Of The One Who is Foretold
Book One of the Majanoor Chronicles
Prologue
Eyes were closed and a deep breath was taken, then concentration began. Power flew out about it and went to do its bidding. It swirled across the earth, through the oceans and lands, across deserts and mountains, through jungles and frozen tundras. When it found what it was searching for lips curved up into a smile. Yes… It thought, I have found the one. You will not succeed, I will stop you. With a brief flicker of its mind the blaze of power that had been sent out returned, it felt it return, flowing into veins and through some deeper conscious. I know now, yes I will find you Majanoor, your destiny will be stopped, the prophecy will not be seen through. It stood from its meditating position and began to walk, towards the foretold one, towards Majanoor.
Chapter One
(Cassie)
I sat on my bed, looking out the window, the sky was clear and you could see more stars than anyone could ever count. The light was off in my room so the night sky was lit up like someone was holding a flashlight behind a piece of black velvet poked with holes. The moon was full and looked almost pure white with a touch of gold.
I lay my head down on my folded arms. I remember what Jake told me once, he said that sometimes when he looked at the stars, he hated them. Because it was there that all our troubles had come from. It was hard to hate something so magnificent and beautiful, but I felt it too.
Out of all the planets and worlds that had to be out there, the yeerks had to come here, and out of all the places in the entire world, Elfangor had to land here, and out of all the places in our city, he chose to go there, and out of all the people that cut through that construction site, it had to be in front of us. Fate had played a cruel game against us.
I closed the blinds with a quick snap of my wrist and turned away from the window and tried to hush the thoughts whirling through my mind. There was something about this night that seemed to forebode a change, a danger. I shook my head, silly thoughts; every night was a danger in my life, as well as every day.
I climbed under the covers and tried to sleep, and when sleep finally claimed me, I dreamt, a strange dream.
When I awoke in the morning and tried to remember my dream, it was all fuzzy thought I remembered the certainty I had felt that it was real I shook my head, silly thoughts.
Chapter Two
(Jake)
Someone was banging at my door. "Go away!" I yelled in a sleepy voice. I had had the strangest dreams the night before, I couldn't exactly remember them but I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
"Jake, you need to get up and get ready for school." My mom called in.
"I don't want to go to school." I said into my pillow. "Wanting has nothing to do with this, get up and get ready." She said and with one more loud knock she walked down the hallway.
I groaned into my pillow and sat up slowly, then looked around my room, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. I made my way through my morning like a zombie, shower, dress, brush hair, brush teeth, eat breakfast, get bag, go to bus stop. I was just waking up when the bus came. I climbed on and looked around for a place to sit. I saw Cassie halfway back and went to sit next to her.
"You look tired," she commented when I sat down.
"Weird dreams, I couldn't sleep." I said.
"Me too." She said. I looked at her.
"You don't look like you lost much sleep." I said. She smiled.
"Thanks, and I didn't. I just had a kind of strange dream." She said. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the back of the seat.
I flew through my morning classes, and by lunchtime, I was fully awake. I was sitting at the lunch table with Marco and a few other guys, they were as usual talking about one of their favorite subjects, girls.
"What about her?" One of them asked.
"Okay, but the nose is a little, well huge." The guy sitting next to him, Dan, I think replied.
"What do you think Jake?" Mike, Dan's friend asked. I looked at the girl they were talking about and shrugged my shoulders.
"She's okay." I said, even though I really had no interest in what they thought about the girl with the big nose.
"What's wrong with you man? You're acting really weird." A friend of mine named Josh asked. I shrugged.
"Nothing, I'm fine." I said, I had no intention of explaining that I was weird because I hadn't been able to fall asleep because of some stupid dream.
"I think I know." Mike said slyly. I looked at him.
"Oh really?" I asked, not really paying attention.
"Yep, so is it true? Do you and Cassie have something going on?" he asked.
"Where did you hear that?" I asked, my eyes narrowing at Marco. He gave me a look of mock innocence. It wasn't me. He mouthed. I looked back at Mike and raised an eyebrow.
"Well first of all, there's the dance. Secondly, you're always with her, and if you're not with her, you're looking at her." He said.
"With those puppy dog, lovesick eyes." Josh added with a laugh.
"Don't be ridiculous, I do not look at anyone with lovesick, puppy eyes." I growled. They laughed and elbowed each other.
"Suuuure," Dan said. "So seriously, is there anything going on with you and Cassie?"
"I don't know, maybe." I replied. That was another thing you didn't admit to your friends, if I told them how much I cared about Cassie, well they would probably never let me hear the end of it. I let my tone tell them that the Cassie discussion was over.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar figure walk into the lunchroom, Erek. He looked around and spotted me almost instantly and began to walk over to where I was sitting. He walked by and dropped a note onto my table. One of the guys reached for it, but I snatched it quickly and opened it up, careful to shield the words from prying eyes. The note read: Today, after school, meadow. Which meant he wanted us to meet him today after school in Tobias's meadow, I passed the note to Marco, and he took it, read it and passed it back, nodding.
"I'm done." I said shortly, grabbed my stuff and headed to where Cassie and Rachel were sitting with some other girls, I dropped the note into Cassie's lap as I walked by on the way to the garbage. I could hear some of the girls giggling as I walked away, they probably thought it was some kind of love note. I threw my trash away and walked back to my table, passing them again. Cassie looked up and nodded. I didn't acknowledge it beyond an almost inscrutable nod and sat down at my own table.
The guys looked at me strangely but I ignored them. Then the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over, so I picked up my backpack and headed to my locker. The rest of the day dragged on and when the final bell finally rang I headed for the meeting. Erek, Ax, and Tobias were already there and Marco, Cassie, and Rachel were right behind me.
"So Erek, do you have information or something?" I asked.
"Well kind of, I have information, but I don't exactly know what it is." He said. I raised my eyebrows. The Chee were extremely advanced, probably even more so than the yeerks.
"Last night we picked up some sort of power surge, it only lasted a few minutes, but it was very strange. Some of it was almost like the power given off by plants, but not really, and it was a little like the energy a biological being generates, but at a much higher power. It almost blew away our sensors, and we have no idea what it is." He said, shaking his head in obvious confusion.
"So some power surge, kind of like a plant, kind of like a person, but not really. Was picked up last night, and you have no idea what it is. So for some reason you are bringing this to us? Like we would know what it is." Marco said.
"It's a suspicious reading, so I brought it to you, we're going crazy over it, it's truly amazing, but I don't think it's yeerk, but I did think that I should tell you to be out on the watch for anything suspicious." He said.
"We always are," I said. "Thanks a lot Erek." I said, and he walked away. I looked at the others.
"So what exactly was that for?" Rachel asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Just a warning I guess, and asking us to be on a lookout." I said. All of a sudden I heard a snap. Ax whirled around and Tobias flew up to get a better look. Then a girl stumbled out into the clearing.
"Well, I guess we weren't on a very good lookout." Marco said.
Chapter Three
(Jake)
The girl righted herself and then Ax's tailblade was at her throat. She shook with fear. She was actually very pretty, beautiful even. She had long hair that was a silvery shade with a tint that looked almost iridescent purple. Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, she was of an average height and was fairly thin. She was wearing a plain white dress and sandals, the clothing looked strange but I guess people wore similar things. Her eyes were gray, large and full of fear and horror.
"Who are you?" Rachel demanded.
"My-my name is Xilanya, b-but pe-people call me Nya." She said. I frowned, that didn't sound like a name, at least not a human name. Ax voiced my thoughts.
"It isn't a human name, I'm not a human. I-I'm a Nemoyan, I came to earth looking for sanctuary." She whispered.
"Well you sure picked the wrong planet." Marco said sardonically. She looked fearfully at us, Ax's tailblade still tight at her throat. I nodded at his to remove it and he did so slowly.
"Why did you come to earth?" I asked.
"I said, I came for sanctuary. My planet is no longer safe, my people, they have been enslaved. The beings came down without warning, we are not a warring species, we had no weapons. There are so few left, those who could find ships fled, most were captured, I made it through." She said, tears filling her eyes.
Tobias had demorphed to human and was standing near Marco. I don't think she noticed. Rachel was looking at the girl suspiciously, and Cassie was gazing at her compassionately.
"What were they called?" I asked, even though I already knew.
"Yeerks," she whispered. "They called themselves yeerks."
"And how do we know you're not one of them?" Rachel challenged. I nodded in agreement.
"We'll hold you for three days, then we'll talk." I said. She nodded and looked at me and I felt a chill. Her eyes, they were dark and gray, like smoke. And for a moment I could swear the colors swirled in her irises like storm clouds moving across the sky in an angry storm. I shook the chill away and tried to ignore the unsettled feeling this girl gave me.
Chapter Four
(Jake)
I was walking back to my house, we had tied Nya up in the shack they had used when I was a controller, Tobias and Ax would watch her during the day and the rest of us would take turns at night. My parents were already sitting down to eat dinner when I got home; I didn't realize how long it all had taken.
"Jake? Where have you been?" My mom demanded when I came in.
"Nowhere, just hanging out with friends." I said.
"Sure you were, your father and I would like to have a word with you after dinner." My mom said stoically. I sighed deeply and sat down to eat a silent, uncomfortable meal with my parents and brother. After dinner my dad pointed me to the family room, I sat on the chair and the sat on the couch diagonal from me. My dad spoke first.
"Jake, your mother and I are worried about you. You've been acting strangely. Your never here, you don't tell us where your going, and you lie." He said.
"What do I lie about?" I protested.
"About spending the night at Marco's when we've called Marco's dad up and he thinks Marco is staying here. You skip school, you don't seem to sleep very much, and you wake us up from screaming in your sleep sometimes." My mom answered.
"So I have nightmares, what does that have to do with anything, everyone has nightmares." I told them.
"Not like that they don't, we think you should restrict some of the time that you spend with your friends, especially Cassie." My dad said.
"First nightmares, now Cassie. What is with you? Now I can't even see my friends?" I yelled.
"It isn't that, we've talked to her parents and we think you two are spending too much time together, you're not old enough to have a serious relationship." My mom said.
"We're. Friends." I said bitingly.
"We know you're friends, but we also know you're more than that, and we are telling you, no more going over to Cassie's house, and no more her coming here." She said.
"And we would appreciate it if you didn't meet with her at the mall or anything either." My dad added.
"She is Rachel's best friend, and Rachel is my cousin. So I can't have one of my friends over, go to a place we hang out a lot, or see her anywhere outside of school. And I'm supposed to restrict my association with my other friends too?" I said sarcastically.
"Yes, that's basically it." My dad said.
"What is wrong with you! So I lie about staying at Marco's a few times, and I have nightmares and I've skipped school a few times! So you're taking away my life?" I yelled. My parents looked shocked, I don't yell much, and I don't usually talk back to them either. My dad's mouth tightened.
"We are your parents, you will listen to us and treat us with respect." He ordered. I stood up.
"Fine, Greg, Nikki." I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster. Tom had gone through that phase once, saying 'mom' and 'dad' were uncool, they were mad and they made him stop it right away, or said he would be grounded for a month. My dad was about to say something else but I stalked out of the room and went to my room upstairs. I sat in front of the computer and signed onto the internet. I clicked on the write mail symbol and typed out Marco's e-mail address.
Marco - my parents are being totally unreasonable, I'm not allowed to see Cassie anymore and I'm not supposed to spend as much time with you guys. I'll still take the midnight watch though. See you at school.
I sent it and signed off. I was so angry, I rarely felt like this to my parents but I was 15 years old, they didn't have to treat me like a child anymore. I grabbed my geometry book and began to do my assignment. When I had finished with all my homework it was about 9:30, I had better get to sleep, I was supposed to watch Nya from midnight to 5:30. I set the alarm to low sound and went to sleep.
Chapter Five (Jake)
Beep! Beep! My alarm sounded quietly. I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 11:45. I had just enough time to morph to the owl I had picked up and fly to the shack. I stuffed pillows under my covers in a lame attempt to make it look like I was still there and opened the window. I morphed and flew out towards the woods. Cassie was already there, I would be sharing the watch with her, and Rachel and Marco were getting ready to go.
I landed and demorphed, then walked into the shack. Nya was sitting against the wall, her hands and feet tied.
"Hey man, nice to see you. She has done anything, not talked much or tried to escape mostly she just watches us." He said and he and Rachel left. Cassie was sitting on the floor against the wall opposite of the girl. I went and sat next to her.
"Hey," I whispered quietly.
"Hey," she replied. "So did your parents give you the talk?" she asked. I guess she's been told to stay away from me too.
"Yeah, not only am I not allowed to see you, but I'm not supposed to see any of my friends as much." I said. She patted my arm lightly.
"Parents can be so unreasonable." She said.
"Yeah, and something tells me they wouldn't be too impressed to find us out here." I said, then I noticed Nya watching us curiously so I fell silent. She didn't talk at all during our watch and neither did Cassie or I.
"Until our parents say we can see each other we'll have meetings at Ax's scoop." I told Cassie as Tobias and Ax came to relieve us for the day.
"Ok, I'll see you at school." She said, and began to morph. I watched her for a minute then began my own change.
I flew home quickly and went in through my still open window; I landed on my bed and demorphed. It was six o'clock. School started at seven thirty, I went into the bathroom to take a shower. After the shower I got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Tom was up and at the table.
"Hey Midget," he said when I came in.
"Hey Tom," I replied. He took a bite of his cereal then looked over at me.
"So I heard you're in big trouble with Mom and Dad." He said, smirking.
"Whatever," I replied and we both went back to our breakfast, silently planning our day, both pretending that everything was normal, a silent war.
Chapter Six
I walked out of the school and headed home. Today was Friday, by Sunday we would know whether or not Nya was a Yeerk. I walked slowly down the street; I had felt strange all day. Like something was wrong, like something about me was wrong. I shook my head and banished the thought. Get a hold of yourself Jake; you have enough to deal with. I told myself.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking down the street, he was dressed like any other person, he looked about 19 or 20 years old. Nothing about him looked suspicious, but I felt like he was watching me. I looked over and his eyes connected with mine. It was strange, but at that moment I could have sworn that I had met him before.
I walked faster until I got home; he stayed across the street the whole time, watching me. When I went up to the front door he paused, then continued walking.
"Hey anyone home?" I yelled as I walked in, I kicked my shoes off and dropped my bag by the door. No one answered. I yelled again, no answer. I went into the kitchen to get something to eat. I grabbed a pop and some chips and went into the living room and turned on the television. I flipped around until I found something that looked okay.
I munched on chips and pop for awhile, then I turned the TV off and put the chips away. I walked up to my room and lay on my bed. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. The phone rang loudly and I reached over to pick it up.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Is Jake there?" A voice asked, sounding gruff.
"This is." I answered. The voice cleared.
"Hi, it's Cassie."
"Oh, hey. What was with the fake voice?" I asked. Then I remembered the no contact rules. "Oh yeah, never mind."
"Yeah," she sighed. "So, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Nothing, is there something wrong?" I asked, Cassie never really called me unless there was some kind of yeerk problem, neither of us were really talk on the phone people.
"No, nothing. I just felt like calling." She said, I smiled.
"Ok, so what's up?" I asked.
"Not much, but something kind of weird happened. I was coming home from school and I could have sworn that this guy was following me. Every time I looked over he would look back, and if I walked faster so did he. And when I walked up the drive to my house he stayed at the end watching me until I was inside." She said. I frowned.
"You know, the same thing happened with me," I said.
"You don't think it could be them do you?" she asked. I shook my head, then realizing she couldn't see me I said outloud.
"No, they wouldn't follow us, they would just get us and find out everything." I said quietly.
"If it isn't them, then who could it be?" she asked.
"I have no idea, maybe it was no one, a coincidence." I said.
"Coincidences are rare in our line of work Jake." She said.
"I know, I just wish they were a little more common." I replied.
"So what watch do we have tonight?" she asked. I thought for a moment.
"I think we have ten to two a.m." I replied. She groaned.
"How nice, well I'll see you then," she said softly.
"Yep, see you later." I echoed and hung up the phone. I laid back on my bed and closed my eyes and tried to pretend for a little while that I was a normal guy, and I could call Cassie back up and ask her to the movies, and bring her home afterwards and kiss her good-bye and walk around school with her holding hands, pretend that my life was normal.
Chapter Seven
I lay in bed that night and waited for the sounds of my family to settle down so I could sneak away. I listened closely. I could hear Tom's deep breathing in the room across the hall and my parents and stopped talking about fifteen minutes ago. I was about to open my window but then I saw that I still had 20 minutes to get there and decided to walk instead. I crept silently out of the house and walked quickly to the woods behind Cassie's. She was already waiting at the little shack when I got there. Rachel and Marco had just left.
"Hey," I said quietly sitting gently next to her. Nya was asleep in the corner so Cassie kind of rested her head on my shoulder.
"Hey," she replied. She seemed sad somehow, depressed, Cassie wasn't usually like that.
"What's the matter?" I asked softly, I may not be able to read people like she can, but I know Cassie.
"Nothing, I was just thinking, about everything. I mean if we are even doing any good, if we're just going to fail, and about all those people, the controller's, if they have any hope at all left." She said. I put my arm loosely around her.
"I don't know, I think we are doing good, I don't think I couldn't not do what we're doing, and I don't know if we will fail, but I think that some of them have hope. Maybe when we charge into the yeerk pool to fight for them, maybe that is their hope, us." I said. I noticed she was kind of drifting of to sleep, I let her sleep, I could watch the girl on my own, and I knew Cassie was tired. The night went slow, I could hear animal's outside, owls and small animals running across the forest floor, it gave me time to think, too much time but I didn't want to wake up Cassie to break the silence. Rachel and Marco came again at about 2:30, they were late but I didn't say anything.
"Aaawwww, I how sweet." Marco crooned when he saw Cassie sleeping next to me. I glared at him and he shut up. I shook Cassie gently to wake her up.
"Cassie, come on. Our watch is up." I said. She stirred groggily. "Oh man, did I fall asleep? I am so sorry I," she said,
"It's fine, she just slept the whole time." I said and helped her stand up. I said good bye to Marco and Rachel who were already arguing and Cassie and I started to walk back to her house.
"I'll be okay if you want to go straight home." She said to me.
"That's okay, I'll walk with you for awhile." I said. I reached out and grabbed her hand and held it tight in mine as we walked through the forest. When we reached her barn I turned to her. I took her chin and tilted it up slightly, then gently pressed my lips to hers. She gasped slightly then returned the kiss. I caressed her cheek then pulled back.
"Goodnight," I said softly.
"Goodnight," she said, smiling her gentle smile that warmed my heart. I walked backwards a few steps then turned and began to head home.
I walked home quickly to shake the night chill off of my body. I slowed when I neared my house, searching the windows for signs of movement or awakeness. I didn't see any so I crept up to the door and silently let myself in. I walked soundlessly up to my door and shut the door behind me. I let out a deep breathe, I was safe.
"Hello Jake," I voice from my bed said. I jumped, adreneline pumped through my veins, an intruder. No, not an intruder, just an enemy, Tom. He stood up and stretched.
"I've been waiting for you to get home for quite a while midget." He said, yawning.
"So what are you going to do?" I asked cautiously, did he know? He shrugged.
"I don't know really, I mean what do I care if you sneak out to meet your girlfriend." He said, I didn't say anything, if that's what he believed, good.
"Are you going to tell mom and dad?" I asked. He laughed a little.
"Nah, but just remember little brother, I'm not to oblivious to your little nighttime escapades, you leave almost 5 times a week. But what does it matter to me if my little brother is overrun with hormones, if you want to go get it on with Cassie, that's your business, not mine. But I do know." He said and went back to his room. hand was curled into a fist, I wanted to wipe that smug look off of his face, blackmail, he'd be using that for something, I just didn't know what.
I got undressed, put on my boxers and tried to fall asleep, but it didn't come easy. I lay in bed, thinking about who Nya could be, and what Tom was going to do with his information on me sneaking out.
Chapter Eight
I tried to forget what Tom told me and go to sleep, after awhile I nodded off into a light, restless sleep and when my alarm rang it felt like only seconds had passed. I climbed out of bed and got dressed. This was the third day, today we would find out whether Nya was a controller or not. My parents were out, I found when I went downstairs, so I left to head for the shack. Cassie was just arriving and the others were already there.
"Well?" I asked as I walked up. Rachel shook her head.
"She's okay, no yeerk." She said.
"Ok, good. Now we can figure out what to do." I said. We got Nya and untied her, then let her walk around a little bit, to stretch her sore limbs. After she finished walking around she turned to us.
"You know a bit of my story, now please, tell me yours." She said. I gave her a quick overview of the last years. She looked at us a moment. "You are all very brave," she said quietly. "I have told you of my planets plight, and that I came here looking for sanctuary. But I have not told you all. You see many generations ago the royal family along with approximately 250 servants, settlers and guards came to Earth. Our planet was going through a civil war and it was felt by those loyal to the crown that they would be safer here. I have not only come for my own safety. I have come to find our royal family, in hopes that they will be able to stop the yeerks." She said.
"How come your king and queen and whatever would be able to stop the yeerks more than anyone else?" Marco asked skeptically.
"There are a few reasons," she said, sitting down. We sat with her and listened to her speak. "It is thought that our sovereigns could unite the people in a fight against the yeerks. And also the royals and the nobles of our people possess certain abilities. All of our people do, but they are stronger in the royals and nobles. The power varies, some can read minds, some have the power to heal, or control the weather, or others. And also the last and the most important. I have come seeking 'the one who is foretold' I have come for Majanoor. In the hopes that he or she will be able to free my people." she said.
"Majanoor? What or who is Majanoor?" Cassie asked curiously.
"Since as long as anyone can remeber, as long as our history records, there has been prophecy foretelling the future of the Nemoyan people and among these ancient scrolls there is the Prophecy of Majanoor. It says that one day our people will be enslaved, hope will be lost and it will be as if the soul of the planet has died. It goes like this 'And in the darkest hour, when the light has died and evil walks the world with the faces of the children, when hope has been lost the one will come. Born farther away than we can see, on the world of a thousand lands, when the stars and moons are brightest to our people, on the day of the great comet that streaks the sky and when the skies are clear throughout the world of the children the one will be born. The One who has power greater than any and the courage of the ages, The One will not know the destiny, will be raised as one not of us. The One will come to our world and free the children, along with the beloved the one will come. Wearing the mark of the rising sun, with the beloved who carries the sign of the night sky the one will arrive. Majanoor, The One who is Foretold.' " she said. "Well that's the rough translation anyway."
"Okaaay, so you think this foretold one is on Earth?" Marco said. She nodded solemnly. "And why exactly is that?" He asked skeptically.
"The world of a thousand lands, it has to be earth, your planet is so different it has so many different worlds within it, nowhere else in the galaxy is there a world such as this, every since our people traveled among the stars we have searched for the world where Majanoor will be born. And all of our scrolls seem to point to this one." she said passionately, there was a plea in her eyes. "You must help me find Majanoor," she said. "I have tracked the location to be within this area, but the protective force is too great." she said.
"Tracked? Protective force? What does that mean?" Tobias asked, he had demorphed to human.
"As I said before, most Nemoyans posses a power, an ability, this ability is released on the first day of the 16th year, mine is the ability to find, it is a very common power but I can find someone or something, anything I want, just by thinking about it. But Majanoor must have some kind of protective spell over him." she said. I shook my head, special powers, spells, ancient prophecy, this was unreal.
"In the prophey it mentioned the beloved, who is that?" Rachel asked.
"The beloved, the soul mate. It is believed by our people that every soul has a mate, a one true love, and that they will never be complete without eachother." Nya said.
"That's beautiful," Cassie said. Nya nodded.
"Yes, but so few soulmates every find eachother, but when they do, when they realize who they are to eachother and discover there love, it is said to be the most beautiful thing in the universe." she said smiling.
"That's nice, but how exactly are we supposed to find this guy, or girl, or whatever?" Marco asked. Nya smiled.
"I haven't thought that far, but I will come up with a plan. For now I must regenerate though, I am still weak from my journey, I fear even those three days weren't enough to replenish my strength." she said.
"Ok, you can stay at my house then, my parents are out of town, they'll be back in two days, and then I am sure they will let you stay longer." she said. Nya nodded.
"Thank you for your hospitality." She said. Cassie stood up.
"Well I'll bring Nya to my house, I'm sure she'd like a bath and something better to eat than what she's been having." Cassie said.
"Well I should be getting back anyway, I'm not supposed to be going anywhere anyway." I said.
"That is so unfair what your parents did." Rachel said.
"Yeah, I know." I said. "Well see you all later." I said and headed back home. When I got back on the road I noticed that same guy that had been following me a few days ago, he was trailing me again. I watched him as I walked, he was looking around as if supervising the area and he would always glance back to me. I ignored him and walked quickly the rest of the way home. Luckily I don't think anyone noticed my absence. I didn't really have anything to do so I grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V.
Marco called about 1:00. "Yeah?" I asked, picking up the phone.
"Hey, I guess Nya has an idea about a way to find that guy or girl or whatever, anyway we're meeting at my house, no one's here." he said.
"Ok, I'll come over now." I said. I hung up the phone and went outside. I walked quickly to Marco's. I felt someone's eyes on me, but when I looked around there was no one in sight. I knocked on the door and Marco let me in.
"Ok, she says that we're supposed to look for someone with a special design tattoo type thing, but I think its more of a birthmark." he said over his shoulder as we walked to the living room.
"What are we supposed to go around show them what it looks like and ask them if they have it or have seen it?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders.
The girls, Ax and Tobias were sitting in the living room looking at a drawing. I sat on the couch next to Cassie.
"Ok, Marco says we're supposed to look for a special birthmark?" I asked. Nya nodded.
"Yes, the mark of Majanoor." she said, handing me the paper. I looked down quickly, then back up and froze. Slowly I looked down at the paper. There was no way.
"This can't be right," I said. They stared at me.
"What do you mean? Of course it is right." She said frowning.
"Jake? What's wrong?" Cassie asked. I shook my head, this was impossible, absolutely impossible.
"This can't be right, you must have drawn it wrong." I said, clearing my clogged throat.
"I have been studying prophecy since I was a small child, there is no way I could have drawn it incorrectly." she replied. "Have you seen it?" she asked.
I nodded slowly.
"Where?" she asked urgently. I put my hand on my hip.
"It's on my hip." I said, and looked up and her. She froze.
"On your hip? You are saying you have this mark?" she asked.
"Yeah, but they're has to be some mistake." I said.
"Let me see it," she asked. I shook my head,
"No way, I'm not dropping my pants." I said. Marco snorted.
"Just pull down the edge so I can see it." she said impatiently. I stood up and turned and pulled just the cloth covering my birthmark down. She gasped and I pulled it back up.
"Majanoor," she whispered looking at me. There was awe in her voice, but I saw something else in her eyes. She then bowed her head towards me.
"No way, there is no way." I said. She looked up.
"There is no mistaking the mark. You are Majanoor, the one who is foretold." she said.
Chapter Nine
I shook my head. "No way," I repeated. She smiled.
"My liege, there is no mistaking. Now we must go to your parents and prepare for your departure." she said.
"Your what? Huh? Departure?" I asked.
"Well you must come home, to Nemoya." she said. "It is the prophecy." I shook my head.
"That's very nice but you see I have obligations here." I said.
"We will go to your parents." she said.
"No we wont." I said. "We are not talking to my parents and I am not leaving Earth." "I will talk to your parents alone then." she said and walked out so quickly I couldn't stop her.
"Jake, man, this is a lot." Marco said.
"It isn't true it can't be." I said.
"Ok, well your birthday is tomorrow right? And she said something about Nemoyans getting their power on their sixteenth birthday. So if you are one, you'd get it tomorrow." Cassie said. I nodded.
"Yeah, tommorrow will prove it's not true." I said.
"Well you better catch her before she gets to your parents." Rachel said.
"Damnit," I said and went out the door, the others following. We practically ran to my house, but when we got there she was already inside. I walked in.
"Mom? Dad?" I yelled.
"We're in the living room." My mom said. I walked in and saw her and dad and Nya sitting on the couch and chair.
"Jake, from what Xilanya tells us, she had already informed you of your heritage." My mom said.
"Yeah, and now I'm ready for you to tell me it isn't true." I stated. My mom shook her head.
"I am afraid it is. You are a Nemoyan, and not only that you are a Nemoyan prince, someday to be King." My dad said in such a serious tone I knew it was true.
"B-but, wouldn't Tom be the guy that would be king, he's the oldest." I stuttered.
"No, it is not always the eldest that inherits the throne. At every royal birth a seer is present and it is the seer that tells whether the child is destined to be king, or queen." My mom said.
"And you never told me this becuase?" I asked.
"We waited, we didn't know. Tom's power never surfaced for some reason, we didn't see the need if yours wouldn't either." My mom said.
"Okay, but if I am this Majanoor, wouldn't you have seen the mark?" I asked.
"It doesn't always surface at birth, it must have appeared when you were older." My dad explained. I sat down on the other chair and put my head in my hands.
"This is unreal," I said. "Unreal." My mom moved forward to talk and bumped a magazine off the coffee table. Cassie bent over to pick it up. She put it back on the table.
"Cassie, come here for a minute." My mom said. Cassie did, confused. "Turn around." Cassie turned around and my mom lifted up her shirt and looked at the small of her back. "The Beloved," my mom whispered.
"What?" Cassie asked.
"Along with the beloved the one will come. Wearing the mark of the rising sun, with the beloved who carries the sign of the night sky the one will arrive." my mom quoted. "In the Nemoyan culture we have signs that mean different things, symbols. Jake's mark is of the rising sun, Majanoor. And your mark is the mark of the Beloved, the night sky." My mom said. Cassie looked at me, her eyes wide.
"This is insane," Marco said.
"So, Jake is Majanoor, destined to save some planet? And Cassie is the beloved. This is too weird." Rachel said.
"Your planet as well Rachel. You're also a Nemoyan. My brother is not the heir but he is a Nemoyan Prince, a lesser prince, but a prince. And that makes you a lesser Nemoyan Princess." My dad said.
"This is too much, I need time to think." I said. "I'll be back in a little while." I got up and walked out the door, I heard someone follow, when I turned I saw that it was Cassie, we walked in silence awhile. We stopped at her house, we sat outside her barn on a bench there. We just sat, her holding my hand. Hours must have passed. Then he came, the man that had been following me.
"My Prince, you must listen," he said quietly, coming up behind us. I jumped up and turned around defensively.
"What do you want?" I asked. He put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Prince, you must listen. I come from the Nemoyan government. The girl, Xilanya, she is not what she claims to be, you must be careful, she seeks to destroy you." he said desperately. He looked over his shoulder, like he expected someone to come up behind him any moment.
"Heed my words Prince, take care of yourself and the Beloved." he said, then all of a sudden he collapsed, his knees buckled and he grasped at his throat. Cassie stood up and ran over to him.
"Jake, he's choking!" She called, I went over. He looked up at me, eyes wild.
"Careful, my Prince, you must not let them win, you must be careful." he said and then he was gone.
"He's dead," Cassie said in a shocked voice.
"What do you think he meant?" I asked her.
"It doesn't matter, you won't have time to act on it." A cruel voice said from behind us. I stood and turned slowly. It was Nya, she stood there, arms crossed with two men.
"This is the end, my prince, you will not succeed, the prophecy has been diverted." She glanced at one of the men. "Take care of them," she said and walked away. I tried to yell but before I could make a sound blackness engulfed me.
The next thing I knew I was in a dark room, my hands were tied, I felt a warm form next to my own, Cassie. I heard two voices in what must have been the next room. I listened woozily to what they were saying. "We can't kill him, you know of the curse. If we kill the Prince, our souls are forever damned to travel between the worlds." One whispered. There was a pause. "I do not believe in the prophecy, but I am not taking any chances. We wont kill them, we'll bring them to the Jeralution slave trade. They'll die there soon enough." the other said cruelly. The other laughed. "A Prince made into a slave, what irony." the other said. At that I began to black out. Slave trade? What slave trade? And then I was gone...
Coming Soon: Book Two of the Majanoor Chronicles