The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga

by P. M. Dooling

  Chapter 4

  Eeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr!

  Avery Kimball’s head shot up from her desk so fast that she nearly managed to knock herself out of her seat. She had almost fallen asleep when the ear piercing bell, signifying the end to her final class, slammed her back into reality. She checked her desk and the side of her face for drool. There was hardly anything as embarrassing as falling asleep in class and drooling all over the place, and this she knew from experience.

  Avery slumped her backpack onto her shoulder and started to file in line with the rest of the students pilling out of the compact classroom and into the crowded corridors.

  “TGIF, right?” a slight Asian girl, with dyed purple hair, standing beside Avery asked.

  “Tell me about it.” Avery responded, keeping her eyes fixed on the two double plexi-glass doors which led out to the parking lot and to freedom, “I thought this week would never end.”

  “So, are you going to Mitchell’s party tonight?” The girl asked.

  Avery let out a sigh, but before she could continue and officially say no, the girl cut her off, “Avery, you have to go! It won’t be the same without you there. Plus, now that Mitchell and Jenny are a thing of the past, he totally has eyes for you!”

  Avery thought about that for a moment. She had always held a small torch for Mitchell Becker and his big brown puppy dog eyes, ever since the third grade when he had shared his bag of gummy snacks with her. She let herself fantasize about his eyes for a few more seconds before deciding against making a play for his affection.

  “Sorry, Ming, I can’t.” Avery said, hoping she wouldn’t later come to regret her decision, “I’ve got an English literature paper that desperately needs my attention.”

  Ming shook her head, “You’ve gotta knock it off with all this studying, girl. We’re only juniors; we have another whole year before we have to start worrying about grades and college.”

  Avery gave Ming a light motherly pinch on the cheek, “It’s never too early to start worrying…or so my parents tell me”

  Finally, they exited the doors and were out of the student packed corridors.

  Ming waved goodbye, smiling broadly, “Well, we’ll miss you tonight, but I’ll give Mitchell a big kiss for you.”

  Avery smiled back, telling herself that Ming’s comment was just a good humored joke and not an actual declaration of something she was intending to do. Otherwise, smiling would be the last thing Avery would do.

  “I’ll see you Monday, Ming.” Avery shouted her goodbye.

  Phoenix Mountain High School was located right next to a large park, filled with dozens of bulky trees and green bushes overflowing with petite white flowers that extracted a spicy sent into the air.

  It was by the curb at the far side of the park that Avery always parked her car. In the far distance, she could see the sun glinting off the hood of her beloved Dodge Challenger. She didn’t care that it was over thirty years old, with a peeling dark blue paint job, missing windshield wipers, a sticky gear shift, and sun visors that randomly decided to fall off. Avery didn’t even care that she had ended up putting more money into it than what she had initially paid for it. That car was her baby. It was the first thing she had bought with her money earned from working at her Mom’s flower shop, and more importantly, at this moment, it was her ride to home. Of course, she had to make it to the car first.

  Avery would have inhaled to take in a deep breath of that delicious scent of the tiny white flowers, but first she had to cross the car packed student parking lot blocking her way to the park. There was nothing that she hated more about school than the student parking lot, with its smoldering black top, insane teenage drivers, and asphyxiating exhaust clouds. Avery glanced over longingly at the green oasis that was Cactus Wren Park.

  That was something that always astounded Avery about Redemption, how green they were able to keep their parks in the middle of the desert.

  Avery had been born and raised in the town of Redemption, Arizona. It was a town of about five thousand people, located in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, the kind of town with one local theater and a good thirty minute drive to the nearest mall. It was home to farmers, cowboys, and your average citizen looking to get away from the large over-populated cities. Avery always figured her parents fell into the latter category. Although, they never talked much about their past, she knew her parents hadn’t been born there. She figured they had moved from some big city to Redemption, so that her Mom could open up a small flower shop, while her Dad worked at the local bank. It didn’t matter to Avery why exactly they had moved to Redemption; she was just grateful they had. She loved everything about living in the town, the desert lightning storms, the friends she had made, the dry weather, working part time at her mom’s flower shop, even going to her out of date and poorly funded high school.

  Car horns began honking as cars raced to get out of the parking lot. Avery stepped down off of the curb and onto the blacktop. She had made it half way to sanctuary when she heard someone from behind her shout, “Avy!”

  There was only one person who called her by that, and Avery really did not want to have to deal with her right now. Avery steeled herself, fighting every instinct that told her to ignore the voice, knowing that if she just kept walking she would be given an earful about it tomorrow morning. So, she put on her politest smile and turned around to see Sasha Seraphina and one of her many male admirers strolling up to her.

  Sasha was the kind of girl that every boy wanted and every girl wanted to be. She was tall, a good six inches taller than Avery, and pretty much all legs. Her olive skin was kept baby soft with expensive moisturizers whose names Avery couldn’t even pronounce. Sasha’s dyed copper hair was always professionally clipped and styled into a perfect pixie cut. She had chestnut eyes and brows that were sculpted into perfect arches. To complete her look, she always wore the most fashionable name-brand outfits that detailed every curve of her long body.

  “Hey.” Avery replied, as Sasha and her male friend, who Avery now recognized to be Toby Burke, a Varsity wrestler, reached her.

  “Hey.” Sasha said, stepping up to Avery closer than she needed to, invading Avery’s personal space so that she was now looming over her.

  Avery just sighed and glanced up at Sasha with her eyes, refusing to raise her head. She knew what Sasha was doing. Avery knew she could be a pretty enough girl. She had thick, long, auburn hair that fell in unruly waves down to the small of her back and could either make Avery look like a princess when behaving itself, or a hot mess when it wasn’t. Her ivory skin gave her an ethereal glow, even though it meant she could never leave her house without applying sun-block, unless she wanted the Arizona sun to turn her redder than a cooked lobster. She had curves enough of her own, but her favorite form of attire, a pair of warn jeans and a flannel shirt didn’t exactly emphasize anything but her laid back attitude. Her deep emerald eyes were framed by dark lashes that sparkled particularly bright when she flashed her wide smile, which was often.

  Sasha also knew that Avery could be a pretty enough girl, a fact that Sasha didn’t like. That was why every time they spoke Sasha always did her best to make sure the only real things Avery felt self-conscious about was in the spotlight…her height. Avery had been petite her whole life, always shorter than most of her friends, but she had continued to hold out hope for a much wanted growing spurt. However, at sixteen years of age, Avery was faced with the hard truth that she was most likely going to be stuck with her current five-foot-one height for the rest of her life. Often times, Avery wondered if she would actually be alright with her shortness, if not for friends like Sasha.

  Avery pushed that thought aside and addressed the insecurity pusher, herself, “What’s up, Sash?”

  Sasha stared down at her, “What are you in such a rush for?”

  Had she not heard the final bell ring, Avery thought sarcastically, before saying, “I’m just in a rush to get home. You know, to food, nap, homework, and the
n more napping…probably in that order.” All things which you are keeping me from, Avery had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying.

  Sasha smirked, “What an exciting life you lead, Avery.”

  Sasha meant it as a joke, but only partly. It had the appropriate amount of Sasha sting connected to it that Avery knew, loathed, and tolerated.

  Avery raised her eyebrows and smiled back, wondering how she and Sasha had ever become friends. In fact, she knew exactly how, and it was more by force than choice. Since before Avery could walk, Avery’s parents along with Sasha, Jade Kai, Bunny Claiborne, and Skylar Bavol’s parents had gotten together and organized a play group for their children. Even now, they still did family activities, like picnics and softball matches together. They had all been forced to grow up together, and despite their strong personality differences, a strong bond had been formed between the five of them.

  Sasha was really the only one Avery ever had any problems with. Since she could remember, Sasha had always loved to give her a hard time, always questioning her, poking fun, and generally agitating her. Of course, Sasha did that to almost everyone, so Avery couldn’t really complain much. Avery loved Sasha, but most of the time she just wanted to punch her in the face.

  Avery decided to give it one more go before turning around to leave, “What did you want, Sasha?”

  Sasha shrugged, getting to her reason for stopping Avery in a slow pristine fashion, “I just wanted to know if you and the girls were going to the party tonight?”

  Avery stared; she had been allowing the heat off of the blacktop to slowly cook her alive just to be asked about the stupid party again, “Well, I’m not going, and I’m pretty sure there’s no way in hell Jade’s going, but you’ll just have to ask the others yourself, because I have no idea.”

  Sasha looked at Avery the way Avery looked at one of her dogs when it deliberately disobeyed a command.

  “Fine,” Sasha sighed, “go live your exciting life at home. I’ll see you later.”

  With a dismissive hand wave goodbye, Sasha turned to go. Toby gave Avery a toothy smiled and winked at her before following Sasha.

  Avery shook her head. That had just sealed it. This had been the absolute worst few minutes of her day. It could only go up from here.

  Avery watched as Sasha and Toby piled into Sasha’s blue two-door convertible that her dad had bought her for her birthday. Those were the kind of presents you got when your dad was one of only two lawyers in the town, especially, the only one of the two who was actually any good.

  Avery waved good-bye as Sasha attempted to speed out of the parking lot. Now that that interaction was thankfully over with, Avery turned around and continued to make her way out of the parking lot.

  As she stepped onto the grass of the park, she was finally able to take a breath of that longed for spicy flower scent. Avery had made it, she was free, it was Friday, and she had effectively avoided Sasha peer-pressuring her into attending a party she hadn’t wanted to. Avery slipped her backpack off of her shoulder and grasped it in her right hand as she started spinning in several whirling twirls of joy, not even caring who might see her.

  Teetering and almost losing her balance, Avery decided it might be a good idea to stop spinning. She had resumed walking in a straight line towards her car when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

  Someone was staring at her from behind one of the parks big Mahogany trees. At first, she mistook it for a child because of its size, but as she looked at it more closely, she realized it wasn’t a child at all. In fact, Avery wasn’t even sure if it was completely human. It looked almost like some sort of elf out of a children’s book.

  In an attempt to hold onto reality, Avery blinked her eyes hard and shook her head. When she opened her eyes a second later, the little creature had disappeared.

  She was about to walk over to the tree and look to see if she had really seen what she thought she saw, when she re-thought the idea.

  “Avery,” she told herself, aloud, “you just thought you saw some freaky little fantasy creature spying on you from behind a tree…and now you want to go and look for it?! No, no, no, no, no, no way…just go home and get some much needed sleep.”

  Changing directions slightly, Avery tried to put as much distance between her and the large Mahogany tree as she possibly could. She had barely taken five steps, when the small being she had seen leapt directly out at her from behind another bulky tree.

  Avery screamed at the top of her lungs and swung her backpack around in front of her to act as a barrier between her and the creature.

  From close up, Avery was able to see that the little being actually resembled a man, about half her height. He had long pointy ears that somehow fit his more rounded features and a long white beard that moved up and down with every twitch of his button nose. His deep set eyes shone like two shiny sapphires behind bushy gray eyebrows and seemed to contain oceans of knowledge. His graying hair stuck out in tufts from underneath his triangular shaped gray pointy hat. He wore an oversized brown robe that fell just below his feet and would have been too long to allow him to walk if it hadn’t been held up by a weathered leather belt fastened around his waist. There were at least a dozen small pouches attached to the leather belt, along with a very small dagger looped through it, which is what Avery was keeping her eyes on at the moment.

  “Oh, for Great Wizarding sake!” the little man spit out in a gravelly voice that Avery found impressively deep for such a little body, “There is no need to cause a scene with your screaming. I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour.”

  Avery stared hard at the little man for a long while, still holding up her backpack between them as a shield. She was trying to regain some focus through her confusion and make sense of what he had just said.

  “Are…um…are you talking to me?” She asked in a shaky little voice. It was the only question her mind would form at the moment.

  A look Avery could only make out as disgust flashed across Gumptin’s face, “Of course I am talking to you,” he answered brusquely, “do you see anyone else around?”

  Even through the insanity of the situation, Avery couldn’t help but think the little man rude, which was actually a good thing since it helped to chase away some of her fear and replace it with annoyance.

  Swallowing hard, Avery placed her backpack back over her shoulder, “Well, no, but I…I don’t usually have elves jump out at me from behind trees and start talking to me.”

  The man frowned as if Avery had said something offensive, “I am not an elf; I am a gnome. There is a big difference.”

  Avery’s mouth fell open in shock. Out of all the necessary information she needed from him to make sense out of what was going on, that seemed the most trivial.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Gnome,” Avery said sarcastically, still desperately trying to understand what was going on, “my mistake. Now, why don’t you tell me who exactly you are, what you’re doing here, and why you’re talking to me?”

  The small man cleared his throat, “My name is Gumptin; I am a Wizard, a forest gnome, and a trainer of extraordinary beings. You and I already know each other.” Gumptin looked at Avery, a lilt of melancholy in his eyes, “Unfortunately, you will not remember knowing me, or even who you are for that matter.”

  “Ok.” Avery’s mind seemed to have gone blank. She was seriously starting to believe that she may have inhaled too much car exhaust from the student parking lot and was now hallucinating, “So, you’re saying we already know each other; I just don’t ever remember meeting you or know myself?”

  “Exactly!” Gumptin grinned and clapped his hands, happy Avery was following him, “But, there is so much more that needs to be explained; this just is not the place to do it. Come with me and I will show you everything you need to know.”

  “Right,” Avery said, nodding her head up and down vigorously, “that sounds like a great idea, Gumptin the gnome, but I think I’m gonna pass on that fo
r now. Nice meeting you, though.”

  Avery wanted to run away as fast as her legs could take her, but she fought the urge and calmly turned around, securing her backpack on both shoulders, making it easier to run that way if needed. She started to slowly walk away from the Gumptin, heading back towards the school.

  “Wait!” Gumptin shouted anxiously, “Wait, you cannot leave!”

  Avery started to slowly pick up her pace as she heard Gumptin attempt to follow her.

  “The insane little man is chasing me! The insane little man is chasing me!” Avery chanted to herself, trying to remain calm, “Just keep on running; it’ll be alright; he’s got little legs; you can outrun him!”

  She was right. Gumptin’s little legs could not move very fast and he quickly gave up the chase.

  “You cannot run from who you are, Avery!” Gumptin shouted after her, in a last attempt before she got away, “It is your destiny! You are a Protector!”

  With those words Avery stopped dead in her tracks. Besides the fact that she had never told Gumptin her name, there was something in the way that he said it that made her turn back around and face him. There was something so familiar about it, as if she had heard him say it before. Of course, she knew that wasn‘t possible. Avery was sure she wouldn’t have forgotten meeting a two and a half foot gnome, but then there was that word…Protector. It had stirred something deep inside of Avery; something scratching on the very edges of her mind, begging to be remembered and released.

  Gumptin was still breathing heavy from his very short run as he approached her, “I am glad you came to your senses.” He puffed, “Now, are you ready to go?”

  “Gumptin,” Avery gaped at him, “I stopped running, that doesn’t mean I’m going to go anywhere with you.” Avery was still very cautious. Just because a certain word, and Gumptin saying her name sounded familiar, didn’t mean she was ready to listen to anything he said, “You could be a psycho!”

  Gumptin either didn’t hear Avery or ignored her, because he began to walk towards a grove of trees near the center of the park.

  “This way.” He motioned for Avery to follow him.

  Reluctantly and against her better judgment she followed Gumptin. After all, they were still in the open space of a large park, and she was twice the size of Gumptin; what could possibly happen?

  “Fine,” Avery shouted towards him, “but I’m not getting into any cars or confined spaces with you!”

  Gumptin stopped in between two massive Beech trees and swung his head around to make sure they were alone. Avery stopped behind him, wondering what the difference was from this spot compared to where they had just been standing. Avery sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to another, thinking maybe Gumptin was just crazy after all, and she was even crazier for following him.

  Just as Avery was about to speak up and say something, Gumptin waved his right hand in the air and said the words, “Ora Gateway.”

  Now, Avery was sure he was crazy, but before she could tell him this she was distracted by a movement from between the trees. It started out as a slight swirling, which for a moment Avery thought could be the wind, but then the swirling came in bigger and faster circles, widening in circumference. Within seconds, the churning stopped and Avery was staring at what looked like a circular pool of water standing up-right in mid-air.

  Avery didn’t realize she had stopped breathing, until her body forced her to take a large gulp of air just to stop her from fainting.

  “What…what did you just do?” She stammered, pointing at the liquid-like circle.

  “This,” Gumptin said, pointing towards the floating pool, “is the Ora Gateway, and I just opened it. It is the gateway to Orcatia, the planet you come from. Well, the first planet you come from, anyway.” Gumptin shrugged his shoulders, “After all, you were born on Earth as well.”

  The World started spinning inside Avery’s head; she stood frozen, just staring at Gumptin. There was no way she should believe what he was saying, but at the same time there was a magic gateway floating a foot in front of her.

  “Alright,” Gumptin told Avery matter-of-factly, “walk into it.”

  It was those words that knocked Avery out of her frozen trance. She began laughing, a small giggle that got bigger the more she thought about what Gumptin had just told her to do.

  “If you think for one second that I’m going to walk through that enchanted puddle, then you really are nuts.” Avery told him, her laughter dying down.

  Gumptin sighed and Avery could tell he was losing his patience, “I need to explain something to you, Avery. This is going to be hard for you to hear, but I need you to understand that you are a Protector. It is not a choice, it is your destiny.” Gumptin said seriously, “Protectors were created to fight the evil that not only threatens to take over Orcatia, but the whole Universe. You were born on the planet of Orcatia and you lived there and served as a Protector for sixteen years…until you were killed.”

  Avery opened her mouth to tell Gumptin again how insane he was, but Gumptin held up his hand to silence her. She obeyed, more because she was entranced by his story than out of obedience to him.

  “You were killed,” Gumptin continued, “and then magic was used to send you to Earth, so that you could be re-born. Then, when you reached the age you were when you died, I would come to bring you back.”

  Avery placed her hands over her eyes and shook her head, trying to wipe away what Gumptin was saying. Avery wasn’t sure if it was coming from her head, heart, or soul, but a very small part of her was confirming Gumptin’s words as truth. His words were sparking something inside of Avery’s brain, like a memory she knew she should have, but didn’t. It felt like Gumptin was picking at a giant scab covering her mind. Avery didn’t care that a part of her felt the truth in Gumptin’s words; right now, she was just telling that part to shut up and keep quiet.

  While Avery had her eyes closed, Gumptin moved around behind her and began pushing her from behind, towards the Gateway.

  Avery moved forward one step, then another; then she opened her eyes and realized what Gumptin was doing.

  “What the Hell!” Avery yelled, smacking Gumptin’s hands away from her backside, where he had been pushing her.

  “You have to go through the Gateway.” He told her firmly, moving his hands up to start pushing her again.

  She dodged out of his way, putting some distance between herself and the gateway. Avery had had enough, she didn’t care that some small part of her knew Gumptin was telling the truth; she was done with all this insanity; it was time to return to reality.

  “Listen,” she shouted at Gumptin, to make perfectly clear he understood what she was saying, “there’s no way I’m going down some freaky white rabbit’s hole just because some gnome tells me it’s my destiny!”

  Avery turned around and began to walk away from Gumptin and the madness.

  She had gone a few steps; then yelled over her shoulder towards him, “Go and scare somebody else!”

  “What about your family and friends?” Gumptin yelled back to her.

  When Avery spun around, she saw Gumptin hadn’t made any attempt to follow her. He was still standing by the gateway where she had left him. She strode up to him. Bringing her loved ones into this was stepping over a line. Every ounce of confusion, fear, and disbelief Avery had been feeling before was replaced with a hot anger.

  “Are you threatening the people I care about little man?!” Avery demanded, shoving her finger hard into Gumptin’s chest.

  “Of course not,” Gumptin said softly, soft enough to calm Avery down slightly, “but the Emperor will.”

  There it was again, a tinge of recognition that played in Avery’s brain. The Emperor, she could sense she knew that name. She could also sense the chill that name sent throughout her body.

  “He is the one responsible for your deaths.” There was a sadness to Gumptin’s voice as he spoke, and it caused Avery to take back her finger with a trace of guilt for h
aving shoved him so roughly with it. “If the Emperor discovers you and the others are still alive, he will move the planets to see you destroyed. He will kill you and everyone close to you. If you come with me, I can prepare you, give you another fighting chance.”

  Avery noticed that Gumptin had said ‘another‘. That’s because he supposedly killed you the first time, she told herself sardonically.

  “If you do not come with me,” Gumptin continued, “if you walk away from who you are, you are not just condemning yourself and the lives of those you love, but also planets full of people…to a terrible death.”

  Avery thought that a bit overdramatic, but his point had hit home. She still wasn’t sure she believed absolutely everything Gumptin was saying, but there was no way she could walk away if it meant there was even the slightest chance she could put her family and friends in danger. Gumptin had used the one card that would make Avery go with him. There was a moment when Avery thought she might either cry or vomit, but she was able to control both reactions.

  She couldn’t believe she was actually about to do this, “Fine,” she told Gumptin, “let’s go.”

  Avery took tentative steps towards the gateway, until she was just inches away from it. She could feel energy reflecting off of it, like static electricity. Avery lightly grazed her fingers over the watery substance. Tiny ripples formed where her fingers made contact and branched outward. It felt cool to the touch, but to Avery’s surprise, not wet.

  Goosebumps broke out all over her body; it was telling her how insane she was for doing this. Avery closed her eyes, took a deep steadying breath, and then walked into the liquid.

  For a moment, Avery felt nothing, as if she had simply taken another step in the park, but a second later head-to-toe tingles, similar to tiny little pin pricks, burst across her flesh. Avery’s eyes shot open as she experienced the strongest pulling sensation she had ever felt, like someone had tied a rope around her waist and attached it to a herd of stampeding elephants.

  Whatever was happening was happening too fast for Avery to focus and see anything. It was mostly blackness, and small smatterings of light that passed by so quickly, if Avery were to blink she would miss them.

  It felt to Avery like she didn’t even have a body anymore, just a brain to absorb what was going on. It was like the craziest roller coaster she had ever been on times a thousand.

  In a blink it was over, as quickly as it had began. The entire trip had only taken seconds, but Avery’s head and stomach were doing a good job at convincing her it had taken an eternity.

  Avery had been catapulted out of the gateway with too much force for her to effectively catch her balance and she ended up falling flat on her face in the grass and dirt.

  Avery heard Gumptin come through the gateway behind her, and from the sound of it, he had no problems staying on his feet.

  “You could’ve given me a little warning about how much that was gonna suck!” Avery groaned as she lifted herself onto her hands and knees, wiping at the dirt she was sure was smudging her face.

  “You will get used to it.” Gumptin said dismissively, walking past Avery.

  That gave way to Avery having a horrifying thought; she was going to have to go through the Gateway again. Now, she was surer than ever that following Gumptin was a bad idea.

  When Avery picked herself up off of the ground, she looked around and saw that she was in the middle of a tiny clearing in the woods somewhere. The trees surrounding the clearing were massive; Avery had to lift her head almost all the way back to see the tops of them. The thick green carpeting of foliage blocked out most of the sky, but let in enough rays of sunlight to give the entire forest a warm glow. Mossy emerald carpeting covered the forest floor, except for small patches where multi-colored flowers and odd shaped mushrooms sprouted out from.

  Avery saw Gumptin disappear into a small patch of the forest, and she trotted to keep up with him. As uneasy as Gumptin made her feel, Avery would still prefer to be with him then on her own in an otherworldly forest.

  As Avery approached the spot Gumptin had vanished into, she saw that he had actually gone down a small overgrown dirt path. She spotted movement in the thick undergrowth a few feet ahead. Determined not to lose Gumptin, Avery walked onto the path, grumbling as she pushed wispy hanging branches and low-lying vegetation out of her way. The unruly waves of her hair kept getting caught on protruding tree stems and, she cursed the fact she didn’t have anything to tie her hair up with. Of course, she had no idea when she woke up that morning that she was going to be following a gnome while he traipsed around Sherwood Forest on another planet.

  Thinking about the forest, Avery was just about to shout out to Gumptin, asking how much longer she was suppose to endure the onslaught of nature, when the small path they were on exited out onto a much larger road. This looked, to Avery, like a main road of some kind, although she had no idea from where to where. The road was about ten feet wide and was either maintained or used frequently enough to keep the underbrush off of it.

  Gumptin was waiting for Avery in the center of the road.

  “Where are we going?” Avery asked him, pulling a leaf out of her hair.

  “You will see.” Gumptin told her; then turned to the left and started walking down the road.

  Avery grumbled under her breath and followed him, knowing that there was most likely nothing she could say to make him tell her.

  Avery stayed a few feet behind Gumptin. She kept noticing him glance around the forest, more alert than he had been back on Earth. Whatever he was keeping an eye out for, Avery didn’t want to know. Just being here was scary enough for her; she didn’t want to have something else to worry about. So, Avery decided, that for just this one time, she’d let Gumptin have a secret.

  As they walked, Avery could feel the forest pulsing with life around her. The call of multiple birds floated in on a soft breeze that lightly swayed her hair around her face. She heard the tiny rustling of small creatures scurrying around inside the thick forest, and she thanked her lucky stars that she could tell they were small. The leaves of the trees danced in the wind, giving off a low whistle which sounded almost like a lullaby. Everything around Avery smelled fresh and clean, like nothing she had ever experienced back on Earth, and as they continued walking she found herself being lulled into, what she knew, was a false sense of peace.

  After walking for about twenty minutes, Avery began to hear something besides the wind, birds, and animals of the forest. At first, Avery couldn’t make it out, but as they got closer and she strained to listen, she realized she was hearing the voices of people. She could hear men and women talking, the laughter of a child, the high whinny of a horse, some clanging and thumps, and the sound of people working.

  “Gumptin!” Avery screeched in an elevated whisper.

  “What?” Gumptin asked, turning around, not bothering to whisper.

  “I hear people.” Avery said, walking over to him and leaning down to be close to his ear so that she could keep her voice low, “Where are we going?”

  “We are going to Havyn.” Gumptin told her.

  Havyn…that word hit Avery hard in the chest, like a brick falling on it. It was another word she knew she was familiar with, a word that brought her comfort. Avery felt a flood of memories wanting to pound into her brain, but stopping short before she could actually remember anything.

  Avery straightened up and looked into the distance. She could almost see what lay at the end of the road, a small village filled with people.

  “Havyn’s where we lived.” Avery told Gumptin.

  “Do you remember?” Gumptin asked her, and Avery could see a small glimmer of hope flicker across his face.

  Avery laughed dismissively, “No…no way,” she told him, “I just had a feeling.”

  “That is good!” Gumptin shook his head up and down, “Feelings are good, sometimes even better than memories.”

  Avery wasn’t sure if Gumptin was just trying to cheer her up or not.
What she decided not to tell Gumptin, was that if he was right and she had actually been killed by some evil Emperor, then she was more than happy not to have any memories of this place.

  After Avery nudged Gumptin onward with her knee, he flashed her a look of contempt that brought Avery a surge of mischievous joy. He might not have liked being pushed around, but he did as Avery’s knee instructed and walked forward.

  Just a few steps later, Avery could begin to see small glimpses of the village through the trees. She could see a woman in a green tattered cotton dress throwing something on the ground for the chickens surrounding her to munch on, a wheelbarrow leaning up against an old stump, and the tops of a few other people’s heads. She knew the villagers weren’t yet able to spot her and Gumptin, not behind the large trees and thick shrubs of the forest.

  Where the road ended and the village began, there were two wide bushes with tiny purple flowers decorating them located on opposite sides of the road.

  Avery ambled up and stood behind one of the overgrown bushes. Out of sight, she was able to view the village in full for the first time.

  As she took in the village, she saw that there were no conventional homes, the kind made out of mortar or brick, or wood. Instead, all of the homes were actually built into enormous trees; the size of ten large Sequoias fused together. Avery lifted her head up to try and see the tops of the trees, but they seemed to go on forever and all she could manage to see was the greenish hue color of the distant leaves and some rays of light. It was easy to tell these trees were being used as homes, since every one of them had a doorway and multiple windows built into the trunks. Avery couldn’t tell how far down the tree homes went, but she guessed there were at least fifty or sixty of them rooted in a crescent moon shape, outlining the center of the town. Some of the trees had signs attached near and above their doors. Avery could make out one sign that said, ‘Blacksmith & Ferrier’ and another one that read, ‘Bott’s Apothecary & Sweets’. Avery thought that an odd combination, but considering she was on another planet didn’t figure she had much to compare it with.

  Beyond the trees, scattered in the background amongst wide farming fields, Avery could see a few normal homes that appeared to be made out of wood and clay.

  The center of town didn’t have much. There were no roads running through it, just a generous sized area of cleared land covered with grass and dried leaves. In the middle, there was a large water well made out of dark colored stones and covered with a wooden roof supported by four stone posts. Towards the outlying right end of the village, Avery could barely make out what looked like three large tables and six benches. They looked as if they could easily fit at least fifty people each.

  Avery was still absorbing some of the sights of the village, like the extensive vegetable gardens that lay beyond the tree houses, a few farm animals in small pastures, and the swords lying against the trunk of the Blacksmith’s tree house, when she realized something was tugging at the pocket of her jeans. She glanced down and saw Gumptin trying to pull her towards the entrance.

  “Lay off!” Avery hissed at him, smacking his hand away.

  That was the second time in an hour Avery had to smack Gumptin away from pushing her around, Avery hoped this was a habit they weren’t going to keep.

  “We do not have time for you to stand here and try to build up some nerve.” Gumptin scolded her, “Going back to your village is the easy part, Avery.”

  He pushed her hard in the small of her back, towards the village, causing Avery to jerk forward, run into something, and tumble over it. As she spun around and was falling backwards, Avery was able to see what Gumptin had pushed her into. It was a wooden post, a foot taller than Avery, with a sign on the top of it that read. ‘Welcome to Havyn, Pop. 236’.

  Avery tried to make a grab for the sign, but only managed to graze it with her finger tips, which spun her body back around so that she landed on the ground flat on her face instead of on her butt.

  “Son of a bitch!” Avery yelled at the top of her lungs, picking herself off the ground and rubbing her throbbing elbow that had landed on a small rock. She spun around to face Gumptin, her mind set on killing the little man, “What the Hell did you do that for?!” Avery shouted at him.

  She felt sure she just might throttle him. Avery noticed that as she was yelling at Gumptin, he was looking past her. That only pissed Avery off more. He could at least have the decency to look at her after what he had just done; so she could properly scold him.

  “Avery?” The voice came from behind Avery, and she froze as it began to dawn on her what Gumptin was most likely staring at.

  Avery turned around slowly, still holding her wounded elbow. She saw that the voice had come from a boy, not much older than her. He had shaggy brown hair, and tanned skin smudged with dirt. The clothes he wore, brown cotton pants and a blue tunic with a belt cinched around it looked well worn. Just by looking at him Avery could tell he definitely worked hard for a living.

  The boy wasn’t the only one staring at her; he was surrounded by five other villagers, and Avery noticed a multitude of other people stopping what they were doing, coming out of their houses, and making their way over to where she stood.

  Oh, my God, she thought, the whole freaking village is on their way to come see me.

  Gumptin had come up to stand beside Avery, “I told you I would bring her home.” He addressed the villagers, “She is just as she was.”

  Gumptin looked Avery up and down, scrutinizing, and Avery had a strong suspicion he didn’t believe what he had just said.

  The boy who had said her name ran up and gave her a tight hug, “Thank God, you’re back.” He said into her ear.

  Avery gasped, not knowing how to deal with this reaction. She lightly hugged him back.

  When she pulled back from the boy the rest of the villagers were waiting to follow suit, some hugged her, some patted her on the back, and a few even shook her hand. There were a small amount of them crying, but the rest looked as happy as if they were receiving presents on their birthday.

  Avery heard people say things to her like, ‘We were so scared the Protectors wouldn’t return to us’ and ‘I knew you were too strong a warrior to stay dead’ or ‘Without you, the Emperor would surely take over Orcatia’. Then, there was Avery’s favorite, ‘How could you be so stupid to go and get yourself killed’.

  Avery looked pleadingly at Gumptin. She had no idea what to say to these people. They were all acting like they knew her, like they needed her, and she had no idea who any of them were.

  “That is enough! That is enough!” Gumptin said, pushing the villagers away from Avery. He had seen her distress and decided it would be best not to freak her out any more than she already was, “You must keep in mind, as I told you,” Gumptin told the villagers, “Avery has no memory of who she was, of this place, or of you.”

  Avery saw the recollection dawn on all of their faces and most of them looked as if they had just been hit by a falling tree.

  “I am sorry.” One of the village men said to Avery, “It was awfully terrifying not having you here to protect the village anymore. We saw you again, and I guess we just…forgot.”

  Avery smirked slightly; she found it humorous that the man was apologizing for them forgetting that she had forgot everything.

  “It’s really not a problem.” Avery told them.

  Gumptin, who was still trying to push some of the villagers away, spoke up, “I need to speak with Avery alone now. You all go back to what you were doing.” At the villagers’ reluctance to leave, Gumptin told them, “I need to speak with her before we can go back and get the others. Do not worry; she is here to stay.”

  Avery startled at Gumptin’s words. Everything had happened so fast. Her mind was still struggling to keep up, but even with everything she had already discovered, this was the first time she realized Gumptin had meant for her to stay here on this other world permanently. Avery threw that thought quickly out of her brain before it
caused her panic. She had enough to deal with in the now to think about the future.

  As much as Gumptin’s words had disturbed Avery, they had calmed the villagers, and they had begun to disperse back to their houses and work.

  When they were alone, Gumptin led Avery over to a small clearing on the outskirts of the village near the border of the forest. There were two small wooden benches in the clearing and Gumptin motioned for Avery to have a seat on one.

  Avery sat and Gumptin began to talk, “I brought you back here first, on your own, for a reason, Avery. I am going to need your help in bringing the other Protectors back here.”

  Avery snorted, “What are you going to need my help with?” She couldn’t begin to imagine how she would be able to convince someone to take a wild ride through a magical portal to another world, “Can’t you just jump out from behind some tree and scare them senseless until they agree to come with you?”

  Gumptin continued, unfazed by her sarcasm, “You are their leader Avery. You are the leader; the leader of the Protectors. You have to re-establish your leadership, gather your warriors, and get them back here to fight.”

  This was becoming too much for Avery. She didn’t know if she could handle the responsibility of being told that she was not only some magical warrior, but also the leader of these magical warriors.

  Avery stood up off of her bench, “Look, Gumptin, this is all just getting a little too crazy house for me.”

  “Avery!” Gumptin yelled loudly, stopping Avery in her tracks and capturing her full attention, “Look around you, young lady. You can no longer deny that this is real. It is not your imagination. It is not a dream, and you are not going insane. I know you know everything I told you is true. I know that you feel it as truth inside your very bones.”

  Avery looked around her at the houses built into giant trees, the villagers who were staring over at her as they pretended to work, and the thick green forest surrounding everything. Gumptin was right. Even though she’d never admit it to him; a part of her belonged to this place and she knew it. It played on her memories like a barely remembered dream.

  Avery was still lost in wistful thought, gazing at her surroundings, when Gumptin said, “Plus, there is also this you cannot ignore.”

  Then, Gumptin pulled the small dagger out from his belt and lunged at Avery. Avery reacted instantaneously, she spun to the right and grabbed Gumptin’s wrist with her left hand, while at the same time clasping his arm to her body with her right hand. Avery brought her knee up and slammed Gumptin’s wrist against it, forcing him to drop the dagger. He let out a small grunt of pain and she flipped him onto his back on the ground, all the while still holding on to his wrist, so that she was able to pin it. A second later, Avery had his other wrist pinned to the ground with her knee. She picked up his dagger with her free hand and placed the blade across his throat.

  “Are you insane?!” Avery shouted into Gumptin’s face. She was breathing heavy, more from the shock of being attacked with a knife than from exertion. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted some creepy fantasy creature! You tried to kill me!”

  Gumptin lay on the ground calmly, not trying to struggle away from Avery or the knife she was holding at his throat.

  “I was not trying to kill you.” He told her, “I simply wanted to show you what you are capable of.”

  Avery looked down at Gumptin, puzzled, minutely easing the knife away from his throat.

  “I wanted to show you that you are truly a Protector.” Gumptin continued, “All of the powers and abilities that the Protectors possess are inside of you, a little dormant perhaps, but they are there. I knew that in a fight or flight situation you will always choose fight, it is who you are, and instinctually you would use your skills.”

  What Gumptin was saying wasn’t making Avery feel much better, “So, you’re saying you were testing me…with a knife!”

  “Oh, for Wizarding sake, girl,” now Gumptin did struggle a little to free himself, but Avery kept him firmly cemented to the ground, “I was not testing you, I was showing you! Look at what you did! In just a few seconds you were able to disarm me, throw me to the ground, and take advantage of the situation. Now, get off of me!”

  It was then that everything that had just transpired hit Avery like a lightning bolt. She had no idea how she had done what she did. She didn’t even really remember seeing Gumptin come at her with the knife; her body had just reacted. Avery had to admit to herself that being able to whip Gumptin’s little ass was pretty cool.

  “Get off!” Gumptin huffed for the second time, below her.

  Avery obeyed and released him, but as he stuck his hand out for her to give him his knife back, Avery threw it to the ground. Gumptin may have just been trying to show Avery she had warrior instincts, but he had still lunged at her with a knife, and that wasn’t something she was entirely grateful for.

  Avery sat back down on the bench; thinking about her newly discovered fighting skills. Gumptin picked up his knife from the ground, placed it back into his belt, and walked over to her.

  He placed his little hand on her shoulder, “You are the leader of the Protectors Avery. The Protectors are five beings created by the Elementals, a powerful group of sorcerers. You were created to keep the balance between good and evil. Before you and the others were born, darkness was taking over, becoming too strong for most of us to fight back. Demons, trolls, harpies, were beasts, and other horrendous creatures began to roam this world unchallenged, but then the Protectors were born and things changed.”

  Avery placed her head in her hands. Gumptin talking about Demons and trolls made her want to go back home to Earth and sleep away this whole experience.

  Gumptin sat down beside her, his hand still resting on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, “The Protectors have the power of the elements. You have the power of energy, another has water, another earth, one fire, and one wind. You can harness the power of your energy and use it as a weapon.”

  Avery looked up at Gumptin, “You mean I actually have power, power, not just strength and all that fighting stuff.”

  Gumptin shook his head, “Well, that fighting stuff is important,” he scowled, “but yes, you do actually have powers. Of course, none of you ever really learned to use them very well, just tiny things. I am afraid they will likely remain dormant until the day you die.” Gumptin caught himself, “Well, you know, die…again.”

  Avery thought that was one of the dumbest things she’d ever heard, “What’s the point in having powers if you can’t even use them!” She asked.

  “Avery, you are just a human, remember.” Gumptin told her, “None but the Elementals fully comprehend the complexities of your powers, but from what I understand; it takes complete mastery of one’s own body, mind, and emotions to even begin to know how to use a power like yours.” He paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, and then said, “If it makes you feel any better, I once saw you zap a troll with a small bolt of electricity, and it left a very nasty burn mark on his face.”

  Avery stared at Gumptin like he had just eaten a fly. She couldn’t believe he was so remarkably bad at making a person feel better.

  “Anyway,” Gumptin went on, not seeming to notice Avery’s dissatisfaction, “this world needs the Protectors. The Elementals know that; that is why they brought you back after the Emperor killed you all.”

  Avery wished Gumptin would stop bringing up the being killed thing; especially if he was trying to set her at ease, because that wasn’t going to work.

  Taking another tactic, Gumptin said to Avery, “The Elementals sent your parents to Earth with your souls so that you could be re-born. They were given jobs and a place to live, unable to age until they could come home to Orcatia. They were forced to live sixteen years on a planet that was not their home, keeping their secret, especially from you, just so that you could be kept safe and alive.”

  Up until this point, Avery had never even thought about her parents; which, looking back,
she actually found rather dumb. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that her parents had known about the whole Protector, being from another planet, thing for her entire life and said absolutely nothing. Her parents had never really talked about their past, but Avery had just always figured it was because it wasn’t very interesting, how wrong she was. She had never even questioned the fact that they looked the same now as they did in old baby pictures with her. All of a sudden, Avery felt very blind and stupid.

  “Gumptin, if my parent’s didn’t age on Earth and I did, does that mean that I won’t age on Orcatia?” Avery had this image of her looking like she was sixteen forever, and she wasn’t quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “No, you were born on Earth, so you are part Earthling now. Earthlings age and die no matter what planet they are on. You shall age at a normal rate on both Orcatia and Earth.” Gumptin told her.

  Typical Gumptin answer, Avery thought, full of certain death. Then, another thought popped into her mind, “Gumptin, what about my sister?”

  Gumptin looked surprised, “You have a sister?” He asked.

  Avery nodded her head, “Yeah, and she’s younger than me, which means she was never even born on Orcatia…ever. What does that mean for her?”

  “Nothing,” Gumptin said, still looking surprised by the knowledge that Avery had a younger sister, “like I said Earthlings age wherever they are. She will have the same manner of life here as she does there.”

  Avery snorted; she knew that wasn’t even remotely possible.

  “I can’t believe my parents never said anything to me.” Avery grumbled as she ran her fingers through her long hair, attempting to collect herself and her thoughts.

  “You know they could not.” Gumptin told her softly, “They could not risk anyone or anything finding out. Plus,” he added, almost absentmindedly, “you truly needed to be given a normal life.”

  That was one of the problems Avery was struggling with; all she knew was a normal life, and it wasn’t a bad life. Now, here was Gumptin, the Wizard gnome, telling her that she’d have to leave everything she knew, to become the warrior she didn’t remember being, to fight the thing that had apparently already killed her once before. She wished her parents could have at least prepared her to accept the fact that her cozy little life was just temporary.

  Avery wiped at her eyes, making sure to stop the tears before they had a chance to spring out. She didn’t know Gumptin well enough yet to allow herself to cry in front of him,

  “Gumptin,” Avery said, her voice slightly strained, “I don’t remember anything.”

  “I really do not believe you shall ever get your memory back.” Gumptin shook his head, “It was one of the prices for bringing you back to life.”

  Even though, Avery was acutely aware Gumptin said one of the prices, she decided it was best not to bring that up at the moment. She decided to ask him about it later when her head stopped spinning.

  “But, now,” Gumptin said, standing up, “we must go back to Earth and fetch the other Protectors.”

  Gumptin walked through the village entrance and back onto the main road, headed back towards the Gateway.

  “Wait a second!” Avery shouted, running to catch up with him, “You still haven’t told me who the other Protectors are.”

  Gumptin stopped mid-stride, “Have I not?” He asked Avery, and she shook her head, no.

  “Well, that is because I figured you would have already guessed it.” He told her, “They are Jade Kai, Skylar Bavol, Sasha Seraphina, and Bunny Claiborne.”

  Of course, Avery thought as realization hit her like a lightning bolt. That was why their parents were always forcing them together, always making sure they did things as a group. From before they could speak, their parents had been preparing them to be a unit.

  The thought of Sasha flashed into Avery’s mind, and the idea of being the leader didn’t seem so daunting anymore; because, if there was one thing Avery had longed to do all her life, it was to boss around Sasha Seraphina.

  Avery’s mind then began to drift towards another girl, “Hey, Gumptin,” She told him, “when we get back to Earth I know who we’re going to go tell first.”

  “No!” Was all Gumptin said, and he picked up his pace.

  “What?!” Avery asked, wondering why she had been so easily shot down, “Why?”

  “Because I know who you are referring to,” Gumptin told Avery, “and I am not going to deal with her until the very last moment that I have to.”

  Avery raised her arms in frustration, “How could you possibly know who I’m referring to?! I’m just telling you that I know which Protector I want to tell first.”

  “And I am telling you no, no, no, no!” Gumptin picked up his pace even more so that he was almost at a run.

  Avery watched him scurrying away down the road and let a huge smile break out on her face. She would let Gumptin protest as much as he wanted and act as childish as he wanted. All the while, she would revel in the knowledge that she and her car were going to be Gumptin’s only mode of transportation back on Earth.

  3.

  Jade Kai lived in the Rebel Moon Trailer Park, located on the far outskirts of town. It was a short fifteen minute drive through desert landscape down a two lane highway before Avery and Gumptin would reach the turn-off for the trailer park, marked by its old beat up blue and yellow sign, which hadn’t been updated since the sixties, standing large and tall, guiding people to the entrance.

  Avery rolled down the window of her old Challenger to let the desert wind blow warm on her face. Going through the Ora Gateway was bad enough once, but going through twice had left Avery’s stomach flip-flopping and her head thumping painfully.

  It hadn’t taken Avery too much convincing to get Gumptin to agree to go see Jade first. He had caught on quickly to what Avery had already known; that if Gumptin was going to go anywhere it was going to be in Avery’s car with her driving.

  Gumptin sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window the whole way to Jade’s place. Avery could tell he was fascinated with the scenery, the flat desert, the cacti, the craggy looming mountains in the background.

  “The deserts on Orcatia are not like the deserts here. They are really quite lovely.” Gumptin told Avery, still looking out his window, and a pang of remorse sliced through Avery’s heart. She didn’t want to have to think about leaving Redemption.

  “We’re here.” Avery said, turning into the dusty entrance of the trailer park, thankful to be able to put her mind on something else.

  Jade’s dad worked as a mechanic at the only auto repair shop in town and her mom as a clerk at the twenty-four hour grocery store. They both worked long hours, which meant Jade was alone most of the time. That time she spent either restoring motorcycles, listening to classic rock, or hanging out with Avery and her family. In fact, Jade spent more time over at Avery’s house than she did at her own. It had been that way ever since they were first forced together as children. They had become inseparable, seeing each other almost every day for the past sixteen years. They considered each other, not only as best friends, but also sisters.

  Avery knew the one person that she could count on was Jade. Jade had looked out for Avery her whole life. When they were little, she had beat down any bully who had ever tried to start anything with Avery. In second grade, Jade had given Alex Marquez a bloody nose for stealing Avery’s lunch box. Then, in the sixth grade she ended up giving Megan Dominguez a black eye for creaming Avery in the face with a dodge ball during gym class. This was a habit that had continued throughout their entire school years. The latest victim was Camilla Roberts who Jade had caught kissing Avery’s ex-boyfriend before he was officially ex. As for the ex-boyfriend, Alex Marquez, he ended up with another, much worse, bloody nose.

  They were protective of each other, but Jade had a tendency to get over-protective. This was the reason, as Avery stopped her car in front of Jade’s rusty blue trailer that her nerves began to danc
e inside her stomach. Avery knew she had to tell Jade everything, but she wasn’t quite sure how Jade was going to react when she found out Avery had followed a magical gnome to another planet without even talking it over with her first.

  Avery told Gumptin to stay in the car, then got out and slammed the door shut. She spotted Jade lying on her back in her front yard, working on an old motorcycle that had definitely seen better days.

  Jade’s prize 2001 Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle that she used to ride around town terrorizing the residents with speed and noise, was perched in its usual spot, under a large canvas shade covering next to her family’s trailer. Jade had purchased the bike relatively cheap two years ago, it was run down and broken, but she had spent two straight months fixing it up and airbrushing it a slick black. It was now her pride and joy.

  “Jade?!” Avery called out as she approached her. She grimaced a little as her nerves made her voice crack, something she was not expecting.

  Jade lifted her greased stained face towards Avery. Even smudged in grease and oil, Jade was still beautiful. It was a different kind of beauty than Sasha’s, whose looks were more sophisticated, or Avery, who always had a sort of ethereal beauty. Jade had none of that, her beauty was strictly dangerous. She stood a good few inches taller than Avery and had flawless pale skin covering her slender, but muscled body. She had straight midnight black hair that fell down to her mid-back and pouty vixen lips. Her cat-like eyes were a dark chocolate brown, but turned a dangerous black when she got angry.

  Jade knew her looks were intimidating, and she played it up, always wearing black and motorcycle boots, driving around town, breaking the speed limit on her bike, skipping school, and acting tough.

  The people of Redemption saw her as a troubled girl with absentee parents, too much anger, and no future. Jade knew what they thought of her, so she played the part, but Avery knew the truth. Avery knew that Jade was like a double sided coin. One part of her was the tough, motorcycle riding; devil-may-care girl from the trailer park, but the other side of her was sensitive, vulnerable, insecure, and even goofy. It was the people that were close to her who got to see that part, and that was the part of her that Avery loved.

  Jade stood up from the ground, wiping a dirty wrench off on her black jeans, “Avery?” She asked, looking a little puzzled, “What are you doing here?”

  Jade knew that the trailer park had always made Avery uncomfortable. Although most of the residents of Rebel Moon Trailer Park were perfectly lovely, there were a few who were not the most respectable in Redemption. One in particular was Curt Weiner who lived next door to Jade. Avery hated how he couldn’t put one sentence together without having at least four explicative’s thrown in, or how he never wore a t-shirt over his wolfman chest, all the while telling Avery what a pretty girl she was growing up to be. Plus, Avery knew for certain that it wasn’t an herb garden he had begun planting on the side of his house. Then there was the Draper family who lived three trailers down and collected guns the way some people collect Pez dispensers. Their favorite form of entertainment was getting black-out drunk and shooting their guns into the sky.

  Thinking about the usual uneasiness she felt in the trailer park, Avery realized her nerves were blotting out her discomfort. For the first time in her whole life, Avery actually began to appreciate the value of being nervous.

  Avery was about to explain to Jade why she had come, but as she stared into Jade’s dark eyes, she found herself lost for words, “I…um,” she struggled for something, anything to say, “you weren’t at school today.” Avery knew that was lame, but it was the first thing that popped into her head.

  Jade laughed, “Avery, the real news flash would be if I actually went to school. I’m never there…you know that better than anyone.” She picked up a towel lying across the seat of the motorcycle and began to clean the grease off of her face, “Don’t tell me you drove all the way out here to give me my homework.” That made Jade laugh even harder, the thought of her actually doing homework, mixed with the thought of Avery actually driving to the trailer park to give it to her.

  Jade’s laughter help erase some of Avery’s nerves, “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to do homework once in awhile, Jade. It is something you have to do to actually pass high school. Well, that and showing up.” Avery scolded Jade. Avery hated the laissez-faire attitude Jade took towards school and she could never understand why Jade didn’t care more.

  “Oh, Avery, I love you to death,” Jade said, sauntering up to Avery and placing her hand on Avery’s shoulder, “but,” she shrugged, “let’s face it; you’re the geek in this pair. You always have been and you always will be.” Jade flashed a sharp side smile, “I’m just the incredible looking brawn.”

  Avery rolled her eyes, thinking how unbelievable Jade could be sometimes.

  A car door slammed behind Avery, causing her to freeze. She saw Jade’s eyes grow wide, and she knew exactly what Jade was looking at.

  “Who the hell is that?” Jade asked, pointing the wrench she was still holding in her hand towards the direction of Avery’s car. All the humor and laughter was gone from her voice.

  Avery turned around, already knowing what she was going to see.

  Gumptin had gotten out of the car and was now standing in front of it, in full view of Jade.

  Avery scolded herself for actually trusting him to do what she said and stay in the car. Up to this point, he hadn’t made anything easy for her; why should he start now?

  There was nothing else that Avery could do, but simply tell Jade the truth.

  “That’s Gumptin.” Avery said, her brain unable to form any other thought at that moment.

  Jade looked at Avery like she had gone insane, “Oh, that’s Gumptin, is it.” She said sarcastically, “Well, that explains everything, doesn’t it?”

  This wasn’t getting off to the start that Avery had hoped for. She opened her mouth to try and say something else, to explain who Gumptin was, but her mind and mouth seemed to be having a communication problem.

  “Um…” Avery began. However, it didn’t really matter what she was going to say next, as Jade barged in with her next question, not bothering to wait for Avery’s fumbling explanation.

  “Did he just get out of your car?!” The abrasive tone in Jade’s voice and the way she was staring at Avery, like a parent getting ready to take away every toy from a disobedient child, made Avery desperately wish she could lie to Jade. Unfortunately, she needed to tell Jade everything and that included Gumptin. So, Avery steadied herself for the admonishment she knew was about to come her way and answered Jade’s question, “Yes.” She said.

  Jade grabbed hold of Avery by her shoulder and moved the two of them farther away from Gumptin, “How can you be so naive?” Jade hissed.

  That struck a nerve in Avery. If she had been anything today, it wasn’t naïve. It wasn’t like she had decided to follow some little man down a rabbit hole because he offered her candy. She hadn’t even agreed to go with Gumptin until he brought up the safety of her friends and family.

  “Jade, I’m not a child.” Avery said, defending herself, “I can make my own choices.”

  Jade shook her head in disbelief, “I can’t leave you alone for a second.” She told Avery, tightening the grip on her shoulder, “You just don’t go around picking up circus freak strangers.”

  From behind her Avery heard Gumptin cough, “If you two are done with the domestics,” he said, as Avery turned towards him, “it would be nice to get to the point of why we are here. We really do not have time for the two of you to stand around tongue-wagging.”

  Jade’s eyes became dark daggers as she stared Gumptin down. Then, those daggers switched over to Avery.

  “So, not only did you pick up a stranger,” Jade told her, “but you picked up an ass.”

  Gumptin snorted in the background.

  Avery backed away from Jade, freeing her shoulder, “Look,” she said, “he’s not technically a stranger…to me, or to you.”r />
  Jade gave Avery a ‘what the hell are you talking about’ look.

  Just say it, Avery urged herself…just say it, “Alright, Jade,” she began, “I’m about to lay some pretty heavy stuff on you, and I just need you to keep your mouth shut until I finish, alright?”

  Jade looked like she was about to argue, so Avery made her eyes look as puppy dog as she could and added, “Please.”

  This maneuver had always worked with Jade in the past and Avery was more than sure it would work now. No matter how upset Jade got she couldn’t argue with Avery’s well practiced sensitive eyes.

  Not looking too pleased about it, Jade took a deep breath in and nodded in agreement.

  Now that she had as much cooperation as she was going to get from Jade, Avery decided to just start at the beginning, “Alright, like I said,” Avery started, “this is Gumptin.” Avery pointed behind her to where she knew Gumptin still stood, “I met him at the park by the school and he’s…um,” Avery began to falter. Suddenly the idea of just blurting out the truth didn’t seem like such a good idea, but she was too into it now to stop, “well, he’s, um…he’s a gnome.”

  Even though Avery had told Jade to keep her mouth shut, the look Jade was directing towards Avery, like Avery had just told her she had ridden there on a unicorn, compelled Avery to ask, “So, what are you thinking right now?”

  Jade stood silent for a moment just shaking her head, which wasn’t like Jade, she usually had something to say about any and everything.

  “Honestly, Avery,” Jade said after a few seconds, “I don’t even know what to say to that. I mean, obviously gnomes don’t exist, but up until this minute I thought you knew that.”

  Avery rolled her eyes and thought that if Jade ended up calling her naïve again she was going to have to slap her, “I know they’re not suppose to exist,” she barked, getting agitated, “but, I mean, just look at him!”

  Jade glanced over Avery’s shoulder towards Gumptin, a deep scowl forming between her brows as she looked him up and down.

  Gumptin stared unflinchingly back at Jade, giving her a small little wave.

  Avery continued on, stopping Jade from further protesting the believability of Gumptin’s existence, “Jade, you’re gonna have to wrap your head around the whole magical creature thing, because that’s just the start. He came from another world, which, I guess, as it turns out, happens to be our world as well. Well, one of our worlds.” Avery felt herself getting off track and quickly tried to remedy that, “Anyway, he came from this other world to get us…you, me, Bunny, Sasha, and Skylar, and take us back. You see, apparently we were some hard core warriors and we were killed by this evil Emperor. Although, I don’t actually know how hard core we were if we ended up dying, but, whatever,” Avery shook her head, realizing she was straying from the point, “it doesn‘t matter, because this planet really needs us back to stop the guy that killed us.”

  From the start of Avery’s explanation Jade hadn’t moved a muscle. She just stood with her arms folded, keeping her mouth shut like she had agreed to, until now, “Did he drug you?” She asked seriously, “Because if he drugged you I’ll kill him.”

  Avery’s mouth opened, but she had no idea how to respond to Jade’s question. So, instead, Gumptin spoke up.

  “That was one of the most pathetic explanations of anything I have ever heard in my life, and I am over a thousand years old.” He said.

  “Hey,” Jade shouted gruffly, arms still folded, “you don’t get to speak until I find out exactly who you are.”

  Gumptin rubbed at his forehead with his little fingers, “This is why I wanted to avoid dealing with you until the last possible moment.” He said more to himself than to Jade or Avery, “Fine,” Gumptin sighed, “I am Gumptin, I am a gnome, and Wizard and I was your mentor back on Orcatia, the planet you were originally born on. You…are Jade Kai, a Protector with the ability to control the power of water and one of the most aggravating individuals I have ever known. You were killed on Orcatia by the Emperor, a powerful dark Warlock who controls an army of over twenty thousand vile creatures. You were sent to this planet to be re-born. Your memories will not be returning to you, and, now you must come back with me to Orcatia to save the planet from certain destruction.”

  Avery was in awe. The only thing she couldn’t figure out, is if it was because Gumptin had summed up in a few sentences what would have most likely taken herself an hour to explain, or because for the first time in Avery’s life, she was witnessing Jade completely dumbstruck. Jade had no retort, no sarcastic comeback; she could only look at Gumptin like he had just appeared out of thin air.

  “Well?” Avery asked, nudging Jade out of her trance.

  At Avery’s question Jade shook herself out of her mesmerized state and slapped her eyes back onto Avery.

  “What do you want me to say?” Jade shrugged, “Obviously, I don’t believe a word of it.”

  Avery didn’t believe her, “Oh, come on,” Avery urged, “you have to admit a lot of what Gumptin said somehow sounds familiar to you.”

  Jade scoffed.

  “I saw your face when he said Protector.” Avery continued, “When he said Orcatia. Those words mean something to you, even if you don’t know what it is. The same thing happened to me.”

  Jade waved her hands in the air, as if she was trying to swat away everything Avery was saying to her, “That’s enough, Avery…enough!” She shouted, “Even if some of the things he said sound vaguely familiar in a very tiny part of myself, that doesn’t mean that I’m about to throw reality aside.”

  A small cloud of dust rose up as Avery stomped her foot into the ground. She grunted in frustration. It upset her that she was having to argue so hard to get Jade to come back with her when Avery was pretty certain she didn’t even want to go back herself.

  If telling Jade the cold hard facts weren’t going to work, Avery decided to try a new tactic…pleading, “Look, I know how insane I sound. Believe me, I know. When I first met Gumptin and he tried to explain everything to me that he just told you, I wanted to call the crazy police and have him locked up, but instead I went with him.” Jade opened her mouth to say something, but Avery held up her hand and stopped her, “I went with him and saw that everything he said was the truth.” Avery decided to leave out the part about how she had really only gone with Gumptin because he said the people she cared about could be in danger if she didn’t go. Avery felt that might not go over too well with Jade right now,

  “Jade you know me.” Avery continued, “You know me better than anyone else in the whole wide world.” Avery saw Jade’s face soften, her disapproving scowl disappearing, “I would never lie to you. As crazy as it sounds, I’m telling you that Gumptin’s telling the truth. Please, Jade, please just come with us, so we can prove it to you.”

  Jade raised her hand to her face and began slowly massaging the brow between her eyes with her middle finger. She always did this when she was struggling with a decision. This gave Avery hope, because if Jade was struggling to decide, then she wasn’t completely shutting out the idea of going with them.

  Unfortunately, all of Avery’s hopes were dashed with Jade’s next sentence.

  “Avery,” She said, face softening even more as she looked Avery in the eyes, “you know I trust you. I’d trust you with my life, but this is just too unbelievable.”

  Avery could practically feel her whole body deflate.

  “There’s just no way I’m going anywhere with that creepy psycho,” Jade nodded towards Gumptin, “and, you know what, neither are you.”

  Jade grabbed hold of Avery’s wrist, hard and pulled her towards the trailer. Avery tried to pull her wrist free, but Jade, whose lean muscles had always made her strong, had a vice-like grip on her.

  “You’re going inside this trailer,” Jade told Avery, once they had reached the trailer door, “and you’re staying there till I get rid of this guy.”

  Being man-handled by Jade was the final straw for Avery. She had
gone through enough today already, but she absolutely refused to be thrown into a trailer by her best friend. Avery did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Jade’s thumb and wrenched it back as far as it could go.

  “Owww!” Jade hollered in pain, releasing Avery’s wrist.

  Avery took a few steps back from Jade, so that she wouldn’t be able to grab hold of her again.

  Shaking her head, Avery felt crazy for thinking that Jade was going to believe her. After all, it had taken Gumptin actually bringing Avery to a whole other planet, through a magical gateway, to make her believe. That was when Avery decided the only way to get Jade to believe was for her to see it with her own two eyes, just like Avery had.

  After all of Jade’s protests, Avery knew of only one way to get Jade to come back with her and Gumptin, and she knew Jade would agree to come, even if every fiber of her being was screaming at her not to go.

  Avery thought back to all the times Jade had refused to let her walk home by herself. She thought back to Alex Marquez and his poor beaten-up nose. She remembered, how for Christmas, Jade had given her a Swiss Army knife and portable pepper spray.

  She thought back to all of these things, and then told Jade, “Fine, you don’t have to believe us. You can stay here, but I’m going back with Gumptin…alone.”

  Avery turned around and started walking towards her car where Gumptin was still standing. She began counting down in her head, “…5, 4, 3, 2…”

  “Wait!” Jade called from behind Avery, right on cue.

  Avery stopped in her tracks and tried to stifle the huge smile that was forming across her face as she turned around to face Jade.

  “You know I think this is certifiable,” Jade said, walking up to Avery, “and I’m gonna have to beat some serious sense into you later, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting you drive off alone with him.” Jade motioned towards Gumptin with disgust.

  Gumptin, who had moved into the passenger seat and was now sitting, shouted from the car, “Jade Kai, shut your mouth and get in this car.” He lifted his little head out the passenger seat window, “We all know you are going to end up coming with us, anyway. So stop wasting our time!”

  Before Jade could shout something back at him, Avery slapped her on the back, “All good then, let’s get going.”

  Avery slipped into the driver’s seat and waited for the other two to get situated.

  Jade opened the passenger door, reached in, and grabbed hold of Gumptin by one of his oversized sleeves, yanking him out of the car.

  “You’re in the back Gump.” Jade told Gumptin, pulling the passenger side seat forward and motioning for him to get in.

  “The name is Gumptin!” He barked, tugging his sleeve free from Jade’s fist.

  Gumptin straightened his tunic out, all the while glowering at Jade. He turned his nose up at her, signifying his disapproval.

  “You,” he sniffed, “have not changed one bit.”

  Jade shrugged and shoved him into the car, “I’m taking that as a huge compliment.” She told him, a sly smile playing at her lips.

  Gumptin positioned himself in the back seat behind Avery, as far away from Jade as he could get, “Trust me,” he grumbled, “that was anything but a compliment.”

  Once Jade sat down and slammed the door shut, Avery started the car. She thanked her lucky stars that they were finally on their way. The frustration of trying to convince Jade to believe her, mixed with having to listen to Gumptin and Jade bicker like two old ladies had taken a toll on her already frazzled nerves.

  Avery gripped the steering wheel tight as she turned back out onto the highway, grateful that both Jade and Gumptin seemed content to keep their mouths shut.

  “And I shall tell you another thing, young lady,” Gumptin said from behind Avery, “once we get back to Orcatia, you shall see that that repellent mouth of yours will not do you an ounce of good.”

  Avery felt her eye begin to twitch as Jade shouted back, “Stow it, short stack!”

  In her rearview mirror, Avery saw Gumptin open his mouth to say something back to Jade.

  “That’s enough!” Avery yelled, before Gumptin got the chance to continue the argument, “I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you until we reach the park!”

  “He started it!” Jade exclaimed at the exact same moment Gumptin hollered, “She started it!”

  “Not another word!” Avery shouted, taking her right hand off of the steering wheel and pointing her finger at both of them.

  Both Gumptin and Jade stared out of their respective windows, looking at the landscape fly by, seeming, for the moment, to take Avery’s scolding to heart.

  Avery clicked on the radio and turned it to a classic rock station that she knew Jade would like. Knowing that the steady guitar riffs pounding out of the car’s speakers would calm Jade’s inner beast.

  Avery hazarded to look into her rearview mirror again and saw Gumptin staring at the radio like it was an attacking beast that needed to be shot. Anticipating that Gumptin might have something to say against the rock that was vibrating throughout the car, Avery turned up the radio to drown out any protests he might have.

  Three long rock songs later, Avery was pulling up to the curb of the park. Jade had her eyes closed and was silently air-guitaring along to Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’, when Avery shut off the car.

  Broken out of her musical trance, Jade slinked out of the car and glanced around the empty park.

  “Yeah,” she said to Gumptin, as he tumbled out from the back seat, “it looks like something really supernatural happened here.”

  Completely ignoring Jade, Gumptin made his way over to the two Beech trees bookshleving the gateway.

  “Well, we’re here,” Jade told Avery as she walked up to stand next to her on the sidewalk, “now what?”

  Avery nodded towards Gumptin, “Now, we follow him.”

  Jade rolled her eyes and followed Avery over to where Gumptin was standing between the large trees. They stopped behind Gumptin and waited as he glanced around the park to make sure they couldn’t be seen. Avery heard Jade sighing next to her and couldn’t help but suspect that Gumptin was taking an especially long time in order just to annoy Jade.

  Finally, after what Avery was sure was more than enough time to visually canvas the entire park, Gumptin cleared his throat and spoke the words, “Ora Gateway.”

  It happened just as Avery had remembered it the first time, the air between the trees beginning to swirl and come alive, whirling into a liquid that became the circular pool which was the gateway.

  From next to her, Avery could feel Jade stiffen. When she turned her head to look at Jade, Avery saw that she was shaking her head slightly, her jaw clenched tight, and a look of complete shock in her eyes.

  Jade began slowly backing away from the spinning gateway.

  “Are you alright?” Avery asked.

  She could see in Jade’s eyes that the truth was slamming down on her. The truth that everything Avery had told her had been true. Avery could also see Jade’s mind struggling to accept what she was now seeing as the truth.

  Jade shook her head in response to Avery’s question. She stumbled backwards over her own feet. Avery made a move to catch her, but Jade held up her hand, righting herself before she landed on the ground and letting Avery know she needed a second to herself.

  On wobbly legs, Jade staggered over to a wooden picnic bench sheltered next to the trunk of another shady Beech tree, about a hundred feet away from the gateway. Once there, she plopped herself down on the bench and placed her forehead in her hands.

  Avery stood back, watching Jade for a few minutes, letting her absorb everything. Then, she walked over and joined Jade at the picnic table, taking a seat across from her. Jade looked up, made eye contact with Avery, and then placed her head back into her hands again. Avery just sat across from her, silent. She was more than content to give Jade as much time as she needed, especially considering she knew exactly what
Jade was feeling, how confused she was, how scared, and intrigued, and probably just a little bit nauseous.

  After a minute, Jade ran her fingers through her long black hair, and said to Avery, “I know what I saw. I just don’t know exactly what it was that I saw.”

  Without nerves or emotion to distract her into rambling again, Avery calmly told Jade everything. She started with Gumptin surprising her by jumping out from behind a tree after school let out. She described seeing the Ora Gateway for the first time and how her reaction wasn’t much different than Jade’s, except she tried to run away. Avery told Jade the reason she had decided to follow Gumptin into the Gateway, how he had explained the possible dangerous repercussions of her deciding not to. She told her about Orcatia and their village and how weird it was to have everyone know her when she hadn’t known anyone. She explained to Jade everything Gumptin had told her about the Emperor and dying and being reborn on Earth into the past, about being a Protector and all the powers and responsibilities that went along with it.

  To Avery’s surprise and relief, Jade listened without any interruptions, something that was rare for her. In fact, even her facial expression had been pretty stone faced, just one small smile when Avery had explained their fighting abilities and powers, and a slight crease in her brow when Avery had talked about them dying.

  “So,” Avery asked when she had finished explaining everything, “what are you thinking?”

  Jade opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again when nothing came out.

  After a moment, she shook her head, “There’s so many different thoughts going through my head right now, I wouldn’t even know how to begin to explain any of them.”

  Avery nodded her head in understanding, not wanting to push Jade.

  “How did we die?” Jade asked Avery, the confusion in her eyes disappearing for the moment as she focused intently on her question.

  “I told you,” Avery answered, “Gumptin said that evil douche Emperor killed us.”

  This answer hadn’t satisfied Jade, “But how did he kill us?”

  “What do you mean?” Avery asked, confused by where Jade was taking this conversation.

  “I mean,” Jade said, firmly gripping the table in front of her, “we’re supposed to be these five super horse-power fighting machines, right? So, how did he manage to kill all five of us at once? These are things we need to know, to avoid it happening again in the future.”

  Avery gave Jade a blank stare. She hadn’t even thought about that till Jade brought it up, “I don’t know. I don’t think Gumptin knows.”

  Jade scrunched up her face in a particularly disgusted look, “You didn’t ask?”

  Avery blinked, she knew Jade was going to make a thing out of this, but she didn’t know how to avoid it, “No.” She answered

  Jade laughed exasperatedly, “You see, that’s just another reason why you don’t run off to strange places without me…not ever.”

  Before Jade had the chance to mention the words innocent or naive, Avery spoke up, and loudly, “Look, a magical gnome had just put a bender on my whole reality! I was in more of an absorb than question mode, alright?!”

  Jade couldn’t stop herself from laughing at Avery’s frustration. She knew Avery hated it when she got over protective, but she couldn’t help it. Ever since they were kids, she just felt it was her role to protect Avery, and as Avery was the person she cared about most in the world, sometimes she took her job a little too seriously.

  “Alright,” Jade said, still trying to suppress her laughter, “I’m sorry. I’ll just ask Gumptin later.”

  The mood had lightened, and Avery was thankful for this. What she had to say to Jade next, she knew Jade wasn’t going to like, but she wouldn’t be a true friend if she didn’t say it to her.

  “Listen,” she told Jade, “I know that Gumptin said we had to return to Orcatia, but if you really don’t want to, if this is just too much for you, I want you to know that you don’t have to come with us. I’ll talk to Gumptin. I won’t be mad or upset if you decide to stay.”

  Jade leaned forward and smacked Avery hard on the side of the head.

  “Ow!” Avery shouted, rubbing her stinging head.

  “Don’t be such an asswipe, Avery.” Jade said, standing up. “Of course, I’m coming with you. I’m coming for the same reason I came to this stupid park in the first place.”

  Avery stood up, still across from Jade, “I’m just saying that if you did decide to stay in Redemption I wouldn’t be mad at you.”

  A flicker of hurt crossed over Jade’s eyes, “Don’t you want me to come?”

  Avery had to back pedal, for as tough as Jade was, when it came to certain things she was as soft as a cotton ball, and one of those things was definitely Avery.

  “Of course I want you to come with me! I can’t even imagine us being apart.” Avery told Jade, placing her hand over her heart, “I just don’t want you to do something you feel forced into doing, and I definitely don’t want you to get hurt.”

  The pain was gone from Jade’s eyes and a small smile tugged at the side of her lips, “Avery, I live in a trailer park with parents who I barely see. I spend more time at your house than I do my own. I’m flunking out of school, and the whole town thinks I’m either gonna die or kill someone by the time I’m eighteen…maybe both. It’s not like I have a lot to stay for.”

  Avery laughed, it was sad, but everything Jade had said was unfortunately true.

  Jade walked over to Avery and took her hand into her own, squeezing it slightly, “You’re my family. You and me, that’s what I’ve got in this whole world. If you’re going through that gateway, then I’m going with you.”

  Avery squeezed Jade’s hand back, a silent thank you for confirming to her just why Jade was her best friend.

  “Then, let’s get going before Gumptin throws us both into the gateway with his bare hands.” Avery laughed, pulling Jade by her hand towards Gumptin.

  Jade groaned and allowed herself to be pulled, “Ugh, for one beautiful moment I forgot about him.”

  Avery smiled, wondering how any could possibly forget about a supposedly non-existent magical being.

  By the time they had finished talking and had made their way back to Gumptin the gateway had once again closed. So, Gumptin said the words once more and opened the watery gateway in front of them.

  “That is just trippy.” Jade said.

  “Alright, in you girls go before I grow roots and end up being trapped on this planet.” Gumptin told the girls as he pushed them towards the gate.

  “Wait a second,” Jade interrupted, slapping Gumptin’s hand away from her, “you’re not going in first?”

  Gumptin shook his head, “No, I am going to stay here until I see you go through the Ora Gateway with my own two eyes.”

  Jade nodded, pursing her lips, “Just can’t get enough of my ass, huh.”

  For the first time since Avery had met Gumptin, he looked genuinely shocked.

  “Sorry, Gump,” Jade continued, “I know its awe inspiring, but you’re far too old, too non-human, and definitely too irritating for me.”

  “Insufferable.” Gumptin mumbled and ushered them forward, although this time he made sure not to put his hands on Jade at all, especially anywhere near her backside.

  Just before Avery was about to jump into the gateway she turned around and faced Jade, standing just inches from her.

  “You know, you were wrong.” She told Jade.

  Jade gave Avery a quizzical look.

  “I’m not the only thing you have in Redemption.” Avery said, “You’ve also got your bike.”

  A huge smile formed on Jade’s face, “That’s true, I do have my baby.”

  Avery nodded in agreement, “Of course, it sucks,” she said, “’cause you know you can’t bring her with you to Orcatia.”

  As Avery leapt into the gateway she heard Jade shout from behind her, “Son of a bitch!”