“Hailey!” she called after me as I kept walking.
Maybe I could use the paddle or hook the GPS battery up to the trolling motor. It would take a while, but at least I could get out of this place.
I glanced out to the ocean then back, startled at finding myself standing face to face with her again. I growled in frustration then stepped around her, picking up pace.
In an instant she stood in front of me again. This was insane!
“What! What do you want?” I snapped.
“I want you to calm down, I want you to let me explain.” She pleaded.
Again, I side stepped her, this time jogging down the beach. “Well It seems that the only one who gets more than a few words from you is an iguana! You aren’t explaining a damn thing!”
“Hailey, you can’t go back!” she yelled back at me.
I stopped short, my heart sinking into my stomach. I fought to stay strong, to not let the tears start, because I knew I couldn’t stop them if they did.
I turned and stomped back towards her, leveling my eyes and my voice in a dead serious way. “Say. That. Again.”
“You can’t go back. The gate is closed.”
“What gate?” I yelled at her. “There is no gate!?” I yelled again, pointing out into the open water.
“Between to two stone columns there in the water, that is the gate to your world, the gate you, we, came through.”
“Oh my gosh, “I slapped my forehead and pointed out to sea again. “There is nothing there, no gate, no lighthouse! Nothing!” I seethed at her.
“You can’t see Enrovia from your world and we can’t see your world from here. I’m the only one who can open the gate, that’s what I was saying earlier, you’ve past by here a thousand times, and you never knew we were here. It’s my fault . . .” She trailed off.
I was starting to lose my footing again, my head swirling like before. I felt my knees buckle as I reached the shoreline, allowing my body to collapse onto the moist sand. I refused to believe I was stuck here. I had to think my way through this. I was a problem solver, that’s what I did. I was good at it.
“Alright, then open the gate and let me out,” I half pleaded to her.
“I can’t,” she almost whispered.
“And why not?! You let me in, let me out!”
“It’s not that simple Hailey . . . It’s too dangerous, there are things you don’t understand. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to leave Enrovia.”
I cut my eyes back at her trying to show only anger and not the hopelessness I was caught up in. I knelt then sat at the waters edge, letting the waves lap at my feet.
I heard her soft steps as the crept around in front of me and then stopped. I breathed deep several times and reached into the water. Dipping my hand under the surface, I gently washed away the sand covering the cuts along my legs, wincing as the saltwater once again stung the open wounds.
I saw her bare feet, then watched as she bent down and reached out her hand. I tensed as I watched her cover the cuts along my legs with her delicate fingers, feeling a growing warmth spreading along my skin.
She continued to move her fingers along my leg, never touching them but hovering just above. Suddenly I realized my cuts had stopped stinging, only leaving a slight warmth from where they had been. I gasped as I looked closer, seeing pale pink streaks instead of blazing red lines.
“How did you do that?” I questioned, amazed and a little skeptical.
Her legs folded as she sat beside me. “There are many things I can do,” She replied.
“Except send me home,” I mumbled.
“I promise I will do my best to make that happen. For now we need to get going. It’s not safe here.” She stood, and turned back to the forest.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I declared, jumping to my feet and plodding back to the boat, the magic of her touch forgotten. “I’ll be right here when you decide to take me home.”
The tide had receded leaving the hull firmly beached. I leaned into the bow, pushing as hard as I could.
“What are you doing?” Ethera asked.
I whipped my head around, still gritting my teeth with the effort. “What does it look like?! Getting ready to get the hell out of here.”
I looked at her. Her face was painted with empathy and saddened by regret. The truth fell in on me at that moment, the unavoidable reality of my situation crushing me with the hopelessness I’d been holding back. Tears flooded my eyes as I struggled to blink them back without success.
I heaved, choking on the raw emotion which commandeered my body. I wanted to scream, I wanted to throw things. I wanted to go home.
Leaning against the fiberglass, I allowed the tears to fall, watching them paint the sand a darker blonde.
Several minutes passed as I slowly calmed down, hitching sobs turned to steady breaths. What choice do I have? I asked myself. I ran through the options, staying on the beach alone, until when, which apparently wasn’t safe . . . Following her into the woods? Attempting to escape this place in the boat, which apparently wasn’t going to happen without her.
Accepting that my leaving wouldn’t be an option right now, the only real choice would be, for the moment, to trust her. My red rimmed eyes turned to meet hers, my body defeated. I nodded. “Fine,” I said.
She turned and motioned behind her to edge of the forest. I squinted, struggling to focus my tired eyes.
The lizard I had seen before, slowly ambled from the cover, followed by a creature I could not identify. It resembled a pig I had seen while hunting with my dad, only smaller, with large curving tusks, which frightened me.
Ethera moved between us and gave a friendly pat to the hog beast. “This is Feilvus,” she said motioning to the pig. “Feilvus is a warthog. And this is Lars, a green anole. They will take you to the city. Until we can figure things out.”
I decided to go along with Ethera’s plan, for now. Worst case I could always change my mind and find my way back to the coast.
Feilvus and Lars trotted forward and waited at my feet. They seemed friendly enough. Reaching down, I bravely patted the warthog on the head. He neither seemed to mind or be pleased with the gesture. Lars however wasted no time in getting acquainted. The now brownish lizard climbed onto Feilvus’s back and jumped to my leg, then climbed onto my arm.
Now having a closer look at him, I could see his pinkish throat and the thin line of his mouth. I could see it moving, but heard nothing. I bent closer, trying to hear his small voice. Still, I could see his mouth moving, but only a slight hissing came out.
“I can’t hear him,” I told Ethera. “You can, of course, but I can’t.” I wasn’t even trying to hide the sarcasm.
“Just as in your world, humans do not have the natural ability to hear animals.”
“I can hear dogs” I quipped. “And what do you mean by my world? Where are we exactly?”
“Of course you can hear the barking of a dog, but can you tell me what he said?” Ethera waited for me to answer. Then, realizing I had no answer for her, she continued. “I will see you again this evening. I have some things to attend to first.” I noticed she completely sidestepped the other questions still hanging above us.
I rolled my eyes and turned to the shore one last time. I glanced back at the boat, my grumbling stomach reminding me I would need to eat soon. I knew nothing about this place, or about what I might find to eat. I’m pretty sure the way she talked to the animals I’d already met that meat was not on the menu. I was hoping that my sandwich had managed to survive the journey. At least I would have something for the trip.
“We must be going soon, Hailey.” Ethera said, looking into the sky at the sun, which surprisingly hadn’t moved much since I first arrived.
“Let me grab something from the boat, and I’ll be ready.” I told her. She did seem on edge now. Maybe the shore wasn’t as safe as it appeared. I did a quick scan of the waterline, but I didn’t see anything to be concerned about.<
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I turned and jogged back to the shore and climbed on board. Ducking to look under the center seat, I noticed a piece of brown paper sticking out from underneath. The wet sack came apart in my hands, leaving the plastic bag with the sandwich to slide out and into my hand. I didn’t see the chips or the apple but least I won’t starve.
I grabbed my jacket and cell phone from the dry compartment, tossing my near empty bottle of water and Swiss army knife in my backpack. I had no idea what I would need, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Stepping back onto the sand a thought occurred to me. If this is low tide, then there must be a high tide. Whenever it was, it would be before I could get back here. Although the boat was useless to me now, I would need it eventually.
I opened the front storage with the anchor and unclamped the rope and chain that had been attached to it. Tying off to the bow cleat, I drug the rope behind me along the sand to the tree line. Choosing a sturdy tree, I wrapped the nylon rope several times before securing it with a boating knot my dad had taught me. The remaining rope I left coiled at the base of the tree then picked up my backpack from the ground.
I jogged back to the waiting party, waiting not too patiently. Feilvus was nervously pacing back and forth, nearly trampling the small lizard, who was now hopping left and right to avoid his crashing hooves. Slinging my backpack over my shoulders, I turned to Ethera.
“I guess, I will see you later.” I shrugged
“One more thing.” She said with a smile.
“What now?” It came out snarkier than I intended.
“I think it’s better to show you, just promise me you won’t be afraid.” She said haltingly, as she waited for me to respond.
“OK . . . I promise.”
She took a few steps away from me, and then laughed. “Which to you prefer a bird or a butterfly?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I guessed I couldn’t go wrong with either choice. “A bird, I guess.” Now I was curious as to where she was going with this.
In an instant she was gone. I blinked and she vanished. Like a magicians trick she was there, and now, as I scanned up and down the wooded boundary, I couldn’t find her anywhere. I blinked, waiting for her to reappear with a flourishing “tadaa”, but she never did.
I took a deep breath, then realized something . . . I was scared. I was alone on an island, with two strange animals about to hike through dark woods to a city I knew nothing about.
You’re insane! I yelled at myself.
I looked around and down at my escorts.
I bent down and offered my hand to Lars, who happily jumped aboard. “I’m ready when you are,” I said, and followed the warthog into the jungle, thinking how beautiful the tiny hummingbird was, who watched me from a branch just above my head before flitting off.
Ethera
Ethera watched the girl for a while, making sure she didn’t panic and attempt to race back to the boat. If Drugan or one of his faithful happened to catch her on the water, not even Seraphina could help her.
She flitted from branch to branch in her hummingbird form. Hailey seemed to be a gentle soul. Her irritation was understandable. But her essence confirmed Ethera’s hope for her. If she had seen in Hailey what she had in Drugan all those years ago, she would not have known what to do.
And what would Drugan think of her after word reached his shore, which it likely already had? Would he try to secure her loyalty as the only other true human in Enrovia, luring her with his charm and dark magic? Would Hailey fall for it the way she had those centuries ago?
She watched the girl stumble along the path, dutifully keeping pace with Feilvus.
Ethera dropped from her perch, allowing the wind to catch her tiny wings, then buzzed into the sky, sloping languidly over the canopy of trees. Her mind raced with dread at the thought of the council’s meeting tonight. There was plenty of bad news to report and now she had to tell them this.
Picking up speed she flew higher above the tips of the leaves, as she sped toward the towering mountain in the distance, trying to figure out what to tell them.
Hailey
The forest was not as thick as it looked from the beach, the sheer number of trees giving the impression of a tightly woven impenetrable wall of foliage. Large vines snaked around the trunk of the trees, spidering out along the forest floor.
The ones along the shore were shorter than the trees now, growing in height as they went, until they towered into the sky. The leaves from one mingled and met with the tops of others, almost obscuring the blue sky above us.
The ground was surprisingly sparse, the smaller plants never gaining ground in the constant shade of their neighbors. This made walking more easily than I had guessed. Watching my steps, I could tell this was a path used before. The trail was narrow and slightly worn, but relatively straight, except for the odd boulder or root along the way.
The temperature in the shade had dropped several degrees, and a constant light wind assured me that bringing my jacket had been a smart choice. Lars thought so too, finding my front pocket a very comfortable fit. He had enjoyed an easy walk for the past hour or so.
We had been on mostly flat ground for some time, our pace steady but comfortable. Feilvus’s short legs could only move so fast, after all. Besides Ethera and my two traveling companions, the island mostly uninhabited, quiet. Eerily quiet.
Feilvus snorted, catching me by surprise. Even though I had no idea what he said, I decided to strike up a conversation, if only to fill the silence. “How much further until we get to the city? Do you have anything to eat there? What do you eat here?” Feilvus snorted and squealed his answer, which may have been very informative, but sounded so funny I could only laugh.
I tried to keep myself occupied, checking on Lars every so often and humming or singing to myself. Anything to keep from thinking too much.
My heart seemed heavier since the moment on the beach. I would give anything to be able to go back, but dwelling on something I couldn’t change would only make things worse for me at this point. And I kept reminding myself that ‘no’ and ‘not yet’ were two very different things.
But I still couldn’t help but think about being back in my own bed, back to school next week, back to friends, back to my mom, and just back to reality in general. I even welcomed the “I told you so’s” and whatever else I had to look forward to.
I reached up to cover my mouth as I stifled another yawn. I wished I could sit down for a while, I really needed a break. Every time we passed a suitable resting place I hoped the warthog might slow down, but he never did. He had more stamina than I did, and being unable to communicate was becoming a bit of an issue.
Before long, each step became a struggle, my endurance had been tested and I was starting to flag. Even walking briskly, I was only just keeping up with the spunky warthog that seemed to trot effortlessly through any terrain. My breathing was beginning to come quicker with my effort, and I’m sure I heard Feilvus grunt in humor at least once.
“Ok, hold up. Give me a minute to rest; we’ve been walking non-stop for at least two hours. I need a break.” I pleaded to the warthog’s backside.
Feilvus turned and grunted, not happy with this, but I didn’t care. I did notice that he must’ve understood what I said, or at least understood that he had to stop when I did.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sat down on the closest root I could find. I felt my legs beginning to get sore and my stomach grumbled with hunger again, this time more insistently. Pulling my pack from my shoulder, I dug around until I found the sandwich I grabbed from the boat.
I pulled the water from my pack as well and took a quick sip. The bottle was almost empty. I would need to find more soon. I suppose it was the ravaging hunger, but this was the best ham and cheese sandwich I had ever tasted. The irony of a ham sandwich in present company was not lost on me either. I don’t think Feilvus even cared or noticed though.
From inside my pocket I felt
Lars stir, crawling to the opening and sticking his head out, presumably to see why his ride had stopped, or for a breath of fresh air. Feeling guilty at being the only one with a snack, I broke off a piece of crust and offered it to him, though he didn’t seem interested at all.
I shrugged and stuffed the piece into my mouth, taking the last bite slowly. This may be the only thing I would have to eat for a while. Who knew how much further we had to go, and there was no point in asking.
I listened to my breathing slow, and looked up at the sky, the sun still hanging almost straight above me. Was I dreaming, or was the day dragging on slower than it should have been?
I leaned my head back against the trunk of the tree and closed my eyes, feeling the breeze cool me as I regained my breath and strength. In the distance I could hear leaves shuffling, and birds calling far away. And underneath those, a dull rumble I couldn’t quite place. A kind of constant faint white noise.
Feilvus’s steps rustled the leaves at my feet. Opening my eyes I stared back into his impatient face. Someone’s in a hurry, I thought. But how can you argue with someone you can’t understand? I groaned then stood.
“Alright Lars, back in the pocket,” I said, following the grumpy warthog, waddling up the trail. We continued on, coming to a large meadow, surrounded by fragrant purple flowers. The sunlight filtered through the open spaces in the leaves creating a beautiful sight. Rays of sun danced across the floor of the forest, catching and illuminating large specs of dust floating on the wind.
I pulled the phone from my pack and snapped a picture, tucking the phone away before Feilvus could disagree with my slow pace. Just as I thought, he turned and grunted for me to hurry and catch up. Jogging for a few steps, I easily made up the distance.
Before we left, I stooped down and plucked one of the stems from the ground. I twirled it around in my fingers, and then tucked it behind my ear, catching sweet whiffs from time to time.
Turning as we walked, I watched the meadow fall behind the trees once more, swallowed in green leaves. Sunlight turned again to shade and flat ground began to take on a slightly uphill slope now. We climbed for a while, step after step until reaching a crossroads.
Ethera and the Island of Evisara: Book One of The Enrovia Series Page 5