‘They killed them,’ said Jaden.
‘They left their mark,’ agreed Raquel, nodding toward the beast now running out of the door and up the stairs.
‘How could they use them?’ asked Jaden. ‘The beasts would kill them, too.’
‘They had a weapon.’
‘What weapon?’
Raquel faced him, and then looked down below his chest. Jaden saw where she was looking and picked up the flower from inside the Daijuarn belt.
‘This?’ he asked, putting it to his nose. ‘It’s just a flower.’
Suddenly the bizarre sounds intensified again and he was able to hear them clearly for the first time since entering the chamber.
‘What are these sounds?’ he asked. ‘Can you hear them?’
‘The pollen plays with your mind while it subdues another’s.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Jaden.
‘You hear a sound. They,’ she indicated the beasts by glancing up to the door, ‘will no longer have the energy to go on. They become disorientated, as if they are no longer awake. They forget. They don’t know what they are doing.’
Jaden took in another breath of the flower’s fragrance, thinking back to first waking on the old stone road, unharmed for the hours he had been unconscious, escaping from the first two beasts he had seen and then later landing on the vines between the courtyards.
‘It saved my life,’ he said, and Raquel seemed to agree, saying nothing as she turned to face the doors.
Without even touching the iron, both doors swung open and Raquel walked through them, out onto a muddy road that led to a bridge away from the palace. Jaden checked behind both, finding no one there. It seemed she had opened the doors, almost as if simply daring them to stay closed.
‘How did you do that?’ he asked. ‘Wait, where are you going?’
‘North,’ said Raquel.
‘I’m coming with you,’ he said, and he quickly hopped into step with her.
He didn’t know how long the road ahead was, or what Alyssa would think if he did not return soon, but somehow none of it seemed to matter in the presence of this strangely beautiful, powerful woman. All he could think of was what he could ask her, to make her reveal the secrets he so desperately wanted to know. A small part of him wished the journey would never end, for this was his chance to understand her, and even learn of her ways, but as much as he desired knowledge, he knew he had to get back to Alyssa, and soon.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Enjoy peace while training for war.
February 21, 997 R.E.
Jaden waited patiently as Raquel stood perfectly still on the dirt road. They were among another mountain range now, having travelled almost without rest for two weeks, leaving the beasts far behind in the palace. The sky had been gray ever since, with only slight hints of sunshine throughout the days. Raquel had seemed as reluctant to answer his questions as ever, and he was no closer to finding out who she was or why nothing about her seemed to make any sense. But now he felt he had a connection with her, an understanding that made it feel as if she were really a friend. It seemed she had been travelling alone for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to have company, and now he hoped she at least enjoyed having him with her.
She had often stopped along the road like this, closing her eyes in deep thought before darting off to the side into a valley, or a cavern between the mountain peaks. He did not know why she did this, and she often came back with a confused look, as if she had not found what she had set out to find. He had learned to choose his questions wisely, so he did not ask why. He was thankful for the little knowledge she had given him on how to use the Daijuarn endobraces. She had said he had been infected when he joined with the Daijuar, and that the illness he suffered beforehand was natural. But she conceded that it would have led to his death if untreated, so she had helped train him a little more in their arts anyway. At times it almost seemed that she didn’t like the Daijuar.
That she knew of their arts didn’t surprise Jaden anymore. The power she had used was very similar to what they used. The only difference was that she had used it without aid of the endobraces. He still relied heavily upon them. He could now complete all the tests that the Daijuar had given him, and with Raquel’s help, he had learned how to make his energy so strong that it was like a wall of steel, and whatever was thrown at it would stop instantly, often making a bang as it hit, accompanied by the reverberation of the shield resettling. But he still wanted to learn how she was able to do it without the endobraces.
Suddenly Raquel raced ahead to the right, up into the mountain a little higher before running behind a large rock. Jaden decided to get a little bold and followed closely behind, hoping to find out what she was up to. She had never actually said that he couldn’t follow. Behind the rock, there was a cave entrance that they had to duck under, but the ceiling beyond the first few yards was at least four times their height. It was triangular in shape but definitely naturally formed, and it led down into the mountain where no light could find them. Jaden ignited the endobraces, but Raquel didn’t seem to need them. She was running blindly, able to see with some other sense that showed her exactly where she needed to go.