Chapter 85: Loner Beast (1)
Yoa stared off at the waterfall in the cave, embracing the sound of Nova’s heart thumping steadily and calming his own, as the sound of hushed thunderous water washed over him. He wondered where he would be right now if not for Atia and Aiyana. That trial had been about accepting who he could become if he let it.
There was light and dark in all of them. It wasn’t the presence of one of the other that mattered, but how they faced the tests, whether shaped by the island or caught in Solkara’s burning threads of fate. Who would rise and who would fall—that was what defined them.
Nova’s breathing evened out as fatigue claimed her. It had been a long day, and the shock of discovering Vulcan had also been a Marked Child, on the same path as him to become Yiska, guardian of the Tayun, wore off, her questions settling.
Yoa didn’t know if Vulcan’s corruption had already begun when he went through their trials or after when he failed. Ayumi hadn’t been born yet. So, his fate had always been proven that he had a higher calling than others—whether that was to be the next guardian or leader of Silver Feather. Until recently.
Raking his fingers through his mostly tamed locks now, Yoa scowled as he tried to shake off the image of the man who had laid claim to what wasn’t his. Nova stirred from the low rumble in his chest, then he calmed his thoughts and stroked her hair back, and she settled into him again. His precious Serakai, how he ached for her the longer he knew about their bond, and refraining from doing anything until they were both physically and mentally able to.
Yoa’s thoughts drifted back to the days of his trials. One dance of the sun and moon had passed between the trial with the mirror beast and the next. He’d not long turned thirteen. In that short time, he’d become more of a loner from the rest of the Oncari, including Atia and Aiyana, who still couldn’t quite fathom what he was going through.
That didn’t stop them from trying though. Every chance they could get away with it, his friends dragged him away from his studies or training so that he could still mess around like the halforms they were. If not for them, then he would probably be just as stern and stoic as his father.
A fond smile curled at his lips from the memories.
"Psst!"
Something hit him, rousing him from sleep.