Alina's Crossing: Guardians of Terrin (7 page)

I helped Jeb up, leading him to
the driver's seat behind the wheel of the boat. He smiled when he saw the
island in front of them and I smiled too.

It was beautiful.

Jaffee Island was tall and very
wide, with a jagged cliff on one side. It looked like a mountain that had been
cut off an even larger mountain.

“That's Jaffee. Sanctuary.” he
said with a grin as he roared the boat engines back to life, unraveling the
bonds he had laced onto the steering wheel.

I smiled at his enthusiasm,
passing him a few pain relievers and a bottle of water I had found in the cabin
below.

He looked at me questioningly
when I put the pills in his hand. I now deduced that this realm did not have
any modern medicine equivalent to what I was used to. I explained what it was I
was giving him and he swallowed the pills gratefully.

Ten minutes later, Jeb shut of
the engines just slightly off shore. We had to wade in the shallow water for a
few feet.

The water was so warm!

For as far as I could see, the
water was as clear and blue as a swimming pool, a beautiful turquoise so
defined it made the Caribbean waters look dull. It seemed like even the theory
of pollution had not even been introduced into the 2nd Realm.

 I was so glad to be off
the boat. I bent down into the water to wash my hands and face clean of the
blood from Jeb's wound. Reflexively, I wiggled my toes in the sand. The solid
ground felt nice.

The biggest surprise I had
encountered when I started looking around was how normal everything looked at
first glance. I saw trees swaying in the breeze and flowers dotting the
hillside of the mountain, filled with grasses and bushes, creating a lush,
green paradise. I knew it was a new place, an entirely different world, but in
my opinion, it wasn’t as strange as I thought it would be.

Jeb had grabbed the tablet out
of the storage bin before he had jumped off the boat, and gave it to me to
hold. He then took the lead, walking up into the heart of the island. We went a
few feet into the thick bushes when suddenly we were surrounded by a large
group of men.

“Stop right there and put yer
hands up!” one of them screamed. We both looked at each other, slowly raising
our hands. I saw Jeb wince in pain from his stab wound as he raised his hands
over his head.

“What's that in the girl's
hands?” the man asked.

“It's nothing valuable I assure
you!” Jeb yelled. I realized with horror that I was ten seconds away from more
danger.

‘This cannot be happening again.’
I thought.

“I'll be the judge of that!”
said the man.

He jumped off a log he was
sitting on, striding over to us like a plumed peacock. I started looking for
anything I could use as a weapon, wishing I had the forethought to bring my
oar. With Jeb injured, he wasn't going to be much help if this situation became
physical.

The two men stared at one
another for a few seconds, sizing each other up. Jeb was younger and stronger
than the old man, but he was injured and not at full strength. The older man
had a large group with him, a definite advantage. I didn't know if I could hold
my own in an actual brawl. Hand to hand combat was not something I was trained
in. The mood changed, however, when the old man started laughing and pulled Jeb
into a great big bear hug.

“It's so good to see you made
it safely! We have been worried Jeb! You are very late!” said the old man,
gaily.

“Ow, ow ow!” yelled Jeb. “Gio,
I've been stabbed. Please let go of me.” said Jeb tersely.

Concern over his injury changed
the features of the old man instantaneously. He motioned for the other men to
come down toward us. Gio was still laughing and smiling, rustling Jeb's hair,
but less enthusiastically than he had before. The others in the group came
wandering down the hill they were perched upon when they had been surrounding
us and went to work trying to make Jeb more comfortable.

I was still confused about what
was happening.

“Alina, I'm sorry. Gio here is
a big jokester. He was just playing around.” said Jeb as he received hugs or
shoulder pats from everyone in the group. He was in pain, but putting on a show
of strength.

“Gio of Gulvern, at your
service ma'am.” he said with a flourish, removing his hat and bowing in front
of me.

I smiled at him.

“This is Jasser, Helix, Paul,
Joe and Yedwin.” said Jeb, pointing to each person as he introduced us. They
all wore the same handmade, simple clothing as Jeb had on.

I smiled and waved at each
person, finally feeling some relief. I had been in a constant state of panic
for several hours and needed a break.

“C'mon, let's go. We have camp
all set up.” said Gio, leading us further into the island jungle

CHAPTER 5

EXPLANATIONS

At the end of the amazing,
scary, and unbelievable day I had, I was in a place I never imagined existed,
having an experience I never thought possible. How could my life change so
drastically and so dramatically in just the span of a few hours?

Still in a daze and extremely
restless from the tremendous excitement of the day, I got up out of my tent to
stretch my legs. I began to walk around the camp in an effort to keep my mind
off everything. I still didn't understand what I was doing here and why. The
incessant questions that were swimming through my head had no answers yet. I
didn't want to pester Jeb though. He was still recovering from his stab wound.
He was in pain and the last thing he needed was for me to nag him.

I needed distraction.

 It was quiet here, I
noticed, not like the woods at home. There was an occasional squeal from some
animal or a twig breaking or leaves rustling, which was to be expected when one
was surrounded by nature, but it wasn't overwhelming. On our walk back to the
camp I had encountered many things I had never seen. One thing in particular
that fascinated me was the incredibly large birds that populated the island.
They were like parrots, but five times the size of parrots I was used to. They
soared above the tall trees and flew gracefully down to the ground. We had
gotten close enough to a group that I could see their beautiful markings, but
far enough away that I wasn't overwhelmed by their sheer size.

I saw things that were
familiar, such as lizards and mice, and things that weren't familiar, like
something that was called a riff. A riff was a small fuzzy animal that walked
on two legs and had two arms with long nails on its furry paws. It had long,
straggly ears and bright blue eyes. This riff creature wasn't any more than ten
inches high when fully grown and were not afraid of the people I was with.

 
I immediately found a soft spot for this
creature. One of them walked right up to me and wouldn't move until I bent down
to get to its level. The honey-colored animal hesitantly crept towards me,
curious about the newcomer in its home. I too, was curious about this
fascinating animal. I reached my hand out to touch it, and it rubbed against my
hand. Its fur was soft and thick and it purred like a cat. It made a few loud,
short squawks, and reached its arms up like a baby.

Jeb and the others were
encouraging me to pick the animal up, but I did so cautiously. Once in my arms
it, it immediately snuggled into my neck and hair, falling asleep at once. It
had not left my side since our initial meeting and I was already in love with
this precious animal. He...or she....that had not yet been determined....would need
a name, but for now, I was content with my new friend.

It was very dark. I was used to
the bright lights of New York. They had a large fire in the center of our
circular tent camp that offered enough light to see the immediate area. I
looked up into the night sky for the millionth time since it had gotten dark,
my breath still catching with every glance. The stars in the sky were like
shimmering diamonds. You could see nothing in the sky but sparkling flecks of
twinkling lights from the heavens.

 The people in my party
were quiet and lost in their own thoughts. They were all such amazing people,
having blindly passed along their help to me because Jeb had asked them to. I
came upon Jeb on my lazy excursion. He was sitting by the fire, leaning up
against a log. He had his shirt off, his men having re-bandaged his stab wound.
He gave me a smile and a nod of acknowledgment but, didn’t stop me from my
exploration. He had a long, tiring day too.

I walked over to the water
bucket, filling the wooden cup placed there and took a long sip. The water was
very cool and felt wonderful sliding down my parched throat, making me feel
better. Next to the water bucket was a table set up with meager food offerings.
Some bread, a smattering of apples and a few thin slices of meat and cheese
were laid out on a crude wooden tray.

My stomach automatically
growled at me at the sight of the food and it was then that I realized I had
not eaten all day. I put a small piece of meat and cheese in between one piece
of bread, grabbing an apple as I walked away. I wanted to grab all the food on
the tray and shove it into my mouth until my cheeks puffed out, but that
probably would not be the way to make friends of these people.

Having finished my little
sandwich quickly, I continued my leisurely stroll around the camp, taking bites
of my apple as I went. My initial thought about the normalcy of the island,
normalcy, as far as what I was used to, was quickly torn apart the further I
got into the heart of the island.

The trees here were so
different from those back at home. There were a few types of trees I
recognized, but many more I had never seen before. They were so large, taller
and bigger than even our Sequoia’s. They raised themselves so high and spread
their branches so wide that you couldn't see where one started and one stopped.
The colors of the trees, the leaves and the vines wrapped around the trunks,
the flowers that dotted the land were all so vibrant. It was if all the colors
here in this realm were the real,
true
colors and the colors on my side
were what was left over from their journey to the other side.

I came across an unusual tree
that was not tall like the others and had a relatively narrow trunk. It wasn't
a bush, not quite a tree, and had a giant red fruit hanging from its branches.
It looked like the biggest strawberry I had ever seen, but strawberries didn’t
grow on trees and strawberries weren't the size of melons….at least I didn’t
think they were. I was so confused, staring at this odd find. It was at that
moment that I felt I didn't know which way was up.

I didn't sense anyone behind me
when I heard him speak. “It's called a silderberry tree.”

“Oh” I said with a nervous
giggle. Jeb had startled me. “I was wondering what it was. Can you eat it?” I
wondered.

It looked delicious. Weird, but
delicious.

“Yes, you can eat them, but
they are not ripe right yet. They have to turn a deep, dark blue before they
can be consumed. However, in a pinch, they can be eaten as they are. They just
won’t taste very good going down.” He said.

“The leaves on that tree are
blue.” I said.

“Yes.” he said simply.

 I thought about
questioning him further about this tree and its blue leaves, but decided I
better not. I was obviously out of my element and I could just add the blue
leaves and the peculiar fruit on the tree to the ever-growing list of things
proving that I was in unfamiliar territory.

“Hmmm.” Was all I said instead,
turning to continue my walk.

We walked in silence for a few
minutes, Jeb and I, with no weirdness or awkwardness between us. I felt safe
with Jeb, surprisingly so. He risked his life to protect mine. And, even though
I had only met him a few hours earlier, I felt like I had known him forever.
That was a security I needed right now. I couldn't even imagine what would have
happened if the Shadow came after me and I was alone.

I would have never survived.

“Can't sleep?” asked Jeb after
a few more minutes of quiet walking.

I let out a loud burst of
laughter. “Are you kidding me? After the day I have had?”

Jeb laughed softly.

He understood.

His quiet nature was off
putting from what I had seen of him earlier. I could tell that his true self
was reserved. I also knew he was ferocious and brave.

And he really was devastatingly
handsome.

Aside from his physical
appearance, there was a fierce protectiveness instilled in him on my behalf
that I was admittedly somewhat attracted to. He really did have my best
interests at heart and that was evident from the first moment I met him.

“How long will we be here?” I
asked softly.

“Just tonight. We should be in
the village by tomorrow afternoon. You really should try to get some sleep
Alina. We have a long walk ahead of us.” He said.

“I know. I will try, I
promise.” I realized with a start that we had walked back to my allotted tent,
so I figured I better be agreeable and go back in.

“Good night Alina.” Said Jeb.

“Good night Jeb.” I said,
ducking into the tent and tying the cloth doors together.

My new riff friend had not
moved a muscle since before I left the tent. It was curved into a little ball
of fur, having made itself incredibly comfortable on the small pallet I had
been given to sleep on. I was jealous of that ability to be so comfortable and
feel so safe that you can just sleep without any worries.

I plopped down on the blanket
with a heavy sigh, trying not to thrash around so I wouldn't wake the riff. I
knew that sleep would escape me.

It was ok, however, I had a lot
to think about.