When War Calls(18)

It was too late.

His arms ignited in flame as it came forth and he screamed out in agony, cringing forward as even the air he breathed seemed to burn, and the earth beneath his feet shook with a fury unmatched by the strongest of quakes, and then … nothing.

Nothing.

He woke, struggling still to be free of whatever had held him. His arms were outstretched, performing erratic motions in the air until he realised what he was doing. Sitting up under the weight of his own consciousness, he no longer saw the barren fields of dying grasses, only the dark rock of the cave he had reached the night before. He stared out into the green of trees, blinded by the contrast from dream to reality. It was daylight. He had slept through the entire night at the cave.

Alyssa.

He had to meet with Alyssa.

Without a second thought, he jumped to his feet and sprinted back down the mountain, scolding himself for not waking sooner. He had hoped to be at the stables before she went riding; if he hurried, he might still catch her, though he knew it unlikely.

As he ran, he tried to think of what he was going to talk to her about. He wasn’t sure why he had asked her about the strange movement in the ground, but somehow he knew that she would have felt it too. Was this why he felt drawn to her like no other? Were they experiencing the same feelings because they were destined to be together? Perhaps he could mention the strange dream he had just had, as she may have had one too. He knew it might come across as too sudden, as they barely knew each other, but there was nothing else to talk about for now.

His mind went blank as he thought of the dream; its shadow ever present in his memory, its feelings not forgotten, its evil still vivid in his mind.

He shook his head. He had to forget it. It was just a bad dream. He couldn’t let it jeopardise his meeting, not now, not today, not when he had organised to actually speak with her. While he wanted to pursue his curiosity about how she had known about the sharp movements in the ground, he wanted to talk about her even more. If this didn’t go well, he could never be sure when he would get another chance, as Ardim was always lurking nearby.

He reached the village an hour later. Out of habit more than anything, he checked to make sure Ardim wasn't in sight and then proceeded to the stables. Bo and the others were not at the flat stones this day, most likely with their families eating lunch instead. There were only the usual girls there and a group of children running around playing games happily that no one but themselves understood.

Jaden then realised how long he had slept. The sun was already high. Alyssa would have already left. He let a long breath out as his shoulders fell in disappointment. He had missed his first meeting with Alyssa; now he would have to wait until she returned almost at dusk, and potentially risk an intrusion by Ardim. There was nothing else he could do.

He felt like running to find Ardim now to let out some anger, to vent his frustration. But he would not succumb to his impatience. He would find something else to do. He needed a way of passing the time, to take his mind off what had happened, as well as the dream. He thought about helping out in the fields, but work right now seemed utterly repulsive. To have missed Alyssa only to spend the day doing something he didn’t want to do just didn’t seem right. He could go visit his friends or talk with the elders about the previous night’s game, but then, he wouldn’t want to intrude on his friends’ family time, nor be seen as a sore loser as he protested the defeat to the elders.

He sighed. At times, Bo was right it seemed. As beautiful as life was in Callibra, it could really become quite boring.

A loud thud sounded to Jaden’s right. He turned instantly as he heard a scream and then someone bursting into tears. It was a young boy, no older than five with the same shadowed blonde hair as Jaden’s. Jaden then realised who it was. It was his younger brother Tommy. He had tripped and fallen head first into the stables. Jaden ran to him, gently moving the other children away so that he could reach his brother.

‘Be calm, I’m here,’ he said to Tommy, who immediately reached out with his arms for Jaden to pick him up. ‘Where are you hurt?’

Tommy put a hand to his forehead. ‘Here,’ he whimpered, his eyes red from the tears streaming down his face.

‘There’s a graze, but it will heal easily. I’ll take you to mother, she will make it better,’ Jaden comforted.

Receiving a nod from Tommy, Jaden picked him up and began walking toward his home, trying to keep his step as light as possible so that he would not shake Tommy while carrying him. He remembered being carried in this way when he was Tommy’s age. Their older brother, Ryan, had always helped Jaden when he had hurt himself, up until a few years later when he left to fight in the wars. It didn’t make sense to him then, and it didn’t make sense now, why Ryan had chosen to go. Suffering from boredom in Callibra was bad enough, but to risk your life in a war to escape it seemed insane.