Eden's Mark (5 page)

Chapter Seven

              “So you think she is of the prophecy…that makes things complicated. However, without seeing it for certain, I am not sure what you are asking me to do.”

             
His voice was demanding but pleasing to my ears. Despite that, my irritation at his lack of belief was growing.

             
“I can tell you what he says is a fact. If you consider it is
my
birthmark on
my
wrist. I can’t make you believe it.” I turned on my heel to leave the room. Gregor was making me crazy, in a lot of ways.

             
“I see, you expect me to take your word for it even though I know nothing about you and have no idea if you speak truth?” I stopped in my tracks. He knew me, we had met before and yet he sat there denying our history, even if it was only a day-old history.

             
I mustered as much sarcasm I could in a sickening sweet voice, “I don’t care if you believe me or not. You are free to believe whatever you wish. I wonder, though, why you came here tonight if you did not intend to believe anything you heard. I just learned about all this a few hours ago and I, too, had my doubts. I can attest to my birthmark and no matter what you think, you know
I am what they say
!”

             
I felt my mark come alive, Val’s eyes widened, Lex gaped at me. I guess I shouldn’t have yelled.

             
“Eden, you have a faint aura around you.” Lex said in a tone of confusion and enthusiasm.

             
“I seem to be mistaken. You do have something special.” He winked at Lex and smiled at me.

             
I knew, at that moment, I had been baited so he could see it himself. Tears swam in my eyes for the fact that I let them play me like that. I felt such conviction, and yet it was for nothing. I ran out of the room into the garden, where I sat on the large rock and tried to keep my tears from falling. This man in my house made me rethink all I knew. He made me feel inadequate and second-guess my thoughts. How frustrating.

             
I heard soft, almost unnoticeable footsteps behind me. Without turning around, I knew it was Gregor. He had a peculiar smell about him that drew me. The aroma was wild and earthy; there was something else I couldn’t put my finger on, like a predator luring his prey by the smell of something sweet. A mix that was comforting but definitely made for trouble.

             
“What do you want?” I said harshly.

             
“Please do not be angry with me, Eden.”

             
The way he said my name made me weak. That hint of an accent, blood-warmed. Cue teenage hormones, awesome. I really, REALLY wanted to be mad at him right now.

             
“I had no choice but to rouse your anger. I had to see if what they said was true. I meant no disrespect.” He came over and stood next to the white and brown boulder I sat on.

             
“Please come back inside. We need to discuss this and we should tell them about your telepathic manifestation.”

             
I watched Gregor reach down and grabbed my hand. The second we touched a feeling of electricity raced through my veins. I dropped my hand away pulling back.

             
What was that? You shocked me.
  I exhaled from the sudden rush and looked at his face. His eyes turned almost slate as he stared back at me. Wonder and confusion surfaced.

             
Let us return. Your family is wondering what we are doing out here so long.

             
I walked beside him back to the house, not sure how to tell my family that I can use telepathy. I was still getting used to all these things. My mind was a whirlwind full of thoughts that made no sense.

             
How was I going to do this? My birthright was to bring a nation of people together that I had never seen nor knew about for 17 years. I was going to fail. I did know I was determined to find my parents. Dead or alive, I was going to find out where they are or what happened to them. The force of that gave me the strength I needed. I knew what I had to do.

             
“We need to figure out how to get back to Ellethny and see Amend. That’s the person who can fill in the blanks for me.” I stood in the doorway to the living room and all attention was my way.

             
“I agree. There is a place I know that has a portal. It should bring us to a secluded place. From there, we can make plans to find your family and meet Amend.” Gregor’s gaze locked on mine. Something dark crossed his face for a second. I got shivers up my arm.

             
Lex walked over and put his arms around me. “It is settled, then. Val and Eden, pack provisions and I will grab items from the study. Gregor, we will meet you in the woods in 2 hours.”

             
“I will make ready and see you then.” With that, Gregor left the house in a rush of wind. I never really saw him move, just one second he was there and another he was gone. I turned to my aunt and uncle with strain on their faces.

             
“I really feel this is what I need to do. You do not have to come with me. I would never make you go.” I wouldn’t, either. I could handle it if I had to, but knowing they were there wouldn’t hurt.

             
“Oh, honey! We would never let you do this alone. My sister is out there somewhere and I will fight till I have no breath left in my body to see her one last time.”

              We hugged and Val walked into the kitchen. Lex kissed the top of my head and headed towards his study. As I watched them leave, all I could think about was family. No matter if we found my mom and dad or not, these two wonderful people were the best family I could ask for.

I reached my bedroom
with tension coursing through my limbs. It was so tangible you could taste the energy from what was to come. I changed into a pair of jeans, a tank, and my worn black All Stars.

             
With shaky hands, I grabbed my green pack and filled it with light clothing. I didn’t want anything too heavy in case we had to run for cover. I packed a pair of my favorite jeans, yoga pants, a couple tanks, and two long sleeved T-shirts. That was the best it was going to get. I grabbed my brush and dental items; I was definitely going to have clean teeth with Mr. Hotty around.

             
Everything packed and ready to go, sitting one last time on my bed, taking in what we were about to do. My life up until now had been good; I was leaving my childhood behind. Was I ready?

             
I walked downstairs into the kitchen; Val was packing her carpetbag. I leaned over the counter to look at the items she had. “What’s all this for?” I was intrigued by the smell coming from inside.

             
“These are items to help us heal, should we need it.” Val said.

             
She pointed to the unmarked bottles. “The rest are for cooking and drinking.”

             
Val walked to her pantry, began searching the shelves, and returned with a very fragile-looking vial of shimmering liquid.

             
“I want you to keep this, Eden. Put it somewhere safe. If we get separated and you are in trouble I want you to drink this, it will help you in a bind.”

             
The small glass cylinder was heavy in my hand.

             
“What will it do?” I eyed the vial with suspicion. If I had to drink this, I needed to know what it was going to do to me.

             
“Trust me, Eden. Put it in your bag and keep it safe. This is for when you are in serious need of help.”

             
Val closed her hand over mine and I shook my head. When she walked away, I placed it in a small hard case in my bag. I hoped I’d never have to use it.

Chapter Eight

             
“Are we ready to go?” Lex asked from the doorway.

             
We nodded together. It was now or never. “Okay, let’s head out behind the house. Valora, you know what to do.”

             
Lex ushered me towards the kitchen door and out into the garden. When I looked back, Val was weaving her hands together and I saw faint lavender markings appear and disappear in the air. I watched in wonder, so cool.

             
“We are really doing this.” Excitement and nervousness fought for control as I watched my aunt do her thing.

             
“What did you do?” I asked in a soft voice.

             
“I put a barrier over the house so that if anyone came looking in on us they would see a small family going about their daily lives. Now, if you would stand next to Lex, I have one more spell to place.” She closed her eyes and lifted her hands above the three of us. The words she spoke were in another tongue; deep down, I understood each syllable. Val asked the Great Spirit to protect us and keep us on the right path. When she finished, a blue aura shown around each of us then disappeared.

             
“This way, and be as quiet as you can.” Lex led the way out behind the house and towards the dark forest.

             
We had no flashlights or light of any kind. I wondered how we could see so clearly. I looked over my shoulder at Val, who gave her megawatt smile, “You have to teach me this stuff. Seriously, nighttime vision would have come in handy a long time ago.” Her chuckled echoed in my ears.

             
We walked quickly into the forest. A sense of foreboding overwhelmed me. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to come back to my life here again. I turned around, took one last look at the life behind me, and headed towards my destiny. So many dreams I had here, things I wanted to do. No more. My whole world had been turned upside down and inside out in a matter of a day. I made a small sigh and followed my family into the woods.

             
Gregor was waiting for us by a large oak in a shadow. I remembered how I had found him under the willow, standing in shadows then too.

             
My eyes found his and I saw the cold grey of them rush over me. “We are ready to make it through. Walk this way.”

             
He led us around to the side of the oak tree and under the branches. A cool wind began to blow and as I walked under the swaying branches, I saw something strange. A circle of swirling grey and black smoke was in the middle of the tree trunk.

             
“You will feel very cold and slightly dizzy. It passes very quickly, take my hand.” Gregor offered his hand to me and I took it. As we touched our hands together, I felt a pulsing in my wrist. He had already gone through the portal and I was following behind him. It felt as though I was being thrown around in a blizzard. I didn’t think I would get out of it fast enough.

             
When my feet were on the ground, I sat on a rock and tried to catch my breath. I was shaking from the cold and my head was trying to settle. I kept my eyes on the ground as Lex and Val came through.

             
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Val asked me and sat next to me. Lex was in conversation with Gregor about where we were headed.

             
“I’m fine, just needed to get my head straight.” My smile was weak, but she seemed to buy it. The goose bumps were finally going away and I reached into my bag and slipped a navy colored long sleeved Tee over my tank. I stood up and took a long deep breath finally noticing my surroundings. I caught my breath at the site of the forest we had entered. The trees were a shade of golden yellow, so soft they looked like they had been touched by sunlight. The leaves looked like elephant ears, and were a pearlescent white that made me want to touch them. As I did, I felt someone grab my wrist. Gregor looked at me so intensely I shivered without realizing it.

             
“Do not touch the trees, Eden. They look friendly, but one touch and you could be incapacitated for hours. The little fibers on the leaves carry a poison that causes a sleep-like effect. Only the most skilled can touch them and harvest this poison without being affected.” He let me go and turned back to Lex. The thrumming from his touch was receding and I felt sure that something was odd about it. Never had I felt such effects from any other person who touched me. Gregor was an enigma and my reactions to him overwhelmed me.

             
Gregor looked over the hill into the distance looking masculine and captain-like. I felt that knot thing in my stomach, as I looked his way. No one should be this hot, period.

             
“My house is just over that ridge. We can make it by morning if we start now. Be on your guard, this particular forest has its many charms that can be deadly.” Gregor focused that last part at me specifically. Leading the way, he tramped through the soft burnish red grass. Lex followed behind him, taking in the scenery, and Val hung back with me.

             
“Do you remember this from when you lived here?” I was interested to know how much of this place she remembered.

             
Val looked at me and we began to follow the men up the path. “I never came this far into the outer lands. Keeva was not a place we were allowed to venture.”

             
“Indeed. However, I wonder if that had to do with the forest itself, or the inhabitants.” Gregor briefly looked over his shoulder at us and then turned his eyes towards the ridge.

             
“What does he mean?” I asked Val. I saw her eyes look down and then ahead of us.

             
“There was a lot of discord between the races of this land. Each race wanted to be the rulers and no one wanted to be ruled. All the races stayed within their own communities, as I have said before. We traded among each other, but that was where the line was drawn.” Val looked sad at that. I knew she was thinking of my mom and dad.

             
“Who lives out here? Are they so horrible that people didn’t want to be around them?” I knew Gregor was tied to the people that lived in these woods and if I could find out it would bring me closer to unlocking him.

             
“Some things are better left for another time.” I heard Gregor’s voice turn cooler and a bit sad. Val moved ahead to catch up to Lex. They were whispering back and forth and I knew it had to do with the conversation.

             
As we walked, I swore I saw something in my peripheral vision. Whatever I was seeing in between the trees crept along the forest floor like a dog or cat about to spring.

             
I hesitated before I finally said,” Um guys, there is something out here with us.”

             
I scanned the area and saw green – yellow eyes glaring back at me. I stumbled and fell onto the ground. Val turned to see what I had done; she followed my gaze towards the thing in the bushes.

             
“Eden, are you okay? I see nothing, are you sure you saw something? Things always seem ominous in forests at night.”

             
She held her hand out to me but I could not take it. I was frozen in my place by the second set of eyes that appeared. These were clear, sparkling dove-colored eyes. I heard the rustle of underbrush but no one else seemed to see or hear what I did. My birthmark began to pulse softly on my wrist. Out of nowhere, something flew past me and I threw myself over to the ground. My internal alarm was shrieking at me,
danger
.

             
“What was that? Don’t you all see the eyes?” I was yelling at my group wondering why they hadn’t stopped whatever was flying around us.

             
Lex ran over to me and Val leaned over, protecting me from the flying thing. Gregor was gone with preternatural speed leaving us alone. I peeked between Lex and Val and saw the most horrible pair of white eyes I had ever seen. It glared my way as it tried to get to me and I felt sharp claws pierce my arm. Val began to chant and a violet shell covered us. I saw the pair of eyes I had seen earlier rush our way. One leaped onto the flying thing and I heard the gnashing of teeth. The smaller of the two animals pounced on the hideous white-eyed creature. All of a sudden, a great storm cloud rolled in, and a lightning bolt hit the thing on the ground causing it to burst into a black flame. The stench was unbearable and I choked on the fumes. A heavy wind picked up the smoldering remains and carried them far from us. The stench lingered longer than I would have liked and I doubted I could get the smell out of skin and hair.

             
Oh joy, nothing like smelling of old burned creeper.
The sarcasm filled my thought.

* * * *

              I hadn’t noticed my wrist burning with all the commotion going on, but now I did. I rubbed it reflexively and then felt the searing burning pain from the wounds on my arm. I reached around and my hand felt four claw holes. The blood seeping from my wound made me light headed and I felt a burning in my blood and my vein faded to an ash color.

             
“My arm burns.” I said with a semi-hysterical voice.

             
Val looked at my arm and ran for her bag. She pulled out a clear unknown liquid and poured it over my wound. The pain was so intense I let a small sound escape me as I sucked in my breath, trying not to break down. The liquid fizzled and frothed until a black, tar-like ooze dripped out of the deep holes. Once the ooze stopped, Val used another substance that looked like grape Jello and a strip of cloth to bind my arm.

             
“What was that?” I asked in a shaky voice. I didn’t see the two people that had ripped the thing to shreds, nor did I see Gregor.

             
Lex looked at me and then at Val. “That was a shadow, Eden.”

             
“Why did it attack us? No one knew we were here, did they?”

             
“I don’t know, but I am going to find out.” With that, Lex left us sitting on the ground.

             
The burnished grass tickled my legs as I sat holding my arm. I winced as I moved it to my side. My mark raged in response to the attack, my head pounded, and my body was weak. This whole adventure-time nonsense was already over rated.

             
“You will be fine, sweetheart. I got the poison out of the wound and the gel will help heal the skin. No scar will be left.” Val looked around the forest. “Where are Gregor and the others?” I looked around towards the southern part of the forest and shrugged.

             
“There they are. “ Val had relief in her voice as we watched Gregor, Lex, and two wolves come our way.

             
Gregor approached with the two wolves and bent down beside me. The wolves stayed back a ways and sniffed the ground from where I was.

             
“Let me see your arm.” Gregor’s eyes were the color of a thunderstorm raging as he unwound the bandage. I swore I could see fire burning in the blackness of his pupils.

             
“It seems Valora has quite the talent for healing.” Val blushed slightly and stood up leaning into Lex. Gregor replaced the cloth and lifted me gently to my feet.

             
“Who are they?” I asked Gregor in a soft, almost whisper-like voice as I gazed at the pair of strange wolves now beside us.

             
“They are my friends of long past. They were hunting shadows when they came upon us. We are in your debt for aiding us.” He bowed at the waist and the two wolves transformed on the spot into people. I know I was staring, but who could help it. This was not something you saw every day.

             
The female was tall and muscular in a very feminine way. The leather top she wore looked as though it was handmade and had a rough leather throng weaved through to hold it together. Her pants were short, about mid-calf with the same tailoring. The creamy colored leather accentuated her mocha skin. She had long white hair, so light it could have been made of the moonlight itself that fell to her waist in soft layers.

             
The woman laughed and the sound was so airy it made me smile in spite of the situation. I gazed into her eyes, almost the color of her hair, and took the hand she had reached out to me. She felt feverishly warm and to my surprise, her skin was silky, not rough like I had anticipated. When I looked back at her face, she had tilted her head and was staring at me.

             
Thank you for the compliments. Do you communicate this way often?

             
How embarrassing. I needed to control this telepathy thing.

             
Most of the time I have no idea I am even doing it.

             
Her nod gave me reassurance.

             
“I haven’t seen anything like that, ever. It was magnificent, I am sorry for staring.” I knew I was blushing and looked down at my hands as I wrung them together.