My brother was killed that morning. I was going to be next, but then they appeared. You know that they’re not from this world?

 

Chapter 13 Sala

 

              Sala sat along the cobblestone path. Drawn once more to the wonderful amalgam of aromas, she buried her head alone the lavender stalks and took a deep breath. She had just stepped away from her conversation with Andrew, in order to clear her mind before she forced herself to ponder what they had spoken of.

              “What strange names they all have.” She said to herself. “Not what I expected from immortals.”

              Andrew was the near immortal leader of the Twins forces here on Earth, dwindling, but still with heart. He sounded tired; Andrew was old, but he refused to say just how old. The Twins made jokes earlier, so Sala guessed they were somewhere on the order of forty thousand years old, and Andrew had been by their side the entire time. She gathered that when the Twins had been deified, their perspective shifted also. The small things in life were no longer important to them; being immortal gave them the time they needed to plan.

Their minds had grown with their power, and she knew that the bodies she had spoken to earlier were just simple avatars of their true form. Sala had heard stories of normal people encountering the physical forms of gods and none of them were good. Even when meeting inherently good gods, the outrageous power emanating from those forms would obliterate people not gifted with magic. She did not know why, but it seemed that the more powerful you were, the more your body could withstand the barrage of power and now that she thought of it, she had not needed to protect herself with an aura with the Twins, unlike each other god she had encountered.

Andrew was just as old as the Twins, but his mind had not evolved to encompass the whole of Earth. Taylor could touch and commune with all plants and Jamylle could do the same with all peoples from this world. Andrew had not been blessed in the same way, and because of that, he seemed tired or even bored.

“No one knows what The Source is, not even the Twins. She wants it badly enough that she is willing to break the rules to do so.” Andrew told her.

That scared her, who was Suffering? Apparently, the Scholar goddess also fought the demon queen, but had recently run from the fight. With further inquiry, recently was close to ten-thousand years ago and if she had been fighting Suffering, didn’t that mean that her children had been also? There were so many unanswered questions, but she did know one thing, these people had saved her from Scath.

The last few days, Sala had probed the trapped Zetgast in her soul. She found that she could speak to him, and he could still speak to her, but something had changed, and she was unsure just how she felt about it. Scath had possessed her on many occasions, but when she woke, Sala felt solid in her own body once more. Now, she felt like the intruder, she felt as if she was possessing his body. What didn’t help was that the Twins explained that the Wind Spirits would no longer recognize her, but she would have full control over the demon’s magic. As long as she wears the new bracelet, her mind will be protected but will be changed. Each time she dove into that thought abyss that was these thoughts she fell even further into a pit of anxiety. The only thing that helped was a wonderful breath filled with roses and lavender, it calmed her, it cleared her mind.

“You will no longer have control over me.” She spoke to the demon.

“Really? I haven’t noticed…” he replied sarcastically with his many voices.

That was another thing that scared her, before Scath seemed to be crazy. Not the crazy you call the random rude people you run into in life, but he seemed truly unstable. Now, he just pouted, but he appeared to be more cognizant.

“Why have you changed? From before?” She asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You are not crazy.” She said.

“Oh. I think that had something to do with the degrading bracelet.” He explained.

When they spoke, he also seemed to be… amenable, which also bothered her. Why would he answer her? Why wouldn’t he just scream in her mind or… or… or even just stay quiet? She was baffled and scared.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I wasn’t like that before. Remember when we first met?”

Sala understood. Many years ago, she had been tricked by a corrupt wind spirit and her mentor into a ritual that allowed this creature to possess her. She was only a child then, and over the many years, he had grown more insane with each passing day.

“My mind was split. It was split even when I was in control. When entering this place… I had returned to my full cognitive capabilities, just to be trapped…” he sounded annoyed.

“I feel just awful for you.”

“Sod off.” He spat at her.

“Yeah, like I said before, I don’t know what that means. Anyways, explain to be the powers again.” She told him.

“You won’t be able to use the magic until you leave here, you know better than most that you can’t just tell someone how to use their power.”

They had the same argument many times in the last few days, but he always capitulated.

“As I said… the power you will harness is not one of this world, Earth I mean. Zatgasts come from her realm, and their magic of derived from there.” He explained.

“Her world?” Sala asked.

“Though she has dominion over many planets, her realm is not on one of them. It is like this place. Your wind magic would work because the wind spirits are not an essence of this realm. Just like certain magic can’t exists, different ones can. The difference is that power derived from a realm can be funneled through space and time. That is why you will be able to harness magic not native to your world. Your bald friend can do the same, now that the Twins have saturated their magics into this realm.”

“Why are you helping me?” Sala asked, changing the subject.

He was silent for a long moment before he replied.

“The more I help you, the more I will find out. I will escape one day Sala; I will escape and kill you and your friends.” He replied in a flat voice.

His frankness shocked her.

“But… unfortunately, you cannot just go out and die. If you die, I can escape, but I need a certain type of soul to survive, and those are rare in your world. Helping you to not die from some random guy with a sword will prove to help me just as much.”

“Oh…” She replied.

She didn’t know how she felt about that, but she figured it wasn’t all bad, at least he was honest.

“Whatever. Okay, explain the powers.”

He sighed and continued with his explanations.

It was a few hours later when Scath stopped speaking. He refused to say anything else, so Sala stood up. She groaned as her knees popped and the muscles ached, she had sat there for much too long. She felt like she was overdue for a smile, so she went to see her new friends.

Walking out of the tea garden, she had a five-minute walk through a forest of tall trees that looked more like giant peace lilies on a disproportionally wide trunk. They had long thin stalks that would stretch down and play with her hair as she walked. The people were mostly too short for the trees to reach them, but Sala was a different story. The stalks would braid her hair each time she walked through them, except for one.

There was one tree that was a total jerk to her. They all looked the same to Sala, but there was something about that one over there. She walked by it slowly at first, then hopped past. She grinned as she turned around, then felt a light tug on her hair.

“Argg!” She stomped around to glare at the tree. “Can you stop?”

It was quiet except for the freaky fingerlike stalks tapping through leaves and bright white flowers. She heard something else then, it sounded like… was that laughing?
              Sala looked passed the trees and saw something else moving. She took a wide step around the mean tree and moved towards the laughing. No, not laughing, it was giggling. She realized that the voice carried far, and he was further away than she originally thought.

As she got closer, she spotted the large form of TimTom. He was standing next to two trees giggling as the things played with his short black hair. Sala smiled to herself, TimTom’s pure innocence was something of a wonder to her. She watched him for a few moments, then she swore one of the stalks tapped his shoulder and pointed at her.

She jumped when they made eye contact and his smile fell.  That lasted for only a moment before a grin stretched across his face.

“Sala! I have one for you.” He explained and bounded towards her.

“One?” She laughed at the awkward way he maneuvered through the trees.

“A sheep walked into a baaaa…” He told her.

Sala stood for a moment then groaned.

“Oh… my… gods… that is just awful.” She told him.

“Nah, it’s great.” He said, then turned towards the main path.

She turned and followed.

“You know we are coming with you.” He said after walking in silence for a minute.

“I don’t think I would be able to keep Cameroon away even if I wanted you all to stay.” She replied.

“You are okay with this?”

“You are my only friends, of course I am okay with it. The Twins helped me more than I can ever repay…”

“The prophecies say otherwise.” TimTom interrupted.

“Prophecies Shmer-shophercies!” A familiar dwarvish accent came from… somewhere to their right, further back into the trees.

Tom whipped his giant head towards the source of the voice and shouted out.

“Cam! Have you been spying on me again?!”

His booming voice send the stalks whipping around frantically. Tom quickly turned back to the nearest trees with his hands up and calming.

“Sorry! Sorry!” he said in a heavy whisper.

He reached out and lightly grasped the stalks in a gentile hand. He then slowly ran his hand along it like you would for an agitated pet. The trees actually calmed down at this, and Sala was just shaking her head.

Cameroon sauntered up. It was the first time Sala had seen him without his spiked armor, and something about his proportions looked odd to her. Wearing a loose robe that tattered at the end in many strands, she could see his wrists and ankles. They were super skinny, but his muscles would bulge through the robes. She hadn’t spent any real time with the Gang in the past few days, and in that little amount of time, Cameroon had grown a thick beard, nearly six inches, that was braided down the center.

The little man walked up to Sala with a wide grin on his face. He then proceeded to take a deep bow in front of her. At the same, TimTom who stood at the other side of Cameroon, lifted both hands to cover his face, just after his eyes going as wide as dinner plates.

“Cam! Why aren’t you wearing any underwear?!” TimTom complained.

Sala stifled a laugh, but it broke through, causing her to spit out. She couldn’t stop laughing though she did wipe her face. Cameroon just watched her with that grin and TimTom just rolled his eyes.

After a few deep breaths, she was able to calm herself.

“What are both of you doing here?” Sala asked. “You know they don’t like anyone going into these trees.”

TimTom just shrugged.

“I was able to walk in, the trees like me.” The giant replied just as a stalk poked his side.

They both turned their stared down at Cameroon. It was an intimidating sight for the dwarf, each of them might as well have been twenty feet tall rather than ten, he still had to crane his neck each time they spoke. Visible nervous, Cameroon kicked some pebbled in front of him and crossed his arms behind his back. He even looked up at them with puppy-dog eyes. Sala couldn’t help but smile again, to Cameroons visible relief.

“Good, let us depart from here.” The dwarf said, quickly turning away.

Before he got three feet away, TimTom grabbed Cameroon in one hand and lifted him up.

“No, no, no you don’t. You can’t get away that easily.” TimTom said.

The dwarf was trapped completely in his hand, struggling unsuccessfully.

“You can’t do anything besides answer me. What were you doing?” TimTom asked again.

Rather than answering, Cameroon looked at the giant, grinned again, then bit him in the hand. TimTom squealed out in pain and dropped him on the ground. This sent the trees flailing out wildly again. They watched the little dwarf scamper off into the trees, losing sight of him in only seconds.

“That little…” TimTom said.

“I WIN AGAIN!” Cameroon shouted out from a distance.

              Then they heard another familiar voice.

              “Cameroon, what do you think you are doing in my forest?” The goddess Taylor spoke over everything else.

              “Well, can I just say how fetching you look today? Did you do something with your hair? And those legs…” Cameroon’s voice was cut off by a loud slap!

              The tension was more prominent for TimTom and Sala as they couldn’t see anything going on.

              “Next time, can you do that a little lower and when I’m turned the other direction?” Cameroon said.

              “You are incorrigible.” Taylor said with a hint of amusement. “Now answer my question?”

              “Well ma’am, you must narrow it down.” He told her.

              “Hmm?”

              “Because all forests are your forests! Duhhhh!”

              “Do you want me to kill you?” She asked.

              “The way I see it, you didn’t kill me the last time I was here and did… you know...”

              “I know…” she answered.

              “As long as I don’t top that, I think I’m safe.”

              It was quiet for a few moments then Taylor spoke up.

              “Why don’t we go have a conversation about privacy.”

              “Hmm, just up my alley but… what that!” Cameroon shouted.

              They then heard the familiar quick footed dwarf take off into the woods again.

              “That little…” Taylor cursed.

              Cameroon came in their direction, and just as he was in eyesight again, he froze staring at them with a bright red mark on his right cheek.

              “Did you just hear…”

              They nodded.

              “Oh gods… not again…” Cameroon said shaking his head.

              Then the stalks of the trees whipped out and rapped themselves around Cameroons arms and legs, then lifted him up in the air. Taylor appeared next to them with an exasperated look. TimTom immediately fell to his knees, and Sala just waved.

              “Sorry for entering your forest my lady. I…”

              “TimothyThomas, if I was not okay with this, then I would have stopped you beforehand. This one…” she gestured towards Cameroon. “Has an annoying knack that allows him to hide from me.”

              “Well, there are certain activities a gentlemen shouldn’t allow a lady as wonderous as yourself to see.” Cameroon grunted out.

              Taylor turned and glared at the drawn and quartered dwarf.

              “I mean… unless you want to see…”

              “Do I need to slap you again?” She asked.

              “I mean, if you want me to help you feel like a goddess… oh wait…” he snickered out.

              “OH MY GODS!” Sala exclaimed. “Cameroon what is wrong with you.”

              While he was talking, a stalk came up and wrapped itself around his neck. It began to squeeze, but not that hard.

              “Yes…” Cameroon grunted. “A… little… tighter…”

              Taylor gasped and dropped the dwarf. He scampered off into the trees and out of their sight. The two of them turned wide eyes on the goddess standing in from on him.

              “I apologize for his inappropriate behavior.” TimTom looking ashamed.

              Taylor looked towards the two of them with a shocked and unbelieving gaze.

              “Umm… Taylor?” Sala asked cautiously.

              The goddess’ body shimmered in place, then suddenly there were two clones of the goddess beside each of them. Her hand had just touched them then they were transported. It was not normal teleportation; this was instantaneous and came with no other lightheaded sensation or queasiness that was typical with other portals.

              Sala appeared in a large open area in the middle of the Twins grove. She had not been to this area yet but heard the other speak of it. There was a tall wooden totem in the center carved with beautiful depictions of animals and people living with each other in peace. About a hundred yards from the totem to the edges where wild grass began to overgrow, hundreds of yurts sat along the edges.

They were ostensibly for any normal beings that visited the Twins realm. Currently about two hundred people live along the yurts that were active fighters under Andrew while the remains of the slaves Sala had liberated earlier filled others. Occasionally the mindless people would rest in there but would mainly sleep outside with the other animals and people. Surrounding the totem was a large firepit that was always lit. The wooden tower was unaffected by the flames, even though it gave off incredible heat.

The fire was tempered down and Sala noticed that all of the Gang, Andrew and others she did not recognize standing around the fire all looking confused. They were all in different elements of disarray, some were in armor as if they were sparing, some looked as if they were dragged straight from their slumber, and one looked as if he were just in the mists of sensual activities. Luckily for him, he was transported with a blanket in which he could cover himself.

The Twins appeared, but not as the physical bodies Sala had been speaking to this entire time, but in a more godlike form. Two glowing orbs, one blue and one green, orbited each other trailing whisps of magical light. She had not seen this form of theirs before, but she was instantly able to spot of who was who, Taylor was green while Jamylle was blue.

The two orbs light glowed as each spoke.

“We apologize for the sudden teleportation, but the time has come.” Jamylle spoke.

“Time?” Andrew asked.

“I have news.” The Twins spoke simultaneously.

“Wait… you too?” They spoke over each other again.

The two orbs hovered over the flames and over towards Sala. Andrew was right beside her along with TimTom, and they all stared at the glowing parade of lights in front of them. The lights flashed and the two women stood beside Sala. Hearing the gasps from most of the crowd alerted Sala to the realization that their human forms were not seen very often if at all.

The Twins stood staring at each other with wide eye.

“Sister, something has happened. Far to the west, a forest has been tainted and it’s spreading.” Taylor said with a worried voice. “I feel myself growing weaker.”

Jamylle nodded quickly.

“The west? Taylor… I can feel him again.” She said.

“Feel who?”

“Atlas.” Jamylle replied.

“ATLAS?!” Andrew exclaimed. “He’s alive?”

Jamylle turned towards Andrew with concern in her eyes.

“Apparently so.” Jamylle replied.

“What? How? There was nothing left? His family…” Andrew couldn’t gather his thoughts well.

“Who is this Atlas?” Cameroon asked walking up to them, along with Mattaeo and Steff.

The Twins paused and stared at the group of people in front of them, no others dared approach. That was why the two of them trusted so much in these unruly and unorthodox people.

“He was our greatest warrior. But he went missing nearly two hundred years ago.” Jamylle explained. “I could no longer see him, so we believed him to be dead. But this makes no sense.”

“Why is that?” Mattaeo asked.

“Because he is a human. Even if he did survive then, he would be near two hundred an fifty by now.” Taylor replied.

They all nodded.

“Can you speak with him?” Steff asked.

Jamylle shook her head. That was not good.

“I believe she has been active more so than we realized. Those bandits outside, they had her taint.” Taylor said.

“Taint?” TimTom asked.

“The black eyes. They are a sign of her touch.” She replied.

They all nodded but Sala, she never saw any black eyes.

“I can feel him to the west, do you think it is related?” Jamylle asked.

“I don’t believe in coincidences.” Taylor replied.

“Me neither.” Jamylle said.

“Same here!” Cameroon said walking up to the two of them.

“We are not done yet.” Taylor glared down at the little man.

“I hope not.” Cameroon replied flourishing another bow.

Steff shook his head standing behind Cameroon as he bowed. He stepped up beside the bowing dwarf, grabbed him by the back of his robe, then threw him back nearly fifty feet.

“Steff… that was rude.” Jamylle said crossing her arms.

“No, it wasn’t. Trust me.” He smiled at her.

Sala didn’t miss the gleam in both their eyes, was something going on with the two of them? Was that even possible?

Taylor cried out in pain and fell to her knees. Sala and Jamylle were by her side in an instant and helped support her back upright. She clutched her head and let out an animal like whimper.

“What is wrong?” Sala asked.

“It is spreading. You must stop it, I cannot… I need to cut off that whole continent Jamylle… I can’t…” Taylor stammered.

“Do it, I will watch as much as I can.” Jamylle replied. “You all, with me.”

Jamylle dragged the Gang along with Sala over to meet the grumbling Cameroon walking their way. She had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

“You must go to the west, South of Seton. You will find a man named Atlas…”

“I will go with them.” A voice interrupted from behind.

Their circle widened as Andrew approached.

“I will go. If Atlas is alive, he will kill them all in a heartbeat. I need to be there, and you know it.” He spoke with anger in his eyes.

“Andrew… we…” Jamylle said.

“I will go.” He said as a matter of fact.

Jamylle just nodded.

“You may not survive what she will do, if you remain her anyways.”

“I did the first time.” He replied.

“Just remember, your power will be limited after she cuts herself off. You will be mortal once more.” Jamylle explained.

“I know.”

Andrew turned to the others, a dwarf, a giant, a human, an elf and a Scholar.

“Gather your things, we are leaving immediately.” He turned to Jamylle. “No chance of a teleport?”

Jamylle shook her head.

“That is her power, and I wouldn’t trust it now.”

As everyone ran off to gather their belongings, Sala realized that she had nothing besides a pack with a few changes of clothes and some silver and copper pins, the common currency. She grabbed her bag which was kept in a small yurt far off in a cluster of trees closer to the Peace Lilly Forest. When she returned to the main grove area, she could see Steff holding Jamylle in a tight hug. There was something there after all. Jamylle left his embrace and walked back to the totem and knelt at Taylors side who had been curled up on the ground.

Jamylle shut her eyes, and suddenly every single person was just there. Hundreds of people crowded and confused but quieted as Jamylle spoke.

“Everyone must take refuge in there.”

She pointed at an incredibly large yurt with magical engravings on its side. It had not been there before, but like any time the goddess did that, their minds told them that it had always been there.

“I will place all of you in a slumber for a few days. If you fight this, then you will be killed by what comes next. You will be safe, I promise, but you all must hurry. Take nothing with you.”

No one argued, they all turned and in an orderly rush, made their way inside the yurt. When they all had gone inside, golden runes appeared and began to shift around its surface. Jamylle turned towards Sala and gestured for her to come closer, so she did.

“Sala, your future will be tough. You do not deserve what has transpired and what will come next but…” She hesitated and looked down towards Taylor whimpering on the ground.

“Remember there needs to be three, one of the winds, one of the land, and one to bind the two. You must find Atlas. Sala… he is an Earth User.”

Sala gasped, they were even rarer than Wind Speakers, or so it was with the Scholars.

“Who is the catalyst?” Sala asked.

“We don’t know.” She said flatly. “And we don’t know much else, just that the three of you can hurt her, can trap her. You can save everyone.”

“How do you know that it is me?” Sala asked, nearly breaking down. “I hate everyone.”

“No, you don’t. They hated you but you always wanted to help them.”

“How do you know that? You can’t see me…” Sala said now outwardly crying.

“I am a goddess of the people; you think I would know a thing or two about them.” She replied with a wink.

Sala coughed out a laugh through the sobs and hugged the woman. It was exactly a question she needed answered, but there was one more.

“Targan?” Sala asked.

Jamylle shook her head.

“I can’t see him; I can’t help you.” Jamylle said “You need to go. You need to go now, the longer we wait, the further she will be hurt.” She said looking down at Taylor.

Sala stood and found the others standing right behind her.

“Be careful out there Sala. Just because your powers come from Suffering now does not make them evil. I feel it’s a slap in her face if you use them against her.” Jamylle said.

Sala nodded, feeling a strange feeling. She felt strong, trapped in a body that was not hers, but strong, and a willingness to do what she could for the people around her, her friends. Sala looked in each of their eyes and they waited. Did they wait for her?

“Let’s go.” She ordered.

They all picked up their equipment and began a jog towards to portal that would take them back out into the wildlands.