Chapter 19 the First Half

Okay, so I started Chp. 19 and then had this horrible revelation that I will probably have to go back and rewrite the entire story because of the character of holly being too flat for her eventual purpose. And teh thought of having to rewrit eliterllay eveyrthing except for Ivan made me so despondant I produced a slue of dreary emo poetry and stopped working on the story all together. I even started writing several short stroies instead.

So right now I'm not sure if I'm even going to keep working on this book...
And on that note here is Chpater 19... the possible last chapter. Or should I say half chpater...

Chapter 19

The small company rode ahead of the larger Albian force down the white chalk path. The early morning sunrise was warming their backs and the waxing white moon was still lingering on the blue horizon. The large forest of dark green evergreen trees on the one side of the company echoed with birdsong and the gurgling of a small creek somewhere. On their other side a green meadow stretched out, small white flowers dotting the landscape.

Nicholas and Ivan rode behind the rest of the company, neither speaking a word. The early morning air was crisp and chill and their breaths smoked as they breathed the biting air. Ivan had pulled his old scarf, the one he always carried with him, out and had wrapped it several times around his neck. His goggles in his hair caused it to stand at all angles and was desperately trying to read a book while riding the horse, and failing miserably.

Nicholas was in deep thought. He kept feeling like someone was watching him, or was ready to jump out and attack him. The nervous anxiety that spread through his bones and drained his marrow caused his hands to shake ever so slightly. He tried gripping the reigns tighter but he felt like he didn’t even have the strength to do that.

Ivan had given up trying to read the text and after putting it into his bag, he looked over and noticed that Nicholas wasn’t looking too good. His head hung low, his dark brown curly hair looking almost black in the dawn light. His down cast eyes were encircled by dark rings while his normally tan skin looked pasty and pale. Even his dark purple cowl that Master Oronus had given him so long ago was looking almost black. He had never seen his friend like this before.

“Hey, Klaus. Are you okay?” Asked Ivan, leaning closer so they could talk.

“Yeah. I, I just have a lot on my mind.” Came Nicholas’ reply. He smiled weakly as he realized that Ivan had called him by his old name. “I just had a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Asked Ivan, still trying to cajole the story from Nicholas.

“It’s hard to explain.”

They rode on in silence for a few moments, the tocking of horses hooves on the hard stony ground echoing around them. Then just as Nicholas was about to say something, he spotted something white on the horizon. It was moving too fast to be a cloud.

“Swan!” Came the call from the scouts. And they were right, the swan had returned.

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The group made camp in the small depression made by the green hills next to the white chalk rode. Cooking fires had been lit and soon blue smoke waived up in the morning air in smooth tendrils reaching for the heavens and carrying the flavor of the fire across the area. While everyone wanted to know what the bird had to say, Liam had seen how weary it was from the back and forth flights and so they had waited while it had rest and drank some water from a nearby pool.

“So, you were telling me why you’re so down today…” began Ivan trying to worm it out of him again.

“Fine.” Said Nicholas, not having the energy to withstand against Ivan’s inquisitive nature, “But I can’t tell you… I’ll have to show you…”

“Show me? What are you babbling about?” Asked Ivan was raised brow.

“here, close your eyes and go to sleep.” Said Nicholas, and it being early morning Ivan had no difficulty falling back to sleep.

He felt the warmth of soft grass beneath him, like large living fur rug that was coiling and moving as if on top of a mountain of serpents. Then the furry ground began to move together and come together and as he opened his eyes he saw he was on top of a large beast. Its muscles bunched as it sprinted along a river of ice. Then a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Ivan!”

The next instants he was pulled through a flashing light then darkness with spinning lights all around him. Then with another bright flash he was inside a bright white room. Nicholas was standing next to him, holding onto his shoulder. His body shook as he clawed his way up Nicholas’ leg until he was standing up right again.

“W-what, what just happened!?!” Ivan yelled as his heart beat ten times as fast as usual.

“Sorry, I forgot you’re not a regular dream leaver.” Nicholas said with his crooked smile.

“T-that! That back there! I could use a little warning next time!” Yelled the angry boy until he was completely out of breath.

They stood there in the silence for a few seconds before Nicholas asked, “Do you feel better now?”

“Yes actually I do.” Then as if first noticing where he was his mouth dropped open as he saw the walls expanding and retracting with Nicholas’ breaths. “Where are we Klaus?”

“Ivan, welcome to my dreamplane.” Said Nicholas with a smile as he saw the other boy begin scientifically examining the room. “What I have to show you isn’t quite here though… well it is, but it isn’t at the same time.”

“Yes, and you are making absolutely no sense.” Said Ivan as he rolled his eyes.

“Okay just watch.” Nicholas retorted, “You might find here not all things makes sense.”

And with wave of his hands they were both standing upon a large cliff overlooking the aquamarine sea and the setting sun far in the west. Next to them were several old stone ruins, and a few wild conneys were playing in the derelict buildings. Ivan was so close to the edge he nearly fell off.

“Easy there. What I want to show you might hurt a little so I need you in one piece when it happens.” Nicholas said as he grabbed Ivan’s arm as he was precariously balanced on the lip of the cliff.

Then Nicholas sat him down on an old stone bench and seated himself next to Ivan. The small rabbits ran from them towards an old garden where pomegranate and grape vines had escaped and now grew wild among the few surviving lettuce seedlings. A lark sailed over to her nest that was bursting with pale blue eggs. This imaginary world seemed more alive than even the real world.

“Now Ivan.” Said the boy in the cowl seriously. “You are about to see the past. Do not fear it because it can’t harm you. At least, I don’t think it can.”

“Oh, your confidence is so reassuring.” Ivan replied with a smile, “Lets do this. What ever it is.”

“Alright, here goes. This was my dream.” And Nicholas closed his eyes.

Ivan sat and waited. He looked around and saw nothing unusual. It was beginning to grow awkward sitting on the bench with the silence enveloping them. Ivan opened his mouth to say something when he saw Nicholas fly over the lip of the cliff.

“Hahaha!” he cried as he landed softly on the soft most covered ground.

“Nicholas!” called Ivan, but his friend didn’t hear him. He got up but as Nicholas approached him he walked right through Ivan. Ivan gasped as he saw the other Nicholas sit down next to the real Nicholas. They were indistinguishable.

“Well, well. I see we have learned how to play.” Came a sneering voice from the ruins behind the two, causing the past Nicholas to jump up and spin around.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Called Nicholas.

From out of the shadows stepped a woman in a long scarlet cowl with a hood over her face. The hood tapered to a point that was caught by the breeze that had picked up with her arrival. Nicholas raised and then slowly lowered his arms and caused the dreamplane to melt away into the room again but the figure did not. She was no dream. She was real.

“Oh, very clever. Try this trick!” She called as she raised her hands over her head, twirling them like ravens acending into the sky after a bloody feast.

The dreamplane around her began to fold and dark cracks appeared as a loud, chanting could be heard all around. Wisps and tendrils of smoky blackness crept across the translucent dreamplane. Ivan grabbed the real Nicholas, who was frozen in place, and dragged him away from the darkness that was creeping closer.

“Stop!” Called the past Nicholas as he extended his hands up and brought them down suddenly with great force, sending the figure crashing against the ground as several large tree-sized filaments of glass fell on her. With her down, the dreamplane seemed to revert back to normal.

“Hahaha!” cried her loud mocking cackle. “Impressive little worm.” And as she said it she threw her arm up and all of the large piece of glassy firmament that covered her floated about her, compressing into large balls. Nicholas backed up slowly as she began hovering in the air in front of him. “But if you wish to battle in dreams you will have to do better than that!”

Ivan saw what was happened and couldn’t help himself crying out, “Nicholas! Watch out on your left!”

But it was too late and one of the large balls swooped forward and crashed into Nicholas, sending him sprawling across the room. He barely managed to get back up before a second one was nearly on top of him. Luckily he brought his arms up this time and as he did, glassy filaments from the floor had covered him in a shell like a turtle.

“Ha! Is that the best the “great one” has to offer?” The woman in the cowl shrieked with fury as she sent another one against the shield, cracking it slightly.

Seeing the small amount of damage she inferred, the crimson robed clapped her hands above her head, causing the two glass balls on each side of her to collide and send a beam of lightning at Nicholas’ shell. It shattered and he rolled out of the small crater. The next instant Ivan felt himself beginning to sink into a large and rolling ocean.

He still had the catatonic Nicholas in his arms and so splashed his way to an ice sheet that was floating nearby. Struggling to get himself and the deadweight up was hard but finally they were on top of the island of ice. Ivan lay on his back breathing hard as he rolled over and scanned the horizon to see if he could see the two combatants anywhere.

The next moment he saw a red blur flash by him towards a large iceberg in the distance. On top of the iceberg stood Nicholas. She sent another beam of lightning at him, but he blew towards it and it shot sideways into the distance. Then she threw the glass balls towards him, but as they collided with him, they became powder and blew away. That’s when she realized his irises were glowing golden-green light.

“What-” Was all she had time to say, before it happened.

Several large icebergs shot up out of the water to encase her inside a frozen prison. Then large dark brown vines that looked like flexible trees grew out of the sea around the encased witch and began wrapping around the iceberg. Finally, Nicholas brought his hands together, palms pressed against one another, and a column of fire erupted form the sky and engulfed the entire prison of the witch.

As the fierce burning heat dried Ivan and the still unmoving figure, he watched his friend in the past, collapse on the iceberg, and the fire receded. The vines were charred away, and the icebergs melted, but what had happened to the witch, Ivan wondered. He then saw his past friend walk down from his iceberg slowly and trudged right up to where they were. He slowly lay down on the exact spot Nicholas was.

The next instant Ivan opened his eyes. Before him he saw the small cooking fires just being lit, while Liam was still busy giving the swan a drink of water. Had the entire dream taken only a few seconds, he wondered. Nicholas sat up next to him and looked at him with those same weary eyes he had before. Ivan now understood why he was acting the way he was.

“So now you see.” Was all Nicholas could think of saying.

“Is this… was this the first time something like this happened?” Asked Ivan, scratching his chin as he thought.

“Yes, well, no. There has been one time when I was dragged out of my dreamplane. By a black vine or tentacle thing.” Nicholas responded as the rear guard of the Albian troops trudged up on the path and settled in the camps.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, you whipped her butt!” said Ivan, jumping up and imitating her with a high, nasally voice, “‘Oh, if you want to beat me you’re going to have to do better than that!’ Ha! Well you showed her a thing or two!”

“But that’s just the thing Ivan… What if I killed her?” Nicholas spoke almost in a whisper as he stood and turned away in shame, “I-I know you could call it self defense, but still… if I kn-… I wasn’t even in control of myself when I… I just saw her and did everything like it was a dream.”

“That’s because it was a dream!” Called Ivan as he turned Nicholas to face him. “Listen. You had a bad dream. You did something bad in your dream. That doesn’t mean you did it in reality. Come on Klaus! You know I’m always right.”

Nicholas smiled at his friend’s remark to which Ivan responded, “Okay, but I’m right most of the time… or at least some of the time. Er! Fine! I’m often wrong but still… I know I’m right about this. Don’t worry Klaus. The day your dreams happen in the real world, then we’ll worry about it. For now, I think we’re gonna have another riddle to solve.”

He motioned and Nicholas saw Liam walking towards them with a parchment and quill, and several people trailing behind him all talking animatedly and excitedly. They joined the group and everyone went to the large main fire to talk. Nicholas and Ivan walked in the back and as they neared the fire pit Nicholas nodded and smiled at Ivan and gave him a silent ‘Thank you’.

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As the group was seated around the fire pit Holly found herself next to Jack on one side and a large, fat, greasy Albian cook on the other side. He gave a loud, putrid belch and so she turned from him. As she did she saw Jack, while fixing his hair, smile and give her a wink, saying,

“Albains! Ha, no breeding whatsoever.” Then scooting closer to her, he leaned in and whispered, “You know, I’v heard the most horrible stories of the Albians marrying cousins and sisters, terrible, I know.”

“Okay…” said Holly, not sure what point Jack was trying to make, “Thanks for the information.”

“You’re welcome.” But just as she thought he was done he continued while stretching, “You know, it does truly take an intelligent person to spot another. And you’re defiantly one of the most intelligent women I have ever encountered. And pretty too. A rare combination indeed.”

Holly went rigid as she felt his arm come down behind her neck. In the next instant she had grabbed his writs, whipped him around, and was holding him in a vicelike grip by his thumb, rendering him immobile. “Hands. Off. Pretty boy.”

And as she released him against the hard stony ground, she got up and went to sit next to Silver on the other side of the fire. Jack was rubbing his painfully agitated limbs as the fat, greasy cook turned to him and a loud fart escaped. And just as Jack was turning away with disgust, his ears turned red as he saw Holly and Silver in her Dray form, laughing as Holly pointed to him and whispered in Silver’s ear, causing more laughter.

Then Liam got up before the council and called out in a loud and clear voice,

“Alright friends, if I could have your attention.”

The entire crew along with several of the head Albians under Angus were gathered round the fire while Liam cleared his throat before continueing,

“Friends, this is unfortunately where our paths must separate. Cigna, our swan friend, has brought us not only our next riddle but has also brought instructions. Only five will go find the next part of the book. Edric and I will be going to the Gathering at Brannon, accompanying Angus and his men. You, the crew, will go with Dare and prepare to sail when we send word.”

“So whose going?” Asked Ivan as he couldn’t resist interrupting.

Liam smiled as he replied, “Well, Ivan I was about to get to that. You, Holly, Nicholas, Silver, and Jack have all been assigned to go find the book.”

“Yes!” Cried Ivan who had instantly gathered Holly and Nicholas in a hug, yelling, “It’s the old crew again!”

“Erm!” Came Jack’s voice, “What are we, chopped sharkmeat?”

“Don’t even joke about that stuff!” called several crew members and soon the morning was full of laughter as Tal defended his cooking and he and several crew members were soon rolling in the dust. Liam smiled, glad that the parting would take place on such a light note. He realized, as only a few did at that time, that there was a very likely chance that this would be the last time many of them would see each other alive.

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The End