"Quiet! You'll wake her!" A whisper slithered through the dark, razor thin. Not meant for my ears.
I opened my eyes wide. Full darkness. When I wanted to lift myself up, I couldn't. I know I am dreaming, that all of this is not real. Yet, I'm fully frozen in my skin. Once the eyes adapted to darkness I found myself in the same room. The same velvet armchairs, familiar green and purple sofas, tall ceiling and the golden chandelier gleaming with luminite stone. It was the same room again. The same nightmare.
The voices spoke again.
"Come on! You idiot! She'll wake up before we even get to her and then she'll use her bond on us."
They knew about my magic.
My heart clenched, but I couldn't move. I tried to run, jump, move my hand – anything, but my body was not listening.
"Open it quietly." The same voice said.
With just the side of my eye I could see two dark figures with enormous swords in their hands approaching. Panic flushed over me. I knew what was coming. I had this nightmare many times before. I screamed inside, but it felt so far that no one heard it. They were coming closer. I could feel the power surging through me but as if the body was not mine anymore, I only laid still.
They were here to kill me.
Their shadows came closer and closer. I screamed on top of my lungs, twisted and turned in my body, but it was all in vain. They both surged towards me with the metal of their swords reflecting the moonlight. Silhouettes like monsters appeared in front of me.
NO!
The tip of the sword went right through me, as the air from my lungs squeezed like a death rattle.
"Goodnight, Lyra."
JUMP!
I shook. Convulsing from the phantom impact that almost killed me. I tapped my body for any sign of trauma, and as always there was nothing there but my pounding heart and quickened breath. It was the same nightmare again. Each night it felt more and more real, making me experience the last moments of my life, right before I was wide awake again.
The clock on the wall struck loudly at six in the morning. The old wood of the room creaked under my step as I put on the long leather boots. It was the same routine for over ten years, enough for one to get sick of the four walls, bed, burned drawer and a cuckoo clock. Same size room as the other trainees, big enough to stand up and with one step reach the end of it. The camp was camouflaged with green moss rooftops and tall seapines trees, perfectly blending into the panorama of the Thams Bay.
House number sixteen with almost ten rooms, stood at the edge of the camp right before the forest, leading up to the shore of the North Sea. It was a blessing in a way. Late nights were my chance to practise my magic bonding. I would sneak out from the back door, crouching my spine with a dark hood over my head. No one could know. I couldn't have told even Daniel, let alone Roe. After the rebellion, magic bonding became something most of the people forgot and then the ones who knew how to use it were either killed, or in the best case – exiled. But that was two-hundred years ago, now magic was a myth, a heretical talk, part of the fables and tales grandparents told us before bed.
I didn't remember how the bond appeared in me for the first time. But I did remember the people that would come to our house seeking my mother's help. She would explain to me about the pulse growing and becoming a bond, before it would turn into an energy, as she was putting her hand on their wounds, but I was too small to fully comprehend exactly what she meant by that. The power in me remained so faint that by the time I was eighteen I could barely move an item, light up a fire or even heal a scratch.
Until very recent, after yet another lost one-on-one combat fight, I could feel fire lighting up inside of me. It was writhing beneath my skin, breaking me apart from the inside out. That night when the door of my room was finally closed, like a relief from boiling energy at the tips of my fingers, I released it and burned the entire chest drawer. And every day since, I felt like I had less and less control over it and the charred chest drawer reminded me of that.
Daniel was already waiting, like he always did every morning for our training session. Autumn was coming sooner than anticipated, as the leaves dancing along with the wind covered the ground with gold, red and bronze colors.
Only thirty days until I leave.
Daniel stood tapping his foot with his arms crossed, jaw tight, clearly showcasing how annoyed he was at my lateness.
"I've been waiting for more than ten minutes." He shouted the second I appeared at the bottom of the hill.
"I knew you were gonna say that." I rolled my eyes with a smirk. "Not even hello? How are you? Good to see you Lyra?" I said teasingly. Daniel was always right about everything to the core, so naturally nothing made my day more than even if I was on time, to hide behind one of the buildings waiting, just so he could give his speech.
He picked up his sword before tossing me mine.
"Did you have it again?" His gaze switched from annoyed to worried. The truth he knew…was very selective, I couldn't put him in danger. The less he knew the better, that's what I kept telling myself. Soon Daniel would leave to serve his father in Xaleon Governorate, and I would be somewhere far, maybe Isildra to start off, before moving to Erdonal. That was the plan, and something I had to hide from Daniel. Which killed me even more.
"Is it happening again?" He knew about the nightmares, but not what was causing them. "You have to see a healer for that." He stopped before turning fully to me, forcing me to talk with his piercing bronze eyes.
"Maybe it's just the stress of graduation…" I said quietly, afraid that one look and he'd see everything I was trying to hide. "Or maybe I'm going crazy, I keep seeing people I don't recognise, I keep dreaming about some creatures that are a myth like nyrraxes and nivieras." I shook my head. Daniel took one step closer to me, grabbing my shoulders gently.
"You're not crazy," He said softly. "But it's odd as neither nyrrax or niviera were seen ever in Rasfalia, not since the Rebellion for sure," He paused, thinking of the one place where these creatures were sometimes spotted. "Erdonal on the other hand…" I kept my eyes glued forward. With leaves crunching under our feet we walked closer to an old willow tree, which over the years became our spot. For any secrets, gossip or just pure company, we always kept this place to ourselves ever since the very first day I met him.
Time hadn't dulled that day when in the middle of the night at the Summer Palace of Rasfalia, King Roe and his wife Lady Mari woke me up, telling me that I needed to leave – now. The chubby maid in her late fifties, was running around the room, and putting and removing items from the suitcase in the ongoing loop. I remember sitting on the soft cushion of the bench in front of the bed while she was rushing anxiously from one end of the room to the other. Sprinting back and forward, before looking up and realising she forgot something again. Roe and Lady Mari stood in between the door with uneasy facial expressions. There was no explanation. The maid kept re-packing all the nice dresses, sparkly shoes and new toys that had to be left behind, and replacing them by basic necessities. Lady Mari stepped closer, reached for me with her soft warm hands, yet even then I could've guessed it was a goodbye. Her tears were falling down on the white marble flooring.
"You'll be alright, I promise," She smiled forcefully. "Once it's safe I'll come for you." It sounded then, like a promise, before she laid a gentle kiss on my forehead.
"Did I do something bad?" My voice shook. Lady Mari without saying another word, or even giving me the last look, rushed out of the room. Roe kneeled in front of me and took my hand, which felt so comforting, almost like the first time I saw him.
"There are bad people in the palace Lyra, and they want to hurt you," He paused, seeing how horror widened my eyes. "The killers that came to your village, they're looking for you. We need to hide you, somewhere where none of them will ever get to you." His eyes softened with assurance. "The place you're going, will prepare you best for this world we live in." Roe straightened his back before offering me one last smile. My memory was bleak to remember the trip, how long it took, or even how I put my suitcase on the wooden floor of the small room of house number sixteen.
"I need to see someone, but not a healer, maybe a seer?" An idea popped into my head."What about the seer that Gilli was talking about?"
Daniel just shook his head in disbelief. "Lyra, forget about it. It's too dangerous to leave the camp now, especially when Erdonal patrols were spotted sneaking around just a couple of days ago," He exhaled, looking up to the sky. "And how do you think some bogus prophecies of a wannabe seer would help you?"
"I don't think the seer is as you would call it a 'wannabe', and at least the way Gilli described it, it sounded very much real. He said that it helped that little girl to walk." Daniel just rolled eye to that. Then tightened his grip around the sword's hilt, before shaking his head again.
"Gilli just wants to get into your pants, Lyra, so he tells you stories you love the most,"
"Which is?"
"Monsters, witches and fairytale creatures." He was impossible. When we almost reached the field by the willow tree, Daniel crossed his arms and looked at me with worry.
I sighed. "Is Gilli the trainee, making the future heir of Xaleon, the hope of the Rasfalia, and a youngest officer at the Military Camp jealous?" I said mockingly, turning my head to the side.
"Exactly for those reasons, there's nothing to be jealous about." He winked.
"Well, I hope you'll keep that confidence for the people of Xaleon," Walking past him, I ensheath my sword from its clasp and swept it through the air with a couple of new moves I learned in the class recently. "Come on, officer Lochstar, I have new moves and I'm not afraid to use them." He smiled slowly, locking his eyes with mine for a heartbeat too long. We trained daily, ever since we were kids, but since we became adults. But suddenly each glance and brush of the skin felt like it had meaning.
In a heartbeat, Daniel swung largely at me. With each step pushing forward, while I tried dodging his sharp moves. I blocked, breath ragged. One hit, and then another before I even catch my breath. He swung, then pushed, then swung and pushed again, I was only able to raise my blade enough to block him.
"Keep up, Kahler." I barely managed to block him again, before he swung again.
"Hey," I shout. "I thought senior officers shouldn't abuse their power." I said gasping for air, backing away while poorly deflecting his swing.
"Who said I am abusing it?" He said with a grin. His foot anchored for extra support before he took a large swing from the left. I ducked. His eyes locked on mine. His sword sliced through the air and crashed onto mine, vibrations from the metal reached my hands. My arms are burned. I couldn't hold it anymore.
"You're using forbidden moves," I said, gritting my teeth.
"It's only forbidden in the classroom." He snapped back. I dropped the sword before spinning around and before he swung at me again. I staggered back. Sudden commotion of birds exploded into the sky. I sidestepped swiftly, and struck without waiting another second. He smirked. Why is he smirking…
Daniel grabbed my sword with his raw palms, yanking it hard towards himself, making me stumble and fall flat on my face, and losing the grip of the sword. Immediate sharp pain flared through my shoulder, as I spat out the sand out of my mouth.
"And…you're dead." Daniel stood over me with the tip of his sword touching the back of my neck. Show off. "Come on, Lyra. It's just the beginning."
I coughed some sand out of my mouth again, my tongue still scrapping grainy texture from my lips.
"It's a basic sword fight," His eyes twinkled with menace, extending his hand for me to grab. Rolling my eyes I got up pushing my body upward, simultaneously feeling the last month's incident, when I hit the metal pole hard during the combat training. "You have to predict and out-manoeuvre your opponent Lyra. Always be one step ahead." My face said everything I thought of this, so I took his hand and by the way he looked at me, I immediately regretted it. Before I could stand tall, he was already swinging again lunging at me from his left, as the swords whistled through the air and clashed loudly. I didn't budge, planting my feet deeply in the ground that merely Gods would be able to push past me.
"I still think…" I was pointing my sword straight at him. "That I should go and see that seer for myself,"
"To find out what exactly?" Daniel swung again. I blocked, exhaling fully all the air from my lungs.
"Maybe it will tell me more about my future, and what these visions can mean," I gritted my teeth. I knew it was silly to think that the seer would tell me anything useful, but it was still better than nothing, and I would take my chances at being caught.
Daniel lunged at me again swinging his sword from the bottom right, raising my blade. I blocked it again, before I could feel my feet skid backward carving deep grooves in the sand. Now, I swung. He deflected it fast.
"It's stupid Lyra. You won't find out anything and you'll be putting yourself and the location of the camp in danger." I surged towards him, swinging my sword swiftly. Right. Left. Right. And this time, he stumbled. I smiled.
"There's something in my bones telling me that it might be Erdonal behind these village attacks, all this dark magic…if anyone knows anything it would be seers," I paused. "And maybe, it's somehow related to the dreams I am having." Daniel's bronze eyes darkened, cutting into mine. His face with a lightly shaved beard didn't flinch. He said nothing.
Then, with sharp movement he comes at me hard. Not holding back. I tried blocking, but he was already swinging from the other side. The clang of metal trembled my bones.
I stumbled. Heart Racing.
"Or maybe, you're just looking for an excuse to leave," His words hit harder than his blow. Maybe I was. "You haven't seen Roe for years, you don't want to go to serve in Xaleon, so you're itching to do something stupid and put yourself in danger." He retorted sharply.
"Well, even if you're right, which you're not. It's my decision. So it's up to me, if I want to make a stupid decision."
Daniel switched his stance instantly, resuming his counterattack. He was striding towards me so fast, swinging left and right, that I had no other option but to keep stepping backwards, each step moving me closer to the edge of the cliff. I was cornered. Now, I could feel the edge of the cliff with the heel of my boot. I had nowhere to back away. The tip of his sword was already touching my chest, if he just nudged, I would already be free falling.
But his hand caught my wrist. He didn't pull me back, just held me enough not to fall.
"Promise me you won't go." He shouted as the strong gust of wind coming from the North Sea roared loudly. I couldn't believe it.
"I know you won't drop me." My long hair whipped around my face.
"Promise me Lyra. You won't go to see seer." My lips tightened. I wanted to tell him everything, about the magic, about why I wanted to leave, but telling him would have put him in danger. I knew that I would've rather lost him as a friend, but kept him alive. He was better off not knowing where I was and what my plan was.
"Alright!" He lifted his eyebrows. "I won't go. I promise." I lied.
With his two arms he immediately pulled me in, so close that for a split of a second our bodies touched and I could feel his hard muscles loosening my body. I couldn't hold his gaze. I was lying. To the one of the few people that cared about me deeply. Slipping from each other's touch, Daniel lifted his sword again pointing at my chest.
"And you're dead." Smiling victoriously. "Again." I was this close to wiping that arrogant smile from his face, either with a left hook or a kiss. He sheathed the swords, before he turned his back, he looked at me one last time. "You don't lose because you're a bad fighter Lyra, you lose because you fight with your emotions not your head." He said it coldly, walking off the field and disappearing behind the sand dunes.
The northern wind picked up fast, suddenly turning the morning warmth into the frost, gently reminding me of Midswick, of that autumn day when Erdonal burned my home and after I fought to survive in the wild, right before Roe saved me. Daniel was right. I wasn't thinking straight. Because every breath I took, with my heart pounding against my ribcage, every practice fight I had I was thinking about that royal Erdonal throat.
Breaking promises was becoming much of a habit. And in thirty days I would be breaking more than one.