Destiny - Book One in The Bomcard Trilogy -
Chapter 3 = Bomcard, Some Harpies and a Girl
‘He’s coming to’
Lucas felt himselfslowly awakening, staring at the faces of his best friends before him. Staringat their odd appearance, sudden realization hit him as he remembered everythingthat had happened. Turning around, he looked at his surroundings, noticing thatthe kitchen was still destroyed. Staring up at the clock, he realised Lindawould be home and sudden sat up.
‘Holy crap,’ hewhispered.
‘What’s wrong?’ Tomasked, leaning in. ‘Do you still feel sick or like you’re going to faintagain?’
‘Linda will be homesoon.’
‘Don’t worry, you won’tbe here.’
‘What?’
‘We are sending you backto Bomcard,’ Tom revealed, helping Lucas to his feet.
‘Why would I go back?’Lucas asked in shock.
‘Lucas.' Tom spoke aftera few moments of silence. ‘We know this is a lot for you to take in. We do nothave another choice but to try sending you back. You might be able to stop thisfrom happening.'
‘Premonitions alwayscame true remember,' Lucas replied. ‘What if I cause this by going back?’
‘There could be aloophole. The amulet has a second half. If you can get it and talk to thegoblins to join your side, it may be the only way to stop Lord Barbackaltogether before this ultimate evil thing is released. We have to risk it.'
‘Risk innocent peoples'lives?' Lucas looked at him, horrified. How could he say that? He would have nopart in it.
Tom looked at him sadly.‘Lucas, if you think about it, destroying the amulet is our priority. Withoutthe amulet, Lord Barback can’t unleash this evil. Which means this world won’tget caught up in the fight.'
‘Yet I am risking thisLord Barback replaceing it and stealing it.'
‘You will haveprotection from the elves and other creatures on our side.'
‘If I replace them beforehe replaces me,' Lucas replied, standing up in shock. ‘Tom, you can't be serious.I won't risk it. Besides, elves and goblins? I have no idea what the hell I’mdoing or where I’m going.'
Tom sighed and turned.It was Lucy who answered. ‘Lucas, you will have no choice. You are destined toreturn. You can try to prevent your dream, but it will be a difficult task. Idon't think you can. If Lord Barback succeeds in freeing this evil -’
‘He cannot without myamulet.'
‘He always replaces a way. Ifthe witch's premonition showed Lord Barback and this evil freed, regardless ofyour amulet or not, then it will occur. This is our last chance.
‘If you remain here andhave a child, they will not have any powers. A child of Bomcard born outsideits world will not have any of the gifts it is destined to inherit. Whathappens when Lord Barback decides to travel worlds himself? He has discoveredthe way and sent that assassin. If he kills your child and you, he will takethe amulet. This will happen, either way. The best way to prevent this is foryou to go back to Bomcard and try to destroy both amulets.'
‘At the same time, hemight not. Is it not better to save innocents then to condemn them?'
‘You mean kill one tosave a thousand?' Tom asked in shock. ‘Is that what you are implying Lucas?'
‘That's what I feel youmean,' Lucas replied. ‘We can risk it, especially if there is a chance it won'tcome true.'
Lucy whispered to Lucas,‘Would you really risk the safety of two entire worlds on chance?'
Lucas sighed as herealised she was right. How could he risk the worlds, both his home world andEarth, on chance? What if this witch's premonition came to pass? What if hisdid as well? After a moment, he looked at her, defeated, and asked, ‘How do Idestroy the amulet?'
She looked at him. ‘Thegoblins are the only ones who truly know. Find the goblins and they will tellyou.'
Lucas thought for amoment. ‘Okay. Find the goblins. What else?'
Tom looked at him,instructing him next. ‘Search for theelves. They will help you replace the goblins. From there, how to retrieve theother piece is impossible to say. A war is coming. You need to watch out.'
‘Gee, no pressure.'Lucas mumbled, looking nervous. ‘So, who should I watch out for?'
‘The usual,’ Tom repliedwith a shrug. ‘You know: werewolves, dwarves, harpies, spirits, guards –’
‘Spirits? Werewolves?’
‘Yeah,’ Tom noddedsoftly. ‘Spirits can possess any living or dead thing, and werewolves look likenormal people. The goblins shouldn’t be working with Lord Barback but who knowswith the last sixteen years.’
‘Is that it?’
‘Yes. That is prettymuch it. Oh and watch out for the trees.'
‘The trees?’
‘They move.’
‘They move?!’
‘They’re alive in ourworld,’ Tom smiled. ‘Well, most of them are. They may have been persuaded tofollow Lord Barback.’
‘Fine. Then what aboutyou two?' Lucas asked with curiosity.
They looked at eachother sadly. ‘We shall not return. At least not with you just yet,' Lucyreplied, turning back towards Lucas. ‘The amulet can only take one person. Whenyou search for the elves, ask for Jacob. He will help you harness its power tosummon us home. Until then, we will search for the way this assassin camethrough. Maybe we can go back that way.'
Lucas sat there with theelves, still in shock to even speak. Yet there was a question that he needed toask before he left. He bit his tongue and tried to speak. He could not atfirst, not sure how to word it. He opened his mouth, unable to speak, andclosed it again. He did it repeatedly for a few moments before both his friendsnoticed.
‘Lucas, what is it?' Tomasked in curiosity.
‘How will I know whereto go? How to replace the other elves, I mean,' he asked.
‘You will not know whereto go,' Tom replied. ‘I don't know if it will work with you, but with us fullblooded elves, we have the ability to sense where other elves are. Our peopleare always on the move. That is why we are never discovered. We don't stay inone place too long … at least when we were with them.'
‘Why is that? Why notjust replace one safe place?' Lucas asked.
‘It is for ourprotection,' Lucy replied. ‘We have done that before. It was how your mothermet your father. Shortly before your father's death, Lord Barback's guardsdiscovered our home and we had to flee. Your mother stayed behind. As half elf,you should be able to replace it, but we are not positive.'
‘Yeah … should,' Lucasmumbled.
Lucas looked down at hisamulet in his hand. He didn't know how to activate it and if Tom and Lucydidn't know how, then how could he make it work? As he put it on around hisneck, he found that surprisingly it did not feel heavy at all and he could feela warm sensation inside him.
It felt very lighthanging from his neck, so light that he was not sure if it was there on hisneck or not. He couldn't quite explain how it made him feel, but he knew it washis and his alone. He started to imagine what it would be like to live in a newworld. He thought of meeting his mother then stopped, terrified. He could nothelp but think to himself, what if she doesn't like me?
‘Ah … nothing'shappening,' Tom mumbled in confusion.
Lucy frowned. ‘Maybe itonly works in times of danger.'
Tom looked at her.‘Jacob told us that it will work for him. Not just when he is in danger.' Heturned to look at Lucas. ‘You can do this.'
‘Yeah, but how?'
Lucy smiled at him.‘Maybe try imagining your mother. The amulet might do what you want deep down.Just want to see her.'
‘What if she doesn'twant to see me? What if - ?'
‘Lucas, she would beproud to see who you are, just as we am.' Lucy smiled, beaming with pride. ‘Youcan do this. Just breathe and concentrate. No negative thinking, think onlypositive. Think of how proud she will be, how beautiful she looks.'
Lucas shut his eyes andpictured the image of the woman from his dreams. He saw her smiling at him,holding her hands out to him. Her blonde hair blew past her in the breeze, andfor a moment, he thought he could smell fresh roses nearby. All of a sudden,the amulet burnt hot and a white light started to engulf the room.
‘Be careful, Lucas!'yelled Lucy. ‘Don't trust anyone! Not everyone is who they seem!'
‘And don’t worry – wewill clean here,’ Tom yelled out.
Lucas didn't have timeto answer as the light flooded the room and then vanished with him.
* * *
‘Well you seem to be inquite a predicament,' the girl smirked at him.
Lucas snapped back toreality, out of his thoughts of what had occurred to lead him here. He didn'tknow where to turn. The harpies were closing in, the girl staring at him with adeadly look. All of a sudden, one harpy flew at him. Its claws reached out andjust before it hit him, he ducked and rolled on the ground. It did a u-turn inthe air and made a second attempt. The girl moved faster than he could have.Darting forward, she was now blocking the way between predator and victim. Shelaunched her spear into the air, impaling the harpy and instantly ending itsthreat. Its body fell next to Lucas, who stared at in shock before heinstinctively pulled the spear out of the dead body and got ready to fight. Thegirl grabbed the spear from him and handed Lucas a sword.
‘Here. Make yourselfuseful!' she cried at him as the next harpy dived at her.
Lucas didn't know how touse a sword; he never had. Yet somehow, just like that earlier that day, whichfelt so long ago, he moved faster than he ever had and had sliced off theharpy's head just before it attacked his defender. He couldn't quiteunderstand, but he remembered Tom and Lucy saying that elves developed fightingskills, even without practice.
The other two harpiesstarted to retreat and let out a bellow cry that sounded to Lucas like ananimal dying. In the next instant, there were no longer two harpies; Lucascouldn't count how many. The sky was filled with more of the deadly creatures,the massive black cloud flying towards them, screaming the same deadly cry.
‘Run!' the girl yelled,and she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the water.
‘Wait! Watch out!' heyelled, pulling her back.
The original two harpieswere behind them, moving in to attack. She grabbed a knife from a holder thatwas attached to her left leg and she threw it into her right hand. Lucas raisedhis sword, waiting to attack. The first harpy reached the girl first. As Lucaswatched in awe, she avoided every attack the creature used. She darted left asit flew into a mad, berserk fury. As the harpy flew down at her head, the girlleaped at the last moment and landed onto the harpy's back, stabbing her knifeinto its back. The knife found her intended deadly destination, killing thecreature instantly. As the body crashed, the girl leaped off and landed on herfeet.
To Lucas, the entireevent was like she was dancing. She had moved so fast, so deadly and sobeautifully. There was no flaw in her moves; she had done this before. Sheturned to him and smiled, but within seconds her face dropped in horror. Atfirst, Lucas could have sworn she was looking at him but he finally realizedthat she was actually looking behind him. He turned slowly and noticed the lastharpy and its new backup. There were too many for the two of them. She moved tohis side at once and looked at him for the first time with worry on her face.Yet as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Now she looked on, excited andready for her life and death match.
Lucas turned and sawwith shock that the harpies were circling them and driving them back towardsthe forest. Their backs were now almost against the trees. Lucas looked aroundand counted seven creatures circling. As the harpies attacked, Lucas swung hissword and moved faster than he ever had. It was like everything was slowingdown, but not enough for him to act. They clawed across his chest and his backand one harpy grabbed his hair and yanked. He had three attacking him andbefore he had a chance to attack, he had dropped his sword. He looked at thegirl and saw that she was doing a little better than him, but not by much; shealso had three onto her. As the last harpy dove to attack his face, he shut hiseyes, waiting for death to come.
It didn't. Within inchesof the impact of claws to face, Lucas's eyes flew open and the girl stared athim in shock. His eyes had now changed to a burning red colour. To her, itlooked like he had pupils that were filled with his own red blood.
The diving harpy wasthrown back by an invisible force and burst into flames. The three harpiesholding Lucas let go in shock and the next instant they were also being thrownfrom him, slamming into the trees that were near the duo. He turned to theharpies holding the girl and the three of them flew to attack him. Lucas didn'teven look down as he stuck out his hand. The fallen sword flew into his hand asthe first harpy advanced.
He swung the sword,cutting the creature in half. The other two tried to flee, but the girl wasonto them before they knew what was happening. As she quickly dispatched thelast two, she saw another flying at her. She had no time to defend herself, butLucas was there in an instant and slammed his sword into its chest. As it fell,they saw the last harpy flying away. They could hear it starting to cry thesame call as before. The girl pulled out an arrow and on her left side, shepulled out a small bow no bigger than her hand. With a flick of her wrist, itexpanded into a larger bow and she placed the arrow in, pulled back andreleased, sending the arrow into its intended target. It made a direct hit andthe dead creature fell into the forest.
They waited, expectingthe cry to have been heard. There seemed to be no movement in the forest or thesound of any more harpy cries. They looked at each other and the girl sawLucas's eyes change back to his normal blue. She looked at him, confused, andasked, ‘What was that?'
‘What was what?'
‘What you just did?' sheasked in confusion. ‘How did you do that?'
He stared back at her inconfusion and replied, ‘I have no idea. I just … I just did it. Like I knew howto. I don't know how though. I have never done that before.'
‘Either way, nicefireworks trick,' she said with a smile.
The girl walked over topick up her knife off the ground, turning back around and moving over to one ofthe dead harpies. She leant down onto her knees and began to move to cut offthe dead creature's leg when Lucas yelled in horror, ‘What the hell are youdoing?!'
‘I am cutting off itsleg to sell in Stelipse,' she replied in her casual voice. She froze and staredup at him from the top of her eyes.
‘Stop it! What if itsfriends come back?'
‘Then you send themflying again, no pun intended … because you know … they fly.'
‘That wasn't funny andneither is what you are doing. It's wrong.'
She shrugged. ‘It sellsat a high price. I need the money.'
‘I don't care. Don'ttouch it,' Lucas told her.
‘Why do you care?' Shestared at him coldly. ‘It tried to kill you. They all did and you worry aboutits leg. Who are you to tell me what to do?' She turned her head on an angle asif she was analysing him. ‘Why do you care?' she repeated, nodding at him.
‘I don't,' he repliedwith a shake of his head. ‘It is just wrong. It's dead. Leave it alone.'
‘No.'
The girl moved to cutits leg again when all of a sudden, the creature burst into flames. Frustrated,she moved quickly to her feet and she turned in shock to see the rest of thedead bodies bursting into flames as well. The fire was out just as quick as itstarted, nothing left of the dead bodies but ash. She stood up and turned tohim angrily, her hair flowing behind her gracefully.
‘Why the hell did you dothat?!' she screamed at him in anger.
‘I didn't mean to!'
‘You did so!'
‘I didn't!'
‘Whatever.'
‘Fine.'
Lucas turned and startedto walk off. He had better things to do than listen to this. He had to go replacethe elves and replace his mother. He didn't have time to bicker with the likes of-
‘So, I don't even get athank you?'
The girl had caught upto him, interrupting his train of thought. She was now in front of him, holdingout her hand and stopping him from continuing on his path. Lucas looked at herin the same cold look she gave him before.
‘What?'
‘Well, where I'm from,when a girl saves a guy's life, the least he could do is say thank you.' Shesmiled at him. ‘Unless you're embarrassed being saved by a girl.'
‘Are you serious?'
‘Come on. You would havebeen toast without me. Admit it. I saved your life.'
‘Full of yourself orwhat?' He rolled his eyes at her, yelling, ‘Fine! Thank you! Are you happynow?!'
She smiled back at himin reply. ‘There, was that so hard?' She began to look him up and down,crossing her arms as she stared at him intensely.
‘Are you done checkingme out?' he asked her in shock.
It was her turn to rollher eyes as she laughed. ‘Please, you wish. You have weird clothes.'
He rolled his eyes againand started to head past her, walking straight towards the forest. This girl isso annoying, he thought.
‘Where are you going?!'the girl yelled out. She ran after him, grabbing his arm to stop him before heentered the forest. She spun him around and looked at him, her shell necklaceglowed in the dark shadows.
‘I'm going throughthere. It's not your concern,' he replied.
‘Are you stupid?' sheasked with curiosity.
‘Excuse me?'
‘Are you stupid?'
‘Did you just -'
‘So, you are stupid?'she repeated. ‘Why are you going in there?'
‘To replace what I amlooking for. Don't call me -'
‘It is too dangerous inthere, especially at night. The werewolves are going to be out.' She looked upand Lucas did the same, noticing the sun had begun to set. He had not noticedbefore, too occupied with the girl and his attackers. He looked back at her andnoticed her necklace beginning to glow in the growing moonlight.
‘Werewolves? Great!' helaughed, more to himself than to the girl. ‘Should I watch out for the vampiresas well?'
She stared at him coldlybut also with curiosity, tilting her head on an angle again. ‘There are no suchthings as vampires. Where do you think we are, in some person's weird fantasyworld? I think you're crazy.'
Lucas couldn't controlhimself and he burst into a laughing fit. She stared at him in confusion beforequickly staring at him coldly.
‘Is something I saidamusing?' she hissed.
‘It's just, this is thattype of world.'
‘What do you mean?'
‘Nothing, don't worryabout it. If I can't go in there,' he nodded to the forest, ‘then where do I gofor the night? Obviously I need some rest as I'm going crazy.' He smiled ather, shaking his hands.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Weare going into the cave over there, crazy boy.'
The girl turned andbegan to head to the small entrance in the wall that Lucas noticed before. Hefollowed her quietly, smiling for an unknown reason. He could not help butwonder why she made him smile and yet drive him completely insane at the sametime. As she entered, she turned and stared at a stick that she noticed was onthe wall. When Lucas moved closer, he noticed it was a fire torch, exceptobviously there was no fire.
‘Do you mind?' sheasked, pulling it out and turning it towards him.
‘I told you I don't knowhow.'
She sighed. ‘You haveremarkable powers. Your parents must have taught you. If not them, then ateacher. No one who has powers like you have displayed does not know how tocontrol them.'
‘My father is dead, mymother is … missing. I had no teacher. I was raised by someone who … never knewI had powers. I only discovered them myself today.'
‘That is impossibleunless you were raised by a human.'
‘Well, I was.' Shelooked at him curiously when he asked, ‘Where did you learn your skills?'
‘My father and olderbrothers taught me. I am a fast learner,' she replied, smiling.
‘So, you have a powertoo?'
‘Yes. It is irrelevantat this stage. I need you to light this for me.'
‘I can't.'
‘You won't until youtry. I'm not sure how this will work with you, but listen to what I say and doexactly what you hear. Close your eyes.' He stared at her. ‘I'm not going to doanything. Just do what I say.' He closed his eyes and listened. ‘Justconcentrate. First, feel the magic inside you. To each person, their powerfeels different. Like a warm feeling or a cold one. Feel it move inside you andthen imagine it pouring out of you. Not physically, but you know what I mean.'
Lucas listened butdidn't feel anything at first. Then, just as the girl had said, he could feel asmall warm feeling in his chest. He began to feel the warmest yet strangelycool feeling move from his chest, down to his arms and even up to his head.
‘Now, try picturing ittaking a form. A form for whatever purpose you want it to do. Feel your magicmove to your hand.' As she spoke, Lucas felt his hand begin to burn red-hot. Heopened his eyes and smiled as a little fireball began to form. She looked athim and smiled. ‘See. It is possible. Apparently, you are a fast learner aswell.'
As soon as she spoke,the flame died. Lucas sighed.
'Try again,' was all shesaid.
So, he did and this timewhen he opened his eyes, he concentrated on holding it in spot. He moved hishand towards the torch and the fireball stretched from his hand to the tip,lighting the torch. The girl smiled at him and started walking into the cave.He smiled at himself and his achievement, following his new companion down intothe darkness.
‘As time goes, you willnot have to concentrate that hard,' the girl informed him. ‘Eventually, it willbe natural and you won't even have to think at all.'
They finally reached a largecavern, taller than Lucas thought was possible. Upon entering the caveoriginally, the roof was not that much taller than him, but as they continuedmoving down and further in, the roof began to expand. Being dark inside, withonly a small light to guide them, he had not noticed as the roof began toslowly expand. Until now, when he couldn't even see the top any longer.
The girl turned to himand spoke in a soft voice, ‘We will rest here and tomorrow we'll head toStelipse. We will need the rest for the journey.'
‘What's a Stelipse?'
She turned her head asshe smiled, replying, ‘It's a town.'
‘Thank you for all youhave done for me, but I will be fine by myself tomorrow.'
She could only stare athim, an amusing smile on her face. ‘Where is Stelipse?'
‘Ah … through theforest?' he replied, looking guilty.
‘Assuming you don't runinto any trouble, I would say it is at least two to three days walk. You willnever reach there by yourself.'
‘It doesn't matter. I'mnot heading there.'
‘You are not very smartabout the outside world,' she smiled at him. ‘About our world, are you?'
‘What?' he asked her inshock.
‘You are not from ourworld, are you?' the girl asked. She continued to stare at his reactions,seemingly analyzing his reactions.
‘Yes, of course -' Lucasstarted.
‘No, you are not,' sheinterrupted him. ‘Your clothes are unlike anything in Bomcard. The way youtalk, the fact you have no control in your powers, yet you destroyed thoseharpies like playthings. You do not even know Stelipse, and everyone knows ofStelipse. You have no idea about this world. I mean, you believe in vampires,'she laughed, rolling her eyes. ‘No one here is that dumb.' She walked to oneside of the cavern, which finally ended in a large stone wall, and sat down withher back against the rocks.
‘Do you always talk likethat?' he asked, looking at her coldly.
‘Like what?' she askedinnocently.
‘You speak in a way … Imight not be from here, but you don't have to be rude and call me dumb, orcrazy, or stupid. Sometimes you shouldn't say some of the stuff you say.'
She shrugged. ‘I amsorry if I offended you. That is how I was raised. To say things the way therewere. You act out of place. You will need help fitting in. Tomorrow, we'll replaceclothes for you from this world so you won't be noticed. Trust me, if anyonefound out you were from another world …'
‘What are you gettingout of this?' She stared at him coldly. Realising how rude he was, Lucasapologised, ‘I'm sorry. Lately, I become harsh when I am uncomfortable. Defensemechanism. It's just... why are you helping me?'
‘I'm not gettinganything out of this. I am heading that way myself. If you wish to come, youmay follow.'
‘Why are you goingthere?'
‘That's none of yourconcern. You don't answer my questions, why should I answer your own?'
He sighed and nodded. ‘Touché. I'm searching for my mother.'
‘I am escaping myfather,' she revealed in reply. ‘I'm not exactly in his good books at themoment. I'm sort of … running away. We need rest now.'
The girl moved to laydown on the ground the moment she struck the torch into the dirt. Lucas laydown on the other side of the cavern and tried to sleep but found he couldn't.The floor was too hard as he predicted and the thoughts running through hismind continued to plague him. One question continued to annoy him aboveeverything else.
‘Hey, what's your name?'he asked after a few minutes, half expecting no answer.
There was a moment'ssilence before the reply came softly from across the cave. ‘My name is Elizabeth.And yours?'
He smiled in thedarkness as he replied, ‘Lucas.'
* * *
They both awoke just as the sun was beginning to rise, thesunlight pouring in through the cracks at the top of the large cavern. It looksas large as a four storey building, obviously without the floors, Lucas thoughtto himself. Stone cone rocks pointed downwards, drips of water slowly fallingdown to the ground below.
As the pair started heading out of the cave, Elizabeth put herhand on Lucas and said, ‘Maybe you should stay here, just for an hour or less.I will go get you some clothes. You stand out like a sore thumb.'
‘Where? You said thenearest town was Stelipse.'
She smiled. ‘No, Ididn't. You just assumed that. I am heading to Stelipse, but it is not thenearest town. There is a small village nearby. I will be there and back withclothes before you know it.' Without another word, Elizabeth was out theentrance.
Lucas frowned and walkedoutside following her, but he noticed she had already vanished. Sighing tohimself, he decided that to pass the time he might practice a few of hisabilities. He sat down and started concentrating on creating a fireball again.He was successful instantly and started to palm it from one hand to the other,making it bigger, then smaller, then big again. He wondered to himself whatelse he could do with his powers.
He noticed a smallwooden log nearby, no bigger than a trash can, and moved over to it. Picking itup, he found it was a little heavier than he had thought, but he managed todrag it towards the water. He made it stand up where the sand began and thegrass ended, walked away, counting ten steps, and then turned to face it.
Lucas stared hard at thewood and concentrated. He imagined throwing his arm out and the fire sprayingout, so he did just that but found nothing happened. He continued to try beforesitting down, both frustrated and in pain. He thought to himself how he coulddo it. He tried creating the fireball again and was able to do so when a suddenmemory appeared in his mind. He had made it stretch before, when Elizabeth hadpassed him the torch the night before. With the ball in his hand, he aimed atthe wood log and threw his arm out. The ball launched from his hand and hit thelog dead on.
Lucas cheered likecrazy. The log had not caught fire, so he tried again. He realised after awhile that he could shoot the flame ball only once he created it. The more he practicedthe faster and better he got. After twenty minutes, he did not need to thinkabout creating a ball; it just happened, exactly like the girl had said itwould. Then it got out of hand.
As he went to fireanother ball, he imagined for a second what he wanted to do in his firstattempt. He imagined the fire stretching and flying across the field to itstarget. Before he knew what was happening, the fire did exactly what heimagined, but this time the log was alight and burning quickly. Lucas startedto panic, noticing the black smoke flying high. He rushed towards it, trying toconcentrate on controlling the fire, but it wasn't working. Before he knew whatwas happening, the sea started to move back, seeming to him as if it was afraidof the fire. In the next instant, however, a small, hand like wave reached outand grabbed the log, dragging it back into the water's depths before returningto normal.
Lucas heard a soft noisebehind him and turned to see Elizabeth standing there, her eyes a fiery blue.To Lucas, it looked little flames in her eyes, only hers were blue instead ofred. She walked up to him with her bundle of clothes for him and threw them athim. He noticed that she had a sword on her back in a holder that was half thesize of her.
She stared at him coldlyas she said, ‘I should have said don't do anything stupid.'
‘Did you do that?' heasked, astonished.
‘Yes,' she nodded inreply. ‘I can manipulate water. A unique talent, but apparently you can aswell, only fire instead.'
‘How?'
‘I'm sorry?' She lookedat him, confused.
‘Well, I was told onlymagical folk had powers. Humans didn't.'
‘It doesn't matter.'
‘I mean … it's just …'
‘Your powers are reallyamazing.' She smiled at him and then looked at him in confusion. ‘It's justthat no one I have heard of has been able to get it that quick. Adapting totheir power, I mean. As much as I taught you to channel it, you should haveburnt that log every time you hit it. I watched you. It took me years to mastercontrol and to form solid objects in the water. And I can't use my power unlessI have water near me. You can create the fire and you are able to control theheat. It would have taken years of practice. It took you less than thirtyminutes.' She smiled again. ‘Well, at least some good came out of it.'
Lucas smiled and shereturned his gesture as he held up the clothes. ‘Thanks for the clothes. Wheredid you get them?'
‘A small village nearby.I know … knew some of the people there.'
‘What do you mean by"knew"?' he asked.
Elizabeth looked at him,her face falling into a look of sorrow and shock.
‘Lord Barback's guardswere there. They had destroyed everything and killed everyone in the village.It was horrible. We better leave. I wouldn't be surprised if they saw thesmoke.'
‘Do you mind?' he said,lifting his clothes and smiling at her.
She rolled her eyes athim and smiled in return. She turned around to stare at the forest, in case theguards did see the smoke or the harpies wanted a rematch from the day before.She could hear him slowly undressing and could not help but have a quickglance.
His body was perfect toher. He had muscle, not too much, but enough for someone with his size andframe. She also noticed he was wearing a type of amulet, but he was too faraway for her to notice any details. She couldn't help to continue staring, evenwhen he noticed her. He was already wearing his new pants and quickly threw hisshirt on. He tucked the amulet under his new shirt and she turned back arounduntil he had finished. He patted her shoulder and Elizabeth turned to face himand saw how he now looked.
Lucas looked exactlylike a peasant from the town. His light brown shirt mixed well with his blackpants. He had no shoes, but she had found him dark brown sandals to wear. Hehad buttoned up his shirt up to his chest, only a small part of his chestvisible. He had also looped the small fabric ties around the small woodenbuttons perfectly, closing the shirt across his bare chest. He placed his oldclothes on the ground and smiled at Elizabeth.
‘Well?' he asked. As hespoke, he took a step back, holding his arms out and turning around in a circle.
She was about to answerwhen they heard a loud horn noise coming from the direction of the desertedvillage. They looked at each other and realised where the sound was heading asthe second horn call became louder. She grabbed his hand and started dragginghim towards the forest.
‘Hey! That's where thenoise is coming from! Are you mental?!' he yelled at her.
‘We can't stay here! Wecan hide in there.'
As they ran into theforest, Lucas took in the beauty that surrounded him. The first moment he entered,he noticed how large and dark it really was inside. There seemed to be no endto the top of the trees or how far it stretched in front of them. Little greengrass shrubs surrounded the bases of the trees and he noticed a small creekflowing down from the center of the forest towards them. It was no deeper thanhis foot and the bottom of the creek was covered in different colouredminiature pebbles. A small ray of sunlight was beaming in from the top of thetrees, but this seemed to be the only source of light. Multicolouredbutterflies flew past him into the sky and through the beam of light as thesmell of pollen and lavender filled the air.
They continued to run,leaping over the small creek and as he looked back, he realised he couldn't seethe entrance they had entered from. As they continued to run, Lucas noticedsomething coming at them from ahead.
‘Stop,' he whispered.Elizabeth stared at him confused. ‘Don't you hear them coming?' He began tolook around until he finally noticed them, but she still could not seeanything. The guards were coming closer, their red and black suits sticking outto Lucas like a sore thumb. She looked back at him and shook her head. Theyheard a louder horn sound, but this time it came from both behind and in frontof them.
Elizabeth looked aroundin shock. ‘We're trapped,' she whispered.
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