Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (12 page)

‘Showoff.’
I
thought.

The boat was quite large with
no frills. The benches were uneven, but sanded smooth and it had no motors.

Everyone grabbed and oar,
except me.

Jeb wanted me to try to relax
and focus on what we were going to do and visualize myself using the box. I
knew what the Shadow looked like, I had no problems visualizing that. Using the
box against it…I didn't know where to start.

I did as Jeb suggested, closing
my eyes. The sun and the wind and spray from the water refreshed my weary soul.

For a minute, I pictured myself
on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I was on a school field trip. It was the
first time I had been on a boat and I was mesmerized by the experience. I
remember liking the rocking waves and the smell of the water.

Then, the ferry stalled and we
were stuck on it for several hours. We couldn't use the bathrooms, we had no
food.

I was terrified.

I knew looking back there was
never any real danger, but it was the first time I was in a situation that I
couldn't control. After that incident, I always made sure I was prepared for
anything.

I was better than a Boy Scout.

I had imagined that we would do
this under the cover of night. In movies, when a character was sneaking into a
place they didn’t belong, it was always at night. Jeb said because we had the
cloaks, the time of day didn’t matter.

The invisible border that
surrounded the island would prevent us from being seen in the water and the
place where we anchored the boat once outside the border was behind a giant
stone that sat just outside it.

The large stone was so close to
the border that we almost crashed into it once we exited the protected area, it
was that close.

I was told to grab my backpack,
which had the box and a change of dry clothes in it and my shoes, and to hold
it above my head. I slid into the water, which was warmer than I had expected
and waded up to the shore after the men. Once we got on dry land, they told me
to go into a little opening on the side of the cliff so I could change
privately. I donned my cloak after I changed my clothes.

 
All four of us made our way into the kingdom
and I had never been more excited and terrified before in my life.

CHAPTER
9

BETRAYAL

Terrin wasn't at all what I
expected.

When I pictured the kingdom, I
had visions of a century’s old castle filling the backdrop of a bustling town
center of trade and commerce, people filling the streets hawking their wares,
shops filled with bright cloth and the smells of fresh baked goods.

Terrin itself was not as
advanced technologically as the world I came from in the 1st Realm. It was odd
that the realms timelines were so very different.

Using my limited archaeological
skills it dawned on me one side’s evolution must be faster than the other. I
had thought that with people crossing over from the other side and back,
technologies would eventually be shared.

There were dirt and cobblestone
roads, mostly empty except for a solitary horse pulling a cart quickly. They
looked like horses, though they were ones I had never laid eyes on. Their
features and coloring were same, but they were almost triple the size of the
horses I knew of in the 1st Realm. They were gigantic and marvelous beasts.

The owner of the horse and cart
had his head down, his feet moving at a frenzied pace. He looked like he was
rushing to get to wherever he was going, stopping for nothing along the way.

Everything around me was
familiar, though not what I was used to. The basic needs of the residents of
Terrin were met here, aesthetically at least. You had animals, trees, land,
homes and businesses.

The streets were clean, but
eerily empty. It looked like a ghost town but I knew there were people there.

The color red was the dominant
feature around the town center. Red flags and banners were placed on all the facades
of the buildings that lined the streets.

‘Did the red mean something?’
I wondered.

We continued walking the barren
streets under our cloaks, not worrying about making our way through a crush of
people. There was a sporadic person, hurrying along, their heads down and
walking fast, trying not to be noticed. Whatever their mission was, it must
have been important or necessary to risk being out in the day light.

They all looked all the same.

Tired and frightened.

We walked quickly through the
maze of streets, passing homes with windows boarded shut, or barred up. The
more I saw, the more uncomfortable and angry I became.

The cloaks we wore apparently
hid our bodies from view, but didn't muffle our voices. Jeb, Paul and Joe were
communicating with hand signals. Jeb motioned me to his side and they wedged me
between Paul in the front with Jeb behind me. Joe brought up the rear.

When we turned a corner, my
breath caught. There stood the castle before me, just as imposing and
intimidating as I thought it would be, straight out of the year 1100.

It was made of stone, nestled
at the foothills of the Galo Mountain range. If I didn't know who resided
within those walls, I would have been truly enamored of the magnificent beauty of
the place.

It was beautiful here, like a
painting. The vibrant colors that made up the landscape was picturesque. It was
depressing to know the truth.

We came upon a long, curved and
steep dirt path with a stone wall bordering both sides. This path wound
straight up in a zig zag pattern to the castle. It looked so lengthy that it
seemed an unrealistic feat we would be able to reach the castle while it was
still light out, but the men kept walking, undeterred by the imposing distance.

Once on the dirt path I noticed
red banners again, resembling mile indicators on the highways back home. They
were nestled on the side of the road every ten feet or so. I was still curious
about the meaning of the red, but I knew it wasn't the time to ask.

As we hiked, the hill was going
at an incline, making it more and more difficult to walk quietly.

'No shuffling is allowed and you must take care with every
step',
I was told while still in the
boat.

'Pick up your feet, walk with sure footing'
, they said again.

 
I was so focused on keeping my feet quiet, at
one point I lost my footing and slipped, making a loud noise on the ground
where I slid. A squeal escaped from my lips from the surprise fall I took. All
three men turned sharply and looked at me with disdain. I waved I was ok,
mouthing
'sorry',
picking myself up
as quietly as I could.

They had the grace to not look
too upset with me, but I still felt bad. I didn't want any of them to lose
their confidence in me or my abilities.

We finally made it up to the
foothills and to the entrance of the castle. We walked over the unguarded and
lowered foot bridge covering a moat that surrounded the castle. It was obvious
from the lack of security at the gate that Shael was not concerned about anyone
trying to storm the castle.
   
Careful of
the sounds our shoes made, we started the trudge over the different materials
the ground was made of. It went from wood to gravel to dirt, back to wood with
no rhyme or reason making it hard to be cautious.

Once inside the castle, we
entered the main courtyard. It was a large uncovered area, a giant square that
consisted of dirt, dead bushes and dried grass. It looked like at one point in
time, it was a beautifully landscaped area, maybe even a peaceful retreat.
There were remnants of stone benches and tables littered throughout the area,
now looked sad, broken and unkempt.

From what I could see, this
part of the castle had outdoor hallways, with stairs leading up to three levels
of corridors. Joe broke off from the group, going left without a word or
gesture. I wondered if he might have been sent to go look on the other side of
the castle to locate Shael.

Paul, Jeb and I continued to
the right. Jeb and Paul plastered their backs to the wall next to a door we
came upon, motioning me to do the same. Jeb looked around a few times before
speaking softly.

“We are going to wait here for
a few moments. We need someone to open this door because this is the main
entrance to the hallway leading to Shael's personal quarters. It is the one
spot in this castle that is heavily guarded at all times and it is very busy.
We cannot risk someone seeing the door being opened by no one.” he explained
rationally.

Our wait was short, thankfully.
 
A very large man, dressed in all black,
with a red cummerbund around his waist and a black helmet with a red feather
sticking out of it came walking up to the door we needed to be opened. He wore
large black cuffs halfway up his arms, with a red band around the wrist of the
cuff and had a large sword hanging off his hip.

He looked dirty and very
menacing.

He did, however, let us inside.

He swung the door open with
force and Jeb quickly ran up to the door and wedged himself inside it, holding
it open. He motioned for us to run in. All three of us managed to get in before
it closed completely.

We entered a poorly lit and
insulated stone hallway. It was very cold and drafty and I was suddenly
grateful for the heavy cloak I wore. The whole castle seemed to be made from
the same smooth grey-blue stone, although this part was older and less
maintained. It smelled old and rank.

I was still wedged between Jeb
and Paul, all of us walking swiftly down the hall. I lost count of how many
doors I had passed on the way and the torches mounted on the wall that were
there to provide light became fewer and fewer the deeper we went inside the
belly of the castle. Jeb and Paul's footing remained true and sound regardless
of the lessening light, winding us expertly through the maze of confusing
corridors.

We stuck close to the walls,
while Paul, who was in the lead, peered around the next corner to make sure it
was safe for us to continue. We finally stopped outside of a door larger than
any I had seen in the hallways before.

The door was very different and
stood out.

It was large and curved, black
in color. It had a rather peculiar looking handle on the door, a large
misshapen piece of dark iron, fluid in its shape. On one hand it didn't look
like it belonged there, but on the other hand, it was a perfect fit.

I knew instantly what it was.

It was symbolic.

It was the Shadow.

Paul moved back out into the
hall that we had just came from, looking for anyone coming this way. He came
back quickly, giving a thumbs up.

Jeb motioned to my backpack.

It was now time for my turn.

I wiggled my backpack off my
shoulders quietly, taking the silver box out of the bag. I cradled the box to
my chest tightly under my cloak like a security blanket. I could feel my heart
starting to race and I began to sweat, adrenaline now pumping furiously through
my system.

I was feeling unsure about what
I would have to do, the confidence Gio had instilled in me earlier feeling like
a faint and distant memory.

I wasn't scared though.

Jeb tried to give me an
encouraging smile, though I could tell it was strained. We both knew we were
going in there totally blind. Our mission was clear and we couldn't turn back
now.

We had to try.

I was secretly hoping for the
flashes I received in my head when we were at my grandmother's grave to just
appear again once we had gotten there but nothing like that had happened.

It was the not knowing that was
the hardest part of this whole thing.

If I knew what to do, or, had a
set of instructions I could follow, I would be more prepared, and, in turn,
would have more confidence in what I was doing. As it was, I was entering this
madman's lair completely oblivious to what actions needed to be taken to
activate the weapon I held in my hands. When I was prepared, I was confident. I
had never been good at the fly-by-the-seat- of-my- pants actions some people
had a knack for.

The situation I found myself in
had a goal, but no clear action plan to follow. I was completely blind and I
hated that feeling.

I closed my eyes and tried to
concentrate like Jeb had said, like Paul had taught me to do, when I opened the
portal on my own. At that moment, I was too nervous to do anything but shake my
whole body in one large, annoying fidget. Jeb noticed what I was doing, and
made a rough motion for me to stop.

Just then Joe came into the
alcove we were in, startling me. I almost screamed but managed not to.

I was completely on edge.

I saw him nod his head at Jeb,
in the direction of the door we stood in front of. Of course we would be
successful in finding him on our first try.

‘Love that irony.’
I said
to myself.

Jeb walked over to me with Paul
and Joe following closely behind him, the three of them surrounding me within
their protective wall. I felt safe with these three, but it didn't alleviate
the tenseness of the situation.

“You ready Alina?” Jeb
whispered.

‘Was he freaking kidding me? Seriously?’
I thought.

“Sure.” I said sarcastically.

“Alina-” Jeb said my name
sternly.

I guess he didn't appreciate my
sarcasm at that particular time.

“Yes, yes, ok. I'm sorry. Let's
just do this. I can't think about it. I can't drag it out. I just need to go.”
I whispered loudly.

I was hoping that maybe an
adrenaline rush would facilitate the images I was hoping for, or, at the very
least, get my brain juices moving so I would get an idea as to how to be able
to use the box as the weapon we thought and prayed it was.

I was still trying to force a
vision but it wasn't working. I had a piece of kelter in my pocket that I had
brought on an afterthought, and my trusty trell necklace was tightly secure
around my neck.

If I needed to create magic, I
was prepared to do so.

“Ok, we are going to open the
door and go in. You stay in between all of us. DO NOT leave the circle, is that
clear? Once we are all inside, we will try to make Shael use the Shadow against
us. Once it is outside of Shael's body, we will give you a signal and then you
can do your thing.” said Jeb, motioning towards the box.

He said that a lot,
‘do my thing’
, and it was starting to
irritate me.

‘If he didn't have anything helpful to contribute about what
‘the thing’
was
I was supposed to do, then he needed to just be quiet about it.’
I
thought.

“Ok, just one thing though.
Won't he notice the door opening and no one coming through it?” I asked.

“Yes, and he will almost
assuredly know it's us. We will lose the element of surprise very quickly so
you must be fast.” Jeb replied.

“Ok, sure. No pressure or
anything. I don't know how the stupid box even works, but I'll be quick about
it. ” I said with full on sarcasm.