Lost in Embers (Rising From Ash Saga #1)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“ U se those moments, Ava. All the moments that drive you. All the moments that get to your soul. All the moments that make you feel deeply. Take your fear and turn it into power. Visualize your end destination, where you want to be. Let’s start with something you fear. Think about it and overcome it.”

Marcus is always so sure of himself and what he teaches. He can see the fear on my face. Ever since my powers started to develop, I’m afraid to dream because they get too intense and I cannot control them. Marcus can sense my fear. “I’m here. Trust me. I will shake you out of it.”

So, I think of that dream, and the constant ringing soon takes over my head. Still, it radiates through my body and out of my ears, causing a drop of blood from my ear to land on the floor next to my shoe. I’ve seen this nightmare so many times before. Flames burst out of buildings and flicker against my face, but I feel nothing. People are either badly injured to the point they cannot move, or those who are able to run, leave trails of blood and debris behind them. I run through the cloud of dust, shattered glass, and debris. I must go save my mother.

At least now I know what is happening. Laila is soon with me as she has been before, and I relive the same dream over again. I can barely see our old, white Victorian house, but the blue shutters make it stand out. Crying out for my mum, each time it seems more real than the last. I run to save her, going through the same motions that never seem to change. I’m stuck in a never-ending loop. The door is jammed shut; we need to get this fixed.

Panic overcomes me once more, and I try to kick the door in. I thought the adrenaline would help, but something is blocking it from inside. The couch, as previous visions have told me. Nothing will work. Yet I still keep trying to put all my body weight into the front door as I have before. I quickly remove my sweater and wrap it around my hand so I can punch through the glass window. I make sure to wipe off the shards of glass from the interior, so I can squeeze my whole body through without too much damage.

I’m about to dive through the window when… I come back to the present.

“Whatever you thought of was so strong, Ava. I had a hard time shaking you out of it. What was it?” Marcus questions.

“It is a vision that seems to never be too far from me when I sleep, one where I have not been able to save my mother, but now...” There really is no other way to explain or describe it. A dream that still no one else besides myself, and now Marcus, know. One that for the first time has changed, going backward.

“That is a premonition. You are once again seeing into the future of those you link souls with, specifically your mother. You can change this destiny.”

“Are you sure that I’m ready for this?” My nerves are getting the best of me. The darkness that surrounds me is terrifying. Marcus could not disclose the location of the battle because all of those participating must have an equal advantage. So, we are practicing outside of the warehouse, in the dark, to prepare for all situations. The Manayunks and elders decide the terms and conditions of the battlegrounds, and no one else is to know. They sneak information about all the different elements; seems like something Marcus let something slip that he shouldn’t have. Rest assured, there are no creatures hiding in the brushes waiting to attack us when the simulation starts. It is a team event, then it’s narrowed down.

Last week, an exception was made from the Elders to show the new students, aka me, what these battles could really be like. A few Manayunks participated, and the one who took home the gold was John, Brionna’s father. While Brionna is fair-skinned, John is of Native American descent. It was clear within his mannerisms alone that he has been around for centuries. He moves with such ease as he manipulates every weapon. He, like my father and myself, has the power to change his form. I have only seen him change into animals, but he does it so quickly.

During last week’s battle, Kieran was about to strike him with a blade, but John turned into an eagle. He soared high to come back to the ground and turn into a snake. He slithered over to his weapon, all in a matter of seconds. He then turned into his dashing human form with his sword already drawn; before Kieran could turn around, John’s blade was at his throat .

The speed at which John was able to move was unbelievable, and his transitions from form to form took just nanoseconds. He moves faster transitioning than he does in human form. This was the first time I had met John, but he informed me after the battle that my father and he are still great friends. It seems that everyone is fond of my father. John and my father actually speak alike, from what I’m beginning to remember, which probably has something to do with them being eras old.

The teaching battle was to show how intricately some are able to move and how they can control their powers, yet in my gut, this will be nothing like what actually happens. This has been going on for as long as there has been war between us and the Grimmers, a way to decipher who would be best suited in the never-ending battle and who could help advance to take the most Grimmers down. To me, the whole thing seems absurd. Why does there even need to be a civil war between us anyway? Why can we all not just get along? The more times I have said that, Kieran has made his voice very clear that I’m na?ve if I think all our problems can be solved with love and acceptance. The amount of times Kieran told me to get my shit together and not in a nice way, makes me want to punch him square in the throat. We got paired up too many times in practice and every time he would throw me to the mat and look like he wanted to gouge my eyes out. There was more than one occasion where Kai had to pull him off of me. Seriously, I don’t know what bug crawled up his ass, but he needs to let it go.

Being in a battle rattles my nerves. There are so many rounds. Traditionally, the first round is every man for himself, so of course Kieran and Kai are going to form an alliance as always. The last ten people standing will go on to the next battle; at that point they will be split up into two groups of five. One group against the other in a match of capture the flag. With the way Marcus explained it to me, it’s not like any capture the flag I have ever experienced or heard of. The final round is a one-on-one battle between whoever the top two performers are from each team.

“Your instincts will kick in, and so will everything you have learned. Plus, you have nothing to fear. No one can use their powers against you, and there will be no creatures released during this battle. We haven’t had anyone die yet…” Clearly, my face shows that I nearly shit my pants. “Relax, Ava, this is a training battle; we are not allowed to kill each other. You are talking years and years of this. It is normal, as odd as it might seem to you since you’ve been an outsider, but for us, this is life.” He lets out a chuckle, and relief overtakes me.

“You are your own protector. You need to learn to control your pain, especially if you are in hand-to-hand combat. This will be a good test run for you. You are your father’s daughter. I have unlimited faith in you.”

Well, that makes one of us. “Thanks, Marcus. This all has been a lot to take in, but it is all finally making some sense to me.” My arms wrap around him, and for the first time ever, I do not shock him. He lets his smile touch his eyes, and then he embraces me back.

Perhaps I’m ready for this. Learning to hone and control my skills has been amazing. I reach over to pick up my backpack before standing, thinking our lesson is completely over, but Marcus isn’t finished talking to me yet.

He hovers over my crouched-down body and places a hand on my shoulder. “You know, it’s nice to have support at these events. You should call Aidan. He would want to be here, and he has been through this himself. You know with him being Alpha Fortissimum and all.”

“I will have you, and Laila of course.” Just the mention of her name, and she jumps in my arms and plops a kiss on my face, not knowing anything about anything. “I didn’t know Aidan trained here. He still hasn’t told me what his power is. I have given up hope in a way, since I haven’t seen him since vacation, and our phone tag hasn’t been the best experience. What’s an Alpha Fortissimum?”

“Of course you have me, but I have to support all of my students, even if you are my favorite. Laila can join you on the battlefield if you want; in fact, she could be of great use scouting the ground. Brionna has the eagles do that for her.”

“I would prefer to keep her safe and with you.” My stomach churns at the thought. “If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I would do with myself. So how long did Aidan train here?” This has piqued my curiosity.

Marcus, who normally says it is not his place to say, sheds a little light. “He didn’t train here, but he has experienced the battles as you soon will. He trained with me many moons ago. After your second life ended, he vowed to make himself as strong as possible. Now, he’s the strongest of his kind, Ava. You must be able to sense that within him. That is all I can say. Call him.”

From the moment Aidan appeared in my dreams to the moment I saw him in real life, his intensity was a power. I rifle through my backpack to look for my cell phone so I can call him when I leave, but I have left it at home.

“I will have to call him later. Thanks again, Marcus.” Once standing, Marcus offers to walk me to my car, and I take him up on the offer. I swing the front door open, and Laila hops in the backseat in a swift movement .

“Until tomorrow.”

I scurry into my old Jeep Cherokee, amazed that this thing still runs. “If this vehicle doesn’t blow up and I make it through work tomorrow, I will see you. Who knows, maybe Monday, will be the day I die.”

Marcus shuts the door with a shake of his head. Not realizing his strength, part of my window cracks. Just great, add more character to this put-put mobile. My car chugs for about a mile, and a fit of giggles overcomes me. It might just be my release from all of this, but boy does it feel good, until it completely breaks down.

Swinging the car door open, I’m immediately hit with the smoke of the engine. Not having any idea what is wrong, the giggles still keep coming. With all that is going on in life, I should be shaking in my boots at the sight of the oncoming headlights that slowly come to a halt next to my car.

His door swings open, and his long legs bring him in front of me within moments. Those green eyes of his peer into my soul, and they look familiar, almost identical to mine. I have seen him constantly with nothing but harsh, dickish words spoken from him, but his eyes are bright now, welcoming.

“Need a hand?” Kieran’s voice soothes me and brings me comfort, but also catches me totally off guard.

“Um, yes… please… thank you.” He laughs at my awkwardness and lifts the hood, not caring about the emissions hitting him in the face.

“Feels good doesn’t it?” he says to me as though I understand what he’s talking about. “To feel safe?” He answers my unspoken question, and there is something about the comfort of having him near right now that does make me feel safe. Even Laila isn’t growling .

“So, now you want to talk to me?”

He tinkers with a few things, ignores my statement and just keeps working. Grabbing a few tools from his trunk that he asked me to grab, our fingers graze, and electricity flies between us as the wind picks up speed out of nowhere.

With a deep exhalation of breath, our eyes meet, but he pulls away first, slamming the hood down. He felt it too, something out of this world, intense like how I feel with Aidan, but altogether different.

“This will get you home, but watch out for yourself. We can’t have anything happening to you, can we? Be safe.” It’s almost boyfriendly of him to care so much. As he swiftly gets in his car and rolls the window down, he yells, “Oh, don’t tell Marcus about me helping you. He will flip a lid, and we can’t have him more uptight than he already is.” With a laugh, he leaves me in a pile of dust.

What the fuck was all of that about, and why did he help me and was actually nice about it, when otherwise he acts like he loathes my entire existence?

As soon as I pull down my driveway, there is a brand-new Mercedes C-Class sedan parked like an asshole. The unknown car is parked directly in front of my porch completely blocking the access to my stairs. I want to return the favor and park so I’m touching his back bumper, but it could be one of my mother’s friends. So, I decide to be nice and park far away.

The monitors inside the car still manage to reflect off the tinted windows. As soon as my car door swings open, Laila jumps out before I can put a foot on the ground. She circles the sedan, assessing the danger, and there must not be any, since she heads back in my direction. I make my way to the porch, but this is pointless unless I scale over the Mercedes. Seriously, who parks like this?

Running full speed to the car, I know I can jump over this. A car door swings open just as I’m about to make my leap, knocking me to the ground. A man exits the car in a perfectly tailored suit, completely unphased at the fact he brought me to the ground. He holds his hand up, insisting I stop with no words. Never before have I risen to my feet so fast and ignored someone’s suggestion so quickly.

I’m not sure if he’s one of my kind or not, but he nearly saw me leap over a car with ease. There is extra distance put between us now. The further I move back, the safer I feel.

“Who are you?” The question is easy enough. Laila is abnormally calm. I quickly make eyes to my house, hoping my mother isn’t inside. There are no lights on, but her car is still in the driveway.

“Aidan sent me to make sure you are doing well. He was concerned for your safety the other day, and pulled security footage to see you almost walk into oncoming traffic in a haze.” Wow, this is unacceptable to me. If he were that concerned, he should show up here himself and not send a stranger. I cannot trust this man and who he claims to be.

“You need to leave now before I call the authorities.”

The bald man gives me a smirk that shows no intention of evil but showcases his eyes rolling to the back of his head. The only way I can be sure of who he is would be by touching his hands, not something I want to risk. His grin widens, and long black hair grows from his once-bald head. “You know the authorities could not stop me, and I would be long gone before they arrived.”

His eyes are pure white without a pupil, his nails have grown long and purple. His teeth are a matching purple when he grins, and his long, black hair is now waist-length. That is all I need to see and hear. Grabbing Laila and starting a run in one motion, with a minimal headstart, I leap over his car and onto the porch before he even realizes what happened.

“Good to see you have been training; you will need it.” He has an evil lurking somewhere inside of him.

“Step foot in this house, and you will regret it.” Big talk for someone who has not been training long. As soon as I’m inside, I make sure to lock every door, knowing that if he wants to come in, a lock will not stop him, but it gives me peace of mind.

Peeking out the window, I watch him slowly transform back into his former bald self and get into the car, and I watch the taillights fade down the driveway, kicking up dirt behind him. I just hope he doesn’t return.

This is the one day that I wish work would have been busier. Things for the charity event are complete. The only pressing matter I had to deal with today was meeting the event coordinator, but she drove to my office, so it wasn’t even a big ordeal. I had all day to think of my nervousness for the battle. The Elders decided to switch the time we need to arrive from six o’clock at night to eleven o’clock. Seems odd to me to have a battle at that hour, but what do I know? It must have something to do with what Marcus said about the Manayunks and Elders having the ability to change all details to keep us on our toes.

I received a phone call at work from some automated service, telling me to meet at the warehouse and at that specific time. Not a moment later. From there, Marcus will be advised of where to take us and must escort us, blindfolded, to the location.

When I pull up to the warehouse, I’m surprised by how many competitors are already here, and it is only half past ten. I thought I was going to be one of the first ones here, but apparently not. I run up to Marcus to talk. He says not only is everyone from my class here, but competitors from Washington State somewhere have been advised to come to this location. It isn’t until just then that I realize how far some of my classmates have come for training.

Kai and Kieran are from Canada; they are extremely close because they grew up together. Helix is from Nova Scotia, which explains his Arctic white beard. Arsen is from Montana. Lennox, like Aidan, is Irish. Brionna and her father relocated here from somewhere down South. Hendrix is from somewhere in New Jersey, Long Beach Island, I believe. They did not choose to come to this location or train here, this is where their destiny led them. Arsen’s sister was sent to a location out in Washington State, so she’s here with him, and they are finally reunited.

“Marcus, how do all these people get here?” My curiosity is piqued.

“Recruiters are sent out to try and find those who have yet to pick sides, to come to the good side, what you used to do. It’s rare at this point for us to find someone who hasn’t chosen a side. For others who find us, well, their destiny is imprinted in their soul, so with that, the locations are stored in their minds. The locations will even change when we change location. Like a beacon that shines in our souls to get us home but leads us to our safe zone and where we are meant to be. They have all learned to tap into it at a very young age.” Maybe that is why I was drawn to Aidan. He is my safe zone, or was for a small amount of time. I have never felt more at home or at peace than I have with that man. The thought of him brings a smile to my face.

“Time to focus now, Ava. Go to the locker rooms; an outfit has been provided for you based on your starting team.”

Walking into the familiar warehouse, down the dimly lit corridors, and to the locker room, this gives me a chance to scope out the competition.

“There are no dogs allowed in here.” A sour-faced, brown-haired, dark-eyed woman a few years older than me points down to Laila in disapproval. She stands firm with arms spread from doorpost to doorpost in a black jumpsuit with a red X in the middle, trying to block my entrance.

“She comes with me.” I’m polite enough, until I realize she’s not giving up on this. I push her arm down and snug my way past her with Laila following me into the immaculate locker room. The woman huffs and follows me to my locker, her loud footsteps disrupting everyone and causing a scene. She wants to start something before the battle has even begun.

“If I didn’t let that silly girl come in here with an eagle, what makes you think I’m letting you come in here with a dog?” Well, I was just trying to mind my own business and keep to myself. That is not happening. Brionna stands behind me, fearful of this venomous-tongued woman. She’s scared to be without her eagle. Ignoring the woman, I kneel down in front of Brionna and whisper to her that she should leave and go be with Marcus and her eagles.

“This is not your locker room; it is for everyone.” Now that Brionna is out of earshot and the younger kids have dispersed, I can speak candidly. “I don’t understand why you are being such a bitch, treating children like that. Already, you are trying to assert your dominance. It is not going to work with me.” My words must have hit a vulnerable spot in her body. I know her type, already with a prerogative, making sure everyone bows down to her.

Her eyes glaze over to reflect snowflakes falling, and her body stiffens as a coolness fills the room. Even cooling my warm body down, she projects her hands in my direction while small white-and-blue ice crystals start to form. She’s warning me, but I cannot back down now and let everything I just stood for go to waste.

“Makes sense why you are so cold to everyone.” It was hard to resist, she just made it too easy. Although it is not normally like me to make such comments, she was picking on small, innocent children and trying to make them cry, which is unacceptable. Laila can sense she’s coming for me and bites her leg, right as the dark-haired woman lunges to me, leaving a trail of ice behind her. She reaches me and places one finger on my still, calm body, and a shock like I have never let off before hits her. She drops to her knees in pain and starts screaming. My powers have strengthened, and I might have just used her as a test dummy.

I stretch out my hand to offer her help, and she smacks it away. “You’re going to regret that,” she mumbles as she limps away due to Laila’s bite. She means what she says, but she’s the least of my worries. All I care about right now is focusing on the task at hand. Laila licks my leg and curls down beneath my feet, facing away from me as I eerily look at the outfit in my hand.

The outfits are form-fitting jumpsuits that adhere to our powers. They are as dark as the night sky, and even though they look stiff, they are made from some extra-soft material. Mine has a blue X in the center. This is how they are going to divide us in groups at some point tonight. I’m sure the evil ice queen won’t mind that I’m on the opposing team. She’d probably try to kill me regardless of the teams.

Instead of keeping my belongings in the locker, I’m going to take them with me and give them to Marcus to hold on to. There is no way to trust whoever I’m sharing this locker room with. The collar of this jumpsuit comes all the way up under my jawline and even my hands are covered, just leaving my fingertips exposed.

I walk down the hallways and try to make my way outside, observant of the people and the holograms projected on the dirty walls. Everyone has standard-issue feather-light black combat boots, but the holograms show that wall-crawlers are the only ones allowed to not wear them, since they rely on how their skin adapts to the surface. Many of the men I see in the hallways don’t have their jumpsuits covering their hands, like mine allows. It is selective, all based on the powers each person has.

Brionna’s crooked smile greets me as she pops out of a hallway. “Thank you for helping me.” She hugs me tightly. “Oh, I have a blue X too; we must be on the same team.” Her excitement is endearing, but I worry for her.

“Would you look at that? I think we are.” My outstretched hand is taken without question. She, Laila, and I walk through the last corridor, with her beautiful butterfly wings lighting the way.

“I know you have the eagles looking after you, but now you have me to help, too.” She shoots me a megawatt smile that I cannot help but replicate. This is when I’m at my full strength, fighting for someone else. Her breathing gets deeper and her grip gets tighter in mine as we make our way out of the warehouse. We are told to divide into groups based on the color of the X s. I can see the dark-haired woman evil-eyeing me from across the way.

There are a few stragglers just running into the warehouse now. An Elder walking around clearly takes note of these people from beneath his hood. He turns to look at Marcus, still not revealing his face, and lets out a deep cough. Marcus nods his head and shoots an upset look to me. He is worried for them.

“Red in that bus, and blue in that bus.” Marcus’s voice travels through the open space. There are others like Marcus, answering questions and directing people to the buses, but one of these instructors leaves to find his way into the warehouse, probably in search of those who just ran in.

Still hand-in-hand, Brionna and I pile into the bus with all our other teammates. I take one last look over my shoulder and into the outside world. The trees shake in the wind as the last few leaves fall to the ground. The wind dances though my hair and whispers in my ear as though it is saying something, but I cannot make out what. Then, again, I hear the same wind, speaking to me. Kieran shoots me a friendly wink with a hopeful face. Did he hear it too? Or is he now finally choosing to be less intense since Kai is in the red group. He takes the seat on the other side of the bus, directly next to me.

“We are a team now. We must do anything to win. I expect us to end up in the ten that advance to the next round.” Laila sits on my lap, tilting her head at Kieran, like she can’t tell if she knows him or not. Perhaps with Kai on the other team, he’s looking for another alliance. This is the most that he has ever spoken to me before, so he must want something. Before I can respond, we are all advised to put the blindfolds on that are hanging in front of our seats.

As the bus departs, my bearings kick in. I’m determined to memorize and track the movements of the bus, in hopes to figure out where we will end up.

“This cannot be right,” I mumble to myself as the bus comes to a stop.

“Why, where are we?” Kieran whispers back.

“We are in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing out here for miles.”

“How do you know where we are?”

The driver advises us to take our blindfolds off. “I was tracking the ride, weren’t you?”

“Normally they spray a mist that hinders our tracking abilities. Apparently, it doesn’t work on you.” He stares at me almost in admiration, almost as though he… no he doesn’t like me. I look out the window and see nothing but forest.

“This must be new; I have never been here before. I’ve done more of these than I should have in search for you, but take that secret to your grave.” His voice is inquisitive, as is my face when we exit the bus. Marcus approaches us, I hand him my backpack, and he slings it over his shoulder. This is all definitely just woods. The wind once again picks up and whispers faintly in my ear; this time I concentrate on its code: “ Chase after midnight .” Clear as day like someone were speaking to me.

Marcus and I speak quickly about him taking Laila, then he gathers the group together to give a pep talk. He is the blue team leader. I drift out of the inner circle without anyone noticing, and the wind lightly pushes my back forward to an empty space. Pushing me closer to the tree line, there is a starry line that magically appears before me, pointing directly into the woods, and I follow the line until the wind stops pushing me.

“How did you find this, Ava?” Marcus has crept up behind me, and apparently some of the teammates decided to follow him.

“I don’t know. It was as though nature wanted me here. Why?” I stand on the bright dotted line. “Can’t everyone see this?” I ask, pointing down to the line in front of me.

“See what?” Well, that answers my question from the mumbling group behind Marcus. I know my eyes are seeing a rare sight. Marcus advises everyone to go back to where they were so he can talk to me alone.

“This is the entrance to the biodome, which was just built a few days ago. Only Elders, Manayunks, and I know how to access this specific magical portal into the dome.”

“Sorry, I guess.” I have nothing to apologize for, yet I feel that’s what he’s looking for. Not my fault about this. An eagle circles the sky above us and swoops down to land in human form.

John is befuddled. “Perhaps this has to do with her having a connection with Cassiopeia?”

“We shall discuss this later,” an old Elder with wisped-up gray eyebrows snarls in my direction. His jowls are so loose that saliva almost pours out, and he pulls his cloak belt tight in frustration. At a snap of his fingers, he’s gone. The others follow his cue. Marcus advises me to go back to the team as he and John walk deeper into the woods discussing something.