Ch. 6

Kate stumbled over a jutting root yet again, falling into the knee-high snow, and felt pain flare into her ankle, twisted now so much that she couldn’t walk far without falling in the process. Agony filtered through every step she took, but she gritted her teeth and bit her lip to the point of bleeding to keep from crying out. She had twisted her ankle when she had caught it between two close boulders on her way down the side of a mountain and it had taken Damien twenty minutes to move one of the boulders without touching Kate to free her. He had insisted that she wrap it and, though it hurt her terribly, she obeyed, but not as tightly as she ought to have. Huffing and puffing, she managed to get to her feet once more and glanced up to see Damien waiting patiently by a dying tree in the thick snow, sapphire eyes staring coolly at her. Kate’s own emerald hues narrowed in a glare before she stumbled forward towards the other. “You know, you don’t have t—” she began once she had caught up with Damien before falling straight towards him. She felt her eyes widen in terror, her heart clench, as she drew closer to his body – they couldn’t touch! But the next thing she knew was heavy snow all about her, her already cold and wet clothes clinging even tighter to her now. Struggling to her knees, she looked up to see Damien frowning down at her. She couldn’t believe it. Was he actually upset with her for almost making contact with him? It wasn’t as if she had done it on purpose!
Damien turned on his heel and continued walking, ignoring the grunts of the girl behind him as she struggled to her feet to follow. She was acting like a fool, endangering more than she realized by getting so close to him. He had had to step aside very quickly indeed to avoid touching her and had felt her wet clothing brush against the skin of his hand as she fell. Damn her, she needed to be more careful and not draw so close to him Sighing gently, he glanced up at the setting sun and decided it was time to start searching for a place to stay the night. Neither of the two really knew where they were going or even where they were anymore. They simply walked. Kate, at first, had demanded where he was taking her, but upon not receiving any response for so long, she had eventually given up. In fact, she was now consumed with simply surviving, letting the boy worry about where they were going and how they got there, which was towards their advantage. Of the two of them, Damien was the most aware of their current situation. In fact, it seemed that Kate had no idea as to what she really was or what they were meant to be doing. But Damien knew, and time was growing short.
It took them another fifteen minutes before they found a reasonably sized cave, and when they did, Kate sank gratefully to her knees, not even noticing how cold and hard the stone floor was, but merely happy that she had a place to rest. She was exhausted, after all, and her ankle felt as thought it were going to snap in two at any moment. For a while, she merely sat there, her eyes closed, letting her mind wander. It had been only too recently that she was just a college grad student, working her way to her Master’s degree, still secretly angry with her ex-boyfriend, and feeling very much alone. And yet, now here she was, wandering through woods with a strange boy she met in an Asylum, completely lost and too afraid to try and find help in case she should be convicted of starting the fire that completely destroyed that asylum. Yet, despite all this, she felt as though it were perfectly natural, and while Damien infuriated her sometimes, being with him always made her feel as though she wasn’t alone as she had previously been and, even stranger still, as though they were always together.
When she opened those emerald hues again, it was to find aquamarine eyes staring straight into hers with a bit of curiosity in them. For a moment, Kate thought it was Damien, but then those eyes were a much lighter shade of blue than Damien’s. Suddenly she realized it was a girl and immediately stood up and much too fast, for her ankle gave way and she was sitting down again.

“Wh-What the…?” Kate began but was interrupted by the girl’s lovely laugh that tinkled like the beginning drops of rain on a window.
“Well this is a strange sight!” She said quietly, pushing a piece of waist-length, ebony hair behind her ear before squatting down and picking up a small, black kitten. “Just what are you doing all the way out here?”
“Well I, uh…” Kate began before realizing that Damien was nowhere insight.
“Don’t worry, Brother went outside to get some wood. I told him it was silly to do that, but he didn’t seem to understand – not that he would.”
“Brother…?” Kate responded, utterly bewildered. Was this a dream?
“Of course! He’s my twin, remember? Have you forgotten that? And no, it’s not a dream.” She said, staring at Kate as if she wondered if she were sane.
“Twin..? Wait, how can I remember something if I never knew it in the first place!?” Kate said, suddenly angry and not understanding what was going on.
“Oh dear.” She said quietly before looking up as Damien walked into the room.

The strange girl stood and shook out her long, silky hair, smiling indulgently at Kate a moment before turning and walking to Damien. It was apparent now that they were related – they were the exact same height and had the same bone-structures. The two immediately began to talk quietly, glancing her way every now and then, which only angered Kate more. In fact, it got so bad that Kate abruptly stood, careful of her ankle, and reprimanded them for talking about someone so obviously. “It’s just rude!” she concluded, earning a pouting look from the girl, and a strange, almost pitying look from Damien.

“Hey…” the girl began walking toward her. “We didn’t mean it like that…It’s just…The fact that you don’t remember really makes this whole situation harder, you know?” she said quietly before continuing after an incredulous look from Kate, “Well, I guess you don’t know, but what I mean is that…well…”

Again she stuck out her lower lip, pouting again, and despite how childish it was, it only increased just how beautiful she was, a fact that had, until now, escaped Kate’s observations. But now, as she stared into those lovely eyes, she found herself lost.

“Well anyway…my name is Brianna. Just call me Bri.”
“Are you going to do it or not?” Damien’s strange, hollow voice cut into the conversation like a hot sword through ice.
“I’m getting to it!” Bri suddenly yelled at Damien, then turned back to Kate with a genial smile on her face. “I’m going to help you remember.”

And before Kate could even register that statement, Bri’s lips were firmly pressed against her own. Emerald eyes widened momentarily before falling closed. Her lips were warm and soft, capturing her own in the kiss. Kate had never kissed another girl before, and it definitely felt strange, but that was nothing compared to what happened next. Memories, thousands and thousands of memories began to flood her mind, memories that were hers and yet someone else’s at the same time. It seemed to go on and on, so many memories, and it felt as though her mind were going to split – and then suddenly it ended.  She was on her back, on the cold, stone floor, covered in cold beads of sweat, emerald eyes wide and staring at the dark cave ceiling above her. There was a faint glimmer in the corner of her eye – a fire. It felt like hours since Bri had kissed her – and in fact had been.

“You could have killed her.”
“Oh don’t be such a pain, she’s fine.”
“I didn’t tell you to give her that much.”
“Yea? So I’m just supposed to do whatever you want?”
“As a lesser, ye—“
“I am not a lesser, Daitrus!”
“You are to me. And be careful where you use that name.”
“Oh yes, my Lord!”

Slowly Kate sat up, finding she barely had the energy to do so, and looked over at the fighting twins, each wearing a mask of fury. Sibling rivalry, huh? She thought to herself, amused for the first time in days.

“Cut it out…” she managed to say, trying to pull on the appearance of a babysitter. “Don’t make me separate you two.”
“Kailyna, you’re awake!”
“And starving…” Kate responded before suddenly realizing what Bri had said. “What did you call me?” It had sounded so familiar, Kate had almost missed it.
“Er…” Bri began, wincing at the glare that she received from her brother.
“Go back to sleep, Kate.” Damien said coolly, not moving his eyes from those of his sister.
Kate was about to argue when suddenly she had no choice. Her mind was so exhausted that she merely fell back to sleep on her own, delving into a land of dreams where she was a completely different person and lead a completely different life. Dreams that were in no way lies.


+++

Bryl suddenly shot up in bed, aqua eyes wide with surprise, confusion, and apprehension. It had been the strangest dream. A kiss, memories, a girl who looked ever so familiar…But it was fading fast now, and she could only remember tidbits. Sighing, she rolled over onto her stomach, stretching her wings and enjoying the feel of the warm sheets against her naked skin. But then a noise caught her attention. A footfall, so soft that most would not notice it, and those who did would consider it a wench come to satisfy a noble this late at night. But Bryl never took chances.

+++

Caine woke as suddenly his doors were slammed open and three people entered the room, two at the mercy of one. Sitting up in bed, Caine immediately feared assassination – but was relieved when he recognized Bryl’s outline.

“Bryl! What the hell is going on here?” he asked gruffly, his voice stale with lack of use.

Quickly he lit his bedside lamp and walked over to the three, still in his royal bedclothes. And then, as the light filtered across the three figures, Caine’s eyes widened, for two separate reasons. First and foremost was the sheer fact that Bryl was completely naked, head to toe, and didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest by it. But second, the people she held in a firm grip, forced to their knees at her sides. They were assassins, clearly, by the clothing they chose, entirely black, and the weapons they carried, honed and perfect for dealing a quick death, but not strong enough to withstand outright battle. But even more shocking, they looked like the two people that High Pontiff Shyoran described, the ones who would wake the gods. Delight, for both these reasons, of course, filled the king and he immediately called his guards to bring them to the dungeons beneath the castle. He would deal with them in the morning. Right now, however, as the king watched Bryl leave his company, he had other ...matters to attend to.