Cettia's Dawn Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  CETTIA'S DAWN

  First edition. June 15, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 Emily Wilson and Celia Oliva.

  ISBN: 978-1955054065

  Written by Emily Wilson and Celia Oliva.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  1 The Dream

  2 The Line

  3 The Drum

  4 The Guilty

  5 The Plan

  6 The Trap

  7 The Void

  8 The Damage

  9 The Aftermath

  10 The Mountain

  11 The Council

  12 The Mission

  13 The Failure

  14 The Throne

  15 The Choice

  16 The Brother

  17 The Oath

  18 The Farewell

  19 The Calm

  GLOSSARY

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  1 The Dream

  “Push. Breathe, K. I can see the head.” Melior stands near her legs with his hands clasped behind his back. Her screaming has his teeth on edge despite the Sana’s calming touch, and based on the crowning head, this may be her largest baby yet. “Don’t stop, it’s right—” K screams as the head exits her body followed quickly by broad shoulders, and the rest of him slides out with ease as she slumps against the bed. “It’s a boy. A very big boy.”

  K begins to cry, but the baby doesn’t. His skin is turning blue as the Sana turns him over and places a firm slap to his backside, and only then does he make his first noises.

  Relief floods through Melior. He's happy the baby is alive and that all those extra steps he took to ensure it was a male have worked yet again. “Good job, K. He looks healthy.”

  The Sana hands 8.0 over to Melior after wrapping him in a towel. The baby is still screaming with his hands in tight fists as he jerks and kicks his long legs out of the towel. “I think he’s hungry, K.” He holds the baby out to its mother — even if he knows the response she will have.

  “Get it away from me!” K barks, her eyes full of rage as she glares at the wailing child.

  “How many times have we been through this? He is large, a wet nurse won’t have what he needs, not yet. He needs you.” He can see she won’t change her mind, and as much as he has the power to force her, he doesn’t want to put 8.0 at risk. He’s the largest baby to ever be born at Deadrun; he’d like to see what else is special about him.

  The Venandi won’t be able to start tests until he's two years old, but in the meantime, he hopes 8.0 isn’t like so many of his siblings and shows his powers early on. Melior feels there is something special about this baby; he just doesn’t know what yet.

  If only he would stop screaming. “Talitha, take him. Get him to stop crying so I can examine him.”

  The Sana doesn’t hesitate as she holds out her arms and exits the room. The wailing baby’s screams echo throughout the halls, and it isn’t until he can finally hear himself think again that he turns toward K and frowns. “What kind of mother are you? He came from your womb.”

  “I am not his mother, nor the other seven’s. You did this to me. He isn’t natural; he isn’t mine. I want nothing to do with them.” She lays her head back and tears well in her eyes, proving to him that regardless of her cold shoulder, she feels for him. “Kill me... please! I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

  It’s almost enough to make him want to take pity on her, but she is the only human to ever survive this long. The only human to give him seven healthy babies — eight if he counts 1.0. He isn’t done with her yet. “In due time, K. Once we figure out why that child is crying, the Sana will be in to clean you and take you back to your room. Cooperate, K... we don’t want to restrain you again. We're supposed to be past that, yes?”

  K deflates. She obviously doesn't want to be treated like a prisoner again, but she nods all the same and pulls the rough sheet up to cover her lap. Recognizing that he won't get anything else out of the woman today, Melior leaves her be — he has more pressing matters to attend to.

  As he walks down the hall toward the courtyard, he can hear the baby's cries reverberating off the cafe’s walls and rushes over to make sure he’s okay. He refuses to accept another failed child, and if he is a fluke, K might just get her wish. “What is happening!”

  Talitha looks flustered as she holds a bottle to his mouth, trying to get him to suck. “He needs a wet nurse; he won’t take the artificial nipple.”

  “Of course he won’t, he’s at least twelve pounds. He needs real sustenance. Is L still lactating?” Melior asks, remembering she passed last month the second the question leaves his lips. “Stone it. Well, we’ll have to restrain K and let the child take it. He is more important than her moral stance.” He takes 8.0 from her arms and nods at Belua standing in the doorway. “Help me restrain K. I have a feeling she will fight this time.” As always, his faithful crony bows his head without hesitation and follows him to the room.

  ONCE 8.0 FINALLY STOPS crying, everyone on staff looks depleted. He’d cried for hours, drinking his fill from his mother over and over until he finally fell asleep on her chest. K refuses to look at him for longer than necessary, and she begs for someone to move him the second he closes his eyes. “Please... take him. I have nothing left.”

  This time, everyone hesitates. No one wants to wake the hairless banshee and deal with his screeching again, but K crying under him doesn’t help in the slightest. 8.0 begins to squirm and whimper, and only then does Melior grab him off and hand him to Talitha. They all still again as the infant falls back to sleep and they breathe a collective sigh of relief.

  “You will feed him again when he wakes. You will feed him until we manage to get the bottle to work. Do you understand?” K purses her lips and turns away without an argument, but Melior doesn’t trust her not to harm herself. “Keep her restrained... and Belua... stay with her. Make sure she eats and stays hydrated. Our newest member needs her for now.” Belua stands guard with a nod and Melior goes to get some rest of his own.

  It continues this way for days on end. He still hasn’t seen the baby’s irises because even when he's awake, he’s screaming so fiercely that his eyes are tightly shut. It’s infuriating, and after a week, Melior lays him down on a bed and studies him. The crying is unbearable for everyone involved, and not for the first time, Melior considers tossing him into the Aswel Sea.

  Suddenly, 8.0 stops crying and Melior tentatively moves closer. He doesn't want to break whatever spell the little nuisance is under by making too much noise or any sudden movements, so he's careful about it as he sits next to him and gazes into his eyes for the first time — his very golden eyes. “Sweet Cettia in the sky!” Melior jumps up from the bed and gets a closer look. “A Cogitare!”

  The elation and surprise he feels have him nearly yelling in celebration. Thoughts flash across his mind as he thinks of all the things he can accomplish if he can groom this Cogitare the correct way, and as his mind reels, the baby begins to fuss again. “No, no... we were making progress. Shhh... be a good lad.”

  He scoops up the baby and clears his mind to focus only on him, and when 8.0 settles once more, he finally realizes the problem. “It’s the noise, isn’t it? All the busy rooms, a million thoughts screaming in your tiny head.” Melior almost laughs at how clueless he’s been, and now that 8.0 is calm, he can see just how intelligent the Cogitare seems to be. 8.0 reaches out a hand and touches the scar down Melior's cheek as he gazes into his endlessly black eyes. There’s a level of comprehension on his face that nearly makes Melior forget the small Praediti is only a week old.

  They
keep 8.0 separate from then on out. Only one person goes in at a time to feed him, and he’s taking a bottle without assistance and watching whoever is feeding him with wide eyes by the time he’s a month old. The green ring that appeared around his pupils is unlike anything Melior’s ever seen — unlike anything anyone has ever seen — but Melior hopes it’s a sign they've finally achieved their goal instead of a weakness in the child’s Cogitare powers.

  8.0 rarely cries now that his little mind is quieter, and it isn’t until he knocks his head with the bottle and the unforgiving glass busts his eyebrow open that he starts again. When the bleeding ceases, Melior lays him down for a nap and sighs at the new mark on the baby’s face before taking his leave.

  When he returns hours later, he drops the bottle he has in his hand and ignores the shatter of glass as he stares at the child in awe. His eyebrow is completely healed. After calling for another bottle, he begins to sing loudly in his head, and the distress it causes Kato brings Melior an almost unhealthy level of joy. “You’re a Cogitare. You have to be. But how... how have you healed?”

  Confused, Melior grabs a piece of the broken glass and brings it to 8.0’s arm, sliding it down just enough to break the skin. All he releases is a pained whimper as he pulls his arm away, but Melior has to see... has to see if he heals again.

  He watches the wound with a mounting level of disappointment. A true Sana would've healed already, and while the bleeding has slowed, the skin is still visibly affected. He's about to call in Talitha to see if she somehow snuck in earlier and healed the child herself when right before his eyes, the split skin begins to mend.

  Speechless, Melior lowers the glass shard to do one more test, but something stops him from getting any closer when his hand is just inches away from 8.0’s arm. The small Cogitare is staring into Melior’s eyes again, only this time, he has frozen the Venandi’s leader in place. He remains completely unable to operate his own body until he decides he’s seen enough for one day, and 8.0 finally relinquishes control after making him step back and drop the glass.

  If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed it — but now he knows it’s possible. The dream he's been trying to realize for longer than he can remember is coming to fruition at last — and if 8.0 is this powerful as an infant, he’s positive he’ll be an unbelievably powerful adult. “I knew you were special. We’ve finally done it. K8.0... you are a success.”

  KATO JOLTS AWAKE AS the sound of Azrian’s voice cuts through the dream. For a moment, he's disoriented and scared, but he quickly reminds himself that he's not in Deadrun anymore. He’s safe in Embermeadow with Azzy and Ronan by his side. Melior is gone, and so are Belua and Adeinde. There's no one left that can hurt him.

  He repeats these things in his mind as his breathing steadies and he readjusts to this reality — his reality. The only reality that matters now. “I'm sorry,” he says quietly, running a broad hand over his face. “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I was already up. You okay, Jellycrai? You were yelling in your sleep.”

  “I... yeah.” Kato rubs his arm absentmindedly and drops his gaze to inspect a mark he knows isn’t there. Scars rarely last on his flawless skin, and even if they did, that was just a dream. It had to be. “I had a strange dream.”

  Az gently pushes him back down and lays against him. Though his hands have gotten rougher from their journey and now his renewed apprenticeship, they still feel good on his bare skin. “I could tell. Do you want to talk about it?”

  Kato slides a softer hand down Az's back and ghosts his fingertips over one of his scars. It makes him wonder how big Azrian was when he was born, but he knows he and Roe aren’t in a place to ask yet. She can still hardly look at him.

  He tells Azrian the details of the dream he can remember, but it’s already fading from his mind. “I don’t know. I don’t remember much after he tried to cut me the second time, I think I was waking up. But it was just a dream, right?”

  “I don't know. I guess it had to have been, you wouldn't remember your own birth... but maybe it was a memory? Melior's memory?” Az asks, goosebumps rising under Kato's fingers. “That happens sometimes, right?”

  “Yeah. Sometimes I’ll get a random memory from someone’s mind... but why now?” He knows Az can’t answer that question, so he pulls him in for a gentle kiss instead. “I don’t think I can go back to sleep.”

  It's clear from the barely muffled sounds drifting through the door that they're not the only ones awake, which isn't surprising. Ronan needs to be up for school and Roe always starts breakfast with the morning sun unless Rhix stays over, which he didn't last night.

  Az huffs and carefully bites Kato's chest. “Come on. We’ll get some breakfast and take a walk before the day starts.”

  “I’d like that.” Kato sits up and leaves all the negative thoughts of his dream behind on his pillow. “I wonder if Ri is still here? She got in late last night, we hardly got to talk.”

  He huffs, smiling a little as he gets up to dress. “I'd imagine. It's not like her to just crash for a night and leave without bringing us news.”

  “Is it not like her? She’s kind of unpredictable. I never know when she’s coming, but she normally has good news.”

  Az gives him a knowing look and motions for him to cover up, then opens the door. “I'll go find out.”

  It makes him laugh. It definitely isn’t the first time he forgot to cover up before leaving their room, and the last time it happened, Roe gave them an earful about it.

  Kato hastily pulls on some comfortable pants and a white tunic but ends up running straight into Azzy when he follows him out. He looks up to see why he stopped so suddenly and comes face-to-face with Rhix — Rhix, who has one hand on Roe’s door handle like he'd been trying to sneak out quietly.

  “Uh... morning,” Rhix says with fake enthusiasm. “Did you two sleep... ah, shadows. Let’s just pretend neither of us saw what we saw.”

  “I'd like that a lot more than I care to admit.” Az turns away and tugs Kato along by his tunic until they’re leaving Rhix behind, but Riley greets them with a giggle that slowly grows louder.

  “Rhix slept in your mom's room, didn't he?” She grins at Azrian's flush and even Kato has to bite back his laugh. He attempts to hide it as a cough, but when Az looks at him as if he's betrayed him, he knows he's failed.

  Shadows... if looks could kill. “Az doesn't give a stone, right, Azzy?” he blurts out, trying to ease the tension.

  “Wrong, I give several stones,” he mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. “All of the stones, actually. Whole... riverbed full of them.” Az heaves a dissatisfied breath through his nose and pushes past all of them to go help with the food.

  Kato and Riley exchange amused glances behind him as they follow, and Kato whispers “isn't he adorable when he’s annoyed?” just a little too loudly.

  With his hair pulled up, it's easy to see the way Azzy’s neck flushes, but he doesn't comment further as he starts helping Roe dish up the food. “Do we have enough?”

  “We’ll manage,” she says quietly. “Can you make sure Ronan is up for school?”

  “I got him.” Kato turns and heads to Ronan’s couch, but he’s already awake and putting on his shoes. “Did you sleep okay, Rone?”

  He gazes up with tired, grumpy eyes — and for a split second, he actually looks a lot like Azrian. “There are a lot of people here,” he grumbles. “Can I stay home today?”

  “Nope.” Kato beams widely and ruffles his bedhead. “You’re going to be the smart one around here and teaching me stuff soon. Can’t go missing school yet, you just started this year.”

  Ronan’s chest rises and falls with an irritated sigh. “I don't know how I'm supposed to learn anything when I can't sleep. I feel like my brain is full of volucrae.”

  He dresses all the same and follows Kato back to the kitchen to get some breakfast, and sure enough, it’s almost impossible to squeeze them all around the small dining table. Azr
ian’s practically in his lap and his elbow knocks against Rhix’s more than once, but the food is delicious and none of them complain outwardly about the cramped space.

  Rhix offers to walk Ronan to school on his way to work and it gets a little easier to breathe once the two of them are gone. Riley helps Roe clean the dishes which leaves Kato and Az in charge of cleaning up the rest of the house.

  “We need a bigger space,” Az mutters. “I don't know why we didn't just build it bigger to begin with. It's not like we don't have enough land.”

  Kato thinks about that while he finishes up their living area. When it's as good as it's going to get, they head outside to work on the landscaping. “That would have been smart. What if we build another place? One that’s... ours.”

  “Really?” Azrian smiles softly and leans up on his toes to kiss his jaw. “That sounds great, but we're still not even done with this one.”

  “That is true.” Kato looks around and tries to form a plan, but as he’s about to say more on the matter, Riley walks over as she dries her hand on a towel.

  “I see you two are still just as gross.”

  “Gross?” he asks, his eyes darting to Azrian. “We’re not gross. We bathe.”

  He snickers, bumping Kato with his hip. “She means gross in a good way. Like we’re cute. She's just jealous though, right, Ri? You wanted Kato all to yourself.”

  She opens her mouth to argue, but smirks as she gives Kato a once-over. “Not my usual type but I wouldn't say no. Anyway, that's not why I came in here,” she says. “Kato... the whole reason for my little intrusion? I found your brothers. The ones that live in Bridgehelm.”

  He’s still stuck on the joke when her words seep into his brain and make him stand straighter. “Bridgehelm? You said two of them were there, right? What are their names? What are they like?” he asks excitedly.

  “Yes. Teagon and Aleon. You'd probably know them as K5.0 and K7.0 if you remember them at all. Teag's a Viribus bigger than Rhix and Aleon is an Itinerae. Neither of them have dual powers like you do, though. They want to come visit.”