Talisman of El

CHAPTER FOURTEEN



A Little Prying Goes a Long Way

PEEKING THROUGH THE GAP between the door and the frame, Charlie saw a small room with mismatched furnishings. ‘Hello,’ he called, as he entered the cabin, but no one answered. The room was a mix between a library, a gift shop and a fortune teller’s abode, lined with display units that were loaded with books and ornaments. A circular table sat in the corner covered with a turquoise cloth and a globe in the centre. The only sound came from the light breeze wafting through the door that brought with it the fresh smell of the lake.

A shadow flickered inside the globe, and he walked over to it. He looked into the smoky ball, and as he reached his hand out towards it, a loud bang startled him, and he jumped.

Charlie whirled around. When he saw the closed door, panic struck him. He tried to convince himself that it had been the wind, for there was no one in the room but him.

As he headed for the door, he heard a soft voice behind him and stopped. Turning round, he saw Terra and breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Sorry. The door was open.’

‘You need not apologise, Charlie,’ Terra said. ‘I’ve been meaning to have a moment alone with you. I want you to know how sorry I am about your parents. It must have been hard dealing with such tragedy.’

‘You saw that?’ Charlie asked.

Terra nodded.

For a moment, Charlie was lost for words. He didn’t know how to take the news. On the one hand, he didn’t like that a stranger had delved into his private life, but on the other hand, he couldn’t blame her for having her abilities. He realised he was staring at her and looked away, his face heating up. He walked over to the display unit in the corner, browsing the items on the shelves. ‘What else did you see?’

‘Not a great deal. The connection was not long enough. To see someone’s past, I must have physical contact with the person. Though, it appears I am not the only time traveller here.’

Charlie looked at her in bewilderment. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I saw your dreams.’

Charlie’s shoulders stiffened. ‘I thought you didn’t see much.’

‘I saw enough.’

‘Yeah, well, I don’t know what you’re on about.’ He shot her a look, as if he knew exactly what she was talking about but didn’t appreciate the intrusion.

‘It bothers you that you are different.’

Charlie turned back to the shelf.

‘It should not,’ Terra went on. ‘I have never known a human to have such a gift without delving into some form of magic. It is extraordinary.’

‘Maybe you don’t get out enough. You should try the circus.’

‘Perhaps I will.’ He sensed rather than saw Terra smile. ‘Do you wish to talk about your dreams?’

‘No. It was one dream. I don’t see what the big deal is. I wish everyone would stop going on about it.’ He headed for the door.

‘You’re wondering why this is happening to you.’ Terra’s tone was matter-of-fact. Charlie stopped, his hand gripping the doorknob. ‘You feel as though you no longer recognise the person you are. Will you not join me?’ He glanced back at her. ‘Perhaps I can be of some help.’

‘Thanks, but I’ll pass.’ Charlie hurried out of the cabin. Halfway across the bridge, he stopped. His legs felt like lead, but he knew the feeling was all in his mind. What if Terra could somehow explain what was happening to him and why?

When he re-entered the cabin, he saw her sitting at the table.

‘I knew you would change your mind,’ she said.

‘Let me guess,’ Charlie said, not attempting to mask his sarcasm. ‘You saw me coming.’

‘I can only see the past, Charlie, not the future.’ She fixed him with a direct and intense gaze, full of interest. ‘Shall we start with the dreams?’

Charlie closed the door, lingering beside it. ‘This is just between us.’ He needed confirmation that whatever he said wouldn’t get back to the others. Although Derkein had claimed that going to Eden was too dangerous, he couldn’t help but wonder if his change of mind hadn’t been more a change of heart. Perhaps he was starting to distrust the kid who could see so much, yet claimed to know so little.

Terra cast her gaze around the room then back at Charlie. ‘We are the only ones here. Please, sit.’

Charlie hesitated a moment then went and sat in the chair opposite her.

‘Joseph and Eleanor Blake,’ Terra said. ‘Those were the two headstones I saw. Let us proceed from there.’ She placed one hand on the crystal ball and extended the other to Charlie. ‘I need your hand.’

‘Why?’

‘We are going to do some scrying.’ She must have read the confusion on his face, because she said, ‘Crystals have the capacity to draw and emit energy. Whatever we project into it will appear inside the ball. I can show you what I see, but first I need you to take my hand.’

Charlie placed his hand in hers.

‘Relax,’ Terra whispered.

The mist in the globe started to fade and images appeared. Charlie leaned forward. He caught his breath when he spotted a man with a small boy wearing matching black suit and tie standing in a graveyard. Dad! His eyes started to burn, but he had taught himself not to cry a long time ago; he wasn’t about to start now.

As Terra had said, there were two gravestones: his and hers. The headstone with his father’s name on it had an open grave. Charlie heard no sound, but he preferred it that way.

The boy in the crystal ball looked up at his dad longingly, eyes squinting under the blazing sun. The man stooped down beside the child, kissed, and hugged him. After a short moment, he released the boy, smiled, and stood up. The man then jumped into the open grave, and the earth closed up.

Charlie snatched his hand out of Terra’s, and the scene in the crystal ball faded. He didn’t look up at the Elder but could feel her eyes on him. ‘I didn’t know what it meant,’ he said, his tone defensive. ‘If I’d known, then maybe …’

‘Then maybe he would still be alive,’ Terra finished.

Charlie’s jaw tightened. He hadn’t contemplated how much his past would and still affected him.

‘Do you remember how much you liked to draw?’ Terra asked.

‘No. What does that have to do with anything?’

Terra held her hand out to him. ‘A lot.’

Charlie took her hand, and a series of images flashed inside the globe like a show reel: he and his father at a science museum, he and Alex sitting on the floor in the boys’ toilet at school ...

When the images finally stopped flashing, Charlie saw his father sitting in the living room in their house in Palmers Green. He was sorting through a bunch of papers on the coffee table in front of him when a young boy around three years old walked in.

Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was strange seeing himself, especially since he didn’t recall the memory. The boy in the globe handed his father a collection of drawings. His father scooped him up onto his lap and studied his son’s artwork.

The first was a helicopter carrying a car above a house halfswamped in water, the second, two tall buildings on fire and the third, a huge wave towering over a group of houses.

Charlie felt something churn inside his stomach. These drawings all depicted death. The distressed look on his dad’s face made him look away. He glanced at Terra, who looked as if she was in a trance. He wanted to know why she was showing him this memory and what it had to do with what happened to his dad.

He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated when he saw the fourth drawing. His heart sank, and he gripped Terra’s hand a little harder than he had meant to, but she didn’t flinch.

The drawing showed a black funnel cloud with debris on either side of it and two stick figures lying in open graves with an angel floating above them. On the headstones were the words Mummy and Daddy. The image faded, and the crystal ball became cloudy.

‘Do you understand now?’ Terra asked.

Charlie didn’t respond. His body was shaking.

‘You did tell him, Charlie.’

He looked at her, still holding onto her with a tight grip. ‘All those drawings …’

‘Yes. I’m afraid so.’

There was a short silence as Charlie digested the news.

‘The dream you had of your father was not your first vision,’ Terra said. ‘You have always had them. You just forgot. You have to stop blaming yourself. What happened was no fault of yours.’

A wave of emotions washed over Charlie: anger, for not being able to save his dad, sorrow, for the fact that his dad had known about his own death and must have had worrying thoughts of when it was going to happen, and guilt, for being the one that survived. He should have felt better having found out he had confided in his dad, but he didn’t. Delving into his past only made him realise how detrimental his dreams were, and his heart constricted at the thought of what would happen next.

Terra squeezed his hand, snapping him out of his reverie. She was staring at the crystal ball in stunned disbelief. Charlie glanced at the globe and saw a square room with pillars all around it. In between each pillar was a background of stars with intermittent bursts of purple energy bolts. It looked like somewhere in outer space. What now?

‘The Hall of Records!’ Terra hissed.

‘What’s the Hall of Records?’

‘It is a place in Koura.’

‘So this is your memory?’

Terra looked at him. ‘The Hall of Records is a place which holds the Akashic Records – the Book of Life. It contains the knowledge of every mortal that has ever existed on Earth. It is only accessible to Rulers and Guardians.’

‘I’m not following.’

‘I am an Elder, Charlie. This is not my memory.’

‘Well, it isn’t my memory –’ He broke off when he saw two beings appear out of nowhere inside the Hall of Records. As if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, he moved in for a closer look, and his eyes widened in surprise.

Terra gasped, but Charlie didn’t take his eyes off the crystal ball. ‘That’s not possible,’ he said, gawping at himself and Avaran inside the Hall of Records. ‘I’ve never been there.’

‘You are wearing the same clothes,’ Terra pointed out.

Charlie glanced quickly at her anxious face then back at the crystal ball. She was right. The clothes he was wearing were the same clothes he had on in the Hall of Records.

‘This is not your past,’ Terra said. ‘It is your future.’

‘But I thought you couldn’t see the future.’

‘I cannot.’

He glanced at her and saw her staring at him, scrutinizing his face as if waiting for him to do a magic trick. He snatched his hand out of hers, and the crystal ball became cloudy. ‘It’s wrong. It has to be. Avaran is taking us back.’

‘Yet you are still here.’

‘Yes, but –’ Charlie didn’t finish his sentence. The sound of a horn erupted into the air. Terra rose so quickly she knocked her chair down, her eyes shifting to the windows. Charlie stood up. ‘What was that?’

Terra looked at him. ‘Invasion.’

Charlie’s eyes widened. He rushed towards the door. As soon as he opened it, a chilling roar ripped through the still forest, and he shuddered. A hand gripped his shoulder, startling him, but he relaxed when he realised it was Terra.

‘Just remember,’ she said, ‘slow, deep breaths.’

‘What –?’ A dizzy spell hit Charlie before he could finish his sentence, and the world around him started to fade, until nothing remained but darkness.

He thought he had passed out at first, but he was very much awake. Even though he could neither see nor hear anything, he felt Terra’s hand on his shoulder. He felt himself spiralling upward towards a small light in the shape of a keyhole, which grew larger and larger the closer he got to it. Remembering what Terra had said, he focused on his breathing.

The world came back in a blur. He heard muffled sounds around him, and the smell of the earth made him nauseous. After a few deep breaths, the world finally stopped spinning, and the surroundings came into focus.

He was sitting on the platform facing the temple, someone’s arms wrapped around him. Craning his neck to look behind him, he saw Derkein.

‘You okay?’ Derkein asked.

Charlie nodded. ‘What happened?’

‘You were teleported.’

With Derkein’s help, he got to his feet. He tried to remember why he was feeling so anxious when a deep growl reached his ears making the hairs on his arms stand on end. He swirled round, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

Arcadians were dashing back and forth in a panicked frenzy, shouting commands in a tongue Charlie could not interpret, but he recognised it as the same language Ash had spoken to Isis when he had first encountered them in the woods.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked.

‘We’re under attack,’ Derkein answered.

Charlie recalled Terra having said something about an invasion. More growls ensued, and it sounded as if they were getting closer. ‘What is that?’

‘Avaran mentioned something about a pack, but I didn’t get the rest.’

Charlie spotted Oren coming out of one of the cabins on the left, holding something pointy in her hands. While he was aware of what Arcadians were capable of, it still came as a surprise when he saw her take two leaps across the clearing and disappear into the dark forest. Whatever it was that had invaded Tohu, it seemed the villagers were doing everything to keep it away from the clearing.

‘Charlie!’ Alex hurtled along the platform towards him. She threw herself into his arms with such force he would have fallen backwards had it not been for Derkein.

‘Where’s Richmond?’ Derkein asked her.

She let go of Charlie, a startled look on her face. ‘I thought he was with you.’

Panicked, the three of them scanned the clearing, but they saw no sign of Richmond.

‘Stay here,’ Derkein ordered, and he headed off towards the right end of the platform.

‘Charlie!’ Richmond’s shrill cry cut through the noise.

Charlie scanned the surroundings. Where was he? ‘Richmond!’ he shouted.

‘Charlie,’ Richmond called again.

‘There.’ Alex pointed at the campfire that was about twenty yards away from them where they spotted Richmond’s head poking out from behind a log. ‘Rich, come on.’ Alex waved her hands in a forward-backward motion.

Averting his eyes from Richmond, Charlie looked towards Derkein, who had just descended the platform. He was about to call to him when he saw a movement in the forest behind Derkein and paused. Straining his eyes, he made out a looming shadow. He wondered for a moment if he was imagining it, if the invasion had triggered paranoia, but when Derkein turned towards the direction of the shadow, his body went rigid.

The first things he saw were two huge canines, and then the yellow eyes, which glimmered in the darkness.

The creature stepped into the clearing. It looked like a cross between a lion and a cheetah with its golden mane and tanned fur decorated in black spots.

It was a sabre-tooth tiger, about four feet in height and six feet in length; and it looked hungry.

The creature lowered its shoulders, its muzzle tensed, bearing sharp, wet fangs. It looked almost as if it was smiling.

‘Oh. My. God,’ Alex breathed.

Charlie felt his heart stop when the animal turned towards Derkein. It looked as if it was about to pounce, but then it suddenly jerked its head away. Following its gaze, Charlie’s eyes landed on Richmond, who was running towards the platform.

He didn’t pause to think. He jumped off the platform, landing on the ground in a cat-like crouch, and ran towards Richmond. He heard several different sounds: Alex screaming after him, Derkein shouting, the battle around him, and the vicious growl that could only have come from the sabre-tooth tiger.

It seemed Richmond had heard the growl, too, for he looked away from Charlie then stopped dead in his tracks.

Charlie was about ten metres away from him, the sabretooth tiger twenty metres away, but the proximity was tightening fast.

‘Rich, move!’ Charlie yelled, but either Richmond couldn’t hear him, or he simply couldn’t move out of fear. Charlie’s eyes widened in horror when he saw the creature take a leap, front paws out, jaws extended. Then something strange happened.

Charlie’s feet left the ground, his hand extended in front of him. It was as if someone had picked him up and thrown him into the air.

For a few seconds, he felt as if he was flying. He must have been about five metres away from Richmond but somehow managed to knock him out of the way.

The collision sent the two of them tumbling against the hard ground, Charlie landing on his stomach, Richmond on his back, both groaning in pain.

Hearing a loud thud, the boys swirled around and saw the sabre-tooth tiger lying on its side a few feet away from them. Charlie could hear its jagged breathing, and he knew better than to think it would stay down. He rose, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder from where it had dislocated on his landing, and pulled Richmond up with his good arm.

The air was buzzing with noise. Charlie saw the Arcadians filing into the clearing, some with bloodstains all over them, others with dirt on their faces, twigs in their hair. He felt a sharp pain in his arm that he thought was because of the fall, but when the pain disappeared, he looked down and realised it was Richmond squeezing his arm. The look on Richmond’s face and the deep growl that reverberated behind him sent a shiver down his spine.

He spun around. The sabre-tooth tiger was on all fours. It let out a deafening roar. Charlie only had time for one thought, and he wondered if his dad had ever wished he’d had a normal son.

As the creature set into a crouch, a strange feeling of calm descended on Charlie, and he sidestepped in front of Richmond, forcing him back. The feeling was both energizing and draining. Normally, he was not this valiant at the threat of danger, but he had the sudden urge to take charge. His eyes stayed locked on the creature that was drawing closer to him.

And then it pounced.

Charlie pushed Richmond aside, and then he stumbled, falling onto his back. The creature was on top of him in a second, its face inches from his, eyes locked on him – steely yellow eyes that studied him with such undeviating exactitude that Charlie had to wonder if he was imagining it.

‘Charlie,’ he heard Richmond murmur.

‘Don’t move,’ Charlie whispered to him, his eyes still on the creature. His heart racing, he raised one hand off the ground, moving it towards the sabre-tooth tiger. He hesitated three times before his hand finally made contact with the creature’s muzzle. He had always been great with animals, but this was beyond his wildest dream. To his surprise, the creature received his touch like a pet dog vying for its owner’s attention. Charlie moved his hand through its thick mane, wondering how he went from protecting Richmond from a man-eating beast to petting it.

A wave of murmurs travelled around the clearing.

The creature shifted back, and Charlie rose to his feet. It was nearly as tall as he was. The look in its eyes had changed. It almost seemed ashamed. Opening its mouth, a whining sound escaped its throat, and then it dashed off, disappearing back into the dark forest.

Charlie froze where he stood, not sure whether to laugh or cry that he was still alive.

It was nearing one in the morning when Derkein climbed onto the deck of the tree house where Charlie was sitting. It had been almost an hour since the sabre-tooth tiger incident, and since then the gang had bathed, had their clothes washed and dried and had sleeping arrangements prepared for them.

Charlie and Richmond had their own tree house, situated just below the one Alex was sharing with Oren, and a short walk across the bridge from the one Derkein was staying in.

No one had questioned Charlie about what had happened with the sabre-tooth tiger, for they just could not understand it. It was unusual. He had been in such shock he had about forgotten everything that had taken place before his confrontation with the jungle cat, until Avaran told him he would take them back to the surface at dawn.

‘Can’t sleep either, huh?’ Derkein asked, as he sat beside Charlie, legs dangling over the deck.

Charlie looked away and folded his arms across his chest.

Derkein sighed. ‘Still giving me the silent treatment? Look, about before –’

‘Forget it.’ Charlie’s voice was low and fierce. ‘I understand. I’m an orphan, remember. Neglect comes with the territory.’

‘I’m not neglecting you. I never meant for you to feel …’ Derkein paused. ‘It may surprise you, but I know what it’s like to want something and not be able to get it.’

‘Says the millionaire.’

‘You can’t buy everything, Charlie.’ Sadness tainted Derkein’s voice, and he looked away. He was quiet for a moment. ‘When I was eight, I got the lead part in the school play of Jack and the Beanstalk. I was so excited because it was my first lead role. My father promised he wouldn’t miss this one. I messed my lines up so many times because I kept searching the audience.’

‘Did he show?’

‘No. He was busy with work.’

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, watching as the last few lights went out in the tree houses around them. It was dark, and Charlie could barely make out Derkein under the small amount of moonlight shining through the gaps in the trees.

Derkein had two and a half days before he would automatically teleport to the surface, and Charlie knew that once that happened, it would only be a matter of weeks before …

‘I couldn’t forgive myself if either of you got hurt,’ Derkein said. ‘I’ve already put your lives in danger just by bringing you here.’

‘I can’t leave,’ Charlie said. ‘I have to be here.’

‘Avaran has agreed to take you back.’

‘Maybe he’ll change his mind –’

‘No.’ Derkein’s voice was firm. ‘You’re not staying and that’s final.’ There was no point in arguing. ‘That’s final’ in the simplest form translated as, ‘I’m the adult, and whatever I say goes’.

The wooden floor creaked as Derkein got to his feet. ‘You’re a special kid, Charlie. Something tells me you’re going to change many lives, just like you’ve changed mine.’

Charlie watched him walk across the rope bridge and disappear inside the tree house. He knew Derkein was only trying to protect him, but he couldn’t help the burning rage he felt knowing he came all this way for nothing.

‘It’s not fair,’ a sleepy voice said behind him.

Charlie glanced over his shoulder and saw Richmond standing in the doorway of their tree house. ‘Doesn’t anyone sleep around here?’

Richmond yawned. ‘You woke me.’ He sat on the deck beside Charlie. ‘Do you think he’ll come see us when he gets back?’

Charlie glanced towards Derkein’s tree house and saw the light go out. ‘He won’t come back. They never come back.’