Chapter 19
Mark looked at Garandol feeling confused and angry as he asked, "Why did we just let them take him?"
"That was the plan," Seth said.
"What?" Mark shouted. He couldn't believe what he was hearing!
"We let them take him,” Garandol said.
"I got that part,” he said sarcastically. “Why?"
"Because Broc is working with us now," Garandol said.
This didn't clear much up for Mark. His confusion rendered him silent. This couldn't be true...or was it?
"Last night,” Garandol began to explain, “I prayed over this place so no one could stop Broc's rescue. Then this morning, I put protection on Broc's mind so Arnath could not control him anymore. He was once loyal to Arnath, but he was always more loyal to Damien and Seraphim. Arnath knew this so he put Broc's mind under his control. That won't happen anymore. I have protected his mind from Arnath's influence."
"You trust him?"
"No, but he's our way into the castle," Seth said. "If he fails, then we'll just have to think of another way in."
"What guarantee do we have?" Mark asked.
"None,” Seth said simply. “The only thing we can do is trust that Sol will help us."
Mark took a few deep breaths, calming his anger. After a couple minutes of silence he sat on a tree stump and finally asked, "So what do we do next?"
"Next, we convince the Elves and Centaurs to support us," Garandol explained.
"What do we do until then?" Mark asked, looking from Garandol to Arland then to Seth.
Seth called Serva to him then he looked at Mark and said, "Train." Then he walked away without another word with Serva at his side.
"Where's he going?" Mark asked, watching him go.
"He has some training to do on his own. Sol will speak with him too."
"What are we going to do?" Mark asked.
"Well, first we go to Serpa to find lodging and food. There I will explain what will happen with you two," Garandol said to him and Jennifer.
Mark's head was spinning with everything he'd just learned. Broc was their spy; Seth was going home to train...alone; was Arland about to leave as well?
Arland called the horses back to them and they rode for Serpa. It was a long and silent trip. For once Mark didn't have any questions. He was too confused and feeling a little betrayed that they hadn't filled him in on their plan.
Since they had all three horses this time Mark rode one with Jennifer riding with him. The horses did most of the work so all Mark had to do was hold on. He held onto the horse's mane as they rode, careful not to pull any of it out.
Mark heard Jennifer speaking to him, but not out loud. It was like a voice inside his head. He looked back at Jennifer confused.
Just think what you want to say, we can talk privately without them hearing. I have a wall around our minds, she spoke to his mind.
How are you doing this?
It's one of my abilities. You have physical strength and I have mental strength. We can learn each others' powers as well. Although, I'll never be as strong as you physically and you'll never be as strong as me mentally. But together we're stronger than anyone, just like Seth and Serina. You have Seth's powers, and I have Serina's. I've been wondering if there's a deeper meaning to it, or if it's just a twin thing in Eranithia.
I don't know. I guess we'll just have to see. I'm sure we'll find out eventually.
Yeah.
There was a long pause in their conversation before she started up again.
So I was way more scared than I thought I would be. And when you ran off I got really scared.
I'm sorry, he said. I didn't know that it was part of the plan for them to take Broc. So I thought I had to stop it.
It's okay. You did what you thought you had to. I guess I just didn't realize the danger of the situation.
I tried to tell you.
I know, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you.
It's okay. It was nice to see you so dedicated to the prophecies and to Sol and Eranithia.
She smiled at him as he looked back at her. Then she said, Eranithia has grown on me the past week or so. I really do love it here.
Does Arland have anything to do with that?
She blushed and said, I can't deny it anymore. I do like him. But we don't know how long we'll be here.
True.
I love you, Mark. She said after another long pause.
I love you too, Jen.
She held him tightly as they followed Garandol and Arland. Mark was glad for it; he thanked Sol for bringing them closer together through their adventure.
Later that night they arrived in Serpa. Garandol found them lodging at a rough looking inn called the Snake Head Inn. At dinner in the dimly lit pub of the Snake Head Inn. Small bar fights continually erupted, but were squelched by the large doorman. One fight ended with both parties being lifted by their necks and thrown out the door.
"There is another prophecy I must tell you about," Garandol said to Mark and Jennifer, bringing their attention back to him after watching the fighting men being tossed out the door like sacks of garbage.
They stopped eating their hot soup to look at each other. Both felt uneasy, but they were ready for whatever Garandol had to say. After the small battle they'd fought earlier that day, they felt ready for anything. They looked back at Garandol.
“Another prophecy?” Mark asked.
“There are many prophecies concerning the two of you.”
“What else is said about us?” Jennifer asked.
"The prophecies say twins from another world will help the rightful king to the throne. As we all know, that is Seth. While he is training on his own, you will each have your own training. Jennifer, you have training that Arland will give you, and Mark, you will continue to train with me or Arland when he is around. Now, one of you is to go back to your own world. The other will stay here. It will fulfill a prophecy saying, 'One will sacrifice, giving up what they love for the other.' This means one of you must return to your world for a time."
Mark looked at Jennifer and she looked him right in the eye. He saw her tears forming. She didn't want to leave and neither did he. Most importantly they didn't want to be separated.
"Do not fear this separation from each other. It's necessary and it must happen now. Prophecy must be fulfilled. You will be separated for a short time, but you will be brought back together to help Seth fulfill his destiny."
Mark looked at Jennifer, but she spoke before he could, "I'll go. Mom and dad will listen to me more than you. I just don't know what to tell them when they ask where you are."
“Sol will provide the words you need at the opportune time. But before I send you back, Jennifer, let me give you these words. Sol blesses those who give up of themselves. You will have a reward waiting for you for this sacrifice.”
Smiling at his encouraging words, she said, "Thank you, Garandol."
"But I don't want to be separated from my sister. I promised to take care of her," Mark protested.
"Mark, I can take care of myself in our world. There's no deadly creature or evil king trying to kill me there."
He had to laugh at himself. What could happen to her in their world that she couldn't take care of herself? They'd faced many more dangers here than they ever could in their world. But it didn't change the fact he didn't want to be separated from her.
“I'm going to miss you,” he said.
“And I'll miss you too. But like Garandol said, it's only for a short time.”
He tried to take comfort in this simple truth. They would see each other again.
After a moment, Garandol spoke up saying, "You will be able to communicate with each other even though you will be in different worlds. Arrow can travel between worlds because of a connection Sol has placed between our worlds.”
“What kind of connection?” Mark asked.
“It's a mystery even to those of us who know of it. It's a secret Sol is keeping for now. But we must go into the woods so your travel back to your world isn't seen." Garandol said.
With their meal finished, they followed him into the woods about a quarter of a mile west of Serpa. Jennifer took Mark's hand in hers and held onto his arm. She clung so tightly he thought he would lose circulation, but a tingly arm was worth the love she was professing to him right then. Jennifer rested her head on Mark's shoulder, so he rested his on the top of hers.
When Garandol stopped in a thick grouping of trees, Mark kissed the top of her head and he tried to let her go, but she refused. They had never been separated like this before in their life. Growing up, they'd gone nearly everywhere together.
"Jen, you gotta let go. I'll see you soon," he said gently.
The tears streaming down Jennifer's face broke his heart, so he hugged her tight. She sobbed heavily into his shoulder. Garandol respected their time to say goodbye, waiting patiently until they were finished. Mark pulled himself away from Jennifer even though she tried to hold on longer. She eventually let her fingers slip away from his as he backed away from her.
Garandol began speaking in another language, his staff glowing. As it shined brighter and brighter, a whirlwind surrounded Jennifer. She began to fade away from his sight.
"I love you, Jennifer!" Mark called out to her.
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"I love you, Mark!" she called back but she was suddenly staring at the wrought iron fence surrounding a pool. She looked down at her clothes. They were still dirty, holes had appeared in her bluejeans, looking months older than the day she'd entered Eranithia.
Hearing footsteps racing towards her, she looked to her right to see a group of guys running right for her. They surrounded her, breathing heavy. No time had passed since being pulled into Eranithia.
"Where is he?" Rene demanded looking down at her, only inches away.
Jennifer glared back at him as if she were ready to kill him. She knew she could too. Just that afternoon in Eranithia, she'd killed trained soldiers.
"Where is he you-"
Jennifer punched him in the stomach, cutting his sentence off early. Then she used her mind, extending her arm, she threw him into the fence, like a Jedi using the Force to throw him. Rene hit the fence with a thud and stayed in place, his feet six inches above the ground. Looking at the rest of Rene's gang, she saw their scared faces.
Entering all of their minds at once, she altered their memories so that what they remembered was, Rene tripped and fell into the fence, and that they had homework to finish before lunch ended.
"Leave," she said.
The gang walked away together as if nothing had happened and Rene wasn't pinned to a fence by an invisible force. Then dropping Rene, she knelt down next to him. He was whimpering in pain, so she decided to scare him even more. Jennifer looked at him with crazed eyes and a wicked smile. She knew her eyes were red from crying, which only helped her in giving Rene such a psychotic look.
"Leave me alone, Rene. You don't want to cross me. Do you understand?" she asked him. Even to her she sounded like a different person. She felt as if there were another personality beginning to grow within her mind.
Rene nodded then slowly rose to his feet. He looked like a wounded dog as he said, "You're crazy." Then he ran away.
As soon as she knew she was alone, she let everything come crashing down on her at once. She was no longer in Eranithia, she was back in California. Arland wasn't with her and neither was Mark.
Mark.
Jennifer missed her brother more than she thought she ever could. Sitting against the stucco wall, she cried heavy sobs.
In the midst of her tears she heard a familiar sound. Looking up she saw a hawk, larger than any hawk in her world, circling the school grounds.
"Arrow?" she said quietly. She extended her mind out to meet his. Amazed, she could hear his thoughts.
Is it safe near you? he asked. His voice was familiar even though she had never spoken to him before. He almost sounded like Garandol.
Yes.
I will not harm you, hold out your arm.
She held out her left arm as he swooped down to her. When he was close, he extended his wings, slowing himself to a stop and landed on her forearm. She took the small parchment rolled up in one of his talons, then he flew up a couple of feet, perching on the wrought iron fence as she read the note.
Jennifer,
I pray you are well. I really miss you too but we both need to
be patient for now. It won't be long before you're back in
Eranithia to continue our adventure. Don't forget how much I love
you and miss you. I'm about to start my training with Arland.
He's going to be staying with me and Garandol at Garandol's while
you're gone. Seth will be going to the Elves to convince them that he's
ready to take the throne when he's done with his training. Just do the
training Arland gives you to do. I'll stay in contact with you as often
as I can. I love you, sis, and I can't wait until we can be reunited again.
Stay strong and tell mom and dad that I love them.
With Love,
Mark
Tears of joy filled Jennifer's eyes. Her heart felt as light as a feather. She didn't know how long it had been in Eranithia, but she'd only been home for a few minutes before first hearing from him.
Looking up at Arrow, she spoke to his mind saying,Wait here. Then she ran back to the lunch quad and grabbed her backpack.
One of her friends, a pretty brunette, started talking to her, "Jennifer, what's going on? We saw Rene. He looks like he's lost his mind. He keeps saying, 'she's crazy, she's crazy'... Jen, what happened to your clothes?"
Jennifer ignored her friends. They didn't matter to her just then. She just gathered her things then ran back to the pool area to write a response to Mark. When she was finished she rolled it up like the parchment Mark had sent her. Then she went to Arrow, reaching the note up to him. He hopped off the fence, took the note, then flew away, disappearing into the sky with a small flash of light.
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Mark was sparring with Arland, learning a few new techniques, when they heard Arrow's call. Neither Mark nor Arland stopped, so Garandol whistled up to him. The hawk responded with his own call then flew down to Garandol, landing on his arm a moment later.
"Mark, it's from Jennifer," Garandol said as he rolled the paper back up.
Arland stopped the training to let Mark read the note. They bowed to each other then Mark took the note from Garandol eagerly.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“I didn't read it. I only saw it was from her. It's for your eyes only,” Garandol said with a wink.
Mark took the note and unrolled it. He recognized his sisters perfect penmanship as he read her note. It was short but Mark could hear her speaking as he read it.
Mark,
You are always in my heart and my mind. I love you.
Jennifer
Smiling, Mark rolled the note up and stuck it into his back pocket for safe keeping. Mark had no idea when he would see Jennifer again, but he prayed to Sol it would be soon. He had no idea what the future held for them but he was anxious to find out. His only hope was that Jennifer would be there with him. She had to be; the prophecies said so!
Sighing, Mark reached for the hilt of his sword as he turned to Arland and asked, “Shall we?”
Arland grinned and they returned to Mark's training. After all, Mark needed all the training he could get for what was to come in the not so distant future...
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