Page 20 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

Chapter 20

Facing Truths

ALORA

A lora kept her face buried against Ascian’s back until the puma beneath them slowed. Branches had smacked her as the feline barrelled through the forest enough times when they first took off that Alora quickly learnt to keep low. As low as she could, anyway. She didn’t know what track they’d taken, or which direction would take her back to the field of amorsa. Alora was entirely reliant on Ascian, or her jaguar, for directions.

“Where are we?” she asked as she lifted her head.

Alora caught her breath at the sight before her. The puma approached an enormous skull, separated from them by a wide river.

“Welcome to The Golden Grotto,” Ascian answered with a small smile. “My home, or at least for the moment it is.”

“You do not remain in one place?” Alora asked.

Ascian slipped from his guardian’s body before she even stopped moving, walking beside her up to the edge of the river before helping Alora off.

“As the Commander, no. I’m here long enough to set up a regular group of Reapers and assist them until I can find someone worthy of keeping them in line and reporting back to me, then I’ll be moved to another placement to do the same thing,” he replied.

“Are you paid to work?”

“Not in any currency like that of Earth’s.” Ascian clicked his tongue and pointed towards the water. “You said you could make daggers of ice, right? There are stones at the bottom of the lake that I need you to lift to the surface.”

Alora raised an eyebrow in the river's direction. “You believe I can lift stones at the bottom of a lake just because I made daggers out of ice? How are those two things related? ”

“It’s part of a Solar’s abilities.” At her blank stare Ascian added, “I’ll explain that later, too, just try.”

Alora sighed and broke away from his side. She crouched at the edge of the river and sunk her hands below the surface, onto the rough, stone-lined bottom. A tiny grey butterfly formed within her mind, fluttering in place and waiting. Alora squeezed her eyes closed, concentrating on that grey butterfly and forming more of them in a path across her mind then asked them to rise. It took a few tries before they complied and flew upwards. The ground beneath Alora shook, shifting as she snapped her eyes open and saw the path of rocks across the river lift to the surface.

A droplet of sweat slid over her temple and raced down her cheek, falling from her jaw. It hit the ground the same moment she would have, had Ascian not caught her.

“You can control them, too,” he muttered to himself. “Strange.”

“What?” Alora groaned, wiping away another bead of sweat that collected in her hairline.

“You healed me yesterday, that’s a completely different energy to a Solar’s. I thought you were lying when you said you could make daggers of ice.”

Alora swung her hand back and hit his side, earning a grunt of pain in return. “That is not something I would lie about.”

“So violent,” Ascian grumbled, heaving Alora off the ground without even asking her and slipping his arm around her waist. “You did always fit in better with us Reapers.”

“I have enough energy to make a dagger,” Alora threatened.

“No, you don’t.” Ascian suddenly turned serious, his gaze stabbing into her. “And that threat only proved my statement further.”

Alora fell quiet, leaning on Ascian’s support as they crossed the river with their two felines trailing cautiously behind them. The puma more so than Basilius. Her golden eyes darted towards the flowing river with each leap to the next stone until her paws landed safely on grass on the other side. Alora watched the stones slowly sink back beneath the water.

“If you cannot raise the stones yourself, how do you normally get to The Golden Grotto?” She asked.

“I go the other way.”

“There is another way?!” Alora growled. “And you let me drain myself?!”

“Will you keep it down? The others can’t know you’re here.”

Alora pinned him with a glare. “I swear if you even move to put your hand over my mouth again-”

“You’ll what?” Ascian interrupts, lips curving into a smirk. His head dipped down beside her ear. “Stab me? What if I give your hair a little tug? You seemed to enjoy that part. Maybe I’ll enjoy your blade against my skin.”

A shiver sent lightning to Alora’s legs, strong enough that she struggled to take the next few steps towards the entrance of the skull. Something she noticed brought Ascian a great deal of joy, for his face lit up with each step that she couldn’t find a response, too focused on demanding her feet take step after step.

When they reached the entrance, Ascian removed his arm from her waist and leaned her against the archway, stepping into the dimly lit room and allowing the two guardians to move ahead of them instead.

“Think you can walk on your own?” He asked quietly.

Alora scoffed and whispered back, “Here I was thinking you had no self control left.”

She pushed off of the archway and headed after Basilius, her hand finding his back in the darkness. His tail shifted closer to her, curving around her leg and remaining there.

Alora felt Ascian’s presence grow closer before she saw him, the heat of his body coating her own and providing her with warmth that the sun no longer could.

“If you don’t wish for me to touch you, all you have to do is ask,” he murmured beneath his breath.

“I never said I wished that,” she muttered back a few moments later after they’d rounded a corner to more empty space.

Alora could practically feel the man’s smirk splitting his face. “So you do want me to touch you.”

“I never said that, either,” she retorted stubbornly.

His amused chuckle echoed throughout the cave.

“Commander Ascian?” A sultry voice called from ahead of them, weaving through the tunnels until it reached and then breezed past them. “Is that you laughing ?”

Ascian cursed far more quietly than he’d chuckled, his hand finding Alora’s back and guiding her quickly into a little alcove where Basilius joined her and they both waited. Ascian disappeared from her line of sight, towards the voice. No conversation travelled back to meet her. Silence filled every inch of the alcove and each breath that Alora drew felt louder than the previous one.

She rested her head back against the cold, damp stone, closed her eyes and waited. What more could she do? If Kallias wished to use her as leverage, then perhaps the Reapers could use her as well. Gods, Ascian truly could be using her for all she knew … but she needed to trust someone here. Someone other than the jaguar willing to give his life to protect hers.

“Are you sleeping?” Alora snapped her eyes open and found Ascian standing before her with his arms crossed and an amused glint to his gaze. “Come on, the path’s clear.”

Alora brushed past him, Basilius stepping between them and keeping himself there for the remaining journey to Ascian’s room. The first thing Alora noticed were the bare walls. No pictures, drawings. No trophy kills like she’d seen in one room of the Lexington’s Manor. Not even another weapon. The bed was made to an impeccable standard, and the only thing slightly messy was, what Alora assumed, to be a bed for Ascian’s guardian at the foot of his own .

“Am I in danger here?” She asked, turning to face him. He already watched her, leaning against the closed door.

“Not as long as I’m with you,” Ascian answered easily. “Verena simply isn’t the first person I want you meeting here. She can be … off-putting. To put it lightly.”

“I hate to point out the obvious, but a lot of the people here are ‘off-putting’.”

Ascian grinned and hummed in agreement.

“So, this fight between you and Kallias?”

“Between the Reapers and Vitarce, amorsa, not your brother and I,” Ascian warned. “That fight cannot involve you.”

Alora rolled her eyes and took a seat upon the edge of his bed. “Alright, this fight between the Reapers and Vitarce, what is it really about?”

“Death,” he stated simply. “The Vitarce and their Elders do not believe it has a place next to Life. They think He taints Her, that He should cease to exist so that humans on Earth can experience everything they wish within one lifetime.”

“Are they not killing Reapers?”

“They are.”

Alora shook her head, and leaned back into the blankets and mattress, the scent of the flowers from her grave enveloping her. “Hypocrites.”

“They view it as being for the ‘greater good’. What’s a little death to grow closer to eternal life?” Ascian pushed off the door and moved towards her, stopping to stand at the end of the bed. “Nature cannot handle an abundance of humans continuing to live along with their descendants. Eventually it’ll take a turn and the Vitarce will bear witness to the fall of mankind.”

“They are overthrowing the balance.”

“They are,” Ascian repeated his earlier words but this time pride accompanied them. “Your Elysian family disowned you, not simply because we were friends, but because you shared our views...”

His face suddenly fell, jaw tense.

“What?” Alora asked.

“Something is missing. The day you disappeared has always been foggy to remember. I see glimpses of the memories, but it’s as though a third has rifled through and changed them…”

“How can you tell?” It was a genuine question, one Alora thought may be useful in future.

“I think it differs between individuals, but generally you get an off feeling when you try and revisit the memories. For them to do it on another Third, though?” Ascian shook his head in disbelief. “They’d have to be disciplined to prevent from shattering their own mind.”

“Why would someone alter your memories of the day I disappeared?”

“They didn’t want me to remember something?” Ascian sighed, leaning over the end of the bed and over the top half of Alora’s body. “I’ll try and undo the mirage tonight when I sleep. I’ll go find another room to sleep in, you can use mine.”

“No.” Alora snapped the word without meaning to. Her gaze never strayed from her parents, or their furious expressions at having a Reaper inside their home. Her home, too, not that it had ever felt like it. Sure, whenever they wanted help with something it was Alora’s home as well, but any other time and it was only theirs. And Kallias’.

“I think it best you do,” her mother said through tight lips.

“If he leaves, so do I.” Alora couldn’t take it anymore. They would never accept him, nor had they ever – or would ever – accept her choices. Who she was, who she chose to be, who she surrounded herself with. She would never be good enough.

The lightest of touches brushed her jaw, drawing her attention away from those thoughts.

“Alora?”

Alora blinked and Ascian came into view, worry covering every inch of his features. The touch on her jaw remained. His touch. Enough contact to ground her back into the present day and away from the pain of her returning memory.

“Did I leave with you?” She asked.

His brows furrowed at her words and then he stilled beside her, motionless enough that Alora found herself needing to check if he still breathed.

“Oh, that memory returned,” he murmured. He cleared his throat and pulled away from her, pacing the length of the room. “Yes, you did.”

Alora frowned slightly and sat up. “You don’t think I should have?”

“At the time, absolutely, but with what happened afterwards…” Ascian ran a hand through hi s hair. “Maybe you’d never have lost your memory if you hadn’t left with me.”

“That’s absurd.” He sent her a look, one that reminded her she didn’t remember everything. “Your memory has been altered, too, Ascian. Who’s to say whoever did that to you wouldn’t have done the same to me, or worse, had I not disappeared?”

The look on his face was swiftly wiped from it. “Get some rest, I’ll come find you in a few hours. Do not leave this room or open the door to anyone. Understood?”

Alora stood and narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you just command me like I am one of your little soldiers?”

“Think of it as a weighted suggestion. We can argue after you’ve recuperated your energy.” He winked at Alora and then disappeared out the door.

Alora huffed a sigh but looked down at his incredibly tempting bed and tried not to think about how easy the decision felt to kick off her shoes and slide under the blankets.