by T M Caruana
“How?” was the only word Derek managed to say before he saw a beautiful female head emerging from the river.
She jumped up out of the water and her fin turned into slender legs walking towards us.
“Susy, you’re back. I never thought I’d see you again,” she exclaimed in a sweet voice and her wet body pressed against mine.
I assumed we had been good friends before, though I had no idea who the woman was. I sighed. When would I regain my memory? It had taken long enough now.
“Susy, we can stay here and rest a while,” Noah interrupted. “We have spare time anyway, now that we have Derek and Pallas showing us the way.”
Noah knew me so well and could tell how tired I was and in need of a few minutes rest. Shocked by this information I sat down on a tall mossy stone. The woman in front of me was the famous Pallas, Triton’s daughter. The woman Leo had grieved over for so many years without finding another woman to replace the love he felt for her. She had been here all this time, as restless in her soul as Leo. I couldn’t blame him? She was the purest, sweetest and most delicate woman I had ever seen.
The half-naked woman, bare-chested with thick long hair; the only thing covering her breasts and a sarong over her lap, sat down beside me. For some reason her appearance didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. It was as if it was only natural that she was next to naked. The woman showed no embarrassment and, if I thought about it, Leo was also always equally lightly dressed. That was probably what I could expect from the people of Vati.
“Are you unharmed, they didn’t hurt you on Teli?”
The woman’s voice was as soft as her sweet face. It was noticeable by her caring nature that she wasn’t from Bomi or Sabi even though I had already understood from her fishlike transformation that she was from Vati. The people from Vati, like Leo, seemed to be calmer and gentler in their manner than those from the other worlds. Though I also noted that Eutychia was from the same world and she didn’t have these qualities. I was still angry about my kidnapping to Teli and didn’t feel like talking about it and was more interested in Pallas. Fearing I would get a ‘don’t you remember me’ look, I still felt compelled to ask.
“Why are you drawing men down to the depths of the stream Pallas?” I asked, without hesitation.
The predicted disapproving gaze from Noah or questioning eyes about my memory loss from Pallas never came. Pallas looked towards the river and back to me.
“My heart reaches out to receive love from men’s hearts as I never received the love from Leo’s heart,” was her answer and I remembered Michael and Noah’s earlier comment about Leo’s long story of his past.
I didn’t know much about Leo, but one thing I had understood: his heart had always been for Pallas.
“What are you talking about Pallas? You are wrong. Leo’s heart has always been yours. What makes you think otherwise?”
“He didn’t fight for us, so that we could be together.”
Pallas looked sad, which upset me.
“I don’t know what happened in the past,” I responded, “but Leo is the nicest gentleman I’ve ever met. I can’t imagine that he would have abandoned you in any way. Since I met him, I haven’t seen him look at another woman. His eyes are always sad, as if there is a part of him that is missing,” my words brought a smile to her lips and she looked lovingly toward heaven as if he were there and could see her.
“So you think he loved me?” Pallas asked shyly searching for reassurance.
“I’m positive,” I said without having a clue about the future consequences that the words would have.
Pallas stood up and let her gaze wander deep into the forest. I had seen the look before. Pallas was going into a trance and she began to walk towards the woods. She had obtained peace of mind and would now go on to participate in the Oracle’s train with the other souls. I was upset that our chat had lasted so short a time and I had missed out on my chance to ask her some questions that the men in my entourage didn’t seem to want to answer. But I knew that the moment had passed and went over to the two uninterested men to suggest that we continue. Derek pointed in a southerly direction where ‘K’s wooden house could just barely be seen between a grid of trees on the other side of the river. Excitement rose in my chest. We would only have to cross the river and walk a few hundred metres to reach it and, without Pallas as a threat, this wasn’t an impossible task.
<><><>
A dark shadow fell over us as we stepped up the stairs to the wooden house. An old woman was standing with her arms crossed and looked down at us in irritation.
“This is forbidden ground. You are trespassing and I warn you against treading any closer,” she said.
The woman looked immovable, both in her intentions and her body. The sun that had slowly started to set behind the house and shone in my eyes, making it hard to discern the woman’s facial features, but I could clearly hear in her voice that we weren’t welcome.
“We have come humbly to ask for your help. We are looking for the magic ingredient that can heal marrow that has run out of bones,” Noah said, but only his voice was pleading, and he gave no indications of submissiveness.
He had a wary look in his eyes looking at me and then around the area as if he were looking for any threats. Even in his condition, both injured and exhausted, he was still firmly aware that my safety was his main task in life.
“You have come in vain. There is no help here. All my knowledge and all my ingredients are my own.”
Her wide figure was full square on the porch with her heavy legs wide apart in a way that could stop many strong men from trying to pass. However, she would probably not be able to stop Noah’s strength and we hadn’t come this far to give up so easily. The dilemma was that brute force wouldn’t help to extract information from her brain, so humility was still the best method.
“We haven’t come to steal. We ask only for your wisdom,” explained Noah, insisting whilst he looked down onto the stairs when the sun scorched his eyes. The words came out a little gruntingly as he fought hard not to seem weak.
“I don’t want to repeat myself again. Turn around before you make any more intrusions on my land. This is your last warning.”
The old lady was serious, but so were Noah and I. How would we get her to understand the important reason for our visit? We would have to make her understand and gain sympathy for our cause and change her mind. But how? The hours had begun to run out now; we had no more than an hour and a half left. We all stood in silence, without a sign to surrender.
“Cezar, attack!” she suddenly shouted and Noah twisted round, trying to locate where the danger was coming from.
A tiger came running out from the house and straight towards us.
“To tame a wild tiger. Hadn’t the poem on the map mentioned something about that? Or was it a lion?”
I nervously grabbed hold of Noah’s arm through his torn shirt, wanting to stay close whilst I thought of what the poem and the prophecy said, but the attack made it difficult to focus. The tiger, that was almost bigger than me, even when he was on all four legs, swung his claws against Derek. Due to Derek’s ghostlike nature, the razor sharp claws went right through him and sliced Noah over his waist forming a vicious wound. The force of the strike and the depth of the scratches made blood splatter all over his clothes and onto my face. It was horrific to see Noah, who used to be strong and proud, collapse on the step in pain.
“I’m sorry Susy, I’ve done what I can for you, but now you have to carry on yourself or take us back to Katrona so she can heal my wounds. I can’t imagine that I’ll survive a long time while I’m losing so much blood.”
I only had to look at him without even meeting his eyes to understand that he was in really bad shape. The wounds were very deep. What would I do now? I would have to choose between saving Tarus or Noah. It was impossible. My feelings for them were so dissimilar to one another, but I loved them both; one with passion and the other out of loyalty. I didn’t want to lose e
ither of them and I didn’t want to be the one choosing their destiny. I hadn’t even yet fully understood my place in the world and what relationship I had to the two men.
“Cezar, come here!” cried the woman and something had changed in her voice, it wasn’t as sharp as before. “Katrona? Do you know a woman named Katrona? Does she have a heart-shaped birthmark on her lower back?”
The woman’s voice was eager, almost manic.
“Yes,” replied Noah with a painful moan, but without hesitation, as he kept pressing his hand over the wounds to stem the blood. “How do you know her? She has never been here; she has been locked up her whole life.”
“Then she lives,” the woman said. “She is my daughter and was taken from me at birth.”
The sun setting behind the house lit her face then and I could see that she was an exact older version of Katrona. The woman had shown her motherly instincts in her shock and had left her anger for an instant, but found it quickly again.
“Is it you who took her away from me? Have you kept her locked up? Where is she now?”
Her accusations were spat out like ammunition from a machine gun.
“Your daughter is a very beautiful soul ‘K.’ She managed to escape from the robbers and she saved my life. She has been my best friend for many years,” Noah explained softly whilst he was writhing in an attempt to ease the agony.
I now realised what her name ‘K’ symbolised. She had probably given her daughter her own name. I only hoped that Noah’s brief explanation would be enough for an empathic parent to help us. ‘K’ rushed into the house and quickly returned with a bottle containing a thick red substance.
“Here! This is tiger blood. If the marrow has drained from the bone the person must drink it within twenty-four hours in order to heal. Be careful. This is from Cezar who is the last tiger who has the magic power of the blood. But not only that, and listen carefully because this is important. Tiger blood is also one of the ingredients of the poem, which can transport symmetry energy. If Eutychia get hold of it, she will become the most powerful person in the Universe. I wouldn’t even want to imagine how it would end.”
She sounded really worried.
“Is there no other way?” Noah moaned.
“I’m afraid not,” she replied with a certainty that wasn’t questionable.
“Huh? Why do you ask? Won’t it help?” I couldn’t understand Noah’s strange question.
“Yes, it’s fine,” replied Noah exhausted.
“The drink isn’t available to anyone from Vati,” K explained. “Because they are half fish and half human with their own magical powers that counteract the magical tiger forces. A person from Vati would be poisoned if they only touched the substance or any substance from a person who has drunk it,” She spoke quickly, trying to speed us up, as Noah was almost unconscious on the stairs.
She had suddenly become tender and protective and it was no wonder she had perceived such desire for all her possessions when she had lost her main love all those years ago and never had seen her again. I was surprised though that the situation wasn’t resolved yet so that she could join the rest of the train. She was still there, still a troubled soul.
“I’m sorry, I can’t bring you back so you can meet your daughter, I only have one power stone,” I explained, as I didn’t want to inform her that in actual fact she was dead.
Despite everything, she was in her own world and seemed pleased. The situation hung heavily over my heart as I had recently lost my own father, or what I had thought was the love of a father.
“If it’s meant to be, I will meet her one day. Everything turns out as it should in the end,” she nodded to me to prove she had recognised me and agreed with my motto. “It is a comfort to me to know that she is well. Please, tell her that mum loves her and is thinking of her every day,” she said before we both disappeared into thin air leaving Derek by her side.
I had started to get good at mastering the portal’s direction and soon landed in the cave on Pixi and on my feet instead of being thrown to the ground. In addition, I managed to support myself so that even Noah wasn’t hurled to the ground.
The Gatekeeper welcomed me, helped to support Noah under his arm and gave me nod towards the centre of the cave. I saw Tarus lying there on the ground, lifeless with Michael’s hands tightly pressed against his heart. I left Noah in the Gatekeeper’s care, rushed up to Tarus and tried to check for a pulse. I looked around to find Hunter, but he wasn’t there. Noah groaned, trying to stay standing, but stumbling towards the waterfall and out to his horse to ride back to the castle. A shadow appeared from behind the waterfall and Hunter came rushing in to help the Gatekeeper carry his brother-in-law by placing his shoulder under Noah’s arm on his badly injured side.
“Noah, you are very wounded, what happened?” he asked, looking around to meet my eyes.
His eyes weren’t filled with blame; they were looking to ensure that I was safe as Noah’s blood-soaked shirt was evidence that we had encountered some problems.
“Hurry back with him to Katrona, she must heal him. I will tell you later.”
This time it was I who ordered Hunter. I had grown into my role as a leader and felt stronger, or was it guilt? I was optimistic this would go well. I would be able to save Tarus; it hadn’t been twenty-four hours since the injury and I had the tiger blood. I lifted up his heavy head and placed it in my lap and felt a vortex of emotions going through my body out of my love for him. We hadn’t been apart for long, but I ached to be with him again. I held up his chin, stuck the opening of the glass bottle into his mouth and poured down half the contents. Michael had moved closer and was still holding his hands over his heart. Now we could only wait.
<><><>
Days passed without me keeping count. Would it work? Had I poured the right amount? How long would it take? Michael and I spent the time having discussions on various topics and I was happy to have his cheerful self once again by my side.
When Tarus’s green eyes finally opened, I laughed with joy. I laughed out loud and so hard that the tears flowed down my cheeks. They ran out of relief and happiness. He sat up slowly, nodded gratefully to Michael and then gripped me without hesitation. His body wouldn’t be perfectly healed yet and he must still have been in a lot of discomfort. His warm hands were comfortable against my back and his chin felt soft against my shoulder. I heard him take a deep breath of relief and he placed his forehead against mine. He then looked into my eyes, closing his own only for some seconds before he gave me a thorough kiss that lasted seemingly forever, but was still too short.
“It doesn’t matter what the world thinks. Now I’ll not let you out of my sight and will openly fight for our love. It’s madness to try to keep us apart. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past.”
Those dark rough words frightened me, as I didn’t have control over what had happened in the past, but the declaration felt wonderful all the same.
“How are you doing Tarus?” I asked. “Are you able to travel back to the castle, or do you want to stay here tonight? I’ll stay with you whatever you decide.”
I was worried that he was trying to be stronger than his bones would allow. I knew him well and knew that his pride would try to push his body to do more than it could handle.
“We have to warn the others,” Tarus said as he struggled to get up. “Nomnat has sent his troops, one by one, to Pixi. They are hiding in the woods, but I don’t know where. When they receive orders from Nomnat they will attack the city. We must collect as many men as we can to resist his attack. Perhaps we also need to ask for help from the other worlds. I don’t know how large an army he has gathered and now I don’t know how Nomnat will communicate with them as Hunter has stolen all his power stones. I’m guessing that the witch will be on their side, so we should be prepared for anything.”
His voice was still weak from fatigue. I couldn’t allow Tarus to deal with these burdens so early in his recovery, so I took charge by ordering Michael t
o his next mission whilst I stayed with Tarus as long as he needed in order to recover.
“Michael, ride ahead of us to the castle and tell Noah to form a strategy to persuade the other worlds to enter into an alliance with us because there are rumours of war.”
16
ATLANTIS GUARDIAN
I bit my lip trying to keep it still to project confidence, but I wasn’t sure of anything being in Tarus’s company. Now we were alone and he was waiting for a sign to give him the security that I returned his feelings. I clenched my thumb and took a deep breath as I closed my eyes to shut the world out, if only for a second. My stomach tensed and the nausea was followed by an acidic taste in my mouth. Why couldn’t I remember yet? It was clear that my memories were hiding somewhere deeper than my feelings. I could clearly feel my passion for Tarus and also his feelings for me. There was nothing that scared him. If he weren’t to receive my returned devotion tonight, he would accept it, but not give up. He seemed to have already waited several hundred years to have his love reciprocated and so, even though he was more eager this evening, he was in no hurry to declare anything concrete tonight. I sat still and silent and looked at his gorgeous face. His mysterious smile was the last thing I had expected.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, and was glad I had asked a question before he asked me something else that I didn’t want to answer.
“For so long we have been deprived of the love for each other and when I finally experienced my first kiss, it was out of revenge and without your wisdom about what it would have meant to us. It’s rather ironic,” he answered.
His serious voice made me breathless and I could clearly feel the battles going on in his heart. I blushed at his honesty.