Myra had seen my moms being beaten by my dads. One in the present and the one in the past. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I kept that part of my life separate from...everything else. I wasn’t ashamed of my mom, hell I was proud of her for arguing back with my dad...but the bastard was beating her again! I thought he’d stopped. He was going to therapy and he had stopped beating me. I’d rather he beat me than Mom. She was fragile and I...was not. Possibly because I wasn’t really human, to begin with. I was Kin, but I could hold a beating better than my mom could.

  It was the same in the past. My mom protected me from my dad but who protected her from him? I remember there being a young man who was always around my mom helping her. He looked a lot like Dad but with less malice. Could I have an uncle? I remember him taking me to hunt and fish. I spent most days with him. I wondered what happened to him. If he was still alive? I wondered and worried til I fell asleep.

  The next day we had a big breakfast and were loaded with different pairs of silks with our supplies. I had to wear that stupid robe. Yes, robe. It was silver and engraved with strange runes. I looked like some patsy out of a historical grecian novel or a rich guy from the movie Gladiator. Take your pick. It was uncomfortable and felt like a damn dress! I looked ridiculous. All I needed was a loreal crown and I’d be Caeser! I watched Myra disappear into her room only to come back in the most stereotypical thing I’d ever seen.

  I scoffed. “I’m guessing female slaves are valued by their outer beauty then.”

  “You would be correct. The king picks the loveliest to warm his bed,” said the oracle.

  “Thank god I’m not lovely,” Myra muttered.

  I stared. Did she even take a look at herself in that dress? It was going to be a major distraction for me on our journey! All she had to do was let down her hair and she’d be a knockout. I was going to have to protect her when we got to civilization. It seemed the Kin had a very low understanding of just what a woman was capable of here. I wondered if women were even allowed an education. I slipped the silks on like freaking banners and sighed.

  “These robes itch,” I muttered scratching at the collar.

  “They are the robes of a high noble. They will get you in to see my sister although she may already know who you are,” said the oracle.

  I nodded and turned to Myra. “Ready to go?” I asked.

  She nodded and hugged the oracle who hugged back. “Thank you for everything,” she said.

  “Your journey is a long one, be safe,” the oracle said and I couldn’t help but read between the lines. Was this going to be dangerous? I glanced at the oracle and she nodded. I sighed. Yeah, it was going to be a dangerous mission as I thought. Nothing was ever easy with oracles or witches or magic people as a whole. Didn’t fairy tales show us that? Walt Disney is very explicit in this! Myra smiled at me and began to walk in front of me. Her legs were distracting me so I hurried to catch up. Yeah, that dress would be causing me problems. As we left I heard a conversation that made me suspicious.

  “Did you send them to Aithne?” A baritone asked.

  “I have, my lord. They have started their journey. Will you be watching over them?” replied the oracle.

  “I will. They are important to my plans, Noali.”

  “I will pray for them then”

  At least I had the oracle’s name at last! Were names power here or something? We never gave ours either. Strange culture. I told Myra what I heard and she shrugged.

  “It doesn’t mean that she’s against us…”

  “But she is working with a higher power. All I’m saying is we need to watch our step,” I said as Myra nodded.

  “Agreed,” she said smiling.

  On the third day of traveling, I felt something shift within me and I fell to my knees grasping my chest.

  “Jonah!” Myra screamed as she rushed towards my fallen me. I stopped breathing for a few minutes and I swear I died. When I came to, I was under a big tree with a rag over my head. I sat up and quickly regretted it.

  “Easy there. You fainted,” Myra said.

  Everything was too bright. Everything glowed a filmy silver. Myra had the biggest silver film. It was glowing a deep gold deep down then it lanced into different colors like the rainbow. Blue, brown, green, red, Violet, ice blue, black, yellow, orange, and silver. It was beautiful. Only the blue, brown, red, silver, gold, and black striations glowed and pulsed. I glanced at the tree and watched the large filmy thing glow a sapphire blue for a minute. Slowly the world burst into color around me and I was amazed.

  “What the hell is this?” I muttered wiping my eyes. Nope still there.

  “What– what Jonah?” Myra asked as she helped me up.

  “I can see things, Myra. Filmy things everywhere I look! And color. I’m blinded by a literal rainbow here!”

  “That’s not all that’s changed. Open your eyes.”

  Huh? I was seeing everything with my eyes closed? I opened my eyes and she gasped.

  “Well, they match now. And are a kaleidoscope of colors. Congratulations on having rainbow eyes,” she said smirking.

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  “Nice. They go well with patsy robes don’t you think,” I muttered and she slapped my shoulder.

  “This isn’t funny Jonah! You literally died for a minute! I didn’t…”

  I glanced at her and noticed the tear tracks down her pale cheeks. Did losing me scare her that much? What was I supposed to do in this situation? I opened my arms awkwardly and she crashed into me hugging me with a lot of vigor. I closed my arms around her and leaned in rubbing her back.

  “It’s ok Myra. I’m not going anywhere,” I muttered and closed my eyes. I could still see the filmy thing with colors. What was that? I wish I had someone tell me about what I was going through! Myra nodded and let me go.

  “We lost a few hours of travel time. It’s closer to dinner time. We can have leftovers or you can hunt and figure your new skill out,” she said. I chose to hunt and went into the underbrush. I closed my eyes and followed my new sense. I followed two filmy things that were a deep brown and were moving slowly.

  I opened my eyes to find two squirrel things. One looked at me and I stared determined at it. Suddenly the filmy thing wisped out of it and dispersed. I watched it drop dead in shock. The other creature froze in its place once it caught my eyes and once again I saw the filmy thing leave it and disperse.

  The creature died and I was scared. Did my eyes work like those pterodactyls? That meant that the filmy things were souls and I was a soul sucker now. What if I accidentally did that to Myra? I squatted in the underbrush for an hour before scooping my kills and making my way back to camp. Could I do that to a human? I didn’t want to put Myra at risk. Not after everything we had been through. I would not be a killer! I had been Myra’s bully, something I told myself would change as soon as we got to Earth.

  The oracle had made me see how close I was to becoming my dads. I was a self-fulfilling prophecy. I didn’t want to be, so the bullying had to end. I would miss it, but I didn’t want to turn into them. I averted my eyes when I reached camp. I didn’t meet Myra’s eyes in case something happened. I sat as far away from her as possible and contemplated my eyes. Could I take big things? Or was it just small animals for now? Could I…

  “Jonah? The food is done. Did you find out what your skill meant?” Myra asked as she gave me a skewered squirrel.

  “Yeah. don’t look me in the eyes, Myra. I’m a soul sucker now,” I said biting into the squirrel thing.

  She sighed and nodded taking a bite of her own meat. “I guess that’s understandable, but I’m not afraid of you,” she muttered glancing at me and smirking.

  I sighed and put my food down. “I literally destroyed two souls today, Myra. You’re eating one of those victims,” I said throwing my empty skewer stick into the fire. Didn’t she understand that I could irreparably harm her?

  “Did you want them dead?”

  “Well, yeah but…”

  “Look at me. Do you want me dead?”

  “ No, but…”

  “Go on…”

  “I can’t control it yet!” I yelled. “Don’t look me in the eyes, ok?” I said, glancing at her and back at the ground.

  “Fair enough, let's go to sleep then,” she said dousing the fire and entering our tent. Had I angered her? I probably did. I sighed and headed inside the tent. I walked over to my blankets and crawled inside them giving her my back.

  “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to hurt you,” I muttered.

  I felt her hand pat my back. “I know, sleep. We need it,” she said.

  I closed my eyes and was comforted by her soul’s vibrancy. How could I ever have thought to hurt someone like her? Was I really that bad? I had been turning into my dads, never seeing the beauty in things anymore, just the bad. This new sense had opened my eyes and Myra had opened them wider.

  The next morning I awoke to a small whimpering and I sighed wrapping my arms around Myra who cuddled into my side. She relaxed and slowly opened her eyes. I looked away blushing. She looked so...cute like that. Like an innocent bunny or puppy or something. It was cute.

  “What? What time is it?” she yawned not taking in our close contact.

  I looked at my watch. “ Five thirty. We still have some time before we have to rise,” I said yawning. She closed her eyes and nodded off. I followed. An hour later her watch alarm woke me and I glared at it wishing it had a soul I could smoother. I looked away as Myra stirred and this time she noticed our proximity and quickly remedied that. I sighed and got up having my heat source taken away and we got up and ate breakfast. I didn’t look at her once which bothered me...a lot. I was used to glancing at her in the eyes while talking to her. I felt cowardly. It was not a good feeling! Was this what I made her feel all those times I ganged up on her? Man! What an awful feeling! We walked further into the forest coming upon a small hill. I stopped. I sensed at least ten souls with red striations in them. They were as big as Myra.

  “Hey, wait a minute My. I sense people behind this hill,” I whispered.

  She stopped in her tracks and turned to me in shock, I didn’t know if it was because of my warning or if it was because I had called her My. She shook herself and nodded.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “Well, we can play the high lord and slave or we can fight. Depends on who these guys are,” I said.

  “What do their souls look like?” she asked.

  “Filmy with red striations along it. There are ten of them,” I replied.

  “Do you see striations in everything?”

  “Yeah, some are just blocks of colors, others are rainbows like you, and others are striations,” I said.

  “They’re fire brigade. They gotta be,” she muttered.

  “So we fight?” I asked grinning. I was itching for a fight.

  “We face them and see. Maybe they won’t recognize us?”

  “Ok, but maybe you should change shoes,” I suggested, grinning and she scowled.

  “Let’s kick some fiery butt,” she muttered stomping off. I chuckled. She really hated high heels. We walked from behind the small hill to face ten fire brigade soldiers as Myra guessed. The men and one woman were dressed much like warriors of long ago except instead of skirts they wore pants, leather pants. How they moved with such grace in those was a mystery. I’ve tried leather pants on and they aren’t the best for movement and they chaffed, badly. The woman not so much but the males I winced thinking about it. Myra caught my expression and chuckled nodding her head. She was thinking the same, huh?

  The soldiers gaped at the newcomers and then looked at our footwear. Our footwear damned us just like Myra said. Oh well, I was itching for a fight anyway. They spewed fire at us and Myra doused their flames smirking. Shrugging, they ran at us. I caught one in my stare and he was down. I ran at another and shot wind blades that were augmented with fire. I smirked as the soldier was burned by his own fire. I watched as Myra doused a firewall from the female and ducked under a spear. I glared at the soldier who had attacked her and headed over, dodging my own spear.

  “Hey!” I cried catching the eyes of a soldier. I smirked and concentrated on the soul. The filmy striation flew from out of him and into me. I burped. Wait. I just ate a soul? Neat! Suddenly I felt a bubbling feeling within me and coughed. I held my chest. My heart felt as if it would beat right out of my chest.

  “Jonah!” I heard Myra cry as I collapsed. A soldier headed for me but I saw Myra lunge a gust of wind at him. She ran towards me. I was too busy staring cross-eyed at a spear that was in front of me. I glared at the man and he made a bad decision to glare back. He dropped dead and I breathed easy as Myra reached me. The golden color in her soul encompassed it completely and I felt the same feeling I did when she healed my burn. I felt the soul within me settle and finally dissipate. I sighed and grabbed her, hugging her for once.

  “We have to find a way to stop your transformation, or at least your soul-sucking,” she muttered.

  I agreed tightening my arms around her.