This is likely the last chapter for a few months. I just wanted to post this because I figured I might as well get around to it at some point.
-Chapter 4:Rae-
It's amazing how much life can change in 24 hours. I have friends, and I'm going to be part of this awesome group! We get to protect history. Isabel's going to train me this afternoon, since we have another half-day. Tim's got a full day ahead of him, and I told him I'm spending the day with friends. Mum and Dad are still on their business trip. I wonder what it will be like to go back in time. I hope it doesn't hurt.
"Oh don't worry about anything, I've been doing this for years." Isabel tells me. "Ethan's been doing it since he was four, though his first mission wasn't until he was five." I find it hard to see a little five-year-old saving history. Apparently, this Arkarian guy was Ethan's trainer, and he trained Isabel. "It's a lot of fun. I saved Ethan's butt on my first mission. Someone tried to wake him up. If you're on a mission and someone tries to wake you up you get sick, and could even die. Ethan was busy puking, so I had to beat the member of the order who was trying to assassinate someone. I managed to save the guy's life, and things were ok. In fact, when I was initiated I started with a blue sash, which shows member status. Normally it would be white. The rest of your robe will definitely be white. Black is dishonour, and purple is loyalty." Wow, Isabel has a lot to say. "Well, that's enough for right now, I'll tell you about the Citadel later. All I can tell you now is that it fell from the sky last winter and has been rebuilt recently." I wonder what the Citadel is. I guess I'll find out later.
After school is over, we head to my house to get supplies. We bring torches, hot chocolate in a mug, candy bars, apples, extra clothes, a couple of swords from Isabel's house, and a rope. The swords look really old, I bet they're from medieval times. One of them has a golden handle, and Isabel's holding that one. She also shows me how to stick a dagger in my boot without hurting myself. I thank her, and we start up the mountain. Apparently, we're going to go see Arkarian, then start my training. Isabel pulls out a map. She points to a spot near what used to be a lake.
"That's where we're training. The lake was used to flood the city of Veridian, but Jimmy's working on fixing the hole in the bottom of the lake so it will fill again." She says. I have no idea who Jimmy is. "Jimmy is my Mum's boyfriend, and protector of our family." Isabel tells me when she notices my confused expression. "Also, Veridian is like Atlantis, only more advanced. Only members of the Guard and the Order know of it, and it's filled with water now too. Matt and Ethan and Rochelle saw Atlantis one time, on the day it sank. Everything was very chaotic, but things worked out."
At this point, we arrive at the rock wall again. The wall opens, just like last night. I'm not quite as surprised, and quickly follow Isabel inside. There's a huge cave here, with many rooms coming off of the first. Isabel leads me into a large chamber, and that's when I meet Arkarian. His long blue hair falls around his shoulders, and his purple eyes are not something I've ever seen before. He looks kind of odd.
He smiles when he sees Isabel. She runs into his arms and they hold each other for a moment, and he whispers something in her ear. She nods and looks at me. "Arkarian is a truthseer, that means he can hear your thoughts." I cringe at this thought. He's probably mad at me for thinking of him as "kind of odd."
He smiles and shakes his head. "Hey, you didn't know. I'm used to it. All the new members of the Guard think that. Don't worry about it." He looks back at Isabel, and he smiles again. She blushes. "Isabel, Rae has a lot to learn before her first mission. I know you can do it, especially now that your mother knows about you being in the Guard." Isabel nods, and Arkarian turns to look at me again. "Let's first find out what you can do. Do you know any Karate?" I nod. I'm very close to being a black belt. He nods at this. "Do you do any sports?" I think openly of all the sports I'm in. Football, Hockey, Baseball, Rugby, Rock climbing, Roller skating, Weight lifting, Track... "Ok, you obviously do a lot of sports. Do you know how to wield a sword?" I shake my head. I never had a chance to learn how to use a sword. I would love to though. "Ok then, we'll start there. Isabel, You should train in my chambers today, it's chilly out, well below freezing." Isabel nods, and Arkarian leads us to another large room. Isabel gives me one sword, while she takes the one with the golden blade. It's a beautiful sword.
"Arkarian gave this sword to me a couple of years ago; he's had it for almost all his life. He said that 600 years is enough to tire any relationship, even that of a man with his sword." For some reason, the idea of Arkarian being over 600 years old doesn't bother me as much as it would have even a couple of days ago.
She shows me how to hold the sword. It's heavier than some weights I've worked with, but still not too bad. She teaches me some skills, and I learn them. It takes me about 30 minutes to learn each one. By the time I'm done, I've learned about 10 or so ways to handle a sword. Isabel smiles.
"OK, tonight I want you to work on your heat. But hold your fingers over candlewicks and not your hair, nobody's gonna be there to put the fire out for you." I smile and nod. This is amazing! I've never learned so much in one day! I ask if Arkarian has any candles I can practice on before I leave, but Isabel said I should get home before I'm missed. I doubt anyone other than Tim would notice. I'm almost always home when he is. He's going to find it odd that all of a sudden I have a lot of friends. It's cool that these people trust me. Even though I want to try the candle thing tonight, I really should get some sleep. I'm more tired than that time I ran a ten-mile marathon in an hour. Isabel walks me home. She's constantly looking around.
"Why do you do that? Are we doing something we shouldn't be?" I ask. She stops and listens for a moment, and I think she isn't going to answer my question.
"Members of the Order might be anywhere. Dillon used to be a member, but he defected and joined us, and helped us win the battle last year." I nod at this, though I'm still very confused. Tomorrow Isabel's going to be at my house around 8:00, since we don't have school. Tim usually sleeps until almost noon if he doesn't have to wake up early. I'll set my alarm for 6:30, and that gives me half an hour to practice, and an hour to get ready.
When we get to my house, I thank Isabel and walk inside. Tim comes over to me. "Wow Rae, you look exhausted! What did you do today?" I smile at him. He's so innocent, yet I can't tell him what I was doing.
"Isabel and I spent the afternoon and evening doing sports. She's a black belt in Karate. She taught me some moves and told me where I can find a sensei. Now I'm gonna eat dinner and go to bed. Isabel's meeting me at 8:00 tomorrow morning." Tim nods and I go to make dinner.
When dinner is done, I go to sit on my front porch. It's chilly out, but I don't care. The sky is quickly darkening, as it often does in winter. I enjoy time to myself. I sit outside for a little while, but decide to head inside, since I'm getting a little chilly.
As I head for my door, I hear a voice. "Rae, hi!" It's Dillon. He runs up to me and smiles one of his smiles. I tuck a small curl of hair behind my ear. "What's up? I hear you and Isabel trained in sword fighting today." I wonder who told him. Probably Isabel or Matt. Arkarian might have.
"Not much, how about you?" I respond to his question. He sits on our little swing out front. I sit in the chair next to it.
"Hardly anything. Just on the lookout for those dogs, you know?" I nod. I've heard a lot about the dogs from Isabel. She told me what they look like, and how to battle them. She told me to hold them off with my dagger and call Matt or Arkarian with my thoughts. Dillon touches my arm. "Did you see them at all?" I shake my head. I haven't seen them, but I would be able to recognize them anywhere. Dillon smiles, his green eyes shining like little green suns. "Then you're safe for now. Want to go for a walk? It's a beautiful evening." I'm really tired, but Dillon seems to want to take a walk with me. I really like him, so I nod and smile. He smiles from ear to ear, like a six-year-old with free access to a candy store. I go in to tell Tim where I'm going. He frowns a little, but nods and goes back to watching his favorite movie.
As Dillon and I walk through town, I get the feeling we're being watched. Dillon is also looking around to see who's watching us. "If only Isabel were here, she would be able to see who is watching us." He comments. I nod in agreement. Dillon closes his eyes, and in about 20 seconds Isabel joins us.
"Matt told me that you guys wanted me to come to watch out for whatever is watching you." Dillon and I nod, and we head for a trail in the woods. Isabel doesn't seem to want to go. I wonder why?
"Isabel, is there something bad here?" I ask. She stops for a moment, and shakes her head. She frowns and motions for us to go on ahead. I run ahead of them. It's so beautiful here! The trees covered in snow, icicles hanging from the bare branches. It looks like a world of crystal.
Then I see the dogs. Seven large Great Danes, just like Isabel warned. They run towards me. I scream and run towards Isabel and Dillon, the dogs centimeteres behind me. I feel one bite my leg, but I keep running. I try to get my fingers burning as I do so. To my relief, smoke, and soon fire, start spraying out of my hands. I aim it back at the dogs, and they howl in pain, but keep chasing me. Dillon suddenly appears, and jumps between me and the dogs. He throws them away, but they keep on coming. He's badly injured, and is losing. I notice my hands are still smoking, and aim them towards the dogs. Sparks, and then rivers of fire, shoot out of my hands toward the pack, hitting them head on. They howl in immense pain, and run off, whimpering. Isabel looks from me to Dillon, and runs over to help him first. He's hurt badly. He's got bites to his chest, arms, legs, neck, everywhere. Isabel puts her hands on his chest and doesn't speak for a few minutes. Eventually, he's fully healed, and smiles at Isabel.
"Now it's your turn. Where are you hurt?" I point to my leg, and see a giant chunk missing. It looks in a bad way. Isabel notices too, and grimaces. She puts her hands on my leg near the bite, and I feel a gentle probing in my leg. It's a good feeling, and I feel my leg starting to heal.
"That tickles." I laugh. Isabel smiles and keeps her hands on my leg. In about five minutes, my leg is fully healed. It's amazing how well she can heal. There's not even a scratch left where I used to have a large hole. "Thank you so much, I don't know where I'd be without you." I then notice the forest is on fire. We start throwing snow on the flames, and soon the fire is out. My fingers have a little bit of steam coming out of them. Isabel and Dillon stare at my hands.
"I haven't seen hands that could do anything that cool since Rochelle." Dillon says to me. Isabel nods in agreement. "Rochelle didn't quite get control of her hands. They stung and always had colourful sparks flying out of them. She had to wear gloves that looked like skin so nobody would notice. With her hands, she could see into our souls. It creeped us out, and we kind of treated her unfairly." He frowns at this. He obviously feels bad about something, but I'm not going to bring it up.
"That was what I saw in my vision." Isabel says. "I had a feeling coming into the woods was a bad idea, but I know I couldn't avoid it. I'm just happy I could be there to heal you." I nod, and thank her again. She's obviously tired, so I suggest we all go home and get some rest. The others nod. Dillon walks me home and uses his wings to go to his house. I go into my room and don't even bother washing the blood off of my jeans. They have a huge hole in them now. They were my favorites too. I throw them in the trash and take a shower. I plait my hair and head out to say goodnight to Tim.
He seems concerned. "I saw your jeans, what happened?" I know that I'm going to have to answer his question, but I don't have an answer.
"A dog tore a hole in my jeans." I answer. I hope he didn't see the blood. He frowns, like he knows I'm not telling the whole truth. But then he shrugs; he's not going to ask me about it. I say goodnight and head to my bedroom to sleep. Though I doubt I'll be able to go to sleep easily. I have too many things on my mind. The dogs, the Guard, everything. It was scary, but it was fun too. I guess I'll really enjoy this new job.
When I wake up, I see Tim looking me oddly. "It's 10:00 am, and I've been trying to wake you up for hours! What were you doing that exhausted you so much? You rarely sleep to your alarm, but today you slept right through it!" I shrug. After all, I can't tell him. When he looks at me with those big brown eyes of his, I feel horrible about hiding it, but I know there's nothing that can be done. I quickly change into jeans and a sweatshirt with a t-shirt underneath, and run a brush through my hair. I run out of my room, right into Isabel.
"Sorry I slept in, and sorry for running into you." I say. She smiles. She's obviously amused, which is good. She won't be too mad at me.
"Don't worry about it." She laughs. "How is your leg?" I look down at where I was bit last night. When I put my jeans on this morning, I had forgotten all about it.
"It's better now, thanks." She nods, and looks outside. Suddenly, she falls to the floor and starts shaking violently and screaming. I wonder what's wrong.
"Isabel! Isabel, what's wrong?" I ask. She takes a staggering breath, and lifts one hand. She is a lot more calm now. Even though she still seems distraught, she's breathing normally again. She looks up at me.
"Can I talk to you in private?" She looks at my brother. I nod, and lead her up to my bedroom. She sits on my bed and I stand next to it.
"I had a vision. These horrible creatures from the underworld, called wren, were attacking the school. People were being attacked, and I even think one person might have been badly injured!" She shakes all over again, and continues. "They were attacking everyone. Then I saw fire, lots of fire. Blue fire. It was really hot. The wren screamed and ran away. Then I saw..." I look at her, but she quickly looks away. She doesn't want to tell me, but I know I should know. I have a feeling it pertains to me somehow. She looks back, and takes a deep breath. "I saw Dillon lying in a heap on the floor. I was trying to heal him, but he was burned and scratched. I don't know if he'll be OK." I gasp. Not Dillon! He's the nicest person I know, and I don't know how I could possibly live without him! I look at Isabel, and she's as scared as I am.
"Members of the Order who defect don't seem to live as long as members who started out in the guard. I hope that's not true." She says. I wonder how scared I look right now. Isabel breathes a deep breath, and looks at me again. "We'd better start training your hands now. They will be of so much use in 1302. Though people are afraid of anything that looks even slightly like magic, so you'll have to be inconspicuous." I nod, and we start training. I wonder if what happened last night was another fluke, or if I'm starting to get control over this skill. Isabel's right about it being really useful. I won't be stuck frozen on a mountain anymore.
We go to her house, and she pulls out a few candles. She nods toward them. "Ignite the wicks." She says. I frown, but give it a shot. I hold my fingers above the wicks, and, using visualization, will the candles to light. I open one eye to see if it worked, but the candles are just sitting there. I frown again, but keep trying. I try this a few more times with nothing happening. I start to get really frustrated.
"Your eyes are turning pink!" Isabel says. So? These candles won't light! I'm so mad I could just... Then I stare at the candles. They have ignited into small orange flames, twirling and dancing. I smile. "It's a good start." Isabel mentions. I nod.It's about time things started going my way! The flames suddenly jump with this thought. They turn white for a second, and then shrink back down and turn yellow. Isabel's eyes grow really wide. I hadn't noticed my fingers had been in the flame! I pull my hand away and look at it. My hand is perfectly fine. This is awesome! I think to myself.
"Wow, it looks like your emotions helped you this time, just like they did with me." Isabel says. "We still have a lot more training though." I nod, put the candles out, and close my eyes and concentrate again. I sit there for a long time before the flames start again. By noon, I can light the flames in about five minutes' worth of thinking. Isabel has gotten used to my keeping my fingers in the flame. They tingle slightly, but don't hurt.
"Good, but not good enough to save the world. We'll practice more later." I hear a knock on my door, and a few seconds later Tim comes in.
"Rae, I'm going to go hang out with a few of my new friends now, ok?" I nod and he smiles and tears out of the house. I'm happy he has friends now. Before recently, he was also like me. He had a couple of friends, and I envied him for that. Now, I realize that not having any friends made it so that I don't miss my old home as much as I would. If I had to move now, I would miss my new friends dearly.
"So, what should we do now?" Isabel asks. I look at the younger girl for a moment, then decide on something I want to know.
"So, tell me more about the Guard and all the stuff we'll be doing." She nods and goes into this lengthy speach about powers and time traveling, and stuff like that. It takes her about an hour to cover everything about the Guard, and her history. She asks if I would like to know about other people histories in the Guard, and I shake my head.
"Well then, can I at least tell you about the people who have died in the Guard?" I start to respond when I hear a door open somewhere in the house. I also hear voices.
"Rae, are you home?" A somewhat familiar voice asks. It's my mum. It's about time my parents got back from, where was it? America? Or was it Greece?
"Yea Mum, I'm in my room. I have a friend over!" I hear my parents climbing the stairs and soon the door opens. Mum comes in first. She looks realy tired. Dad doesn't look much better.
"So how was your trip?" I ask them. Mum shrugs and leaves Dad to tell me about it. Somehow, I think that it was not their best trip ever.
"Well, let's just say we didn't the funding we needed for the company in France." So it was France they went to. They left shortly after we moved in. Mum had left me enough money to last a month if we needed it, including taxes and such. "We're going to Italy next week. What have you been up to in school, Rae? And who's your friend?" She looks at Isabel.
"Well, school's been great. I'm doing well in my classes, and Isabel's been helping me with history work. She gets straight A's. I've made quite a few friends already, and so has Tim. He went out with them a little while ago." I look at the clock, and realize it's almost three. "Ok, so maybe a few hours ago, but he's out having fun." I haven't met his friends, but he's met mine. "We got to meet some dogs, and I ripped my favorite jeans. The ones from grandma." My grandmother is a wealthy lady who lives in England and often sends me awesome gifts, the height of fashon. In England, anyway. In Australia, they kinda stick out though. I love them anyways. "Plus, I got to help put out a forest fire. A small one." I hold my fingers about a centimetre apart, and she nods. "And now I get to learn about England in the 1300's. That way I can talk to Grandma more about it than I ever could before."
Mum nods, and says "I'll tell your Grandma to send another pair of jeans right away." Even though she spends a lot of time away from home, she still cares about me and wants me to be happy. She pulls out a cell phone and calls Grandma. "Hi. This is Janet. Yea, Rae ripped her jeans, and wants you to send another pair. The weekend of the 30th? Ok, I'll tell her. Love you too Mum, bye." She looks at me. "Your Gradma will be stopping by the weekend of the 30th to visit. She says she's bringing you a gift." Oh, a gift! Isabel, however seems distrurbed. I wonder why? She looks at me for a second, and notices my confused expression.
"Pardon me, Mrs. Garrows, but can Rae and I have a moment to talk about something secret?" Mum nods and leaves the room. "Rae, the weekend of the 30th is the weekend of your first mission! We'll need to spend all the time possible training!" I realize this and am crushed. I realy love my grandma, and is history that important? Then I remember that leaving her may be the only way to save her, and myself.