Poison

“You’re going where?” Raven sputtered, nearly spitting out the water she’d been sipping. “Why would you go there?”

Fraser leaned back against the counter. “It’s the only hint we have.”

The five of them crowded around an old, circular table. Food was spread across the table, relatively untouched. As soon as Kida, Jazz, and Raven had descended from the attic, both Fraser and Sol launched their plan at them.

“So, you’re going to travel half-way around the world because of a dream?” Jazz said, his voice sceptical. “No offense, dollface, but I think you inhaled a little too much of that gas.”

Sol glared at him. “Gee, thanks a lot, Jazz.”

“Cyrene isn’t the only place with forests and towns, you know,” Kida said, chiming in her own opinion. “Why do you think it has to be there?”

“It’s the only place that makes sense,” Fraser replied, holding his hands out. “Not only is it where Sol is from, but from her description, the town she spoke of was the one she grew up in.”

“Also, in a way, we’d be killing two birds with one stone. I might regain some of my memories if I see the place of my birth and childhood.”

Jazz nibbled on a strawberry. “Why travel there when you could just tell her?”

Sol slid her eyes to Fraser when she said, “He won’t tell me.”

“Why?” Raven asked, her tone ludicrous.

“It isn’t my place,” Fraser said with a scowl.

Kida didn’t say a word, allowing her eyes to fall to the table, as if its surface became fascinating. Raven and Jazz stared at Fraser’s, whose face became a stone. The silence became suffocating around the table, settling as the sun peered in through the window. The dust had kicked up, swirling around outside.

“How could you even get there?” Jazz finally asked.

“By sea,” Sol said. She put her hand down on the map laid out on the table. She traced a line with her fingertip from the shores of Windor up through the seas. She pasted the channel of Eros and Ari, leading into the open sea. Past there they would travel across some of the most trecherous ocean until they came up to Cyrene, on the shore of Alexandria. “It’ll be a dangerous way, but safer than the other route—through the land of terror.” She gestured towards the continent that was off of Zaire. A dangerous place. “A place overun with the deadliest people in the world, and the most corrupted.”

Taking up where she left off, Fraser leaned across the map. “Off of Alexandria there is a forest much like the one she described—,”

“There are tons of forests like she described throughout all of Cyrene!” Kida said, throwing her hands up. “I grew up there too, remember, Fraser?”

Fraser lifted his eyes, staring down the blond haired girl. “Pay attention to details, Kida. The red-eared fox?”

Kida’s mouth parted in understanding, before closing and her eyes fell to the side.

“What about the fox?” Raven felt compelled to ask.

“An endangered species limited to very few ranges in Cyrene. Its gray-eared cousins lives throughout all of Cyrene, but this species only lives in a very few select forests. The most common place is in the area just above Alexandria, where Sol grew up.”

Jazz’s lips pressed together in a thin line. “So, she had a dream about her hometown and the Heart Gem. Not really surprising is it? I mean, we all have strange dreams. They aren’t anything more then that—dreams.”

“My dream about stealing the Gem was true, Jazz,” Sol shot back. “Almost to the T.”

Jazz held up his hands in mock surrender. “Oh, excuse me. That automatically means ever dream you have is correct.”

Kida drummed her fingers on table. “Sol, who do you think the woman in your dream was?”

Sol blinked at the sudden change of subject. “I don’t know.” Sol hadn’t spoken about the end of their conversation to the rest of the group…it felt too private. “She wouldn’t tell me her name.”

Kida looked at Fraser, as if she went to speak. However, she stopped herself before opening her mouth.

Fraser lifted his hands. “We’re done arguing about this. We’re going, because right now it is the only clue we have.”

Jazz chewed on his lip. “We. You mean just you and Sol, don’t you?”

“That’s correct,” Sol said. “If we’re wrong, we need you all here to keep an eye on things.”

“So, we’ve joined the Protectors now, have we?” Raven said, leaning back in her chair.

Fraser’s eyes flashed. “You’re free to leave.”

“No, no,” Raven said, shaking her hands to ward off Fraser’s snarl. “I don’t have a problem with it. In fact, this could get interesting. Very interesting indeed.”


“Kida?”

Kida turned at the sound of Sol’s voice, smothering a yawn. She folded the blanket over her arm, piling on top of the others she’d taken care of. Her nerves jumped under her skin, and she wondered where Jakob was briefly. He disappeared after the smoke bombs, and she hadn’t seen him since. Then everything blew up in her face, and she was still trying to deal with it. The girl who handed the drunk bastards their asses took to the back burner at the sight of an old, estranged friend.

“Yeah?” she said, pulling herself free from her condemning thoughts. “What is it?”

“What is it that you didn’t say earlier? No, don’t say you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Sol said, cutting off Kida’s protest. “I know that you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Kida’s mouth tightened, and she looked much older than she was. “The woman in your dream…she reminded me of someone.”

“Who?”

“Well,” Kida said, rubbing her hands over the fabric of the blanket she’d folded. “I mean, it’s silly.”

Sol stood at the top of the steps, her heart pounding in her ears as she tried to seem calm and collected. “Who is it, Kida? Who do you think she is?”

Kida blew out a breath. “She sounded an awful lot like Eve, the Guardian Angel of the stone. There are paintings of her scattered all over the world. It was rumored that her eyes would change color with the Heart Gem…” She shook her head. “I know it sounds silly.”

“Yeah,” Sol murmured, turning away. “Silly.”


The sun hit midday, smoldering over the landscape, pouring down over the land. Rose stepped outside, into the overwhelming heat. Shaking her head, she stared off into the distance, where the dust kicked into high gear. The obscene heat cuddled against her skin, an unwelcome heat source. Her hair was yanked sharply away from her face but sweaty tendrils clung to the curve of her neck and chin. The dust covered her face with a faint film, and her white clothes could only keep her cool for seconds before the dust and heat invaded. She could have sworn that she saw someone out here, struggling to make their way to the door of the sanctuary. She took it upon herself to help the poor soul looking for refuge. Sol flashed before her eyes, the confused eyes of a child trapped within a body that spoke of many wars won and lost.

Reed and Oz were preoccupied inside, helping the monks of the temple restore the temple within the refuge, a temple devoted to the Guardian of the Gem, Eve. Brushing away the lingering thoughts of the Protectors, Rose knew better than to invest herself in those so-called warriors. She’d seen first-hand the damage that could be dealt by any man, any woman. It had nothing to do with sex or with origin. It had everything to do with the individual and she’ll be damned before she gets dragged into a war between two power-hunger groups.

Wrinkling her nose against the unsettling taste of dust in her mouth she moved across the sand. Her clothes billowed about her, flipping back and forth in the ridiculous wind. She’d come here for only one reason: to escape the war. Now, it seemed that war had followed them across the globe. A place deemed to beaten and useless to become the central battlefield. She’d been wrong, and naively hopeful. She’d hoped to escape the confines of danger for herself and her son. She’d molded a family here, created a place where they could find safety and belong to someone. Within the walls of the sanctuary, she knew she was safe, but she didn’t belong. She was only welcome for so long before her and her family had to lift up the ropes that held them secure and move on.

All she’d ever wanted was a chance to create a family. That changed when she was chased away from her home, her husband killed, and her house burned because of a war that wasn’t even her own. She wanted nothing but peace for herself. She wanted nothing more than to care for a house and love someone and be loved. Yet that was stolen by some self-righteous fools demanding where she had hidden the rebels. Asking where those cowardly were hiding within her very own walls.

So, she learned. She learned to defend herself and Reed. She would never be helpless ever again, would never lose her home or her family to the war ever again. Well, she’d been wrong. The rebels came this time, ripping apart her family she’d rebuilt. Forcing them to face each other. No, she thought, slightly ashamed, it wasn’t the rebels that had separated them. It had been Rose who made them all decide. Perhaps if she’d defended Sol as the others had they’d still be together. If she hadn’t been so hate-driven and blameful, they would have left together and she wouldn’t be wondering every night before she fell asleep if they were still alive and well.

Where the hell was that person she’d seen? She swears there was someone out here. Maybe she just saw something in the dust. Perhaps it’d been her imagination. Perhaps it’d been her hopeful thought that she’d find one of her beloved out here. Maybe she’d thought--

Rose spun around, throwing her hands up to deflect the fist being thrown her way. She stepped to the side, sweeping her leg out to drag the person who’d attacked her to his knees. He collapsed, and she kicked him in the stomach. Footsteps were barely heard over the howling wind that constantly kicked dust into her eyes. She could barely see as it was. She reached for the knife in her belt loop when she realized that she didn‘t have it, nearly tripping over her white dress. Realizing grimly she never should’ve worn the damn clothes, she fell back onto her diligent training. Grasping the hand of one woman, she twisted it behind her back and shoved her away into two others who were coming after her. Another man came after her and she barely avoided his blow.

She had to warn Oz and Reed, get them out of there.

“Who are you?” she yelled, using defensive measures to free herself from the group that surrounded her.

The eerie sound of a gun being cocked came from behind Rose. She spun around, throwing her arm up as if to ward off any stray bullets, she stared with wide eyes at the entrance of the sanctuary.

Ophela stood there, her gun plastered to the side of Reed’s squirming body. The boy cried out and scratched at her hands, but the woman didn’t seem to notice the small scratches. She only smiled at Rose, her lips spreading a thin, cold line across her face.

“We’re the rebels,” Ophela said, tightening her grip of Reed. “Here to restore order to the world.”


Oz groaned, gripping his thigh between his hands. Blood pulsed, greedy to escape the confines of his body. It poured from him, and sweat made his gray hair cling to his forehead. He gritted his teeth, forcing his body to move across the floor. He could only crawl, and even doing that was half-assed, since he had to make sure that he didn’t bleed out onto the ground. Reaching his destination, he pulled himself to his knees.

He couldn’t protect Reed, save him from the hatred of a red-haired woman. A leader of the rebels--not the leader, but a leader. A woman driven by the hunger for power and revenge over a world that now deemed her old and unworthy. He could see it painted in her eyes as she’d lifted the gun and killed the two monks that had been with him. She had shown them mercy, quickly ending their lives without a sense of regret. Then she’d levered her gun at him, where he stood in front of Reed, his body a shield.

The bullet ripped through his skin, bone, and unfortunately, one of his major arteries. Unless it was plugged soon, he was a goner for sure. A damn shame, it was, if he died because of a rebel. All that time in his life escaping and running from the war only to die a part of it anyway. He could have at least picked a side, but he’d never shown interest. He, like many, despised the Protectors on the note that they’d never done the job they swore to do. He, however, didn’t blame the Protectors, but he blamed their God. He blamed Eve and her father, Sabio for not seeing their foolhardy decision in keeping the “balance”. There was enough evil in this world, so why couldn’t the Protectors be good, defend the honor of their people and protect the weak? Why must half of them rape and murder the men and women their sworn to protect?

No, Oz didn’t believe in the Protectors. He believed in himself and he believed in the greater good. He believed in the men and women who fought to protect those they love and fight for their rights and their people. Not fool-hardy, rage driven fools that called themselves warriors for the greater good of people. No, the rebels had done their far share of damage in this world. They were also to blame.

Oz placed his hand against the statue of the beautiful Guardian, Eve. Her eyes were staring forward, a symbol of her never-ending connection to the Gem. Eyes that promised that the life of the Gem continued on. Forcing his legs underneath him, Oz cursed as he stood. He wouldn’t be able to for long. That much he knew. So he must speak now.

“Eve,” he said, speaking to the statue. “It is said that you can hear us from beyond the grave. That you can bless and curse as you please. Then, as a dying man, I have one question for you now.”

He lifted his head and stared straight into the glowing eyes and unchanging face as he said, “What are you going to do?”