they touched. Even Cole’s dark eyes had a tinge of the color to them. Where the fire’s light couldn’t quite reach was a sheet of utter darkness that her eyes couldn’t pierce no matter how hard she tried. Their ring, suspended in the flames glow, made her think of the pre-Columbus days. Like if she took one step from the bright sphere, she’d fall right off the end of the earth.
Madgie threw another log on the fire, and Amanda snapped out of the trance that the flames had danced her into. “Well, Cole might be better to tell you the specifics of the Guard. Since he has actually trained with them, like all boys do, but since I’m the oldest here by a long shot…” She waited sarcastically for an objection and then faked offense when none was given and continued. “The Guard is something that is very controversial among Healers, at least people who have a mind of their own. You see, those chosen to be members are no longer Healers in the traditional sense. I mean you can’t change what you are, but they no longer enter Scars.”
“Wait. You can’t just choose to no longer heal Scars. I know. I tried to run from them…” Amanda interrupted.
She stopped and took a breath. Amanda didn’t like talking about the time she’d spent away from the Hovel. Two years of hunger and thirst and pain and loneliness, but that’s to be expected when you’re thirteen-years-old alone on the streets.
“You can’t just choose to not go into a Scar. I never felt like I was a good Healer and spent a good chunk of my life trying not to go into them because I knew I’d let the spirit down. But no matter where I was or how hard I tried, they took me regardless.” Madgie’s face brightened. “That’s because we don’t choose them, they choose us.”
Amanda sat a little straighter. “Well, why would they choose me? I don’t even heal half of the Scars I enter!”
“Your spirit is bright, and it beckons to them. Even though you feel otherwise, it doesn’t change the truth. Did you know you’ve fallen into more Scars than any one Healer I’ve ever known?” Madgie gushed.
Amanda knew her sweet mentor meant what she said, but it only frustrated her more. Madgie must have read her emotions, because she went back to her speech.
“These Guard members are picked at a young age. All of the boys who are gathered in the dredging at the age of ten must train with the guard for two years. Those who show more interest move on to stricter combat training…” She paused and gestured to Cole. “I believe you went to the next level of training.”
“Yes.” He nodded.
Madgie looked like she wanted him to continue, but he wouldn’t oblige so she marched on. “Well, this group of boys trains in combative spells at a new level, and they’re put into rankings. The higher ranking you are, the more you learn, but to be a member of the Guard, you cannot be slipping in and out of Scars all of the time. You are to do the bidding of the Ancients, so you need to be ready at all times.”
“But that’s impossible! It’s hard to even schedule classes at the Hovel because of it,” Amanda interrupted again.
Madgie held up her hand. “I know what you think. Just listen.”
Amanda sat back and nodded.
“The Ancients wanted to know if their Guard could have all the powers of the Healers with none of the obligations. Impossible, right? No. They figured they could have this by altering one simple fact. Scars are drawn to the bright light and spirit of Healers. Extinguish that light, and you have the Guard.” Amanda grew cold as Madgie continued.
“You might be wondering, ‘How do you take away a Healer’s light?’ The answer is simple. With darkness,” Madgie finished.
Amanda felt Cole’s body grow tense next to her. “But how is that possible?” she asked, turning to him.
Cole’s strong features were highlighted against the firelight, casting sinister shadows. His face looked hollow and angry, an empty shell of the person she knew. Amanda would have been frightened if that look were on anyone else’s face, but seeing it on his tore at her heart. She thought he looked like he was a million miles away, unaware the two ladies were even having a conversation, until she noticed the strange set of his mouth. He was biting down hard on his lower lip as the rest of his mouth seemed to fight against it.
Madgie sucked in a loud breath. “He’s trying to speak!” she shouted.
Amanda thought it just as Madgie said it because she could now feel the internal struggle Cole was fighting through. His spirit was lashing out against a dark blanket that wouldn’t lift itself from him. Cole’s face was red with effort, and a line of blood crept down his chin from the corner of his mouth.
“Stop!” Amanda shouted and grabbed his face when he didn’t listen. “You don’t need to fight it, Cole. I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but we can work it out later. You need to keep your strength.”
Cole nodded, and his face relaxed.
Madgie sighed in relief. “Wow, that’s some silencing hex you have on you, boy. I thought you would pass out. The Ancients do that to you?”
Cole didn’t, or couldn’t respond, which was answer enough. “So it’s true? All of the things we have heard over the years and dismissed as lies.”
Madgie looked to be on the verge of tears or ready to hit something, Amanda wasn’t sure which it was. “How could they do that to young boys?” Madgie whispered.
Amanda was still studying Cole, wondering what could have happened to him. When his haunted eyes met hers, she lurched forward and threw her arms around his neck, hoping if she held on tight enough nothing in the world could hurt him. He gently caressed the back of her head as she embraced him, nuzzling his face into her neck.
“Good heavens, I’m fine, Amanda,” he said with a smile. “If I’d known my… painful experiences would render this kind of affection, I would have told you years ago.”
Amanda released him and looked into his eyes. They were back to the bright happy things she knew. “Really?” she asked surprised.
“Obviously not, I can’t even…” He made a strange face again.
“Well, Madgie, let’s see what you know. It might help Amanda understand what we have coming,” Cole said.
“Okay, since you know nothing about the Guard, I guess I’ll begin at their creation, which was after Shiphra fled.”
A handful of questions almost left her mouth. Why then? How did it happen? What does Shiphra have to do with all of this? But she decided against it, letting Madgie go on uninterrupted.
“The other Ancients were horrified when they couldn’t find her. They devoted all their time to tracking her, but it’s hard to find someone as crafty as she is on a planet this size. So they rose up the Guard, so she would be forever hunted, always fleeing. They feared she’d rise up an army of her own if given the chance, so they made sure she was never in one spot long enough to do that.” Madgie shifted her weight as if trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. “Back then every male child was trained. I guess tortured would be a better word for it. They were subjected to black magic and shock treatments until the Ancients approved of them. Most of the Guard members have a light so dim it is hard to even tell that they’re Healers, which I guess is the point. Shiphra couldn’t see them coming, or so they thought.”
“That’s terrible.” Amanda gasped. “They did that to twelve-year-old boys? Just to keep Shiphra on her toes! Tortured them until they…”
Cole had been subjected to that, probably during the years she’d deserted the Hovel. I was running around the country feeling sorry for myself while he was being tortured? She felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. Amanda had always felt terribly guilty for those two years of self-pity, but that guilt was nothing compared to what she felt at this moment. She’d abandoned him when he needed her most, the little boy who’d been the first to show her kindness at the Hovel.
Amanda thought back to the day after the Dredging. The new Healers had been ushered into the dining hall. Every child, including her, had taken a seat. The food had stayed untouched, no one wanting to eat so full of fear and uncertainty. Only one child had remained standing, a dark-haired boy. He’d been looking around the room, searching for something, and then his eyes had met hers. She’d never known what he’d seen in her eyes, but he’d made a beeline for the table. The tight curls on his head had bounced up and down as he moved. His hair had been even curlier when he was young.
