Decoy

Bloody useless magicians.

I waited patiently for more, for a less confusing and enraging answer. A knock sounded on the door, capturing their attention.

“That’s it? That's all you are going to say?” I was beyond frustrated and wanted to leap out of the bed and yell and scream at them, but from what I had overheard about Magicians, there was no point to it.

Darius laughed and opened the door.

Alana waltzed in followed by a young girl no older than myself.

She was tall and slim, with long, dark hair that circled her petite face, her eyes a golden brown, warm in colour. I sensed no tenors of emotion floating around her so I simply assumed that she was not a magician. After all, I had never felt emotions before meeting the magicians.

Our eyes met and in that moment I knew – even though I did not sense her emotions – the girl hated me. Her eyes were narrowed in revulsion, a look of disgust lingering on her fine features.

She looked me up and down, her eyes remaining on my clumped up hair and dirty skin.

I heard her snort in derision.

“Her? She is who will be taking my place?” she asked, her tone full of superiority.

Gareth smiled gently at her, like he was an adoring father and it made me wonder. Who was she?

“Kida… this is Nyssa Strohm,” Gareth said, answering my unasked question.

“Nyssa is very… special to us,” Darius added seriously. “She holds a special gift which is very valuable.”

“And in turn, you are very valuable to us in keeping her safe,” Gareth finished. I got the sense that he just wanted to keep me happy at this moment. The more time I spent watching them all, the more perceptive I seemed to become.

I looked over at Nyssa again, pursing my lips. I couldn’t see anything special about the girl except for her rude manner, which seemed uniquely horrid.

I felt a nudge against my mind and then heard Nyssa’s voice speaking quietly, her tone dangerous.

“You won’t be so valuable when you’re dead.”

I almost jumped out of the bed and ran into the corner furthest away from her.

I tried as hard as I could to not react but I knew my face would give me away. My heart quickened in my chest beating rapidly, like a hummingbird's wings.

The panic I felt tried to overtake me, but I made myself stop and look around at the other people in the room. I tried a little smile and was relieved when Gareth and Darius smiled back. Apparently they weren’t as perceptive about me.

I could still feel Nyssa’s eyes on me. I looked at her and a small smirk played on her lips, obviously pleased with herself.

I wasn’t going to go down that easily.

“What makes you so special?” I asked roughly.

I was pleased to see shock in her eyes at my defiance. Her attempt to scare me away was not going to work. I was tougher than she thought.

“Nyssa has several abilities,” Darius answered for her, smiling at her. She reciprocated with a sweet, innocent smile that made me feel sick. She was playing them all.

“But you, my dear, are going to be her decoy.”

“Her what?”

“Her decoy,” Darius repeated a little louder as though I were deaf. I could see the confusion in his face.

“I don’t know what that means,” I admitted a little sheepishly.

Nyssa’s face contorted into a gleeful smile and I wondered if she and Alana were somehow related. They had one similarity that I could pick immediately – hating me.

“A decoy is someone or something that takes the place of another to trick or deceive,” Blake answered speaking for the first time since Nyssa had come in.

I glanced at Nyssa and analysed her a bit more. Sure, she looked similar to me, but her nose was broader at the base and turned upwards, her hair was darker, but not by much, and obviously her eyes were brown, whereas mine were blue. 

But the major difference, was the smirk that played on her lips, and the way it twisted her expression into something ugly. I would never have an expression like that on my face. If you overlooked all of that, we could have almost been twins.

Blake was watching me intently for some reason, so I gave him a little smile, as I locked away the meaning of decoy into my brain.

“So… who are we deceiving?” I let the new word roll slowly over my tongue, memorising the way it sounded and felt to speak. I hated not knowing words that others knew, but that was the price to pay when your schooling was limited.

“The only thing you really need to know, Kida, is that you will be completely safe,” Darius assured me with a smile. “You are to travel east to Callad, where Nyssa is expected to be travelling in just a few days. No one there has met her before and therefore they won’t know the difference between you both. The Master Magician Kenai is waiting for you there and he will host you for a few days. Nyssa is meant to be going there to control her powers, but at this moment, it is… impossible to do so. So everyone will think that you are Nyssa, at least for a few days.”

“If Kenai is feeling generous he might train you a little,” Gareth spoke warmly, even giving me a small, encouraging smile.

My mind was whirling around, the gears spinning out of control so quickly. I panicked a little, fearing they had finally realised that I was weird and could sense emotions that people were feeling. What if they thought I could no longer help them and sent me back out onto the street? I could not bear the thought.

“Kenai would not train her,” Darius chimed in with a laugh, as if the thought of me doing the training was preposterous. He sounded just like Alana.

“But why isn’t Nyssa actually going?”

“Well…”

“People have been trying to kill me,” Nyssa interrupted, her voice smug. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear delicately as if the idea of an attempt on her life was nothing major. “Either that or capture me.”

Who would want to be killed I thought to myself. This girl is insane.

“Why? What people?”

“That part really isn’t necessary for you to know,” Darius said sternly.

“I kind of think it is. I want to know.”  I was angry now. Here I was, going to be in danger, and they weren’t even going to tell me why. I sat up straighter in the bed, gripping onto the smooth sheets beneath me. “If there are people after her, who I will be pretending to be, then surely they will be after me. I want to know who and why.”

“Alana, take Nyssa to prepare for her trip please,” Darius murmured to her, completely ignoring my outburst.

He waited until the door was closed and then faced me, his eyes alight with an emotion I could not sense, but I was immediately scared of. There was something in his expression, something that was concerning. Whatever they were going to say, they were not going to tell me the whole truth. That much I could figure out.

“We believe that she is the next Spyrit magician.”

“Oh… so she is valuable because of her powers?”

Gareth gave him a pointed look and smiled at me. “Yes, her powers, and because she-”

I felt a lightning bolt of anger pass through me, before realising it was not my own. 

“Enough, Gareth,” Darius snapped.

“She needs to know,” Gareth bit back, firmly. His face was determined, his movements stiff. The anger seemed to be his. ‘There are several groups of people out there who would choose to abuse the powers that we have been blessed with and turn them on the innocent. To gain power by any means necessary. It is our job to stop them.”

“The point is, Kida, we believe these people are after Nyssa,” Darius finished. My head was swivelling around as each of them spoke in turn. “She is beginning to display much stronger abilities than even I, something the Spyrit Magician was always capable of.”

“So… she is powerful?” I asked to confirm my confused thoughts.

“Yes,” they all whispered in unison.

“And, just because of that, she is special?”

I could not quite grasp why just because she may or may not be the Spyrit Magician, she was special.

“She seems to be gaining more and more powers as she matures,” Gareth said uneasily. “Most of them are qualities of a Spyrit Magician – sensing others before she sees them, being able to heal, and mind reading.”

“We aren’t sure yet,” I heard Blake whisper to Gareth, barely loud enough for me to hear. “But they are surely going to hunt anyone down with any hint of talent that the new Spyrit Magician would have – if they want power, they are going to need her.”

Darius turned to Blake, his eyes angry, but Blake focussed his attention on me. I gulped, allowing myself to slide down under the sheets. I hadn’t meant to start a war. So many questions lay poised on my lips ready to burst forth. I clenched my teeth together in the hope of holding them in. I could see the magicians were beginning to tire of the conversation.

Finally the tension began to settle, the silence soft and lulling. I could feel my eyes beginning to droop. I fought off the waves of exhaustion that battered against my mind. Maybe they had more to say.

“Get some rest,” Blake told me gently.

I was completely confused by the way his emotions worked. One moment he was like a raging ball of fire, his anger bubbling on the surface. The next he was kind and tender, like a calm ocean.

I could not decide which one I liked better. The nice Blake made me nervous, the way he seemed to analyse me but at least he was being nice. The other Blake was just scary and annoying, his emotions flaring out so easily. At least I knew what to expect with him - the unexpected.

Darius strode out the door with no goodbye whatsoever. Gareth came around beside my bed, sitting down in the other vacant chair across from Blake.

“Don’t worry about all of this,” he said with a gentle smile. He took one of my tiny hands in his giant, soft one and gave it a small squeeze. “Darius is just worried about everything. Nyssa reminds him too much of Axian and it’s hard to lose a close friend.”

I nodded slowly, knowing I would never understand. I had never let anyone close enough to actually feel like I had lost someone.

Blake stood up and said a quick goodbye to Gareth, mumbling about some things he had to prepare for. He left the room only to poke his head around moments later.

“Make sure you get plenty of rest,” he demanded, his voice annoyed again. “Gareth will take you to the baths when you wake, then you must get ready. We will be leaving tomorrow.”

“What if I refuse to help you?” I finally asked.

“Refuse? Why would you refuse? What life do you have here?”

I blanked at the question, unable to think of a response.

“Anyway, I am sure an adventure with Magicians surely wouldn’t be as bad as life in the cells. I expect that would be where they would send you if you refused.”

I swallowed the rising fear that threatened to overwhelm me as Blake’s eyebrow rose delicately as if waiting for a reply.

Once satisfied that I was going to remain silent, he left abruptly, leaving me with an empty swirling pit of fear in my stomach.

I looked at Gareth for some kind of help. I hadn’t even agreed to help them but it seemed I had no choice. A magician’s prisoner – how wonderful!

Gareth smiled at me in a calm, kind way, his expression twisted with concern.

“Like Blake said, get some rest. I will come fetch you in a few hours to get you cleaned up and ready for your trip.”

“I don’t get a choice?”

Gareth met my gaze, his eyebrow raised. “Is there really a choice here?”

I thought about his question for a moment, before realising what he was saying. Of course the choice was easy. I could stay here and live off the street for however long I had left, or I could go with them. I was afraid. Sure, the road ahead was going to be dangerous, but at least I knew I was going somewhere. Either way my life was going to be short and I would have rather it be short and interesting instead of short and pointless. I could make a difference, and Gareth somehow knew that I would feel that way.

“I don’t know if I will be ready,” I said. It meant more than what it appeared but the magician seemed to understand that only too well.

“Don’t worry my dear child, you will do wonderfully,” Gareth whispered, blowing out the candle next to the bed.

The exhaustion I had been battling all day hit me with a force, my eyelids drooping instantly. 

I heard the door close with a click, but not before I felt the warm smell of the earth, comforting me enough that I sank into a deep, relaxing sleep.