Sheeshan looked at each of the people Zeek had brought with him. These were the individuals upon whom the fate of the world rested, and none of them were even slightly prepared. He motioned for Dixon to follow him.“I need you to give me a quick rundown of what each person can do. We will then set a plan to teach them to use their powers.”Dixon nodded and pointed at Zeek. “Well as I'm sure that you already know, Zeek is a wizard. All of his extraordinary abilities come from alchemy, potions, spells, and his magic staff.”Sheeshan smiled patiently and responded, “Yes, I have known Zeek for many moons. He has an amazing grasp on what he can and cannot do with his powers. Everyone else here, I am afraid, does not understand what they are capable of.”Dixon sighed. "These people possess some of the most phenomenal abilities I have ever come across, yet they are completely unaware. I am sure Zeek told you about me, but I will just summarize my talents to be certain we are on the same page
Alizeh was talking to Zeek and watching them out of the corner of her eye. As they walked closer, Dixon could sense her vitality. It vibrated all around her. He could not believe one person could hold so much raw intensity and not even be aware of it.Sheeshan noticed it, too, because it seemed to influence the energy and vibration of the universe. He had felt nothing like this before. He looked at her, wide-eyed, trying to hide his amazement.“Hi Alizeh, I just wanted to start this conversation by letting you know that your mother is doing quite well. She is up and will be ready for you to see her once we are done here. Dixon will give you a small amount of information about the powers you possess.”Dixon smiled and added, “I know that you have been dabbling in your powers since you met Orion, but I don’t think you understand them at all. Am I correct in this assumption?”He finally had Alizeh’s full attention. She looked straight into his eyes and answered, “Honestly, I don't have a
Dane looked at Radof with excitement. “I think I have it! I keep getting tiny snippets of what he is seeing. I believe they are preparing for something big. Just give me a little more time, and I will try to connect with him. When I touch your arm, deliver the message.”After a few moments, Dane's eyes opened wide, rolled backward, and then closed again. He reached out and touched Radof’s arm. Radof cleared his throat and began.“Hello friend. I have some news for you. It's important that you get back to this dimension right away. An army of those who oppose Genève has been gathered. They await your command. It's time to begin our war, to put your son in Genève’s place on her throne. We just need you and your team to lead us. Come as quickly as you can. With every moment that passes, the danger for us grows.”As he finished speaking, his words began echoing, and the world started spinning. He looked over at Dane and realized by his startled face that he was experiencing the same thing
Zeek walked over to the group. After learning about their powers, they were in a quite state of disbelief. He motioned for the others to follow. Sheeshan turned toward Zeek, and the rest followed suit."Radof has sent a message. We have an army bigger than we could have ever dreamed possible. Most of them are untrained, but they are ours to command. Sheeshan, you must lead us. I wish we would have had more of a chance to develop our powers, but there is something big looming. If we win this fight, then we will have the chance to train everyone properly. We would be fools to believe that this will end with just one victory. But we must go now. They are all gathered and waiting.”Sheeshan met his friend’s gaze. “It’s more than that, Zeek. There is something major brewing. Something that has never happened before. There is no chance to explain. Genève’s army is on the march, and we are about to run out of time, my friend. Everyone gathered around. We must leave now.”Zeek handed them eac
Alizeh rushed through the doorway, surprised that nobody had tried to stop her. Most of the army had dispersed.Finally reaching the exit, Alizeh stepped out and gasped. The battle had already begun. After surveying the situation, she noticed her mother fighting with a man twice her size. There was also a soldier with a longsword running toward Gwendolyn from behind. Alizeh screamed and put her hands up, moving her mother away from her attackers in a single gesture. All it took was one stream of electricity to knock both men to the ground. She was sure they would not get up again. She turned to walk toward her mother when she felt paralyzed.Without warning, something rooted Alizeh to the soil like the tree she had just departed. She tried to survey the situation, but her head was just as useless as the rest of her. She panicked, shut her eyes, and screamed.When she opened her eyes, she was staring straight into Genève’s grimacing face. She closed and reopened them, hoping it was jus
Genève woke up again in a soft bed. She looked over, and Talon was next to her fast asleep. She got up to find the bathroom and freshen up.She tried to collect her thoughts. Talon was such an honorable man with a pure soul. She was afraid that when he found out who she had become and all the terrible things she had done, he would turn and run as quickly as he could. She knew she could not change her past, but she vowed to herself that she would spend every waking moment turning herself into someone he would be proud of. To start, she would do as the queen had requested. She would forget her pride and beg for help from her enemies.The world seemed to tilt, and her image in the mirror shook. She reached out her hands to steady herself on the sink and turned toward the closed door. She had a feeling of foreboding as she walked on trembling legs to the exit. It only took a moment, but it seemed like an eternity. The ground swayed back and forth, and she felt as if she was about to be si
I put their hands on the amulet and pictured Alizeh’s face. Genève wanted to picture Talon's face so badly, but she knew that if she disobeyed the queen, they could never come back to Anwyn.Gwendolyn and Isabella snuck out of the castle gate right after dinner. Everyone was distracted, and no one was concerned about their whereabouts. They usually went straight to their quarters. Both women were antsy. They didn't want to mention it to each other, but they both felt the tree calling out to them. They both stumbled down the path as if they had no actual destinations in mind, but they knew where they were going. It was a long walk, so in between gasping for breaths or tripping over rocks or holes in the ground, they tried to make small talk.Gwendolyn dodged a tree branch and looked at Isabella. “Did you think Alizeh was acting strange today?”Isabella stopped in her tracks, narrowly missing a large hole covered with leaves. “I was going to mention that to you today, but never got the
Orion made certain all exits were secure and that a guard was posted at each gate. They took turns surveying the crowd to make sure no one could slip through.Looking over at Dane, he shook his head with concern. It was understood that Dane was not a fan of his father and mother working together. Hell, Orion wasn't thrilled with the idea himself, but there had to be something else going on. Dane was acting weird–even for him. He would not make eye contact with anyone. All he did was stand with his back against the wall, staring blankly into the crowd as if he were desperately searching for someone.Orion did not have time to think any more about the situation, because just as quickly as Zeek, Genève, and Trixie had disappeared earlier, they reappeared as four without Geneve. Alizeh, her mother, and Isabella all stood together. Alizeh looked both pissed and confused, and Trixie was crying.As the tears rolled down her face, she said, "Genève is gone. She sacrificed herself so that Aliz
That night Alizeh dreamed of Tom. When they first met, he kindly invited her to bunk with him so he could protect her. He wanted so bad to be a hero, to make up for his sins.Even in her dreams she knew, there was no way a little thievery could detract from the person he really was. Then the dream changed to him laughing and telling her she wasn't right in the head.Next, she cut to him warning her about the Bandits, "if they find us, we will not live through the night."Her voice cut over the scene ",Why didn't you listen."She closed her eyes, inside her dream and when she opened them he was lying there dead, entrails spilled on the ground.She heard her own voice again "Why didn't you listen."Alizeh woke herself up screaming. Balthazar was in front of her staring at her with his mouth hanging open. "It's okay Alizeh, you are safe down here. Shh."She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried silently. She finally pulled herself together. Balthazar was looking at with worried eyes.
Zeek, Geneve, and crew returned to the castle. They were tired and disappointed. Zeek spoke to no one as he hurried to his room. He just wanted to go to bed. They'd completely wasted all day. They were no closer to finding her. They couldn't use Geneve's location spell again for an entire week. They did learn enough to add fuel to the already out of control worry that consumed him like fire and clouded his mind like black smoke clouded a room. When she left the castle her head was already in a dark place. Her state of mind was already cause for concern. He knew Alizeh pretty well, he had no doubt that the boys death hurt her in a profound way. With the darkness tainting her thoughts, he feared the pain would be converted to anger. He was concerned about just how far she'd allow Geneve's rage take things, and if it was now the darkness that was captaining the ship.All of this was his fault. If he would have left her in the woods, thus wouldn't have ever happened. He knew he was b
Alizeh just sat there, with tears rolling down her face, and her mouth hanging open. Of course, I would land in the middle of a dragon’s layer, she thought. She considered using her powers, and killing it, but it occurred to her she had never met a dragon before, and she wasn’t sure she would win, and today was not the day she wanted to die. Plus, there was something about this dragon, he was kind of cute, and she couldn’t help but to like him. “My name is Balthazar. I have been down here alone for a long time, afraid to leave. I always wanted a pet to keep me company. You seem different than the evil ones that live in the town. You smell different too. What’s your name – ooh maybe you don’t have one. Do I get to name you?”Alizeh let a snort through the tears, “I am Alizeh. Why are you scared of the towns people? You are a dragon. Can’t you just go and burn the village down?”“I was on my vision quest to come into my powers, when I felt my mother’s death. Since I was only ten (that’
Geneve stared into the fire while soaking. She tried to leave her mind totally blank. She must have fallen asleep because it did not feel like eight hours when it came to her. She bolted up, forgetting she was undressed, and ran to the first person she saw. It was Trixie. “I found her; we must hurry.”Trixie looked at her and gasped. “We will hurry, dear, but you must get dressed first, I will get the others. They should be ready to go.”Geneve quickly got dressed and met the others outside. They decided Trixie, Cade, Orion, Zeek, and Geneve should go. She was not sure just how many people she would be able to transport back and for the and didn’t want to chance to screw anything up. Okay, everyone holds hands, we are only going to be able to do this once, then we must return here.She concentrated on the place the fire showed her. She felt the chilly night and the sand on her skin. The world started spinning in circles, and everything faded to black. The next thing she remembered was
Alizeh stayed up for five hours. Everything was quiet, as she expected. She woke Tom up when her eyelids started to get heavy. She was sure at this point all would be well. Tom woke up, and still looked exhausted. She felt like her fight earlier took more out of him than it did her.“You know what, never mind, go back to sleep. I have got this. I will stay up for the night, don’t worry about it, for real,” she pleaded. She could not bear it if something happened to him.“Like there’s any dimensions in this universe I would let someone else fight my battle, and then let them guard me all night, without any sleep. Alizeh, I appreciate it, but I need you to go to sleep. I will be fine, I got my pack of cards, and I am going to write Nancy a letter, to remind her how very much I love her.”She reluctantly agreed and laid down next to the fire. She tried to stay awake, but she drifted off after a while. She dreamed of being in a dark world, there was a dragon by her side. Orion and cade we
Zeek was looking in his orb, trying to find a suitable place for Geneve to do her ritual, and getting frustrated because he understood how important it was for her to have the right water source. This wasn’t Anwyn. They didn’t have the convenience of all the power in the universe, harnessed in one beautiful river. They had rivers, but they were in very open spots.“Damn it,” He muttered, “this is taking too much time. We need to find something.”“Well, I am not going to trapes around in the middle of town, sans clothes”, Geneve sighed. There has to be a middle ground. I am willing to help, I will save your prodigy for you, but I will not do it at the expense of my dignity. “Talon had been very quiet since he got there. He understood his place. He didn’t really feel like he belonged, he felt like an outsider, but that is something he has dealt with, his entire life, until he met Geneve. She changed his world for him, and she will never understand the deepness of the connection he feel
Alizeh told Tom to stay back. The last thing she needed was for him to get in the way and get them both killed. She hoped there were a lot of them. She turned her head around the corner and was surprised. There were only four men sitting on their horses, trying to look scary – but coming across as petulant children. Alizeh stepped out in front of the boulder.As they trotted closer and closer, one of the men laughed “We know you’re not alone, we saw you and your little boyfriend, oh my, are we going to have fun with you.”“Oh no whatever will we do, us all alone, with all you bad, bad boys out to get us. I have heard about you. Do you plan on killing us?” Alizeh asked feigning fear.There was one man who stood in front of the rest, He was more aloof, and they all seemed to be listening to cues from him. He pulled his hat down, and drawled, “Well little lady, I am going to give you the time of your life, just before I end your life. Don’t worry, you’ll thank me before it is all said an
Zeek had a rude awaking, it is not every day that the only woman you have ever loved, comes tumbling out of nowhere, with the only man she has ever loved, landing in your bed. He opened his eyes to a sudden jolt and was staring into those fiery green eyes he fell in love with so long ago. Then he heard a thump, and Talon was right behind her.He had heard stories of talon but had never seen him. He never really wanted to. This was the man he could never be. Tall dark and handsome. Zeek was in his late forties, and 3.5 feet tall; he was an elf. Geneve and Talon were faes. Faes only age until their late twenties, and then the aging process slowed considerably. If a fae looks old, they are ancient, and you better mind your manners around them.At first, he thought he was having a nightmare. He closed his eyes and opened them again. They were still there, staring back at him. He closed his eyes again, and all of his hopes were shattered, when Geneve said, “for god’s sake Zeek, we are real,
Alizeh woke up in a better mood than she had experienced in a long time. It was nice to be away from everything. To think, to put things in perspective. It was even nice to have someone to talk to that was not involved in ruining her life. She had decided last night, that she needed to let Cade go. What they had was real. It was everything, but I would never be fair to him that her heart was not his. Part of it would always belong to Orion. She jumped up and gently kicked Tom. He was snoring with his mouth open, which she found funnier than the situation called for. “Wake up fool. We are wasting daylight. Let’s find these bandits you spoke of last night.”Tom shot up, unexpectedly “Hush girl. You know not what you speak of. The day we meet those bandits, will be the last day we live. That is my word, and my word is my bond. “She laughed and said, “You’re a bank robber for Goddess’s sake, your word cannot be your bond.”“Not true,” Tom said earnestly. “I do not lie, I steal. I steal b