The Seren Trilogy

by Darren Lewis

Ellie closed her eyes at the advancing white light. She was afraid, but not for herself, she was afraid for her friend.

  “I'm not scared, Rox. It does sound like a wonderful adventure. But,” Ellie opened her eyes and looked sadly at the ground, “what about why we are here, our world, our time. Your family and mine, they're all waiting for us, all depending on us.”

  The light that had been growing closer to Ellie stopped just before it touched her paws. It hesitated and pulsed and blinked. The light that Rox was in answered back in that strange language, and then began to shrink back. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. The light inhabited by Rox started to grow brighter and Ellie heard a whisper.

  “Thank you.”

  Rox's body jumped high into the air as she returned. When she landed she immediately raced to Ellie and hugged her.

  “I'm so sorry.” She cried. “I was lost inside them and the things they showed me were wonderful. But I forgot who I was.” Rox leaned back to look at Ellie. “I think that's why you're here. To tell me who I am.” Rox squeezed Ellie once more and then turned to the lights. The light that Rox had become a part of had now changed colour. It seemed it had tried its best to imitate Rox's colour but hadn't quite got it right. It now shone grey.

  Rox smiled and spoke to them once more. This time they could understand the rabbit's language.

  “I wish I could come with you, but I have a duty to perform and you've helped me see what I have to do.” Rox bowed low once again.

  The lights flashed in response. The grey light then began dissolving into the ground. It spread out making the whole hill glow brightly until it disappeared. Ellie gave Rox a puzzled look. The remaining white light pulsed briefly in farewell and then with a whoosh that ruffled the rabbit's fur, it shot into the sky to continue its journey.

  “Why did the grey light do that?” Ellie asked. Rox patted the ground tenderly.

  “When life begins here, The Grey will create the first rabbits like me, my distant family, before continuing its journey. Also, when I told it why we are here, it showed me what to do.” The black rabbit took a deep breath and began to explain.

  Chapter 7

  “In the early seasons of my kind there will be many of us. We're going to jump ahead and make many stops. We'll collect enough rabbits to help us and take them home.”

  “And the legend of The White and The Grey? We'll start that story so that one day I will hear it as a young rabbit.”

  “We must remember to tell them to name the first clan leader Seren. As Cast said, was it a coincidence? Apparently not! Our first clan leader was named after you!”

  “We also have to convince them to keep it a secret and never mention us.”

  “Ellie, you have to be strong now. With each jump I will become weaker. Using magic is very dangerous. When we get back…I might not be able to help.”

  Chapter 8

  After countless jumps, Rox was exhausted. Ellie was holding the black rabbit up. They had one more jump to make, back to their own time. Behind them stood over ten thousand rabbits who had volunteered to help. Rox looked wearily at Ellie.

  “Be ready,” Rox whispered, “and thank you.”

  They jumped.

  *

  The spinning stopped. Ten thousand rabbits suddenly appeared on the hill where Ellie and Rox had made their first trip back in time. Though they had only been away a short time, dark clouds now covered the sky. To Ellie they looked mean.

  Cast and Plume, who had been waiting patiently on the hill, had virtually jumped out of their fur when suddenly surrounded by ten thousand twitching noses.

  “Cast!” Ellie shouted. “It's time!”

  Cast nodded. He raised his eyes to the sky and spoke quietly. Ellie watched as all the rabbits on the hill turned to look at him, their eyes unblinking and their bodies rigid. Cast's voice, though never above a whisper, travelled around the hill and then moved through the woods and outward into the world. It was carried on the wind to all the rabbits of the world who were preparing for this day. The message was simple. Cast opened his eyes and shouted.

  “Jump now!”

  All the rabbits on the hill jumped, even Ellie. The wind increased and ruffled the fur of all the rabbits on the hill. The clouds started to move and break apart. The sun broke through. Cast stared intently, whispering “Come on, come on.” The sun seemed to blink and then shudder slightly, as the world was given a little nudge and Cast began laughing. The laughter was taken up by all the rabbits, relief evident on their faces that they had succeeded. Still laughing Cast ran over to Ellie.

  “Well done both of you, well…” Cast stopped running as he reached Ellie.

  Rox was lying on the ground, unmoving at Ellie's paws.

  “Rox!” he screamed, causing Plume to come dashing over, stick at the ready. Cast lifted Rox onto his legs and cradled her gently, weeping as he did so. Plume's face was in shock and trembling he dropped his stick, realising there was nothing as Rox's protector he could do.

  The ten thousand rabbits Rox had asked to come with her bowed their heads in sorrow.

  Ellie bent down and stroked Rox's black fur.

  “We did it, Rox. You did it, you saved the world.” Ellie began crying. “Please, Rox. Please don't leave me.” Rox didn't move.

  The clouds had broken apart quickly and the sun began to bathe the hill again. As Ellie bent her head over Rox's she felt the sun on her back and moved sideways. For some reason she didn't want her friend to be cold. As she moved a tear tricked down her whisker and hung there a moment. Then it dropped and landed on Rox's eye. Rox didn't move and Cast stroked her face. Then an eyelid fluttered where the tear had hit. Ellie gasped and Rox opened both eyes slowly. Cast cried out and held Rox even closer. Plume whooped with delight and the rabbits amassed on the hill took up his merry cry. Ellie wept with relief that her friend was alright.

  Rox looked around and then up at the sky. She brushed Ellie's tear away from her eye and looked at it. She smiled.

  “That was close wasn't it?”

  Chapter 9

  The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day. The woods were still once again after Cast had performed his magic, and Ellie was stood on two legs again. It was a strange feeling. Ellie had the urge to run around on all fours and twitch her bottom.

  Cast bowed his head low at Ellie and spoke.

  “For my life and my daughters', remember, I am in your debt. For the world, well, who knows how that will thank you?” He then gave her his best rabbit smile, picked up Seren and scampered off into the woods. Rox went to stand at Ellie's feet. Ellie sat down to talk to the black rabbit.

  “Thank you so much, Ellie. Without you I couldn't have done it.” Rox smiled. Ellie smiled also, but the smile was shaky as she knew she had to say goodbye to her wonderful friend.

  Rox came closer still. She cocked her head and then shocked Ellie by jumping in her lap.

  “Rox, no!” Ellie screamed, trying to shake the rabbit off. But then she heard Rox laughing. She looked down and saw the rabbit curled in her lap, head resting on Ellie's knee.

  “It's okay. There's a part of us in you now, you'll always be part rabbit!” Rox giggled and as Ellie started laughing she stroked the black fur on Rox's back.

  “I'm going to miss you.” Ellie said shortly.

  Rox nodded. “We may see each other again. The world is full of possibilities and there are still so many adventures to be had.”

  In the distance they both heard Ellie's mum calling for her. Rox sighed and jumped off Ellie's lap. She turned to look back at the young girl she had befriended.

  “Never forget me?” Rox asked.

  Ellie smiled a teary smile. “I promise.”

  Rox watched as the young girl rose and turned to run back to her parents. When she was safely away Rox ran back into the woods and home.

  As Ellie ran through the long grass, she thought about all she had seen and experienced that day. She didn't want to forget a single bit of it. She saw her mum and dad an
d waved.

  Maybe I should tell them this story? She thought. My dad could write it down for me.

  With that she started running faster and laughing.

  “Mummy! Daddy! Jack! I've thought of a story!”

  II

  Ellie and the Dragon

  Chapter 1

  The house stood empty and silent.

  No one had entered for years. Animals that had tried to rest or live there didn't stay very long. It was as if a presence in the house seemed to scare them off, in fear for their lives.

  The gardens were overgrown and trees surrounded the house making it dark and gloomy. Strangely, the only part the garden had not taken over was the stone path that led towards an iron gate at the back of the house. But the gate seemed to go nowhere. A large dense bush denied entrance and exit to and from the garden.

  The house itself had suffered from years of neglect. Many of the roof tiles had fallen, exposing rotten beams in the attic. The paint had peeled from the woodwork and the only living thing that dared grown near it was ivy. It had started to work its way around the walls, already covering the ground floor and making a slow attempt higher to the first floor making the house appear to be disappearing into the ground.

  It was, however, being watched with interest by two animals. The first, a large, ginger cat, was sitting near the iron gate, gently casting its eyes over the house in that relaxed manner of cats. The second, circling high, was a large pigeon that was hungry and in a hurry to fill its belly.

  The pigeon noticed an open window on the second floor and flew down to investigate. The cat quivered slightly in excitement at seeing the bird and raised itself as if ready to pounce, even though the bird was far out of reach. The pigeon landed on the window sill and hopped to and fro along the narrow ledge, bobbing its head, trying to see into the dark room beyond. Not seeing any movement, it fluttered inside onto the dirty wooden floor, sending up small clouds of accumulated dust and dirt. It looked around nervously. It saw an open door and bobbed over into the upstairs landing. Rain from the open roof had damaged the ceiling here causing it to sag and open up to the sky. The bird cocked its head with interest. Being able to enter and exit the house by a window or roof could make this a good nesting spot. Unfortunately, the pigeon was not smart enough to question why there were not other birds here, competing for nesting spots.

  As the bird was about to fly up and explore the roof it heard a strange tapping sound from downstairs and hopped over to the top of the stairs to investigate, ready for flight at the first hint of danger. There was nothing there. The bird twitched its head almost in annoyance at being interrupted and turned to fly off. There was tapping again, but this time louder and closer. The bird did not even hesitate. Survival instinct made it launch and desperately flap for the ceiling. It had become aware of something extremely dangerous close by. The bird sensed it was being hunted.

  Halfway to the ceiling there was a loud whoosh and then a thud, as the bird's lifeless body dropped to the ground. There was a shuffling sound, followed by cracks and snaps as the bird was devoured. Then more tapping on the stairs and nothing more.

  Although the cat hadn't seen what had happened to the hungry pigeon, it had heard and seen a large flash through the window. Alarmed at what could be in the house it decided to investigate. It wasn't just a case of curiosity, it had an owner to protect, and the cat had been told that nothing was more important than her owner.

  The cat walked slowly down the path, looking for an entrance, its eyes and ears alert, muscles, teeth and claws ready for action. It saw the back door of the house was ajar and headed straight for it, nervous but determined. The cat paused at the entrance to the house, examining the darkness beyond, its eyes searching for movement. Satisfied the room beyond at least was safe, the cat entered the house.

  The house stood empty and silent.

  Chapter 2

  “Ellie. Would you please come and clean up this mess?”

  Ellie sighed and picked up the ball she and Jack had been rolling back and forth to each other. The ball was yellow and covered in smiley faces, it tinkled loudly when it rolled and was one of Jack's current favourites. Ellie's Dad didn't like it, he said it gave him a headache and if he was in the room he would wear Ellie's earmuffs to block out the sound.

  Ellie's Mum came in the living room and picked Jack up.

  “Time for lunch, little one.” Jack reached out to Ellie as he was lifted. Ellie gave him the ball.

  “Here you go, beautiful boy.” He grabbed it and smiled at his older sister.

  “Go on, Ellie.” Her Mum said. “Your Dad's calling.”

  Ellie's shoulders slumped and she trudged out of the room and down the hall. She knew where her Dad would be waiting. Her room was at the back of the new house. They had just moved in a few days ago. To Ellie moving house was very exciting but very annoying also. She was excited to be getting a brand new room which she would help decorate, when of course she had made up her mind what colours she wanted, but mainly it was because they had only moved a few streets over in the village, so she could still go to the same school and she could still see her friends. What was annoying was the packing and unpacking of all her things. Even though they hadn't moved very far, her parents had still made her pack away everything in boxes. She couldn't understand why they couldn't just throw it all in the car and drive it over. Adults were strange.

  Dad was standing in the middle of the room. Ellie could see he had made his way there by creating a path through her things. Her `things' were made up clothes, toys, drawing pads, pencils, crayons, paints, brushes and books. He had his hands on his hips and his face was a bit red, he didn't look happy. Rather than saying anything he just swept his arms at the floor and sighed. Ellie let out a long, rolling:

  “Okaaaaay.”

  Dad left the room, nudging a few things with his feet as he passed her, muttering under his breath. Ellie stared at the floor suddenly shocked that she had forgotten what colour her new carpet was.

  *

  Ellie was staring out her bedroom window that overlooked the back garden. She was watching Dad cutting down the bushes to make it tidier. No one had lived here for a few years. When Dad had seen the garden he had clapped his hands together and grinned, he saw it as a challenge. Mum had called it a jungle and bet him five pounds he'd give up and hire a gardener before the end of the week.

  At the moment the grass was very tall, and weeds ran riot. It didn't look bad but there was no where for Ellie to put her trampoline or swing which had been moved to grandmas for the time being.

  Dad had worked his way to the very back of the garden and had started trimming the bushes there. As he swept the trimmer through a dense part there was a loud crack of metal on metal and the trimmer jumped from his hands. The sound made Ellie jump and she ran from the room, kicking all her mess out of the way, worried that he might have been hurt. Ellie ran through the house to the kitchen and the back door to the garden.

  “Daddy, are you okay?” she cried.

  Dad was shaking his hands. He nodded and then held his hands to his mouth and started blowing.

  “Ouch.” He said from the corner of his mouth. Ellie grabbed his arms and lowered his hands so she could have a look. There was a red mark where the trimmer had jumped against his hands but they seemed okay. Dad smiled and he ruffled her hair, he then grimaced and flexed his fingers. Ellie looked over to where the trimmer had landed, it was still near the bush Dad had been trying to cut. She could see what had caused the noise. The trimmer had cleared away enough of the branches to reveal the top of a large black gate.

  “Dad. Where does that go?” she asked, pointing. He looked around at the gate.

  “It must be the old house next door. Our cottage used to be owned by the people who lived there.” he replied. Ellie perked up, she was always interested in her neighbours. Their old house was next door to one of her school friends and they would chat after school while leaning on the fence. Sometimes they had playe
d badminton. They had played football for a while over the fence until an unfortunate incident with Mum's car.

  “Who lives there?” she asked, excited.

  “No one,” Dad replied, “It's been empty for years. Don't even know who owns it now.” He stepped up to the gate and raised himself on his tip toes.

  “Can you see anything?” she whispered. Dad grinned and looked down at her.

  “Why are you whispering?” he whispered. “Not much,” he continued in his normal voice, “the back of the house, the garden's worse than ours. Though not by much. Seems to be a path though.” He turned to Ellie, widened his eyes and wriggled his now working fingers. “Maybe it's haunted! Ooooooh!” and he ran to Ellie and tickled her armpits. She laughed and shouted.

  “Stop it!” she wriggled away and stuck her tongue out at him. Her Dad smiled and went back to the gate and pulled on it. It hardly moved. He looked sideways at Ellie, a sly look appearing on his face.

  “Shall we find out if this opens?”

  Ellie grinned.

  *

  It had taken quite a while and a lot of hard work and sweat to clear the gate. Dad hadn't wanted to use the trimmer again so close to the metal. The gate was very rusty, the black paint tarnished with brown and the paint flaked when touched. They had both pulled and pulled, trying to open the gate, but it had rusted shut. It would have to wait for tomorrow, they would oil it and chip away the rust from the hinges, it was time for dinner.

  *

  Ellie opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. It was quite dark. The night light in the hallway illuminated the vague shapes in Ellie's bedroom. Her chest of drawers, the wardrobe, toys on the floor still not put away. Sometimes Ellie would wake in the night, and she liked to go to her parent's room for a hug before coming back to bed. This time, though, she was sure something had woken her. She looked around the room. The darkness made objects she saw everyday look weird and a bit scary. She remembered one time waking up, sure that there was someone standing by her door. After a few moments of terror she realised her Mum had hung a coat on her door handle. Feeling foolish she had calmed down and had gone back to sleep, the sunlight of the next day scaring away any left over feelings of fear. But it was night again and she was awake, Ellie thought its one thing to know there's nothing there but another to imagine what could be there.