I dreamt of sunshine on my skin. Of warm rays kissing my cheeks. I dreamt of the crisp smell of pine and the heavy aroma of oaks and cedar. The blessed bird song filled my heart and I moved in time to their calls, to the sway of the wind in the trees. I felt the hum of the earth beneath my feet.
A gentle caress signaled the start of a new dance. A new face joining in the sway. The bird song fell quiet and our dance was led by our interlaced heart beats.
White silk draped across his skin, pinned in place by golden circlets that gleamed in the light. His face was blurred to me as we danced, but piercing green eyes stayed locked with mine. I saw the forest growing in his eyes, saw my blissful heaven staring back at me.
He moved closer to me, to hold me as we swayed and twirled. His soft skin brushed on mine as we embraced. Warmth had begun to envelope me. Our heartbeats slowed, the dance coming almost to a complete halt. My legs felt as if they were carrying more weight than they ever had before. Every pulse of my heart that passed weighed heavier on me. The dance was almost over, but I didn’t want it to end. Not yet.
I pulled back from his embrace, hot tears trailing down my cheek. I opened my mouth to beg him to stay, but he placed a finger to my lips before my pleas could be heard. A faint smile emerged from his blurred face as he trailed his finger from my lip down my chin. A soft hand cupped my jaw, his thumb lazily grazing my cheek. He leaned forward and held his cheek against mine.
“Don’t fret. We will meet again,” a whisper of a voice trailed.
His heat faded from my skin and the world disappeared in a fleeting mist. Darkness surrounded me and I was alone yet again. My soul cried out at the absence.
“Just take it already, or I will,” a distant voice boomed in the dark.
“No I already claimed it, back off!” Another voice called out.
I scowled at the exchange, at the formless voices that battled one another. A roaring began to fill the dark. Goosebumps spread over my skin and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rise. Foreboding sank its claws into my stomach, my heart racing with its anticipation.
“Oh quit being a little bitch,” a third voice cried.
I was awoken from my dream as my blanket was ripped from me. Startled, I opened my eyes and sat up abruptly. Surrounding me were the three mages that had met my eye last night. One held my blanket in his hands, while the other two stared angrily at him.
“We had a deal!” One with brown hair yelled, pushing the one with my blanket back.
“I was done fucking waiting for your bitch ass to make a move!” He yelled back, dropping the blanket to push back the brown haired one.
“You two had a deal! We agreed we wouldn’t plot against each other, you liars!” The third roared.
I sat in confusion as the three yelled between themselves. Slowly I reached out to take back my blanket from the brown haired one. As I did so the three turned their anger to me. The third mage, a boy with short blonde hair, yanked the blanket out of my hands and shoved me back into the wall behind me. The second mage, a girl with braided blonde hair, shoved the blonde boy and raised her hand to strike him. He dropped the blanket and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from striking him.
“It's mine now,” he bellowed.
“No it’s mine!” The brunette declared.
With a wave of his hand the brunette called forth a swarm of dust and dirt that pushed the blonde mages to the ground. The force of their landing knocking the air from their lungs. Now panting heavily from the expense of his magic, the brunette grabbed the blanket again, this time also grabbing my pillow as well. He turned to move back to his corner of the room
Panicked to lose my only bedding I moved after the brown haired mage. I grabbed his arm to pull him back and demand my things. Shifting my things to one arm he turned back to me and slammed his fist into my face. Pain exploded and I released his arm. Reaching up I cupped my face in my hands and groaned in protest to the pain. Blood poured from my nose and my eyes had begun to water from the ache.
“Don’t fucking touch me, you freak,” the brunette exclaimed as he returned to his corner.
The other two mages glowered at the third, then each other and reluctantly returned to their respective corners as well. I hovered there for a moment before sinking back to the floor disheartened.
I squeezed my eyes closed and licked the blood from my lips. The sweet sanguine bliss coated my throat, sending rumbles through my stomach. Needing to ease the ache that pulsed within me, I raised my hand to lick the blood from my fingers as well.
“Disgusting…” a voice trailed out.
Their displeased murmurs hummed faintly in my ears as I continued to lick the blood from my skin. Needing even more I sunk my fangs into my wrist and reveled at the taste as it slowly consumed me. Minutes passed and a haze began to cloud my mind. My breaths came shorter and more frenzied. The beating of my heart became erratic and it felt as if it would jump out of my chest. Stop! I screamed out to myself. I was taking too much. But it was too good to stop now. Just a little more, then I’ll stop, the part of my brain enraptured with my affliction cried. The rational part of my brain pleaded with my affliction to stop. But my affliction held true and gave into its wills.
A gentle wisp pulled my wrist from the grasp of my fangs. Opening my eyes a smoky shadow hovered next to me. I sat in shock at the apparition that held my wrist in its hands. A chill ran over me as the shadow dispersed. From behind it, back in the far corner of the room, the fourth mage stared back at me. His auburn hair bounced slightly as he nodded to me, before returning to lay on the ground to stare at the ceiling again.
A shadow mage. How peculiar. I stared at him for a moment longer and watched as his eyes darted around. The other three mages seemed unfazed by his apparition making it apparent it was not the first time he had called it into being.
Pulling my sleeve down, I covered my wounds and rubbed the blood off my chin. Glancing at the other mages, each being careful to avoid eye contact with me, I assessed the state of the room. I still had my bag of clothes, but there was no telling when they would try to make a move for them. Peering out the door, I remembered an empty room adjacent to this one. Finney had said we were free to move around. So maybe they wouldn’t mind if I took that room to myself. It was quite clear I wasn’t welcomed in this one.
Slowly getting up, my vision dimmed as the blood loss hit me. Taking a deep breath I gathered my bag and walked out of the room. The auburn haired shadow mage sat up slightly to watch my departure.
The heavy metal door creaked in protest of being opened, as I cautiously stepped outside. I took a moment to look down both ends of the hall. On one end a guard sat in an old chair watching me. The other, an empty lantern hung on an otherwise barren wall. Cracks in the stone let in a wash of morning sun.
Satisfied I was safe enough, I walked across the hall to the other cell. Opening its door I moved to the back corner and sat on the floor. Small rodents scurried into a hole in the wall at my approach. Laying down I rested my head upon my bag of clothes and stared out the door of the room, waiting for anyone's approach. Fear hung in my throat as I expected a guard to come in at any moment and beat me senseless for daring to leave my assigned room.
The creak of an oak door echoed at the far end of the hall. Hushed voices trailed back to the end of the corridor. The guard spoke to someone for a few minutes before falling silent again. The sounds of heeled boots cracked against the stone floors getting louder and louder as they approached the back of the hall. Sitting up I could see Palaemon and another approach the opposite room. Palaemon glanced around the room for a brief moment and questioned the others as to where I had gone. The other man tapped his shoulder and pointed in the direction of my new room. Stepping forward so I could see him completely, Finney moved to open the door to my room.
“Wow not even twenty four hours in and you already lost your bedding,” Finney exclaimed.
“Good hells,” Palaemon muttered, “Deal with him I’ll get the others.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. He is my problem,” Finney mocked Palaemon. Smirking at his companion, Finney moved into the room and gestured to me to get up.
“See you are making friends too,” he said, examining my bloodied and bruising nose.
“I was trying to stop them from taking my things…” I explained.
“Did you use your magic?” Finney questioned.
I shook my head no in response and Finney tsked at me.
“Should have used your magic, kid. Someone tries to steal my shit and the first thing I’m doing is unleashing a wintery hell on their ass,” Finney chuckled lightly at me and offered a faint smile. His voice was crisp but shockingly lighthearted as he spoke.
“I don’t know how to use my magic,” I confessed.
“Well, good news for you, you start training today. Bad news, I had our historian go digging in the archives last night, he could only find two records regarding blood mages. One is a diary, so I don’t know how much that is going to help you. But hey maybe it will offer some insight,” he said, running his hand through his short hair.
The light cascading through the cracks in the wall lit Finney allowing me to see him in a way that I hadn’t the night before. His hair lay in short loose curls, a small black headband kept any hair from falling into his eyes. The daylight glimmered in his curls showing the deep burgundy pigment. His eyes could hold any gaze captive, a pale gray outlined with a striking black,they stood out on his otherwise plain face.
“Is that why Palaemon is gathering us? To go train?” I questioned Finney.
“Yes, so get up. We leave now,” he said urgently as Palaemon returned to the room.
Palaemon’s face showed utter annoyance. Fearful that it was directed at me, I jumped to my feet, nudging my bag into the corner of the room. Brushing my hair from my face prepared myself to show what little bit of confidence I could muster. Surely the years of council meetings had prepared me for this in some way. Stand tall, never slouch. Walk with ease, but take long strides and never ever trip. A prince must always be graceful. Even in the face of uncertainty put on a confident face. A diffident prince would be eaten alive, a confident one would rule.
I stood as tall as my aching bones would allow and rested my eyes at his chest. I didn’t want to overstep and meet his eye, but chest level would at least show some confidence. Resting my arms behind my back, I nervously rubbed at the spot where my shackles used to lay.
“I swear this lot is going to give me an aneurysm…”Palaemon muttered, “Is he at least ready to go?”
Finney smiled at his companion and crossed his arms, “Looks awfully ready to me. I guessed you should have taken him over the other four, he has yet to give me any shit.”
Palaemon shot daggers at Finney and shook his head. A few days worth of stubble dusted Palaemon’s cheeks. The white blonde of his beard stood out sharply against the sandy color of his skin. His hair was arranged in an array of braids, all pinned at the back of his head, and two lone braids cascaded down by his ears. Three small silver hoops decorated his left ear, a blue stud was in the right. Palaemon, even though he was a foot shorter than Finney, matched his bulky and commanding presence.
“Let’s go. I still have other things to do today,” said Palaemon, his voice deep and gravelly as he spoke.
Following behind Finney and Palaemon, I exited the room. The other four mages stood in the hall, three looking irritated, the fourth staring off into space yet again. Staying as close to Finney and Palaemon as I could without intruding on their personal space, we all walked out of camp and into the woods.
The shadow mage trailed close to me, while the others held back a few more paces. They talked to themselves and complained mostly about the small trek. Sunlight had begun to peek through the trees as the sun rose higher in the sky. Morning dew dusted the forest flora, and the songbirds emerged from their slumbers. Small woodland creatures scurried away as we approached and cautious quivvin eyed us.
Quivvin were tall, thin, horse like creatures with twisting antlers and long boney snouts. Not common outside of the Forsaken isle, quivvin were considered to be wise creatures. It is said to dream of quivvin, was a sign that your ancestors were trying to tell you something.
“You doin’ okay, Pay?” Finney questioned his companion quietly. He looked back over his shoulder to make sure we weren’t listening to their conversation. Averting my gaze, I kept my eyes on the ground.
Palaemon looked back at us as well before responding, “I’m fine, Fin. I got word this morning that the last few we sent off to the colosseum didn’t make it.”
Finney sucked in his breath sharply, “All of them? We must have sent at least a dozen this time.”
“Yeah, all of them. It’s not like they were weak either. I oversaw their last trials. They did well,” he said sorrowfully.
“They didn’t just do well. They exceeded all of our expectations. The fuck did they have those poor souls going up against that it wiped all of them out?” Finney replied.
“From the report, a gods damned wraithwing,” Palaemon exclaimed completely astounded, “It wasn’t just our unit either that got wiped out. June and Sion’s units too.”
“Fuck…”
“No kidding, I don’t know what that piece of shit thinks he is doing. It’s bad enough to force us to fight your wars. Worse to make us battle for your entertainment. But at least give us a fighting chance,” Palaemon said looking at Finney. Pain glimmered in Palaemon’s eyes, “I’m tired of this Fin, I’m tired of watching them grow and sending them to their damned deaths.”
“I know, Pay…” Finney said, reaching out to rub Palaemons shoulder gently, “I am too.”
Palaemon sighed and put his hand over Finney’s. Offering a small smile to him he turned back to the trail. Finney moved a step closer to Palaemon and trailed his hand down to intertwine with his companions. Squeezing his hand gently he tried his best to provide Palaemon with what quiet comfort he could. It was clear the duo didn’t want to let their recruits know they weren’t the hardened, cold commanders that they appeared to be.
I wondered if it was my father that Palaemon had been referring to. I remember faint council meetings where the colosseum fights were talked about, but the adults always did what they could to keep the children out of those conversations. I’d always assumed the fights were an optional thing, not an enforced one.
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