The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly 1)

I couldn’t help but smirk at his prone form. He wasn’t expecting me to make it that far.

“Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without your last minute directions.”

“Thalia, what are you talking about? I haven’t said a word since you threatened me.” Garit’s brows furrowed in confusion.

Looking around the empty field I felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck, until the sound of a soft nicker drew my attention to Faraway, who sometime during the lesson had come over to the fence and stood watching.

Staring at his intense blue eyes I let a million possibilities fly through my head, until I felt the same familiar touch on my mind.

Finished? Can we get cookies?

“Garit? Did you hear that?” Stopping, I watched as he cocked his head to the side to listen.

“You mean the students arriving for their lessons?”

He was right. I could hear the chatter of the students arriving at the practice ring across the field.

The students were lazy and unambitious in their practices. Most believed that they were invincible and didn’t need any hand to hand skills to disarm a soldier. They came each day because they were ordered to, and no matter how hard Commander Meryl drilled them they didn’t want to put in the effort. Even the youngest Denai among them was able defend themselves with powers and I think the guards were really too scared to press and train them too hard. Because who wanted to be on the wrong side of an angry Denai?

Since I had yet to display any more Denai traits, I preferred to train alone.

“Which reminds me,” Garit yelled over his shoulder. “I need to get over there. Thalia, will you promise to keep practicing? You need to start building up your arm muscles.”

He picked up his extra set of bow and arrows from the grass and slung them over his broad shoulder, giving me a brotherly pat on the head as he passed.

I watched him join the other soldiers in the training of the Denai and I felt a pang of envy.

I saw Joss’ blonde head stand out among the students even from a distance; he was one of the only ones that took the practice seriously and refused to cheat.

Last night I heard the guards grumbling about how they played dirty. Some students used wind to knock sand in their eyes, or trip them during practice, but they didn’t have solid proof. Joss was all work and no play when it came to training. He obviously had previous training in sword fighting.

I watched as he tested the weight of the sword in his hands and adjusted his grip before stepping into the painted circle on the ground with his partner, one of the Captains. He was good and kept pace with the Captain, each taking turns being on the offensive.

Joss never tried anything too dangerous or bold, and instead tried to wait until the other person became too tired. They both were tied one win each and were about to start the third round when a thought flitted into my mind.

Hungry.

The feeling of hunger reached my belly and I quickly jerked my head back to my horse, remembering my earlier concerns. Walking over to Faraway carrying my bow, I set it by the fence as I let my fingers rub Faraway’s muzzle. He nuzzled my shirt sniffing around for a treat.

“Am I going nuts?”

You have nuts? I like nuts. You should bring me some.

“Not if I have to admit myself back into the infirmary for head trauma; because now I am definitely hearing things.”

Of course you’re hearing things. You’re hearing me. Faraway sounded a bit miffed.

It was my horse. I was hearing my horse speak in my mind.

Climbing the wooden fence, I sat on it facing him so I could be eye level. It also put me in a great position to scratch behind his ears which he loved.

“Faraway? How come I can hear you?”

Because I’m your horse, he stated, as if that explained everything. Trying to rephrase my question I asked instead,“But why?”

He looked at me and nudged me in the shoulder. Because I’m yours. Your mind is open to me, we can share thoughts and feelings.

“I don’t understand?” I was new to the whole world of sharing thoughts and speaking mind to mind. Not many Denai could.

Some could speak mind to mind, some could share feelings, while others could take over your whole mind and force control of a person’s body. The thought of anyone having that much power gave me goose bumps.

I’m a guardian. You called me and I answered the call. Faraway looked into my eyes and all of a sudden pictures, thoughts and feelings flashed in my head of the night of the attack.

I saw it all from Faraway’s viewpoint from the stall. I looked so small in Faraway’s mind and he thought of me as the small one who brought good cookies. I could see myself walking away in the dark of the stable as Crow moved out of the shadows. Looking at the attack from this angle made me want to scream at myself to watch out. Faraway’s body stiffened as the attacker lunged for the attack, but he was frozen, unable to act. I could feel his desire to attack and his body quivered with excitement and nervousness. But there was a moment of hesitation, as if he was waiting for a signal or command. I heard my own voice pierce the darkness into his mind. HELP!

Yes! His body hummed with an instant possessiveness, my call was what he was waiting for. I could feel the adrenaline rush into his body as he kicked the stall door open. The anger he felt at seeing the blood run from my neck was directed toward the man behind me. I could feel his rage. I felt sick to my stomach as Faraway rose onto his hind quarters to attack the back of Crow’s skull with his front hooves.

“Stop! No more, please, I don’t want to see the rest,” I pleaded.

The images faded from my mind and I placed a shaking hand over my heart to try and calm the feelings of adrenaline and power that vibrated through my body. Feelings, I knew, that belonged to Faraway and not to me.

That is my duty as a guardian to answer the call. You called me, I’m yours.

He tended to speak in very clipped tones and there was a haughty undertone to the way he spoke.

So we could share thoughts, feelings, emotions and even memories. But it still didn’t answer the question of how was I able to call a guardian. I never heard of anyone else at the Citadel ever speak of Guardians and I wasn’t Denai. I was unnatural.

You are wrong. You are perfect.

“No, I’m not. I’m twisted, it’s because the Septori used immoral experiments and in a fluke stole another’s power. What I can do is not natural. You don’t understand what has happened to me.”

I had been picking at splinters on the fence and one pricked my finger. Letting the blood well into a drop, I held up my finger to Faraway.

“Can you tell me what blood I have in my veins? I can imitate the Denai but that’s it. I’m a fraud, a fake.”

I let Faraway see some of my memories of what happened to me.

“You see, I don’t deserve you. I’m not whole, I’m not pure.” All the pain I had been trying to hold back over the last couple of days flowed from my body.

Nonsense, if you weren’t a pure person, you wouldn’t have been able to summon me.

“But I have no other abilities. I can’t control the weather, light a fire, move earth, nothing!”

Hhhmmphh, overrated, he snorted. You’re the only one in a thousand years that has been able to summon a guardian.

“What?” The idea seemed preposterous to me.