Jacob Nimbus and The Guards of Elementum

Chapter 2

I make some new friends...

At some point during the next few days I woke up to some voices. I was too exhausted to open my eyes and see the speakers, but I could make out a girl's voice and a woman's voice. They sounded pretty far apart in age. The girl sounded about my age, but the woman... She sounded like she could be in her early 40's but it was hard to tell. They were whispering quietly, but I could make out some of the words... The girl said 'But Ammara-'

The woman said , 'Yes I'm quite sure.'

The girl mumbled something else that I didn't quite catch. 'But how did he defeat the pyloik all by himself? I'm telling you someone else must have been with him.'

'I'm not sure. He seems different than the rest,' the older woman answered.

'But I think he will be waking up soon so go fetch Omar from the maze. I'd like you both to be there when he comes to.'

That's when I passed out again, but I assure you I that when I passed out this time it happened extremely heroically.

When I woke up and could open my eyes there was a boy and a girl standing over me. The boy had short, spiky, black hair and it looked like he hadn't combed it in weeks. He was tall and thin. His skin tone looked middle-eastern and he carried a black sword strapped to his back, it created a dark aura around him. He wore a red and orange tie-dye t-shirt that read: Cave Obsidian. The shirt had a symbol that looked like a jagged black sword in the center of a circle, at the cardinal points, there were symbols as well, there was a wing in the north, a water droplet in the west, a lit torch in the east, and finally a chunk of dirt with grass growing out the top in the south.

The girl wore a matching t-shirt, except hers was tie-dyed brown and green. She had long chestnut hair that cascaded down her back in waves, pushed back with a red headband. She was dark-skinned and lean. She had a sharp dagger strapped to her waist, it looked to be made of ice. They both looked about my age but the girl had an air of maturity about her.

My first thought was that they were probably about to kill me, but the atmosphere in the room felt friendly so I went with my gut and pulled a joke. I gestured to their weapons, 'You aren't planning to use those on me, are you?' I cracked a grin.

'Oh, you're awake!' the boy looked excited and bent down to where I was laying in a cot.

'Yeah, uhhhh am I dead?' I wondered aloud.

'Wow, this kid is a lot dumber than he looks.' The girl grumbled to my right.

'Thanks, I have that sort of impression on people. I turned back to the boy. So where am I, if I'm not dead and who are you guys?'

'My name is Omar Al-Harik,' Omar told me,

'Sweet, I'm Jacob, Jacob Nimbus.'

'Nice to meet ya Jacob. Welcome to base camp.' Omar told me, as he gestured around the room.

His finger hovered over the girl on the right. 'She's not good with first impressions but you'll probably get used to her.'

The girl held out her hand to me and said, 'I'm Natalie Stone, pleased to meet you.' I smiled at her but she just looked away.

I began to take in my surroundings. The majority of the room was white; the door, the tables, the computer, the curtains, the floor. There were windows but they looked different somehow... 'What's up with the windows?' I asked Omar.

'Oh, them?' He replied 'They have mirrors in them that reflect the sky, seeing as we're so far underground, there isn't much light source other than the torches and the sunlight.'