Ash:

With her hand still in his, he captured her waist and released his wings. Ash stared over his shoulder, watching his black feathers fan rapidly as they lifted off, remembering not to touch them at any cost. In under a minute they were back on the top of Seal Rock, landing near the edge. Scared of tumbling over the side, Ash peered down. That's when she spotted six symbols in a language not from this world, etched into the rock. They were scrolled, beautiful, familiar.

"Angels lie. I am yours, always," she read aloud. Ash reached down and skimmed her hand over the words, and felt as if she'd done that very thing, here, recently. Lifting her necklace from the collar of her dress, she flipped over the star pendant and read the same symbols.

Last night, Ash had been undressing when she'd discovered the necklace. She'd stared at it for hours, wondering how it had come to be around her neck. Now, as she looked back down at the engravings in the rock it was as if the universe was giving her clues to unveiling its owner.

"Did you know this was here?" she asked, pointing down at the symbols on the rock.

Keenan just smiled and peered at the seals on the shelf below.

So annoying. "Did you write this?"

"You could say it was me. In a sense."

"Did you or did you not write this?"

"If you can't remember, I'm not telling you."

"Aghh!" Ash turned towards the shore, counting down the minutes she would have to endure holding his hand. "This is not the way to make me like you, Keenan. And I'm guessing your plan revolves around me liking you. If you returned my memories—"

"I would love to oblige. It would upset Lücan no end—"

Ash beamed with absolute happiness. Finally, I'm getting my memories back!

"You're not, actually," Keenan announced, killing Ash's smile. "Much like Will, it benefits me greatly that you have no recollection of how these symbols on this rock came to be, or how that necklace appeared around your throat. All of that tinkering Lücan has done to your brain is a gift I would wish for time and time again."

Oh God. That vindictive, conniving...

There was a sensation of someone tugging in her mind.

Studying Ash, Keenan laughed to himself.

"Yes, laugh to yourself," she snapped. "Whatever memory of mine you've dredged up, enjoy it. I'm not about to beg you to tell me."

"No, no, this one's funny," he said. "Lücan made you stupid."

"What?"

"He lowered your IQ substantially, so you wouldn't draw attention to yourself at school. Had quite the opposite effect. That last visit to the principal's office was hilarious."

"Why?" Ash was ready to whack him in the chest. "I didn't find it funny."

"The principal had thought you'd cheated, and while your previous assignments were looked upon as poor, you were right about the existence of aliens," he says, waving a hand at himself and Ash as proof. "Your assignment on wormholes was reasonably advanced, only due to the fact that your normal IQ was returning."

Ash frowned, thinking back on the past few months up until now. "Huh. That makes sense. Things do feel easier."

Keenan raised a brow. "Not that easy, I imagine. After your driving lesson with Lücan, he repressed your IQ again. Not as much as before, as he'd just announced to the principal that you have a tutor. Perhaps he realized he'd made you too stupid before. Same with your physical abilities. He's quashed those, too. Explains the running earlier."

"Great," Ash grumbled. "I'm an idiot. And uncoordinated."

"You're not that bad, really. At least I don't have to think too hard for a conversation around you. It's a holiday, really."

"Thanks."

"And your roundhouse kick was a thing of beauty."

"Thanks," she said, blushing this time. She had been proud of that kick. "Anything else you'd care to laugh at from my mind?" she asked, desperate for any memory, no matter how humiliating.

"Not today."

Ash grumbled and sat down on the rock, pulling Keenan down, too. Looking up at the puffy clouds, Ash laid backwards, hoping for a better view of the cloud shaped like a bird, or an angel, or maybe it resembled the boy who was laying down beside her. She peered over at Keenan. His jagged black hair had fallen around him, and his eyes looked as bright as the sky he was gazing upon. He had made a deal to talk for one hour, yet he'd been silent for several minutes. Ash felt like she was cheating the deal if they weren't talking.

"Have you seen everything inside my mind, or just pieces?" she whispered.

He peered across at her. "Pieces."

"Oh." Ash shifted her back into a more comfortable angle on the rock, but nothing really felt comfortable. "I don't know anything about your life."

"There is nothing to show."

"I doubt that."

He turned his gaze to the angel cloud as it passed above. "I'll give you one piece. Me, at age eight. A typical day with my father."

Ash didn't know what to expect, but he turned to her once more, lowering his forehead to hers. As they closed their eyes, his world came to life in her mind...

Body aching from the last training exercise, Keenan clenched his hands and stared down the length of the cathedral. His gaze skimmed over the obstacle course and to his father standing before a wall of stained-glass windows. The windows had been smashed, but there were still traces of the family that had been depicted there. The previous King's pose showed only a hand holding his wife's shoulder. There were fragments of her green ballgown and bare shoulders—the Astarian Queen's yellow diamond crown was the one thing still intact. Keenan looked to the next window panel. All that remained was jagged glass around the edges, but he could see a dress on one child and silver pants on the other, and the tops of their heads were sandy blond entwined with roses and vines. Keenan was attempting to reconstruct the faces of the two children when his father yelled, "Useless boy! Why have I been training you all these years?!"

"Sorry, Pa-da," Keenan said, straightening his shoulders. "I'll make it this time, I swear."

As his father nodded, Keenan pretended that he was the boy in the window, and that the obstacle course before him was a means to flee to Lyrethan with the family in the glass. No longer would he cower on the floor, sitting amongst the rubble. He was about to stand when vines writhed across the room, capturing his arms and legs, sliding towards his throat. This was the moment to panic. Using his razor-sharp teeth, he gnawed at the vines around his wrists, weakening them to the point that with enough force they frayed and snapped. It took all his strength to extricate arms, but in minutes he was yanking the vines from his torso and legs. Disentangling himself was a small triumph. His cheek still stung from where a thorn had scratched his cheek, but he never made a sound. Pa-da was watching, his arms folded over his bulky chest.

A year ago, Keenan would have gladly gloated that his father was the infamous Realm Reaper, Konstantin—that's if there had been anyone other than his mother and father on the planet to gloat to. Now, as he peeked up at his father, all he could see was a beast of a man with cream colored scales on his chest and a black scaly back. His hair was matted, black, draping around his arms like a shabby cloak. White skin could be seen on his forehead and cheeks, but that merged into scales on his snout, framing eyes that could have belonged to a dragon.

"Again!" Pa-da shouted, whipping his wings.

Keenan jumped to his feet, scrambling over black rocks and around asteroid chunks. A lightning strike flashed towards him. He took flight just as the lightning bolt split a meteorite in half, inches from his face. He smiled. For once, he'd avoided Pa-da's wrath.

Keenan landed at the far end of the cathedral, positioning himself on the starting line. Now that there was some distance from Pa-da, Keenan felt calmer. He re-tied his hair, taking in the obstacle course rearranging before his eyes. The jagged meteorites lifted from the floor, as did the smaller space rocks and dust, everything shifting and growing in momentum. He caught the odd glimpse of Pa-da as the rocks spun past him, some lifting to the peak of the cathedral, others drifting near the ground, always changing course, always random. The finish line seemed so far away, and the sight of Pa-da waiting hardly felt like a reward.

Lightning struck the center of the room, blasting small asteroids into smithereens. The dust and debris transformed the room into a black cloud. Head first, Keenan took off with wings pounding. Dust blew into his eyes, but he concentrated on his next swerve and dip as meteorite after meteorite hurtled towards him.

Doubt came over him as it always did when he reached the center of the course. This was where he always failed. Rising into a hover, he allowed himself one breath. He spun, adjusting his body at harsh angles as he figured out his next move.

Black particles of rock whizzed past his eyes, each speck glistening and blurring until he could no longer decipher specks from rocks. Bolts of lightning flew from his father's hands, and instead of exploding everything in their path the meteorites took on energy, creating an electrical field that linked the course as one.

Oh, I hate it when he does this, Keenan thought, ducking low. He narrowly missed three rocks at once, only to be greeted by a new boulder that zoomed towards him. He swerved, encircling his wings around his body as he rolled sideways and upwards. The air was clearer near the glass ceiling. He inhaled deeply, then coughed out the muck from his lungs. Up here, the path to the finish line almost looked possible.

The silver gildé in his skin buzzed, sensing danger. He was about to turn when a rock slammed into his back, jolting his chest. The light from above drifted in and out of his vision as he fell, his wings hitting obstacles on the way down, his feathers flying everywhere. It was enough to make him cry, but he would never dare cry. He skidded across his stomach, and when he realized he couldn't fall any further he buried his face in the dirt. He had made it through another training session with Pa-da.

Keenan pulled his forehead from Ash's, his eyes narrowed on hers. "Now you know one piece of my life. Are we even?"

Ash didn't know whether to nod or shake her head. He had seen countless things in her mind, but she couldn't imagine they would be as cruel as what he'd suffered at the hands of his father. His world was so miraculous and terrifying all at once. "Why did your father make you do that horrible course?"

"Konstantin was preparing me."

"For what?"

"You."

"Me?" she said, waving her hand erratically in the air. "But I'm like the most gentlest person on the planet. I hate violence. Except when I'm sparring with Will, but otherwise I hate violence!"

"And yet you kicked three men brutally in the head not more than ten minutes ago."

"Have you never heard of self-defense or do you only attack?"

Keenan smiled slyly and looked to the horizon. It was as if that smile alone had placed an evil hold on him. There had been times when he'd seemed innocent, and as a boy, more so. Now, she wasn't so sure...

Why does he think we are destined to fight?

Spirit unsettled, Ash pushed to her feet, but Keenan continued to laze on the rock like the seals below. Still tethered to his hand, she began to look for the best way off the island if he refused to take her home. The ferry did appear to be coming in their direction, but there would be tourists with too many questions.

"Don't plan your escape strategy yet," he said. "We still have three minutes."

Ash glanced at his wrists peeking out from his sleeves, not a watch in sight. "How do you know that?"

"I feel the clocks turning," he said, patting his bare chest. "They're a persistent beat in the back of my mind and a thrum in my spirit, for time chases me wherever I go. But don't fret. Your father is on his way, and he will be taking you home. He informed me ten minutes ago."

"I think you are the strangest boy I have ever met," she said, helping him to his feet.

(For an atmospheric ending, play this song before reading further down the page....)

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Ash squinted against the sun and peered up at him. His face was full of amazing lines and angles—a strong jaw and forehead that was too serious and cheekbones curved with shadows. He stared down his nose at her, his eyes a dark blue that pierced straight into her spirit and knew all of her inside and out. She thought maybe she knew him, too. His spirit was a black roiling cloud, whirling lightly at the edges—Keenan's version of sadness, she guessed.

"It has been...interesting," he said.

"Um... Thanks?" Was that a compliment or an insult?

Keenan smiled a fraction, then raised Ash's hand towards his lips. "May I?"

"I thought we were meant to be sworn enemies?"

"You are hardly a threat. Yet."

He raised her hand higher and she shrugged. "Oh, fine."

When his mouth came into contact with the back of her hand, she anticipated a simple kiss. He licked her skin. Ash held her breath, trying not to show her shock. The tip of his nose brushed her skin and he inhaled deeply, absorbing her scent before lowering her hand again. He smiled thoughtfully. "I should have known. You taste like s—"

"Ashala!" Lücan yelled, startling her as he landed. "We're leaving."

"Father, it's okay." She held up Keenan's relaxed hand to show there was no cause for alarm. "We were just saying goodbye."

"Close your eyes," Lücan said, pulling a black vessel from his jacket and hiding it behind his back.

"What are you go—?" Before she could blink he plunged the tip of the vessel into her heart. The world went a dizzying wash of dull rainbows as she swayed on the spot. "What was that for?"

"After what I've witnessed on the news in the past hour, you don't travel so well. But let's not get into the catastrophe of you and Keenan having a joy flight in front of the world. That's one mess I cannot clean up, and nor can I be bothered."

He did see the news! Help! My friends and teachers would have seen the news, too. I can never return, she thought, her mind spinning. She blamed the elixir in the vessel for the spinning, the blurring vision, having an irate father. "I think your elixir is faulty. I feel...weird."

"You'll need it for where we are going."

Keenan steadied her arm as she swayed backwards. She peered up at him. Her vision fractured his handsome face so that the left side shifted up and the right side shifted down, almost like a warped reflection. She blinked and blinked again. His eyes aligned themselves in a straight line again and she sighed. She was not losing her mind.

"Where are you going?" Keenan asked with an inquisitive smile.

"None of your business," Lücan snapped, grabbing Ash by the waist.

People grabbing me by the waist seems to be happening a lot lately, she thought, her teeth chattering. She was freezing cold, iciness coursing through her blood. Maybe she had hypothermia? It was impossible to be this healthy and cold all at once. She felt her scalp tingle strangely, almost prickling, felt things moving beneath the skin. She screamed as pointed things punctured her scalp in different spots. Then she smelled roses and grabbed at her hair. There were only brown ringlets now, and an addition of newly grown vines. Ash stared at the white roses and red blossoms where her blonde and red ringlets had once been.

A rush of hot fluid pulse through her veins. Her real blood was back and it felt good. She felt better than before, better than she had for most of her life—boundless energy breaking free from shackles that had held her back all this time. She tested the strength in her hands, stretching and clenching them. Her veins had changed. They were the very same gunmetal blue veins that covered Lücan. Her skin had a golden sheen to it. She examined the back of her hand and gasped. Tiny gold beads were speeding through her skin.

"What have you done to me?" she screamed, examining her new color. "Answer me!"

"Hush!" Lücan drew nearer, flaming as bright as the sun. Tearing her hand from Keenan's, Lücan lifted from the ground.

Keenan sped into a hover, inspecting the rock below for cracks or traces of poison. He sneered at Lücan. "You nearly had me break my oath, Keeper. I could have harmed something or someone. I should ask Edorin to place an extra curse upon you."

"Good luck. Edorin hasn't been seen since I was a boy. Not by The Fates of Fortune or any other such being."

Keenan laughed. "Of all the reapers who have come before me, I am his favored one. He has been speaking to me for years, visiting me. He is my teacher."

"Not your father?" Lücan asked, stunned.

"My father was too lazy to train me properly, or too busy fighting you to spend a minute with me. But it is fine. Edorin has been a far better guide."

"I doubt that! He is evil to the core."

"Believe that, but you have never met him. I know. He told me."

"He did, did he?"

"Yes. Do you know why I am his favored one?"

Lücan sighed.

Keenan flew closer, but Lücan never moved an inch in the air. "I look just like him—a perfect replica, apart from the color of our wings and hair."

"He made you in his image," Lücan said. "How very god-like of him, or a product of his own vanity."

"I'm not the only onewho looks like him." His eyes darted to Ash, holding secrets, then returned to Lücan."One of your own—"

"Enough!" he growled.

Keenan smiled. "The other Fates are just as vain. You would know this if you'd seen them."

"I've seen enough," Lücan said, curling Ash tightly within his arms. She flinched at the scorching heat of skin as he began to glow. Golden dust sizzled around them, every mote shuddering to the highest pitch until it swarmed inwards and melded to their bodies. The shuddering ceased. In a shimmering haze of gold they were fused as one. They took flight with inexorable speed, blazing into the skies until there was no sky, until there was no Earth, until there was only an endless abyss of night. The dust clinging to their bodies exploded, hissing and spitting into brilliant snake-like threads that wove an intricate ribbon through space. Her spine shuddered as if she'd been struck by lightning itself. Ash couldn't speak. She thought she should have been suffocating, but she wasn't.

Lücan clung to her arms, his determined gaze searching upward and afar. Ash followed her father's gaze and looked back to him. This was where he truly belonged—there was a freeness to the way he soared, the way he took this path with unwavering certainty as he glanced off into distant stars and worlds, each one flitting by in an instant. And while her dream of seeing real stars and planets was happening, that meant she was flying, which came with the possibility of falling and never finding her way back to Earth.

He's the one taking me away from Marianne, from everything! she thought. I'm not ready to leave home!

Lücan's face snapped down to search hers, his eyes alarmed, his nostrils pressing inward. Ash gulped, like this was the end of everything and her entire life was comprised within these few short seconds. Crazier than that, she felt as if they'd shared this moment before—her terrified of him, and him for her. The thought made her shiver. It was an odd shiver, one of terror and helplessness, like she was abandoning her old life and he was the cause.

Quicker than lightning, they soared further along the ribbon's path—a vast universe of stars, moons and comets blurring before her eyes. They were burning hotter and hotter as their velocity increased, flaming embers streaking off their bodies. Awestruck by the beauty of the cosmos, totally petrified by the flying, all she could do was hold on as someone collided into her and Lücan.

Black wings fanned at the corners of her vision, and she knew it was Keenan behind her, grabbing her arms. Lücan swung Ash by the waist and tossed her behind him. She went spiraling through the air, falling with nowhere to land. Lost. Forever.

"Help!" she screamed, her voice silent in space. She screamed in her mind, Help! Help me!

As Lücan dashed after the reaper, Keenan laughed in their minds. She can't fly, remember? You were stupid to take her gifts from her, Lücan.

Ashala, you will be fine, Lücan said. But she continued to drift further away, her hands reaching for her father, even Keenan.

Ignoring Lücan's chase, Keenan flew around Ash. Make a deal with me.

You want to make a deal? Now? she screamed. I'm falling!

Stop falling then. Fly! Keenan said. Ash kept falling, or floating in circles. She glared at Keenan until her glowing father rammed into him, pushing Keenan out of sight. But she could still hear the reaper in her head, I think you should listen to the deal. I have a prisoner to trade.

Who? Ash asked, trembling.

Lücan snatched up Ashala's hand and stopped her spinning. He flew her towards the golden net wavering above the planet's atmosphere, but no matter which direction they flew Keenan blocked the way, his wings spread like a barricade.

Swear on The Fates, Ashala, Keenan said. A year with me in exchange for your Marianne.

You have my mum? Ash couldn't breathe. She wanted to agree to the deal right away, but Lücan gave her a harsh look that said she would be a fool to do so. Is she okay?

Keenan spun in the air, his wings circling him. Then he stopped before her. Possibly a little cold and dirty, but otherwise she is perfectly healthy and just as you saw her when you set off for school this morning. Possibly a little terrified of being in a darkened tunnel in the Realm of Shadows, but other than that, she is the same.

You are insane! Ash screamed, leaning towards him, while Lücan pulled her back. And to think I felt sorry for you earlier! How could I have been so stupid?

You were not stupid. You were perfect, and for that reason alone I needed a hostage. It was the only way to see you again. Let's ask Lücan if he'd be happy for me to pop in for a spot of tea around the palace gardens.

Lücan growled in their minds.

See, said Keenan. The only way we can meet is through a binding deal, and I'm not afraid to use it. Think about it, Ashala. We make the deal and that's one less year we must fight, one less year that I am famished beyond belief, consuming planets just to sate me. One less year where you don't have to stop me. I need you, Ashala. Stealing your fake mother was the only way.

Ash cried. Watching her teardrops float off into outer space made it all the more depressing. The deal was her only option. Marianne was at stake! She was about to swear an oath when Lücan braced her shoulders. Do not say a thing, Ashala.

But Marianne—

I know, he said, devastated. Lücan held Ash to his side and hardened his gaze on Keenan. If Ashala is to make a deal, I will negotiate the terms.

Brow raised, Keenan nodded. Let's hear them, Keeper.

Marianne will be returned unharmed and in perfect condition at the beginning of Ashala's time with you, which will begin three months from now. Ashala will stay on Astaria for one week and not a moment more. If she is harmed or treated in an inappropriate manner the deal is off and she will be returned to Lyrethan immediately. There will be no further deals or binding agreements in the future. You will cease taking hostages immediately. That is the deal.

Keenan smiled, breezing from side-to-side. Let us negotiate.

No.

Oh god, Ash thought. Father is screwing this up. Keenan is never going to give up Marianne unless I agree to the deal his way.

Keenan sneered at Lücan. That is a pathetic deal. Make it six months of Ashala's time. As for no binding contracts or deals in the future, that doesn't suit me. And if I want to take hostages, I will. Your other conditions I'll agree to. If you can't handle that, say farewell to Marianne. She has a new home in a nice shadow chamber for the next hundred million years.

An orb of light shot from Lücan's hand and connected with Keenan's chest, the force of the hit shooting the reaper backwards. Ash wondered why Keenan never fought back. He had the perfect opportunity as he flew towards them at full speed and stopped inches from Ash.

What will it be, Ashala?  Keenan snapped. Speak now or I'm leaving.

As he turned away, Ash grabbed his arm. Two months, along with my father's conditions for Marianne's return and my safety.

Three months and the remainder of Lücan's conditions or there is no deal.

Ash stared at him, trying to remember the boy from the beach. He'd almost been nice. Although, he might have gained some pleasure from telling her secrets, he was possibly more honest than any Sepheri or loved one. Now he was bargaining with Marianne's life as if it were dollar bills, ruthless to the very end. When she remained silent for more than a minute, he flew away, his wings beating the air furiously.

Keenan! she shouted, calling for him to listen. I swear on The Fates that I will stay with you for three months, as long as you guarantee Marianne's return and my safety.

Ashala, no! Lücan gasped, holding her back.

Keenan soared towards her, smiling coldly. I, Keenan, swear on The Fates that I will abide by all of Ashala's conditions for her to stay for three months. Let us go, Ashala, he said, swooping closer and snatching up her arm. Lücan gripped Ash tighter into his side and flew back through an opening in the golden net of Lyrethan's protection. The sunlight gleaming through the webs was close to burning her skin, and as Keenan was pulled against it he recoiled, releasing his hold on her arm. He screamed, You can't do this, Lücan!

Lücan waved within the net and smiled. I can. I never made the deal, and if I prevent Ash from leaving, she has not breeched the deal. You never specified when the deal should commence, and I say that she will begin the deal in three months.

Lücan! I will hurt you for this, and not just physically.

Ash didn't like the sound of that. She went to reach through the golden net, offering Keenan her hand. Lücan dropped through Lyrethan's atmosphere, moving farther away, farther from Keenan and any hope of getting Marianne back. She screamed, pounding his chest to stop. He didn't care.

Ash could just see Keenan hovering above, his face peering down through one of the golden webs, his black wings impossible to see against space. Descending through the air, she watched the sky lighten, becoming a wash of hazy purple, blue and pinks. Ash had a feeling it was midday, even though it reminded her of a sunset on Earth. She missed Earth. She missed Marianne. Sadly, Marianne was on neither planet Ash called home.

Lücan came to a hover. How dare you make that deal?! Why do you always make it impossible to protect you?!

He was flying away! I had to! Ash said, almost letting go of Lücan. And how dare you take me away from Keenan! Who knows what he'll do to Marianne?

Guilt flickered in Lücan's eyes. I am counting on the fact that Keenan will keep her safe. He knows that you must do that deal eventually. I just wanted time to prepare you.

Well, I could have been more prepared if you hadn't been erasing my life for years. Keenan knows more about my life than I do! she shouted. It's embarrassing!

Fine, he said. From here on, there will be no more making you forget.

Will you be returning the memories you stole from me?

No.

Ash's mouth dropped. You have to! They're mine!

They'll return when you're ready to bear the full weight of them.

I'm ready. More than ready. Return them now!

It was as if he'd gone deaf! He began to glide, taking his time to look upon the new world below. The planet sparkled with water and purple and pink clouds, and the landscapes of crystalline forest glistened in the last of the sunlight, calling her closer. She was sure she could hear the crystal leaves singing from here.

Ashala, he said calmly. When you hear me hum, you will fall asleep until the next dawn rises.

No! Only a moment ago, you said you weren't going to take my memories from me.

Ash tried to wriggle free, but Lücan braced her by the arms, locking his gaze with hers. I said nothing about hypnosis.

Then I will block my ears!

Goodnight, Ashala, he said peacefully.

Ash blocked her ears as they sped through the atmosphere. She could hear the shortness of her breath, wind whistling in her ears. A warm deep voice entered her mind, a hum of a lullaby she remembered as a child. She tried blocking it out, but the tune was too pretty, and Lücan's voice was as lovely now as it had been then. Her eyes blinked heavily, then opened again. Stars twinkled in the distance. Another blink, and her head drifted onto her father's shoulder. Like a fallen comet, they descended through clouds—garish shades of crimson and violet mist. All went dark, and Ash dreamed that she was going home.

End of Book One.

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Thank you to all who have read, commented passionately and voted. I hope Ash, Alrund, Will and Keenan have all found a place in your heart, as they have mine.
More to come...
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