at me while wetting my forehead with a cold cloth.

'Russell...' was the first thing I thought of, not only because of the strange dream that had repeated itself in my unconscious, but also because of what I had done, if that wasn't a dream as well. 

'Alive, my pride is hurt more than my body, nothing that Tryx can't fix.' His gray eyes looked at me with the same tenderness as the first day I saw him. Russell was okay. I felt that I could breathe better again.

'I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes.' Tryx picked up her belongings, a suitcase full of small pots and herbs with smells so strong that they could be felt from several meters away. 

I knew what I had to say, I just didn't know how to formulate my words. I still did not know or understand well what had happened, nor how I had ended up in my bed with Tryx trying to cure me. 

'You gave us a good scare.' He sat down at the foot of the bed and rested his hand on my leg. His touch made me tremble. He noticed it at once, and removed his hand as quickly as he had positioned it. 

'I don't know how to apologize to you. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry a million times is enough? I don't know what happened Russell, I'm sorry.' 

I hadn't noticed the fatigue in my body until I tried to sit up in bed. Russell got up to help me. I let him do that, I didn't want him to think I was uncomfortable around him. If I had shaken it was because of his touch. 

'Thank you.' I told him and he took his place at the foot of the bed again. 

'I know what happened, Milaia.'

He stuck his eyes in mine with an intensity I didn't know he possessed. He waited a few seconds. Apparently my little demonstration with the air that came out of my hands made him more cautious about what he said to me or how he acted around me. 

I didn't want him to hold back from me, I didn't want him to fear me. 

'Tell me. I'll listen to you.' 

His face lit up when I gave him permission to explain. This time I wouldn't judge, no matter how crazy it sounded. I would let him explain me, let him convince me that I was not damaged. 

'I know you don't believe it, but you have powers. I've known it since I met you. Remember how those leaves covered us under the tree? You called for them to move, it was you. In twenty years, we never heard of anyone who could use magic outside of Crescendo's territory. It took me a while to convince myself that Syform's crazy prophecy could be real, but when I accepted it, I simply saw it before me.'

'That doesn't explain what's happening to me.' 

'If your powers were contained by the curse all this time and you could still use them, imagine what it felt like to enter the only Kingdom where magic still exists. You released them, even more so now that you are aware that you possess them. You must learn to control them, like everyone else, it is not difficult, it is possible.' 

I looked down and played with my hands. Okay, maybe I did have magical powers and maybe I could learn how to control them, but that was not all and he knew it. He had spoken of a curse that would spread to Crescendo in a very short time. 

'What you told me... about... you know. I really don't know what to do about it. It scares me to think of the responsibility that that being true would entail. I don't know if I can handle it.'

Russell approached carefully, still fearing I would explode again. He slid down to face me, and took my hand. Our strange connection vibrated between our fingers. I didn't want him to ever let go.

'I know it's a lot, I understand, I would never ask you to help us if I didn't know it was our last option. I would never make you suffer more than you have. But Milaia, without you, without you we are lost.'

The sincerity that emerged from his gray eyes sank deep into the middle of my heart. No matter what, I was going to help him, I wanted to help him. Perhaps this was the destiny I was waiting for, the reason for my existence, the reason for what had happened to me. Maybe all the answers were in Russell Laoch. 

'What do you want me to do?' 

'You have to go back to the cave.' 

'No, everything but that, you don't know what happened to me in there, it was...' 

I noticed the expectation of my possible confession. If none of them knew what I had seen in the cave, they could never give me the explanation I so needed. There was only one person who could help me truly understand.

'I have to find Syform.' I told him.

He let out a sigh, a mixture of worry and fear.

'That madman? You have to stay away from him,' said Russell.

'He was in...I just need him.'

Still holding my hand, Russell lowered his head in thought. After what had happened, I knew how hard it was for him to even think about Syform. The prediction he had confided in him still haunted him in his worst nightmares. But, knowing that I would not accept otherwise, he looked at me again.

'Call him then. Do what you have to do.'

'There's one problem. He's gone, I looked for him yesterday and didn't find him,' I confessed shamelessly. He had hidden all his suspicions from me, he couldn't get angry that I had hidden something from him.

'He never leaves his territory.'

'I swear he wasn't there, I called him again and again and he didn't show up.'

'Call him,' Russell said.

'I told you I did it and it didn't work.'

'Call him,' Russell insisted, 'but use your magic.'

I took a deep breath. How was I supposed to act? What was I supposed to do? How did magic feel?

The breeze.

The breeze under my skin was all I could think of.

'Concentrate, close your eyes, think about what you want and just get it.'

'This is ridiculous.'

I could see the pressure in his eyes, he wasn't going to stop insisting until I tried. So, with a lot of mistrust, I closed my eyes and did exactly what he had told me to do. The breeze spread through my skin like a river in a sea of possibilities.

Syform, come here, Syform, I need you, Syform, come to me.

'My lady, what can I do for you?'

I opened my eyes and Syform was right next to us. I screamed in horror, even Russell was frightened by the speed of my magic. Had I done that? How?

'It's been a long time since someone invoked me, it felt so good. Now, what does my lady desire?'

I tried to put aside my uncertainty and focus on what I needed.

'I need you to tell me everything about the cave. Was it true what I saw? What else is in there?'

'Oh,finally, this is getting interesting.'