Hope you're all well and that you've had a good week. Thought I'd continue with the story I started last week. Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Take care.
Joe.
Next…..
Okay. Stop.
A thousand rifles?
Slight exaggeration there. I was being metaphoric, not literal. It felt like there were a thousand rifles pointed at us. There weren’t a thousand. Not even a hundred. Not even ten.
There were nine. Nine. All aiming at us.
I felt the waves of fear, anxiety. Fight or flight. Attack or…
“Wait Wait WAIT WAIT WAIT waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait wait. Don’t fire! Don’t fire! Don’t fire!”
At this point time is slowing down rapidly because every micro second becomes crystal clear because I’m thinking of any way that we can get out of this alive, and I’m running out of options. Nine is more than a firing squad. Even if we’re lucky and half miss, the other half still hit. And to think that we’d escape nine bullets is…. Unrealistic/stupid/outrageous what-kind-of-story-do-you-think-this-is? (PG rated: no sex, mild violence, some swearing)
Is it really possible to hear the shot that kills you? A part of me asked. Another part of me was trying to figure it out logically: it the bullet is travelling faster than the speed of sound, then logically…
Amazing the things that you think of when you’re facing death.
That was followed by: what happens if the guns weren’t guns but were actually energy weapons – does the same theory still apply?
Shutupshutupshutup!
And then, out of the corner of my eye I saw Xira, arms outstretched with a gun in each hand, aiming straight for the nine….
(where the hell did she get those guns from?)
“STOP! WAIT! DON’T FIRE! DON’T FIRE! Nobody has to die today! Ohmigod what’s wrong with everybody?”
It wasn’t a Mexican standoff. None of us were Mexicans. And Mexico was through another Portal.
I was waiting. Time was still being stretched out and then I plucked a different emotion out of the air: puzzlement.
“Ray? Is that you?”
I frowned. What? No, it couldn’t be… “Kadir?”
“Ray, it is you! Pause “Put your guns down. Its Ray! It’s Ray!”
Xira looked at me warily “You know these people?”
I stepped to one side, trying to see around the group, trying to find…
And there he was. In the fading light, with a grin from ear to ear. Arms outstretched.
Kadir Marek.
My brother.
Which meant…
I was home.
2
“You’re back?” asked Kadir.
That emotion came through clear and bright: hope.
“For a while.” I said.
He seemed to think about that, but I didn’t want to think about leaving just after I had arrived. Even though I knew that Kuresh could be anywhere and that the longer I stayed here, the farther away she might get.
“How did you know it was me?”
“’Nobody has to die today?’” Kadir smiled “Only you say that. I've never heard anybody else say that.”
Zahir started a campfire and the eleven of us sat around it.
Whatever tension and anxiety I had felt when I’d first caught the group was gone and all I could feel was their exhaustion. They were resting now that I was here and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
Xira had put her guns away. I didn’t know where she had got them from and although I was worried that she had them, the fact that she had put them away was enough for now.
I didn’t like guns as people tended to get shot.
She said “You brought us to your home?”
The hostility had gone from her. Maybe that was because she was around people who were a family to me and probably wouldn’t be happy if she attacked me again. The cut on my arm wasn’t deep, but she had ruined a good jumper. I was a little upset about that.
“I don’t have any control over where I go.” I said. “The portal follows its own pattern, or so I’m told.” I thought for a moment. “Us? You followed me. And then you attacked me.”
“I want to get home. I thought I’d hitch a ride.”
Xira sat on my left and Kadir on my right. Michelle sat in front of me, bandaging my arm after cleaning the wound. She had put a healing ointment on it which stung before binding it tight. It wouldn't fix my jumper though.
There was something missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. My head was still buzzing from the fact that I was home and I was hurt by the thought that I would not be able to stay.
“Just like old times?” I looked at Michelle.
She gave me a sad smile. “A long time Ray.”
“Too long.” I agreed.
“Are you back now?” Michelle searched my face for an answer and found it straight away.
I didn’t say anything.
“It’s a strange day.” She said “One brother goes and another comes back.”
That was it. Anteya.
“Where’s Anteya?” I looked at Kadir.
Michelle answered.
“Early this morning Aashen came to the village, to take… supplies. We fought and they took Anteya and others and said that they would kill him if we followed.”
Kadir said “I made the choice to follow.” I heard and felt the defensiveness and defiance “Either they kill Anteya or don’t I can’t just leave them.”.
“Who’s Anteya?” Xira asked.
“Second Eldest.” I said automatically.
“And you?” she asked me.
“Eldest.”
Kadir continued, not hearing or ignoring Xira “We followed all day. But the light was fading, and we knew that to follow at night would not be wise. After all, we did not have a Seer to guide us.” He paused, and the words stung. “So we were going to rest for the night. And then we heard voices.”
Us, I realised.
The fire crackled and spat. I knew that Michelle had potions that could make it burn brighter and hotter. Maybe she was saving them.
Kadir looked at me. “You’re here now.” “What would be best?”
I couldn’t tell if he was putting me in charge or not.
“If I was in charge,” I said slowly “I would rest.” I said. “Start fresh tomorrow.”
In my mind’s eye I could see a bright green path. I knew that Aashen had been this way recently, and although I knew that I could follow him, I couldn’t really see in the dark and could easily lead everyone into an ambush.
That would not be helpful.
As people stared into the fire, darkness fell and despite the heat from the fire I could feel the temperature drop. Kadir, Michelle and the others fell asleep, hypnotised by the fire.
“Reyas,” Xira spoke softly. “Who’s Aashen?”
“In this world,” I said quietly, as I didn’t want to wake the other “Angels and demons are real. There is Good and Evil.”
“And Aashen is….?”
“Was,” I said “an Angel. A really good one. But now he’s pretty much a demon.”
“Why did he take your brother?”
“Traditionally, the Eldest Protector of the village is born with Powers of Protection. Aashen wants those powers.”
“But your brother is Second Eldest. Did he get those powers after you left?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t understand. What would Aashen gain from taking your brother?”
“He’s a hostage.” I said “They work in their own ways.”
“Who works in their own ways?”
“The Powers.”
“And so Aashen took your brother…”
“So that I would come back.”
“But Aashen is a demon?”
“Yes.”
Xira thought about it.
“Won’t he kill you?”
“Yes.” I said “Aren’t you glad you came along?”
Copyright Joe Singh (2011)
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