by Lawson, Alan
Dear Emily.
Your Father and I have been called to the RIER, to investigate a strange object that has appeared near the Elderine Forest. , We may not be back for a few days so I have left some food in the cupboards. I heard your grandfather had been called to an Important New Order meeting so I suspect that you are arriving home alone.
Oh and Emily dear don’t forget…
Emily stopped reading as the blood rushed to her face.
“What did it say Emily? Oh come on, you can tell us.” Jason said expecting to hear something really important.
Sherbit began jumping up and down to see if he could manage to read the note, but every jump he made, Emily just lifted the note higher preventing Sherbit from even getting a glimpse.
“Oh it’s nothing, just a joke my mum tells me now and again” Emily said nervously as she hurriedly tucked the piece of paper into her pocket and pulled a nervous and embarrassed smile.
“Well I guess we’d all better go inside, it will be getting dark soon, and besides Sherbit aren’t you hungry?” Emily said quickly covering up any embarrassment concerning her mother’s letter.
“Oh yes please, I am very hungry!” Sherbit said rubbing his stomach.
“Okay let’s go in then. Oh and make yourselves at home, erm but don’t touch anything that looks old. It probably is and I don’t think the institute would be too happy.”
Emily pushed the front door open. Sunlight filled the inner rooms of the house built within the tree. As expected the floors and the walls were made of wood, a few picture frames and some rather strange objects lined the walls. A cuckoo clock hung from one of the rear walls close to a window. So far, from what Jason had seen the house looked like a normal country home. It did look very inviting as he had expected, and was obviously the environment that witnessed many happy family memories.
Emily walked around the outer wall of the front room, opening indoor shutters, letting in more light. There were some wooden stairs to the right that led upstairs to what Jason assumed must be bedrooms.
Emily led the way through the front room of the house to a kitchen and dinning area. As soon as Sherbit knew where they were heading he ran straight between Emily’s legs nearly tripping her up. He jumped up on top of a counter and started to open doors of cupboards desperately looking for food.
Emily laughed at the sight that lay before her.
“Really Sherbit I didn’t think you were that hungry. Here” Emily said as she opened a cupboard and pulled out some fresh looking baked goods.
“At least we can rest a while before heading on. Is it okay if we stay the night Emily” Jason asked whilst still looking around.
“Of course that’s fine, like I said make yourselves at home, I have a few things that I want to look up before we go, so feel free to look around.”
“Thanks Emily” Jason said as he watched Emily walk out of the dinning area and head towards the stairs that led upstairs.
Jason felt it was best to leave Sherbit undisturbed from his eating and walked out of the kitchen to what looked like a family room, a few wooden chairs sat around a table in the centre, and at one side a very cosy looking sofa sat with a few patchwork throws that had been haphazardly thrown over it. There was a large fire place in the centre of the room, with ornamental stones sitting in the hearth and mantle. On the walls Emily’s mother and Father had displayed a family portrait, and some strange looking metal objects, they were long with what looked like balls on the end.
Jason decided to take a rest and sat down on the sofa, waiting on Emily to find whatever she needed to look up. It was still bright outside, but the sun was slowly getting close to setting. All three were happy that they reached Emily’s house before night fell.
Meanwhile Emily was in her study upstairs. The room was not especially designed to cater for a large collection of books, papers and objects related to the young wizards’ studies. The fact that this room was also used as her bedroom meant that it didn’t exactly look the tidiest, but nonetheless Emily knew where to look for her things. To her, her room was organised, albeit chaotic. Emily had shelves full of books covering various areas of magic, magical creatures, magic to do with magical creatures and much, much more. In fact her room was full of books. There were enough books to rival the collections within the Great Library itself. What would normally be expected in a girl’s room of Emily’s age was replaced by books. If there was any room left more books were squeezed in. It was quiet apparent that Emily was very studious, which probably came from her parents and Grandfather, she had a lot to live up to, and by the looks of things she was well on track of achieving this particular goal, at a very young age.
Emily reached up to a bookshelf and pulled out a rather dusty looking leather backed book, the cover of the book read:
Avoid that Zap!
Protection Spells for the Beginner
An A to Z guide on Spells that you probably shouldn’t ever need to use.
Section 3 of 19
Emily began to flick through the pages, she had it clear in her mind what she was looking for, and she knew that as the only magic user out of the three, she would have to be able to protect them if the situation did verge on becoming disastrous. She hoped that it wouldn’t, but she couldn’t be careless about taking a risk. She soon stopped at a page and began to read aloud in a quiet whisper. She always found it easier if she read things aloud, it helped her remember them much more easily.
Ruin Ous Nick’s Self Protection Spells.
These spells should only be cast if the Magic wielder is in grave danger, the area that the spell will affect will be one metre from the person. Take note when casting on more than one person, the wielder must not be distracted.
She continued to read the other incantations of interest section beneath that protection spell entry:
Nullification Spells
These spells will nullify any effect that has been cast on any living creature. Though it should be noted that nullification spells also affect positive spells hence a healing spell cast before a Nullification spell will ultimately be nullified. These spells are more purposefully used to nullify negative effects, such as poison, reduced speed or spells of transformation or binding.
When Emily finished reading her face showed an expression of enlightenment as if she had discovered something that would play an important role later on in their quest. She knew that she couldn’t destroy the dark lady but she couldn’t possibly let Jason fight her by himself. No matter what, she was going to be there for him, every step of the way. She closed the book and headed downstairs to Jason and Sherbit. It was starting to get dark.
Jason was still sitting on the sofa, though Sherbit was no longer in the kitchen, in fact he wasn’t even with Jason.
“Jason have you seen Sherbit? He’s not in the Kitchen.”
“Oh yeah he went outside.” Jason said slowly turning round while yawning and stretching at the same time. Jason pulled his feet up onto the Sofa and snuggled back into the comforting sofa.
“Surely he must be full by now, and at least you seem to be enjoying yourself.” Emily said as she walked over and took a seat in a rather worn padded rocking chair. She swung back and forth a few times. The floor creaked with each swing.
“It will be getting cold soon. I’ll close the windows and put a fire on, might as well make the place more comfortable.” Emily said as she stood up and walked towards the closet window. “I’m sure Sherbit can look after himself.”
Sherbit had indeed wandered outside. The house had very quickly become a boring place for someone such as himself. He was a creature of feasting, tricks, fun, and the continual search for all things interesting. Well the first was more prioritised than the latter but still he had to burn of the energy gained by eating somehow. Once his hunger had been satisfactorily filled he had no interest in sitting about. Sherbit had decided to explore the surroundings, he didn’t want to go too far, but was happy when he found a small pond close to the barn. He
sat on one of the rocks and started to hum his usual tune. Thinking back of his home, his friends and family, a smile grew across his face.
It was getting dark but there was still enough light from the setting sun and the now ever more present moon to light up the area and reflect of the small pond. Sherbit watched small fish swimming through the shallow water underneath small rocks, then shoot out again to the other side. Some swam around in circles before darting off. Sherbit gazed down at the fish as they danced about, he didn’t notice the shadow loom behind him, or the reflection form on the ponds’ surface. He spun around and stared in fear as a figure leant forward and grabbed him.
“Ha ha, Look what we have here” Devon said as he held tightly onto the struggling Sherbit “I wonder what we could do with him, might be handy for some hunting bait. Eh Grimble?” Devon swung Sherbit about a bit, who was desperately trying to grab onto Devon’s arm.
“We could of course eat him Sire, if we don’t happen to come across anything else worth catching” Grimble said looking at Sherbit almost imagining him as a juicy piece of something rather tasty.
“Seriously Grimble. We are not savages. Sometimes I really wonder about you” Devon said giving Grimble his usual slap for saying something stupid “He is bound to know what those two are up to, and like I said if he won’t tell us, we can use him as bait.” Devon laughed as he tossed Sherbit in a cloth sack which he had found earlier in the Talathin’s barn.
Sherbit struggled from within the sack but he couldn’t break free, Devon tied a tight knot at the top then threw the sack to Grimble,
“You can look after him for now, but I mean it when I say don’t eat him!” Devon laughed again as a frightened shriek came from the sack.
“Yes Sire, of course I won’t.” Grimble replied as he held the sack up to his face and licked his lips.
“It looks like we’ll be sleeping outdoors tonight” Devon said as he walked over and lay against a hay stack, the only one in the whole barn. “Grimble come into the barn, those two pesky fools might come out and see you, and we don’t want that yet.”
Grimble walked into the barn dropped the sack down on the ground. Sherbit groaned as he hit the earth. Grimble relaxed his muscles causing him to slide down the wall of the barn to the ground.
Back in doors Emily and Jason sat on the sofa watching the flames of the fire, the room was cosy, the fire lit up the room giving it a warm and magical feeling.
“You know this may be the last time I’m ever going to be in a place like this” Jason said still not breaking eye contact with the fire.
“What do you mean Jason? Of course you will.”
“What if I’m not the hero, or what if I am and the prophecies are wrong?”
“That’s just nonsense, and it doesn’t even make sense. You are the hero, and to be a hero you first need to do something heroic, and that is what you are doing, this quest.” Emily replied firmly “for one you’re from that different place, and if the prophesies were wrong then they wouldn’t have said about you coming here, and you are here aren’t you?”
“Yea I guess you’re right, things will go well.” Jason said, though deep down he still wasn’t sure he was the one, and if he was he wasn’t sure if he was brave enough to face the Dark Lady, not yet anyway. “I guess we better get some sleep, the morning comes early”
“I wonder where Sherbit is. He didn’t come back in.”
“He’ll be okay, he can look after himself for at least one night” Jason said as he curled up on the sofa.
“Yes I’m sure he can. Night Jason.”
“Night Emily”
Emily quietly stood up and walked out of the room, towards the stairs. She walked up to her room, and sat on her bed, putting her hand into her pocket she pulled out her remembrance stone. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter Ten: A note on the table
Jason… Jason…
I am waiting for you. I am waiting for you, and your friends.
The cold ethereal voice slithered through the air waking Jason from his sleep, he felt a chill shoot down his spine, and he shivered as each hair on his body stood on end. Was he alone in the room? Was Emily here with him, surely not, he thought, she had went upstairs to sleep in her own room. But something had woken him, he sat in observing silence, trying not to move or breathe, trying his best to avoid being detected by whatever or whoever had spoken those poison-riddled words.
The voice spoke again. Jason, you are coming to me… Jason could hear the cold, spine chilling voice in the darkness. He couldn’t pinpoint its source, he wasn’t even sure if there was a source. The very sound seemed to suck the air out of Jason’s lungs. At times like this he wished he wasn’t alone, or at least not alone with something so horrible. He spun around desperately trying to find the person who was calling his name. Was it the same voice he had heard before back in the Elderine Forest a few days ago when he arrived in this strange land. He couldn’t be sure.
A strange glowing orb appeared before him, emitting a soft radiance that lit up the room. He gasped as he looked around, he was no longer in Emily’s living room, and he wasn’t in any room in Emily’s house! He was standing in a strange and twisted version of his own home back in Belfast. A suffocating purple mist floated throughout the room adding a ghostly carpet that swept up to Jason’s knees. Jason ran to a window, looking outside might give him a better clue as to where he was, he felt panic cross over him, his top was soaked in cold sweat. Had he been warped back home? Had his adventure in Hasparia been a dream? So many questions flooded into his mind all demanding to be answered at once. He peered out one of the windows, but it was too dark, the night had cast a veil of darkness over the outside world, yet the moon still shone in the sky lighting up the room. It was as if the house had been warped to a dark void and he was now its only prisoner.
Feeling the panic dig deeper within, he spun around from the window to explore the rest of his distorted house. He froze, his eyes widened in trepidation, he couldn’t move! He tried to lift his feet, but they were fixed to the ground, he tried to move again, this time nearly toppling over from the effort, he still couldn’t move. The mist began to rise. It was soon passed his knees, then his waist. Was it going to rise up and suffocate him, he thought. The mist rose further and soon he was buried beneath the thick blanket, the room began to fade around him. He stood, fixed, in this new void with the mist around him. It was too quiet, eerily quiet. The sound of his breathing was the only sound that reached Jason’s ears. Then the voice was heard again, a quiet whisper from no clear direction,
“Jason… I will have your life when you come to me, stop now or you will die!” The voice trailed off into the darkness, it seemed to come from all angles.
“No!” Jason cried “Who are you? What do you want with me?” Jason spun around frantically searching for the dark speaker. Fear grew over him as he felt weak at the knees. He knew what the voice was talking about, the whispering of his death should he venture north. This was a warning, a cruel and vindictive warning.
The mist swirled before him, as a figure emerged. Jason squinted as he tried to make out who or what it was. The figure walked towards him. It was a lady, someone who Jason had known, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember where he knew her from.
Smiling with an affectionate smile, the lady looked at him, and for a brief moment Jason felt safe. The mysterious lady grinned and took a step back; she no longer looked so loving. Jason watched on as her body slowly began to change. The colours and textures of her clothes and skin colliding. Slowly the merging took shape, a beast appeared, a ghastly manifestation, draped in black rags, ancient in age. Its face was long yet hidden, it moved towards Jason, arms stretched towards him in a grip that only meant one thing, death.
“Jason” it whispered “You will die!”
Jason woke with a jerk, his breathing was heavy, his nightmare had almost seemed too real, perhaps it was real, but more than likely it was a vision, a warning that h
e would die if he travelled north with his friends. Maybe it was a warning to put him off, avoiding any confrontation with the Dark Lady. The image of the ghastly figure had been embossed on his mind. He couldn’t shake the image from his head.
A chilly, yet tender breeze passed through the room from the end of the living room, one of windows had been opened. The smell of the countryside swept through the room which was quiet refreshing. From the sound of things Emily had been up a while, she was currently busy in the kitchen preparing some food for their breakfast whilst setting some food and provisions aside for the journey ahead. She had set the table, three plates with a bowl on top of each. She had then placed a knife and a spoon beside each of the plates, and left three upturned glasses in the centre of the table. She was now busy toasting some bread. The aroma was rich and very welcoming. Jason was quite surprised that he couldn’t hear Sherbit demanding to have his food now. Jason rose from the sofa he had slept on and walked over to the small window at the front of the house. It was bright outside, song birds could be heard as they flew around the large Accuro Terradea tree, “this is the ideal home for me” he thought, it was a shame they had to leave now.
Jason rubbed his eyes he could still see the image of the terrifying creature every time he closed his them. What it was, he didn’t know, but he knew for sure that he would find out if they travelled north. This worried Jason, as he knew where they were travelling and he couldn’t turn back now. Looking into the kitchen Jason could see Emily placing what looked like some slightly golden toast in the centre of the table. “Perfect” he thought “Just how I like it”, Feeling his stomach rumble slightly, Jason thought the best plan right now was to go eat something, perhaps talking with Emily and getting a good breakfast would cast away his worries and memories of the nightmare he had.
“Ah Jason, I was just about to call you, did you sleep well? Oh and I haven’t seen Sherbit this morning. He probably slept outside, typical of him.” Emily said with a warming smile as she walked over to fetch some more toast.