Day: 9. July 2010

Sadness

           Anger

                    Death

                             Tragedy

                                       Fear

                                              Despair

                                    Snap awake

                             In a cold sweat

                     Relief

                         Only

                              To

                                   Return

                                          Again

                                 To the

                       Realm

                  of

                           a

                                Nightmare.

Chapter Three: I Meet an Immortal Blacksmith

                  “You know me?” I asked. I was finding it weird how the people here seemed to know me and I had no idea who or what they were.

“Of course,” Cap said,” Your very familiar with me.”

I nodded and before Cap could say anything else, Tancred grabbed my hand and told Cap, and his friends that we had to get going. Cap’s eyes locked with mine and then I heard him. He didn’t say anything. He spoke…in my head.

“Don’t worry, Athena. Promise me that you’ll visit the forest again. Just like old times,” Cap thought.

“Sure,” I laughed,” I will make sure to see you and the rest of your friends.” Somehow I knew there were more…wolves than the three I had seen. Cap with drew from my mind and I saw a smile dancing on his lips. Tancred was speaking with Gole and he had turned towards the farm.

“Come on, Athena,” Tancred called. I waved to Cap and turned and ran to catch up with Tancred.

“Who are they, Tancred?” I asked.

“They are the Forest Guardians. They guard the woods and keep out monsters and protect the camp,” Tancred explained. 

I nodded. Just then we got to the farm house. On the front porch a dark orange lion sat next to the open door of the farm house. I stopped ten feet from it. Tancred on the other hand, walked right up to the beast and ran his hand through its mane. It panted with gratitued, showing its large razor sharp teeth.

“Come on, Athena,” Tancred coaxed,” He won’t hurt you.”

I could trust Tancred, but I wasn’t so sure about trusting those teeth. I gather up my “courage” as they say in the stories, and forced myself to pat the animal. Then next minute, the thing had knock me over and was standing over me, while I screamed my head off. 

“I knew it!” I thought,” This is the most absurd way to die when your only fourteen!” But, the lion didn’t bite into me as I had expected. Instead, he covered me face in a huge lick from his rough tongue then, resumed its position by the door. Tancred, was rolling on the porch floor, laughing his head off. 

I “hurumphed” and pointedly turned my back on him. 

“I’m sorry” Tancred said,recovering from his laughing fit,” It’s just that when you used to be here, before your memory was wiped off by Juli, Hanster, here loved to play with you. It looks like he hasn’t forgoten you in 9 years.” Tancred’s face turned somber and he said,” We should go inside.” 

           We entered the farm house and inside I saw a small picnic table. Sitting at the table was a small man with a Tiger Striped T-shirt and black demon jeans. Next to him sat Charlie. 

“Ahh, Athena,” Charlie said,” It’s good to see you alive. I hope you didn’t run into anything  bad in the woods, did you?” 

“No, sir,” I said. 

“Good, now sit, so that we can talk of your past,” Charlie said. In books I had read, people usually wanted to talk to the main charecters about their future. But then, most of them know what happened when they were five and six.

I sat in a chair and asked,” Who is Julie, sir?”

Charlie’s head looked up from the sketch of a spear he was examining,” Julie?! Where did you hear that name?”

Somehow, I knew if I told him Tancred had told me, Tancred would get into trouble, so I said,” We ran into Cap and some of his..um..buddies. They told me.” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tancred’s eye widen as he heard my lie. Charlie, thank goodness, bought it,“Hmm..those boys always did have big mouths. Oh well, I suppose you have the right to know. Julie is your sister.”

  To be Continued…