32
Monte entered and handed Kandomere a beige folder before exiting. Kandomere's eyes remained connected on the large orc as he opened the folder. He glanced at the images inside. It was of Dorghu speaking with Inferni Bright follower Larika. Kandomere slid the photos across the table.
"Want to tell me what's going on?" he asked, his voice flat and commanding. He wasn't asking. Dorghu glanced at the photos for a few seconds.
"Just speaking to an elf. No law against that." he said crossing his arms.
"Larika is Inferni, a terrorist member. It appears you've been speaking with them numerous times." Kandomere said. Dorghu huffed some.
"So?" he asked. Kandomere's glare was deep and it only deepened at the orc's defiance.
"Are your kind siding with the Inferni, aiding them in some plan that involves the dark lord?" he asked. Dorghu scoffed.
"The business between the orc community and this random elf has nothing to do with you." he stated.
"An elf would NEVER associate with an orc." Kandomere argued. Dorghu just glared at him, and it was cold and dark.
"There's a lot of species that shouldn't be associating with each other. But here we are, an elf and an orc." he spat. "If you got nothing to hold me on you can either let me go or get me a lawyer. I'm sure the news would love to know Homeland Security is holding an innocent orc hostage. Better yet they'd have a field day when they find out the shooter was an elf and the police never announced it."
Kandomere's body tightened as he listened and Dorghu nodded slowly.
"You elves are so high and mighty, you don't care about us or anyone else in that city. If you did, you'd be announcing it all over. But elves won't give each other up not even a homeland security elf in charge with bringing down a terrorist elf group." he said lowly and with each word spoken it enraged Kandomere more.
"If your stupidity in dealing with the Inferni is the cause of the shooting, the cause of Odette nearly losing her life at my home, I will see to it that you will never see the light of day again, your orc communities will be burned to the ground. I will see to that." he said lowly. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds trying to show dominance. The rumbling of the thunder from outside caught Kandomere's attention briefly. The thunder was harsh and violent, yet he knew the weather forecast called for clear skies tonight. The lights flickered a bit above them, but they did not break eye contact. "You know what the Inferni want with Odette, don't you?"
Dorghu's eyes were calming and he nodded.
"Yeah. I do. I figured if you couldn't protect her then someone would have to." he said. "After she left my crib, I took it upon myself to spread the word that some orcs were tired of being abused by police, by humans. More humans have been killing orcs ever since that shooting, because they are convinced it was an orc shot those people. I figured if the elves thought the orcs may want to rise up again, then they could use us to help with whatever plan they had in mind. It worked. The elf, Larika sought me out. They plan to use Odette's body as a surrogate to bring back the dark lord. They believe she's some powerful siren who can do powerful things. With an elf's seed inside her, the offspring will be the perfect body for the dark lord to take. It's supposed to be a new rise of darkness, a child born of elf and siren power. A creature like that can start a reign of darkness in a matter of days."
Kandomere's eyes darkened on the orc and he looked away some taking in the information he had just heard. It would make sense why Serafin has been the charge of the attacks. Being the only male Inferni member, he was chosen to retrieve O.
"And what do you think you were going to do with this piece of information?" he asked. Dorghu's eyes flared once more.
"I was going to find O, and tell her so she could protect herself."
"And you really thought the Inferni would trust you with this? You didn't think us catching you and bringing us to this moment wasn't a part of their plan?" he asked.
"I don't care what their intentions were. I just want O safe. If she hadn't met you, none of this would have happened." he said. Kandomere refrained from rolling his eyes as he just got up from the table and walked out of the room. Monte was staring through the glass the entire time.
"What do you think, boss?" he asked. Kandomere shook his head slowly.
"His story seems plausible. But who knows if this was the Inferni's plan all along, tell the dumb orc some information to tell us in order to throw us off the trail." he explained. Monte shrugged.
"We did find ancient texts in that rundown apartment. No one can decipher the siren books. The language is so ancient there's no one alive who can read it except probably elder sirens." Monte said. Kandomere's head lifted some as he thought about his coworker's words.
"I may know an elder siren who can read the texts." he said. Monte lifted his head toward the glass.
"What do we do with him?" he asked. Kandomere sneered at the orc who just looked around slowly.
"His intentions were good… but we aren't letting him go that easily. He knows more, I can feel it." he explained. As his boss spoke Monte answered his ringing phone.
"Montehugh… what?" he asked. Kandomere looked at him quickly before upon seeing the confused look on his coworker's face.
Hours earlier
Everyone was mesmerized by the singing of the siren heiress. It was all so perfect.
"She is the one." Ophelia said lightly. Mathias watched as his daughter raised her hands to the sky the water absorbing into her body. He could hear them, the songs of his parents and grandparents. He knew their voices, the tones and frequency of them.
"She sings the songs of the fallen." he announced. The flames burning white was a clear sign: the gods have heard the voice and have made their presence known. A burst of white strikes the sky as their child's song ends and their eyes widen as the lightning strikes Odette's body causing her body to jumped into the air before landing right on her back, motionless. Ophelia's eyes widen as she lets out a blood curdling scream in fear.
"Odette!" Mathias yells as the two ran down through the halls towards the back doors. They burst through the doors and rush over, family running over as well. Marco is there and lifts her body off the ground some.
"She's not breathing!" he yells and Ophelia drops to her knees and starts to pat at Odette's face. Her eyes are closed as if she were sleeping. She did not move.
"Baby wake up!" she screams.
"Call an ambulance now!" Mathias yells.
"They won't make it in time!" Venus yells. Marco raised her up quickly.
"I'll get her there! You meet me there!" he said to his family before he takes off around the yard and to the front. The rain gave him heightened speed and he held his younger sister to his body as he ran. Everything was a black blur around him, but slowly blue shot across his vision as he could see the water particles all around. Blue rained down from the black sky and it covered the street. He looked to his left and right to see his siblings running beside him as well as other members of his guard. If any of the other species tried to stop them, they would be cut down. Their feet glided on the water almost as if they were ice skating. Their movements were smooth as ice itself. They were lucky for the rain tonight. Flashing lights were surrounding them now as they jumped from building top to building top.
The city was still alive after all of the chaos. They finally saw the large hospital buildings in the distance. They now jumped atop of car hoods to get to the sidewalk that had the hospital at the end. They burst through the doors and were immediately met with a large waiting room filled with sick and dying people.
"Somebody help us!" Marco yelled. There was so much chaos but some doctors were running to them with a large bed.
"What happened?" one of them asked.
"Struck by lightning. She is a siren of the Odellion clan. You will not let her die!" he stated as he lied her down on the bed. They rolled her through the double doors and that was it.
O's POV
I felt electricity surging through my body, pulsing through me. It hurt, I wanted it to stop. My eyes snapped open and my vision was blurry. I felt pain shoot to the front of my head. I winced and slowly sat up to see I was in a room of white, and people were standing around me. Doctors and nurses, but they weren't moving. I looked all around, confused and light headed.
"What's happening?" I muttered and looked around at the doctors and nurses again. They weren't moving. They looked frozen, like they couldn't move if they wanted to. Their eyes were moving from left to right. What was happening to them? I slowly moved off the bed and felt my feet were wobbly and mildly numb. I shook my head in confusion and lightly touched one of the doctors and he finally fell back onto the ground, panting hard and screaming some.
I was raised my hands to him.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Stay back! Get away from me!" he screamed and got up and quickly ran from the room. I was stunned at his words. Was he afraid of me? What was going on? I looked around some more. The hospital. I was immediately worried and I looked around. I remember being with my family before blacking out. Oh my god. Did something happen to them? I looked around some more and saw the medical staff was still frozen. What the hell happened to them? I moved over to a nurse and gently touched her arm. She unfroze just like that and hurried away like the other doctor. I watched her leave before looking at the other staff members. I touched them all and they hurried from the room. What did I do? I looked at my hands for a moment rotating my palms upward then down. They seemed normal. Was my family here? I needed to find them. I began to walk toward the two doors that the staff left out of. I felt different. My stomach ached and I felt completely off.
I moved through the doors to see doctors and nurses running in and out of rooms. Yes, still very busy from the shooting. I looked down at my body to see I was still in my beaded outfit from the cookout. I looked through the hall and just began to walk forward and the second I took my first step, I could see it all, the water flowing through everything, the bodies of the people, the air before me. I had never seen such beautiful sparkling drops. It was gorgeous. The loud noises around me began to fade away as a soft melody began to play in my head. It was a song from my music.
"Sing for us, child of the water." I couldn't hold back from adding my voice, I must obey.
"You teach me how to see all that's beautiful. My senses touch your world I've never pictured. Now I give my hope you, I surrender. I pray in my heart that this world never ends. I see me through your eyes." I sang not even realizing the entire staff was following me. I had never known my voice could carry such rhythm and beauty. And I wanted never sing again? How foolish was I? I moved through a door that had a logo of the stairs. The rain was above. I want to be in the rain. "Living through life flying high! Your love shines a way into paradise. So I offer my love, for you."
Normal POV
The Odell clan was sitting in the waiting room, anxiously awaiting word for the daughter of the clan. Too many sirens were filling the waiting room, so Mathias ordered the immediate family to stay and for everyone else to return home. Ophelia's hands never left her husband's. Meanwhile, Kandomere was rushing into the lobby and he saw his mate's family.
"Mr. and Mrs. Odell." he said catching their attention and now they all stood up to see him.
"Kandomere, oh thank god you're here." Ophelia said.
"How did you know to be here?" Marco asked.
"The hospital called, Monte. Guess he was her emergency contact while she worked for him. What happened?" he asked.
"She struck by lightning!" Arliss blurted. Kandomere's eyes widened as fear took hold of him.
"What?" he asked.
"And that's not the worst part of it. She has the ability to sing the songs of the fallen." Mathias said. Kandomere shook his head.
"From your story?" he asked. Mathias nodded.
"I worry her mind will not be clear when she awakes." he said.
"What room is she in?" Kandomere asked. He had to see her now.
"We don't know yet the doctors… haven't…" Ophelia's words began to gently fade out as she suddenly stopped speaking. Her eyes became cloudy. Kandomere was stunned by this not even knowing how to ask what was happening. Marco and Mathias both suddenly looked toward the doors their family member had disappeared to only to see people and staff in the waiting room just walking through the doors.
"It's happening. She is controlling everyone." Marco said. His body suddenly going limp. Mathias took hold of Kandomere's shoulder.
"Follow the singing. She could do something horrible to everyone if you don't get to…her… time…" the elder sirens words faded and his eyes clouded over. Now all the sirens were turning and moving toward the door. Kandomere watched in almost horror as he looked at his own hands. Nothing was happening to him. There was no singing he could hear. But he wasted no time shoving past everyone trying to find his love.
"ODETTE!" he screamed as he could see everyone, patient and doctor alike moving from the patient rooms and all going in one direction toward one of the stairs. Could she be going to the top floor to the rain? Kandomere had no real time to think as he indeed could hear her singing. It was beautiful and airy. Yet he had no urge to follow like the rest. He looked around and saw another door with the stairs logo and burst right through it.
O'S POV
I had never felt so happy, so filled with content and richness.
"When my heart was never open, and my spirit never free, to the world that you have shown me." The stairs going up, up, up did not tire me like I thought it would. I didn't feel sleepy, I felt something even better. Power. I came upon a door and immediately heard the rain just outside it. "But my eyes could not division. All the colors of love and of life evermore!" As I stepped out into the rain, I felt it! I felt the power that was deep inside me this entire time. I looked up at the sky and raised my hands to it.
"AND NOW I-I-I-I!" I harmonized to the sky as water burst from my palms and into the air. I felt it, I felt it all! The power of every siren who had died in battle to protect their lands, their loved ones. "I SEE ME THROUGH YOUR EYES! Flying high!"
It was me! I can sing the songs of the fallen. I then I pushed my elbows into my body then shot them back up, crossing my hands so that my thumbs connected in the form of a bird and as I did, the water shot through my fingers gliding together to form a large winged creature stretching its massive wings. "YOUR LOVE SHINES A WAY INTO PARADISE! SO I OFFER MY LIFE AS A SACRIFICE! AND LIVE THROUGH YOUR LOVE! AND LIVE…"
"ODETTE!" I hear someone's scream cut through it all and I finally blink and look around. I'm floating in the air slowly descending to the ground and I notice everyone in white gown and regular clothes. But standing in the middle, the pupil of this eye of people, was Kandomere. "Through your life." My singing grew softer and I watch as his hands lift up to me. I raise my hands to him, wanting to be in his hold, his embrace. Our hands finally meet and I drop right into his hold and we drop to the ground. I'm so weak, I hold on to Kandomere the best I can as he run his fingers through my hair. He's panting and looks relieved, heavily relieved. My muscles hurt, but I force my hand to come up and caress his cheek gently.
"I see you." I whispered, and he nods quickly sniffling some as he caresses my cheek as well.. Was he crying?
"I see you." he responds lightly. And with those words I can let the exhaustion take over and send me back to sleep.
Author's notes
Boom so here we go, the first glimpse of O's new power. I wonder what all the people on the balcony were going to do had she had her singing never had been interrupted in that brief moment. Anyways until next time.