CHAPTER 7 – ANGELINE

Emerald sunbeams danced through the center of the amulet as Angeline held it to the light. She stared in awe, the embarrassment of the steamy wrestling match dissipating rapidly, thanks to the mystery before her. This was no stained or faded blue Mage’s pendant, this was something else altogether. The tingling in her chest only grew the longer she stared. She had to know. She slipped the chain over her head and flicked her hand at her carving Kallen had left on the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kallen said, stepping closer. “That thing doesn’t look right.”

Angeline did her best to ignore him and narrowed her focus on the piece of wood. Something was happening; there was some form of magic in that amulet. A familiar warm sensation, radiated off the surface of the pendant and flowed into her chest, but once it entered her body, the power felt entirely different. A bizarre, creeping sensation slowly inched its way down her arm and out through her palm, itching sluggishly in her finger tips.

“Whoa, whoa. Stop!” Kallen shouted, knocking her hands down, breaking the connection.

“What?” she said, shaking away the scant, lingering pulses of magic throbbing through her. At first, she thought nothing had happened to the wood, that maybe the magic was still warming up. Then she looked closer and realized she was mistaken. She scooped up the piece of wood and traced her fingers along the surface.

“It’s soggy,” she said, pressing the pad of her thumb against the pulpy surface. Then she pressed a little too hard and her thumb slipped in and punctured the wood. “Why is it wet?”

Kallen gave her a wary look. He reached over and slowly lifted the amulet up over her head, her hair snagging briefly in the gold chain.

“Okay, now I really think this should be something you save for the Masters,” he said. “Something’s not right.”

“Clearly,” she said, extending her open palm, “give it here.”

He looked at her skeptically.

Ugh. “I’m not going to use it,” she huffed, waving her fingers in a ‘gimme’ motion.

He didn’t budge.

“I promise,” she said, “it felt… off. I’ve used both the red and blue amulets extensively and their magic is nearly identical. This one felt… well the others are like a river, you know? This one was more like sludge. Toxic sludge.”

“Not to mention it made your eyes change color.”

“It did?” she said.

“Yeah, started glowing red. Gave me the heebie jeebies.”

“Who says ‘heebie jeebies’ anymore?” she rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I’ll pack it away. It can’t hurt us if we don’t use it.”

“I don’t know about that…” he drifted off, handing it to her anyway. He rose to his feet and started looking around on the ground, jaw tense, eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing?”

“Tracking. Someone dropped that amulet. It didn’t fall from the—”

He whipped around and jogged a couple yards towards a pile of rocks.

Angeline pushed to her feet, dropped the wood, and followed after. “What is it?”

“There,” he said, pointing at a sticky black residue on one of the small boulders. He swiped his index finger in it and stuck it on his tongue. He cringed and spat. “Elf blood.”

Elf blood usually meant human blood too. She eyed Kallen, his face grim. “How do you know what Elf blood tastes like?” Angeline said, trying to fight the chill creeping down her spine.

“Close range battle,” he said, answering her question flatly, completely devoid of his usual, laughter-laced tone. “Overspray. It tastes like shit.”

A part of her wanted to joke, to ask how he knew what shit tasted like, but the wariness on his face was causing her throat to clench closed. This trail led nowhere good. Nothing she said could make this situation any less foreboding.

Kallen followed the smears of dried blood along the edges of the rock. Then he bent down into the tall grass and snapped a dried blade out of the earth. Droplets of black. And a few of rust. Human blood.

Kallen dropped the grass and jogged a few paces into a nearby coppice of trees.

An enormous leaden weight settled in Angeline’s stomach, anchoring her feet to the dried earth. She already knew what they’d find. A body. It might be human, it might be Elf, but they were about to find a body.

She finally forced her feet to move. The moment she drifted into the clearing, her suspicions were confirmed. Human. The lifeless body at Kallen’s feet was human. A young woman. Judging by her youthful face, probably a brand-new recruit.

Angeline crumpled by the girl’s side. She’d seen hundreds of dead soldiers, but it didn’t get any easier, ever. Especially not when they were alone, like this.

“She’s been dead less than a day,” Kallen said, voice shaking. “She fought hard.” He nodded to the surrounding ground, scorched black with the ghost of flame.

“Where’s her amu-“

“Goddammit,” Kallen bellowed, sinking backwards, crouching on his heels. He wrapped his arms around his knees and dropped his head. “Why do they let these kids across?”

“She’s at least 20—“

“WAS at least 20,” Kallen said. “Not even a quarter through her life.”

“We don’t know that,” Angeline said. As pained as she felt herself, they couldn’t afford to sit here and spiral. She needed to snap Kallen out of it. “She could have been terminal, or a criminal seeking sanctuary maybe.”

“I don’t care what she was,” Kallen said. “All she is now is a pile of wasted potential. Skin & bone. Kindling.”

He flicked his wrist.

Angeline leapt back as the girl’s corpse erupted into flame.

“KYLE,” Angeline said, his name gurgling out of her throat, half in reprimand, half in empathy. All unexpectedly. His name. His first name. She didn’t have time to worry about it. They had to move.

“Let’s go,” she said, rising to her feet. “She’ll be declared MIA, just like anyone else who goes missing. Nothing we can do now. We can’t stay. The Elf that did this to her is hurt and probably still close.”

Kyle simply nodded and turned away from the flickering pyre.

They walked in silence until dusk when they finally stopped to set up for the night. “We’ll reach the Castle tomorrow by about noon I think,” he said, voice distant. “Might as well pass on my intel to you now, though, I think now you’ve seen it for yourself, at least part of it…”

She rolled out her sleeping bag, waiting for him to continue.

“The Elves are stealing amulets,” he said.

“What?” she said, lifting her eyes to him. That was not at all what she’d assumed happened with the girl. “They can’t even use them, that makes no sense.”

“I don’t know,” he said, “maybe the Masters have another piece to the puzzle. Just thought someone should tell them. That’s why I was fighting those Elves before, I saw them kill a Diviner. They took his amulet after. That’s gotta be why that girl didn’t have an amulet today, too.”

She nodded solemnly. “I’ll warn the Masters.”

They resumed their uncomfortable quiet. With nothing to distract her, her brain descended into a series of violent acrobatics, imagining just what the Elves could be doing by stealing the wizards’ powers. Maybe they were providing them to betrayers that they’d convinced to switch sides; she’d seen a few wizards who could wield two types at once. Or they could be hexing them; she thought to the green amulet tucked away in her pack… her eyes turning red may have only been the beginning to a more dangerous outcome. Or maybe the Elves had found a way to tap into the fearsome powers within, to warp them to their will. To use the magic themselves.

Angeline spiraled in circles over it until she felt sick. She had to think of something else, anything else. She lifted her gaze. Kyle. He’d surprised her so much in the span of just a few days, not just being a vegetarian or his love of Mai Tais. His kindness, his care, his vulnerability.

He didn’t have to come with her, but he did. And she’d given him nothing in return. After seeing his face when they found that girl… he needed something. They both did. They needed not to feel alone.

“You asked why I came across The Veil,” she said, staring at the ground. “I’m ready to tell you.” She took a steadying breath. She hadn’t told a soul, only the Masters knew. Now he would too. “I came to fight the Elves because it was part of my sentence, a plea bargain. I was arrested for arson.”

“Whoa there, Angelface,” he said softly, amusement just barely tingeing his tired voice, “maybe you’re more devil after all, playing with hellfire like that.”

“We all make mistakes, Kyle,” she said, “mine was that I got drunk and burned down a warehouse. No one got hurt, except me.”

For a good minute he didn’t say a single thing, just stared into the campfire.

“You know,” he finally said, “you stopped calling me ‘Kallen’ once you saw that girl. That’s how I know it got to you too. You’re not the ruthless, blackheart soldier I thought.”

Angeline felt something stirring in her chest. If only he knew just how hard it hit her each time she lost one of them.

“That’s why I’m ready to tell you too,” he said, a heavy exhale escaping his lips. “Not why I came across The Veil, there’s no story there, I just wanted magic. But I need to tell you what happened, the reason I left The Realm’s Army. I just hope you don’t hate me when I’m done.”

Angeline scooted a little closer to the fire, closer to him, and squeezed his hand. She wouldn’t normally have done something like that, such a personal gesture, but after what they’d seen, it would have felt stranger not to.

“I was on leave and wanted to make a quick buck,” he said, “I looked up my old coach, he said he had a few fights for me. Said he’d make it worth my while. I showed up, drunk as usual. I fight better that way. Dulls the pain. Then he pops out an 8 ball and we do a couple lines. Then a couple more. By the time I’m in the ring, I’m on fire.

“My opponent’s just a kid, varsity football and basketball, about to graduate. I decide to take it easy. I knock him around a bit, he even loses a couple teeth but won’t back down. The bell rings and I go to my corner. Coach says I have to take him down in the next round. He’s got 50 grand on it.

“Bell rings again. Kid comes at me with all he’s got. He’s good. Or. He was. I kick him in the head, then the back, then anywhere I can reach until he stops moving.”

Kyle’s voice cracked. “I paralyzed that kid from the chest down. Broke his back in three places.”

Angeline scooted closer, right next to him, and just stared into the flames. Holy fuck. Her mistake did not seem so bad anymore.

“That’s why I left The Realm’s Army,” he said, finally, “I can’t witness any more futures stolen, like I did with that fight. I can’t be part of the machine that chews up these kids. That’s why I stay and fight the Elves, so that someday, maybe they won’t have to.”

Angeline finally tore her eyes away from the fire and dared to look at the man she’d misunderstood so devastatingly. Yes, she’d been spot on with her assessment, that he didn’t do well with authority, that he was trying to make amends… but she’d been completely wrong about the soul underneath the actions.

He had to maintain control, not because of his ego, but because he was so scared to lose that control. He was scared of himself. There was a fire within him, burning him from the inside, and all he did was push everyone else away so they wouldn’t get burned too. He was entirely alone, slowly turning to ash where no one could see.

But she could see him now.

She rose up onto her knees and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a sideways hug. She didn’t usually hug, but if anyone ever needed it, it was Kyle Kallen, in that moment.

He didn’t say a word, just let out a slow exhale and sat until she pulled away. They would part ways in the morning, but for the night, she’d sit with him and watch the flames together.