by c a king
“Your father was angry, furious, his sister was chosen by guardians to help in the restructuring and he was not. That is what you fight for, a man's jealousy,” she cried turning away.
“And you? What do you fight for? Your daughter? No, you left her...didn't you?” Lance was fishing for information, anything he could find out about the girl from the forest. Could she have escaped? Would he meet her again? His blood rushed through his body at the thought, blue flames blazing in his eyes.
“What are you looking for prince?” Raven asked as if reading his thoughts. Perhaps the clear rock wasn't as good an ability blocker as had been thought.
“Her name,” he answered honestly.
“I must disappoint you then. I have no daughter...If I did, her name would never cross your lips. That I would make sure,” Raven said.
“Your world was destroyed by necrid flames a few hours ago. Tell me did she have the talent to escape?”
“Nothing can escape necrid flames. Is that not true?”
Lance smiled, she had given him all the information he wanted. The look in her eyes told him the girl was her daughter, and her lack of concern meant she was alive somewhere. Their paths would cross again one day, and he looked forward to the confrontation it would bring.
Chapter Sixteen
Willow landed with a thud, banging her head on something on the ground. Years of being joined with several Leanders, the cat like race of ancient beings, meant she had picked up a few of their traits including night vision, stealth, agility and she had always landed on her feet, at least before now. There had been no choice but to leap head first through the portal as the necrid flames engulfed the forest around them and even less time to worry about how she would land on the other side or what she would find. Rubbing her head she realized she had hit it on the book she had asked Clairity not to lose, 'The Portal Prophecies.' Without that book she never would have figured out how to escape in the first place. She looked up to see if the others were okay, but it wasn't a friend that greeted her.
A weapon, some form of a gun that she and Nathan had read about in one of the encyclopedias they had found, was pointed in her face. This day just wasn't going to end she thought to herself.
“Get up,” a male voice said.
Willow got to her feet. She staggered a bit, the bump on her head had made her dizzy. Looking at her captor she couldn't tell much other than he was a tall man. He wore a baseball cap that hid the features of his face from her.
“Turn around,” the man ordered.
Willow faced her back to the stranger, trying to search for signs of her friends who had come through the portal before her.
“Hi, I'm...”
The stranger cut her off, “Don't speak, we know about your kind and what you are looking for.”
“My kind? What kind?” she said.
“I said no speaking,” he repeated. “Now just walk over there and join the others you came with till we can figure out what you are doing here.”
“Might be easier to figure that out if I could talk.” she said under her breath, but loud enough that her captor could hear.
“Just shut up, okay? Don't get me mad,” he barked back.
“Okay, okay. Just saying, you can't know what we are doing here, if we are the only ones who know and you won't let us tell you.”
“Enough, I am not listening to your tricks,” he yelled.
'Real winner this one is,' Kiera said telepathically.
'Can you see him, what he looks like?' Willow asked in her mind.
'No, we can do a lot of things but seeing through a jacket isn't one of them,' Aslo answered.
'Right, forgot I was still wearing it,' she answered silently.
Ahead of her she could see the others now. They all seemed fine, at least for the moment. There were several men with guns keeping them in a line. She took the place beside her best friend, Clairity.
“Well this is much better,” Malarchy whispered.
“You could have stayed and fried in the flames, pretty sure I didn't twist your arm,” Willow whispered back. Malarchy and his daughter had little right to complain. They were right at the heart of the actions that led up to what had happened.
“Can you ever be quiet?” the stranger's voice asked.
A few of her friends in the group let out a little giggle forcing Willow to peek her head down the line and ask, “Really?”
“Hello, man with a gun here. Just shut up,” the stranger said, a strong sense of authority resonated in his voice.
“Yes, yes, scarey man with weapon. I am just a little confused. You...want us to stand here until what? You magically figure out how and why we are here?” Willow asked.
“You left out without speaking.” He added, “It's been a bad day. Don't test me.”
Willow chuckled. “Wanna compare notes?”
“Someone get some duct tape for her mouth please,” the stranger yelled to the other men.
One of the men ran to a truck. She recognized it from the pictures drawn in one of the books Nathan had shared with her. This world used them for transportation. She found the idea fascinating, to have so much space that they needed to use something to move them from one spot to another. It had to be huge or people would just walk. When the man returned, he was carrying something round and silver. He pulled part of it and it seemed to stretch, then rip. He placed it over her mouth. It stuck. Her mouth was stuck shut. She tried to move her lips but nothing 'mmmmmmmummm' was the type of noise she could make. 'How rude,' she thought.
Time seemed to go by slowly. Willow tried to complain a few times but her muffled sounds just made the stranger laugh. When she looked at the others to say something she ended up just sighing. It was clear none of them wanted to have the stuff put over their mouths. Of course she couldn't blame them for that. It was uncomfortable and irritating. She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there before another truck pulled up and a man stepped out. Her captors seemed to have their own little meeting. Then the new man moved in front of her group.
“Who is in charge?” he asked.
No one moved or talked. The stranger moved to Willow's side, pushed her away from the others, then pulled the sticky stuff off her face in one swift motion.
“Owe!” Willow screamed. “That hurt, You really have some nerve. You can't just go around gluing people's mouths shut like that!”
“This one should have no problem answering questions,” he said.“We should talk here where the others can't hear.”
“Perhaps I don't want to answer your questions now!” Willow said crossing her arms across her chest.
“Oh, I think your need to speak will take over without problem,” he said with a chuckle.
“Enough!” The man who had just arrived raised his hand in a stop motion. On his arm he had a picture Willow had seen before.
“You are a portal guard?” she asked.
“My name is William and I am the one asking questions. Who might you be?”
“Willow,” she answered. “Are you all portal guards?”
“No, and I am asking questions, remember?” he said.
“Yes but seems strange if you are a portal guard and they aren't, why were they at the portal and you weren't?” she asked.
“It's a long story, but I need to know who you are and why you are here,” he said.
“Why should we trust you?” she answered. “You capture us, point weapons at us, refuse to listen to our story, put stuff over my mouth, then want to know everything.”
William was starting to get frustrated. “You recognized the symbol on my arm, and you seem to know what it means, that tells you what I am...”
She cut off his words. “And three of us have that same mark. Did anyone trust them? Or extend hospitality? I can answer that...No.”
William looked at the stranger, “Is that true Mike?”
“I didn't look,” he said. “They were all just sneaking around, so we rounded them up and waited for you.�
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“The book might have been a give away.” She held up the large book she was still carrying titled 'The Portal Prophecies'.
Mike shrugged. “I thought it was one of those conspiracy books that keep popping up. This group looks like a bunch of groupie wannabes looking for a supernatural thrill.”
William walked over to the others and asked to see a portal guard symbol on any of their arms. The three guards stepped forward and put their arms together so all the pictures were beside each other matching perfectly. William dismissed his other men and led the group to a house, about a five minute walk away.
Outside the cabin type building, more men and women were stationed each carrying weapons similar to the ones the men in the forest had and positioned at fairly even intervals from one another.
Inside, the main room had a couch, some chairs and floor pillows all situated around a fireplace, which was lit and heated the room to a balmy temperature. To the back was a separate space just enough room for a wooden table and chairs.
William and Mike motioned to most of the group to sit down in front of the fireplace and had the guards follow them to the table. Willow took it upon herself to join them.
“Why don't you sit with the others?” Mike motioned to Willow.
She looked at him, then William, then the guards. Faramund had a smile on his face and was trying not to laugh. She turned around and faced Mike. “I think I am more qualified to be at this table than you are.”
William laughed. “There will be time for argument, but for now if we could sit down maybe we could find out what is going on.”
“I only know parts of the back story about the ongoing war with the Serpent Ancients, the Xiuhcoatle and the prophecies.” Willow paused.
“What happened tonight? What brought you here is what we are most curious about,” William said still smiling.
Zsiga responded. “Our world was invaded and destroyed. We are all that escaped death or capture. We are the last of our kind.”
“Forgive me if I don't look surprised, but we had written off our home world long ago when no further reinforcements were sent.” William's facial expression embodied all the qualities of a boy who had just lost his best friend.
“Communication was lost and the Council feared the worst,” the head guard responded.
“That we can explain, the serpents and their allies found a way to weaken the space between the worlds, in short punching holes in them,” William said leaning back in his chair so that the two front legs lifted off the ground.
Mike picked up the story. “Some of your portals when active created a strain on the weakened space, so the forces you had left here at the time, disabled them and hid the stones needed to activate them again. That way no further damage could be done.”
“So, we lost contact because you disabled some of the portals disrupting the telepathic connection?” Willow asked.
“You catch on fast. A guardian could still open a portal from the other side to move through, but they closed after use. No one did,” Mike replied.
“They separated our forces. I am the last guard left in the this world. These men and women, working with me, are individuals whose lives were touched by the war. They have lost family and friends and joined the cause to help protect this world. They are good people but we are losing the battle. Perhaps with your help we can hold on a bit longer,” William said.
“With the portals closed, what are you fighting?” Willow asked.
“Not all the portals are inactive. There are a few we monitor. There are also a few rogue holes in space that have been created, that we don't know how to repair. All manor of beings have come through. From what we know they open and close on their own and only for a certain amount of time.”
“We are lucky this world has an imagination and loves conspiracy theories. They make their own stories up about everything that happens. A few rumours in the right ear and they cover it up for us. That's what we thought your group was, thrill seekers looking for proof of something or anything.” Mike added, “Sorry about that.”
Willow didn't believe at all he was sorry. There was something about his sheepish grin that said he had enjoyed annoying her.
“It's late and most of us have had too much excitement for today. Would you mind if we slept here?” she asked.
“Of course, we have extra buildings with beds that are all empty at the moment. Mike can get you all settled and tomorrow we will show you around,” William answered. “Tomorrow perhaps you can explain how you opened a sealed portal.”
“Easy,” Willow said. “I read the book.” She pushed the prophecies book across the table.
Mike showed them round back of the house where there were a series of additional buildings. They were directed to the third building. Inside were beds with full body cushions, evenly spaced throughout the main room. Each bed had a storage chest and a small closet for personal items. Mike informed them this was their own place since no one else was staying there and showed them the bathrooms and showers.
“Someone will be by in the morning to show you the rest of the facility,” Mike said. “You should be safe here. The patrols are out.”
Before Willow and the others could thank him, a gun shot sounded in the distance, followed by some shouting.
“Stay here and lock the door. Don't open it for anyone,” Mike yelled as he ran out towards the sound of another gun firing.
Malarchy bolted forward and locked the door, then moved away from it and began checking the windows to make sure they were all also locked.
“What are you doing? We should try to help.” Willow wasn't sure what the noises outside were about but she was certain someone could be hurt and need their help.
“We don't even know what we would be up against and we don't know anything about this world. We need to wait till morning,” he replied sternly.
“As much as I hate to say it Malarchy is right. We can take shifts sleeping until day light and hopefully someone sends for us.” Zsiga was already setting up with the other two guards to have at least one of them awake at all times till morning.
Willow sat down on a bed and Clairity joined her. “They are right you know, we will be more help in the morning. I have that feeling.”
“Thanks.” Willow smiled at her friend's words. Clairity's intuition had been bang on these past few days.
“One thing I wanted to ask you, back at the stone table, why didn't Kiera and Aslo just tell you how to escape? We almost died.”
Willow took a big breath and let it out while trying to find the words to explain. “Because...there are some things I needed to find out for myself...When I read the prophecy, I knew I could do it. I had never used anywhere near that amount of power before...but I knew I could. If someone had of just told me I could, there would have been doubt. I wouldn't have believed in myself enough to create the force that was needed.”
“I get it.” Her friend smiled. “Best we get some sleep, tomorrow I think may be a full day.”
Willow lay down. Sleep wasn't going to be easy. What was out there? Would there be anyone left to come for them in the morning?
Chapter Seventeen
A loud knock on the door jolted Willow awake. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but it wasn't long. The yelling outside had continued through the night. Iskander opened the door, letting Mike in. With daylight shining in the windows, she was able to see more of his features. His hair was cut very short and if it were longer she imagined it would be a similar colour to her own. His eyes were a dull green which matched the clothes he was wearing. From the dark circles around his eyes, she could tell he had had little sleep last night as well.
“We have arranged an escort for you back to the main building. Bring anything you need. You won't be back here again till later tonight,” Mike said to the guard, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
There wasn't anytime to think. The escort was waiting and they were on their way within minutes to hopef
ully some answers about last night.
When they arrived at the room they had been in the previous night, it looked completely different. It had been transformed into a command centre. There were large boards with maps and coloured flags inserted at different points. Men and women were buzzing around with hand held devices they were talking through. One woman with her hair tied back in a neat bun wearing all green the same colour as Mike's shirt, was pinning more flags in several of the maps. William was going over more maps at the table. He looked up and brushed the hair from his eyes. With a smile he extended an invitation to join him at the table.
“Sorry things are a bit crazy round here today. We had a ... well problem arise last night.”
“What happened?” Willow asked. “Maybe we could help. It doesn't look like you have solved the problem yet.”
“Best you stay here where you won't get hurt and let the experts handle this,” Mike answered.
William shook his head still smiling. “The opening of the portal you came through created one of those holes we told you about and a dozen or so creatures managed to come through, maybe more. We haven't seen anything like them before. We don't even know what world they came from.”
“What did they look like?” she asked.
“Humanoid, pale greyish skin, razor sharp teeth, hands and feet looked more paw-like than human and the females appeared to have wings of some sort. Rather ugly really, but super fast and deadly,” Mike answered.
“Hannulate!” Nathan said.
“Sounds like it,” Willow agreed. “They were once one of the most beautiful races to exist. They were peaceful and fun loving creatures who lived in magical realms. A direct cousin to faeries and pixies.”
“That doesn't sound much like the creatures I described,” Mike snorted.