Tranquil Fury (26 page)

“Well, first, how do you feel?”

“Everything seems okay, not hot under the collar, no fever. I just happen to be able to make fire. Simple, right? Nothing to get excited about? Right?”

 “Wow! Well, if you want a guess, I’d say that you and Lauren are twins, and both share the same DNA. Maybe Lauren attracts one type, the female magic, and because you have the same DNA, but different chromosomes, you attract the male magic. Nature usually creates forces in two, to keep balance. Maybe what is happening to you, it is similar to what is happening to Lauren, only different?”

 “So you don’t think this is odd.”

John’s voice became excited, “Everything in this freaking world is odd. Do I think your anomaly is within the established standards of this strange world? Completely! You could grow horns out of your head, turn into a snake, and I would still think it was normal for this place. You could walk through a wall or show me your insides, and still I would not consider it odd. If we were back home, I would say that you had a real problem, phone the government, and turn you in for a big reward.” John’s voice grew louder, more excited, “Here? Here, I don’t know what normal is anymore.”

“Well, what should I do?”

“Well, if like Lauren, you have an external benefactor who is…”

 “A what?”

 “If somebody is guiding you, like they are Lauren, go with the flow. Just be careful when you pass gas.”

 “What?”

John started to laugh, “Be careful of what you are thinking when you fart, that could really hurt.”

 “You don’t think I could…”

 “Logan, I don’t know what to think. Tomorrow we should go see the Earth Mother. Let’s talk to her, maybe she can provide you with more answers.”

 “I really don’t like her, and she is not looking all that good right now.”

 “Logan, do you want answers? If so, then we will go talk with her tomorrow.” John walked Logan to the door, pushed him into the hall, and then placed a chair against it, so that no other oddities would walk in on him. As he crawled into bed, he rolled over on his side, blew out the candle, and stared at the fireplace.
At least he could have extinguished the fire out before he left.

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A fresh breeze blew in the window, sunlight streamed through the open shutters. Lauren struggled with a dilemma:
should I have a warm bath, or go down for a hot meal? Or stay warm and safe here in my bed
? Eventually the bath called to her, and she crawled out from under the covers. Once dressed, she headed down to the kitchen, looking forward to her morning greeting from Gor.

 “Good morning Earth Daughter. Please you what would today?”

Crap
,
Should have stayed in bed.
All of her hungry friends had filled the kitchen, “I will wait for the regular breakfast in the dining hall Gor.”

 “A while it could be. Greatly missed on your trip I was.”

“That’s okay Gor, please look after my friends.” Lauren then headed out to the main dining hall, where she found a pot of the hot bean juice, and saw Alron sitting in the far corner, deep in thought. She approached him cautiously, “May I join you?”

“Earth Daughter, thou would be most welcome.”

“Alron, what is wrong with the Earth Mother? She looks, well, she looks
old
.”

 “She does be old Earth Daughter. Elder of the eldest, she does be.”

“So, now that we know there is no plague, and that an army invades these lands, what happens next?”

 “Earth Daughter, I shalt meet with mine Earth Mother this morning. Later she does want to meet with thou. Perhaps this day, answers and actions, both shalt be born.”

Lauren could sense that Alron was thinking about other things, just being polite to her, and when she saw Eric enter the dining hall, excused herself to talk to him, “How does the armor fit?”

 “Like it was built for me, which scares me.”

 “How about the sword training?”

 “I would have better luck training them to play basketball. They are so short.” The frustration in Eric’s voice was noticeable, “They show me moves, which I mirror, but when we try to spar, everything is wrong. And they gave me a wooden sword, three feet long, so I wouldn’t hurt them. Are you sure I am supposed to be the champion?”

 “Well, if the armor fits?”

 “Funny, can’t you just find me a magic potion to drink? I don’t know how much more of this my shins can take, and the elves are starting to get upset with me.”

 “I guess I am talking to the Earth Mother today. I will ask her if she knows anything.”

Eric rubbed his neck, “Sounds like you guys had a pretty strange trip. No plague, attacked, and defended by birds. Has John figured out what is happening?”

 “Parts of it. I don’t think anybody is sure of what to do next.” As they were talking, Zack walked into the dining room to get a fresh pitcher of ale, then left.

Eric turned back towards Lauren, “You might want to talk to Zack, I think he went on a bender. I don’t think I saw him at all last week, though the training was keeping me pretty busy.”

Lauren spent the remainder of the morning, avoiding people the way the answers avoided her. Wandering through the mine, evading all glances from any, she found herself at the terrace door of their meeting room, where she saw Ryan sitting with his back to her, started twirling what was left of the purple streak in her hair, and went back to her room.

Ryan thought he heard the terrace door open, but when he turned around, there was nobody there.

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It was towards noon when Gingaar knocked on Lauren’s door, who opened it while still combing the last few knots out of a freshly dyed streak of purple. Gingaar nodded her head in approval, and then led Lauren to meet with the Earth Mother. As the two proceeded down the hall, they saw Alron exiting her room, his face white, and he did not greet them as they passed. Gingaar opened the door for Lauren, but did not follow her into the room.

The Earth Mother propped up in her bed, somehow managed to look even older. “Earth Daughter please does sit. Much does we hath to talk about.” Lauren wanted to leave, took a deep breath, walked over to the Earth Mother, and sat beside her. The Earth Mother smiled, “Answers we finally does hath. Plague naught, issue does be invasion. Too late does it be, can thou change where winds does now blow? Canst this invasion be pushed back?”

“I don’t think it is too late. They used trickery to get this far, probably because they have a small force. Once we tell the people what is really happening, they should be willing to fight back, and you will probably need to raise an army, because if they have one, you should also.”

 “Thou does good Earth Daughter. Mother’s children, we does need to find, truth does show them. Can thou do this?”

 “Pardon?”

 “Thou did say, children tell. First thou must find them.”

 “I don’t know where they are Earth Mother. I don’t know this land. I don’t know...”

“Mother does bring thou here to help. Answers thou does provide, but thine task does naught be complete. Mother’s children, suffer they still does. Chosen thou were, chosen to save her children thou does be.”

 “I need time to think about it. I really wasn’t… I don’t know… What am I…”

“Earth Daughter, mine time does be short, as Mother does call me to join her. Thou does be chosen for this task…”

 “What do you mean your time is short? Mother calls you to join her?”

 “When mine duties does be done, she does call me home,”

“You are going to die?”

“I does go to be with Mother, naught die.”

“Once you are with her, can we still talk?”

 “When I does go to Mother, talk we canst naught more. Only to Mother canst I talk, and she does tell me what thou does say.”

She’s dying. They are going to stuff me in her shoes. Then expect me to lead them down some path, and at the end, everybody will gather in a circle and start singing happy songs, “
I wasn’t expecting this, I need some time to think.” Lauren did not ask to be excused, she simply stood, and left the room.

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John was upset, “Look, I really need to see the Earth Mother.”

Alron shook his head, “Does tell me what does trouble thou. If it does concern mine Earth Mother, consult her I shalt. But she does be weak, rest she does need.”

 “Do you promise not to tell anybody else?” Alron nodded his head in agreement, “Well, if it is the only way.” John collected his thoughts, “Do you remember when we were attacked in that deserted village? Logan thinks he turned on the street lamps. And when we were attacked in the field, he thinks he made the birds swarm. He has two strange tattoos on his arms, shaped like feathers. He said he talked with…..”

Alron held up his hand and stopped John, “Mine Earth Mother hath advised already. Friend Logan does be Sister touched, and does now receive guidance from Sister.”

 “What do you mean? Who is Sister?”

 “Ground Mother does be, what does grow and live there. Sister does wrap herself around Mother, does be air, rain that does fall. And birds does dwell in Sister realm.”

It took a few seconds for John to re-organize his thoughts, “Well then, what does it mean?”

 “Mother, with thine daughters her bond does be strong. Male born naught would Mother consider. Mayhap Sister does take interest in brother. Now plans I does need to make.” With that, Alron stood up, and headed towards the kitchen.

Lauren entered the dining hall and walked up to John, “The Earth Mother is dying, and they want me to guide them. No, I don’t know who they are, or where they are. What the hell is happening? Waiting for us? Swords and armor? Plague, no wait, not a plague, an invasion. And now guide? What the …”

Zack was sitting a few tables over, and saw the expression on John’s face, he tried to hold it in, but he could not contain his own laughter.

Lauren glared at Zack, who then reached for his pitcher of ale, wondering if Lauren’s cold gaze had chilled it, then joined the two, “So Earth Daughter, you seem to be upset. What’s up?”

 “Leave us alone Zack.”

 Zack smiled, “Not gonna happen. Everybody always goes to John when they have a problem, the one who lives the picture perfect life. If you have problems, you should talk to somebody with experience in that department. I’ve had a full time job with problems for seventeen years. What’s wrong?”

 “You’re drunk, leave us alone.”

 “No, just buzzed. What has the Purple Princess so pissed?”

Lauren glared at Zack.

 “Dudette, you got nothing. If you want to see an evil eye, my uncle can give you lessons. Scowl at me as much as you want, it thaws my frozen heart, reminds me of the warmth I received in all those foster homes. It was usually from beatings, but beggars can’t be choosy. I think that is what my third set of foster parents told me.” Zack smiled as he refilled his mug, “So what does hath wine Earth Daughter so off pissed about?” Zack’s imitation of an elf speaking, secretly amused John, or so he thought. Lauren saw his smile, but ignored it. Zack continued, “The way those elves speak really screws me up. If I have a long talk with one of them, I have to sit in front of a mirror for an hour, just talking to myself. You know, just trying to get my ears to work right. And don’t start me on their ears, man they freak me out. Seriously Lauren, why so pissed?”

Lauren realized that ignoring Zack would not make him leave, as he had years of experience with people ignoring him, figured it would be quicker to feed his desire to be acknowledged, as only then, would he grow bored and wander off, “First, the Earth Mother is dying.”

 “Happens all of the time. Old people croak. I would imagine she had a good life, right? Crap, it’s not like she is related to you. You barely freaking know her. Next problem.”

Lauren closed her eyes and shook her head.

 “Still here Lauren, what is the next problem?”

 “They want me to guide them.”

 “Cool, where are we going. This place is getting a bit stale.”

 “The Earth Mother wants me to guide all of them. To find the people, so they can raise an army, but she probably means Eric.”

 “Freaking cool. John, could you imagine handing in a paper like that at school. What I did on my Spring break: How I raised an army and fought an invasion. Bound to get an A+. Though you might be really old before you get home and hand it in. Saving people is cool, righteous, you might even say. When do we start?”

 “Zack, are you trying to be an idiot?”

 “No trying involved, perfected it years ago. Honestly, this is not my idiot act. John tell me if I am right. Some cosmic force on this weird little planet, realizes it has a really big problem, and from the sounds of it, we are talking catastrophic. Extinction level. For some crazy, most likely stoned reason, they reach out, and grab our school bus.”

John shook his head, “Stoned? Zack, don’t you think that is pushing it a little?”

 “Not really. There are tons of examples of medicine men, voodoo doctors, hell, even generals taking stimulants and going on vision quests. Got to admit, all natural, growing from the mother earth. You know, Mother?” Zack was on a roll, and John just wanted to see where this crazy ride was heading, as it was a pleasant change being the passenger instead of the one starting and stopping the ride. Zack set down his mug, “So these cosmic dudes got a problem. For some freaky reason, they grab our school bus. Seriously, think about it, what are the odds? Grabbing a handful of kids and one of them is big enough to use that sword, and fit that armor. Admit it, let’s face it, Eric is freakishly big. Must be like a gazillion to one. And this cosmic force likes little girls. No, wait, that doesn’t sound right. You got this Mother figure, who only has eyes for the ladies. No, that still sounds bad. This cosmic Dudette, she only talks to other Dudettes, yeah, that sounds better. Lauren would get her attention. Strong, driven, passionate, but she does suck at science. That’s why she was probably happy to see John on the bus. Somebody who could do the math, knew about science, was book smart. For some strange, screwed-up reason, they need you, and Lauren right now, no bullshit, need is a pretty neat feeling. So this Mother Dudette needs you, as do the people. Freaking embrace it, because the other side of the coin, it sucks a lot worse. You’ve been chosen. Find a peak, climb to the top of it, and announce it to the effing world. They want and need you. You fight against this because they chose you, but you think aren’t worthy. You want to fight something, fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. Fight for those who are afraid to stand up against the unknown.” Zack’s voice became energized, “But damn it Lauren, something here believes in you and it’s bigger than we will ever know. I’ve seen some of the freaky things you’ve been doing. Somebody or something here likes you, believes in you, so embrace it. Lauren you might have doubts, but straight up, need and belief, man those are incredible forces. They conquered the highest peaks, scoured the ocean depths, hell they even put a man on the moon. Need and belief, they build nations, overthrow governments, cure illness, create life and much more.” Lauren and John were silent as Zack stood, drained his mug, “Believe in the need. Need the belief.” Then Zack turned and left the dining hall.