The Legacy

The woods surrounding the Academy was already glimmering with the late morning sun, yet still bore a shade of darkness to it. Kain walked beside Gavin, watching what routes the other hunters took before deciding their own route. “Let’s take the river,” Gavin suggested after a while. Kain nodded in agreement then followed Gavin into the woods. They walked for a while before they started to hear the water babbling in the river nearby.

“So did you sleep well?” Gavin asked, stepping over a thick fallen branch. “What?” Kain asked confused. He caught her of guard, her mind already wandering into forbidden thoughts. Kain was finding it hard to concentrate this morning. The faint memory from last night still haunting her.

Gavin chuckled softly, shaking his head, “and here I thought that maybe I was the one keeping your mind at bay. I guess it wasn’t me you were dreaming of,” he said with a smile.

Kain stared at him for a moment, trying to put the pieces of the conversation together, then answered, “I’m sorry Gavin. I guess I slept fine. How about you?” she asked bewildered. She didn’t know what to tell him. Her mind was too distracted to even muster up a lie never mind the truth. It wasn’t like Gavin to make small talk either. He was fishing for something. An explanation for her strange behaviour. An answer to why she hasn’t been paying him much attention lately. Or maybe he was fishing for the secrets she’s been hiding from everyone, including him.

“Well, I guess,” he said then paused, “I’m wondering when the time will be right for you to tell me what is bothering you,” he said with a serious tone to the edge of his voice.

Kain let out a frustrated breath, “I’m fine Gavin,” she said a little harshly. She didn’t mean to talk harshly to him, but she didn’t want to talk to him about it either. He kept pushing her for answers and it was frustrating to keep on telling him that she was fine when really, she wasn’t. It was getting hard to keep her thoughts hidden from Gavin when clearly, he saw that something was bothering her. and still she was unable to tell him what it was. To tell him what he wanted to know. Gavin stopped walking, turning towards her. Kain kept on walking, ignoring his pause as she tried to avoid him but he grabbed hold of her arm. She snapped her head up towards him and scowled at his concerned expression.

“I don’t believe you. But I do want you to know that I am there for you whenever you want to talk. I always have been, and I always will be,” he assured her.

Her scowl melted and she breathed out, “I know,” she said. And she did know. He was the one person she could trust with anything and the only person she could really talk to. So why didn’t she talk to him? She sighed, “and I appreciate it but I’m fine, I promise,” she lied again, adding a smile to make it seem more believable. He didn’t believe her, but he didn’t push it either. Kain moved to walk past him when her eyes caught something a little way in front of her, “Gavin look!” she said, rushing past him.

They crouched down next to the body that lay just beneath the tree, “it’s Collins,” Kain identified, looking up at Gavin. Her heart was beating faster. She had trained with Collins just a few days ago.

“His stomach isn’t torn open?” Gavin remarked, assuming that he was killed by a fae demon while studying Collins’s body while Kain subtly turned his head to look at his neck. He didn’t have a symbol like the other bodies either, “what is it?” Gavin asked, watching Kain, who remained unaware of his watchful eyes.

She let go of Collins’s chin and shook her head, “nothing, just thought I saw something, but it was just a beetle,” Kain lied.

“What’s that?” Gavin pointed to the other side of Collins’s neck. Kain went a little cold as she hesitantly turned Collins’s head the other side, “it’s an imprint…from something,” she said, feeling herself relax then she frowned, “why does it look so familiar to me?” she asked more to herself but Gavin answered anyway, “what do you mean?”

She frowned up at him, “I think I saw this pattern somewhere before, but I don’t quite remember where?” she explained in bewilderment. She stared down at the imprint again, tracing it gently with her fingers, it was a beautiful boarder in a small squarish shape with a three headed snake in the centre.

She had a feeling she knew exactly where she had seen the imprint before, but she didn’t want to think about it right now, hoping that she was wrong about her suspicions. She studied the rest of the body looking for any kind of implication to how he might have died. Especially because it didn’t fit the other fae attacks. She saw a black splotch on the space just below the collar bone. She pulled back Collins’s shirt until she could see two black holes on his skin, “a bite mark?” she asked confused. It’s kind of did look like a snake bite. They had never seen a fae demon that could have produced this kind of bite-mark before.

Gavin shook his head, frowning down at the two black holes, “I don’t think so, they look like injection holes,” Gavin ran his fingers over the two holes, “I don’t think a fae demon did this. This was done by a kind of weapon,” he added distantly. He tilted his head to the side, inspecting the wound from another angle.

Kain looked at the piece of shirt where the black splotch was, “but it’s the same black poison we found at the morgue?” she remarked, her head starting to spin. She didn’t know if it was due to the lack of breakfast or the uneasy feeling she felt inside.

“Perhaps it was a fae working alongside the fae demons?” Gavin suggested, even if both of them knew the right answer, it was still a far stretch to the possibilities. Kain looked around some more and her eyes fell on one of Collins’s daggers, it had a rim of greenish fluid on it. “Perhaps,” she murmured, picking up the dagger. Maybe it wasn’t such a far stretch after all.

By the looks of the amount of green fluid on the dagger, Kain could tell that the fae who was sliced must have been badly hurt and not able to have gone very far, but the fae would still have been alive which meant that Kain could track it down and perhaps get some answers about the symbol. But she couldn’t do it with Gavin around. She wondered how she was going to get rid of Gavin without seeming suspicious. “Wasn’t Collins also a two-dagger person like you?” Gavin asked, looking around for the other dagger. “Yeah, why?” she asked, not really paying attention to him. She was looking for a trail of green blood, knowing that there should be one given the amount of blood on the dagger.

“Because the other dagger isn’t here! The fae must have escaped and took the dagger with it,” he finished with an edge to his voice, his gaze resting on the dagger in her hand.

Kain stared at Gavin then. Something lit up in her thoughts. “Gavin, Sophia would have been out here with him. Remember how we saw them leaving the academy last night? They were together,” Gavin stared back at her, both thinking the same thing. If that was true then they should be looking for Sophia as well. Whether it was for her or her body, it didn’t matter. Collins and Sophia were both hunters of the Academy and both needed to be retrieved. “We should look further along the river,” Gavin started to suggest but Kain quickly cut him off. “No!” she said then realized, what she was saying when Gavin stared at her strangely. That didn’t seem suspicious at all, Kain thought to herself. “I mean,” she said, blinking a few times as she tried to think of some way of recovery. Her eyes fell on Collins, “you should take Collins back to the academy. I will stay and see if I can find Sophia,” she corrected quickly, trying to seem less suspicious.

Gavin raised his eyebrows at her. “I’ll be alright, I can take care of myself and you know it!” she added gently. She lifted the dagger higher, “besides, the fae is hurt badly. It won’t be any threat to me,” she added with a shrug. Gavin hovered a little moment longer before giving in, “fine but I will be joining you again as soon as I dropped Collins of at the academy,” he promised.

“Fine” Kain agreed, already searching the woods for any sign of movement. Gavin bended down, throwing Collins over his shoulder, “Kain,” he called to her. “What?” she asked frustrated, turning towards him.

“Be safe,” he said before walking back the way they came. Kain stared after him. Why can’t she just tell him everything and get it of her chest, she wondered angrily to herself. Once Gavin was out of sight, Kain started to walk further into the woods. She was heading towards the river when she spotted a smear of green blood on the bottom of the tree trunk. Kain stared at the blood smear which had a metallic shimmer to it. She noted that the blood, still looked semi-fresh. “I know you are here!” she called into the woods, “and I know you are hurt!” she added, scanning the trees in front of her. She could see nothing, but thanks to her special skills, she could sense the presence of someone nearby.

“I can help you!” she called out, trying to draw the fae out. “All I want in return is some answers which only fae could give me!” Still no movement. Kain walked a little further towards the river. “I won’t hurt you! I promise! I just need to know something about the thing I found and only you can help me. Only a fae can tell me!” she said, almost pleading. From a few trees in front of her, Kain caught movement. She started to walk very slowly towards that tree, careful not to make any rushed movements, with fear of chasing the fae away. The fae stumbled out from behind the tree, with Sophia clutched against the fae’s chest and Collins’s dagger pressed against her throat.

“Stay where you are!” the fae warned in her fae-accent. The fae girl’s hands shook slightly and they clutched the dagger with nervous fingers. Kain realized that Sophia wasn’t in any real danger. By the looks of it, Kain could tell that this fae hadn’t killed a single soul in her life. Although that didn’t mean the fae wouldn’t bolt if she thought that she had the chance. Kain could tell that the fae didn’t really want to hurt either of them, she just used Sophia’s body as a shield for her own protection.

Kain put her hands slowly into the air, “alright,” she said, her voice gentle and clear. Careful not to make any sudden movements in fear of chasing the fae girl away, or worse. She was a mere fae girl probably still in her late teenage stage and undeniably scared. Kain moved her eyes towards Sophia who stared at Kain in turn with wide, horror-filled eyes. “I need you to let her go,” Kain said to the fae girl, inclining her head towards Sophia and still using her gentle tone, but the girl shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” she said with a vicious snarl in her voice. The pink rose-like petal-leaves on her head expanded around her head like a lizard warning off his enemies. Kain caught Sophia’s frozen expression of shock, plastered on her face. The expression wasn’t directed towards the dagger pressing against her throat or the fae expanding herself to enhance aggression. It was directed towards Kain. Her eyes filled with bewilderment. Kain realized that the fae girl had a similar expression on her face, Sophia and the dagger temporarily forgotten. Even her fear seemed to dwindle a little.

“You speak FAE, Kain! How can you speak fae!” Sophia screamed at Kain with frightened tears running down her pale cheeks. Kain stared at Sophia blankly, “what are you talking about?” she asked bewildered. Sophia wasn’t making any sense. Maybe the fae had drugged or she was suffering with traumatic hallucinations.

“Please Kain!” Sophia insisted, “what are you telling her?” she pleaded. Sophia was beyond hysterical. “Sophia, I’m talking the same language I’ve spoken all my life. You can hear me!” Kain said loudly, the confusion growing more by the minute.

“How long have you been working with the fae?” Sophia accused, “how long have you been spying on us?” she spat, her eyes squinting at Kain. Kain frowned at her, “Sophia what,” she started to say, but the fae cut her off.

“She’s not wrong,” the fae commented with bewildered surprise. Kain lifted her eyes from Sophia’s scared expression towards the fae girl’s surprised and wondering expression. “You are speaking fae. I am speaking fae to you and you are talking fae to me. I don’t speak your filthy human languages,” the fae explained with added disgust at the last words.

“I don’t understand,” Kain said slowly, “how can I speak fae? I’m human. Besides, I’ve never spoken any other language before in my life, let alone fae languages!” Kain defended. “There might be an explanation,” the fae said thoughtfully.

“Like what?” Kain asked irritably. The fae girl wasn’t making sense and neither was Sophia and her accusations.

“You could be fae, and you didn’t know it for one,” the girl challenged with wide eyes.

Kain stared at the girl for a moment, before bursting into hysterical laughter, “me?” she pressed her fingers into her chest, “a fae? impossible!” she snorted.

“What are you talking about?” Sophia demanded angrily, “Kain!” she shouted when Kain didn’t answer. The fae’s eyes flickered at the mention of Kain’s name. “Is Kain short for something?” the fae asked, her face unreadable.

Kain shook her head, “no, it’s always just been Kain.” she answered automatically. She had been asked that question several times growing up. The first time was through the orphanage then by Abbadon. To her it sounded like a normal name. There was never sense in the idea of why people thought it was short for something, like a nickname to a name she could no longer remember.

“What are you saying to her? What’s she saying to you?” Sophia demanded again, “if you think you can get away with schemes of killing me, then you must be confident!” Sophia snorted angrily at Kain. Kain rolled her eyes at Sophia, who in turn made a sarcastic sound, even with a dagger pressing against her throat. “Shut up Sophia!” Kain shouted at her, forgetting that Sophia was her fellow hunter and the girl she was communing was a fae who was pressing a dagger to Sophia’s throat.

She looked up at the fae girl, breathing heavily, “please let her go. I promise that I won’t hurt you,” Kain focused her eyes on the girl’s vibrant green eyes. Hoping that the fae could see the honest plea hidden there. The fae girl stared at Sophia for a while, then looked back up at Kain. There must have been something in Kain’s eyes because the fae girl released Sophia and clutched her stomach with her free hand while she held onto the dagger with her other. Kain saw metallic green liquid seeping through her clutching fingers.

Sophia ran towards Kain, her hand covering the space where the dagger was pressing against her throat. “She let me go?” Sophia asked confused. Kain turned towards Sophia with an assuring look, “she never meant to hurt you. She’s just scared,” Kain added, positive about her statement.

Sophia gave the fae girl a quick glance before glaring at Kain, “what did she say to you?” Sophia demanded then shook her head, “never mind that. This is our chance. Come on Kain, we need to finish her,” Sophia snarled, turning back to the fae girl. The fae girl’s face turned from trusting to concern, and the hand clutching her wounded stomach clenched with fear.

Kain subtly reached into her cloak pocket, “everything will be alright,” she said, keeping her tone calm. Kain slowly removed her hand from her pocket and lifted it with an object inside of it. Kain turned the object in her hand, then with quick, unexpected movement, she shoved the object into Sophia’s neck. Kain caught Sophia before she fell to the ground then gently laid Sophia down onto the damp leaves, where she breathed deeply. The fae girl stared at her blankly. Kain gave her a weak smile, “she’ll be fine. She won’t remember much of anything though,” she said quietly. She wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon either, which was what Kain wanted.

Then she straightened up and stared at the fae girl. “We really need to talk,” Kain said. The fae girl nodded, “I guess we do,” She agreed.