Phirias

On a Dangerous Road

If I wasn't already scared, I was terrified now. I shut my eyes and pictured Cian and Lilly and almost started crying. Even if I did make it out of this, I might not ever see them again. I heard a loud sound that sounded like a gun. My eyes shot open and I was instantly blinded by a brilliant light. When the light faded, Aaron and Ryan were on the other side of the room cowering in the corner. I pulled my daggers, ready to attack. Adrian busted through the doors and snatched me by the arm and took off running, dragging me beside him. We ended up safely inside the barrier of Phirias. "Are you stubborn or just plain stupid?" Adrian was furious. I sank back into the root of a tree. "You could have gotten killed back there!" was he crying? I think he was. "What were you thinking anyways?" He was yelling at me. One thing I really hate is being yelled at. "I took care of it, didn't I? I got out of the situation, and I now know where they are hiding out. Besides, I think Iris might be one of the sisters. She was there, I saw her. Adrian, something happened to me while I was in the bookstore." The brilliant light that came out of nowhere. What had actually happened? "You harnessed your powers. You are starting to tap into what your mother has given you." I don't even know what that means... "What has my mother given me? And what would that be exactly?" Adrian just rolled his eyes and sat down. "Your mother, the Goddess, has given you certain special abilities. Abilities that your modern-day practitioner couldn't even begin to dream of. That brilliant light? That came from you." he once again, looking annoyed. "Why did we have to run like that? I obviously had the situation under control." I was starting to feel cocky. Like I had some arcane knowledge over anyone else that knew about the legend. "They still would have taken you. They still wouldn't have given up the fight. Not to mention, you can't kill any of them." So I was given a special set of daggers that I couldn't even use? "You think too much inside of the box, so to speak. Your daggers work, but they will only slow the enemy down. Your daggers won't be fatal to them." I sighed. This was starting to seem impossible. "Shall we try to go another way?" I was starting to get restless. "No, we need to let them think we have given up." So that's it? I wondered. I won't be a sitting duck. "We can go north. We haven't tried that yet." I really wanted to get out of here. The longer I sat and waited, I kept feeling worse and worse. "No, in order to go north, we will have to travel on horseback. You aren't ready for that battle yet. Go to the inn and get some sleep. I will train with you tomorrow night." That was it, he wasn't going to budge. "I will see you tomorrow. But, just don't lock me in the room again, okay?" I looked up at him. "I won't if you promise to stay put and not run off. You are too important to everything and everyone at this point for you to do so." He was dead serious. "I won't run off. I understand now." and we left it at that. I got back to the inn and went straight up to my room. Everyone stopped in mid conversation to stare at me. "What? I can't retire for the evening?" As soon as I spoke, all of the candles in the inn went out. I ran the rest of the way to my room and shut and locked the door behind me. I took a bath and lay down for the evening. I closed my eyes and I was all of the sudden following Adrian. He was running from someone or something. I got scared for him really quickly. He turned around and stopped. I wasn't really there. I couldn't be. "GO BACK TO THE INN!" He yelled at me. "I'm not really down here. I'm sleeping at the inn. I promised that I wouldn't run off, so I didn't." I was feeling the cold night air around me, but I knew I laid down at the inn to sleep. "Let's go." He scooped me up in his arms and ran with me all the way back to the inn. He showed me the empty bed. "I was lying down right here!" I pleaded. "You did, in fact, but you used one of your gifts to follow me. A form of astral projection, if you would." That isn't actually possible. Astral projection isn't possible. "Your mother gave you many special gifts. What you did tonight was a prime example of one of them. You have to learn how to control it." I didn't know how I was supposed to even try. I didn't know the first thing about having 'gifts' like these. I know I can write. But that's not an example of a "special" gift to these people. "When you fell asleep, you were worried about me and, therefore, you thought about me. You sifted your body to me and that's when I turned back to see you." Everything i believed to this point has changed. "How can I stop this whole "sifting" thing?" I was curious. I didn't want this to happen on a regular basis. "When you lay down to sleep, clear your mind of all thoughts. Meditate before you go to sleep if you have to. Just make sure you aren't thinking of anything in particular and don't think of any place either. This can keep you out of a lot of trouble and keep you safe. If you want the opposite effect, do the exact opposite. Keep a specific place or person in mind." seems simple enough. I know now that I could quite possibly find Cian this way. I once again had hope. “ So even if they are dead, I could end up at their graves or remains?” This would be the closure I really needed. I kept dreaming of Cian. I want to know if he is really alive or not. “Not if they are dead. It only works for living/ living dead people.” Well that was kind of disappointing. “Can I take someone with me? Could it possibly work like that?” Even though I was still bummed out about this whole thing, I’m not going to lie. That would be pretty cool. “I don’t exactly know, I don’t think anyone has tried.” He sighed. It would be worth a shot. “ When does the training start?” I really wanted to get started. “Okay, first I’m going to teach you the basics of combat. Start with your feet slightly apart, stay relaxed. Don’t lock up. If you lock up, you will go down much quicker.” I did exactly as Adrian instructed, then he pushed me. “Hey, I wasn’t ready!” I scowled at him. “You have to be ready at all times.” He looked at me with a stern expression on his face. “Okay, let’s try this again.” I took a deep breath, and took stance again. This time when he tried to push me, I didn’t budge. “So, now we will practice offensive and attacks. Push me back. Hit me. I want to see what you already know.” He took his defensive stance. I took an offensive stance. I swung at him and landed a punch to the face. I landed hits all over the place. I knocked him down. “You know more than I thought you did. You got me good, and you’re fast.” That was great. Never mind the fact that I’ve never hit someone like that in my whole entire life. I couldn’t do anything but just stare at him. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.” He was looking at me like he had never seen fatigue before. “I’m fine. It’s just, I’ve never hit someone with that kind of power or speed before. To be honest, I’m kinda freaked out about it.” What bothered me the most about it was the power behind what I was doing was almost completely fueled by hate. I don’t hate Adrian. I barely know him. But, I know enough about him to know I don’t hate him. “Well, it seems that you are tapping into your energy and using that behind the force of the fight. That’s good.” He seemed impressed. “Well, do you think I’m ready to go to the north on horseback?” His face got grim. “No, there is still more for you to learn. You can never be too prepared.” I sighed. I can’t get used to having someone there to protect me all the time. That could lead to mistakes that I can’t let happen. Someone could get hurt. We just stood there for a few minutes looking at each other. i was the one to break the silence. " What do we do now then?" I was hoping that we would go and get something that would be easier to move around in. "Well, we needed to start weapons training because it would seem like you have the general idea of hand to hand combat covered." I really didn't want to do the weapons part of the training but, if it would get me closer to my goal so be it. "I need to go and get something that's more comfortable to move around in." He just looked at me with a smile, picked me up, and off we went. In the blink of an eye, we were at the front of the store. "I hope they have something other than a dress. This just doesn't really work for me." I could swear I just heard him laugh. "Can I help you?" it was Thorn. "Yeah, I need some clothes that I can easily move around in. You know, like for a fight?" I really didn't like this girl. Apparently she felt the same way. "Yeah, follow me." We followed her inside. She went into the back for what seemed like a small eternity. She came back carrying a corset, a pair of black pants, a pair of boots, and what looked like a pack of hair ties. I was a little confused. "Here, take these. They might not be the most comfortable but you will be able to move around in them just fine." Was this girl serious? I have become very used to wearing corsets during my time here. All of my dresses had them. I wasn't particularly happy but, I could deal with it. I really wanted to get a move on with all of this because I was ready to go looking for the sisters, Cian, and Lilly. I went into the dressing room and put the new clothes on. When I came out, I received stares that would make even the least modest of women blush. "Are you ready to go and get all of this 'training' over with?" I shot the question at Adrian. I received no answer. He picked me up and again, in the blink of an eye, we were back at our training sight. "You really need to stop doing that." I teased. "It is the quickest way of travel. Not to mention the most efficient." He smiled back. Was that emotion I heard in his normally monotone and gloomy voice? I smiled to myself. "We will start with the daggers. Take your stance." He shot me a look that was pure lust. I sighed and took my stance. "When you are about to fight with someone, you won't have time to think of anything else. When I give you the sign, the fight will start. I want to see how much you already know." He, out of nowhere, gave me a weird hand signal that I could only assume was the signal to start. Before I even had the chance to think of what I was doing, I was already on him tearing him to shreds with my weapons. Once i realized it, I gasped and immediately jumped back. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" To say I was freaked out by everything that had just happened would be an understatement. He stood up with a smile on his face. "You're ready," he told me. We headed over to the market to get our supplies for the trip. When we got there, Prudence was waiting for us. "Come and talk with me, child. We have a lot to discuss before your journey." She took my arm and looped it with hers and dragged me into a random room in the back of the store. "What happened on your previous trip out of Phirias?" Sometimes I wondered if she was trying to inconvenience me on purpose. I proceeded to tell her about every last little detail of our trip. "It seems like your gifts are coming to you, a few at a time." Really? As if I hadn't noticed. "I can't control them though." I wondered if this stubborn old woman had any real words of advice to throw my way. If not, I really wanted to get on with finding Cian and Lilly. They are my world. The only hope that I could hold on to. I missed them terribly. "You will learn in time to control what you have been gifted with. I think I may have something that might help you." She looked at me as if she were seeing an old friend for the first time in years. "Take this." She handed me a flask that was warm to my touch. "Drink it before you go to bed. It will help you better understand your situation." She handed me the flask, and I left without saying anything. Adrian and I walked over to the inn. "You should sleep." Adiran looked at me with an expression on his face that told me not to argue with him. I bathed, dressed, and drank the beverage in the flask that Prudence gave me and fell asleep almost instantly. I dreamt about a beautiful woman. She was all alone in a huge dark place and she was crying. I instantly felt horrible. I had never seen this woman personally, but I had a strange connection to her. Then, I saw a bright light come out of nowhere. I saw a group of women come out of that bright light. Some of them actually looked familiar. They were beautiful. The woman was the Goddess. And that group of women that appeared after the light? They were the 13 sisters. The Goddess smiled at all of them and welcomed them to her garden. It was alive with light and happiness. There was no more dark abyss for her. They sat and enjoyed everything that she showed them. In the distance, I saw 7 men. Men that were inhumanly beautiful. But, all they did was wave and smile. The goddess shot a troubled look towards the sisters, and then shook her head. The men advanced, and the goddess looked more and more worried by the second. The seven men came up to the sisters and got down on one knee. They were asking the oldest ones , (in the order they came out of the light) for a union in marriage. When they shook their heads no, everything went black. The sisters were gone, the men were gone, and the goddess was crying. She mourned over the loss of her daughters. The end of my dream was her walking alone through the darkness. I woke up to Adrian shaking me and screaming at me. "Danya! Wake up! Are you okay? What's happening?" When I opened my eyes, he was crying. I know when someone is crying. Even though he denied it. "I'm okay, I was sleeping. What's wrong with you?" I glared at him. His expression hardened. He looked mad. "You started screaming bloody murder." I looked at him and shrugged. "Don't look at me like that, if you have a problem with me sleeping, talk to Prudence. It's probably because of that weird drink she gave me." Still glaring at him, I moved out of his grip and got out of bed. I looked out the window. "Still the middle of the night. Figures." I sighed. "When do we leave? I am ready to leave now." Adrian looked at me with an angry expression on his face. "I don't think you’re ready yet." He seemed firm but, also a little distracted. "I had the dream. I saw everything. I am ready to go." I wasn't going to budge on this. "Get some more rest; we'll talk more about it tomorrow." He was obviously done with this whole conversation. I walked back over to the bed and lay back down. I fell into a dreamless sleep. When I woke up, I was alone. I got up and dressed. I was anxious to talk to someone. When I started for the door, Adrian walked in with some food and wine. "I need to go talk to Prudence." I walked right past him through the door. I practically ran to town square. "Danya, I do believe that I have a task for you and Adrian. I want you to patrol the cemetery to the north of Phirias." She said in a 'not to be messed with' way. "Why would you want us to do that?" I really didn't see a reason to patrol the cemetery. "Because I think that it would be good for you." Just as the conversation ended, Adrian walked up. "I don't think she's ready. That's a whole day trip just by horseback." Prudence snorted. "You can pick her up and carry her across town in the blink of an eye but, you need horses to get to the cemetery." She glared at him. "I can't do that without leaving her for hours to recover. That is a risk we cannot afford to take right now." Adrian seemed angry at Prudence's statement. "Okay, we will give you horses. But, you have to leave as soon as possible." She seemed smug. "So what does that mean for me?" I was curious, I wanted to know what exactly she wanted us to do in the cemetery. "You go there, patrol, and come back here to resupply." was she serious? There was no point in reporting a bunch of graves. "Well, there's no time to waste. You need to get going." Prudence looked at me with a stare that told me there was no arguing with her. "Let's go to the stable and get a horse." I grabbed him by the arm and off we went. When we approached the stable, I automatically saw the beautiful black mare that I would be taking. "Will they just let us take any one of them that we want?" Adrian looked at me with an amused expression on his face. "Of course, they will let us take any of these fine animals. We are on business." I looked at him and shook my head, amused. "Well, let's get going." I was more than ready. "Okay. We'll take this one." He pointed at the brown stallion. "Actually, I was thinking I could take that beautiful black mare and you could take that one." He gave me a rather odd look. "Okay, but you stay close to me." He told me that this trip would result in a lot of danger. But, I would endure anything to get Lilly and Cian back. "We need to go east first." He looked at me with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. "What about the cemetery? We are supposed to go there first." He was really starting to act rather odd. "We will head east first, tell no one." I didn't waste time arguing with him. I knew it would do no good. I hopped on my mare and headed for the North gate to Phirias. He followed closely behind me. It was almost like he was letting me lead him to where we were going. I really didn't know where I needed to go, so, I just let my black beauty lead me. It was nice to feel a hint of freedom. The wooded area outside of Phirias soon turned into busted concrete, abandoned buildings, condemned houses, and old marketplaces. I turned one street corner to find the bookstore that I had spent so much time in. The wreckage seemed much worse than the last time I was there. This time, the brothers were nowhere to be found. I jumped off and headed for the doors. The windows were busted, and someone had broken the solid wooden door. The counter was destroyed, as were all the beautiful ash-wood shelves. I looked around and poked through the ruins. There wasn't much there but trash. Iris was always so proud of her bookstore. Was it already like this when the 'world ended'? I didn't think so. If there was a way for her to preserve any of this, she would have. I walked behind the counter and sighed. Adrian was standing at the doorway looking alert as ever. I looked at the vault face that was built into the wall. "There used to be a beautiful painting in front of this." I shook my head. It seemed like just yesterday, me and Iris were laughing and chasing each other around the store with paintbrushes while we were remodeling. I tried the dial on the vault door. It still worked! I turned the dial and entered the code to the vault and it was what was inside that surprised me: a stack of leather-bound journals. They were blood red leather, with engravings of hieroglyphics on the front. They were the journals I ordered for Iris for her birthday one year. Every time I saw her, she had a pen to paper in these journals. I smiled at the thought. "What are those?" Adrian had walked up behind me so quietly, it made me jump a good few feet in the air. "As if you really have to ask me." I mock glared at him. He gave me no reply. "They are Iris's journals. She may have written in them after I was gone!" I got excited. "Let's take them back to Phirias. We can read them there.,"

"We? No, I will read them. I wouldn't feel right if anyone else did." I grabbed the only bag that wasn't stuffed to the brim and carefully placed them inside. "I have a few more places that I want to see." I walked out of the bookstore and jumped back on my horse. The trip to my apartment building was not at all, that I would personally consider fun, but, I wanted to go anyway. The building was nearly falling apart. I wasn't surprised about that. I was, however, surprised to see my apartment mostly intact. The building was green with black trim, the roof was black, the windows were broken, and the apartment next to mine was in shambles. I opened the door and was completely shocked. It was almost exactly how I left it. "Danya, be careful, it could be a trap." It couldn't possibly be a trap. I had decided that I was going to investigate the entire place. There could be clues. "I'm going in there. There might be information about how to find the other sisters or a clue to where I might find Cian," "Danya, wait!" But it was too late. I had run straight into a huge net. "I told you, it might be a trap." "Get me out of here." Adrian cut me loose from the net and I bolted up the stairs to what used to be my bedroom. The door was locked.