Jamyria: The Entering (The Jamyria Series Book 1) (9 page)

“Kill me. Margo, I know the consequences. I’ve been here much longer than you,” he says grabbing her shoulders. He looks deep into her eyes and says, “I’m not going to let you go out there alone. I can be stubborn, too, you know?”

Margo warms.

Janie’s face is just as bright as ever. “He’ll take good care of you, Margo. I feel better about this already.”

“So do I,” says Nick, his lips pulling into a crinkly smile. “We trust you, son. Guide her.”

Suddenly, relief warms Margo as she realizes that she won’t be alone. She would never have guessed that something good could come from this place, but something has. And now she has motivation knowing that she will not only free the people of this world, but she will free Cameron, too.

But there is a part of her that is now much more afraid of what will happen if she fails. And failure now will be much worse since there is more to lose.

Chapter Eight: The Penny Challenge

So much had happened within the past twenty-four hours that Margo hadn’t realize how badly she needed a break from the chaos. Losing her life back home was tragic but finding a missing piece of that life in Jamyria seems to level the scale some. She and Cameron trade stories of their past summers together, laughing at the fun memories and blushing over the embarrassing ones, almost as if they never lost their time together this last year. As if, for the first time in a long time, her life is normal. Although Margo thinks it unusual to find ‘normal’ in a different world.

When their conversation eventually fades into quiet laughter, Nick rises to stand at the head of the room. With a sudden clearing of his throat, he demands their attention. Margo leans in, understanding the importance of his next words; they’ve yet to discuss the task at hand.

“Margo, before we get into the details of your job here in Jamyria, we must go over the basic use of your power.”

The abrupt change in the conversation’s direction catches her off guard. Since her arrival she’s been told of the power she possesses dozens of times, though she hadn’t thought about using it. She assumed it was more for show or a status symbol.

She nods slowly in acceptance.

“Now,” he continues, “I want you to pay close attention to what I’m doing. And do not be alarmed.”

No other introduction is necessary. Nick holds out his marked hand palm side up and closes his eyes. Face strained and wrinkles tightening around his eyes, he channels his every thought and action into whatever it is he’s doing. Suddenly slivers of light flare up along the edges of the marks on his hand. Beams of white burst from every detail, filling the room with soft rays. The light separates itself from his hand, collecting midair and taking the form of tiny illuminated orbs above the center of his palm. It only lasts a few blinding seconds, and then the light disappears. In its place is a shiny penny, which he pinches between his fingers and hands to Margo.

“How did you do that?” she breathes, turning it over in her hands. There are no flaws. A perfect replica.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Cameron asks as he elbows her.

She nods still looking the coin over. Now that she sees what this power can do, it is a much greater gift than she had imagined. She wonders what its limits are….

“Once you’ve gotten the feel of your power, you shouldn’t have any problem with this,” says Nick. “It’s quite simple, actually. And after you’ve learned the basics, you can move onto more difficult things.”

“It’s like a magic trick,” she muses. “Like pulling a coin out of thin air, only it uses actual magic.” Margo smiles and looks away from the penny for the first time. “Can you show me more?”

There is a slight drop in Nick’s face when he replies. “I lost a lot of my power a while back. It takes a lot out of me to do even the little things now.”

“Oh, right…” Margo feels ashamed for even asking. Janie shuffles her feet uncomfortably.

“Do you think you’re ready to try?” asks Nick.

“I just don’t know if I understand what you did,” she admits. Though he showed her firsthand, he hadn’t explained much.

“Well, it may look simple,” which it didn’t, “and it is once you’ve got it down, but it takes a lot of concentration in the beginning. Now hold your hand out like this.”

He flattens Margo’s palm like his was a moment ago.

“It’ll work even though my power isn’t in my palm?”

“Yes, it makes no difference where your mark is. The power runs through your nervous system, if you want to get technical. Basically, it pulls from your marks but can be sent anywhere in your body. Your hand is just a…comfortable place to create from.”

“Nervous system? So, if I’m following you, it’s connected to my brain?”

He smiles. “Everything your body does is signaled by your brain, my dear. But, yes, the power is controlled directly from your brain and runs through your entire nervous system where it then escapes your body through your pores. With that, you can do or create anything imaginable. And much more…”

Margo looks nervously at her markings knowing that if she pulls this off they would be lit up as his were.

“Now stand up, close your eyes,” Nick says. Margo obeys reluctantly. He speaks in a slow, soothing voice to coax her through the training. “First, concentrate on every detail of the penny — every curve, line, shape, color, every word on that penny.” He pauses to let her focus. “Have you got it?”

She nods doing as he said.

“Good. Here comes the tricky part. Begin to search within yourself for something…different. Feel out the different senses in your body until you find something new.”

Even though it sounds bizarre, Margo attempts to do as she’s told. Straining nearly everything inside of her, she searches for this mysterious ‘sense.’ She sorts through different actions connected to her brain — lungs with breath, skin with touch, tongue with taste — until she surprisingly does come upon something strange.

There is a definite churning motion inside her that she has never recognized before — a faint sensation much like the static when folding freshly dried laundry. It is coming from somewhere within her. She searches out the prime location of this charge and its function. It forms at the back of her neck.

Margo smiles.

“Ah,” says Nick. “You’ve located it.” He doesn’t have to ask to know. “Now, focus on this new ‘muscle’ and work on stretching it toward your hand.”

These instructions to Cameron and Janie must seem foreign, but they remain silent all the same. Margo wishes to see Cameron’s face, but she doesn’t dare peek.

She feels this energy out and works on growing it inside her, pulling it downward, downward… Stretching it down toward her awaiting palm and feeling it overcome all ordinary senses. It floods every inch of her arm like a warm, electric liquid until it reaches her fingertips.

A sudden surge of energy pumps down Margo’s arm causing her to jolt backwards.

“Whoa…” She opens her eyes. Her head is spinning as she regains focus on the room around her. Her arm is filled with sharp prickles. “I definitely felt something…”

Margo looks down at her hand only to find it empty.

“You felt it?” asks Nick.

“Yeah, but I must’ve —”

“You lost your focus,” he snaps. The harshness of his voice takes Margo aback.

“I didn’t mean to, but when the —”

“Again,” he barks.

“Nick Thomas!” Janie fusses. “Let her take her time if —”

“I said ‘
again
!’”

She immediately shuts her eyes and holds her hand out, afraid to disobey. Margo focuses on the energy in her neck again guiding it down her arms much quicker this time, perhaps out of fear of making another mistake. The stream of liquid static runs to her fingers until, this time, it began to seep through the layers of her skin. It flows out of her body completely and disappears into the air. She could hear Cameron gasp.

She’s certain it worked this time since she can no longer feel it in her arm. But when she looks down, she is disappointed.

“I felt it, I swear!”

But before she can explain further, Nick barks, “Again!”

“But I —”

“
Again
!”

Margo turns to Cameron who is sitting still with his face hard and arms crossed while Janie says, “Nick, you’re being too hard on her. You can’t expect her to be able to get it on her first try.”

Nick opens his mouth, but Margo cuts him off. “I really am trying, Nick.”

“Trying isn’t good enough!”

“But you said it would be hard!”

“You are the one sent to us to do great things!” he shouts. “You should be able to do a simple coin creation.”

“How do you expect me to learn from my mistakes if you don’t tell me what I’m doing wrong?”

“YOU’RE NOT FOCUSING ON YOUR TARGET!” he belts. “The penny.” His breathing is heavy as he paces the floor. His expression darkens.

“Nick…” Cameron warns.

Margo is on the verge of tears now. Had they not been telling her it would be difficult to learn this? Is she really failing so?

Her embarrassment turns into anger as she shuts her eyes, tears nearly spilling over. She holds out her hand pulling everything from her mark into the center of her palm while focusing on the penny she is to create. This time Margo pictures the round piece of copper resting in her hand. The electricity intensifies until it disappears through the pores of her palm. As soon as the liquid feeling dissolve, Margo feels a small amount of weight drop into her hand.

She holds her breath as she opens her eyes but finds a round ball of raw copper resting in her hand.

“Dang it,” she mutters, even more embarrassed now.

“Bravo, Margo!” Nick praises. His face is lit up now.

Margo looks up at him dumbfounded by his change in attitude. Cameron stands up and pats her on the back.

“He was just trying to stir up some anger,” he tells her.

“What?” Margo gasps.

Nick and Janie laugh, and now she understands. Everyone played their part in the act.

“Don’t take offense, now,” says Nick, holding his hands up defensively. “The power is not always driven by will but by emotion.”

“So you decided it’d be alright to stir up some emotion?” Margo asks, a little irritated.

The three of them stand there with sheepish expressions.

“It worked,” Cameron points out.

The frustration returns, “No, it didn’t.” Margo drops the ball of copper on the small coffee table. It rolls around in wobbly, uneven circles. “I didn’t make a penny.”

“I must have really scared you…” muses Nick.

“I wouldn’t say ‘scared.’ Shocked, maybe…” Margo looks up at Nick as he scratches the back of his head in embarrassment and realizes that perhaps it wasn’t an act. Not that she doesn’t trust him, but maybe, before he lost most of his mark, maybe he was quite a scary guy.

“To be honest,” he says. “I’m surprised you were able to pull anything out on just your third try. This usually takes a lot of practice, but you even felt your power on the first attempt…” He trails off shaking his head in excitement, muttering incoherently about a prodigy to himself.

“You’ve done exceptionally well,” says Janie.

“I’m impressed,” adds Cameron winking down at Margo.

Even though nothing truly physical has happened, Margo suddenly feels a wave of exhaustion. She slumps into the nearest chair.

“I think that’s enough for one day,” says Janie. She scurries into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water for Margo.

“Yes,” agrees Nick. “No need to push you any further today. Just remember that any strong emotion triggers your power. This is vitally important for a New Mark since you have no prior experience. It’s a good way to practice until you get the gist of how this sensation within you works.”

Margo nods, and repeats, “Strong emotions…trigger power… Got it.”

“Right, then. Get some rest,” says Nick. “Spend the afternoon with Cameron.” Margo likes that idea, but is far too tired to even think about going anywhere — no matter how badly she wants to explore more of this strange world — so they stay at Nick’s house. Most of the afternoon is spent in the spare bedroom that she slept in the night before. There is plenty for them to talk about and catch up on; though, Margo keeps certain things brief and leaves out the more painful memories since his last visit.

Mostly she wants to hear about how he found his way into this world. He tells her it happened on his morning run, like any ordinary day, when he saw a globe reflecting the sun’s light. He was curious, of course, and next thing he remembers, he was lying in the icy woods.

Margo shudders as she can relate to it all. She finds she would rather not think about that again, especially imagining Cameron going through it, so she picks up one of Nick’s many sketches scattered about the room to change the subject.

“That’s the Northern City,” he says matter-of-factly. The picture she holds is of odd, round-topped houses suspended in the forest’s trees.

“This isn’t the only city?” Margo asks, surprised.

He shakes his head. “This is the Central City, the main city. The Northern City’s occupants live in this world more…optimistically.”

“Meaning…?”

“They’re looking up. They haven’t given up on life outside of Jamyria as most of the Central City’s people have. The people there are willing to fight for a way to freedom — New Mark or not.”

Margo’s heart sinks a little, realizing which city Cameron had chosen. “Have you given up on life, then?”

“Hardly. I had my reasons for choosing this city. Also, people from the North can be very confrontational, not really my style…. I am, however, more thankful to have taken up a home here now that you’ve arrived.” He stares oddly at her.

“Tell me about this one.” She holds up another picture to change the subject.

“Shadow People,” he states. His eyes cut away from the drawing, and he acts busy shuffling through other drawings. The picture is nearly all black except the outlines of several people whose dark clothes and gloves cause them to mostly blend into the background.