Destiny - Book One in The Bomcard Trilogy
Chapter Seven - Training Time

As Charles carried Lucas and Elizabeth out of his hut the nextmorning, other members of the giant village turned to stare at their newvisitors in curiosity. Lucas felt embarrassed as they continued to stare insuspicion at the small pair, but also in awe. He had not seen any of this whenhe first arrived as he was unconscious. It was a beautiful land, the largehomes stretching out as wide and as far as he could see. In the middle of thevillage was a very large table which Lucas realised the giants could all sitaround, reminding him of the centaurs own.

Charles carried them pasthis village to a smaller field where finally he placed them down.

There were small treesnearby, the only place with shade. The trees, though just taller than Charles,were still as large as the trees in the Darkness Forest for Lucas andElizabeth. A small crystal water lake was nearby, a small island of landfloating in the middle. Charles walked over to the trees and sat down. Theother two followed and sat down with him, the shade a cooling refreshment fromthe burning sun.

‘So, what's the plan?'Lucas asked his new friend.

‘You shall train in yourpower,' Charles answered, smiling down towards them. ‘You will have to tell mewhat powers you have encountered and mastered. Then we shall continue.'

‘Well, I have used fireand I think I have control over most of it.'

Charles turned aroundand ripped off a branch from the tree behind him. He held it out in front ofhim, turned to Lucas and instructed, ‘Light it, but do not burn it.'

Lucas turned to thebranch and stared, concentrating like Elizabeth had taught him. Staring at thebranch, he felt the power move through him and he held out his hand, feelingthe fire reach out and hit the branch. It lit up the branch, but he could notstop it as the branch burnt to a crisp in Charles's hand. He reached up andtook another one off the tree.

Charles only smiledwarmly at him, instructing, ‘This time, picture it as someone who you would notwant to harm. Picture it as a loved one. Concentrate on surrounding them byflames, like the flames are protecting them from danger.'

Lucas triedconcentrating, but he did not know which person to picture. Linda? Elizabeth?Tom? Lucy? He pictured them one after the other while holding out his hand andthis time, a blue flame erupted around the branch. It burned there, but it didnot heat or damage the branch. As the blue flames flickered high above thebranch, Charles stared proudly at Lucas.

‘Good. Now, control it.Make it increase and decrease in size.'

Lucas pictured itgrowing bigger. He continued to stare at it as he imagined the flamessurrounding Elizabeth. Nothing happened. Move, he told the flames, move upCharles's arm. He did not think it would happen at first, but then it did. Theflames moved up Charles's arm, though it did not seem to burn him as it crept towardshis shoulder. Now shrink, Lucas thought to himself. As the words echoed in hismind, his arm still outstretched, the flames began to die down.

I can talk to it, Lucasthought. That is how I control it. Helooked up to Charles and then at the flame, slowly extinguishing it.

Charles looked down athim and smiled. ‘Good. Now, I want to see a fireball. Walk a few paces away,then turn and hit the branch.'

Lucas stood and walkedaway, counting ten steps before turning. He frowned when he realised he wouldneed to go back further than that, so he counted out twenty steps and turned.Charles smiled and held out his hand high, the branch blowing in the lightbreeze.

Wow, that is high forme, Lucas thought to himself. He stared at the branch and waited. As he closedhis eyes, he could feel the wind blowing by him from his left. Opening hiseyes, he aimed towards the branch and, concentrating with the wind blowing,threw a fireball at the branch. It hit dead on, and the branch burned.

‘That was very good, Lucas,'Charles spoke loudly. He grabbed another branch and held it out again. ‘Now,throw another fireball, but this time not the one you just used. Use the bluefire. From now on, we will call it the protective flame. The orange fire wewill call the burning flame. Throw the protective fireball at the branch. Idon't want it burned.'

‘Can I ask why?!' Lucasyelled out. He could hear Charles quite clearly, but he was too far away tojust speak normally.

‘What happens if youwish to protect someone from a distance? You will need to learn how to throwthe protection fire, no matter how far away you are.'

Lucas stared at thebranch. He once again pictured it as someone and then thought to himself thathe had to protect the branch. Do not burn it, he thought to himself, protectit. Opening his eyes, he threw the blue fireball and it hit its intendedtarget. The blue flames surrounded the branch and Charles smiled at him. ‘Verygood. Come back.'

Lucas ran over to themwhen Charles asked him, ‘Now, your next power is?'

‘Ah …' Lucas went silentas his mind went blank.

‘You made those harpiesgo flying back. I think you have telekinesis,' Elizabeth reminded him.

‘Oh yeah,' he mumbled,more to himself than to the other two. He had not given that fight any second thoughtsince it happened.

‘Then we work withthat,' Charles replied. He nodded to Elizabeth. ‘Near the lake, grab threerocks of different sizes.' She did as he asked and came back with the threerocks. ‘Now, place them a fair distance away from one another and from Lucas.'Once again, she did as he asked her.

Turning to Lucas,Charles commanded, ‘Now, Lucas, you will move the rocks. Start with the small.Just try to raise it off the ground, just a little. Let it hover.'

Lucas stared at therock. Move, he thought. It did not budge. He continued to try to concentratebut could feel himself getting frustrated. He tried to remember what happenedwhen the harpies attacked. He pictured it moving, and it still did not budge.He tried harder and harder and he felt the power in him wanting to explode out.He imagined it moving, lifting higher and higher. Just move! He yelled tohimself in his head. He could feel his eyes burning hot. Elizabeth dropped hermouth in shock as Lucas' eyes changed as red as blood, and she could feel themburning into her mind. As he shut his eyes, concentrating on moving the rock,something else they had not expected to move did instead.

Charles and Elizabethboth gasped in astonishment as Lucas opened his eyes and saw nothing but blue,clear sky. He looked down and saw with shock that he was no longer touching theground. He was at the same level as Charles's face. He had not made the rockfloat; he had made himself float. As he gasped, he lost his concentration andfell. Charles's hand shot out, catching him in his hand and he placed him onthe ground. Elizabeth ran over to him.

‘Lucas! You werefloating! How did you do that?' she asked with amazement in her voice.

‘I don't … I don'tknow.' He was more shocked than she was.

Charles smiled. ‘Youwere hovering in the air. It was incredible. I asked you to levitate rocks, notyourself.'

‘Gee, sorry,' Lucassaid, rolling his eyes. ‘Can I try it again? The rocks, I mean?'

‘You shall. First I wantyou to learn to block out thoughts.'

‘Why are we jumpinglessons?'

‘The telekinesis lessonwas supposed to be a beginner lesson. We have obviously graduated to advance. Ionly wanted to see what you could do.'

Lucas smiled. ‘Thenlet's continue, I guess.'

Charles returned thesmile. ‘Elizabeth, I need your assistance again.'

Elizabeth walked over asCharles looked at her and asked, ‘Can you please sit down? I need you to thinkin your mind, ask Lucas questions or talk to him instead. Lucas, you will thentry to block it out. Ignore her thoughts.'

They sat down facingeach other and stared at each other in silence. Lucas could not help smiling atElizabeth as she sat down, but she only frowned in reply. After a while,Lucas's own smile disappeared. He was getting a little frustrated.

‘Stoplooking like you are pissed off.'

He smiled again.

She stared at him with aslight smile creeping onto her face as she asked, ‘You can hear me?'

‘Ican now,’ he nodded in reply.

She looked surprised. ‘I can hear you too.'

‘AmI doing something wrong?' Lucas asked her, now looking at her surprised. ‘Are you not supposed to be able to hearme?'

‘No.I mean, I thought only when … when you are a telepath yourself.'

‘Doyou think it is me?'

‘Ido not know. She smiled at him, reassuring him everything was alright. ‘I like it though. It is like a privateconversation. Now you have to block me out.'

‘How?'

‘Ido not know. How about this: What I will do is I will count down from ahundred. By the time I reach zero, I do not want you to be able to hear me.'

‘Ok,I'll try.'

‘Onehundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five,ninety-four …'

Lucas closed his eyes ashe tried to block her voice out. The only problem was that he wanted tocontinue listening to her. He did not want to stop. Opening his eyes, he couldsee her sitting in front of him, her face a blank canvas.

‘Eighty-five,eighty-four, eighty-three, eighty-two, eighty-one, eighty …'

He closed his eyes andtried his hardest. He tried thinking of something else, his mind flashing ahundred different images, but he always tuned back in. He could not help butsee how long had past but more importantly, if he could still hear her.

‘Sixty,fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six …'

Maybe if he … well, itworks with fire, he thought to himself. Stop working, he thought. Stop listening and tune her out.

‘Forty-seven,forty-six, forty-five, forty-four, forty-three …'

Tuneher out … tune her out …

Then there was silence.He looked at her and noticed she was still counting in her head, her face stillblank but determined. He thought he would try listening again.

‘Thirty-three,thirty-two, thirty-one, thirty …'

Smiling, he tried tuningher out again and it worked. After a few seconds, he listened in again.

‘Twenty-one,twenty, nineteen …'

‘You can stop now. I cancontrol it,' Lucas told her.

‘Amazing, only eightyseconds,' she replied with a smile.

‘Very good work, Lucas.Now let us try the rocks again.' Charles smiled. He leaned down towards thepair and added, ‘Don't levitate.'

Lucas and Elizabethstood up and walked over, sitting down near the rocks again. As he stared atthe small rocks, he wished to himself that he could control it. He did not wantto float yet. First move the rocks.

As he stared at therocks, he concentrated on lifting the middle rock. As he continued to stare atit, it began to wobble softly. Lift up in the air, he thought. Not me, the rock. Move, he thought tohimself and as he commanded, it did so. As soon as it was up in the air though,it fell down.

‘Nice work, Lucas,'Elizabeth cheered.

He moved it again andthis time, the rock floated there, spinning in a slow circle. He held out hishand and the rock moved towards him. As it sat in his hand, he looked at theother two left. He sent one rock each to both Elizabeth and Charles who bothbeamed proudly at him.

‘Very good, Lucas. Now,we make it a little harder,' Charles said with a slight, mischievous smile.

* * *

Lucas looked up and noticed the sun was slowly setting. He washappier than he had been last night. He had learned how to move the rocks. Hewas a fast learner after all. He could now start to move bigger objects but nottoo big. Though he had not fully mastered his telekinetic power, he had managedto learn how to levitate. Now, he was trying to move from side to side.

Thanks to his training, he was also now capable of blocking outother people's thoughts. He could not pay attention to one separately. He hadtried it when he got back to the village. As they got back to Charles's house,he was reminded by Charles not to show any powers in the village.

‘It is not that we donot trust you, but we are peaceful,' the giant instructed Lucas as he walkedthrough the village, his new friends resting in his palm. ‘By showing your powers,you can upset people. They may think they are in danger. Also, do not use yourtelepathy here, not until you can learn full control. Even then, you shouldonly use it when you have to.'

When they were safelyinside with the curtains drawn shut, the small humans walked over to the table.Lucas stopped and grabbed Elizabeth around the waist.

‘What are you …?' shebegan in confusion.

‘Trust me,' he smiledwarmly.

She grabbed onto hiswaist and in the next instant, they were floating up the table leg towards thetop. The moment he was level to the top of the table, he moved to his side andlanded perfectly. She smiled and looked at him as he smiled back. Theycontinued to hold each other in silence until they realised Charles waswatching, his head in his arms and leaning on the table, his big blue eyeswatching them patiently.

‘Please, don't stop onmy behalf,' the giant whispered.

They both let go of theother in an instant, both seemly embarrassed, as they took a step away from oneanother.

‘I'm going to head offto bed,' she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. ‘Goodnight.'

Elizabeth walked over toher makeshift bed and lay down. That morning, Charles had ripped the hanky intwo so now they had a bed each. Within a few moments, she was asleep, Lucascontinuing to watch her from where he stood.

‘You should tell her,Lucas.'

Lucas turned to look atCharles who was staring directly at him. His kind eyes were now filled withconcern.

‘You should tell her,'he repeated.

‘Tell her what?'

‘How you feel.'

‘Yeah, sure. It's thateasy,' he mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Charles sat back in thechair as Lucas floated up and sat on his shoulder.

‘You seem to be gettingthat under control.'

‘Yeah, it gets easier. Ido not have to think about moving things like fire or rocks that much anymore.Sometimes, I just command things to happen. Now, most happen when I want it to.Sometimes I do not even think about doing it.' After a moment of silence, Lucasturned to Charles and asked, ‘Can I ask a q?'

‘A q?'

‘A question. You willlearn my slang.'

With a soft chuckle,Charles replied, ‘You may.'

‘Why do you think I'madapting this quickly? I mean, learning complete control in only a few hours. Idon't think it makes sense. It kind of frightens me.'

Charles frowned as hebegan to think of the answer to his question. Sighing, he answered, ‘It mightbe due to your elf heritage.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Well, when elves comeof age, they automatically learn their fighting skills. Not all of them willuse it and those who do not will forget how to after the first year, but thosewho embrace it will remember for life.

‘Your powers come fromyour elf side as no pure human can create an offspring with magic abilities.Maybe the same automatic learning system in you is actually helping you learncontrol over your powers. You adapt quickly, as you would if you were trainingwith your people. Although only one lesson, for your mind it is like you havetaken five.'

‘So, I learn quickerthan others?'

‘I believe so.'

‘Is that why we moved onfrom my telekinesis to telepathy?'

‘No,' Charles replied ashe shook his head. ‘I did that because both telepathy and telekinesis are mindcontrolled abilities. I chose to teach you how to use your telepathy first asthat is the easier of the two, so that when the time came, telekinesis wouldnot be that difficult.'

They sat there for a fewminutes in silence, watching Elizabeth sleep.

‘She cares as well,'Charles said, breaking the silence.

‘Yeah, but there issomething she is not telling me. I just know, but it is … the thing is I do notwant to read minds. It hurts my head when I do and it is an invasion of privacyanyway. I want her to tell me, not to hear it by accident, or from someoneelse.'

‘When she is ready, shewill tell you. If she does not want you to know, it is best to respect herdecision.'

‘Yeah. I guess I wouldwant the same.'

‘There is nothing youare not telling her?'

‘No. I have told hereverything. She knows all about my life before here and has been with me allthe steps of my journey in Bomcard. I have no other secrets.'

Charles looked at him asLucas's face filled with sadness.

‘What is it?' Charlesasked.

‘I know whatever shehasn't told me. It's important. I can't help but feel that it will have seriousrepercussions.'

‘How do you know that?What do you mean?'

‘I don't know how Iknow; I just know. Kind of like my dreams. She mentioned having fled from herfather. Some arranged marriage. It will come back to haunt her. I just know itwill.'

‘Your dreams?' the giantasked.

‘I think I can see thefuture. I saw a giant battle …' Lucas spoke, stopping himself and smilingbefore adding, ‘No pun intended.'

‘None taken,' Charlessmiled back in reply

‘It was massive. Therewere dragons and goblins and I think those creatures you all call Stalkers.'

‘You have seen theStalkers? That is impossible. They are extinct.'

‘It was just a dream …except, well, Elizabeth was there. My mother was there too, even though I donot remember her … and I think you were there as well. Except not just you.Other giants were there too.'

‘We giants do notfight.'

‘You were fighting eachother.' Lucas looked at him, sadness and concern in his eyes.

Charles turned to himwith the same look before confusion filled his face. ‘I do not understand.'

‘You were fighting othergiants. I think … I think some were on the bad side. You were fighting thetrees as well. The fairies were fighting too.'

‘And you believe thiscould happen?'

Lucas frowned. ‘Ibelieve it could. How else could I see both you and Elizabeth and picture youexactly how you look if I have never seen you before. How much do you want tobet when I meet my mother, she will look exactly how I saw her, making it athree-for-three?'

Charles turned away fromhim. He was quiet for a moment before he whispered, ‘If that is true …' Helooked back at Lucas as he asked, ‘Have you noticed any of the other giantshere in the valley as ones from your dreams? I mean the ones we fight.'

‘No. You all dress …warm. Not warm as in body heat. Warm as in warm-hearted. You dress how you are.These giants were … well, let us just say they frightened me. They wore darkclothes and had scars on their faces. They did not look human friendly.'

‘A long time ago, beforethe First Great War, some of our kind rebelled,' Charles began.

Lucas turned to him ashe realised he was about to hear an important story. ‘Their leader, Edward, wasnext in line as village elder. He believed that the giants had the right tocontrol the land for themselves. He wished to enslave the humans and othermagical folk, reigning over them all. Edward attempted to gain followers and hesucceeded in more numbers than we had hoped.

‘These giants decidedthat if we did not follow them, we were against them, and an epic battle began.In the end, with the assistance of our friends on the outside, we were able tolock them away, for all of eternity.'

‘You locked them away?Where and why?'

‘We do not kill our ownkind, no matter the reason. I do not know where they were sealed away. I do,however, know that they are locked away near where Lucifer lays.'

Lucas looked at him,shocked. ‘You locked them away with Lucifer? Are you all mental?'

Charles looked at him,confused. ‘I am not mental.'

‘Has it ever occurred toanyone here that if Barback opens Lucifer's chamber, he can also get to theEvil Giants?'

‘Yes, I guess he couldget to … um, the Evil Giants?'

‘Work with me.'

‘Evil Giants it is,'Charles replied, nodding sadly.

‘What happens if theyare free? You can't just sit back, can you?'

Charles looked at himsadly, his smile fading. ‘No, we cannot.'

Lucas looked atElizabeth, ‘If the battle happens, do you believe it will be bad?'

‘Just having us giantsfight is disastrous. We are very large. We can cause massive damage, no matterthe battlefield. It is why our homes are now enchanted to hold us all in. Toprevent what happened in the past.'

‘Do you think manypeople - magic folk and humans, I mean - will die?'

Charles was quiet for afew minutes before replying. ‘There are always casualties in war.'

Lucas looked atElizabeth sadly. ‘Is it possible to stop a premonition?'

‘Sometimes, yes,'Charles nodded in reply. ‘However, you should remember that by trying to stopsomething from happening, you may in fact set in motion the chain of eventsthat will lead to the premonition coming true.'

‘So, by trying to stopthis …'

‘You could possiblystart it.'

Lucas frowned. He knewthat but did not want to believe it until he heard someone else say it.

‘I don't want to be theone who … who starts a war.'

‘The war will eventuallyhappen. It is inevitable.'

‘What do you mean?'Lucas asked in confusion.

‘Lord Barback is alreadyfrustrated with us magical folk. He does not like how we exist. He wishes toexterminate us so no one will be strong enough to stop him. As far as we know,he has no idea you are not fully human. He might believe you can only fight himon a physical scale, not a magical scale.'

‘What if I flee home?Maybe then nothing will happen.' He turned to Elizabeth. ‘Maybe no one willdie.'

‘It is your destiny tosave our land,' Charles replied, turning to face him in sadness. ‘You cannotrun from destiny. By fleeing back to New York, you may in fact cause your dreamto take place.'

‘And it might not. Itmight prevent it.'

Charles frowned at himand shrugged his shoulders in response. ‘That is the tip of the iceberg. Fallone way or fall the other. It is a fifty per cent chance. You will eventuallycross paths with Lord Barback. That is inevitable. You will need everyone youcan gather to support you. His army is great and powerful.'

‘Can I ask you anotherquestion?' Charles nodded and Lucas continued, ‘Why does everyone say"it's none of our concern"?' He did not ask it in an angry tone; hewas genuinely confused. ‘The centaurs said it to me, as did the elves who foundme. No one wants to help me fight Barback. Yet, they want him defeated.'

‘How much do you knowabout the magical laws?'

Lucas looked at him,confused. ‘Nothing, to be honest.'

‘Well, first off, wemagical folk, from the small, tiny fairies to us large giants, are not allowedto harm a human for whatever reason. Lord Barback knows that. He knows that wecannot harm a human, so his army is human. If I could, I would barge into hiscastle and stomp on his guards for you. Unless he has his own mysticalcreatures, we cannot fight.'

‘He has a dragon! Youtold me! So that counts!'

‘We have our own weaponagainst his dragon.'

‘What do you mean?'

Charles smiled at him.‘The fairies have discovered an ancient dragon that was placed in a mysticalsleep. They awoke him, and he has found his new master. They are currentlytraining, to join you in your fight.'

‘So, because we have adragon, you won't attack?'

‘Correct.'

Lucas shook his head. ‘Wow.I still don't understand.'

‘Let me try to explainit another way,' Charles smiled warmly. ‘I take it you have heard of our pastfights with the past kings? Where magical folk helped him defeat his opponents?

‘No, not really,’ Lucasreplied. ‘I know you had wars but that’s about it.’

‘Then I shall informyou,’ Charles nodded softly. ‘The First Great Battle was with Lucifer.’

‘The Lucifer that peopledon’t believe exist?’

‘I can assure you, hedid,’ Charles replied sadly, his voice shaking. ‘It was a devastating war. Manyfelt they had no part in little problems the king had with other enemies. Itdid not concern them at the time. Yet this battle with Lucifer concernedeveryone, so all species became involved.

‘Lucifer himself had apowerful army. He had the dragons, the werewolves and his own species you havenever heard of or imagined. They were called Stalkers and they were hispersonal assassins. When they selected a target, nothing would stop them. Cutone down, two more appear. They always got their target and when they showedthemselves, your hair would stand on your arms.'

‘What did they looklike?'

‘They are long, hairymonsters. They would often been seen leaning over, their long necks stretchingout from their bodies. Their teeth can rip apart flesh in a second. If you arewearing metal armour when they attack, their teeth will go right through, likea knife through butter. Their legs are as long as their arms and they standtall on their two legs. They move superfast and their hands are not hands likeours but end in sharp claws that can cut through nearly anything, like theirteeth. These Stalkers were his most trusted allies.

‘He did have othercreatures as well, some more dangerous and dark than the Stalkers, but not onlywere they not seen in the final war, they had never been seen by anyone's eyesbut had been mentioned continuously as a threat. Through our warriors, whisperswould circulate of Lucifer having a backup army, one more powerful than thevery army he had with him for the final battle.

‘Many fell on both sidesof the line. On our side were the humans, elves, merpeople, dwarves, goblinsand centaurs. On their side, they had the werewolves, Living Trees, spirits,Stalkers and the dragons. The fairies and giants did not fight. They claimedthat the war had no part in their lives. In the final bloody, epic battle, thedragons were destroyed. Only two survived. They both had offspring shortlybefore dying themselves. One of them is controlled by Barback. The other'soffspring is in hiding.'

‘Why in hiding?' Lucasasked in curiosity.

‘Dragons cannot fightwithout their masters,' Charles revealed to him. ‘They can breathe fire androam free, but every dragon has one true master and unless his master says tofight, it will only do so in self-defense. Which means it will fight for noone.'

‘So who is its master?'

‘That is for anothertime young one.’

‘So, what happened toLucifer?' Lucas asked, eager to hear the end of the story.

‘Well, no human ormystical weapon could kill Lucifer,' Charles continued the story.

‘Everyone started topanic until the goblins decided to use their skills and knowledge to create anamulet that could seal away Lucifer and his army. In the final fight, KingTheodore used the amulet and locked away Lucifer and his army. To ensure no onewould open the tomb, the amulet was broken into two pieces. Without both, thetomb would remain untouched. One part of the amulet went to the goblins and theother piece to King Theodore. The goblins had the smaller part which will fitinto the middle of the second piece. They were not very happy with the choice,but they reluctantly agreed.

‘When the Second GreatBattle came around, this one with Lord Barback, the elves and centaurs helped,but the king was selfish and did not fight. Instead of working with us, theking used us to fight his own battles. The battle was lost because of hisstupidity.'

‘I think I understandnow,' Lucas smiled slightly in reply. ‘So, then, what are the other rules?'

‘Well, that is all. Justthe one rule. The elves are entrusted to follow through on any creature thatdisobeys.'

‘What do you mean"follow through"?' Lucas asked nervously.

‘You will be punished ifyou break the rule. No one has ever broken the rule, so no one knows what punishmentwill occur. We can only speculate.'

‘Do you know where theelves are?'

Charles shook his headat him. ‘No. There is someone in Stelipse who may know. An ally of ours.'

Lucas asked, ‘Can hetake me to them?'

‘He shall, though notyet. You need to remain here for two more days.'

‘Two days?'

‘Yes. Before you leave,you will have mastered your powers, or as close as we can get, to perfection.Even your telepathy. It will come in handy, especially in determining yourfriends and enemies.'

Lucas looked atElizabeth. ‘Can you help her?'

Charles looked at him,confused. ‘What do you mean?'

‘Get stronger. Learnbetter control.'

Charles looked back tothe sleeping Elizabeth. ‘She does not need to. She is stronger than you think.She just holds back.'

Lucas stared at him andasked, ‘What do you mean?'

‘She holds back her trueself and her true power. I cannot say more. It is not my place. And you needrest.'

‘But …'

‘No arguments. Hop downand go to bed, little one.'

Lucas floated down andhopped over into his bed. With the millions of thoughts running through hismind, he did not think it was possible that he would be able to sleep. As soonas his head hit the pillow, however, he was out like a light.

* * *

The next day was just as exhausting as the first. He had nowmastered his telekinesis and flight and his fire power was completely in hiscontrol. Now it was time to practice his telepathic abilities again. He was inthe same field as yesterday with Elizabeth sitting under the largest tree. Charleswas sitting with Lucas a little further away.

Charles looked at Lucasand said, ‘It is time to learn complete control over your telepathic abilities.Now that you can shut your mind off, you will practice on me. I can block youreading my mind. Put this on.' He handed Lucas a blindfold.

‘Ah … why?' Lucas asked,confused.

‘Just trust me. It willhelp you train yourself to listen to an individual thought and not many ofthem.'

Lucas put it on and theworld went dark. He could not hear anything in the field apart from the littlebirds flying by. He waited but did not hear anything until …

‘ShouldI? I do not know. What if he knew the truth about me?'

‘Knew what?' Lucas askedcasually.

‘I'm sorry?' Charlesapologised. ‘What did you mean?'

‘I wasn't talking toyou. I was talking to Elizabeth, sorry.'

Charles looked aroundand found that Elizabeth was out of earshot of Lucas, although not for thegiant himself. Lucas should not be able to … no, he could not hear her if shewas talking in return, Charles smiled to himself.

‘Ido not want to hurt him.'

‘I can hear her,' Lucastold Charles. ‘Should I block her out?' He raised his blindfold to sneak a lookand see how far away she was. ‘Wow, that's far.'

‘You can read her mindfrom that far?' Charles looked around and got an idea. ‘I shall be right back.Go talk to her.'

With that, Charles wasup and walking back towards the giant's village. He turned back and added, ‘Imean talk to her, little one.'

Lucas nodded and headedover to Elizabeth. ‘What shouldn't I know?'

Elizabeth looked up athim, confused. ‘I didn't say anything.'

‘You didn't have to. Iheard you.'

‘You're reading mymind?' She stood up in anger, her face falling into her familiar cold stare.

‘How dare you.'

‘I'm sorry! I didn't do iton purpose,' he replied aloud.

‘Stop it!'

‘What aren't you tellingme?'

‘Lucas, come back overhere.'

Lucas looked up andnoticed Charles sitting down again, but this time he was with two other giants.The first was a male, tall and black-haired. He had an angry face on, his darkbrown eyes stern and uncaring, and reminded Lucas for some reason ofFieryTemper. The second was a female with curly brown hair flowing down herback who was staring at him, smiling. Her light hazel eyes showed only warmth andkindness.

Charles looked up andyelled, ‘Elizabeth! Please join us!'

Elizabeth stormed pastLucas and sat next to Charles. Lucas followed and was instructed to sit down inthe middle, surrounded by the giants. They were all staring at him, but no one spoke.After a few moments, Charles began.

‘Lucas and Elizabeth,this is Donald and Marybeth. They will also be opening their minds with me.Your task is to listen for Elizabeth's voice.'

‘What?' Elizabethdemanded. ‘I don't want him in my head.'

‘I am sorry. We needyour help.' He turned his blue eyes onto her and she sighed.

‘Okay, I'll help.'

‘Thank you,' he smiledin reply, turning towards Lucas and continuing, ‘Lucas, listen for Elizabeth'svoice only. Place the blindfold back on. It will help you.'

Lucas put the blindfoldback on and listened. He began to tune in to the thoughts in his head and couldhear three faint voices slowly becoming louder as he focused.

‘Thatis it. Listen to our voices. Find the girl.' Lucas realised this was Marybeth. She sounded as kind as shelooked.

‘Thisis stupid. I have better things to do. Who is this kid anyway?' That must be Donald. Sounds like an idiot,Lucas thought to himself.

‘Listenfor Elizabeth. Ignore all other voices.' There was Charles. He could not hear Elizabeththough. All of a sudden, he could not stop listening to other voices. It wasstarting to hurt his head.

‘Listen!Concentrate. Listen for the girl.'

‘Ihave better things to do. Boring. Hey, I hope you can hear me. You are wastingmy time.'

‘Listenfor her.'

‘Heis somewhat cute! Oh no! Do not listen to that!'

‘YAWN!'

‘Lucas,listen to me. Hear my voice. I am sorry.'

There she was! He couldhear her and as he concentrated on it, the other voices started to go silentuntil only Elizabeth's remained.

‘Iam sorry. I just … my thoughts are private. I did not mean to bite your headoff. Please, forgive me.'

Lucas could not help butsmile as he replied, ‘I forgive you.'

The three giants lookedat each other, confused, as Elizabeth looked up to Charles and explained, ‘Hecan hear me.'

‘Ah, very good. Now, tryit again.'

The giants startedagain. After a few moments, Elizabeth joined in. Lucas found her easier thanbefore. This time, he was not going to tell them. They needed to talk and heknew how to.

‘Canyou hear me, Lucas?'

‘Yes,' he replied. ‘I need to talk to you. Do not say anythingto Charles.'

‘Okay.'

He wished he could seeher face. ‘Why are you hiding somethingfrom me? I can feel it is important.'

‘Thereare things I have not told you for a reason.'

‘Likeyour past.'

She was silent for amoment. ‘You know everything. My familyand the arranged marriage I fled from.'

‘Whereyou grew up? I do not know that.'

‘Please… leave it.'

‘Elizabeth,I cannot hide my feelings. I do not quite understand how quickly and how much Ihave fallen for you. I would die for you.'

He then heard her move.He took off the blindfold to look at her, but she was not there. He saw herrunning from him towards the lake. Charles looked at her running away,confused.

‘What did you do?'

‘I could hear her,'Lucas replied sadly, looking up at Charles. ‘And I could talk back to her.'

‘You mean, place yourthoughts in her head?'

‘Communicate. I couldlet her hear me and we could talk back.'

‘That is remarkable. Howlong did it take for you to do that?'

Lucas looked up atCharles, moving his eyes to stare in Elizabeth's direction without moving hishead and replied, ‘Ah, well … kind of yesterday.' He looked up at Charles andadded, ‘Sorry I didn't tell you.'

‘It is okay, little one,but what did you say to her?'

He stared at Charleswith a disappointed gaze as he replied, 'What do you think?' He stood onto hisfeet and ran after her, catching up with her at the lake and found she wascrying.

‘Did I upset you?'

She looked up at him,smiled and replied, ‘No.'

‘Then why are youcrying? Girls are so confusing.'

‘You don't understand. Ifeel the same,' she replied with a small laugh. Wiping away her tears, shelooked at him and continued, ‘We have only known each other for a few days, but… see, here in Bomcard, when two souls that are destined to be together meet,it doesn't matter how long they have known each other, they just know. Theywould sacrifice everything for each other. I feel that way with you.'

‘Then why are youupset?' he asked, his voice letting out a small squeak of confusion.

‘We cannot be together,'she replied sadly as she looked at him sadly. She looked like she was going tocry again.

‘Who says?'

‘Magical laws.'

‘Why? Is it because I ampart elf? That should not matter. I'm part human too,' Lucas replied with ashrug.

‘No, because either wayI can't be with you.'

‘I don't understand.You're human.'

‘Lucas, I'm not human.I'm … a mermaid.'

Lucas could not helphimself and he burst into a fit of laughter. She stared at him for a moment inshock, and then she started laughing to, giving his arm a playful slap. ‘Stopit.'

He stopped himself allof a sudden, the smile disappearing from his face as quickly as the laughter.‘Oh, you're serious.'

She could not help itand she started laughing harder. ‘Yes, I am.'

Lucas shrugged hisshoulders and smiled. ‘So, I don't care.'

‘Our species beg todiffer.'

He stared at her, aneyebrow slightly rising as he asked, ‘Do you always do what you are told?'

‘I guess not. But Lucas,this is serious.'

‘Like ditching anarranged marriage and running away from your home is not serious?'

‘What you are asking is… dangerous. It is against the magical law.'

‘The Lost Son is king,right?' Lucas asked with a smile.

‘Correct.'

‘And the king is incharge over all?'

‘Yes,' she replied,looking at him in confusion.

‘So, I change the law.You can be with whoever you want.'

‘It's not that simple.'She turned and started walking back towards Charles and the other two giants.

‘Why not?!' he calledout as he ran to catch up to her.

She turned to him andlooked at him sadly, replying, ‘My father wouldn't allow it for one, and youare not king yet. Until then …' With that, she turned and walked back to thecircle. He followed her in silence and sat back down.

Charles looked at bothof them. ‘Is everything okay, little ones?'

‘Yes,' they bothreplied.

‘Let us continue, then.'

They practiced some morefor hours, testing his telepathy with distance and how quickly he could makeout a voice. Eventually, he could tune out everyone within a second of when hestarted to hear voices, and aim for who he wanted to listen to in an instant.

With huge smiles ontheir faces, even Donald, who had started to warm up but still acted distant tothe strangers, the giants and humans walked back to the village. The sun wassetting on another day. As they approached the middle of the village, Lucasnoticed the massive table now held huge food on it. Apples, pears and orangesfilled the bowls, with large loaves of bread on plates lying nearby. Large mugsas tall as Lucas himself were filled to the brim with what he believed to betheir form of beer. Foam overflowed from the top, dripping down the sides.

Surrounding the largetable were more little tables and chairs so that every giant in the villagecould sit down. Charles looked down at them and said, ‘Your work is complete, aday ahead of schedule. Tonight we feast and tomorrow, you shall travel toStelipse.'

As they walked over tothe table, Charles leant down and held out his hand. The two small humanshopped on and Charles placed them on the table. They had the same small dishthat Charles had used the first night to place their water in. They had onegrape on it as well as a quarter of a cracker. There was a small amount of meaton the plate too, small for the giants but too much for one human alone.

Elizabeth sat down andLucas followed. The giants all took their seats and as the last did so, Charlesstood up, his friendly, warm smile on his face.

‘My people, tomorrow weshall farewell our new friends,' Charles's voice bellowed over the village.‘Their journey will be long and dangerous, but they will have our support, loveand prayers. Join with me and pray that they shall remain safe and succeed.'

The crowd bowed theirheads and after a moment's silence, they all started eating the large amount offood, chatting away amongst themselves.

After they had eaten,some giants grabbed some instruments and started to play music. Lucas andElizabeth laughed, sang and joked around with Charles and Marybeth, neithernoticing when the sun had set and the stars had come out. They eventually fellasleep on the table and were finally carried back to Charles's house by thegiant himself.