Page 4 of A Simple Truth (the Freckled Fate #2)

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FINNLEAH

T he stitches in my legs ached as I climbed up the dark, rocky path carved into the side of the island cliffs. The wild gusts of winter wind stung my heated cheeks as I fought an ever-growing headache. I was so utterly tired; exhausted to the very brim, as if I were a sinking ship one drop of water away from disappearing completely.

I didn’t even bother attempting to untangle the complete and utter jumble of what my thoughts had become. I continued to follow the three figures ahead of me, putting one foot in front of the other. That was the only thing my mind could manage.

I pressed on my poorly wrapped hand, attempting to ease the stinging and stop the shallow knife wound from bleeding through my gray bandage.

“She comes with us,” the General had ordered. Zora and Orest argued silently with their eyes at his words. Xentar frowned.

“Perhaps we should wait a day or two, give her a chance to adjust,” he added softly.

“Where are you going to take me?” I asked, refusing to be intimidated by the General’s overwhelming presence.

“You promised to deliver the ring. So, I am taking you to Kaius’s wife. Or do you not wish to honor your promise?” The General’s strong voice cut through me.

“Let’s go then,” I said, pushing past any reason or logic. Still feeling a bit hazy, I stood up with determination filling my veins. My eyes widened as the General pulled a small dagger from the sheath at his hip. He sliced his palm without wincing, and then extended it. My brows furrowed even deeper, as he passed me the knife.

“A blood oath of secrecy is needed for the place we are about to take you,” Zora explained, clearly not liking the current situation we were in as I grabbed the General’s knife and sliced my own palm.

Perhaps I should’ve asked more questions about what the blood oath meant. But I was so drained, that my mind couldn’t conjure a single thought of reason. All of my indecipherable emotions now locked up behind thick doors.

And did it truly matter? The meanings, the consequences?

I didn’t have much left to lose.

Only weeks ago, I was cozied-up on the grand, velvet couches in Svitar’s ancient libraries, eavesdropping on the university students gossiping around the corner. I was so blissfully unaware. About Priya. About the rebels.

And even about myself.

A Destroyer.

I could no longer deny that simple truth, though I couldn’t grasp it fully either.

It changed everything and yet, it changed nothing. I received more clarity about myself, but I felt even more lost and confused than ever before forgotten memories now eager to haunt me. Pestering questions were flooding my mind, demanding to be answered. Questions to which I had no answers to.

Because I truly didn’t know anything, or anyone.

Not even myself.

Large ocean waves roared, crashing onto the sharp, unforgiving rocks protecting the island. The smell of cold, salty air filled my burning lungs as I pushed myself up the last few steps of the hill. I clenched Kaius’s ring tighter, feeling dread building inside me as I walked now down the narrow path to deliver the soul-churning news to a now-widow and soon-to-be mother.

The island was small; nothing but a single large cliff. Yet there were a multitude of white houses scattered around the little valley, like white paint dripped on a canvas amidst the sea of deep green and gray.

Tall winter grass swayed lazily in the cold wind, brushing against my calves as I paused, rubbing my leg, as the pain of what I was now sure were a couple of ripped stitches, overwhelmed me. “What is this place?” I asked Xentar. He was the only one who waited for me as I watched the two Destroyers round a corner, disappearing behind giant, moss-covered boulders.

“Dragon’s Island. But we call it, Locus Pacis, or Place of Peace,” he answered, his voice an elegant, deep melody.

“A Place of Peace?” I mumbled, grinding my teeth from the pain as we continued walking. My eyes devoured the beauty of the village as we drew closer. Thick, straw roofs stood overtop bright blue window frames, and branches wove neatly into surrounding decorated short fences. My mouth opened wide as I saw brightly colored, blooming flowers amidst the freezing winter; their vines slithering like snakes down the chalk-white walls of the cottages. Fruit trees were standing tall in the blossoming well-kept gardens like it was mid-summer and not dead of the winter this far up in the north.

Magic. All of this was magic.

Yet, none of the magic was as jaw-dropping as the crowds of people mingling, greeting us as they went about their busy day.

Magic Wielders.

Magic Wielders that were welcoming the Destroyer General. Not just greeting him , but actually excited to see him. People came from their homes and fields to talk to him, to rejoice at the presence of the General.

When Xentar had earlier explained that not only the General was leading the rebellion, but his entire army of Destroyers was in it too, I was sure nothing else could possibly shock me today.

But I was wrong.

“Come on.” Xentar patted me on my shoulder, pulling me from my frozen astonishment as I shut my gaping mouth.

A group of kids of various ages ran across my path, screaming out the General's name with glee.

Children...

I wasn’t sure what I was feeling in the moment, other than speechless.

So many of them.

So many of them. Some could not have been more than four years of age, while others looked to be in their teens.

“Sparks! Sparks! Sparks!” a group of the younger kids chanted as the General stopped to greet them.

“Okay, but only if you promise to eat all of your dinner tonight!” He smiled. His hand moved, releasing a stream of silver, fiery sparks into the air. It was as if he had gifted them their own little starfall that lit up the cloudy, gray sky.

“Again! Again! Again!” they squealed as the sparks slowly vanished; a command Gideon gladly obeyed.

Xentar leaned to me to whisper, as I stood there, still flabbergasted.

“Just so we are clear, these are the kids that the so-called monster defiled.”

“ How?” I finally managed to say after a moment of stunned silence, as the dissonance of my thoughts and feelings crashed together.

“People don’t often look for bodies that were turned to ash.” Xentar shrugged, serene delight filling up his face as he watched kids jump, trying to catch the sparks.

“For how long?” I didn’t even attempt to hide the disbelief in my voice as I tried to count the people, the houses. Hundreds . There had to be hundreds of them here.

“Since he was fifteen,” Xentar answered me, while smiling in greeting at a gorgeous redhead walking past us. He then added, “You know, he was going to bring you here too, had you not run away that day.”

A safe haven. All this time.

“Gideon? Zora?” A concerned female voice sounded from behind, pulling me out of my stupor. I sharply turned to see a beautiful woman with a large, round belly approach us, carrying a weaving basket full of fresh laundry on her hip.

“Ophelia...” The General straightened up, passing the kids from his arms into the hands of the caretaker. With a heavy look on his face, he made his way through the herd of riled-up kids, closer to Ophelia. “We need to talk.”

I could not have been more amazed by the beauty of the village as we followed Ophelia towards a small house down the narrow, pebbled path. Yet, those thoughts quieted as we approached her home. The heirloom ring in my hand suddenly felt too heavy to bear, as if it were a hefty stone, dragging me deep beneath the water.

The inside of her house was simple and cozy—a neat, tiny kitchen with a wood stove, a small washroom, and one bedroom that also served as a living room. While the house itself was smaller than my room in Priya’s manor, the gorgeous murals of winged creatures amidst the endless wheat fields painted on the white walls left me breathless.

Yet, none of it could ever lessen the feeling of the shattering heartache as my eyes took in the little bassinet in the corner, carved out of light oak and accented by a few neatly-folded, crocheted blankets. The ring now felt like a sharp dagger, one that I was about to plunge straight into her heart.

“Is everything alright? Is Kaius okay?” Ophelia asked, taking a seat on one of the chairs by the tiny table. Her face was laced with concern and worry, making my chest squeeze painfully tight.

“Ophelia, I am so sorry, but Kaius died,” Gideon softly spoke as he knelt by her chair, gently grasping her hand.

“No…” She brought her other hand to her mouth as tears started rolling down her face. The news obliterated the last embers of the hope she kept.

Nothing could ever prepare you for the brute force of grief as it suffocated the life out of your body, your mind, your soul. “No, I…” Ophelia struggled.

“He was killed by the Royals, bravely fighting for what he believed in until the very last breath,” Zora whispered with deep compassion in her voice, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The silver streaks turned into painful sobs as she covered her face with both hands and cried. I swallowed hard, fighting the heavy lump growing in my throat as my own tears fought to the surface.

“I…no.. Kaius…but our son...I…” Words, mixed with raw grief, poured out with her cries.

“I am so sorry, Ophelia,” Orest said, as he passed her a white handkerchief.

“I’m so deeply sorry, Ophelia,” Xentar tenderly said. “He was one of the bravest and kindest men I’ve known. And I will never forget his willingness to serve and fight for what was right. I know nothing will ever replace him. But rest assured, the council will make sure to provide you with anything you or the child may need.”

A few older women stepped inside the house, rushing to her, surrounding her as the Destroyers and Xentar took a few steps back.

I couldn’t bear it any longer. Her grief-filled sobs tore my old scars wide open. I clenched my fist until the ring almost broke my skin, but I forced myself to take a wavering step forward. The women surrounding Ophelia cleared a path for me, as I approached the grieving wife. She looked at me, her eyes were full of deep agony and despair, silver streaks running nonstop down her cheeks.

Agony that I had seen before; that I had felt before.

I took a short breath, finding the last ember of courage within.

“You do not know me, but I was with Kaius when he died. I promised him I would deliver this to you.” I put the ring down on the table. “He loved you very, very much,” I managed to whisper before promptly turning towards the exit, ready to bolt for the door, wanting nothing more than to leave—to run away from this, to never come back; to never be reminded of this …and yet, my body froze mid step.

Shit.

My eyes closed for a second as I painfully bit my cheek until the taste of iron filled my mouth. I willed my voice to still, to not tremble, as I turned just enough to look at her before revealing,

“I too have lost someone I very much loved. That pain…that despair that you are feeling right now…that gaping wound…it will forever leave a deep scar. But even though you might not believe me now, you will survive it. You will be able to breathe freely again one day…Try to not let the grief drown you .” Like it almost drowned me. With that, I fled the house.

I wasn’t sure if anyone had followed me, and I didn’t care about the gawking mages carefully watching me storm past them. I reached the end of the street, and then I ran.

I ran as fast as I could, fighting back the tears that now slithered down my cheeks, ignoring the blinding pain in my leg. I ran past the tall, blooming sunflowers, past the winter slumbering meadows. I ran until I reached the very far edge of the small island.

And then I screamed.

All the feelings that I’d masterfully hidden, that I had promised to deal with later, flooded me, washing away any sense of control.

I screamed and I shouted at the roaring waves of the deep blue ocean crashing onto the tall, sharp cliffs below. The salty air prickled my nose as a heavy stream of tears flowed freely, soaking the ground at my feet.

I screamed until my voice became raspy; until I couldn’t scream any more. Until I was so nauseated, that with one more shout, I would puke. I screamed until I felt nothing but emptiness inside.

I dropped to the ground, the life within me completely depleted. My eyes lingered on the rapidly-gathering, gray clouds, which covered the northern sky as the minutes passed. The icy ocean breeze gently caressed my puffy, reddened face as I laid against the cold earth. My mind, as if purged of all thought and emotion, was left in silence.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d laid like that; how much time had passed since my soul abandoned me with those heart rendering screams. The stinging drops of freezing rain landed on my skin from the dark clouds above. I wished they’d wash away the hurt; drown the hollowness within me. I extended my hand in the air, watching drips of clear liquid slowly roll down my fingers.

What now?

What do I do now…

My thoughts were interrupted by a polite cough. I didn’t have to turn to know that the General was standing just a few steps away from me.

“If you’ve come to gloat that I was wrong and demand my apologies, you’ll be sorely disappointed,” I managed to say as thunder loudly crackled in the storm, another lightning flickered on the horizon lighting up the darkened ocean far below.

“No, I’ve come to make sure you don’t intend to jump off this cliff. People were getting concerned.”

I turned my head at him, giving the General a questioning look, not caring about the dirt now smeared in my tangled hair as the rain pooled in the grass beneath my body.

Without delay, he added, “Well, you don’t quite have the best history of not jumping off places, per se.” The General gave me a stiff smile, but I didn’t share the sentiment. I stood up, the gusts of cold winds enwrapped around my wet clothes, piercing me down to my marrow. The General took a step closer to me, now standing only a step away, his large figure towering over me as the sky shook with roaring thunder. But I dismissed his imminence, my eyes watching the endless ocean; its color mixed with the sky, as if it were indeed the end of the world.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the General said as the wild wind ruffled his hair.

“Overwhelming,” I replied. I had never seen an ocean before. It was nothing like the pictures—so much more wild, unpredictable, fascinating. More majestic than anything I’d ever seen.

“Perhaps,” Gideon considered, as he turned his gaze to me. “So, what now?” he asked the question that I had been asking myself for the past hour. “You have delivered on your promise. You now know where the Rebels are, who the Rebels are. And—”

“Is it true?” I interrupted him, my eyes still focused on the curled, white peaks of the giant waves below. “You said I wield raw fire , the strongest form of Destroyer’s fire?”

“Yes, you are a Justice Wielder,” he confirmed, his tone calm and reserved.

“Does it mean I can do the things you do?” I asked.

“You mean, turn people to ash?” He raised his eyebrow in question, and I nodded. “Yes. And more.”

“Then...” I finally fully turned to him, taking in his piercing gaze as I said with resolution, “Then, I want to be trained. I want to be able to do the things you do.”

A flicker of surprise flashed across his face.

“You want to join the Destroyers?”

“You said I was a Destroyer, am I not?”

“Yes, but I thought you didn’t intend to associate yourself with our kind.”

“Well, things change,” I muttered as lightning flashed across the sky.

“What has changed?” he asked through the rumbling thunder that followed.

I paused, feeling the rain wash away the last remains of my hesitation.

“Truth. Truth has changed.” I pulled out a small, square-like wallet, stuffed with Kaius’s papers, which I had carried hidden with me since his death. Without another word, I handed them off to the General before marching back to the village, each step more confident than the last. My protective anger simmered within me, letting my determination rise with clear purpose.

I was a survivor.

I had survived many things, and I would surely endure many more.

Because, the truth was, sometimes good didn’t conquer evil. Sometimes, to win a war, to overcome the world—you’d have to be the biggest evil of them all.