The Legacy

The sun had already set in its place high in the sky and Kain still hadn’t scratched the surface of her training yet. Each person took two hours to try and train her and in between they took thirty-minute breaks, but even those thirty minutes began to feel like ten seconds instead. They were all growing tired, and it wasn’t just because of the hard work. Wielding magic wasn’t so easy, and it took a lot out of a person. Natalia had Kain grow a fruit tree. It was both to train Kain and create a means of a snack for them. Stealing Natalia’s idea, Wison had Kain extract water from several leaves for them to have a cool fresh drink. It did cause the leaves to wilt a little but not for very long as the tree pushed the water back into the leaves.

Ciara and Alocius taught her several fighting and defending techniques fae folk use differently and Alocius taught her how to use the affinity of water by frosting the tree she created before freezing it. This kept the tree alive even when it was frozen. The iridescent-winged fae, Kain later learned was Gila, taught Kain how to do what she had seen Breezes do before as she tried to defend herself. Gila also taught Kain how to use the affinity of air to create breezes, then winds before turning the winds into mini whirlwinds. A tanned boy called Dohan taught Kain how to warm her body and use that warmth to conjure a flame from the palm of her hand. He also taught her how to make the flame warmer than it was before. Dohan showed her how to focus the heat on her palms and use her hands to melt something without flames. This was easy since she had already been able to melt her restraints back in the Grey room.

By the end of the day everyone looked the way Kain felt. The training went on for several days and each day more and more fae came to join the circle. Each taking a turn to teach Kain something new. Some fae thought Kain tricks the other fae couldn’t do. They trained Kain in many other different ways as well. Like for instance teaching her how to make elixirs and potions using different ingredients and how to create something from things nature provides like a sturdy shield or a quick but effective bow. The more Kain learned the more she realized that there was a lot more she still needed to learn. She knew that there were things the fae could never teach her. Things only a Bleeder could do. At day Kain learned from the fae folk and at night while everyone else sat around the bon fire, Kain learned from the deities. Each night a different deity visited her and showed her how to use their powers. Kain could feel herself growing stronger each day, the strain on her magic became easier to bare and it became less exhausting to use. The bigger spells still exhausted her, but it also exhausted her powers making them easier to control as well as keeping them in check. She hadn’t had a magical outbreak for a long while now. Still, that didn’t keep her from being careful just in case.

Wison found Kain on the riverbank, watching her play with the water, wielding it this way and that way. It’s been a long couple of days, training and Kain hasn’t had a minute to herself for a long while. She decided to head to the riverbank for a peaceful cool down. She wanted to take a breather and relax while she still could. She knew that once she got to Ovanhail, her days of relaxation would be over. “You’re getting better at that,” Wison commented proudly. She turned towards him, letting the water fall back to the river with a splash. He laughed, looking at her startled face then handed her a wooden cup, with clear liquid inside of it. She took it hesitantly then took a deep drink from the cup. She scrunched up her face and pinched her eyes shut as she swallowed the fluids down with great difficulty. The strong taste had caught her of guard, “what is this?” she asked hoarsely, feeling the remnants of the fluid burning her throat. Wison laughed, “moonshine with orange extract and grapefruit essence.” Kain smacked her lips together several times before taking a smaller, slower sip this time. Wison laughed again, lifting his own cup, and drinking it much easier than she did.

“So, what was the drink for?” Kain asked, setting the cup on the stone beside her and pulling her knees up, folding them against her chest. Wison joined her, “like I said, you’re getting better. The drink was a celebration of accomplishments. Besides you deserved it,” Wison said cheerily as he laid back on his palms which was stretched out behind him.

Kain smiled at him, her chin resting on her shoulder, “thank you Wison. For everything,” she said after a while, admiring how the sun shimmered on his blue skin. He cocked his head to the side, studying her then straightened up. He reached out his hand, stroking the side of her cheek, tugging a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “you are welcome,” he whispered gently.

Kain felt butterflies rise with each nerve touched by his fingers, “are you going to kiss me again?” she asked playfully. She meant it as a sarcastic joke but something inside of her hoped he would answer. The first time Wison had kissed her, she had felt guilty. Of course, the kiss was only meant to calm her down, but it still felt like she was cheating on Gavin. Even after death, Gavin held a tender spot in her heart. Yet he was dead. She knew that he would want her to move on instead of lingering over his death. He was that kind of person. But were a few months enough time to start moving on or was she looking for a rebound? Sitting here with Wison, she knew it was time. It didn’t help that she still felt wrong about it. Mustering up a smile, Kain decided to ignore the feeling. At least just for this moment. Wison smiled wickedly, “only if you want me to,” he challenged.

Kain turned her head, blushing. A deep part of her did want him to kiss her. The other part of her told her that she was too scared that he would. Then her reasonable part didn’t know to which part she should listen to. Wison took her silence for a chance. He took her chin into his fingers and turned her head towards him, leaning in slowly. Kain felt her lip’s part unintentionally as everything in her body clenched together and her breath went still. She closed her eyes, waiting for the moment his lips touched hers. It never did. Opening her eyes again, Kain found two shimmering sapphires staring back at her, amusement clear as day inside of them.

His lips curved slightly, “I really want to,” he whispered, shaking his head, “but I don’t think now is the right time,” he said, pulling away from Kain again. Kain felt her heart grow heavy and the breath she held, left her lips painfully. She felt disappointed, but she understood what he meant. Maybe not for the same reasons as he had meant it. Thinking about it, Kain knew that she wasn’t ready to move on from Gavin yet. Plus, they were on the verge to start a war which meant the time for showing deep affections was definitely not now.

After a while they decided to get up and go back to the camp. Everybody else was still celebrating even though the day had grown late. “We were wondering where you two were,” Alocius said loosely, his smile wide and his face glowing. “How’s the moonshine?” Wison asked cockily as he smirked at Alocius. “Every sip only gets better,” Alocius commented, oblivious to Wison’s mockery.

His words began to slur but to Kain’s surprise he still managed to speak clearly. “You should start cutting him off,” Wison said to the moonshine dealer, “we have a big day tomorrow.” Wison turned towards the rest of the fae folk, “in fact, I think it best if you cut everyone off. We’ll need our wits and bright minds if we’re going to pull tomorrow off,” Wison added with a tone of authority. The moonshine dealer closed his chest full of bottles of moonshine, “you heard the man! Time to sober up!” the moonshine dealer shouted with a few claps of his hands which caused the music to stop instantly. There were a few awes, but they didn’t argue. Getting their folk to safety meant a lot more to them than drinking through the day.

Kain retreated to her tent as the last of the drunken parties left the bonfire.

She found Ciara standing in front of her tent, her arms folded and her shoulders tense. She was looking around the dark woods, “is something wrong?” Kain asked, suddenly alert. Ciara stared at Kain, shaking her head. Kain relaxed again, “I didn’t see you at the bonfire,” Kain noted as she neared Ciara. “I’m not one for parties and celebrations,” Ciara said stiffly.

Kain breathed in the fresh night air, “nervous about tomorrow?” she asked gently, she herself felt nervous. Ciara’s guarded expression wasn’t helping much with the nerves. Kain watched Ciara’s eyes darting around, they were all over the place. Clearly something was bothering her. Kain tried to make conversation to get Ciara talking but before she could get a word out, Ciara interrupted her, “yes, I am nervous about tomorrow but,” Ciara looked at Kain intently, her eyes unreadable. “I don’t know, I just have this bad feeling,” Ciara admitted hesitantly. Kain studied the lioness closely, “everything will work out, you’ll see,” Kain assured gently, placing her hand on Ciara’s shoulder, and squeezing it.

“I hope so,” Ciara murmured unconvinced, “we still don’t know who the mole is though,” She added. Ciara’s whole body was stiff with tension and Kain could see it through the darkness. Kain closed her eyes. It was true, they still didn’t know who the mole is. Their investigation had fallen to dead ends. Something told Kain that Ciara had her suspicions on who she thought it was, but she wasn’t sharing with her. With a sigh Kain said, “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Both knew that tomorrow was already too late, but they were running out of options and there was nothing else they could do. Kain watched Ciara for a moment longer. She was searching the lioness’s face for anything that would give away her inner thoughts, but the lioness was trained to hide her feelings. “You should get some sleep,” Kain instructed but Ciara shook her head. “I won’t be able to. I think I’d rather stay up with tonight’s sentries,” she said intently and nodded her head once towards Kain. Kain smiled gently, squeezing Ciara’s shoulder once more before retreating into her tent.

Kain laid on her straw bed, looking up towards the tents ceiling. The day’s events ran through Kain’s mind along with everything that could go wrong tomorrow. With a heavy sigh, Kain flitted her eyes towards the tent’s flap and watched Ciara’s silhouette, barely visible in the darkness. Kain wondered what could have unsettled her so much. She had seemed just fine all day. Now, it was like she became the weak child instead of the brave lioness she was. The brave lioness, getting cold feet perhaps? Or did she know something Kain didn’t? It must be something unsettling. Something that should be making Kain worried out of her mind. It could be anything and yet Kain couldn’t find herself to worry about it. All Kain could worry about is the things that could go wrong. Then again, most of the things that could go wrong will probably go wrong because of the mole they still hadn’t sniffed out. That’s too many wrongs in Kain’s mind and not enough rights. Yes, Kain was nervous about tomorrow. No matter how hard she tried, she’s not able to shake the feeling that tomorrow might either be too soon or too late!

With another deep breath, Kain turned to her side. Turning her back towards the tent’s flap. She turned her back on the armour laid out on a chair in the corner of the tent and she turned her back on the things that is to come tomorrow that haunts her tonight. With great difficulty, Kain managed to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. A dreamless sleep.