Falwyn, page 8
“It’s the Pepsi tee shirt—makes me feel white.”
“I think it’s the fact that you’re not carrying the voodoo staff.”
Sol laughed and linked his arm through hers. “So how are you doing this afternoon?”
“Honestly? I feel like I’m in a dream.”
“Of course you do. That’s what happens when people encounter the Falwyn. Most don’t remember the experience at all.”
“Why do I remember?”
“It was the circumstances—the fact that other people were involved. It makes it that much harder to hide when several participate in the event.” Sol patted her hand. “Tell me, are you in love?”
Embarrassed, Lara could only look away. “Why do you ask that?”
“You’re glowing. It happens to all women who fall in love. Unfortunately, most abandon all sense of who they are and their purpose in life. They tend to live for the other person and neglect their true calling. Love tends to turn a blind eye to people’s vices. You believe in the fairy-tale instead. Thus the reason why they call it falling.” His tone turned bitter. “Love is a crystal shard. It can be a thing of beauty or it can be used as a weapon.”
“Love is a rose,” Lara wistfully remembered the lyrics of her father’s favorite 80s song.
“Baloney!” Sol practically spit. “Did he say he loves you?”
Because she hesitated to answer, Sol added, “I hope he hasn’t Sealed to you!”
His voice had an edge to it, and it made Lara stare at him. “I don’t know what ‘Sealed’ means. And what’s wrong with a human and a Falwyn being together?” she pressed.
“It’s not allowed.”
“Why?”
“The Falwyn look down on it. Humans are considered second class. To Seal with a Falwyn means you bond to them in every sense of the word. If a human Seals with a Falwyn, it doesn’t work out well for the human. You will suffer his fate.”
“What do you mean? Like, we’d die at the same time?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “I think that’s romantic.”
“There’s nothing romantic about turning a human.”
“Turning?” Lara questioned.
“Falwyn have taken humans to their side for centuries. It turns them into Falwyn. But Sealing with one is an entirely different matter. It sounds romantic, but honestly, it is a terrible fate.” He rubbed his chin. “If one of them is wounded in battle, the other is hurt as well. Many times, a human who is taken turns mad. Something about the transferring over doesn’t agree with them and it takes a terrible toll on their sanity. Even being around a Falwyn can cause humans to question reality. Do you still think it’s romantic?”
Her smiled faded. “How do you know if one’s Sealed with you?”
Sol eyed her. “It’s very obvious when it happens. A powerful light surrounds them, and it’s very painful for the Falwyn. It binds them to the one they love. It takes just a few moments, but when it’s complete, it’s for life.”
A wave of happiness swept over Lara: Draven was in love with her.
“I didn’t plan on meeting with him again,” she confessed. “The first time was an accident. He just appeared out of nowhere.”
“Forest folk are stealthy. It’s what makes them such lethal hunters! They are greatly feared by the locals. Accurate and deadly, they blend into their surroundings, making it very difficult to know where they are. No one ever liked going into battle against them.” He quieted and stared at a worn stump in the ground.
“Battle? Are there a lot of wars on their side?”
Sol sat heavily on the stump. “Not many. The Great War was the last.”
“The Great War,” she repeated.
“The Falwyn are the race who live in Draven’s dimension. There are different types of Falwyn—these correspond with the four kingdoms. Two of them are at constant war: the Celak and the Ahnalise. When the Great War happened, they temporarily joined forces to defeat the largest kingdom—the Brethlyn Kingdom. But they could not stop their hatred toward each other long enough to keep the truce, and they turned on each other. The Celak won that battle, and the Brethlyn Kingdom refused to engage in battle with the Celak.”
“What’s the fourth kingdom?”
“It’s the smallest and most easily controlled. We call it Maratyn.” He grew quiet as if recalling old memories.
“So what happened?”
“With no one to fight, the Celak retreated back to their lands. The Brethlyn have lived in peace ever since. But times have changed; Celak has a new ruler. They call him Geldrac, which means ‘the skull’, in their language. He is strong and arrogant. He aims to rule as much as he can. He laid claim to Maratyn within the first year of his reign. Next, he took over Ahnalise. I have no doubt that he will challenge the Brethlyn soon.”
“How do you know all this?” Lara asked and Sol shrugged. “You realize that all of this sounds ludicrous, right?”
“It sounds ludicrous to everyone who hasn’t experienced it.” he answered. “Many of the people in these parts know about the Falwyn and choose to ignore them. It’s usually better that way. But what about you? I don’t think ignoring them is possible.”
“I think Draven Sealed to me,” Lara admitted, and Sol made a sound like he had been punched in the stomach.
“God help you,” he whispered.
“Why? What little you have told me is not bad!”
“There is so much more. I urge you not to see him again!”
“I’m in love with him,” she admitted.
“Your love will get you killed, if you are not careful.” His voice shook.
“If I can’t be with the man I love, my heart will wither and die.”
“That’s immaturity talking,” he snapped. Lara didn’t answer, and Sol sighed heavily. “Each of us has to live with the consequences of our actions. You must live with yours.” He eyed her. “I want to ask you something very important, Lara.”
“Yes?”
“That bird. The one with the broken wing—the one you healed?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think its wing was broken.”
Sol nodded. “It was.”
“No,” she insisted, feeling weak.
“Lara!” Sol explained. “Healing that bird means you have already been effected by interacting with Draven. You have a gift—probably many now that things are in motion. You’re going to have to accept your gifts as they come.”
A cold sweat broke upon Lara. “I don’t understand.”
“There is much magic happening now. You must tell me if you ever dreamed of Draven?”
The horrible nightmare of his death lingered in the back of her mind. Sol leaned forward on the stump.
“Your silence speaks volumes, my dear.” He rubbed his hands together. “It is written in the Falwyn history that a Seer will come and will help bring about peace. They have been waiting since the Great War for this Seer to arrive. Your ability to heal, combined with your dreams made real, make me believe you might be her. If I am right, however, you and Draven cannot be together.”
“Why?”
“The Seer may never marry. In fact, the Seer is not supposed to be able to bond with a Falwyn.”
Lara picked at a dead leaf. “This has to be a joke! It has to be. What would have happened if I hadn’t come to Idaho at all? None of this would have taken place!”
“Needless to say, it has. A Seer doesn’t choose her visions,” Sol explained, “and they are not selective. What you see is what will be, no matter whether you like it or not.”
Lara gasped.
“What is it? What have you seen?” Sol inquired.
Her face felt numb. “Draven’s death.”
“You say he Sealed with you?”
She could only nod.
“Then you have seen your death as well.”
Lara stared at Sol, the lines between reality and dreams no longer recognizable. “What do you know? Can I change this?”
“No,” his voice was somber.
“What do I do?”
“You are going to have to meet with him again. You have to tell him that you might be the Seer. Chances are, he already knows.”
“How could he possibly know?”
Sol’s looked at her in pity. “Lara, he’s Falwyn: he knows everything.”
“Are you saying he knew me when he saw me?”
“Of course.”
“But he didn’t,” she argued. “He told me he didn’t!”
“Falwyn lie just as humans do.”
“No, he wouldn’t.”
She began to worry; if Draven knew she might be the Seer, would he still want her? It was impossible that he was lying about his love for her: he had Sealed with her.
“How well do you actually know Draven?” Sol brought her back to reality. “Or me for that matter? Has he really told you anything? Anything at all?”
He waited for her answer, and when she didn’t, he continued. “I think it would be wise to have a serious chat with Draven.” He rose from the stump, groaning. “My dear, tomorrow is going to be a very important day for you. Just admitting to him that you might be the Seer that his kind has been seeking all these many years is going to pull you further into his world. Be careful. I’d say take someone with you, but if you are correct, and he has Sealed with you, you will be safe with him.”
Lara remained in thought as Sol walked her back. A nagging feeling lingered. Had she revealed too much to Sol? How did she know if he was good or bad? He harbored deep, angry feelings, which she could tell by his cold attitude toward love. They said goodbye as the sun dipped behind the lush mountain peaks.
Inside the cabin, her father and Michael were at a mental war of Scrabble, which put Michael in an unfair position, because her father was a member of MENSA. Lara closed the front door without a sound and stood quietly, watching them engage in silent battle. Both reminded her of the famous statue ‘The Thinker’ by Rodin.
Michael made his move, pursing his lips and carefully placing the letters upon the board.
“Take that, Obi-Wan,” he challenged, and her father leaned forward.
“‘Amateur’ has a U in it,” he said.
Michael frowned. “Well what about your ‘cemetery’? It has an A! I didn’t say anything about that!”
Her father stared at Michael. “How did you make it to your Senior year?”
Lara cleared her throat, distracting the two of them.
“Lara!” her father called, somewhat relieved for the distraction.
“Hi, Dad,” she waved. Michael shoved his chair aside and stormed up the rickety stairs.
“Come and have a seat,” her father ordered in a quiet voice and watched as Lara approached, a slight smile upon his face.
“It’s too late to take Michael back tonight,” he began and Lara interrupted.
“Dad, nothing like that will happen again, okay? We’re fine. His parents will have a fit if you take him home.”
“I think they will understand.”
“Can we just forget about it and move on?” Lara slumped back into her chair. “He didn’t hurt me. I didn’t hurt him. It won’t happen again.”
“Do I have your word?”
“Yes.”
Her father sighed. “And we have to talk about where you’ve been going,” he began. “This is a new place, and we don’t know the people here.”
Lara rolled her eyes, and he raised his hand to stop her from interrupting. “Please, give me a little credit here. I know you’ve been meeting with this Draven boy, and he might be the nicest person in the world, but I don’t know him. I’ve met him once and he seemed great, but there’s something about him that is strange.”
Suppressing a smile, Lara looked at her father from under her eyelashes. “What do you mean?”
“He’s not like other boys.”
“Well for starters, he’s a man, he’s not a boy.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No,” Lara sat forward. “Tell me, Dad.”
Her father flipped a Scrabble tile between his fingers. “I don’t want you hanging out with the wrong crowd.”
Lara nearly laughed. “He’s not part of any crowd.”
“I’m concerned for your safety.”
“I know,” she looked away. “But Dad, he’s wonderful.”
“And what about Michael? Are you just going to ignore him for the rest of the summer?”
“What else am I supposed to do? He wants me to be his girlfriend!”
The tile dropped on the table. “What?”
“Yeah! I’m never going to date him. He’s my best friend!”
Her father rubbed his face with both hands. “I should have seen this coming. I suppose I did, in a way.” He peered at her between his fingers. “First thing’s first: you can’t date your best friend, right?”
“Agreed.”
“And if he stays, you can’t ignore him the entire time.”
“It’s impossible to ignore Michael.”
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t want me to send him home?”
Lara considered her father’s suggestion. Sending Michael home would make him hate her forever. She couldn’t have that and besides, she owed him one for leaving him alone with her father to discuss Star Wars facts. Instead, she shook her head. Her father smiled slightly and took her hand.
“It’s good of you to forgive. But you have to let me know if anything else happens again, do you understand? Michael will get over your rejection in time. And as far as this other boy—man… I’d like to see more of him, if you plan on dating him.”
Relieved she wouldn’t have to leave the next day, Lara jumped up and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck. “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered.
“You know I love you?” he asked.
“Yeah, Dad. I love you too.”
Chapter Six
Morning pushed its way over the tips of the pine trees, casting shadows onto the moss-covered forest. Lara treaded lightly to The Witness Tree, trying to imitate Draven’s steps with little success. He was as silent as the mist rolling over the ferns at dawn.
Draven stood at the base of the old tree, his arms crossed and his head cast down. Upon seeing him, Lara’s heart leaped to her throat. He was watching her walk toward him under hooded eyes. His beautifully muscled body was clad tight in the same black-buckled leather uniform he wore the first time he kissed her. She couldn’t help but smile at him. A warm glow ran through her when he returned her smile and uncrossed his arms, pushing away from the tree.
“You’re here early,” he whispered into her hair, as she leaned into his warm embrace.
“So are you.” She breathed him in. He smelled fresh and familiar, more like home than home had ever seemed.
Pulling away, he stared down at her. “Lara, there’s a lot you need to know,” his smile was pained. “We have to talk. I don’t know where to begin.”
“I need to talk to you, too,” she stammered, reacting to him.
He offered his hand. “Are you ready?”
Lara paused, considering her options. If he didn’t want to be with her because she might be their Seer, she couldn’t go; it would break her heart. What would he expect from her?
Draven sensed her hesitation. “Lara?”
“I need to talk now.”
He shut his eyes against her words. “We have to leave,” he said.
“Right this second?”
She hadn’t taken his hand, and he withdrew, a hurt look on his face. “Don’t you trust me?” he asked.
“Of course I do! Can’t we just sit here and talk for a moment?” Sol’s warnings rang out loud in her mind. “You want me to go to another world with you on your word that everything’s going to be okay. How do I know that it will be? How do I know that you’re not just kidnapping me?” She regretted it the instant she said it.
His voice was incredulous. “You think I’d kidnap you? Even after everything I told you?”
“I’m not even sure that this is all true!” Lara pleaded for him to understand. “Don’t you understand that this is really weird for me? You just show up and tell me that you’re part of the forest folk from a different dimension! And then all this strange stuff starts happening: I’m fighting with my best friend, I’m seeing gold trails that lead to weird places in the woods! I nearly got into a physical fight with Michael, Draven! I’ve never done anything like that before in my life!” Her temper began to rise. Her points were valid. Trusting him so quickly was a daring move. Despite everything in her wanting to flee with Draven, something told her to be cautious.
“I don’t really know you. I mean, you’re asking me to believe in everything that doesn’t happen in real life! Do you know how ridiculous all of this sounds? I’m risking everything! That has to prove something to you. I’m here alone, trusting you. Doesn’t that say something?”
Draven rubbed his face. “Yes, it does, and I can’t have you angry with me.”
“Draven, am I the Seer?” she blurted, unable to hold it in any longer.
His head whipped up at the word, his face troubled. “What did you say?” he demanded.
“Sol said that I could her.”
He didn’t move a muscle as he processed what she said.
She continued. “I have these dreams—nightmares, more like it—and they’re about you.”
Still, Draven didn’t move.
“I’ve seen your death,” her voice broke, “and it terrifies me that it could come true.”
“You can’t be the Seer,” his voice was low. “It’s impossible to Seal with one.”
Relief tugged at her, offering a way out. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes. A Falwyn can’t Seal with a human Seer. Who told you this?” Draven’s voice was unsteady and he swayed slightly.
“That man I told you about—Sol. He thinks I might be her. Are you all right?” The only time she’d seen him falter was when he was attacked by Abraxas.
“Please come with me,” he asked and suddenly dropped to a knee.
“What is going on?” Lara squeaked, terrified.
His breathing changed and his shoulders curved protectively around himself. “I have to get back.”
