Nine

I had been at the village for seven days and had learned to control my fire throwing abilities to a certain point. June and Roan explained it was linked to my emotions and every time I was scared and threw my hands out, the fire would shoot out. I had to learn to control the fire and only use it in dire circumstances, because if I continued being spooked by people like I had been quite a bit, then I would wear myself out. It wasn't easy and many people either got scrapes or burns.

Seeing people get hurt didn't help with my emotions though. I finally got to see myself invisible when I was in Roan's bedroom crying and he told me to reveal myself so we could talk. I said I was right there, but he shook his head. That's when I looked at my hand...or tried to. It was gone, as well as the rest of my body. My crying and fear dissipated when I understood. Then I panicked and couldn't figure out how to reappear. It took Roan long minutes to calm me down so I could focus, and eventually turn visible again.

A week and a half later, I decide to go on a walk. I told Cat that I would be back by sundown and to let my brother know. As usual, she told me to not go far. I obliged, but ended up getting lost in my thoughts and going farther than planned. So I turned back to head home.

I didn't get far when I heard a whistle and turned my head to see Aspen. I drew my knife and prepared for a fight, also something I had been improving on. He chuckled. "So, I took your advice and went north to find the woman, Zahra. I found a man with dark eyes and he knew exactly who I was talking about, even gave me a description."

"So?"

"The description matched you perfectly!" He began to walk forward with narrowed eyes. "I don't like it when I am fooled, Zahra."

"Stay away!" I ordered and began to back up.

"I had to ride all the way there for nothing!" he spat and swatted my knife away, then grabbed me by the shoulders. "I looked like an idiot!"

"Let go of me!" I hissed.

"Or what?"

I shut my mouth, but let the fire roar into the air, a signal for help. Aspen screamed and held his face which was now red with blisters. I ran towards the village as fast as I could, sending up more columns of flame. I could tell I wasn't being followed because Aspen's screams of agony got farther and farther away.

"Zahra!" I hear and see my brother, June, Cat and another man with curly brown hair rushing towards me. I ran to Roan and held on, shaking uncontrollably. "What happened?" he asked softly. "Finx said he heard screaming right after we saw your fire."

I choked back the lump in my throat and gasped, "Aspen!"

I felt a gush of wind and knew Cat had sped away somewhere, then heard a pair of feet running in the direction I had come from. Lastly, I heard an unfamiliar voice say, "The screaming must have been Aspen. It wasn't a woman's scream."

I nod. Roan keeps me in his arms as we wait for something, I wasn't sure, Eventually I calm down and tell him what happened, tell him how Aspen had found out who I really was. Roan listened as well as the man. When I finished, June's footsteps could be heard again. "There's a blood trail. Aspen is wounded badly."

Roan nods. "We know. Zahra did it when she sent the signal."

"Cat just said Raven and Sorrel are on the way. They'll track Aspen down and bring him back unless he's already returned to his father's," the man said.

I stared at him. "How do you know? Cat isn't here."

He pointed to his ears. "I can hear things for miles."

My eyes widened. "You're Finx?"

He smiled and nodded. "That's me!"

"Keep your ears open for them, Finx. The first distressed sound you hear, we go!" Roan ordered.

"Already listening."

June held her hand out to me and I saw my knife. "I found this. I thought you might want it back."

I thank her and put it back in my belt, then walk back with Roan and the other two to the village. Like the first time I arrived, people swarmed him, this time asking what had happened and who had sent the fire signal and why Raven and Sorrel rushed out of here. I didn't hide behind my brother, but I didn't talk either, just leaned closer to him. Unlike the first time though, he shooed everyone away and we went straight to his shelter where he shut the door on everyone.

We were now alone and he sighed. "Are you okay?" he asked, coming up and cupping my face.

"Shaken, but otherwise fine."

"Promise he didn't harm you in any way?"

I shake my head. "The only damage was what I did to him. I don't think he knew about my fire or else he'd have not been so close."

"Lucas either doesn't know until he sees Aspen or didn't bother to warn his son."

"How would he know about me though? I only learned about it a couple weeks ago."

Roan shakes his head. "I don't know, Zahra."

The next few days I stayed in the village feeling suffocated with the amount of bodies around me, but Roan didn't want to risk the chance of Lucas coming for me himself. I listened to him, if only to give him some sense of security, but always felt restless with the need to go somewhere.

A week after the incident, Roan and I went to the meadow to enjoy some sibling time without others around. We messed around and teased each other, then lounged in the sun until it touched the horizon which Roan said it was time to go back. I was disappointed, but understood and we walked back.

The next day, it was rainy and the people were for once less in abundance than usual. I was surprised, but took the advantage and sat in the rain in the middle of the village, enjoying the peaceful sound. Roan found me there and sat beside me, saying it was the first he's seen me relaxed inside the village. I smiled at him and just listened to the rain, the thunder, the peace.

It rained for three more days before the sun came out. That day, June and I decided to go and explore my abilities again. She, I learned, had the ability to freeze the world, which was perfect against my fire and it was always fun to go against her. She enjoyed having someone who's power challenged hers.

I was just about to launch a fireball at her when a jolt went through my stomach. I felt like throwing up, but nothing would come out. Then, my head felt dizzy and the world was spinning. "Zahra!" I heard June distantly. I felt her hands on my shoulders and tried to clear my vision. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I put a hand to my head, then shut my eyes because my vision went bright. "It hurts!" I hissed.

"Can you tell me what's happening?" she asked.

"Everything...body...hurts!" I moaned and curled up on myself. "Might pass out."

"Zahra, I want you to focus on my voice. Can you do that?"

"Keep talking..."

"Breathe in and out. I'm getting help. Just breathe for me." One of her hands disappeared from my shoulder and a moment later, something crashed on the ground behind me. I jumped, but June kept a firm hand on my shoulder. "It's alright. I was sending a signal to your brother."

"What's happening?" I gasp and more pain flares up in my head. "Damn it!" I try squeezing my head, pushing in both temples, hoping to squeeze out the pain, but nothing happens.

"I don't know. Where is the most pain?"

"Head...It won't stop!"

"What does it feel like?"

I moan as another wave hits me. "Like something is pounding my mind...make it stop!"

"Zahra!"

"She's being summoned!" I hear June say to my brother.

"By who?"

"There's only one person who can do that, and we both know who it is."

There was silence for a moment then Roan said, "Why would he want to get her in her head?"

"Why would he want to do anything with her?" June hissed. "Roan, she can't keep fighting it."

"We can't knock her out!" he hisses back.

"I don't know what else to do!"

I manage to grab June's arm and gasp, "Do it! Please!"

"June!" I hear Roan gasp.

"Do you want her to suffer, or do you want her pain to end?"

There was silence, then the next thing I know, everything went black and the pain stopped abruptly.

When I wake, I was in Roan's shelter on his bed. I groaned and put a hand to my head. My cheek was swollen and my mouth hurt. "What happened?"

"Easy," Roan says softly and puts a cold cloth on my face. "June punched you to end he pain. This is the consequence of letting her do that."

"What was happening?" I ask, and lay back down. "It was the worst thing I felt."

"You were being summoned."

"What's that?"

"Summoned means that someone was trying to contact you. If you answer, you appear passed out or dead here, but you are in your mind with that person. It's a rare gift and one not taken lightly."

I squinted at him. "I don't have that power!"

He smiled. "No, you didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"After being summoned once or after someone tries to summon you, you gain that power. It's like a plague in a way that it's contagious."

I shake my head. "I don't want this! It hurts, Roan!"

"I know, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"Who?"

"Aspen."

I groan. "Of course he has to infect me with something painful!"

Roan sighs and takes the cloth away from my face. "I never thought he'd use it again. He's always said it's not a pleasant experience and that it was basically useless."

"Then why?"

"I don't know."

After that, I fall asleep. When I wake up, it's to another summoning. I scream this time, if only to let someone know something was wrong. It didn't take long for me to feel hands on my shoulders again and Roan's voice to whisper, "Zahra, breathe. Please, just breathe."

I shake my head because it was painful to breathe this time. "Can't! Roan!"

"You need to let her answer it," I hear June say.

"And leave her vulnerable, no! Knock her out again!"

"Roan!"

"Do it, June!"

Once again, everything goes black.

This routine happens three more times before I take June's advice and answer Aspen. I let the pain guide me and relax, then I'm not in my brother's room or in the village. I honestly have no idea where I am, but it was a beautiful place. Almost like the forest, but brighter, more colorful.

"You're hard to get a hold of."

"You're persistent," I say and turn to the man causing my pain. I pause, about to add something, but something is different about Aspen this time. He's not smiling and his blue eyes don't have light to them like they did in the past. He looked gaunt and gray. He looked dead. "What's happening to you?" I ask, and get a glare.

"I'm not here to discuss my appearance," he retorts.

"Then what are we doing here?"

"I am free here. I can say what I wish when I wish and feel no pain. I am myself here." He looks at me and gives a weak smile. "By the way, your fire did a lot of damage, but it also gave me time to sit down. I thank you."

"You couldn't sit down before?"

Waving a hand, a blanket appears beside me and he says, "Sit. I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to talk."

"I don't believe you."

Aspen stares at me, then sits down and leans back on his hands. "Zahra, I am sure your brother has told you much of what he believes of me now. Am I correct?"

"He said you betrayed him and the village." I hesitantly sit down and add, "But June says otherwise."

"Did she?" He seems surprised but nods. "I guess she could see what no one else could. And she was the one who hadn't trusted me."

"What do you mean?"

Aspen turns towards me and says, "Do you really believe that smiling man with that much determination to find a girl was me?"

"I don't know. This is the first time I've seen you different."

"Are you willing to let me prove differently?"

I narrow my eyes. "How?"

He thinks for a moment. "I will summon you every night while you're asleep. It'll be less painful now that you've answered me. Every night, I will let you see the me that your brother saw before my father ruined it. I will do this for a month, then you will decide if this me is who I really am, or if that smiling man you first met is who I am."

"And if I decide the latter?"

He frowns. "Then I will have no hope."

"Why do you say that? You seem like you have fun doing your father's work." I hadn't meant to be harsh but that's how it sounded.

"I'm exhausted! I haven't slept in weeks! My feet are blistered and near broken from being on them so much. My body hadn't stopped moving until I returned home after you burned me!"

I widen my eyes and breathe, "But, that's not possible. How is that possible!"

Aspen looks beaten when he says, "My father has the power to control. It never wears off unless he orders it or he is dead."

Now I begin to understand a few things. "You're innocent, then. You didn't betray anyone three years ago. And you're being made to find me."

He nods. "Exactly."

"Why don't you just tell Roan?"

"Because I can't. I try and I can't."

"Why not bring him here?"

Aspen shakes his head. "Because he won't come. He made me promise never to use it on him."

I feel something and shoot to my feet. "What's happening? Why do I feel hands on me?"

Aspen stands too and slowly walks closer. "They're trying to wake you up. I kept you too long. Just let yourself go and you'll wake up as if you had been asleep."

I will myself to stay for another minute. "What about you?"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow night, Zahra. Whatever you do, do not leave the village. Swear it."

His eyes become desperate and I nod. "I swear."

"Go."

I let go and open my eyes to Roan and June. "Zahra, what happened?"

I sit up and don't feel any pain from the summoning, just a little hungry and tired. "Aspen..." I mumble, trying to process my conversation with him.

June stays silent but Roan questions, "Did he hurt you? What did he do? What did he say?"

I put a hand up and shake my head. "Slow down! Nothing happened. I'm fine!"

"Zahra, what did Aspen tell you?" June asked softly.

I look at her and a silent conversation between us is said with out eyes and I know she knows that I understand everything now. She gives a small smile, but hides it before Roan can see. I decide to ask, "June, I'll talk to you later. I want to talk to my brother alone."

"Just let me know," she says and slips out.

Roan sat on the bed and waited for me. I thought about Aspen's words and decided to say, "He misses you."

Roan blinks and asks, "What are you talking about?"

"Aspen isn't actually what he seems when he's here in person." I pause, and see the confusion on my brother's face. I sigh. "He wants help, Roan. He just isn't able to ask for it."

"He can, he just won't."

I shake my head. "He can't. And in order for you to understand that, you have to see passed the pain. When you last saw him, what was he like?"

"He was the same! Smiling and chipper and annoying!"

"And what about when he's in pain?"

Roan looks at me with furrowed brows. "Zahra, I don't see blood or bruises."

"You don't see blood or bruises on me when I've had pain from the summoning. How is that any different?"

"How can he be in pain if there's nothing to cause it?"

"Maybe nothing you can see is causing the pain. Maybe it's something you have to understand is possible in order to really see what is going on."

"What do you mean?"

I smile. "I talked to him, Roan. He wasn't who I thought he was or how you just described him. He was sad, lonely, and looked like he was on his last leg. And there was no violence in him. His eyes were different too."

Roan straightens. "I don't understand. He always seems fine when he's come around and looking for you. He was even able to get a hold of you before you burned him."

I tilt my head to the side. "Is there a possible chance there is a power that allows a person to control another?"

"Maybe," he said, but I could tell he wasn't telling the truth.

"There is, isn't there?" I say and he doesn't answer. "Who has it?"

"Look, that doesn't matter!"

"It does!" I hiss. "Aspen is hurt. He needs help. He wants to be your friend again. And if what he told me is true, then we have to stop his father. Get him away from his father!"

"We can't!" Roan growled. "I've tried! Lucas is too strong!"

"But he has to have a weakness."

"Zahra, every time we get close, Aspen fights us. He is literally the one who will meet us at the doors of Lucas's property and fight us. The only reason Aspen isn't dead is because I can't kill him!"

"Then don't go through Aspen," I say. "Go the back way."

"There is no back way. Somehow, Lucas knows when we are there for him, and he has Aspen waiting."

I tilt my head again and find an idea. "What if I can help?"

He shakes his head immediately. "No. You're not going!"

I laugh and take his hands in mine. "No. I won't go anywhere physically. Just mentally."

Roan calms down and seems to understand. "You mean get him where he can't hurt anyone. You mean, summon him while we try to take Lucas out?"

I raise my brows. "Or, just take Aspen? Put him here locked up, and Lucas is defenseless."

"He can control him here too. That means Aspen will find a way out."

"Then make sure he doesn't."

"Let me think about this."

I nod. "Okay. But just so you know, I can't be hurt if I'm here. Aspen in my head doesn't want to hurt me and won't fight me. Getting him out should be easy as long as you don't jostle him too much."

"Let me talk to June and a few others and I'll let you know," he said, then kissed me and left. I lied back down and fell asleep, exhausted from all the energy it took to go in and out of the summons as well as the conversation with my brother.