Eranithia: Prophecies: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After riding on the back of a horse for two hours, Mark wasn't ready for the sudden change in momentum. He had to tighten his grip around Garandol's waist to keep from slipping off.

"Why'd we stop?" Mark asked, since he couldn't see past the old man.

"Arnath's men know to look for us. We cannot stay here," he said, then looked back at Arland.

Mark looked back as they turned away. He saw a city built into the foot of a mountain, protected by a tall, gray stone wall. Beyond the protective walls the city buzzed with merchants and vendors of all kinds. The narrow streets were only wide enough for the crowds to travel by foot. Visitors horses were left in the care of the stables on either side of the entrance gate. Towards the back of the city were the entrances to the silver mines and just before the mines were the refineries for all kinds of precious metals.

The gates at the only entrance were heavily guarded by men, dressed much like the ones who took Mark and Jennifer captive in Trondil, only with heavier armor.

Bigger city, stronger guard, Mark assumed.

They urged their horses north, into the woods once again, to avoid detection by the guards at Fortuna. They rode hard until it was too dark for them to see through the trees. Then they stopped to make camp. Garandol lit an artificial light with his staff to give them enough light to work. Mark and Jennifer gathered some branches in the surrounding area to start a fire while Arland led the horses to the stream nearby for a drink. Then he disappeared into the forest for a while.

"Where did Arland go?" Jennifer asked when she returned with some firewood. Mark was behind her with a larger load.

"Miss your boyfriend?" he teased.

"Shut up," she snapped.

He knew she was blushing, even though it was too dark to see if her cheeks were red.

"He is probably hunting for us to have a proper meal," Garandol said over their argument.

"What will he bring back?" Mark asked.

"Whatever he finds," Garandol stated.

Mark felt foolish for a moment. Of course Garandol wouldn't know what Arland would bring back, he wasn't psychic. He was just an old wizard, a prophet of Sol.

Lost in mentally kicking himself, Mark almost didn't see Garandol nod at a bare piece of dirt surrounded by a few large stones.

“Let's build a fire,” Garandol said.

Mark took the smaller pieces of wood he and Jennifer had gathered and placed them into the center of the ring of stones. Garandol pointed his staff at the nearest tree and pine needles fell to the ground. He then drained the moisture from them with a wave of his staff and Mark gathered them for kindling.

Garandol handed him two stones. Mark looked up at him, confused.

“You're not going to use magic?” he asked.

“Magic? You have to learn how to start a fire on your own. You never know when you might be on your own somewhere and won't have someone to start a fire for you.”

Mark's first attempt at smacking the rocks together brought no results. Not even a spark. However, he was determined to prove himself. He scraped the rocks together for a few minutes until, finally, sparks fell. Nothing happened at first, so he continued until more sparks fell onto the kindling. Finally some of the pine needles caught fire. As they burned he blew on them lightly, to grow a larger flame. Soon the pine needles held a good flame. He placed a few more needles on them with a few small sticks. As the flame began to grow he added larger sticks until they caught fire.

"I'll go gather more large pieces," he said, then walked into the dark forest.

Jennifer watched Mark disappear into the trees as she sat down. Then she stared at the fire, holding her arms for warmth.

"What is on your mind, young one?" Garandol prodded gently.

The way Garandol called her “young one” made Jennifer feel like a little girl sitting with her grandfather in front of a campfire. She fought back a smile. There was no way she could show that she enjoyed any moment of being where she was.

"Home," she said.

"Have you thought that maybe your home wasn't really your true home?" he asked, his voice warm and kind.

She looked up at him, startled at first, then looking back at the fire, she said, "Yes."

"Why does this sadden you?"

"Because I like the world I was raised in."

"Because of the comforts it provides?"

She looked at him again as she nodded. "There's that, but my parents are there."

"What if I told you that even that isn't what it seems?"

Jennifer looked at the old man, confused, and asked, "What do you mean?"

He smiled at her and prodded the fire with the bottom part of his staff.

“That you will have to learn on your own. It is not for me to tell."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, frustrated with him.

He looked at her, surprised at her frustration at first, but said with a smile, "Forgive me for frustrating you, but I only said it to get you to think and try and figure things out for yourself. You are a very intelligent girl. Use the mind you've been given. It could become your greatest weapon."

After a long period of silence, Jennifer got up and walked away from the fire. Garandol didn't stop her.

Jennifer wandered in the woods, but made sure she could still see the campfire. She let her mind wander away from her as she went to the small, gentle river the horses were drinking from. She missed her friends and her parents. Sometimes she wondered why her parents never had any more children after she and Mark were born. Maybe having twins was enough work, they didn't want to go through it again. Maybe two was all they wanted, and they got both right away. Either way, she'd always wanted a little brother or sister. Mark was a few minutes older than her, but that never mattered to them. She and Mark had never competed over who was actually the oldest. They had a better relationship than that growing up. But she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be a big sister sometimes. At least it was one less person to be missing. That was her only consolation at the moment.

Finding a small boulder, she stared at the water as it lazily flowed past her. She wrapped her arms close around her, rubbing them to keep warm against the cool night air. Thinking of her parents as she stared at the crystal clear water, as if their faces would appear, she longed to at least talk to them. Ask them for advice about Mark, about what they should do here in this strange place, about Arland... Well, she would only ask her mother about Arland.

How long had it been since they'd been pulled out of their world into this one? Two, three days? She was losing track of time and that scared her. Jennifer thought that if she lost track of time here, it would just mean she was letting go of her home and her parents who were probably searching frantically for her. She wanted to cling desperately to those things.

Jennifer looked around at the foreign land around her, feeling lonely. She didn't know or understand the place they were in. Mark was no help. He loved being in Eranithia and there was no way to convince him that they should be trying to find a way to get home. She refused to think there may not be a way home. There had to be a way home! They had to figure something out. Instead, they were putting their trust in a two hundred year old wizard, who was probably crazy. Or worse...senile. The only other one they could trust, and that was only based on the old man as well, was Arland. Beautiful Arland. He didn't look much older than her but was already a hundred years old. She'd learned his age as they traveled through the forest earlier.

One thing she remembered from the fantasy movies she'd watched with Mark was that Elves were typically immortal. She wondered what it would be like to live forever without fear of growing old and dying.

Her mind went back to when he'd kissed her hand. His dark red hair pulled into a ponytail, his tanned, soft skin, and his beautiful blue eyes. They were like watching the sky at twilight. She thought he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid eyes on, even if he wasn't exactly human. He looked human enough. Besides, he was so strong and so kind.

She daydreamed about Arland as she stared at the river. Then she noticed something strange about it. She couldn't tell what it was exactly, but something about it made her want to drink from it. It was like she heard a voice in her head, whispering to her, urging her to drink. She hadn't been thirsty when she first sat down on the boulder, but now she found herself thirsting for the water in front of her. Dropping down off the rock, she moved closer to the water. She knelt down in front of it, reaching out to touch it. The water had a sparkle to it. Some mysterious sparkle she'd never seen in water before. When she was just inches away, she hesitated. She didn't know why or what stopped her. The water looked perfectly safe.

Looking upstream, Jennifer saw that the horses were still drinking from it. They seemed to be okay with the water. So, confident this time, she reached to dip her hand in and draw some water to her lips. Suddenly a strong hand gripped her arm, pulling her to her feet and away from the water. It was Arland. She hadn't heard him return.

"Do not drink that water," he said in an angry voice. She could see in his eyes he wasn't angry, but concerned for her safety. Why, though, she had no idea; it was just water.

"Why not?" she asked, with no attempt to pull away from him. Jennifer enjoyed his hand around her arm, even if his grip was a bit tight.

"It's dangerous," he explained, letting go of her arm.

"What could be dangerous about the water? The horses are drinking it," she said, gazing back at the horses.

"Those are not common horses. They are able to withstand objects with magical properties."

"What's magical about this water? What does it do?" she asked with a little excitement.

Arland grabbed a fallen branch nearby and dipped the tip of it into the water. When he pulled it out Jennifer was amazed at what she saw. The part of the branch that had been submerged in the water had turned solid gold.

Dropping the branch and grabbing both of her shoulders, he said, "If you would have drunk that water, you would have died. Slowly it would have traveled through your body, turning everything it touched to gold."

As Jennifer looked back into his eyes, she realized the gravity of what she'd almost done to herself. She felt sick to her stomach. She'd almost killed herself! The thought bounced around her head, causing her heart to race... But Arland had saved her life. If he hadn't been there she would have been a golden statue of herself in a matter of hours. Minutes possibly.

She fell into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his body as she whispered fearfully, "Thank you."

Arland smiled and patted her back. "I'll take you to some fresh water. Follow me."

He picked up the deer he'd killed for dinner and placed it on his shoulders. Jennifer watched how he lifted the carcass as if it weighed next to nothing. He was obviously very strong, but there was no evidence of his strength in his arms. The rest of his body was the same way. He was slender with almost no bulge of muscle. Arland was definitely a magnificent creation; human or not.

When they returned, Arland dropped the carcass next to Garandol. Garandol looked up, then with a nod he got up, dragged the deer closer to the fire and began to skin it in preparation for their meal.

"I'm taking Jennifer to the Spring," Arland informed Garandol, then walked past him, going in the opposite direction of the Golden River.

Garandol nodded as he continued to use magic to skin and clean the deer. He didn't object to Arland taking Jennifer to the spring, so Jennifer assumed it would be safe. At the same time, she could care less as to where Arland was leading her. She would follow him anywhere.

Arland turned to Jennifer with a smile and gestured for her to follow him. They walked for only a couple of minutes, in silence. Soon they stood before a pool of water. She looked at Arland inquisitively. She couldn't see any source of water that filled this pool.

"It fills from an underground river,” he said, as if he could read her mind. “Everywhere the river comes close to the surface, it forms a deep pool. Sometimes they are man-made, but this is one of the natural ones."

She stared at the water, longing to drink from it. But after what had happened at the other small river, she was afraid. What would this water do to her? She was afraid to take that chance. How well did she know Arland? Could he be trusted? Maybe the other water was safe and this one wasn't; maybe they were actually taking them to this evil king that wants them dead; maybe the king was the good guy and was their only way home; maybe this Seth guy is the one who really wants to kill them; maybe...

"Drink," Arland said. "It's perfectly safe."

Jennifer looked back at the pool of crystal clear water and knelt before it. Before she took a drink she looked up at Arland. His stern, but kind face didn't look like it could speak a lie let alone form one with its lips. All the fears she had a moment ago vanished with the slightest smile on his lips. She knew she was falling for him, and the only way she knew to tell him was to show that she trusted him. So, she took a chance that the water was safe to drink.

Dipping her hand in she felt how cold it was–ice cold, like glacier runoff. She looked back at Arland and he nodded, still smiling. Dipping her other hand in, she drew water to her mouth and drank it. The water was sweet! Sweeter than any water she had ever drank before. Not metallic tasting like the tap water from her world, or like the mineral water you could buy in stores. This water tasted like it was filtered through sugar cane.

She didn't want to stop drinking. But she could barely lift her arms anymore. They felt like cement. Her eyelids felt the same. She fought to keep them open, failing miserably. The last thing she remembered was falling forward. She feared falling into the spring, but she never touched the water.

Jennifer woke, startled by a voice calling out to her. It'd stolen her away from her strange dream. The things she had dreamed had already slipped away. No matter how much she tried to remember them, they wouldn't come back to her. All she remembered was how beautiful the place was in her dream.

Looking around, she saw that she was the only one awake. She looked at each face surrounding the campfire. All eyes were closed and each breathed in a different, deep, rhythmic pattern.

"Jennifer," came the deep, gentle voice, like a strong breeze, peaceful and soothing.

Standing up, Jennifer searched for the source of the voice. She was sure the voice came from somewhere in the trees surrounding them; she could even tell from which direction but she was afraid to go into the woods. It looked dark and full of danger. There were sure to be predators out there, just waiting for her to leave the safety of the fire. But the voice called her again. So she swallowed her fear and followed. The voice was impossible to ignore. It commanded her soul.

She headed for the portion of the woods to the north. In the direction she thought she'd heard the voice calling from.

"This way, Jennifer," the deep voice came again.

The voice does sound kind, she thought.

She still didn't see the source of the voice, but it wasn't the voice she feared. She wasn't exactly sure what she was afraid of. The dark woods? Possible predators? Maybe it was what the voice had to say that truly terrified her.

Jennifer walked for what seemed hours though the peaceful woods, her fear suddenly gone. She didn't know why she had been scared before. The forest was beautiful in the moonlight. The ability to see must have changed it. The moon had been hiding before, and now it was out to light the world around her.

An owl's hoot made her jump. Looking up at the trees, she saw the yellow eyed bird perched on a branch. The noise of scampering to her right redirected her attention to a nearby grouping of bushes. She never saw the creature that retreated to the safety of the dark, but it couldn't have been too big since it could fit so easily in the bushes. Then a lone wolf howling in the distance sent chills down her spine.

Why was she out in the woods alone? Why didn't she wake Garandol or Arland? Or even Mark! She felt stupid for venturing into the dark woods alone. How would she find her way back? Fear and peace seemed to be constantly battling each other within her mind.

Soon she could see farther through the trees and just beyond a fallen tree was a clearing, where a tall stag stood, grazing in the moonlight. He seemed unaware of her presence as she stood at the edge of the clearing. She expected the large brown deer to bolt in fear at her presence, but it lifted its head, showing its magnificent antlers. They stood four or five feet above the stag's head and about six feet wide. It was no wonder to Jennifer why the stag didn't bolt right then. With those magnificent weapons upon its head, why would it have any reason to fear?

"Welcome, Jennifer," came the voice again.

She searched the meadow, looking for the voice, but couldn't see anyone. Then she noticed that the stag was staring straight at her, as if waiting for a response.

Did the stag speak to me? She wondered.

"It is I who called you here," the voice said, answering her thoughts.

It did come from the stag!

“You?” she asked.

The deer's head dipped slightly in response.

"Why me?" she asked, as if the stag had made a mistake.

She could feel the stag smiling at her for a moment but it vanished as he said, "I have called you here with a warning."

"A warning? What kind of warning?"

"Do not dwell too long in the abandoned city of the dwarfs. It is where Garandol is taking you. Tell him I told you to find what he is looking for there, then hurry to the western-most peak of the Blood Mountains. There, you will find refuge."

"What's in the dwarf city that we should fear?" she asked, kicking herself for not asking how to get home.

"That I will not tell you. You have to trust my words. And you must not worry about when or if you will return home. For the time being, consider Eranithia your home. You are welcome by me, even if you aren't welcome by the king."

Who could I be talking to that is more powerful than the king? She wondered. Then it dawned on her as he spoke again.

"I am the voice over the king, even if he doesn't recognize my authority."

"Are you Sol?" she asked in awe.

"I Am," he said and she could feel that smile again.

"You're a Stag?"

He chuckled warmly then said, "I take many shapes, dear one. I was the shooting star who heard your prayer. Your love for your brother is what caught my ear and brought you to this world."

"Will we ever get back to our world?"

"Try not to think on that for now, my daughter. You will be well looked after and taken care of regardless of where you are."

"But I miss my parents," she said. It was more admittance than an argument.

"Don't worry about them. I am taking care of them as well."

Sadness overwhelmed her, but she tried to be strong and hold back her tears. Chewing on her fingernails seemed to help take her mind off of crying.

"Jennifer, I know you're sad and want to see your parents again, but you have work to do here yet. You will understand fully later. It is not something I choose to explain to you but something I want you to learn. Heed my words and share the warning with the others when the time comes."

Jennifer hadn't noticed when it happened but she was flying gently through the air. The Stag was looking up at her as she flew over the tall trees. Soon she floated back down through the trees, seeing their camp. They were all asleep still, including her! It was strange to be looking down at her own body as she began falling from the sky towards it. Not to mention she remembered falling asleep by the spring. Then she fell faster and faster towards her body.

Jennifer sat up, looking around like she had in her dream. Everyone was asleep, the fire was just as low. She wondered if her experience with the stag had all been a dream. She laid her head back down on the makeshift pillow. Thoughts bounced around in her head. What did the stag say? Was that really Sol I met? How did I get to the fire, when I fell asleep at the spring? Arland must have carried me. Her stomach swarmed with butterflies as she thought about the Elf carrying her through the woods. He must have been the one who made the pillow for her.

Rolling over to face the fire, she saw Arland sleeping peacefully, on his back. His hands folded together, resting on his stomach. He was so still, he looked dead. But she could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed deeply. She laid there staring at him, admiring everything about him until finally she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning they cleaned up camp, leaving no trace of their presence. Garandol used magic to dispose of the fire pit, sinking the ashes and the burnt pieces of wood into the ground. Once all was cleared away, and looked as if they had never been there, they mounted the horses again (Arland and Jennifer on one, Garandol and Mark on the other) and began riding back towards the mountains in the west.

A couple of hours into their ride for the Dwarf City of Unterhumus, Mark noticed Jennifer staring off into space.

"Jen, you okay?" he asked when they slowed to a walking pace to give the horses some rest.

She looked at him as if he had just magically appeared before her, then she nodded and said, "I just feel like I was supposed to remember something important."

"Well try not to think about it and it'll come to you. It's always when you're not thinking about something that it comes back to you."

She smiled and said, "I'll try that."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by sharp, steady tremors in the earth. Mark and Jennifer had been through plenty of earthquakes to know that this wasn't one. This was more like a steady dropping of something heavy. Mark thought of the scene from Jurassic Park, when the T-Rex first appeared. The cup of water in the car rippling with each footfall. Mark and Jennifer exchanged terrified glances.

"Get down!" Garandol shouted hastily.

All four of the travelers dropped from their mounts. Mark and Jennifer were unsure of where to go. They didn't know what was happening, so they didn't know how to hide from it. Mark knew they should at least get under some kind of cover, so he did a quick survey of the area and saw a large tree surrounded by a thicket of bushes. Then, taking Jennifer's hand, he pulled he to the thicket where they hid behind the tree, ready to crouch down if they needed to.

Arland sent the horses into the forest, and then returned to where Garandol waited. Meanwhile, Garandol looked over at Mark and Jennifer and pointed his staff at them. They lifted into the air, to a branch of the tree they were hiding behind. They had to hold on for dear life because of the tremors growing stronger and stronger with each one. From their elevated level, they watched as Garandol and Arland stood ready to fight.

The first thing Jennifer saw, as she clung to the tree, was a huge head breaking through the branches. It was ugly and terrifying, but she could also see a dumb kindness in its muddy, brown eyes. He almost looked lost.

Below the head was an equally large body in clothes that looked like they were made of dirt and mud. She couldn't tell exactly how tall the giant was, but from their perch she guessed they were a little more than two stories high. The giant's head came to just below the branch they sat on. His height was what allowed him to see Mark and Jennifer clinging to the tree from the branch.

The giant reached up and plucked them from the branch, squeezing them both together in one hand. Jennifer could barely breathe because of the giant's grip. A glance at Mark's struggling, kicking body told her he was feeling the same way.

“Mark, relax. The more you fight, the less you'll be able to breathe,” she said but he wouldn't listen.

About twenty feet below, Arland began to attack the giant. The giant let out a loud roar and let go of Mark and Jennifer. The first thought to enter Jennifer's mind was that she could finally breathe again but that quickly changed. I'm falling! This is it! The sudden stop at the bottom is going to end it all! But her momentum stopped quickly. She felt as if she had landed on an enormous pillow. Looking to her left she could see Garandol point his staff at them and muttering something they couldn't hear.

Then he pulled his staff away, returning his full attention to the giant. They dropped the few inches they'd been floating, hitting the ground roughly but otherwise unharmed. Mark got up first and helped Jennifer to her feet. As they started to move away from the action they felt large drops of water landing on the ground, splashing them with mud. At first Jennifer thought it was raining, but when she looked up she could see the pained look on the giant's face. The sound they had thought were angry roars were really just the giant's howls and cries of pain. Jennifer ran to Garandol and grabbed his arm.

"Stop! He's hurt. He's crying!" she pleaded with him.

________________

Garandol looked at her, then up at the giant, realizing he wasn't fighting back. He must have been a young giant from Shardin. Out on his first, solo hunt. It would explain why he was so deep into Eranithia. He'd been too concerned about the twins' that safety he hadn't paid any attention to whether this was one of the Takor, the good giants from beyond the Stone Step Mountains in the south, or one of the Geoth. He should have known they were much too far south for this to be an evil giant of Geotha.

"She's right. Arland, stop!" Garandol said, grabbing him by the forearm before he could cut the young giant any more.

Arland looked at Garandol, then at Jennifer and Mark. He breathed heavily as his adrenalin rush subsided and fatigue took over. He looked up at the giant, realizing his mistake. His mouth opened as if to speak, but instead he started to walk away.

"It's okay, you didn't know," Mark said, stepping up to him. "You were protecting us."

Arland nodded but didn't say a word. Passing Mark, he walked away from them, to hide his shame.

Garandol let Arland sulk over his mistake for now; he would take care of that problem later. For now he had to heal the young giant's cuts and gashes from his and Arland's attacks. When he sealed up the wounds, the giant stopped crying. Then, pointing his staff at the ground, Garandol rose into the air, placing himself on the giant's shoulders. He looked smaller than a child as he sat on the shoulder of the young Takor.

"What is your name, kind giant?" he asked slow and deliberately.

His voice boomed. "Timberfoot."

"We are so very sorry for attacking you like we did, Timberfoot. I should have known you were one of the Takor. How is it you have wandered so far into Eranithia?"

"My hunt hasn't been going so good. I didn't know I was in your land, I got lost two days ago and haven't been able to find my way back home," Timberfoot said, starting to cry again.

"It's quite alright, my large friend. Is there anything we can do for you to apologize for causing you pain?"

Timberfoot look at all of them, then a wide grin spread across the giant's face as he asked, "Can I join your adventure?"

Garandol chuckled and asked, "What makes you think we're on an adventure? What if we were just traveling through the land together?"

"Because even though you're all so very small, I can see you're all different. Too different to only be traveling. You must be on an adventure."

"You are a very wise giant. I underestimated your intelligence. Forgive me please," Garandol said humbly.

The giant smiled. He didn't seem to receive much respect from anyone let alone small strangers from another land.

"Can I join your adventure?" he asked again.

Garandol looked down at Mark and Jennifer, who nodded enthusiastically. Garandol then looked over at Arland, who was sitting on a large rock, sulking.

"You are welcome to join us for as long as you can. We may come to a place you cannot follow. There we may have to part ways."

"I will travel with you for as long as time and space will allow," Timberfoot humbly vowed, placing his hand over his heart as he did so.

"Then let us consider ourselves a party of five instead of four!" Garandol exclaimed, then lowered himself to the ground gently. "It's always good to have a giant on your side," he said, then walked over to Arland to speak privately.