Threads That Bind (Havoc Chronicles Series Book 1) (23 page)

We went upstairs to a rather bare room with wood floors and mirrors covering the walls. It looked like it was intended to be some sort of exercise room, or dance studio, but right now it was completely empty except for a couple of wooden ladder back chairs.

Not the most comfortable of accommodations.

Aata lingered, as if reluctant to leave, but Mallika gently took him by the arm and led him out of the room. “I’ll just be downstairs,” Aata said as Mallika escorted him out and closed the door behind them. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Kara rolled her eyes and gave me a lopsided grin. “They may be Berserkers, but that doesn’t stop them from being boys, no matter how old they get.”

Thinking back to Eric’s efforts to get on my mom’s good side, I couldn’t help but giggle. Being with Kara felt like I had a girlfriend again. Ever since Amy started dating Cory, I hadn’t seen much of her. Of course, I had been rather busy myself, so it wasn’t entirely her fault.

“Of course, you are in a bit of a unique situation,” Kara said.

“What do you mean?”

Kara raised an eyebrow. “You’re a Berserker,” she said. “A female Berserker.”

“So?”

“So? Isn’t it obvious? Think about it from these guys’ perspective. You saw how reluctant they were to tell you about the aging process for a Berserker. They weren’t pretending to be worried. They’ve all felt its effects. It’s hard to have a relationship when you know you’ll live for hundreds of years while your loved one grows closer to dying every second.”

“And that’s if they don’t shun you and think you’re some sort of monster,” I said, thinking back to my dad’s and Rhys’ stories. It wasn’t the first time this had crossed my mind. Hearing Rhys talk about his fiancé and how he had left her was enough to get me thinking about what kind of relationships I might have - or more to the point - not have.

“Exactly,” said Kara. “Now you can see why Rhys and Eric are always competing for your attention. From their perspective, you are the only woman on earth. Literally. Or at least the only one they can hope to have a lasting relationship with.”

“I guess,” I said. I could certainly see Eric’s interest. I would have to be blind to miss that. Unfortunately, any interest on Rhys’ part was certainly more subtle. So subtle I wasn’t even sure it was there. Just because I was the only person available didn’t mean that he was interested in me. Besides, did I want to be desired just because I was the only option? How pathetic was that?

Kara’s ears perked up at the tone of my voice. She looked me in the eye and smiled. “Okay, something’s going on. Spill.” The excited tone in her voice forcibly reminded me of Amy and her Machiavellian take on dating. 

“No, it’s nothing,” I said. “You’re right. I’ve definitely seen Eric’s interest, and I’ve kind of seen Rhys’ show some interest, but....”

“But not as much as you would like?” Kara asked, her eyes too knowing.

I nodded.

“I knew it!” Kara said. “You do like Rhys.”

I nodded again and blushed, then shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess it doesn’t really matter since Rhys doesn’t seem to feel that way about me.”

Kara rolled her eyes and slumped back into one of the chairs. “Are you serious?” she asked. “Are you that blind? Just because Rhys isn’t as outgoing as Eric doesn’t mean he’s not interested. Rhys is just a little more introverted. Trust me, if you show some interest he will definitely reciprocate.”

My heart started thumping at those words and the excitement was enough that I began to pre-zerk. The world around me grew crisper.

“Really?”

“Really,” Kara said. “I’ve been with these guys long enough to see what they’re usually like. Your arrival has gotten them all worked up.”

“All of them?” I asked. 

“Well, sort of,” she said, a thoughtful look on her face. “Shing’s been around for so long that he is physically more than twenty years older than you – so I think he sees you as a little girl. And as for Aata... well, he’s already interested in someone else.”

At that instant all the pieces clicked into place. “You?” I said. “You and Aata?”

Kara giggled and smiled before putting a finger to her lips. “Shhh. It’s a secret.”

“Why?”

“Because we want a bit of privacy for one thing. But the real reason is we don’t want to hear the lectures and judgments.”

“What do you mean?”

“Berserker - Binder relationships are heavily frowned upon. It was discouraged before your parents got married, but because of how that ended it has really become taboo.”

“So, no one knows?”

“Well, Aata knows, obviously, and so does Mallika, but none of the others do. At least, I don’t think so.”

Kara spent the next half hour telling me how she and Aata first met and expressed their feelings to one another. It was a familiar conversation, one I’d had with other girl friends countless times. The details were always different, but the discovery and sharing of feelings was always exciting. For a few brief moments I forgot about being a Berserker. I was just a normal girl talking with a friend about the guy she likes.

Until Kara looked at her watch.

“Uh-oh! I’m supposed to be teaching you about the Binders and here I am blathering on about me.”

And then it was back to the Berserker world.

At first I was disappointed when our girl-talk ended, but as Kara began teaching me, I discovered that the role Binders play in protecting the world from Havocs was fascinating.

Just as Berserkers are always male – until I came in and ruined that club – the Binders are always female. Unlike Berserkers, Binders live a normal lifespan, aging and dying like any other person. They don’t have flashy powers, super strength, or extraordinary senses, but they do have their own skills and role to play.

It is through the Binder’s power that the Havocs are contained. The Binder uses the Berserker’s blood to tie the Havoc to a location and push it out of synch with our world. Once bound, only the Berserkers and Binders can see the Havoc, and no one can interact with it.

“Once a Havoc is bound,” said Kara, “you can walk right through it and not feel a thing.”

“What else can Binders do?”

“Binders have two other abilities – casting a haze and weaving a snare. A snare is a net of energy able to trap a Havoc, rendering it temporarily immobile.”

“Why haven’t we done that with Osadyn?” I asked.

“It’s a slow process,” Kara said. “A snare powerful enough to hold a Havoc for only a few minutes can take days to weave. You can’t just weave one when the Havoc is there. You have to do it days in advance. Since we don’t know ahead of time where a Havoc will be, snares aren’t really that useful.

“The haze, on the other hand, is something we use a lot. Glowing men battling massive monsters isn’t exactly a subtle process. To keep our work out of the public’s knowledge, Binders can cast a haze to separate a piece of knowledge from the conscious mind. The information isn’t erased, it’s just impossible to access.”

I nodded. “I remember Mallika casting the haze on my mom. How exactly does it work?”

“It’s a two-part process,” said Kara. “First, the Binder casts the actual haze.”

“Is that the blue stuff that came out of Mallika’s hands?”

Kara nodded and gave me a piercing look. “How do you know that?” she asked. “Has Mallika covered this already?”

“Know what?”

“The color of the haze.”

I shrugged. “I saw it.”

Kara held up her hands. “Do you see anything now?”

“Just your hands. Why?”

“How about now?”

This time, blue mist came out of Kara’s hands. I took a step back, not wanting to have any contact with it.

Kara dropped her hands and the mist disappeared. “You really saw that?” The open happiness that had been on her face only moments before was now gone, replaced by a look of concern. 

I stayed where I was, unsure whether I’d offended her. “Yeah, I saw the mist,” I said tentatively. “Is that bad?”

“I don’t know,” she said. Her eyes darted towards the door. “I don’t think so. It shouldn’t be. I’m going to get Mallika.” She practically ran out of the room leaving me alone and wondering what I had done wrong.

 It didn’t take long before Kara had returned with Mallika. “Tell her what you told me,” Kara said.

“I saw the blue mist when you put a haze on my mom,” I said.

Mallika raised her eyebrows in a surprised expression that seemed out of place on her normally stoic face. “Interesting.” She turned to Kara. “I’ll take it from here,” she said.

Kara nodded and walked to the door. She turned and gave me a small wave before closing it behind her.

With a few quick strides, Mallika stood in front of me and looked me up and down. “You, Madison, are quite the conundrum,” she said. “A female Berserker who can also see a haze casting. Hmmm. I guess I should have thought to test you for this before, but in my defense, this is completely new territory.”

“Test me for what?”

“To see if you are a Binder, of course.”

Now it was my turn to be surprised. “But I can’t be a Binder. I’m a Berserker. It’s impossible to be both, right?”

“A few months ago I thought it was impossible to have a female Berserker,” said Mallika. “I think the word ‘impossible’ has lost some of its absoluteness, don’t you?”

There was really no way to argue with that, so I sat down in the chair to take Mallika’s test.

“We already know you can see a haze,” she said, “but can you see a snare?” She raised her arms high into the air and splayed her fingers. Black, thread-like tendrils oozed out of the tips of her fingers. They dripped to the ground and began weaving themselves into a thicker rope. After a moment Mallika stopped and looked at me. “What did you see?”

When I finished describing everything I had seen to her, she nodded thoughtfully. “That just leaves binding,” she said. “Unfortunately, I have no way to test that here.” She pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. “I don’t think there’s any other way. I’ll have to send for the Sarolt stone.”

 “Sarolt stone?”

“It’s the true test of both a Binder and a Berserker. Although generally it isn’t used on Berserkers because the signs of power are rather obvious. But I’m afraid that it will take a while to get it here. Or rather, to convince the Binder Conclave to send it. They hold a rather tight rein on the objects of power and don’t send them abroad without an exhaustive and lengthy discussion.”

“Ok, hold on a second. There’s a Binder Conclave?” I said, my voice rising. “What’s that? And why haven’t I heard anything about objects of power before now?” I had to exercise quite a bit of control to keep myself from shouting.

Mallika put an arm around me. “Madison, I know it’s been a shock becoming a Berserker. If we consider that you may also be a Binder, then the hard truth is that there’s no way you can fully understand your new roles all at once. We’re not hiding anything from you to make you frustrated or as part of some evil plot. We’re simply trying to give you the information you need to know when you need to know it so that it will make sense to you.

“We’ve been keeping the political structure of the Berserkers’ world in the background because until now, it wasn’t important for you. And to be honest, it still isn’t. Our top priority right now is to prepare you for Winter Solstice. Everything else, including whether or not you are also a Binder, is secondary. Okay?”