Seven

Seven

THALIA

When I left to join Atlas's crew, the first day was mayhem. There was a lot of singing, a lot of bad singing. Fueled by drinking probably. I made a deal with Atlas to join after six months. I had to prepare my cousin to live alone. Jason's mission had happened immediately. He'd left before I talked to Atlas. When he offered me the invitation I asked about Shawn.

"We'll keep an eye on him", Atlas said.          

"You promise?" I said uneasily.

He placed a hand on his chest. "On my honor", he said.

On my first day there were only two people I really talked to. Apart from Atlas himself, there was Stella and Kane. Kane was …nice. He sort of helped me to get used to life as a part of the crew.

I sat on a log watching men and women dance around in a drunken stupor. There were many more women in the tents however. Stella was one of them. I walked into a tent and she was setting things up within.

"Hi", I said. "My name's-"

"-You're the greenhorn. Got it", she said and went back to what she was doing.

I peered out and looked back at her. "What's your name?"

"Stella. "

"Are they always like this?" I said jerking a thumb outside.

"More often than you would think. Look, I'm a little busy here. Could you come back some other time?"

"Oh, okay".

I moved backwards and bumped into someone. I turned around, slightly startled. It was Kane.

"What do you want Kane?" Stella asked.

"Atlas asked me to chaperone her", he said.

Stella cackled. "Right".

"It's true Steph", he said.

When Kane had joined Atlas's crew at first he'd frequently called Stella, Stephanie. And it had stuck with her. Now though, out of affection he called her Steph.

He grabbed my arm and we walked out.

We sat a bit far from the rest of the crowd. "I know it's kind of unsettling but you will get used to it. They're a really good lot. But this is how they deal with stress. Living like there's no tomorrow".

"What about you?" I asked him. "You're awfully young to be in this crowd".

"Speak for yourself", he said laughing. Then his face became somber. "Actually I had an aunt who happened to be draconian. She'd managed to control her animal instincts for a long time through sheer will power and then after a decade she suddenly lost it."

Flashes, images and memories of what happened to my family six years ago flooded my mind. I shuddered. When I snapped back to earth Kane was looking at me. His head hung sideways and we stared into each other's eyes. For a few seconds we stood there frozen by each other's gaze. He seemed a bit silly having his head slanted for so long, but I didn't care.

Then suddenly the spell broke and things became awkward. From one minute of unabashed gazing to shy and uncomfortable glances every few seconds. What was that? I thought to myself. I glanced at him to see his composure. We stared at each other for a split second and looked away again. I could almost feel my face and neck becoming hot. And the feeling was spreading.

Kane cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. I guess my little story made you uncomfortable", he said.

"So what happened to your aunt?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't really know. But I wanted to find out more about the 'disease'. At least that's what they called it back home. We weren't allowed to talk about it and explore it. It was a taboo subject. So I realized if I wanted to know anymore, I would have to escape from home. And I did".

I bowed my head and then raised it and looked at him. He seemed to have calmed down and it calmed me too. "So, did you get all your answers?"

"No. Well a few. But those led to more questions. And Atlas is a very private person. You get to learn on the job. Nobody gets taught anything. Well, a lot of the time".

"Isn't that dangerous? Couldn't less training get more killed?" I asked.

"Surprisingly that hasn't happened. I guess it's all about the philosophy of self-reliance. I mean Atlas's crew is a family, there's no doubt about it. But no one's more responsible for your education than you", Kane replied.

"That's a really good line", I said, amused. "Was that Atlas?"

"Well…"

 

"I can't see a thing", I said.

"That's the point. I need to test how good your other senses are".

It had been more than a month since I'd joined Atlas's crew. Almost two months. Kane and I had been training in the woods alone for awhile now. Every day we went into the woods Kane taught me styles of fighting. I had come across some of them in books and I had taken myself through a crash course. But Kane's approach was more methodical and immersive than all those other lessons. We'd become good friends. But there was a hint of something more. Today he was teaching me how to use the sword. And for someone two years older, he was quite the drill sergeant.

"Let the sword be an extension of your arm", he said.

 I tried to focus and concentrate. But it wasn't working. My heart was thumping like a piston. All my nerves were going crazy. And I didn't know why. I was becoming scared.

"Kane? Kane? I don't think this is working. Maybe we should…Kane!" No answer. I frowned. Was he playing around? This wasn't funny. I tried to move but my hands only touched air. I only stumbled around in the dark.

Then I heard a sound. It sounded like an animal. It was either a roar or a bear's growl*. Then I heard Kane yell. The beast was nearby. Was Kane alright? I struggled through the bushes. Then I saw it.

It was huge, like a bear. It was difficult to tell in the dark. It stood on two feet, seven feet tall. Kane lay on the ground not moving. At first I couldn't understand. Then I realized. He'd broken his leg. In the dim light of the moon I realized his leg was twisted the wrong way. He had no weapons and he had claw marks all over. His face was contorted in pain.

The bear/ beast lifted its paw to attack Kane.

"Nooo!" I said charging forward

That's when I blacked out.

When I came to it was all over. And I had a very disturbing headache. I stood up. It was almost dawn. The bear was lying not far from me. Not moving. I slowly walked up to it. It lay motionless. I gasped when I saw it's entire corpse. Something had killed it. It couldn't have been a someone. It's arms had been ripped off, it had been split open and torn apart. And I could tell that some parts of it had been eaten. I usually have a very strong stomach. But whatever did this…was a monster.

It must have been a draconian. That was the first thought that came to mind. But I was thankful to be alive. The thought of draconian snapped my mind to Kane. I held back my urge to vomit and went around looking for him. I searched all around but I couldn't find him.

Then I went back to camp.

"There you are", Stella said. "Where's Kane?"

"He's not back here yet?" I asked.

"No", she said. "Why?"

Fear gripped me. Horrible thoughts passed through my head. Had the monster got to him as well? Was he dead? But why didn't the monster attack me? Did it think I was dead because I was not moving?

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Stella asked concerned.

We looked for him but we couldn't find him. We suspected the worst. If Kane had survived he would have come back on his own.

I told everyone what I saw. None of them knew what kind of beast could have done this. We held a funeral for Kane and the matter for most people ended there. But not for me. A few months ago I started to have nightmares about that night.

They were vague but they were becoming clearer. And each one was just a bit lengthier than before. But I had this sick feeling that I really didn't want to know what happened that night. And yet I wanted to know. I had lost almost my entire family and Kane. Even though the feeling was irrational, I was determined not to lose anyone else.