Shadow Crusade

~ Chapter Four ~

Kailuru lies me on a bed, and he looks at my ankle. With one swift motion, he jerks it and pushes back into place. The pain is much worse than the dislocation of it. I sob through the whole ordeal.
His door slams open and I see two of my would-be assailant standing in his doorway. I want to sleep.
“What,” Kailuru asks.
“The girl, she escaped from us, it seems you found her,” one says. “The boys and I were hoping to get her back to have a little fun with her.”
Kailuru stands and turns to them, as he turns I can see how irritated he looks.
“Do what with her?” He asks.
The fatter one of the two looks stops smiling and nudges his friend. It seems that he wants to leave. His friend doesn’t seem to get the picture.
“What exactly were your intentions with our guest,” he asks.
“Little bit of fun, me and the boys like to have a little fun with the girls before we send them off,” he says. “Like aways.”
Kailuru advances towards the two men, they move, and I hear them all break into a run outside of the door. Blue and white flames light the dim hallway, and shrieks echo off the walls. The light dies, and Kailuru enters the room.
“Were there anymore boy?” He asks.
Not wanting to be directly responsible for someone being burned alive, I shake my head. I swallow a massive lump in my throat and try not to squirm away from this man, who perch next to my bedside.
He places his hand on my knee, “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe with me.”

The sun rises, and most of the people in the encampment are asleep. I can feel my powers weakening. Kailuru lays on his back on the ground, eyes shut. His breathing is slow. I’m not sure if he is asleep.
He lays in front of the exit. Escape is unlikely.
Kailuru travels with less skilled associates. Something about this group feels off about this band of thieves. Kailuru leaped high enough to remove me from the sky. Could the spirits have blessed him?
At Kailuru side, a long sword sits. It is very unheard of for someone who is blessed by the spirits to continue to use human-made tools for combat. There is something off about this individual. Blue flames and above normal mobility.
Kailuru eyes open and he looks up at me. My eyes dart away, and I lay down. I turn on my side, so I can’t see him. I push back my tears, praying my mom made it home safe.

“What can you do,” Kailuru asks.
“Depends, what have you seen me do,” I ask.
He smirks, “you are amusing.”
Kailuru hasn’t left me alone for too long. If I hadn’t seen him burn two men to death, I might have thought he was a nice guy.
Around me, the thieves are having breakfast, what they eat looks like chicken gravy, but I’m sure it’s oatmeal. In front of me are two hard-boiled eyes and a thick slice of bread with butter smothered over it. The criminals stare at me. It feels like ants are clawing up my arms. Kailuru is eating a similar meal to his comrades, with a hard-boiled eye on the side. Something tells me the two eggs I have, would have gone to him.
Kailuru doesn’t seem to mind the meal. He has almost finished the bowl of mystery oats. I pick up one egg, and I hit it on the side of the wood bowl. I attempt to pull a shell flack, but my shaky fingers can’t focus. Kailuru takes the egg from me and quickly peels it. He offers it back. I take it. He takes the second eye and does the same, and he returns it to its places.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he says.
“When can I go home,” I ask.
He doesn’t address me, but that is an answer in itself.
“Can you hear the spirits,” he asks.
“Yes, but not very well during the day,” I say.
He raises an eyebrow, “I thought your powers were related to darkness when I first saw you jumping on dark energy platforms. You can fly as well, correct.”
I nod. This conversation feels like an interview. I remember interviewing a young boy who wanted to work for my mother last year. We need someone who could lift a large crate and clean up around the house for us. He was younger than me but towered over both of us. His father was a fisherman, and he didn’t want to become one. The smell of fish makes him sick.
During the interview, he was fidgety and couldn’t stop staring at me. The kid avoided making direct eye contact with me. During most of the conversation, I noticed his eyes were either glued to the floor or my chest. I decided against hiring him.
“Can you do anything else,” he asks.
Something deep inside of me is telling me this is all a test, and the reason I have been safe so far is he sees a use for me.
“I can teleport,” I say. “It’s more like traveling through shadows. I’ve only done it once.”
“Could you bring another person with you,” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I say.
Kailuru frown and pulls out a dagger, with one swift motion he tosses it in my direction. I yelp, and behind me, a scream rings out. I turn to see the man who brought me my food has Kailuru’s knife sticking out of his shoulder. Tears pour from his eyes as he howls in pain.
Kailuru stands and casually walks over to the man, he pulls his knife out, and blood gushes from the wound. The chief falls backward clutching his wound. I quickly get up, whats left my food falls to the ground. I lower myself to his side and inspect the injury; Kailuru’s knife seems to have hit something artery. I’m not sure if it was accidental or if he was aiming for the dangerous spot.
“Don’t worry about him, he was sniffing your hair,” Kailuru says.
I swallow and begin pulling off my jacket. I ball it up and press it against the wound. If I had my mixing kit, I could probably mix something up to stop the bleeding. Around me, there is nothing I can use to treat the wound. Burning it shut would be the logical thing to do, but he would still likely bleed out, or a blood clot will form.
I watch as blood pools around my hands like a small oil well has been struck. I watch as the man’s face turns peel and his lips lose their color. Everything in me screams at him don’t die.
Around my hands’ purple orbs form and I watch the color come back into his cheeks. My strength and energy fade away, and I feel tired. I pull my hands away from the man and breath genuinely, in hopes I won’t pass out. In front of me, the man begins moving, his eyes open but shut again. His head slumps to the side, but he is still breathing.
With a shaky hand I pull my ruined jacket off of him, the would is gone. I glance up at Kailuru, a grin plasters his face, and for a second I see a flash of sharp white fangs and glowing red eyes. Everything around me becomes a blur, and I fall backward. To the sound of my name, I drift into sleep.