Awoken (Ilea, Book I) (COMPLETED)

Chapter 3

Jason Momoa - Jacob >>>>>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We just stood there in the room, looking at each other. Jacob smiled cheekily, happy that he had got his own way in the end. Carefully we had waited until all the other kids had gone to the academies and then we silently slipped out of the house and out into the streets of Elmira. We snuck around the city, avoiding any soldiers and making our way quickly but certainly to the outer wall that had been our confinement for eight years. We waited in the shadows of a building as the sentry went along the top of the wall, timing him as he went. When he was far enough away, we climbed up swiftly, looking out over the forest and trees below us.

            Once at the top we looked down to the other side, considering how to make the journey down and then back up again, we didn’t want to be stuck on the outside of this wall. When we had figured out a route back up, Jacob leaped over the wall and landed softly on the forest floor, beaming up at us. Johanna smiled at me and went to leap over the edge, I quickly stopped her when I noticed that her cloak had gotten caught on one of the wooden spikes that was built into the wall.

The sentry was coming back along the top of the wall as we were working the fabric; finally we got it loose and jumped over, landing on the forest floor with a slight thud. The sentry looked over in our direction, I closed my eyes and breathed shallowly and evenly, picturing the forest in my mind and whishing that I would get to see it again, he coughed and then turned away, carrying on with his guard.

            When he’d gone out of sight, I turned and smiled at Jacob, my hair flickering in the slight breeze. He smiled back at me and started to walk forward with a long, flowing stride, he swung his long arms gracefully as he walked, the wind catching his cloak and making it flutter as he picked up speed. I grabbed Johanna’s hand and smiled as I saw her turquoise eyes watch Jacob’s figure sprint into the distant forest like a gazelle. We ran after him, the wind making Johanna’s hair streak out behind her as our feet barely touched the ground, I loved running like this; it made me feel like I was flying. We laughed as a startled bird flew up into the air as we rushed past, enjoying the sweet song it made as it flew.

               Sprinting to a stream in the forest we splashed around in the water a bit, I felt like I was eight again, with no care in the world, nothing in my way, I felt like I could do anything. We sat down on the bank of the stream and watched the dragonflies buzz across the surface of the silvery water. I slowly traced a pattern in the stream with my finger, watching how it changed the whole course of the flowing water. I lost track of time, just thinking about how much my finger could change the course of everything, the water, where the water went, what the water did, whether it was drunk by an animal or bird, or whether it simply flowed on and on into the horizon, all from me putting my hand into the stream at that precise moment. When I looked up, Jacob and Johanna were sitting on the bank just staring at me; I felt slightly self-conscious as I came back out of my daydream.

            I stood up and smiled at them “Sorry, kind of lost myself in my own little world then.”

            “It’s okay, you looked really thoughtful.” Johanna said.

            “I was.” I looked at the water one more time in newly acquired awe and then smiled cheekily at Jacob “So where to now?”

            “I know exactly the place, follow Me.” smiling at Johanna he grabbed her hand, who grabbed mine in turn and we sped off into the forest, as care free and innocent as birds on the wind. I let go of Johanna’s hand, sped in front of them, leaping into the air and letting out a cry of exhilaration, I hadn’t been this free in years, I felt like a young child again. I caught Jacob and Johanna staring at me, “What?” I asked, puzzled by their suddenly happy expressions.

            “It’s so nice to see you like this.” Jacob said. I probably had the puzzled look still on my face as Johanna tried to explain clearer.

            “You’re always looking after us, even though Jacob is older, you always seem like the big sister who has to look after us; you go round as if you’re constantly worried about something. We’re the only ones who notice it but we worry about you, about the responsibility that you put on yourself for our sakes, so it’s nice to see you so care free and full of life.”

            I couldn’t deny it; I did worry about them, I did want to make sure that they were sheltered, that they were safe. I hadn’t even realised I’d become so protective.

            I smiled at the realisation of how right Johanna was and that I’d been completely unaware of what I’d been doing. Only someone like a sister could have noticed that. It made me think about the stuck up people at school who were always going on about blood being stronger than water, it’s a stupid saying, I know families that are completely broken, yet here we are, closer than anyone I’ve ever known. Who would want real blood relations when you can have a ‘fake’ brother and sister like mine?

              We started to run again, Jacob in the front, Johanna and I either side of him, running slightly behind. After about five minutes I recognised the path my feet were taking and smiled to myself, I did not let on to Johanna where we were going, I wanted it to be a surprise. I caught Jacob’s eye and he knew that I had figured out where we were going; he didn’t look surprised. He probably remembered from when we were younger how well I’d been able to find my path back to things, even if I had only travelled there once.

            I smiled again as my feet traced the same course I had taken hundreds of times, even though I hadn’t been there for eight years, I knew exactly where we were going and it made me smile to think of the clearing close to the centre of the forest. We had played there since we were children; for the first time when we were three years old, with the mothers of the house and the other kids who lived there. We had been back once every year until we were six and were allowed to go out into the forest on our own when, as often as possible we went to the clearing, almost twice a week for two years.

            The clearing was protected by a wall of thick trees around the outside, blocking the way in to anyone that did not know the secret pathway. Inside the wall of trees was a wide expanse of green grass with was a large canopy above, even though there were no trees in the clearing. Where the branches of the surrounding trees did not meet, it created a gap in the canopy, right in the centre, where the sunlight beamed down, everywhere else the sun shone down through the leaves creating a dappled effect across the springy green grass.

            One of the best things about the clearing was the feeling of life. There was always so much life there. I can remember even now, the bird song that would echo through the clearing, even when our noisiest games were in session. I could still see the colourful feathers of the birds sitting on the branches of the trees around the edge, the russet colour of the small woodland animals scurrying across the floor to their dens and homes under the earth as we played across the grass.

I could feel a smile play around my mouth and looked at Jacob, seeing my expression mirrored on his face, I hadn’t realised that in my eagerness that I had actually pulled ahead of him; I had always been the fastest runner out of the three of us. Even though I knew Jacob wanted to be the one to show the surprise to Johanna, I couldn’t control my enthusiasm and sped up even more.