Binarius (17 page)

“
Your guess is as good as any.
Maybe you should grab one of the books…see if anything
happens.”

So he did.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Diffraction

The book
lit up with an aura of colors. The light showed brilliantly through
the skin of his fingers — an orange tint of red capillaries. From
the spine of the book, a wispy cloud of light, rose above their
heads and in a moment, the cosmos were displayed above them. Fia
glowed a brilliant blue. She was surrounded by her siblings in the
shimmering space around them. A golden orb began traveling towards
Fia, with flakes of gold traveling closely behind. They encircled
Fia. Then, Fia split in two, not down the center — she replicated.
Now, two blue planets floated next to each other. They were encased
in a web structure, with but a silver cord connecting
them.

Kaolin and Firinne stared up in
awe. A moment later, the images above them started dissipating and
falling towards them — like flakes of snow that melted the moment
they landed on their skin. They stared at each other for a moment.
And in that moment, they realized that they were a part of
something bigger than themselves. Something that was perhaps bigger
than Fia. Some unknown force was pulling them into each other and
guiding them to the unseen.

“
Did that happen when you touched
the books?” Kaolin asked, still staring up at what was now just the
space between him and the ceiling.

“
No, I told you what happened when
I touched the books. That…that was incredible. I guess I was right
to tell you about all of this. For some reason, you are supposed to
be a part of this, just as much as I am.”

“
Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty
clear. What does it bloody-all mean, though? How can we trust
it?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I mean how do we know that this
isn’t something that the Mist of Blacken created?”

Firinne shrugged. “We don’t, I
guess. But I doubt the Mist could create something as beautiful as
that. We’ll just have to trust it I supposed. Not like we have any
other options.”

“
Yeah, I guess you’re right. I
just wish I understood.”

“
You and I both…do you still want
to come with me?”

“
Nothin’ else better to do I
s’pose.”

“
Right. Well, my plan was to leave
tomorrow morning. That good for you?”

Then, there was a different voice
in the room. “I don’t think either of you will be going
anywhere!”

Firinne moved fast. She unsheathed
her sword. “Glad you could join us Clavorn. See you’re working for
the Blacken, eh? I don’t know how you people at Archen keep your
stories straight.”

“
You just leave the stories to us
then, love. Now, why don’t you put down that kitchen knife and we
can talk all proper like.”

“
Thanks but I’ll pass on that.”
Clavorn moved slowly towards her. He appeared to be alone as far as
they could tell. “Did you come alone or is Cyneric with
you?”

“
Ah, I’m glad you brought that up!
I about pissed myself laughing when I found out that you was the
lass he had been workin’ on. You miss him do yeh? Want to snuggle
with him like you was in the meadow. Safe in is arms,
love?”

“
Oi! You can just shut your jab
right now!” said Kaolin.

“
Don’t threaten me little boy! I
know all about you. Bet you cry every night for your
Mummy.”

Kaolin reached behind his back and
pulled out the silver-coated twigs.

“
What are you gonna do with those?
Poke me to death?”

“
Thought you knew all about me?
Guess you were mistaken.” As the electrolifi spread like a silken
horizon, Firinne made her move. She jumped from the chair and then
onto the table. In a swift movement, she leaped and spun in the air
with her sword aiming for Clavorn’s throat. But the distraction
hadn’t been enough. Clavorn blocked her attack and grabbed her
other arm, pulling her into him.

“
That was a pretty little dance.
You ready to have some fun then?” He thrust his knee into her side
and threw her into the stone wall, knocking the breath from her.
She was pinned. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her
head back, scraping his knuckles on the stone along the way. He
thrust his hips into hers and buried his face in her
neck.

Clavorn took a long, lustful
breath. “Mm, you smell like a peach. Now, why don’t you tell the
little boy to retire to his chambers so we can have a bit of
privacy.”

“
I’m not gonna leave her! Get away
from her!”

“
What you gonna do, boy? Throw a
bit of light at me?” He pulled out a dagger. “You touch me and I
swear I’ll let her bleed.”

Firinne didn’t know what to do. It
was checkmate for the time being. They could either fight to the
death or hope that a better opportunity would present itself —
later. “Kaolin…just go. I’ll be all right.” she said through heavy
breaths.

“
I’m not gonna just leave you and
let this pig have his way with you!”

“
You will, and you must. If you
don’t…he’ll kill us both. Just go.”

Kaolin stared at Firinne in
disbelief. Disbelief and disgust. He turned and started walking
towards the throne room, turning his head at the last moment so he
could look at her again.

“
You heard her. Go!” Clavorn
yelled.

As soon as Kaolin had disappeared,
Clavorn took Firinne by her hair and threw her into the table. The
edge of it dug into the small of her back as he collapsed his full
weight on top of her.

“
I’m sure Cyneric won’t mind
sharing. When we’re done having our fun, I’ll deliver you to him.
You’ll be all nice and loosened up for him.”

Firinne was like a stone. She
refused to play this game. Men like him wanted her to scream. They
wanted her to scream more than they wanted what was inside of her.
They wanted to feel the power, to inflict the pain and the fear,
that would cause a combustion of hysteria. How else could he be a
man?

“
Awe, c’mon! I thought you wanted
to play. Play with me, girl.”

Firinne turned her face from
him.

“
No? All right, don’t worry love,
I know how to get you to play. I know how to get you to
scream.”

He put his forearm on her neck as
he started undoing his pants.

This is gonna hurt, she
thought.

As Clavorn was looking down,
Firinne got one of her hands, free and jammed it into his face with
all of the spectralin she could. At the top of her lungs, she
screamed “Now, Kaolin!” As she did, she could feel the tenderness
of her ribs where Clavorn had kneed her.

“
You bitch!” Clavorn
screamed.

In less than a second, Firinne
kicked with all of her strength into Clavorn’s abdomen, sending him
into the free-for-all space between her and the opposing wall.
Kaolin shot out of the throne room and before Firinne even saw it
happen, Clavorn was glowing in odd convulsions of sparks and
smoke.

Firinne ran to Kaolin.

Slowly, Clavorn began collapsing to
the floor.

“
C’mon, we need to get our stuff
and get out of here!”

Together, they ran into the throne
room and grabbed everything they could. Mabon knew it was time to
leave and he followed them back out into the other room.

The room was now filled with smoke,
the most putrid thing that Firinne had ever inhaled. It was
somewhere in between burned hair and rotting meat.

“
Is it safe to pass him?” Firinne
coughed out.

“
Mmhm.”

“
How long does it
last?”

“
As long as it needs
to.”

Firinne heard them and it sent
gooseflesh up her arms. She ran to the window and slowly peered
out. Cyneric was leading the way and they had already cleared half
of the field between the forest and Stahrling’s gate. Cyneric was
riding hard. Even from the distance, she could see the sick
excitement in his eyes. There were now five Demogorchians following
close behind him. If they didn’t leave now, they wouldn’t stand a
chance at escaping.

They had probably seen Kaolin’s
light-show. There was too much fear in Stahrling now. The
Demogorchians could probably already sense them — knew what room
they were standing in, right at this moment. If they didn’t, they
could surely smell Clavorn’s scorched bones.

“
They’re coming.” She
said.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Decapitated Chasm

Firinne
and Kaolin were on the other side of the castle now — where the
darkness engulfed them. There were black lines in the sky tonight —
blotting out the starlight. Even from outside, they could still
smell the putrid scent of Clavorn’s corpse.

“
They’ve gotta be in the castle by
now.” Kaolin said.

“
I’m sure they are. We need to
head for those northern woods right now before they discover that
we aren’t there. It’ll be quicker if we ride Mabon.”

Kaolin turned to Mabon, and then
gave Firinne a look of apprehension.

“
Now’s not the time, little man. I
promise Mabon won’t hurt you. C’mon, let’s go.”

Mabon rode with all his might. It
was pitch black once they hit the thicket of trees and Firinne was
afraid to create any light. But it seemed that Mabon had no trouble
navigating the thick forest, even though Firinne and Kaolin
couldn’t see a thing.

Everything was quiet — so quiet
that their breath sounded like the waves crashing at
sea.

“
Do you think we’re safe now?”
Kaolin asked.

“
I’m not sure. Every time I think
I’m safe…well…”

“
Yeah, You know, I’ve never
actually left my home…not really. I mean, sure I’ve gone into the
woods a bit to forage and hunt, but I’m really leaving. I don’t
even know if I’ll ever be back.”

“
You know Kaolin, I’m not sure
that we are ever really home. I mean sure, we have our beds,
comfort, and all the familiarities, but I think home is where
friends and family are.”

“
I don’t have any family,
though.”

“
It’s true. I know that nothing
could ever replace your family but…I’m your friend now and as long
as you’re with me, you’re home.”

Kaolin was quiet for a long moment.
“Look at you gettin’ all mushy on me. Went from not knowin’ whether
you could trust me, to calling me, family. You’ve come a long way,
young one.”

“
Oh, shut it.” Firinne
smiled.

Kaolin flattened his hand on the
top of her head and rustled her hair a bit.

“
Kaolin, stop.”

“
All right, all right,
Sorry!”

She put her hand up to pause him.
“No, listen for a minute.”

They both stilled. Even Mabon
perked his ears up.

After a moment Kaolin said, “Yup,
definitely the riders…damn.”

“
Mabon, pick up the pace if you
can.”

“
How far do you think they’ll
follow us.”

“
To the ends of Fia, would be my
guess. Keep your fear controlled, we don’t want to give them any
help in tracking us.”

“
How do you do that?”

Firinne turned around half of the
way to look at Kaolin. “You seriously don’t know how?”

Kaolin shook his head.

“
All right, you know the feeling
your body gets when it’s really cold. Like the dead of winter and
all of your limbs start to feel tingly and numb? Focus on that
feeling. Focus on being numb and free of all emotions….like, you’re
empty.”

“
That’s it?”

“
That’s what I do. It’s worked so
far.” She shrugged. “Start practicing, Kaolin.”

“
All right.”

Mabon took them deeper into the
forest. Meanwhile, Firinne was trying to formulate a plan in her
head. It was something she had never tried, but she thought that
there was a chance that she would be able to do. The only downfall
was that it could significantly weaken her. She hoped that if it
did, Kaolin would be capable of filling in the gaps-of-fight for
her.

“
Do you hear them?” Kaolin
asked.

“
Nuh-uh. You?”

“
No, maybe they gave up? Decided
to try a different direction?”

“
We’d only be so
lucky.”

Seconds passed and there was a loud
swooshing sound, accompanied by a series of loud screeches. The
Demogorchians had been tracking them from above. One of them
swooshed down and scratched Kaolin on the face while the others
landed only a few feet behind them. Again, Firinne found herself
being chased by a small herd of them, and again she wondered why
she was so important to them.