The Sankari Legends Book One: The Scars We Hide

I was freefalling for about two terrifying seconds before I landed in the giant hand. I didn’t realize what was going on as I screamed out as the pain in my ribs flared.

“Alia, you okay?”

I recognized that voice. Turning over, I looked up into the giant face of my drill instructor Peter Gray.

Peter was the fourth member of what was known around Edil as the Edil Royals but I’ve always part of the group that calls it the Z Squad, which Zig affectionately came up with as a better name for the team (since their given name was extremely cliché), as he was also one of the members. Layne Blythe, who was pretty much the undisputed leader of the team, and then KC Kinsey, Zig’s girlfriend, filled the other two spots on the team though that definitely was not her most defining trait. KC was one of the strongest members of the Z Squad, which was saying something considering there wasn’t a single weak member.

Anyway, back to Peter. I’d known Peter basically my entire time at the academy. He’d been my drill leader since day one, and I could honestly say he was one of the best. He had the unique ability of being able to change his size—either to make himself bigger or smaller, depending on the situation. It was one of those rare family powers that was passed down from generation to generation through one bloodline. I’d never even heard of someone with Peter’s kind of power until I’d met the guy. But boy was I glad about it now.

“Peter, it’s about time you got here,” I said. Even though I was extremely relieved to see him, I couldn’t actually reveal that to him. Though of course he would know.

“Yeah, well I heard you were dropping in for a visit,” Peter retorted. I scoffed at the pun, trying to adjust to the fact his voice hadn’t changed when he had grew, despite by all logic it should have.

“Just get me back to the window, Peter,” I said. He held his hand up to the window I had fell through and I looked into the room.

“How is that possible?” I asked when I discovered it empty. “They’re gone.”

“Who?”

“Sabin, Tyler, and Nicki, plus the konna they were fighting,” I answered. “They’re all gone.”

“Peter! Alia!”

Peter and I turned our attention to the ground to see Layne standing there.

“Looks like we’re needed on the ground,” Peter said before lowering his hand so I could stand beside Layne and then shrinking back to his normal size.

Layne glanced up at the broken second story window I’d just fallen from.

“Alia, what is going on up there?” she asked.

I’d never had many close encounters with Layne, but I knew that Tyler and Megan both held a healthy amount of fear for her. Armed with dual swords she kept strapped to her back and a calm presence that masked a powerful storm, Layne Blythe was not someone to cross the wrong way.

“Three konna attacked the infirmary,” I said. “I was there with Tyler Gray, Nicki Raider, and Sabin Raider. Tyler lost his prosthetic arm, Sabin can’t fight because of his gunshot wound, and Nicki is only a first year. They aren’t there now, so I can only assume they’ve be pushed out into the hall.”

Layne paused only for a few seconds to take this in before turning to Peter.

“I need you in the infirmary, code Z. KC’s already there with him, and Alec, though Alec has instructions to go upstairs as soon as he can.” She glanced over at me and noted the hand I had placed over my broken ribs before looking back at Peter. “Giant-up and take Alia with you. I need her to sense the konna who can turn herself invisible.”

Odyssa. The name jumped into my head and all I could remember was the cold laugh she had given when she gave me the ultimatum of letting Alec die or to allow the two of us to be captured.

“I can do that,” I said, setting my resolve.

“What are you going to do?” Peter asked Layne, meeting her eyes firmly.

Just for a brief second, I saw a softer light flash in Layne’s eyes. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but for that second I knew I had seen a side of the Queen of Edil that not many others saw.

“I had to help Zig,” she said quietly but sternly to Peter. “But now I can’t be here.”

I wanted to ask why that was but knew it wasn’t my place. Peter seemed to understand and nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Come back to us when you’re ready.”

Layne nodded and placed a soft kiss on Peter’s cheek before taking off further into the gardens. Peter and I watched her go, and then took off to follow orders.

Held high in Peter’s hand, I had a great vantage point to reach out and try to sense Odyssa. It wasn’t long before I sensed her.

“Hold up Peter,” I said, looking down at the garden area below. My ribs cried out in pain and without really thinking it through, I laid a hand against them and used my telekinesis to push them back in place. It took a fair amount of concentration and a good share of muttered swears, but eventually I could stand up without feeling too much pain.

“Whoa, what did you do?” Peter asked as I stood up.

“I had to set my ribs in the right place,” I grunted. “It’s not a permanent fix and it still hurts like hell, but I feel better about fighting now.”

“Okay how did you do that?”

I walked to the edge of his hand and looked over. Odyssa was still down there and she hadn’t moved. Was she expecting me?

Don’t worry about that now, Alia, I thought.

“Peter, you go on and help Zig,” I said.

“Will you be alright?”

I smirked but didn’t turn to face him.

“Don’t worry about me, drill leader. I’m going to teach this invisi-witch she can’t screw with my team. You go take care of your own.”

And then I jumped out of his hand.

That may have been one of my more idiotic ideas, which was quite impressive considering all of the idiotic ideas I’d had the past few days. But this idiotic idea… aside from the fact it did wonders for my already screwed up rib cage, actually worked. Well, sort of worked. I had aimed to land on what looked like a pretty cushy bush while slowing my descent with my telekinesis. Unfortunately, I missed the bush. But I had managed to slow my fall just enough to where I didn’t hurt myself too much more.

As it was, I still ended up ungracefully rolling on the ground uttering swear after swear for a good few minutes, at least until I heard an all too familiar voice say:

“Wow, you really are a disappointment, aren’t you?”

“Nice to see you too,” I growled, pushing myself up to my knees.

“Oh please, we both know you can’t see me,” Odyssa said.

“Screw you.”

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, Alia?” she asked. “Oh… wait I forgot.”

I glared at the space I sensed her standing in.

“You...” I said. “You can’t possibly know anything about my parents.”

“Hmm, I know what really happened the night they died,” she mused.

“What?”

“Your parents. I know the truth about their deaths. And more importantly, I know that Alec knows the same.”

I was about to say something back to her when the full realization of what she had just said hit.

Alec knew the truth about the night my parents had died? But… he’d always said he couldn’t remember anything from that night, other than being blasted through a window. Had he been lying to me?

“I can’t believe that,” I said. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Mm, suit yourself. But if I were you, I’d ask your dear brother about that night. It may turn out he knows more than he’s letting on.”

“Shut the hell up!” I screamed, launching what objects I could at her. “You know nothing about Alec! Nothing!”

Alia, we need your help. Tyler’s voice rang in my head.

I’m a little busy Tyler, go away.

Alia, it’s important. We’ve got three ridiculously strong konna here and the only thing keeping them from killing us is Megan, but she’s not going to last much longer.

An image flashed in my mind of Megan standing in the midst of three large metal boxes. It only took me a few seconds to realize Megan had been the one that had created the boxes. How she did that, I had no idea, but I didn’t have time to think about that. She was shaking from the strain it was putting on her powers. Alec appeared at the end of the hall and the vision disappeared.

“Problem with the team, Alia?” Odyssa asked me smugly.

“You keep your mouth shut,” I ordered, pointing my finger at her.

Alia, Alec says he needs you. Tyler’s voice sounded even more urgent than before.

What about Odyssa? I asked.

We can’t do anything about that right now. KC will be there in just a second.

Right as he said that, KC appeared next to me. She grabbed my arm and said “hold on” before we vanished. The last thing I saw before we left the gardens was the smug look on Odyssa’s face as she vanished in a cloud of black energy.

In the span of a blink, I was standing in a hallway with the rest of my team, plus Tyler and Nicki. They all looked like hell, and I had to hold back a laugh at the sight of Sabin sitting indignantly in a wheelchair.

My gaze landed on Alec last.

“What’s the plan?” I asked him.

We studied each other for a few minutes. I knew the others would be totally confused, but I was easily able to understand what he was thinking. The way we were able to understand each other without even speaking never ceased to surprise me, but right now I was distracted. Had what Odyssa said about said about him knowing the truth about the night our parents died been true? Was he really keeping this from me?

Focus Alia!

For once, the annoying inner voice was right. I turned back to Alec with my full attention on the situation at hand. We could worry about the rest after we had finished kicking konna ass.

I was actually kind of shocked when I realized what Alec was suggesting we try. A move we had only ever practiced, but never actually used. Plus, with the whole memory-rewriting thing I still didn’t understand, it had been over a year since we had even practiced the move.

“You know that might not work, right?”

“Ahem, for those of us not included in the conversation, what exactly is it we’re talking about?” Nicki asked, looking between the two of us with a stern expression that only confirmed she was related to Sabin.

I glanced back at Alec and he gave me a look that basically confirmed my fear. We didn’t really have any other option but to try this move. He took a breath before saying:

“It’s a move we’ve only tried a few times, and we haven’t even tried in the last year, but every time it’s ended with-“

“-with varying results,” I finished. Then, to try and add a little optimism to the group, I added with a shrug: “But who knows, it might work this time!”

“You mean whatever you’re about to do has never worked before?” Sabin asked, his voice was filled with skepticism as he looked at my brother and I.

Alec and I winced simultaneously. That was exactly what we were meaning. They all knew that was what we meant, but no point in saying so.

“Hurry the hell up,” Megan said, her voice barely audible through her clenched teeth. “Or we’re all about to have another fight on our hands.”

“Okay, everyone, get back,” I said. I telekinetically pushed Sabin’s wheelchair down the hall, much to his protest. Tyler and Nicki chased after him.

A loud banging sounded from inside one of the boxes and Megan winced and stumbled back slightly. She dropped the weapons she was holding onto.

Alec took her hand before I could even say anything.

“Just a few more seconds, Meg,” he said quietly to her. He looked up at me and I gave him a firm nod. I turned my concentration to the boxes. Three of them against Alec and I. I could sense inside and tell we were going to be up against Daphne, Cayne, and Lettner. Figures. At least that jerk Tyrone wasn’t around.

“Let down the barriers on my mark,” Alec told Megan, but I wasn’t focusing on them. Steadying my breaths, I closed my eyes and sensed the space around me. I could feel Alec tensing for battle. His energy levels matched with mine as he started the count.

“Five…”

Megan stood beside him, but her energy was wavering. She wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Four…”

The box Cayne was in shook as he slammed his fist against the wall. Megan stumbled again but Alec held her up.

“Three…”

Something wasn’t right. My eyes flew open and I looked at the boxes. The energy inside had shifted. It was darker than ever and nearly suffocating.

“Two... One…”

I looked back over at where Megan and Alec were standing just as the sounds inside of the boxes ceased. Megan looked like she was about to collapse any second. Alec seemed to have picked up on the change of energy in the room. His brow furrowed as he uttered his final count:

“Now!”

Megan dropped the boxes just as I felt the boxes empty. Instead of finding Daphne, Cayne, and Lettner, in their places were three portals of dark energy… the same I had seen Odyssa walk through before KC had brought me here.

“Tyrone,” I said, looking to Alec. But he didn’t hear me.

“Megan?” he said. She started to collapse backwards and he caught her just in time before she cracked her head on the floor. “Don’t do this Megan. Please no.”

“Alec, what’s happening?” I asked, going to Megan’s other side.

“Alia, she’s in trouble,” Alec said, looking up at me with pleading eyes. “She’s burning up.”

I didn’t pretend to understand what was going on. Behind me, I sensed the portals close and the dark energy in the room decrease except in one area: Megan.

No.

“This happened to Zig earlier. He used his powers a different way than normal, but had to tap into the dark energy inside of himself to do it,” Alec explained. He looked down at Megan and quietly added, “he almost died from it Als. The only reason he didn’t was because KC and Layne were there with him. They helped him expel the energy.”

A cloud of dark energy surrounded her. I could feel her fighting against it, but she was already weak from using too much of her power. I had no idea what Alec or I could do to help. We weren’t KC or Layne. Other than Alec’s knowledge of what had happened to Zig, we really had no idea what was going on.

“Alec, I…”

“No, Alia. There has to be something we can do,” he said.

Memories of the two of them together flooded through my mind as I looked at them now. There was no doubt in my mind that Alec cared for Megan, and that he was willing to do anything to help her. I realized then that there was no reason to be angry because Megan had not told us the truth about who she really was or that she had powers. She had done it to keep herself safe, but it was more than that. She had been keeping us safe to. And I remembered now, with my newly adjusted memories, that Megan had once told us about her powers, though there was a lot more to them than what she had said at that time.

Even so, I realized that I couldn’t let her down now.

“Come on, Megan,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t hear me but at the same time knowing there wasn’t much else I could do. I gripped her arm tightly, ignoring the way the dark energy made me feel. “You’re stronger than this. Fight it.”

“Don’t let the darkness take you, Meg,” Alec said softly to her. “You’ve got to fight.”

“You can fight this,” I said.

“You are strong,” Alec said.

All at once, the darkness began to dissipate. In it’s place, I felt a bright energy thrumming through Megan. It took all of my self-control not to cheer.

“She’s doing it!” I told Alec. He grinned and gripped Megan’s hand tightly.

“Come on, Megan,” he said earnestly. “Keep fighting. You can beat this.”

I felt the remaining dark energy flee as a small smile formed on Megan’s lips. She had won the fight and was now resting peacefully. I looked at Alec. His eyes were filled with relief and I couldn’t help but notice the faint glisten of tears that shown at the edges of them.

“She’s going to be alright,” he said quietly.

I nodded. “Yeah. She’ll be fine.”

Megan and Zig were in the infirmary for another few days before they were finally allowed up. On the day when Megan finally was released, she came to see me in my dorm.

“Hey Alia,” she said, standing awkwardly in the door. I was sprawled on my bed, a book in my lap. Because of my broken ribs, I had been ordered to bed rest, but fortunately they hadn’t required me to stay in the infirmary. “I uh… there was something I needed to tell you.”

I sat up gingerly, my ribs still a bit sore and gestured for her to come sit down beside me. Once she had, I said: “Shoot.”

Megan looked like she was about to hurl, but instead took a deep breath and said: “I just wanted to say… Thanks. For… standing up for me. For saying I wasn’t a traitor.”

I frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about, but then I realized…

“You saw that?”

She nodded. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. It’s just… when I was fixing everyone’s memories, everyone’s memories went through my mind as well as their own—even the ones that I hadn’t changed. That one stood out more than the others. I don’t know why, other than it was one of the more recent ones and well…”

She dropped her head. I could tell she wasn’t sure about everything that had happened, and something told me that whatever had happened with the whole dark energy business and Zig and Brittany was still messing with her too.

I reached out and grabbed Megan’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m a mental power too, remember? Powers are wacky and hard to control.”

“Did you mean it?” she asked.

“What?”

“Did you mean what you said, about me not being a traitor?”

“Of course,” I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because I’m half konna,” Megan said. “And I didn’t tell you. And my powers…”

I interrupted her.

“Look, I understand why you didn’t say anything about it. And I meant what I said when I apologized too. It wasn’t fair of me to call you out like that without first trying to understand why you would’ve done it.”

I took a breath.

“And you had told us about your powers,” I continued. “About a year and a half ago. Right around the time when you and Alec first became an official ‘thing’.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, blushing slightly. “That… we actually haven’t decided what to do about that yet.”

“So you aren’t an official ‘thing’ again?”

Megan shook her head. “No… we just aren’t sure about it right now. It’s a long story.”

“I understand,” I said. “But Megan, just so you know, whatever you two decide, Alec really does care a lot about you. When we thought the dark energy was going to kill you, he was terrified he was going to lose you.”

Megan was quiet for a few seconds to take this in. Then she said:

“And you?”

“Me?” I scoffed. “Please, I knew you were going to kick that dark energy’s ass. You just needed some motivation.”

She laughed lightly and looked down at her feet, lost in thought. It was a while before she spoke again.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I… I didn’t realize the energy would have that effect on me. I mean, I should have. The same happened to Zig, but…”

“Megan, it’s okay,” I said. “The fact that you’re half konna changes nothing. You’re still you and always will be. And we’ll always be around to support you.”

Megan looked up at me and gave me a slight smile.

“Thanks Alia.”

We hugged, despite the fact that my ribs screamed in protest and Megan still only had the one arm to use that wasn’t confined to a sling. When we broke apart, she stood up and walked to the door.

“By the way, Layne wants to meet with us later this afternoon. She said she has some information about why the konna attacked here.”

I nodded and watched as Megan went out the door, only to almost run into my brother. It was actually pretty humorous to watch them work around each other to let the other through the doorway. Both were blushing furiously and it was hard for me not to laugh. Honestly, I was rooting for them to get back together, because they were perfect for each other, but that’s a debate for another day.

After Megan was gone, Alec turned to me. Gone was his adorable blush, replaced with a serious face.

“Hey bro,” I said, giving him a concerned look. “What’s up?”

“I’m not really sure,” he said. “But… when we were planning about that move a few days ago, I sensed something… off… about you. I was going to ask.”

He was meaning when I was worrying about what Odyssa had told me. He’d been able to tell I wasn’t fully focused in that moment.

“Alec, look,” I started slowly. “I don’t want to sound… you know what, I’m just going to say it flat out. When I confronted Odyssa before joining you, she told me that you knew the truth about the night our parents died.”

Alec’s expression remained unreadable, but I knew him well enough to sense the way his breathing became just a little more strained, or how his heartbeat increased slightly.

“Is it true?” I asked.

He didn’t respond for a long time, which was answer enough. But I needed to hear it from him. I stood up and walked over to him.

“Alec, please. Is. It. True?”

Alec closed his eyes and took a breath. Finally he said: “Yes. Yes it’s true.”

I took a step back, not bothering to mask the shocked expression on my face as Alec met my eyes. He was telling the truth. He really did know.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“Because, Alia, I… I didn’t want you to have to carry the same weight I do. Because I saw it happen.”

“Saw what happen? What are you talking about Alec?”

The emotions that he radiated right then almost overloaded my senses. I gasped and shook my head, not ready for what he was about to say.

“Mom and Dad weren’t killed in the fire that night,” Alec said quietly. “They were murdered. By a girl only a few years older than us. She had a knife and wanted Dad to tell her the secrets of Einoth. But he wouldn’t. So she killed Mom. I had been hiding behind the couch, but had climbed out when I realized something was wrong. I saw her pull the knife across Mom’s throat, Als. And then I cried out, she would’ve killed me, but Dad tried to stop her and she stabbed him and…”

Alec stopped talking, his eyes closed and his breathing hard. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to comfort him, but another wanted to throw him through a wall. Yet another realized there was even more to the story.

“The girl, Alec,” I said slowly. “You know who it was, don’t you?”

I looked back up at me then, and the look of hard determination and malice in his eyes is one I will never forget.

“Odyssa,” he said quietly. “It was Odyssa.”

I can’t describe the emotions that went through my mind right then, or even how long I blanked. At some point, I realized that I’d lost control of my powers and my room was now in shambles. I took a few calming breaths before turning to Alec.

“How did you find out?” I asked.

“She told me,” he said. “For years, I had only known her as Dagger Girl. I knew that there wasn’t any way I’d ever see her again. But now…”

I didn’t have to be a mind reader to tell what he was thinking.

“You can’t possibly be thinking about getting revenge, can you?” I asked. When he didn’t answer, I continued.

“Alec, look, normally I’m one of the first to jump into something rash and impulsive, but we’ve been up against Odyssa’s team before. There’s no way we can stand to take her anytime soon. Especially not if she has powerhouses like Brittany and Tyrone backing her.”

“She killed our parents, Alia,” he said softly, his voice barely audible.

I wanted to say something else to try and talk him out of this ridiculous idea. I knew from personal experience that revenge would get you nothing but more heartbreak. But before I could say anything, KC suddenly appeared in the room.

“Hey guys, Layne has called a meeting. She wants you two there.”

She didn’t even give us a chance to respond before she grabbed our arms and teleported us into Sabin’s room in the infirmary. With his gunshot wound still healing, he wasn’t allowed to leave. So he was stuck here for another few days.

It looked like we were the last ones to arrive. Alec and I refused to look at each other as I went to take a seat at the end of Sabin’s bed and Alec chose to stand next to Megan’s chair.

I admit I was pissed at him. First he didn’t tell me about our parents, and then he rashly sets his mind on revenge? I didn’t have long to think about that though, because Layne entered the room then, flanked by Zig, Peter, and a third guy I recognized as Damon Moniz, a technopath who didn’t do field work, but was more or less the unofficial fifth member of the Z Squad.

Right before Layne started to speak, our group was completed by a girl with blazing red hair and scary gray eyes.

“Did I miss the party?” she asked.

I had no idea who she was, but everyone else did apparently—or rather, everyone except Damon, Peter, Zig, Alec, and me. So maybe not everyone.

“I’m Emmalie, by the way, for those of you who don’t know,” she said, directed at no one in particular, but definitely an answer to my unasked question of who the hell she was.

She’s a telepath, Tyler said via thought. Not as good as me, of course, but still pretty damn good.

Not as good as you? Bull, Emmalie replied.

“If you two are done flirting,” Layne said sternly, giving the two telepaths a pointed look, “There are important matters to discuss.”

We all turned our attention to her as she shifted her gaze over the members of our group.

“Everyone already knows the events of what has happened the past few days with the graduation mission, and then the Parker twins being captured as well as the konna infiltration. What I’m sure you have not heard is why the konna specifically chose their targets.”

We knew. Boy, did we know.

“The konna were wanting to know the secret of how to enter Einoth,” Layne said. “While it’s true they would have preferred to get the information from Alec, that didn’t work exactly to plan. But that didn’t matter, as they already had infiltrating Edil as a backup plan. We were too late to stop them.”

Alec looked up at Layne with alarm. She nodded at him solemnly.

“Dammit,” he said, punching the closest wall hard enough to leave a dent in it. I couldn’t tell if it was this news that upset him this much, or if he was still wound up from the conversation we had just had.

No one said anything for a while until Megan finally did.

“Alec…” Megan started slowly. She glanced over at Layne before continuing. “Alec, what is the secret to getting into Einoth?”

Alec took a shaky breath. “It’s not really that big of a secret, honestly. It’s just… not many people not from Einoth are privileged to know. Anyway, the secret is that the gates to Einoth can only be opened by an elementest. There are four different gates, one for each element. The elementest opens whatever gate they have the power for.”

“Meaning you can enter from any gate?” I asked.

He nodded, still refusing to meet my gaze. “It’s not that big of a deal honestly. But the konna knowing that… well…”

“As far as we know, the konna don’t have any elementests on their side,” Peter said. “Right?” he looked to Layne for confirmation.

“It’s true they don’t have any sided with them, but unfortunately that was step two of their infiltration plan,” Layne said. “They came here to kidnap at least one of the three elementests at the academy.”

“Alec’s one,” Emmalie said. I bit back frustration with her. Did she even go here?

In response, Emmalie glanced over at me and gave me the slightest wink.

“I know the other two,” Alec said slowly. “Marina the water elementest and Asher the fire elementest.” (Tyler snickered at the names, muttering something about “creative naming”. Nicki smacked him for it while Alec ignored him and continued). “But neither of them are from Einoth.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Layne said. “They still have elemental powers, meaning the konna can use that to their advantage.”

“Wait,” Sabin said. “Do you mean that they actually managed to kidnap one of the other elementests?”

“They didn’t capture one of the elementests,” Layne said. “They captured both of them.”