The Order of Ja’el — Chapter Twelve

A Weekly Sci-fi Fantasy Story Series

Read from Chapter One here. Prefer audio? Find my podcast links here.

The group stared at Vlad with their mouths open. Zora found her voice first. “Tamana?! What — actually, you know what, skip the lies I am sure were about to exit your lips and get straight to the truth! What is Tamana doing on Earth, and how, why, is she leading a pack of monsters to destroy my people?!”

Vlad stammered. His eyes focused mainly on Jada. Her crestfallen face punched a deep hole in his heart. “I’m so sorry… I can explain,” he started, speaking directly to Jada. When Zora stepped in front of his line of sight, he looked away, embarrassed.

“Well?!” Zora snapped.

With a defeated breath, Vlad shook his head and began sharing the truth about Tamana and her terrible fate due to her connection to Ja’el since birth.

As Vlad explained why their parents felt it best to abandon her on the other side of the new Earth, Jada gasped, “She’s a Siddhi?!”

“A Siddhi they cast away to die like garbage!” Zora spat.

“They were wrong, no doubt, and heartless and ruthless… but at least their terrible decisions saved her life!” Vlad retorted. “The Order would have had her executed!”

“Alongside your parents and maybe even you, for harbouring a so-called criminal all those years, right?! Come on, Vlad! We both know they did it to save their own skins! And you went along with it for the same reason! Your own sister!”

Vlad broke with every vehement word from Zora’s lips. He couldn’t refute any of her claims, mainly because, deep down, he knew she was right. The second they’d abandoned Tamana, the look on his sister’s face had been enough to confirm how unworthy he was to be her brother. It was Ja’el’s voice that had changed everything for him. “I didn’t want to believe that what Tamana said was possible… I hadn’t yet heard Ja’el’s voice,” Vlad sadly whispered. “I loved Tamana; I tried to find her ever since… and I even defied my parents’ command to search for her. No one hated them from that day as much as I did! May they both rot in hell!”

“Wait,” Julien interrupted, eyes suddenly narrowed at Vlad. “We had heard of your…