Shaxoa's Gift (14 page)

“Why would he want to sever the Twin Soul
bond if not to hurt someone?” Samantha accused. “The bond is the
purest form of joy. To destroy that would be to destroy a piece of
their soul. No one would ask me to do such a thing if they weren’t
trying to hurt another person.”

“Please, Sam, just listen to his story and
you’ll understand,” Kaya said. Her entire body was begging her
sister to trust her.

Samantha struggled with the desire to turn me
away. Her expression reflected how torn she was, but the longer she
stared at her sister, the more she faltered. Kaya was right. They
trusted each other completely. “Okay,” she finally said, “I’ll
listen.”

For the second time that day I related
everything that had happened in the past three days. With Kaya, she
had been so eager to hear my story that I was able to give the
details quickly and explain whatever I had skimmed over later. With
Samantha, it wouldn’t be so easy.

For Samantha I left out no details, not even
Quaile’s dreams. I poured my soul into the story, reliving every
moment of anguish and pain, as well as every tender memory of
Claire I could find reason to include. At some point I closed my
eyes, bringing the searing events as close as I could bear, holding
each emotion at the surface so they filled the entire room.

When my eyes opened again, long shadows were
beginning to creep across the floor. The red tinged landscape
colored the sunlight that fell on the women’s faces. Sparkling red
tears cascaded down both of their cheeks. I was startled to find
that my own face was wet as well.

Kaya brushed at her face with her lithe
weaver’s fingers, but Samantha made no move to wipe away her tears.
Instead, she studied me intently. I met her eyes unwavering. She
was my only hope. She had to believe me.

“Alright,” Samantha said with a shaky breath,
“I’ll help you. I do know how to sever the Twin Soul bond.”

Kaya sniffed away the last of her tears and
grinned. I released the breath I had been holding and sunk in on
myself. Hope. Finally, there was hope.

“But I can’t do it alone. I’ll need your
help, Uriah,” Samantha said.

“You have it,” I said quickly. “Whatever you
need, I’ll do it.”

“I have most of the herbs needed for the
mixture. A few I’ll probably have to go out and gather, but that
won’t take long,” Samantha said. “What I’ll need you to do is
actually prepare the potion.”

“I can do that,” I said. I was nodding my
head eagerly.

“I won’t lie to you, Uriah. More will be
required of you than simply stirring the herbs. Just like the
antidote you gave Claire to save her from Zarafen’s concoction,
this requires a blood sacrifice,” she said.

As long as I had a few drops left to keep me
alive, I would gladly give everything else to Claire. I would even
give up everything, but that might make the potion useless to
Claire if I wasn’t there to give it to her. “I have no problem with
that,” I said.

“There is more, but not from you,” she said.
“The person who drinks this will most likely retain the memory of
the bond for the rest of their life, but as far as I can
understand, they’ll never feel it again. It may prove to be a
torture they can’t bear, or it may be the relief they have been
searching for. There’s no way to know. If Claire truly feels as you
said, I believe she’ll see the break as a release, but it’s still a
terrible risk. I know how to sever the bond, but it has never been
used before. Everything I have learned about it said everyone was
always too afraid of what might happen to risk using it. I know the
potion will break the bond, but I don’t actually know what will
happen after that. I can only tell you what has been guessed at and
what I believe.”

I understood her hesitation and fear, but
this was the only chance we had left. I agreed with her assessment
of Claire, which gave me hope. Claire had been desperate to undo
what had been done to her. The idea that the memory of the bond
would linger forever was something to consider, but I knew she
would be able to handle it if we were back together. She was so
much stronger than she realized. “What about the person who doesn’t
drink it? What about Daniel?”

“Again, I’m not sure. He may remember the
events that brought him into Claire's life, but I supposed he’ll
forget the bond entirely after Claire drinks it,” Samantha said.
Biting the side of her lip she considered something more. “I’m not
sure why this potion was created. In some ways I can see it being
made solely to cause misery and pain, but even before hearing your
story, I wondered if there had been any other reasons. I wondered
if it was made for someone like you, Uriah. That idea gives me hope
that it will work the way you want it to. ”

Kaya moved to the edge of her seat. Her
curiosity had been peaked as well. “You think it may have been
created to help someone?” she asked her sister.

“I don’t know. The Twin Soul bond has always
been a huge question with me. I understand why you would want to
find your Twin Soul, but like Claire, I also understand why you
wouldn’t. What if you had already found someone you loved?”
Samantha asked. “It makes me wonder if there have been others
before Uriah who didn’t want the bond and wanted a way to free
themselves. The Twin Soul bond, however glorious it is supposed to
be, always seemed like it could also be an attack on freewill to
me.”

Kaya nodded. Turning to me, she said, “Sam
has come across many spells and potions that she believes were once
used solely for good reasons, but have been twisted into darker
uses.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the odd pair.
“You are certainly an interesting Shaxoa, Samantha.”

“I never chose that title,” Samantha said.
Her frown was meaningful. “The people have named me that, but all I
ever meant to do was study the dark lore to understand it better. I
have never intended to use it. Even now, even when I truly believe
you need my help, I feel sick about actually putting my knowledge
into practice.”

I nodded, understanding how hard going
against her convictions was for her.

“I have one other concern, Uriah,” Samantha
said. “If Quaile is right, you will also meet your Twin Soul. I
can’t just make a second potion for you. Claire would have to come
here and do exactly what you will be doing tomorrow. Are you sure
that you’ll want that?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here now,
Samantha,” I said. Absolute certainty rang clearly in my voice. In
my heart I still believed that I would be able to resist the bond
of my own Twin Soul for Claire’s love.

“I just wanted to be sure,” Samantha
said.

“Thank you for helping me, Samantha. This was
my last hope, mine and Claire’s,” I said.

“Well, it’s not over yet,” Samantha said. “It
will take time to prepare what you need. I’ll gather everything I
can tonight. Hopefully we can begin the preparations first thing
tomorrow morning.”

Kaya stood, and I followed her example.
Samantha stood as well, taking my hands in hers. She looked at me
as a mother worried about her child, even though she was at the
most five years older than me. I was a head taller than her, but
her gentle concern made me think of how many times my mom had held
the same expression on her face.

“You need some rest, Uriah,” Samantha said.
“Go home with Kaya and call Claire. There’s nothing you can do
right now. I’ll call as soon as I’m ready to begin preparing the
potion.”

“Thank you,” I said again.

Releasing me, Samantha turned to hug her
sister.

“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Kaya said.

Samantha sighed and hugged her arms around
her body. “I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”

13: Expectations

Having never worked with his allies long
enough to care about what they called themselves, the Matwau had
never asked for their names. Finding it difficult to call on a
specific creature without some kind of title, he gave them numbers
instead. The thought had occurred to him to simply ask their names,
surely they had chosen something to call themselves, but that would
have implied weakness and need.

Assigning them numbers had obviously
irritated some of the gathered creatures, but they accepted the
titles without any verbal complaints. Some of the weaker ones had
even seemed relieved to be addressed in such an impersonal manner.
Even when the numbering system was assigned by their obvious
strength, the weaker ones seemed pleased. Perhaps they were hoping
that if he viewed them as the weakest, he would require the least
of them. The Matwau sneered at their assumption. They should have
already learned that if one of them failed, they would all reap the
punishment, strong and weak alike.

The creature he had dubbed “One” approached
him. Right on time. “Report,” the Matwau demanded.

“We are making progress. With nothing to go
on but a face, I’m not sure what you expect of us, but we are…”

“I expect you to follow orders. I expect you
to find my prey. I expect you to do it without complaining and
without questions. Do you understand?” the Matwau asked. One nodded
curtly. “Then finish your report.”

One’s stance was solid steel. “Six of the
twelve were sent out to search New Mexico as you requested. They
have almost concluded their search with no sign of the quarry.”

That was very interesting to the Matwau. New
Mexico had been the obvious choice. “What of the second team?”

“The second team of five is two thirds of the
way through their search. Given that they were given a lesser
number to execute their search, it is only to be expected that they
will take longer,” One was quick to add. “They have yet to find any
sign of the quarry, either.”

The Matwau nodded. The fact that his two top
choices were proving fruitless was somewhat disturbing to him. As
far as the time it was taking them to search, he had expected as
much. This search would not be easy. There was so much land to
cover. He would not admit to One that the eleven sent out to search
had actually exceeded his expectations when it came to their
timeliness. He did not believe in positive reinforcement.

“The progress is much too slow,” the Matwau
said. He glared at the ground, making his disappointment obvious as
he paced back and forth. “Move the six on to their next target and
join the five to speed up their search. Report back to me when you
have finished your assignment.”

One nodded and turned away quickly, trotting
away at a harried pace.

The Matwau watched him go. Despite the empty
results, things were progressing according to his plan. A familiar
pain shot up his spine, a reminder of how important having a plan
was. This time his plan was impeccable, and he would follow it to
the last detail. Confidence swirled around him. He would find his
quarry very soon. And when he did, the real excitement would
begin.

14: Slipping Out

When Uriah’s home came into view, the tension
gripping me melted away. Sophia didn’t ask what had happened
between me and my dad. I was sure she heard most of the argument,
but I was grateful for her silence. Much of what my dad said was
beyond me to understand, but I had put aside my anger at him for
now. He made his own bad choices, and now he would have to live
with them.

As for me, I was still in the middle of my
own private battle. I wasn’t going to take on his as well. Not
having to talk about my dad didn’t mean the ride was peaceful. As
soon as my anger and confusion cooled, Daniel swept back into my
mind. Instantly, I dredged up every angry thought I could think of
to push away the memory of his face and touch.

Sophia glanced at me worriedly as she drove,
no doubt thinking my anger was still directed at my dad. The
hardest part was that I was fighting this by myself, just like
Quaile said I should. Even Uriah’s mom, who was worried about her
son, and hoping almost as much as I was that whatever he was doing
would be successful and bring him home quickly, couldn’t really
understand my pain.

Pulling into the driveway, Sophia was out of
the car quickly. I sat alone for a few moments. I wondered if
Sophia was rushing in to warn Lina not to mention the visit to my
parent’s house. I laughed. Everyone was trying so hard not to
mention what was happening, but what I really needed was to talk
about it, to have someone to cry with me.

My strong shoulders to cry on and warm arms
to hold me were gone with Uriah. “Stop it,” I said to myself. “You
can’t always rely on him.” I felt like a puddle of Jell-O sitting
there in the car, but I knew there was strength somewhere inside of
me. I just had to find it. Unbuckling my seat belt, I pushed the
door open and went inside the house.

As I expected, nobody made any mention of my
dad. Lina asked about my mom and if I had gotten everything I
needed, but pretended the visit had been nothing out of the
ordinary. Their cautious topics were completely unnecessary, and to
be honest, pretty irritating. I decided to put an end to the
sidestepping.

“I talked to my dad,” I said loud enough for
Sophia to hear me in the kitchen. With how loudly I had been
yelling at my dad, I knew Sophia and my mom had overheard
everything I’d said to him, but the point was to let her know I
wasn’t still crying about it.

“Oh,” Lina said, “did you?” Watching me
cautiously, she simply waited for my response.

“Yes, we had a very interesting conversation.
He told me that he tried to kill me because he loved me and thought
he was doing what was best for me,” I said. I waited to see what
Lina had to say about that. I wanted someone besides me to be
angry, no, to be honest. Lina’s face twitched with what I thought
was anger, but she remained silent. I would have to push her
harder.