Fearlings Two (The Fearlings Series Book 2) (2 page)

“F
i
n e,” Shanawl says.

“Shanawl, is there reason to fear meeting with other
Vauns
and their Fearlings? Can that be dangerous?”

“Dangerous,” Shanawl whispers. She turns and walks to the darkest part of the room, the corner. She turns to Grandma and Professor, “When they attack.”

“They?” Grandma asks.

“They,” Professor asks, “Like the Fearling
Ekabar
?” He stops and thinks about the words he speaks. “There is more than one?”

“Yes,” Shanawl says, “many.”

“Fine but this Rick Haynes and his Fearling,” Grandma asks, “are they dangerous to us?”

“No.”

“Good, then I will meet with this Rick,” Grandma says. She walks to the counter and fills her glass with juice. “He will speak to me. I promise you that.”

“Speaking of promises, there is an experience that I must assist others in. You call me anytime. I will answer or call back when I am allowed.”

“Promises, are these others in danger?”

“Yes. They are. They do not wish to admit it yet but they are. They really are, but that my dear Grandma is another story.” The Professor stands. He takes a drink then walks to Grandma. “We call each other when we learn something new, yes.”

“Yes Professor.” Grandma likes the professor but she has not allowed herself to care for a man for many years. She is not going to start now. “You be safe Professor. I will worry.”

“It is you I worry about my dear,” the Professor says. He takes a breath then finishes his thought. “The more I learn of this world they come from, this
Ciren
, the more I realize that it is not good.”

“Can we go there?”

“If there is a door that allows them to travel here it could be possible that we can travel through it to get to their world. Maybe not, maybe it is only one way. I doubt it but it could be. We will find out. But you, you need to be careful. This
Ekabar
is probably more powerful than before.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Are you not more powerful from your experiences?”

“And you believe that he will return and come after one of us?”

“We know little. We should though prepare. Do not panic, but be prepared. It does no harm. And know this, I will always find you, wherever you are.”

CHAPTER 2 - PAST

It is two weeks before Tom and Grandma are taken. She is meeting Rick Haynes for the first time. She is at his small apartment listening to him talk about his family, about how they lost five kids and a father in one night.

“You see,” Rick says. His tone is calm and his words are short. “I am thirty-three years old and because of my experiences I don’t get involved. I am not going to put others in danger. I will not. This curse will die with me.”

“Well, that is either very noble of you or very weak,” Grandma says. She is not trying to be insulting. She is just speaking her thoughts. “I believe that you are being weak.”

“You want me to talk to you and you do it by insulting me?”

“No,” Grandma says. She speaks with a sincere and direct tone. “I am not insulting you and of course you are going to talk to me. I did not take a three-hour flight and a thirty-minute taxi ride for you not to talk to me. That would be silly.”

Rick smiles. “I guess it would be. Ok, your plan?”

“I know that there is no way we can learn all that we need to learn from one conversation. So we begin and see where it takes us. Just know this. The more we learn the better prepared we can be. That can only be a good thing.”

“Ok, where do we begin?”

“You start. How far do your records go?”

“Records, that’s funny. We don’t have records. Guess we just didn’t think it important. I know I’ve just been petrified since birth.”

“What?”

“Well, there are several things that are different about my family and yours. In your family, there is a Vaun every other generation? In ours it is every generation.”

“I do not like the sound of that.”

“And ours is not a Fearling. He calls himself a
Molawner
and his name is
Sevol
.”

“What is a
Molawner
?” Grandma asks.

“
Sevol
is bigger, faster and stronger than a Fearling. He says that when a Fearling reaches a certain stage of experience, they go into a resting, and when they are done, they wake a
Molawner
. Like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.”

“That’s amazing.”

“He is also not bound to only protecting the Vaun. He can protect anyone within a twenty foot circular area around the Vaun.”

“You?”

“Yes. My mother became the Vaun after my Grandmother was taken.” He hesitates from sad thoughts. “And I became the Vaun after my mother was taken.”

“Your family has so much tragedy,” Grandma says, “I understand your desire to not let anyone close, I do. Just understand my desire to have my family prepared.”

Rick walks to the light switch on the wall. He looks to Grandma. “Ask him your questions.”

Grandma watches the room darken. Her Fearling Shanawl appears standing beside her. “Wow.” That is all Grandma can say at first as she stares at the large shadowy image that is
Sevol
fading into vision beside Rick. “Wow.”

CHAPTER 3 - PRESENT

It is eight years after Grandma and Tom were taken. Rob, his son James and his son’s eight-year-old friend Stewart are in James’ room. It is dark and the Fearling
Kynar
is present. He just answered Rob’s question.

“He will?” Rob asks. He doesn’t like the answer and is a bit surprised by it. He really thought it would skip a generation. “James is going to have a Fearling?”

“I knew it,” James says. He is excited and he is not trying to hide it. “Will I meet him tomorrow?”

Kynar
looks down at the child and answers in his quiet whispery tone. “Yes.”

“No,” Rob argues. He is not happy. He does not want this for his son. “No. That’s not how it works. It skips every other generation. It does, that’s what it does.”

“No,”
Kynar
says. The shadowy image takes a step back and watches as Rob reaches for the switch.

“I am not happy
Kynar
,” Rob says, “I did not want this for him.” He turns the light on and
Kynar
fades from vision. He looks to his son and Stewart. Both have big smiles on their young faces.

“Dad,” James asks, “Why did you do that? He was telling me about my Fearling.”

“I’m sorry,” Rob says, “James, Stewart; I was not ready for this. I am going to go talk to your moms’.” He takes a breath as he speaks words he thought he would never have to speak.

“You will meet your Fearling tomorrow.” He leaves the room and walks downstairs to the kitchen where his wife and Julie sit at the table talking, the meal getting cold.

“How are they?” Ann asks. She knows that her husband is nervous about their son turning eight, about him potentially becoming a Vaun. “Are they nervous?”

“I know Stewart isn’t,” Julie says. She doesn’t want James to be a Vaun but she also has learned from experience that they have to be prepared. “He can’t wait and is praying that James is a Vaun. I told him that it normally skips generations.”

“Not this time,” Rob interrupts. His tone tells the ladies to listen, that his upcoming words are important. “
Kynar
says that James has a Fearling and that he will meet him tomorrow.”

“What?” Ann keeps her cool but she wants to make sure she heard her husband right. Rob nods and she knows that she did hear him right. Her worst fears come true. Her son is a Vaun and now he will have a Fearling. She has many thoughts. She cannot control them and she starts rattling them off one after another. “He’s not going to the Gathering. He’s not. He’s too young and it’s too soon.
 
And what does that mean? Does that mean there will be two Fearlings, not just
Ekabar
? Does that mean that two of them can attack us?”

“Baby,” Rob says. He sits next to his wife. He sees that she is trying to remain calm but is slipping. “Hey, we will handle this. As far as the gathering is concerned, he will be fine and trust it is never too soon to learn. In this case the sooner the better. It is a good thing that Rick and the Professor are coming to his party tomorrow.”

“Do they have flashlights?” Julie asks. She is always worried when she leaves the kids alone but now with this new information she is even more worried, “Lights and candles on?”

“Yes, and they have flashlights,” Rob says. He knows why they fear. He also knows that there is nothing they can do but try to be ready and he has accepted that. His experience gives him a calm focus most of the time. “We will handle this, and it doesn’t matter because the kids are excited and eventually they won’t listen to us and they will turn the lights off.”

Ann knows her husband is right. She takes a breath and watches him reach for the phone on the nightstand.

“I am going to call the Professor right now.”

CHAPTER 4

The Professor is staying in the same town as Rob’s family. He is there for a couple reasons. One lamp provides light along with the TV on the dresser.

“Rob, I understand,” the Professor says, “We will learn my friend. I promise you that. Rachel and I will be there tomorrow. Rick won’t.” He smiles. “You know how he is.” His tone is sincere as he walks around to sit on the bed. “You tell Ann we will handle whatever happens, and that you are right. James has to come to the gathering with us.” He sits on the bed and when the voice on the phone stops, the Professor ends the call. “Ok, we will see you tomorrow.” He hangs the phone up on the nightstand then he takes a breath. He looks to the darkness in the corner by the entrance to the bathroom.

There is nothing in sight. There is nothing in the doorway or in the bathroom. The Professor is visibly alone in the room but he talks as if he is not alone.

“You know she does have reason to fear. Ann is smart but she must let James go to the gathering.” He hesitates then stands. “If the boy does have a Fearling then the sooner he learns the better. Ann knows that.”

The Professor stops talking and there is silence for several seconds. The Professor shakes his head. “No,” his tone is definite, “I do not believe that. I do not. They are not all doomed. We will learn more tomorrow, then we will learn more at the gathering the next day. We will become stronger in knowledge, just like we did from the first gathering and every gathering since. We will. We will.”