Chosen (4 page)
‘I don’t know,’ said Gilster
yawning, ‘and I’m too tired to think about it now, let’s leave it
until tomorrow.’ He stood, ‘goodnight, I trust you can find you own
bed?’
‘I think I might stay up for
awhile, it’s nice and warm in here and I need to think.’
‘Fine, I’ll see you in the
morning then, goodnight.’
Haven sat, staring into the
flames; his fingers intertwined, resting on his stomach, long legs
stretched out towards the warmth. It all sounded so implausible but
Daria would never lie. His eyelids began to droop, finding it
difficult to stay awake his eyes slowly closed, his head nodded and
he began to snore softly. The fire crackled and flickered, casting
shadows around the room.
‘Nooooooo,’ came an anguished
wail, ‘nooooo stop, please.’
Daria was violently jolted from
what had been a deep and restful sleep. ‘Haven?’ she thought in a
panic, ‘that was Haven’s voice.’ Jumping out of bed with surprising
agility for one just awake, she grabbed a robe hanging on the back
of the bedroom door and ran from her room, colliding straight into
Gilster. They found Haven holding his head in his hands, rocking to
and fro as if in great pain.
‘What is it Haven?’ asked Daria
rubbing his back, trying to soothe him, ‘tell us, please.’
‘Thoughts,’ came his mumbled
reply, ‘many minds, screaming in my head.’
‘What’s causing it,’ asked
Gilster, ‘can you hear what they are saying?’
Slowly, Haven started to get
the jumbled thoughts under control.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to
frighten you,’ he said rubbing his temples, ‘they were just so
sudden and so overwhelming I didn’t know what was happening. Wait,
let me concentrate.’ He sat quietly, his eyes closed, a small frown
marring his brow. ‘Something about the temple,’ he said eventually,
‘it’s . . . it’s burning!’
Daria ran to the front door and
flung it wide open. Outside, the torrential rain had eased
considerably but the wind was blowing stronger than ever, it
pummelled her body and whipped her hair across her face. The
bedrobe she wore was almost ripped from her body. She noticed none
of it; her eyes were on the massive flames leaping high into the
night sky. It was true, the temple was burning.
‘No, no, no, this can’t be,’
sobbed Daria hugging herself, ‘not the temple, I can’t believe this
is happening.’
Haven and Gilster stood
transfixed behind her. The three of them oblivious to everything
except the flames reaching higher and higher, burning the greatest
temple in Elaxier to the ground.
‘We need to leave,’ said
Gilster slamming the door shut, ‘get dressed and be quick about
it.’ When neither Haven nor Daria moved, Gilster shouted. ‘GO . . .
NOW. . . get dressed, I don’t know how much time we have, they’ll
be looking for Daria and here would be the most obvious
place.’
At the sound of his words,
Daria came out of her stupor and ran to her room. Throwing open the
wardrobe door she found some clothes left there on a previous
visit; not exactly travelling clothes but they would do. She pulled
on a pair of thin, cotton trousers, a woollen jumper and one of
Gilster’s long black coats, it swept the floor but it would keep
her warm and dry. Finding a pair of old, worn leather-boots, she
pulled them on, practicality over looks, she thought.
Haven was dressed much the
same, he’d thrown on the first things he could find, a sleeveless
leather jerkin, over a wrinkled, white linen shirt, brown woollen
pants and a pair of dirty leather boots finished off his outfit.
Gilster was dressed in his usual, all black. He wore a long black
coat with silver buttons, black trousers, black knee-high boots and
a long black cloak.
‘Here,’ he said, tossing cloaks
to Daria and Haven, ‘put these on.’ He picked up a pack from the
kitchen table, slung it over his shoulder and headed for the front
door.
‘Wait,’ shrieked Daria, ‘where
are my temple robes?’
‘They were ruined,’ said
Gilster, ‘I threw them out, I didn’t realise you’d want to keep
them.’
‘I don’t but I left something
in the pocket.’
‘If you’re talking about that
little scroll,’ I have it in my pack, don’t panic.’
‘I hope you have food in that
pack as well,’ said Haven, ‘we never ate dinner last night and I’m
starving.’
Gilster smiled as he opened the
front door, no matter how bad the situation Haven’s first thought
would always be food. Some things never changed.
The storm was easing, allowing
the moon to shine through the ragged clouds, its silvery face
reflecting from a thousand puddles.
pass on the Mountain of Fire, I hope you know where it is because I
have no idea.’
Haven nodded. ‘I know precisely
where it is, we need to head for a village called Hawthorn. I’ve
been there many times.’
‘Good,’ said Gilster, ‘lead on
then, but keep off the main roads as much as possible, it will be
better if we’re not seen.’
They had been travelling for
what seemed like hours but had made little headway. Daria began to
feel they were just going around in circles.
‘This is ridiculous,’ she said
in frustration, ‘we’re not getting anywhere, I’m sure we’ve passed
that tree twice already.’ She pointed to a huge pine that had
fallen during the storm and was now precariously propped against
its neighbour.
‘And therein lies the problem,’
said Haven, red faced and just as frustrated as she was. ‘The storm
has brought down so many trees, and streams that used to be little
trickles are now raging torrents; I have to keep back-tracking to
find a way around them. You’re quite welcome to take the lead if
you wish,’ he added unnecessarily.
‘Perhaps I made a mistake,’
said Gilster trying to ease the tension, ‘if we head back to the
main road the going should be easier, we can always keep to the
edges and duck back into the forest if we see or hear anyone. The
cloaks we are wearing have limited camouflage abilities, so that
should help and once the sun comes up we’ll be able to make better
time.’ This seemed to calm Haven and Daria.
‘I’ll head to the road then,’
said Haven striding away.
The sun eventually rose, the
clouds cleared and their progress had been steady since reaching
the main road. Not having seen nor heard anything they began to
relax.
‘How long should it take us to
reach Hawthorn?’ asked Gilster.
‘We should reach it in a few
days, as long as nothing else slows us down,’ said Haven, his eyes
scanning the road ahead, ‘but when we reach Hawthorn we will have
to wait for daylight before we attempt the summer pass, even
without snow it’s still a challenge.’
‘You were saying that you know
Hawthorn well, how is it you’ve been spending so much time there
and we haven’t heard about it,’ said Gilster.
‘I’ve been getting some help
with my telepathy,’ said Haven, ‘one of the Elders from the temple
gave me the name of a woman in Hawthorn and she’s been teaching
me.’
‘Are you sure it’s lessons in
telepathy you’re getting,’ smirked Daria.
Haven blushed, ‘well . . . I
must admit, Emarra is a very pretty woman but yes, she has been
helping with telepathy. It may have gone further if I’d stayed in
Elaxier, but I suppose now I’ll never know.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Daria, upset,
‘it’s my fault.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Haven
smiling, ‘I wouldn’t have missed this adventure for the world.’ He
put an arm around Daria’s shoulder and hugged her tightly, we’re a
team remember, I couldn’t break up the team now could I?’
The next two days proved to be
an arduous trek for the friends; as the weather warmed, insects
hatched in their thousands and life became a misery with the
constant buzzing and biting. Daria slipped further and further into
her own little world, worrying Gilster and Haven with her silence.
One night after Daria had fallen into a restless sleep, wrapped
tightly in her cloak to stop the insects biting, Gilster and Haven
discussed the situation.
‘Hear me out before you say
no,’ whispered Gilster. ‘I think you should find out how Daria is .
. .’
‘No, I won’t listen in on her
thoughts, it’s not ethical and it can be dangerous, almost like
rape if I force my way into her mind.’
‘But aren’t you worried? Surely
it’s better if we know what’s going on; what it is that’s worrying
her so much.’
Haven hung his head. ‘I have
left my mind open in case I pick anything up but . . . she knows
how to block me, I can’t hear a thing.’
‘But . . . you can get around
that block, can’t you?’
‘I can, but I won’t, not yet
any way. Leave it for now, at least she is still eating and
drinking, we’ll just keep an eye on her and I’ll let you know if
anything changes.’ He slapped his neck, killing an insect that had
just bitten him. ‘Damn insects, they’re driving me mad.’
‘All right,’ said Gilster,
resigned to the fact he had lost that particular argument, ‘but if
she is not right by the time we reach Hawthorn I want your word
you’ll do something.’
‘I’ll see,’ was all Haven
said.
They reached the outskirts of
Hawthorn two days later, just as the sun was dipping below the
horizon. The forest had given way to farms and small holdings.
‘If we can make our way around
to the base of the mountain, we can start up first thing in the
morning,’ said Haven. ‘We’ll keep to the edge of the forest and
hopefully we won’t be seen.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ said
Gilster, ‘what do you think Daria?’ Daria was still not speaking,
lost in her thoughts she just nodded. Gilster exchanged a worried
look with Haven.
Making their way stealthily
around the edge of the village, they soon reached the forest again
at the base of the mountain, but from here on up the trees began to
thin. They’d had one close call when a dog saw them creeping along
the road and started barking wildly, luckily it was tied on a long
chain attached to its kennel and couldn’t reach them. When its
owner stepped outside to quiet it they quickly covered themselves
with their cloaks and by remaining perfectly still, had not been
seen.
Haven led them deeper into the
trees. ‘We should try and get some sleep,’ he said, ‘we have a long
climb ahead of us tomorrow.’
The three sat, huddled
miserably in their damp cloaks swatting away annoying insects. It
was decided not to light a fire, they didn’t want to attract any
attention, still not sure if Timus was following. Daria fell into
an exhausted sleep almost immediately, her head resting on Haven’s
shoulder.
‘I still can’t believe the
temple has gone,’ whispered Gilster leaning back against an old,
dead tree trunk.
‘I know,’ said Haven,
scratching a bite on his neck, ‘I think it will affect Daria the
most though, it was like a second home to her, and to be betrayed
by Elder Timus like that . . .,’ he trailed off not knowing what
else to say.
‘I’ll stand watch for a few
hours,’ said Gilster rising, ‘best not to take chances. I’ll wake
you later.’ Haven nodded and closed his eyes. Gilster slipped
quietly into the shadows, eyes and ears alert for any danger.
Hours passed as Gilster
listened and watched. The sounds of the night were soothing to his
soul. His eyes, now accustomed to the dark saw a deer and her fawn
walking silently through the forest, the doe sniffing the air
delicately as her baby walked beside her. They came so close
Gilster could almost reach out and touch them; they passed by,
unaware. He heard a far off screech; an owl hunting had made a
kill. Then his ears picked up a sound not of the night, a keening
noise of someone in great pain. ‘Haven,’ thought Gilster. He
hurried back to the camp. Daria was lying on the ground still
wrapped in her cloak, Haven sat nearby, holding his head in pain.
Gilster scanned the area not sure if they were alone. When he was
satisfied the threat was not external he dropped to his knees in
front of Haven.
‘What is it, my friend, are you
hearing thoughts again?’
Haven nodded. ‘Let me get it
under control,’ he said, his voice tight with emotion. Gilster
waited.
‘It’s Elder Dolmay,’ said
Haven, ‘she’s warning Daria.’ He pushed the heels of his hands into
his eyes. ‘She is saying . . . Timus . . . Timus has rounded up all
the people from the temple, he is torturing them to find out where
Daria is, he has people working with him, people who believe the
same things he does . . . about Anubis.’ He choked back a sob. ‘I
think Daria is seeing it all in a vision-dream, we could lose her
Gilster, wake her, WAKE HER NOW.’
Gilster grabbed Daria’s
shoulder and shook her, ‘Daria, Daria come on, you must wake up.’
He tapped her face lightly with the back of his hand, ‘come on
Daria, come back to us.’ Nothing was working.
Haven picked her up and shook
her roughly. ‘WAKE UP.’ Daria’s eyes remained closed and she was
unresponsive.
‘What do we do now?’ asked
Gilster.
‘I must try and reach her,’
said Haven, ‘If I enter her mind I can try and lead her out.’
Gilster was shocked, ‘I thought
you said it was dangerous, is there something else you could try
first?’
‘There is no other way, I don’t
have a choice,’ snapped Haven, ‘if I don’t do something soon we
could lose her forever, already I can feel her slipping away.’
yawning, ‘and I’m too tired to think about it now, let’s leave it
until tomorrow.’ He stood, ‘goodnight, I trust you can find you own
bed?’
‘I think I might stay up for
awhile, it’s nice and warm in here and I need to think.’
‘Fine, I’ll see you in the
morning then, goodnight.’
Haven sat, staring into the
flames; his fingers intertwined, resting on his stomach, long legs
stretched out towards the warmth. It all sounded so implausible but
Daria would never lie. His eyelids began to droop, finding it
difficult to stay awake his eyes slowly closed, his head nodded and
he began to snore softly. The fire crackled and flickered, casting
shadows around the room.
‘Nooooooo,’ came an anguished
wail, ‘nooooo stop, please.’
Daria was violently jolted from
what had been a deep and restful sleep. ‘Haven?’ she thought in a
panic, ‘that was Haven’s voice.’ Jumping out of bed with surprising
agility for one just awake, she grabbed a robe hanging on the back
of the bedroom door and ran from her room, colliding straight into
Gilster. They found Haven holding his head in his hands, rocking to
and fro as if in great pain.
‘What is it Haven?’ asked Daria
rubbing his back, trying to soothe him, ‘tell us, please.’
‘Thoughts,’ came his mumbled
reply, ‘many minds, screaming in my head.’
‘What’s causing it,’ asked
Gilster, ‘can you hear what they are saying?’
Slowly, Haven started to get
the jumbled thoughts under control.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to
frighten you,’ he said rubbing his temples, ‘they were just so
sudden and so overwhelming I didn’t know what was happening. Wait,
let me concentrate.’ He sat quietly, his eyes closed, a small frown
marring his brow. ‘Something about the temple,’ he said eventually,
‘it’s . . . it’s burning!’
Daria ran to the front door and
flung it wide open. Outside, the torrential rain had eased
considerably but the wind was blowing stronger than ever, it
pummelled her body and whipped her hair across her face. The
bedrobe she wore was almost ripped from her body. She noticed none
of it; her eyes were on the massive flames leaping high into the
night sky. It was true, the temple was burning.
‘No, no, no, this can’t be,’
sobbed Daria hugging herself, ‘not the temple, I can’t believe this
is happening.’
Haven and Gilster stood
transfixed behind her. The three of them oblivious to everything
except the flames reaching higher and higher, burning the greatest
temple in Elaxier to the ground.
‘We need to leave,’ said
Gilster slamming the door shut, ‘get dressed and be quick about
it.’ When neither Haven nor Daria moved, Gilster shouted. ‘GO . . .
NOW. . . get dressed, I don’t know how much time we have, they’ll
be looking for Daria and here would be the most obvious
place.’
At the sound of his words,
Daria came out of her stupor and ran to her room. Throwing open the
wardrobe door she found some clothes left there on a previous
visit; not exactly travelling clothes but they would do. She pulled
on a pair of thin, cotton trousers, a woollen jumper and one of
Gilster’s long black coats, it swept the floor but it would keep
her warm and dry. Finding a pair of old, worn leather-boots, she
pulled them on, practicality over looks, she thought.
Haven was dressed much the
same, he’d thrown on the first things he could find, a sleeveless
leather jerkin, over a wrinkled, white linen shirt, brown woollen
pants and a pair of dirty leather boots finished off his outfit.
Gilster was dressed in his usual, all black. He wore a long black
coat with silver buttons, black trousers, black knee-high boots and
a long black cloak.
‘Here,’ he said, tossing cloaks
to Daria and Haven, ‘put these on.’ He picked up a pack from the
kitchen table, slung it over his shoulder and headed for the front
door.
‘Wait,’ shrieked Daria, ‘where
are my temple robes?’
‘They were ruined,’ said
Gilster, ‘I threw them out, I didn’t realise you’d want to keep
them.’
‘I don’t but I left something
in the pocket.’
‘If you’re talking about that
little scroll,’ I have it in my pack, don’t panic.’
‘I hope you have food in that
pack as well,’ said Haven, ‘we never ate dinner last night and I’m
starving.’
Gilster smiled as he opened the
front door, no matter how bad the situation Haven’s first thought
would always be food. Some things never changed.
The storm was easing, allowing
the moon to shine through the ragged clouds, its silvery face
reflecting from a thousand puddles.
‘At least we’ll
be able to see where we’re going,’ said Haven as they stood on the
front doorstep. ‘By the way, where
are
we going Daria, you’re the only
one who knows?’
Daria closed
her eyes, recalling the words Minerva had spoken.
Head to the Mountain of Fire and find the summer
pass, this will lead you to the portal.
pass on the Mountain of Fire, I hope you know where it is because I
have no idea.’
Haven nodded. ‘I know precisely
where it is, we need to head for a village called Hawthorn. I’ve
been there many times.’
‘Good,’ said Gilster, ‘lead on
then, but keep off the main roads as much as possible, it will be
better if we’re not seen.’
They had been travelling for
what seemed like hours but had made little headway. Daria began to
feel they were just going around in circles.
‘This is ridiculous,’ she said
in frustration, ‘we’re not getting anywhere, I’m sure we’ve passed
that tree twice already.’ She pointed to a huge pine that had
fallen during the storm and was now precariously propped against
its neighbour.
‘And therein lies the problem,’
said Haven, red faced and just as frustrated as she was. ‘The storm
has brought down so many trees, and streams that used to be little
trickles are now raging torrents; I have to keep back-tracking to
find a way around them. You’re quite welcome to take the lead if
you wish,’ he added unnecessarily.
‘Perhaps I made a mistake,’
said Gilster trying to ease the tension, ‘if we head back to the
main road the going should be easier, we can always keep to the
edges and duck back into the forest if we see or hear anyone. The
cloaks we are wearing have limited camouflage abilities, so that
should help and once the sun comes up we’ll be able to make better
time.’ This seemed to calm Haven and Daria.
‘I’ll head to the road then,’
said Haven striding away.
The sun eventually rose, the
clouds cleared and their progress had been steady since reaching
the main road. Not having seen nor heard anything they began to
relax.
‘How long should it take us to
reach Hawthorn?’ asked Gilster.
‘We should reach it in a few
days, as long as nothing else slows us down,’ said Haven, his eyes
scanning the road ahead, ‘but when we reach Hawthorn we will have
to wait for daylight before we attempt the summer pass, even
without snow it’s still a challenge.’
‘You were saying that you know
Hawthorn well, how is it you’ve been spending so much time there
and we haven’t heard about it,’ said Gilster.
‘I’ve been getting some help
with my telepathy,’ said Haven, ‘one of the Elders from the temple
gave me the name of a woman in Hawthorn and she’s been teaching
me.’
‘Are you sure it’s lessons in
telepathy you’re getting,’ smirked Daria.
Haven blushed, ‘well . . . I
must admit, Emarra is a very pretty woman but yes, she has been
helping with telepathy. It may have gone further if I’d stayed in
Elaxier, but I suppose now I’ll never know.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Daria, upset,
‘it’s my fault.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Haven
smiling, ‘I wouldn’t have missed this adventure for the world.’ He
put an arm around Daria’s shoulder and hugged her tightly, we’re a
team remember, I couldn’t break up the team now could I?’
The next two days proved to be
an arduous trek for the friends; as the weather warmed, insects
hatched in their thousands and life became a misery with the
constant buzzing and biting. Daria slipped further and further into
her own little world, worrying Gilster and Haven with her silence.
One night after Daria had fallen into a restless sleep, wrapped
tightly in her cloak to stop the insects biting, Gilster and Haven
discussed the situation.
‘Hear me out before you say
no,’ whispered Gilster. ‘I think you should find out how Daria is .
. .’
‘No, I won’t listen in on her
thoughts, it’s not ethical and it can be dangerous, almost like
rape if I force my way into her mind.’
‘But aren’t you worried? Surely
it’s better if we know what’s going on; what it is that’s worrying
her so much.’
Haven hung his head. ‘I have
left my mind open in case I pick anything up but . . . she knows
how to block me, I can’t hear a thing.’
‘But . . . you can get around
that block, can’t you?’
‘I can, but I won’t, not yet
any way. Leave it for now, at least she is still eating and
drinking, we’ll just keep an eye on her and I’ll let you know if
anything changes.’ He slapped his neck, killing an insect that had
just bitten him. ‘Damn insects, they’re driving me mad.’
‘All right,’ said Gilster,
resigned to the fact he had lost that particular argument, ‘but if
she is not right by the time we reach Hawthorn I want your word
you’ll do something.’
‘I’ll see,’ was all Haven
said.
They reached the outskirts of
Hawthorn two days later, just as the sun was dipping below the
horizon. The forest had given way to farms and small holdings.
‘If we can make our way around
to the base of the mountain, we can start up first thing in the
morning,’ said Haven. ‘We’ll keep to the edge of the forest and
hopefully we won’t be seen.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ said
Gilster, ‘what do you think Daria?’ Daria was still not speaking,
lost in her thoughts she just nodded. Gilster exchanged a worried
look with Haven.
Making their way stealthily
around the edge of the village, they soon reached the forest again
at the base of the mountain, but from here on up the trees began to
thin. They’d had one close call when a dog saw them creeping along
the road and started barking wildly, luckily it was tied on a long
chain attached to its kennel and couldn’t reach them. When its
owner stepped outside to quiet it they quickly covered themselves
with their cloaks and by remaining perfectly still, had not been
seen.
Haven led them deeper into the
trees. ‘We should try and get some sleep,’ he said, ‘we have a long
climb ahead of us tomorrow.’
The three sat, huddled
miserably in their damp cloaks swatting away annoying insects. It
was decided not to light a fire, they didn’t want to attract any
attention, still not sure if Timus was following. Daria fell into
an exhausted sleep almost immediately, her head resting on Haven’s
shoulder.
‘I still can’t believe the
temple has gone,’ whispered Gilster leaning back against an old,
dead tree trunk.
‘I know,’ said Haven,
scratching a bite on his neck, ‘I think it will affect Daria the
most though, it was like a second home to her, and to be betrayed
by Elder Timus like that . . .,’ he trailed off not knowing what
else to say.
‘I’ll stand watch for a few
hours,’ said Gilster rising, ‘best not to take chances. I’ll wake
you later.’ Haven nodded and closed his eyes. Gilster slipped
quietly into the shadows, eyes and ears alert for any danger.
Hours passed as Gilster
listened and watched. The sounds of the night were soothing to his
soul. His eyes, now accustomed to the dark saw a deer and her fawn
walking silently through the forest, the doe sniffing the air
delicately as her baby walked beside her. They came so close
Gilster could almost reach out and touch them; they passed by,
unaware. He heard a far off screech; an owl hunting had made a
kill. Then his ears picked up a sound not of the night, a keening
noise of someone in great pain. ‘Haven,’ thought Gilster. He
hurried back to the camp. Daria was lying on the ground still
wrapped in her cloak, Haven sat nearby, holding his head in pain.
Gilster scanned the area not sure if they were alone. When he was
satisfied the threat was not external he dropped to his knees in
front of Haven.
‘What is it, my friend, are you
hearing thoughts again?’
Haven nodded. ‘Let me get it
under control,’ he said, his voice tight with emotion. Gilster
waited.
‘It’s Elder Dolmay,’ said
Haven, ‘she’s warning Daria.’ He pushed the heels of his hands into
his eyes. ‘She is saying . . . Timus . . . Timus has rounded up all
the people from the temple, he is torturing them to find out where
Daria is, he has people working with him, people who believe the
same things he does . . . about Anubis.’ He choked back a sob. ‘I
think Daria is seeing it all in a vision-dream, we could lose her
Gilster, wake her, WAKE HER NOW.’
Gilster grabbed Daria’s
shoulder and shook her, ‘Daria, Daria come on, you must wake up.’
He tapped her face lightly with the back of his hand, ‘come on
Daria, come back to us.’ Nothing was working.
Haven picked her up and shook
her roughly. ‘WAKE UP.’ Daria’s eyes remained closed and she was
unresponsive.
‘What do we do now?’ asked
Gilster.
‘I must try and reach her,’
said Haven, ‘If I enter her mind I can try and lead her out.’
Gilster was shocked, ‘I thought
you said it was dangerous, is there something else you could try
first?’
‘There is no other way, I don’t
have a choice,’ snapped Haven, ‘if I don’t do something soon we
could lose her forever, already I can feel her slipping away.’
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