Chosen (33 page)
‘It’s going to be a long day,’
thought Elkeira as they started on the last leg of the journey.
Soon the rain began to fall, softly at first then becoming a
torrential downpour within a few hours. So loud was the falling
rain, that when Tallon finally spoke to say it would be better if
they waited for the worst of the rain to pass, no one could hear a
word he said. Everyone was soaked to the skin and shivering with
cold.
‘We can’t carry on like this,’
yelled Tallon over the down-pour, ‘we must seek shelter before we
either get lost or one of us gets injured.’
‘I agree,’ shouted Gilster,
‘perhaps if we went deeper into the forest we may find a little
protection under the trees.’
Tallon led them off the path
and into the forest. They walked for half an hour until he finally
called a halt. The sound of the rain had eased slightly since
entering the forest. Tallon called Elkeira over and had a short
discussion with her. The others could not hear what was said as
they huddled together in misery, the rain running from their
clothes in rivulets. They saw Tallon making various gestures and
Elkeira nodding in agreement. When he had finished, Elkeira
returned to the group.
‘We’re going to build a small
shelter, it should protect us from the worst of the weather,’ she
said. ‘Tallon wants us to collect whatever we can, to use as a roof
while he builds the shelter.’
It took a couple of hours,
during which time the rain never let up for a minute, but
eventually they were all huddled inside Tallon’s make-shift
shelter. It was very small and the occupants were squashed together
causing much discomfort. They had decided not to light a fire due
to the close confines of the shelter and it would have been near
impossible to find dry wood anyway. When Tallon went to sit watch,
Gilster said it would not be necessary tonight and he should remain
in the shelter. Tallon didn’t argue.
Elkeira had managed to worm her
way next to Thomas and the two of them were talking and laughing
together quietly, oblivious to the tension around them.
‘Well,’ said Gilster
congenially, ‘isn’t this cosy.’ Tallon grunted, Max gave a weak
little smile and Haven said nothing. Gilster continued, ‘has anyone
thought about what they might do when this is over?’ When nobody
spoke, he said, ‘I thought I might spend some time in Naturine,
there’s a young lady there I would dearly love to see again.’ Still
no one spoke. ‘What about you Max? After you find Ti Athra will you
go home?’
‘Yes, said Max, I’ll be taking
my daughter home and hopefully we’ll be able to start living a
normal life.’
‘Our daughter,’ said
Haven.
‘What?’ said Max.
‘I said our daughter. Perhaps I
might want to take her home with me and bring her up in my
world.’
‘You wouldn’t,’ said Max her
voice quivering, on the verge of tears, ‘you would take my baby
from me?’
Haven knew he was upsetting
Max, but he couldn’t stop himself, all the pain and rage and anger
he felt at losing her again came bubbling to the surface.
‘What gives you the right to
take her from me,’ he said, sounding petty even to his own ears.
Tallon watched as a tear rolled down Max’s cheek.
Rounding on Haven, he spat,
‘you would do this to the woman you say you love. I knew you could
be vindictive, but this is beyond reason, I will not let you take
the child.’
‘This is getting out of hand,’
thought Gilster worriedly. ‘And how are you going to stop me,’
asked Haven.
‘I could kill you,’ said Tallon
menacingly.
Gilster held up his hand, ‘stop
this now, I will have no talk of killing,’ he said. Max put a hand
on Tallon’s arm.
‘Don’t speak like that, hasn’t
there been enough death already, and besides, I know you don’t mean
it, you’re not that sort of man.’
‘I’m sorry Max,’ said Haven, ‘I
didn’t mean any of what I said, I’m just hurting, that’s all.’
‘You’re not the only one who’s
hurting Haven, we all are. I think it best if we don’t talk about
these things until we finish what we came to do.’
Gilster spoke up, ‘I think we
should all try and get some rest, hopefully tomorrow will see an
end to it all.’
backs as they left for the quarry, soon drying out their wet
clothes. Elkeira laughed at the steam rising from their drying
clothes.
‘We look like dragons,’ she
said skipping along in front, the innocence of youth shining from
her face.
‘It’s not much further now,’
said Tallon after they had walked for about an hour, ‘I’ve started
to see some of the landmarks the old woman told me to look for. I
think the quarry should be over that next rise,’ he said pointing
to a hill in the distance.
The hill proved to be
deceptively further away than it looked and they didn’t reach it
until mid afternoon. When they finally reached the base of the hill
they stopped.
‘The quarry should be on the
other side of this rise,’ said Tallon, ‘are we ready?’ They all
nodded in unison.
‘Yes,’ said Max smiling, ‘let’s
do it.’ It took them another hour before they reached the top of
the rise. Elkeira ran the last few yards to the top.
‘It’s here,’ she called back,
‘the quarry is here.’ The others reached the top and looked down to
where Elkeira was pointing. ‘Here’s the quarry,’ she said, ‘and I
think that might be the shrine over there.’ They saw a small open
area about twenty yards back from the edge of the quarry, in the
middle of which stood a circle of stones surrounding four larger
stones. The grass had grown lush and green around the site but the
shrine was unmistakable.
‘Yes,’ said Gilster shading his
eyes from the sun, ‘I think you might be right, it looks exactly as
Mother Pendle said it would, well done Elkeira.’
The whole side of the rise had
been quarried away forming a deep pit, the bottom of which had
filled with water, forming a small lake.
‘I don’t think we will be able
to go straight down,’ said Tallon surveying the quarry, ‘we’ll have
to find a path down one of the sides. This looks the easiest way,’
he said, indicating the left side, ‘follow me and be careful of
loose rocks.’ They climb down in single file following Tallon.
Apart from Elkeira slipping and
sliding a few yards on her backside, they reached the bottom
without incident. They were within twenty yards of the shrine when
the enormity of what they were about to do hit them.
‘I feel strange,’ said Max,
‘after everything we’ve been through I can’t believe we’ve made
it.’ Everyone was silent, the moment so large and intense, all were
lost for words.
‘So . . . what do we do next,’
said Tallon breaking the tension.
‘Well, I suppose,’ said Gilster
as they walked slowly towards the shrine and the end of their
journey, ‘we get Thomas to read out the names.’
‘Yes,’ said Max, ‘we still
don’t know if it’s you or Haven do we?’
‘I think it will be you
Gilster,’ said Haven, ‘but all the names must be read aloud before
each chosen stands inside the circle.’
‘How could you know that?’ said
Max, ‘we’ve never been told that before.’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Haven
rubbing his temple, ‘it just came to me.’
‘Perhaps, Anubis’s energy is
not so strong this close to the portal,’ said Gilster, ‘your
telepathic abilities might be working.’
Haven turned to Max, ‘perhaps
they are,’ he said sadly, ‘I also know Max has made a
decision.’
‘We will talk later, after this
is over,’ said Max gently touching Haven’s arm. She removed a pouch
from her belt. ‘Here Thomas,’ she said, ‘read the names.’ If they
had stopped to wonder where the thought Haven had received came
from, what happened next would not have been such a shock.
tree line causing everyone to suddenly tense. Tallon grabbed his
bow and nocked an arrow.
‘Yes Thomas,’ came a silky
voice, ‘read the names so I will know who to kill.’ Fischer stepped
out from behind a large elm tree, closely followed by twenty guards
all armed with swords.
‘Father,’ said Thomas. ‘How did
you know where to find us, no one knew of this place except . . ..’
Realisation dawning, he felt sick. ‘No, you didn’t,’ he
wailed.
‘First, let me get one thing
straight, I have no son, he is dead, and second, yes, Mother Pendle
is dead.’
‘NOOOO,’ cried Thomas falling
to his knees, the anguish in his voice making him sound like a
wounded animal. ‘She was an old lady,’ he sobbed, ‘and she was my
friend, how could you.’ Elkeira tried to comfort him.
‘Oh, it wasn’t her that
betrayed you, she didn’t say one word of where you had gone before
I killed her. But Sasha, yes, pretty little Sasha, she had no
qualms about telling me everything. Didn’t you think it strange how
easy it was for you to escape the keep? I let you go and you were
all too stupid to realise it. Once we knew where you were heading
we circled round you and just waited for you to arrive.’
‘You killed Sasha,’ said
Gilster. ‘Why, when she told you what you wanted to know.’
defiantly, ‘and you can’t make me.’
‘Read the names Thomas,’ said
another voice, ‘do not be afraid, no harm will come to you or your
friends.’
‘Who said that,’ said Fischer
looking around, ‘show yourself.’
A man appeared out of nowhere,
standing in front of the group.
‘Droog!’ said Tallon, ‘what . .
. I don’t understand, what are you doing here?’
‘I came through the portal,’
said the man, ‘but I am not Droog, my name is Ragnar.’
‘Ragnar!’ said Fischer, ‘you
can’t be here, you’re an Uthian, you’ve broken the rules by coming
through before the portal is open.’
‘Anubis has repeatedly broken
the rules, my brothers and sisters and I tried to do the right
thing, but we could not stand by any longer. Read the names Thomas,
time is short, Helios will be here soon and your worlds will be
destroyed if the portal is not open.’
‘Kill them,’ snarled Fischer
gesturing his guards forward, ‘I want none left alive.’ When they
did not respond, he turned to see them all frozen in place.
‘They cannot obey you,’ said
Ragnar, ‘my energy field is stopping them. Now, please Thomas, read
the names.’
Thomas was trembling when he
pulled the first scroll from the bag. His fingers were having
trouble unrolling it until Elkeira took it from his hand. ‘Here,’
she said, ‘let me help.’ She handed the open scroll back to Thomas
and he began to read the Uthian script.
‘A man who wields the power of
life and death, yet his heart is pure and true. His name is
Gilster, a son of Elaxier. This is the choice of Minerva and
Apollo.’
‘Please,’ said Ragnar, ‘take
your place in the circle.’ Gilster walked forward. ‘Now, stand on
one of the stones,’ continued Ragnar.
Thomas continued after pulling
another scroll from the bag.
‘A warrior strong and proud,
who knew neither his mother nor his father. A man of principle,
bound to protect the weak and helpless with his life if necessary.
These are the words of Isis and Ragnar. Tallon is the name of our
Chosen.’
‘No,’ said Tallon, ‘this cannot
be, you’re wrong, read it again, Elkeira is the Chosen, we’ve
always known that.’
‘It’s alright,’ said Elkeira,
taking his hand, ‘you will be a far better Chosen than I ever
could.’ She led him to the shrine and he took his place on a stone
opposite Gilster.
Thomas pulled a third scroll
from the bag. He smiled.
A boy filled with unending
love. Despite everything, his ability to love and forgive remain
intact. Truly, a strength few people possess. Be strong my friend.
I love you. Epona of Chaos.’
‘Read the last scroll, before
you take you place in the circle Thomas,’ said Ragnar.
‘A child, conceived in one
world, born in another.’
The colour drained from Thomas’
face as he looked towards Max.
She screamed, ‘no, not my
child,’ she threw herself at Ragnar, her hands like talons ready to
scratch his eyes out. Haven grabbed her arm and she whirled round
slapping him hard across the face, blood dripped from his torn lip,
but he held her tightly in his arms while she struggled and
screamed. Gilster and Tallon tried to go to her aid, but their feet
were stuck fast to the rocks they were standing on. Tallon
continuing to struggle long after Gilster had stopped.
thought Elkeira as they started on the last leg of the journey.
Soon the rain began to fall, softly at first then becoming a
torrential downpour within a few hours. So loud was the falling
rain, that when Tallon finally spoke to say it would be better if
they waited for the worst of the rain to pass, no one could hear a
word he said. Everyone was soaked to the skin and shivering with
cold.
‘We can’t carry on like this,’
yelled Tallon over the down-pour, ‘we must seek shelter before we
either get lost or one of us gets injured.’
‘I agree,’ shouted Gilster,
‘perhaps if we went deeper into the forest we may find a little
protection under the trees.’
Tallon led them off the path
and into the forest. They walked for half an hour until he finally
called a halt. The sound of the rain had eased slightly since
entering the forest. Tallon called Elkeira over and had a short
discussion with her. The others could not hear what was said as
they huddled together in misery, the rain running from their
clothes in rivulets. They saw Tallon making various gestures and
Elkeira nodding in agreement. When he had finished, Elkeira
returned to the group.
‘We’re going to build a small
shelter, it should protect us from the worst of the weather,’ she
said. ‘Tallon wants us to collect whatever we can, to use as a roof
while he builds the shelter.’
It took a couple of hours,
during which time the rain never let up for a minute, but
eventually they were all huddled inside Tallon’s make-shift
shelter. It was very small and the occupants were squashed together
causing much discomfort. They had decided not to light a fire due
to the close confines of the shelter and it would have been near
impossible to find dry wood anyway. When Tallon went to sit watch,
Gilster said it would not be necessary tonight and he should remain
in the shelter. Tallon didn’t argue.
Elkeira had managed to worm her
way next to Thomas and the two of them were talking and laughing
together quietly, oblivious to the tension around them.
‘Well,’ said Gilster
congenially, ‘isn’t this cosy.’ Tallon grunted, Max gave a weak
little smile and Haven said nothing. Gilster continued, ‘has anyone
thought about what they might do when this is over?’ When nobody
spoke, he said, ‘I thought I might spend some time in Naturine,
there’s a young lady there I would dearly love to see again.’ Still
no one spoke. ‘What about you Max? After you find Ti Athra will you
go home?’
‘Yes, said Max, I’ll be taking
my daughter home and hopefully we’ll be able to start living a
normal life.’
‘Our daughter,’ said
Haven.
‘What?’ said Max.
‘I said our daughter. Perhaps I
might want to take her home with me and bring her up in my
world.’
‘You wouldn’t,’ said Max her
voice quivering, on the verge of tears, ‘you would take my baby
from me?’
Haven knew he was upsetting
Max, but he couldn’t stop himself, all the pain and rage and anger
he felt at losing her again came bubbling to the surface.
‘What gives you the right to
take her from me,’ he said, sounding petty even to his own ears.
Tallon watched as a tear rolled down Max’s cheek.
Rounding on Haven, he spat,
‘you would do this to the woman you say you love. I knew you could
be vindictive, but this is beyond reason, I will not let you take
the child.’
‘This is getting out of hand,’
thought Gilster worriedly. ‘And how are you going to stop me,’
asked Haven.
‘I could kill you,’ said Tallon
menacingly.
Gilster held up his hand, ‘stop
this now, I will have no talk of killing,’ he said. Max put a hand
on Tallon’s arm.
‘Don’t speak like that, hasn’t
there been enough death already, and besides, I know you don’t mean
it, you’re not that sort of man.’
‘I’m sorry Max,’ said Haven, ‘I
didn’t mean any of what I said, I’m just hurting, that’s all.’
‘You’re not the only one who’s
hurting Haven, we all are. I think it best if we don’t talk about
these things until we finish what we came to do.’
Gilster spoke up, ‘I think we
should all try and get some rest, hopefully tomorrow will see an
end to it all.’
Sometime during
the night the rain ceased and the morning dawned bright and new.
‘Today is the day,’ thought Max, ‘and what a beautiful day it is.’
She had come to a realisation last night in the dark as she huddled
against Tallon. Whatever she and Haven had once had was over, she
would never stop loving him, but she could no longer
be
with him. The thought
made her sad, but now she knew it was over, she found her strength
returned, giving her the courage to carry on and finish what had
been started all those months ago.
backs as they left for the quarry, soon drying out their wet
clothes. Elkeira laughed at the steam rising from their drying
clothes.
‘We look like dragons,’ she
said skipping along in front, the innocence of youth shining from
her face.
‘It’s not much further now,’
said Tallon after they had walked for about an hour, ‘I’ve started
to see some of the landmarks the old woman told me to look for. I
think the quarry should be over that next rise,’ he said pointing
to a hill in the distance.
The hill proved to be
deceptively further away than it looked and they didn’t reach it
until mid afternoon. When they finally reached the base of the hill
they stopped.
‘The quarry should be on the
other side of this rise,’ said Tallon, ‘are we ready?’ They all
nodded in unison.
‘Yes,’ said Max smiling, ‘let’s
do it.’ It took them another hour before they reached the top of
the rise. Elkeira ran the last few yards to the top.
‘It’s here,’ she called back,
‘the quarry is here.’ The others reached the top and looked down to
where Elkeira was pointing. ‘Here’s the quarry,’ she said, ‘and I
think that might be the shrine over there.’ They saw a small open
area about twenty yards back from the edge of the quarry, in the
middle of which stood a circle of stones surrounding four larger
stones. The grass had grown lush and green around the site but the
shrine was unmistakable.
‘Yes,’ said Gilster shading his
eyes from the sun, ‘I think you might be right, it looks exactly as
Mother Pendle said it would, well done Elkeira.’
The whole side of the rise had
been quarried away forming a deep pit, the bottom of which had
filled with water, forming a small lake.
‘I don’t think we will be able
to go straight down,’ said Tallon surveying the quarry, ‘we’ll have
to find a path down one of the sides. This looks the easiest way,’
he said, indicating the left side, ‘follow me and be careful of
loose rocks.’ They climb down in single file following Tallon.
Apart from Elkeira slipping and
sliding a few yards on her backside, they reached the bottom
without incident. They were within twenty yards of the shrine when
the enormity of what they were about to do hit them.
‘I feel strange,’ said Max,
‘after everything we’ve been through I can’t believe we’ve made
it.’ Everyone was silent, the moment so large and intense, all were
lost for words.
‘So . . . what do we do next,’
said Tallon breaking the tension.
‘Well, I suppose,’ said Gilster
as they walked slowly towards the shrine and the end of their
journey, ‘we get Thomas to read out the names.’
‘Yes,’ said Max, ‘we still
don’t know if it’s you or Haven do we?’
‘I think it will be you
Gilster,’ said Haven, ‘but all the names must be read aloud before
each chosen stands inside the circle.’
‘How could you know that?’ said
Max, ‘we’ve never been told that before.’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Haven
rubbing his temple, ‘it just came to me.’
‘Perhaps, Anubis’s energy is
not so strong this close to the portal,’ said Gilster, ‘your
telepathic abilities might be working.’
Haven turned to Max, ‘perhaps
they are,’ he said sadly, ‘I also know Max has made a
decision.’
‘We will talk later, after this
is over,’ said Max gently touching Haven’s arm. She removed a pouch
from her belt. ‘Here Thomas,’ she said, ‘read the names.’ If they
had stopped to wonder where the thought Haven had received came
from, what happened next would not have been such a shock.
tree line causing everyone to suddenly tense. Tallon grabbed his
bow and nocked an arrow.
‘Yes Thomas,’ came a silky
voice, ‘read the names so I will know who to kill.’ Fischer stepped
out from behind a large elm tree, closely followed by twenty guards
all armed with swords.
‘Father,’ said Thomas. ‘How did
you know where to find us, no one knew of this place except . . ..’
Realisation dawning, he felt sick. ‘No, you didn’t,’ he
wailed.
‘First, let me get one thing
straight, I have no son, he is dead, and second, yes, Mother Pendle
is dead.’
‘NOOOO,’ cried Thomas falling
to his knees, the anguish in his voice making him sound like a
wounded animal. ‘She was an old lady,’ he sobbed, ‘and she was my
friend, how could you.’ Elkeira tried to comfort him.
‘Oh, it wasn’t her that
betrayed you, she didn’t say one word of where you had gone before
I killed her. But Sasha, yes, pretty little Sasha, she had no
qualms about telling me everything. Didn’t you think it strange how
easy it was for you to escape the keep? I let you go and you were
all too stupid to realise it. Once we knew where you were heading
we circled round you and just waited for you to arrive.’
‘You killed Sasha,’ said
Gilster. ‘Why, when she told you what you wanted to know.’
‘No, no, I’m
not that heartless,’ said Fischer, smirking, ‘I didn’t say I killed
Sasha, no she is very much alive, but I don’t think anyone will
ever call her
pretty
little Sasha again.’ Tallon raised his bow. ‘I wouldn’t if I
was you,’ said Fischer, ‘I have bowmen and snipers in the trees as
well as my swordsmen.’ Tallon lowered his bow slowly, but the look
of pure hatred never left his face. ‘Good boy,’ said Fischer
condescendingly, ‘I’d hate to kill anyone before I’m ready.’
Turning back to Thomas, he spat, ‘now . . . read the names so we
can get this over with. Whoever is left after I’ve killed the
Chosen will be my slaves. But don’t be sad about losing your
friends, you’ll be together again soon, Thomas can attest to the
fact slaves don’t last very long in the keep, can’t you Thomas? Now
read.’
defiantly, ‘and you can’t make me.’
‘Read the names Thomas,’ said
another voice, ‘do not be afraid, no harm will come to you or your
friends.’
‘Who said that,’ said Fischer
looking around, ‘show yourself.’
A man appeared out of nowhere,
standing in front of the group.
‘Droog!’ said Tallon, ‘what . .
. I don’t understand, what are you doing here?’
‘I came through the portal,’
said the man, ‘but I am not Droog, my name is Ragnar.’
‘Ragnar!’ said Fischer, ‘you
can’t be here, you’re an Uthian, you’ve broken the rules by coming
through before the portal is open.’
‘Anubis has repeatedly broken
the rules, my brothers and sisters and I tried to do the right
thing, but we could not stand by any longer. Read the names Thomas,
time is short, Helios will be here soon and your worlds will be
destroyed if the portal is not open.’
‘Kill them,’ snarled Fischer
gesturing his guards forward, ‘I want none left alive.’ When they
did not respond, he turned to see them all frozen in place.
‘They cannot obey you,’ said
Ragnar, ‘my energy field is stopping them. Now, please Thomas, read
the names.’
Thomas was trembling when he
pulled the first scroll from the bag. His fingers were having
trouble unrolling it until Elkeira took it from his hand. ‘Here,’
she said, ‘let me help.’ She handed the open scroll back to Thomas
and he began to read the Uthian script.
‘A man who wields the power of
life and death, yet his heart is pure and true. His name is
Gilster, a son of Elaxier. This is the choice of Minerva and
Apollo.’
‘Please,’ said Ragnar, ‘take
your place in the circle.’ Gilster walked forward. ‘Now, stand on
one of the stones,’ continued Ragnar.
Thomas continued after pulling
another scroll from the bag.
‘A warrior strong and proud,
who knew neither his mother nor his father. A man of principle,
bound to protect the weak and helpless with his life if necessary.
These are the words of Isis and Ragnar. Tallon is the name of our
Chosen.’
‘No,’ said Tallon, ‘this cannot
be, you’re wrong, read it again, Elkeira is the Chosen, we’ve
always known that.’
‘It’s alright,’ said Elkeira,
taking his hand, ‘you will be a far better Chosen than I ever
could.’ She led him to the shrine and he took his place on a stone
opposite Gilster.
Thomas pulled a third scroll
from the bag. He smiled.
A boy filled with unending
love. Despite everything, his ability to love and forgive remain
intact. Truly, a strength few people possess. Be strong my friend.
I love you. Epona of Chaos.’
‘Read the last scroll, before
you take you place in the circle Thomas,’ said Ragnar.
‘A child, conceived in one
world, born in another.’
The colour drained from Thomas’
face as he looked towards Max.
She screamed, ‘no, not my
child,’ she threw herself at Ragnar, her hands like talons ready to
scratch his eyes out. Haven grabbed her arm and she whirled round
slapping him hard across the face, blood dripped from his torn lip,
but he held her tightly in his arms while she struggled and
screamed. Gilster and Tallon tried to go to her aid, but their feet
were stuck fast to the rocks they were standing on. Tallon
continuing to struggle long after Gilster had stopped.
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