The Two Worlds (5 page)

Rena laughed a wonderful musical laugh,
and I found myself smiling, too. “What a wonderful expression!
‘What can I do you for?’”

“
Thanks,” I grinned. “I’m
from the south.”

“
Oh, the south of the Bubble
or the south of Yuron Lake?”

I stood confused for a moment and
realized she must be referring to the planet. “No, no, the south of
the United States...Mississippi to be exact.”

She paused, mirroring my confusion and
then shrugged. “Either way,” she chuckled, “you still sound funny.”
Odd as she was, she didn’t offend me and, from what I could make
out, didn’t have any weapons of any sort hanging off her. I invited
her in, but she shook her head. “Actually, I’ve come here to get
you so we can move on.”

“
Move on?”

“
Yeah, the meeting starts in
a half hour. We’re in the same group.”

I closed my door—and heard Dia lock
it—and started down the sidewalk with Rena. The sun was beaming
brightly, but there was also a warm breeze, and I felt as though I
should be walking down the beach, allowing sand in between my
toes.

“
So,” Rena began after we
walked in silence for a while, “what’s your story?”

“
My story?” I sidestepped a
small creature that had thick gray skin, black eyes, and a snarl
composed of yellow teeth. “What was that?”

Rena glanced back and said,
“Elf.”

“
Oh. Um, my story...don’t
really know what you mean.”

“
I mean, who are your mom
and dad? Are you a full-blooded Awakener or are you a mixed breed,
like me?”

The thought that there were different
races of Awakeners never occurred to me. I shrugged. “I don’t know.
I’ll have to ask my sister. What about you?”

“
My mom’s an Undine, and my
dad was a Death Walker.”

“
Undine?”

“
Yes...”, Rena paused for a
description, “they’re creatures of the sky who protect Turgor. My
mom’s on the force to protect Tormey, but Undines are everywhere.
They ensure justice. They all thought that I was going to be a mere
wizard like my cousin Tilly, but I met Paul two nights ago and here
I am.”

“
So Undines are sort of like
cops?”

“
Cops?” Rena blinked and
gave a loud laugh. “Oh, such weird language.”

We continued to walk down the streets,
dodging people, animals, and mailboxes, and Rena pulled out her
DiGi to consult where the actual meeting was.

“
The DiGi tells me that we
are very close,” she said. “It’s just ahead of us, in Redwood
Park.”

She pointed straight ahead, but I was
already staring. Beautiful trees that seemed like skyscrapers stood
close together behind a small ridiculous sign that declared
Redwood Park- Enter at Your Own Risk.
The tree trunks were
thicker than I’ve ever seen, and their branches reached out far,
mingling with each other. Rena took a deep breath and motioned for
me to follow her. As we entered the park, I looked back and found
that I couldn’t see the way out and the only sunlight around was
now the few rays that the treetops permitted.

“
This is always so
incredible,” Rena breathed, looking around. “My dad told me once
that Redwood Park is enchanted. They are just regular trees that
happen to look like redwoods. Look,” she added, pointing to our
left. “You can see that they seem to go on forever, like there are
thousands of them. But from the outside, it only looks like a few
huddled close together.”

“
This is so cool,” I
admitted, continuing to survey my surroundings. The redwoods stood
strong and proud, causing me to feel like an intruder. Pausing next
to one, I smiled as I made a mental realization that I only came up
to the first few feet of the base. The actual trunks were majestic
and smooth, while others seemed twisted, appearing to have reached
around for something. We stepped quickly over thick roots that were
about the size of my legs, and vibrant green ferns brushed against
our thighs as we moved. Birds offered soft chirps, and I tried to
place where they were because the actual branches of trees didn’t
seem to begin until at least 150 feet up.

“
We’re here,” Rena
announced, pleased with herself.

“
How do you know? They all
look the same.”

“
Because the DiGi told me.
It’s been flashing arrows the whole time. Have you actually studied
yours?” She put her DiGi back in her pocket, stepped up the nearest
redwood, and gave a gentle knock. “Redwood, would it be possible to
let us in?”

I noticed she spoke in a weird
language, but I still understood it. The tree stood still for a
moment and then shifted. I felt the ground rumble, and I grabbed
onto the next tree for support. A small patch of the tree’s trunk
detached itself from the rest and slid over, creating a door for us
to enter. Rena looked at me, obviously excited, and walked in. I
felt my excitement build, too, and followed her.

The actual inside of the Redwood took
my breath away again. From the outside, I only received a notion of
the width. But from the inside...I could fit Dia inside of it. I
instinctively looked up and couldn’t see the roof. Dim lights
peppered the inside, casting a faint glow on the small circular
chairs that were placed in two rows. Seated in the chairs were a
group of young kids that looked about my age, and sitting in front
of them was a small pale woman with brown, mousy hair that was
strewn all over her head. She looked up from a small box resting in
her lap and gave us a warm smile.

“
Hello,” she said, giving a
curt nod. I noticed her voice didn’t echo. “I’m glad you found the
place all right. We were starting to wonder.”

A few of the other kids gave us smiles
and nods, and the woman gestured to two empty seats among the
group. “Go on, take a chair. We’ve got business to get down to.”
She lifted the box from her lap and continued, “My name is Rowena
Holst, and I’m your Sector Leader. Welcome to the Awakener Group
3902B!” The other kids clapped, and Rena and I joined
in.

“
Now, a few of you,” and she
gave a small smile towards us, “are new to this. That’s okay. It’s
what I’m here for. As you all should know by now, you are
Awakeners, part of a small group of gifted people here on Turgor.
As an Awakener, you breathe life into things, creatures, and in
rare cases, people. You help make Turgor what it is. Don’t ever
think that you’re not important.” Rowena raised the box slightly
higher. “The purpose of this group, and the many identical to this,
is to help you become as powerful as you’re able to be. There is a
war, ladies and gents, and when the time comes, you might find
yourself on the battlefield. Until then, you will go on various
assignments to hone your skills, meet potential allies, and
discover new things about yourself. The box that I hold in my hands
contains Evrodes. Does anyone here know what those are?”

A girl who was the color of dark
chocolate with thick cornrows in her hair and a small gap between
her two front teeth raised her hand. “They were invented by local
wizard Rod Jurgensen in 1872.”

“
Very good,” Rowena said,
clearly impressed. “What do they do?”

“
They’re like
necklaces...necklaces that contain pieces of stones found on planet
Nerodia. These stones are used for sensing a strong emotion or
being, such as evil, and are worn by wizards to help fend off those
beings.”

“
Very good!” Rowena said
again, giving the girl a big smile.

I looked at Rena and rolled my
eyes.

Rena giggled as Rowena continued,
“Evrodes also make good pets.”

The group chuckled, and Rowena opened
the box. We all leaned on the edges of our chairs to get a better
look, but nothing extraordinary happened. Inside the box were
necklaces placed neatly beside each other, and each had a small
gray stone hanging daintily at the center.

“
Now,” Rowena began, “each
of you will line up in a single file line and come grab an Evrode.
After that we will begin going over your first
assignments.”

We did as told, and after about an hour
each of us was holding a small stone between our fingertips. I
looked around and noticed everyone else was watching theirs with
slight disappointment when, suddenly, mine shivered. Jumping a bit,
I looked down and saw that mine was no longer a round, gray pebble,
but was now a flat, smooth stone. It was a beautiful amber color.
In the center, a small opening had formed, and within that opening
a smoky substance appeared, moving as if imitating clouds on a
windy day.

“
Wow,” came a voice by my
side. Rena looked at hers, which had chosen the shape of an orange
rectangle and said, “Well, at least it isn’t shaped like a glob,
like that poor guy over there.”

I nodded and stared back down at my
Evrode. It was so pretty. My attention was broken by Rowena, who
had been watching us silently from the front of the
room.

“
Okay, people,” she smiled,
“let’s get moving to—”

“
Ouch!” a voice cried from
across the room. We all jumped and turned to look at a boy with a
high top fade, who looked extremely puzzled. “WHY’D YOU SQUEEZE ME
LIKE THAT?”

“
It can talk!” the girl with
the cornrows shouted.

“
Well, of course we can
talk,” hers said, snorting. She had sort of a pretentious air about
her. “What do you think we do, just sit around and glow, waiting
for action? We have the need to communicate just like
you.”

“
Although,” began Rena’s,
and Rena looked like she was about to bolt from her chair. “We have
never talked as much as young Awakeners do.”

“
True,” my Evrode, who
sounded like a young woman from one of the ‘hoods’ in Harlem, New
York chipped in, “but I think it’s a teenage thing, not an Evrode
thing. My great grandfather used to be an assistant to a Senior
Creator, and he said that man only spoke when he had to eat, go to
the bathroom, or get out of harm’s way.” The rest of the Evrodes
murmured in agreement, and mine continued to talk. “Oh, look
everyone. It’s Rowena!”

“
Hi, Rowena!” all of the
Evrodes shouted, pleased to have discovered her. Rowena, however,
didn’t look too surprised.

“
Hey, guys,” she grinned.
Her eyes twinkled. “I’m really glad you decided to go ahead and
speak up. I was beginning to wonder if I had received the right
box.”

“
You know you always get the
right box,” grumbled the voice that had shouted earlier. Rowena
laughed, looked around at our stunned faces, and laughed
harder.

“
Okay, okay,” she snorted,
holding her hands up as if she was surrendering. “Let me explain.
Evrodes make great pets—”

“
Pets?” they shouted in
unison.

“
Um, excuse me,
assistants
because they represent you in more ways than one.
They love to talk, and they make great companions on
trips.”

I felt as though my Evrode was watching
me.

“
I like your hair,” she
said.

“
Thanks,” I said, and
grinned. I had braided my hair in zigzags going straight back. This
was too cool.

“
Everyone introduce yourself
to your Evrode, and then we’ll go around the group and introduce
one another out loud,” Rowena shouted over us, as we were already
eagerly conversing with our new friends.

“
What’s your name?” I
ventured.

“
Yolonda,” she replied.
“What’s yours?”

“
Kathleena, but everyone
calls me Kay.”

“
Cool,” she said, sounding
hip. We quieted down as Rowena stood at the front of the group
again.

“
All right, guys,” she said,
“let’s hear those names. Let’s start with you, the one whose Evrode
began all of this chatter.”

The boy with the high top fade stood
up, nervously, and said, “My name’s Antonio Mensen,
and—”

“
My name’s Steven,” his
Evrode finished for him. Antonio gave Steven an unsure look before
taking his seat again. We went around the circle, and when it got
to my name everyone started whispering. Rena looked uncomfortable.
I finished and sat down, hoping to ask Rena what the fuss was
about. When we were finished, Rowena clapped.

“
Wonderful,” she said. “Now
then, let’s see. Oh yeah, the assignments.” She waited for everyone
to settle down and began again. “Like I said earlier, these
assignments are handed out by the Senior Counsel. They are created
by those powers that are higher than the Counsel themselves and
become increasingly difficult as your skills grow. Because we are
in a war, we must all help out. These assignments help the Counsel
keep a watchful eye on the young Awakeners as you learn. You must
always take these assignments very, very seriously. We have lost
many Awakeners who haven’t heeded warnings in the past. Make no
mistake. You can die on these missions. Some of you, those who are
not paying attention right now, will not make it back as they
become difficult. Take a good look around you, young people. The
person sitting beside you may have to save your life one
day.”

She paused to let her words sink in.
“Now, as I call your names I want you to open your DiGis. Inside
will be the assignment details. This will be the only time that I
actually tell you to look inside your DiGi. From now on, you will
be responsible for consulting them to see what your assignments
will be. Carrie Smith, Tabitha Rumhill, and Jonathan Johnson, open
your DiGis.” The three did as told, and the girl with hazel eyes
that had introduced herself as Carrie looked up in surprise. “It
says that my partners are these two.”