Shattered: Chapter 2

Talon

When I first caught sight of the Eternal settlement of Jínhaù, my muscles stiffened instinctually. In front of me lay the place where my adoptive mother had spent the last fifteen years of my life, abandoning me when I was just two years old to take care of someone else’s child.

My fists clenched and I bristled as three tall, slim figures came into sight on the horizon. My horse shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, as if my emotions were rubbing off on him. Making soothing noises, I rubbed his neck, quickly swinging my leg over and dismounting. The brittle autumn leaves crackled underneath my feet, and I took a hold of the beast’s bridle, taking long, purposeful steps towards the town.

After barely five minutes, I was mere meters away from the tall, forbidding creatures that had stolen my mother from me. Their usually intimidating image was enhanced by the flowing, hooded, forest green robes they wore.

“What is your name and purpose, human?” The first asked coldly, peering down at me from inside the folds of fabric. I scowled- I hate it when I can’t see peoples’ faces.

“Talon Roberts.” My voice was just as icy. “I’ve come to collect my mother’s belongings.” It was almost as if the Eternal’s breath caught in his throat for a moment, and slim, long-fingered hands reached up to push the hood back and reveal a pale skinned, violet-eyed face.

“I am sorry for your loss.” He said, almost apologetically, and I met his eyes, startled. Since when had Eternals started showing emotion? “The way your mother cared for that-” He glanced briefly towards his companions, and they shared a knowing look. “-girl was selfless.”

My features hardened once more. That girl had stolen my childhood away from me. A niggling part of my mind whispered that it wasn’t her fault, that mother had to leave to support our family. But it was a small part, and was quickly squashed by the anger that had bottled up inside me for fifteen years.

A smooth, feminine voice interrupted my silent mental battle.

“We will take you to her cottage now.” A woman supplied, pushing back her own hood. Like all Eternals, she had flawless skin that in her case was milky in color, perfectly chiseled features, dark violet eyes and hair as black as a crow’s wing, pulled back in a perfect knot at the nape of her neck. I nodded curtly, lifting my foot and jamming it roughly into one stirrup and remounting. I set off at a brisk trot, the immortals easily keeping pace with me, their strides far longer than that which any human was capable of.

As our party of four entered the boundaries of the village, I noticed that the streets were completely barren of life. The doors were shut; curtains pulled closed, and not a single Eternal could be seen. My gaze dropped to the floor, mouth twisting in an ugly grimace. They wouldn’t lower themselves to interacting with a human.

Finally we came to a stop in front of a small, homey-looking cottage with brick walls and a slate-tiled roof. The garden in front was neatly looked after, filled to the brim with ripe red tomatoes straining in their skins, glossy purple aubergines and long thin chili peppers. A pang of homesickness squeezed my heart so hard I thought it would burst. It was almost an exact replica of our garden back home, of the garden my father had tenderly cared for until his dying day. The only difference was that someone had planted a neat row of flowers along one edge, flowers I had never seen before in my life. At first they looked like white tulips, but as their petals caught the rays of sun beaming down on them, they sparkled with blue and purple light. I bent down beside one, cupping the blossom between two fingers and inhaling deeply. The scent that filled my nose was heavenly, a subtle perfume that reminded me of jasmine and honeysuckle, but oddly, there was a faint tinge of something that was vaguely reminiscent of sorrow.

“Do you like my moonflowers?” The tone was slightly amused, and I sprang to my feet. At the cottage door stood a girl who couldn’t be much older than fifteen, dressed in a simple white linen tunic dress that stopped mid-calf and plain straw sandals. Her skin was as white as marble, offset by startling ruby red lips that I’d never seen before on an Eternal, parted ever so slightly in a smile. Violet eyes peered out shyly from under dark eyelashes, but the thing that surprised me most was her waist-length mane. Where all other men and women of her race had poker-straight ebony locks, her gently curved face was surrounded by a feathery puff of golden hair.

I wondered if she knew she was beautiful.

When I found my voice it was barely a stammer.

“They are unlike anything I’ve seen before.” I admitted, not trusting myself to say any more. Her smile suddenly turned intrigued.

“Are you Hetty’s… son?” She asked cautiously, the word rolling unfamiliarly off her lips. I hesitated for a few seconds.

“Yes. Are you the girl who was in her care?” She breathed a sigh of relief as I affirmed her suspicions, and nodded vigorously.

“My name is Lina.” She offered, extending one small ivory hand.

“Talon.” I replied curtly, wrapping my hand around hers and shaking it firmly. She winced, biting her lip as she withdrew her hand from my hold. My eyes widened in horror as I saw that it was wildly disfigured, crushed by my grip.

“I see your mother never told you about my impediment.” She said lightly, not seeming to begrudge me for injuring her. I shook my head.
“She communicated mainly with my father.” I explained, eyes still transfixed by her hand. She took a breath.

“I assume you know about the Eternal baptism ceremony, and how it enhances natural features that all Eternals have. The ceremony enhanced my fragility, so as you can see-” She glanced towards her maimed fingers. “-I am extremely accident prone.” I frowned.

“But Eternals are not naturally frail.” I argued. Another curious expression crossed her face.

“Ah. Well, I know I retain many Eternal traits, but my mother was human.” She clarified, almost apologetically. I took a step back.

“I’m not sure I understand.” My voice was barely a murmur, and she let out a soft sigh.

“When he was traveling with a trader caravan through human lands, my father met my mother, and strangely enough they fell in love and married. A few months later, I was born. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father was heartbroken. He left me with my grandmother and left Jínhaù. He hasn’t been seen since. That is why my grandmother hired Hetty to look after me- a light tap from an Eternal would shatter my bones.”

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The thought of an Eternal and a human falling in love… It was something I couldn’t comprehend. My eyes locked on the floor, my teeth absently grazing my bottom lip.

“Please, come in.” She said at last, clearly uncomfortable with the fact that I’d been standing in the middle of her garden for the last ten minutes or so. I looked nervously over my shoulders: the other Eternals had disappeared. When I looked back, the corners of her mouth were turned up in a small smile. “They don’t like to stay here for too long.” She explained, turning and walking through the door. Hesitantly I followed, leaving the moonflowers behind me.

The house was as simple inside as it was outside- plain white walls, wooden floors, a few torches with undecorated glass covers to keep the flames from spitting out and setting all the wood on fire. She padded silently through it, her feet almost seeming to float along the wooden floors. Abruptly she stopped at a door, turning to face me, her pale features questioning.

“You must be tired, after such a long journey. Would you care for some refreshments before we sort everything else out?” I nodded curtly.

“Thank you. It’s been eight hours since I last ate.” I realized, following her in. She walked slowly, deliberately, as if she analyzed every step she took. It suddenly hit me that she probably did- if I were in her position, tripping and falling wouldn’t be on my list of things to do.

She led me into a small, cozy living room, complete with two puffy armchairs that had been covered with flowery-print fabric.

“Please, sit down.” She gestured towards an armchair, smiling prettily before walking out into the adjoining kitchen. I looked around, wrinkling my nose at the pink wallpaper, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot before stalking over the armchair and dropping down into it. It was small, and I felt awkward in my dust-streaked riding clothes amongst the impeccable cleanliness.

She seemed to take an eternity, though I could hear her bustling around in the kitchen. Instead of scanning the room for something to look at, I focused on the sounds: the kettle bubbling over the hearth I’d seen earlier, the fire crackling, and then-

There was a crash, and I instinctively sprung to my feet.

“I’m okay.” Her voice was reassuring but slightly shaken, so I ignored her, walking in.

She was standing by the marble-faced wooden countertop, biting her lip. A smattering of china fragments were embedded in one scantily covered foot, and as I walked in she smiled ruefully, seeming to completely disregard the ripped and torn flesh.

“I’m sorry. That doesn’t happen often.” I frowned, not quite believing how she could take such a serious injury in her stride.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” She waved the question away, and I was shocked to notice that her hand had completely re-formed itself.

“I’ve grown accustomed to pain over the years. Besides, they’ll heal up in a moment once I pull the shards out.” Seeing my perplexed expression, she sighed. “It’s another physical characteristic of mine- probably to compensate for my fragility. The skin doesn’t hurt as much, really, but I think the teacup falling splintered the bones in my foot.” She started trying to hobble over to the kitchen table but slipped on a small trickle of blood on the stone floor. I reacted, throwing my arms out to catch her as gently as I could, but she still winced as her back connected with hands.

“You of all people should have learned to ask for help when you’re hurt.” I grumbled, oblivious to the slight embarrassed flush of scarlet rising to the apples of her cheeks.

“I’m fine-” She insisted, but I cut in.

“No, you aren’t.” I countered, impulsively sliding one arm under her knees and pulling her up into the air. She squeaked in surprise, coloring even more.

“No, please, I’m used to managing by myself-” But by that time I had set her down in a chair, pulling out another one and sitting myself down in it, straight across from her. Then I reached for her blood streaked foot, gently sliding off the sandal. She flinched ever so slightly, but to her credit, didn’t make any of the fuss I’d seen the girls back home do when they garner paper cuts all over their fingers from reading.

“Now,” I started, her foot balanced precariously on my knee, one hand holding it in place, “Is there a particular art to doing this, or do I just pull out the shards?” She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

“There’s a set of tweezers in the drawer right next to your waist.” She informed me, and I turned to find it, still keeping a hold on her foot. I soon found them- they were crude, made of simply beaten steel.

Why I offered to help her is beyond me. Just minutes ago, an Eternal on the brink of death could have begged me for help and I might just have refused. Not that that would ever happen. I reminded myself. Eternals don’t die.

Or get hurt. But this…Lina was an exception- a delicately balanced meshing of Eternal and human. The tinge of pride in her violet eyes was marred by vast floods of emotion, more than I’d ever thought someone with even one drop of Eternal blood could possess.

I’d been incredulous when she had told me that against all odds, her Eternal father and human mother had fallen in love. I couldn’t believe that a human and an Eternal could even be friends.

Suddenly it didn’t seem so unlikely.

Her lyrical voice interrupted the methodical motion of my fingers, tweezers clasping the bloodied shards of china, pulling them out and depositing them on the wooden table that pressed into her elbow.

“There is one favor the elders asked me to request of you.” She began apologetically. “In a year I’ll be an adult, and I would have moved to a human settlement anyway, but you see, now that Hetty’s…” She paused for a second, and the quick quiver of her lips didn’t go unnoticed. “…passed away, I can’t keep on living in Jínhaù. They were wondering if you would…” Her voice was cut off abruptly, and my head snapped up. “If you would take me with you.” She breathed, almost inaudibly.

“Any other favors?” I asked sardonically, pushing my chair away. The idea was preposterous. She shook her head, suddenly biting her lip in worry. “Good.” I said curtly, standing up. “Now, if you collect your bags and my mother’s ashes, we can leave.” She hesitated, but stood up and followed me.

“I already scattered them.” She said bluntly, apologetically, and I spun around.

“What?” My tone was much harsher than it ever had been towards her, and she flinched.

“In the garden.” She murmured as a way of explanation. “She was always in the garden. I thought she’d be happy there.”

My fists tightened into taut balls of muscle, cheeks flushing as I struggled to contain my rage.

“You didn’t think to ask me first?” I snapped. “Her son, who hasn’t seen her in fifteen years because of you?” She took a step back, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

“It was foolish of me.” She murmured softly, but when she looked up again there was a very small spark of defiance in her violet eyes. “I will get my cases now.”

And before I could retort, scream, vent my anger on her in some way, she had turned sharply on her heel, gliding out of the room and leaving me to stew in peace.