Chapter 1
The sky was grey over the ' darkwoods' - as the dense cover of trees at the edge of the town were called by the inhabitants of the town. Close to the woods stood a girl surrounded by five huge boys. She was taller than most girls her age, but compared to the boys around her, it seemed quite obvious that she wouldn't stand a chance if it came to a fight. She could still hear her mother's voice in her head, " Get out of here, run to the darkwoods ". She could still feel the fear and worry in that grim sentence. " Run, you fool" came her mother's voice again. Something told her to obey and get away quickly, but the boys around her did not make it easy.
Dipping into her mind again, she heard no other instructions from her mother. Shifting slightly to get a better look at the boys who had arranged themselves in a semi-circle in front of her, she looked each of them in the face and finally spoke.
' Please, excuse me.' she said emphasizing each word, then she began to walk around them only to be shoved back by one of them. She glared at him, seeing no reason for the boys to try bullying her, she'd schooled with them for a few months and had barely spoken to them at school and they hadn't spoken to her either. Seeing the mischievous looks on their faces, she sighed and said in a low voice, 'It's not worth it', ' What?', one of them asked, ' seems like she knows she's not worth our attention' the boy who pushed her commented smirking.' The bliss is not worth the pain ' the girl said leaving the first speaker puzzled, 'Not quite the type I expected to skip classes with' a redhead boy with freckles said.' Dear dainty Dinah,we could have you for dinner ' another sneered. Reading their minds and hearing their vile thoughts, she felt her temper rise and her patience begin to run out. Giving a chilly smile, she said ' Don't flatter yourselves, I meant you were not worth "my" attention. The biggest boy - a boy she recognized to be named Eric- scoffed and said ' you sure have guts ' and took a step towards her. Before he could get to her she hit one of them in the groin with her knee and slammed her elbow into the face of another, hearing the tell-tale crack of a badly broken nose, she smiled. She moved so fast that the boys could only see blurred movements before feeling pain. Within a minute, all five boys lay on the ground, either unconscious or groaning in pain.
' Idiots' she muttered, 'I warned you' .
" Go, you idiot" her mother's voice came again, as though sensing her daughter's hesitation, she sent a quick "Leave me" , "what about you?" the girl asked "you could die". All she got was a " just go". Dipping into her mind, she saw her mother fighting - with a sword. ' Who fights with a sword in this century?' she thought, her mother's speed was impressive, but she could see the outbreak of sweat on her her mother's forehead and the straining if her muscles. She turned away from the woods, having made up her mind toelp hey mother, but her mother's cold voice glides into her head. "If you come here, I'll kill you, then myself" , the urgency in her voice made her realize that she would actually do it if it came to that, and that her mother was just buying time for get to get into the woods, else she would have come with her.
Suddenly she felt " this" was the reason they had hardly lived in a place for more than three years, whatever they had been running from had probably caught up with them- and it didn't look pleasant.
* * *
As the girl walked into the woods, she remembered cursing the dreary weather, but now, she could barely see the sky. The woods were darker than the name implied. The tree had gnarled balls and most of their branches were intertwined at the top nearly blocking out the sky. There was a light fog and she shivered involuntarily. When they had newly moved into the town, she had been fancinated at how the locals avoided the woods, they almost seemed treat it with reverence, now she knew why.
Her mother's voice came again "stop staring, go through the narrow track by your left", following hey mother's instructions she got to a clearing. She waited for a while but heard no other directions, it was clearly a dead-end. Then suddenly, something in the air rippled, it looked solid yet different and she could feel the energy coming off of it. Somehow, she knew what it was- a shielding force, her mom wanted her to go through this "thing". She stretched her hand towards it and withdrew it quickly, the part of her hand which touched it disappeared through it making her feel queer. Taking a deep breath, she walked through it.
* * *
Jake sat on an uncomfortable, straight-back chair at a round table surrounded by twelve people sitting on similar chairs. The people around were speaking in hushed tones. He had called a meeting and had even invited a few beers but the outcome was the same- they could do nothing until the last keeper arrived, and whoever it was wasn't forthcoming.
He could almost feel the tension coming off the frayed nerves of those around the table, they'd been suddenly "plucked up" from their homes into a place called pelta. He still had a headache, a "leftover" from the pounding pain he had gotten when the seers had tried to explain what had happened.
He ran his hand through his hair and stopped abruptly when he a ripple on a part of the wall, which only occurred when someone was going through the portal leading out of pelta. He didn't know what surprised him more- the fact that someone came through it, or the person who came through it.
She was just as he remembered, dark green eyes and a long wave of black hair that stopped at her waist. She looked prettier and all traces of baby fat were gone. He was so shocked and mesmerized that he didn't remember rising from- and just in time too, because he felt a weight against his chest, she was hugging him- tightly. One of the others cleared his throat and she let go- albeit reluctantly.