Chapter 9
Time slowly ticked by as Gabriel and Sabiha waited for the right moment to escape Callisto. There was barely a word spoken between them and Pontus had done nothing but breath.
While Sabiha spent most of her time fussing over Pontus, Gabriel tried to come up with a plan to escape. He considered revealing Sabiha to whoever was out there but there was no guarantee that they would help him get home, he had to rely on Sabiha and not even that was guaranteed either.
After what felt like days of waiting, Gabriel couldn’t handle sitting around anymore and needed to see what they were up against. The fact that there were unknown variables in his escape plan, didn’t sit well with him, he had to at least see who was out there.
Grabbing the staff, he stood and made a small hole in the rock and pressed his face to the cold, solid surface. He was surprised to see two men, not much different to him, standing near where he knew the entrance to the prison was.
Both men had light brown hair and stood not much taller than Gabriel, however, they were both larger than Gabriel when it came to muscles. They both looked like they could crush Gabriel with their little fingers and that didn’t sit well with Gabriel, especially since he had no idea what he could do.
Gabriel knew he needed time and space to figure out what exactly Sabiha had done to him. He felt stronger and his body had quickly healed his sore muscles but he still didn’t know if he stood a chance against even one of the men outside.
With a heavy sigh, he watched the men outside occasionally pace and look around but they both looked like they had better places to be. Gabriel knew how that felt, he could think of a hundred other places he could be and none of them involved Callisto or Sabiha.
It wasn't until a golden haired man dropped down from the star filled sky that both men straightened. The man looked annoyed to hear that no one had found Pontus but even with a frown on his face, the man still looked beautiful. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and his skin sparkled of gold in the dim light. He was essential the perfect male specimen, with every inch of his tall frame created to serve a purpose and the elegance in the way he held himself, suggested that he excepted nothing but perfection in his life.
As the three of them disappeared from Gabriel's sight, Gabriel listened closely. The golden haired man was speaking to the other two men about Pontus’ disappearance, his voice like silk. As he ordered the two men to start searching every inch of the prison, Gabriel could hear something in his voice but he couldn’t decipher what it was but figured it was just annoyance.
Hope suddenly filled Gabriel's heart as he watched the golden haired man appeared again. He then watched as the golden haired man quickly looked around before he disappeared back into the stars he had come from.
“Let's go” Gabriel said, as he made a hole in the top of their cocoon.
“They will find us” Sabiha gasped, as Gabriel pushed her out of the way and watched him pick up Pontus.
“There's always going to be that risk” Gabriel groaned, positioning Pontus and the staff, both now seemingly lighter. “Now grab onto my back.”
While Pontus did not feel as heavy this time, the fact that Gabriel was holding both him and the staff made it awkward. Once he had straightened, he watched as Sabiha tentatively walked around him and wrap her arms him, making him feel even more awkward. He hated how her touch played with his senses and how her scent pulled his focus from his task. He wanted nothing more than to see her gone from his life forever and cursed the day he heard her beautiful voice.
The moment Sabiha secured her grip on Gabriel, he crouched down and mustered all the strength he could before pushing all three of them off the ground. With his heightened strength, Gabriel was able jump high enough off the ground to eliminate the pull of gravity, which gave Sabiha exactly what she needed to get them back to Kaiden.
They travelled quickly through the night sky but threat of being caught made the trip seem much longer. Gabriel even tried to help by creating a wind trail behind them but there wasn't much to draw from and he had to stop since it was doing more harm than good.
“This is going to hurt” Sabiha warned once the mountains Gabriel had explored not so long ago came into view. “Brace yourself.”
The closer they got to the mountains the faster they went and the hotter their bodies became. While Sabiha tried to slow them down, there was little she could do. She wasn't strong enough to do much and decided to concentrate on protecting them from the heat and aimed for the ocean.
Just before they smashed into the ocean, Gabriel gripped onto the staff and Pontus as tightly as he could. He knew Sabiha would be okay, she was conscious and could pull herself out of trouble but Pontus wasn’t and he wasn’t sure how the impact would affect him.
As they made contact with the ocean, the water immediately started to steam around them, evaporating the majority of the water. It wasn’t until there was enough water surrounding them that the heat from their bodies no longer effected the water and their bodies just sank.
The weight of their combined bodies and the speed they were going caused them to sink deep enough that the sunlight could no longer reach them. Even though the water around them squeezed on their lungs and made their heads feel like they were going to explode, they were able to somehow remain conscious.
Once they stopped sinking, Gabriel started using the staff to create a fast moving stream of water, to propel them up. As he worked on getting them to the surface, he noticed some movement in the arm he was holding Pontus in and tightened his grip before looking down. Even though it was pitch black, Gabriel was somehow able to see everything around them and looked to Pontus to see him staring back at him.
Pontus studied Gabriel's face for a moment before he pulled himself from Gabriel's grip and turned to see Sabiha clinging to his back. Pontus then looked up and grabbed Gabriel's arm before he started swimming toward the surface with such speed that it took them less than a minute to reach the top.
After they filled their lungs with much needed air, Sabiha quickly jumped around Gabriel to look into Pontus’ sea blue eyes. Relief and tears of joy filled her eyes as she looked him over but she didn’t touch him, she was afraid he would reject her and wasn’t sure she could handle it.
“Sabiha?” Pontus breathed, looking at her questioningly. “Why did you come for me, you know he will kill you for this.”
“I found somewhere for us to hide” Sabiha squeaked out, sounding more nervous than she intended to. “I thought you would be happy?”
“I am happy but we can’t run forever” Pontus told her, causing her tears of joy to turn to tears of pain. “You were suppose to marry another.”
“No, they just wanted another concubine and I couldn’t do it” Sabiha cried, focusing solely on Pontus and ignoring Gabriel’s presence. “They trapped me in the mountain when I refused.”
“And who is this?” Pontus questioned, pointing at Gabriel.
“Gabriel” Sabiha answered, wishing Pontus would wrap her up in his arms and tell her how much he loved her. “He helped free both of us.”
“Which way to shore?” Gabriel groaned, looking at Sabiha with animosity in his eyes.
“Why did you help her?” Pontus asked, sure Gabriel's intentions were not pure.
“She was trapped, wouldn’t you help someone trapped or would you have left her there?” Gabriel questioned, annoyed to be talking about anything except getting back to shore. “She then told us about you and I thought that you must be the luckiest man alive to have a woman that loves you so much that she would do anything to be with you, and I thought that was a worthy cause.”
“Then I am grateful for your help and am indebted to you” Pontus said, with a friendly smile. “Now let's get to shore.”
Returning Pontus’ smile, Gabriel quickly looked him over and sighed. Now that Pontus was awake, he could see why Sabiha wanted to save him, any woman would probably do anything to be near him. He was more than just handsome, he was in a cl
ass of his own and Gabriel couldn’t help but feel the pang of jealousy in his heart.
With the wave of Pontus’ hand, the water started to rise up around them in such away that it was as if the water was hugging them. To Gabriel's surprise, they were then carried across the ocean at a speed the Gabriel knew he couldn't match. It was both exhilarating and frightening at the same time and Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should shut his eyes or watch. He was concerned they weren’t going to make it but his concern was for nothing, he had his immortal to protect him but that was still untested.
It wasn’t long before they were gently dropped on the beach and Gabriel thanked the gods he was back on familiar ground. He even took a deep breath and looked around just to make sure he was indeed back.
“Well I hope it all works out for you both” Gabriel said, as he started to walk toward the tree line but as he was about to disappear a flash of light across the sky and caught both his attention and curiosity.
Gabriel turned to see the golden haired man that he had seen on Callisto, standing on the beach beside Pontus and sighed. His heart dropped, it was as though everything that he had done was for nothing and dropped his head before turning to head into the trees. He was done with Sabiha and all the trouble she had caused him, all he wanted was run from her and never see her pretty face again.
“Stop” a voice boomed with so much authority that Gabriel felt compelled to pause and turn around. “Come and join us Gabriel.”
Everything inside Gabriel screamed for him to run but he knew he wouldn’t get far and decided it was best to see what the golden haired man wanted, especially when he somehow knew his name. This fact made him question what else the man knew and what was going to now happen to him.
As Gabriel slowly made his way back down the beach, trying to enjoy the feel of the sun on his skin and the air in his lungs but his heart pounded wildly and his mind started to numb. Fear clouded his judgment and he couldn’t even begin to come up with a plan of escape, all he could do was walk to his apparent doom.
“Did you help this woman free my son?” the golden haired man asked, gesturing toward Sabiha, as Gabriel tried to swallow the lump that now sat in his throat.
“Yes” Gabriel answered, barely able to get that one word out.
“Why?” he questioned, not giving a single emotion away. His eyes appeared to be empty, yet full at the same time and because Gabriel couldn't read them, he feared them.
“She told me a compelling story” Gabriel said, looking over at Pontus who was now holding Sabiha’s arm as if to stop her from running. There was no love or affection in anything Pontus did, making Gabriel question what was going on.
As Gabriel looked Pontus over, he noticed how similar he looked to the powerful looking man beside him, making believe that Pontus was this man’s son. They both shared the same ocean blue eyes and golden hair that shone in the sunlight. The most noticeable difference was their size, Pontus was smaller than his father but almost everything else was the same.
“Step closer” the man ordered and with out a word Gabriel complied, allowing the man to reach out and place his hand on Gabriel's forehead before a warm energy was sent into his body. “I see, you speak the truth but I also see the trouble she has cause you.”
Stumbling backwards, Gabriel looked at the man with wide eyes and was sure he was going to start feeling pain burst through his body at any moment but nothing happened. His experience with Sabiha had made him wary of such things and he didn’t trust anyone with such abilities.
Once he realized that there was no pain coming, Gabriel looked over to Sabiha and narrowed his eyes at her. Everything that had happened to him recently was because of her and he hated her for it.
While Gabriel tried to compose himself, the golden haired man signalled for Pontus to stand Sabiha in front of him. He obviously had some business to take care of and the fear in Sabiha’s eyes suggested she was not going to like what was going to happen next.
As Pontus moved Sabiha around to stand in front of his father, Gabriel watched as he turned his bare back to him and noticed the symbol for water glowing a light blue just above his wet, left shoulder blade. It was beautiful but Gabriel had never seen anything like it, men in his village received tattoos for various reasons but none of them looked like Pontus’.
Sighing, Pontus stepped away from Sabiha to reveal her hands bound in a glimmering rope and tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked defeated, not only was she probably going to loose her life but she was heart broken, which in her mind hurt the most. She couldn’t believe Pontus had betrayed her and questioned what she had done to wrong him.
“I know I have no right to ask anything of you but I beg you not to put Pontus back in prison, non of this is his fault” Gabriel said meekly, scolding himself for feeling the need to defend Pontus, especially when he barely knew the man.
“My son will not be returning to the prison you found him” the golden haired man said, with a gentle smile. “You have a good heart, I just hope time does not taint it.”
"And what will happen to me now?” Gabriel asked, afraid of the answer.
“You’re free to join your brother” he answered, surprising Gabriel.
“Thank you” Gabriel said before he turned around and headed up the beach. He wasn’t going to hang around with the chance that the golden haired man might change his mind.
The moment Gabriel knew he was out of sight, he stopped and leaned against a tree. His entire body was shaking and his mind was swimming with thoughts of how close he came to dying, several times.
As he stood there, he vowed to find somewhere quiet and avoid all contact with other people until he was sure he could handle it again. He knew he still had to face the people of his village and while he wasn’t looking forward to it, he also knew that once the information was given, he was free to live his own life and was looking for to it.
Once Gabriel had composed himself enough, he started jogging toward the mountains but as he started picking up the pace, he began going so fast that he couldn’t control himself and ended up crashing into a tree. He obviously didn’t know his own strength and had no idea how to control himself, this was something he needed to work on before he hurt someone.
Upon impact, the tree smashed into pieces, sending debris across the forest floor, like tiny little daggers, each hitting a different target. The impact did noting to stop Gabriel and he continued to uncontrollably slide along the ground, hitting several trees as he went until he finally stopped at the base of a large tree.
Groaning, Gabriel looked down at his body and noticed his leg was broken and cuts covered his body. Pain pushed through his body so fast that he couldn’t keep up with it and ended up howling in pain.
As he tried to gain control over his breathing, he looked himself over and as he looked, he noticed the cuts were quickly healing themselves. His eyes widened at the sight and as he tried to make sense of it he started to feel a tingle in his broken leg. Staring at his leg, he knew it was trying to heal itself as well but it wasn’t straight and he knew he had to straighten it, he just didn’t like what he had to do to accomplish that.
Bunching his shirt in his mouth, he bit down on the material and carefully placed his hands on either side of the break. He then squeezed his eyes shut before pushing his bone back together, causing him to howl in pain again before he dropped down onto his back.
Cursing to himself, he looked up at the sky and wondered if Sabiha knew he would find himself in such a position. He knew he had a lot to learn and with time, his life would improve but in that moment all he wanted to do was hate Sabiha and everything she had put him through. It seemed easier to hate and the fact that it took his mind from the pain he was feeling, made it that much easier.
Once the tingling in his leg stopped and all the cuts on his body were healed, Gabriel tentatively pushed himself up and tested his leg. Even after taking a few steps, he still couldn’t believe his broken leg had healed so quickly. H
e should have been a dead man with such a wound but his body had quickly taken care of itself and now all he had to do was find the staff and Kaiden.
Gabriel found the staff about a kilometre from where he had originally hit the tree, it was shining under a berry bush as if it were telling him where it was. Knowing he hadn’t eaten for a while, he filled his pockets with berries and picked up the staff before he started jogging again.
This time he tried to think about what he was doing and slowly built his speed. He then worked on using his other senses to help him navigate his way through the forest and before long he was running through the forest at such a pace that he found himself running through the mountains within minutes.
As he made his way through the valley in the mountains, he could hear and smell the animals in the area, making him wonder what his limitations were. He knew where to hunt for food and what he needed to do to make a clean kill, he could feed the village for years without much effort but that wasn’t something he wanted. He wanted to be free to go wherever his heart took him and that wasn't going to be possible if he stayed with his village.
Knowing that Kaiden would be worried, Gabriel decided to quickly find a peace offering. He then quickly made his way to their camp sight to find Kaiden by the river, filling his water bladder.
“Kaiden” Gabriel called out, as he dropped the staff and food he had found.
“Gabriel?” Kaiden breathed, looking up surprised to see his brother. “Where have you been?”
“Freeing Sabiha's lover, Pontus” Gabriel answered, as he wrapped his arms around his brother.
“You’ve been gone for weeks” Kaiden told him, the pain in his heart evident in his eyes. “I thought you were dead.”
“What, weeks?” Gabriel gasped in disbelief, as he stood back to look into Kaiden’s eyes. “Have you been here the entire time?”
“Gabriel I’m sorry, I couldn’t face the village alone and I couldn’t leave without knowing for sure you were dead” Kaiden admitted, still gripping onto his brothers arms. “You’re my brother, I couldn’t leave without you.”
“I love you too Kaiden” Gabriel said, as he pulled his brother in for another bear hug. “I have so much to tell you.”
As they pulled away from each other, they smiled and grabbed their things before heading back to their camp. They then prepared their meal and by the time they started eating, the sun was going down and Gabriel had told Kaiden everything that had happened.
By the time they made themselves comfortable for the night, they had come up with a plan to work on exploring Gabriel's new abilities while he hunted. In doing so, they would also gather enough food for the village to survive the winter, giving them time to decide what they were going to do for the next winter.
It was also decided that neither of them should ever speak a word of what had happened and Gabriel's gifts to anyone. They both feared the repercussions of what would happen if anyone else found out and knew nothing good could ever come of it.