Chapter 5
"Mark," a soft voice called to him.
He opened his eyes once the voice reached his ears. The sky was dark. The only light came from the embers glowing in the small fire pit since clouds blocked the moon and stars.
Mark sat up, noticing his sister and the wizard still sleeping. Neither of them had woken him up. His stomach leaped when he realized who was calling his name. Twisting around, searching the clearing he was in, Mark saw her. The girl from his dreams. She seemed to glow in the darkness.
Rising to his feet, he crossed the meadow in a few light steps, then followed her through the woods again, but this time he got closer. So close he could touch her. She stopped, leaning with her back against a tree with her arms floating somewhere behind her. A flirtatious smile on her lips, daring him to kiss her.
Her smile continued to call him closer. Then, just as he was about to try and kiss her, cuts and bruises appeared on her face as terror filled her now bloodshot eyes. She was tied to the tree.
“Not again,” he groaned, then ran to the back of the tree to find where the rope was knotted. There wasn't any knot that held the rope to her. He ran back around the tree to face her.
"Find Seth, Mark. It's the only way. He's the only one strong enough," she urged him, speaking without moving her lips.
"How do I find him?" he asked.
"He will know," was all she said. Then everything started fading away.
"Who will know?" he asked, but everything grew darker. “Who will know?” he shouted.
Mark sat straight up in a cold sweat, twisting and turning to look at the woods around him. It wasn't dark like in his dream. The sun was still high in the sky. He had only been asleep a short time. Garandol stared at him as smoke rose from his pipe. They stared at each other in silence, Mark's chest still heaving as if he had just run a marathon. A bee flew around his head.
"What did you see?" Garandol asked him.
"I saw a girl. She told me to find Seth," he gently swatted at the bee, sending it away.
Garandol grinned at him and said, "You're the one."
Mark had no idea what that meant. I'm the one? The one what?
"We had better get moving. My home is a half-day's journey from here. There, we will gather supplies for the journey to the Blood Mountains. Wake your sister. We must get going as soon as lunch is done." Garandol began rewarming their breakfast.
"What?" Jennifer moaned as Mark shook her.
"We gotta get going sis, come on," he said quickly as his excitement grew. Adventure was waiting for him.
"Where are we going?" she whined. Then she bolted up, her eyes as big as her smile. "Are we going home?"
"No, we're going to Garandol's house and then to the mountains. We're looking for someone."
"Sol?"
"Seth."
"Who's Seth?" she asked, rubbing her face as she fell back, laying down again in the grass.
"Someone who can help the girl from my dream."
She parted her fingers to reveal one of her eyes to look at him, "You know how crazy you sound, right?"
He smiled, sitting on his heels, his hands on his knees. "Get up. We gotta get going. Garandol's making lunch."
"Let me guess, more rabbit?"
"It's all we have right now," Mark said.
Garandol spoke up saying, "We will have more to eat when we get to my home. Tonight we will feast before we begin our journey."
Jennifer pulled herself up into a cross legged position, looking right into Mark's eyes. She saw that nothing would change his mind. There hadn't been so much determination in his eyes since they were kids. She remembered a time in elementary school as he attempted to get the big kick in for the kick-ball game. He really wanted to fit in. He tried so hard to get that kick and score the winning run. Even though he succeeded in getting the kick; afterward, he just didn't care. He'd accomplished what he wanted to, but it just didn't matter anymore. Mark figured that if he had to do something like that to gain friends, those people weren't true friends. The excitement she saw in his blue eyes told her this was more than kick-ball. This was something real.
"Is there somewhere I can get washed up at least?" she asked, sounding as defeated as she felt.
Pointing to his left Garandol said, "There is a creek not far in that direction. Go together though, I'm sure there are authorities still looking for us."
Jennifer raised her hands up to Mark. Taking them, he pulled her to her feet and they went to the creek.
At the creek, Mark bent down to the water, looking up every so often to scan the area with his eyes as he washed up for lunch.
When he finished, he stood to keep an eye out as Jennifer continued cleaning up. His hands were rolled into fists, ready to fight if he needed to. Every little sound, whether it was a breaking twig or a rustling leaf, aroused his attention. Although the most threatening creature he'd seen was a squirrel scampering up a tree with an acorn in its mouth, he treated every sound as a possible threat.
Why am I on such high alert? There's nothing more than small animals around. What did Garandol mean by calling me the one?
All these thoughts went through Mark's mind as he stared at the surrounding forest, jaw set and eyes scanning. There was a sense of responsibility he felt he had to live up to. It distracted him so much, he never heard Jennifer speak to him.
"Mark!" she said sharply.
Mark twitched as her voice startled him.
"You okay?" she asked grabbing his arm gently.
"Yeah," he said. "Ready?"
"Ready as I can be until I can get a decent bath or shower or something. I hope Garandol has something at his place."
"He may," he said as they began their walk back to their camp.
"So what's going on? What were you and Garandol talking about before you woke me up?"
“How do you know we were talking?”
“I was only half asleep. Tell me what's going on.”
"We were talking about my dream. I think he knows who the girl is. She keeps telling me that this Seth guy is the only one who can help her.”
Mark debated with himself whether he should tell her the next part. Would she laugh at him? Make fun of him? Maybe she'll just find another way to discourage his desire to stay in this place. But, she was his sister. The only friend he had in Eranithia. The only friend he had anywhere! He had to tell her.
“He told me I'm 'The One'," he said using his fingers to form quotation marks.
"The One? Like Neo was the one?" she said referring to a sci-fi movie they both enjoyed.
He laughed and said, "Yeah, but I doubt I will learn to fly."
She laughed too, "Or stop bullets."
He shrugged, saying, "Maybe that, but the bullets here are the small arrows for crossbows. So they may be something I can learn to catch."
In his little bit of excitement from thinking of what he might be able to learn, he never noticed Jennifer stop. When he didn't hear any response from her, he looked to his left, where she had just been a moment ago, but she wasn't there. Stopping and turning around, he saw her staring at him with misty eyes. Stepping up to her, he saw a tear fall down her cheek.
"What's wrong?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and searching her eyes.
"Are we ever going to go home?" she asked.
"I-I don't know."
"Do you even want to go home?"
His face grew hot and he let his arms drop, "Do we have to talk about this again? Right now?"
"I know you think you're happy here, but what about mom and dad? Don't you miss them?"
"Of course I do." At least he thought he did.
"Do you really or are you just saying that?"
"You know they don't get me." Maybe he didn't miss them as much as he was supposed to.
Jennifer followed close behind Mark as he started walking away. He didn't know why he didn't miss his parents. Maybe it was the excitement of the pending adventure; maybe it was frustration of their lack of understanding. Either way, Mark didn't care to get back home anytime soon.
"Mark! Sometimes I don't get you!” she exclaimed, stepping in front of him. “Why do you think I started playing that game?"
Mark froze. What game?
"What are you talking about?" he asked quietly.
She didn't answer his question directly, but continued, "I wanted to understand you better and have something that was ours again."
Jennifer sounded nervous, almost ashamed. What game is she talking about? He wondered as panic gripped his gut.
"What are you talking about?" he asked a little louder, his stomach clenching.
She looked down at her hands, curling her fingers to stare at her fingernails. She couldn't avoid his question again. "I play World of Warcraft."
A single thought raced through Mark's head as a cold chill swept through him. His forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows met as he processed his thoughts. She couldn't be...
"I'm...Ladyhawke-one-two-one."
His stomach twisted into knots. Ladyhawke121 was the girl he always played against on the Internet.
"How did you find me on there?" he asked running his hands through his hair and turning away from her.
"It wasn't that hard. Gimli23.”
He turned towards her again as she explained.
“You love Lord of the Rings and Gimli's your favorite character. I stumbled on your screen name one night. I knew it was you from the way you spoke."
"You're good though!" he said with mixed feelings. His eyes were wide with excitement but that changed as his stomach turned with nausea.
He'd always wanted to meet the girl behind the screen name. There weren't many girls who played the game and he'd hoped that maybe there could be something more than just gaming opponents between them. Siblings wasn't quite what he had in mind.
"Are you okay? You look sick," she asked, touching his shoulder. He jerked away from her, turning away again.
"I'm fine," he lied, hiding his now pale face.
A smile spread across her face as realization dawned on her, "You liked the girl behind the screen name didn't you?"
"No," he lied again, color returning to his face as he blushed.
"Come on, you can't lie to me. Mark, it's not a big deal. You didn't know it was me. I probably should have told you," she said, starting to laugh. "Think of it this way, we just have more in common now than we've had for a long time."
Mark didn't respond as he sat on a fallen tree, taking deep breaths to calm his stomach.
"Oh come on,” she said, sitting next to him on the log, “it's not that bad. I'm your sister, this is something we'll laugh about for years."
"Yeah...right," he said sarcastically.
Jennifer laughed at him and he couldn't help himself. Sometimes her laugh could be infectious. Then she stood in front of him, took his hands and pulled him to his feet.
“Come on,” she said, leading him back to camp.
"Are you two ready to go?" Garandol asked as they returned, Mark with his arm around Jennifer's shoulders, hers around his waist.
"Yes we are," Mark said.
"Good," he said, then handed them their bowls of rabbit stew.
After their hastened meal, Garandol waved his staff over their small camp, erasing any trace of their presence. The fire pit vanished, grass grew again where Garandol had deadened it and the kettle and their bowls disappeared. Mark gawked at Garandol's display of magic. When he looked at Jennifer, her lack of surprise confused him.
Garandol led them west and they followed in silence for a while as they made their way through the forest. After a while Mark's curiosity returned, so he asked Garandol why the Blood Mountains were named as such.
"I suppose we do have time for the story of the mountains..." They continued to walk as Garandol spoke.
Mark's imagination quickly went to work picturing everything Garandol said.
“Long ago, Sol created Eranithia with his voice. Some say he spoke it into existence; some say his more beautiful creations were sung it into existence. Still others say he formed the world with his own hands. Those who believe in him, of course. Many don't believe he exists, but they are always proven to be wrong, if not in this life, then in death. By then it is too late.
“What do you mean, too late?” Mark asked as he followed Garandol around a large tree.
“Those who reject Sol, when they die in this world, spend eternity in Underworld,” Garandol explained.
Mark's stomach turned, afraid to ever see this Underworld Garandol mentioned.
Garandol continued with his story, “During the reign of King Thorum, fifteenth king of Eranithia, there existed a violent nation of Giants that lived beyond the northern mountains called the Geoth. They hated men and denied Sol's power. More than denied it, they spat on it. Now, Thorum was a good man, from what history tells us. He was much before my time since I have only been around for around two hundred years.
“You're two hundred years old?” Mark interrupted again.
Garandol didn't look back but Mark could see him sigh. He was being rude interrupting Garandol with questions.
“Sorry,” Mark apologized.
“It's okay. Yes, I am a little over two hundred years old. Now, I will answer any questions you have, but please ask them at the end of the story of the Blood Mountains.”
Mark's silence seemed to be sufficient for Garandol, so he continued with the story. “One day the queen, along with her son and daughter, went out into the mountains in the north to hunt. The king loved his family very much so he warned them not to go into the mountains of the north because of the violent giants who lived on the other side. However, they wanted new game to hunt so they did not heed his words and went into the mountains against his wishes.
“While they were hunting, a group of giants on their own hunt came into the forest and spotted the king's family and the soldiers accompanying them. Of course, everyone knows that giants eat men and bake them into pies. The soldiers tried to fight off the giants so the king's family could get away, but the giants surrounded them and took the whole royal family.”
Garandol stopped talking for a second as he looked down at Mark. Mark looked back up at him. He must have looked like he was completely wrapped up in the story, so Garandol grinned and returned to the story.
“Now, a young knight traveling with his squire saw the attack. Compelled by the oath he'd sworn, and the love he had for the king's daughter, the knight knew his duty was to help the royal family, even if it cost him his life. He sent his squire to tell the king what was happening so he could assemble an army and try to rescue his family or at very least avenge their death. The knight gave the squire his horse and the squire made haste. The knight fought bravely, taking down two of the giants before one finally stepped on him, crushing every bone in his body.”
Mark shuddered at the thought of being crushed to death. How long would you suffer before you died?
I hope I can be that brave, he thought.
"Meanwhile, the squire rode as fast as he could, still the journey took through the rest of the day and into the next. He knew he couldn't afford to stop. Now, something you should know about this horse the squire rode is that he wasn't a normal horse. He was a special horse of a special breed; much stronger and faster than any normal horse.
"When the knight was but a squire himself, the horse rescued him from a surprise attack from bandits. His knight had been killed in his sleep and he was trying to fend off the enemy on his own. The horse came in, trampling the enemy enough for the boy to climb on his back and ride off to safety. The horse, being as smart as he was, helped the boy complete his training in becoming a knight. Some say the horse could talk as humans do, but I learned it was only through the mind he could communicate with humans. The knight and horse had a special bond between them so the horse allowed the knight access to his mind.
"As they formed that special bond, the boy learned the horse's name was Krune. Krune had observed many knights in his time and learned their ways and code. So he taught the boy all he needed to know. When the boy became a young man, he had rescued the royal family's daughter from bandits, much like the ones who tried to kill him a few years before. It was then that the king knighted the young man. The knight was on his way to ask her hand in marriage when he came upon the attack by the giants.
"Now Krune carried this new squire to the castle. When they arrived, the boy was so tired he couldn't speak. Krune used his ways to speak to the king. He told Thorum all he had seen and that he was sure his knight was also dead. The king was outraged and called his entire army together and the next day they marched to the north to attack the giants,” Garandol pointed his staff towards the Blood Mountains.
“It was a bloody battle, and the king needed help. So he sent word to the Elf and Centaur kingdoms, both of whom are friends of Eranithia. They joined immediately and together they fought the giants. Now, the giants were beginning to lose their numbers, but the three armies still needed help, and just as they were about to lose hope, help came.”
Garandol pointed towards a specific peak in the Blood Mountains.
"From the highest peak, Emperors Peak, Mirgol, the great red dragon, and her army of griffins and phoenixes came in and defeated the giants.”
“There are dragons in Eranithia?” Mark asked. He looked back at Jennifer, who just rolled her eyes.
“Just the one. Mirgol is a servant of Sol. Fierce and powerful. She rules the land while man rules the people.”
“Wow,” Mark whispered to himself.
Grinning, Garandol continued, "So much giant blood was spilled, the soil turned a dark shade of red. Once a year, when the sun is at its highest point on the longest day of the year, the mountains glow red. Every year on the day the mountains glow red, there is a celebration to commemorate the victory of that battle."
"Wow!" Mark said excitedly. If he were a few years younger he would have been running circles around Garandol. But his heart raced in anticipation of reaching the Blood Mountains. "I can't wait to see it."
Garandol stopped suddenly. Then, facing Mark, he leaned towards him, forcing Mark to lean back. "The Blood Mountains are a very dangerous and wild land. Seth is the only one who has survived in a place like that. It's not a fun and exciting place to be."
Mark's eyes were wide with fear as he said, "I'm sorry."
Garandol turned back in the direction they were walking in and continued on about the Blood Mountains. "There are dangerous creatures in the Blood Mountains. Though the blood of a giant is powerful, it is crude and dangerous if ever ingested. The Geoth were once men. It wasn't until the General of an army became so desperate to defeat his enemies that he sold his own soul to a dark sorcerer to make him stronger than all of his enemies.
"The sorcerer was an evil man and with the soul of another he could live a second life. He agreed to make the man larger and stronger than his enemies. So he grew him and much of his army, who also gave up their souls to the sorcerer, to four times their size. The men in his army who didn't join them to become giants were killed by their General. None were able to defeat them and for years they terrorized Eranithia.
“Then one day a good wizard put a ward at the border of Eranithia and Geotha. The giants aren't able to cross over the border, which runs through the mountains, or else they would die. They learned not to cross the invisible line and to only wander the mountains for their food.
"The Geoth blood that soaked into the ground not only gave the soil a hint of red, it also caused every living thing that ingested it to grow much larger than they should be. Moles and badgers became the size of wolves, wolves the size of horses, the bears...I'd rather not think about it.”
Mark looked back at Jennifer. She looked as scared as he felt. He knew neither of them wanted to run into an animal from the Blood Mountains. Mark even hoped that if they found Seth, he'd found a way to keep the larger animals away.
“The animals that hunted these over sized animals,” Garandol continued, “affected their offspring. The offspring grew larger than their parents and ate them, which furthered their cursed life. So, you should not be so excited to see the Blood Mountains, young Mark. There is only one who can control those mountains, other than Sol of course, and that is Mirgol.”
"What would happen if a man ate one of the larger beasts?" Mark asked as he picked up a small branch.
"Sol gave man a command to never eat of those animals, or he will be cursed like the first giant, and he will meet his fate when Mirgol wakes from her slumber."
“She's asleep?” Mark asked.
Garandol nodded in response, then explained, "Dragons can live many years without rest, but when they do rest, they rest for just as many years as they were awake."
"How long has she been asleep?"
"For one hundred and fifty years. She will wake when she is needed. Unfortunately, Arnath had his own sorcerer put an enchantment at the mouth of Mirgol's cave so no sound could enter and waken her if someone cried for help."
"Can you break the enchantment?" Mark asked, breaking a piece off the thinner end of the branch he'd been carrying.
"I don't know. I haven't found the right spell yet. It could be that the one who created the enchantment would have to die so it could be lifted."
"Can you defeat Arnath's sorcerer?"
"I'm unsure of that as well, Mark. I'm still a young wizard and haven't learned enough yet. It may be something that could take many more years to figure out."
"Do you know who Arnath's sorcerer is?"
Garandol walked a little while longer in silence. Mark began to wonder if Garandol would ever answer his question. He feared Garandol was growing tired of his questions and losing patience with him.
Garandol spoke up, saying, "No...I don't. "
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