Chapter 2

Questions

They had decided that he would bleed out if they tried to carry him to Elm in the state he was in so they brought him to the cabin. It was heavier than he looked and it took Resh and Kye around half an hour to get him back, “Set him down here.” Resh said pulling a wobbly table out from the corner with his foot.

They carefully set him down being sure the table would hold him then tore the rest of his shirt off. Kye grimaced his skin was completely coated in blood. The cuts were deep and his skin was peeled up and yellowing, he would need stitches to stay alive. Kye had never gotten stitches but he remembered when they were kids Resh had to get them several different times, once for his cheek, twice for his hands, and the last time was for his shoulder which had been torn open by a bear.

Kye was snapped out of his thoughts by a gruff call from Resh, “See if you can find a needle and thread. I thought I saw some old clothes in the closet over there they might work for bandages.” Resh said pointing toward a fallen over door at the back of the cabin.

Kye did as he was told and ran over. He quickly pulled the door away from the entrance and sorted through the clothes. He found a few thick shirts and some towels and brought them over to his twin. Resh grabbed a bucket sitting on the floor full of rain water. He pulled some broken boards from the floor and put them in a small pile. Then he took a deep breath and slowed his heart rate.

His finger caught fire, it wasn’t hot to him and he moved his hand in a flicking motion at the pile of wood. Flames flew from his hand lighting up the boards. He carefully put the bucket on top and willed it to heat quickly. Tiny bubbles broke on the surface. He left the bucket there and grabbed a towel from where Kye had left them. He removed the bucket and put out the fire with his hands.

He got the rag wet and started to clean the blood off the man’s chest. He had to wash it off several times for it had gotten too heavy with blood for him to make any difference. After a few careful passes making sure to watch out for the crossbow wounds he had finished cleaning, “Kye, you find anything?” Resh asked glancing across the room at Kye who was pulling a sewing box out of the closet.

He opened it and pulled out the smallest needle he could find, along with the thinnest thread. Though the needle was quite large the thread seemed fine, “Bring them here.”

Kye set the string on the table but quickly heated the needle with a small flame he made in his hand then cooled it in rainwater. Resh watched his confused, “What are you doing?”

“I thought it should be at least slightly clean.” he said drying on a fresh towel.

Resh smirked, admiring the quick thinking, “This is gonna hurt.” he said glancing at the stranger’s closed eyes.

He grabbed the needle, quickly threaded it and started to sew the man’s stab wounds closed. The needle wasn’t that sharp so the work was slow. Kye worried about him waking up for a while. They would have to knock him back out and hope he wouldn’t be angry at them the next time he woke up. Kye sighed, if he woke up. He had to admit Resh seemed to be doing a pretty good job but they weren’t doctors. They had no idea if he would survive.

Kye waited next to his brother preparing for the worst. In a few more minutes he was all sewed up. Resh took a deep breath and moved onto the crossbow bolts sticking out of his chest. Kye grabbed a wet rag and wiped more of the blood away. The twins shared a frightened look as Resh grabbed onto the first bolt, “Get a shirt, this is gonna hurt more.” Resh waited until Kye had the shirt in hand then pulled.

The man shot up screaming in pain. A low growl seemed to reverberate around the room. Resh and Kye paid no mind to it, “Hold him down!” Resh shouted.

Kye ran to his head and slammed his shoulders back on to the table. Resh lit his hand on fire again, “I’m sorry but I have to.” he said pressing his flaming hand onto the screaming man’s chest.

Kye gripped his shoulders and held him on the table as best he could while Resh fused the skin together. His eyes glowed red and a louder growl filled the room. Kye struggled to hold him down, he squirmed under his grasp, surprisingly strong. Resh pushed harder, his eyes locked on the wound. The man took a few uneven breaths and his eyes rolled back in his head. The screaming ceased as he fell back to the table.

Kye slowly let go and glanced up at his brother. His hands were bloodied but still surprisingly steady. They both took a moment to breathe then moved to the second bolt. He was going to pull it out and do the same thing he had done with the other because there was no time to sew it up. The man looked pale and had lost a lot of blood. He needed to get it done quickly or he could die.

Resh apologized mentally for the scars this poorly done job was going to leave. Carefully he wrapped his hand around the cold steel. He nodded to Kye who put his hands back on his shoulders in case he woke again. Silence hung over the room. Resh pulled and quickly lit his hand on fire to seal it, but it didn’t bleed.

In fact, it did the opposite, it started to heal. Resh took a step back from the body staring in awe. The skin grew rapidly until it completely covered the wound. Within seconds the hole was gone. He ran his fingers over the now smooth patch of skin. It was completely healed, not even a scar remained. Kye reached for the last bolt, stuck in his leg, the brothers shared a look of fear and confusion.

Kye pulled. The skin parted then healed quickly, same as the last, “What the...” Resh stopped, speechless.

Kye stared blankly at the miracle before his eyes. There were many races on Eviet but none contained the power to heal themselves. At least none he knew of. Curious if the other wounds had healed he looked up at the sword wounds, blood started to seep from the largest that went diagonally across his chest. His eyebrows knitted together in confusement.

Resh snapped out of his daze and started to wrap pieces of cloth around his torso, gently lifting him up to get it under his back. When he was done, he started to examine the rest of the man’s body. His arms were bloody and Resh did his best to clean him up. There wasn’t much else he could do for him but watch and observe.

The man was an average height but was more muscular than most. His short black hair was clotted together by blood. His breathing was slow chest rising and falling unevenly. He would be able to walk since the crossbow bolt in his leg had healed without a bruise. That was something neither of them wanted to talk about. How could someone heal in several seconds when before he was bleeding like a waterfall.

“I don’t think he’s human.” Resh determined breaking the silence.

“No kidding, human eyes don’t glow.”

“And their wounds don’t magically heal.” silence, the brother’s minds both racing to a realistic conclusion.

“Not human.” Kye agreed.

§

Seconds turned into minutes and a blanket of silence hung over the cabin. A brother sat on either side of the bandaged man. His breath had steadied and the bandages seemed to be working. Resh had his eyes locked on the stranger’s face deep in thought. Kye had his eyelids half shut attempting to collect his thoughts. Eventually the silence was to hard for Kye to keep quiet in and a random question that had been bouncing around in his head escaped from his mouth, “Why was he in a tree?”

Resh looked up, surprised, as if he had forgotten someone else was conscious in the room, “I don’t know.”

“Do you think he has something to do with the bodies?” Kye asked looking at his emotionless brother.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think he was one of them?”

“I don’t know!” Resh shouted, standing up and began to pace the room, “I sorry Kye.” he said running his fingers through his hair, “It can’t be a coincidence, but he doesn’t have a tattoo.” Kye looked up at him, confused.

“Yeah, he does.” he said standing and walking over to where Resh had been sitting.

Resh joined him. Kye lifted up his shoulder. There was a palm sized black tattoo of a raven about to land, a full moon hovered above it’s wing, “I saw it when you were wrapping him.”

“It’s not like theirs.” Resh said quietly, Kye lowered his shoulder carefully back onto the table.

“What does it mean? Do you think he was a leader?”

“We can ask him when he wakes.” the conversion was over.

§

Hours passed, bandages changed and the silence continued. Kye went to go get some food and came back with a bunny. He quickly skinned and cooked it over a small fire. There wasn’t much meat on it but it satisfied them enough to keep their stomachs from growling. When night came neither of the brothers slept, although both wanted the other to.

Resh hovered over the body checking wounds to make sure he hadn’t magically healed like the others while Kye sat on a wobbly stool by the door picking at the wood on the frame. They both had decided to leave their worries in their own minds and simply waited for something to happen. Just when Kye thought that he might’ve died a scream pierced the silence, scaring both of them.

The man shot up from the table. Resh ran to his side lightly pushing him back down, “I wouldn’t move like that just yet.” he grimaced laying back down.

“Who are you?” he asked, voice low, wary.

“We’re the ones who saved your life. My name is Resh and this is my brother Kye.” they stood on either side of him looking curiously at his eyes, they were the same dark blue as before.

“Who are you?” Kye asked crossing his arms.

“The less you know the better,” he said swinging his legs over the table with a pained look on his face, “for both of us.”

Resh gripped his shoulder where he had burnt the wound closed causing the man to inhale sharply, “Where do you think you’re going?” he growled shoving him back down on the table, “I have some questions for you and you're in no condition to leave.” Resh stared into his dark eyes, “What do you have to do with the massacre in that field?” the man’s eyes widened momentarily.

“Massacre.” he whispered, “Show me.” his eyes flickered to Kye, “You need to show me.” Resh sighed.

“That’s not really the answer I was looking for. Let’s restart, what’s your name?”

“Caspian.”

“That’s an answer. Is it just Caspian or do you have a last name?” the man’s eyes fell to the bandages covering his chest, confusion crept onto his face, “Just Caspian then, okay. Caspian, can you tell me why you had three crossbow bolts in you and were cut up like a slaughtered pig?”

His eyes closed as if trying to shut the world out, “The less you know the better.” he repeated opening them again, Resh thought he saw them flash red but he simply shook the thought away.

“Listen we brought you here and stitched you up, you owe us some answers.”

“Fine what do you want to know that you haven’t already asked?”

“What does the tattoo on your back mean?” the question was simple but there was anger in Caspian’s eyes.

“I can’t answer that.”

“Why?” Kye asked.

“I can’t.” he insisted.

“You know what, I’m done with this,” Resh said grabbing the man by his arm and pulling him to his feet.

He stifled a scream the wounds on his chest bleeding once more, as he fell to the ground. Resh kept a hold on his arm, “Tell me how you were able to heal from two crossbow bolts.” he let go of his arm allowing him to fall the rest of the way to the ground. He was on his hands and knees and he slowly turned over to a sitting position, “Tell me how your eyes glow and how you’re even able to move right now!”

“I can’t!” he shouted, glaring at Resh, “They’ll be here soon, it’s better if you don’t know anything.” he moved an arm across his stomach grimacing as he touched the wounds.

“Who’ll be here?” Kye asked kneeling down beside him.

Caspian sighed, “What have I been telling you, it’s better if you don’t know.”

“So, you’re just trying to protect us then?” Kye asked catching his eye.

“I need to get to where you found the bodies.” he said, ignoring the question and trying to stand back up.

“Resh, can I talk to you?” Kye walked over to where his brother stood and dragged him over to a corner furthest away from Caspian, “We should help him.”

“What! He won’t tell us anything and we’re just supposed to trust him.”

“I never said we had to trust him, just help. And maybe we’ll be able to learn something along the way.” he reasoned.

Resh groaned, “Fine, but I don’t like him.” he said casting a wary look at Caspian who had managed to stand and was leaning heavily on the table.

Kye smiled triumphantly and walked over to Caspian, “We’ll help you.”

“I never said I needed help?” he said sitting on the table.

“Well you’re gonna get it.” Kye said, smiling slightly threateningly.

“We need to get out of here then,” Caspian said, “They’ll be here soon.”

“Alright.” Kye said ignoring a glare from Resh.

§

It took them longer to get to the meadow than the last time. Caspian had to be supported by both the brothers. His were arms draped over their shoulders. The birds chirped, and the streams gurgled. Everything seemed normal, but nothing was. The brothers felt it. Somewhere inside them they knew, there was anger. Not your normal, didn’t get your way anger but, an anger you get from a death. The kind you get from war.

When they got there the bodies were gone. The weapons were missing and, grass was green once more. It was almost as if it never happened. The brothers almost thought it was a dream. Almost, the smell of blood was still stained in the air, “Where’d they go?” Kye asked setting Caspian down.

“They took them.” Caspian said quietly, both the brothers looked at him, confused.

“Care to elaborate?” Resh said frowning.

“Not really.” Kye knelt down beside the wounded man.

“You’ll tell us eventually.” he said pulling him to his feet.

“Maybe.” he said wincing.

“Well we’re going to help you, you have to tell us something.” Resh mumbled.

“They’re Hunters.” he responded, a growl in his voice.

The twins both looked at each other then at the blank face between them, silently pleading for more. Caspian wasn’t looking at either of them, “Hunters of what?” Resh asked slowly, he looked up at them a hint of red in his eye.

“Me.”