provisions we have.” I stopped chewing and stared at him. Do I need to worry about food poisoning?”
He laughed, “No, not in this case. How did you sleep?”
“Like a baby. I almost forgot where I was, I was so exhausted. What time is it?"
"It is around 12:30 p.m., I knew you had a hard day yesterday, so I didn’t have the heart to wake you." I could feel my heart softening at his sweet comment, but I could not allow myself to lose control of my feelings.
"That’s surprising, I would have thought the enjoyment you would get from waking me, would have drowned out the other emotions you have," I replied sarcastically.
“Jordan, I need you to understand that I’ve spent most of my life alone. I can’t help but feel you have gotten the wrong impression of me. I am not good at small talk or making superficial conversation with others. Therefore, if my manners seem unpolished, it is because they are. I only have my family, and we don’t do small talk. I really mean no offence to you,” he explained looking me in the eyes with honesty.
He moved the conversation in a different direction. “We have about an hour’s hike over the hills and into the valley, unless we get sidetracked again. You do remember how to use your tools? Maybe you should practice a few times in case we run into any new problems."
“Do we have to worry about the natives?” I asked.
“No, we’re out of their area, but just remember your tools and we’ll be fine.”
I had finished eating my breakfast when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like the same tall man I had seen the day before. I rubbed my eyes, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me, but when I looked again, I could still see him. The apparition faded away as I stared in disbelief. That was strange I thought, maybe all my stress was creating hallucinations. Could it be that I managed to hit my head a little harder than I thought yesterday while they were pulling me behind the horse?
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m just tired. I think I could use a few more hours sleep,” I replied.
“Well let’s get going so we can make the most out of the daylight,” he said.
He handed me my dry pants so I could change my clothes and then we were on our way. Strange I thought, during the night I was sure I had felt a kiss on my forehead. It could have been a dream, or even wishful thinking on my part, because up to this point, he had mostly kept his affections to himself.
The Turad
The long walk over the hills felt like it took forever. My feet were tired, and my body was exhausted. Today I was deep in thought; I didn’t pay attention to much except what was going through my head. As we came to the top of another hill, I saw an enormous waterfall pouring out of a jagged cliff. This was the exact waterfall from my dream. I must have looked shocked, because Derrick looked at me strangely.
“Are you okay, Jordan? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I placed my hands over my mouth and said, “I’ve been here before”.
“You couldn’t have been here before; the waterfall does not exist in our time.”
“No, I was here in a dream, a few nights ago,” I replied.
I started to tell him the story until I got to the part about the glow stick. “But I don’t have a glow stick,” I said.
He laughed, "There’s a reason for that," he said, and then grabbed my hand and lead me about 150 feet away from where we had been standing. I was now looking at one of the biggest white pine trees I had ever seen.
"What is this?” I asked.
“You’re going to get your Turad!” he stated as a matter of fact.
“Am I supposed to break off a branch and carve it up, myself? How do I get it to glow?"
"You’re very impatient," he said as he glanced my way. “I can see patience will be something you will have to learn, unfortunately it doesn’t come easy.” I could see there was quite a twinkle in his eye that I had not noticed before.
As I got closer to the tree, I noticed that there were large, ancient markings carved all over the trunk. The tree had to be about four meters in diameter, and the large overhanging branches kept me a few feet away.
“Grab that branch and open up your heart.”
“Open up my heart?” I muttered to myself wondering what this all meant. For the love of Pete, I thought, what would be next? I stood there holding the branch, but nothing happened.
"I am too damn tired for this crap today; just tell me why I’m doing this?" I let go of the tree to face him. When I looked him in the eyes, I could see he was disappointed with my attitude.
I was rolling my eyes as he spoke to me. "This tree will gift you with your light stick or Turad. The energy of the tree needs to feel the energy of your soul. The tree will feel what is in your heart and decide if you are worthy of a Turad."
"So that’s the name of your glow stick. What is it used for?"
"Do what I asked and I’ll explain," he replied seeming a bit short with me.
I grabbed the branch and waited, but nothing happened. I looked at him in frustration, still holding on to the branch.
"Your heart isn’t open,” he said. “Think of the last movie, or book you read that made you happy." Of course, my mind went blank. Then I remembered watching a movie before I had left on my journey. I remembered how the characters portrayed themselves, before they found their way back together. All of a sudden, my hand vibrated and warmed, and then to my surprise, I looked down and realized that I had a Turad in my hand. It was glowing brightly now, but suddenly the vibration stopped.
I looked at Derrick and he started to explain. "The tree gifts you with what your soul needs according to your heart, but your heart needs to be pure before the gift can be given. The Turad has amazing gifts. It can amplify your tools, to make them last longer. It vibrates a white light when you hold it, and it has the ability to create food that you envision in your mind. My Turad created the meals you have been eating. The Turad was created so that when Druids went on soul quests they wouldn’t starve. When you activate your stones, you can shoot beams of light from the end, like the ones I shot at those men."
“Did they have a Turad? Have they activated their stones?” I asked remembering the incident.
“No, they have something different, but I wasn’t able to get a good look at it. The Turad cannot be used to harm, or make people do things against their will. The Turad functions on intention. My intention was to get away from them, so I could use my Turad. His intention was to keep me hostage, which goes against mine. Let’s go to the edge of the waterfall and play out the rest of your dream."
I walked over to the edge of the waterfall and looked down. "This is where it started, and then I was under the water," I replied.
"So this is where you jump off the edge," he explained softly. His eyes were watching me the whole time he spoke.
"Are you out of your mind? We must be 30 feet from the water,” I replied in disbelief. “I’ll walk down and jump in. I didn’t sign up to die on this trip.”
"You can’t walk down. In order to open the portal you need to follow the vision exactly. It takes you to another dimension of our world that cannot be opened unless the circumstances and the energy are exact. Do you remember walking down to the water?" I shook my head no. "Then you must jump from here because that is what your dream told you, unless you remember walking down to the water’s edge."
I looked down from the spot where I was supposed to jump off. "My God!” I would have to be foolish or insane to even consider jumping. My legs fell out from underneath me. There was a loud thud, as I hit the ground. I rolled on the grass and away from the dangerous ledge.
“I need to take a minute.” I explained breathing rapidly and holding my chest. “I feel extremely stressed," My breathing calmed slightly when I glanced at the distance I had placed between me and the cliff.
This was too much pressure for me. I wanted to run far away from here. I knew I had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look, but I didn
’t care how afraid I looked. Derrick sat down on the grass beside me. He pulled out his Turad and pointed to his hand. Before I knew what happened, he had four lovely chocolate brownies in his palm.
He handed me two, “This should help ease the stress."
I looked at him in disbelief, “How did you know that I liked brownies?”
"You talk in your sleep. I’ve learned a lot about you while you slept,” he said with a smile.
"When did you watch me sleep?"
“Have you forgotten that we’ve slept together? During the night, you’re quite a chatter bug,” he said winking at me. “Now, I want you to try to use your Turad."
"How do I start?” I asked.
"Imagine in your mind a food you want, and how it is going to look. Then touch your palm with your Turad, and the item of food you have chosen will show up for you to enjoy."
"Today, I feel like having a Starbucks icecap.” Derrick reached in his pack and handed me the metal cup that I had used at breakfast.
I started my imagination; I added chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream. I touched my Turad to the cup and surprisingly, the drink appeared. Every glorious thought I had had, was in the cup I was holding. I put the cup to my mouth and tasted… it was heavenly. As I moved my cup away from my mouth, I looked at Derrick who was watching me with playfulness in his eyes. He moved his finger to touch the tip of my nose, and pulled it away with some whipped cream, which made me laugh. I watched him place the cream in his mouth. That was a different reaction than I had expected, it seemed almost romantic and intimate in nature. I watched him stare at me for a moment, and instantly I wondered if I had more cream on my face.
I looked away trying to wipe my face on my shirt. “Thank you. That was a cool trick. What else can the Turad do?” I was hoping I could redirect any intimate conversation. I glanced his way for a second when I felt it. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was like a fish doing flops and the energy I felt from him made my body heat up. His glorious masculine smell was overwhelming me. We had an amazing chemistry, but I had to keep that monster at bay. I could not allow myself to lose control.
Feeling frantic, I had to break the connection. My ego could not deal with another rejection at this point. I placed my cup on a rock beside me, lay down on the grass, and covered my eyes with my arm. I took a deep breath and smelled the fresh air, hoping that it would help clear my mind.
Breathing in deeply, I felt a bolt of electricity flow through my body; I moved my arm away from my eyes only to discover that there was a hand resting comfortably on my stomach. He had made it very clear to me how he felt the other day when he broke off the kiss and walked away. I was very surprised, to say the least, that he would invade my personal space now.
"You’re more beautiful each day. Do you know how exciting you are to me?" He spoke almost in a whisper. I instantly sat up to look behind me thinking he must be muttering to someone else. When there was no one there but me, my mouth fell opened in total shock.
"I can’t kiss you with your mouth hanging open," he whispered under his breath. A wave of anxiety rushed through me and I quickly closed my mouth. I ran my tongue over my dry lips and I turned to meet his gaze.
Before I knew it, I was caught up in the heat and the savage passion of his lips pressed against mine. The sensation was intense, but demanding, with need at the same time, and my arms wound around his neck as a form of encouragement. I felt the cool grass connect with my back as I was trying to pull him closer to my burning skin. His lips softly caressed my lips and the feel of his muscular body brought a surge of passion to my core. His hands turned my flesh to fire where they moved across my skin.
I heard a huge, frustrated sigh from Derrick as he pulled away. It felt like someone had just thrown cold water in my
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