The Forbidden Compass Trilogy: Book One- Caged
Chapter 21

Krade

Aidel turns to Irelle and answers her questions, her voice radiating with power. “I see things, my dear Irelle, strong, defiant, dangerous Irelle. I saw Zeken die.” That one name causes Irelle to tense beside him. “I saw how you did nothing to stop it. You can’t love, you are cursed, everyone you love dies or leaves. You can’t stand watching someone else you love die so you don’t love at all. If you gave your power to me I could take your curse away. You could love again.” She gestures for Irelle to come to her. “Come to me, I can fix you.” Irelle takes a step forward.

Krade, terrified, moves in front of her, blocking her way. “Irelle, she’s lying, don’t listen to her. She just wants your power for herself.” He begs her.

She sneers at him, her usually sparking eyes dull. “You know nothing about me. Move out of my way or I will slit your throat.”

“We wouldn’t want to do that, dear, I want to help him too.” Aidel says as Irelle pushes past him, her smile making his gut twist. He watches, helpless, as Irelle goes to stand beside her. “That’s right, I know what’s best.” She pats Irelle’s head like she would a pet.

She turns on Mahna, who looks on with terror. “Poor, meek Mahna. You hate being beautiful, don’t you? I could take your beauty away. I could make you normal. Then everyone would love you for you, not for what you look like. Come here, child.” Mahna goes forward, wet hair still clinging to her face.

Krade tries to call to her, but she can’t seem to hear him.

Aidel turns on Fenn, her eyes glinting with desire. She steps towards him, and he stays in place, mesmerized by her. “You’re an elf.” He breathes.

“Yes, I am. I knew your mother. Esille was so good, wasn’t she? She got herself banished when she fell in love with your father. But you, you are so much more powerful than you realize.” She strokes his cheek. Krade tries to run to him, break her spell. She throws out her arm, and he’s pushed into the hard crystal wall by an invisible force, his breath knocked out of him. She continues, unfazed. “I could teach you all I know, then you could be strong enough to avenge Esille’s death.” She lifts his chin. “Join me.”

Krade struggles back up, unsheathing his sword. “Fenn don’t listen to her, she doesn’t want to help you!” Fenn doesn’t acknowledge him no matter how loudly he yells.

Aidel turns on him, shoving him back against the wall. He’s ready this time, skidding as he tries to keep his balance. She snarls. “You don’t know anything!” Her anger dissolves as quickly as it came, and she smiles sweetly, walking towards him. He backs away, brandishing his sword. Predators are the most dangerous when they seem harmless. “Do you have a weakness, Krade?” She asks. “What about all those people you killed?”

“I didn’t kill them. The shrouded figure did.” He glares at her, trying to ignore the doubts rising from the back of his mind.

“I could make your father love you.” She tries.

“He’s dead!” He answers, eyes blazing.

Her smile changes back into a snarl. She pushes her magic against him. “If I can’t enchant you into giving me your powers, I’ll just pull them out of you myself!” She pulls her arms back, and he feels something being tugged out of him. It feels like a hundred daggers are being pulled from his body. He slashes with his sword, desperate to make it stop. She looks at her hands, momentarily confused, as the feeling disappears. Then her face dissolves into hate. “What did you do?” She screams.

He looks at his sword, the surface shining steel. “What kind of sword is that?” She asks, her face turning an ugly red.

He holds it ready. “Firesteel.” She screams, clawing at her hair as he walks towards her. He holds the tip under her chin. He nods to the other, who are still standing dazed behind her. “Let them go.”

She smiles. “I can’t. They chose for me to fix them.”

He pushes his sword closer, and she shrinks away from it like it’s dripping with poison. “Let them go!” He growls, every word dripping with threat.

She throws her hands up in surrender. “Alright! Just take that thing away from me.” He lowers his sword, still holding it ready in case she tries anything. She mumbles words that he’s never heard before, but they make him feel cold. The others’ eyes lose their dimness.

“What happened?” Fenn asks, running his fingers through his hair and looking around, confused.

Krade points his sword at Aidel. “She put you under some enchantment to make you give her your powers.” Turning to Aidel, he orders, “Now, tell us who the shrouded figure is and how we can stop him.”

She laughs wickedly. “No one knows who he is or how to stop him. But I know things about you and your futures if you go after him. Do you want to know them?”

“Tell us!” Irelle orders from behind him.

Aidel shrugs. “If you insist on knowing.” Her voices changes to mysterious, disembodied. Her mouth moves but the voice is not her own.

Earth, Fire, Healer, Water

Fairy, Dragon, Elf, Mer

Beauty, Murderer, Thief, Broken

Caged, Hunted, Prized, Forbidden

Divided then Connected, Death follows like a shroud

Travel through tree, sand, earth, and cloud

One will either learn to love or lose all

Those who were lost are found but fall

Learn to sing without song

Learn to laugh when all is wrong

One will learn fire doesn’t only bring pain

That it can light the darkest way and end a hurricane

That it can melt the most frozen heart

And burn through the strongest chains that keep apart

One will replace secrets of the past and disagree

Darkness is their kinsmen, death is their family

They will learn revenge is not as sweet as the forgiven

And things that are healed can become hurt again

One will learn beauty is in the inside

That running won’t bring back those who died

That sacrifice is needed to defeat the dark

Stone can preserve, but wings only fly when a part

Darkness all races will rule

The Forbidden are only its tool

Earth, Fire, Healer, Water

Fairy, Dragon, Elf, Mer

Beauty, Murderer, Thief, Broken

Caged, Hunted, Prized, Forbidden

She stops chanting, and the words echo around the room.

“What does it mean?” Irelle asks, clearly confused.

“I don’t know.” Mahna says, her voice barely a whisper.

Aidel smiles mysteriously. “And you won’t ever know.” She cackles then disappears in a wisp of smoke. The dark crystal room morphs back into the small cottage. Her voice echoes around them. “Remember, things aren’t always as they seem.” Then she is gone.

They wander through the forest, stopping by the stream Mahna had found that very morning. The sun is setting in the west before them.

“She knew dark magic. She traded everything to be powerful. If she had taken our abilities, nobody would have been able to stop her.” Fenn says, breaking the silence.

“She was evil.” Krade hears Mahna say as he goes to look for Irelle, who had wandered off in a daze. He replaces her, sitting by the stream, head between her knees. He sits next to her and says nothing, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

She looks up at him, wiping furiously at the tears that stain her cheeks. “What do you want?” She asks, her expression annoyed and attemptedly guarded, but he can still see past her mask.

“Nothing. Just making sure you’re alright.” He looks at the small current in the stream, waiting for her to yell at him to leave.

She throws a pebble in the stream, listening to the satisfactory thunk as it hits the water with a splash. She sighs and says, wiping her eyes again with the palm of her hands, “She was right. I am cursed.”

He doesn’t have to ask who ‘she’ is. He hesitates, then takes her hands, looking her in the eyes, her blue, sparking eyes. “She’s wrong. You are not cursed.” He reassures her.

She shakes her head, pulling away her hands, looking down, strands of kinky blonde hair falling into her face. “You don’t know that. Everyone I’ve ever loved has died or left.”

“Like Zeken?” He asks, hoping for some answers.

“Yes.” Is all she says. She stands up, turning away, looking at the water. He stands too. “I can’t do this anymore, pretending I don’t care.” She turns back, gesturing at him. “I mean you’re a dragon. I’m supposed to hate you just for that.” She picks under her fingernails, looking down at them. “I...I think it would be best if we didn’t talk to each other unless necessary. I can’t lose anybody else. Unless we can break my curse, I can’t care about anybody too much.” She walks past him, leaving him there, stunned.

He goes back to the camp, where the others are waiting. He doesn’t look at Irelle, instead at the blood red sunset. They have finally escaped their cage but now they are hunted.