Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (27 page)

“You know, that’s what it sounds like.”
I smiled at him

“What’s that?”

“Your accent. The first day I met you,
I was trying to figure out where you were from because you have an
accent. It sounds a bit Scottish. Like, maybe someone who was born
in Scotland, but moved away when he was really young. It’s barely
there, but every once in a while it comes out. Actually, you, Zane
and Brice have it. Tara and Ben, you guys don’t really have one.
Luke, Mel and Dawn, you have one, but slightly
different.”

“Aye, weel, since Donnan and Nevin
canna be here jist this minute, mayhap yee will settle for meself,
then, lass.” Ben broke into a not so bad imitation of a Scot and
had everyone laughing

Outside, we could see people making
their way to the white tree.

Luke stood and took Mel’s hand. “We’ll
take the kids to Tara’s and wait for Jein, then meet you back
here.”

Jasper nodded. “You boys be good, now.
I don’t want to hear from Jein that you were bad.”

The twins both nodded. “Yes, Uncle
Jasper,” answered Trent.

“So is strip poker anything like what
it sounds like?” asked Dawn.

Ben laughed. “Poker is a betting game.
Usually, you bet money. With strip poker, you bet a piece of
clothing.”

Zane had been about to take a drink. He
set the mug back on the table. “And so....”

“And so, the losers end up with nothing
to wear but the air around them.”

Zane looked at Tara and I.

Dawn gave him a slap.

“Ow! I wasn’t thinking of that! Really!
I was actually wondering what this Dave fellow said to upset that
Nevin character.”

“Well, I don’t remember the exact
wording.” Tara was frowning at the memory. “Something along the
lines of why did she think she was too good for him when as far as
he was concerned she was nothing but a whore and she was proving
his point by being half naked with a bunch of inbreds you couldn’t
understand to save your life.”

“Actually, I think that’s exactly what
he said.” I was shaking my head.

“Yeah, well, I might I have been drunk,
but it was a memorable moment.” Her frown lessened a bit as she
thought back. “At this point, Nevin, who is butt naked, by the way,
looks at Hayden and says, ‘if yee’ll excuse me, lass’. And to the
amazement of everyone there, stands up, strides over to where Dave
is standing, puts a hand on the idiot’s shoulder and says, ‘I may
be hard to understand, but at least me mam had the sense to teach
me some manners. I suggest yee go apologize to the
lady’.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the memory
of the tall Scot baring all as he casually marched toward
Dave.

Dave had looked at him and said, “I’m
not wasting my breath on a cheap slut like her.”

“So Nevin grabs Dave by the front of
his shirt, gives him one solid punch to the face, sets him back on
his feet and says, ‘I strongly suggest yee reconsider’.” Tara had
stood up and demonstrated this on Ben.

I pursed my lips. “Dave stumbled back a
few steps and shook his head. He looks at Nevin and says, ‘go fuck
yourself!’.” I took a sip of my drink. “Nevin looks at him, shrugs,
and slugs him in the gut.”

It was Tara’s turn to smile at the
memory. “The instant Dave is on the ground, Nevin gives him two
kicks to the ribs, then stands back and waits for him to stand up
again.”

Dave had stood up, doubled over and
bleeding. He had glared at Nevin, then at me, straightened himself
up and made his way over to where I was still sitting. Nevin had
walked beside him like they were best of friends.

“So Dave looks at Hayden and says,
‘Hayden”, then he stops. He glares at her then says, ‘I’m sorry
you’re a cheap...’, but he doesn’t get to finish because Nevin must
have figured this was going to happen and punches him in the side
of the head as hard as he can.

‘Dave crumples to the ground and Nevin
pokes him with his foot a few times, shrugs, and sits back down. He
picks up the cards, looks at Hayden and says, ‘I believe it’s your
deal’.”

I had taken the cards, dealt them out
and managed to drop all of my hand on the table when Dave had
moaned beside me.

Tara laughed. “Dave sits up, looks
around, and asks, ‘what happened?’. Nevin looks at him and says,
‘yee were about to apologize to the lady for being an
ass’.”

Dawn started laughing too.

“So Dave looks at me and says,
‘sorry?’.” I was grinning too. “I told him not to do it again,
Nevin tosses him a beer and says to him, ‘care to join
us?’.”

Dave had shook his head, declined the
offer, and gone off in search of somewhere to sleep off his
headache.

Jasper was frowning.

“Hun, it was over a year ago.” I ran a
hand through his hair. “Smile. It’s a funny story.”

He looked up at me. There was no hint
of a smile on his lips. “Will he be there? When you go
back?”

“Um. Yeah. If I go to the arena to
visit. He’ll probably be there.”

He gave a bit of a nod.

Luke and Mel walked back into the
house.

Dawn stood up. “Let’s go! I can’t wait
to do some dancing!”

Everyone filed out of the house. I was
about to step outside when Jasper grabbed my arm and pulled me back
in.

“When you go, you’ll bring your
swords?”

I started to laugh, but stopped. He was
serious. “I can’t. People don’t walk around armed. It’s not
allowed.”

His eyebrows creased together. “Not
even daggers?”

I shook my head. “Will you feel better
if I promise to keep these boots on at all times?” The boots I wore
here had a pocket that hid a small knife.

He closed his eyes.

“Jasper.” I put my hand against his
cheek. “I lived there for twenty three years. I’ll be
fine.”

He looked at me. The frown had left his
face and his blue eyes were soft with the small smile he had on his
lips. He gazed deeply into my eyes and leaned down to kiss
me.

“I love you,” he whispered.

I smiled up at him and put a hand on
his cheek. I pulled him down to me and kissed him again. “I love
you more.”

He chuckled and took my hand. “Let’s
go.”

We caught up to our group and walked
leisurely along hand in hand.

“So what’s the first thing you think
you’ll do when you go back?” asked Jasper.

“I will definitely go straight to my
mom and dad’s and give them the biggest hugs ever. And then I will
try to explain this place to them and let them know that they don’t
have to worry about me, that I love it here. I wish you could come.
That you could meet them.”

I felt him shudder beside me and knew
he was thinking of his previous experience trying to cross over. I
gave his hand a squeeze. “It doesn’t matter. They’ll love you even
without meeting you.”

He looked down at me. “How do you
know?”

I smiled. “Because my dad will love you
for protecting his baby girl. My mom will love you for taking care
of me. And both of them will love you because I love
you.”

He laughed. “Well, that’s
good.”

I stumbled as someone bumped into my
side and was glad Jasper was holding my hand.

“Sorry!” someone called back in a very
high voice as the sound of running feet sounded away from
us.

I looked up to see who it
was.

“Who and what was that?” I asked
Jasper.

He laughed at the look on my face.
“Well, I’m not sure who it was, but as for what, it was a Burrie.”
He pulled me aside as two more of them ran by us.

“They’re tiny!” I looked on in
amazement as four more of the little blue people ran by.

They couldn’t have been taller than my
waist. They were a beautiful greenish blue color, all of them with
long black hair tied up in ponytails high on their
heads.

I watched as another handful of them
ran by. “Why are they in such a hurry?”

“They’re late.” Jasper looked up at the
sky which was now almost completely lit by the full moons. I was
always amazed at the night sky. I thought I would probably always
be awed at the sight of two moons, the small one slightly hidden
behind the bigger one.

“Burries are in charge of lighting.
They have a dust that they collect off of their wings. They use it
to make light.”

I looked as one last straggler sped by
after its friends.

“Oh! I hadn’t noticed the wings.” In
fact the wings were quite large, shaped like a butterfly’s. They
were just as tall as the Burrie itself. They were so clear, they
were almost invisible.

This last Burrie suddenly stopped and
stood still. It slowly turned until it was facing us.

I managed to keep my mouth closed but
sucked in a breath as its red eyes locked with mine.

Jasper’s hand tightened on mine and I
felt him tense, ready.

The little blue being spread its wings,
bowing down slowly. It straightened, gave me a mischievous grin
filled with pointy teeth, and ran off to find its
friends.

Jasper relaxed. I hadn’t realized we
had stopped walking.

“I wonder why he did that.” I thought
out loud as we started off again.

“He? Oh, the Burrie.” Jasper shrugged.
“I imagine there are just some creatures out there who know who you
are whether they are told or not. Why did you say he?”

I looked up at him “I don’t know. I
just assumed. He only had a loin cloth on.”

He laughed. “They all just wear loin
cloths. And only when they come into civilization. If you ever run
into them in the woods, you’ll notice they don’t need to wear
anything.”

“So was it a girl or a boy?”

“Both, I guess. Or I suppose the best
answer would be neither. Burries don’t have a sex. They don’t
reproduce.”

“How do they populate,
then?”

“They come from Burrie
trees.”

I looked up at him, wondering when he
was going to laugh and say “fooled you!”. “For real?” He looked
serious enough.

Jasper nodded. “In the spring, Burrie
trees flower just like other trees do. After they are pollinated,
the flowers give way to Burrie sacs. They look like a clear sac
filled with water. The Burries grow in there. When they reach to
size of, let’s say, two of my fists, they break out of the sacs,
dry off, and leave the tree.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He laughed. “Tara!” he called
out.

Tara and Ben looked back and slowed so
we could catch up to them.

“Tara, I need your help.”

She smiled at him. “Sure. What is
it?”

“Hayden thinks I’m lying to her. Could
you tell her, please, where Burries come from.”

She grinned at me. “Burrie
trees.”

“Really? I mean, really?” Maybe they
had made this up together.

She nodded.

“Wow. I think that’s going to the top
of my list of weird stuff around here.” I laughed. “That’s crazy.”
I thought of the Burrie’s red eyes and shivered.

Jasper put his arm around me and
pointed. “Look.”

We could see the whole meadow from the
top of the small hill that we were on. The grass had been cut
short. In the middle of it was the silver tree. Jasper had told me
that it was a sacred tree to the Wedelves. They believed that this
tree held all of the energy and magic that was left after a being
passed away. When a new being was born, the tree would give it its
share of the energy and magic to live.

Someone had strung strings from the
trees on the outside of the clearing to the silver tree. The
Burries were flying around, grabbing dust from a bag at their side
onto the strings. When all of the strings had been covered, the
Burries, there were about twenty of them, stood around the silver
tree with their arms held out.

I could hear them chanting. “What are
they saying?”

Jasper shrugged. “No one knows, really.
It is a blessing, or a prayer of some sort. There is no one out
there who can understand the Burries’ language and they refuse to
translate for anyone.”

The little blue people flew up into the
air. Their chant was getting louder and louder.

They stopped abruptly and flew straight
up, so high that I could barely see them. They each grabbed a
handful of dust and blew it down toward the ground. As these grains
touched the others on the strings, there was a bit of a spark, and
the strings started to glow.

The whole meadow lit up.

“Wow!” I breathed.

That seemed like the cue the band had
been waiting for and the music started. I noticed that the
instruments all seemed a lot like the ones I was familiar with,
with slight differences in shape or the way they were
held.

All around the meadow, people had set
up booths with food and drinks.