The Forsaken Call Page 26

  "It has been fifteen years since I've seen him, but I have thought of him often," the man admitted somewhat regretfully as he sat up straight. "Do something for me, young man. When you heal his ailments, don't tell him you encountered me."

  "Why not?"

  "Honestly, I believe he would be disappointed with what has become of me. I don't want the image of a twelve year old boy's idol to be tarnished simply because I could not make myself a great man."

  "You're still here. You have plenty chance to turn around."

  The man took a deep breath, but did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand in the direction of his twelve Forces and then swept it in the opposite direction and, acting immediately, the Forces sped off into the distance, leading the way.

  "Good day," the man said, turning his head away and snapping the reins of his horse.

  Jameson stood and watched the man go, seriously contemplating grabbing his own horse and chasing him down. But, when he looked over his shoulder to the others, he decided against it. Louisa and Johanna hovered over Baloric while Cyrus was inspecting Princess Erestina's wrists to ensure she had not been harmed, while the princess had her eyes raised and focused on Jameson. Awkwardly, Jameson averted his eyes and looked at Luke who was climbing up on top of the carriage to remove the remaining rope.

  Jameson went back over to the group and offered to help get everything back in order. He would have liked to pursue the mysterious man and, as he climbed into the carriage to assist in arranging Baloric back on the blankets, he wondered about what kind of relationship the man was trying to preserve, and if the relationship was worth preservation.

  33. If You Refuse to Comply

  Chapter 33

  "Cyrus has finally gone to sleep," Johanna whispered with a smile as she climbed up on the carriage next to Jameson. "He hasn't slept since you all were in the Forest."

  "I didn't know that," Jameson admitted. "He must be exhausted."

  "But he's also got that bump on his head," Johanna said, pointing to a spot on her forehead just above her eye. "They say you're not supposed to sleep for a little while after you hit your head or else you'll never wake up again."

  "I forgot about that. I guess he doesn't complain much."

  "Weird," Johanna said, laughing a little. "He has changed so much. I guess I don't really even know him much better than you do after all that time went by." Her smile widened. "He's really devoted to Princess Erestina, isn't he?"

  Jameson nodded since he was at a loss of anything to say in response. He wondered if his own feelings towards Meg were anywhere comparable to those; then again, as much as he liked Meg, it wasn't fair to even try to compare his feelings to the devotion of ten years.

  Johanna leaned her back against the carriage and sighed. "What about you?" Jameson questioned.

  "What do you mean?" Johanna said, sitting up straight.

  "Sleeping, I mean," Jameson clarified. "You haven't slept for a while."

  "Not true," Johanna said adamantly. "I'm too antsy to sleep anyway. I've never been to Gislan before. I don't want to miss anything and I definitely don't want to end up being inside the carriage again if something exciting happens."

  "There's really nothing too exciting about Gislan," Jameson said with a raised eyebrow. "This is pretty much it."

  Johanna suddenly leaned forward and gazed at the horizon. "Oh yeah?" she said, standing up and pointing.

  Jameson pulled the reins and stood up as well, squinting to see whatever Johanna was looking at. Sure enough, there was a figure in the distance, barely visible against the dark sky and hardly distinguishable from any small dead tree.

  "You're right," Jameson said, glancing around for Louisa and Luke who would be on horses and theoretically remaining close to the carriage.

  The two of them were hanging behind, trotting alongside one another, apparently engaged in a discussion that Jameson interrupted by waving his arm. Luke looked up first and gestured to Louisa, and only a minute later, the two of them were up next to Jameson asking why they had stopped. "Who is that?" Louisa asked.

  "I don't know, and we shouldn't take chances this time," Jameson said.

  "Are we just supposed to wait here for him to attack us?" Louisa questioned skeptically.

  "I don't think we should automatically assume he's dangerous," Jameson said, handing the reins to Johanna and jumping off the carriage to draw his sword.

  Johanna made an offended snort and threw the reins down, also jumping down and giving Jameson a harsh look. Jameson shot a look right back at her, but she did not falter, which Louisa appeared to find both irritating and amusing.

  "What do we do?" Louisa said as opposed to commenting on the entertaining interaction.

  "Fine," he said, finally looking away from Johanna, which she of course interpreted as a victory. "Luke, shoot a warning arrow in that direction, but no where near him, just to show him that we can defend ourselves. If he isn't dangerous, we don't want to make him dangerous, right?"

  All the while, he was moving to the back of the cart to the entrance. He peeked in the back to see Erestina sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Cyrus was lying next to her, under a blanket and most likely very comfortable.

  "Princess, wake up Cyrus," he said, trying to sound regretful, but urgent.

  "What should I tell him?" she asked meekly.

  "Just tell him to get ready," he answered, returning to the front of the carriage where Luke was placing an arrow in his bow.

  "You sure about this, Jim?" Luke said uneasily.

  "No, I'm not sure about anything," Jameson answered truthfully.

  That answer almost seemed comforting to Luke as he turned and unloaded the arrow up into the sky, purposely aiming away from the individual in the distance as not to scare him, but also not to provoke him.

  After he lowered his bow, the group only watched silently as the arrow sailed through the air. The person on the horizon turned his head briefly to inspect its destination, though did not otherwise move.

  "Is that a good reaction?" Johanna whispered.

  As she did, Cyrus rounded the cart, armed and followed quickly by Erestina. Jameson looked up at him as he asked what was going on, only just then finally taking the time to notice the gash on his forehead that still remained from the chaos within the Rain Shrine. It was small, but Jameson could tell it was deep, and likely causing more pain than perhaps Cyrus chose to let on.

  "What's happening?" he repeated.

  "Nothing yet," Louisa said, pointing at the person in the distance.

  "Louisa, loan me that horse," Cyrus said. "I'll ride ahead to see who he is."

  "Why, so you can be a hero?" Louisa said, unimpressed.

  "Someone has to," Cyrus argued.

  "Don't, Felix, it's too dangerous," Erestina requested in a tone which sounded more like she was begging.

  "Just stay here," Johanna agreed. "After all, Jameson is right. We don't know if this person is dangerous and I think that if he hasn't done anything yet, then that probably means he's not going to do something at all."

  Jameson glanced back at where the person was standing, only to discover with great disappointment that he was no longer there. "He's gone," Jameson reported, taking a few strides away from the cart to get a better view. The others were quick on his heels, initially just as baffled.

  "Where could he have gone where we wouldn't see him?" Luke said, quickly scouting the flat terrain.

  "Well, he's not our problem anymore," Johanna offered.

  "I don't think we can assume he's gone for good," Louisa pointed out.

  "Wait," Cyrus ordered, and then hushed them all silent.

  "Excuse me?" Louisa said, but Cyrus only hushed her again.

  Jameson stayed where he was and listened. Cyrus was looking straight ahead, but his eyes were darting around, listening and waiting, certainly expecting something to happen.

  "What are we listening for?" Erestina whispered, her voice shaking nervously.

  "He's a Gisl
an," Cyrus said, his voice getting very low. "And he hasn't gone away just yet."

  Abruptly, he swung his sword towards the space in front of him and next to where Louisa was mounted. Her horse reared and nearly knocked her off of it, and before she could yell at Cyrus for almost hitting her, she looked over to where he had attacked. A figure was flipping backwards in a methodical way, avoiding the swipe of the sword, and then landed upright several paces away out of Cyrus's range. Princess Erestina gasped and moved herself behind Cyrus, gripping his sleeve for protection.

  "Where did he come from?" Luke demanded, taking an arrow from his quiver.

  "Gislan magic," Cyrus said, standing up straight but still holding the point of his sword up to defend.

  Jameson wondered if he was the only one who was completely thrown off by who they had just encountered: their assailant was nothing more than a boy. He couldn't have been much older than ten and though he was tall for his age, his face was even more childish, scrunched up with displeasure that he had been detected while he had been creating the illusion of invisibility.

  Although Jameson had not encountered many people from Gislan before, he imagined the boy had a fairly typical appearance by their standards. His skin was dark as if he had been out in the sun for too long, even though there was almost no sunlight in Gislan, and his hair was light, which created an odd contrast. Brown eyes sunk into him, partially obscured by his hair which was so tussled that it appeared as though his intention was to hide as much as his face as possible.

  Since most Gislan shared the basic appearance, Jameson wondered if perhaps that's why the boy seemed somehow familiar. He dismissed the thought that he had once known the boy because, as he often painfully recalled, he had been missing for ten years and the boy could not have been anything but an infant before he had been taken.

  "We're not intimidated by your magic," Cyrus said. "I suggest we each allow the other to go our separate ways."

  "Your way is my concern," the boy said simply in a tone that did not sound hostile, but of course it did not sound particularly friendly either.

  "I don't think it is," Johanna interjected.

  Cyrus put a hand out at her to indicate her to be quiet. "Return to your group," he told the boy. "We won't follow you."

  "You're treading dangerously close to my mistress's territory," the boy said, the severity in his tone increasing. "You must either turn around or fight me now."

  "Your mistress," Jameson said, stepping forward and gesturing for Cyrus to lower his weapon. The boy seemed surprised that Jameson would make a move so suddenly, and turned his defensive stance to face him, but Jameson only put both his hands up to indicate his intention was not to fight. "Is your mistress called the Angel?" he asked.

  The boy did not appear prepared to answer that type of question and seemed far better equipped to simply fight. However, his expression alone answered Jameson's question, thankfully enough. Although Jameson had been expecting an encounter with Roth and his soldiers again, he was glad he would only have to face a young boy instead.

  "We're looking for the Angel," Jameson explained. "We need her to help our friend. She might be expecting us."

  Jameson's explanation frustrated the boy as he started to lean backwards and suddenly vanished. Jameson instinctively took a step forward to try to grab him, but his hand fell through thin air.

  "That way!" Cyrus said as he started to run, but Johanna grabbed his arm to stop him.

  "Don't chase him!" she ordered. "He's running away! You scared him, Jameson!"

  Jameson was not paying attention and, instead, was looking in the direction where they had first seen the boy standing. After a minute or so of patient waiting, the boy came back into view, except he was accompanied by another figure standing next to him. The figure was a woman—younger than Jameson—who also fit the typical Gislan description, and had her arm around boy's shoulders in a very protective stance.

  "Two of them," Luke noted.

  "Honored guests of Joy Angel," the woman suddenly called, barely raising her voice loud enough to be distinguished from the wind. "You are obligated to follow us to Joy Angel's complex. If you refuse to comply, you will be killed."

  The young woman turned her back on the group, still holding onto the child, and the two of them simply started walking away. At first, no one moved, until Jameson hurried up onto the carriage and collected the reins, quickly setting it in motion to follow.

  "Are we really going to follow them?" Johanna demanded uneasily as she chased after the cart and climbed up to where Jameson was sitting. Cyrus helped Erestina into the back of the carriage where Baloric was and ran up to Jameson, basically repeating the same question Johanna had just asked. Luke said the same thing with his eyes, and Louisa frowned deeply, perhaps just disagreeing because she didn't want to see the Angel.

  Jameson tried to set them at ease. "This is what we want, isn't it?" he reminded them, keeping an eye on the two figures in front of him. "They're taking us right to the Angel. That's where we want to go."

  "But they were so rude," Louisa noted.

  "That's not the issue," Cyrus said sounding somewhat angry. "These people will not hesitate in killing us. We may not even have the chance to stand before the Angel."

  "Look," Jameson sighed. "I know I'm asking a lot of you all to just trust that I just have a good feeling. But…trust me." He looked at each of them individually in hopes to reassure them. "I have a good feeling."

  34. I Remember That Day

  Chapter 34

  Jameson was glad to have at least Luke agree and, in the end, he was able to just barely convince the others to trust in him. After all, as Louisa reluctantly recalled, Jameson's good feeling about going to the Rain Shrine worked out in the end and, although she normally had an aversion to helpfulness, Baloric's life was on the line.

  It seemed as though the closer they got to the Angel's complex, the more Baloric moved. They decided to take it as a good thing. Johanna reported that she was pretty sure she managed to get him to drink some water, but she also admitted it may have been wishful thinking on her part. Jameson was feeling optimistic that they would be able to save him in time once the cart rolled into grass, no longer bumping over rocks and dead dirt.

  Jameson recognized the new terrain immediately since the experience did not seem that old to him due to the massive gap of memory in his mind. He noted the stables to his left and recalled the dramatic escape they had pulled off at the very last minute, making it up as they went along—he, Baloric and Walden. The complex ahead was where the two of them had met Baloric and where they had recovered the Shadow Stone from the Angel. Their two escorts were heading straight for the stables and, as they pulled to a stop to dismount, Jameson wondered if he was standing near the place where he and Baloric had conjured up a storm, or where Baloric had been shot by an arrow which led to the possession by Quinn and her sisters.

  The young woman and boy finally allowed the others to approach them. Jameson saw a striking similarity in appearance between the two of them which went beyond a standard "look" attributed to most Gislan natives, so he concluded they must be siblings. He didn't know if that meant anything, but he wasn't going to pass anything off as simply a coincidence in a world where destiny was so abrasively dominant.

  There were several skinny servants inside the stables who appeared too afraid to confront them. The woman waved her arm and gestured for Jameson and the rest to follow her.

  "The servants will take care of your horses," she said. "You can leave the carriage here. You were accurate when you presumed Joy Angel is expecting you."

  "We can see her now?" Johanna asked.

  "Do not be so demanding," the woman said directly, her eyes widening as the boy next to her had a similar reaction to Johanna's question. "The Angel will decide when you meet. You must remember: you are the ones imposing your presence on her."

  "We are extremely time sensitive right now," Cyrus said. Jameson turned around to see he was carryi
ng Baloric, apparently having earlier taken it upon himself to remove him from the back of the carriage during the discussion.

  The woman and the boy only seemed to just notice what he had done as well. Though the boy did not seem impressed, the woman seemed noticeably taken aback with Baloric in general, as opposed to the idea that perhaps he needed the Angel's immediate attention.

  "I've given my instructions," she said, staring at Baloric as if she was speaking to him. "William will take you someplace to keep your friend in the meantime."

  She let go of the young boy, who apparently was William, and turned away. It was clear he did not expect this reaction as well, because he stared at her as she hurried off, attempting to put as much distance between them as possible.