Chapter Four: Revelations
Ivan awoke to throbbing pain. It seemed to be laced throughout his whole body. Groaning, he slowly sat up in bed, trying to figure out where exactly the pain was coming from. Then, looking down at the scabbing cuts on his palms, he remembered what had happened the day before.
Daren had happened. The biggest and meanest of the bullies. He was thirteen, and tall for his age, which meant he was much bigger, and much stronger, than Ivan. He had cold gray eyes that were always glaring at something, and his blond hair was constantly dirty and messy. The other mothers of Kalay treated Daren much the same way as they treated Ivan, albeit for different reasons - they kept their children away from him and closed the curtains when he came by outside.
Constantly surrounded by a group of younger boys (they held him in great reverence, despite the disapproval of their mothers), Daren strode through the town like he owned it. And he might as well have - if Daren didn't like you, you were bound to get beaten up. Ivan had been receiving cold glares for days.
He had been preoccupied walking through town yesterday, and so was taken completely by surprise when Daren sauntered up and stuck his face down into Ivan's own. "Freak," he had smirked, and pushed Ivan to the ground. "Rich, spoiled brat." He began kicking him. "Hammet's little pet." As he spat the last word out, Ivan scrambled to his feet, turned, and began to run, ignoring the numerous bruises forming all over his body.
Before he had taken two steps, Daren's foot had slammed into the small of his back, throwing him forward. Catching himself on his hands, he slid forward over the ground. Sharp pebbles and tiny rock fragments dug deep gashes into his palms and stayed wedged in the cuts, stinging horribly as Ivan forced himself to his feet again. This time he managed to duck under Daren's punch and escape, only slowing down when he reached the outskirts of town.
He had known he couldn't let Hammet and Layana see his injuries. He had been hiding these incidents for years now. So he did what he always did - snuck past the guard and into the palace through the tunnel. He wasn't supposed to know about this alternate entrance to the palace, but he had been through it so many times by now that he knew the passages and waterways by heart.
Now, Ivan continued to stare dejectedly down at his hands. One of the cuts had broken open again and was bleeding. He let out a long, low sigh and tried not to cry. Today was his tenth birthday.
He climbed out of bed, still fingering the cuts. He didn't want to face Hammet and Layana, didn't want a fancy cake with too-sweet icing, didn't want the dining room lavishly decorated, didn't want to hear one of Hammet's speeches about how Ivan would make him proud. He didn't want to make him proud. He didn't belong here. The way he was treated proved that. Then again, he couldn't think of any place where he would fit in.
He closed his eyes and thought about it. It would be a small village. Everyone would know each other, and the kids wouldn't bully people smaller than them. It would be windy there. He would live with his parents. His real ones.
There was a tower outside the town, tall and majestic against the sky. It was purple like his eyes, but a light, wispy shade. A huge crater was between it and the village. Dust rose off of it in thin, hazy clouds as the wind blew across it. His house was on a hill overlooking the plaza. He remembered the house, the familiar place, and longed to get out of the strange arms that held him, back to safety comfort mama's hands sister violet hair purple eyes-
Ivan opened his eyes, blinking. Wait... what?
"Ivan! Ivan, it's time to come downstairs!"
Ivan heard Layana's voice and quickly snapped out of his reverie. He needed to get out of this place. Running from Daren and the others outside was better than avoiding Hammet and Layana in here.
Turning to the window, he slid it open and slipped out with one practiced movement. He found footholds on the outside wall of the palace just long enough to pull the window shut behind him, then dropped lightly to the branch of a tree that grew below. Crouching, he grabbed the branch and swung down to the ground. He would worry about Hammet and Layana later - for now he was free.
Wanting to be as far away from the palace as possible, Ivan quietly made his way down to the town square, making sure the palace guards didn't notice him. As he walked through the streets, people avoided him, making their way around him like a stream flows around a rock. He kept his head down and ignored them. He was used to this treatment, and although it never stopped hurting, he had learned how to bear it.
He tried to avoid Daren and his posse by staying away from their usual hangouts and using the back roads. The boys liked to hang around the blacksmith's and yell through the window at him. If they were feeling cooperative, they would simply watch the forging of swords and axes, no doubt daydreaming about bringing them down on some innocent's skull. Now, Ivan gave the blacksmith's a wide berth and headed toward the main gate.
The outer edge of the town was deserted when he reached it. He sat down against the town's main wall, and wished it were windier. He always felt better when the winds were blowing strongly - it was like they gave him some kind of energy that made it easier for him to stand up against the other kids. He would feel better about the threat of Daren and the others if it was windy.
Ivan just sat like that for a while, hoping Hammet and Layana wouldn't come looking for him. They usually left him alone when he slipped out like this. He knew he was probably being selfish by leaving when they had gone to the trouble of a birthday celebration for him, but...
He sighed, turning his face up to the sky. A few wispy clouds drifted overhead. The wind finally started to pick up, breezes winding through the trees and racing each other through the sky. The sound of rustling leaves filled the air as the trees began to sway, their tops brilliant reds and golds against the clear sky.
He must have dozed off, because suddenly he was staring at a pair of legs, about a foot away from his face. He gasped and looked up. Daren stood over him, smirking. As Ivan watched, he raised a hand, balling it into a fist.
Acting on the instinct he had gained from all his years in Kalay, Ivan dove through Daren's legs before the punch could connect. He scrambled to his feet and started to run, only to bump into one of Daren's younger followers. Gasping for breath, he turned to find another escape route.
He realized with a jolt that there was no other escape route. Daren's little gang had formed a semi-circle against the wall, trapping Ivan inside with the bully. Unless he could break through them, he was in deep trouble.
Ivan looked up at the wall. Unless...
Suddenly, Daren was on him, hands searching for his throat. Ivan struggled, trying to push him away, while the other boys watched in silence. As Daren's hands started to close in, Ivan panicked. He wrenched his head to the side and bit down, hard, on the soft skin under the other boy's wrist.
Daren howled, loosening his grip enough for Ivan to break free. The younger boy turned and used the moment of distraction to ram himself into Daren's ankles. Ivan wasn't heavy, but it was enough to send the bully to the ground. As Daren scrambled to his feet, Ivan raced to the wall and climbed, easily finding footholds and handholds in the weathered bricks. He reached the top and began to run along the wall's top, thanking the gods for his natural speed and sense of balance. He might not be strong, but he could get away when he needed to.
Below, Daren shouted something to his group of followers, and they immediately began running in all different directions along the wall. Ivan stopped running, hesitant. What were they doing? He looked down to find Daren following him directly below, smiling up at him sickeningly. All around the wall, the other boys were climbing up. They were trying to surround him, and if he jumped, he would face Daren.
He looked to the outside of the wall. No bullies waited for him there, but the forest did. He had heard about kids who wandered off into the forest and were crippled or killed by the monsters there.
He had to do something. Looking up, he saw that one boy, about his age, was standing on the wall a few yards in front of him. A glance over his shoulder revealed another climbing up behind him, although this boy was having a harder time of it - he was much heavier than Ivan.
The boy in front of him started forward. Ivan looked him up and down. Although they were evenly matched in age, the boy was still both bigger and stronger than Ivan was. He couldn't beat him if they fought. He would have to try a different strategy.
Ivan drew himself up to his full height and tried to look as menacing as possible. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you," he called out. It took all his willpower to keep his voice from shaking.
"And why not?" the boy asked, still coming. "A little punk like you isn't gonna beat me up."
Ivan swallowed. All the adults in town, and most of the kids, thought he was unnatural. He could tell what people were thinking. When he was mad, it stormed over Kalay. They didn't seem to realize that the control Ivan had over these powers was practically nonexistent. He could use this to his advantage.
Some of the books he had read told of mystical people with strange powers who summoned up unknown forces with a wave of their hand. He tried to look like that now, holding a hand in the air and standing up tall. He smirked at the boy in front of him, trying not to let the fear he really felt show in his eyes.
The boy only hesitated for a second, seemingly contemplating whether Ivan was telling the truth. A second was enough, and Ivan charged forward, knocking the boy off the wall and back down onto the street. He landed hard, and sat up gasping for breath. Daren, standing next to him, swore and kicked him roughly in the side.
Ivan heard a noise behind him and spun to see the other boy finally reach the wall's top. He knew that he couldn't use the same trick again, and turned to run the other way. He had taken no more than two steps when he realized that there were more of Daren's followers in front of him. He looked around, fast losing hope when he saw that at least four boys had managed to scale the wall. Daren still waited below, like a vulture waiting for its meal.
Dread rose in Ivan's throat as they came for him. As the first boy reached him, he dropped into a crouch and swept the boy's feet out from under him, sending him tumbling down to land next to Daren. But the others were still coming, and there was nothing he could do to defend himself.
The first blow came hard in his side, forcing him back a step. Ivan made a weak attempt to elbow his attacker in the stomach, but was greeted by another punch to his side. Ivan cried out and doubled over as the pain spread like fire. Now the other boys arrived from behind. He tried to dodge their blows, but the pain made him clumsy. His foot slipped, and with a strangled gasp, he tumbled off the wall...
And down to Daren.
Ivan scrambled to his feet as the bully advanced on him. His mind was numb with fear. "Don't... don't hurt me..." He felt so pathetic. The town was right. He was just a freak and a weakling.
"And why not?" Daren smirked.
"Because... Because it's my birthday," Ivan muttered. He was backed up against the wall. He could feel the eager eyes of the other boys watching from above.
"Really? Well, happy birthday." He punched Ivan in the face.
Ivan slowly slid down the wall, tears leaking out of his eyes. The boys were cheering Daren on, and throwing snide remarks at his victim, but Ivan couldn't hear them. He was oblivious to everything except the blows raining down on him, and the fire that was slowly and fiercely spreading through his body.
He sat there in a stupor until he could no longer discern how much time had passed. All that existed was pain. Suddenly, he realized that the abuse had stopped and Daren was talking to him.
"Are you deaf, little Hammet-pet?" The other boys snickered. "I said, are you going to run?" Ivan just blinked at him. What was he asking? Daren nodded up at the top of the wall. "You'd better run now, or I'll call the boys down. You're getting a bit boring."
Ivan ran. He ran straight out of Kalay, into the forest, and on and on blindly. His whole body ached more than it ever had in his life. He had never been ganged up on like this before. Why had he been such a coward? Because of his weakness, he was outside town, in the forest, probably about to be eaten by-
Ivan tripped, and tumbled onto the forest floor. Dirt clung to his wet cheeks. He didn't bother getting up. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep; sleep and never go back to Kalay.
Ivan lay in the forest, completely exhausted, until he heard something. His eyes shot open. Was that-
It was a low growl, coming from directly in front of him. Slowly, heart racing, Ivan lifted his head and nearly fainted on the spot.
Three monsters encircled him. The warnings he had heard about the forest had been true. There were two batlike creatures as big as himself, leathery wings tipped with sharp claws. Beady eyes stared eerily at him, and sharp fangs gleamed in the dim light. The third monster was a skeleton with glowing red eyes and a huge blade. Ivan had to tip his head back as far as it would go to take in all of the huge creature.
The bats shrieked. Ivan snapped out of his stupor and ran.
He was fast. He could outrun any of the kids in town, as proved by his numerous escapes from them. But even his speed couldn't match the bats' huge wings and the long legs of the skeleton. He was only ten, and he was tired.
The bats reached him first. Razor-sharp claws raked across his arm, tearing a scream from Ivan's throat. He curled up on the ground as they came across for a second attack, claws penetrating his clothes to tear his skin. A raging tornado of fear ate him up inside, and he cowered as the skeleton approached.
What could he do? What could he do?
The monsters had almost caught up with him when...
three warriors appeared-
Blond hair, bright purple eyes...
purple flashes, fought with wind
lightning cut through the monsters. .
fought with wind... fought with wind...
Ivan opened his eyes. Fight with the wind...? What was that? Where had he heard that story before?
The skeleton roared and brought its blade down toward Ivan. He rolled aside and scrambled to his feet, ducking to avoid another bat attack. He could feel blood trickling down his arms and back, and decided anything was better than being killed here.
Closing his eyes, Ivan reached for the wind that blew inside him. Fear and pain had transformed it into a fierce tempest that threatened to swallow him up. He grasped that raw power and threw it out toward the monsters.
Wind... Fight for me.
"Whirlwind!" a voice cried, and the air glowed faintly violet. Fierce gusts of wind swirled around the monsters, twisting them around before sending them crashing back to earth. Ivan dropped his hand and realized with a start that it was his voice that had spoken.
The bats recovered quickly, taking to the air again. One of them shrieked and dove for Ivan. He raised his hands once again and concentrated.
Lightning... Protect me.
"Ray!" Ivan cried, and he felt electric currents flowing out of his fingertips and into the sky. With a flash of purple light, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the bat. It screeched and disintegrated, now nothing more than a heap of ash.
The other monsters still came. Ivan turned to the other bat and called up another whirlwind, trying to dodge the deadly claws as he did so. It picked up the bat and spun it around. It shrieked in agony. A sound from behind Ivan made him realize that he had forgotten about the skeleton! His heart rose into his throat as the bat emerged from the winds of his attack.
Before Ivan could correct his mistake, the skeleton's blade impacted his shoulder from behind. He collapsed into the dirt.
Happy birthday, Ivan, he thought to himself. Then the pain exploded in his shoulder, and all went black.
Whew. That was pretty long.
Lull: There's so much... blood... 0.o;;; And not enough romance... I need happy thoughts...
This isn't supposed to be a romance! He's ten years old!
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Anyway... please review... I'll leave my dad instructions on how to post this on ff.net. I'll be gone at camp for a month, and I'm sad about that... but I'm really, really happy that I got this written! Victory! Haha!
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