For You My Sister, With Pained Love

“How many times do I have to tell you she’s not following us,” Eden snapped, his nerves were shot. The doubt in his chest grew but he held to his conviction.

“I said, ‘In the event that she was!’” Orion retorted. “You’ve been wrong before.” Orion was fuming, he had been since they had scrambled to flee from Lorent and his soldiers.

“It’s an open field, Orion,” Tara commented, she shouldered her heavy sack, one of the few things they had been able to grab.

“We’d be able to see her coming,” Kuster added from behind. Wispy red hair flew around the young lad’s face as he turned behind them. “There’s no way to hide in this.”

“She’s done it before,” Orion protested, keeping a brisk pace as they climbed the mountain. “I say, we learn from our mistakes and do something different.”

“We are!” Eden exclaimed.

“Fleeing, is not something new, Eden! That is all we’ve done since Lorent sent his hounds. We ran from the Low Lands to Back Run’s, to the dirt-filled swamps of Glanore. When does it end?” Orion shouted as he turned, his hand clutching the pommel of his blood-encrusted sword.

The two men looked at each other, communicating with silent heat-filled gazes. Eden glared before looking at the distance they had covered. It was not much he could admit that, but the mountains had been their best bet. No one dared to climb Mount Barren even in the normal months of the year. Someone would have to be truly insane to scale it at the beginning of the rainy season. Gritting his teeth and facing his companions he pushed forward with a new fervor determined to get halfway up before dark fell.

“We aren’t fleeing,” he said to the wind. “If they come, we make a stand.”

“Here!” Kuster cried out in disbelief. He tripped over his feet as Eden nodded. Orion looked to the sky and prayed to whatever Gods remained for the strength to continue.

With their new pace set, they sought off once more, jumping from loose rubble and slippery sides. Heavy breathing and grunts of concentration were all that communicated as they each prayed Lorent hadn’t tracked them this far.

“He has a point,” Tara breathed next to him. Glancing toward the dark-skinned girl, he tightened his grip on the rock beneath his hand.

“Orion always has a point,” Eden muttered.

Sighing she drew herself up to a small ledge and leveled a look at him, “He told you going through Dune’s Cross was a stupid idea, and you decided we go anyways. Now we’re on the side of this Godsforsaken rock hoping Lorent isn’t insane enough—”

“He’s not,” Eden interrupted, knowing what she would say. Her dark eyes narrowed as she looked at the soiled bandage on his forearm. It was quiet for a moment as they rested on the ledge, Orion was helping Kuster keep his balance below. The younger boy’s eyes kept darting over his shoulder.

“What happened back there—”

“No Tara,” Eden shook his head, not wanting to hear her.

“Eden,” she grabbed his arm, eyes fierce as she looked at him. “What happened back there isn’t your fault. You didn’t know.” It wasn’t until he nodded that she let him go, moving on as his heart thundered in his chest.

He had fought the thought back and ignored the pain, shock, and anger at the reasoning for their failure at Dune’s Cross. The wind began to blow and with it came the scent of rain. They had to keep climbing and find an alcove at least before it began to pour.

“Let’s go slowpokes!” Tara broke his thoughts. She was right, keep going. He just had to keep going.

Yet the more he climbed the more of her face he saw. Her anger, her tears, their blood, his betrayal. It had been savagery; the rage Lana had borne. Bare teeth and cat-like claws, all aiming for his throat, his arms, his stomach, or his head. He had been paralyzed the moment he had seen her; how could he not have been? His childhood friend, his sister, was in front of him, slaughtering those she could on the orders of Lorent Gainer. It had all descended into chaos from there. Orion had to drag him out of her grasp--her claw-like nails in his arm -- throwing him from the pit where she pulled him. The sounds of screams and sparking metal clouded his senses as he tried to piece together how she was there.

Lana was dead, or rather that had always been what he was told. From an orphanage to the test center, to a battlefield foretold by a prophecy, it had been what he believed. Anger was all that ran through him as he watched her cut through his men like wheat. Betrayal was all he saw when his eyes found spidery remains of wounds long healed, the ink on her face followed the path of familiar tears. The shock when her first words to him were not, “Come with me, Eden please.”

No, instead, she bellowed an animalistic cry foaming at the mouth, while her tears fell to his skin as she screamed with primal rage, “You left me!”

He hadn’t had time to process what had happened as they fled with what little they could grab. His sister was dead. Though it seemed that was a lie. A lie he had believed so… willingly? His hands began to sting as he forced himself forward, the thinning air cut into his skin.

No, he had fought them, those who had told him she was gone. There had been a period of time when he would try to run back to the facility, determined to pull her out of the rubble if need be. But they had caught him, time and time again. Soothing hands and sorrow-filled faces comforted and held him as he was told over and over and over and over and over, “She’s gone Eden. Your sister, she’s gone.”

             Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies.

             Oh! But he had believed it, he fell into the trap of wanting it to be true. Lana, his found sister, left in a place so dark, so cold, and so lonely. She had begun to turn twisted when they were separated. The look and desperation on her face, when they would meet for meals, made his stomach twist. He had known, just as his caretakers had made their plans for him. Hers had made theirs and how naïve he was to think that a mere diversion would stop Lorent Gainer from making a weapon of the thing he loved most!

Perhaps, if she came now, he would let her sink her claws into his heart. Tear him limb to limb as he tried to atone for the thoughts, he had had for her since then. It burned and it stung as he continued to climb. The thoughts and ideals he had come to believe turned against him as his blood left its mark on the barren stone.

‘Let her take me,’ he prayed to the wind. He knew this wouldn’t be enough. He had seen the desperation on her face as he had escaped. She had almost managed to catch up catching his scent, and it was only a matter of time before she appeared. Though perhaps he could convince her to spare his companions, mercy may yet be kind to them.

             “We should rest here Eden,” Tara called softly, the wind carrying her voice. Small pebbles were beginning to hit them, the faster they beat him the more atonement he felt he was granted. She stood with the others below; a small tunnel he had passed gave way to a temporary shelter. Nodding he made his way down, the sting of rocks and dirt clung to his cut-up hand.

             Orion said nothing as they all huddled in, Kuster bit his lip as he eyed them all. Tara began searching for any bits of food, and Eden leaned his head back as a headache grew.

“It’s going to rain,” Orion finally said as the darkening clouds began to gather.

“Should we wait out the storm?” Kuster asked anxiously, his vibrant red hair now damp with sweat clung to his face.

“And be sitting targets?” Tara snorted. “No, we’ll take turns taking watch and leave at first light.” They all sat in silence; it was decided.

The hours bled together as they each took their turns sleeping. The sounds of falling rocks amongst the heavy wind lulled some of them to sleep. When it was Eden’s turn to take watch, he sat under the dark sky, his thoughts and feelings numb. A shuffle behind him made him pause, turning he flinched as Orion appeared at his side. The other man’s face was carefully blank as he made himself comfortable.

“I can last another hour,” Eden told him, he received a huff in response.

“I am sorry, Eden,” breathed the defeated voice of his friend.

“Whatever for?” he asked, brows furrowed in confusion. It was not as though Orion hadn’t been the voice of reason throughout their journey. If anything, it was he who owed his friend an apology.

“She was your sister,” he set his eyes upon him. “I am sure words alone cannot soothe your heartache.” Eden twisted his head toward the sky. He would not be betrayed by the burning in his eyes and the lump in his throat. He had no right to cry or grieve as though he hadn’t welcomed the lie with open arms.

“Is,” he corrected. “She is my sister. No matter her actions.” He looked at his friend who watched him carefully. A blank face that showed nothing but deep eyes that held everything. Orion nodded; his bright eyes shone in the dark as he patted Eden’s back.

“We need to come up with something,” he nudged. “Sister or not, you saw the mark upon her chest. She is high ranking and Lorent, I am sure, relies upon her heavily. If she derails us…” An impossible act, Eden knew what Orion was hinting.

“It cannot be me, yet it must,” he whispered.

“… It doesn’t have to be, Eden,” roughened hands grabbed his shoulder, it all made him feel worse.

“I was wrong Orion,” Eden told his companion. He had to face the truth head-on. “I am sure that by mid-day tomorrow she will be hot on our heels. But I meant my words today. I will make a stand.” His voice was clear, and his emotions reigned in. He knew not what the next day would bring, but the echoes of pained screams and desperate tears would not allow him to move on without addressing this.

“Then we will be beside you,” his friend pledged. “Through thin and thick, blood and tears, we will follow you Eden because your path is clear.”

An old pledge, one that had annoyed him endlessly the more they had all said it. He hadn’t wanted one; he hadn’t even wanted this job. But tonight, he was grateful for it, the bittersweetness of relief only made him more anxious for the next day.

             True to her words, at first light Tara made them all get up and prepare to leave. Orion and Eden had stayed up far past the others’ watch, deciding it best to make plans into the early hours. They now attempted to finish the climb against the stronger winds. The closer they got to the peak, the more he was sure the Gods were against him.

             “Ack!” Kuster cried as he slipped on another damp rock. “This is hell, Eden!” he called.

             “We’re almost there, Kuster. Grab your balls and keep climbing!” He shouted back. He missed the insults thrown back at him as they all braced against another gust.

             “The ledge!” Tara cried, struggling to point towards a fuzzy ridge.

             “Let’s go!” Orion shouted; he fell back to pull Kuster forward. Eden and Tara used the remainder of their strength to push through the last hundred meters, collapsing on their hands and knees sucking in the thin air as they broke through the wind.

             “Finally,” Tara wheezed. Eden groaned at the sound of thunder in the distance. There was always something to fight against.

             “Keep your eyes sharp!” Orion hissed as they broke the barrier of strong winds. “They could already be here.”

“A knife to my throat would have greeted me if that was the case,” he threw back, groaning as he forced himself to his feet.

“A knife to your throat, you know exactly what I plan to do,” came an exhausted drawl further in on the flat mound they saw themselves on. Eden threw himself back as he saw his sister lounging upon a rock looking at him through haunted eyes.

“Lana,” he breathed.

“Don’t,” her face turned hard.

“Lana, I thought you were dead!” He tried. Half-made plans were mixing in his head; he was frazzled and spun to see if they had been cornered.

“As you can see, I am not,” her head tilted with predatorial grace. The ink on her face began to bleed as the atmosphere gave way to the beginning of rain.

“I didn’t know,” he continued to try, as she crouched upon her rock.

“Eden,” Tara warned.

“Orion take the left flank,” Eden called out, already palming free his sword. “Lana please, let me help.”

“Help!” she shrieked. “What help could you give me? You left me, forgot that I existed!”

“I did not!” he retorted. “I mourned you, Lana, I mourned you for so long,” he pleaded holding his sword aloft.

She merely paused and bore down on him with eyes once soft that now blazed, “Lies,” she seethed and pounced.

It was a clash of shrieks, metals, and pleading all mixed throughout. Lorent, it turned out was insane as a fleet of men came crashing through the mist. Tara jumped in and caught two frightened boys off guard, their blood being the first to be sacrificed. Despite the anxiety that Kuster seemed to continuously live in, the boy wielded his sword true and strong as he fought back against a larger man. Orion let out a snarl as he sliced his blade through the air. It seemed to become one with the wind as he worked his way quickly through the crowd of unseen men.

It poured in earnest, fog and mist flying in the air, the one advantage he had against his sister who was insistent on taking his head. His cries went ignored and explanations felt like acid on his tongue as he ducked and twisted his sword in his hand to defend against her onslaught. A fury of teeth and bloodied fingers was all he could see when she managed to knock the metal from his grasp. Thunder rocked them, aiding him as he narrowly missed her teeth and bucked her from his lap.

He ignored the burning in his eyes as he cried, hit, and kicked with anger. She wouldn’t listen, she wouldn’t hear, she was blaming the wrong person, and no matter how he phrased it she ignored it. A rough, thick line wrapped around her neck like a knife had attempted to take its fill. Raised bumps of scarred flesh burned against his hands as she struggled against him.

“Lana!” he wailed, pinning her arms to the ground. “Don’t make me do it,” he couldn’t. He had wanted none of this. Yet she thrashed and bucked, the rain only aided as they slipped and slid over the jagged ground. There was a dagger in his boot, and if she forced his hand, he would have to use it, but by the Gods, he would give anything not to.

“Eden, please!” came a choking sob from under his hands. “I’m tired Eden. He won’t let me leave,” she whimpered.

Her words were hoarse as he strained to hear them, “Let me help you Lana,” he pleaded once more.

A furious shake of her head and another struggle in his arms, “He keeps putting me back together.”

“Then let us hide,” He tried again, the rain hid his tears. Stilling, she looked up, eyes calm as they roamed over his face.

“I will never be free,” she finally breathed. “You left, and they turned me into this. Monstruous, cruel and insane. I won’t remember you this way; I’ll be too deluded in my own misery.” He shook his head, knee digging into the ground caging her there.

“I can’t,” he sobbed. “Lana please, I can’t.”

“Take the knife in your boot,” She choked her eyes turning frantic looking into his face. “Finish what I couldn’t. End it, Eden. It will be your final gift to me.” A stray smile lifted her lips. A fresh heartache crashed through him. He could see it, and he could feel it. Their days together had been long and so brief. Now she lay before him and all he could do was cry. He knew she was right, and she knew he would do it. And as he pulled the metal from his shoe her eyes turned wild.

“It’s not your fault, I know that” she rushed out as he held it to her neck. “I think… I think I have always loved you even when I was lost, and I always will.” They were her last words.

The rain pounded against his head as the gurgling sound of his sister’s breathing faded away. The rain flooded, so heavy and so red, it was all he could see; iron was all he could smell. A broken wail left him as he stood looking at the one thing, he never imagined he could re-fail. She was dead, and this time he knew for sure, how could he not? He had dealt the final blow.