Talisman of El (27 page)

‘You know, being able to shape shift for only a certain amount of time is something you might have mentioned before taking us hundreds of feet off the ground,’ Alex snapped. ‘I’m just saying.’

The gang were walking through a forest, rain beating so hard it didn’t matter that there were trees all around them. They had been walking for almost twenty minutes and were drenched to the skin.

It had been almost five hours since they had set off, and they had travelled many miles south of Ardenen, over rocky valleys and mountains.

Oren led the way, a semiconscious Ash slung over her shoulder. When they came to a waterfall cave, Charlie took the head torches out of his bag and handed one to Richmond. As Oren led them deeper inside the vast cavern, he glanced up and saw tiny blue lights on the domed ceiling, which gave off the appearance of a star clustered sky. ‘Are those glow worms?’ he asked.

‘They are,’ Oren replied, ‘although they are beetles, not worms.’

Charlie trailed his hand over the rough wall to direct him along the uneven ground. Although thick moss covered the rocks, the ground wasn’t slippery but instead felt almost like he was walking on sandpaper.

The rapping of water against the rocks was loud and rhythmic, creating a soothing melody to their ears.

When Oren finally stopped, Charlie took two blankets out of his bag – courtesy of Candra – and laid them on the ground. Oren laid Ash down onto a blanket and sat beside him. The trio sat on the other blanket.

‘It’s a good thing we’d stopped when he changed back.’ Charlie glanced at Ash, whose eyelids fluttered like someone who was fighting sleep. ‘Is he okay?’

‘He’ll be fine,’ Oren said. ‘Lightworkers try not to shift too often for it takes a lot of energy out of them. The process is almost effortless for Aeons. As soon as Ash recovers, we will head off.’ She studied Charlie’s face. ‘You look tired. You should get some rest. I have heard that lack of sleep can jeopardise a human’s health.’

‘So can falling out of the sky without a parachute,’ Alex muttered under her breath.

Charlie nudged Alex. ‘Can you shift?’ he asked Oren.

For the first time, Oren looked displeased. ‘Only Lightworkers can fully shift. I would only end up shifting halfway, somewhere between animal and elemental.’

‘Like a centaur?’ Richmond asked. Oren looked at him, confused. ‘You know, half-horse, half-human.’

Oren smiled. ‘I forgot how much humans love to create stories. Fairy tales created to understand the world and how everything was formed.’

‘Yet we still have no idea about anything,’ Charlie mocked.

‘I would have to disagree. There was a time when our world and yours interacted and lived in harmony, but due to war and chaos caused by jealousy and the need for power, we stepped back and pledged an oath not to form relations with mortals. So you see, fairy tales are in most part true accounts that have been moulded and modified to a point where they have lost their credibility.’

‘Are you speaking English?’ Richmond asked. ‘’Cause I have no idea what you just said.’

‘Which language would you prefer?’ Oren asked. ‘French, Italian, Vietnamese –’

Charlie snickered. ‘That’s not what he meant.’ He addressed Richmond. ‘It’s that whole “seeing is believing” thing. Because we can’t see it, we don’t believe it.’ He turned back to Oren and asked, ‘How many languages do you speak?’

‘We speak and understand all languages.’

‘Wow. That must take some time.’

‘It is a birthright. It requires no training.’

‘What was that language you were speaking when the invasion happened?’

‘Arcadian. It is the mother tongue of Earth. Mankind have long forgotten it since their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.’

‘Can you say something in Arcadian?’ Richmond asked.

Oren smiled. ‘I am Arcadian. It would be a great discredit if I could not.’ She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘Ne kavegur qlati iciu qopl giv.’

Charlie’s head twitched as he felt a burning sensation in the back of his neck that rose to the crown of his head. Even after Oren had stopped talking, the words lingered in his mind. ‘What does it mean?’ he asked.

‘It means,’ Oren said, ‘be careful what you wish for.’

It wasn’t until that moment that Charlie started to think about what he was going to ask for if he found the Tree of Life. He let his mind wander on his parents, and then he thought about Derkein.

‘How many languages do you all speak?’ Oren asked.

Richmond and Alex raised their index fingers.

‘Just the one,’ Charlie replied.

‘He’s being modest,’ Alex interjected. ‘He speaks French and Spanish – interprets them, I mean.’

Charlie glanced sideways at her. ‘How many times do I have to tell you that was a fluke?’

Alex shrugged. ‘Depends … How many more languages do you speak?’

Charlie rolled his eyes and looked away from her.

‘What is a fluke?’ Oren asked.

‘It means luck,’ Charlie answered.

‘Which he has a lot of,’ Alex muttered.

To change the subject, Charlie asked, ‘So how long do you think it’s going to take us to get to Eden?’

‘Five hours at the most,’ Oren replied. ‘If Avaran does not intervene, that is. Derkein was adamant that you return home. He is very protective of you.’

That guilt Charlie had felt earlier gripped him. Not only did he go against Derkein’s wishes, he was also putting the others at risk. If anything happened to them, it would be his fault, and he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

‘Perhaps we should all get some sleep,’ Oren suggested.

Charlie turned to Richmond and saw that he had already fallen asleep. He switched his and Richmond’s head torches off then lay on his back, gazing up at the glowing ceiling.

‘Charlie,’ Alex whispered into his ear. He turned to face her. ‘Bonne nuit.’
Good night.

He couldn’t help but smile. ‘Dormir avec un oeil ouvert,’ he whispered back.
Sleep with one eye open.

‘What does that mean?’

‘Look it up.’

Alex snorted, rolling her eyes. She looked away, and for a moment, he could swear her cheek lifted, as if she had smiled. He looked back at the ceiling. It was only now with his mind finally on pause that he realised his eyes were stinging, his lids becoming heavier by the second. All it took was for him to close his eyes once, and he was out.

A noise woke Charlie, and his eyes flashed open. He forgot where he was for a moment, until the distant tapping of water brought his focus back. Feeling warm air against his cheek, he turned his head and saw Alex snuggled against his shoulder, asleep.

He studied her in the limited light, the flutter of her eyelids, the rise and fall of her chest, the curve at the edge of her mouth, wondering what it was she was dreaming about. He was tempted to brush the damp hair out of her face, but he didn’t want to wake her. She looked so peaceful. In that moment, as he watched her, all the craziness he had been through over the last few months vanished. He could lay beside her for the rest of –

Alex budged, and Charlie looked away quickly. Sitting up, he saw that Richmond and Ash were still asleep. But he wasn’t the only one awake. Oren had vanished.

Opening the front pocket of his bag, he pulled out Derkein’s pocketknife and slipped it inside his jeans pocket. He then got up and headed out of the cave.

As he reached the entrance, he stopped, ran his hands under the cold waterfall, and took a sip to sooth his dry throat. The water was refreshing and sweet.

Charlie headed through the forest. The rain had stopped, and the sky was once again a bright blue heaven. ‘Oren,’ he called out. He checked his watch: 10:23 a.m. They had been asleep for almost two hours, which left them with only two days before their automatic expulsion from Arcadia.

The damp smell of the earth was so sharp it made his throat tickle. After walking for a few minutes, he stopped. Bracing his back against a tree, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

It was a photograph: his parents on the beach.

‘Who are they?’ a voice above him said, startling him. He looked up and saw Oren stooped on a branch, gazing down at him. ‘What is it with you people and trees?’ Oren jumped down, landing in a crouched position.

Straightening up, she said, ‘It allows us to see at a farther distance. Are they your parents?’ She indicated at the photo.

Charlie nodded and handed the photo to her, which she examined then handed back to him. ‘Where are they?’ she asked.

Charlie hesitated for a second. ‘They’re with the angels.’
So

they told me.

‘That is not a bad place to be.’

He studied her with curiosity and then pocketed the photo.

‘If I asked you something you’d be honest, right?’

‘Of course.’

‘Say, by some miracle, I find the garden. Can the Tree of Life grant wishes?’ Charlie sucked in a short breath. Now that he had asked, he wondered if he wanted to hear the answer. Oren wore an odd expression. It was close to pity. She moved closer to him and placed a hand on his chest, her dark eyes penetrating his. A strange yet familiar sensation seized Charlie’s heart. He knew neither what it was nor what he was feeling … happy, anxious, expectant? Nevertheless, it was soothing.

Oren opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say, Charlie didn’t get to hear it. She twisted her head to the side, her hand still on his chest. He followed her gaze and saw nothing, but the wind shifted, and he caught a faint scent of wet dog.

He and Oren locked eyes. He could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong.

In that same moment, Oren grabbed him around the waist and leaped into the air. The next thing he knew, he was standing on a branch, his back braced against the tree, Oren braced against him. Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but Oren pressed her finger to his lips. Then he heard a deep growl. He glanced at the ground below him, his heart pounding, but he couldn’t locate the source of the sound.

After a pause that seemed like forever, Oren – Charlie still braced against her – leaped off the branch and landed with a thud. She led the way back to the cave.

‘Wake up,’ Oren instructed.

Ash jumped up as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over him.

Richmond sat up, rubbing his eyes. ‘What is it?’

‘Trouble,’ Charlie said. He grabbed his bag and was about to pack the blankets back inside when he noticed something and stopped. ‘Where’s Alex?’ He turned to the others. The look of hopeless despair on their faces said it all. Charlie dropped the bag and took off.

He was about twenty feet away from the cave when Oren grabbed him.

‘It is best Ash and I go alone,’ she said.

Charlie looked at Ash, who had just caught up to them, Richmond beside him. Although Ash was standing up – his sword in his hand – he seemed to sway a little.

‘We will find her,’ Oren assured him. ‘Go back.’ Just as Charlie and Richmond were about to head back to the cave, a sharp, guttural growl erupted around them. At once, Oren dipped into her pouch and pulled out a pair of black gloves with claws instead of finger slots. They must have been what Charlie had seen her holding the night before.

She slipped them on and stood in front of him and Richmond, Ash beside her.

Charlie caught a movement ahead of them and froze. Two piercing red eyes came into view. Something tall began to creep slowly towards them. As it came closer, they saw a large, black, furry creature standing on its hind legs. With a thud, it dropped down into a crouch, its long, thick hands clenching the ground. The beast looked like a wolf, except larger. The creature exposed its sharp cannibalistic teeth as its crimson eyes devoured them.

‘Werewolf!’ Richmond took the thought out of Charlie’s head.

‘No,’ Oren hissed. ‘Archon.’

Return of the King

CHARLIE AND RICHMOND STUMBLED back in fear. Hearing another growl, they whipped around and saw a second wolf coming in from the east. Then another appeared, and another. The boys stared horror-stricken at the beasts that surrounded them.

Charlie had deemed Ash a monster when he had transformed, but he was wrong. He was staring at the real monsters. These demons resembled werewolves, but even the most menacing illustrations he often saw on TV looked spineless compared to the beasts before him.