Fourteen

I puked. Hard and for long. So hard it felt like I was almost close to puking my guts out. My stomach, I've puked all its contents out. Even half of what was in my intestines.

I looked I turned as Shay put her hands on my back and rubbed it. Her hurt black hands. Cyraon looked at me almost and stepped back from me. I got off my knees and covered my vomit with earth before attending to them.

I know I looked bad. Bruised from the hammering I received as it tried to break the spell hiding the swans from... images of the dead queen and decapitated king ran through my mind. then it's Aftermath.

I turned again to the yard and almost puked my insides out. but gladly nothing came out. What the fuck I have done. I saved someone just to have that person gruesomely tear apart a person. What the fuck have I done?

And what the fuck was wrong with today? Cyraon handed me a glass of water and I rinsed my mouth with half of it and drank the rest. He looked at me with eyes full of questions. a hint of anger and... Shay looked at me with weary eyes. Eyes weary of concern.

"Are you okay?" Cyraon asked, leaning on the remaining pillar to the three that held the second floor days ago.

Am I okay? do I look okay? I feel sick I've just seen...

what have I just seen? I've seen bodies. I've seen people decapitated. people disembodied, just not... I remembered the mixture of human guts and... I shot off again and started puking the very same water I had just drank with the very last contents of my stomach.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, you as white as a molding..." I felt the obnoxious feeling return and I puked once more.

Shay kept quiet but kept on rubbing my back with her bad hand. My mom would have said something that made me... Shay would only rub my back. The Keeper would scorn at me and tell me to take the pain in. I am a guardian, I live to face all pains and to sacrifice myself in place of others.

I can't... I looked at Shay's hand. I did that because I let my emotions dictate me. but can't she just... let's let it go.

I took her burnt hand and felt almost numbing pain flow into my hand exactly where I made contact with her.

she pulled her hand back as she saw my fingers turn as black as her hands were.

"it's okay, I can heal myself after i..." she started.

I grabbed it and my inter hand turned black as hers became lively again.

"What do you all want?" I asked. after a moment of awkward silences and awkward glances between Cyraon and Shay.

"Look, James, I... "He started, scratching his hair. I heard his thoughts, even shay's thoughts. heard of the ultimatum shay had given Cyraon after he screamed at me days ago and I threw him off... where did I throw him again? I forgot.

"No, forget it! I am not going to live with you," I told them point-blank. "There's no wah I am going to live with you. Ever!" I added as I turned away from them and walked inside the house.

"James!" Shay called.

"It's agreed then. There is no way the two of us can share a house, without killing each other. So I'm going back." Cyraon said gladly.

"fine!" Shay agreed. But the fact that she threatened Cyraon to try and make him apologize to me made me a bit nervous. she cant agree just like that.

"You all do what you want. I will do what I want. I'm going to stay here too! I don't care if this house collapses on me." she sat down and for a moment I thought she was done.

"Cyraon, you can tell the builders to start rebuilding this house tomorrow, I'll be in the basement. If any of them want to assault me, tell them to go ahead," she said and walked past me and headed to the basement.

She stopped at the bottom of the dark stairs. I walked in behind her as Cyraon complained about the emotional torture we were giving him. I lit the crystals I took at the temple of the Guardians.

"This is not as bad as I thought it would be," she said looking around the small basement. I looked at her hands and knew what I had to do. I walked to the spot where I've cast my spell and broke the energy thread I saw extending up to the sky. Shay started glowing like she is supposed to and her weary look disappeared. she looked at me as she looked at her hands.

"you can leave now," I told her as I crashed on my bunk bed.

"I didnt come here so you can break your spell, I came here because I wanted to see you" she sat next to me and uncovered my back. she scorned as she saw my bareback.

"Don't," I said covering my back but she slapped my hand away.

"you stop it! you stop hurting yourself every time you feel guilty of endangering anyone," she said as she uncovered my back again and started massaging it. "I don't like it at all," she added sounding almost like she was about to cry.

I kept to myself and stared into the blankets. she continued massaging my back, heating up all the parts that hurt especially between the shoulder blades that always hurt every time I conjured wings. the very same way mom used to rub my back.

it's been almost over a week but, I missed mom. I missed my little sister even my dad who always blamed me for everything he couldn't explain. even things I wasn't responsible for, or when he was too tired to use his rotten brain of his.

"You've seen gross things before, why did you puke earlier?" she asked as she rubbed my shoulders. "Is it related to the Swans?"

I contemplated telling her, knowing sooner or later, she was going to tell Cyraon. she kept quiet as she waited for an answer and kept on softly massaging my back.

"I saw a kid shred 2 men with a sword into a human paste." she stopped and peeked at my face.

"you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, because I saved that kid earlier and shortly after, he went after the assailants and, he killed them." she took her hands off me and took a look at my face, a detailed look as if trying to decipher if I was joking or not.

"This is not about James white, is it?"

she knew him?

I nodded and asked. "but how did you know about him?"

She took out her touch screen phone and showed the report summary with the crest of the Golden city. I looked at her.

"I think its safe to say, this place is not safe for you anymore." she said flipping the summary to the side.

there was a blured view of my face. atop of it was a bounty for me. my crime, ranging from connection to the gruesome assassination of the Monarchs of the Swans. To the hexing a crown prince of the Swans and kidnapping him.

"Tell me you didnt kill him." she said looking right into my soul.

"I think I've done worse, i think i made him a judge."

"you made him a what!" she lost all her composer and shouted. "okay, we leaving! or you are about to get killed!"