Status: Not Finished
The Return
The return
The Avarys Trilogy:
The Return
By: ZAH
Prologue
The cool breeze flowed through his hair. He shivered, feeling the warmth leave his body. He watched the sun set over the horizon. The heavenly light spread across the sky splitting night from day. Slowly the light receded into oblivion and he was left with the sun’s night counterpart the moon. The sight had a natural beauty than no man made creation could ever compete with.
He looked down into to his arms, which laid a newborn child wrapped in rugged cloth. The baby cooed as he rocked him back in forth in his arms. What a handsome boy he will become. The man thought. The night was new but the area surrounding him was slowly lighting up as warning flares spread throughout the land. I expected to have more time to escape. The spies he had within the city must’ve failed to keep him hidden for long.
I do not have much time left. The child began to fuss as dogs were beginning to find the trail and were alerting their masters. He whispered a lullaby to the child that he had heard as a young boy himself. Slowly the baby went back into sleep.
“You will have great importance in the world child. I only hope it will not be late to save our world from the darkness.” He uttered quietly.
A few hundred feet away he could hear the men quick on his tail. With a few quick strides; carefully holding the child, he descended down the hill and into an open plain. Curses, there is nowhere to hide! He looked down again to make sure the child was safe. As he did, an arrow sprout the ground only a few feet away from him.
“He’s over here!” Shouted the man who shot the arrow. More of the iron clad soldiers were close behind him and started to descend down the cliff. Only a hundred feet lay between them now. As the men were climbing down the hill, he uttered a quick incantation under his breath. The men closer down the hill stopped dead in their tracks as fire leaped up from the ground and surrounded them. The man dropped to one knee as he felt the power take toll on him. Knowing he had only seconds to spare as the fire would eventually go out he set forth into the empty plain trying to reach the sheltering woods.
His lungs could not fill up fast enough, and each breath was getting shorter with each step. His strength still weak from the spell he could barely maintain even a moderate pace. He glanced behind him to confirm his fears that the soldiers were free of the fire and quick on his tail. More arrows punctured the ground surrounding him and the child as he slowly made headway to the forest. Again the baby started to cry, with no breath left to sing a lullaby the baby increased the volume to a wailing.
The noise punctured his ears, however he could not let anything block his concentration on the task before him. I have to get the boy to safety at all costs. He is the last hope we have. He sprinted harder now, nearing the edge of the forest had given him hope and in turn new found energy.
His body screamed in pain, like none he had ever felt before. He fell to the ground as his left leg was punctured by an arrow. With tears in his eyes he looked down to see that the baby was unharmed by the fall. Jabs of hot pain spread throughout his leg as he slowly got back on his feet. With no other option he set down the boy and turned to face his pursuers. Three of the men had made it to him before the others. They doubted his skills in combat.
He drew the greatsword from the scabbard on his back and gripped it with two hands preparing to defend against the soldiers. The men had a snarl on their face preparing to strike. With a quick spin on his good leg he dug his sword into the closest man. He had only seconds to pull out his sword of the man’s carcass and parry the next soldiers blow to his hip. With each second feeling like hours he fought the other two men until both had fallen on the ground.
He would only have a few moments before the rest of the searching party would be on them. Limping to the child, he slowly picked him back up, careful to support the newborn's neck. The baby had finally stopped crying and breathed easily. The child gazed at him, his eyes were the color of emeralds. The man had wish he was able to get him back to the others but there was no more time left. Knowing what must be done he whispered a small prayer to whomever was listening.
The child began to wail again so he set the boy down on an empty spot that had no grass, and whispered an incantation to put him into a deep slumber. Fear of death clouded his thought for a few moments but he quickly cast them aside. This boy’s life was much more important than his own. The men’s shouting and clinking of weapons was getting louder and closer. He would not let them get to the child.
He slowly began chanting in the old forgotten language that ruled over everything with power. Feeding the spell with his own life force to try to fulfill the need of energy of the powerful enchantment. He dropped to his knees feeling his remaining strength ebbing. However he persevered through the pain and continued to chant. The air began to fill with static energy which sent his hairs on end. Sparks of light began to iminate from his persona.
It is almost complete. Chanting even louder now as he heard the men’s footsteps approach closer. His vision began to flicker as his remaining life force left his grasp. With his last breath he whispered to the child his last words. “ Be safe Avarys.” And with that the spell reached its climax and sent blinding light in every direction.
...
The commander of the soldiers pushed past his men and looked down to see only a man laying dead on the ground. “ Where is the child!” He yelled furiously at his men.
“There is no sign of him sir, whoever took him must’ve hid the child before we befell him.”
“If you do not find the child within the night I shall have all of your heads. Do I make myself clear.”
“Sir, yes sir.” The group of men departed and went out searching for the lost child.
Chapter One
“WAKE UP, YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL.”
It was way too early for someone to yell. He blindly felt his way to his bedpost where his phone was. The screen was too bright for his sleepy eyes, so he turned down the brightness. When he saw the time he nearly jumped out of bed.
In the loudest voice possible for just being awake he yelled, “WHY DID NO ONE WAKE ME UP EARLIER!”
His door flew open revealing his sister’s hair astray and all. “I’ve trying to wake you up for the past thirty minutes, you brat.” She had her toothbrush in her mouth which made her sound a lot more like a gargoyle than a person. “ Now get dressed I’m not going to wait up on you.” She yelled at him some more after that, but it was mostly just gibberish as her mouth started to overflow with toothpaste.
She left his room a few moments later to continue getting ready for school. He climbed his way out of bed and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. His sister Elizabeth or what everyone else calls her by, “Liz” always liked to parent him. He didn’t blame her though she had to mature quickly to make up for the loss of their mom. She died years back in a hiking accident in the Grand Canyon. Their dad never gave them the details which was completely fine but he had grown isolated and usually kept to his studies. That’s when Liz stepped up and started acting as the mother figure of the house.
She took over the house chores in the beginning, trying to fill for their mother, but as time went on she learned how to cook and made dinner every night. She felt as if it was her duty to take the mantle and be the backbone of the family.
He finished putting on his clothes and started to go down to eat breakfast when he noticed he had left his shoes in his room. Why did he always have to forget the little things. Taking his time to make sure he didn't forget anything else, he went downstairs to eat his now cold waffles.
“Alright let’s go.” Liz had finished her makeup and walked over to the door to leave when she turned to look at him. “ Evan Anderson you are not leaving this house looking like an idiot.” Looking down and actually paying attention to what he had picked, he quickly agreed with her. While he had put on his clothes half asleep, he managed to put on his red and white striped shirt backwards and inside out. Adding to the not so bright look he had his shoes on the wrong feet.
“Okay I’ll give that one to you.”
“Now go up and change before I leave you here.” made him believe she wasn’t lying.
Evan went up to his room for the final time or at least he hoped to complete his outfit. He put on his shirt right this time and fixed his shoes. How he had managed to do such a thing made him laugh at his own stupidity. Now all fixed up, he rode with his sister to school. He hoped the day would not continue as bad as it had started.
...
His first two periods had proven to be completely boring. Which made sense, it was calculus and English. It wasn’t the fact that the classes were hard it was more of that they were too easy for him to actually concentrate on. Evan’s teachers wouldn’t agree, instead they would say, “He’s cheating” or “That was a lucky guess.” He didn’t really care what they thought, they were just trying to make him look stupid.
Ever since he could remember he had a knack for learning quickly and picked things up pretty quickly. Last time he checked he was the only sophomore taking calculus. Sometimes it felt like he processed at a faster rate than everyone around him.
He was currently finishing up an essay over Alexander The Great. A great ruler in Greek time, known for his incredible ability of taking control over a huge part of the early world. It sounded pretty dull, but to Evan it was quite interesting. A single man being able to do so much intrigued him a great deal. He finished up the last paragraph of his paper which was mostly filled of how Alexander was great (no pun intended) and how he was one of the greatest leaders of all time.
After he handed his paper to his history teacher he went back to his desk and waited for the last few minutes to pass by. Of course they felt like hours since he had nothing to fill his time. So instead of doing nothing he turned left to whisper to his friend Brian. Brian was writing down something on his paper with his brand new mechanical pencil his mom bought him for the first day of school. Brian was wearing a short sleeve button-up shirt that he had all the way up to his neck. He was wearing glasses that slowly drooped down his slender nose. The glasses made his thin face a little more interesting to look at, but his curly red hair usually covered the top side of his face.
“Pssst, are you done yet?” He quietly asked him.
“No, I’m not done yet. We’re not all as fast as you are.” He replied back annoyed.
Evan was about to apologize to him when the teacher slammed a ruler down on his desk. “Mr. Anderson, do I need to ask why you are talking to Mr. Fischer during an exam.” Ms. Gunter shouted furiously at him.
Thinking of something quickly he used an old trick in the book. “No Ms.Gunter I was just asking Brian for a pencil.” Thankfully she believed the lie and after a few more seconds of an awkward staring contest she returned to her desk in the corner of the room.
After a few more minutes the bell rang sure enough and everyone flooded out of the classroom and into the catastrophe that was the high school halls. Evan waited outside the door for Brian and in the meantime thought of how he could make it into lunch without bumping into Ethan Douglas the head leading bully in the whole school. He managed to fail sophomore year twice so he was big as a senior yet still in Evan’s grade.
Not only did Ethan go out of his way to try to ruin everyone’s day, he also believed he was the good guy for pointing out your flaws. Like thanks I needed to know I am ugly and stupid I would never have noticed if it weren’t for your accusations. God forbid if you tried to retaliate in any way possible considering he had his own personal idiot goons that followed him around all day. They were as strong as they were stupid though. Evan was nicely built and pretty toned but those guys were modern day orcs. He would have no chance against them.
Brian eventually emerged from the room and together they made their way down the halls and into the mad world of teenagers. Evan breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the lunchroom, they had made it without encountering Ethan. Before they got into one of the lunch lines they made it to their normal table in the back right corner.
When they set down their backpacks he noticed that someone else’s backpack had already been set down. Who would’ve sat down here? He thought curiously. It was only one backpack which meant it wasn’t a group of kids, that meant Brian and him could most likely persuade the kid to move somewhere else.
“You know who owns this backpack?” Brian asked him as he set down his own backpack opposite to Evan’s.
“No clue, we’ll just see when we come back after getting lunch.” There was no need for Brian to get lunch with him considering that his mom packed him one everyday. But he hated sitting alone, he always thought people would judge him on being a loner. So together they walked into the less filled pizza line and picked up the cardboard the school calls food.
When they sat back down the backpack was already gone and they did not think of it anymore. Evan opened his sack lunch to reveal his mom’s goodies. He had a heart cut out of a PB and J, the shiniest green apple and a cheesestick. Evan almost envied him for his delicious food but then he noticed that Brian looked like a 5 year-old with his heart sandwich.
“Hey man, your mom does know you’re 16 now right.” Evan snickered. He was trying to not to bust out laughing, Brian wouldn’t take it well.
“I will have you know that I quite like my sandwich as it is.” He retorted back at him.
With that Evan could hold it in any longer, he broke down hysterically and could only take shallow breaths in between each burst of laughter. After nearly passing out from laughing so hard he looked up to see his friend glaring down at his food while he ate it.
“I’m sorry man that was just too good.” He managed to say through another fit of laughter.
“You know I could sit with some of my other friends, I don’t need you to sit with.” Brian said in an angry tone.
“Oh yeah who are you going to sit with, the 6th graders, you fit in a lot more with them with that lunch.” He bursted with laughter again as he watched his little friend turn red in the face with frustration.
“ Okay, I take it back I’m sorry. I was just kidding.”
“You better be.” Brian breathed under his breath.
After Brian had cooled down, the two of them finished eating and talked about how school was just a place for kids to go to so they don’t get in trouble and how if they were taught something that would actually be helpful later in life would be really nice.
“Hey Evan, you got a girlfriend yet?” Brian asked him smirking as if he already knew the answer.
“Oh yeah. She’s this hot junior who just loves everything about me.” He said sarcastically.
Brian continued smiling, because he knew the one place that he always beat his friend in was getting girls. Evan had no clue how that was since he was only 5’5 and was as awkward as a dog in a cats petting zoo. Brian had to pay them was his only conclusion.
“Well, I’ll have you know that me and Amanda have our one-month anniversary coming up soon.” Amanda was one of the hottest girls in their class. She was had a models body, with flowing brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. The only bad thing about her was her taste in guys apparently.
“Great, I seriously don’t care. Hey what are you doing this weekend, I was thinking we could chill at my house?” Evan asked Brian. He knew the answer was probably going to be a yes since he always wanted to be away from his four younger siblings.
“I actually can’t man, like I told you our anniversary is coming up and we have stuff planned this weekend.” He answered apologetically.
Knowing that he was going to have another boring weekend, bummed him out but he guessed he would have to make due without his friend. “ Well alright I hope y’all have fun.” With that the bell rang signaling all of the students to head to their next period. “ See you later.”
“Later.”
The rest of school was uneventful, the most interesting thing that happened was when a kid sitting in front of Evan fell backwards in his chair and slammed his head on the ground. The teachers weren’t kidding when they said don’t lean back in the chairs too far. The guy went to the nurse after everyone had finished laughing. Besides that it was pretty uneventful.
He met up with his sister in the school parking lot to get back home, when his phone buzzed with a call. His fingers fumbled with the phone in his pocket until he finally managed to get a good grip on it. When he checked to see who was, it popped up as “Brian.” What trouble has he gotten into now. “Hey what do you-” Evan was quickly cut off by Brian yelling into the phone.
“Come to the field behind the school right now!” Then the phone cut off and he was left with only silence. His sister called out to him asking who had called him, he repeated what Brian had said and started sprinting toward the field. He didn’t even wait to hear Liz’s response.
Chapter Two
Evan sprinted his way through the school trying to reach Brian before anything could happen to him. Occasionally Brian would play a joke or mess around with him but he could tell by his tone something was not right. While distracted on his thoughts, his foot tripped over an uneven piece of the sidewalk and caused him to fall face first into the hard concrete. Blood poured out of his nose the moment he got back onto his feet. Evan wiped the blood off of his nose with his shirt’s sleeve. The pain was only moderate and he quickly started racing toward the field.
After another minute of pure sprint Evan finally reached to where his friend was. The field was actually meant for agriculture classes but they only took up a small portion of the stretch of empty terrain. He searched the area for a few moments until he finally caught eye of Brian. He was only about a hundred feet away, the only thing that worried him though was that Brian was not alone.
Please don’t be Ethan, please please please. It only took him a few seconds to get within earshot but as soon as he did he recognized the sloppy grammar used only by Ethan Douglas. “Hey gingey how much you bet I can’t kick your ass with an arm tied behind my back.” He and his gang then laughed like hyenas at his “joke.”
“I think you could do it, boss.” One of his goons answered. Ethan backhanded the kid and sent him five feet back onto his rear.
“I was asking the gingey.” He snarled.
When he was only a couple yards away Evan shouted at Ethan and his gang. Their only response was a quick look in his direction. He didn’t like to be ignored especially not by one as stupid as Ethan. This time he yelled at the top of his lungs to grasp everyone’s attention.
“ What the hell do you want, kid.” Said the guy that was backhanded earlier.
“I want all of you to back away from my friend before things get dirty.” He said trying to instill fear into the bullies. Not only did they not listen to him, they busted out laughing at him. Okay now he was really pissed off.
Evan took three long strides and put himself in between Ethan and Brian. He was only a few feet away from him but he could still smell the reek of cigarettes and booze. Ethan grinned, missing his two front teeth. Ethan rairly brushed his teeth if ever and the effects were clearly seen. His face was covered in splotches of dirt as was his hair. He belonged more in a zoo than he did a school.
“What are you going to about us huh, you’re just a little kid compared to me.” Ethan said as he stood straight up from his usual crooked back. Increasing Evan’s fear, it looked as though Ethan was just under seven feet tall. Evan tried to swallow but it was caught in his throat. Fighting all instincts that said “RUN NOW” he took another step closer.
“I’ll take you down faster than any of you can blink. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu.” Well not exactly, he was a yellow belt when he was six and hadn’t practiced day since then. He just hoped that the mad attempt to scare him off would work.
The bluff just shook right off of Ethan.“ I don’t care if you’re a black belt in chinese zitsu, I’m going to kick your ass unless you get out of the way.” Ethan said with his ever grinning face.
He heard Brian whispering behind his back saying “ It’s alright Evan just leave it alone.” He could tell that Brian was just scared and wanted it to get over with whatever punishment he didn’t deserve. Evan wasn’t just about to give up on his friend. Taking everyone by surprise even himself he sucker punched Ethan right in the nose.
While Ethan was howling in pain Evan grabbed Brian and made a dash forward the parking lot. Ethan’s gang was close behind them and slowly catching up. Knowing what he had to do he slowed down his pace and yelled for Brian to keep running. His whole body shivered with fear as he turned to face his pursuers.
“YOU’RE DEAD MEAT ANDERSON!” Ethan shouted as he made his way to Evan. The punch Evan landed left Ethan with a slightly crooked nose. He thought he heard it whistle when Ethan breathed. Instead of doing damage the punch apparently made him a whole lot angrier.
Before Evan could make any attempt at another cheap shot, Ethan’s goons were grabbing his arms and holding him in place. No matter how much he struggled he couldn’t break through their death grip. Ethan pulled back his fist and sent it flying straight into his gut. Pain erupted from his stomach and he almost doubled over from the pain, but he was still held in place. “ That was for getting in the way.” Ethan sent a right hook straight into his cheekbone next. This time he almost blacked out from the pain, it spreaded across his face like a wildfire. The things I do for my friends. Evan barely had time to continue his thought as another punch sent him sailing into unconsciousness.
The next thing he remembered was jabs of pain originating from his head. He groaned loudly as he sat up from the not-comfortable ground. Blinking his eyes a few times he looked up to see his sister hovering on top of him. “ Why is it that whenever you leave my sight you always manage to get into trouble?”
“Trouble has to have some friends.” Evan answered back at Liz with somewhat attitude. He wasn’t in the mood for criticism after getting beaten to the ground; quite literally. She stuck out her hand and gently helped him back onto his feet. He quietly thanked her and asked her how she had found him.
“I was getting ready to leave your sorry ass, when Brian came running toward me screaming that you were in trouble. I could barely understand him he was talking so fast.” As she recounted what had transpired he made a note to thank Brian for not just leaving him and sprinting all the way home.“ So I told him to wait in the car and by the time I made it over here everyone was gone and you were laying face first in the dirt.
“I guess that’s what happens when you try to fight someone twice your size.” He laughed. Hot pain flooded his mouth every time he opened it. They really did put a number on him. His face probably looked like Rocky after his fight with Apollo Creed. At least Rocky won his, well the second time. Evan walked back with his sister to the car and saw Brian waiting for the two of them.
“Thatwassobravemanthankyousomuch.” He could barely understand one word Brian was saying he talking so fast. He could now agree with what his sister had said about his talking earlier. Evan told Brian that he was fine and just wanted to go home. He was nearly tapped from how much pain he was in.
Liz turned into Brian’s driveway and shut off her car. dropped off Brian (he had calmed down from the whole ordeal finally) “saving his life.” Evan waved goodbye and rolled up his window, happy to be away from the chilly night air. Most of the pain had faded away, however there was still aching in his temples.
The way home was mostly silent, Liz only made a few brief comments on how he did a good thing for his friend. The whole time her eyes stayed on the road. Evan didn’t pay much attention to her and responded with as few words as possible. His head throbbed too much for him to do anything more than just sit there. A few more minutes passed and eventually the two of them made it back home.
As he was walking back upstairs to his room he called out to Liz one more time before he went to bed. “Thanks for not leaving me behind, that would’ve made this whole endeavor a lot worse.” Evan said in a quiet tone, he never liked thanking his sister for anything. She always rubbed it in his face soon afterwards.
“Well I’m the only one who’s allowed to mess with my little brother, so you’re welcome.” She turned away from him and continued on into her room that laid downstairs. But before she closed the door Liz said to her brother in a mocking voice, “ You know you owe me big time for this right.” He couldn’t see her face but Evan knew she was grinning cheek to cheek.
“Yeah, I know.” He said defeated.
Eventually he climbed up the stairs and made his way into his little attic room. Without even taking his clothes off he fell face first into his bed and instantly fell asleep. Finally his body would have a healthy rest.
The next morning he woke up before his alarm surprisingly. Evan’s mind was racing, fueled by fear of a dream that slowly drifted from his mind’s grasp. He couldn’t quite remember what happened in the dream but it couldn’t have been good since he was drenched in sweat. After the moment passed, he started to get up when he noticed His sister must’ve fixed his bed up. Liz might be hard on him sometimes but she loved him nonetheless.
He moved his head side to side to check if any pain and subsisted throughout the night but luckily enough, it had faded away. The light flowed through his slightly opened curtains to illuminate his surroundings. His room was a complete mess, with clothes littering the floor and left over plates from dinner. He knew he had to clean the room before the end of the day; Evan still dreaded the thought of having to clean such a huge mess.
...
School was cut short today because of some gas leaked in the chemistry lab, the whole school was evacuated and eventually everyone was told to go home. This gave Evan time to finish up on homework that he had procrastinated on for way too long: if he didn’t do them before the end of the day they would be late.
He was basically alone in his home except for loud drawn-out creaks of the old house and the pitter-patter of rain that started to fall after he arrived home. His dad had gone to the bar to watch the game, and his sister was working at the retirement home. She liked to go and learn about how life was lived in the past. Evan didn’t know how she put up with the old geezers, no offense, but they were just boring to him. About a half hour into doing his homework he began to feel a headache brewing. He needed a break if he was going to continue on with all of his school work. Evan got up and stretched his legs, releasing pent up tension on his joints from sitting in one place for too long.
He walked around his (still very dirty) room and tried to get his mind off of everything school related for just a few moments. Maybe Brian would want to come over and hang out or something, that might be a nice change of events. However he was likely with his girlfriend at the moment knowing how he is with her. With nothing better to do Evan trudged down stairs and started to cook some pasta, it was getting pretty late and his stomach was already arguing with him.
…
These noodles never get old he thought himself as he shoveled another mouthful of garlic-y goodness into his mouth. He didn’t realize how hungry he actually was until he had taken the first bite. Only a few minutes in he had already eaten three full bowls of pasta. Evan set down his now empty bowl and belched loud enough for the neighbors to hear him.
“Excuse me.” He said through his chuckling.
The peace was very calming and was a nice revelation from his stressful week. Being in school meant having a crazy amount of homework and responsibilities. Evan has barely had enough time to hang out with any of his friends, especially Brian (since most of his time was spent with Amanda). School was just about halfway over, however it felt as though everyday was slowly draining him of life. Evan didn’t have anyone to talk to about how he felt, with his sister always at school/working, and his Dad was secluded from everyone but the barkeep.
Evan would usually talk to Brian but they had been drifting apart for the past few months. With school piling on the both of them, their time spent together had been shortened greatly. Neither of them wanted to address the problem since they knew they could do nothing about it. If he hadn’t helped Brian in the fight it might have meant the end of their friendship down the line. However at the moment they were still good friends.
They day dragged on, with nothing to do, Evan decided to go out on a jog into his backyard. Well it was more like a forest than a backyard. His house was built on the edge of a closed national park. It went out of business a few decades back due to poor funding and low attendance. However if you asked the right people in they would tell yoi the stories of one of the most divine places on Earth. Locked away hundreds of yards into the thick forest was a mountainous waterfall that flowed perfectly into a valley filled with evergreen pines. The waterfall would send shimmering vibrant colors throughout the whole area, giving birth to a majestic sight. And he was about to make the journey to it.
Chapter Three
Wind screamed into her ears flooding out all of the other noises. Lightning raced across the sky giving light to the area. Bodies littered every inch of the ground, she recognized some of the faces, the town priest, her best friend Lidia, and others who she had grown up with. All of their faces were no longer filled with joy and care. Instead they were blank and lifeless, staring straight through her. She just stood there holding her brother in her arms, frozen in place by shock.
Another noise filled her head, this time it wasn’t wind. Her mother screamed at her, telling her to run away with her brother as fast as possible as she was dragged away by the soldiers. She tried to turn away and run like her mother told her but her feet were unresponsive to any of her thoughts. She was too scared to do anything. Tears flooded her eyes as she watched her mother get abused by the soldiers. How could anyone do something this evil to innocent people.
They laughed at her mother while she struggled against their iron clad grip. She wreathed side to side, trying to throw them off. But they were too strong and to numerous for her. They brought toward a heavily armored man, wearing a tabard over his chainmail that had the emblem of the king. A solid black crow with its wings spread fully apart and two golden swords crossing over each other forming an “x” behind the crow. The tabard itself was a crimson red, either from the blood of all of their victims or to just embody death itself. The man turned to her Mother and smiled like a child with a newly given gift.
“So this is the woman we are looking for. I was told you wouldn’t go down without a fight, but from the looks of it all I had to do was silence your husband for your cooperation. Now you see I’m looking for something very important that you have and if I don’t get it...” He shook his side to side and gave her mother a disappointing look. “Well lets just say you might have a hard time keeping that head on your shoulders.”
She still watched from the shadows as her mother looked up and spat in the man’s face. “Don’t you dare talk about my husband you bastard.” She said in a defiant tone. The men holding onto her drew the swords and held them to her mother’s neck, drawing a few drops of thick blood.
The soldier her mother spat on wiped his face with a handkerchief hidden in his waist belt. He patted his face dry and discarded the cloth. “Sheath your weapons men, we were given direct orders from the king to do her no harm.” His subordinates slowly brought their swords away from her mother’s neck and fumbled to put them back into their sheaths.
While they were preoccupied with their weapons her mother used every fiber of her muscle to rip free of her captures. The men looked at her in disbelief for one moment, but that’s all she needed as she lunged at the soldier and clawed at his eyes. Blood erupted from his gashes as he screamed out in agony. A small pool of blood formed at his feet.
The other soldiers rushed to his side and pulled her mother off of the commander. Her mother screamed at the men yelling at them, telling them to let go of her. But she was quickly silenced with a backhand to the jaw.
“Now you’ve made me angry.”
The man ripped a piece of tabbard off and wiped his face, smearing the blood all over, making his appearance look more beast than man. His eyes reflected the fire that burned all around them. He reached down and grabbed her mother by the neck, turning her face a scarlet red.
“Accidents happen during interrogations, the King would understand”.
His subordinates gripped by her mother’s shoulders and pushed her to the ground.
The soldier bent his knees and whispered in her mother’s ear. She didn’t hear what the soldier said to her mother but whatever it was, her mother replied defiantly, “Never.”
And with that he brought the sword down on her neck.
…
Her eyes shot open awakening her from the nightmare. She was covered in sweat and shivering from the horrendous memory. The dream always happened around this time of the year. However, it didn’t make it any easier for her to cope with. Near the anniversary of her parents death the memory loved to reemerge from her repressed memories. Her heart rate finally decided to slow down to a light thump in her bosom.
She looked across the room to see if her younger brother was still asleep in his bed. His light snoring reassured her. He was only an infant when they were murdered, and he didn’t have any memories of their parents except for what she has told him.
She tossed the blankets to the other side of her bed trying to lower her body temperature. I can’t go to sleep like this. Knowing that sleeping meant returning to the memory/nightmare she decided to get up out of bed. The marble floor sent a chill up her spine as she stood up from her bed. She picked up the candle that sat on her nightstand for guidance through the dark room.
Her shadow followed like an obedient dog as she strolled through her room and into the hallway. Everyone had to be asleep at this time of night. The sound of her bare feet padding against the ground echoed throughout the palace. Walking gave her time to think about how far she had come since that night. Her parents would be proud of what she has become. She starting replacing the nightmare with moments she missed having with her parents.
Like the time they were out in the pasture riding horses together as a family. Her mother would carry her little brother Sam in her arms wrapped in cloth to block out the autumn breeze. She would ride with her father, gripping onto his back with her small fingers. Her father’s warmth would radiate and flow through her. Nothing was better than those moments with them…
“ Miss Elena what are you doing roaming the halls at this time of night.”
She turned around to see her servant behind her dressed in only in his gray nightgown. It reached down to his thin ankles almost grazing the ground. He held a candle stick in his left hand, revealing his drowsy face. He probably woke up just to check on her. She really should give him more appreciation.
“I’m sorry to wake you Benjamin, I was just getting a glass of water.” She lied.
He raised his silver colored eyebrows and looked at her with a questioning look, but whatever it was he was thinking he shrugged it off and bid Elena goodnight. She watched as he turned away and slowly made his way back to his room to sleep the night away.
I wish I was lucky enough to do that.
Chapter Four
That was not a fun hike. He stood on top of one of many vast cliffs that dominated the forest. The wind brought the smell of pine trees and spring water to his nose. Sweat dripped from his brow acknowledging how much work he had put in just to get to this milestone in his journey. He turned his head to see just how far he had come since he started on his trek.
Miles of unkempt forest laid a few hundred feet beneath him. Birds in the sky called to each other creating an orchestra of nature and beauty. If this was only halfway, he couldn’t imagine how beautiful the end was going to be. He laid down his backpack and looked inside to make sure he still had all of his supplies. Only a little trails mix was left, however there was still two full water bottles left. He originally had six waters but he hammered them down earlier after so many miles of hiking. His pocket knife still laid closed in the front pocket of his bag. He brought it just in case anything went wrong.
Thick white clouds started to cover the blaring sun, finally giving him much needed shade. He zipped up his bag and slid it onto his back. Only a few more miles and he would be there. His eyes grazed over his surroundings searching for the best way to the waterfall. There was a very steep path to his right but with his luck he would bust it and fall down the path. And he was not in the mood for that.
He started searching harder trying to find a way down the cliff that wouldn’t involve him falling most of the way down. He was unsuccessful. Backtracking was out of the picture since it would take hours for him to find another way past this cliff. The cloud coverage wouldn’t last for more than a hour and he did not want to be drenched in sweat on the way back.
His hopes started to fail and he was already planning on going home and spend the rest of the day procrastinating on some of his school work when a small ledge caught his eye. It was about ten feet to his left and fifteen feet down. He edged closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look at his last option. As he moved closer he looked down to see pebbles falling down into a gaping chasm between the ledge and himself. This is the adventure he had hoped for, and it was the only was left to get to the waterfall.
But if he made even one wrong step he could end up at the bottom of how ever deep the crevice was. He tried to swallow but his throat was closing from the fear of falling. Even with the shade, sweat started to cover his hands and brow. It was either turn back now or take the risk and jump. Adrenaline filled his bloodstream and left no room for his fear. The shaking in his legs stopped and his eyes narrowed in. Time to go.
He threw his bag over to lessen his weight and have a better jump. He watched as it landed with a solid humpf, on the other side. At least he knew it was possible for the bag to cross the ravine. Wasting no more time Evan took three long paces and took a runners stance. Now or never.
Each bound forward sent ripples across his body as everything around him started to slow down. Hiis speed was picking up and he only had a few more feet before he would have to jump. I’m gonna make it, I’m gonna make it. With one step to go his foot landed on an uneven rift in the ground and twisted his foot underneath him. Pain surged through his body first causing him to slow down. But fear shrouded his every thought as he saw that he didn’t have enough time to stop his forward momentum.
Survival instincts kicked in and adrenaline filled strength forced his body to make the jump in hopes of surviving. His mind was empty as he flew through the air. Panic seeped into his head, if he didn’t make the jump he would die. The ground started to close in. He was only a few feet off! He stretched his arms to their full length and grabbed onto the ledge as he rammed into it.
The air was knocked out of him as he hit the solid rock. I think I just broke a couple of ribs. The pain in his ribs only reminded him that he was alive. Relief flooded his body as he realized he had just made it with inches to spare. He pulled himself up by the fingertips with his last remaining strength. “YES!” The sound of his victory call echoed out throughout the canyon acknowledging his achievement. Evan laid there on the rough ground laughing, he couldn’t help himself. This was definitely going to be a day he was going to remember.
After a few more minutes of gathering his thoughts he stood up and and grabbed his bag. He stretched his sore legs and felt a few pops resonating from his back. Evan grabbed a bottle out of his bag and took three long gulps from it. The water chilled his throat and revived his body. He twisted the lid back on and dropped it back into his bag. Now it was time to get to the finale.
…
Tiny water droplets pelted his face as he started to approach the waterfall. Its glory encompassed the whole valley. The water itself fell with beautiful force and shook the air around him as it smashed into the water below. Few streams from the top of the waterfall would disintegrate into droplets refracting the light into every shade of color. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was.
Time itself seemed to stop, marveling at nature’s ability. Evan stood at the edge of the water and just drank in everything he could from the moment. Birds sang in the background creating their own melody unique to themselves, adding to the scene. None of the stories compared to this moment. He sat down and retrieved the rest of the food out of his bag feeding his empty stomach. His eyes didn’t leave the waterfall for a moment as he ate. Every moment he tried to commit the scene to memory so he could remember it forever.
BZZZT. BZZZT. BZZZT. Evan fetched his phone from his bag and answered the call.
“Hey I’m coming home pretty soon, you better have your room finished or I’m not sharing this pizza with you.”
Oh no. The whole day he had been putting off cleaning his room and this is what he gets for it. Maybe if he sprinted the whole way back he could make it before she got home. He would still have the room itself to clean though. Damn, he shouldn’t have gone on the trip without making sure everything at his house was ready for Liz. Maybe she would show mercy on him and give him a slice for old times…no that wouldn’t work she already warned him days ago that he had to clean his room.
“Evan...Evan are you there or am I talking to Casper now?” She said annoyed.
Her voice brought him back from his thoughts. “Yeah, yeah I’m right here, I’ll talk to to you when you get home. Love you, bye.”
“Love you t…”
She might nag at him later for that but Evan had no time to waste. He grabbed his bag and all of his trash from the ground and threw it in his backpack. As he zipped up his bag and threw it onto his shoulders, the sun started to set over the waterfall. There will be another time to be here, but for now he looked once more into his widow into nature and started on a fast pace to his home. Evan prayed he would be faster than his sister.
Chapter Five
Evan was drenched in sweat by the time he got home. He creaked his front door open and scoured his living room to check for any signs of his sister. Her car wasn’t out in front but she could've easily gone into the garage. Hoping for the best he stepped inside and made his way upstairs to change into a different clean pair of clothes.
His room was still a heaping mess and his drawer of clothes was in shambles. There goes the plan for new clothes. He went to one of the mountains of dirty clothes in his room and threw some into a laundry bin to clean. It took him a few minutes to pick out the clothes that he would actually wear from the clothes that he needed to get rid of already. He picked up a (now very small) shirt that was years old. On the front it read “Yellowstone Park” and had a geyser erupting behind the letters. His eyes started to water as he remembered the moment when he got the shirt.
Their mom always loved to go on hiking trips and explore the Earth. That’s why she was luckily enough to land a job as a nature photographer. She had always taken Liz with her on her trips around the globe, while Evan was too young to go. They would always come back with souvenirs, like a jacket or a cool rock. Evan secretly envied his sister back then because she got alone time with their mom. But on his tenth birthday his mom took him on a personal trip to Yellowstone National Park. They drove from their house in Salem, Oregon. As someone could imagine it was a very long road trip.
Evan loved every moment of it, from the midnight stops at gas stations or driving through empty plains with the only thing to do was talk. He could still remember one of the conversations he had with his mom during that trip years ago.
“Hey mom, why don’t I have yours or dad’s eyes. Mine are all green and stuff but everyone else has brown eyes.”
His mom looked at him for a moment and smiled wearily. “I guess it’s about time you know the truth. You joined our family in a different way than most kids. Your Dad and I were out hiking on this beatiful trail in a forrest that was kept safe from man’s hands. We heard a cry in the distance, we couldn’t help not to check it out. And then there you were a little bundle of beauty. Your Dad went and searched for anyone who could be responsible for you while I stayed. I remember the moment when I took you in my arms. I could feel your warmth inside of my soul. Your crying stopped and you looked at me with these gorgeous emerald eyes, I Knew from that moment I loved you. Eventually we took you in and got the paperwork done for you to be our son.” She smiled at him for another second then her eyes returned to the road.
“So I’m not really apart of the family am I…”
“Oh honey.” She pulled over to the side of the road and looked Evan straight in the eyes. “I love you with every fiber of my being and no one can ever tell me that you are not my son. You are no different from Elizabeth and will always be a part of this family. I promise.” She pulled him into a loving hug and whispered into his ear. “Nothing will ever keep us apart, I love you Evan.”
He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and folded the shirt into a nice little square. Then he carefully set it on top of his dresser. I love you too mom.
Evan grabbed the now full laundry bin and made his way downstairs to begin washing his clothes. He glanced over the edge to check if his sister had come home yet. The only thing that greeted him was the silence of the empty house. She’s probably just held up in traffic. The sound of his feet hitting each step resonated throughout the house making him feel a little too lonely in his house.
As he reached the last step a loud crashing noise came from his dad’s room. Something probably fell from one of his many bookcases. Evan had nothing better to do and his curiosity wouldn’t be quenched until he knew what exactly happened. He set down his laundry and slowly made his way toward the Study room. Evan rapped his knuckles three times against the mahogany door to alert anyone in the room of his presence. He put his ear to the door and waited for any type of response. After a few seconds of waiting he concluded that no one was inside, and reached for the handle.
It’s locked. Evan’s curiosity was growing even more. The door only locked from the inside and it was impossible to lock without the key; which his dad had on him at all times. Evan searched the surrounding furniture just in case the key was left behind. The dresser next to the door was filled with old documents about some health insurance. He scrambled through the papers but still there wasn’t any key. When he was about to shut the door Evan caught a glimpse of his mom’s name on one of the legal papers. He pulled out the papers and began to read where he saw her name.
He couldn’t make out a lot of the law’s gibberish but it read something about his adoption. Evan tried to make since of it but all he could get out of it was something didnt go correctly along the lines of an adoption. Nothing his parents ever told him lead him to believe he was more than a normal adoption. He was probably just reading the papers wron; after casting away any doubt about his infancy he continued searching through the papers. The rest of the documents were filled with other legal policies and health insurance payments. He checked the date on one of the papers, but it was blacked out by a highlighter. Evan wasn’t exactly a registered lawyer but something didn’t sound right about these papers. He read through the papers one more time, then returned them to their drawer. There must be a way to open the door with or without the key.
Evan finished looking through all of the the possible places for the key but he had no luck finding it. Was it really that important to get inside? He was tired of wasting his time and he still had to get to work on his laundry; his dad can find the mess and clean it himself for all he cares. Evan picked back up his dirty clothes and made his way into the laundry room.
He was about half way done filling up the washer when he heard his sister drive up into the garage. Finally, he was starving and all he wanted was nice hot pizza. He finished filling the washer and made his way to the front door to meet his sister. The sound of keys jingling and being put into the lock could be heard from the living room. Evan picked up his pace so he could open the door for Liz. He swung the door open to welcome her in but she wasn’t the one at the doorstep.
“Thank you Evan, please take your time to move out of the doorway.” A deep stern voice said. Evan looked a little higher and was met with his father’s scowl. His eyes were a deep brown that seemed to block out any type emotion.
“Do I need to repeat myself.”
Evan shuffled out of the doorway and let his dad through. As he walked by, Evan could smell the alcohol roll off of his dad. Another night at the bar it was then. Evan shut the door and made his way back into the laundry room to turn the washer on. But before he did he almost forgot to tell his dad that the door to his study was locked. He turned around just in time to watch his dad reach for the doorknob.
“Hey Dad, the door..” Evan stopped mid-sentence as his dad had already cracked opened the door.
“The door is what?” He answered looking back at Evan with an annoyance.
“Oh sorry, what I was trying to say is that I’m sorry for not getting the door faster for you. Work must've been hard and you shouldn't be kept waiting.”
Except Evan knew work wasn’t hard. All he did all day was keep his law firm’s papers ordered and up to date. The most work he had to do was look up a date on a particular lawsuit. Then after work he would head to his usual pub and drink until his wallet was empty. Evan remembered the first day after his mom’s death. His dad busted through the door and started to wreck everything in his path. Screaming at the top of his lungs about how this was all Evan’s fault for pressuring his mom to go on the trip. How he wasn’t his child and never should’ve been allowed into his home. Liz would try to stop him but their dad was a 6’3 and 250 lbs. Every night after the bar he would verbally and physically abuse him until the alcohol knocked him out. It only stopped after one night when Liz called the police. Now he would just go to his office after work. His conversations at dinner were either very miniscule or absent completely.
Evan learned how to deal with his father and what to say to him. Eventually it got better (as best as it could) and they coexisted.
He acknowledged him with a grunt as he made his way into the his room. The click of the door’s lock echoed throughout the house. Evan searched through his head trying to find the right answer to what had happened. Maybe the door wasn’t locked and it was just jammed, or maybe his dad put in the key without him noticing. But Evan watched him grab the door handle and he never inserted a key. The more he thought about the more he wondered too; he heard a crash in the room but his dad has yet to make any response. Maybe there was something in the air and he was going crazy. All he knew is that something weird was going on. Evan’s head was still spinning when his sister walked through the front door.
“Hey little bro, sorry I took so long. The road was shut down because some type of electrical disturbance in the area. It was pretty weird, all of the traffic lights were blinking at the same time crazy fast. Oh and the pizza’s cold.”
Evan was about to complain about how she was late and he had been waiting too long for the food, but he looked in his sister’s eyes and saw the bags hanging underneath them. She most likely had double shifts and was up all night doing her college online. He felt bad for not thanking her enough for all she does for the family.
“Wow that’s pretty weird, I’m just glad you made it back home safe and sound… with the pizza.”
“The pizza is your main concern! What if I got in a wreck because the light flashed green at the wrong moment. Then you wouldn’t see me or your pizza ever again.” Her face had turned a light rose and her breathing was quick little puffs.
Evan toned down the joking for a second and let his sister know how he actually felt. “I’m joking Liz, I was worried why you didn’t come home on time. I really am happy that you made it back safe.”
Her tense figure loosened up, and she started to form a smile. “You little jerk.” She opened up the box of pizza and sent one of the pieces flying into his face. He dodged it right in time and managed to catch it with his right hand.
“Yeah you’re right it’s a little cold.” He smiled at his sister knowing he was pushing all the right buttons. She scolded him for a few seconds, but her face quickly lightened up. Evan knew she needed to something to take her mind off of work, so he tried to make her feel more at home. The time they spent together has steadily grown smaller and smaller. Liz was working more hours and trying to do her best to support the family and Evan had been busy balancing school and his social life. Life has been rough on the two of them, but whenever they had the chance to act like normal siblings they took it.
They laughed at each other and continued to talk about how both of their days had been. Evan told her about the papers he found concerning their mom but Liz just pushed it aside and told him that it was just insurance claims their dad had kept over the years. On a lighter note Liz excitedly told him about her promotion and how she was making her way up the chain of command. Evan was really proud of all the work she put in and he knew she deserved it more than anyone else at her job. Their conversation began trailing along and slowly made it’s way to a stop.
“Alright let’s go ahead and eat.” She set the pizza box on the kitchen counter and began to clean off the dining room table. Papers littered the table, old newspaper articles, late bills and clothing magazines that Liz got every month. She barely had time to read them anymore; she was to preoccupied with being the breadwinner of the house and trying to parent Evan. Liz couldn’t juggle anymore things in her life.
“Hey are you ever going to cancel that subscription you have to that magazine line” he said while pointing at one she was holding in her hand, “you could be saving more money for college.”
She looked down at the magazine she was holding and slowly brought it to her chest. Her voice was as quiet as a church mouse. “Me and mom used to look through them all the time when I was younger. We would make fun of the models by pointing out little flaws that no one ever noticed.” Liz opened up the model pamphlet and blindly flipped to a random page. “Like this one for example…”
“I don’t see anything wrong with her.”
“Just look closer, forget about all of the beauty and see her as someone you know. Try to find something that makes her perfect while at the same time viewed as a defect.”
Evan tried to look through the mist of beauty, pushing his eyes to see something that was hidden but in the open at the same time. He scanned the photo slowly taking in every inch. Then it hit him.
“She has a small scar above her left eye!” It was the only thing he could concentrate on now.
“Mom always taught me to find the little things in life, because anything can change. It’s the little things that are important.” She said softly.
Liz slowly turned her head up to the ceiling and smiled, a small but loving smile that radiated warmth. He could tell that she still felt their mom with her every step. Evan set down the magazine and made his way to his sister. He wiped away a small tear trickling down her cheek. She looked up to him and hugged him tightly.
‘I miss her every day.” She whispered into his chest.
“I know… I do too.” Evan was the first to break the embrace. The two stood their for a few moments talking back and forth about memories of their mom. How she would always go on wild adventures and come back with crazy stories. One of which included a koala bear, two leopards, an elephant and a roll of toilet paper. It was “interesting.”
They sat down and started feasting on the greasy and delicious food.
Chapter Six
School was getting back into it’s regular routine after the fight. At first everyone congratulated Evan and made him out to be this big hero. The attention was a little overwhelming, he was used to just him and Brian but now the whole school wanted to be his friend. Eventually things died down but it was fun while it lasted.
It turns out that Ethan got suspended for a month so they wouldn’t be seeing his face anytime soon, that would give Evan sometime to prepare for the coming storm. The end bell for his class rang and he maneuvered his way to the cafeteria. He eventually met up with Brian in the hall.The whole Ethan thing brought them back in the green and everything felt normal again.
Until he met her.
The Return
By: ZAH
Prologue
The cool breeze flowed through his hair. He shivered, feeling the warmth leave his body. He watched the sun set over the horizon. The heavenly light spread across the sky splitting night from day. Slowly the light receded into oblivion and he was left with the sun’s night counterpart the moon. The sight had a natural beauty than no man made creation could ever compete with.
He looked down into to his arms, which laid a newborn child wrapped in rugged cloth. The baby cooed as he rocked him back in forth in his arms. What a handsome boy he will become. The man thought. The night was new but the area surrounding him was slowly lighting up as warning flares spread throughout the land. I expected to have more time to escape. The spies he had within the city must’ve failed to keep him hidden for long.
I do not have much time left. The child began to fuss as dogs were beginning to find the trail and were alerting their masters. He whispered a lullaby to the child that he had heard as a young boy himself. Slowly the baby went back into sleep.
“You will have great importance in the world child. I only hope it will not be late to save our world from the darkness.” He uttered quietly.
A few hundred feet away he could hear the men quick on his tail. With a few quick strides; carefully holding the child, he descended down the hill and into an open plain. Curses, there is nowhere to hide! He looked down again to make sure the child was safe. As he did, an arrow sprout the ground only a few feet away from him.
“He’s over here!” Shouted the man who shot the arrow. More of the iron clad soldiers were close behind him and started to descend down the cliff. Only a hundred feet lay between them now. As the men were climbing down the hill, he uttered a quick incantation under his breath. The men closer down the hill stopped dead in their tracks as fire leaped up from the ground and surrounded them. The man dropped to one knee as he felt the power take toll on him. Knowing he had only seconds to spare as the fire would eventually go out he set forth into the empty plain trying to reach the sheltering woods.
His lungs could not fill up fast enough, and each breath was getting shorter with each step. His strength still weak from the spell he could barely maintain even a moderate pace. He glanced behind him to confirm his fears that the soldiers were free of the fire and quick on his tail. More arrows punctured the ground surrounding him and the child as he slowly made headway to the forest. Again the baby started to cry, with no breath left to sing a lullaby the baby increased the volume to a wailing.
The noise punctured his ears, however he could not let anything block his concentration on the task before him. I have to get the boy to safety at all costs. He is the last hope we have. He sprinted harder now, nearing the edge of the forest had given him hope and in turn new found energy.
His body screamed in pain, like none he had ever felt before. He fell to the ground as his left leg was punctured by an arrow. With tears in his eyes he looked down to see that the baby was unharmed by the fall. Jabs of hot pain spread throughout his leg as he slowly got back on his feet. With no other option he set down the boy and turned to face his pursuers. Three of the men had made it to him before the others. They doubted his skills in combat.
He drew the greatsword from the scabbard on his back and gripped it with two hands preparing to defend against the soldiers. The men had a snarl on their face preparing to strike. With a quick spin on his good leg he dug his sword into the closest man. He had only seconds to pull out his sword of the man’s carcass and parry the next soldiers blow to his hip. With each second feeling like hours he fought the other two men until both had fallen on the ground.
He would only have a few moments before the rest of the searching party would be on them. Limping to the child, he slowly picked him back up, careful to support the newborn's neck. The baby had finally stopped crying and breathed easily. The child gazed at him, his eyes were the color of emeralds. The man had wish he was able to get him back to the others but there was no more time left. Knowing what must be done he whispered a small prayer to whomever was listening.
The child began to wail again so he set the boy down on an empty spot that had no grass, and whispered an incantation to put him into a deep slumber. Fear of death clouded his thought for a few moments but he quickly cast them aside. This boy’s life was much more important than his own. The men’s shouting and clinking of weapons was getting louder and closer. He would not let them get to the child.
He slowly began chanting in the old forgotten language that ruled over everything with power. Feeding the spell with his own life force to try to fulfill the need of energy of the powerful enchantment. He dropped to his knees feeling his remaining strength ebbing. However he persevered through the pain and continued to chant. The air began to fill with static energy which sent his hairs on end. Sparks of light began to iminate from his persona.
It is almost complete. Chanting even louder now as he heard the men’s footsteps approach closer. His vision began to flicker as his remaining life force left his grasp. With his last breath he whispered to the child his last words. “ Be safe Avarys.” And with that the spell reached its climax and sent blinding light in every direction.
...
The commander of the soldiers pushed past his men and looked down to see only a man laying dead on the ground. “ Where is the child!” He yelled furiously at his men.
“There is no sign of him sir, whoever took him must’ve hid the child before we befell him.”
“If you do not find the child within the night I shall have all of your heads. Do I make myself clear.”
“Sir, yes sir.” The group of men departed and went out searching for the lost child.
Chapter One
“WAKE UP, YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL.”
It was way too early for someone to yell. He blindly felt his way to his bedpost where his phone was. The screen was too bright for his sleepy eyes, so he turned down the brightness. When he saw the time he nearly jumped out of bed.
In the loudest voice possible for just being awake he yelled, “WHY DID NO ONE WAKE ME UP EARLIER!”
His door flew open revealing his sister’s hair astray and all. “I’ve trying to wake you up for the past thirty minutes, you brat.” She had her toothbrush in her mouth which made her sound a lot more like a gargoyle than a person. “ Now get dressed I’m not going to wait up on you.” She yelled at him some more after that, but it was mostly just gibberish as her mouth started to overflow with toothpaste.
She left his room a few moments later to continue getting ready for school. He climbed his way out of bed and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. His sister Elizabeth or what everyone else calls her by, “Liz” always liked to parent him. He didn’t blame her though she had to mature quickly to make up for the loss of their mom. She died years back in a hiking accident in the Grand Canyon. Their dad never gave them the details which was completely fine but he had grown isolated and usually kept to his studies. That’s when Liz stepped up and started acting as the mother figure of the house.
She took over the house chores in the beginning, trying to fill for their mother, but as time went on she learned how to cook and made dinner every night. She felt as if it was her duty to take the mantle and be the backbone of the family.
He finished putting on his clothes and started to go down to eat breakfast when he noticed he had left his shoes in his room. Why did he always have to forget the little things. Taking his time to make sure he didn't forget anything else, he went downstairs to eat his now cold waffles.
“Alright let’s go.” Liz had finished her makeup and walked over to the door to leave when she turned to look at him. “ Evan Anderson you are not leaving this house looking like an idiot.” Looking down and actually paying attention to what he had picked, he quickly agreed with her. While he had put on his clothes half asleep, he managed to put on his red and white striped shirt backwards and inside out. Adding to the not so bright look he had his shoes on the wrong feet.
“Okay I’ll give that one to you.”
“Now go up and change before I leave you here.” made him believe she wasn’t lying.
Evan went up to his room for the final time or at least he hoped to complete his outfit. He put on his shirt right this time and fixed his shoes. How he had managed to do such a thing made him laugh at his own stupidity. Now all fixed up, he rode with his sister to school. He hoped the day would not continue as bad as it had started.
...
His first two periods had proven to be completely boring. Which made sense, it was calculus and English. It wasn’t the fact that the classes were hard it was more of that they were too easy for him to actually concentrate on. Evan’s teachers wouldn’t agree, instead they would say, “He’s cheating” or “That was a lucky guess.” He didn’t really care what they thought, they were just trying to make him look stupid.
Ever since he could remember he had a knack for learning quickly and picked things up pretty quickly. Last time he checked he was the only sophomore taking calculus. Sometimes it felt like he processed at a faster rate than everyone around him.
He was currently finishing up an essay over Alexander The Great. A great ruler in Greek time, known for his incredible ability of taking control over a huge part of the early world. It sounded pretty dull, but to Evan it was quite interesting. A single man being able to do so much intrigued him a great deal. He finished up the last paragraph of his paper which was mostly filled of how Alexander was great (no pun intended) and how he was one of the greatest leaders of all time.
After he handed his paper to his history teacher he went back to his desk and waited for the last few minutes to pass by. Of course they felt like hours since he had nothing to fill his time. So instead of doing nothing he turned left to whisper to his friend Brian. Brian was writing down something on his paper with his brand new mechanical pencil his mom bought him for the first day of school. Brian was wearing a short sleeve button-up shirt that he had all the way up to his neck. He was wearing glasses that slowly drooped down his slender nose. The glasses made his thin face a little more interesting to look at, but his curly red hair usually covered the top side of his face.
“Pssst, are you done yet?” He quietly asked him.
“No, I’m not done yet. We’re not all as fast as you are.” He replied back annoyed.
Evan was about to apologize to him when the teacher slammed a ruler down on his desk. “Mr. Anderson, do I need to ask why you are talking to Mr. Fischer during an exam.” Ms. Gunter shouted furiously at him.
Thinking of something quickly he used an old trick in the book. “No Ms.Gunter I was just asking Brian for a pencil.” Thankfully she believed the lie and after a few more seconds of an awkward staring contest she returned to her desk in the corner of the room.
After a few more minutes the bell rang sure enough and everyone flooded out of the classroom and into the catastrophe that was the high school halls. Evan waited outside the door for Brian and in the meantime thought of how he could make it into lunch without bumping into Ethan Douglas the head leading bully in the whole school. He managed to fail sophomore year twice so he was big as a senior yet still in Evan’s grade.
Not only did Ethan go out of his way to try to ruin everyone’s day, he also believed he was the good guy for pointing out your flaws. Like thanks I needed to know I am ugly and stupid I would never have noticed if it weren’t for your accusations. God forbid if you tried to retaliate in any way possible considering he had his own personal idiot goons that followed him around all day. They were as strong as they were stupid though. Evan was nicely built and pretty toned but those guys were modern day orcs. He would have no chance against them.
Brian eventually emerged from the room and together they made their way down the halls and into the mad world of teenagers. Evan breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the lunchroom, they had made it without encountering Ethan. Before they got into one of the lunch lines they made it to their normal table in the back right corner.
When they set down their backpacks he noticed that someone else’s backpack had already been set down. Who would’ve sat down here? He thought curiously. It was only one backpack which meant it wasn’t a group of kids, that meant Brian and him could most likely persuade the kid to move somewhere else.
“You know who owns this backpack?” Brian asked him as he set down his own backpack opposite to Evan’s.
“No clue, we’ll just see when we come back after getting lunch.” There was no need for Brian to get lunch with him considering that his mom packed him one everyday. But he hated sitting alone, he always thought people would judge him on being a loner. So together they walked into the less filled pizza line and picked up the cardboard the school calls food.
When they sat back down the backpack was already gone and they did not think of it anymore. Evan opened his sack lunch to reveal his mom’s goodies. He had a heart cut out of a PB and J, the shiniest green apple and a cheesestick. Evan almost envied him for his delicious food but then he noticed that Brian looked like a 5 year-old with his heart sandwich.
“Hey man, your mom does know you’re 16 now right.” Evan snickered. He was trying to not to bust out laughing, Brian wouldn’t take it well.
“I will have you know that I quite like my sandwich as it is.” He retorted back at him.
With that Evan could hold it in any longer, he broke down hysterically and could only take shallow breaths in between each burst of laughter. After nearly passing out from laughing so hard he looked up to see his friend glaring down at his food while he ate it.
“I’m sorry man that was just too good.” He managed to say through another fit of laughter.
“You know I could sit with some of my other friends, I don’t need you to sit with.” Brian said in an angry tone.
“Oh yeah who are you going to sit with, the 6th graders, you fit in a lot more with them with that lunch.” He bursted with laughter again as he watched his little friend turn red in the face with frustration.
“ Okay, I take it back I’m sorry. I was just kidding.”
“You better be.” Brian breathed under his breath.
After Brian had cooled down, the two of them finished eating and talked about how school was just a place for kids to go to so they don’t get in trouble and how if they were taught something that would actually be helpful later in life would be really nice.
“Hey Evan, you got a girlfriend yet?” Brian asked him smirking as if he already knew the answer.
“Oh yeah. She’s this hot junior who just loves everything about me.” He said sarcastically.
Brian continued smiling, because he knew the one place that he always beat his friend in was getting girls. Evan had no clue how that was since he was only 5’5 and was as awkward as a dog in a cats petting zoo. Brian had to pay them was his only conclusion.
“Well, I’ll have you know that me and Amanda have our one-month anniversary coming up soon.” Amanda was one of the hottest girls in their class. She was had a models body, with flowing brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. The only bad thing about her was her taste in guys apparently.
“Great, I seriously don’t care. Hey what are you doing this weekend, I was thinking we could chill at my house?” Evan asked Brian. He knew the answer was probably going to be a yes since he always wanted to be away from his four younger siblings.
“I actually can’t man, like I told you our anniversary is coming up and we have stuff planned this weekend.” He answered apologetically.
Knowing that he was going to have another boring weekend, bummed him out but he guessed he would have to make due without his friend. “ Well alright I hope y’all have fun.” With that the bell rang signaling all of the students to head to their next period. “ See you later.”
“Later.”
The rest of school was uneventful, the most interesting thing that happened was when a kid sitting in front of Evan fell backwards in his chair and slammed his head on the ground. The teachers weren’t kidding when they said don’t lean back in the chairs too far. The guy went to the nurse after everyone had finished laughing. Besides that it was pretty uneventful.
He met up with his sister in the school parking lot to get back home, when his phone buzzed with a call. His fingers fumbled with the phone in his pocket until he finally managed to get a good grip on it. When he checked to see who was, it popped up as “Brian.” What trouble has he gotten into now. “Hey what do you-” Evan was quickly cut off by Brian yelling into the phone.
“Come to the field behind the school right now!” Then the phone cut off and he was left with only silence. His sister called out to him asking who had called him, he repeated what Brian had said and started sprinting toward the field. He didn’t even wait to hear Liz’s response.
Chapter Two
Evan sprinted his way through the school trying to reach Brian before anything could happen to him. Occasionally Brian would play a joke or mess around with him but he could tell by his tone something was not right. While distracted on his thoughts, his foot tripped over an uneven piece of the sidewalk and caused him to fall face first into the hard concrete. Blood poured out of his nose the moment he got back onto his feet. Evan wiped the blood off of his nose with his shirt’s sleeve. The pain was only moderate and he quickly started racing toward the field.
After another minute of pure sprint Evan finally reached to where his friend was. The field was actually meant for agriculture classes but they only took up a small portion of the stretch of empty terrain. He searched the area for a few moments until he finally caught eye of Brian. He was only about a hundred feet away, the only thing that worried him though was that Brian was not alone.
Please don’t be Ethan, please please please. It only took him a few seconds to get within earshot but as soon as he did he recognized the sloppy grammar used only by Ethan Douglas. “Hey gingey how much you bet I can’t kick your ass with an arm tied behind my back.” He and his gang then laughed like hyenas at his “joke.”
“I think you could do it, boss.” One of his goons answered. Ethan backhanded the kid and sent him five feet back onto his rear.
“I was asking the gingey.” He snarled.
When he was only a couple yards away Evan shouted at Ethan and his gang. Their only response was a quick look in his direction. He didn’t like to be ignored especially not by one as stupid as Ethan. This time he yelled at the top of his lungs to grasp everyone’s attention.
“ What the hell do you want, kid.” Said the guy that was backhanded earlier.
“I want all of you to back away from my friend before things get dirty.” He said trying to instill fear into the bullies. Not only did they not listen to him, they busted out laughing at him. Okay now he was really pissed off.
Evan took three long strides and put himself in between Ethan and Brian. He was only a few feet away from him but he could still smell the reek of cigarettes and booze. Ethan grinned, missing his two front teeth. Ethan rairly brushed his teeth if ever and the effects were clearly seen. His face was covered in splotches of dirt as was his hair. He belonged more in a zoo than he did a school.
“What are you going to about us huh, you’re just a little kid compared to me.” Ethan said as he stood straight up from his usual crooked back. Increasing Evan’s fear, it looked as though Ethan was just under seven feet tall. Evan tried to swallow but it was caught in his throat. Fighting all instincts that said “RUN NOW” he took another step closer.
“I’ll take you down faster than any of you can blink. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu.” Well not exactly, he was a yellow belt when he was six and hadn’t practiced day since then. He just hoped that the mad attempt to scare him off would work.
The bluff just shook right off of Ethan.“ I don’t care if you’re a black belt in chinese zitsu, I’m going to kick your ass unless you get out of the way.” Ethan said with his ever grinning face.
He heard Brian whispering behind his back saying “ It’s alright Evan just leave it alone.” He could tell that Brian was just scared and wanted it to get over with whatever punishment he didn’t deserve. Evan wasn’t just about to give up on his friend. Taking everyone by surprise even himself he sucker punched Ethan right in the nose.
While Ethan was howling in pain Evan grabbed Brian and made a dash forward the parking lot. Ethan’s gang was close behind them and slowly catching up. Knowing what he had to do he slowed down his pace and yelled for Brian to keep running. His whole body shivered with fear as he turned to face his pursuers.
“YOU’RE DEAD MEAT ANDERSON!” Ethan shouted as he made his way to Evan. The punch Evan landed left Ethan with a slightly crooked nose. He thought he heard it whistle when Ethan breathed. Instead of doing damage the punch apparently made him a whole lot angrier.
Before Evan could make any attempt at another cheap shot, Ethan’s goons were grabbing his arms and holding him in place. No matter how much he struggled he couldn’t break through their death grip. Ethan pulled back his fist and sent it flying straight into his gut. Pain erupted from his stomach and he almost doubled over from the pain, but he was still held in place. “ That was for getting in the way.” Ethan sent a right hook straight into his cheekbone next. This time he almost blacked out from the pain, it spreaded across his face like a wildfire. The things I do for my friends. Evan barely had time to continue his thought as another punch sent him sailing into unconsciousness.
The next thing he remembered was jabs of pain originating from his head. He groaned loudly as he sat up from the not-comfortable ground. Blinking his eyes a few times he looked up to see his sister hovering on top of him. “ Why is it that whenever you leave my sight you always manage to get into trouble?”
“Trouble has to have some friends.” Evan answered back at Liz with somewhat attitude. He wasn’t in the mood for criticism after getting beaten to the ground; quite literally. She stuck out her hand and gently helped him back onto his feet. He quietly thanked her and asked her how she had found him.
“I was getting ready to leave your sorry ass, when Brian came running toward me screaming that you were in trouble. I could barely understand him he was talking so fast.” As she recounted what had transpired he made a note to thank Brian for not just leaving him and sprinting all the way home.“ So I told him to wait in the car and by the time I made it over here everyone was gone and you were laying face first in the dirt.
“I guess that’s what happens when you try to fight someone twice your size.” He laughed. Hot pain flooded his mouth every time he opened it. They really did put a number on him. His face probably looked like Rocky after his fight with Apollo Creed. At least Rocky won his, well the second time. Evan walked back with his sister to the car and saw Brian waiting for the two of them.
“Thatwassobravemanthankyousomuch.” He could barely understand one word Brian was saying he talking so fast. He could now agree with what his sister had said about his talking earlier. Evan told Brian that he was fine and just wanted to go home. He was nearly tapped from how much pain he was in.
Liz turned into Brian’s driveway and shut off her car. dropped off Brian (he had calmed down from the whole ordeal finally) “saving his life.” Evan waved goodbye and rolled up his window, happy to be away from the chilly night air. Most of the pain had faded away, however there was still aching in his temples.
The way home was mostly silent, Liz only made a few brief comments on how he did a good thing for his friend. The whole time her eyes stayed on the road. Evan didn’t pay much attention to her and responded with as few words as possible. His head throbbed too much for him to do anything more than just sit there. A few more minutes passed and eventually the two of them made it back home.
As he was walking back upstairs to his room he called out to Liz one more time before he went to bed. “Thanks for not leaving me behind, that would’ve made this whole endeavor a lot worse.” Evan said in a quiet tone, he never liked thanking his sister for anything. She always rubbed it in his face soon afterwards.
“Well I’m the only one who’s allowed to mess with my little brother, so you’re welcome.” She turned away from him and continued on into her room that laid downstairs. But before she closed the door Liz said to her brother in a mocking voice, “ You know you owe me big time for this right.” He couldn’t see her face but Evan knew she was grinning cheek to cheek.
“Yeah, I know.” He said defeated.
Eventually he climbed up the stairs and made his way into his little attic room. Without even taking his clothes off he fell face first into his bed and instantly fell asleep. Finally his body would have a healthy rest.
The next morning he woke up before his alarm surprisingly. Evan’s mind was racing, fueled by fear of a dream that slowly drifted from his mind’s grasp. He couldn’t quite remember what happened in the dream but it couldn’t have been good since he was drenched in sweat. After the moment passed, he started to get up when he noticed His sister must’ve fixed his bed up. Liz might be hard on him sometimes but she loved him nonetheless.
He moved his head side to side to check if any pain and subsisted throughout the night but luckily enough, it had faded away. The light flowed through his slightly opened curtains to illuminate his surroundings. His room was a complete mess, with clothes littering the floor and left over plates from dinner. He knew he had to clean the room before the end of the day; Evan still dreaded the thought of having to clean such a huge mess.
...
School was cut short today because of some gas leaked in the chemistry lab, the whole school was evacuated and eventually everyone was told to go home. This gave Evan time to finish up on homework that he had procrastinated on for way too long: if he didn’t do them before the end of the day they would be late.
He was basically alone in his home except for loud drawn-out creaks of the old house and the pitter-patter of rain that started to fall after he arrived home. His dad had gone to the bar to watch the game, and his sister was working at the retirement home. She liked to go and learn about how life was lived in the past. Evan didn’t know how she put up with the old geezers, no offense, but they were just boring to him. About a half hour into doing his homework he began to feel a headache brewing. He needed a break if he was going to continue on with all of his school work. Evan got up and stretched his legs, releasing pent up tension on his joints from sitting in one place for too long.
He walked around his (still very dirty) room and tried to get his mind off of everything school related for just a few moments. Maybe Brian would want to come over and hang out or something, that might be a nice change of events. However he was likely with his girlfriend at the moment knowing how he is with her. With nothing better to do Evan trudged down stairs and started to cook some pasta, it was getting pretty late and his stomach was already arguing with him.
…
These noodles never get old he thought himself as he shoveled another mouthful of garlic-y goodness into his mouth. He didn’t realize how hungry he actually was until he had taken the first bite. Only a few minutes in he had already eaten three full bowls of pasta. Evan set down his now empty bowl and belched loud enough for the neighbors to hear him.
“Excuse me.” He said through his chuckling.
The peace was very calming and was a nice revelation from his stressful week. Being in school meant having a crazy amount of homework and responsibilities. Evan has barely had enough time to hang out with any of his friends, especially Brian (since most of his time was spent with Amanda). School was just about halfway over, however it felt as though everyday was slowly draining him of life. Evan didn’t have anyone to talk to about how he felt, with his sister always at school/working, and his Dad was secluded from everyone but the barkeep.
Evan would usually talk to Brian but they had been drifting apart for the past few months. With school piling on the both of them, their time spent together had been shortened greatly. Neither of them wanted to address the problem since they knew they could do nothing about it. If he hadn’t helped Brian in the fight it might have meant the end of their friendship down the line. However at the moment they were still good friends.
They day dragged on, with nothing to do, Evan decided to go out on a jog into his backyard. Well it was more like a forest than a backyard. His house was built on the edge of a closed national park. It went out of business a few decades back due to poor funding and low attendance. However if you asked the right people in they would tell yoi the stories of one of the most divine places on Earth. Locked away hundreds of yards into the thick forest was a mountainous waterfall that flowed perfectly into a valley filled with evergreen pines. The waterfall would send shimmering vibrant colors throughout the whole area, giving birth to a majestic sight. And he was about to make the journey to it.
Chapter Three
Wind screamed into her ears flooding out all of the other noises. Lightning raced across the sky giving light to the area. Bodies littered every inch of the ground, she recognized some of the faces, the town priest, her best friend Lidia, and others who she had grown up with. All of their faces were no longer filled with joy and care. Instead they were blank and lifeless, staring straight through her. She just stood there holding her brother in her arms, frozen in place by shock.
Another noise filled her head, this time it wasn’t wind. Her mother screamed at her, telling her to run away with her brother as fast as possible as she was dragged away by the soldiers. She tried to turn away and run like her mother told her but her feet were unresponsive to any of her thoughts. She was too scared to do anything. Tears flooded her eyes as she watched her mother get abused by the soldiers. How could anyone do something this evil to innocent people.
They laughed at her mother while she struggled against their iron clad grip. She wreathed side to side, trying to throw them off. But they were too strong and to numerous for her. They brought toward a heavily armored man, wearing a tabard over his chainmail that had the emblem of the king. A solid black crow with its wings spread fully apart and two golden swords crossing over each other forming an “x” behind the crow. The tabard itself was a crimson red, either from the blood of all of their victims or to just embody death itself. The man turned to her Mother and smiled like a child with a newly given gift.
“So this is the woman we are looking for. I was told you wouldn’t go down without a fight, but from the looks of it all I had to do was silence your husband for your cooperation. Now you see I’m looking for something very important that you have and if I don’t get it...” He shook his side to side and gave her mother a disappointing look. “Well lets just say you might have a hard time keeping that head on your shoulders.”
She still watched from the shadows as her mother looked up and spat in the man’s face. “Don’t you dare talk about my husband you bastard.” She said in a defiant tone. The men holding onto her drew the swords and held them to her mother’s neck, drawing a few drops of thick blood.
The soldier her mother spat on wiped his face with a handkerchief hidden in his waist belt. He patted his face dry and discarded the cloth. “Sheath your weapons men, we were given direct orders from the king to do her no harm.” His subordinates slowly brought their swords away from her mother’s neck and fumbled to put them back into their sheaths.
While they were preoccupied with their weapons her mother used every fiber of her muscle to rip free of her captures. The men looked at her in disbelief for one moment, but that’s all she needed as she lunged at the soldier and clawed at his eyes. Blood erupted from his gashes as he screamed out in agony. A small pool of blood formed at his feet.
The other soldiers rushed to his side and pulled her mother off of the commander. Her mother screamed at the men yelling at them, telling them to let go of her. But she was quickly silenced with a backhand to the jaw.
“Now you’ve made me angry.”
The man ripped a piece of tabbard off and wiped his face, smearing the blood all over, making his appearance look more beast than man. His eyes reflected the fire that burned all around them. He reached down and grabbed her mother by the neck, turning her face a scarlet red.
“Accidents happen during interrogations, the King would understand”.
His subordinates gripped by her mother’s shoulders and pushed her to the ground.
The soldier bent his knees and whispered in her mother’s ear. She didn’t hear what the soldier said to her mother but whatever it was, her mother replied defiantly, “Never.”
And with that he brought the sword down on her neck.
…
Her eyes shot open awakening her from the nightmare. She was covered in sweat and shivering from the horrendous memory. The dream always happened around this time of the year. However, it didn’t make it any easier for her to cope with. Near the anniversary of her parents death the memory loved to reemerge from her repressed memories. Her heart rate finally decided to slow down to a light thump in her bosom.
She looked across the room to see if her younger brother was still asleep in his bed. His light snoring reassured her. He was only an infant when they were murdered, and he didn’t have any memories of their parents except for what she has told him.
She tossed the blankets to the other side of her bed trying to lower her body temperature. I can’t go to sleep like this. Knowing that sleeping meant returning to the memory/nightmare she decided to get up out of bed. The marble floor sent a chill up her spine as she stood up from her bed. She picked up the candle that sat on her nightstand for guidance through the dark room.
Her shadow followed like an obedient dog as she strolled through her room and into the hallway. Everyone had to be asleep at this time of night. The sound of her bare feet padding against the ground echoed throughout the palace. Walking gave her time to think about how far she had come since that night. Her parents would be proud of what she has become. She starting replacing the nightmare with moments she missed having with her parents.
Like the time they were out in the pasture riding horses together as a family. Her mother would carry her little brother Sam in her arms wrapped in cloth to block out the autumn breeze. She would ride with her father, gripping onto his back with her small fingers. Her father’s warmth would radiate and flow through her. Nothing was better than those moments with them…
“ Miss Elena what are you doing roaming the halls at this time of night.”
She turned around to see her servant behind her dressed in only in his gray nightgown. It reached down to his thin ankles almost grazing the ground. He held a candle stick in his left hand, revealing his drowsy face. He probably woke up just to check on her. She really should give him more appreciation.
“I’m sorry to wake you Benjamin, I was just getting a glass of water.” She lied.
He raised his silver colored eyebrows and looked at her with a questioning look, but whatever it was he was thinking he shrugged it off and bid Elena goodnight. She watched as he turned away and slowly made his way back to his room to sleep the night away.
I wish I was lucky enough to do that.
Chapter Four
That was not a fun hike. He stood on top of one of many vast cliffs that dominated the forest. The wind brought the smell of pine trees and spring water to his nose. Sweat dripped from his brow acknowledging how much work he had put in just to get to this milestone in his journey. He turned his head to see just how far he had come since he started on his trek.
Miles of unkempt forest laid a few hundred feet beneath him. Birds in the sky called to each other creating an orchestra of nature and beauty. If this was only halfway, he couldn’t imagine how beautiful the end was going to be. He laid down his backpack and looked inside to make sure he still had all of his supplies. Only a little trails mix was left, however there was still two full water bottles left. He originally had six waters but he hammered them down earlier after so many miles of hiking. His pocket knife still laid closed in the front pocket of his bag. He brought it just in case anything went wrong.
Thick white clouds started to cover the blaring sun, finally giving him much needed shade. He zipped up his bag and slid it onto his back. Only a few more miles and he would be there. His eyes grazed over his surroundings searching for the best way to the waterfall. There was a very steep path to his right but with his luck he would bust it and fall down the path. And he was not in the mood for that.
He started searching harder trying to find a way down the cliff that wouldn’t involve him falling most of the way down. He was unsuccessful. Backtracking was out of the picture since it would take hours for him to find another way past this cliff. The cloud coverage wouldn’t last for more than a hour and he did not want to be drenched in sweat on the way back.
His hopes started to fail and he was already planning on going home and spend the rest of the day procrastinating on some of his school work when a small ledge caught his eye. It was about ten feet to his left and fifteen feet down. He edged closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look at his last option. As he moved closer he looked down to see pebbles falling down into a gaping chasm between the ledge and himself. This is the adventure he had hoped for, and it was the only was left to get to the waterfall.
But if he made even one wrong step he could end up at the bottom of how ever deep the crevice was. He tried to swallow but his throat was closing from the fear of falling. Even with the shade, sweat started to cover his hands and brow. It was either turn back now or take the risk and jump. Adrenaline filled his bloodstream and left no room for his fear. The shaking in his legs stopped and his eyes narrowed in. Time to go.
He threw his bag over to lessen his weight and have a better jump. He watched as it landed with a solid humpf, on the other side. At least he knew it was possible for the bag to cross the ravine. Wasting no more time Evan took three long paces and took a runners stance. Now or never.
Each bound forward sent ripples across his body as everything around him started to slow down. Hiis speed was picking up and he only had a few more feet before he would have to jump. I’m gonna make it, I’m gonna make it. With one step to go his foot landed on an uneven rift in the ground and twisted his foot underneath him. Pain surged through his body first causing him to slow down. But fear shrouded his every thought as he saw that he didn’t have enough time to stop his forward momentum.
Survival instincts kicked in and adrenaline filled strength forced his body to make the jump in hopes of surviving. His mind was empty as he flew through the air. Panic seeped into his head, if he didn’t make the jump he would die. The ground started to close in. He was only a few feet off! He stretched his arms to their full length and grabbed onto the ledge as he rammed into it.
The air was knocked out of him as he hit the solid rock. I think I just broke a couple of ribs. The pain in his ribs only reminded him that he was alive. Relief flooded his body as he realized he had just made it with inches to spare. He pulled himself up by the fingertips with his last remaining strength. “YES!” The sound of his victory call echoed out throughout the canyon acknowledging his achievement. Evan laid there on the rough ground laughing, he couldn’t help himself. This was definitely going to be a day he was going to remember.
After a few more minutes of gathering his thoughts he stood up and and grabbed his bag. He stretched his sore legs and felt a few pops resonating from his back. Evan grabbed a bottle out of his bag and took three long gulps from it. The water chilled his throat and revived his body. He twisted the lid back on and dropped it back into his bag. Now it was time to get to the finale.
…
Tiny water droplets pelted his face as he started to approach the waterfall. Its glory encompassed the whole valley. The water itself fell with beautiful force and shook the air around him as it smashed into the water below. Few streams from the top of the waterfall would disintegrate into droplets refracting the light into every shade of color. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was.
Time itself seemed to stop, marveling at nature’s ability. Evan stood at the edge of the water and just drank in everything he could from the moment. Birds sang in the background creating their own melody unique to themselves, adding to the scene. None of the stories compared to this moment. He sat down and retrieved the rest of the food out of his bag feeding his empty stomach. His eyes didn’t leave the waterfall for a moment as he ate. Every moment he tried to commit the scene to memory so he could remember it forever.
BZZZT. BZZZT. BZZZT. Evan fetched his phone from his bag and answered the call.
“Hey I’m coming home pretty soon, you better have your room finished or I’m not sharing this pizza with you.”
Oh no. The whole day he had been putting off cleaning his room and this is what he gets for it. Maybe if he sprinted the whole way back he could make it before she got home. He would still have the room itself to clean though. Damn, he shouldn’t have gone on the trip without making sure everything at his house was ready for Liz. Maybe she would show mercy on him and give him a slice for old times…no that wouldn’t work she already warned him days ago that he had to clean his room.
“Evan...Evan are you there or am I talking to Casper now?” She said annoyed.
Her voice brought him back from his thoughts. “Yeah, yeah I’m right here, I’ll talk to to you when you get home. Love you, bye.”
“Love you t…”
She might nag at him later for that but Evan had no time to waste. He grabbed his bag and all of his trash from the ground and threw it in his backpack. As he zipped up his bag and threw it onto his shoulders, the sun started to set over the waterfall. There will be another time to be here, but for now he looked once more into his widow into nature and started on a fast pace to his home. Evan prayed he would be faster than his sister.
Chapter Five
Evan was drenched in sweat by the time he got home. He creaked his front door open and scoured his living room to check for any signs of his sister. Her car wasn’t out in front but she could've easily gone into the garage. Hoping for the best he stepped inside and made his way upstairs to change into a different clean pair of clothes.
His room was still a heaping mess and his drawer of clothes was in shambles. There goes the plan for new clothes. He went to one of the mountains of dirty clothes in his room and threw some into a laundry bin to clean. It took him a few minutes to pick out the clothes that he would actually wear from the clothes that he needed to get rid of already. He picked up a (now very small) shirt that was years old. On the front it read “Yellowstone Park” and had a geyser erupting behind the letters. His eyes started to water as he remembered the moment when he got the shirt.
Their mom always loved to go on hiking trips and explore the Earth. That’s why she was luckily enough to land a job as a nature photographer. She had always taken Liz with her on her trips around the globe, while Evan was too young to go. They would always come back with souvenirs, like a jacket or a cool rock. Evan secretly envied his sister back then because she got alone time with their mom. But on his tenth birthday his mom took him on a personal trip to Yellowstone National Park. They drove from their house in Salem, Oregon. As someone could imagine it was a very long road trip.
Evan loved every moment of it, from the midnight stops at gas stations or driving through empty plains with the only thing to do was talk. He could still remember one of the conversations he had with his mom during that trip years ago.
“Hey mom, why don’t I have yours or dad’s eyes. Mine are all green and stuff but everyone else has brown eyes.”
His mom looked at him for a moment and smiled wearily. “I guess it’s about time you know the truth. You joined our family in a different way than most kids. Your Dad and I were out hiking on this beatiful trail in a forrest that was kept safe from man’s hands. We heard a cry in the distance, we couldn’t help not to check it out. And then there you were a little bundle of beauty. Your Dad went and searched for anyone who could be responsible for you while I stayed. I remember the moment when I took you in my arms. I could feel your warmth inside of my soul. Your crying stopped and you looked at me with these gorgeous emerald eyes, I Knew from that moment I loved you. Eventually we took you in and got the paperwork done for you to be our son.” She smiled at him for another second then her eyes returned to the road.
“So I’m not really apart of the family am I…”
“Oh honey.” She pulled over to the side of the road and looked Evan straight in the eyes. “I love you with every fiber of my being and no one can ever tell me that you are not my son. You are no different from Elizabeth and will always be a part of this family. I promise.” She pulled him into a loving hug and whispered into his ear. “Nothing will ever keep us apart, I love you Evan.”
He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and folded the shirt into a nice little square. Then he carefully set it on top of his dresser. I love you too mom.
Evan grabbed the now full laundry bin and made his way downstairs to begin washing his clothes. He glanced over the edge to check if his sister had come home yet. The only thing that greeted him was the silence of the empty house. She’s probably just held up in traffic. The sound of his feet hitting each step resonated throughout the house making him feel a little too lonely in his house.
As he reached the last step a loud crashing noise came from his dad’s room. Something probably fell from one of his many bookcases. Evan had nothing better to do and his curiosity wouldn’t be quenched until he knew what exactly happened. He set down his laundry and slowly made his way toward the Study room. Evan rapped his knuckles three times against the mahogany door to alert anyone in the room of his presence. He put his ear to the door and waited for any type of response. After a few seconds of waiting he concluded that no one was inside, and reached for the handle.
It’s locked. Evan’s curiosity was growing even more. The door only locked from the inside and it was impossible to lock without the key; which his dad had on him at all times. Evan searched the surrounding furniture just in case the key was left behind. The dresser next to the door was filled with old documents about some health insurance. He scrambled through the papers but still there wasn’t any key. When he was about to shut the door Evan caught a glimpse of his mom’s name on one of the legal papers. He pulled out the papers and began to read where he saw her name.
He couldn’t make out a lot of the law’s gibberish but it read something about his adoption. Evan tried to make since of it but all he could get out of it was something didnt go correctly along the lines of an adoption. Nothing his parents ever told him lead him to believe he was more than a normal adoption. He was probably just reading the papers wron; after casting away any doubt about his infancy he continued searching through the papers. The rest of the documents were filled with other legal policies and health insurance payments. He checked the date on one of the papers, but it was blacked out by a highlighter. Evan wasn’t exactly a registered lawyer but something didn’t sound right about these papers. He read through the papers one more time, then returned them to their drawer. There must be a way to open the door with or without the key.
Evan finished looking through all of the the possible places for the key but he had no luck finding it. Was it really that important to get inside? He was tired of wasting his time and he still had to get to work on his laundry; his dad can find the mess and clean it himself for all he cares. Evan picked back up his dirty clothes and made his way into the laundry room.
He was about half way done filling up the washer when he heard his sister drive up into the garage. Finally, he was starving and all he wanted was nice hot pizza. He finished filling the washer and made his way to the front door to meet his sister. The sound of keys jingling and being put into the lock could be heard from the living room. Evan picked up his pace so he could open the door for Liz. He swung the door open to welcome her in but she wasn’t the one at the doorstep.
“Thank you Evan, please take your time to move out of the doorway.” A deep stern voice said. Evan looked a little higher and was met with his father’s scowl. His eyes were a deep brown that seemed to block out any type emotion.
“Do I need to repeat myself.”
Evan shuffled out of the doorway and let his dad through. As he walked by, Evan could smell the alcohol roll off of his dad. Another night at the bar it was then. Evan shut the door and made his way back into the laundry room to turn the washer on. But before he did he almost forgot to tell his dad that the door to his study was locked. He turned around just in time to watch his dad reach for the doorknob.
“Hey Dad, the door..” Evan stopped mid-sentence as his dad had already cracked opened the door.
“The door is what?” He answered looking back at Evan with an annoyance.
“Oh sorry, what I was trying to say is that I’m sorry for not getting the door faster for you. Work must've been hard and you shouldn't be kept waiting.”
Except Evan knew work wasn’t hard. All he did all day was keep his law firm’s papers ordered and up to date. The most work he had to do was look up a date on a particular lawsuit. Then after work he would head to his usual pub and drink until his wallet was empty. Evan remembered the first day after his mom’s death. His dad busted through the door and started to wreck everything in his path. Screaming at the top of his lungs about how this was all Evan’s fault for pressuring his mom to go on the trip. How he wasn’t his child and never should’ve been allowed into his home. Liz would try to stop him but their dad was a 6’3 and 250 lbs. Every night after the bar he would verbally and physically abuse him until the alcohol knocked him out. It only stopped after one night when Liz called the police. Now he would just go to his office after work. His conversations at dinner were either very miniscule or absent completely.
Evan learned how to deal with his father and what to say to him. Eventually it got better (as best as it could) and they coexisted.
He acknowledged him with a grunt as he made his way into the his room. The click of the door’s lock echoed throughout the house. Evan searched through his head trying to find the right answer to what had happened. Maybe the door wasn’t locked and it was just jammed, or maybe his dad put in the key without him noticing. But Evan watched him grab the door handle and he never inserted a key. The more he thought about the more he wondered too; he heard a crash in the room but his dad has yet to make any response. Maybe there was something in the air and he was going crazy. All he knew is that something weird was going on. Evan’s head was still spinning when his sister walked through the front door.
“Hey little bro, sorry I took so long. The road was shut down because some type of electrical disturbance in the area. It was pretty weird, all of the traffic lights were blinking at the same time crazy fast. Oh and the pizza’s cold.”
Evan was about to complain about how she was late and he had been waiting too long for the food, but he looked in his sister’s eyes and saw the bags hanging underneath them. She most likely had double shifts and was up all night doing her college online. He felt bad for not thanking her enough for all she does for the family.
“Wow that’s pretty weird, I’m just glad you made it back home safe and sound… with the pizza.”
“The pizza is your main concern! What if I got in a wreck because the light flashed green at the wrong moment. Then you wouldn’t see me or your pizza ever again.” Her face had turned a light rose and her breathing was quick little puffs.
Evan toned down the joking for a second and let his sister know how he actually felt. “I’m joking Liz, I was worried why you didn’t come home on time. I really am happy that you made it back safe.”
Her tense figure loosened up, and she started to form a smile. “You little jerk.” She opened up the box of pizza and sent one of the pieces flying into his face. He dodged it right in time and managed to catch it with his right hand.
“Yeah you’re right it’s a little cold.” He smiled at his sister knowing he was pushing all the right buttons. She scolded him for a few seconds, but her face quickly lightened up. Evan knew she needed to something to take her mind off of work, so he tried to make her feel more at home. The time they spent together has steadily grown smaller and smaller. Liz was working more hours and trying to do her best to support the family and Evan had been busy balancing school and his social life. Life has been rough on the two of them, but whenever they had the chance to act like normal siblings they took it.
They laughed at each other and continued to talk about how both of their days had been. Evan told her about the papers he found concerning their mom but Liz just pushed it aside and told him that it was just insurance claims their dad had kept over the years. On a lighter note Liz excitedly told him about her promotion and how she was making her way up the chain of command. Evan was really proud of all the work she put in and he knew she deserved it more than anyone else at her job. Their conversation began trailing along and slowly made it’s way to a stop.
“Alright let’s go ahead and eat.” She set the pizza box on the kitchen counter and began to clean off the dining room table. Papers littered the table, old newspaper articles, late bills and clothing magazines that Liz got every month. She barely had time to read them anymore; she was to preoccupied with being the breadwinner of the house and trying to parent Evan. Liz couldn’t juggle anymore things in her life.
“Hey are you ever going to cancel that subscription you have to that magazine line” he said while pointing at one she was holding in her hand, “you could be saving more money for college.”
She looked down at the magazine she was holding and slowly brought it to her chest. Her voice was as quiet as a church mouse. “Me and mom used to look through them all the time when I was younger. We would make fun of the models by pointing out little flaws that no one ever noticed.” Liz opened up the model pamphlet and blindly flipped to a random page. “Like this one for example…”
“I don’t see anything wrong with her.”
“Just look closer, forget about all of the beauty and see her as someone you know. Try to find something that makes her perfect while at the same time viewed as a defect.”
Evan tried to look through the mist of beauty, pushing his eyes to see something that was hidden but in the open at the same time. He scanned the photo slowly taking in every inch. Then it hit him.
“She has a small scar above her left eye!” It was the only thing he could concentrate on now.
“Mom always taught me to find the little things in life, because anything can change. It’s the little things that are important.” She said softly.
Liz slowly turned her head up to the ceiling and smiled, a small but loving smile that radiated warmth. He could tell that she still felt their mom with her every step. Evan set down the magazine and made his way to his sister. He wiped away a small tear trickling down her cheek. She looked up to him and hugged him tightly.
‘I miss her every day.” She whispered into his chest.
“I know… I do too.” Evan was the first to break the embrace. The two stood their for a few moments talking back and forth about memories of their mom. How she would always go on wild adventures and come back with crazy stories. One of which included a koala bear, two leopards, an elephant and a roll of toilet paper. It was “interesting.”
They sat down and started feasting on the greasy and delicious food.
Chapter Six
School was getting back into it’s regular routine after the fight. At first everyone congratulated Evan and made him out to be this big hero. The attention was a little overwhelming, he was used to just him and Brian but now the whole school wanted to be his friend. Eventually things died down but it was fun while it lasted.
It turns out that Ethan got suspended for a month so they wouldn’t be seeing his face anytime soon, that would give Evan sometime to prepare for the coming storm. The end bell for his class rang and he maneuvered his way to the cafeteria. He eventually met up with Brian in the hall.The whole Ethan thing brought them back in the green and everything felt normal again.
Until he met her.