Chapter Thirty-One
The Unmarked: Book One
Table of Contents:
[Prologue] [Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.3] [Ch.4] [Ch.5] [Ch.6] [Ch.7] [Ch.8] [Ch.9] [Ch.10] [Ch.11] [Ch.12] [Ch.13] [Ch.14] [Ch.15] [Ch.16] [Ch.17] [Ch.18] [Ch.19] [Ch.20] [Ch. 21] [Ch.22] [Ch.23] [Ch.24] [Ch.25] [Ch.26] [Ch.27] [Ch.28] [Ch.29] [Ch.30]
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Dawn.
Suddenly, Dawn was brought back to Lilly’s home on the night of Festival. She held the letter between her hands. Lilly’s delicate, cursive handwriting was tattooed across the paper in black ink. Her mentor’s words jumped at her from the page:
Our leader is Jeziah. I wish I could write to you who he is and why we fight for him, but that is too much to explain for this letter. It will be for you to discover…
Our leader is Jeziah…
She watched the man who stood in front of her: Jeziah, the leader of the Unmarked Rebels. He waited patiently for her response. He had a kind demeanor, and yet, something about his presence made her spirit writhe. She felt both compelled and distressed by him. It was River who spoke.
“Our friend needs help.”
Dawn glared at him.
Jeziah, or so this man claimed to be, stretched his arm toward Scarlet.
“Bring her to me”.
River obeyed immediately. He dismounted his horse and carried Scarlet over in his arms. Her sister’s hair hung in wet strands and her head bobbed back and forth. Eyes closed, skin deathly pale, and slightly parted lips turned blue: Scarlet looked like a corpse.
A shiver raked Dawn’s body.
Thunder crackled overhead. River lay Scarlet at Jeziah’s feet and stepped away. The man went down to one knee, and then lifted his gaze to Dawn. Their eyes locked, and she knew he was looking to her for approval to do whatever he needed to do to help her sister. Dawn didn’t understand any of it. He didn’t have any supplies or medication. But something inside of her was so desperate to help her dying sister and this man’s presence was so compelling that she ignored the distress inside her spirit and managed to articulate the tiniest of nods.
Jeziah nodded in return. He broke his gaze from Dawn’s and looked down at Scarlet with the utmost intent. Then, taking her hand in his, Jeziah leaned towards Scarlet’s ear and whispered something to her. When he finished speaking, he still held Scarlet’s hand and looked at her face.
Drenched from the continuous rainfall, blinking water from her eyes, and breath caught in her throat, Dawn watched in terror and anticipation at Scarlet, who lay motionless on the cold, wet earth. The scene seemed to last both an eternity and only a few seconds. She waited for Jeziah to do something more. But he simply crouched at Scarlet’s side. Silent. Waiting.
Lightning flashed.
Thunder crackled distantly.
Then, Scarlet’s eyes shot open.
Dawn staggered back.
Her sister took in a deep ragged breath. Jeziah smiled at her. He helped her sit up. She looked from left to right. Confused at where she was. Dawn saw Jeziah’s lips moving as he spoke something to Scarlet but her mind did not register what the words were. She was too absorbed in her own bewilderment. Jeziah helped Scarlet to her feet and her sister began to yawn and stretch as if she had just woken up from a mere nap. When the reality of the situation settled in, Dawn dropped her weapon and ran to her sister. Dawn pulled her into a tight embrace and Scarlet squealed in surprise.
“You’re okay” Dawn breathed, not sure if it was a question or a statement. She grabbed Scarlet’s face between her hands and searched her sister’s expression for any sign of sickness. Her sister’s face had regained its natural, olive tone. The dark circles had disappeared from beneath her eyes, and her cheeks even looked plump and rosy, despite the fact that she had barely eaten in over a weak.
“You’re okay” Dawn repeated, the last syllable catching in her throat as tears pooled in her eyes.
Scarlet eyes were wide with shock and she gave an awkward giggle. “Of course, I’m okay, Dawn…” Then she looked as if she noticed her surroundings for the first time. Her gaze went to River’s baffled expression, then back to Dawn’s.
“What’s happening?” she asked in a small voice.
Dawn still couldn’t believe it. She laughed and cried at the same time. She hugged her sister again and buried her face into her wet, matted hair “You were dying” Dawn uttered through sobs of joy and disbelief. “You were dying”.
“Dying? Dawn I don’t understand”.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re okay now”.
Dawn looked at her sister’s face again. She looked well. Just as she had before the Woods. Maybe even better.
A ray of sunlight appeared from between the clouds and cast a warm, yellow ray over them, causing Scarlet’s skin to glow. Dawn was taken aback by her sister’s beauty. She had almost forgotten how lovely Scarlet was. Or she never remembered it in the first place. Her light green eyes radiant, filled with life. Her features soft and delicate, encompassing the innocence of her soul. Her lips naturally pink and plump, holding a smile that could melt a person’s heart. Her brows dark and arched, displaying the deepest of emotions depending on how they were set.
There was so much depth within her sister’s beauty. As if the beauty of her soul had taken shape of a young, wise, and gentle woman.
The storm suddenly subsided, and the monotonous thrum of rainfall dissipated and transitioned into a gentle song of birds emerging from their hiding places. A peaceful stillness settled itself over the forest.
“I’m so hungry” Scarlet said, a pained expression gripping her features.
Dawn let go of her sister and began to fumble in her satchel for food and water.
“Save your supplies” Jeziah said. Dawn shot her head up and realized that he was still there. “My home is only a few miles away. I have plenty of food and drink to share”.
Dawn turned to River, who simply shrugged. Scarlet looked confused at the man’s presence.
“Thank you for your hospitality, but we need to leave”. Dawn said, rather hesitantly.
A warm smile spread across Jeziah lips. “As I told you before, these are my lands. You’ll be safe here”.
“I don’t…” but Dawn stopped herself. If this man really was the leader of the Unmarked, then he would be familiar with these uncharted territories. He could guide them through. Maybe he even had information on the Book of Books… Dawn looked to River and Scarlet who were both soaked, and she was suddenly made aware of her own discomfort caused by her wet, itchy clothes, empty stomach, and aching muscles.
She turned back to Jeziah, “okay, sure”.
“Excellent” he exclaimed, clasping his hands together. “I have a barn for the horses, and I’ll get a fire going so that you can all dry off and rest”.
Grabbing their horses by the reins, Dawn, Scarlet and River followed Jeziah.
“Who is that man?” Scarlet whispered to Dawn as they walked. “And why is River here?”
“What’s the last thing you remember, Scar?”
Her sister scrunched her face up as she thought about it. “I don’t know. I remember a lot of things, but it’s all…fuzzy.”
Scarlet took another moment to think about it some more. Then her eyes suddenly opened wide in excitement. “Oh!” she called out, raising her finger, “I remember. We had stopped for snacks, in that field, under that random grove of trees, after having left Ardus…”. Her expression sobered. “Then everything becomes all dark and distorted”. Scarlet smiled. “I also remember you talking to me about a girl in a Garden and singing me a song about a fish” she giggled. “I’ve never heard you sing before”.
It seemed as if Scarlet only remembered the “good” parts of her terrible sickness.
“Anything else?”
Scarlet shook her head.
Dawn sighed. She didn’t want to scare her sister, so she kept the retelling of accounts very simple, and not quite truthful. “You just got really sick, Scar. I don’t know what it was. Maybe some sort of food poisoning? But you weren’t eating, and you were constantly sleeping”.
“Huh” Scarlet responded, looking pensive. “And what about River?” she asked, and Dawn noticed that her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, “why is he here?”
This time Dawn wouldn’t lie to her sister. There was no reason to. “His father sent a team to come after me. He tagged along with them for a while, and then managed to get away and find us. He’ll help keep us safe”.
“Oh”, Scarlet answered wistfully.
They walked a few paces in silence. Dawn couldn’t get the image of her dying sister coming back to life out of her mind. She’d never seen anything like it, and she credited herself to have seen a lot of crazy things in her short time away from home. How had he done it? She looked at her ring, the one that stopped the flow of poison inside her veins, and wondered if this Jeziah had some sort of Epathi that made the sickness leave her sister’s body?
“What did that man say to you, before you got up? Do you remember?”
Scarlet thought about it. “I… I’m not sure” she continued to think. “The words he spoke, they sounded different. As if they were in another language”.
Another language.
Dawn watched Jeziah, who was walking silently ahead of them. He had healed Scarlet. He must have. She remembered Wolfe telling her that there was no way to cure the poison inside of her. It could only be stopped from reaching her heart with the power of the ring. But Scarlet didn’t wear a ring. She had simply been spoken to, and been made well, as if nothing had ever happened.
“Who is that man?” Scarlet asked, uttering out loud Dawn’s own thoughts.
“I have no idea” she replied, “we only just met him”.
A perplexed expression crossed Scarlet’s face, but she said nothing more about the matter. Then her confusion was replaced by contentment as they continued to walk along the forest path.
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The path was wet from the storm and made the air smell fresh with damp earth. The plants were dewy, and the sun filtered in through the foliage, casting a golden glow over the greenery. A butterfly fluttered by, pure white, and twirled around Jeziah’s head, as if greeting him. Jeziah turned around and grinned, and then watched with a gleam in his eyes as it flew on away. He took a few more steps backward, but before turning back around, he locked eyes with Dawn. His grin turned into a faint smile, and although his expression kept its warmth, she saw something like disappointment or sadness in his eyes. The exchange lasted only a moment, and then Jeziah turned back around and continued his walk. But Dawn was left feeling vulnerable and exposed, as if with that one look, Jeziah had made known and brought to light every single evil deed she carried inside her heart. Despite the warm welcome, Dawn felt like a child who didn’t belong. A foreigner. Unworthy.
She began to twirl her ring, its presence on her finger suddenly irritating. She also became uncomfortably aware of the book of Epathi bobbing around in her satchel, and she feared that the text would burn a hole through her bag. She looked over anxiously to Scarlet, who seemed to be enjoying her surroundings, her eyes wide in wonder, and then to River, who was also walking with a faint smile on his face. Even the horses seemed to be walking with a little more prance in their step.
What’s wrong with me? Dawn thought desperately.
“Are you okay?” Scarlet asked.
Dawn was brought back from her thoughts.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine”.
“What were you thinking about?” her sister asked.
“Nothing… nothing” then a thought crossed her mind. “You do realize that that man healed you from your sickness, right?”.
Scarlet seemed to think a little bit about it. “Yes” she answered pensively.
Dawn chose her words one by one, not knowing how to phrase her question. “How does that make you feel?”
“I…don’t know. Good. Happy. Amazed. In awe”. Scarlet smiled. “There’s something so good about that man. I don’t know how to explain it. Like he reached down into my sleep and pulled me out of the darkness”.
“That’s very poetic of you” Dawn teased.
At that moment, River fell into step with them. “It’s good to see you, Scar…see you healthy, I mean”.
She blushed.
“We were worried about you.”
“Thanks” she replied awkwardly.
River’s gaze went to Dawn. “Or are we dreaming?” he said to her.
It did feel like a dream. Too perfect. Too strange. Dawn shook her head.
“You trust him?” River asked in a low voice.
Dawn regarded Jeziah for a while. He was the leader of the Rebels. He had saved her sister’s life. He knew these lands. “For now,” she responded in an even tone.
A house nested among a cluster of pines came into view. It was a small stone structure with two windows that adorned the front. One window on each side of a wooden door made of the same wood as the roof. A patch of lilies sat of the left side of the structure.
“There’s a barn in the back, for the horses” Jeziah announced. “Why don’t you come with me…”
“River.”
“River. We’ll bring the horses to the barn.” He looked to Scarlet and Dawn, “you can go inside. The door is open. Make yourselves at home”.
Exchanging a glance, Dawn and River went to unsaddle the horses. She handed Scarlet a bedroll to carry, and they headed towards the house.
They climbed a total of three steps and stood on the porch. Dawn pushed the door open and they stepped into the house.
Jeziah’s home was small but quaint. There was a kitchen, a table, and four chairs on each end. There was a wooden rocking chair and a fur rug by a stone fireplace on the other side of the room. At the far end of his home, there were stairs that led upward.
A fire was already burning in the hearth. Dawn and Scarlet dropped their things and went to sit by the flames. Dawn let the heat seep into her skin. She tried to resist the urge of squirming because of her wet, itchy clothes. She turned to her sister, still in awe and shock that she was there, well, as if nothing had ever happened. It had only been a week, but it felt as if Scarlet had been sick for ages. It was still strange to have her here.
“I remember what he told me” Scarlet said, her hands extended towards the fire, her eyes set on the dancing flames.
“Who?”
“The man who woke me up”.
“What did he say?”
“Daughter,” she said wistfully, contentment spreading across her lips, “I say to you, stand up”.
Dawn raised a brow. “That’s it?”
Scarlet gave a small shrug.
“That’s it”.
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