Shadow's Dangers (41 page)

“My fate doesn't matter to me,” he announced in a voice devoid of emotion.

I immediately blamed myself for having used such a pathetic argument because it was obvious Travis didn't care about himself. I had to use Garreth and Leighton and only them. It was the only argument that could reach him. Suddenly I remembered the thing that had me obsessed for the past few weeks. How could I have forgotten?

“The community wants to condemn Garreth for your crimes. Did you know that?”

After a moment of stupor, Travis let the irritation in him win.

“What do you mean? Explain.”

“The community that you have betrayed once think you'll do it again by leaking information about its current location or members. So if something happens to the community, Garreth will be convicted of your crimes and die in your place.”

He said nothing, but his anger was palpable. At that moment, as if by magic, the thing that could be the final blow to his resolve jumped out at me.

“If I die, Garreth will pay for you. The same fate may be reserved for Leighton.”

He looked at me without seeing me. Then, suddenly, he turned and paced back and forth, clearly in an intense reflection. This might work. No, it will work. There was no other possibility.

“The community is nothing compared to the insurgents. It's been a long time since they tried to hunt the three of us down, and now, because we ensure your protection, they know where we are. So the only way to save them from the insurgents is to give you up, so they can kill you. And before the community will learn of your death, I will give myself to them and make sure they spare my brother and sister. If you, their last hope, dies, they won’t be able to afford to lose two of their key members as the war is about to increase in intensity.”

I didn't know it was possible to pass from hope to utter despair in a matter of seconds, but I just lived it. It was over. My fate was sealed for sure, now. This time, Travis wouldn't change his mind. It felt like an eternity had passed before he spoke again.

“They might be waiting for us. It's time to hit the road,” he decreed.

The tears came to my eyes, realizing what he meant. The insurgents were waiting for me. My murderers were waiting for me. In a burst of dignity, I forced myself to swallow my tears in order to not give him the pleasure of seeing me cry or beg.

We walked in a dead silence. The time seemed to flow both too fast and too slowly. A strange feeling took over me.

“I feel them,” I heard him mutter and my blood froze in my veins.

I was terrified. My resolutions seemed to have suddenly fled and I had one wish: forget everything I promised myself not to do and start to cry, scream, ask them to spare me, try to escape...

“We're almost there,” he said facing me.

He came up and grabbed me by the arm. I angrily escaped from his grip. He gave me an annoyed look and came to take me by the arm again. I prepared to react the same way when the beast on which I had traveled so far disappeared in a cloud of colored smoke. I fell heavily to the ground. Travis didn't even try to prevent my fall despite the fact that he was holding me.

“Get up.”

I did nothing. I wasn't going to help him take me straight to the slaughterhouse.

“I told you to get up!”

When he noticed that I didn't obey, he grabbed me roughly by the neck and put me on my feet without releasing me. For a few seconds, I thought dying by strangulation was far better than what the rebels would do to me and I should let him kill me. But when I began to suffocate, my survival instinct roared back to life. I clung desperately to his hands to try to remove them from my throat.

“I...can't…brea...breathe...”

My words caused a shock in him, and he released me harshly, making me take a step back. However, he pulled himself together and grabbed my arm again.

“Let's go,” he said in a toneless voice.

Very quickly, the despair gripped me. I had to try my luck once more. I remembered a conversation with Garreth during which I mentioned strategic places where I would have to hit Travis that day in the meadow. Without any hesitation, I put a brutal knee shot between his legs. He let go of me, looking more stunned than hurt. I spun around to try to escape. My forlorn hope of flight didn't even last a handful of seconds. Travis’ hand grabbed me violently by the hair and held me tightly. I screamed and struggled like a madman. To no avail.

“Stop forcing me to hurt you.”

How did he dare? I hadn’t forced him to do anything!

“You...”

“Enough!” he exclaimed before he sighed heavily and lowered his voice while watching me carefully. “It's over for you. Get it in your little brain. Now, the choice you have is a fast or slow death. Resist and they will gladly torture you before killing you. Act like a frightened and inoffensive girl and they will kill you quickly.”

I was trembling with fear. I was unable to stop. At least I would already be in the role when the time to deal with the insurgents came.

“I take it you finally understand.”

My last condemned steps were torture. I wanted to defend myself, to call for help, but I knew the only people who could hear me were those who wanted anything, but to rescue me.

It was at the turning of several trees near each other that I saw them. My heart seemed to stop its race at that moment. It was a gathering of five or six people who seemed human at first glance. I soon realized, however, that there was nothing normal about them. A kind of thick fog up to the height of their knees kept moving around them as if it were alive and had a will of it own. The darkness seemed to focus around and behind them, giving them an intimidating presence. A terrifying sound--unless it was a figment of my imagination--seemed to come from the huge and ominous shadow behind them. The worst of it was their attitude, their wicked smiles painted on their faces. They were jubilant. I forced myself to think of Garreth and Leighton, the words of Travis echoing in my head.

“It's not in vain,” I whispered to myself to give me courage. As if saying it aloud gave more power to the words. “My sacrifice will ensure their survival.”

I noticed then the look on Travis’s face. He seemed surprised. There was a moment of hesitation, during which I saw his resolution to protect them being reduced to nothing. In that moment, I thought I saw that he was sorry for what he was doing and that he was willing to drop everything to help me stay alive. But the fierce glow in his eyes came back faster and stronger than ever. I finally understood why Garreth had saved him once. Travis was anything but a saint, and yet there was still a spark of good within him.

I thought that to protect Hayden, Garreth and Leighton, I might be able to reach such extremes. Then I turned my head sharply, forcing myself to forget those few seconds. I couldn't think like that. I couldn't find excuses for him. If he was intent to bring me to death, then he couldn't be anything but bad.

“So, this is the one whom we should all fear?” someone exclaimed with a voice so pleasant that to hear her words seemed even more frightening to me.

I saw the group split into two to let a woman dressed completely in black pass. She walked up to face me. I noticed that, like her clothes, her eyes were completely dark. But it wasn't only the iris of her eyes, it was all of the visible part of the eyeball, which was as black as ink. It was chilling. It was worse when I realized that the black color in her eyes didn't remain fixed. Its movements seemed to reveal white in different places, such as the paint on a brush when it was cleaned in a glass of clear water; the color swirled in the glass, spreading and darkening the water in places before everything became of an equal shade again.

Guessing the cause of my fear, her eyes bore into mine and pursued me in their endless darkness. I was unable to stop the visual contact. I had expected abominable creatures, people with terrifying appearances, but not this woman. This monster in front of me with her angelic face and this satiated expression. As if we just met again and she was delighted to see me. All this was scarier than if she had come to me with hateful eyes, a sadistic grin on her face and her features hardened by rage.

“Poor dear,” she said, taking my cheek and pinching it with her inordinately long nails looking like the claws of a huge bird. “A few little basic tricks and she's already terrified! I wonder what horrific stories you have heard from your protectors to be so afraid of us...”

It was only when I felt something wet fall on my hand, I realized that when she had touched my face, her nails had scratched my skin and made it bleed.

“A young and helpless girl, not even a woman yet,” she continued, still with the same frightening tones. “My instinct feels no threat from her.”

She tilted her head to examine me. I had the impression of being dissected by her eye and it was more than unpleasant.

“And
that’s the one
who is supposed to kill us all?”

She laughed and other insurgents did the same. Their reactions scared me so much that I felt cold sweat running down my neck. When the woman stopped laughing, everyone followed suit. Her attention went to Travis, standing near me.

“You’re sure this is her, son?”

At these words, I turned and stared at him, my eyes round as saucers. The woman noticed my bewilderment and her smile turned into a wry grimace.

“Oh, Esaysae...still ashamed of the blood flowing through your veins, huh?”

Travis had stiffened at his
Enimae
name
.
He said nothing to his mother, but I saw the lines of his face harden as she finished her sentence. “I asked you a question, Esaysae. I expect an answer. Is she the one?”

She grabbed Travis by the jaw and planted her eyes on his. All trace of fake kindness deserted her face and she was now as I had imagined the insurgents. Cold, fierce and merciless.

“Don't try to fool us, son. If this isn't her, the death sentence of your stupid Yerzae and Jeraarkae is signed.”

I immediately guessed she spoke of Garreth and Leighton. I forced myself to repeat a few words like a mantra:
My death is not useless. It will serve to keep alive two people I love.
I had to cling to that thought until the end.

“That's her.”

His tone wasn't familiar or loving. There was no warmth in it and it was clear that being in the presence of his mother held no appeal to him. She finally addressed him with the same smirk she had rewarded me with.

“I never thought the day would come where I’d be proud of you, Esaysae.”

Far from proving her so-called pride, her intonations showed her extreme detachment. Moreover, Travis, who was always stoic, didn't seem to affected by the compliment--if it could be considered as such.

She turned back to me and took me by the shoulders. Her inky eyes riveted to mine and it took me a moment to understand what she was doing. She probed my mind, clearly having the same gift as Leighton. If I had trembled before, it was nothing compared to now.

She released me and immediately took a step back. I detected a real change in her hard expression. Although she wasn't scared, she seemed to fear a threat. And the threat, as absurd as it might seem now, was me. Now, she didn't see only a simple girl. Which unfortunately meant a slow kill according to Travis.

“That's really her,” she decreed to her fellows.

Cries more bestial than human echoed after her announcement. Apparently, all were eager to take care of me. Just by the way they rejoiced, I guessed my end would be very painful.

“Enough!” she exclaimed, when the outpouring of joy hadn’t ceased.

Silence fell at once.

“So like that, you changed our Yerzae or should I say Garreth, as you know him by that name. Who would have thought he was salvageable and that you, my dear, that you would achieve the impossible?”

I stared at her blankly.

“Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? I see. I take it you've never heard of Nayae.”

“Of...what?” I managed to articulate, utterly lost.

“Not what, who,” she corrected and I slowly realized what she was getting at.

The way she spoke about it, it was probably the name of a woman that Garreth cared about to the point of completely changing him. I tried to force myself not to fall for her game, not to let her words get to me, but it was impossible. I wondered about the veracity of this story and why Garreth didn't talk about it.
Unfortunately, I would never have the opportunity to see Garreth again and ask him,
I said to myself, my throat suddenly tight at this dark thought.

“To believe that all women who fall in love with him are doomed to a fatal destiny. I wonder if he will be as devastated by your death as he was with hers. Probably not, because this time he won't have the blood of the woman he loves on his hands.”

Speechless, I stared at her without being able to articulate a word. Had I understood right? Had she insinuated that Garreth had killed this woman?

“Stop it!” Travis said, coming to my side, finding himself between his mother and me.

“Look at this!” the voice of a big burly man cried before coming to stand near Travis’s mother. “It's him who has brought her to us so that she could be executed, and now he tries to resume his role as a protector. It's a little too late for that, my brother.”

My eyes went between the two men. Physically, of course, there was no indication they were from the same family. However, they had the same upper air, the same expressions as their mother.

“Asayae,” Travis declared, considering his brother with an evil eye.

If Travis had always made me shudder, his brother was immeasurably more frightening. He exuded something deeply wrong, not to mention his impressive stature. A shiver ran through me when he suddenly looked at me and a brief and wicked smile played on his lips.

“Why do you want to spare her the truth? Because you don't want her to die thinking that Garreth isn't better than us? Than all the other
Enimae
aren't better than us?”

“Still don't have a brain, I see,” Travis replied, rolling his eyes, looking deeply tired. “All I want is to get it over with and fast.”