Chosen (15 page)
‘Please stay close Max,’
pleaded Haven, ‘we just never know when the portal might activate
and we must all be together when it does.’
They moved closer to Max and
the three of them wandered around examining the stone ruins.
‘I think these stones may have
been sung,’ said Gilster running his hand over a huge column, ‘they
have that feel about them.’
‘That’s not possible,’ said
Max, ‘we don’t have singers here.’
‘That may be,’ replied Gilster,
‘but perhaps you did, once.’
‘Over here you two,’ shouted
Haven from a dark corner, ‘I think the portal is opening . . .
quick.’ Max and Gilster raced towards Haven, reaching him in
seconds.
‘Damn, I haven’t finished
looking around yet,’ grumbled Max.
‘Can’t be helped, sorry,’ said
Haven. ‘Hang on, here it comes,’ his voice was lost in the scream
of the wind that was steadily rising. The spinning feeling came
next followed by the lights. ‘Hold tight,’ shouted Haven grabbing
Max, ‘hold tight.’
The noise became unbearable,
Max wanted to put her hands over her ears to try and block it, but
Haven and Gilster had her in a vise like grip and she was unable to
move. There was a sudden bang and a flash of light and the cavern
was empty except for a fading echo.
The rain fell steadily from the
leaden sky, soaking into everything, making life very uncomfortable
for Elkeira. She was sitting under the low slung boughs of a huge
tree, trying to keep dry; an impossible task, given the conditions.
‘Where are they?’ she grumbled miserably. The water, dripping
incessantly from the leaves above ran down the neck of her
deer-skin tunic. ‘I’ve been sitting here for four days now; if they
don’t come tonight, I’m going home, I don’t care what father says.’
Elkeira was turning sixteen on the morrow, her coming of age and
she didn’t plan to miss any of the celebrations organised for her.
She was the daughter of the Clan Chief and as such was treated with
a certain amount of respect, although her father always told her,
respect was not just given it needed to be earned; it was not
something people gave away like an unwanted gift, that’s why it was
so important.
Elkeira was a small, wiry girl
with a dark, golden complexion and delicate features. Her eyes, a
pale coffee colour, sat above a pert little nose; her brown hair
was short and spiky. Being the daughter of the Clan Chief had its
advantages but it also came with responsibilities, this waiting
being one of them. She wished her mother was still alive, perhaps
she would have been better able to explain what was expected of
her, but it was not to be.
Elkeira was three when her
mother had died, killed in a freak hunting accident. With no mother
and a father whose time was taken up with clan responsibilities,
she had become a wild child, disappearing for days on her own. It
hurt Elkeira deeply when people talked of her mother, Morwin
because she could remember nothing about her, not even how she
looked or how she sounded. But sometimes when Elkeira was sleeping,
a beautiful woman with long golden hair and a gentle face came to
her in her dreams and sang a lullaby, she liked to think it was her
mother watching over her and keeping her safe.
‘Oh, mother,’ she said sadly,
‘why did you leave me, I need you now more than ever. I don’t fit
in with my own people, I always feel like an outsider; father tries
his best but it’s you I need, father cannot explain to me about
“the gift”, that is a mother’s task. Please, hear my plea, help
me.’ She waited, listening intently for a reply, but all she heard
was the patter of the rain falling endlessly on the leaves above
her head. ‘I hate you,’ she spat, ‘I hate you, I hate you for
leaving me.’ Elkeira sat silently under the tree hugging her knees
to her chest, crying softly, the rain mingling with her tears.
Max, Gilster and Haven found
themselves standing in the pouring rain, surrounded on all sides by
dark shadows, which, on closer inspection appeared to be huge
trees. To make matters worse it was an inky, black night, so they
could see no further than a few feet in front of them.
‘Well,’ said Haven, ‘what do we
do now? We have our torches so I suppose we could look
around.’
‘I don’t think that would be a
good idea,’ said Gilster, ‘who knows what could happen, there may
be dangerous animals or even dangerous people around, I think it
best we just sit and wait until daylight.’
‘Trust you to be the cautious
one,’ said Haven, ‘but on the other hand there may be a town just
around the corner, with warm beds and hot food. We could get out of
this miserable rain and spend a comfortable night before we start
looking for the Chosen.’
Gilster groaned goodnaturedly,
‘thinking of your belly again?’ he said.
‘Well somebody has to,’
grumbled Haven, shaking himself, spraying water everywhere.
‘Boys, boys, settle down,’
smiled Max, ‘Gilster’s right, we should sit tight until the
morning, then we can better see what’s around before we go
blundering off anywhere.’
The three wrapped themselves in
their cloaks and huddled under the trees to wait out the night.
They didn’t have long, after about an hour the rain began to ease
and a pale light appeared on the horizon, slowly their surroundings
began to take shape as the murky darkness receded. They looked to
be in a forest, a very old forest, for the trees around them were
exceedingly large.
‘Reminds me a little of home,’
said Haven wistfully.
‘Can you hear anything
telepathically?’ asked Gilster, as he stood, shaking the rain from
his cloak. Haven had a quizzical look on his face.
‘What is it,’ said Max, ‘can
you hear something?’
‘No, that’s just it, I can’t
hear a thing, not a peep from anyone anywhere; come to think of it,
I can’t even hear you two, it’s very strange, I’ve never
experienced anything like it before.’
‘I hope we’re in the right
place,’ said Max looking worried.
‘We must be,’ said Gilster,
‘this is where the portal brought us, there has to be someone
around somewhere, we just have to find them.’
‘I feel like I’m being
blocked,’ continued Haven with a look of concentration on his face.
I literally can’t hear a thing. I feel like I’m deaf or something,
I don’t like it, it makes me feel vulnerable.’
‘Welcome to our world,’ said
Max as Haven frowned. ‘Ok guys, we have to find the Chosen, so,
which way should we go?’
They decided to walk towards
the rising sun, which was filtering down through the branches
above, not for any particular reason other than it felt warm on
their faces. They had barely gone a hundred yards before they saw a
small child who appeared to be sound asleep, huddled under a
tree.
‘What should we do?’ whispered
Max, ‘we don’t want to scare them.’
‘You go,’ said Gilster, ‘of the
three of us you are the least scary.’
‘Thanks,’ said Max, ‘so what
you’re saying is, I am a bit scary.’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ said
Gilster apologetically.
‘I know, I know, I’m just
teasing,’ laughed Max as she began to creep forward quietly.
‘Hello,’ she said softly, ‘hello, are you awake?’ She reached about
twenty feet away before the child began to stir. ‘Don’t be afraid,’
said Max, ‘I won’t hurt you, I just . . . ’ Before another word
passed her lips, the child leapt into the air; fear and anger in
equal parts on her face. ‘It’s ok,’ said Max reassuringly, ‘I’m a
friend, I mean you know harm.’ The outline of the child began to
shimmer.
‘Be careful Max, something is
happening,’ said Haven. He went to step forward but Gilster grabbed
his arm and held him back.
‘Leave her be,’ he whispered,
his eyes on the child.
‘Shush,’ said Max, ‘I think I’m
getting somewhere.’ She held out her hands, palms up towards the
child. ‘See, I’m a friend.’
The shimmer began to grow,
eventually engulfing the child. Max started to falter, unsure what
to do next. Before she could decide, the shimmer burst apart to
reveal a huge feline, glaring at her with angry, orange eyes, its
tabby fur bristling.
‘Max,’ yelled Haven, ‘Max,
don’t move. I’m coming to get you.’ Max had no intention of moving,
she was frozen to the spot with fear.
‘Don’t move,’ she hissed, ‘I
don’t think I’m in danger . . . yet,’ she added quietly to herself.
Haven held his ground.
‘Please,’ she said quietly,
‘we’re not here to cause you any harm, and we apologise if we’ve
frightened you, we’re looking for the Chosen.’ The giant cat stood
its ground, angrily swishing its tail from side to side, but it
made no move to attack. It appeared to be thinking over what Max
had said.
‘Don’t ask me how I know,’ said
Max, speaking over her shoulder, ‘but I think it understands what
I’m saying.’ The cat began to advance towards her, twitching its
tail in irritation.
‘Max,’ said Haven in a loud
whisper, ‘walk backwards slowly, try and keep as much distance
between you and the cat as possible. Gil, can you do your thing
with a song,’ he said from the corner of his mouth, all the while
keeping his eyes on the cat.
‘I’ve been trying ever since
the cat appeared, but something’s blocking me.’
With the cat now only a few
paces away Max ignored Haven and stood her ground. The shimmer
reappeared around the animal and Max’s arm instinctively went up to
her face for protection. The cat was on almost upon her when
suddenly, the child appeared again. She was a small, wiry but
muscular female. Her dark hair looked like it had been hacked off
with a knife, and stuck out at odd angles from her head. Dressed in
mottled brown deer-skin pants and short animal skin boots, a
leather vest over a deer-skin shirt, she blended perfectly into her
surroundings.
‘If it’s the Chosen you are
looking for,’ she said proudly, raising her chin slightly, ‘you’ve
found her.’
‘It’s wonderful to meet you,’
said Max, ‘we’ve been looking for you. I still can’t believe what
you just did, changing into a giant cat like that, it was
amazing.’
‘I’m sorry if I scared you,’
said the child, ‘but I had to be sure you weren’t a danger, all the
people of my world can change form in one way or another.’
‘So you know we are not from
your world,’ said Gilster.
‘Yes, I’ve been waiting for you
to arrive. My name is Elkeira of Clan Predator, daughter of the
Clan Chief Roki; it was he who sent me here to wait for you.’
‘How did you know we were
coming?’ asked Gilster.
‘My father can read the signs,
come,’ she said, picking up a small bow and a quiver of arrows, ‘we
must return, he is urgently awaiting your arrival.’
‘You wouldn’t happen to have
any food on you, would you?’ asked Haven hopefully.
‘Oh stop it,’ said Max
chuckling, ‘not your belly again.’
‘What! There’s nothing wrong
with asking.’
‘When we reach my village a
great feast will be prepared for you,’ said Elkeira as she headed
off through the trees. Haven’s eyes lit up.
‘My father will honour all the
Chosen,’ said Elkeira grandly.
‘There is only one Chosen among
us,’ said Gilster sadly, ‘one has been taken.’
‘This is bad news,’ said
Elkeira, ‘very bad news, we must tell my father immediately; come
we have no time to waste.’ She picked up the pace and started
jogging with the others in hot pursuit trying desperately not to
lose sight of her in the thick underbrush.
‘I don’t think I can keep this
up much longer,’ panted Haven, after a few hours, ‘I wasn’t built
for running.’
‘Just think of the feast at the
end,’ said Gilster, smiling, ‘surely that’s enough incentive.’
‘Stop talking and save your
breath,’ gasped Max, ‘hopefully it won’t be too far.’
After another hour of running,
Elkeira grudgingly agreed to a rest. The three friends immediately
fell to the ground, gasping like landed fish. The break was short;
before five minutes had passed, Elkeira had them on their feet and
running again. Eventually they began to notice the trees were
gradually thinning, giving way to a more open heath-land. In the
distance Max saw smoke rising and knew they must be getting
close.
‘Not much further guys,’ she
said trying to sound confident between gasps, ‘just a little longer
and we’ll be there.’ Elkeira was quite a distance in front but
slowed down so the others could catch up and they could all enter
the village together.
‘Come . . . quickly,’ she
gestured, ‘this way.’
round, tent like structures made of skin and fur thrown over a
wooden scaffold, fires burning brightly out front. All the
inhabitants were golden skinned from the sun and had dark hair and
brown eyes of varying shades. Most were of a small and wiry stature
with neat, delicate facial features. Haven stood out like a silver
haired giant among them.
pleaded Haven, ‘we just never know when the portal might activate
and we must all be together when it does.’
They moved closer to Max and
the three of them wandered around examining the stone ruins.
‘I think these stones may have
been sung,’ said Gilster running his hand over a huge column, ‘they
have that feel about them.’
‘That’s not possible,’ said
Max, ‘we don’t have singers here.’
‘That may be,’ replied Gilster,
‘but perhaps you did, once.’
‘Over here you two,’ shouted
Haven from a dark corner, ‘I think the portal is opening . . .
quick.’ Max and Gilster raced towards Haven, reaching him in
seconds.
‘Damn, I haven’t finished
looking around yet,’ grumbled Max.
‘Can’t be helped, sorry,’ said
Haven. ‘Hang on, here it comes,’ his voice was lost in the scream
of the wind that was steadily rising. The spinning feeling came
next followed by the lights. ‘Hold tight,’ shouted Haven grabbing
Max, ‘hold tight.’
The noise became unbearable,
Max wanted to put her hands over her ears to try and block it, but
Haven and Gilster had her in a vise like grip and she was unable to
move. There was a sudden bang and a flash of light and the cavern
was empty except for a fading echo.
The rain fell steadily from the
leaden sky, soaking into everything, making life very uncomfortable
for Elkeira. She was sitting under the low slung boughs of a huge
tree, trying to keep dry; an impossible task, given the conditions.
‘Where are they?’ she grumbled miserably. The water, dripping
incessantly from the leaves above ran down the neck of her
deer-skin tunic. ‘I’ve been sitting here for four days now; if they
don’t come tonight, I’m going home, I don’t care what father says.’
Elkeira was turning sixteen on the morrow, her coming of age and
she didn’t plan to miss any of the celebrations organised for her.
She was the daughter of the Clan Chief and as such was treated with
a certain amount of respect, although her father always told her,
respect was not just given it needed to be earned; it was not
something people gave away like an unwanted gift, that’s why it was
so important.
Elkeira was a small, wiry girl
with a dark, golden complexion and delicate features. Her eyes, a
pale coffee colour, sat above a pert little nose; her brown hair
was short and spiky. Being the daughter of the Clan Chief had its
advantages but it also came with responsibilities, this waiting
being one of them. She wished her mother was still alive, perhaps
she would have been better able to explain what was expected of
her, but it was not to be.
Elkeira was three when her
mother had died, killed in a freak hunting accident. With no mother
and a father whose time was taken up with clan responsibilities,
she had become a wild child, disappearing for days on her own. It
hurt Elkeira deeply when people talked of her mother, Morwin
because she could remember nothing about her, not even how she
looked or how she sounded. But sometimes when Elkeira was sleeping,
a beautiful woman with long golden hair and a gentle face came to
her in her dreams and sang a lullaby, she liked to think it was her
mother watching over her and keeping her safe.
‘Oh, mother,’ she said sadly,
‘why did you leave me, I need you now more than ever. I don’t fit
in with my own people, I always feel like an outsider; father tries
his best but it’s you I need, father cannot explain to me about
“the gift”, that is a mother’s task. Please, hear my plea, help
me.’ She waited, listening intently for a reply, but all she heard
was the patter of the rain falling endlessly on the leaves above
her head. ‘I hate you,’ she spat, ‘I hate you, I hate you for
leaving me.’ Elkeira sat silently under the tree hugging her knees
to her chest, crying softly, the rain mingling with her tears.
Max, Gilster and Haven found
themselves standing in the pouring rain, surrounded on all sides by
dark shadows, which, on closer inspection appeared to be huge
trees. To make matters worse it was an inky, black night, so they
could see no further than a few feet in front of them.
‘Well,’ said Haven, ‘what do we
do now? We have our torches so I suppose we could look
around.’
‘I don’t think that would be a
good idea,’ said Gilster, ‘who knows what could happen, there may
be dangerous animals or even dangerous people around, I think it
best we just sit and wait until daylight.’
‘Trust you to be the cautious
one,’ said Haven, ‘but on the other hand there may be a town just
around the corner, with warm beds and hot food. We could get out of
this miserable rain and spend a comfortable night before we start
looking for the Chosen.’
Gilster groaned goodnaturedly,
‘thinking of your belly again?’ he said.
‘Well somebody has to,’
grumbled Haven, shaking himself, spraying water everywhere.
‘Boys, boys, settle down,’
smiled Max, ‘Gilster’s right, we should sit tight until the
morning, then we can better see what’s around before we go
blundering off anywhere.’
The three wrapped themselves in
their cloaks and huddled under the trees to wait out the night.
They didn’t have long, after about an hour the rain began to ease
and a pale light appeared on the horizon, slowly their surroundings
began to take shape as the murky darkness receded. They looked to
be in a forest, a very old forest, for the trees around them were
exceedingly large.
‘Reminds me a little of home,’
said Haven wistfully.
‘Can you hear anything
telepathically?’ asked Gilster, as he stood, shaking the rain from
his cloak. Haven had a quizzical look on his face.
‘What is it,’ said Max, ‘can
you hear something?’
‘No, that’s just it, I can’t
hear a thing, not a peep from anyone anywhere; come to think of it,
I can’t even hear you two, it’s very strange, I’ve never
experienced anything like it before.’
‘I hope we’re in the right
place,’ said Max looking worried.
‘We must be,’ said Gilster,
‘this is where the portal brought us, there has to be someone
around somewhere, we just have to find them.’
‘I feel like I’m being
blocked,’ continued Haven with a look of concentration on his face.
I literally can’t hear a thing. I feel like I’m deaf or something,
I don’t like it, it makes me feel vulnerable.’
‘Welcome to our world,’ said
Max as Haven frowned. ‘Ok guys, we have to find the Chosen, so,
which way should we go?’
They decided to walk towards
the rising sun, which was filtering down through the branches
above, not for any particular reason other than it felt warm on
their faces. They had barely gone a hundred yards before they saw a
small child who appeared to be sound asleep, huddled under a
tree.
‘What should we do?’ whispered
Max, ‘we don’t want to scare them.’
‘You go,’ said Gilster, ‘of the
three of us you are the least scary.’
‘Thanks,’ said Max, ‘so what
you’re saying is, I am a bit scary.’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ said
Gilster apologetically.
‘I know, I know, I’m just
teasing,’ laughed Max as she began to creep forward quietly.
‘Hello,’ she said softly, ‘hello, are you awake?’ She reached about
twenty feet away before the child began to stir. ‘Don’t be afraid,’
said Max, ‘I won’t hurt you, I just . . . ’ Before another word
passed her lips, the child leapt into the air; fear and anger in
equal parts on her face. ‘It’s ok,’ said Max reassuringly, ‘I’m a
friend, I mean you know harm.’ The outline of the child began to
shimmer.
‘Be careful Max, something is
happening,’ said Haven. He went to step forward but Gilster grabbed
his arm and held him back.
‘Leave her be,’ he whispered,
his eyes on the child.
‘Shush,’ said Max, ‘I think I’m
getting somewhere.’ She held out her hands, palms up towards the
child. ‘See, I’m a friend.’
The shimmer began to grow,
eventually engulfing the child. Max started to falter, unsure what
to do next. Before she could decide, the shimmer burst apart to
reveal a huge feline, glaring at her with angry, orange eyes, its
tabby fur bristling.
‘Max,’ yelled Haven, ‘Max,
don’t move. I’m coming to get you.’ Max had no intention of moving,
she was frozen to the spot with fear.
‘Don’t move,’ she hissed, ‘I
don’t think I’m in danger . . . yet,’ she added quietly to herself.
Haven held his ground.
‘Please,’ she said quietly,
‘we’re not here to cause you any harm, and we apologise if we’ve
frightened you, we’re looking for the Chosen.’ The giant cat stood
its ground, angrily swishing its tail from side to side, but it
made no move to attack. It appeared to be thinking over what Max
had said.
‘Don’t ask me how I know,’ said
Max, speaking over her shoulder, ‘but I think it understands what
I’m saying.’ The cat began to advance towards her, twitching its
tail in irritation.
‘Max,’ said Haven in a loud
whisper, ‘walk backwards slowly, try and keep as much distance
between you and the cat as possible. Gil, can you do your thing
with a song,’ he said from the corner of his mouth, all the while
keeping his eyes on the cat.
‘I’ve been trying ever since
the cat appeared, but something’s blocking me.’
With the cat now only a few
paces away Max ignored Haven and stood her ground. The shimmer
reappeared around the animal and Max’s arm instinctively went up to
her face for protection. The cat was on almost upon her when
suddenly, the child appeared again. She was a small, wiry but
muscular female. Her dark hair looked like it had been hacked off
with a knife, and stuck out at odd angles from her head. Dressed in
mottled brown deer-skin pants and short animal skin boots, a
leather vest over a deer-skin shirt, she blended perfectly into her
surroundings.
‘If it’s the Chosen you are
looking for,’ she said proudly, raising her chin slightly, ‘you’ve
found her.’
‘It’s wonderful to meet you,’
said Max, ‘we’ve been looking for you. I still can’t believe what
you just did, changing into a giant cat like that, it was
amazing.’
‘I’m sorry if I scared you,’
said the child, ‘but I had to be sure you weren’t a danger, all the
people of my world can change form in one way or another.’
‘So you know we are not from
your world,’ said Gilster.
‘Yes, I’ve been waiting for you
to arrive. My name is Elkeira of Clan Predator, daughter of the
Clan Chief Roki; it was he who sent me here to wait for you.’
‘How did you know we were
coming?’ asked Gilster.
‘My father can read the signs,
come,’ she said, picking up a small bow and a quiver of arrows, ‘we
must return, he is urgently awaiting your arrival.’
‘You wouldn’t happen to have
any food on you, would you?’ asked Haven hopefully.
‘Oh stop it,’ said Max
chuckling, ‘not your belly again.’
‘What! There’s nothing wrong
with asking.’
‘When we reach my village a
great feast will be prepared for you,’ said Elkeira as she headed
off through the trees. Haven’s eyes lit up.
‘My father will honour all the
Chosen,’ said Elkeira grandly.
‘There is only one Chosen among
us,’ said Gilster sadly, ‘one has been taken.’
‘This is bad news,’ said
Elkeira, ‘very bad news, we must tell my father immediately; come
we have no time to waste.’ She picked up the pace and started
jogging with the others in hot pursuit trying desperately not to
lose sight of her in the thick underbrush.
‘I don’t think I can keep this
up much longer,’ panted Haven, after a few hours, ‘I wasn’t built
for running.’
‘Just think of the feast at the
end,’ said Gilster, smiling, ‘surely that’s enough incentive.’
‘Stop talking and save your
breath,’ gasped Max, ‘hopefully it won’t be too far.’
After another hour of running,
Elkeira grudgingly agreed to a rest. The three friends immediately
fell to the ground, gasping like landed fish. The break was short;
before five minutes had passed, Elkeira had them on their feet and
running again. Eventually they began to notice the trees were
gradually thinning, giving way to a more open heath-land. In the
distance Max saw smoke rising and knew they must be getting
close.
‘Not much further guys,’ she
said trying to sound confident between gasps, ‘just a little longer
and we’ll be there.’ Elkeira was quite a distance in front but
slowed down so the others could catch up and they could all enter
the village together.
‘Come . . . quickly,’ she
gestured, ‘this way.’
Haven was
almost on his knees when they finally reached the edge of the
encampment. They followed Elkeira, winding their way through tents
and cooking fires, the smell of which caused Haven’s stomach to
rumble loudly. The people of the camp stopped to stare as the group
passed by. Most were dressed in a similar fashion to Elkeira with
skins, leather and suede. The women wore the same as the men;
leggings, boots and soft suede jerkins seemed to be the most
popular choice. The colours of the clothes were the same colour as
the surrounding forest, providing a very effective camouflage. A
few children were running around the camp, closely followed by some
skinny, camp dogs, all seemed to be in good health and were having
fun; although Max
did
notice all the children were at least ten, she saw no toddlers
and heard no babies. She thought it strange, but then this was a
different world to her own.
round, tent like structures made of skin and fur thrown over a
wooden scaffold, fires burning brightly out front. All the
inhabitants were golden skinned from the sun and had dark hair and
brown eyes of varying shades. Most were of a small and wiry stature
with neat, delicate facial features. Haven stood out like a silver
haired giant among them.
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