Chapter 21

About fifteen minutes after Raiel woke up, a small group of serious-looking people arrived in their impromptu camp, where everyone had been told to stay, until proper procedures had been completed.

Apparently, these procedures involved such things, as conducting detailed interviews of each student, as well as Horoth himself, whose ability as a teacher was being questioned. Additionally, they would proceed to the scene of the incident, where they would inspect and investigate, in order to make an assessment of the situation. It all sounded a bit too complicated to Raiel. After all, it was quite obvious what had happened. The kovals had attacked, the girl died, and the rest of them didn’t. What was there really to look into? And what could Horoth have done, that he hadn’t already done?

As the tired students were taken to the side one by one to be interviewed about the events, Raiel lay on a sleeping pad that had been donated by one of the students. His body felt like it was constantly being slashed by dull blades, and pulverized by hammers. It was a miracle that he could even manage to think at all. Everyone were milling about the camp, restless and tense. The corpse in the middle of it all didn’t make it any better, either.

Horoth sat on a rock protruding from the earth, his head hanging as he stared at his own feet, half comatose. Raiel wanted to talk to him about what had happened, and know why it had happened. If they shouldn’t have been in that area, he wanted to know why they were. But more than anything, he wanted to make Horoth promise not to reveal anything about Raiel’s power. The problem was, that he might as well have been nailed to the ground for all the moving about he was able to do. Even shifting the position he lay in would send streaks of pure agony through him, as though his muscles were exploding.

As the students began to leave in small groups, upon being allowed to go by the investigative personnel, a woman and a man made their way over to where Raiel lay defenseless. By the procedures he had observed, he could guess what they were here for, but still dreaded tripping over his own lies.

“How are you feeling?” the man asked. He was dressed in a long coat, that almost reached the ground despite the man’s own towering height. The fact, that it wasn’t exactly cold out just made it seem even more out of place that it already did. The coat had numerous pockets and it reminded Raiel of the coat he had ripped from Graven’s shoulders upon his first encounter with a human.

How distant that life already felt. It was almost like his mind was trying to make him forget his past and only look forward, towards his future. Raiel wasn’t sure, if that was what he wanted, though. His stomach fell when he thought of leaving it all behind for something new. He wished he could simply split his existence down the middle and live both lives simultaneously. He didn’t want to choose between the two.

This new way of living, among the humans, his own kind, was both exciting and frightening at the same time, where untold threats could lay in wait around every corner. Confusing and tumultuous, it had tried him in ways he hadn’t thought possible. And that was just within the first couple of hours of arriving.

In the forest, the nostalgic feeling of home, of a familiar environment, pulled him towards it, like invisible strings around his torso. But, while that life was indeed comforting and simple, it was also dull. He had certainly had his fair share of… exciting situations, but in the end, he was alone. Out there, that was all he would ever be. Alone. Here, in this society, among these people, he had a chance to be more.

Raiel fixed his gaze on the man, but kept his mouth shut. The best way to keep oneself from disclosing sensitive information by accident is to say nothing at all, after all. The man hesitated, the thick mustache on his lip waving gracefully as he moved his mouth in thought. Finally, he sighed and knelt before the boy, as he examined the boy’s wound.

“A bad one on the leg, I see. But it doesn’t look life-threatening to me. It can be healed, even without energy infusion, if necessary. And an arm already broken, as well. Very impressive.” he concluded, mostly to himself. “What else happened? Why aren’t you talking? Are you hurt elsewhere? Internally?” The man asked the stream of question much faster than Raiel would have been able to answer, even if he intended to.

The tall, mustached man looked into the boy’s eyes intently, making Raiel utterly uncomfortable as he lay there, unmoving. “Can you talk?”

Raiel attempted to shake his head, but managed no more than a weak and pathetic shiver. The man, to his credit, did seem to understand, though, because he nodded and stood up to face the woman, who had been standing silent by his side. “We won’t get anything out of him for now. But according to the other students, he played a major role in their survival – heroic almost, if they’re to be believed.” he commented, glancing back down at the boy, catching his eye and sending him a half-smile.

“He might have fallen or something. It’s evident, that we won’t get anything out of him right now. Get him a stretcher and get him back to campus. We’ll talk to him later.” the man ordered, clearly comfortable in his position of authority.

The woman looked torn for a moment, before she spoke. “But, sir. I think we should-…” She was interrupted by the man, who simply spoke assertively, holding up a hand for silence. “Don’t. Just do what I told you.” He left, and after looking at his back for a couple of seconds, so did the woman, without a glance in Raiel’s direction.

Crisis avoided. For now…

Before long, a stretcher, which turned out to be something akin to rug between two bars, was brought over, and Raiel was loaded onto it. He only barely managed to keep himself from screaming, as the men who lifted him did not seem to know what the definition of gentle was.

Then, they let him lie there by himself again for a good half hour, before returning to lay him on the back of a cart, headed for the campus. This bumpy ride was not going to be pleasant.

A rustle and a few yelps of surprise in the hallway outside announced Yaeth’s arrival just before he barreled through the door to Raiel’s hospital room, a wild look in his eyes. When he spotted Raiel, he stumbled more than ran over to his bedside, gawking at the now exposed leg, the ugly wound clearly visible and unbandaged to let it air.

“Holy shit! What happened?” he exclaimed, only to be shushed aggressively by an angry nurse, who stuck her head through the open doorway. He politely cowered in shame at his rowdy behavior, but quickly got back to the matter at hand as soon as she left.

“So…?” he said impatiently, cocking his head to the side and raising both eyebrows. “What the hell happened out there? Everyone’s talking about it. They say someone died.”

Raiel hesitated, unsure of how to begin telling the story. Now, several hours after the events in the forest, the pain in his body had receded significantly. It had become what felt like a full-body migraine, a horrible headache he’d had to endure a few years ago, after he fell and hit his head on the hard root of a tree protruding from the ground. It was no longer the sensation of tiny, white-hot knives flowing through his veins, but rather a stiffness in every bone, joint, and sinew, making every little thing seem like the greatest hurdle he had ever had to face.

If Raiel had thought he could find a way to wiggle out of explaining the incident, he would have tried. Nothing seemed more tedious at that very moment, than having to recount the entire show for his friend. He’d passed out at some point during the ride back to campus, and had only woken hours later, felling stiff but better, nonetheless. Eventually, he sighed, seeing no way around it, and lay back, head propped against the soft pillow. “We were just walking…”

It took a good half hour to tell it all, while simultaneously answering all of Yaeth’s questions for detail and making up an alternative story, when it came to his final encounter with the kovals. Instead of the complete truth, he simply said, that he had tried to lure them away from the others, which was true. And in place of his overwhelming victory, he lied, and said that they had beset him with tooth and claw, before a roar from the mysterious beast, which the others could also attest to, made them abandon any interest in him.

Yaeth sat back in a chair next to the bed, mouth agape and eyes distant. “You seriously know how to get yourself into some bad shit…” he declared, shaking his head in incredulous disbelief. “And yet… somehow, you manage to not die each time. It’s weird, really.” he grumbled, as he sat in thought.

Yaeth looked at Raiel and narrowed his eyes, putting his face closer to Raiel’s, mumbling to himself. “Is that…” he began, scratching his chin absentmindedly. “You can grow a beard?” he exclaimed, as he took a firm hold on Raiel’s chin with thumb and index finger, as if needing to ascertain that what he was seeing wasn’t an illusion. “But, you can’t be more than fourteen! How did you do it?” Yaeth pestered him, walking over to the sink in the corner of the room, above which a mirror hung.

With his back to Raiel, he studied the reflection of his own face, which was almost completely hairless, except for a few fluffy wisps on his upper lip. He whirled back around with an expression that relayed serious feelings of indignity, clearly sulking.

“I’m sixteen, and it doesn’t even look like it’s close to coming out!” He reached up to touch his face again, huffing in disappointment, when his troubles were once again reconfirmed. “This is so unfair, man!” Yaeth complained, stomping around the room.

Raiel stroked his chin and felt the unfamiliar scratch of stubble growing out of his skin, exactly as it did from his upper lip. His jaw too, had a bit. Not quite as much, but definitely noticeable. Well, that was certainly new. He did not remember that having been there before… Odd.

“You don’t get any?” Raiel asked innocently. Yaeth only glared at him and growled. “Does it look like there’s any?” he asked pointedly, jabbing a finger towards his own chin. “Does it?”

“No, it doesn’t look like there’s anything there, at all, actually.” Raiel agreed mirthfully, enjoying his friend’s annoyance at what seemed like a meaningless physical trait.

Yaeth grabbed the pillow from the chair he had been sitting on and threw it at Raiel’s face with a grin, and Raiel, unable to react in time with his broken body, could only receive it straight to the cheek with a grimace. “Hey! I’m hurt here!” he shouted in mock anger.

“Shouldn’t have been such a cheeky brat, then!” Yaeth laughed, as he came over to remove the pillow from Raiel’s face and placing it back on the chair again, careful to erase all evidence of any rowdy behavior, just in case the nurse should return with tongs and surgical knives.

“So, what are you going to do about classes, now that you can’t really do… well, anything?” Yaeth asked, a serious demeanor returning.

Raiel looked into the ceiling for a moment, as he thought through it. “Well, it would seem, that my apparent heroic actions today are good enough as an excuse to miss classes.” he explained with a light smile. “I was really looking forward to it though. You know, since it’s my first time and all.” he said.

“Damn, that’s true. You’ve really never been to school. You’re lucky, man! It’s super boring!” Yaeth remarked.

Raiel studied his roommate, as he ranted about how troublesome and stressful his life could be. Then he spoke up, cutting Yaeth off mid-sentence. “No, I don’t think you realize just how lucky you are, Yaeth.” He gazed intently into his friend’s eyes. “What you have here, with family, friends, and people who are willing to help you… That’s priceless, Yaeth. And you know it.” Raiel held his gaze for a while longer, before casting his eyes down to his feet, staring silently at his exposed leg, eyes far away.

A deflated Yaeth sighed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “You’re right, sorry… I guess, I’ve got it pretty good here, eh?” he half smiled, chuckling. “Hey, speaking of – once you’re… less damaged,” he said, gesturing awkwardly to Raiel’s general state of health, before continuing. “perhaps, you would like to have dinner at my house.”

Raiel gawked at Yaeth, slack jawed to such a degree, that drool threatened to flow onto his bare chest. “You mean… you mean a visit… in your home?” he asked, needing the clarification to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood.

“That’s right, yes.” Yaeth said matter-of-factly. “We’re going to be living together for a while, right? Might as well get the ‘meeting the family’ stuff out of the way.” he grinned. “So, are you in?”

“I’d love to go!” Raiel exclaimed, then grimacing, as he forgot his injuries in the excitement. “When?” he asked.

“Don’t know, to be honest. I just thought of it.” Yaeth admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, narrowing his eyes in thought. “Just the next time I’m going home, I guess.” he finally said, almost questioningly. “Should probably also tell my mom beforehand, eh.”

“I’ll be there!” Raiel promised with enthusiasm.

Yaeth smiled, before it faltered slightly. “How are you going to get better, by the way? That looks like it would take months all put together. Are you asking Eryna again?” he asked.

“I would have, but this time, I was actually promised a professional healer. Don’t know why.” Raiel clarified wonderingly.

“Seriously?” Yaeth questioned incredulously. “They’re like, fucking expensive! But in that case, you’ll be up and running in no time.”

“That’s what they told me, at least.” Raiel followed, nodding.

That’s pretty sweet.” Yaeth said, trailing off into thought, before shooting out of his chair, eyes wide in horror. “Shit! I have an evening class!” he shouted and legged it out of the room, crashing through the door with so much noise, that Raiel had to suppress a shiver, knowing there was a scolding he could look forward to from the nurse for having such a badly mannered visitor.

Quashing a smile at the obnoxious behavior of his friend, who usually loathed trouble, Raiel closed his eyes and tried to relax, setting aside the troubles of the day. Like a starving man’s hand reaching for a meal, he felt around his being for the familiar energy, expecting to find at least a semblance of the overwhelming force he had been filled with before.

Just as he thought nothing would come of it, the change came him, strength flowing through him, but bringing with it the immense pain that he remembered all too well. He began to scream in shock and agony, but as his concentration faded, so did the power and pain, leaving only the stiff throbbing that had already been there. The strength that he had been able to conjure up until today, was the only thing that came at his beckon, however. That vast, rampaging storm of might, which had washed over him as he fought the kovals was nowhere to be seen. Gone, as if it had all been an illusion. The aftermath, which he was feeling at that very moment, was enough to reassure him that it was real, though.

He sighed. What the hell was happening, now? More than anything, he’d want someone to ask about everything that was happening to him. Someone he trusted with such sensitive information, who could help him. If Yaeth knew more about infusion, he would have been one such person.

Tentatively, Raiel sent out a mental tendril to probe his spirit for a safe way through to the energy – one that wouldn’t also put him through torture.

To no avail, he tried a few more times, forced to swiftly close the flow as soon as it started, pain engulfing him. He felt helpless, a part of his person that had always been there suddenly stripped from him, yet remaining within reach. He made an attempt to sit up in the bed, but a hiss and a grimace later, he was back to lying down, cursing this shitty day.

“No, I’m telling you, ma’am!” the figure spoke frantically. “It really happened like I’m telling it!”

“Interesting.” was all Tali offered in response. She sat back in her chair, thinking. Why was the boy suddenly showing such radical change? Tali had never seen anything like that, and was eager to find out what was going on with him. Whether he understood it himself or not, she wasn’t sure.

For now, at least, she would observe him.

As they usually were, the conversation with the giant was quite… one-sided. Either due to ignorance or reluctance, the giant answered only a few of Raiel’s questions. Furthermore, those answers were seldom straightforward, only serving to produce even more questions.

Still, Raiel enjoyed the tranquil forest around them, feeling at home between the trees.

As he leaned back to prop himself on his elbows, he fell through the earth, as if a trap door had suddenly opened beneath him. Expecting to wake up again, like he normally did, he instead landed hard on his back in the grass, looking up into the face of a woman.

A beautiful woman with tears streaking her face, glinting in the moonlight, caressed his cheek with a palm, whispering to him with trembling lips. “Please, please, be quiet, or they’ll find you.”

Raiel couldn’t comprehend what was going on, but he felt tears flowing from his own eyes, as well. He sobbed, a lump in his throat, but she only placed a hand gently over his mouth to silence him. “Please, you can’t.” she whispered, wiping her eyes with the other hand. “I’m so sorry, but there’s no choice. If you can make it to the town after this, someone will surely take care of you, my sweet boy.” she cried. “We’re far from home, and here, no one will recognize you.”

Raiel’s mind was a chaotic torrent, memories streaming through his head uninterrupted.

Mother

He wanted to say it, but he had no control over the body he was in. He knew it was his. That much was clear. But neither his lips nor his limbs would obey him. He wanted her to know that he remembered her. Finally, he remembered.

Why now? Why hadn’t he been able to remember her until now?

And his father? Where was he? He knew what he looked like, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nothing made sense.

“For having to do this, I am so sorry, my sweet boy.” his mother said softly, taking off the jacket she had been wearing and throwing it to the side.

She clapped her hands together with a crack, a thin, yet bright string flowing between her palms when she pulled them apart. Like a spider spinning its web, her fingers weaved the string in a complicated series of patterns.

“They’re hunting us. Hunting you, for the power you will grow to possess.” she hissed, a fire blazing in her eyes. “But with this, you will hopefully have some time to live a carefree life, before having to face reality once more. Truly, you are the son of your father and I.” she spoke, tears welling up into her eyes with every word.

Before he had a chance to respond, she slammed her palms down on him, the string following, one on his forehead and one on his solar plexus. He gasped as air left his body.

His mother kissed him on his forehead and hugged him tightly. Her cheeks were wet. She stood up and began to walk away, turning back to look at him for the last time, before setting off.

Raiel was unable to move, as he felt a strange sensation permeate his head and body. He wanted to chase after her. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to see her.

He heard distant voices shouting, and he began to feel hazy. He tried to focus, but it only worsened, as a blackness crept into his vision and his mind closed down.