Energy - Awakening

by MJ Schutte

  ‘And what about our trail? They could follow it to find out which way we went,’ Brighton made his next point.

  ‘I will hide our trail and lay a number of false ones. Not even their most experienced tracker will be able to say for sure which way we went,’ Brac countered.

  Brighton thought for a moment before saying, ‘I still think it is a waste of time but I understand your point. Which way do you think is the best?’

  ‘North,’ Brac immediately answered.

  ‘Any particular reason why?’ Brighton enquired.

  ‘It looks like there is more plant life that way. If we’re lucky we might come across some water,’ Brac explained.

  ‘Good thinking Brac. Let’s get going,’ Brighton replied.

  They travelled until well past sunset. The line of thorn bushes remained unbroken. The next morning Brighton decided to keep going north until they could find a place where the thorn bushes were not so wide. They continued until midday.

  ‘This looks like a good place,’ Brighton said looking at the line of bushes.

  It was about ten paces wide, easily the narrowest they had seen in the last two days.

  Brighton led the group up the slope. He used his sense to find out whether the soldiers were catching up to them.

  ‘It looks like Graham’s men haven’t found the cave entrance yet,’ he said to the others.

  ‘That’s a stroke of luck,’ Brac commented.

  Brighton looked north.

  ‘And we may have just had another. There seems to be a break in the thorn bushes further north,’ Brighton replied.

  This brought smiles to everyone’s faces, they were all nervous about burning a pathway through.

  ‘It’s about a day and a half’s travel,’ Brighton said as they started walking again.

  Chapter 27

  HALFWAY THROUGH THE next afternoon they came across the break in the bushes Brighton had sensed.

  Brighton slapped Brac on the back and said, ‘Remind me never to argue with you again.’

  The group was standing on the edge of a stream about fifteen paces wide. It came out of the mountain and lazily flowed straight through the line of thorn bushes.

  Brighton didn’t want to waste any time.

  ‘Come on, we can rest later,’ he said as he stepped into the waist deep water.

  Nobody followed him. When he looked back, he saw why.

  The women were sitting on the ground unpacking their rucksacks and Brac was picking berries from a nearby bush.

  ‘We’re not camping here, there is still a lot of daylight left,’ Brighton said to them.

  ‘Better to camp here than in the middle of that dead ground,’ Brac replied.

  ‘We need to keep going, we might even make it to the forest by nightfall,’ Brighton argued.

  He knew there was no chance of that happening but felt they shouldn’t waste good travelling time.

  Brac pulled a face and said, ‘So much for never arguing with me again.’

  Lilian held out the plates to Brighton.

  ‘Remember what Adri said when you wouldn’t allow us to wash the dishes back in the cave?’ she asked.

  ‘No,’ Brighton tried.

  ‘Of course you do. Now wash these and don’t forget the pots in your rucksack,’ Lilian replied.

  Brighton realized he had already been outvoted. They were not going to travel any further for the rest of the day.

  He stepped back onto dry land, took a deep bow, and said, ‘As you wish, my queen.’

  Lilian smiled at him as he took the plates from her.

  ‘Thank you my love,’ she said sweetly.

  Adri quickly added some more instructions, ‘When you’re done, take Brac and look for some firewood. Don’t rush back though, Lilian and I want to get the twins clean and then have a bath ourselves.’

  Brighton got a naughty smile on his face.

  He leaned over, gave Lilian a small kiss, and said, ‘Perhaps I should stick around for that.’

  Adri put her fists on her hips and quickly snapped, ‘No you won’t.’

  Lilian also had a naughty smile on her face as she said to Brighton, ‘I’ll help you look for wood. Brac can help Adri bath the twins and maybe even wash her back for her.’

  Adri’s mouth was hanging open. She looked from face to face not knowing what to say.

  Brac stepped closer and said seriously, ‘Perhaps that is not such a good idea. Miss Adri would certainly like some privacy when she is bathing.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a certain someone washing her back and keeping her company,’ Lilian teased some more.

  ‘Lilian! Stop it!’ Adri gasped.

  Brighton laughed and said, ‘I think I should get going on the dishes. This conversation is getting dangerous.’

  Brac quickly went back to searching for more berries.

  ‘Lilian, how could you?’ Adri whispered.

  ‘How could I what?’ Lilian asked innocently.

  ‘Suggest that Brac come bath with me?’ Adri replied.

  ‘I didn’t. I said he should wash your back and keep you company,’ Lilian answered still trying to act innocent.

  It was all she could do not to burst out laughing looking at Adri.

  The younger woman had a look of complete and utter horror all over her face.

  ‘Keep me company? I know what happens when Brighton “keeps you company”,’ Adri snapped.

  For a moment Lilian was tempted to tease Adri some more but she decided against it.

  Getting a serious look on her face she said to the younger woman, ‘Adri, I’m not suggesting you give yourself to Brac but please keep an open mind. If you and Brac have romantic feelings for each other you owe it to yourself to explore that.’

  The next morning Brighton had everybody out of bed very early.

  ‘I’ll go first. Lily, you follow with Thomas. Adri, you bring Clarissa and Brac will carry the rucksacks,’ Brighton told the others.

  He handed out walking sticks he had carved the night before.

  ‘Keep your balance with these. If you happen to slip, bend your knees immediately and try to fall backwards onto your bottom. You should rather fall into the water than try to regain your balance and risk stumbling into the thorn bushes,’ he instructed.

  He waded into the water holding a handful of long thin branches he had also cut the night before. Taking it one step at a time, he prodded the bottom of the stream with his walking stick. Every time he felt a deep hole, he stuck one of the branches into it and left it there. Brighton was hoping this would help avoid someone stepping into an unseen hole and twisting or breaking an ankle.

  When he reached the other side of the thorn bushes he turned around and said, ‘Lily, carefully enter the water. Stay in the middle of the stream and avoid the branches I’ve placed.’

  Slowly Lilian stepped into the icy water. She also prodded the bottom of the stream with her walking stick before every step.

  Brighton waited in the middle of the stream watching her closely. He was ready to throw up an energy barrier in case Lilian slipped and fell towards the thorn bushes.

  Without any trouble Lilian and Thomas reached Brighton on the other side. Brighton helped her out of the stream.

  ‘Adri, your turn,’ Brighton called.

  Adri mimicked what she saw Brighton and Lilian do. She and Clarissa reached the other side also without any trouble.

  ‘Brac, call that lazy panther before you come through please,’ Brighton called to Brac.

  Brac called Mischief but the cat refused to budge. He was sitting a good twenty paces from the river watching the people.

  ‘Mischief, come here boy,’ Brighton tried.

  Still the big cat didn’t move.

  Brighton threw up his arms and said, ‘Brac, you come through then I will go back to fetch him.’

  Brac nodded and stepped into the water. He reached the others without mishap. As soon as he was out of the water Brighton
went back for Mischief.

  No matter how much Brighton asked, coaxed, threatened or begged, the big cat would not enter the water.

  ‘I can’t believe this! You will take on dozens of armed men but a little bit of cold water scares you!’ Brighton said in exasperation.

  He got out of the water and walked over to Mischief.

  ‘You big baby,’ he scolded the cat.

  He put his hand on Mischief’s big head and said, ‘Come, I will go with you.’

  Reluctantly the cat got up and walked to the water with Brighton. Slowly, as if it was the most painful thing on earth, Mischief entered the water.

  ‘Good, now go to Lilian, I’ll walk right here next to you,’ Brighton instructed.

  They reached the narrowest and deepest part of the stream. Mischief’s claws could not find any grip on the slippery rocks below and he started skidding forward into the deeper water. In a panic, the big panther tried to climb onto Brighton’s back.

  Brighton lost his balance and fell towards the thorn bushes. Instinctively he threw up an energy wall between himself and the thorns.

  ‘Bri!’ Lilian shouted.

  Brighton regained his balance and called back, ‘I’m fine.’

  He pushed Mischief into the deeper water forcing the cat to swim. They reached the others without further incident.

  ‘What happened? Are you hurt?’ Lilian asked in a slight panic.

  ‘Mischief bumped me into the thorns but I put up an energy barrier to protect myself. See, I’m fine,’ Brighton said holding out his arms for her to see.

  Lilian looked at his arms.

  When she couldn’t find any cuts or scratches she breathed a sigh of relief.

  ‘See, I told you. Now let’s start walking so we can get to that forest, I’m uncomfortable in such a dead place,’ Brighton said looking at the barren ground ahead of them.

  The group set off towards the forest in the distance.

  ‘Brighton, why didn’t you simply put an energy barrier around us so we could walk through the thorns?’ Brac asked.

  ‘First, it would have left the same tell-tale trail as burning a pathway. Second, a barrier like that is difficult to maintain, it takes a lot of energy,’ Brighton answered.

  Brac nodded his understanding.

  High Commander Tristan followed four archers into the cave. He was in a terrible mood; it took his soldiers far too long to find the entrance.

  ‘Are all your arrows coated in darkweed poison?’ he asked the archers.

  ‘Yes High Commander,’ they answered as one.

  ‘Good, shoot anything that moves,’ he instructed.

  Slowly they crept forward, the archers’ bows ready and Tristan’s sword drawn.

  ‘It looks like they camped here,’ one of the archers observed.

  ‘How long ago?’ Tristan asked.

  ‘More than a day, maybe as much as three days ago,’ the man answered.

  ‘Are the trackers sure they didn’t come out of the cave again?’ Tristan asked.

  ‘Yes, High Commander, they are sure. Brighton’s group must have gone deeper into the cave,’ the archer answered.

  Tristan didn’t like this at all.

  Although the cave was large inside, it still felt like the walls were closing in on him.

  As the five men crept further into the cave Tristan started sweating more and more.

  ‘Do you think this cave goes all the way through the mountain?’ Tristan asked one of the archers.

  ‘Yes High Commander, it does,’ the man replied.

  He started explaining about the flame movement on the torches but Tristan cut him short.

  ‘So it’s likely that Brighton and his witch have already gone through to the other side?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, High Commander, I believe that is possible but…’

  Again, Tristan cut him off.

  ‘And we know there is only darkness on the other side of the boundary. This would mean they are already dead,’ he said mostly to himself.

  The four archers looked at Tristan, waiting for his orders.

  ‘Keep going, perhaps they are just around the next corner,’ he commanded.

  The archers all turned their backs on him and slowly started creeping forward again. Tristan pulled a long knife from his belt with his left hand. Silently he stepped closer to the archers. With the sword he ran one man through from behind, the knife in his left hand plunging deep into another man’s back.

  Quickly Tristan yanked the sword free. Before the other two men could react the sword flashed through the air. The sharp blade sliced through one man’s neck with ease. Wide eyed the last archer watched as the disembodied head tumbled towards the ground.

  He lifted his bow but it was far too late. The point of Tristan’s sword took him in the throat. Tristan twisted the sword hard to make sure the man had no chance of survival.

  The man sank to his knees as Tristan pulled his sword free.

  Quickly he checked the others. The man who took the knife in the back was still alive. With one quick slash his head was also separated from his body.

  Tristan started walking towards the cave entrance. Just before he stepped out into the sunlight again, a thought entered into his head. He made a shallow cut on his right forearm.

  Holding his bleeding arm close to his body, he walked out of the cave. As soon as his men saw him, they rushed to his side.

  He refused any assistance. Instead, he held his bloody sword high and shouted, ‘Brighton and his witch are dead!’

  A cheer rose up from the men.

  One of the squad leaders asked, ‘What happened?’

  ‘We found them hiding inside the cave. They killed the archers but didn’t count on my skill with the sword. I killed them both. Brighton did manage to cut me but it is not serious,’ Tristan shouted holding up his injured arm.

  One of the other commanders turned to a soldier and said, ‘Take word to King Graham: High Commander Tristan has found and killed Brighton and the witch.’

  Brighton stopped about a hundred paces from the edge of the forest.

  ‘Someone is watching us,’ he said to the others as he slung his bow from his shoulder.

  He sensed four people in front of them, at least twenty more some distance to the north-west, and a whole town full of people just beyond them. There was also another form of energy close by that felt like four large animals.

  Brighton suddenly felt the temporary energy of an arrow speeding towards them. He didn’t do anything; he knew the arrow was going to fall short. The others all got a fright when the arrow hit the ground a few paces in front of them.

  ‘You could have warned us,’ Lilian complained.

  ‘I could have but then your reactions wouldn’t have been genuine. Remember, we don’t know how these people feel about the talent. It’s best we hide it for now,’ Brighton answered.

  He had already spotted the man who shot at them, sitting high up in a tree.

  Brac looked at the arrow and said, ‘Not the friendliest greeting I’ve ever seen.’

  Brighton stepped forward and plucked the arrow from the ground.

  ‘Let’s greet them back,’ he said as he brought his bow up.

  He nocked the arrow, took aim, and let it fly. It hit the tree trunk about an arm’s length above the man’s head. The man quickly pulled the arrow free and shot it right back at Brighton. This time the arrow hit the earth between Brighton’s shoes. Brighton plucked the arrow from the ground again and sent it back the way it came.

  ‘You missed!’ the man howled when the arrow flew past him.

  ‘Really?’ Brighton shouted back.

  The man looked around. His eyes went wide when he saw the arrow pinning a large snake to a branch behind him.

  ‘Lucky shot,’ the man shouted at Brighton.

  ‘If you say so. Why don’t you come down here so we can meet properly?’ Brighton called back to him.

  Quickly the man scrambled out of the tree. Four men eme
rged out of the woods. One was carrying a longbow and the other three had some very strange looking weapons in their hands. It looked like a bow turned horizontal with a handle at the back.

  ‘Stay here,’ Brighton said to the others as he started walking towards the four men.

  Brac decided the instruction was meant for the women and followed Brighton. They stopped about ten paces from the four men. The strange bows were pointed straight at Brighton’s chest.

  ‘Good day strangers,’ Brighton greeted with a big smile.

  ‘That’s quite an assumption. You have three loaded crossbows aimed at your chest. In my opinion it’s not such a good day for you,’ the leader of the four replied.

  Brighton put his bow down on the ground, pulled his knife from his belt and put it next to the bow.

  ‘We come in peace,’ he said as he stepped back from his weapons.

  Brac also pulled his knife out, put it next to Brighton’s weapons, and stepped back. Brighton knew the hunter had a few more blades hidden in his clothes.

  ‘That’s not very clever. Now you are on the wrong side of my crossbow and you’re unarmed,’ the leader commented.

  Brighton smiled and said, ‘It seemed the right thing to do since you are also without weapons.’

  The four men looked at each other in confusion.

  ‘What do you think this is?’ the leader asked waving his crossbow in the air.

  Brighton took a closer look and said, ‘Well, it’s a “crossbow” as you’ve pointed out but it doesn’t look very dangerous.’

  The leader had a very confused look on his face.

  He turned to one of the men and said, ‘Patrick, shoot at that tree. Let’s show this barbarian what formidable weapons these things are.’

  The man called Patrick took aim at a nearby tree and pulled the trigger. Brighton was already concentrating on the bolt in the crossbow. As soon as it left the string he removed all the temporary energy from the projectile. The bolt barely flew two paces before falling to the ground.