Luke Solis: Dawning Star

CHAPTER 4: Cookie Power

Things did turn white.

And with white, yes, I was back at this shitty room

“Nicely done! You survived and it means I also survived!” The old voice belongs to none other than Mr. White.

‘That earlier, what was all of that about?! I almost lost my life if not for the heroic entrance of that lady!’

“Easy now, will you? It’s all according to what the Architect told me. But it seems to be on that course. That is interesting by the way. Just remember to believe in yourself and try your best to survive another night. Then another night. Just keep surviving, okay?” He told me as if it was an easy thing to do.

‘There are still a ton of questions I want to ask you, but I know you won’t answer them. So just tell me what was that energy earlier. Was that what you said about feeling the stars?’ I asked him to at least enlighten me about things a bit.

“It is somewhat like that, but it can still be better. Just ask your two companions, they know more”

‘Know more? I know that you know much much more than them so why not answer me now. Just at least tell me th-’ I was going to finish what I am saying but suddenly the white room started to melt, a signal that I am waking up.

“Good luck on your journey, Mr. Solis” Again with that name. I really hate that since it reminds me of my father.

For starters, I woke up on a tent. I heard voices outside, it belongs to Andras and that lady who saved us.

I tried to get up but my head is still in a daze, so I slowly and surely to not make unnecessary movements. Finally, I went outside of the tent and saw that we were at a forest.

A small fire is lit and lights up the faces of the two talking. I was scared for a moment that the smoke will give away our location if ever the Shade who escaped calls reinforcements. But it seems like they used a Dakota Hole fire to let the surrounding air carry the smoke through airflow.

“Hey, finally awake sleeping beauty” teasingly said by Andras as he fetched another firewood at the hearth.

He’s back to his human form and wore the clothes we used during PE earlier this morning. I am still in awe and a bit terrified that my friend is a kapre.

The lady that helped us also sits in front of Andras. I can now see her features, but what struck me is her thigh. Nope, not the thigh but the mark embedded on it.

On her right thigh sits a familiar symbol. It’s an arrow with line at the middle of the shaft. It’s the mark of the bowman or archer, the Sagittarius.

“You like my legs that much?” Said the lady while smirking at me. I felt really embarrassed, she did have fair legs but that was not the reason why I was looking.

“Sorry, it’s just that you have that symbol. So, you’re the archer or something?” I asked her to my defense to remove all the misunderstandings. “That reminds me Dras, you also have a mark, on your knees, right? The Capricorn?”

“Yeah, sorry about telling you it was a scar. Just you know, typical hiding secret identity stuff.” He smiled apologetically. I cannot blame him for that, if I were to have such identity, I would really hide them from other people.

I looked at the lady again, this time I look at her face. Her hair glows red because of the fire, but if I guess, it must be auburn with normal lighting. It’s shoulder length and wavy, and a cute small braid at the right side that sits behind her ears. Her face is kind of round, cute eyes that glitters along with the crackling of fire but she has a piercing gaze that may intimidate enemies when they look at it. Pointed nose and lips that just invites you but venomous on touch.

Her venomous lips curled into a smile which made me embarrassed. I may have been staring at her for too long and she might think I’m creepy.

“Keep staring and I might poke those eyes out” She warned me and I was also thankful since I may have stared longer if not for her warning. “You recognize me? You stare too much”

“Uh, no, no, sorry for that. I’m just trying to register your face. So, if we see each other again, I can thank you once more. Anyway, thank you for saving us back there.” I told her and finding a way to change the topic. “So, uh, What’s your name? And what were those things earlier”

“Call me Alex. And those guys, they are shapeshifters. You call them here at your place as Kiwig right?” Alex explained. I wonder what it’s short for, Alexa? Alexandra? Or is it just Alex? I completely forgot this was about the thing she said as kiwig.

“Yes, I know about kiwigs. My family always tell me to be careful about those guys. Most of them are bad news, we were actually lucky they have no familiars with them, those sigbins can be pretty annoying” Andras added. He sounds so knowledgeable about these things, maybe given that he’s a kapre himself, he should know things.

Mr. White also told me that these two know more, I should take this opportunity to learn more about the current situation I am in.

“You’re a kapre Andras, I mean I’m not scared or anything, I’m just surprised, you know. So, were your family also of the same kind?” I hope he won’t take it as an insult or something.

“Just me, my family is more on the line of faith healers. They know a thing or two with fending off evil creatures. But only me is this, a monster” He looked dejected. I regretted reminding him of his other form.

“Not a monster, but a bearer. You bear the mark of Capricornus. And it is funny how you adopted the name kapre, it should be caprae, Latin for goat or sea-goat. Like how your friend looks when he uses Aureo.” Alex explained, it somehow lightens the mood of Andras since he doesn’t look like a monster for Alex.

“Oreo? Like the cookie you dunk in a milk?” I sound so idiotic in this group. The two of them knows a lot while I’m in blank with this.

“Aureo, not oreo. It’s just a term used as time went by. But there’s no proper term for it. Since ancient time, people see it as something that heavens gave them as gifts. When one can utilize this power, they can improve their prowess. It just varies based on their potential. Even those kiwigs use Aureo in order to transform” Alex clarified.

“So, your arrows were anti-cookies? It turned them back to humans when they got hit” I asked this since it also struck me how amazing her weapons were.

“No. It was just specific for their kind. There are things designed to counter other things. It is in order to maintain the balance of power. The tip of my arrow is a stingray tail. It can be used to negate the transformation of the kiwigs. I also added Aureo to disintegrate them” She said as if it was a common knowledge.

“But how’d you know we were there?” Andras asked. I also wanted to ask this, since it was amazing how she found us and saved us at the right moment.

“It was on the design. I had a message, at the end of my hunt, I’ll find the vessel. While the vessel will soon meet the first bearer” This indeed sounds like how Mr. White told me, that I was going to meet the first two.

“So Andras was the first bearer, while you are the second?” I asked just to clarify things.

“Somehow, yes, your friend is the first, but I’m not the second. I’m more of like the last. It’s like you’ll meet me last, while I meet you first. You wouldn’t get it and I do not get it either. Just don’t think too much of it, because the more you try to look, the less you’ll going to see” Alex answered.

Now she sounds a lot like Mr. White. Why do they always avoid questions and present me with things that’ll just make me more confused. This is why I hate to be on blank while the other party knows a lot of stuff. It makes me feel like I’m i***t and I hate it.

“Additionally, I am the bearer of the mark of Sagittarius. It is in my instinct to hunt, and the vessel is the first thing I have to track down. As you might not know, the Sagittarius constellation points south-east. So, I followed the trail from Europe until I arrived in this archipelago and met you.” Alex added.

“It was tough at your end, I guess. Traveling that distance is no joke. So, what’s next for us?” Andras asked while preparing his blanket as if to say it’s time for a quick rest.

“I will help you find the others; complete the circle and I guess that’s it. That’s what I think how things should be. All in while hoping no obstacles would hinder us.” She said and taking the cue of Andras to call it a night.

“Umm, I just wanted to ask, where did all these camping stuff even came from? You didn’t steal them, did you?” I asked both of them since they were awake while I was out cold earlier.

“It’s all my stuff, I have known that I’ll meet you, so I prepared two sets of camping stuff. Didn’t expect to see another bearer at the same time, so only one set for you both” She said as she headed for her tent.

When she was inside the tent, we also decided to head in. I was still all good since I had a fair amount of rest earlier, so I told Andras I’ll take first watch.

When he entered the tent, I was all alone in this dark forest. I do not know where we are exactly but I guess this is the mountainous area in our city. I then settled at a log and dropped my bag by the fire.

The sky is still clear, all the stars are visible, and the night air is cold but comforting. The campfire is still burning. I am alone, but somehow, I felt less lonely with my two companions. I’ve always felt lonely all these years, but now I feel different.

I’ve wanted to believe that things might change starting now, but I know that I’m just fooling myself. I cannot change the person I am. I’ll always be the person who will look for distraction and rebel the things that life gives me. If I won’t, I will succumb to the spiral of day-to-day emptiness.

I guess, I’ll just view this travelling as another one of those distractions I do to keep myself anchored to this world. I’ve always believed that there is nothing beyond my life. That everything we do in this world would not amount to anything.

I was deep in these thoughts when I realized one thing. I was sitting here running these ideas in my head that I did not see these dark large birds.

It feels scary and unnerving to look at these birds. They’re like crows but their eyes give out more intelligence and power. Everywhere I look, there’s at least one bird on a branch that stares at our location.

They are not showing any movements or intentions to attack. I am trying to run down things of what these things are.

Are they just ordinary crows? But there are way too many of them and it’s weird that they don’t even make any sounds and movements. They’re like statues sitting up on those branches.

I checked the time on my phone and I was surprised that it was almost four in the morning.

Was I so spaced out that I didn’t realized time went by so fast? I was sitting out here wondering for five whole hours.

My guts tell me that I should wake the others up, since these birds smells like bad news. News do not naturally smell, but this time it does.

I slowly move towards Andras’ tent to alert and wake him up, when all hell breaks loose.