Talisman of El (29 page)

‘I am not referring to Gaddis.’ Candra took a step forward. When she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out.

Charlie wondered what was happening, until a low voice behind him hissed, ‘Candra.’ He turned round and saw Isis and Terra, who had abandoned her dress for a cream corset, black skinny jeans, and knee-length boots, a quiver, and bow strapped to her back. Alex and Derkein were kneeling on the ground beside them, their faces pale.

A ball of blue light appeared in Isis’ palms, a yellow light in Terra’s palms. Both wore the same hostile expressions. Charlie glanced back at Candra, who didn’t seem at all fazed that her life was in danger.

‘Enough,’ Avaran ordered.

At once, the energy balls in Isis and Terra’s hands dwindled to nothing, but the aggression on their faces remained.

As Charlie’s eyes flickered around the group, he realised Richmond was absent. Then he saw a movement ahead, something bounding from tree to tree. When Oren landed behind the others, he spotted Richmond clinging to her back. The smile on his face proved he enjoyed playing Tarzan and Jane more than riding a dragon.

Coming in behind them was a fire phoenix. As it swooped into a dive, it transformed into Ash, who landed upright beside Oren. He gave Charlie a nod, a smug smile creasing his handsome face. ‘Way to keep alive, Dolittle.’ Ash let his gaze wander over the group, and a curious expression crossed his features. ‘Did I miss something?’

‘Charlie,’ a familiar voice croaked.

Uh-oh
. Charlie turned to Derkein, who was now standing up, staggering like a drunken person – the effect of teleportation.

‘I – you – I can’t believe …’ Derkein stammered. ‘What were you –?’ He broke off mid sentence when he spotted Candra. ‘Who are you?’

‘My name is Candra,’ she greeted him.

Derkein looked at Charlie with a stunned expression.

‘If Gaddis is no longer your king, as you claim,’ Avaran asked, ‘then under whose command do you serve?’

Candra looked at Charlie. ‘His.’

Charlie raised his eyebrows. He turned round and saw all eyes on him. ‘Oh come on. Do I
look
like a king?’

‘Aeons have the names of all prophets seared into our minds,’ Candra said. ‘Charlie Blake is not one of them.’

Charlie felt his body shaking, and he clenched his hands into fists.

‘You refuse to accept who he is, Avaran,’ Candra said. ‘I have seen the way you look at him. You know it is the truth.’

Charlie didn’t know when it had happened, but Avaran had transformed into his physical form.

‘This child is mortal,’ Avaran said.

‘That he is,’ said Candra. ‘But he is also an avatar.’

Charlie heard murmurs behind him, and he turned round. The humans looked confused, the Arcadians curious and stunned. He glanced at Avaran, who was the only one with a straight face. He thought back to the way Avaran had looked at him when he’d mentioned the black diamond. It was as if he had seen a ghost.

‘What’s an avatar?’ Richmond asked.

‘An avatar is the incarnation of a divine being in a mortal shell,’ Avaran said in a faraway voice.

‘This is a joke, right?’ Derkein said. ‘You’re telling me that Charlie is some kind of –’

‘Angel,’ Candra finished. Her eyes sparkled with an unearthly light when her gaze fell on Charlie. ‘You are an angel, Charlie.’

Charlie thought back over everything that had happened: the sabre-tooth tiger, the strange blast that had shot out of the sky when the wolf was about to attack him, the pictures he had drawn as a child, the images he had seen when he had touched the talisman, the white-haired being. His heart was pounding so hard he wondered if the others could hear it. The only explanation he could think of was that he was dreaming. It wasn’t the first crazy dream he’d had. So, he pinched himself.
Bugger!

Candra lowered herself onto one knee and bowed her head. When she looked up again, she said, ‘King Sol has returned to Earth.’

Shut up, shut up, shut up!
Charlie screamed inwardly. He wondered why, if his mum had known, she hadn’t said anything in her letters. It wasn’t true, he told himself. If it were, she would have told him. The murmurs in the back were louder this time, but he didn’t turn round.

Candra stood up. ‘For fourteen years, I have watched over him,’ she went on. Charlie kept his gaze on the ground. ‘In the process of being born human, he has forgotten his origins. His memories are locked inside his mind – as are his abilities.’

Charlie’s head snapped up. Candra had a look in her eyes that made him think back to the vision he’d had about the palace in the forest. She was looking at him the same way she had done when she had greeted him as
‘Your Majesty’
. She believed he was King Sol. Despite his doubts, he found himself becoming overwhelmed with compassion.

It was at this point he finally found his voice. ‘I know you think I’m him, but I’m not. I’m …’ He trailed off as he tried to find the right words. ‘I don’t know, but it’s not this. I don’t belong here.’
I don’t belong anywhere.

‘Gaddis has risen,’ Candra said. ‘He will seek out the talisman, and when he finds it, he will destroy anyone who gets in his way. You are the only one who can stop him.’

‘This is outrageous,’ Derkein said. ‘Angel or not, lady, he’s just a kid.’

‘The world is on the brink of destruction,’ Candra said, addressing the Arcadians. ‘We have one chance to finish what we started. We cannot fail. Avaran, you want the truth. You know what to do.’ She locked eyes with Charlie once again. ‘You chose me to be your Guardian. For that, I thank you. But if you think I am going to stand by and let you break your covenant, think again.’

Charlie looked at her with uncertainty, wondering if she had just threatened him.

‘You remind me of her,’ said Candra, a smile playing on her lips. ‘She was also stubborn.’

A lump formed in Charlie’s throat, threatening to suffocate him, and he felt a sting in his eyes. Only his dad had ever spoken about his mum.

‘There are some things we cannot change, Charlie,’ Candra went on. ‘But that does not mean we should give up.’ As she stepped forward, Charlie heard a shuffling noise and glanced around to see the Arcadians surrounding him and the others, determined expressions on their faces.

Charlie looked back at Candra, who had stopped a few inches in front of the group. She was unarmed, her composure relaxed.

‘I leave him in your care for now, Avaran,’ said Candra. ‘Gaddis knows not what he is up against. I intend it to stay that way. Choose your team wisely. The time has come to end this war.’ She glanced at Charlie and bowed to him again. Then she was gone.

The gang stood for a long while in silence.

For weeks, Charlie had longed for answers, for someone to tell him what was happening to him and why. Now that he knew, he wished he didn’t. He and his mum weren’t alike. She didn’t have visions because she was different. She had visions because he was different. She had nightmares …
because of me.

Charlie hadn’t realised he was still clenching his fists until his fingers went numb. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at the olive eyes that studied him with concern.

‘I know this is a lot to take in,’ Derkein said, ‘but we just have to remain calm. How are you doing? Are you all right?’

Charlie nodded, though he could tell from Derkein’s expression that he wasn’t buying into his pretence. He checked his watch. It was 11:03 a.m. ‘We still have two days to find Eden.’

‘Just forget about Eden for a second,’ Derkein demanded. ‘We have to talk about what just happened.’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Ash said. ‘She’s an Archon. Manipulating people is what they do.’

‘But why target Charlie?’ Alex asked.

‘He’s weird,’ Ash said. ‘I don’t claim to understand their mentality, but there’s no way Dolittle is King Sol. He was the Chief Ruler of Arcadia.’

Charlie looked at Avaran, realising he hadn’t said anything in a while. He wondered if he was considering the possibility that Candra was telling the truth. At that moment, Avaran turned his head and locked eyes with him. He shivered, as was always the reaction whenever Avaran looked directly into his eyes.

‘I believe you have already had a glimpse of the future,’ Avaran said.

Charlie knew which future he was referring to. His gaze flickered to Terra, who was staring intently at him. It seemed as if she was searching for something – or someone. He averted his eyes from her, afraid she might see something in his countenance.

‘It is time we find out the truth,’ Avaran said.

‘And how exactly do you plan on doing that?’ asked Derkein, his expression wary.

‘The Hall of Records,’ Charlie answered.

Wasteland

AS SOON AS CHARLIE’S feet touched the ground, he felt himself falling backwards, but Terra wrapped her arm around his back, holding him up. Charlie had recalled from the last time he teleported that deep breathing was vital, so this time he didn’t feel so nauseated, and the feeling of vertigo didn’t last long. It took him seconds to recover. It took Alex, Derkein and Richmond longer.

The land of Koura comprised of three sectors. On the outer edge were the quarters of the four kingdoms, parted by four waterways that ran into a main river, which surrounded the centre of commerce, training and administration – the midsection. Finally, bang in the centre, where the Hall of Records and the garden were located, was the city of Eden.

The gang had to travel across The Ocean – the only ocean in Arcadia – to get to Koura. It would have been easy to teleport all the way to the Hall of Records, except, no one could teleport in or out of Eden. Therein lay the problem.

‘Archons tend to keep to the air kingdom in the east,’ Avaran explained, as they headed through the woods, ‘but it is not unprecedented to find them scouting the lands of the other kingdoms, as you have witnessed in Ardenen. Now that their leader has returned, his loyal servants are re-emerging. You may have noticed the increase in disasters over the last few months. These are not coincidences. They are only the beginning.’

Charlie felt a sharp jolt of energy deep in his gut. He recognised it immediately. It was guilt; something he had been feeling a lot of recently. He hadn’t spoken a single word since they left Ardenen. From the time Candra had entered his life, he had expected things to change, but he could never have guessed the scenario where he suddenly became the Chief Ruler of Arcadia. He wasn’t a leader. Richmond’s theory of him being psychic was starting to sound good right about now.

Avaran and Isis were leading the way, followed by Alex and Oren, then Charlie and Richmond, Ash behind them, and finally Derkein and Terra, whom, Charlie observed, were getting on rather well. He had caught the two of them smiling at each other now and again, though he couldn’t picture a romance between them since Terra was an Aeon, and Aeons didn’t fall in love.

Charlie’s mind wandered on Alex, who had barely looked at him since Candra’s big revelation. He had told himself she was just in shock, that she knew he was still the same person she had met all those months ago. After he thought that, he only wished he believed it.

Ash fell into step beside him. ‘Hey,’ he said. ‘If it turns out you are King Sol, do I have permission to call you Dolittle?’

Charlie rolled his eyes. ‘Considering you did save my life, you can call me whatever.’

‘“Whatever”,’ Ash mused. ‘Catchy, but I prefer Dolittle.’

Charlie couldn’t help but smile. He always forgot how literal Arcadians were. ‘About the whole saving my life thing …’ He didn’t look at Ash when he spoke. ‘Thanks.’

‘It’s my duty to help mortals in danger,’ Ash said with an air of nonchalance, ‘so don’t go thinking you’re special or anything.’

‘Noted.’ Charlie’s gaze fixed on Alex, who was wearing baggy jeans and an
Earth Is Full, Go Home
t-shirt. He glanced at Oren in her tight getup, her hips swaying from side to side. She was definitely older than she looked. When he looked back at Alex, he caught her staring at him, her eyes gloomy. She turned her gaze back to the front.