Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (22 page)

I know I didn't imagine it.

He had saved both Riff and I.

I realized I had to go back
into the hallway and find my way out of this place. There were no answers here.
I shut the door behind me and continued my hunt for Shael.

I was angry now.

What a cheap shot, trying to
poison me and putting up that barrier that injured my pet. I knew that he was
afraid of me, and knowing he tried to poison me to keep me away from him, made
me all the more anxious to find him and fight him properly.

He was such a wimp. I had
thought he was better than that but it appeared that he wanted me gone. I
really thought he wanted to have a public show.

I know I did.

 I didn't keep track of
how many wrong turns I made, seething as I was, but when I did finally manage
to make it outside into the courtyard that led to the grounds of the castle, I
wished I was in my cell. I made it outside on my own, but walked right into
Shael and his men.

“Thank you for joining us. You
are a clever thing, I will say that. I would love to know how you got out of
that cage and how you were immune to the poison I put in your food” said Shael.

I had been correct in my
assumption.

The sun was blinding me. I had been
in the dark dungeon for almost two days. I was trying to adjust to the light as
quickly as I could. Even in my blinded state I could see that I was severely
outnumbered and totally surrounded.

“You can't win against me Shael
or haven't you figured that out by now? If you had to resort to poisoning me to
win, you really must be terrified of me. And you should be.” I said.

 
My words were forceful, my voice steady. I
realized, once I uttered the words that I had actually meant them and better
still, I think I actually believed myself too.

I was still shocked that Shael
felt threatened enough by me to warrant this kind of show. I was overpowered
and outnumbered by more than twenty men around me, but I realized maybe it was
less about me and more about him. He needed me to know he was more powerful
than I was and that he was go to use all the tools at his disposal for this
show of dominance. He was going to fight for this Kingdom, as I was.

May the best man win.

“Is that what you think this is
Alina? You think I am masking my fear of you? Your analysis of this situation
is far from correct. I am not afraid of you. I am more powerful than you will
ever hope to be. True, you have proven yourself to be a most formidable
opponent, I will give you that. What this is, my dear is war. You have brought
war to my peaceful Kingdom. And in a war, you go in with all you have.” said
Shael.

“This isn't war Shael. This is
brutality. This isn’t peace, this is oppression. And you are afraid of me.” I
said, pointedly.

“You are incredibly stubborn.”
said Shael, rolling his eyes.

“Yah, well, must be a familial
trait.” I said, giving him back some of his jibes.

He laughed but I knew it wasn't
funny.

Let him think he was more
powerful. It appeared he had competition in me and I was suddenly eager to
start.

“So Shael, what's your plan?
Kill me? Capture me again and lock me back in the cage? You obviously saw me
escape and new I would make it out here or you wouldn't have your groupies out
here as my welcome wagon. Quit dragging it out! Make your move!” I yelled.

I still didn't have the box but
I think I knew how to get it. My time in the magical cage gave me lots of time
to think.

I just prayed my plan would
work.

“Now there's an idea, the cage
was nice, but no, I'm going to go with your first suggestion.” Shael walked
closer to me, still outside of the circle. A few of the men moved aside,
allowing him direct access to me.

I steadied my feet.

Shael stopped a few feet inside
the circle. His hands went down to his sides and were clenched into fists. At
first it looked like he was just staring at me, but then I saw the swirl in his
eyes. The storm in his eyes, once a calm swirl were now a raging hurricane of
black and red. I knew he was preparing to release the Shadow. I closed my eyes,
putting my hands up in front of me with my palms up. I intensified my
concentration, focusing on the silver box I needed. I didn't know where it was
but I believed that wouldn't stop me from summoning it. I kept peaking at
Shael, watching his movements, knowing something was going to happen.

Suddenly the Shadow flew out of
Shael's eyes, heading directly for me.

I knew I had nowhere to run and
even if I did, running would do no good. My only chance was getting the box and
capturing that thing if I had the chance. I stood my ground, the Shadow
charging at me, still trying to summon the box to me. The Shadow was almost on
me but I knew I couldn't rush my magic. I felt the power flow through me again,
made it rage inside me, and drew on every last bit of energy I could muster.

I opened my eyes when I felt
something in my hands.

It was the box!

The Shadow was within inches of
me. I looked over at Shael who had a smirk on his face, ready to watch my
destruction with sickening pleasure. Just as the Shadow was about to overtake
me, it stopped. It was being blocked by something.

It kept trying to get to me
from every which direction but it could not breach whatever was blocking me. It
was darting in every direction imaginable, looking for a way to get to me but its
efforts were blocked.

‘Am I immune to the Shadow?’
I wondered.

 
Shael’s face took on a contorted look of
disbelief, his face turning seven shades of red. He had not expected the Shadow
to be useless on me, nor had I for that matter. That was his plan, to
annihilate me.
 
His precious Shadow was rendered
useless in his efforts.

His body tensed up and I knew
he was trying to contact the Shadow. Almost immediately it resumed the attacks
with renewed vigor but was still not breaking through whatever was protecting
me. Box in hand, I decided now was the time to run. I didn't want Shael to
notice I had it, so I took off in the opposite direction, the Shadow and
several men now chasing me. I was looking for any avenue of escape when one of
the men had almost overtaken me.

I turned.
 

‘Enough was enough.’
I
thought.

I was tired of running. I
decided to stop.

I threw my hand up, tossing the
men away. Satisfied, I continued running, realizing the Shadow and Shael were
the only ones who continued the chase.

“Get up you morons! Grab her!”
Yelled Shael to his men as he ran after me.

I only had to escape him now
that the Shadow was no longer an opponent.

I had made a wrong turn and had
managed to find a dead end. Out of breath and out of options, I turned to face
Shael. He had wanted a showdown all along, now was the time for it.

I had all of my focus on Shael.

“Well cousin, I have to admit,
this has not gone quite the way I had planned. Kudos to you. You are quite the
adversary.” he said and then gave me a mocking bow.

“Well I'm glad to have thwarted
your plans, but you haven't seen anything yet.” I said.

 
I knew I shouldn't be so cocky, knowing I
still had no idea what I was doing, but I figured I might as well push whatever
remaining luck I had.

“I'm really sorry to do this to
you.” Shael said in a mock apology. “I usually don't have to do the dirty work
but it appears I must kill you myself.” He said.

He stuck one hand out in front
of him, getting ready to release his magic at me, when suddenly he was tackled
to the ground. All I could see was a black cloak rolling around on the ground,
fighting Shael. Then the hood of the cloak fell off the man's head.

 JEB!!

Jeb had not left me
and
he was cloaked.

‘Where did he get the cloaks?
I thought Joe had
hidden them.’
I wondered.

I knew the answer before I even
thought it.

The cloak Jeb wore was from my
mother.

My mother had gifted more
cloaks to us, knowing they would be needed. I also knew that those would be her
last gifts to us. She used her remaining magic and energy to help us one last
time.

I wasn’t able to process what
that meant at that moment. I was thrilled to see Jeb, even more thrilled he was
here to help me fight Shae.

That had to be the focus.

Jeb had knocked Shael quite
hard to the ground. He wasn't out completely but he was disoriented. Jeb threw
a cloak to me and I donned it quickly. Once invisible, Jeb grabbed my hand and
moved us away from Shael but still keeping him in our line of vision.

“Do you have the box?” asked
Jeb in a whisper.

“Yes, but I still don't know
how to use it.” I whispered back.

Just as I had spoken the words,
I received another vision. I saw the kelter tablet with the un-readable
characters carved into it.

The words now made sense to me.
It was like I learned a new language instantaneously.

I now knew what to do.

“Wait Jeb. I take that back.
Stay here.” I said, running back towards Shael and the Shadow.

“Alina-” Jeb called after me,
but I was already gone.

I took the hood off my head. If
I was going to do this, I wanted him to see me do it. I wanted him to witness
the demise of his precious evil pet. I held the box out in front of me and
started chanting the words I saw on the tablet from my vision.

“Nosatra Domis Quantis Ke.
Nosatra Domis Quantis Ke.” I said.

Over and over I chanted the
same phase. At first it seemed like nothing was happening. I was starting to
think I had misread the words or they weren't the right words at all.

Then I saw the Shadow quiver.

It was subtle at first, little
twitches here and there, but they grew more prominent with each word I said.

It was working.

I continued my chant as the Shadow
was being pulled into the direction of the box. Shael was so completely put off
by what he was witnessing that he sat staring at me for a few seconds before he
sprang into action.

“Noooooo!” he screamed, running
towards my direction. He was going to try to save his precious evil but I knew
there was no stopping what I had started.

The Shadow was fighting the
pull but its efforts were no match for my magic.

Shael started throwing blast of
energy at me from his hands as he ran, attempting to get me to drop the box or
break my chanting. I held one hand up blocking his magical attacks. Shael threw
them harder and harder at me but my magic was blocking his.

I tried to throw Shael
backwards with a whip of my hand, but that didn't work. Realizing there
were some limitations to my magic, I chanted harder and faster, hoping the Shadow
would be contained before Shael reached me.

Realizing it was seconds from
containment, the Shadow made more ferocious attempts of breaking free before it
was fully contained in the box. I flipped the hood of my cloak back on and ran
towards Jeb, tucking the now occupied box under my cloak.

Jeb's face was filled with
terrified admiration.

Shael was kneeling on the
ground, pounding it with his fists, devastation and anger coming from him in
forms of tortured wails.

“Remind me not to mess with
you, ok?” Jeb said.

“Will you just get us out of
here?” I said with laugh.

Jeb and I ran the whole way to
the shore.

************

Jeb and I returned to the
island safely. I was never so happy to be back there. The island had become my
home, its inhabitants had become my family. The only living relatives I had
left were Jeb's daughters, and Shael, of course, but he didn't count as family,
regardless of the familial blood that flowed through our veins.

It was eerily quiet once we
made it back to the village. The hustle and bustle of the daily life on the
island I had become accustomed to was now devoid of any activity. I
automatically assumed the worst, fearing for the safety of the people on the
island.

Jeb saw my concern and quickly
explained that he had evacuated the population of the island into shelters
hidden throughout the forest.

Relieved, I walked around, seeing
the community, empty as it was, from an entirely different perspective.
Everything was there, the tents, the chairs and tables, homemade toys littering
the ground everywhere. All that was missing was the people. They were the real
heart and soul of what I had come to love.

Their safety was now my top
priority.

It was strange to feel the
shift of responsibility of these people onto my shoulders. For so long, Jeb had
carried that burden, dutifully so, but it wasn't his any longer.

It was mine.

I knew it, he knew it and I
accepted it without a second thought.

I took Riff out of my jacket
and let him go. He eagerly ran into the forest to go eat or do whatever he did
when he was in there.

The island was no longer
magically protected, the protection dying along with my mother. That was a huge
blow to the security of the island, not to mention me personally, but with the Shadow
captured there was less to worry about.

We knew that Shael would not
rest until he took back the Shadow, but for now, the people of the Terrin could
relax a little bit, knowing that part of their lives was over, hopefully for
good.

I knew it wasn’t over.

We still had to figure out how
to oust Shael from the palace and annihilate his rule indefinitely.

That was tomorrow's problems....
and the next day, and the day after that.

It was time to let our people
out of hiding and rejoice in the huge victory we had. Shael was severely
damaged by the loss of the Shadow.

There was reason to celebrate.

Jeb and I walked through the
empty tent village towards the Great Hall when he stopped in his tracks,
turning to me.

“You were amazing today Alina.
I just wanted you to know that.” Jeb said to me, his voice full of admiration.

“You weren't so bad yourself
Jeb. I couldn't have done it, if you didn't show up when you did.” I said. It
was the truth.

Jeb eyes were piercing mine
intensely and I could tell he wanted to kiss me again. My breathing sped up in
anticipation of joining my lips to his, something I had wanted to do again
since he had first kissed me. It looked as if he was going to and then he
stopped himself mid-lean.

“So are you going to stay?”
asked Jeb, ignoring the moment we almost had.

“What do you mean?” I asked,
trying to adjust my breathing back to normal.

“You aren't going to leave
Terrin and go back to the other realm?” Jeb asked, sounding shocked that I
would be questioning his meaning.

“No! How could you even think
that? This is my home Jeb! I realized that in the cell at the castle. I am the
rightful Queen of Terrin, now that my mother has died. I will take back my
Kingdom and I will rescue Terrin from Shael. I am not going anywhere. We are
Terrin’s Guardians and I am the leader.” I said.

Jeb's face lit up, sending a
warm feeling all over my body.

‘He was worried I was going to leave him?’
I realized.
‘How
could you walk away from what you are?’

 
I knew I had no choice in the matter.

This was my life, here in
Terrin. There was nothing left for me in the 1st Realm. Everything I ever
needed and wanted was here.

Terrin was my home.

Jeb led me to the outskirts of
the tent village, seating us upon a weirdly shaped tree that grew horizontally
instead of vertically. Once seated, we were quiet for a few moments, enjoying
the tranquility, holding hands and just happy to be there together.

“I'm sorry about your mother
Alina.”  Jeb said, sympathetically.

He too understood the meaning
of the gifts we had received.

“Thank you Jeb. I feel like I
should feel worse, sadder, I mean. She was my mother, but she was a complete
stranger to me. I do wish I could have gotten to know her better, maybe develop
a relationship with her as an adult, but I am just grateful for the time I was
given. Some people don't even get that.” I said.

I knew Jeb understood my
statement completely. I was thinking about the girls and their mother. A mother
who loved them to distraction and a mother they would never get the chance to
know.

“What are we going to do next?”
asked Jeb, raking his hands through his hair and exhaling loudly. His wound was
still raw, the death of his wife still a sore subject.

“Sleep.” I said with a laugh
and Jeb joined in. “Are we safe here?” I wondered.

“I think for the moment, yes.
We are going to have to fortify the town and build walls, post guards and
lookouts everywhere on the island, but I think Shael will need a few weeks to
regroup. We don't have long but it should all be manageable.” said Jeb
methodically.

He was all business when he had
to be. I would rely on his expertise for the fortifications we would need to
build and the security measures we would need to take in order to make the
island safe once again.

“We will do it together Jeb.” I
said, squeezing his hand for reassurance.

We were in this together to the
end, no matter what happened between us. I now felt the need to rescue my
people and I felt the full weight of that responsibility. It wasn't just Jeb's
fight any longer. It was mainly mine. I owed it to my mother to continue the
fight.

To finish what she couldn't.

“I still wish I knew who that
man was that helped Riff and I. That is bothering me.”

“You have never seen him
before?” I asked Jeb.

I had mentioned the mystery man
to Jeb and what he done for Riff and I when we were on our way back to Jaffee.
I made special emphasis on how he and everything else in the room had vanished.

“No. Other than that dream I
had when I was in the 1st Realm. I recognized his face from my vision but I
still don't know who he is. I know he knew my grandmother.”

“Well, maybe you will meet him
again. When we eventually seize the palace back from Shael.”

“Yes, Maybe. Until then, I will
just file it away with all my other unanswered questions and weird coincidences
I have experienced since I got here.” I said with a laugh and Jeb joined in.

“Alina, about the kiss- I
really need to apologize for that. I shouldn't have done that.”

“Apologize? Why?” I asked.

‘Why would he need to apologize for that? Did he not mean to
kiss me?’
I wondered.

 
That thought made me feel let down, especially
since I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it nor had I stopped wanting a
reoccurrence of another kiss since it happened.

“Well, because you trusted me
to be your friend and then I took advantage of you. It was just a moment
thing.” said Jeb.

“Oh.” I said softly, not even
trying to disguise my disappointment.

“I mean, it was nice! Better
than nice...I just haven't done that with anyone since....well since...” Jeb
said, tripping over his words.

I put my hand on Jeb’s arm to
stop him from going any further.

Just because I wanted to kiss
him again, didn't mean I knew how I felt about him either. It was a fine line
we would have to cross and there were lots of people involved in and around us
that would be affected by us entering into a relationship. He wasn't ready and
I certainly wasn't ready either.  This would take some time.

“Jeb, it's ok. I understand.
Let's not worry about how we feel about each other right now. We have plenty of
time to deal with that. For now, let's get this...thing....taken care of.” I
said holding up the box. “We should get everyone out of the shelters and
celebrate! We can talk about us tomorrow.”

Jeb bowed a deep bow. “Yes,
Your Majesty.”

I stared at him, letting the
impact of what he just said take its full impact on me.

Your Majesty.

I gave Jeb a brilliant smile.

Jeb smiled back to me with a
wink, and taking my hand, led me into the forest surrounding our village.

********

Thank you for reading Alina’s
Crossing, the first installment of The Guardians of Terrin series. I hope that
you enjoyed meeting Alina and her friends.
 
    
There is so much more to come as
Alina continues her exciting journey, learning more about her magic, learning
how to defeat Shael and meeting new and interesting people along the way.

Her adventures have only just
begun.

About the Author

Taylor Shane lives in sunny
Florida with her husband, son and mother-in-law, as well as two obnoxious cats
Angel and Minnie as well as a super cute pug named Mugsy Lu.

Other than writing, she enjoys
photography, up-cycling furniture and traveling and would like to get to Italy
one day.

Please visit Taylor Shane’s
FACEBOOK
page to
stay up to date with Taylor and the release of the 2nd installment of The
Guardians of Terrin series, Alina’s Quest.