Chapter 7 – Awaking Child

He sat up, choking and coughing but the lingering sharp ache setting his teeth on edge as his teeth dug deeper into the wound I ripped open and reopened over and over until I was absolutely sure he was changed completely.

Cantus cried my name, "Syx! What're you doing?"

I let the tears flow and let my senses observe what was happening instead of consciously making myself aware of my surroundings, "I won't let you kill any others."


Daemon was shaking me, "Sy, Sy, wake up."

I opened my eyes, my hand still across the dirt mound in front of me.

"Sy," He mumbled, pulling on my arm, "Sy, you're having a nightmare, baby girl, please get up."

I looked up over at him. He was seventeen, dark hair that hung low and rugged over his eyes, bloody red, but toned down and its natural blue peeking through in small diamonds of color.

He extended his hand down to me as he stood, narrow but strongly build, young, still a teenager. I reached up and took it. My small childish hand in his looking so nice and I was wishing silently that he could be my real family as he pulled me to my bare feet.

I looked back down at the mound on the ground, my – our – swing over to the side. His little rock so finely polished with his real name carved into it. Not his birth name, his real name.

Sparrow
A hero

I sniffed again. My hero, he was my hero.

As Daemon led me away, pulling me by my little hand as I watched the small mound grow smaller and smaller as we walked away, I thought about how it should be me under there. He saved me. The tears started falling again and I ripped my hand from Daemon's and ran back to the mound and threw myself on the ground, clawing at the dirt screaming.

Daemon walked slowly and calmly back to me, taking my wrists and pulling me around to make me look at his face. He was crying too, and at that I stopped screaming and just let the tears run.

"Let him sleep, sis, please just let him sleep now." He murmured, pulling me up onto his lap, standing, locking his arm under my legs and pressing my cheek against his chest as he carried me away.


The next day, I awoke to being picked up again, but my head hurt. I wanted to sleep. My eyes hurt from crying. My mouth was dry.

"Go to sleep, Thorn." Cantus said softly.

I opened my eyes to look at him. He never called me Thorn unless something was wrong.

"Cantus, what's wrong?" I said, my voice so small and high pitched, so innocent.

"Go back to sleep, Thorn." He repeated, pressing his lips to my forehead.

I slipped back into darkness, but only until my face rolled away from his chest and the sunlight filtered through my lids. I squinted, raising a small hand to my eyes to shield the light.

"And the girl?" Cantus asked, his voice distant, choked, sounding as if he'd been crying.

But Cantus didn't cry?

"She shall be sent away from here, back to her real home. She'll be safer there. We only have the boy and he's not our property and he didn't do anything except reveal where she was. The man…" One of the other Elders started.

"- Monster- He is a monster." Cantus corrected, howling the words almost.

I seemed to slip back under, feeling ill. But I came around again soon, my eyes fluttering open halfway.

Cantus bent over me, "I'm sorry," He whispered, "I always loved you. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you."

I parted my lips. The truth always conquering my lies. I hadn't held the weapon. But I knew the truth.

"I killed him."


The next morning I woke up, my head aching. My mother was picking me up into her arms.

"Why are you crying?" She asked, concern in her tone.

"I don't know." I mumbled childishly, "I think I had a nightmare."

My name is Reillie.

I'm seven.

These are the facts I knew as I opened my eyes.