“Are you sensing him? Are you using your inner power?”
“No.” Gaia leaned down and took some orange petals that were on the ground. “He leaves these petals, so I know where to find him.”
“Adorable.” Priyam swung from one of the tree’s low-hanging branches. “Speaking of sensing, how come Hunter doesn’t sense this guy?”
“Because Hunter senses evil, and clearly, I’m one of the good guys,” said Pratt, who had snuck up next to them.
Priyam glared at him. This was the first time meeting him, and she was not that impressed. “Clearly,” she barked with a bitter tone.
“You must be Priy.”
“Priyam to you,” she corrected him. “You must be the Terrian who keeps kidnaping my friend.”
“Priy!” Gaia gasped.
“The name is Pratt, and I’m not kidnapping her. She’s here willingly.”
Priyam took a step closer, “Really?”
Gaia jumped in the middle of the two. “Stop it, both of you.”
Without taking his hazel eyes from Priyam, Pratt took the white iris out of his pocket and handed it to Gaia. “You left this?”
“Yes, I saw another memory.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“In my dream, I was playing around with Shui, Donovan and the rest. Donovan’s and Shui’s dads were grading us on our skills when a soldier came with bad news,” Gaia explained. “They kept talking about an army. They were terrified of one thing: Ifrun, Ifan, or something like that.”
“Ifreann,” Pratt corrected her.
“Yes.”
“Ifreann is not a thing, it’s a place,” Pratt clarified as he walked closer to Priyam, taunting her, measuring her up.
Annoyed, Priyam took a few steps forward, showing him she wasn’t someone he would want to mess with. “Like Terra?” Priyam asked.
“More like Nádúr,” Pratt added, clearly pleased with the fact that Priyam engaged in the conversation. “Ifreann is a city in Terra.”
Gaia frowned. “I thought there were only five cities in Terra.”
“When Terra was created there were only five cities. Ifreann was created later… much later.”
Priyam sat down on top of a large rock. “Why were they so afraid of it?”
“Because it wasn’t created by Nature. It was created by Him,” said Pratt.
“Azazel,” Gaia whispered as if calling him out loud would help Him find her.
“After parliament exiled Him beyond Mount Bass, Azazel built a refuge. With time, his followers joined him and, little by little, it grew into a city known and feared by everyone on Terra, the city of Ifreann.”
“Oh, funny thing,” Priyam faked a loud chuckle. “For a moment there, it sounded like you admire him,” she pointed out.
Pratt stood toe-to-toe with her, so close Priyam could smell pine tree from his dirty blond hair and notice the intensity in his hazel eyes. “No matter the path he chose to follow, his talent and power are undeniable. You would be stupid not to remember that.”
“What happened?” Gaia jumped for the second time between them to prevent a fight. “After that memory?”
“War.” Pratt stepped back. “The one in your dreams.”
So that’s how it started? She thought. One less puzzle piece. Besides all the complaining and doubts, Gaia loved having Pratt as a friend and an ally. Ever since she made that deal, she’d been able to reconstruct some of her memories creating a bigger picture out of the blurry puzzle of clues she had.
“Any other question?” he asked, scratching the two freckles on his small nose.
“Yes,” Gaia remembered yesterday’s memory on her way to train with Willow. “Shui, Mor, Veter, and Willow have a mark on their wrists, what do they mean?”
“The marks of the Temples.” He circled over his left wrist where the mark should be. “It means they excel in their element. It’s a significant mark to have.”
Priyam beamed with happiness. She loved the idea of marks of honor and majestic temples.
“You’re smiling.” Pratt taunted Priyam’s mood.
“Don’t confuse my ability to enjoy the awesomeness behind the marks, with an inexistent liking of you from my part.” Priyam pushed her glasses up, and Gaia recognized her expression. The same one she had every time she wanted to tease Synthia. “Speaking of marks, why don’t you have one?”
“I don’t have an element,” he hissed, clearly bothered by it.
“Why is that mark so important?” Gaia asked cutting into their argument.
“It’s dangerous,” he said relaxing a little bit. “Considering sixty percent die while trying to get it. Wearing it shows you survived.”
“They were kids when they had it.” Gaia shivered. They could’ve died. “How could somebody let a child pass through something like that?”
“The Six were a special case. Age limit is thirteen,” he explained. “Also, Terrian kids are not raised like human kids. They’re born into this. Same way as a cook’s son would probably know how to handle a stove at the age of four.”
Priyam heard a rustling, she noticed Icarus playing around near them. He hadn’t seen them, but he was getting really close. “We need to go,” Priyam whispered, pointing in the direction of Icarus.
Gaia saw him. “Let’s. See you next time Pratt.” Gaia followed Priyam but then stopped walking. “Wait, Pratt…”
“G, we need to go.”
“One second.” She turned to Pratt. “The memory, I had it while I was still awake.”
“Like a daydream?”
“Yes.” She checks to see if Icarus was still oblivious to his surroundings. Luckily, he was. “Is that normal? The daydreaming?”
“Perfectly normal,” he said. “You were weaker before, less connected to your being. That’s why you used to have them only when you were asleep, but now you are more connected to yourself, so the memories are coming back. The more connected you become, the stronger and faster the memories will emerge.”
“Thank you.” Gaia mouthed the words then followed her best friend, who was already near the fluffy sugar glider.
Icarus saw Priyam next to his tree. Excited, he jumped and landed on her hands. “Hello, furball,” she chirped.
“See?” Gaia said when she reached her friend. “He isn’t that bad.”
“I know.” Priyam petted Icarus’ head. “I’ve always loved this little fellow.”
“I was talking about the other one…” Gaia tried to sound casual in front of Icarus. She didn’t want him to understand who she was referring to. “You know, the one before.”
“Mmm… I’m not sure, yet. I was there for like five minutes.”
“So?” Gaia laughed. “You make your opinions based on less.”
“He was… useful,” she admitted as she kept petting Icarus.
Gaia smiled, victorious at her achievement.
“Still think he’s a jerk,” Priyam added.
“I can live with that.”
* * *
Gaia, Priyam, and Icarus reached the kitchen where Veter, Shui, Pink, Floyd and Willow were already eating. Edan took out a few big red apples and placed them in a bowl made of rock.
“What’s happening, Fireball? We’re back. Did you miss us?” Priyam sat next to Pink. “Of course you did,” Priyam said, not waiting for an answer. She took the black cassette tape from the table and gave it to Pink. “This is the fourth time I find your cassette laying around. You’re going to lose it one day.”
“Never, lassie.” Pink hid the cassette in one of her many jacket pockets.
“I keep telling her the same thing.” Floyd chewed a big piece of bacon. “Don’t make me regret giving it back to you, sis,” he warned his twin as she replied with a wide grin.
“How was the jogging?” Edan asked while placing the bowl of bright red apples in the center of the table.
“Slightly annoying,” said Priyam. She pushed the bowl of fruit away and went straight for the eggs and bacon.
> “You gotta admit it, Priyam, it’s hilarious how you love stories where they travel, yet you hate walking,” Pink pointed out as she ate some of her eggs.
“I used to love walking.” Priyam took a bite of her breakfast. “But then again, that was before I had to walk all over the country.”
Veter laughed loudly from across the table. “You should wait for Terra, little Prisum,” he said as he filled Shui’s plate with an apple and a few berries. “Now, that’s walking.”
“Not helping,” Priyam glared at the cheerful Viking man.
Chapter 3
Trick or Trick
DONOVAN WOKE UP EARLY in the morning. He put on some gray jogging pants then walked outside his bungalow. Yawning, he stretched his arms and the eagle tattoo on his arms and bareback looked like it was about to fly. He did a small warm up and continued his morning routine with a ten-mile run.
On his way through the forest, Donovan stepped on a bunch of leaves, followed by a loud SNAP!
A net made of thick rope wrapped around Donovan, lifting him until it reached the top of the tree. Donovan yelped at the sudden attack.
Once the net stopped swinging, he tried to roll, but his left leg was stuck on one of the net’s holes. “Icarus!” he called. He then closed his eyes and concentrated on detecting any sound. Nothing… He couldn’t hear any dark beasts approaching.
Pulling on the ropes to lift his upper body, he tried to see over the top of the tree, but the sky was bright blue. There were no grey clouds in sight. “What’s happening?”
Seconds later, Icarus glided towards the net, landing on the rope. “Icarus, what’s going on?”
Icarus squeaked while assessing the situation.
“Yeah, I don’t know either.” Donovan scratched where the ropes had rubbed his bare chest. “How are the others? Are they OK?”
Icarus gave a small bark. “WHAT? It’s five in the morning! How are they still asleep?”
Icarus squeaked. His posture made it clear that if it was up to him, he would still be sleeping too.
“Any ideas on how to get me down?”
Icarus nodded. He ran to the top of the net and began to chew the rope that was holding Donovan up in the tree.
Donovan looked at the floor, he was pretty high up. “This is going to hurt.”
* * *
Edan walked out of his bungalow. He was reading the supplies chart on his way to the kitchen.
“Morning, Edan.”
Edan lifted his eyes from the page and saw Gaia stretching against the First Tree. She was wearing black sporty shorts and a long purple tank top. He felt his heart stopping. “Morning,” he managed to say with a normal tone. “Going for your jog?” he stated the obvious.
“Yes. I promise I won’t run away.”
“I’ll join you.” He left the graphics and the cup against one of the First Tree’s roots. Edan noticed a certain shock in Gaia’s stare. After all, it was unusual for him to volunteer for something like that. “Someone needs to make sure you stay alive and unharmed. You know, to keep you from falling into ditches.” He jogged towards her.
“Of course.”
A few feet inside the forest and they hadn’t spoken a word. Gaia began to feel anxious. This is the first time in a while they had jogged together, and without fighting. Yet…
“How,” Edan began as he jogged flawlessly, “is your training with Willow going?”
“It’s going good, better than when I started my fire lessons.”
“I don’t think that’s a hard thing to accomplish,” he teased, and couldn’t help but grin. But his grin disappeared as soon as he sensed something odd. “Stop.”
“You saw something?” Gaia looked towards the forest.
He shook his head. “Do you hear that?”
Gaia gave it a try, but she couldn’t hear a thing. “No.”
“Exactly.” He opened Gaia’s lotus locket to check the time. Past six-thirty in the morning. “Something’s wrong. Where is everybody?”
“Asleep?” she said, wishing she was sleeping too.
“Priyam and the twins, yes. The Terrians should be awake already.”
Gaia gasped. “Edan!” She pointed to the sky.
Donovan was still hanging from the tree, with Icarus biting off the rope trying to get him down. It was too damn thick and Icarus was panting.
“Donovan?” asked Gaia. “What’re you doing there?”
Icarus and Donovan noticed they were being watched, and they both stared awkwardly at Edan and Gaia. “Oh, hello guys.”
“What happened?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I came for my morning run and got trapped so I cal—”
“Wait!” Edan ordered.
“What?” Gaia whispered, unsure why she was doing so.
Edan placed his finger on his lips. “Shhh!” He looked around. He could barely see a rope curled on a tree that was a few feet from them. “Bloody hell.” He panicked. “Donovan… what… day is today?”
Donovan thought about it for a second. “Oh, no!” Donovan screamed. “No! Edan, how could we forget!? We had a plan.”
“What?! What plan?” Gaia asked confused.
Ignoring her, Edan scanned their surroundings. “I know we did, but with all the running away and changing camps, we must have forgotten.”
“What’re we going to do?” Donovan freaked.
“I don’t know. I just know… we are too late.”
“Icarus! Stop biting, we’re staying here.” Donovan stretched his arms and cradled Icarus. “It’s safer in here.”
Gaia started to get scared. She’d seen Edan and Donovan fighting beasts without second thoughts, yet now they were both freaking out. “What’s happening!? Is it Him?”
“Worse.” Edan pulled Gaia closer to him. “The twins.”
“As in Pink and Floyd? I don’t get it.” Affected by the proximity, Gaia took some steps back. “Why would the twins—”
“Stop!” Edan curled his hand around Gaia’s arm, pulling her away from a trap that had snapped. The ropes tensed, lifting another hanging cage just like the one Donovan was trapped in. “It’s April’s bloody first.” He hissed. “I hate this day.”
“Wait, is it Fool’s Day?”
“Unfortunately.” Edan clenched his jaw. “We need to get out of here.”
Gaia laughed like crazy. “Yes, laugh now.” Edan threw her over his shoulder so she wouldn’t step on any traps. “I want to see you hanging from a tree or a metal box soaked in oil and then laugh.”
“That happened to you?” She asked him, resting her elbows on his shoulder to gain more support.
“It did,” he admitted with a deep frown. “I’m serious, we’re all scared of this day. Today, there’s no safe place.”
SWISH! There was a near rustling. “You hear that?” Edan asked.
The rustling grew louder and louder. “Run!” Donovan yelled.
Edan ran with Gaia in his arms until they reached a place full of rocks. “Stay on the rocks, they can’t put traps in there.”
“Aaahhh! Floyd! Get me the hell down from here,” they heard Willow screaming.
“They got Willow.” Gaia jumped from Edan’s arms and lowered herself against one of the biggest rocks. “We’re trapped,” she said, wanting to laugh at how seriously she was taking the pranks now.
“We are not. Just give me a second.” Edan stepped hard on the ground. A tall wave of fire crawled across the ground burning and disarming seven traps. Gaia turned to Edan. “You think it’s safe?”
“With them? Never.” He sat down on the rock next to her. “Last time they carved ten-foot slides, covered them in plastic, and drenched them in oil. The devils placed a rope in the middle of the slide, but if you pulled it or tried to climb using it, you got drenched in glitter from a box the rope was tied to. Donovan twinkled for two weeks.” Edan’s serious glare made it clear to Gaia that laughing was not a good idea, no matter how funny that story was. “That night they also filled our to
othpaste tubes with cookie fillers… Actually, Veter loved that one.”
A rock was about to hit Edan on the back of his head when he turned and caught it. He looked up and saw Hunter hanging from a tree. His legs curled and arms straightened. He swung his core with one movement and, using his wrist gauntlet to slide, he managed to sit down on the lower branch. “There are four more traps that way. One involves industrial glue and feathers; you should avoid all that section,” he signaled.
“Feathers and what?” Gaia pushed a red locket of hair behind her ear. She still had some trouble learning Hunter’s sign language.
“Industrial glue,” said Edan.
“Wow,” Gaia chuckled. “They really take this to another level.”
“Yes, they do.”
“We had a plan,” Edan rubbed his temples. “I was going to send them on a scavenger hunt this week, keeping them busy and away from us.”
“It took us half a year to plan that.” Hunter signaled.
“You should go with Hunter. That kid never falls for their idiotic pranks.” Edan carried Gaia until she reached the branch where Hunter was sitting. “I’ll distract them.”
“It’s too late.” Hunter pointed at a bunch of trees that shook one by one heading in their direction. It was like being in a scary movie. “They’re coming.”
“Run, Gaia, run!” Edan and Hunter jumped on to the shaking trees. They fought the traps while Gaia escaped.
Is Priyam OK? Gaia wondered. She probably is. She would do more damage than the twins together ever could. Then, she noticed a marigold flower. Pratt... she thought, not knowing what was happening. It was usually Gaia who placed the flower first. Is he in trouble? Did the twins get him? Gaia laughed at the thought of Pratt covered in oil and feathers. Fat chance. What if it’s something about my memories? Maybe I can use the twins’ craziness to escape for a bit, she turned and saw Hunter too distracted, dodging balloons full of paint, to sense her sneaking out. So she took the opportunity and followed the flower.
* * *
Gaia opened the lotus locket. Priyam had managed to install a small timer that would let Gaia know when her time with Pratt was up. She clicked on the button and the countdown started. “What’s going on?” she asked as soon as she found him.
Seasons Within Box Set Page 31