Allie Strom: The Bringer of Light Trilogy: The Second Trilogy in the Eternal Light Saga

by Justin Sloan

  “I asked if you would like to volunteer,” Mr. Phael said.

  “Do I have to?”

  “You do now. Come, beside me.”

  Reluctantly, she stood and went to his side. His silly smile reminded her of her dad for a moment, always making her do stuff she had no interest in. But sharing toys with her brother or wearing his old jackets wasn’t nearly as bad as standing up in front of all these kids. She hoped they couldn’t see her cheeks flushing to match the teacher’s hair. She stood with her hands folded in front of her, waiting.

  “Come with me,” Mr. Phael said, leading her to a spot in the dirt next to him. “Now, I don’t want to get those nice shoes of yours too dirty.” He smiled at her grungy high tops, one still lightly caked in mud.

  “Try to follow what I do.” He stood with his hands at his sides and faced the sky with his eyes closed. His eyelids flashed open, and with a quick breath he moved his left foot back and his hands in a sweeping arc.

  Mr. Phael’s moves were smooth and fluid, but Allie followed along at a slower, jilted pace. He swept his leg around and brought it in close to his other, shooting his hands out and clapping them in front of him. The movements continued, growing more complex, and Allie tried her best in spite of the giggles coming from several of the other seventh graders. When she was finished, a light layer of sweat cooled her lower back. She smiled.

  “How’d you feel?” Mr Phael asked.

  Now that he asked, she realized that the whole time she was performing the actions, all her tension had seemed to disappear. It was as if her heart had released all of its worries into the universe, leaving her with pure peace and joy. She smiled and blushed, feeling a little silly about having such a strong reaction to the odd dance.

  “Fine,” she finally answered.

  “Well, Allie is apparently shy,” Mr. Phael said. “She performed like a natural. All right, the rest of you now, form two lines behind the two of us, and we will walk you through it.”

  Allie groaned, not at all excited to be the focus of attention again. But she took her spot beside the teacher. The other boys and girls formed their lines and, with a muttering and a look to the sky, the movements began again. This time she embraced the feeling of her lightened heart and the flow of blood through her veins. She started to smile, not caring if the other kids were watching.

  She wasn’t the only one feeling that way, though; when they were done, Mr. Phael was smiling like a proud father at all the beaming kids. A silvery glow seemed to have settled over them, as if moonlight shone through their skin to join the sunlight in harmony.

  She shook her head, trying to wake from the dream, and several other students did the same. When she looked up again, Mr. Phael was running toward the forest.

  “This way class,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Hustle!”

  The students ran after him without the slightest hesitancy, Allie included. She felt wonderfully self-aware—her senses tuned to a new frequency. Her shoes met the soft cushion of grass effortlessly, as if she were running on clouds. She turned and laughed to see Daniel and Brenda running beside her, all racing into the woods, their skin still glowing. At that moment she knew she loved her whole family, and thought that maybe moving to a new school wasn’t all that bad.

  “Halt,” Mr. Phael said when they were deep in the forest. A series of logs led away to their left, a small swamp to their right.

  “That’s just a taste of what is to come,” he said, nodding at them as they gazed around the forest in wonder. “It’s as simple as allowing your minds to clear and let the love from your heart flow. If you were able to feel the change, if you performed your movements and pattern accurately, that’s a sign that you are destined for wonderful things to come. But you must practice, you must keep it up. Now, it’s time for part two of P.E. class. Are you ready?”

  Allie was doubtful and confused…. But intrigued.

  Chapter 3: Doubt

  Mr. Phael led Allie and her classmates to logs arranged like an exaggerated playground that disappeared past the trees.

  “What we have here is your typical obstacle course,” he said. “It wraps around the woods, finishing with clearing the swamp on the other side. Your first few P.E. classes will consist of practicing the patterns of movement and the obstacle course. When you are ready, one by one, you will be called upon for higher training.”

  He explained the obstacle course in more detail, then blew a red whistle. Allie was in the fourth group to start. She ran across the first logs, falling only once when she stumbled on a branch. The monkey bars were too much for her, but when it came to the final sprint before the swamp, she passed up three kids that had been ahead of her. She reached the swamp and looked around for a way to cross, but was surprised to see none.

  “I don’t know how I’ll be able to do baseball today after all this,” Daniel said between heaving breaths as he came up behind her. “Think… they expect… us to swim?”

  At the moment, soccer was the furthest thing from Allie’s mind. She caught her breath as she looked around for a way to cross the water.

  “Maybe there’s a rope or something?” she said.

  One boy with a square face and high cheekbones jumped into the swamp and started swimming, but Allie took a step back, refusing to go that route.

  “We don’t have to go through the swamp—there!” She pointed at the trees growing out of the water. Leaning against the trees were narrow planks. She looked around in the brush and found a similar plank. She lifted it and looked back to meet Daniel’s eyes. He shared her smile.

  The plank sat easily against the first tree at a forty-five degree angle. It was slippery, but Allie climbed it with little trouble while Daniel held it steady. The problem came when she was at the point in the first tree where the branch went out and she had to pull up the second plank. It was too heavy, and she almost dropped it more than once.

  “It’s not working,” she yelled back. “The water is weighing it down!”

  Daniel looked around for another option. “We may just have to swim.”

  The other boy was already halfway across the swamp, wet moss clinging to his hands. Allie shuddered. No way was she getting in that water.

  Other students, some that looked like they were from Africa, Latin America, and even Asia lined up behind them for their turn. Distracted from the obstacle by the growing group behind her, she wondered for a moment at the diversity of these classes. But even more distracting was the fact that Troy was among the observers, staring right at her.

  She looked at the sturdy tree supporting her, analyzing the branches. It might work.

  “Daniel, come out here,” she said as she shimmied up to the next highest branch.

  “What’s she doing?” Troy called after Daniel as he crossed the first plank.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But I don't have any better ideas.”

  “There,” Allie said, pointing at the plank below. “Now you grab it, and feed it up. If you can just get the end to me, together we can lift it and place it on the next tree. Then I stay here and steady the plank while you cross.”

  Daniel fed the plank up just like she instructed, and to her surprise it actually worked. They leapfrogged the planks, allowing the other students behind to follow in their path.

  Everyone was cheering and clapping her shoulder when they reached the other side of the swamp. Troy smiled and Allie felt herself beaming. In the afternoon forest light, he had the same majestic glow as that first time she had spotted him at the school entrance. Her hands were a bit sore from so much work with the planks, but it was worth it. She couldn’t remember being treated so well since she was in first grade and had beat up a second grade bully. And this time she didn’t have to explain a black eye to her father.

  The thought of her mother and father scolding her so many years ago brought a longing for the simpler days, but then the sun caught Mr. Phael’s red hair, or wig or whatever it was, and she was back among her new friends. />
  “One of you is wet,” Mr. Phael said. “What happened here?”

  “Allie figured out the boards, and we followed her across.” Daniel beamed.

  “That may be right, but that wasn’t my question. If the rest of you made it without getting wet, why did one of you fail?”

  Daniel turned to Allie with a shrug. The wet boy had gone ahead of them, on his own. What were they supposed to do? Stop him? Was she responsible for everyone there?

  “Let that question linger,” Mr. Phael said. “The planks are only one of the possible paths across the swamp, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities. Three more today, as a matter of fact. You’ll learn to work as a team. You are not ordinary students, you are in my special class because each of your principals has determined you worthy. Now, let’s not let them down.”

  “Each of our principals?” Allie asked. She glanced at Daniel, but he looked just as confused.

  “You didn’t figure that part out yet?” Brenda sneered.

  Mr. Phael gave her a scolding look, then turned to Allie with his pleasant smile. “Perhaps I forgot to explain it. You see, each of you has been selected from around the world to come here and train.”

  “But I didn’t go anywhere, just through the basement.”

  “Me too,” Daniel said.

  “As you all did, or some door somewhere in your home schools. This is a place of great mystery. Only by portals can you reach it, and only when we want you to.”

  Allie remembered her own travels across the globe to Kyrgyzstan through similar means. The doorway that had led to a storage closet, and then led her to stumble upon a strange meeting of figures in black hoods.

  “Like the Strayers use,” she said.

  The other students turned to her with looks of shock, some of them obviously familiar with the term.

  “Yes, Allie,” Mr. Phael said. “Like the Strayers, but nothing like them. Remember that point. And just as we cannot find their doors on our own, so too our magic protects us against them.”

  She nodded, glad to know that at least here they were safe.

  Another group of students came charging down the path and Mr. Phael motioned for his class to stand clear while the others started the obstacle course. One tall girl looked Allie up and down as they passed. She had a slight smile and the long slender legs Allie saw in magazines—Allie secretly hoped to one day be able to show off legs like that instead of her little chicken stumps (as her brother liked to call them). They met up with Troy’s group, leading Allie to assume that the other class must have been more eighth graders.

  Allie saw the girl again their second time through the obstacle, when they approached the swamp. The girl stood with her maple-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, her hands at the waistband of her pink shorts as if waiting for something.

  “We’re supposed to help you,” the girl said. “Nice ring.”

  “Thank you,” Allie said, turning the ring over so the seal wasn’t visible. She looked around and noticed Troy was back helping Brenda over a wooden wall. She probably didn’t even need the help, Allie thought, before turning her gaze back to the older girl.

  “Seal of Solomon, eh?” the girl said.

  “Huh?” Allie was surprised to hear someone else say it.

  “That star, the triangle pointed up placed upon the triangle pointed down, some call it the Seal of Solomon. But I imagine you know that?”

  Allie looked down and fumbled with the ring. “It was a gift. No big deal.”

  “Well, I’d be careful with it around here. Symbols, especially ones like that, should never be taken lightly.”

  “You’re telling me,” Allie said, remembering her travels to Kyrgyzstan.

  Allie frowned and looked back to see Troy and Brenda joining her side. Daniel was still talking with the teacher.

  “I’m Karen, by the way,” the older girl said.

  “Allie.”

  “Nice to meet you, Allie.” Karen pointed to the swamp. “Watch for the particularly dark areas of lily pads. They’re made to look like the rest, but are actually firm grounding. Watch your step. You don’t want to be covered in that guck.”

  “Thanks,” Allie said.

  Karen winked and turned, bouncing across the swamp.

  The rest of P.E. class consisted of one more time through the obstacle and a final pattern exercise in the dirt. Allie felt bad for the wet kid, whose once white sneakers became caked in mud as he moved in the circle. When it was all over she turned to join the others heading to the locker rooms, but Mr. Phael intercepted her and beckoned her to follow.

  “You showed great promise today, Allie,” he said, standing by one of the monstrous columns.

  “Okay….” She felt the sudden urge to run out of there.

  “I want to make sure you know that we’ll teach you skills in this class that not all students will learn. This is voluntary, but we expect much out of you.”

  “Why me?”

  “Perhaps you don’t understand yet, but you will,” Mr. Phael said. “You’ve already proven your desire and ability to help the others. Sometimes it may be at your own expense, and you must stand up and make the choice.”

  Allie stared into blue eyes that seemed to peer into her soul. “What exactly are you talking about?”

  “The hunt.” He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “We’re going after Samyaza, or will when we figure out a way forward. It has to be you that takes him down.”

  She looked at him, a sudden cold flooding her veins. Her left arm itched, the one with the carved pattern, and she resisted the urge to touch it.

  “Oh. Okay….I…. I gotta get to my next class.”

  Allie turned and walked briskly to the locker room, looking back to see Mr. Phael watching her with arms crossed. The class had been exciting, definitely different from the P.E. classes she was used to. And okay, so Samyaza and his forces were out there, but surely someone else could handle them. She would train and she would help if she had to, but she wished everyone could stop expecting so much from her.

  Her first stop was to the bathroom, where she quickly locked herself in a stall and pulled up the sleeve of her arm. She cringed. The black mark was still there, where Paulette had carved into her with a magical blade. It seemed to writhe before her face, and for a moment it burned. She covered it, stumbled to the sink and splashed cold water across her face.

  How could any of this fall on her? It wasn’t fair for them to expect a seventh grader to save the world, especially when she had her own problems to deal with.

  Chapter 4: Time with Dad

  Allie wanted to skip the rest of her classes, but knew her conscience would eat her up if she did. Plus, she hoped to see Daniel in the open air hallways and talk about P.E. class—he’d disappeared while she was talking to Mr. Phael, and she wanted to make sure he was okay. But as the hours progressed, she saw no sign of him, not even in history class.

  Clouds gathered with the last bells of class for the day, and a slow pitter-patter streaked the windows of the auditorium where Allie waited to see if Daniel would show. The soccer tryouts and baseball practice had been postponed due to weather, so she had nothing better to do than wait… And maybe Mr. Phael’s talk had made her paranoid, but something within told her Daniel needed her.

  Troy walked by, carrying Brenda’s books. Allie hadn’t even realized Brenda went to her school. Troy handed the books over and smiled widely as Brenda wrote her number on a piece of paper for him. Allie thought she would puke at the oogly-eyed look in Brenda’s eyes. Allie's dad had always told her to wait until she was eighteen to give her number to boys—twelve was much too young.

  On the other side of the room, Troy pocketed the paper from Brenda and departed through the automatic glass doors, running through the rain with no umbrella. Allie had purposefully not brought one, herself. Umbrellas in Washington State were for the weak, she always said.

  It was apparent Daniel wasn’t at school. Allie sighed and waved at Brenda
as she headed for the door, but Brenda just played with her black hair and looked at the ceiling as if Allie wasn’t even there. Allie had seen her type before, in her old friends from sixth grade. Not a single one of those ‘friends’ had bothered to call her all summer, and she had learned her lesson.

  The rain formed streams and puddles along the path from school to the parking lot, and Allie decided to take the bus today. She waited patiently under the gray bus box, counting the change in her pocket. Grey clouds hovered behind an off-white stone church that rose above the green and brown roofs of the suburban city. She stared at its beauty, wondering where Daniel could have gone off to.

  A horn sounded, and Allie looked up to see her dad in his car, Gabe the librarian in conversation with him.

  “Training’s off to a good start?” Gabe asked.

  She nodded, hopping into the car’s passenger seat. Gabe said his goodbyes and headed back to the school.

  “What’s going on, Dad?” she asked.

  “With this rain, I figured I’d come give you a ride,” he said. “Did you know Gabe and your mom are friends?”

  Allie just nodded.

  Her dad frowned. “How’re you holding up?”

  The guilt about not being able to be honest with him made her stomach twist. She wanted to tell him about her P.E. class today, and about everything that had happened with her mom and the Strayers. But her mom had asked her not to, for his own protection.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  He looked at her with worry, but smiled. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately, and I want you to know I’m always here for you. Whenever you need me, I will be here.”

  Did he sense something was off with her, that she wasn’t telling him the full truth?

  “What about your job?” she said.

  “I took the day off, and you know, they hired another person to work under me. A nice old lady, said she can watch the place whenever I need her to. I know you need your father…. You’re not doing drugs or something, are you?”