Children of Chaos - Book 1

"You broke your promise."

"I know..."

Frozen in horror you watched as the petite body was lifted into the air, your mind trying to comprehend what had just happened. Aidan had been standing there, unable to defend himself as the Huma bird attacked. You’d been too far away to save him. There was nothing you could do, no way for you to get to him, but Megi, sweet innocent little Megi, she was closer. Almost close enough. Almost fast enough. She did what you couldn’t. She got there in time, but she was too slow, too slow for both of them. You saw her push Aidan to the ground, saw the shock on his face as he realized what was happening, the panic that seemed to come straight from inside you as you watched helplessly as the claws connected with soft flesh. Watched her big brown eyes widen in pain, pain and surprise as the claws tore through her chest and ripped her from the ground. You watched her rise into the air, her body limp, her long dark hair flowing around her face, one pigtail undone.

“Nooo!!!”

The cry was yours, Aidan's, everyone's, a collective cry of horror and pain. You watched in a stupor as Lynn shot the huma bird with her crossbow, saw Megumi’s limp body fall as the Earth, controlled by Ethan, rose to catch her and softly, gently lay her on the ground. You couldn’t move, couldn’t think, as a storm of emotions coursed through you. Megumi was dead. The one person you had wanted to protect from all of this, the one you had decided should survive. Your mind flashed back to the burning building, to Calebs limp body, your mother's screams. You felt a familiar numbness stir within you, the one that had lived there for two years now. You were in shock, completely unaware of the fact that the battle hadn’t stopped, hadn’t come to a dramatic end when Megumi died. You were a perfect target.

A huma bird was coming for you from behind and you just stood there. If it hadn’t been for Nami you would have died. A simple wave of her hand and one of the dead ants at your feet tackled you to the ground, knocking the air from your lungs and some sense back into you, as the huma bird soared over you. Both heads gave an angry shriek as it came at you again, but this time you were prepared. The hard fall had caused some of the numbness to fade and had replaced it with hot white anger. Megumi was dead. She was not supposed to die!

You shoved the dead critter away from you and got up on one knee. The sun was high in the sky, causing the surrounding boulders to cast long shadows on the ground. Your left arm was still a useless bloody mess, so you would have to do this with just one hand. The huma bird was circling above, constantly coming closer, taking you for an easy and weak target. You were anything but. You were filled, to the brim with a white hot anger, and it was all directed at the creature in the sky. Just as it let out an attack cry, going into a dive, you plunged your hand into the shadows at your feet, making it disappear up to your elbow. You felt the shadows pull, begging you to join them, as you passed through their layers. You clenched your teeth, bending them to your will. You were a child of Ereb, and as such the shadows were yours to command. The bird dropped in for the kill, its cry mixing with yours, cold and raw, and the world disappeared into darkness. The last thing you noticed, right before you passed out, was a glimpse of fire and a wave of heat rolling over you. Then all was still.

You opened your eyes and were met with a pair of lilac ones.

“Oh good. You’re done taking a nap.”

“What happened”, you asked, feeling disoriented. Your skin felt brittle as old paper and your tongue felt as if you’d licked a cat. Slowly, carefully, you sat up and looked around. The courtyard was barely recognizable. It was filled with charred rubble, the formerly white rocks blackened, but there was no sign of either the huma birds or the ants. They seemed to have vanished.

“Hmm…well. It seems you and Aidan threw a temper tantrum”, Nami said, her index finger tapping against her chin in a thoughtful manner.

You jumped up, regretting it immediately as the world around you started spinning and Nami had to grab your arm, the left one, making you gasp in pain.

“Where…?”

You couldn’t finish the question and you didn’t need to. All dreaminess left Namis eyes as she gently turned you around. The rest of the group was already there. Lynn, Ethan, and Emrys were standing, their heads bent, their shoulders slumped. You slowly made your way to them, leaning on Nami for support. You had used a power that wasn’t yours and your body was protesting at being forced to move, but that wasn’t important now. All that mattered was Megumi. Could she? Was it possible that she had survived?

As you got closer you could see the small, broken form of Megumi laying on the ground her head in Aidan’s lap and all hope died. He was gently stroking her hair, his eyes as blank as hers, his face dark with dirt and ash, two lines cutting through the ash on his face where the tears had already dried. He didn’t look up as you approached, didn’t even react, but the others slowly moved away to make room for the two of you. You looked down at the body where the claws had torn through the torso. The worst of it was hidden by dried blood; still the wounds looked massive on the tiny body, reminding you vividly of your vision in the tower. You knelt down beside her, taking her hand in yours. It was just a bit smaller than yours but softer, more fragile. Not made for fighting. You looked up at Lynn, hoping beyond reason that maybe she could do something, heal her, but she just shook her head, tears running down her face. Hope left you and you turned back to Megumi.

“I’m so sorry”, you mumbled, your eyes frustratingly dry. You wanted to cry, wanted to ease the numbness in your chest, but you the tears wouldn’t come. It was all over. Megumi was dead, and what was worse, she had died for nothing. The large tree with the key was mocking you out of the corner of your eye. You had failed.

“It’s not your fault”, Lynn gently said as she put a hand on your shoulder. You didn’t have the strength to correct her, to inform her that you had tricked Megumi, tricked them all, into coming here, only to fail.

“It’s over.”

You looked up in surprise. The voice spoke the words you were thinking, but it wasn’t yours. It was Ethan's. You looked up at him, surprised at what you found in those green eyes. There was a fire there, a cold and angry fire you’d never known existed.

“The journey is over. We failed. We got one key. Megumi died for nothing!”

He shouted the last words, making everyone jump but Aidan who seemed unaware of anything around him as he gently stroked Megi's hair. There was a deafening silence after those words, a silence resonating within you, filling you up and leaving you completely empty. You wanted to scream, cry, break something! Instead you just knelt there, your left arm hanging uselessly by your side. It was no longer bleeding, but now that the adrenaline was leaving your body the pain was returning in intervals.

You looked at the faces of your group, taking in their sad, dejected, hopeless faces until your eyes fell on Nami. She was standing there, her eyes on Megumi, biting her lip in a thoughtful and nervous manner. You felt as if you’d been struck by lightning. Of course! Lynn looked over at your shoulder and got out her water bottle.

“ Kyra let me fix that..”

“Nami!”, you said loudly, ignoring Lynn completely, the pain in your shoulder forgotten.

Nami hesitantly lifted her eyes from Megumi's body and looked at you. She knew what you were about to ask, she had thought of it herself, you could tell from the look in her eyes. The others hadn’t seen her powers yet, they’d been too busy fighting the monsters, but you, you knew. And you wanted that key. More than anything. She knew that, and as she looked at you, seeing the frantic glint in your eyes, she knew that you wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I don’t know if it will work.”

“It will. It has to!”

A small part of your realized that you sounded slightly hysteric, but you just couldn’t get yourself to care. It had to work! This was your only chance! Lynn, Ethan, and Emrys looked at the both of you in obvious confusion about your sudden excitement.

“Would you stop speaking in bloody riddles!”

Emrys glared at the both of you. You waited for Nami to explain, but when she didn’t, you jumped in.

“It’s not over! You see Nami’s power. She can help.”

“And how? How is talking to herself going to help us huh? How’s that going to bring Megumi back?”

“Emrys!” Lynn protested as Nami’s face flushed a soft pink.

“But it is!” Aidan’s head suddenly shot up, his eyes wet but alert. “Nami can do it. She can raise the dead.”

She looked up at you in panic as silence fell over the group. Then Emrys scoffed. Aidan’s grip on Megumi strengthened as a wild hope entered his eyes, now fixed on Nami.

“Is it true?”

Nami looked utterly uncomfortable as she was met with five pairs of eyes, staring at her.

“No.”, she said, her voice oddly flat.

Aidan deflated immediately, his eyes growing distant again.

“I can’t bring back the dead, not in the way you’re thinking, but I can control them.”

“What?” Lynn looked horrified.

“What do you mean by control them”, Ethan asked without any emotion, his eyes fixed on the tree behind you.

“I can… control their bodies, make them do what I want.”

That sentence was met with complete silence, which was interrupted by Emrys.

“Well, that’s not creepy. At all. Here meet my dead friend. George. He does whatever I ask him to. Fetch a stick George.”

"Emrys!"

Lynn punched him in the shoulder, making him wince and rub his arm. You were growing impatient with them. Didn’t they realize what this meant?

“Don’t you see? It’s not over! We can still get the key!”

You were met with looks of complete outrage and disgust by almost everyone but Nami.

“Let me get this right”, Emrys started, apparently the only one capable of speaking. “You want weirdo over here, who just ranked about a gazillion on the creep scale, to control the body of Megumi, the sweet little girl with pigtails, your friend, like a puppet just so you can get a stupid key?”

“We can’t do that Kyra! It’s wrong!” Lynn said

“Why?”, you asked, your voice hard and cold.

“Because it is!” she replied. “Are you really that cold?”

“It’s not about being cold!” You were beginning to lose your temper. Didn’t they realize how important this was?

“Megumi knew what she was getting into. She knew the risks. She knew that death was a possibility. But she was willing. You know why? Because she believed that this could make a difference. That his would be worth something! If we don’t do this then she died for nothing!”

You spat the last couple of words, ignoring the little voice inside your head telling you that you were a disgusting monster. Megumi’s dream of creating a better place had been dead from the beginning.

Aidan, who had been almost catatonic for the last five minutes, suddenly looked up, his eyes fierce.

“No. I won’t let you.”

“I don’t think that’s your decision.”

Everyone turned towards Ethan and you were not the only one who was shocked to hear those words out of his mouth. You had barely been able to look at him, the only sort of big brother you’d ever known in your life because you had known that he must be disgusted with you for suggesting such a thing. Now here he was, defending your idea.

“Kyra’s right. Megumi believed in something. She wouldn’t want us to give up. I say we do it.”

His green eyes met yours and you nodded, relief washing over you. At least he wouldn’t hate you.

“Nami, will you do it?” If not you’d make her. Somehow. She nodded.

“No!”, Aidan screamed, clutching on to Megumi’s body. Lynn and Emrys both looked incredibly unhappy, disgusted even, but they no longer protested. You took it as a sign that they wouldn’t stop you.

You walked over to Aidan.

“Let her go, Aidan. “

“No! You can’t do this! It’s wrong!”

Ethan joined you on the other side of Aidan, putting one of his big hands on his shoulders.

“Let go, Aidan.”

When Aidan didn’t react, Ethan bent down and carefully unclasped Adian’s hands from Megumi's body, lifting her out of his arms. Aidan let it happen, but his eyes, full of anger and hurt, were looking directly at you, making one thing clear. He would not forgive you for this. The message in his eyes was as clear as if he had spoken the words out loud. You held his gaze for a moment and looked away, suddenly incapable of bearing it. You turned your gaze on Ethan. Megumi looked tiny in his broad arms, like the child she still was, as he gently placed her on the ground. You still felt bad for doing this, dirty somehow, but you couldn’t be weak now, you had no choice.

Nami gave everyone one last look, checking to make sure that no one was going to interrupt her, then she fixed her eyes on the body in front of her. You had seen her use her powers before, seen her eyes go black, seen the strange distant delighted expression on her face, and still you were not prepared for it. Nami’s eyes, now completely black were fixated on Megumi’s body as if studying it. Then she raised her left hand and Megumi’s head jerked up, suddenly and mechanically as if pulled by a string. Aidan let out a sound, somewhere between a howl and a whimper, cutting you to the core. It sounded broken. Lynn gasped and took a step back, her expression somewhere in between morbid fascination and disgust. Emrys did not move, but he grew just a little bit paler, his eyes wide with fear and repulsion. Ethan and you were the only ones who didn’t react, at least not visibly. You didn’t know about him, outward he appeared completely unfazed, but you felt that same chill you had felt before run down your back, the one that reminded you that the layers between the worlds were not as thick as they used to be.

One by one Megumi’s small fragile limbs started moving. Her arms, her legs, and slowly, still looking like a puppet on a string, she rose from the ground. You looked at her empty face and were glad that someone had taken the time to close her eyes. You didn’t think you would be able to stand the sight of them, dead and empty. Just as you had finished that thought they snapped open, looking directly at you and what you saw froze you to the core. It was that same cold blackness that you found in Nami’s eyes. Her head was slightly tilted, her ponytails hanging around her face, one undone, and you were reminded of a broken doll. Then Nami moved her fingers and Megumi started moving towards the tree, taking fast mechanic steps. It crossed your mind that this would now be the last memory of Megumi that would be engraved in everyone’s mind and your throat felt tight. You made a conscious decision there and then that you would not let this be your last memory. You would remember her gentle and smiling, the way she had been right before the battle. That thought sent a wave of warmth through you, and a little smile appeared on your face as you watched Megumi’s corpse dance over fallen rocks and rubble on her way towards the burning tree.