Children of Chaos - Book 1

“They followed you, don’t ask me why, by the Gods I do not know, but they followed you to the end of the world.”

You didn’t sleep much that night. You’d brought three tents, two big ones and one small one, but you hadn’t stepped a foot inside yours. The snoring coming out of the guys’ tent would have been enough to keep you awake, but it was more than that. You were afraid of the dreams that were sure to come. Sometimes the dreams were pleasant, soothing, but most of the time they weren’t. So you sat outside the tent, leaning against one of the trees, listening to the snoring in the tents and the sounds of the forest around you, waiting for the sun to creep over the horizon.

You must have dozed off for a little while, because when you awoke with a start the first rays of light were already lighting up the sky. The grass around you was wet and you shivered. There was a stream not far from the meadow and so you made your way there to quickly wash the sleep from your eyes. You knelt down and sprayed some of the icy wet on your face. Suddenly you stiffened. There was someone behind you.

You didn’t move, but every muscle in your body tensed, ready to react to whatever it was that was creeping up behind you.

“Morning”, said a voice in a familiar bored tone, and some of the tension left you as you turned around to face the white-haired man.

“Up already?”, you asked, aiming for casual, while keeping your guard up. If you were right about this one, then he was not someone to be caught alone with.

“Didn’t sleep much. Probably even less than you. ”, he said with a tone that suggested that he’d seen you resting your eyes outside of the tent. “It’s kinda hard with that bulldozer in there.”

“Yeah… I have no clue how anyone could sleep through that. Besides, I’m not used to the company.”, you said quietly as you looked at the stream in front of you. It was clear and smooth, with round rocks at the bottom. You absently let your fingers trace the water, feeling it’s cool touch on your skin.

“Neither am I”, he said as he knelt down beside you. He splashed his face and got back up, but he didn’t leave. There was a silence between the two of you, him standing, you sitting. It wasn’t uncomfortable, not really, but it wasn’t an easy feeling either. It felt full somehow, and you wondered if it was because you were guessing each other’s secrets. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, got up and started walking towards the makeshift camp.

“Time to get going”, you said as you passed him, and he followed you back to the tents.

Lynn, Megumi and Nami were up, preparing a little breakfast from the supplies you’d brought. You felt a little guilty that you hadn’t thought of doing that, and then you scolded yourself. You weren’t here to mother them. They were chatting carelessly, apparently already on friendly terms and you felt a twinge of uneasiness.

“Morning”, Megumi said as she smiled at the two of you. Emrys ignored the comment without even a glance at her, which you thought was rather rude, while you gave her a small nod.

“Morning. The others still asleep?”, you asked, mainly because you didn’t want to be as rude as Emrys, but also because you wanted to get going as soon as possible.

“Well… Aidan would be the one snoring like a bulldozer, and I’m assuming that Ethan’s in there too. How on earth did you sleep with that noise so close to you”, Lynn asked as she looked at Emrys.

He just shrugged and started cleaning out his pistols. Not a man of many words apparently.

“How do you know it’s Aidan snoring? It could just as well be Ethan”, Megumi said accusingly. Her big brown eyes looking up at Lynn challengingly. She didn’t even reach Lynn’s shoulder. It was kinda cute.

“I happen to know that Ethan doesn’t snore”, Lynn said briskly, her shoulders stiff.

“Oh.”, was Megumi’s only answer, and the challenge left her eyes immediately. You rolled your eyes, which was luckily missed by all but Emrys whose lips twitched. If you hadn’t known better you would have thought he’d just smiled.

“And where exactly are you going?”, you asked as Emrys got up and started walking towards the woods.

“Taking a leak”, he exclaimed without even looking back.

Lynn and Megumi simultaneously wrinkled their noses in disgust. Nami gave a soft chuckle, and you sighed.

“Charming”, was all you had to say to that.

There was a sound coming from the tent, and a disgruntled looking Aidan emerged. He was wearing nothing but a pair of blue boxers, his black hair standing up in all directions. He got out, stretched, which showed off his abs, not that you noticed, scratched his tummy and plopped down on the ground. You wondered how upset he still was after yesterday’s confrontation.

“Feed me!” he exclaimed he looked up at all of you with big puppy eyes, his mouth open.

Apparently not that upset.

You all just looked at him. None of you moved.

“Excuse me?”, Lynn asked, one of her perfect eyebrows raised. “You want us to do what?”

“I’m hungry. You should give me food.” His tone was completely serious, and there was something almost cute, about the expression on his face, although you hated to admit it.

You couldn’t help it, the situation was too absurd. You chuckled, and now it was your turn to be looked at in surprise. You realized that you hadn’t genuinely shown any amusement before, something you’d done on purpose, but you just couldn’t help it. The situation had reminded you of… The smile dropped from your face as a familiar pain settled in your chest. Aidan had just reminded you of Khai just then. The smile on your face vanished as quickly as it had come, making room for an annoyed scowl.

“Feed yourself you man-child.”, Lynn said, as she chucked an apple at his head. He caught it just before it would have collided with his chin. Grinning he bit into the apple and you turned away.

You hadn’t expected Aidan to remind you of Khai. There was something fundamentally wrong with that. But in just that moment they’d been so similar that it had hurt. Both of them had that silly streak, the one that would make you laugh. But with Khai it had always been kind, innocent, and with Aidan? Well there wasn’t much about Aidan that was innocent. You took a deep breath, steadied your hands and returned to the table, a neutral expression on your face. Megumi looked at you with concerned eyes, but you ignored her.

“Since the snoring hasn’t ceased yet, I’ll assume it’s Ethan” you said, ignoring Megumi’s pointed look at Lynn who just frowned. “ Aidan do me the favour of asking Ethan to join the living. We’ve got places to go.”

“Aye, aye Sir!”, he said, saluted and then yelled at the tent. “Wake up!”

He hadn’t moved an inch.

The snoring stopped, only to be replaced by grunting and then, a dishevelled Ethan crawled out of the tent.

“I’m awake”, he slurred, his eyes still closed.

“Did you know that you snore like an entire army?”, Nami asked with wide eyes, as if it were the most astonishing thing in the world. Aidan snorted into his apple, trying to pass it off as a cough. Ethan just gave an embarrassed shrug.

“I got a cold”, he mumbled, his hands in his pockets.

You smiled to yourself. You had only ever heard one person snore that badly, and that had been Morgain, a fact that you kept to yourself, of course. You watched as everyone grabbed some food off the table, absently playing with the apple in your hand. You were not particularly hungry, but you knew that you’d need your strength.

The Altai Mountains weren’t exactly easy territory, even without encountering any monsters. If you were not mistaken then the key was hidden near Lake Kucheria, which also happened to be Zmey territory. So far, you had been lucky enough to avoid encountering one, but as it was though, you would definitely meet up with some of said monsters, and for that you’d need your strength

You took a bite of the apple and made a face. It was a little too sour for your liking.

“No, no. The name’s Emrys”, Nami murmured, then, when she noticed several eyes on her, she said a little louder. “I mean: Where’s Emrys?”

“Yeah, how long does that guy need?”, Lynn asked, her perfect eyebrow raised.

It was a good question. He had been gone quite a while

“Need for what?”, Aidan asked looking around questioningly.

“Never mind”, you said dryly, as you looked towards the place where Emrys had vanished into the woods, a frown on your face.

“No one tells me anything.”, Aidan pouted.

Ethan shrugged. “What use would it do? Tends to go straight through you.”

“Hey!” Aidan exclaimed as he punched Ethan’s shoulder.

“Ouch!”, Ethan exclaimed as he rubbed the aching limb.

“Don’t fight”, Megumi said in a small voice, her eyes worried.

“We’re not fighting Megi, just teasing”, Aidan said, smiling at her. She blushed and smiled back.

“But seriously, where is he?”, Aidan asked, and everyone looked around.

“Relax guys! I’m right here”, a voice called from the little cave where you’d stored the supplies and you felt your shoulders relax. You hadn’t even noticed how tense you’d been. “Lookin’ at the weapons you got for us Kyra. Gotta say, I’m impressed.”

This got everyone curious and they all made their way over to the cave, leaving you alone by the table. You heard them chatter away excitedly as they looked through the weapons.

You looked down at your metal bracelets, one on each wrist, a line of silver, maybe a centimetre in width, with faint engravings. Names, for those who knew the language. You flicked your wrists and the bracelets turned into deadly blades, resting comfortably in your hands. Long daggers with razor sharp blades and hilts that wrapped around your hands perfectly without restricting them to one position. They were a little longer than your forearms. You spun them absently, while you waited for the others to return.

“Those are interesting blades”, Emrys said as he sat down beside you, leaving enough distance for at least one more person, as if he were afraid to get too close. The distance was fine by you.

“Oh, how come?”, you asked, still spinning the blades and not looking at Emrys. It made you uncomfortable that he seemed to seek you out when you were alone. Down by the stream and now here. “Don’t you need to pick out your own weapons?”

“Yeah”, he chuckled, leaning back on his arms and looking up at the sky. “I took the opportunity to pick out some gadgets before I called the others over. But, as you may have noticed, I’m already armed.”

He gestured towards the two pistols resting on either side of his hips.

“But as to why your blades are interesting, well I’d say because about five minutes ago they were bracelets. Not many know how to enchant metal that way, and if I’m not mistaken that’s moon-silver, a very rare material, hard to enchant. Even among Olea’s children that is not a well-known practice. So the question is: How did a child of Shinehah get her hand on something so precious?”

Moon-silver. Khai had never told you what they were made of. You stopped spinning your blades and returned them to bracelets with a flick of your wrists.

“They were a gift.”

You got up, clearly indicating that this conversation was over, and walked past him towards the others, ignoring his smirk. That guy creeped you out.

As you came up to the cave you saw Lynn who was standing outside, inspecting one of the crossbows with a smile on her face, her own laying on the ground disregarded.

“This crossbow is amazing Kyra! Where on earth did you get this?”

You ignored the question and passed her by, entering the cave where you found Aidan, Ethan and Nami sitting on the ground, inspecting various swords and knives , while Megumi was absentmindedly playing with a bow.

“Let’s get moving!”, you said in a loud voice, making everyone jump.

“Are we doing that dark travelling thingy again?”, Megumi asked excitedly.

You nodded.

“Well isn’t that just fantastic.”, Emrys said as you all disappeared into the shadows.

The air was cold and clear at the shore of the beautiful lake, surrounded by snow covered peaks and beautiful meadows. Of course your companions wouldn’t be able to appreciate the beauty in front of them for at least another couple of minutes and so you took it all in, ignoring the moans and complaints of your fellow travellers.

“This is incredible!”

Lynn immediately made her way to the water’s edge and dipped in her hand. A couple of droplets started rising from the surface, glittering like crystals in the high-noon sun. She grinned as she made them dance over the water.

“What time is it here?” Aidan looked at you questioningly, squinting his eyes against the bright sunlight.

“Around noon I believe. We should find the cave before sunset, because after that it’s Zmey time. “

Lynn turned around, letting the droplets fall carelessly and gave you shocked look.

“There are Zmey here?! This is a tourist attraction; wouldn’t you think they’d have resettled?”

Before you could answer, Megumi butted in.

“What are Zmey?”

“Russian dragons, well actually it’s just the word for snake, but in this case: Dragons”, Ethan said with a calm voice, his eyes fixed on your face.

“I thought dragons were extinct”, Aidain muttered.

You sighed.

“Yes, yes. Dragons are extinct, as far as we know, but the Zmey are not. These mountains are full of old creatures. Now to answer your question Lynn: Yes, this is a touristy area, but it is spring. If one or two the few tourists that would come up here this time of the year disappeared, no one would bat an eye. And they definitely wouldn’t expect it to have been dragons.

Besides, they hunt at night, and it is forbidden to camp here or stay after night fall. Accidents are usually blamed on other wild animals.

Now to our quest: Aidan, do you feel anything?”

Everyone looked at Aidan expectantly, and he cringed under the sudden amount of attention. You would never have expected that to happen. He loved attention, but apparently, he loved it more when he knew why he was getting it.

“What exactly am I supposed to feel?”, he asked with a little shrug and an embarrassed smile as he looked at you for help.

You rolled your eyes.

“We’re looking for Esh’s key, you are a son of Esh… It’s supposedly somewhere around here, and I was hoping that perhaps you would have the ability to feel its presence.”

“Ok, no need to be rude.”

He closed his eyes, and you all waited in anticipation for something to happen.

Finally Aidan opened his eyes and looked at you.

“Am I looking for a warm fuzzy feeling, or more of a cold shudder?”

“Are you kidding me?”, you asked incredulous.

Lynn just rolled her eyes while Megumi started to laugh and then tried to pass it off as a cough when you glared at her.

“Don’t laugh. It encourages his behaviour.”, Nami said so seriously that you couldn’t help but smile. Just a little bit.

“Relax. It was just a question. Besides, I think I know where we need to go.”

The pathway Aidan was leading you went away from the shore and up into the forest. It didn’t take long for the pleasant path to turn into a steep hike, and soon, everyone was sweating.

“You know, at the beginning, I was worried that I’d be cold, after all there’s still snow up here, but now I feel like I’m wearing too much”, Lynn said, wiping her forehead with her hand.

“Feel free to change that”, Emrys stated with a smirk, and Megumi punched his shoulder.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”, Lynn asked with a raised eyebrow.

You looked towards Ethan to see how he was taking all this, but he seemed deep in conversation with Nami, not even paying attention to the rest of the group. It felt odd to you, to see the Lynn and Ethan together yet separate. Ethan was behaving strange, but that was to be expected after a beak-up. Still. It felt as if they both were handling it a little too well.

“Sure would”, he nodded, earning yet another punch from little Megumi.

“Don’t be a pig.” The small girl said, and then, almost as an afterthought she added, “ Besides, Lynn’s way out of your league anyways.”

She smirked and skipped ahead to fall into pace next to Aidan, leaving behind a completely surprised Emrys and a laughing Lynn. Even you couldn’t help but be amused.

“Outch!”, you commented .“You’ve just been dissed by an animated character. “

“I gotta admit. I did not see that one coming”, he chuckled. “But she’s wrong you know. I am totally in your league”, and with those words he headed after Megumi, leaving Lynn and you alone.

You watched Emrys catch up with the short girl, rubbing her head. You couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the three of them were quickly engaged in a teasing little fight, Aidan and Emrys ganging up against Megumi, making her cry out in mock protest. It looked like fun.

“She’s gotten feistier”, you said as you shook your head in wonder .As you watched the three of them, you felt almost wistful. Almost.

“Who, Megumi? Yeah she sure, has. You know she’s tougher than you think she is. And she can handle Aidan.”

You looked at her in surprise.

“That obvious huh?”

“That you’re hating his guts? Yeah it is. But why Kyra? I mean I know what he did to you back then was not cool, but it’s been three years. You’re different, and so is he.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it. Besides, I don’t hate his guts… I just, I don’t like the memories.”

After that, there was silence, in which you regretted even talking about it all. You weren’t here for girl talk. Now she probably though that you had remaining feelings for Aidan, when the memories you were referring to were not with him. It was who he reminded you of that made you push him away.

Your scar tingled and you stopped dead in your tracks. Something was wrong. You were just about to call out to your companions, when the trees to your left exploded.

You immediately dropped to the ground and covered your head, letting the dangerous shower of sharp wood rain over you, and looked up.

“Shams!”

In front of you stood a monstrosity with three heads, one of which was chewing on what had once been a large tree, the other two were staring right at you, and their eyes seemed to be screaming: Dinner!