Living on a farm was everything but exciting. Wake up before the sun rises, let the horses out, clean out their stalls, but them back in depending on the weather, give them breakfast, then give yourself breakfast, begin walk to school, finish classes, come home, do homework, feed horses, bring them or put them out depending on the weather, fall asleep, then start the process over again. It wasn't like life was tough of anything, but it was just so… blah... until one night when I couldn't sleep.
I lay in bed; tossing and turning as the thunder and lightning outside kept me awake. I rolled once more as a loud crack was hard that seemed to come right outside my window. It wasn't raining though, just lightning. I had put the horses inside for the night and my parents had gone to a hotel for business which happened a lot to me. I finally sighed with frustration and gave up going to sleep. Looking out the window, I frowned as I saw a shadowy figure in the middle of the pasture. I blinked at it. It didn't seem to be human.
I rubbed my eyes before focusing on the tail behind it and the weirdly shaped arms. It almost seemed to look like a snake-man or something. I watched it as it moved closer and closer to the house. I quickly realized that I had to do something to stop it before it broke in. I quickly grabbed my baton from third grade and rushed down the stairs to the back door, closest to pasture. I opened it just as a lightning bolt struck the thing. I used my arm to shield my eyes as I came closer, seeing that the thing had a face that look just like a human's and I hesitated. What was it doing here?
I ran closer, holding my baton tightly. The thing yelled out and looked directly at me as I began to close the space between it and me. I stopped only a few feet as another lightning bolt struck him. It seemed to conduct lightning to it somehow. It yelled out in pain again as I shielded my eyes. I had to do something! It was hurt! I forced my legs to take one step, then two, trying to get closer to it. I was scared. Thoughts were running through my mind as I wondered if it would try to kill me, or if I would get struck by lightning near it. I forced the thoughts the back of my mind as I saw it fall to the ground.
"Hey! Are you alright?" I called out, wondering if it spoke human tongue at all. I gritted my teeth and moved closer, reaching out to see if I could help. I wrapped his body around my arms and tried to shake him awake. Another lightning bolt struck only a few feet away, making me jump. I shook the thing a little more, not sure what I should do.
Another lightning bolt just barely missed the thing's legs as I tugged it out of the way. I looked down at my hands and saw them shaking. What was I going to do? What was I going to do? I couldn't think past that question as I continued shaking it. I had to get him out of the lightning, but I couldn't move it, it was too heavy. Maybe it would wake up, hopefully it would wake up! But it wasn't responding at all. A lightning bolt crackled above, raising my hair to stand on end. I shook it harder without realizing it, my fear overcoming me.
It moved slightly, opening its eyes to look straight into mine. I froze, seeing its snake-like black beads. I couldn't move. My voice was locked in my throat. I wanted to scream, to push him away, to just get away from it, but I couldn't move. Had it already poisoned me? It blinked at me, its eyes closing vertically instead of horizontally. My breath shortened as I sat up and wrapped its arms around me. A lightning bolt struck it again, but he didn't let go. I felt its pain surging through me. I cried out again as I closed my eyes shut.
I opened my eyes after a while. I didn't know how long it took for the pain to finally go away. I blinked away the cloudiness I had around the edges until I saw a man in my arms. His face was the same as the snake-man, but I wasn't scared anymore. I began dragging him, knowing that I needed to get him inside. It took me at least an hour to get him into the house and onto the couch. I looked down at him, wondering what I was going to do with him. It wasn't like I knew how to treat lightning shocks. He didn't look burned from it.
The man opened his eyes once more, revealing his dark eyes. He blinked a few times as they changed with each blink into somewhat normal dark brown eyes. "Thank you," he managed before coughing up what looked like ash. I held his chest and rubbed his back, wondering if it really helped at all. The living room carpet was covered by plastic anyway because mom was having some painters come. I patted his back a couple times as he began to slow down.
"Are you alright?" I asked. It seemed like just a question when I thought about it before asking it, but once I said it, it seemed like a whole different meaning came out.
"You are–" The man began coughing again, but no ash came out. I patted his back a couple times to make sure there weren't any left. "You helped me?"
It sounded like the man didn't understand why I did such a thing. I didn't understand why I did such a thing. Maybe it was my subconscious mind that thought all animals should be helped if they needed it. Maybe it came from trying to help animals whenever I saw them. Maybe I just thought that it- he- was going to die if I didn't help him. Whatever I thought, I just nodded my head.
The man wrapped his arms around me as he exclaimed, "Thank you," in my ear. Why was it such a big deal? All I did was bring him inside, right?
"Excuse me," I murmured as I pushed him away, "but–", the man's eyes pulled me in as they changed back into the black that they had started with.
"I am a serpentide," the man frowned. "I'm supposed to protect and train the warrior child."
"Um, I was just going to ask you for your name," I smiled, looking away from his eyes.
"My name is Azreth, Second Knight of the Lord's Throne," the man declared proudly.
"And my name is Cassidy, Cassie for short," I smiled.
"Hello," Azreth greeted.
"So, do you know who this warrior child is?" I asked, not wanting to break to conversation and create an awkward silence.
"Unfortunately, no, I do not," Azreth frowned.
"Is there anyway of finding out?" I asked curiously. I didn't want to become the warrior child, but I felt inside of me that I had to help him look for it.
"Yes, I must show him this." Azreth pulled out a silver, star necklace that glowed in the half-light coming in from the kitchen. I stared at it, feeling it pull me in and hold me there. It was like being trapped within it and held there within a warm embrace. I started to feel faint as Azreth placed it back under his shirt. I blinked away the strange feeling before looking back up at the snake-man.
"What was that?" I asked, more to myself than Azreth.
"The star has led me here, to this home. I am beginning to feel that the warrior child may be closer than I first expected," Azreth smiled at me.
I realized what he was implying and began to back away slowly. "Oh no, I can't be a warrior child! You said 'him' anyway which means it has to be a boy! It can't be me!"
"Who else could it be?" Azreth asked. Just then, a loud crash was heard from upstairs and a loud yell. I tried to think who could be upstairs but I couldn't. Something was talking upstairs, sounding distant and dark. Azreth began running up the stairs and I realized I was following him without even thinking.
A boy was sprawled on the floor in my parent's bedroom, the window left open and drawers dropped on the ground. I rushed to the boy's aide as Azreth stood searching every dark corner of the room for something. I shook the boy to get him to wake up slightly before poking him along his legs and arms. His chest had a long gash along the front and several cuts were along his arms. His black t-shirt was already beginning to get caked with blood as I pulled it off of him. Azreth stopped searching as he pulled out the necklace and let it hang in front of the boy. I refused myself to look at it as the cut on the boy's chest healed miraculously.
"Wow," I whispered. I wanted to help people when I grew older, and hopefully become a doctor, but I knew even in the fields of medical research that there was nothing that could do that to an injured patient. Nothing scientific could heal anybody that quickly anyway…
The boy grunted and woke with me on top of him and my hands covered with his blood. He lost so much blood that I'm surprised he could even retain consciousness. His face reddened even with his lack of blood and I got off of him and held him upright with my hands. "What happened?" the boy asked.
"Well, I'm guessing that you tried to steal stuff from this house, but that's as far as I can get, thief." I poked him roughly in the chest and he winced in pain. At least he still had a soft spot there so I could maybe get some answers from him. I poked him again as he cussed under his breath and complained to me.
"What!" the boy asked.
"Nothing that a thief should know about," I frowned.
"I'm not a thief!" the boy argued.
"Then why were you in my house?" I asked.
"I don't know!" the boy frowned. Maybe he really didn't know. I glanced over at Azreth and noticed how he was looking straight at the broken window.
"Aw man! My parents are going to kill me for that you know!" I complained and poked him hard in the chest. He yelled out and grabbed it, guarding it from my hard touch. I laughed in the inside at the foolishness of the boy.
"It wasn't my fault! I don't know how I got here alright?" the boy almost shouted.
"Children, please, He's still here," Azreth demanded quiet. I immediately realized what he was talking about as I pictured the boy's cut chest. Breaking a window wouldn't do that to you, so what did?
"He? Who are you talking about?" the boy asked. I grabbed the boy's wrist as he began to stand, holding him down. Something wasn't right here. Something was watching our every move…
A soft voice began laughing, sending shivers down my back. "I see Azreth has finally found his warrior child, but I have found him first and he belongs to me now!" The boy began lifting up into the air. I stood and jumped, grabbing his chest and holding on as tight as I could as Azreth murmured something in a strange language. I slipped only a few inches, but I felt my grasp on the boy slacken as I tried to grab on tighter. It felt like nothing in my body would listen to me.
"Help!" the boy cried as Azreth finished his chant. An exploding white light covered the whole room and the dark voice screeched before dissipating into the air. I held on tightly to the boy's chest as both us fell back down to the floor. I groaned as I felt a bruise coming on in my back and the boy's weight pushing against it on my front.
"Ow," I managed weakly. The boy rolled off of me and held his chest painfully.
"Are you two alright?" Azreth asked as he helped me stand. I held my head, suddenly feeling very close to the necklaces presence. The boy started saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I felt so tired and sleep felt so right. I closed my eyes and let myself fall into a deep sleep.
"Cassie," Azreth murmured next to me. I grumbled and demanded five more minutes before rolling over and falling off of the couch.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed as my back hit the ground.
"Good morning, sleepy-head," the boy grinned. I glared at him, hoping he wouldn't try saying something like that again as Azreth came around the couch and held me up gently. I took a cup he handed me and drank out of it without thinking. As soon as the liquid hit my tongue I spat it out, right into the boy's face.
"Yuck!" We complained at the same time before I asked, "What is this stuff!"
"It is juice, Tom helped me make it," Azreth frowned. "Is it not pleasing?"
"No, it's disgusting!" I spat out some more onto the plastic in the living room. I frowned at how messy it was and stood up carefully and began folding it up so nothing fell out. I picked it up and carried over to the garbage before shoving it in there.
"Damn, that would've been funnier if it hadn't been spewed in my face!" the boy spat out into the sink as I became dizzy once more and held onto the nearby countertop.
"Are you alright?" Azreth asked as he grabbed my back and supported me as I began to lean to the right. Tom looked my way as I stumbled into a chair.
"Yeah, are you alright?" Tom asked.
"I'm fine, just, could be better," I frowned and rested my head on the table, hoping that it would stop my vision from swimming in and out of focus.
"Well, if I am supposed to be this warrior child, then I guess I have to help," Tom frowned.
"How long was I out?" I asked, guessing that Azreth already covered how he was searching for the warrior child and how he thinks that it's Tom apparently.
"Only like an hour or so," Tom shrugged.
"Yes, but you had me worried that He had gotten to you," Azreth admitted. I smiled at him, giving him an "I'm okay," sign.
"Yeah, but how are you feeling now is what's important," Tom reminded me.
"I said 'I'm fine,' didn't I?" I argued.
"Yes, but you're not, you obviously can't stand without falling over," Tom reminded me again. I muttered to myself and looked away towards the far wall.
"I can stand just fine!" I yelled, pushing myself straight up too fast to be healthy. I became extremely dizzy and would've fallen to the floor if Azreth hadn't caught me. I clung to his coat as I tried to sort through the thick cloud of fog in my mind.
Azreth touched my forehead and I felt a healing warmth break through the fog and allowed me to stand up without falling over. I still could feel the presence of the star though and it gave me an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Is that better?" Azreth repeated. I nodded my head, forcing myself to pay attention to what was going on. Why was I so dizzy all of a sudden?
I smiled at him, hoping that it looked reassuring. I looked over at the star hanging outside his shirt. It pulsed as I looked at it. My vision swam and I grabbed the countertop. I felt Azreth grab my arm to steady me, but I couldn't focus on it. I couldn't focus on anything but the feeling of the star so close to me. I felt like I was going to vomit from dizziness, but I forced it down. I found a chair and sat down, resting my head on the countertop once more.
I heard Tom laughing at me and I scowled at him. My vision soon steadied enough so that I could see without moving my head to much as Tom put his hand on my back. "So, what was it that you said? 'I'm fine,'" Tom smiled.
"Shut up," I scowled again and turned my head slowly so I could see both Tom and Azreth.
"Perhaps it is time for us to move on," Azreth stated, changing the subject.
"Move on? To where?" Tom asked. I was wondering the same thing. Why did we need to move, though?
"We must hurry away from Him before He gathers his strength once more. My duty is to protect and train the warrior child," Azreth stated.
"Yes, we all know that, but to where exactly are we going?" I asked. I was a little worried about traveling with that necklace so near, since I could barely walk whenever it got within three feet of me.
"Back to my world," Azreth stated before beginning some sort of chant.
"Hold up! We should grab some necessities first shouldn't we?" Tom asked hurriedly, but it was too late and a bright light wrapped around us as Azreth grabbed my arm and Tom's shoulder.
I felt even dizzier than I first had been and I leaned into something while my vision stopped moving in circles while my eyes didn't move at all. I looked around and soon realized we were in a totally place than my house. I felt Tom push me off of him, but still held me up with his hand on my arm. Azreth reached over with the necklace and placed it over Tom.
"This is for your own protection. It will create a barrier around you whenever you need it," Azreth explained. "Until I am done training you, you must wear this always."
"Great, just what I wanted, a chick's necklace around my neck," Tom sighed despairingly.
I rolled my eyes at him before closing my eyes tight and opening them again. My vision swam slightly, but it was slowly steadying. Maybe I could travel in this world eventually, if I could see straight. "So, where are we going from here?" I dared to ask. Somehow, I knew that I wouldn't like the answer.
"We must travel for one hundred suns towards the eastern horizon while I train the warrior child to overcome the great evil," Azreth stated.
"Let me guess, that's how some legend goes, right?" I asked sarcastically. I had read enough fiction stories to know that unhappy, long drone about some long adventure always comes from some legend or myth or something.
"Yes, and according to the legend, the chosen guardian will lead the warrior child into the heart of Evil's Domain and destroy the Greatest Evil." Azreth looked at me curiously, "Why do you ask?"
"Uh, no reason," I lied. Like I said, I didn't like the outcome. Traveling for one hundred days and then fighting some evil guy, maybe I had lost it. "So, which ways east?"
"We will rest here and begin when the sun rises," Tom took charge.
"You can't tell, can you," I asked rhetorically. Tom smiled foolishly and shook his head while yawning.
"Tom does have a good idea. We must rest and prepare for the days ahead!" Azreth said a little too enthusiastically.
I yawned as well and laid down, letting my eyes close and my mind rest from trying to sort out what I was seeing from my blurry vision. Tomorrow was another day after all, and maybe whatever's happening to me could be over with by then.