Energy - Awakening

by MJ Schutte

  Graham and Ashley had been married for nearly half a year. Graham spotted her in Zedonia one day. Her beauty captivated him. She was a tall slender girl with long dark hair that reached halfway down her back. Her skin was dark and her eyes looked like big black grapes. Graham immediately decided he had to have her but, unfortunately, he was married to his wife of more than twenty years.

  The following day Graham’s wife was found floating face down in the river.

  Five days later Graham married Ashley.

  ‘I have to attend to the other commanders. Just sit there and be quiet,’ he instructed her.

  He waved his hand and a pageboy ran off. He returned quickly followed by five commanders. The serving girl also returned holding Graham’s sword in her bandaged hands. He snatched the sword from her and inspected it. When he was satisfied that the sword was clean he waved the commanders forward.

  One by one they nervously came forward and reported that their squads had been unsuccessful in tracking Brighton down. Graham asked each of them a few select questions before waving them off.

  More commanders came before him with nothing to report. Graham’s mood slowly got darker and darker as the day wore on until the commander that raided Clareton stood before him.

  ‘What do you mean there was nobody in town?’ Graham snapped at the man.

  The man nervously answered, ‘It was like nobody lived there, King Graham. Everybody was gone.’

  Graham frowned.

  ‘What did the houses look like? Were they in good condition or in ruins?’ Graham asked the nervous commander.

  ‘They looked normal, like there should be people living there. We also saw large vegetable gardens and a lot of goats and sheep just outside the town. It was definitely a farm where a lot of people worked,’ the commander answered quickly.

  He smiled a little, happy that he could answer Graham’s questions.

  ‘So where do you think the people went?’ Graham prodded.

  ‘I don’t know, King Graham,’ the commander answered, his small smile quickly disappearing.

  ‘Did you send a forward scout?’ Graham continued the interrogation.

  ‘Uh…yes I did,’ the commander stuttered.

  He didn’t like where this conversation was going.

  ‘Bring him here,’ Graham ordered.

  The commander didn’t move.

  ‘Well…um…I can’t. We found him dead in the woods not far from the farm I mentioned.’

  ‘And how did he die?’ Graham asked the nervous man.

  ‘I don’t know, King Graham. He seemed to be untouched except for a black mark on his forehead,’ the man answered.

  By the way Graham looked at him he knew he was in deep trouble.

  Although the king still spoke calmly, his face was going redder with each passing second.

  ‘And how do you suppose that happened?’ he asked.

  ‘Um…I…uh…don’t know,’ the commander stammered.

  Graham looked at Ashley and said, ‘I am surrounded by idiots.’

  She started smiling but then remembered their earlier conversation. He was obviously referring to the commander on this occasion but the comment stung her.

  To the commander Graham said, ‘Go fetch your lieutenants.’

  The man rushed off immediately. The squads camped quite a far way from the royal party so it took the commander some time to return.

  When the three men were standing in front of Graham, he slowly got up and walked closer.

  ‘It’s been only two years and already everybody seems to have forgotten how the Dark Ones used to kill,’ he said looking from face to face.

  The men all had their eyes cast downward.

  ‘Who do you think killed your forward scout?’ he asked the three men.

  The commander looked up and said, ‘I’m sorry King Graham, I made a mistake. If you will allow me I will take my squad back to Clareton and search until we find Brighton and his witch.’

  Graham answered by pulling his sword and running the man through.

  ‘No, I will not,’ he said to the dying commander.

  He pulled his sword free and tossed it backwards.

  ‘Clean that,’ he ordered.

  When he didn’t hear the sword falling to the ground again he smiled.

  ‘That serving girl is more clever than you,’ he said to the lieutenants.

  Neither of the men answered.

  ‘The entire squad should be executed but since I am a generous king, I will spare your lives,’ Graham continued.

  He pointed at the one lieutenant.

  ‘You are now squad commander. Go back to Clareton and search until you find Brighton and the witch,’ he instructed.

  Both men quickly took a deep bow and rushed off.

  ‘Rather you than me,’ the lieutenant whispered to his new commander.

  ‘Thank you,’ the man replied sarcastically.

  Brighton looked up.

  ‘I don’t think we can climb that,’ he said to the others.

  He was carrying a sleeping Clarissa in his arms. They had travelled west through the forest until they stood at the bottom of a sheer cliff going up hundreds of paces.

  ‘Let’s camp here,’ Brighton said.

  ‘It’s only midday, shouldn’t we try to find a way around,’ Lilian asked.

  ‘You wait here, I’ll go look,’ he suggested.

  Brac wasn’t interested in going with. He had Thomas in his arms and was feeding the little boy berries again.

  Brighton handed Clarissa to Lilian and set off in a southerly direction. Clarissa woke up and immediately started whimpering. Adri produced some berries from her pocket. As soon as Clarissa saw the little red treats, she held out her arms to Adri.

  ‘You two are stealing my children away,’ Lilian complained good-naturedly as she handed the baby to Adri.

  Brighton returned a while later.

  ‘There might be a way up a little south of here but it looks dangerous. I’m going to look north for a better route,’ he said and jogged off again.

  It was close to sunset before he returned.

  He had a big smile on his face.

  ‘I found a way not too far north from here,’ he said.

  ‘Why did you stay away so long if it’s not far?’ Lilian enquired.

  ‘I had to make sure it wouldn’t be a dead end so I went up the mountain quite far,’ Brighton explained.

  ‘Does it look like we will be able to cross the mountain on that route,’ Lilian asked.

  ‘We’ll certainly make it almost to the top. I don’t know what awaits us there,’ he answered.

  The group settled down for supper and went to bed soon after that. Brighton didn’t think they needed to stand guard since he didn’t sense anybody around but them.

  ‘Besides, Mischief is here. He will keep watch for us,’ Brighton reasoned.

  Brac looked at Brighton, down at the sleeping panther and back at Brighton again.

  ‘If you say so,’ he said shrugging his shoulders.

  Chapter 25

  EARLY THE NEXT morning the group started their climb up the mountain. Brighton set a very easy pace. He didn’t want anybody to slip and hurt themselves. If it did happen he could heal the wounds but it was best to avoid injury altogether.

  Brighton took the lead followed by the two women while Brac and Mischief brought up the rear. They agreed to take turns carrying the twins.

  ‘Would you like me to carry Clarissa?’ Lilian asked Brighton.

  ‘No, I’m fine thank you,’ he answered.

  Adri didn’t bother asking Brac. She knew he would not hand Thomas over even if she begged or threatened not to give him food. Secretly she was thankful for that since she was getting very tired.

  The ground levelled out somewhat and Brighton decided to stop for a while. The babies were getting hungry and he wanted to scout ahead a little anyway. Lilian and Adri sat down to feed the twins while the men went further up the mountain. So far t
he woods were rather thick but as they climbed higher, it thinned out a lot.

  After climbing for a while Brighton stopped and looked back.

  ‘Look, you can see the town from here,’ he said.

  Brac squinted and said, ‘You have good eyes!’

  Brighton also squinted and said, ‘There seems to be a lot of people down there, and they are all wearing red.’

  ‘Graham’s army?’ Brac asked.

  ‘I think so. I wonder what made them decide to wear red shirts. If they had been dressed in brown I never would have spotted them,’ Brighton commented.

  He used his sense to find out how many soldiers there were.

  ‘This is not good,’ he muttered.

  ‘Let me guess, they’re coming this way,’ Brac said.

  ‘Yes, more than I can count,’ Brighton replied worriedly.

  ‘They will never find our trail, I’ve made sure of that,’ Brac tried to reassure Brighton.

  ‘I don’t doubt your ability but it looks like they are simply searching everywhere. Sooner or later they will reach the mountain.’

  ‘Do you think they will find the break in the cliff? You said you were lucky to have spotted it,’ Brac tried.

  ‘There are thousands of men down there; someone is bound to stumble across the path I found,’ Brighton replied.

  ‘Then we should fetch the women and get going,’ Brac suggested.

  The two men immediately started walking back to where they left the others.

  When they got there Lilian pulled Brighton aside.

  ‘Adri is tired but won’t ask you for help. Talk to her please,’ she whispered to him.

  Brighton quickly told the women what they saw and then said to Brac and Adri, ‘I know you don’t really want me to give you energy but we need to travel fast now. For the moment, we have a good lead but they might realize we have gone into the mountain. They will then pick up the pace to try and catch us.’

  He held his hands out. Wordlessly Adri and Brac put their hands in his.

  After a few moments, Brighton said, ‘There, that should be good enough for now. Tell me when you get tired again.’

  ‘I will,’ Brac said quickly.

  He wasn’t tired to start with but he played along for Adri’s sake.

  ‘Me too,’ she said.

  They quickly gathered their things and set off again.

  Brighton looked up at another cliff hundreds of paces high.

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered.

  To the others he said, ‘Let’s keep going. We will find a way around this one.’

  It was past sunset already and they desperately needed to find a good camping spot. A very cold wind was howling around them. Brighton made sure Clarissa was covered properly and set off again.

  Trying to set up camp where they were would have been dangerous. The slope of the ground was far too steep. One of them could easily roll down in their sleep and be seriously injured or killed.

  The group continued on next to the cliff.

  Mischief was about twenty paces ahead of him. Brighton could only just see his black form in the gloomy light.

  He looked back to see how the others were doing. When he looked ahead again, Mischief was gone again.

  ‘Mischief!’ he called.

  The cat’s head appeared briefly out of a bush and then disappeared again.

  Brighton rushed forward. There was no chance that bush was big enough to hide a panther Mischief’s size.

  When he got to the bush he smiled.

  Turning back to the others he called, ‘Mischief found a cave!’

  Without waiting for them to catch up, he entered the cave. The small opening was hidden by thick bushes, and was only just big enough for him to fit through it.

  Just past the entrance, the cave opened up into a much bigger space.

  ‘Where are you?’ Lilian’s voice came from outside.

  Brighton pushed the bushes away. The group was standing right in front of the entrance but didn’t see it.

  ‘In here,’ he said.

  Adri jumped with fright and almost lost her footing but Brac’s hand quickly steadied her.

  ‘Don’t do that!’ she snapped at Brighton.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said trying not to laugh.

  Everybody went inside.

  ‘Well, this is quite a find,’ Brac commented.

  ‘Thank Mischief. I never would have seen the entrance.’ Brighton said.

  ‘Good boy,’ Adri said to the cat as she scratched his ears.

  Inside the cave it was quiet; the bushes in front of the entrance blocked most of the wind.

  ‘Can we make a fire?’ Adri asked.

  They brought some food but it needed to be cooked.

  Brighton thought for a moment and said, ‘Let’s move deeper in, that way there is no chance of the soldiers seeing the fire in the night sky.’

  Brac looked at the bush covering the entrance.

  He didn’t think a small fire could be seen through that, but understood why Brighton was cautious.

  The group moved a bit further into the cave.

  ‘This should do. Brac, help me gather some firewood please,’ Brighton said.

  The men went out into the cold wind again and started looking for dead wood.

  ‘The soldiers found the break in the cliff. I feel them coming up the mountain towards us,’ Brighton said to Brac.

  The hunter looked worried.

  ‘I’m sure our trail is well hidden but an experienced tracker might just find us.’

  Brighton tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

  ‘They can’t travel at night either. We have until morning to think of something.’

  Brac didn’t answer.

  He knew Brighton would fight should they be discovered, he just didn’t know if Brighton would survive.

  The men returned to the cave carrying a few pieces of wood.

  ‘Only a small fire and we’re killing it as soon as we’re done,’ he said as they put the wood down.

  Adri had supper done in no time.

  The twins were fast asleep on a little bed Lilian made for them. Brac had fed them the last of the berries in his pockets.

  ‘You know you will have to find more of those. They will not be happy with just vegetables anymore,’ Lilian told him.

  She seemed to have reached a compromise with the twins: If they ate enough vegetables, they were allowed some of those sweet red berries.

  Brac put another spoonful of food in his mouth and nodded.

  As soon as supper was finished the women got up to wash the dishes.

  ‘No, don’t,’ Brighton stopped them.

  ‘Bri, we have to get the plates clean,’ Lilian complained.

  ‘We need to save the water we have. I don’t know if we’re going to find water again this high in the mountain,’ Brighton countered.

  Lilian didn’t like putting dirty dishes back in the rucksacks but she understood Brighton’s argument.

  She and Adri wiped the plates and pots clean with leaves as best they could and packed it away.

  ‘As soon as we reach water, you two are washing the dishes,’ Adri said, wagging a finger at the men.

  ‘As you wish my queen. Shall I draw you a hot bath?’ Brac teased her.

  Brighton looked intently at the last flame dying out.

  Without taking his eyes off the glowing embers he said, ‘Give me some more wood please.’

  Brac shoved a dead branch into Brighton’s outstretched hand.

  ‘What happened to killing it when we’re done?’ he muttered.

  ‘Keep quiet, the fire will keep us warm,’ Adri whispered urgently to him.

  ‘You may have all the heat in this body, my queen,’ he teased her again.

  Adri quickly scooted close to Brac.

  ‘That’s fine by me. Put your arms around me and start sharing,’ she said to him.

  Brac obediently opened his arms and Adri shifted as close as possibl
e to him.

  ‘Thank you, you’re my hero,’ she said through shivering lips.

  Brac closed his arms around the young woman. He immediately got a frown on his face. Adri was burning up.

  Brighton had the flames going again.

  Lilian leaned closer to him and softly said, ‘Thank you for keeping the fire going. It looks like Adri is really suffering in this cold.’

  ‘Huh…oh, yes…heat. That’s good,’ Brighton said absentmindedly.

  Lilian frowned at him.

  ‘You didn’t do it for Adri?’ she asked.

  He looked up.

  ‘Do what for Adri?’ he asked with a frown.

  ‘The fire. Didn’t you do that because Adri is cold?’ Lilian asked with a frown.

  ‘Uh…well no, not really,’ Brighton said.

  He was staring intently at the flames again.

  ‘Then why did you?’ Lilian asked.

  ‘Look at the flames,’ he said.

  Brac and Lilian looked into the fire. Brac noticed that Adri didn’t lift her head to look; she seemed to be asleep already.

  Brighton waited a moment for them to have a good look then asked, ‘What do you see?’

  ‘Fire,’ Brac said dryly.

  It didn’t look like Brighton heard.

  ‘Look at the flames. See the way they are leaning towards the cave entrance?’ he asked.

  Lilian looked close and said, ‘Yes. Why does this interest you?’

  ‘There is air moving through the cave, that’s why the flame is constantly leaning towards the entrance,’ Brighton explained.

  ‘It’s just the wind outside,’ Brac said.

  ‘No, listen. The wind had died down,’ Brighton countered.

  Brac listened for a moment and said, ‘You are correct, I can’t hear the wind anymore.’

  Lilian shook her head and said, ‘I still don’t understand why this is so interesting.’

  Brac answered, ‘If there is air moving through the cave it means there is another entrance further on.’

  Understanding washed over Lilian.

  ‘I see. And you’re thinking we can go through the mountain rather than over it,’ she said to Brighton.

  Brighton nodded and said, ‘I’m going to have a quick look further into the cave. Stay here.’

  ‘Uh…Brighton,’ Brac started.