A Twisted Path ebook Read online

  Chapter 5

  Summer 103LR

  In a moment life can shift from bright to bleak, in one single moment...

  “Don’t get too close to the water, honey.” Daemon wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

  “I won’t.” Areen looked down into the shallow pond watching the glowing white Kornikye flowers dance and sway with the gentle current, creating diamond-like sparkles on the surface of the water. In the daylight when the Kornikye are lifted out of the water, their songs have incredible restorative powers for Sphere’s, but picked at night, their songs are poison. It touched her that Daemon cared enough about her to want her to see the beauty of the Kornikye but not be hurt by them.

  She laid her head back against Daemon’s chest, her own breathing in time with the rise and fall of his. He led them farther onto the bank away from the water’s edge, but still close enough that the sparkles scattered across their skin. He sat and motioned for her to join him. He propped himself up with one arm and put his other arm back around her waist, pulling her against him. It was too close to be appropriate, but here surrounded by starlight and the glittering of the Kornikye, she couldn’t find the desire to move away.

  “I’ve always been fascinated by Kornikye.”

  “Why?” Areen whispered, afraid her voice might disturb the perfect world around them, a world that felt like they were the only two people in existence.

  Daemon sighed. “Their complexity. They are supposed creatures of Light, yet if they are picked at night, they are poisonous, which says they can’t be all good, but still your kind use them. That must mean the balance of light and dark within them isn’t such a bad thing.”

  A flutter whispered at the back of Areen’s thoughts, the place she always attributed to how her people sensed a person’s character, whether they have integrity, or cannot be trusted, and her Sphere gift awakened. “That’s dangerous thinking.”

  He tickled her cheek with a strand of her hair. “Oh, don’t go using your Sphere gifts on me. I have integrity. I know my place. It only makes me curious. Haven’t you ever wondered if there are things we are taught that are just old views passed down? That maybe since the world is changing, our culture should change with it?”

  Areen sat up a little straighter so their bodies were only barely touching. It was hard to focus when he held her this way. “Not really. I mean, I do get tired of the strictness of my kind, but I have felt the darkness you elude to. The Dark, my Elders call it. It cannot be good. If by changing you mean accepting this darkness, I cannot agree.”

  Daemon nodded absently and went back to playing with her hair. “Well, I trust a Sphere’s judgement over mine.”

  Areen settled against his chest once more, but in a second he was jumping to his feet, pulling her with him.

  “What is it?”

  Daemon whispered something to the tree nearest them and its branches swayed left then right. “Darkened are attacking your village. You stay here. I’ve got to go help.”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. This could not be happening. “No. I’m coming.”

  His eyes held hers for a single moment before he grabbed her hand and they took off at a sprint into the forest, Daemon using his Honitahai, his nature speak, to clear a path back to the village.

  Chapter 6

  Summer 103LR

  The darkest night can only be overcome by the brightest day, but the sun refuses to share its light...

  “Hold this to your cheek.” Areen handed Daemon a rag soaked in Lucid and he pressed it to the gash on his cheek. She placed her hand over his and focused.

  “Lonadras.” Shimmering warmth coursed from her heart down her arm, into her fingers, passed through Daemon’s hand, the rag, and into his flesh. She felt the Balance shift around his injury, the chaotic flow of energy slowly returning to its proper rhythm. She pulled their hands away and Daemon raised his other hand to touch the perfectly healed skin.

  “Thank you.”

  Tears burned her eyes. “No, thank you.”

  Nearly a hundred Spheres had died in the attack, with almost as many wounded. Among the dead were half the Elders, several warriors, and dozens of women and children. There seemed to be no reason for the attack. Areen’s village held nothing special. Just a group of peaceful Spheres. The attack had come completely by surprise. The added security around the village hadn’t discovered the approach of the Darkened until it was too late and the fighting had already erupted.

  A sob hiccuped in her throat. “I don’t understand...”

  Daemon’s jaw clenched. “There’s nothing to understand. Those creatures—” He slammed his fist into a nearby fence and it collapsed into a pile of sticks. “They must die. All humans must pay for this.”

  Anger normally frightened her—it wasn’t a common trait among Sphere’s—but she couldn’t help but agree with him. For years she had never given much thought to the humans who shared this world, but now? These creatures were human. Humans who chose to follow the Dark. Darkened. The Elders argued that not all humans were bad, but if they could become this? They must be stopped. It was better to destroy the race than to allow them to become something so evil.

  “Areen!”

  Areen and Daemon turned to see Kym rushing over to them. Areen opened her arms, but her mother raised her hand and slapped her across the face.

  “How dare you be alone with a man!”

  Areen cradled her stinging cheek and stepped away from Daemon. “I—he was helping. He saved so many. I-I just wanted to heal his injury.”

  “Lies! You were seen entering the village with him!” She raised her hand and Daemon grabbed it mid-strike.

  “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that again.”

  Kym turned venomous eyes on Daemon and wrenched her hand free. “You brought this to us. Both of you. There are always consequences for deception.” Her fingers twitched, “You are not my daughter. You are forthwith banished from this village. Go. Be with your heathen. Never darken my doorstep again.”

  Chapter 7

  Summer, 103LR

  In darkness lies the deepest secrets, in darkness lies the death of dreams...

  “I’m so sorry, Areen.” Daemon tucked her hair behind her ear and dried her tears with a handkerchief. “I knew the Spheres had strict traditions, but I had no idea—”

  Areen sniffled. “Don’t. Don’t apologize. Not all Spheres are as cruel and heartless as my mother. My father is kind. He would have allowed us to be together, I am certain of it. I was hoping I would have a chance to tell him before they found out.” She looked up into his gentle eyes. “I’m so frightened. Where will I go? How will I transcend alone?”

  Daemon wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “You will come home with me. My mother will take care of you and you can transcend at our Capka.”

  “B-but I am an outcast, are you certain they will accept me?”

  “I won’t give them a choice.”

  ***

  “She can stay here tonight Daemon, but tomorrow she must go.” ReShya laid her hand over Daemon’s clenched fist.

  “But mother, she has lost everything because of me. I convinced her to go against her traditions. It’s my fault she is banished. Is there nothing we can do?”

  ReShya glanced over at the sleeping girl on the bed. Her red hair spilled across the pillow, her tear-stained cheeks glistened in the light of a single candle. “Do you love this girl?”

  Daemon followed her gaze, the desire to protect Areen so fierce it felt like a boulder in his stomach. “Yes. I do.”

  She sighed. “Then you have only one option. Tomorrow you must go to the Elders. You will repent of your deception. You will ask them to relocate you across the village and you will court this girl as you should have from the beginning. I will tell them I approve of your courtship and ask th
em to allow her to use our Capka for her Transcendence.”

  Daemon stood and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Thank you, mother.”

  ReShya nodded, grabbed his hand and tugged him back to his chair. “There is another matter I wish to address with you Daemon.” Her tone was firm, concerned, and he knew instantly what it was she wanted to discuss.

  “It was nothing mother, I promise.”

  “Son, tampering with things outside the Light is something—something dangerous. It is not wise to meddle with darkness, Daemon. You must stop this now, before it’s too late.”

  “I didn’t do anything!” His raised voice made Areen stir. He took a deep breath and added softly, “I was curious, that’s all.”

  She shook her head. “Curiosity is a gift, but it can be a curse if it is not used wisely. Stay away from Gyeesta, Daemon, that part of the forest is forbidden for a good reason. It was cruel to lead your friends there just to see what may or may not happen. Chryn’s life will never be the same. The darkness there must be avoided.”

  Daemon glanced at his dirty boots. “Yes, mother.”

  Chapter 8

  Summer, 103LR

  I look and see nothing familiar but his eyes. In them I am home...

  “Good morning.”

  Areen opened her eyes to see ReShya cooking at the stove. Pressing her hands over eyes, she tried to stop the flood of images from her slaughtered village, the look of hatred on her mother’s face. Tears threatened and she bit back a sob.

  The bed springs creaked and she uncovered her eyes. ReShya sat beside her holding a steaming mug. “Lucid. Drink. You’ll feel better.”

  Areen wrapped her thin hands around the cup and tried to offer a grateful smile, but her lips trembled. ReShya wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

  “Sweet girl. I am sorry for your predicament.” She touched Areen’s cheek. “Daemon has gone to take care of things. You’ve been given permission to transcend here.” Her eyes twinkled. “You two can wed when you have finished.”

  Areen covered her face with her hands as the tears spilled over. “Thank you,” she whispered between sobs, “Thank you.”

  ***

  Autumn, 103 LR

  In a new place I have found my home, but it is more the people than the place that make it my true home...

  “I still feel guilty.” Areen dug her small shovel deeper into the dirt, prying up the obnoxious weed. Sweat trickled down her face and her knees were filthy from kneeling in the small garden, but even though the majority of this village was Honitahai and they could use their Nature Speak to stop the weeds, she determined her lack of Speak would not make her a burden. For the past week she had done her part.

  Daemon put his hand over the shovel and she looked up into his familiar eyes. “You shouldn’t. You work harder than anyone I know. You are even brave enough to milk Kishta.” He glanced over at the goat in the pen beside them. “Not even I will go near her.”

  “That’s not what I mean. This is your home. You shouldn’t have to live somewhere else because of me.” She pushed the shovel deeper and lifted. A shower of dirt flew up and hit them in the face.

  Daemon laughed and took the shovel from her. “In three weeks, we’ll have our own place to call home.”

  Butterflies swarmed in Areen’s stomach and her cheeks warmed. “I like the sound of that.”

  He smiled and she resisted the urge to kiss him. Not only was she filthy and smelly, ever since Daemon had spoken with his Elders, he’d been courting her the right way. Kissing him in public would undermine their efforts to show they were now obeying all the rules, that of the Sphere’s and even the less strict traditions of the Honitahai.

  “Three more weeks.” Daemon kissed her dirty hand, stood up, and walked away with a wink.

  ***

  Autumn, 103 LR

  Time passes too slowly...

  Meet me behind the house once mother is asleep. Please.

  Daemon

  Areen clutched the note to her chest, grateful ReShya and the surrounding crowd was too preoccupied by the merchants to notice the exchange. Areen ignored the guilt swimming in the pit of her stomach and nodded. Daemon winked before slipping silently away.

  ReShya was bartering with a Kunamin merchant for winter fuel when Areen sidled back up behind her. ReShya had been nothing but kind to her. Leaving without telling her betrayed the woman’s trust. But the last two weeks had been so draining. The looks from the other villagers who had heard the rumors of the banished Sphere living among them. The formal letter arriving from her mother six days ago announcing her official banishment from the tribe and removal from the family record. Worst of all, three days ago her father would have returned home, and yet he had made not one attempt to contact his only daughter.

  She put the crumpled note in the pocket of her apron and took a slow breath. In one week she would transcend and she would wed Daemon. In one week she could forget the past and begin her future.

  Chapter 9

  Autumn, 103LR

  If childhood is a lie, a trick, a cage, what is adulthood?

  Areen twisted her apron tie around her fingers. She hadn’t quite gotten used to the coarse utilitarian fabric worn by the Honitahai. In this moment she missed the comfort of the soft, billowy garb of her kind. She wouldn’t allow herself to miss anything other than the fabric, or the tears would start again. She’d cried from the moment her head hit the pillow, as she waited to hear ReShya’s soft snores, as she’d stepped quietly through the house and opened the back door. But here, standing under the light of a pale sliver of moon, she forced them to stop. She didn’t want Daemon to think she regretted her decision.

  The past was behind her. She pushed her lips into a smile as her future walked toward her.

  Daemon paused at the bottom of the steps. “Good evening, beautiful.”

  Warmth touched her heart and the smile became genuine. “Good evening, my love.”

  His cheeks split into a wide grin as he pulled her off the porch and swung her in circles. He set her on her feet and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “The past two weeks have been so difficult. I couldn’t take another supervised visit.”

  “I feel the same, but we should be quick. I value your mother and her opinion of me. I don’t want her to wake and find me gone.”

  He leaned back, looked in her eyes and his mouth formed a hard line. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She tried to duck her head but he grabbed her chin.

  “Areen?”

  Her lip trembled and she bit down on it. He continued to hold her chin, his eyes imploring, sympathetic.

  “You miss home.”

  She shook her head, but he could see the lie in her eyes.

  “You miss your father.”

  The traitorous tears spilled over and he pulled her to his chest.

  “I just don’t understand. How can this be wrong? Why hasn’t he even tried to contact me? Do I really mean so little to him?”

  She felt more than heard him sigh. “The world isn’t always the black and white you’ve been taught to believe, Areen. I mean, look at your people, they are revered by the Eche-mah Ladon, our entire race, and yet your mother is cruel and abusive. The darkness in her would rival the Darkened.”

  Areen shivered at the comparison, but she could not deny it.

  “And,” Daemon continued, “how can a tradition that would allow a woman to disown her daughter truly be acceptable to the Light? How can a father, who claims to be devoted to a force so good, abandon his only daughter?”

  His words pounded against her heart like a blacksmith’s hammer, molding and changing her. Could he be right? Could all the traditions she’d been taught be a lie? A lie to hide and excuse the hypocrisy of the Spheres? Or worse, of all the Eche-mah Ladon?

  He stepped back and took her hand. “I
was going to wait to show you this, but I think it’s time.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Come on.”

  She cast one look back at the house, feelings of betrayal curdling in her stomach, and followed Daemon into the night.

  Chapter 10

  Autumn, 103LR

  My path has become a twisted, dark, and lonely place...

  The shadows deepened the farther they pushed into the forest. The trees became unfamiliar and a cold chill tickled the top of Areen’s spine. “Where are we going?” She whispered, afraid to disturb the darkness.

  “Just a bit more.” Daedal’s tone betrayed his excitement.

  A feeling she couldn’t quite describe awakened her gifts and urged her to go no farther. “Daemon?”

  “Shh. It’s just through those trees.”

  The trees ahead were the most spindly, ghostly looking trees she’d ever seen. She swore she could see a strange energy swirling within them. An energy that curled and twisted like the deep purple clouds of what her people referred to as a “death” storm—a storm that brought terrible wind funnels that scarred the land and held no regard to the lives it ripped apart. “I don’t think we should be here.”

  He gripped her hand tighter and pulled her forward. “You have to see this. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He paused to touch her cheek. “Next to you anyway.” He moved a creaky branch and pulled her into the clearing behind it.

  It was beautiful. In a strange, almost frightening way.

  The odd swirling purple trees surrounded the clearing, their branches swaying without the help of wind, like a hypnotic dance. Their black leaves rustled, sounding like whispers, only the words they spoke she could not understand. The sky above the clearing glowed deep purple, the stars and sliver of moon subdued, nearly invisible above it. Every so often a shadow would cross the sky like a black cloud. The ground beneath them sprouted spiky looking flowers, the likes of which she had never seen before, with black, purple, and deep gray petals that glowed like the Kornikye, but with a pale purple light instead of white. The pale purple was the only light in the clearing—if you could call it light.