Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (16 page)

The four of us, walking carefully
through this abnormal forest with Jeb in the lead, stayed close together. I
could tell that Riff was frightened of this place because he had buried himself
deep inside my jacket, curling himself into a tight ball. I had my hand on him,
offering him the comfort of my touch. I understood his fear, but I couldn't
burrow into a jacket.

I didn't have that luxury.

After several minutes of
cautious walking, Jeb turned to us, putting his finger to his lips. He then
pointed away from us, indicating that whatever we had come for was right over
in the direction.

I didn't see anything at first,
scanning the area Jeb had pointed to. Then, I caught a flicker of a shadow and
focused back in that area.

We had just stumbled across a
house that didn't look like much of a house. It was carved into the mountain,
completely made from the stone that jutted out of it. If I had been on my own,
I don't know if I would have noticed it. I could see a dim flicker of candle
light coming from the window. There was no fence, no flowers, nothing that
symbolized a “home”.

It was quite inconspicuous.

Anticipation spread through me
like wildfire.

I was finally going to meet
someone that could help me channel my magic and if I was lucky, answer some
questions about who I was and where I came from. If she was a great witch, she
might even be able to tell me who my family was.

I had my own perception of what
I was going to encounter and what this witch would be like. I wondered how true
to reality my minds creation would be.

Jeb told Jasser, Helix and I to
stay back and he would approach the stone cottage alone. I was glad to listen
to him this time. My legs felt like jelly and I was giddy with anticipation.
 

Jeb carefully approached the
stone cottage, walking with slow, determined steps.

There was no door, no opening I
could see except for that small window.

‘How did it open?’
I
wondered.

I realized I had been holding
my breath as I watched Jeb approach the cottage door. I slowly released the
breath in my lungs.

“Enok?” Jeb called.

No sound came from inside.

“Enok, I know you are in there
and I am not leaving! We came a very long way to speak with you. It's very
important.” Jeb tried, again.

Still nothing.

Jeb started banging on the wall
violently and I could tell the crazy was creeping into him. I was just about to
go to him when I noticed a slight movement from inside. There were shadows moving
swiftly back and forth inside the stone home.

I decided to stay put.

“Who is we? You have the girl?”
called a voice from inside.

‘Did she mean me? Did she know I was here? How could she
have known I was coming?’
I
thought.

Shivers ran down my spine.

I felt Riff shaking inside my
jacket at the sound of her voice and I put my hand over him to soothe him.

“I do.” said Jeb, glancing
briefly back to me.

There was silence from inside
for a few moments, then she spoke again. “Bring her to me, but just you and the
girl. The two mutes must stay outside.”

“It's all of us or none of us.
Take your pick.” countered Jeb.

“Very well.” she agreed.

I could hear the reluctance in
her voice. She obviously didn't want invaders in her home but her need to see
me must have outweighed her reluctance. The stone wall magically disappeared,
revealing an entrance to the cottage.

Jasser, Helix and I quickly ran
towards the cottage entrance, trailing Jeb inside. Once were all in, the wall
magically re-appeared, sealing us inside.

‘Cool trick.’
I
thought, impressed.

The cottage was simple and
sparsely furnished.

The walls were stone and looked
as if they were hand chipped, but I couldn't see how this little woman would be
able to do that. There was a wooden frame jutting out from the wall with a
homemade mattress on it and drawers underneath it. The back wall consisted of a
large fire place with a huge black cauldron in its belly that reeked of cliché.

‘A witch with a black cauldron, c'mon. That was way too
easy.’
I thought.

There was a shelf on the wall which
was the biggest feature inside the little cottage. It held all sorts of vials
and containers, filled with different colored liquids, herbs and some items I
didn't recognize. They were no doubt the ingredients for her potions.

A small table was on the
opposite side of the room, that had two mangled chairs around it, a candle on
its top. That was the only other source of light in the room, besides the
fireplace. It was warm and surprisingly cozy inside, and not as scary as I thought
a witch's den would be. It wasn't comfortable by my standards, just practical
and simplistic.

The Enok herself was way more
interesting.

She had long, ratted hair that
looked like it was once a light brown color, but now had more grey than brown.
Her face was weathered and tired and her blue eyes, once possibly vibrant, were
now filled with sadness.

She showed signs of a
hard-lived and solitary life.

Her simple clothing, a grey,
floor-length skirt and a black top, were torn and patched several times over.
Old creations I was sure she had made for herself however they looked clean
enough. She walked with a slight hunch to her back, but she didn't look as if
she was in terrible pain. She went to sit in a rocking chair by the fire place
that I had not seen when I entered.

‘Did she just conjure that?’
I wondered.

She motioned for us to sit on
the stone floor in front of her.

For several moments she sat in
her chair, rocking slowly, staring at me but not talking. Riff had slowly
crawled up through the opening of my jacket again, inching his head up to look
around. That made me feel better, knowing he was now curious and not afraid
anymore.

I felt compelled to look back
at her, unsure why I couldn't tear my eyes away from her. She wasn't scary. She
wasn't evil.

She was familiar.

“Come child.” she said, still
rocking.

I did as she asked, not scared
to do so. I took Riff out of my jacket, handing him over to Jeb, who in turn
gave him to Jasser. I crawled over to her, stopping close enough to her but
leaving her enough room to continue the rocking she seemed to be enjoying.

“You have questions.” she said
simply, as a statement, not a question.

I nodded.

“I have answers.” she replied.

I looked at her in disbelief.
“You do?”

Still rocking, she nodded.

“Well, ok, tell me!” I said, a
little too impatiently.

I scooted closer to her,
waiting for her to start talking. She continued to rock back and forth in her
chair, saying nothing for several long minutes.

I turned back to look at Jeb,
who raised his shoulders.

“Do you know who you are?” she
asked me.

“Alina Baxter.” I said and she
hissed.

“No, no, child. Not who you are
there, who you are here!” she yelled.

“No, not really. Only what Jeb
has been able to piece together for me. I'm the person who is supposed to be
able to stop the Shadow and Shale and restore peace back to this land. You
foresaw me coming to the 2nd Realm to save the people here. But I don't know
anything else. Oh, and I can do magic. Sorta.” I said.

“You have no memories of your
time here? Before your memories of the 1st Realm?” she asked me, this time
looking at me squarely in the eyes.

‘What did she know?’
I
wondered.

“No, although when I was at the
castle before, the room where we found Shael in looked familiar to me, but I
couldn't figure out why. I still don't know why.” I said.

The Enok closed her eyes for a
few moments, rocking herself in her chair. She then held out her hand to me.

I reached out my hand, very
hesitantly.

I heard a small squeal come
from Riff as I did, but I ignored his protest.

I was longing for some answers
about the events since Jeb showed up through the portal in the museum and every
moment after that.

This woman would have those
answers.

It wasn't a desire so much as a
need. The instant I grabbed her hand I felt a huge rush of wind blow over me
and my eyes closed.

I saw flashes of memories from
a life I instinctively knew were mine.

I saw me as a little girl, on a
rope swing in a ridiculously pink, frilly dress, swaying up and down, back and
forth. I was squealing in delight, and being pushed by a beautiful woman with
light brown hair and a pale yellow dress almost as frilly as mine. I saw a
well-dressed man laying casually on the grass, laughing and watching in
delight, idly rolling a blue flower through his hands.

It was my mother and my father.

In another flash, I was running
on a well-manicured green lawn with another girl and boy, both a little older
than I was, dressed in another ridiculously frilly dress, purple this time. I
was running and chasing the other girl and boy, whose faces I could not see but
we were all happy.

The little boy suddenly turned
around and faced me, shooting something from his hands, causing little me to be
thrown into the air, falling hardly backwards on to the grass.

My parents ran over to me,
concerned looks on their faces and were holding me, fussing over me. My mother
clutched me tightly to her, her eyes sad and scared, shielding me with her
body, while my father was yelling angrily, gesturing wildly at someone I
couldn't see.

I saw the boy, with sad eyes,
his head hung in shame, obviously sorry for what he had done to me, being led
quickly away, trying to keep his eyes on me as he was taken away.

The next flash showed me, a
little older but not by much, wearing a dark travel cape and clutching my
mother’s hand, crying. I was looking at my father who was dead, laying on the
bed in a large chamber.

It was dark in there, the only
light coming from the fire that was burning wildly in the fireplace. My mother
was sobbing also, her hands covering her face.

Then I saw my grandmother!

She was yanking me from my
mother’s arms.

I was trying to get to back to
her, screaming for my mother and my mother was wailing, but she was not trying
to get me back. My mother sunk to the ground in despair, her legs unable to
hold her up from her overwhelming sadness.

The next flash was of me and my
grandmother walking quickly through dark, smelly and cold corridors.

That was my dream!

But, it wasn't a dream, it was
a memory.

It actually happened.

Once the flashes stopped
pelting me and I was aware once more of where I was, I realized I was crying.
Jeb was next to me, his arm around me, holding me. The witch had let go of my
hand and I was aware of things I hadn't been aware of when I walked into the
stone cabin. I could remember everything about my life here in the 2nd Realm.

I knew who I was.

More importantly, I knew who
she
was.

“You are my mother.” I said,
wiping tears from my eyes.

I wrapped my arms tightly
around my drawn up legs. I rested my head on my knees, and started to rock back
and forth, the shock of what I discovered was making it hard to hold my head
upright.

Riff was distressed from my
behavior. He was screeching and squawking, trying to wiggle out of Jasser's
grasp. Jasser lost the fight and Riff broke free of his grasp. He frantically
ran over to me, digging himself into my jacket.

He was trying to comfort me but
I didn't notice.

I was numb.

The witch said nothing for a
long while, just continued to rock in her chair. Like mother like daughter it
would seem.

Jeb however, had a lot to say.

“What? What did you just say
Alina? She is your what?” he said frantically, looking back and forth between
me and my mother.

“She is my mother.” I said.

It was a simple statement that
had serious ramifications for all of us.

This was not just a family
reunion though. Our family was in turmoil. Our home, our lives, were in chaos.

“Is that true?” asked Jeb to
the Enok.

She stopped rocking when he
asked that question to her. I looked up at her for the confirmation I didn't
really need and her eyes found mine lovingly. With longing, she shook her head.

I already knew the answer but
having it affirmed caused me to start crying all over again. The instant her
hand touched mine, I regained all my memories. Everything I had lost, my time
here in this land, my family, my powers, everything was back. There were still
unanswered questions that remained, however. But this one fact, the one thing I
always felt was missing from my life-that mystery was finally solved.