ROTU: Chapter Ten

"Where you off to this time, Jess?" A heavy-statured airport security officer asked her several hours later. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"I know. I've stayed in the States for some time now," Jalena responded. "Now, I'm off to Japan."

"Visiting relatives again?" he asked.

"More like meeting friends." She smiled. "How are Mary and the kids?"

"Doing well. Thanks for asking."

"And you?"

"A little tired, but I am pushing through."

"Take care of yourself, Don."

"I will. Have a safe flight, Jess."

As she walked through the airport to her gate, Jalena fought the urge to change her ticket to Costa Rica, which, based on Shamira's bank account record, was the last place Lyons said she had gone. He froze her account in hopes that it would make her return, but she remained absent even after, so he released the hold. He reported that he hadn't seen any activity from her since.

Dismissing thoughts of Shamira, Jalena boarded the plane and smiled politely at the woman seated next to her. The woman's small talk ceased after a short time after she became bored with Jalena's lack of conversation.

Jalena rested her head on the back of her seat and stared out the plane window. Each time she flew to the next destination it felt strange, as if she was trying to carve a path where there was no place for one.

What an odd life mine has turned out to be…I have gone from an elite warrior with the task of leading others in gaining their highest potential into a buried world with no one to lead.

Jalena closed her eyes as the cabin lights dimmed and chatter died out. A couple hours passed and as it always did when she allowed herself to drift off to sleep, Gyan's face swam through her thoughts…

It was several nights after Aderes had died. There Gyan had lain, stretched out in a lounge chair in the warriors' common room at the end of their chambers. He had taken to sleeping in the common room to avoid his own room and was tossing around in a restless sleep.

"I'll watch him now," Jalena had told Brogan as she stared down at Gyan.

Brogan, who was sitting nearby on a large sofa nodded and silently stood to return to his own bed. He put a reassuring hand on Jalena's shoulder as he passed.

Jalena pushed another lounger as close to Gyan's as she could and lay there watching him sleep. It wasn't until she placed her hand in his that his breathing steadied, and his body calmed.

The scene in Jalena's dream transformed…

Gyan had slipped in the shower from behind her, his shoulder knocking against her. Her laughter filled the bathroom as she fell against him…he winced through his grin as he slid back into the wall…

Her eyes flew open from where she sat in the plane's cabin, which remained quiet with most passengers still asleep. Her heart raced though her calm appearance masked the turmoil inside.

There was not a night that she could escape him. She knew this was because she wouldn't allow her mind to revisit their shared memories during the day. Yet, she refused to give in to the ache that threatened to consume her ever since she left Elsaria.

She sat up in her chair and stared out the window at the plane's flashing lights along the wing. Some days she wished she had never known him at all despite knowing now that they were a part of the same soul.

Even though he was no longer alive, Gyan still threatened to interfere with her life, as she once believed it would when they were together on Elsaria. His gift—the energy he granted to her before he died—wouldn't allow her to forget him. Even her dreams betrayed her desire, which is the very reason she longed more each day for her battle with Drasúl. The desire for him to end her life grew stronger every day.

She sighed in relief when the plane landed, and she could throw herself into work again. Over the next several weeks, she spent her time in northern Japan studying and practicing her Japanese as she scoured the land for humans possessing heightened energy.

One evening while in her coastal hotel room, she was studying her digital map of Japan, when her senses suddenly heightened. Moments later, the ground shook violently. She went to the balcony in her room and watched the coastline closely as the shaking stopped. After a short time, the people on the streets below settled down again when no additional signs of danger showed.

Later that night, however, Jalena woke to the sound of sirens. Shouts from people on the streets filled the air. Without another thought, Jalena grabbed her suppression amulet and bolted from the room, leaving her things behind. Her eyes widened as cracks appeared along the hotel walls. She continued to race through the building and out to the nearest balcony as the surrounding walls shook harder. She scanned the ground without use of her power as best she could in the dark.

The foundation of the hotel cracked, and the entire building shifted, throwing Jalena forward against the balcony. Her suppression amulet dropped through the air and disappeared into the darkness beneath her.

She hurriedly looked around as she felt the instinctive rise of light energy swell within her. Despite being exposed, the rush of power pleased her. It was like being released from years of prison. Her power heightened even more because of the surrounding danger. Her eyes filled with blue-white light as she teleported from the balcony and onto the branch of a large tree outside the hotel. Just as she reached the tree, the hotel crumbled to the ground in pieces. The tree swayed as debris slammed into it.

Jalena hung onto the branch easily, catching sight of a child and his mother running below her as they attempted to avoid the falling rubble. She instinctively extended her arm and cast a blue shield over them, separating them from the stone.

She jumped from the branch to the ground and sprinted along the street, casting shields and jerking people away from falling debris where needed. Their eyes widened in surprise when they saw the glow in her eyes and light emerge from her palm. However, at the moment she didn't care. It felt good not to hide—to be doing what she was born for.

"Abunai!"

She sensed it just before she heard the man's shout. Jalena turned as a wall of water slammed into her, knocking her directly back into a slab of concrete.

Everything went black.