I woke with a start to find myself sprawled across the black leather seat of the plane, and I cursed loudly. Anything could have happened while I slept- terrorists could have overtaken the plane, it could have exploded into a billion firey pieces, I could have suffered a heart attack. As I thought these, I scoffed at their stupidity. I knew I was just being paranoid-then again, where I was going, my paranoia might be the only thing seperating me from life anddeath. I could end up with a knife (or a bullet) in my back at any time.
I looked down at my phone as it vibrated against the leather seat, and frowned at the text message in my inbox.
from- unlisted number
message- squire, whoever u r, i'm not going 2 b the landing. a snowmobile will b nearby. U know the way?
though I knew who it was from, I felt the need to check, and I laid my face against the cool glass of the window as I typed a response-
message- is this zarek?
The reply was swift and biting.
message- duh. again, do u know the way?
I glared at the small screen, finally feeling the cool air of the inclosed space, which almost seemed to beclosing in on me. The clicking of the keys on my BlackBerry was the only sound in the small room.
message- i suppose i do. see u in a few hours, psycho-ass.
I laughed loudly, but his anger was obvious in his response, which surprised me and almost caused me to drop my phone-
message- more like a few minutes, ice queen. have fun freezing.
I gasped, looking over at the clock in the top corner of the small electronic-indeed, it was almost 10:30, the time Mike said that we would land. I could almost hear the minutes ticking away, and I felt even more panicked than before. Zarek sent no more messages, and I was left alone with my fear and the frenzied beating of my heart.
"Ivy!" Mike shouted from the ground. "Hurry up! I'm fucking freezing out here!" I resisted the urge to stop my foot like a five year old and refuse to exit the helicopter, but instead gazed silently around at my surroundings. The ground was entire covered by the snow which was still falling-everything was white, from the mountains in the distance to the trees in front of me. The trees were nothing like the trees I grew up around- they resembled fir trees and pine trees, which made my heart ache for my palm trees and small backyard. A small town was visible in the valley of one of the large moutnains.
I absolutely hated it.
Mike moved to help me down, his boots crunching in the snow. He sat beside me on the edge of the chopper, sighing deeply. "Damnit, what are they thinking, sending you here?" He muttered. "You're not even 18 yet, are you?"
"I'm nearly 20, thank you very much," I told him hautily, looking over at the snow. It was really beautiful, I had to admit. He sighed again. "But couldn't they have sent you to, like, New Orleans, or something?" I snorted.
"Tell me, Mike, how much trouble do you think I would get into in New Orleans?" I countered. He laughed slightly.
"True, I guess. But doesn't Kyrian need a squire? What about Talon?" I sighed deeply, shrugging. I kicked my feet out, and found that the toes of my shoes barely touched the snowy ground. I jumped down, falling gracelessly onto my ass. He jumped down as well, holding out a hand to help me up.
"Thanks," I muttered. he nodded. "And to answer your question, no. Kyrian has Nick to squire for him, if you could even call it that. And you know how Talon is." He nodded again, knowing what I was talking about. For some odd reason, Talon refused to have a squire, though god knew he needed one. Though it seemed rather rude, I did not consider Nick a very...oh, a very expearianced squire. A sweetheart, yes, since I'd met him on a trip to New Orleans and he'd tried to get into my pants, but not thebest fighter or the smartest. I could actually make a list of squires who could work much better for Kyrian.
I, unfortunately, would not be on that list.
But I shrugged this fact away as I picked up the small backpack which had fallen in the snow beside me, slinging it over my shoulder. It contained my mp3 player, several books that I had intended to read earlier, and my laptop. My phone was in my pocket.
"Welcome to hell, Ivory," He muttered. I ignored him as I walked around the helicopter, noticing a small shed a few feet away. I walked over to it curiously, opening it silently. The door creaked open, and I expected to find some old, long forgotten tool shed. What I found caught me by surprise.
The small shed reminded me slightly of talon's garage, which I had seen only once. It was a total mess of modern-looking equipment which I could probably break by touching for only a second, some of which I could probably not even pronounce correctly. I grimaced as I saw a small, sleek black snowmobile sitting in the center of the room, as if waiting for me. Hell, I didn't even know how to drive a snowmobile. I sighed as I saw the keys sitting on the black seat, frowning as I took them. Where the hell is the ignition? I thought.
Locating it, I stuck the key violently inside, and for a second nothing happened. I worried that I had broken it, until the engine roared to life and I jumped slightly. I laughed at my own fear, chiding myself silently. Mike appeared at the door, looking in at the monstrous machine.
"Holy shit," He breathed, looking at it with a sick kind of awe. "Do you know how expensive that thing probably was?" He looked almost jealous for a second.
"Here, Mike," I said snidely. "You can take the really shiny snowmobile to be Zarek's squire, and I'll take your helicopter and get the hell out of Alaska." He snorted, coming back to the real world.
"Fat chance, kid," he said. "Do you even know how to drive a snowmobile, though?"
I shook my head, and he crossed the small shed to pick me up and set me on the seat. I blushed slightly, keeping my head down as he showed me how to control the sleek black machine. I nodded once he finished explaining, and I carefully guided the snowmobile out of the shed.
I laughed as I turned circles around the helicopter, darting in and out of the trees surrounding the landing spot. I was having fun, in a place i didn't even consider vaugely fun!
That was, until I slammed into a tree. Just another example of my luck and my stupidity.
Mike ran over to me, looking worried. I felt dizzy and could barely walk, but I was alive. "Oh, good mother of god," He muttered, helping me back onto the snowmobile. "Please leave, before you kill yourself on that thing. besides, Zarek will be waiting," He said, without a lack of bitterness in his tone.
I nodded again, reaching up to hug my friend. "Goodbye, Mike," I said sadly. "Say 'hi' to everyone in Miami who knows I'm here. Tell them I'm safe. do the same for the New-Orleans crew, okay?" he nodded, looking sadly down at me.
"Bye, rainbow-kid." He muttered. I smiled at my old nickname. I suppose I should explain about that. When I was about ten, my father first introduced me to mike. I mean, he really introduced me -full name and all. Ivory Emerald Scarlet Violet Verde Sunlight , mother had named me. Since that moment, the moment we were introduced, Mike had called me the rainbow-kid. The nickname stuck through Elementery School, but then faded, and I had not heard it since then. But this revival of my old name gave me hope for the future, hope that someday I would return to my actual life.
I let go of him, waving once more before making my way back over to the snowmobile. I turned back.
"Hey, Mike!" I called. He turned. "Punch Nick in the stomach for me, will you?" He gave a bark of laughter, nodding to me. I smiled in satisfaction before climbing akwardly back onto the snowmobile and beginning my trecherous journey over the snowy terrain.
As I crossed the snowy ground at speeds almost too quickly to see, my mind raced. I'd heard that Zarek was insane-were the roumers true? I didn't want to die. Why was I doing this? Why was Acheron doing this to me? Was it punishments for what was in my past? The trail of blood and death that followed me over coninents?
I stopped for a moment to check to see if I was still going in the right direction, and I heard movement from the trees behind me. I was over 300 miles away from both Zarek and Mike, so who could it have been? I moved slowly toward the trees, pulling out the small dagger that I held in my gloved hands.
"Come out with your hands up," I said in warning tones, sounding very much like Elliot on Law & Order. I heard more movement before I jumped at the trees, stopping before I stabbed a small boy. He stared up at me with wide black eyes, which were full of fear. His blond hair hung over an angel's face, ice coating his blond eyelashes. He stared anxiously up at me, a scream frozen on his lips.
"Mommy!" He cried, leaping at me. He hugged me tightly, burying his small face into my shoulder. He sniffed at me for a moment, raising his face to gaze suspiciously at me. "You're not my mommy," he said accusingly.
"Um, no," I said confusedly. "I'm Ivory. Who are you?"
"Ivory and Ebony," He sang in a clear, high voice. "The twins of destruction. You're her? Where's the mean one?"
I laughed at the mention of the old fairy tale children, who were two godesses of Pain and Torture in Apollite and Greek legends. The latter, Ebony, was the goddess of Torture, one who would kill without remorse. Her lighter twin, the one who saw the pain she cause and was remorsefull, had fallen from Olympus, to live among the humans she had tried to break down in pain. Her sister was said to still remain in chains, waiting for revenge.
I was named for the one who had seen the good, my father had told me. He had found the tale interesting and decided to name one of his children after them. My mother had chosen the rest of my name.
"No, I'm not her, but I'm named for her. Who are you?" I asked kindly. He shrugged, thinking.
"I don't know, goddess lady. I think I'm Nikitas, but I don't remember.I know I'm rhis many, though," He raised four fingers,looking up at me."Hey, Missus Godess Lady- Where is my mommy?" He asked. I shrugged, before I heard a gutteral, dying groan from the trees. I took the frozen hand of Nikitas, walking wiht him. I let go of his little hand when I saw a beautiful, tall blond Daimon woman spalyed across the icy floor, obviously dead, the source of the dying cry I had heard. Not letting Nikitas see this sight, I casually asked him,
"Nikitas, What does your mother look like?" He smiled, showing small fangs, as I feared.
"She's really, really pretty. And she's blond. She has really pretty eyes, like mine. They're black. She's also tan. I don't know where mommy went, though. Can you take me to her?" He inquired. "I miss Her, really, really bad." I bit back tears for the little boy, picking him up.
"Come on, Nikitas, we need to get you inside. You're freezing." He nodded, allowing me to carry him to the snowmobile as he snuggled into my chest and quickly fell alseep in my jacket.
With the small Apollite boy snuggled in my ski jacket, I sped across the barren landscape, praying to all of the gods to speed the snomobile along and not let the little boy die of hypotheria, or some other cause. I barely wondered what Zarek was going to say when he saw him.