Chelesa reached out and took Willian’s hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. She knew her son spoke the truth, they did need help, she just kept hoping Debbon would open his eyes and smile at them just as they decided to change direction. “I know. It’s been long enough, I guess. I’ll see if Alena can come over.”
“Make sure she brings her samara; I can’t help but think this is because of that…that thing which has caused this.” Willian gestured to his father’s prone form. When he had discovered Debbon in the Gate room, an unknown samara had been just past his hand, fully black, and pulsing with wild energy. Not knowing what else to do, Willian had taken his jacket off and, using the thick fabric to pick up the skull from the floor, he deposited it in the niche of the wall inside the secured room.
Once the samara had been hidden, Willian had run from the room, looking for anyone to help him with his father. Luckily, the first person he came across was Gatson, his father’s personal guard, a man easily able to lift his father, carry him to their telepod, and get him up to his bed where he had remained ever since. Gatson’s ability to keep what he saw to himself turned out to be a blessing in itself since nobody else had known of Debbon’s ailment.
Willian still had no idea how his mother had known to have him check the Gate room at that particular time, she must have felt something change. He hoped he and Valentina would have that same connection after so many anons together. Inwardly, it seemed likely given how their life-lines had tied together upon their first contact.
“I’ll stay with him,” Willian offered, releasing his mother’s hand and taking his father’s hand in his own. He found it increasingly difficult to keep a strong appearance for his mother’s sake, he needed his father more now than ever. As soon as his mother left the room, Willian urgently whispered, “Dad, you need to wake up! I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m not ready to be Elder yet. You still have so many things to accomplish and I’m not qualified to do any of it. Please, Dad, please be okay.”
Willian could feel the tears running unchecked down his cheeks, yet he felt no shame in them. His father had always been his rock, the man he could count on to fix any situation in which he found himself. He had to admit to himself there would never be a good time for his father to die, yet there were many more anons before he would even contemplate the possibility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t think of anything else to do for him, Chelesa,” Alena cried, feeling helpless. She could feel Debbon’s life-line, it had a solid connection with the elemy. No logical reason accounted for Debbon remaining in an unresponsive state, yet there he lay. “Has there been any improvement since Willian found him?”
“No, nothing,” Chelesa despaired. She held Debbon’s hand as she sat on the bed next to him while Alena stood on his other side. His skin was warm, making her feel as though nothing was wrong.
“You said he went to this other world to get his samara?” Alena asked.
“Yes.”
“Was he successful then?”
“What? Look at him! Does this look like success?” She began to cry, feeling hopeless.
“No, I mean, did he bring the samara back with him?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it? Maybe we can use it to help revive him, especially if he has bonded with it.” Alena’s excitement toward this solution began to affect Chelesa.
Chelesa set down Debbon’s hand and hurriedly scooted off the bed. She raced down the stairs and called out, “Willian! Where are you?”
“Is it Dad? Did Alena get him to wake up?” Willian asked eagerly as he came out of the front sitting room where he had been reading.
“No, I’m sorry. Alena asked for your Dad’s samara to be brought to him. She thinks it might be able to help. Can you go get it from the Residence?”
Willian nodded, not really relishing the idea of getting near the strange stone. He had a terrible feeling about it when he had placed it in the niche, but he would gladly suffer any discomfort if it meant his father would be okay again. Not wanting to go upstairs, he used elemy to retrieve his jacket from his bedroom, surprising his mother at his unorthodox skill usage inside their house. “I’ll be right back,” he assured her, turning and racing out the front door, not even bothering to shut it behind him.
Chelesa stepped forward, holding onto the door frame as she watched Willian race across the front lawn, knowing he would run the whole way. She almost wished she could be the one running away from the house, doing something to help instead of just standing around worrying. A noise from behind her had her turning around to investigate. Alena descended the stairs, looking tired and as troubled about Debbon as she was.
“I wanted to talk to you away from Debbon, just in case he can hear what we’re saying,” Alena announced, coming to a stop in front of Chelesa, where she stood in the doorway. “Where’s Willian?”
Chelesa looked outside one last time before stepping inside the foyer and shutting the door. She answered wearily, “He went to get Debbon’s samara from the Gate room.”
“Good. I think we should probably gather everyone with their samaras just in case we need the extra help to revive Debbon.” Alena tried to keep her voice even, not wanting to alarm Chelesa with her notion of Debbon not recovering at all from this catastrophic event. Each minute that went by without any improvement did not bode well for a successful recovery, and Alena believed Chelesa knew as much herself.
Alena wandered into the front sitting room after Chelesa nodded and walked away to her office to send the message. She disconsolately sat in the chair closest to the windows. Feeling the need to bolster her spirits, she folded her hands, bowed her head, and silently prayed to Jehoban to give them the answer.
Noises from the foyer alerted Alena to Willian’s probable return with the samara. Feeling refreshed, she promptly stood and crossed the room to greet him. To her surprise, Willian had not arrived alone. “Wise-woman Copa!” Alena exclaimed, wondering if this woman were the answer to her prayer and wondering how it could be.
Chelesa heard the commotion and entered the hallway to investigate as well. Her greeting of the additional person was not as enthusiastic as Alena’s had been. She had no idea why the woman would have come over at this terrible time, and she wondered if her timing could interfere with the convening of the samara-holders.
“I’d heard it said that Elder Debbon has taken ill and wondered if my services could be of assistance,” Copa supplied, looking from Alena to Chelesa, noticing the latter’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Your experience would be appreciated,” Alena replied swiftly when Chelesa remained silent. She decided to take matters into her own hands and offered, “If you could just come upstairs and look at him, maybe you’ll see something we’ve missed.” Alena gestured for Copa to take the stairs with her, leaving Chelesa and Willian to talk alone in the foyer.
She waited silently at the foot of the bed while Copa performed all of the things she and Chelesa had done as well. Copa shook her head, muttering to herself, before finally turning to give her assessment. “There’s nothing technically wrong with him. How long did you say he’s been unresponsive?”
“Three days.”
“That’s too long. We’ve got to be missing something.” She turned back to Debbon and regarded him thoughtfully.
“I’d hoped he had merely overextended his skills and needed to rest, but I don’t feel that in him. Do you?” Alena played with the edge of the comforter for something to do with her hands.
“Overextended?” Copa repeated thoughtfully. “What exactly was he doing?” Turning to face Alena, Copa gave her full attention to the other woman as she waited for an answer.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Alena tried to deflect, “It’s not really my place to say. I think I’ll get Chelesa.” Alena turned to flee the room and had to stop short as both Chelesa and Willian entered the doorway. Feeling her stomach begin to churn as if she were coming down with something as well, she moved
over to the only chair in the room and abruptly sat while she waited for the questions to begin.
They all started when Debbon began to thrash on the bed, all questions fled their minds when they rushed forward to see if Debbon were going to finally wake up. After only a few moments, they realized something had changed, yet he did not regain consciousness. Willian set the bundle wrapped in his coat at the foot of the bed while he went to stand at his father’s side, holding his hand encouragingly.
Copa pointed to the jacket and asked, “What’s in that? I feel as though there’s something dark and evil in there?”
Willian shivered, agreeing completely with Copa’s assessment. He looked over at his mother for her to answer, not knowing if Copa should know about the samaras at all.
Chelesa no longer cared about anything but her husband’s recovery. Besides, the prophecy could not be fulfilled in any event if Debbon failed to wake up. Instead of answering directly, Chelesa plucked the fabric of the jacket away from the top of the hidden object, allowing the light of the room to show on the black, inky surface of the small crystal skull.
Alena jumped up from her chair, mesmerized by the horrific-looking object, drawn to it as if it were magnetic. With each step closer, the ill-feeling increased inside her, yet she had to move forward. “What happened to it?” She tore her gaze away from the samara and looked up at Chelesa for an answer.
“We don’t know. Willian found it like that in the Gate room with Debbon.”
“There’s definitely something wrong with it,” Alena insisted, returning her attention to the swirling surface.
“Is this the second samara to be recovered?” Copa asked.
“What do you know of the samaras?” Chelesa asked rather than answering the other woman’s question.
“There is an old prophecy of thirteen samaras being gathered together to defeat Lucinden once and for all. I…I used to have one myself until I was directed to give it away.”
“Who did you give it to?” Alena asked.
“Why?” Chelesa asked at the same time as Alena.
Looking at both of the women, Copa wondered if she should share her knowledge. Finally, she decided it was time and answered, “Jehoban had me give it to a woman named Vinia. She’s very special to Jehoban, and her children were going to need its power to keep them safe.”
“We know Vinia,” Chelesa spoke excitedly. “Willian is seeing her daughter.”
“How did you come to have the samara in the first place?” Alena asked.
Copa looked around the room, judging how much she should divulge. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and answered, “This won’t mean anything to you, but my family has always held the samara. Long ago, one of my male relatives was known as a Watcher; I am his descendant.” At her revelation, she clearly saw the look which passed between the two other women. “Does that mean something to you?”
“Yes, Copa, will you come down to my office so we can talk more about this? Willian, will you stay here with your father?” Chelesa’s urgent requests seemed to energize everyone.
As soon as they entered the office, Chelesa shut the door and leaned back against it while she tried to decide how to begin. Clearly, Copa had more knowledge about this problem than she realized, yet she had no idea if the wise-woman would also hold the answer they needed. She pushed away from the door and began talking. “Copa, what is discussed in this room must not be shared with anyone. Can you promise me this?”
“Yes, of course!” Copa paused in her descent into the chair because of Chelesa’s sudden intensity.
“Good. There was a group of us called together at Jehoban’s request, thirteen of us to be exact. I won’t go into the specifics of everything, but suffice it to say, twelve out of the thirteen samaras have been found and claimed by their rightful owners. Debbon was the twelfth one, and I have no idea if he successfully merged with his, but for his sake, I hope not considering the look of the samara.”
As if everything became clear, Copa whispered to herself, “The samaras are being brought together.” Louder, she asked, “Has the prophecy been proclaimed?”
“Yes,” Chelesa answered.
“Do you know what you must do?”
“Not exactly. We were hoping once the last samara had been found that we would be given further instructions.”
“Then the master hasn’t been claimed yet,” Copa murmured, rapidly going over everything she could recall from her ancient trainings on the matter.
“What’s that about a master?” Alena asked, leaning forward, trying to hear what Copa murmured to herself.
“I just said the master samara had yet to be claimed then. Once you have that, then you’ll be able to join all of the samaras together, their combined strength will be awesome. I must say, I never believed I would be alive to see this come about, especially considering how long we’ve waited for all of the proper events to take place first.”
Copa suddenly went silent, a thought raced to the forefront of her mind. She jumped up from her chair and said, “Of course! It all makes sense now! We need Vinia and Amanda to come at once!”
“I don’t understand. What does Vinia have to do with this?” Chelesa asked.
“It’s a long story, please contact both women and arrange for them to come at once.” Copa leaned forward, fists on the desk to support her, imploring Chelesa to do as she asked.
“Amanda is already on her way. Let me see if I can have her pick up Vinia. Hopefully, they haven’t left yet.” Chelesa turned to her patil and sent an urgent message to Riccan with her request.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
CHELESA’S CALL FOR help had them all hurrying to get over to the Elder’s Isle in Tuala. They had been horrified to hear of Debbon’s unresponsiveness, even more so because of the length of time they had not known of the problem.
“Girls, we need to leave right now!” Amanda called up the stairs, seeing Riccan jog across the living room on his way to the library.
“Can you help me?” he called out to her.
Amanda caught up with him just as he opened the special door to the hidden room beyond the bookcase. She followed him inside, feeling the same sense of wonder that this room even existed, considering the first time she had been in it had been during her coma dream.
Riccan walked directly to the shelf containing the three samaras, intent only on gathering them and leaving.
Amanda followed closely, pausing beside the counter in the middle of the room. Her eyes landed on the ancient text in which she had originally discovered the prophecy. Frowning slightly, she asked, “When did you get this out?”
“What?” Riccan asked absently, looking over his shoulder after covering his samara and bringing it down from the shelf. “The book? I didn’t get that out, I thought you did.”
“No, you know I’d never touch it without you.” She reached over and reverently caressed the cover, feeling a tingling sensation as she did so. “Do you think the girls got it out?”
“Got what out?” Juila asked from the entrance.
“This book.” Amanda looked up in time to see her daughter’s confused look.
“No, why would we?” Juila walked into the room, followed almost immediately by Jena.
“Okay, this is getting kind of creepy.” Amanda glanced over to Riccan and said, “I thought you said nobody knew about this room.”
“They don’t,” he assured her, turning around, finally giving Amanda his full attention as he realized something strange had happened.
The family gathered around the table, each person on one edge, looking down at the book, which normally resided inside a special cupboard.
“Isn’t this the book which had the prophecy written in it?” Juila asked.
“Yes,” Amanda replied, instantly making up her mind. She reached out and opened the cover of the book, not really thinking about why, only that she felt she should. The first page was still blank, which puzzled her. Carefully, she turned to the next page and reali
zed there were several lines of text which none of them had seen before. “What’s this?”
The four of them leaned closer while Amanda read out loud:
The Healing Key
Treasure bound by evil
Needed for upheaval
Finding misadventure
Bring back together
Twins once divided
The soul reunited
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amanda asked, glancing at each person around her and meeting with confused expressions from all.
“I’m not sure, but we don’t have the time to ponder it right now. Let me put the book away while the girls get their samaras. Debbon needs our help, and we have to get going.” Riccan shut the book and carefully picked it up.
“Wait, I’d like to read it again so I can memorize it,” Amanda protested.
“We already did,” Jena and Juila answered together even as they did as their father had asked.
Amanda felt uneasy as she followed her family from the small room. She looked back once more before Riccan triggered the door to shut, half expecting to see the book out on the counter again. It seemed to her that it had been placed in the way for them to notice it, nobody had taken it out. Surely this meant they needed to have the knowledge of those words at that particular time, only she had no idea what to do with it.
“Tell me again what it said,” Amanda asked Juila as they entered the telepod in the garage. This time she readied her mind to store each word, something she should have done in the first place. Amanda contemplated the choice of words, thinking they were significant, yet unable to place something important.
Riccan began the start-up procedures, taking note of all of the green lights on the plascreen panel. As he entered the destination sequence, an urgent message screen popped up. Feeling annoyed by the interruption, Riccan almost dismissed it until he noticed the sender tag had been from Chelesa. He tapped on it and rapidly read through it. “Hmmph,” he sounded as he acknowledged receipt of the request. He tapped back to the destination screen and entered the coordinates for Roanoke instead. “It appears we’ll be making a pit stop before going to see Elder Debbon.”
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