Chapter 6

         I woke with Jessica pushing on my chest over my heart and filling my lungs with her breath.

         "What happened?" I asked.

         "After the knight drowned you in the water, he beat you pretty good with the flat of his sword. I don't know how you survived, I mean, first he held you under water for at least ten minutes, then he brutally beat you, but you haven't even broken a bone, then he wedged you between several rocks so you would stay in the water and he ran off. You're bruised up, but even that seems to be healing.

         "After he ran off, I dragged you out of the water into the sun. I thought you were dead, you were so cold. I tried everything I learned from that life saving class I took."

         "Thank you, Jessica," I said. "I would've died in the water, if you hadn't pulled me out. Each of our kind has an Achilles heel and water is mine. Water puts fire out, that's pretty basic and logical. Water does damage to Earth also, by making it mud, but fire burns up wood."

         "I'm just glad you're still alive. It was really brave of you to stand up to the Heinous Knight like that. Do they all look that way?"

         "Must we talk about it now?" I asked.

         "No, no, of course not. You go ahead and rest."

         I nodded my thanks and drifted off again.

         The next time I woke up, I felt refreshed and realized it was already late evening. I should get Jessica back to her house or she and I would be in trouble. I sat up and saw her dozing next to me. I gently shook her shoulder, and her eyes popped open.

         "We should get back," I told her.

         She nodded and stood up. As I waited for her to get on my back, I noticed that the beautiful clearing in the forest showed no sign of struggle, much less a furious fight. I didn't know why that was, but if the Elders didn't want me to know, then so be it. Jessica climbed onto my back, and I hurried through the forest. We didn't talk and I didn't really want to anyway. She just rested her head on my shoulder and kept her arms secure around my neck. When we got back to my house, I found my brothers all sitting out on the porch. As soon as they saw me, they jumped up and looked concerned.

         "Where were you? Why'd it take you so long to get back?" Hearst asked.

         "Yeah, we dropped the girls off almost an hour ago," Timur told me.

         "We were attacked," I said. "I'll tell you about it later."

         I led Jessica over to my car and opened the door for her. I walked around to the driver's side and got in.

         "When will I next see you?" Jessica asked.

         "Not sure," I said. "Did you have something in mind?"

         "No, I just like being with you."

         I dropped her off at her house and hurried home.

         I made it inside and went up to my room to find my brothers sitting on the floor and chairs waiting for me.

         "What's wrong" I asked.

         "We were worried about you, you were gone for so long. That wasn't like you," Irvin said.

         "So what happened?" Timur asked.

         "I took Jessica to that beautiful clearing in the woods and a Heinous Knight attacked us. I fought him, but I lost. He shoved me in a stream and held me under until I blacked out. Jessica told me he wedged me between two rocks so that I would eventually disintegrate. I think she saved me."

         "Sorry, Aden, but you really mustn't wander off without telling us. We all love each other here and no one here wants anything to happen to one another," Irvin said calmly.

         "Personally, I'm just glad you're safe," Timur said.

         "I would have told you, but I didn't want to bother you when you were with Terra, Cari, Rhonda, and, Portia" I said.

         "Aden, you're a good fibber with other people, but to us, you're the worst liar in the world," Hearst laughed. "You didn't think of us when you went out with Sanders. You were more interested in her reaction to the Raj."

         "The what?" I asked.

         "It's what we call the clearing you went to. You know what it means." Timur said.

         "Of course I do," I said. "It means 'heaven.'"

         "Got that one right, bro," Irvin said jovially.

         "Did Sanders really save your life?" Demetrio asked.

         "Yes, she did," I said.

         The summer passed without any other mishaps. Jessica, Terra, Cari, Rhonda, Portia, my brothers, and I had all been admitted to Harvard University, and we all arrived about the same time. All were intelligent enough to get into the college and all had parents rich enough to pay the tuition. We all split up money to pay for a large house that was big enough for the ten of us. I spent most of my time studying and doing chores around the house, but when I could, I spent time hanging out with my brothers or Jessica. Sometimes the ten of us would make a reservation at a restaurant or go to a movie. The money we had inherited from our parents hadn't run out and my brothers and I all had jobs.

         It was hard enough to go to college, work a job, and do chores in a large house, but when we managed to find a time from our jobs, we often found we had homework and studying to do. I had a job designing methods to increase the speed of internet connections at an I.T. building. It wasn't a bad job, but I thought I'd like to find the time to actually sit down and write more often.

         On one of the occasions when the ten of us were eating dinner at a restaurant, we were rudely interrupted. We were celebrating the end of our first year of college and having a great time. Everything was going great until the clock struck 19:00 hours or 7:00 p.m. We heard several dishes break and two seconds later a young man burst in. He was out of breath and doubled up. He had jet black hair and blue eyes the color of the sea. He wore a white shirt and tie and dress pants with robes over all. He straightened up and pulled an envelope out of the pocket of his robes and handed it to the nearest person which happened to be Irvin. Irvin read it quickly and his eyes widened.

         He stood up and said, "We've got to go."

         Irvin passed the letter to Hearst who read it and passed it to me. The message said this:

ATTENTION! Our people are under attack. One of our messengers has been sent to collect you. Come to Mexico City as soon as you finish reading this. More will be explained when you arrive.

          Sincerely,

                    The Elders

         I stood up as well and passed the letter to Demetrio. When the five of us had read it, we gave the girls a quick goodbye, gave them money for a taxi and dinner, and ran out with the messenger. He led us to an alley where a black limousine was waiting. There were more men waiting for us in the alley and the man who had come into the restaurant sat up front next to the driver. We piled in and another man followed us. He introduced himself as Gomez, Esgrimidor de Agua or Wielder of Water. He spoke Spanish, but I'll translate for you.

         "Is it Vadrak and his Heinous Knights attacking?" Hearst asked.

         Gomez nodded and said, "Cease your questioning, and I will explain all."

         We nodded for Gomez to go on, and he began talking of the troubles our kind have had for years.

         "Ever since Vadrak came through the portal and recruited Heinous Knights, he always sent a few out to pick off one family at a time. But now Vadrak has developed more powerful weapons to use against us and is destroying more than one family at a time. We cannot get everyone together to prepare to march to war against him because a civil war between our kind is uprising. They disagree on trade and on land. We do not have enough time to settle small disputes between families. We need to focus on the greater enemy before we reduce our kind even further. We need to unite as one and strike Vadrak and his men when they are at their weakest point. We cannot do that with our people fighting each other.

         "The only way to defeat the Heinous Knights is to chant the ancient spell that releases them from the curse. Any questions so far?"

         "How long will it take for us to get to Mexico City?" Demetrio asked.

         "We won't be going to Mexico City," Gomez said. "Mexico was used in case we were attacked and the message was read. The Elders aren't extremely fond of Mexico City. It is too polluted and it is as busy as ever. The streets are congested and the sidewalks are packed.

         "One of our inventors created a device and implanted it in this limousine. It lets the limo and everything and everyone inside it teleport to a new location. We're hopping around to make sure we're not being followed. Right now I'm pretty sure we're in Norway. We're going to the base where we have been recruiting others of our kind. The Elders are fond of you because of your father. They remember him well and were sad to see him go in the last war. They wish to see you fight in person, and then go into the training level they see fit. Everyone else gets thrown into the beginning training and if the trainer thinks they're good enough, he moves them up."

         "What are the battle plans The Elders have in mind?" I asked.

         "We will tell you later, once we have arrived. We don't think the car has been bugged, but you can never be too careful. Right now we must cease talking."

         My brothers and I nodded. I put my hands in my lap and meditated. When I meditate I make sure I'm in a comfortable position and let my five senses take over. My eyes were staring off into space though I could see around me. Gomez was looking nervous. He was biting his fingernails and his eyes were closed. I think he was praying to The Elders. I listened, but none of the outside sounds penetrated the car.

         After half an hour of jumping around the world, the limo stopped at the Jardin botanique de Montréal or the Montreal Botanical Garden. We were about to get out when Gomez stopped us. He began to chant a spell that I did not recognize. As soon as he finished the spell, the world went white.