Important note: As of October 2014 I have re-written this book!
I truly apologize, but it's extremely important for this book to come out the way I envisioned it. I hope you all would give it a chance, I really think it's improved!
Thank you all.
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Chapter Nineteen: Clash.
We were in a vast open desert.
The sun was so bright, I could hardly see anything at all. I instantly regretted not having packed some sunglasses for my ‘sensitive human eyes’ as Gabriel referred to it.
“I think I sense something!” Gabriel cried out. The three of us were so spread out, but when Gabriel said this, Caleb and him instantly appeared by my side.
“Are you sure?” Caleb asked with eagerness in his voice.
“I sense something.” Gabriel creased his eyes in confusion; “How old did you say Maximus was?”
“Older than I am,” Caleb answered. “Much older.”
Which I knew meant that Maximus must have been at least a thousand years old.
“No, no…”Gabriel shook his head and widened his eyes in alarm.
“I’m not sensing anyone that old, Caleb. I think we’re in trouble.”
“What?!” I gasped. “What do you mean Gabriel?”
Caleb quickly pulled me to the side, and tried to remain calm. He stayed silent for a moment, mentally planning for the worst. “How many of them?” He finally asked Gabriel. And I quickly began to panic.
“I..I’m not sure…” Gabriel stuttered, I could see that he was nervous too. I wasn’t sure if illicit Immortals had experience fighting other Immortals. If it was just Caleb fighting an entire group, he could be killed easily.
I cringed at the thought.
“Focus, Gabriel.” Caleb spoke through his teeth. He seemed completely agitated, I saw the despair in his eyes. “How many?”
“Three!” Gabriel blurted out when Caleb pressured him. “Three, maybe four…”
“How close are they, Gabriel?” I asked desperately, I was shaking frantically. “Maybe we can run!” I pleaded.
“No,” Caleb closed his eyes. I knew that he begun to sense them too, which meant that they were much closer.
“Gabriel, focus. Can you tell if they’re a part of The Council? Or The Alliance?” Caleb held Gabriel’s shoulder and focused on his gaze.
“Neither,” Gabriel answered. “They’re far too young to be either.”
“Good,” Caleb nodded trying to remain calm. “This means we can defeat them.” He told Gabriel, who by now seemed to be as nervous as I was.
“Are you prepared?” Caleb asked, and Gabriel took a good inhale. “Yes.” He nodded with a look of uncertainty.
“What about me?”
I was nearly hyperventilating. My hands were trembling and I could feel my heart ringing behind my ears. Caleb held my hand up, and then he dug into his shirt to pull out his necklace.
“Guard this,” He said handing me the First Stone. The bright sun fell directly on his eyes, and I saw them roar with Excellency. “I need you to run back to the tribe.” He said, nearly startling out of my admiration.
“What?” I gasped in horror.
It was London all over again. I couldn’t believe it was happening again.
“They won’t be able to sense you.” Caleb reminded me. Caleb was the only person in the world who could sense me, we were tied together by prophesy. “Run as fast as you can.” He said again.
But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t leave him behind.
“Caleb, they’re close.” Gabriel’s voice uttered out.
“Go!” Caleb pushed me. I fell to the ground, I was shaking so hard. “Go!” He screamed at me, his eyes were wide and desperate. I got up quickly by instinct. And before I knew it, I found myself running away, wrapping The First Stone around my neck. When I was far enough, I looked back, and all I could see was the sand clashing into the air.
The fight had begun.
The adrenaline pumped through my body and I kept on running until I saw a forest. I ran deep into it, my lungs were aching and I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. I had managed to even tune out all the sounds of the different birds that were around me. I didn’t care.
Caleb’s voice echoed in my brain. “Run,” it said.
And I did. I ran as fast as I could. My eyes were scanning for an open field, the spot to where the Tribe had lived. But the forest was too dense, and for a moment I felt like I was lost.
And then finally I saw a silhouette in the distance.
Run towards it! My instincts roared.
Maybe it was one of the tribesmen.
But as I approached it, the silhouette became a pair of clear bright faces.
Immortals. I gasped in terror.
“No,” I mumbled, my body was ready to begin sobbing. It was all happening too quickly, my human brain could hardly process it all at once.
And then they appeared before me.
“You can’t run from us, dear.” The sound of a smooth British accent made its way into my ears. There were two of them, both tall and strong. I watched horrified.
“What do you want from me?” I mumbled out weakly. My heart was still pounding, but I was so nervous I thought my knees wouldn’t be able to sustain my weight with so much trembling.
All I could do was stand in place as they surrounded me.
“You know what we want.” One of them said, “Just hand it over, and we won’t touch you.”
And it hit me that they wanted Caleb’s necklace.
“I can’t…”I was going to cry.
I didn’t want to be the reason The Alliance got a hold of the First Stone.
“We can do this the easy way or…well, you know how it goes.”
One of them took slow steady steps towards me. He was young and radiant, I couldn’t appreciate his Immortality, I was far too terrified.
I clung to the necklace with my fingers and slowly wrapped it off my neck.
“That’s it…” One of them smiled. “Just hand it over, now.”
I had a choice.
I could hand the necklace over, and perhaps, If I were lucky they’d let me live and tell Caleb about it. Maybe, maybe, there was hope that we could get it back.
Or I could hold on to it…and die.
I slowly stretched my hand out, ready to give in. When I suddenly remembered what The Librarian had told Caleb when we were in Prague.
“Not even the Oracle can prevent what he has foreseen.”
And it hit me.
The Oracle foresaw me saving the Kingdom of Juliai—which meant that I couldn’t die today.
Not like this.
“No!” I heard myself cry out, and quickly held back the necklace to my chest.
“No?” One of them laughed. “Have it your way then!”
I decided to close my eyes shut, if they were gonna hurt me I didn’t want to see how. But before my eyes could move downward, I heard a loud clash.
“What the…?” One of them said.
We all stood frozen in place. And then there was another loud bang.
“Impossible…” The Immortal standing in front of me opened his eyes wide. But his eyes weren’t focused on me—instead it was heavily narrowed on whatever it was behind me.
I turned around slowly, and I dropped to my knees in shock.
“Maximus.” I whispered.
***