“Huh, what are you on about?”
They both spoke at once, the confused looks on their faces sending the girls into fits of laughter.
Raff scratched his head. “Yeah, funny… right. So are you gonna tell us what’s going on or what?”
Leah pulled herself together and sighed. “I woke up to find a horse standing in the doorway, munching on one of our apples. So I woke Belle to see if she could talk to him and ask him for help. I’ve no idea what went down, but Belle was smiling and the horse didn’t bolt, so I’m guessing she struck a deal?”
All heads turned towards Belle, who finally sat up looking very pleased with herself. She flashed a cheeky grin at Lyricus before answering Leah’s question.
“Well, it turns out our apple-stealing friend has a few other friends, and they’ve agreed to help us. The deal is, they’ll allow us to ride them to where the rebels are, in exchange for food. Oh, and they also happen to know the exact location of the rebel camp!”
“Way to go Belle. You guys are brilliant!” Raff hugged Belle, and then Leah, the excitement in the air palpable.
Lyricus grinned and slipped an arm around Belle’s waist. “I can’t believe I once called your Gift an unfair advantage. It’s more like a miracle.”
“Sorry?” Leah and Raff were staring at them. Belle chuckled, and explained about the night in the Forever Forest, when Midnight had warned her of Lyricus’ approach. He’d been surprised when she’d turned to greet him, accustomed to his elven skills covering the sound of his approach. Until she’d explained about her Gift and Midnight’s warning.
Lyricus grinned. “I was worried my stealth skills were slipping, until Belle admitted she had an unfair advantage thanks to her Gift.”
“Hey, I’m definitely grateful for that particular skill right now. Riding beats walking any day,” Raff said, grinning.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I have got to get out of this sweatbox!” Leah said, pushing past Raff, and scrambling towards the doorway, eager to suck in the fresh air outside. She sighed in relief as a slight breeze brushed against her flushed face. So far, everything about today was proving to be a vast improvement on yesterday!
Within seconds, Belle emerged from the open doorway behind her carrying four apples. Raff and Lyricus weren’t far behind her, each carrying two of their own offerings for the horses.
“The other good news about the horses is that they’ve been ridden before. Apparently, they escaped from a farm a while back, where they were being mistreated. All I can say is, the conditions must have been pretty bad, to risk starvation out in the wild like this.” She handed two apples to Leah and moved towards where the horses stood huddled together.
“So I was thinking it might be best if we let them choose who rides them. Let’s spread out and see what happens.”
The horse Belle had previously spoken to trotted happily towards her, while the others stood quivering nervously. Leah held out her hand, the apple balanced precariously on her flat palm, encouraging the boys to do the same. Finally, hunger overcame fear, and the other three horses each crept towards an apple.
Leah chuckled, the horse’s whiskers tickling her hand as it snatched the food from her outstretched palm. The apple was gone within seconds, and she held out the second one immediately, reaching out to rub the trembling horse’s nose with her other hand.
“Okay, so this is Max. He tells me the horse with Leah is called Star, Raff yours is Billy, and Lyricus, your horse is Red. He also says they’re ready to leave whenever we are. So… ummm… how do we get on?”
Lyricus grinned as he walked over to where Belle stood beside Max. “Hmmm, I don’t think these horses are going to lay down for you the way yours do. I’ll give you a boost.”
He showed her how to grab hold of Max’s mane and put her left foot into his joined hands. He lifted her easily, and she threw her other leg over Max’s back.
Raff had been standing beside Leah watching the entire procedure. “Okay, I can do that. Your turn.” He grinned as Leah copied what Belle had done, laughing as she almost fell off the other side from his over-enthusiastic boost.
Raff had then realised he had no way of mounting his own horse, and was mortified by the fact he’d have to accept a boost from Lyricus. In the end he’d grudgingly agreed, but not before extracting a promise from Lyricus. “Fine, you can give me a boost. But when we get back to Florisia, you have to promise to teach me how to do that vaulting mount thing you do.”
Lyricus promised, boosted him up onto Billy, then turned and vaulted onto Red. Leah noticed Raff blushing and winked at him.
He muttered something under his breath and then grinned sheepishly, moving Billy up beside her.
“I am so gonna be able to do that one day!” he said, before urging his horse to get moving. Leah chuckled as she did the same. Poor Raff, he was in serious danger of developing an inferiority complex; and all because of some stupid vaulting thing. Honestly, boys were just so weird sometimes!
Chapter Eleven
-Family Ties-
Once again, they travelled for hours across the monotonous landscape. Raff had just started to doze, and almost fell off his horse when Belle’s voice popped into his head. Somehow, he doubted he’d ever get used to that sensation!
Hey guys, Max tells me we’re almost at the rebel base. The horses don’t want to get too close, so we’ll be walking the rest of the way. It’s about a ten-minute walk.
Raff grinned at Leah. “Did you get that?”
“Yep. How weird is it to hear someone else’s voice in your head?
“I’m with you on that… freaks me out every time!”
Belle and Lyricus were sliding off their horse’s backs as Raff and Leah rode up beside them.
“Hey, it’s about the silent messaging thing. Couldn’t you have just waited ‘til we caught up to tell us that?” Raff said.
Belle grinned. “Yeah, but it’s so much more fun sending messages. Except next time, I want to do it when I can see your face!”
“Well, next time, can you make sure you do it when I’m standing on the ground? I was just nodding off, and I nearly fell off my horse when your voice popped into my head!” He slid to the ground as they all laughed.
“Oops, sorry about that,” Belle said, with not a trace of guilt in her twinkling brown eyes.
He chuckled at the feel of his horse nudging his backpack hopefully. “Sorry mate, we’re all out of apples. Should we give them the last of the bread and cheese? If the rebels are close-by, we shouldn’t need it.”
They all agreed, and the horses were soon munching on the last of the sandwiches. They shared the remaining roast meat between themselves, and said their goodbyes, thanking the horses for their help. Tossing their heads, the horses turned and galloped off back the way they’d come.
Belle smiled. “Max said to tell you they were happy to help, and wished us luck on our journey.”
Lyricus grabbed Belle’s hand. “Speaking of journeys… shall we? Wait… Leah? Any bad feelings yet?”
“Nope, all good to go!” She smiled and nudged Raff. “Ready, Mr Thrill-seeker?”
He nudged her back, grabbing her hand. “Always!”
* * *
“Ummm, is it just me, or do those buildings look totally deserted?” Raff said a short while later, as they approached a small group of ramshackle buildings.
He’d been trying to fight the bitter disappointment that this wasn’t the rebel base ever since the buildings had first come into view, but the closer they got, the more he was convinced it was just another deserted settlement.
“Ummm… I was just thinking the same thing,” Leah said. “Now what are we supposed to…?”
Raff’s jaw dropped and Leah almost choked when a woman stepped out of the building in front of them. She appeared even more startled than they were, which wasn’t really surprising considering they were in the middle of nowhere. She stared at them, rubbing her eyes as if she were trying to check
whether they were an illusion.
“Where the heck did you lot come from? You just about frightened the bejeezus outta me just appearing like that,” she said, shaking her head and scowling at them.
Leah recovered and stepped forward. “Ummm, sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you. We came from Valleron College. The Professor there told us if we headed south we might find some people who would help us.”
The woman’s face broke into a smile. “Aah, I see. More runaways eh? It’s been a while.”
“There’ve been others who made it? Really?” Belle asked eagerly.
The woman chuckled and nodded. “Quite a few actually. Although I must say, you lot are in much better condition than most who turn up here. I think you’ll be needing to speak with Aracus.”
As if on cue, a man with red hair, greying at the sides, stepped out from behind one of the other buildings. Raff scratched his head; confused by the niggling feeling he’d seen this man somewhere before. He knew it was impossible, but he looked incredibly familiar.
The man wore a welcoming smile as he approached them, but when his eyes met Raff’s the smile froze. It only lasted a second, and then he shook his head, the smile returning to his weather-beaten face. “Well, well, well… more runaways from the College I presume? So tell me, how is it that two fully developed elves are wandering around in Valleron still alive?” He chuckled. “I’ll bet Serbus would be hopping mad if he knew about this!”
“Let me guess. Serbus is the name of the Elder Guardian here in Valleron, right?” Raff grinned, and the same peculiar look flashed in the man’s eyes.
Okay, something weird was going on here. Raff saw the same confusion on his friends’ faces, as their eyes swivelled from him to the stranger and back.
“Look, I’m just gonna go ahead and say what everyone here seems to be thinking.” Leah said, chewing on her lip. “Umm… do you think it’s possible you two could be related? ‘Cos from where I’m standing, the resemblance is downright scary.”
The man scratched his head as he studied Raff’s features a little closer. “Y’ know, I was just thinking the same thing. But I don’t see how it’s possible. Unless… well, I did have a grandson once, who probably would have looked a lot like you. My son and his wife died trying to stop the Guardians from taking him, and we were told the child died too. The boy was named Raff, after his great-grandfather. Don’t suppose the name sounds familiar at all?”
Raff knew his mouth was doing the opening and closing thing that made him look like a fish out of water. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach — hard! This was insane! Could he really be related to this man standing in front of them? No wonder he’d thought he looked familiar!
Leah grinned and nudged him. “What he’s trying to say, is that’s his name!”
The man stood stock still, studying Raff’s face. Then a huge grin split his weather-beaten face. He held out his hand to Raff. “Well… pleased to meet you Raff, my name is Aracus, and it seems I’m your grandfather!”
Raff grinned as he took Aracus’ hand, and found himself enveloped in a bear hug. He'd never heard the term ‘grandfather’ before, but he got the distinct impression it was a good thing.
* * *
The beasts seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute they were all laughing, and introducing themselves, and the next they were fighting for their lives. Raff grunted as a hell-beast barrelled into him, pinning him to the ground, its massive claws digging holes in his flesh. A flash of deja vu had him back under the canopy of trees on the road to Fey Village. But he’d come a long way from being the frightened kid in that scenario.
Not this time mate! Unlike the last time he was in this position, he knew what he could do with his Gift, and exactly how to do it. Without hesitation, he reached for his Gift and shaped his weapon of choice. Then he sucked in a breath and hurled the fireball directly into the beast’s chest, the impact thrusting it backwards and into the air. Screaming in pain and rage, the beast writhed in frustration for a second, before blinking out of existence.
He scrambled to his feet, his shoulders on fire where the beast had lacerated the skin. He was already preparing another weapon to help his friends when he heard a loud thunk. His jaw dropped as a lightning spear, like the one he’d used against the giant spider in the cave, skewered the beast leaping towards Leah, while the other was already engulfed in flames, writhing in the air for a second before it vanished. He shook his head, confused by the fact that someone else had done what he was about to do.
He scratched his head, looking around in confusion. “Wait, that wasn’t me. Who…?”
A very pale Lyricus hovered beside Belle, her shoulder ripped and bleeding the same as Raff’s. He looked up at Raff and smiled. “Aracus! If I didn’t know he was related to you before this, I’d definitely know now! It was so weird… when I saw the fireball take out the beast attacking Belle, I just assumed it was you. Way to go Aracus!”
Raff ran to help Leah as she scrambled to her feet. She was shaking, but managed a feeble grin. “Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. Have I ever mentioned how much I love being able to control the wind? Thanks for finishing it off, Aracus.”
So that explained why the beast hadn’t reached her before being impaled by the lightning bolt. “Quick thinking babe. Well done. I was just about to…”
“I know Raff. It’s all good. You were busy dealing with your own creature from hell at the time,” Leah said softly, smiling into his eyes.
Aracus was scratching his head, looking around in shock. The sight of Raff’s familiar habit being practiced by someone who looked so much like him had them all laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Aracus asked, looking at them all as if they’d lost their minds. “Those things nearly killed you! I don’t see how you can possibly find that funny?”
“Sorry Aracus, it’s just that Raff always scratches his head when he’s worried or thinking. And you look so much like him…” Leah explained between giggles.
Aracus smiled and nodded in understanding, the smile warming as his eyes rested on Raff. But the frown returned as he took in their surroundings.
“Those three beasts knew exactly who to target. They weren’t even interested in Lyricus or me. Serbus obviously wants you three dead, and it seems he knows exactly where you are.”
“But how does he know where we are?” Raff said, looking around and wondering how someone had found them out here in the middle of nowhere.
“We believe the portal alerts him when children of mixed-blood come through…”
“But we didn’t come through the portal, we came through the veil.”
Aracus looked at them all stunned, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Raff chuckled. So that’s what he looked like when he did that. No wonder everybody always found it so funny. Poor man, he had no idea what he’d stepped into the middle of. And he didn’t even know the half of it!
Chapter Twelve
-The Reunion-
Aracus finally recovered from his shock, shaking his head as a lop-sided grin replaced the frown. “Something tells me you kids are going to be full of surprises. But right now, we need to get out of the open. Serbus is nothing if not persistent, and I’d rather not wait around to see what happens next. Please follow me.”
Belle looked around at the ramshackle hovels all around them. Did Aracus seriously think they’d be safer inside one of those? Her shoulder ached where the beast’s claws had raked her skin, and Raff didn’t look much better. She needed to heal their wounds before they lost too much blood. Leah had been lucky for once, holding the beast off with the wind until Aracus had dispatched it with ease.
They were headed in the same direction from which Aracus had emerged earlier, skirting around the back of the buildings, when she caught sight of a slight shimmer in the air in front of them. She grinned, suddenly understanding where Aracus had come from, and where he was obviously taking them. She nudged Lyricus, nodding her head towards what, at firs
t glance, appeared to be the never-ending expanse of red dirt in front of them. His frown slowly changed to a grin, as he recognised the slight refraction of light indicating the presence of a shield.
Aracus stopped and turned to them. “Only those with magical ability can proceed from here without help. So can I assume none of you would be needing any help?”
They all nodded, and Aracus shook his head again, chuckling to himself. “Then please follow me,” he said, and with one stride forward he disappeared.
Raff and Leah gasped, and Belle patted them on the shoulder. “Remember the entrance to the cavern in the cave, and the shield Lyricus erected? Same thing… elven magic.”
Belle stepped through the magical shield, hearing the familiar popping sound as she emerged on the other side. She gasped at the sight that greeted her. It was almost like stepping back into Florisia, except for the presence of the red dirt road running through the centre of what could only be described as a small village. The houses themselves were nestled in amongst lush, green grass, and large, shady trees.
She looked at Aracus. “How…?” She couldn’t even begin to frame the questions tumbling through her head.
Aracus chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I’ve seen that look so many times, I should be used to it by now. We have quite a few elementals here in our little oasis. You can imagine the reaction of some of the kids who arrive here from Valleron College.” The sadness in his eyes told her he knew all about the college.
“Then why…?” The sudden lump in her throat at the thought of all those kids cut off the rest of her question.
Aracus sighed. “I’m sorry; I know you have a million questions. How about we go to my home and talk?” His eyes lit up when they rested on Raff. “Your grandmother would never forgive me if we didn’t go there first. I hope you’re ready for this… she tends to get a bit emotional.”
The relaxed atmosphere in the village was amazing. People laughed and called greetings to each other, while children of all ages played happily in their yards. No one paid much attention to the new arrivals, as if strangers entering was a regular occurrence. It was hard to believe this place existed in the middle of the arid desolation on the other side of the shield.
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