by K.N. Lee
“About?” I looked behind us and let out a sigh of relief that there wasn’t any movement in the darkness. Perhaps it was all in my head, nerve induced hallucinations.
“About what’s going to happen once we get in there.” He turned in his seat to face me. He looked normal, like himself, only nervous. Did he think I would change my mind? Was he afraid that I would disappoint him?
“And that is?” I swallowed the lump of worry that formed in my throat.
“They know you’re coming, the entire town. There will be ceremonies, meetings, questions, and a constant stream of people eager to get your attention and affection. I don’t know how long it will take. It may last for days, possibly weeks.”
“You’ve already expressed all of that to me. Clearly my arrival, if I am who you think, would be a big deal. I’m okay, Lacal.” I reached across the space between us and pulled his hand from his lap into my own.
“It’s just… they knew the moment I laid eyes on you. That light started to grow as our bond did, and now with you approaching, it’s like a beacon, letting everyone know how close to home you are. It’s the tree, Rasmiyah; she is announcing your presence and welcoming you home.”
“All of that light is coming from a tree?” I turned towards the light. It spread for miles outside of the town.
“Yes, think of it as something of an alarm system. You’re here now and everyone knows it. It can sense the magic in your blood, and the bond between us, and it’s calling to you now. Can you feel it?” He squeezed my hand.
“I don’t know what I feel,” I took a deep breath. “What do we do now? We’re supposed to go in right? I’m assuming we can’t just sit here forever.”
“If you want to, I’m not going to force you. If you want to turn around and drive away, we will.” He said it as a comfort for me, but I could tell it was much more for him. That was what he wanted. I had accepted this change in my life. Well, as much as I could in just three days. I never stopped to question if he had. It seemed it was now my turn to be his pillar of strength.
To know that everyone was expecting me, and they knew how close I was made it impossible for me to leave now. We had come this far and when I centered myself, I could feel something pulling me further. I couldn’t turn away from it. I tightened my grip on his hand, forced a tight smile and nodded forward.
The car pulled forward, slowly approaching the village. We then passed what looked like a gateway. The entrance was made of a strange silver coated metal that was shaped into an arch and bent into intricate designs that spiraled from the top down to the ground. As we continued forward we started to pass a few buildings. They were all empty and dark. As we drove into the town we began to see buildings and homes that were lit up. The further we drove, the more elaborate the lights and decorations became.
“Is there a holiday happening?” I asked without thinking.
“What?”
“All the decorations, what are they for?”
“They are for you, Alexa,” he looked at me and smiled, it should have been obvious.
“Me? Why? That’s a little more than I was prepared for.” I hadn’t expected all the fanfare. I’m not sure what I did expect, but this felt like too much. I could have smacked myself in the head for being so absent minded. What if I didn’t pass the test? It all seemed a little premature.
“I tried to warn you. You are the queen Alexa. Of course, there has to be fanfare.” He chuckled. I liked the sound of him laughing; even if it was at my expense.
“Promise you won’t leave me?” I tightened my hold on his hand which was still wrapped inside my own and he gave me a squeeze back and smiled at me. The wave a nausea hit me the closer we got to that beacon of light. It didn’t help that that word was there again. Queen. I was no queen. I thought about asking him to turn around and take me back home where I was just a regular girl who hated shopping and ran track.
“Never.” The word seemed to answer both questions. The one I had asked and the one I hadn’t.
When we arrived at the center of town, it wasn’t quite the ambush I was expecting. We got out of the car and everyone was gathered around all dressed up in their ’Sunday’s best’. The women wore long dresses with elaborate designs of lace and silk. The men were all in suits, even the little boys. No one approached us. They remained at a distance, staring and whispering in hushed tones.
“I feel underdressed,” I only meant to think it, but the words slipped through my lips, a strained whisper.
“What?”
“I thought you said they were going to attack.” I looked around at the crowd and in seconds became stunned with paranoia.
“They will, but not yet.” He led me away from the car, I followed close behind.
“What are they waiting for?” I whispered.
“I told you, Rasmiyah has to except you, embrace us and forge the bond, sealing it and unlocking your powers.” He stared straight ahead. His level of nervousness matched my own.
“And, that’s supposed to happen now?”
“Yes, is that a problem?” He stopped walking and turned to me.
“I don’t know, I thought there would be some more time. Maybe a special dinner and ceremony or something before all of this happened.” I was panicking, and he could feel it.
“No one else is allowed in and no one will approach you until they know for sure that you are the High Arc.” He smiled sympathetically.
“And, how will they know that?” Was I going to be getting a tattoo? Did I have to be branded with a symbol to let everyone know who I was?
“You’ll be alive,” he turned from me and started walking again. I hurried to catch up, pulled him to a stop and forced him to look at me.
“Alive, you mean as in not dead? Why would I not be alive, Lacal?” I whispered to him in tiny panicked screeches, trying not to show the crowd of onlookers the fear that had sprung up into my throat and was now trying to choke the life from me.
“The process would most likely kill you if you weren’t the one. On the off chance that you survived that there are people who would feel that you know too much about our people and our culture to let you live.”
“Okay, wait. That’s kind of harsh. Couldn’t they just erase my memory or something and portal wave me back to my house?” My eyes darted across the crowd. Which one in this sea of seemingly kind faces would be the one to strike the fatal blow? My legs twitched as I thought of running for the car. How many could I outrun, and if I did manage to make it out of the town, where the hell would I go? I would freeze to death in the creepy darkness that waited outside the town line.
“Alexa, don’t worry. You’re the High Arc. We both know that,” He made sure our eyes met as he challenged me. He was right. I could feel it in me, but that feeling, that power surge, it didn’t erase the death threat I had just received.
“You may already know this, hell I’m sure you do, but I have to say, a small part of me is starting to second guess this whole thing. You know, now that my death is on the table,” I gave him the toughest look I could master and waited to see if he was developing any doubts like I was, but he still looked the same. I was the one he had spent years searching for and nothing would change that for him.
“Don’t worry, okay,” he grabbed my hand again and led me through the entrance of the temple. I gulped as I headed to the tree, the spirit, and possibly my death.
26
The temple was exactly as he had described it. The entire inside was an elaborate extension of the tree. The roots shot up from the ground below it and into the air forming a frozen fortress of limbs and leaves. The outside, the brick layers around it had been constructed by the people in the town to protect what lived inside. It smelled of nothing but earth. Entirely lit by the light emanating from the tree, the room glowed so brightly that I had to squint and wait for my eyes to adjust to the light.
Lacal tightened his grip on my hand sensing my growing apprehension to continue. At the point of contact, I could feel energy movin
g from him into me. As his vitality raced across my body, it dissolved the block between me and Rasmiyah. I could feel her. She called to me. I smiled as I looked to the center of the room and saw the Weeping Willow.
My heart skipped a beat, it was a sign. My love for the Willow had to have been because of her. The tree felt more alive than anything I had ever encountered before. I could now see it for what it was; it was much more than a tree. It was Rasmiyah, and connected to a part of me. There was movement in the walls. I looked closer to find that they were not frozen, but moving, breathing, feeding the tree; and calling to my soul.
There was a song. I could hear it, barely, coming from the heart of the tree. Airy tones, what I would assume angels sounded like, called out to me and beckoned me to join them, and, I wanted to. Every cell in my body began to call back to them, joining in their song, and rejoicing my return to what was undoubtedly my home.
I stepped forward. The tables turned. It was now I who towed Lacal with me. I had to be with them, the melodic voices in my head. I couldn’t wait any longer. Every step I took brought another pulse of energy. The light of the tree moved with those pulses, traveling into my body and warming me to my core. It felt warm and freeing and purifying.
As we reached the center of the room and the base of the tree, I looked down at my hands and I saw the light underneath my skin. It moved and danced throughout my limbs, and I embraced it. I turned to Lacal and saw that he looked the same as I did. He looked first at himself and then at me and smiled.
“You look so beautiful.” He touched my face and held his hand there. I leaned into him and covered his hand with mine.
“Is this how it felt the first time you were here? This is amazing, I feel so good. I can’t even find the words to express it.” I smiled at him and wanted to kiss him.
“No, this is new. See, I told you, you’re the one, Alexa. All of this wouldn’t be happening if you weren’t.” He looked at me like a kid preparing to open the largest gift under the Christmas tree.
“Yeah, you were right, about everything,” I stepped closer to him pressing my body up against his.
“So, are you ready for this?” He asked me and turned away to look at the tree.
“I don’t know exactly what ‘this’ is, but yes I’m ready.” I turned to face the tree as well. Our hands fell from my face, but we didn’t lose contact. We laced our fingers together.
He placed his free hand on the trunk then motioned for me to do the same. I did, placing my hand right next to his. I felt a prick in the palm of my hand, a tiny point of pain followed by an overpowering sense of euphoria.
The energy from the tree poured into us, and the glow beneath our skin intensified until we were lit up almost as bright as the Willow itself. The voices, once singing, were now sighing with contentment as the branches reached around us, tying together and sealing us in our own cocoon away from the world.
I assumed it would be over. It was exactly what Lacal had described, a cocoon and light. We stood there, looking at each other and nothing happened. I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t ruin the moment with words. There really were no words to say.
A few seconds passed before the dance of lights began. The leaves of the tree broke away from the limbs and floated around us, flickering green and gold. They covered us from head to toe. When the last leaf touched my skin, I felt as if I was being ripped from my body.
Lacal had the same experience, it was painless, but it shocked him just as much as it did me. We were floating above ourselves. I cannot describe my appearance, but Lacal appeared as a shadowy form of himself. He was no more than a show of light. His features were his own, only faded and transparent. I stared down in disbelief at my body frozen solid and covered completely in the glowing leaves. We looked like a pair of statues, long forgotten monuments overrun by nature.
I tried to tell him how amazing and completely unnerving it all was, but I couldn’t. Not because I was afraid of ruining the moment, or because I could not find the words. When I opened my mouth, no sound came out. Like someone had flipped the off switch on my voice box and denied me the ability to speak.
Once again, we were waiting. We floated there, and I felt like there was something we were supposed to be doing to make the process continue. I listened to my instincts and floated over to him. Don’t ask me how, I just wished I could hold his hand again. Next thing I knew, I was closing in on his translucent figure.
The expression on his face told how uncomfortable he felt. It was strange how natural it felt to me. It was obviously not the same for him. While I had an easy understanding of it, he wasn’t sure how to handle what was happening. I reached out for him and pulled him to me. Nothing happened. I gingerly wrapped my arms around him, when they didn’t go through him like I thought they would, I pulled him closer to me and kissed him.
We were pressed together. An outside force, like one of the strongest winds that Chicago could produce, wrapped around us and blended us together. The pressure was crushing, but his kiss made it bearable. I opened my eyes and watched as his lids fluttered open as well.
I could see them, my grey orbs of comfort watching me before exploding into beams of fire. The light shot from his eyes into mine and then returned. We were being melded together, two beings turned into one. Our very essences were tied together, and it felt amazing.
The light stopped, and I gasped for air, even though in this state, I had no need to breathe. I hadn’t been breathing the entire time. He looked at me and kissed me again. I’m not sure if it was necessary, but it felt amazing. Better than all the kisses before it. There was a new level of closeness, a feeling of utter unity.
The outside force loosened its grip slowly and then disappeared altogether. I kept my arms around him, not ready to let him go. This experience was too good to give up so easily. We stayed that way for a few moments, but that inner urge told me I needed to let go. As I released my grip from around his neck, I heard a voice in my head.
It sounded almost like my grandmother, but the tone was much deeper, older. I looked to Lacal with a questioning gaze. Could he hear it as well? He nodded and pointed at the heart of the tree.
“Welcome home Alexa. I am elated to see that you have decided to take your rightful place as High Arc. You are now forever bonded with your Serve and all of the High Arcs before you. On your soul has been forged a piece of his and on his, a piece of yours. It appears there is a lot for you to learn. This will be a setback for you. I am afraid there isn’t very much time.” Her voice turned somber. Erasing the feeling of euphoria and replacing it with fear. “You must train and prepare yourself. Danger is coming, Alexa. It is now your duty to protect our people and all the people of this world from the darkness that threatens it.
Use your Serve, he will help you, protect you, and guide you; but it is up to you to fight this battle. No one else is capable. You have been chosen by blood, by heritage. I know the strength is in you. You have faced much heart ache and managed to survive and grow stronger because of it. I admit the level of difficulty will be much greater, but I am confident that you can handle it. Your soul is the strongest a High Arc has had in many eons, and your Serve the most loyal I have seen. Use this to your advantage.
Darkness thrives on destruction. It will stop at nothing to break you, everything, and everyone in your life that gives you strength. Don’t allow it to destroy you or your bond. It may not seem so now, but you are not alone in this. Your friends and family will be by your side, but trust me when I tell you, that alone will not help you win this war.
Pull strength from them. Open yourself up to the help and guidance they have to offer to you. Inside of you lives the essence of me and all your mothers and we are here for you when you need us,” the voice stopped, and we were shot back into our bodies.
The leaves fell off and slid over the ground back up to their places the tree. The branches unwrapped themselves from around us. I opened my eyes and I felt different. I felt stronger, her words were tr
ue. I could feel Lacal, or at least a part of him, inside of me now. The amazing sensation this brought me wasn’t one that I was able to stop and enjoy. All I could think about was the warning I had received.
“Wait!” I screamed at the tree and looked at Lacal. “What was that, danger, save the world?”
“I don’t know.” There was something, a flicker in our bond. A nudge that told me he was hiding something.
“So, you’re telling me that you didn’t get that message the first time around?” I did not want to accuse him of any wrong doing but I felt like I had been tricked into doing something that I had no business taking part in.
“No,” he looked shocked, “I told you what happened. There was just that strong urge, the impulse to get to you. I had to bring you home.”
“I cannot believe this! Is this why all the other High Arcs didn’t accept?” I pointed my finger at the tree accusingly. It wasn’t Lacal who had tricked me. It was Rasmiyah and that thing, that instinct that said it was okay to come to her. It told me the right thing to do was to accept this unacceptable change in my life. “Did the others know about this ‘war’ before they were forced into taking on the responsibility of an entire planet?!”
“Alexa, no,” he was leaving something out, but at this point I did not care what it was, I wanted to find a way out of having to carry the weight of the world on my shoulder. That is exactly what it was. The World. The entire planet was now depending on me to protect it.
“What am I supposed to do now? I can’t handle this, Lacal. I know my life hasn’t been the easiest but, this is just too much.” My nerves were rattled, and my limbs trembled. He grabbed me by the shoulders, pulled me into his arms, and kissed my forehead. My moment of strength had ended.
“This is a lot. I know it is. You will be okay Alexa. Let’s go find my father; he will know what to do.” I doubted that his father could be of any real help. Unless he had a quick fix for the damnation of the world, I was screwed. I followed him anyway; eager to get away from this tree and forget the message it had given me.