The Fifth World

Bo: I may not know the future, at least not exactly, but I do know that whatever happens, I am going to be with Jonathan and I do return home. But with that lovely happy ending, or what could be, it means that I am not with Cynric. I do not end up with him. There is that Average Human feeling, that longing to love Jonathan but there is also that disappointment, that deep disappointment and heartache I feel knowing that the person I am, the Fifth World Human, does not get her Fifth World Human. I will not get my Angelican.

Cynric: Morning comes quickly, it is as if the hours during the day are fastened by the ongoing fear within me. The fear of the government finding us or the fear of anyone who will bring havoc among us finding us. We have a big breakfast, there is bacon, eggs, toast and fruit. I notice that Bo is particularly quiet this morning. Perhaps she is nervous for our trip to Seabrooke today. Felicity is happy this morning, I guess that she is looking forward to meeting some fellow Thornes. Janine is just being Janine - worried, grumpy and annoying. Nancy is quite normal.

"Everyone has five minutes to pack their things, all belongings, everything. Be ready and be in the living room, please," Calhoun commands.

Everyone, but me, leaves the dining room and heads to the bedrooms. My bedroom was the lounge and even though I despise sleeping on couches or anywhere that is not a bed, I much prefer it than a cave. Calhoun waits to make sure that everyone is safely in their rooms before he says a word to me.

"You have questions on the tip of your tongue, Cynric. Ask away."

"How long will it take for us to get there?" I say. I have never left Hargon unless it has been to the Average Human world. I'm not exactly a good navigator nor hiker. I know I can persist and survive but I would like to know what is on the agenda for today.

"By foot it would take approximately an hour. However, I choose to take my horse. We should arrive a quarter of an hour earlier by horse."

I sigh, "and how many horses do you have?"

"Enough. I assure you."

Just as Calhoun planned, we leave within ten minutes. We follow Calhoun up many flights of stairs till we reach one of the three doors out of his large home. This was the way he showed us through when we first arrived here. He lead us through a cave yesterday and then after removing the camouflage from his front door he welcomed us into his home. Now we are walking through the cave again, it is a tunnel and it leads to a flat surface on the mountain. Calhoun then takes us further down the mountain until we reach a large clifface, he takes us into an enormous cave and once we are deep inside we realise that it is all stables. I count at least ten horses in the cave. There are gates made from timber, fresh hay laid out here and there. Fresh water for the horses too. Calhoun assigns me a white horse, he gets on a black, Felicity gets on a chestnut, Bo a brown with white markings, Nancy and Janine each hop on a black.
It takes a while to expain to Felicity and Bo how to control the horses, they finally get the hang of it but are a little afraid of what lies ahead. We trot down the mountain, cross even more mountains and then finally we reach the forest. A deep forest. We are unsure what awaits us within this forest but once we are out, we will reach Seabrooke and find some comfort there knowing that we are not alone in being the government's enemies. Sometimes Calhoun gets us to speed up the pace but Felicity and Bo slip behind.

"Just keep doing what you are doing," Felicity instructs Bo, although, she barely knows what she is doing herself, "just take it slow."

Bo nods her head and I feel myself smile as I turn my head around to face the forest that lies ahead. They are getting along.

"How long will we be in the forest till we reach Seabrooke?" I ask Calhoun. He clears his throat and stares ahead at the deep forest. It is nothing but a sea of green that reaches far above our heads.

Calhoun hums a tune for a few seconds as he thinks, "Twenty minutes or so."

"A lot can happen in twenty minutes," I say, "we must ride fast."

Calhoun does not say anything. I turn around and see Nancy and Janine staring at me. They are nervous. Janine's dagger is slipped into her dress. Nancy's sword stolen from a servant of Parliament is sitting in a satchel that rests on her horse.

"Keep two eyes open," I announce to everyone, "the woods are always dangerous."

Calhoun leads the way. I am right behind. Soon, we are in darkness, little light seeps through the trees. We cannot see the sky. The mountains disappear behind us the deeper we proceed. Roots from the trees cover the ground. There is no road through here, I guess this is to prevent outsiders from locating this place. Animal foot prints are imprinted into the Earth, critters crawl along their paths. Sounds of birds echo throughout the trees. There is no wind here. Everything is still.

"It is so quiet," I hear Janine comment.

Calhoun turns his head slightly, "it is the silence within the forest that you should fear."

Five minutes pass and there is still no light up ahead. Nobody speaks, everyone is giving their full attention to the surroundings. Another five minutes pass. For some reason it seems longer. The horses are getting restless.

"What's going on?" Nancy asks loudly.

"Nancy," I hear Bo call and turn my head around, "what is it?"

I notice Bo's horse's head flick around, it neighs loudly, as does Felicity's. They try to turn around but both girls pull the reins. By the expressions on their faces I can tell that neither are fully confident in what they are doing. The horses neigh again, much more loudly. They begin to jump up, kicking both front legs into the air, stretching their back and almost losing both riders.

"Cynric!" Bo yells loudly at me.

They are losing control of the horses. Calhoun's horse turns around and bolts towards Felicity and Bo. I follow and tell Nancy and Janine to stay put.

"Keep in control," Calhoun says and jumps down from his horse.

He steps towards Bo's horse first and tries to calm it by stroking it's face. It calms, slightly but is still a bit restless. I watch him do the same with Felicity's horse. Both girls are alarmed and frightened but for now there is nothing we can do about it. The horses quieten and Calhoun gets back up onto his horse.
Something is strange. His expression changes and he looks around the trees curiously. I do too, realising that something is definitely wrong. There are no birds singing, no animal sounds. The forest is not just silent - it is dead silent.

"There is a theory," Calhoun whispers, "that horses can smell danger." His head whips around suddenly, still, there are no sounds. I can hear my own heart beating in my ears.

"Hurry!" Calhoun yells loudly, his horse begins to sprint.

I kick my heels into my horses body and I frolick along behind Calhoun. I can hear Nancy and the rest of the girls follow. We are panicking and I am longing to see the light up ahead indicating Seabrooke. The air flies passed me, pushing my hair far back behind my face. My breathing catches and my heart pounds. I look to the sides and spot shadows sprinting about twenty metres away from us and towards our right side. There are several shadows. Thornes, perhaps. I kick my heels again and my horse increases pace. We all move together in graceless motion, our riding skills are rusty but somehow we are still running from whatever danger chases us. I quickly pull my horse back on the reins when I see Calhoun coming to an abrupt stop. I straighten my back and take in a sharp breath when I see a woman standing directly in Calhoun's path. She is young and youthful, her almost white hair reaches her lower back. She stares at us with an arrow drawn back on her bow. She has an elflike face, narrow looking with high cheekbones. Her skin is pale, her eyes green.

"Isabelle," Calhoun nods his head in the girls direction. A very small smile appears on her face when Calhoun speaks her name. With a sigh she lowers her bow. "I can only guess that you are not alone."

She does not say a word, she simply moves her head very carefully to the right. Her eyes look around and then more humans emerge from behind the trees. There are at least twenty surrounding us now. Some are Angelicans, some are Shape Shifters, Thornes and Time Jumpers. One Time Jumper teleports himself to Bo's horse, he takes the reins from her and begins to pull the horse along. Bo's horse is calm. The humans take our horses reins from us and walk us through the forest.

"I thank you for your services, Isabelle," Calhoun says, "we greatly appreciate it."

"It has been four years since you have returned to Seabrooke, Calhoun. Several Time Jumpers alerted us of your arrival today. The town is exultant. There has been a festival prepared in your honour," she replies to him.

"Excellent."

I turn around and see the male Time Jumper that is leading Bo's horse speaking to her. He is young, probably a few years my junior. His hair is brushed in all directions, a brown colour, green eyes. After introducing himself he smiles brilliantly at her. I sigh and return my eyes up ahead. We have almost reached Seabrooke.