IceShine

VXIII

I am still shocked by what I read in the book. My eyes are wide, and the contact with everything outside my mind, has stopped. Jason, shakes me from both my shoulders, and that makes me look him in the eyes.

“What did you read?”

His voice is laced with worry. I take a deep breath and gulp, before answering him.

“Go and tell them to come up immediately it’s urgent…”

At first he looks at me confused, but as soon as it dawned on him, what I said, he brings to my hand a glass of water, and goes to bring everyone.

Before I even realize how much time passed, John is by my side holding my shoulders and bringing my head to where his neck meets his shoulder.

“What happened? You’re trembling…”

That’s when I realize, that I am really trembling… Yeah, that’s a nice way of taking control over the situation at hand, Lila…

“Okay, Lila… everyone is here… What did you find?”

Jason’s voice makes me look at him, and remember the water on my hand. I down it at once, take a deep breath and turn to look at everyone present. All of them look at me worriedly… Okay, Lila… You can do this…

“Guys… We have some good and some bad news…”

I let the silence settle for a little, while everyone takes a sit on the couches. John takes the glass from my hand, puts it on the table in front of us, and take my now free hand in his.

That gives me a little strength, to break the silence.

“The good news, is that I may have found a way to defeat the human-wizard… The bad is, that we may be late…”

“What do you mean?”

Greghory says, and looks at me worriedly…

“I found a prophecy… A prophecy made a year before the humans took the kingdom.”

I bring my head away from John’s shoulder, and bring my eyes on the book in front of me, and begin reading aloud.

“When Black Magic takes control,

the kingdom will cease to exist.

And the Selinor, will become the symbol,

of retribution to finally become the harmonist.

When it makes the fall,

the IceShine will emerge,

to save us all,

from despair, war and deterge.”

When I finish, everyone looks at me with wide eyes. John’s hand on me tightens even more, and this time, he is the one to bring his head on my shoulder, as if seeking comfort.

The silence that follows, is deafening… No one dares to break it, until Miranda gets up, and starts pacing back and forth in the living room. Then, she turns to all of us.

“So… you mean to tell me… that you are going to be the savior of us all…”

I continue looking at her, while making comforting circles on John’s hand.

“Practical-…”

Before I even finish my sentence, she interrupts me.

“And that, the place we come from, originally… has ceased to exist?”

“Ye-…”

“So that means we’re fighting a losing battle!”

She exhales and plops down on the seat she had vacated only minutes ago, her hands on her face.

“Wait, wait… Lila, does it say anything else?”

Greghory asks me and I turn to look at the book I’m holding.

“About the prophecy no… But it goes on to explain, how the flow of magic can get disrupted by anything, and I mean ANYTHING, out of the ordinary. So, the invention of Black magic, I presume, is just an anomaly in the whole system, that shouldn’t even have been invented.”

Everyone sighs, and I feel John lifting up his head. I don’t know what is going on through his mind when he breaks again the silence.

“What is that IceShine?”

I turn to look at him, giving him a deadpan look, before sighing, closing the book and putting it slowly down on the table. I lift my legs, and put them under my bum, on the sofa. John, moves according to my new sitting position and his hand slides down on my waist.

I turn to look at Jason, and he nods at me.

“I’ve only ever heard stories, from my father before… Apparently, it’s some kind of magic, that only the Selinor can activate. But, since coming to this realm, never a Selinor, has activated it. My father heard of it, when he was a child, in one story that his father told him. And, as I’ve understood, this story is told by one generation to the other.”

After I finish explaining, Jason takes it from me and continues.

“My father too, told me about the IceShine. He said that his mother talked about it a lot. I remember him saying, that she was obsessed with it. Apparently, she believed that it was the only way to defeat the Dark Warlock.”

Everyone falls silent after that. Every one on their own mind, taking the information in. John continues to hug me from my waist, and in a desperate need to feel some comfort, I put my head again on his shoulder.

“And what is this about, our realm ceasing to exist?”

Bina turns to ask me, worriedly.

“It’s what it is… When the energy of something gets disrupted, it can lead to many things. It can be anything. The disappearance is the worst that could happen. And this happening, means that the disruption was much more severe than we, or even our ancestors, could imagine.”

Bina, turns to look from me to her hands, dangling from her knees, where her forearms are resting. She looks vulnerable. Small. I can’t see her eyes, or her face that well, so I can only assume, as that is the most logical reaction, given the circumstances. Every one on this rooms feels these things. But everyone decides, either to hide it, like Greghory, or Jason, either show it. Which applies to all the others in this room.

Miranda gets up and starts again pacing up and down behind the sofa Bina and Greghory are sitting. Bina is still looking at her hands. John, keeps on holding me tighter and tighter, as if I’m ready to disappear. Jason and Greghory seem lost in thought.

And I… I just can’t quite comprehend… or rather I’m trying to swallow the big elephant in the room. I’m the only one who can save us, and no one seems to know how we can activate my powers.

Suddenly, the room starts spinning… I’m filling suffocated. I need some air. And I need it now!

I disentangle myself from John’s embrace and get up, surprising everyone.

“I need air…”

And I’m out of the room, out of the house and out of the garden within seconds. I hear John’s voice shouting at me to come back, but I ignore it. I just want to be alone for a little while.

…

After, walking aimlessly on the town for more than an hour, I find myself on a cliff. It seems, I found a trail leading there, without realizing it. It seems like one of these spots, where you have to walk at least 3 kilometers before reaching.

Sighing, I go and sit on a bench, under a tree, that is close to the cliff. I bring my knees under my chin and just sit there watching the sun go slowly down.

I can’t actually believe what I read. I knew that I was different, from the others. Not only mere humans, but the other Warlocks too. It’s what my father taught me, from when I was born. And now, this difference puts on my shoulders the lives of so many other people. People that are important to me. Even Bina, that I don’t know her that well, as well as the others at least. But she is one of my “people”. And my father taught me to respect, love and protect all of my people. That’s the duty of a Queen. That’s the duty of the Selinor. Even if sometimes, I just can’t understand her.

Ugh… f**k… This is gonna be tougher that I thought it was.

Then I hear a sound from behind me. I turn my head and there he is.

“I thought you were going to find me sooner.”

“Well… I’ve known you for your whole life… You have to give it to me... I know you enough to know how you’re thinking… even if you don’t know you’re thinking…”

He laughs, while coming closer and sitting down next to me.

“This isn’t funny, Greghory…”

“And what do you want me to do… Sit here with you, crying in misery because of my fate. No, no and No… And don’t even think I’ll let you do so.”

I sigh, and bring my legs down, to extend my legs forward. I let silence befall us. Like many times, before, Greghory knows how to read me.

I can’t forget the time, when I was so upset that I hurt my father, that I darted out of the room and up on the attic. My father was searching for me for three hours before looking for Greghory and his father. And just as he came into the house, he knew where I was. He went up to me, talked to me and only then did I calm down a little and went to see my father. He always had a way with words.

“Lila…”

“Mm…”

“I’m sorry, but you have to see something… I know it’s not something you want to think about, but we must hurry. The guy was really close to wiping us out the last time. I don’t know when he will attack again. But what I know is, that you’re our only hope if we ever want to defeat this guy.”

I nod my head, unable to draw out words from my mouth. Greghory sees this and puts an open book on my lap. There, what I see surprises me. I turn to look at him bewildered.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes… You didn’t finish reading the chapter. After the prophecy there were writing of all kind for the Selinor and what the power of IceShine consists of.”

I turn to look again at the book and read a few pages, while Greghory lets me do so, in silence. The only sound around us, is the song of birds ready to fall asleep. The sun has come down and is almost two meters away from the horizon. After I finish reading the marked pages, I turn to look at Greghory.

“So, that means…”

“Yes… IceShine, is nothing but a spell. A perfect spell, that can only be activated once per Selinor. But for that to happen, there must be some conditions met.”

“And said conditions, is that the Selinor has to be born a woman and a wielder of Ice…”

“Exactly… That’s the reason, it was only a myth among our ancestors up till now. Apparently, the last Selinor who wielded ice, was not even a woman. And, since coming to this world, not even one Selinor was born a woman. You’re the first one.”

I’m impressed, but my voice comes out as nothing but such. It’s just above a whisper.

“Wow… that’s insane.”

“I know… So, the only thing you have to do is learn by heart the words of the spell. And it’s going to come out naturally…”

I ponder on his words a bit before actually answering him.

“And what if it doesn’t…”

“It doesn’t what?”

“Come out of me naturally…”

The silence that follows is electric. I feel him turning towards me, and by the tingling I feel on my skin, it seems like he is staring daggers at me.

“Listen here, you crazy moron…”

He pulls my face, to look into his.

“If anyone here is capable of doing something like defeating some stupid asshole who is going around trying to destroy us and rid us of what we love, then it can only be you. You’re the stronger one of us, and don’t even try to deny it… You’ve won plenty of times against me, even though I make it seem like I let you win. No, you’re strong… Stronger than anyone else… Believe me, I know my sister better than anyone.”

By the end of his speech, tears have blurred my vision, and he has taken me in his arms in a gentle embrace. He chuckles a bit, before releasing me, and standing up.

“Come on, let’s take you home…”

I see the sun has gone down by now, and the twilight zone has already started. I turn to him again, nod, and get up to.

We’re walking side by side, the whole journey back home, in comfortable silence, when he decides to break it.

“Oh, and don’t forget to say thank you to John.”

“Why?”

“Because he was the one, who got all this information about the Selinor and the IceShine for you.”

I turn to look him.

“What?”

“It’s true. When you left all of us were distraught. But most of all John. He wanted to come after you, but I stopped him, because I knew you needed your space. So, when he got his s**t together, he started reading from where you left off, and so the marked the pages on the book.”

I turn to look at the book in my hand, and smile.

“I won’t forget to…”

“That’s my sister…”

I laugh, and thinking the conversation ended, I’m ready to get back on my thoughts, but Greghory stops me.

“So, are you happy with him?”

It takes a little while to understand that he is talking about John. I smile again and I feel a slight rush on my cheeks.

“Yes… I really like him…”

He smiles and pats my head.

“That’s good…”

“And the only thing that’s on hold is you and Bina…”

He stops in his tracks while I continue walking.

“What did you just say?”

I turn around looking at him with a slight smirk.

“What you heard…”

“Lila…”

“Don’t even try… You have already stopped this conversation for one time, but it has to continue. So… you like Bina.”

It’s not a question and he knows it. It’s a statement. He huffs, doesn’t even try to refuse it, and continues walking.

“So?”

“So what?”

“Your answer.”

“It was not a question…”

“So you don’t refuse it.”

“No… I like her…”

This time, I stop dead in my tracks. Okay, this was a lot easier than I thought. I continue walking and with a slight spreed I was beside him in just a few seconds.

“Okay… I’m happy for you…”

“Just that? No, be careful, or she’s too good for you, or something like you giving a headache from your whining?”

“No… I mean it… If you feel even the half of the things that I feel for John, then I’m really happy you got to feel these kinds of feelings.”

He smiles at me and then I realize that we’re at the twins home. John is out on the porch going up and down like Miranda was doing earlier. I laugh at his antics. It seems like I worried him very much.

When he sees me getting in the garden, he rushes to me, and without even thinking he takes me in his arms, in a big warm hug.

“Are you all right?”

His voice muffled from my hair, he squeezes me tighter and tighter. I smile widely, and put my arms around him.

“Now, I am.”