Emily

  My body screamed as blue flames raced around me. All the worry and utter confusion that had filled my entire being only moments ago was seared away and replaced with absolute agony. Please, not this again. It hurts, I screamed desperately in my mind. The flames just kept spilling out of me. The last thing I remembered before this azure inferno became my entire world was the terrifying sight of a spike of ice hurtling at me. I remembered seeing its pointed tip staring back at me and then something inside me just snapped. Or rather, exploded.

  I let out a wail that I wasn’t sure could even be heard over everything swirling around me. Sounds and glimpses of chaos peeked their way through the firestorm, but it was all just too painful for me to care. The tears that filled my eyes evaporated nearly as soon as they formed and I began to feel my vision fading as I started to fall into unconsciousness.

  Then, everything felt cold. Refreshing even.

  The flames stopped pouring out and when they cleared I could see the charred courtroom that surrounded me. Light headed and feverish, I collapsed to the floor on my side. “Emily!” I heard someone shout. Who, I wasn’t sure. Everything was fuzzy.

  Then I felt someone pick me up and cradle me against them as I kneeled on the blackened floor. “Emily, are you okay?” They sound really worried, I noted, dazed.

  I looked up and saw Jake kneeling next to me. “I…,” I started to say but my voice was hoarse and I was sent into a fit of coughing which caused jabs of pain all over my body. I slowly looked to my right and saw a half melted wall of glimmering ice in front of where my mom was sitting. I could see her through the melted holes in the ice.

  “Emily, my baby! Are you okay?” she asked frantically. My mind started to come back to reality when I saw how worried she was. I’d never seen her look so scared.

  “What is the meaning of this?” interjected the older, stern looking man who, as I groggily recalled, was the first to speak in the trial. I lifted my gaze to where he was standing, out of his raised seat to the right of the General’s throne.

  Then I heard someone clapping, in slow applause. I turned to see Kirya walking to the center of the courtroom. “Now wasn’t that something,” she said, stopping and standing in front of me, facing the judges. “Truly a commanding sight. Don’t we all agree?” she asked rhetorically, “I dare say what we all just witnessed was some pretty powerful magic, was it not?”

  “What is your point captain?” ground out the unkempt, pot-bellied man who’d made the earlier suggestion of my imprisonment. He appeared very displeased, as well as very shaken.

  “My point” she paused, “is that such raw magical power is hardly ever seen in someone with absolutely no training. Well, I guess that was the case for myself but we are still rare and special flowers.” She spoke with an air that seemed to say “Oh, I’m so talented. How fabulous am I?” but I detected an undercurrent of cunning. “I’d go as far as to say that there is not a single one even among you council members that showed such promise in their youth.”

  “The insolence!” exclaimed the very severe councilwoman on the left side of the council. She seemed to be eternally looking down her nose at people, even when offended.

  “Insolence or the truth, Councilwoman Reva? Do not pretend that you were not bested by a mere child an entire twelve years into your Guardian training,” a smug smirk bloomed on Kirya’s lips.

  At this, Councilwoman Reva’s face turned so red with fury I feared she might pop a blood vessel. “Why you—”

  “Anyway,” Kirya continued casually, “I would like to make a proposition to this esteemed council,” she added, dipping into a mildly mocking bow. If it were anyone else who said this, the attribute “esteemed” might seem like a compliment or a sign of respect, but when it was Kirya, the eyes of every single member of the council, and even the General, became lit with malicious outrage.

  “What is it that you propose?” questioned the General with unveiled loathing.

  “I would like to humbly ask the council to grant Miss Emily Cyra permission to train as a Guardian.” Gasps and muttering filled the room to the brim.

  The General narrowed her eyes. Then the gruff pot-bellied man began to speak in a stumbling voice, “That-that’s ridiculous! This council has already decided—”

  “Silence, Councilman Elidi,” interrupted the General, effectively shutting down whatever argument he had begun. She appeared to ponder something for a moment before she spoke again. She turned her attention to me for a moment and the glimmer in her eyes made my skin crawl. “We accept your proposition.” Murmurs flew about the courtroom. Some of the council members looked aghast while others seemed to sit in grim silence. “Emily Cyra may be allowed to train as a Guardian.”

  “A most gracious acceptance, Grand General,” Kirya replied with a pleased smile, “Though I would like to ask for one tiny favor.”

  “Ha! The nerve,” exclaimed Councilwoman Reva, “To ask for more after the great Shuyona was so very generous as to grant—” The General raised her hand and the councilwoman paled and ceased speaking.

  “What is the favor?” inquired the General, face drawn with suspicion.

  “It is only sensible that if you are going to let Miss Cyra become a Guardian, you would want to inspire as much loyalty in her as you could, would you not agree?”

  The General brought a hand to her lips, obviously uncertain about where this was going. “Get to the point, captain.”

  Kirya quickly glanced at me, giving me a small wink and a smile before turning back to the council. “I would like to ask that the council grant former Major General Talia Cyra a stay of execution, lest we incur the wrath of her, evidently, very powerful daughter.”

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  Shouts ensued from the council and the General’s gaze hardened as she looked upon Kirya. Objections rained down until the General lifted her hand, in it materializing a staff made of pure light that sizzled with intensity. Bringing the staff down on the marble floor, sending what sounded like thunder echoing around the room, everyone froze and all speech ended abruptly.

  “As you wish Captain Aella,” the General replied, “Emily Cyra will become a Guardian and her mother… will be imprisoned in light of the temporary commutation of her sentence.”

  “Most gracious, Lady Shuyona,” Kirya said, bowing one final time.

  “Not so fast captain,” the General returned with a scheming smile, “I will decide who trains her.” The General waved her guard on the left forward. “Lieutenant Elidi will train her as a Guardian.” The man she was referring to looked stern and practically oozed righteousness. “You will observe her training, captain, but do not forget this: your one and only job will be to control her powers when they run rampant.”

  I couldn’t see Kirya’s face, but I imagined it was probably as unreadable as her tone when she spoke again, “Understood, Grand General.” She bowed, giving the interaction a sense of finality.

  “This case is concluded,” the General announced to the room, “For now.” She looked down at where my mom and I kneeled one last time and then swiftly left the chamber.

  …

  Three days after the trial for our lives, I was finally allowed to see my mom. I stood in front of the apartment door where they were keeping her. Kirya had apparently been able to negotiate my mom better living quarters than a jail cell, though this apartment wasn’t exactly normal. From what I was told, the walls were enchanted in a way that made them virtually impenetrable by invaders or would-be escapees.

  My guard hovered behind me, watching as I knocked on the door. Two other guards were stationed on either side of the door, looking out emotionlessly over the buildings of the underground city Eris. I’d had a guard following me around every hour of the day since the trial. They couldn’t make it any more obvious I’m not trusted even if they tried. I was at least grateful that even though these people were so quick to try and condemn my mom, they at least seemed to have the decency to not have the guard follow me into the bathroom and stuff like that. I would have kicked the guard’s ass if they’d tried to watch me sleep.

  Another guard on the inside of the room, opened the door and I was allowed inside. “You got two hours,” he informed me. I nodded.

  The room seemed comfy, though it was pretty sparse. When I saw my mom, sitting on a rumpled old couch, I felt a myriad of emotions well up inside me. Those three days had been a long time.

  “Mom,” I choked out, voice uneven. She looked up at me and I broke inside. She looked gaunt and exhausted, with new wrinkles defining her face.

  “Emily,” she said, surprised. Even in her depleted state, her eyes lit up when she saw me. Tears collected underneath her warm hazel irises.

  Unable to hold myself back, and finally with no reason to, I rushed to her and gave her a hug. The realest hug I’d ever given anyone. I sobbed into her shoulder. “Mom, you're safe,” I whimpered.

  “My baby, you’re alright,” she breathed through tears, “you’re alright. Thank goodness.”

  Neither of us were able to break the embrace for a while. I had nearly lost her forever and was just being hit with the full force of that fact. I had felt that I needed to push those feelings down to survive in this new environment.

  After a long time, our tears finally dried and I sat on the couch next to her. “Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?” I asked softly while staring at the coffee table in front of us.

  She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “Because… I wanted to save you from the pain of all this, of this hidden world.”

  “And did you really… do what they…,” I couldn’t finish my question.

  “Yes, I did,” she whispered. “Emily, honey, I-I just need you to understand that while I have done some unforgivable things in my past,” she closed her eyes, a look of turmoil on her face, “I never did so needlessly. I know that doesn’t absolve me but… I just couldn’t bear it if you thought I was some sort of—”

  “I know, mom,” I turned to her and tried to give my most encouraging smile.

  She cried again and threw her arms around me. “Oh, Emily. My beautiful, kind daughter. I don’t deserve you.”

  As she hugged me, I chuckled lightly, “I’ve known you for a long time mom. I know that whatever you did, you were doing it to protect someone you cared about, right?”

  She pulled back and smiled. “Yes, I was.” She brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear just like she used to do when I was little. “I love you Emily, and I’m sorry for not telling you about all this before. I thought I could raise you without ever knowing about Guardians and the Eirguard. I thought we would be safe.” She looked sadly down at her lap.

  I held her hands. “We’ll figure it out together like we always have. Because we’re the ultimate mother-daughter duo,” I smiled at my reference to the game we used to play together when I was little.

  She gave a chuckle and a small grateful smile. “Yes, the duo can make it through anything.” Then her face turned more somber and she began speaking in a serious whisper. “Emily, I must warn you about what being a Guardian means. Especially for you since you’re my daughter.” I shifted in my seat at the change in the conversation’s tone. “There will be many who are out to get you. Trust no one, okay? Promise me.”

  “What about the people who saved—”

  “Even though they helped us, it was likely for their own gain. You must promise me that you will be wary of everyone.”

  I hesitated a bit. “Okay.”

  “That said, you will need to have people who can help you and that team that helped us is probably the best option. I want you to go along with them for now and learn how to use your magic as best you can from your training. That way you’ll be able to protect yourself.” If this hadn’t been such a dire topic, I would have been more surprised by the all-business manner in which my mom gave these instructions.

  “Okay, I’ll try my best.”

  My mom smiled and cradled my face with one of her hands. “That’s my girl.”

  “Time’s up,” announced the guard from the door.

  My mom’s gaze flicked to the guard for a second before she looked back at me. She smiled and said, “I love you. Stay strong.”

  “I love you too.”

  I got up just as the guard started to take a step towards us, likely to make me leave the room. I looked back and caught a brief glimpse of my mom as the guard ushered me out the door. It felt almost like I was going off to school, though I knew it was probably going to be much longer than a school day until I got to see her again.

  ? 3.2 ?

  2291 words