“But I thought…” she started, but he interrupted her.
“Look, JorMelony, I have to do this. There is more at stake here than you know. I need you to be quiet,” he said with exasperation in his voice.
“Fine,” she said, still sitting on the floor fuming.
He turned, kneeling at the HEART stone altar, and recited the prayer for communication. He began his report with the standard greeting.
“HEART’s greeting First Councilor Jude. I have much to report.”
“HEART’s Greeting JorRobert. Go on, I am here.”
“DraDevon was here. He made some long metal thing in his shop with a jagged end. I’m not sure what it was for. When I questioned him about it he attacked me with his metal thing and nearly killed me. He got away but left behind a little notebook that gave me a pretty good idea where he went. If it weren’t for my wife showing up at just the right time, I probably would be dead right now.”
“Stand back from the altar. I will be right there. HEART’s blessing.”
“HEART’s blessing,” he responded as the light quickly faded from the stone.
JorRobert quickly got to his feet and stepped back to where his wife sat. Reaching down, he took her hand and helped her to her feet.
“What’s going on?” JorMelony asked, a little confused.
“She’s coming here,” he said with a touch of trepidation in his voice.
The HEART stone altar began to glow. With a flash of blue light, once again the beautiful woman with blonde hair and lovely blue eyes stood before them. “Alright JorRobert,” Councilor Jude said, “explain to me why he almost killed you and you didn’t kill him?” Her voice was high and misleadingly sweet.
“It all happened so fast,” he said, stumbling with fear over every word, hoping that his pendant wouldn’t begin to burn again. “DraDevon attacked me with his metal thing and then left.”
“Again I ask you: why is DraDevon still alive and you were the one left bleeding on the floor? Where is the emitter I gave you?” Councilor Jude’s sweet voice sounded more malevolent and dangerous with each word.
“It…It’s over by that chair,” he stammered in fear.
Quickly she walked over to the chair and picked up the carelessly dropped weapon. Whipping back around, she faced JorRobert brandishing the weapon as if she was going to use the emitter to burn a hole in him. “Why didn’t you have this on you?” she yelled at him. “He should be the one that was left on the floor! We would be closer to finishing this!”
“I…I…” JorRobert stammered in fear.
“You’re what?” she asked, having completely lost her composure. Councilor Jude turned her back on the alarmed couple. She looked down at the emitter gripped tightly in her hand and whispered gently under her breath, “I’m doing this for us, Symon.”
Then, feeling like she was back in control of her emotions, she turned to face JorMelony and JorRobert with deliberate slowness, smiling brightly. “Well now, I guess everyone makes mistakes,” she said kindly.
She walked back to where they still stood holding hands. “Just keep it on you at all times and be sure that you don’t make another mistake like this one. Okay?” She handed the weapon back to JorRobert.
He tentatively accepted the emitter.
“Next time he might actually succeed in killing you. And none of us would want that, now would we, JorMelony?” Councilor Jude asked, turning to speak to JorMelony for the first time since she arrived.
“No. It was awful finding him lying there bleeding all over the floor,” JorMelony agreed, feeling a little unsure of what she agreed to.
“JorMelony, I have a little gift for you that will help us all get through this rough time,” Councilor Jude said with a kindly mask on her face. She reached into the pocket of her black robe and pulled out a necklace that matched the one JorRobert was wearing.
“What is that?” JorMelony asked.
“It’s a gift of the HEART,” she told JorMelony sweetly. “Turn around and I will put it on you.”
Not knowing what the necklace truly was, JorMelony obediently turned around. As she did, JorRobert finally saw what First Councilor Jude was offering his wife.
“No, don’t!” he said as Councilor Jude placed the necklace around his wife’s slender neck.
Looking over JorMelony’s head at JorRobert, her mask of kindness shattered, showing the anger that was concealed under it. “Do you really want to try to stop me?” she asked JorRobert as her own pendant began to glow slightly in response to her anger.
“Ow!” JorMelony exclaimed. A little shock of energy had run down the chain to the pendant at her throat from Councilor Jude fusing the ends together.
“Please don’t do this to my wife. She has nothing to do with this,” JorRobert desperately begged.
“There you go, JorMelony,” Councilor Jude said, trying unsuccessfully to sound cheerful. “This is to ensure not only that you do as I want, but that your husband and DraDonna do as I want as well.”
“What are you talking about?” JorMelony asked in confusion.
“JorMelony, don’t…” her husband tried to stop her.
“No JorRobert, I want Councilor Jude to explain to me what she wants with the two people I love most!” she demanded.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, JorMelony, but your sister and her husband have gone energy mad.” Councilor Jude began to explain.
“I don’t believe you!” she yelled taking a menacing step toward her. “I know DraDonna better than you do. There has to be a good reason for what DraDevon did. There has to be someone else behind it. How do I know it wasn’t you?” she continued yelling as she gave the First Councilor’s shoulder a good shove to show that she meant business.
JorRobert held out his hand with the intention of saying something to stop his wife, but knew that he was one moment too late as he heard her squeal in pain. She fell to her knees in front of First Councilor Jude trying desperately to pull the burning chain away from her skin.
“Stop please!” JorRobert begged desperately.
Councilor Jude sighed with frustration and knelt down in front of JorMelony so she could look her in the eye.
“Be careful, JorMelony,” the First Councilor warned her. “I think, too much of this, and it would be harmful not just to you… but to your baby as well. We don’t want you to give birth to another dead baby, now do we?” she said cruelly. She then grasped her own pendant and silently commanded the other woman’s necklace to cool.
“How did you know I was with child?” JorMelony asked, breathing heavily, trying to swallow the pain.
“Wait a minute!” JorRobert cut in. “You’re with child? Is that what you were going to tell me?”
“Yes, JorRobert. It was.” Her voice was still tight with pain.
“But how did you know about this and I didn’t, Councilor Jude?” He forgot for a moment the power she held over him.
First Councilor Jude laughed lightly at this, taking no offense at the forceful nature of his question. “Come now. Don’t tell me you actually trust SolKaren? Don’t you know her at all?” She continued to laugh for a moment or two more.
“Anyhow,” she stopped laughing and her voice became cold and hard. “I have a lot to lose if everyone doesn’t behave themselves. So I think that I will take your lovely wife and your unborn child with me just to be sure you do your job… and that DraDonna cooperates.” She took a firm grip on JorMelony’s shoulder.
“Please don’t hurt her,” JorRobert begged.
“Just obey me and do the job I have told you to do and she, with your unborn child, will be safe,” Councilor Jude said menacingly as she pulled JorMelony, struggling with her, toward the HEART stone altar. “Come now, JorMelony, behave yourself! You have seen what I can do.”
“Get mind wiped!” JorMelony spat back.
“You really want to test me?” she asked. “I can hurt him too, you know. How would you like to see the father of your child writhing in pain on the f
loor?”
JorMelony seethed in silence and stood still.
“That’s right. Everyone does as they’re told and no one has to get burned. Now, if you please JorMelony, place your right hand on the HEART stone and recite the prayer with me.”
JorRobert raised his eyes to his wife. “I’m so sorry. I love you.”
Just as she finished the prayer, and a moment before the energy took her, JorMelony replied, “I love you too.” Then in the familiar flash of blue light she was gone.
JorRobert felt like his soul had been torn in two; the big man felt like his legs had given out. He sat down on the floor and wept. “It’s all my fault; all my fault,” he muttered to himself.
Then he looked up at the scene around him in main living area of the Dra home. “No. It’s all their fault,” he declared with bitterness. His soul hardened around him with resolve. “I will do what I have to do to keep my family safe.” He looked down at the emitter he still held his hand.
“Whatever it takes.”
Sharing
20
DraDonna lay in the safety of her husband’s strong arms. She ran her fingers through his silky dark hair. She didn’t ever want the sweetness of the moment to end, but she knew they were running out of time. There was also the thought that someone had just tried to kill the one with whom she shared her soul. This thought felt like a sharp dagger tearing at her soul.
Indulging in this one more display of her love for DraDevon, she closed her eyes and looked within herself for the energy within her soul. Finding that she did still have some energy, she channeled it into her right wrist and gently into her fingers. DraDonna then ran her hands down his face, across his lips, gently tickling him with the energy.
“I love you so much, my husband,” she said as she repeated her caress with the energy.
“I love you, my wife, my soul,” he responded with a shiver of delight at her sweet energy caressing touch.
With concern showing in her eyes as well in her voice, she asked, “Who hurt you?”
DraDevon reached up, and taking one of her copper curls, he pulled it straight, then let go, watching it spring back into place. “I don’t really want to talk about that.” He knew if he confessed that awful experience to her, it would change the sweetness in the air.
“But I need to know who tried to take you from me,” she said with passion in her voice. “I don’t think I would be able to survive if I did not have you by my side.”
Sighing, DraDevon reluctantly sat up, knowing that he couldn’t avoid telling her about it. “DraDonna, I don’t want this sweet time to end, and talking about that will unravel it. I also feel like we’re running out of time, that we need to get to work.” He hoped this would distract her from questioning him further about what had happened.
“I know; I don’t want this blissful time to end either; you’re right. I feel like time is slipping away from us.” She sat up and gathered her clothing from around the main living area of the cabin. “But don’t you think that because I agree with you, you’re getting out of telling me about what happened.”
DraDevon wanted to laugh at his wife’s attempt at being stern while in the nude, but what he had just gone through felt like a cold stone in his soul. Although it would be a relief to talk about it, he was afraid telling her about it would cause her pain.
“I know,” he sighed with resignation. “Let’s get dressed,” he said, gathering up his own clothing.
“You know,” DraDonna said, “I had another dream about Tatiana.”
“Really?” DraDevon asked, his interest sparked and pain forgotten. “What did she tell you?”
“Not going to tell you,” she said teasingly.
“What?” he asked, surprised at her answer. “Well if there is something important she told you, I need to know about it.”
“It was very important, and I do need to tell you about it, but I’m not going to say a word about it until you tell me what happened when you made the core drill and who tried to kill you,” DraDonna stated as she finished putting her boots on.
“Alright DraDonna,” he said, dreading to talk about it. “I will tell you, but I think you should sit down.” He motioned to one of the two comfortable chairs in the main living area of the cabin. “We both know there’s not much time and we both have a lot to share, so please just let me talk.”
“I will do my best to be quiet,” she promised him.
With a little smile on his lip, he said, “That’s not very reassuring,” He knew DraDonna was always full of questions.
She silently gestured to him to start and then placed her hand over her mouth.
“Okay,” DraDevon started, loving how she brought laughter to such dark times. “When I got to the house, the main living area was torn up. Furniture was tossed around. You name it; I saw it on the floor. Although I didn’t check the entire house, I’m pretty sure it was the same as the main living area.”
“But who…?” DraDonna started to say as she let her hand fall into her lap in surprise.
“Let me finish,” DraDevon interrupted her. “I left the house quickly because I knew that I needed to eat some Traveler’s Joy and then get to work.
“When I was outside I saw someone coming out of the shop. I didn’t know for sure who it was, but what I do know is that they were looking for us. I hid behind a tree and waited till he left. I was about to go to the shop when I remembered that I would need to take in a lot of the energy so I could make the core drill as fast as I could. I went in and took in a lot of energy. I got that dizzy feeling afterwards, and when I ate another vine, it went away.”
“So that’s how you knew to ask me for it after you were healed,” she said.
“Yes it is,” he went on. “I went back out to the shop and didn’t see anyone and I got right to work. The welding went well and I didn’t even have to make the piece for the hand crank. I had enough parts that were already cast lying around so all I had to do was put it together. I was pretty tired when I got done and all I wanted to do was quickly travel back here to you, but when I managed to drag the drill into the house and up to the HEART stone altar, I saw that I was not alone in the house. The same person that was in the shop had come in the house when I was making the drill, and set a chair back up and was waiting there for me. When he stood up I saw that it was…” He let the sentence drop afraid to tell her who it was.
“Well who was it DraDevon?” she demanded. “Go on, tell me.”
“It was JorRobert,” he told her.
“What?” she asked in surprise. “How did JorRobert get mixed up in all of this? I know that he doesn’t like me very much, but for him to be involved… It’s just hard for me to imagine. Was JorMelony there?” she pummeled him with her long string of questions.
“No, he was alone,” DraDevon continued his story. “He told me that he was sent by the Ambassador. He started to question me about the core drill, but I wouldn’t tell him anything, and I think that made him angry. JorRobert started to say that he was told that we had gone energy mad and he had been sent to stop us even if that means he has to kill us.” He paused for a moment to give DraDonna a chance to grasp what he was telling her.
“I must admit,” he began again, “I was a little bit rude to him and I think it must have made him even angrier because he attacked me. I couldn’t defend myself because I was still holding onto the core drill, and it’s really heavy. If I had just dropped the thing, it would have trapped my feet. So he took advantage of this and hit me, knocking me sideways into the HEART stone altar.
“Then he jumped on top of me and demanded that I tell him where you were. I refused to tell him and he started to hit me over and over again in the ribs; then he hit me in the face. I almost had my hand free so I pretended that I was going to tell him where you were…
“I was hurting pretty bad at that point, so I didn’t have to pretend too much that I was having a hard time breathing and speaking. He leaned in close and I channeled the energ
y and split it like I do to arc weld and I burned his neck. I thought that would get him off me but it just enraged him further.” He stopped again and looked down at his hands, not wanting to go on.
“What did he do to you?” she asked her husband in a frightened whisper.
“He grabbed me by the neck and dragged me out from under the drill. He lifted me up off my feet. I could feel him choking the life out of me. He kept screaming that if I just told him where you were then he wouldn’t have to kill me.” He stopped yet again, and DraDonna kindly said, “Please go on.”
“I knew that I had to keep you safe no matter what even if it meant that I had to die. But I also knew that I had to do everything in my power to live, so I could be with you again. It was then that I realized that my feet were free from under the core drill, and I kicked JorRobert as hard as I could in the stomach.
“This made him fall backwards and I got away from him, and rolled over the end of the drill. He said he didn’t care about anything anymore, and I was just dead. He charged at me and I didn’t even really think about it. I just automatically picked up the end of the drill and shoved it into his chest. I don’t know if I killed him or not. I know that he was hurt pretty badly.
“But still… as injured as he was, he still tried to stop me by crawling across the floor and grabbing my tool bag and ripping the strap when I left.” He, with remorse in his eyes, looked at his wife’s stunned face. “I didn’t really mean to hurt him; oh HEART I hope I didn’t kill him!” he confessed, bringing his hands to cover his face and hide his tears of shame.
Seeing her husband’s anguish, DraDonna stood from her chair and leaned over to wrap her arms around her beloved soul mate to offer him comfort. “For whatever reason,” she said, “you and I have been chosen to go on this quest to set all of these souls free. The HEART and I both know that you would not deliberately hurt another person. You did what you had to do to protect me and keep him from killing you. I don’t like the idea of you killing JorRobert, but wouldn’t it be better for him to die than a world of trapped souls to dwindle and perish?”
H.E.A.R.T. Saga: The Children Page 13