Image (3 page)

“Those are answers?” August asked. Having seen the document as an original, seeing the division now was astounding to him.

“Well, what someone
thought
were answers,” Perodine said bleakly.

“If Donalt is a ghost, how dangerous is it that Willow is here?” Landen asked.

Perodine seemed to freeze, and her eyes raced back and forth. She then looked to the doorway that led to the pool, then back at us. “Where’s Allie?” she asked.

Allie, Brady and Felicity’s infant, was someone I felt would lead us all one day. Perodine had said as much when I saw her last.

“In Chara, where she belongs,” I answered.

As I spoke, Perodine shook her head no. “No, he knows about the passage you made to Evelyn and Stella, the one that rests next to your home...Donalt knows everything,” she said in a rush. Landen and I looked at each other; it had escaped our attention that we’d left an obscure gate inside Chara.

“You must go there and take everyone with your bloodline to Pelhan; I’m sure he’s expecting them. Return here with your shields – it’s the only protection I think we have,” Perodine said, walking to us, then guiding us to the doorway.

“What do you mean ‘shields?’” Landen asked, stopping her.

I could feel her impatience and urgency. “The Cancers, the ones who have lingered at your side your entire life,” Perodine said breathlessly.

I took Landen’s hand and pulled him to the doorway. I knew what Perodine was saying: return with Dane and Marc, the two that had unknowingly guarded me and Landen throughout our lives.

“Landen,” August said to stop us. He then took a sheet of paper from the table, wrote a quick note, and rushed it to Landen. “Tell Nyla to give you these books - and make sure she gets to Pelhan.”

Landen nodded; we knew August intended on staying there and trying to unravel the scroll so he could protect us.

The people of Delen were lingering on the streets, wondering what was about to happen. Landen raised his hand and said “We’ll be right back,” over and over again, trying to assure them that they were all safe.

When we stepped in the string, my heart felt like it was pounding through my chest. I couldn’t breathe, and not finding breath sent me into a panic: I started to see black spots, then a dizzy sensation swept through me. Landen reached his arms around me and held me as tightly as he could against his chest, rushing a calm through me.
It can’t get any harder, Landen...I’m not over the last time; I can’t go through something like that again,
I thought as the panic faded in his embrace.

He leaned back and looked into my eyes, and I found myself mesmerized by the diamond blue eyes that the light of the string had created.

“
We love each other. They cannot tear us apart.”

“
I’m not as strong as you; I get weaker every time.”

“
You get stronger; we both do,”
he thought.

He swayed me with the flow of the string, and I closed my eyes and took in the overwhelming power of energy flowing around us, as well as the calm that Landen was giving me. I slowly began to catch my breath, and when the tightness in my chest began to release, I let my hand fall inside of Landen’s. He smiled at me and gently kissed my forehead.

In the distance, we could feel the string filling with emotion, an anxious emotion. Landen tightened his grip on my hand, and we began to run to Chara - fearing the worst. When the first hazes of Chara came into view, we saw hundreds of people crossing out of Chara into the neighboring dimension, Olence. We passed by them, eager to make sure our family was safe; inside our passage, we saw Chrispin and Olivia waiting with their travel bags.

“What’s going on?” Landen asked Chrispin.

“Preston and Libby told your dad to make everyone on this side of Chara move for three days; they told them to go to Olence. Do you know what they’re talking about?”Chrispin asked, bewildered.

“We have to return to Delen with Mark and Dane and take the rest of you to Pelhan,” Landen answered.

“What? You’re not hiding me away and taking Marc off to battle; I should be there – wait, why Dane?” Chrispin asked, feeling betrayed.

“I didn’t choose; that’s what Perodine said. Look, Donalt is in-between, like your Dad - only in a dark way; he’s the threat this time. I have to listen to Perodine’s advice,” Landen said, pulling me to our Jeep. “I need you to get everybody here for me; I’ll get Nyla and Marc,” he finished as we began to pull away.

Chrispin nodded and ran to his Jeep, then drove off in the other direction. Landen stopped at our house and ran in to grab our bags, then we sped through the streets to Marc’s house. All of their lights were out, and we could feel the calm of sleep coming from them. I felt so guilty; we were about to charge in and separate them after they’d had only days to know one another.

“If he wants to stay with her, then I’m going to tell him to,” Landen said as we turned into Marc’s yard.

I knew Perodine believed that the Cancers would protect us, but I didn’t want to ask either of them to return with us. I let the intent of giving Dane a choice to stay, too, come to me, and Landen smiled as he sensed it. We hesitated for a moment, staring at the dark house, feeling the love between Stella and Marc; it was so beautiful. Landen sighed heavily, then opened the Jeep door. I followed him anxiously to the porch.

Landen knocked quietly on the door, and we waited. We then felt them waking up, wondering who had the boldness to disturb them. Marc opened the door and squinted in our direction, then closed it behind him, keeping us all on the porch. “It’s a little late for a visit, don’t you think?” he said, stretching and smiling at Landen. When Landen didn’t smile back, Marc knew something was wrong. “Already?” he asked.

Landen nodded. “Three days. Perodine told us to take our families to Pelhan and return with you and Dane,” he said, looking down, then up again.

“What did Drake do? Is my mother OK?” Marc asked, angry.

“It’s Donalt, not Drake; apparently, he doesn’t feel his time is over. Marc, you don’t have to come to Delen with me, but you have to at least go to Pelhan - for your safety.”

“Oh, I’m going with you - and don’t try and talk me out of it,” Marc said, opening the door to gather his things. Landen reached for his shoulder and looked past him; Stella had come to see who was there.

“You need more time. I’ll be fine,” Landen promised.

“I’m going,” Marc said, closing the door.

Landen sighed and pulled my hand for us to leave. As we drove to get Nyla, I tried to prepare myself for her reaction when we told her that she wasn’t going to see August for three days; I couldn’t envision her without her overwhelming calm.

When we got to her house, Nyla was standing on the front porch with two travel bags at her feet and two large books in her arms. As Landen pulled up to the porch, I stepped out and took the books from her arms. Both of them were no less than six inches thick, the pages were yellow, and the leather on the covers had worn on every edge. Landen walked around and loaded the bags.

After making sure Nyla was safely in the Jeep, Landen pulled the note August had given him out of his pocket. He looked at the titles, then walked to me, took the top book, and checked the title. He did the same with the second. “These are the ones,” he whispered, shaking his head. I could feel a sense of betrayal coming from Landen; he felt like this when we’d first met: that his family had him on a need-to-know basis.

“
Best intentions,”
I thought.

“
I hope so,”
he thought, opening my door. I climbed in, and he set the books gently on my lap, then closed the door.

Nyla slid to the center of the back seat and leaned forward so she could see me. I looked to my side at her, then down to the books in my lap.

“What are these?” I asked timidly.

Nyla stretched her arm forward and let her fingertips trace over the worn leather corners. Landen climbed in and began to drive us to the passage. “This one is of my ancestors; the one on the bottom is Karsten’s ancestors,” she answered. I looked at Landen; Karsten was my grandfather, which meant that in my lap I held the history of both Landen and my bloodlines.

“Samilya was given to the ruler of the East, Oba, as a wife. It is said that Samilya did love her husband at first, but years later she ran away from him, taking their children with her. She ran to her sister Jayda, in the West, and told her that Oba was possessed by darkness. Jayda hid her sister away, but Oba sent guards to retrieve his wife and children. They took Jayda by mistake. When Jayda stood in front of Oba, he looked into her eyes, his body tensed, and he fell to the floor and screamed in pain; as he did, darkness came from his eyes, ears, and mouth. When it had all escaped him, a bitter taste surfaced in his mouth; the darkness could not reside in a body that feels only pure love. ”

I replayed her story in my mind, trying to place the names in the right place; I couldn’t help feeling an utter confusion. “I don’t understand. His wife was Samilya, not Jayda; was the darkness confused - or was Oba?” I asked.

“No one was confused. If Jayda had been given as his wife, then the darkness never would have been able to invade Oba. It didn’t matter that they were identical; real love is beyond the surface.”

“So where did the darkness go?” Landen asked as we approached the passage.

“It hasn’t returned to Analess since then,” Nyla said, sliding back to climb out of the Jeep.

Dane opened my door for me, then reached in and took the books. Clarissa was standing behind him. As I felt their solid intent on separating for my benefit, my stomach turned and dropped; I felt like I was leading an innocent lamb to sacrifice. “Dane, I think maybe you and Marc should stay with the others - that you need to shield them, not us. Perodine was not her normal calm; she could have been speaking irrationally,” I said, stepping out avoiding their eyes. I was a horrible liar - and everyone knew it.

“Well, if she was irrational, then there’s no reason for you to worry about me being at your side,” Dane said, trying to catch my eyes.

I gave in and stared up at him. “You don’t have to do this,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said, reaching back for Clarissa’s hand. I walked past them to Landen’s side; he was with Stella and Marc, and I knew he was trying once more to dissuade Marc.

Stella smiled at me as I approached. I felt her calm and shook my head slowly from side to side. “You should be angry,” I whispered as I pulled her aside. I was hoping that if I convinced her to get Marc to go with her, then Dane would follow as well.

“Why should I be angry?” Stella asked in an astonished, childlike manner as her eyes searched over my face.

“This has nothing to do with any of you; it’s unfair that you’re asked to endure it with us,” I said in a low tone, looking deep in her dark eyes.

Stella stepped forward and hugged me. “We’re all connected; you taught me that,” she said quietly as she let me go and walked to Marc’s side.

Landen reached his hand out for mine, and both of us looked behind us to our home, then to our family that stood in front of us. We struggled to fight the emotion of grief; it felt like we were saying goodbye to Chara, to all the ones we loved. Rose caught my stare, and I saw her move her head from side to side, telling us to remain calm, that we would return.

“Landen, do you want to lead? We’ll stay in the back,” Ashten asked casually. Landen nodded, then took my hand and led us all in the string.

“Willow,” I heard Brady say. I looked back to see him and Felicity walking in behind us. “Will you carry Allie?” he asked me as he reached his arm around Felicity to guide her through the darkness she was seeing; I smiled and reached to take Allie gently from her arms.

“Thank you,” Felicity said, gripping Brady now. “I’m not a big fan of the dark,” she said, smiling at herself.

“I’m sorry. It’s to keep you safe; I promise,” I said, cradling Allie.

“And we will be,” Felicity said, smiling in the direction of my voice; I wished I could bottle her optimism. I looked down at Allie to see her eyes studying the hazes around us. I took in her calm, knowing I’d need to remember it soon.