Abandoned (Born From Shadows #2)

“Concentrate,” Tyrion told Tatianna who was once again sitting on the ground.

“Oh really, cause I never thought of doing that,” she sarcastically replied with her eyes shut tightly.

“Sarcasm isn’t going to get you anywhere,” he replied.

“Neither is you talking to me,” she grumbled in response. Tyrion had asked her to move a rock. Simple right? Except she had to do it without using her hands or feet. She barely understood magic and now she had to work out how to draw energy from herself…not too much or she would die, and then use that to push the solid lump of fused crystals.

“I can’t do it,” she gritted out annoyed at her lack of progress.

“Yes you can,” Tyrion replied. She sighed and continued to try and draw energy from herself. Yes in breaking the barrier of her mind, she had found herself able to move freely around, feel and touch things she never thought possible. She could almost feel the energy in her body, but to grab it? It was all so superficial.

“For a teacher, you aren‘t doing much teaching,” she groaned and finally opened her eyes.

“For a student, you sure love to back talk,” he replied

“I really don’t like you,” she said with a frown on her face.

“Well you are kind of stuck with me, so keep trying to move the rock,” he answered.

“But how?” she sighed, still not fully knowing how she was actually going to do this.

“How do you tell your body to walk, move your legs? You just do it. Sometimes strong emotions can make you draw upon the energy, that is how you are first awakened. Perhaps if you try using your frustration as a way to hone in on the energy,” Tyrion offered her some help.

“What does that even mean? What’s being awakened?” she didn’t understand anything. It was all so ambiguous to her.

“An awakening is when you well…awaken the magical abilities within you and take the form of an elf. It comes from some strong emotion or naturally when you turn forty. That is why all Elfs look different ages, they get stuck in whatever age that they were awakened,” he explained, unknowingly answering some of her previous questions. “we will continue this tomorrow.”

“Do Fae do the same thing, go through an awakening?” she asked. Tyrion shook his head in reply.

“We are born like this.”

“Wings and all?” she asked just to confirm.

“Yes.”

“I feel sorry for any Fae mother…that can not be easy,” she said in thought. After a moment she got up to stretch her muscles. Her stomach was so sunken she felt her entire rib cage as she tried to stretch her sides.

“May I ask something?” Tyrion wondered, surprising her.

Tatianna shrugged. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“What happened that caused you to awaken? It’s just most Elf’s normally shift when they fall in love for the first time or maybe during a tragic accident. But you have had an…unusual life, awakening at a young age. What caused it?”

She looked away from him for a second before turning back to him and replying, “someone tried to burn me alive. Granted I never should have put any trust in them in the first place, so it was kind of my fault.”

“I can only imagine what you did to the person who did that.”

Her lips twitched slightly at the memory of her sticking her dagger into that son of a bitch. “We should keep walking,” she said avoiding the topic.

Tyrion nodded and then looked quickly at the sun for directions before continuing their march. His pace was quick and initially, Tatianna struggled to keep up, but she had gotten used to pushing through the pain.

They all walked in silence for a few hours, not knowing what to say. Not even wanting to speak. Tatianna glanced over towards the dark brown-haired Fae whose black wings made him all the more broken. She couldn’t help but stare every now and again, he was just so unusual. His pace was faster than even Tyrion’s leaving them both a few meters behind him.

“How is he?” she asked Tyrion whilst still looking at Kaycion.

“He barely speaks to me. I don’t think he remembers me. Remembers anything that happened before he got captured. I can feel him in my mind, just…I can’t do anything. I can’t help him.”

“Have you tried forcing your way through his mind?”

Tyrion shook his head. “That could damage him even more. He needs to break through on his own.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“I don’t want to think about it.”

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Nylif’s exhausted body collapsed onto Tatianna. She felt as if she had been walking for years. They had to be close. Seeing Nylif so…tried was horrible. Yet still, the wolf stayed by her side, a constant reassurance. Tatianna touched the pendant on her neck.

“When you get back to the kingdom…what do you think it will be like with the Queen gone?”

“A complete shit fest,” Tyrion answered.

“If I survive the Dark Lands, what if I just ran away? If I went to a small town somewhere and was never to be heard of again?”

“You’re asking if people will hunt you down.”

“Will they?” she asked.

“I don’t know what the King will do. He has always been unpredictable, spoiled little brat if you asked me,” Tyrion replied. “Who knows what he is thinking.”

“Will you get punished for running off the way you did?” she asked.

“Why? Do you care?” he asked confused.

Tatianna shook her head. “It’s not really about caring about you but more of a personal thing,” she replied not wanting to explain. She couldn’t let him be hurt because he wanted to help her. She was tired of people getting hurt trying to help her.

“Well since you care, no I will not. The Elves have no jurisdiction over me. And the Fae would not punish me for this.”

“So you’re saying the Elfs are more corrupt.”

Tyrion shook his head. “Every intelligent species has a few corrupt souls, with the humans’ short life span they are generally more corrupt and selfish. In the Elf’s case, however, their political stance is a bit shaky at the moment and individuals may go rocking it a bit more to gain power.”

“What is power, if not a figment of our imagination?” Tatianna replied in thought.

“Is not hope just an imaginary force as well? Something your mind convinces you to believe in yet ultimately is just a construct,” Tyrion answered.

She didn’t immediately reply. Hope was so many things to her, power, however, was the thing she hated the most. With power came a thirst for control that could corrupt the purest souls without them even noticing. She spent most of her life without it, clinging to hope. To think they are both the same began to rattle her consciousness. So she forced herself out of the tunnel her mind was digging and changed the topic. “How much longer do you reckon?” she asked staring at the horizon and the almost setting sun. “My hunger is really starting to affect my ability to actually walk.”

“Not long, a day or two. I suggest you go into Kalida with us to replenish yourself before going on your suicidal walk.”

“I guess so, are we going to stop for the night? I need sleep and I don’t think Kaycion can keep at it for much longer,” she stated to which Tyrion nodded. “I’ll take first watch,” she added.

Not too long after she heard the rumbles of Tyrion’s snores and she stared into the darkness that had set upon them, hugging tightly to their every move.

She looked around and saw Kaycion’s eyes shining into the night, wide open. Tatianna sighed, deciding she had nothing better to do but to try and talk to the silent Fae.

“You should sleep,” she said and sat down next to where the dark male laid. He didn’t reply like always.

“Look I know you have been through some shit, and that can make it hard to sleep. Trust me I know, but you have to keep trying. Without sleep you just get so exhausted you fade until your mind and body are no longer one,” she ranted trying to express her thoughts on the subject.

“Fuck off,” he groaned.

Well fuck you too, she wanted to reply, but she knew this was a more delicate situation than most. She was just happy he actually spoke to her.

“Just try to rest,” she told him.

“I would but an annoying girl keeps talking to me,” he replied. She almost gasped, was that more than two words? She stared at him, his grey eyes looking at her so intensely as if trying to rip her apart.

She couldn’t just pretend that his gaze didn’t do anything to her. She couldn’t deny that he was very pleasant to her eyes and made her stomach do things that it hadn’t done in almost a year. She brushed away the thought and sighed before saying, “ok I get your point, I will leave you alone if that is what you wish.”

“Tatianna,” he said as she got up. Her name rang out into the silence rolling away from his tongue. She turned back towards him curiously. “Don’t speak to me again,” his gruff voice said.

She frowned at him and walked back towards the other side of their makeshift camp leaving the tortured soul alone. She couldn’t think of a way to help someone who didn’t want to be helped, especially someone who was an arsehole to her.