Bound By Nature [ A NaNoWriMo Novel]

Chapter Five

I paced the floors anxiously.

Callista and I had figured out a lot- the girl was smart and it didn't take much to logically piece this thing together, once she had read all the letters as well, with my mother and hers under the impression we were "studying" at the town library, where we went. We were the grandchildren of two of the first three- meaning Charles would be the third.

We logically figured out we had until January first- only a month away- to find and defeat Ember. The sunflower would be me, given the engraving on top of my grandmother's box. Callista was the lily- that was why her grandmother had insisted on her having the jacket, to give her the hint. Callista's middle name was Lily. That leaves the rose for Charles. Now the question was, who was druidess, warrior, and healer? What were our separate powers? How do we defeat Ember?

Okay, so there were a lot of questions. But what would any rational person think in this situation? That it's crazy? That we shouldn't? We don't even know why we have to, just that we have to. We had to have been put together for this for a reason.

Right now, Callista was telling Charles. It was after school, December fourth- we had to wait the entirety of the long weekend. I'd convinced Charles to come to the library with us, prompting him with bacon, which I think he choked on. Callista was slowly showing the evidence to him. I was antsy- what if he freaks out? What if we can't all get this done on time? We only have twenty-seven days left to train and take down Ember. What if we fail?

"No, wait, come back!" Callista's voice called. I looked over from where I'd been pacing the aisles of shelves stuffed compactly with books, to see Charles storming toward me. I froze and began to back up, but he just stomped up and put his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm the rose?!" He exclaimed, infuriated. I bit my lip to keep form bursting out laughing.

"Yeah, it seems so," I answered slowly, trying not to laugh but failing miserably.

"You get to be the sunflower, and she's the lily, and that all makes sense; but I get to go down in history as a member of the prophecy as the mighty Rose?! Are you shitting me!" Charles let go of me and began pacing again. I noticed we were getting a few stares from others and quickly materialized an excuse.

"Passionate LARP," I explained and they nodded understandingly, turning back to their books. Charles came back over to me as Callista reached us.

"Guys, I think I figured it out," Callista said suddenly, cutting off Charles, who gave her a death glare. She ignored him, though. "Lilies have been used for medicinal and spiritually healing purposes. I'm the lily- the healer. Roses have thorns, they're defensive, and much better at protecting themselves than other flowers, and they've been used to fight off negative entities- the Warrior! So that just leaves the Druidess as the Sunflower."

Charles and I paused, digesting this information. I knew Lily and Charles both were reeling from the information; but I was just frozen, unable to speak, unable to move. I was the druidess. What does that even mean? What do I do? Are there druidess trainers? Is there someone who can help us out?

"Also," Callista continued, done with waiting for us to speak, "I think I know where Agatha is, and I think she can help us out. My mom used to talk about when her dad would tell her about her mom- meaning my grandmother- would go with a couple of friends to this place called Grandfather Mountain, it's in North Carolina, and they had a friend there they called Aggie who would help them out. If we can get to Grandfather Mountain, I think we can figure this out further."

"So, what, we just walk into our house and pack up, 'Hey Mom and Dad, I'm going to the mountains!' My parents aren't going to go for that," Charles countered. Callista clenched her jaw and took a deep breath, obviously trying not to snap at him.