I thought back to that night and he agreed with me how it must have looked but looking back I knew he spoke the truth. Once again Sigurd’s advice came back to me and I knew I shouldn’t have run even then. But saying that, I doubt I would have received my answers as I was doing this night.
“So how long did this have to happen for?” I asked although the question pained me. The very last thing I wanted to do right then was think back to the amount of times Draven had to be straddled naked by his ex!
“Up until the point you tore off your necklace.” He said looking pained by the memory but his answer surprised me. He then went on to explain that it was in that moment that his demon finally recognised that I was no longer theirs. After that there was no longer any pull that couldn’t be controlled and his time in Tartarus was no more.
Well all this certainly explained all the dreams of him in Hell that I had been having over the last year. And it also explained why people often referred to Draven as being in Hell, along with the Oracle herself. She hadn’t lied but she also hadn’t told me the truth either. I was starting to think back and realise that what Draven had said about the Fates was most likely right.
“So now you know the truth.” He said finishing the conversation just as the sun had started to rise. We had been up for hours but the importance of hearing everything he had said was like living through something monumental. It all made sense and even though I would never agree with Draven’s decision, I couldn’t honestly say what I would have done differently if the roles had been reversed. After all, I had literally gone to Hell and back just to try and save him. He had died in a sense and imprisoned a part of himself in Hell just to save me.
“Come, I think it is time we put that busy mind to rest, don’t you?” He said picking me up off the couch I had slumped down on to get more comfy and then he walked me over to the bed. He lay me down and the instant he did I could feel my eyes start to give in.
“Wait! One more question?” I said forcing my eyes back open and alert making him laugh. He rolled his own eyes in good humour and lay back next to me, pulling my body into his arms.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Can you blame me?” I asked and he gave me a soft grin before saying,
“I never would, now tell me your question and then you can sleep.”
“I just wanted to know if Takeshi was alright as I didn’t see him at the Ball tonight.” I said remembering this was a question that had been coming in and out of my head all day.
“He is fine, he just needed to rest.”
“What is it that happens to him?” I said trying to sit up but Draven shook his head and pulled me back down so my head was resting on his shoulder.
“Takeshi has a very talented gift that I will explain in detail at a later time, but for now all you need to understand is that he has what is known as a ‘Second sight’. His gifts allow him to home into certain beings and channel their memories. I guess the best way to explain it would be like picking out pieces of a puzzle at random and trying to discover the picture. The closer the beings the more puzzle pieces there are to grab.”
“So what happened?” I asked referring of course to the same thing that must have happened all that time ago after my kidnapping by Morgan.
“The puzzle pieces all showed the same thing.” I frowned and asked the question I thought was a safe one to ask, but I soon discovered I was wrong…
“A wooden dagger with a Pentagram.”
Chapter 38
Secret Symbols
“Keira! Keira wake up!” I woke with a start and bolted upright in bed panting at what I had just seen. Draven was holding me and gently pushed my wet hair that had become drenched with sweat back from my face.
“It’s okay, it’s alright now, I have you my girl. It was just a bad dream that’s all.” He said soothing my jittering nerves as he put my head to his chest. I took the long moments I needed to feel Draven around me and the safety he provided.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” He asked after my breathing had calmed. I thought about that question and knew that after last night there were still things I needed to tell him. And having this nightmare only reinforced that decision that the time was now.
I let my mind go back to that frightening place and it was as if I could even smell the blood that saturated the ground. The only difference this time was that in the meadow of death there was no Draven and the sky was raining with blood. Even I knew that this change in my nightmare reflected on the facts that Draven told me that night and I remember looking up in the dream expecting to find the Gods fighting a war above me.