Destiny - Book One in The Bomcard Trilogy
Chapter Four - Some Magical Interference

Elizabeth and Lucas looked around them frantically, trying to replacean escape route from the enclosed area. Somehow, the guards had moved aroundthem and had surrounded them, slowly moving in closer. The sound of theirfootsteps echoed in the quiet, empty forest and the closer they moved, theylouder they became until finally, Lucas realised they were only a few momentsaway.

The pair darted down to the ground, lying on their stomachs on thedirt as the guards moved closer.

‘Don't worry. I canfight them. I can control my powers,' Lucas whispered to Elizabeth.

‘No, you can't use yourpowers,' she said. ‘This is a forest. You can set fire to this place. It wouldkill us, setting a forest fire.' She looked around, assessing her location andsituation. She didn't like feeling trapped, but as much as she tried, sherealised that they were not going to be able to run.

‘I can control theheat,' he hissed at her.

‘We can't risk it,' shehissed in reply. ‘There is no choice. We have to fight them in hand to handcombat, or we hide.'

‘I don't know how tofight. It just kicks in when I need it to. We can take the chance.'

‘We can't risk it,' she repeated.

‘But we can risk mebeing able to kick start my fighting powers?'

‘Then we hide, Lucas.'

Lucas began to lookaround at his surroundings, trying to replace the best hiding place in the area,until he finally noticed a giant wooden log covered by some large, overgrownbushes. He grabbed Elizabeth's hand and ran towards the log, pushing her intothe opening.

‘Here, get in!' hewhispered to her, sliding in after. They listened together as the guard groupsfinally approached each other.

‘Did you replace the causeof the smoke?' one man asked, his voice cold and ruthless.

‘No,' answered another.‘We did replace these though.'

‘What strange clothesthese are. Where did you replace them?'

‘Next to the sea. Therewas no sign of anyone or anything. Their trail led into the forest. We haven'tbeen able to replace the trail since we came in.'

‘Spread out,' the firstvoice commanded. ‘Find whoever they are. They have my sword and I want itback.'

Lucas was confused. What sword? He looked at Elizabeth andnoticed she had a guilty look on her face. He frowned as he realised what swordthey were looking for: the one she brought back with her. He assumed it wasanother of her weapons and he had just not noticed it before.

‘What?' she whispered athis disappointed stare. ‘It wasn't theirs in the first place. It belonged to afriend of mine.'

‘Quiet,' Lucas hushedher. Everything had gone silent and he began to think to himself that theguards must have left. He didn't know whether to wait and chance it or not.

He waited a few minutesbefore he slowly slid closer to the entrance and listened. He couldn't hearanything outside, nor could he see anything moving either. He looked atElizabeth, put his finger to his lips and indicated moving outside.

As soon as his headstuck out of the log, a massive hand grabbed his hair and yanked him out of hishiding spot. Elizabeth froze in horror and silence as Lucas was thrown onto theground in front of his captors. The force of the fall winded him and he lookedaround, dazed, noticing six pairs of feet. One of the guards kicked him in thestomach, sending him back to the ground, the amulet falling out of his shirt.The guards all froze in horror as they stared down at the winded boy.

One of the guardsstepped forward and Lucas immediately recognised him as the leader. He was atall, muscular man, his shoulder length, slick black hair hanging down behindhim. Lucas recognised his uniform immediately as those that belonged to theevil humans from his dreams, from the red, long sleeve shirts with gold buttonsto the thick black pants and boots.

The leader guard lookedfurious, but as he noticed the amulet, his face dropped in shock andrecognition. ‘Where did you get that?' he demanded, reaching out for it.

Before he could grab theamulet, Lucas spun himself vertically into the air, flipping over and landingon his feet. He swung his foot out, connecting with the guard and sending himflying. The other five guards surrounding him attacked in an instant. Beforethe first one's sword fell, Elizabeth was there with her new sword, blockinghis attack. Lucas took her sword from her side satchel and defended himselffrom the second guard. As they fought back to back, the guards gained theadvantage and surrounded the two of them. Elizabeth looked at Lucas and noticedthe detail of the amulet for the first time. It was beautiful and sherecognised the elfish writing immediately but did not understand what it said.

The leader guard slowlystepped forward, his cold, dead black eyes staring only at Lucas coldly as oneof the other guards looked at him and asked, ‘Rafael, are you okay?'

Rafael rubbed his jawand stepped toward Lucas who raised his sword to defend himself as Rafael tooka sword from one of the other guards and advanced. Rafael attacked first andLucas moved to defend. The clash of metal echoed across the forest. Neither wasbetter than the other, and for every opening Lucas made, he was able to defendhimself when Rafael attacked. Their swords clashed above them as the otherguards watched in awe before they all realised that this would last a while.Each smiling darkly, they turned and moved towards Elizabeth.

‘No!' yelled Lucas inhorror.

The guards ran towardsher, but the first three never reached her. Three arrows flew out of the treesand hit the men dead on. The other two froze where they stood and Rafael andLucas halted their own fight. Out of the dark, standing tall above the smallhill behind the group, came three majestic creatures. They looked like men atfirst, or at least their top halves did. Their long black hair reached theirwaists, and Lucas noticed that in their hands they held their bows. On theirbacks laid the holders that carried their arrows for their weapons. Theirbottom halves matched their hair. All three had black bottom halves with fourlegs that each ended in black horse's hooves. Lucas realised in awe that he wasstaring at centaurs.

‘Move away from thechildren,' the middle centaur commanded.

‘No harm shall come tothem,' the one on the left spoke.

‘Leave our forest orface the fate of your companions,' the third added.

Rafael and the other twoguards stared at them and Rafael threatened, ‘We shall go. This, however, isnot over. You have broken the law by helping these outlaws. You will bepunished for this.' As he finished his sentence, his own sword flew to theground and nearly stabbed his feet. Elizabeth stared coldly at him.

‘The girl child has agood aim. We are better,' the middle centaur spoke, placing a new arrow in hisbow and pulling back the string. ‘You shall not threaten us or the children.Tell your fake king the Lost Son has returned. He will be protected by all. Thethrone no longer belongs to Lord Barback.'

With that, the other twocentaurs raised their bows and aimed at the three guards. The guards scooped upLucas's clothes and ran as fast as they could, but as they passed Rafael, hejust stood there, staring at Lucas for a few seconds before he too turned andran into the darkness.

Lucas let out a sigh andturned with Elizabeth to face their saviors. The middle centaur, who seemed tobe the leader, moved forwards to meet them. The other two followed, each movingin silence. As they finally reached him, they stopped and bowed to him, orbowed as best as they could. Their left arms rose to their right shoulders andtheir knees buckled as they lowered their bodies.

‘Our king has returned,'the middle centaur spoke.

Lucas looked confused.‘Ah, I'm not your king.'

‘You are the rightfulruler of this land. The king rules over all, humans and creatures alike. We areat your service.'

‘King?' Elizabeth askedin confusion.

The centaurs ignored herand continued to remain still as Lucas stared at her, confused.

Turning back to theothers, he spoke quietly, ‘Please … stand up. Don't bow.'

The three raisedthemselves up as one. From the distance, they had seemed the size of an averageman but now up close, Lucas realised that they were taller than both himselfand Elizabeth. They looked down and remained quiet, staring at only him.

‘Okay. This isn'tawkward or anything,' Lucas mumbled under his breath.

They continued to stareat him, not moving or taking their eyes off him. He noticed the amulet hangingaround his neck and he tucked it quickly back under his shirt.

‘Ah … what are all yournames?' Lucas asked the silenced centaurs.

The middle centaur wasthe first to speak and replied, ‘My name is FieryTemper.'

‘Your name isFieryTemper?' Elizabeth asked with a curious smile.

‘Correct.'

‘Why? I mean, nooffence, but weird name.'

‘What is your name,child?' he asked with the same curious smile.

‘Elizabeth.'

‘How is the nameElizabeth not weird itself?' Lucas smiled as Elizabeth frowned.

FieryTemper smiled andcontinued, 'This is QuickRun,' as he nodded to the centaur on his left. He thennodded to the other centaur on his right. ‘And this is FastShot.'

Now with the dangerpassed, Lucas could see them more clearly. FieryTemper had a sterner look tohim that made Lucas instantly recognise him as the leader. His dark black eyesshowed no fear or threat in them, only kindness. FastShot looked more laidback, his own black eyes more curious than kind while QuickRun looked to Lucaslike he was ready for more action. His brown eyes only watched the directionthe guards ran to.

‘Ah … I'm Lucas,' Lucasreplied.

‘You are King Fredrick.'QuickRun spoke, finally turning to face him.

‘King Fredrick? What arethey talking about? You're not the Lost Son, or are you?' Elizabeth askedLucas, turning to look at him, confused.

She didn't understandanything that was happening. All she had gathered so far was that the guardswanted to hurt them and take Lucas's amulet. Then the centaurs called him aking and the Lost Son. She knew the stories but she always assumed he would beolder. What was going on?

Lucas looked at her witha guilty look. Elizabeth turned away with a sad look on her face. Before hecould say anything, FieryTemper spoke.

‘We must leave beforethey come back. I shall take the girl. King Fredrick -'

‘My name is Lucas.'

‘- you can ride withFastShot.'

With that, FieryTempergrabbed Elizabeth and pulled her up onto his back. She wrapped her arms aroundhis waist as he rode off with QuickRun behind. FastShot went to Lucas andpulled him up onto his back. As soon as he was on, the centaur was off, Lucasbarely having time to wrap his arms around his waist.

It was like nothingLucas had ever experienced. He had ridden a horse before, but this was nothinglike that. He grabbed FastShot's waist and held on as he ran through the forest.Lucas noticed how fast they were going only by how close the growing lightseemed to be and how fast the trees flew by.

When they had finallyreached the light, they slowed down and came to stop in a clearing surroundedby more tall green trees and one large rock wall that curved around from thebeginning of the clearing all the way around. He saw that there were three caveentrances in the walls in the middle of the clearing, one on each side and onein the middle. As they arrived, Lucas noticed that there were more centaursinside the small clearing. He couldn't count how many, young and old, men andwomen, different sizes and different colors. They were all so beautiful.

Smaller trees filled thearea, providing shade from the sunlight that poured down from above. With nolarge trees apart from those that circled around the clearing, there wasnothing here to block the oncoming sunlight. Lucas noticed immediately how warmit felt here compared to inside the forest. Butterflies flew into the airtowards the sunlight and small coloured flowers that scattered the ground brokefrom their stems and flew into the air as the light breeze blew past them.Lucas realised the smell of lavender was stronger here than in the forest, buthe could also smell the faint smell of sea breeze.

Elizabeth was standingnear FieryTemper who was now talking to an older centaur who was sitting downat a small table. The older centaur had grey hair that fell to his waist, hisfur also a grey colour. His tired eyes moved over to Lucas and just staredblankly at him. As Lucas approached, the centaurs one by one bowed as he passedthem. He felt so nervous and uncomfortable; he didn't want this type ofattention. He came here to destroy the amulet and save both Earth and Bomcardfrom this Barback man, but he never wanted to be king.

He reached the end ofhis walk and was now standing with Elizabeth, FieryTemper and FastShot. Theolder centaur rose up and smiled, ‘Greetings, my king. I am ElderOne. We havewaited for your return since the rise of the evil Lord Barback two hundredyears ago.'

‘How did you know who Iwas?' Lucas asked.

FieryTemper replied,‘Your amulet. We recognised it immediately as that of the royal bloodline.'

‘We were hunting when weheard the guards,' FastShot spoke. ‘We followed them. We were not going tointerfere, but then once we had seen the amulet on your neck, we made ourselvesknown. We have always been loyal to the royal bloodline.'

‘Humph. Story of mylife,' Lucas mumbled.

‘I do not understand,'FastShot replied.

‘Oh, just that the onlyreason people … ‘interfere' in my life is when they realise who I am or amsupposed to be.'

Elizabeth looked at himsadly with pain in her eyes. Lucas looked at her and added, ‘Except for you.'

She nodded at him slowly,the pain never leaving her face.

‘I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Iwas told not to tell anyone.'

‘This is not the place.We will talk later.'

Lucas looked at her asshe turned and looked back at ElderOne.

‘Tonight, we shall restand celebrate. Tomorrow, we shall talk,' ElderOne spoke.

‘The guards are -' Lucasstarted.

‘Our clearing is wellhidden. No human can replace our home.' FieryTemper smiled, giving

Lucas a sense of asafety and reassurance.

‘We will celebrate ourking's return! My people! The king is home! The Lost Son has returned!'ElderOne yelled as he turned to his people. ‘All hail King Fredrick!'

‘My name is Lucas,'Lucas whispered to ElderOne.

‘My apologies,' hesmiled at Lucas, turning back to his people and correcting, ‘All hail KingLucas of Bomcard!'

With a loud cheer, thecentaurs' voices roared above the trees, the centaurs jumping and throwingtheir hands up in excitement. The younger ones hugged each other, the malescheered, the women cried.

ElderOne led Lucas andElizabeth down the path, stopping at a group of female centaurs. There werethree of them and each had a light brown fabric cloth, similar to that ofElizabeth's clothing that covered their breasts. One of the females had blackhair both on her head and body, the second was a dark brunette, also both onher head and body. He spoke to the third female who had blonde hair thatcovered her front, her green emerald eyes warm and kind. Her bottom half was abeautiful blonde that matched her hair.

‘Leah, can you help theyoung girl get cleaned up.'

With that, Leah tookElizabeth's hand and led her away. Elizabeth did not even look back at Lucas asshe disappeared with the female centaur.

Their next stop was toQuickRun, and ElderOne spoke, ‘QuickRun, help our king get ready for our feast.I shall send FastShot to assist you.' With that, he left to prepare for thegathering.

QuickRun led Lucastowards the small hole in the wall on the right. ‘This is where the men sleepand prepare. We shall clean you up here.'

As Lucas entered, henoticed how large the cavern looked. It was as large as the cavern he had sleptin the night before, except this cavern had cloths covering the ground forbeds. He looked back and wondered how he being here was endangering thesebeautiful creatures and how he would never let harm come to any of them.

As the centaurs preparedfor their feast, Lucas stepped out, clean and recovered from his fight with theguards. He had gained a new shirt and instead of the peasant one Elizabeth hadfound for him, he now wore a dark brown shirt, wool stitched into the inside tokeep his chest warm. He had to keep his pants as the centaurs had none sincethey did not need them.

He noticed in the middleof the field that there was now a large table with trays of fruit galore. Hewalked down and immediately realised that the table was so short he would haveto sit on the grass ground. He didn't mind that as they went to all thistrouble. Lucas then noticed that a group of centaurs sat near a large tree nearthe table. They started to play music as others laughed amongst themselves.Some were singing, others were bouncing around to the music.

‘Young one, what do youthink of our home?'

Lucas turned and sawFieryTemper approaching, his warm smile on his face.

‘It is beautiful,' hereplied as the centaur stopped beside him. ‘Can I ask you a q?'

‘A sorry?'

‘A q, a question.'

‘You may.'

He turned back to thethree chambers he saw before, pointing as he asked, ‘What is in the middlechamber? I have been watching it and no one ever goes into it or near it. Themales have one chamber, the females the other. So, what is in the third?'

‘We do not know. It issealed. ElderOne asks us not to ask questions about it, so we agree.'

‘Can I ask you anotherquestion?'

‘You may.'

Lucas turned to look athim as he asked, ‘Don't be offended, but why do some people have weird namesand others don't?'

FieryTemper laughed.‘Our names are not chosen for us. It is determined by how we act. Leah actshuman - human emotions and reactions. It is fitting she has a human name. Ihave a fiery temper, thus my name. Lord Barback is more demon then human, thusa darker name in your eyes.'

‘Sorry, I didn't mean tobe rude.'

‘You were not rude. Youwere curious.'

Lucas smiled and asked,‘Are you and Leah related?'

FieryTemper turned tohim and smiled, nodding slowly. ‘Excellent observation, young king. How did youdiscover this?'

‘Your eyes,' he repliedwith a smile. ‘You have different coloured eyes, but … the same. No one elsehere has the same type, but I can just tell. Also, the way you speak about her.You seem protective. I noticed you staring at her before and I thought that itwas creepy until I worked it out.'

‘Very good, young king,'the centaur smiled.

Lucas turned back aroundand viewed the field and its occupants. ‘What is it about me that everyonethinks I am?'

‘I do not understand.'

Lucas turned to him,frowning. ‘Everyone says I'm some king. Like some kind of savior. I don't wantto fight.'

‘You must do what youare destined to do. If it supposed to happen, it will.'

‘So you're saying I'mgoing to have to fight?'

FieryTemper looked athim and smiled. ‘You could stand there and let him stab you.'

Lucas smiled back. ‘Youhave a point.'

‘I always do.'

FieryTemper looked outover the valley. The small children ran around while the older centaurs dancedto the music.

‘Do you all keep toyourselves? Magical folk, I mean. I have a sense that no one likes the others.'

FieryTemper looked atLucas curiously. He took a moment to think of the answer before he spoke.

‘We always have. Beforethe First Great Battle we kept to ourselves. The goblins wanted our lands andwe would not let them take it. A fight began between our species, and the kingof that time interfered. He gave us our land and gave the goblins their home.When the king needed help, we gladly returned his gesture.

‘After the First GreatBattle, the humans continued to be part of our lives until just before LordBarback arrived. Some humans attacked and killed some of our tribe. When webrought this up with the king of that time, he did not act. He was a selfishman who had no interest in anything that did not benefit him. He wanted paymentfor any help and we refused.

'When the Second GreatBattle began, we were called to arms. We fought to stop Lord Barback's rise,but we failed. We tried to help, but after that, we told the king we wouldnever serve him or his descendants again until a selfless king took thethrone.'

‘I was never told that.'Lucas looked at him, upset over his descendant’s actions.

‘Only the centaurs andthe king knew. Everyone has a reason, King Lucas. You need only to ask.'

‘So how did you know?Why did you help me?'

‘The way you would havesacrificed yourself to protect the girl. The selfish king didn't even fight inthe Second Great Battle. You were willing to die to save her. If you moved todo so, the guard you were fighting would have slain you instantly. You are theselfless king of legend, the Lost Son. We shall defend you and are at your call.'

‘One last thing. Whydoes everyone call Barback Lord Barback? I mean, if I'm king and all, why is hea lord?'

‘Many call him LordBarback out of fear, in some cases out of respect. Everyone has the reason tocall him Lord. You need only to ask.'

‘Thanks, FieryTemper.'

‘Hey.'

Lucas and FieryTemperturned and noticed Elizabeth heading towards him, wearing a long black dressrobe. Guess they didn't like her other clothes either, Lucas smiled to himself.He looked behind her at the entrance of the cave of the male chambers andnoticed ElderOne coming out, followed by QuickRun and FastShot. Lucas turnedand noticed FieryTemper had disappeared but knew he was somewhere near. Lucasthought that FieryTemper had the same thoughts he did. Maybe now was not the besttime to have a feast. Elizabeth walked up to him, as clean and recovered asLucas was.

‘Can we talk?' Elizabethasked him politely.

‘Sure.'

They started to walkaround the field, alone and in silence. After a few moments, she made the firstmove.

‘Nice clothes,' shesmiled kindly at him.

‘Thanks. You too.'

‘Why didn't you mentionthat you are a king?' she asked, staring at him.

‘I kind of didn't trustyou - no offence. I mean, I really appreciate you helping me, but I don'treally know you. For all I knew, you were working with Barback,' he replied. ‘Itrust you now.' He looked at her and smiled warmly.

‘Well … that makessense. At least you're honest, so I will be too. I didn't trust you either. Ithought my father sent you.' She looked at him with a sad look.

‘Why did you run away?'he asked.

‘He wanted me to getmarried. I don't and have never loved the man. It was an arranged marriage. Iwill marry the man I love, not some stranger.'

‘Aren't you a littleyoung to be getting married?'

‘No. Sixteen is theusual age.'

Lucas laughed. ‘Notwhere I'm from.'

‘Where is that?'Elizabeth asked.

They had reached thetable in the middle of the field. Lucas sat on the soft ground at one end ofthe table as Elizabeth took a seat next to him. He looked around and finallyturned to her when he was sure no one was listening.

‘I come from the worldwe call Earth. Where I come from, everything I see here, that I can do here, itis all make-believe. This only happens in what we call movies and stories.'

‘Movies? What are they?'

‘It's when people …well, pretend to be others. They act out past events or make up new stories.Scary stories, funny ones. Dancing ones …'

‘Dancing? Do you knowhow to?' she asked him in excitement.

‘Ah … a little.'

‘Tell me about whereyou're from.'

‘Well, I live in NewYork City. It's sort of like a kingdom, just it's ruled by a man called apresident, not a king. They have buildings as tall as the skies, taller thanthe trees here. They have lights and colors galore, they have music and moviesand food. It's also very crowded with tourists and locals.'

‘What are tourists?' sheasked in confusion.

‘Like me. Visitors tosomewhere they don't live. Sort of like they are visiting for a short timeuntil they return to where they belong.'

‘So, you're a touristhere? Are you returning back to this … Earth?' she asked, staring at him.

‘I don't know,' heshrugged. The thought of returning had not crossed his mind as of yet. He wasmore worried about being killed instead of how he would return home.

‘Tell me more,'Elizabeth asked in curiosity.

‘Well, you should trythe food there. There is this ice-cream stand that makes the best ice-creams inNew York and there are hot dogs and hamburgers and … Linda.' Lucas frowned ashe began to remember the people he had left behind.

‘Who is Linda?'

‘Linda is my adoptivemom. She raised me from when I was a baby. She's back home with Tom and Lucy.'

‘Who?'

‘Maybe I should startfrom the beginning.'

Smiling, Lucas toldElizabeth everything, from his troubled home life to his meeting with her. Sheleaned in closer as she gasped, frowned, became angry, became upset and smiledat the stories of his life. He told her everything about Tom and Lucy andstopped.

‘What is it?' she askedhim, confused.

‘You know how I did thatstuff. You could too. Does that mean you're like me?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Elf. Or part.'

‘You're part elf?' sheasked him in shock.

He looked at herconfused. ‘Yeah, why?'

‘Nothing … I just … wasshocked. So, where do you think your mother is?' She changed the subjectquickly, hoping that it would distract him. Her distraction worked.

‘I don't know,' hesighed. ‘This is a big world, and I have no idea where to look.'

‘You'll replace her,'Elizabeth smiled in reply. She turned to look at the musicians under the tree.

‘I haven't ever been apart of this world.'

‘Well, you're not acentaur.'

‘That's not what Imeant,' she smiled, turning towards him. ‘I mean how I have never been aroundsuch human stuff. Like the food.' She stared at the fruit on the table thenlooked back at him. ‘The peace.' She turned back to the musicians. ‘Or eventhis.'

‘The feast and music?'

‘You,' she replied,looking at him. ‘I have never been this comfortable with someone.'

‘I know what you mean,'he replied softly, turning to look back at her. ‘I trust you with my life. Idon't understand why I can trust you so much. It's like I know I can depend onyou my whole life. I only met you yesterday, but it feels like you have alwaysbeen at my side.'

‘I do understand. Thatis how I am feeling now.'

‘Besides, you're not asannoying as yesterday.'

‘Shut up,' she laughedand pushed him.

‘True story,' he laughedback. She turned back to the music and Lucas frowned as he stared at thecentaurs. ‘Why do you think that is?'

She turned to face himand shrugged in silence before she replied. 'I am not sure. I have neverexperienced it myself or even heard of it before. It just seems that … well,like you said, it feels like I have known you my whole life. I knew immediatelythat I was supposed to help you with whatever you need me to, and I will.'

She smiled and turnedback to watch the festivities. Lucas watched Elizabeth in silence with a smileon his face as she continued to watch the dancing centaurs.

‘I dreamed of you.'

She turned to him andstared at him in shock, a small smile on her face. ‘I'm sorry?'

‘Well, Tom and Lucy saidmy dreams could possibly be premonitions. There was one dream I had a fewtimes. Everything in my world was being destroyed. There was a massive battleand you were there. You ran over to me and saved my life.'

She smiled at him.‘Premonitions are usually connected with telepathy in our world.'

He frowned as he lookedover to the centaurs. She looked at him and asked, ‘Did I say something wrong?'

He shook his head. ‘No,you didn't. I just … I don't want to be this king everyone thinks I am.'

She stared at him,confused. ‘I don't understand.'

‘Well, I want to benormal. I don't want to be able to create fireballs and have premonitions. Imean, it is cool to do so, but I do not want to fight. I want to do normal kidstuff, but I can't. I have always been normal, but people have always treatedme differently. Then I replace out I am from another world and I am supposed to bea king. How can I? I have no idea what I am doing.'

‘You can do whatever youwant, Lucas,' she smiled. ‘No one tells you what you can and cannot do. It iswhy I left home. Besides, no one really knows how to be a king, but you willfigure it out.'

‘It is destined that Iwill fight.'

‘Then I will fight byyour side,' she smiled warmly at him.

‘Thanks,' he repliedwith a smile. ‘I just want to be able to live normally, like a normal kid. Youknow, experience normal things. Have friends, fall in love, finish school, replacea career and … I don't know. Maybe do something -'

He shook his head, stoodup and walked over to her. He held out his hand to her as she looked up at him,confused.

‘- like this. Dance withme.'

‘I don't know how.'

‘Like I do,' he replied,rolling his eyes.

She laughed and took hishand, standing to her feet. He walked them over to the group and as everyonewatched, he placed his hand on her hip. ‘Now, I think you place your hand onthe back of my shoulder, like this.' He moved her hand to his shoulder beforetaking her other hand in his and they started moving. Elizabeth looked at herfeet and watched how he moved.

‘Ow,' he mumbled as shestepped on his foot.

‘I'm sorry.'

‘It's okay. Ow.'

She tried to follow, buthe raised her head up with his eyes. ‘Don't think. Don't look. Just go with thebeat.' Lucas twirled her around and brought her back to him with his usual warmsmile. ‘Pretty nifty, huh? I've always wanted to try that.'

They continued to moveback and forth, their steps slowly becoming more natural and graceful. Theydanced in silence as more centaurs moved around to watch them. Lucas andElizabeth moved around in a circle, her black robe twirling in the air as theymoved. The centaurs watched in awe and slowly, some even decided to join in.

‘See, you can dance,'Lucas said, looking at her. ‘I mean, you're not exactly that difficult like Ithought you would be.'

She stared at him andlaughed. ‘Sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to be such a burden.'

‘You're forgiven.' Hesmiled in reply. He turned and noticed the centaurs had begun to mimic theirdance movements. ‘Look at them.'

She smiled as thecentaurs finally discovered how to move in the same way as the pair, unaware oftheir previous inexperienced history of dancing like humans. ‘It is beautiful.'

Lucas nodded as theycontinued to move around, his eyes only focused on her. ‘Yeah, it is.'

‘Ahem.'

The pair stoppedimmediately and dropped their hands, moving quickly apart and looking extremelyguilty. ElderOne stood in front of them with QuickRun, FastShot, FieryTemperand Leah, all carrying the same facial expression - fear.

‘We must talk. I'mafraid things may have gotten out of hand,' ElderOne spoke, turning away fromthe music and leading the way to the table. The others all followed and Lucasand Elizabeth sat down around the small table, staring at ElderOne withcuriosity.

‘What's wrong?' Lucasasked, looking concerned. He didn't like ElderOne's tone or the fact thatFastShot looked nervous. FieryTemper looked around, making sure no one else waslistening as Leah sat next to Elizabeth with worry in her eyes.

ElderOne looked at Lucaswith a face of worry as he spoke. ‘I have recently discovered that the guardsthat FastShot, FieryTemper and QuickRun allowed to escape have now reached thepalace where Lord Barback resides.'

‘How did they get thereso quickly?' Elizabeth asked in confusion.

‘Magic, we assume. Wealso learned that he has your belongings you brought from your other world.'

Lucas and Elizabethlooked at each other, confused. It took Lucas a minute to work out what he hadlost. Turning back to ElderOne, he asked, ‘My clothes? What does that have todo with anything? They are just clothes.'

‘No, they are not. Theyare proof of your return. Your clothes are unlike anything in this land. I toldyou that,' Elizabeth said, looking at him in fear. ‘That is why I found you newclothes, so that you wouldn't be recognised. When the guards took them in theforest, we should have stopped them. We should have realised what they weregoing to do with them.'

‘Lord Barback has alwaysbelieved that you were sent to another world when the leader of his guards,Rafael, witnessed your disappearance,' ElderOne said. ‘He knew you wouldreturn, so he waited for a sign, no matter how small. Your clothing isdifferent from ours, different enough to have him realise you had finallyreturned.'

‘How do you know this?'Lucas asked him with curiosity.

‘I told him,' Leah replied. Lucas turned toher as soon as she spoke, watching her closely. Her kind eyes stared back athim, analysing him in the same way FieryTemper did at their first meeting. ‘Ihave spies in Lord Barback's palace.'

‘You have spies?'

‘Yes. I work with thefairies to spy on Lord Barback, to ensure both our species' survival. They havereported that you are in danger. Lord Barback knows of your existence and thatis something that we all hoped would not happen so fast. You cannot hide hereand we can no longer stay.'

Elizabeth looked at her,confused. ‘Why do you have to leave?'

‘When the guards told ofus defending you here in the forest, he ordered the forest burnt to the ground.We have no choice but to leave immediately. You, however, cannot come with us,either of you.'

‘Why not?' Elizabeth andLucas asked at the same time.

‘It is not your destinyto go into hiding with us,' replied ElderOne.

‘You two are our onlyhope,' QuickRun spoke. ‘You must fulfil your mission. We shall meet up with youagain.'

‘We do not have long,'FastShot added. ‘We ourselves must leave immediately. It will only take us afew minutes. We will ensure you get to the end of the forest safely. Fromthere, for this part of your journey, you two must be alone.'

‘Elizabeth has no reasonto stay with me if I am placing her in danger,' Lucas said.

‘What are you talkingabout? I'm not leaving you,' she replied. ‘I will help you replace your mother andbe safe. After that … well, we shall see.' She looked at him and smiled and hecouldn't help smiling back. He was glad she had said that. He couldn't imaginetrying to replace his place in this world without help from her. He also couldn'timagine not knowing where she was, or if she was in danger herself. It was alittle annoying.

He turned back toElderOne. ‘Okay. When do we leave?'

‘You will leave now.FastShot and QuickRun shall take you to the end. They will meet us furtherahead as we shall leave not long after you.' He stood to his feet and they allfollowed. ElderOne walked to Lucas and Elizabeth and put one hand on each oftheir shoulders.

‘Young ones. Yourjourney is a long and dangerous one. Do not assume that this ends with LordBarback. Whispers on the wind speak that more darkness is on the horizon. Besafe and stick together. You will be stronger as one. Until we meet again,young ones, farewell.' With that, he turned and left as FieryTemper and Leahcame up next.

‘Come with us. We shallgather your clothes.'

‘I like my new clothes.Mind if I keep the shirt?' Lucas asked. They both nodded and after Elizabethhad changed back, FieryTemper and Leah walked them to the entrance of the fieldwhere FastShot and QuickRun were waiting.

‘Good luck. We shallmeet again,' FieryTemper said with a slight nod. Lucas smiled and nodded inreturn.

‘Take care and be safe,'Leah spoke, hugging Elizabeth who hugged her back. As they headed to the othertwo centaurs, a voice called out.

‘King Lucas?!'

They both turned to seeFieryTemper coming up to them, handing Lucas an old, worn brown belt, a largesword resting in the holder on its side. Lucas took out the sword and smiled ashe took in the beautiful marvel that was before him.

The hilt had a goldenbase with three stones on each side, in the same order he had come torecognise. Diamond, ruby and emerald, exactly like his amulet. The cross guardof the sword was solid gold, sticking out horizontally with a large ruby oneach of the tips. The pommel was solid gold like the cross guard, shiningbrightly in the dark light.

As he raised it, hefound that the blade somehow looked like it had never seen a glimpse of battle,although Lucas could sense its ancient history. There were no scratches ordamage and it shined in the light, feeling light in his hands, the same way hisamulet did around his neck. He ran his hand across the blade and felt a warm sensationinside him. This was his - it belonged to him. He could feel it.

‘Wow,' Elizabethmurmured, staring at it in awe.

‘The sword is yours.When the king disappeared after the Second Battle, we took the sword and saidwe would only give it back to the rightful, selfless king. It is yours.'

‘Thank you,' Lucaswhispered, placing the sword back into its holder and placing the belt acrosshis waist.

FieryTemper shookLucas's hand and walked back towards Leah. The siblings waved and then left tofollow ElderOne, and the two humans were alone with QuickRun and FastShot.

‘We need to leave,'FastShot spoke. He grabbed Lucas and once again helped him onto his back.QuickRun did the same with Elizabeth and then they were off. The same feelingof flying came back to Lucas, but this time the journey seemed shorter. Theygot to the end of the forest and they were helped off the centaurs' backs.Lucas and Elizabeth turned to their new friends and looked at them with sadnessand concern.

‘Will you be all right?'Elizabeth asked them.

‘Do not worry, child,'FastShot spoke reassuringly. ‘We shall be fine. Here, take this.' He handed herhis pack of arrows. ‘Your arrows were damaged. These are my special weapons.One shot in the right spot is instant death. You will need these. Take thissword as well for protection.' He passed her a silver sword, its blade long andthin, and she smiled as she waved it above her. The cross guard and hilt, alsomade from the same silver as the blade, shone in the darkness of the forest.

‘It feels light.'

‘It is from one of theguards we had defeated in battle,' FastShot replied. ‘It has been enchanted.

‘Take care, young ones.We shall meet again,' QuickRun said, and with that he and FastShot were off,flying back into the forest and disappearing into the darkness.

With his new swordsafely by his side, Lucas turned to stare at where the centaurs had left them.They were once again in a field but this time a long stone road stretched outin front of him. Further up ahead, he noticed a wooden sign standing on itssmall wooden leg. He walked over to it and read the fading words.

‘Stelipse' it said, pointing to the right. Pointing to the left, itrevealed, ‘Darkness Forest. Warning! Danger beyond your imagination lies ahead.Turn back now!' Lucas looked at it and snorted.

He turned back toElizabeth. ‘Guess we're going to Stelipse.'

Elizabeth walked over towhere he stood and read the sign. She also snorted when she read it.‘Dangerous? Well, duh! I guess Barback really didn't want anyone to go inthere. Wonder why?'

‘Who knows? We betterget a move on. We wouldn't want to be around here to have a rematch with thoseharpies or guards.'

Elizabeth started downthe path, but Lucas turned around. He looked back into the forest, wonderingwhy Barback was interested in keeping people out of the forest.