Splintered Fate (10 page)

“
I can still sneak up on you,
little brother. But tell me what are you going to do with that
measly sword, give a Madonian a haircut?” The man leaning against
the tree spoke with a chuckle. He dropped the broken twig onto the
ground and folded his arms across his chest while still leaning
against a tree. Amused blue eyes watched as his brother held up his
sword, thrusting it towards the sky.

“
Yes, Lieutenant General Garin
that’s exactly what I will do, I have been thinking about becoming
a barber didn’t you know?” And with that the Rami released a small
amount of the energy that naturally flowed through his body and
blue lightning danced along the blade of his sword.

“
Amazing, you will have to show me
that trick one of these days, Kaiden.” The Lieutenant said as the
lightning faded from the blade and Kaiden sheathed his
sword.

“
It took long before you could
control yourself enough to hold the energy in the palm of your
hand, Garin. I doubt that I have the patience to teach you anything
else. You are not one to control your abilities.” Kaiden replied as
he walked over to his brother, accepting that his small time of
peace has just come to an end.

“
That’s because Rami’s naturally
ooze power, little brother. You just have so little of it that it’s
easy for you to control yourself.” Garin teased, draping an arm
around his brother’s shoulder, leading him back to the camp. It
used to bother Kaiden, the way Garin would always tease him in a
belittling way. But ever since he had learned how to better control
his strength his brother’s words lost their affect on
him.

Garin and Kaiden had been both
orphaned at a very young age. Kaiden never knew his parents. Garin
had retained some memories of them, but he hardly ever shared them.
The two boys were the only family they had left. It had always been
the two of them. They had each other’s backs, always, even when
they hated one another. As orphans they were given to King Zakran’s
army, where they were groomed to become warriors, solders who were
destined to climb the ranks.

Garin had done just that, easily
climbing up to becoming the lieutenant general. Kaiden on the other
hand did not have the same thirst for power as his brother,
preferring to keep himself with minimal
responsibilities.

As children they never got along.
The only thing that linked them was their blood. If it weren’t for
coming from the same parents, they would have never chosen to be
friends. Garin was a cruel brother, but he had always taken care of
Kaiden. Now that they were no longer children the two got along
well enough. Kaiden gave his brother room to be the powerful
warrior he had always strived to be, while he found joy in being as
free as a Rami could possibly be.

“
Why must you go out here on your
own?” Garin asked.

“
Someone must watch the perimeter
of our camp while we are on enemy grounds.” Kaiden replied as they
began walking through the wood towards camp.

“
True, but we have others to do
that task. Your too talented to just walk--”

“
WHAT TALENTED? Me? You really
think so, oh great big brother?” Kaiden interrupted with his best
sarcastic childlike voice and they both laughed. Never had Garin
acknowledged Kaiden’s strength until after he returned from Ucu.
Before that his brother thought him weak, a burden that he had to
care for. Kaiden continued, “I like the tranquility, plus half the
guys out here make more noise than a big bear and could be heard
coming from yards away.” He said with a nod to the right. They both
looked over to see Seff trudging through the wood towards them. His
feet thumped with every step below his stocky body.

“
Oh, I thought I heard voices!”
Seff called out while he approached the two. “Lieutenant” He said
with a nod, acknowledging Garin.

Garin sighed, placing a hand on
Seff’s shoulder. “Seff, perhaps perimeter detail is not your
calling. How on earth did we grow up together yet you developed the
stealth of a falling tree? Walk with me back to camp we will give
you something else to do.” He turned to his brother. “Kaiden, make
your way back to camp too. We have a gathering soon to discuss
plans, I want you to be there.” With that he turned and the two men
walked off, leaving Kaiden to himself.

Kaiden sighed. His brother always
wanted him to be more involved in the decision making of things
that he could care less about. All Kaiden wanted was to just be,
not to be told what to do, when to do it, and where to be by
others.

Hiking through the forest, he
passed foreign trees on a foreign land. Truth was that he liked
walking the perimeter of camps whenever they went on Madonian soil.
It was not only to get some air and guard his camp, but to protect
both sides.

He let his mind wonder to a place
it normally never traveled, but because of being on Madonian soil
he could not restrain himself any longer. The thoughts buried deep
within the smallest corners of his mind. Memories from his time at
Ucu, the one place Madonians and Rami could be in a room together
without bloodshed. It seemed like a lifetime ago, as if it was a
dream. But the control of his energy was proof that those memories
were more than just a dream. A sound broke his train of thought and
Kaiden came to an abrupt stop.

He turned in a slow circle, taking
in his surroundings. He had been walking mindlessly through the
foreign woods. Where had he walked to? Originally he had been
hiking in a direction that would slowly lead him back to camp,
while still traveling the perimeter. Kaiden hoped that he hadn’t
veered too far off course while allowing himself to have thoughts
of a dream from long ago. He took another step in the direction he
assumed was back towards camp and stilled. Out of the corner of his
eye something moved.

Resting his hand on the hilt of
his sword, Kaiden slowly turned to see a massive white wolf
standing a few paces away from him. A cold chill ran down his spine
and he shut his eyes, pressing his eyelids together, hard. To his
disbelief, when he opened his eyes the wolf was still there, all
majestic and white.

The wolf let out a low growl,
showing his teeth. He stood to Kaiden’s hip in height, his powerful
legs were bent, ready to sprint but his fierce blue grey eyes
lingered, they were searching for something. The wolf’s breathing
was quick and shallow as he parted his lips, showing his sharp
teeth once more.

Kaiden wondered if what he was
seeing was real or a cruel trick of his mind. He eyed the wolf that
seemed to be so impossibly real.

“
Ardin?” The name came out in a
whisper of uncertainty.

As the name left Kaiden’s lips the
wolf straightened, still looking at him with what seemed to be
understanding for just a moment before he took off running through
the woods, leaving Kaiden standing alone with an expression of
disbelief.

Kaiden stood staring at where the
ghost of the massive wolf had just been. He placed a hand on a
nearby tree and leaned into it. For some reason he felt like he was
kicked in the gut. Kaiden wondered if that truly had been Ardin, if
it were then he had grown larger since the last time he had seen
the white wolf. What were the chances? Kaiden didn’t know if what
he had seen was real or imagined. As time trickled on he decided
that it was definitely the latter, an illusion of sorts.

When Kaiden was just a boy he went
up to Ucu, the school on their small moon. He studied there,
learning from the instructors, hoping to gain more power and
knowledge. His brother never went; a lot of Rami never did. Pride
and a hate for the Madonians, even at such a young age, kept them
away. But Kaiden was never as strong as Garin and as a child he
desperately wanted to be his brothers equal so when the King wanted
a young boy under his command to go, he went.

Once there Kaiden found himself
learning the most from a girl who became an unlikely friend. She
taught him the greatest trick for a Rami, control. Lack of control
is a great weakness for the Rami race, often leading to self-injury
or even death. Some Rami never use their powers because of it. A
young white wolf named Ardin was the young girl's Aorra, but they
were from the Selvirian lands up north.

Kaiden was near a city called
Abder, which belonged to a different Madonian council member. The
city was far from the northern lands, Lana and Ardin should have
been no where near Abder. Kaiden often took to the border patrol in
holding on to some sliver of hope to see the two of them again but
he never truly admitted that nor allowed himself to think that
could ever truly come true. In that moment, he decided to make a
small silent promise to himself. No longer would he allow himself
to think about the past, for it apparently messed with him more
than he had ever realized.

After a minute to himself, he
managed to bring his composure back and stand without the
assistance of a tree. Smirking to himself, Kaiden was thankful that
his brother wasn’t around to see him fall apart due to the vision
of a wolf. Garin would have surely never let him hear the end of
that.

Just as Kaiden was about to shake
the haunting of his past off and make way to camp a cry broke
through the air around him. It was a scream. He was sure this time.
Instinctually he touched the hilt of his sword, and began running
towards the sound. It was a short distance before he made it to a
small clearing near his camp and he saw them.

A white wolf stood before Kaiden.
He was magnificent, standing slightly crouched, lip curled so you
could see his white threatening teeth. His massive ears were back
and his fur stood on its ends. There was something on the ground
behind him, between the wolf and a tree, a body. Kaiden took a step
to the side and saw a woman lying on the ground.

Her brown hair was pulled back into a braided
bun with a few loose strands stuck to the sweat on the side of her
face. Her face was pale and even though there was blood dripping
from her nose he could tell she was beautiful. Kaiden stared a
moment at the lovely motionless face and his heart sank at the
familiarity of it. It was Lana. She was older but he knew that
face, he knew that wolf.

“
Little brother!”

Kaiden’s head snapped to the voice, finally
acknowledging the others who were at the scene.

It was Garin. His brother had done
this, he felt sick.

Garin chuckled and continued, “Not used to
seeing the Madonian Aorra’s so close and living, huh?”

Ardin released a vicious snarl.
Kaiden was thankful for Garin’s assumption that his reaction was
due to the Madonian’s presence and not his own brothers.

“
What is going on?” Kaiden asked
with a carefully steady voice, looking to Garin, trying to maintain
his composure so not to give away how absolutely torn he was in
that moment. He could hear his own heart beat, pounding in his
head.

“
The little fancy pants girl of
the council either unluckily stumbled upon our camp or she thought
she could spy for her council people. Clearly she can
not.”

Kaiden turned to look at the woman
he assumed to be Lana laying on the ground. She was beaten, he
could see that, her eyes were shut and she had not moved since he
arrived. Worry seeped into him, he hoped that she would be all
right.

“
What are you planning on doing?”
Kaiden asked his brother, not taking his eyes off of Lana. It had
been such a long time since he had seen her face, it almost didn’t
seem real.

A smile spread across Garin’s face a new.
“Well I was going to teach her a lesson, take her for myself or
perhaps give her to my men and send her home as a
message.”

Kaiden’s jaw flexed. It took all of his
strength to keep silent. He was relieved Garin hadn’t
noticed.

Garin continued, “I was doing just fine till
her dog appeared and now I can’t get close, nifty little pup she
has.” Before he finished he sent out a blaze of lightning from his
palm at the girl.

Kaiden’s hand jerked towards his
sheathed sword but he stopped himself, he hoping his brother yet
again hadn’t noticed. Gritting his teeth, he willed his body to
relax, to unclench the muscles that seemed too ready to
act.

The bolt released by Garin hit in
front of Ardin and spread out as if over an invisible bubble that
encased the wolf and Lana before it vanished. Ardin snarled
savagely, his eyes wide, crazed with anger and a fierce need to
shield his Madonian. He hunched over Lana like a mother protecting
its cub.

“
The wolf somehow deflects me,”
Garin simply stated. Kaiden exhaled, his brother didn’t notice his
tensing.

His eyes moved over Lana. She was
going to die. She and her wolf had no way out. Once others noticed
what was going on, her fate would be sealed and there was no way he
would be able to get his brother to set her free. What to
do?

Cautiously, Kaiden took a few
steps closer to the wolf and knelt down. Ardin watched him with
fierce eyes. Kaiden wanted to tell him that he was friendly, that
he would not hurt the wolf nor the Madonian he protected. But there
was no safe way to express that to the wolf.

Kaiden held the wolfs gaze as he
allowed the energy within him to flow into the palm of his hand. It
seeped through him, into his hand and almost past it, but he pulled
back on the power, restraining it. Within a few moments he had a
small ball of light in his hand.