The Last Seeker: Book 1: a teen & YA magical, fantasy, paranormal, & adventure novel (TRISTEN)

by Fleur Camacho

  “What? What are you talking about? I have to free the livestock…”

  “I’ll take care of the sheep. But Tristen, you must save Jehanette. If at all possible, she must not die today.”

  “But why can’t we just go back home? We don’t even belong here, if we just go back home this will all be in the past.”

  “Do not think that your presence here does not affect the future. Did you try the book again? Did you go to the book to see if you could return home?” he asked.

  “Yes, I tried, but it didn’t do anything.”

  “That’s because you haven’t accomplished your mission here. You must complete your task before you can return home. Even I cannot help you until that is finished.”

  I looked at him in confusion. I could smell burning hay; the soldiers had started their raid at the edge of town.

  “Remember how I said that you are a Seeker? And as a Seeker, you are drawn to the Tingui?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, the Tingui try to destroy all the good things that have happened in the past. They destroy, eliminate, and smother – whatever you want to call it – past Persons of Good. That way they can manipulate the world to fit their needs. It’s really rather petty of them; all they care about is power and pleasing their master. But you are a Seeker, Tristen. Your gift gives you power over them. It’s like your gift has a life of its own. It just knows where to go and it sends you to the places you are needed in order to be able to intercept their plans and stop them.”

  My mind raced as I tried to interpret his language.

  “Look, let’s finish this another time. You must save Jehanette. The Tingui are here to destroy her and all the good work that she will do in the future. You must stop them. You won’t ever be able to return until you do.”

  I remembered my first dream out in the field behind my house. The woman holding a dead girl in her arms. Isabelle and Jehanette.

  I felt sick to my stomach.

  “Tristen. Tristen!” Mr. Becker shook my shoulders. “You must act quickly. There is no time to think right now. Go help the girl. And Tristen, don’t lose your history book. You must, at all costs, save that book or you may be stuck here forever. They don’t have books here that describe the future. Once you’ve done what you came here to do, it’ll take you back. Got it?”

  I nodded. The statement burned in my mind, I would never lose that book. I turned to look toward the town and the spreading fire. Although I now knew what I needed to do, it took all the power I had to keep myself from running in the opposite direction.

  Mr. Becker continued: “I must warn you that someone is here to find you and destroy you, so I must help you get back as soon as you can.”

  “Who? What do you mean, ‘destroy’?”

  “Kill, Tristen. I’m not sure who it is, but someone is here who wants you dead.” I thought of the soldiers in my dream.

  “What have you been doing the past couple of days?” I asked him angrily. If he had come sooner maybe he could have prevented all this from happening.

  “Days? I have been fighting Azaz, remember? Time here exists much faster because it has already happened. Tristen – look at me. You say you’ve been here a few months?”

  “Yes,” I nodded.

  “At home, you have not been gone long. Not even a day. That’s why I wasn’t here earlier. It had only been a short time in our world since you’d arrived here. Maybe a few hours. Since I met Azaz in the street, I managed to trap him. Of course, it’s only a temporary fix, but we have time to deal with that later. I’ve only been gone a short while, but to you days have passed.”

  Although fire and destruction raged around me, I silently rejoiced in the fact that we hadn’t been gone long enough for anyone to really be worried about us.

  “Tristen,” the urgency in his voice pulled me out of my reverie, “you must ensure that Jehanette leaves the village safely. The Tingui will use this time as an opportunity to kill her while she’s vulnerable. I will do what I can to lead them off and I’ll meet up with you again shortly.”

  I knew that I must do what I could to help Jehanette and so I turned to find her. Then, Mr. Becker grabbed my arm.

  “Tristen, before you go, know that the Tingui manipulate evil men that live in this timespan to do their bidding. Trust no one that you don’t already know.”

  “Okay,” I responded and turned to leave, but he still didn’t let me go.

  “Tristen, also…” he hesitated.

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I’ll tell you later. I’ll meet you shortly, if I can.”

  “Okay,” I said and turned to leave.

  “No wait. Stop.”

  I stopped once again and turned back to look at him.

  “Well, this is opening a box that I’m not sure is wise to open right now. But you might need to know this. Ailey is your twin sister. You’re adopted. I’m sorry to tell you like this. But trust her unquestioningly.”

  With that, he disappeared into the night — vanished, like a magician.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  My mind reeled. I kneeled down in the mud to keep myself grounded. In the back of my mind I recognized the cries of the people as they tried to run away from the blazing remains of their house. Absolute chaos ensued around me but I couldn’t even process everything. My mind whirled with this new information.

  Ailey was my twin sister. Things clicked in my head, like the information he had given me was the missing puzzle in my head that I didn’t even realize I was working on. My immediate connection with her, the magnetic pull to her and how her presence brought peace that I never felt with anyone else. Possibly the fact that we had similar birthmarks.

  But how was she my twin sister? What about my parents? Was her dad my dad, and if so, why was I raised by my parents? Why had I never been told before? Did she know? No, of course not, she was as confused about our connection as much as I was. Had been. Had been. I knew now. Whose birthday was correct? Why had my parents never told me anything? The clarification brought on more questions than answers. My mind couldn’t control the never ending questions.

  Then a light flickering to my right grabbed my attention and brought me back to the present. Someone had set fire to another house — one that was closer to me and getting closer to Jehanette’s house. Jehanette, I had to save her. How? I wasn’t sure what a puny guy like me could do, but I would do what I could.

  I ran to the barn, hoping that everyone would be there already and trusting that Mr. Becker had taken care of the animals.

  What am I doing?

  I stopped as my arm rose to open the door.

  What am I doing? This is crazy, I can’t go in there. If these men are after Jehanette they won’t think twice about killing me. I can’t risk my life to save Jehanette. Technically, she’s already dead and I can’t go home if I am dead.

  I closed my eyes and the image of Isolda’s turbulent eyes bore into mine. I can’t be with her if I’m dead. I can live with being here forever, as long as I am with her and Ailey. I can live with that.

  I stood for what felt like forever feeling the weight of Jehanette’s life in my hands.

  What would Jehanette do if our roles were reversed? There was no doubt that she would try to save me. But how can I save her? I’m no Seeker, or whatever it is that Mr. Becker says I am. I can’t even hit a ball or stand up to Greg. How am I going to stand up to someone trying to kill Jehanette? How would I even begin to defend her?

  The staff I used to practice with was with Jean. And even if I had that, what good would it do against a torch or a sword, or whatever they were going to use to kill Jehanette?

  The image of her lying dead in her mother’s arms flashed before my eyes. No, I couldn’t let my dream become prophecy. I also couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to Jehanette. I made my decision.

  ❦

  I pulled open the door and braced myself for the scary Tingui hiding under the bed to come out. I was surprised to
see that no one was there. It felt like it had been days since I left the house to let the sheep loose. I tried to decide what to do; where would Jehanette be? I wanted to make sure Ailey and Isolda were okay. Ailey. My mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that she was my twin.

  Suddenly, Jehanette ran into the barn.

  I felt an instant relief. “I’m so glad to see you. I was wondering what happened to everyone.”

  “Where is my mom? And Catherine? And the horses, what happened to the horses?”

  I looked around. The barn was empty.

  “I’m not sure, I just got here too. Come on, let’s go find them. Better yet, let me take you to the woods and then I’ll make sure everyone’s okay.” Mr. Becker’s instructions had left a heavy impression on me. The backpack. I had to get it. I didn’t care now if Jehanette saw me; if all went well, we’d be home soon. If. I wasn’t sure I liked my odds.

  The open barn door lit up with a fiery orange light. Two men walked into the barn with a torch. Once they saw us, they smiled maliciously. I moved to stand defensively in front of Jehanette but she was bolder than I expected; she moved around me and walked right up to them.

  “What do you want?” she demanded.

  They laughed at her.

  “Maybe we want pretty little girls, like you,” one of them answered.

  The other one laughed. “What’s your name?”

  Jehanette stood tall. “I am Jehanette, daughter of Jacques d’Arc. And what is your name?” she asked boldly and with no fear.

  The men ignored her question and began whispering among themselves. While they talked, I looked around for something, anything to use as a weapon. I was hoping I could at least distract them. My greatest fear was that somehow they would lock us inside the barn and set it on fire.

  One of them walked out the door while the other stood in front of us to keep us from leaving.

  Jehanette continued her one-sided conversation with the soldier.

  “Where are you from?” When he didn’t answer she kept on, “Personally, I’ve never been anywhere but here. But I love it here; it is so beautiful, especially when the flowers are blooming. I love to make flower wreaths and put them on the Fairey Tree. Then we sing and dance around the tree.”

  The soldier was still silent.

  “Do you have a sister?” Jehanette persisted.

  At this the man’s indifferent stare began to whither and he answered quietly.

  “Yes, actually I have three. All younger than me.”

  “And where are they?” she continued.

  “They’re still at home. With me mum.”

  “And what about your dad?”

  His voice faltered. He seemed so much younger than just minutes before. “He died. A while ago. With the fever. So I… I conscripted to pay for food. And necessities.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Soon they would be sitting down for tea.

  I saw a gleam out of the corner of my eye. Was that a sword? I could hardly believe my eyes, but sure enough, there was a sword hidden in the hay. I had never seen it before. I didn’t know how to use it but it had to be better than nothing. As Jehanette continued to talk to the soldier I slowly edged closer to the sword. It had an intricate design on the hilt. It was beautiful.

  The soldier had relaxed somewhat but I didn’t want to wait for his partner to come back with whatever he left to go get. I knew that they would not let us leave the barn. I was close enough to make a grab for the sword and so I scrambled to snatch it. The soldier jumped to attention and ran past Jehanette for me.

  “Run, Jehanette!” I yelled with my heart beating in my chest. She hesitated for only a second. She was concerned for me, but I persisted. “Run!”

  She immediately darted for the door and ran off. The soldier cursed and turned to chase her but I whipped the sword toward his throat. He stopped.

  “You should not have done that,” he said.

  He looked down at my sword. It was surprisingly light and fit easily in my hand, yet I wavered slightly as I tried to hold it steady. He still held a torch in his hand and could do all kinds of damage with that thing.

  “Look,” the soldier spoke softly, “just lower the sword and I promise I’ll let you go. In fact, we can run together. Because they are going to kill me when they find out that I’ve let her get away. We were given specific instructions to find her.”

  I wavered. I doubted I could believe him but what was I going to do? Kill him? Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t even know how. Or didn’t think that I could. Before I could make a decision the barn door opened again to a whole group of soldiers. I lunged at the man in an effort to get away in the confusion, but he easily side stepped me and knocked my sword down.

  His partner grabbed me to prevent me from running or struggling.

  “Where is she?” he asked the soldier.

  “She… she got away.”

  “You idiot. How did a little helpless girl get away?”

  “He has a sword.”

  “Had a sword,” he corrected. “It didn’t seem too hard to take that away from him.”

  By then the whole group had come in. They were trailed by a man who wore plain clothes instead of a uniform but walked with the confidence of a stud bull. He hung back behind them as if waiting for something. He looked exactly like the man from my dreams. The man who killed me. The image of him thrusting the knife into my gut replayed itself in my mind. My knees shook and I could barely breathe. I tried to run for the door but the men easily outmaneuvered me and held me roughly by my arms.

  The soldier’s partner ordered some of his men to search for Jehanette. I knew she was long gone by now; hopefully she’d found her family and they were all safe. Now I hoped that Ailey and Isolda didn’t come to the barn as we’d agreed.

  God, would I ever be able to see Ailey again? To tell her that she was my twin? And Isolda, I couldn’t even think about not being with her right now; my insides twisted inside.

  The rest of the men took some rope that was hanging on the wall and tied me to a wooden beam. Then the soldier’s partner asked me where Jehanette was.

  “I don’t know. She ran off, I don’t know where.”

  The man leered at me.

  “You see, I don’t think I believe you. I think you might know where she is.”

  My mind raced. I thought of the medieval torture practices used. Would they do the same in this time period? I doubted I could hold out very long; fear burned inside me and I wished I could just pass out to avoid telling them anything. Then I thought of the end of my dream. No. No, they didn’t use torture. They just killed me. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not that they didn’t delay my death with torture.

  Hopefully, my actions saved Jehanette, and that somehow Isolda and Ailey could return home. If only they had the backpack. I thought of it lying in the back of the barn. Maybe Ailey could use it since she was my twin.

  They continued to question me, asking if the girl had family nearby or some close friends. A place in the woods, perhaps. I tried to evade their questions as much as possible.

  My wrists began to get sore as I tried to create some space for my hands to slip out. I was sweating like a pig in the summer and I begged for a drink. The man in the back grew impatient and I knew it wouldn’t take long for him to simply give up on me.

  The soldiers grew more and more hostile, egged on by his impatience but all I could say over and over was that I didn’t know; I was glad that I never knew about Jacques’s hide out.

  Suddenly the man in the back screamed an order to them; I couldn’t understand what he said. The men began to back away, one by one, out of the barn. I felt an intense heat and realized that one of the men had set fire to the barn. The backpack. I must find a way to keep it from burning.

  The man walked up to me and looked deep into my eyes. Then he pulled out a long knife. Time slowed, every millisecond stretching like taffy. I knew what was going to happen and was completely helpless to stop i
t. He drew back his hand in a long stroke and stabbed me right in my gut.

  The knife pierced me like a hot poker through a tub of butter. I could feel my blood slither down my pants to my feet.

  He stared at me intently while my blood dripped on his shoes. “I know who you are,” he said coolly. “My master will be happy to hear that you are dead. Although I must admit that it is such a disappointment that you went down so quickly and easily.”

  He smiled sadistically at me and then seemed to remember that the barn was on fire. He sauntered out the door without another word.

  I stood there stunned, looking down at the knife sticking out of my gut. It was made of plain wood except for the silver emblem embossed on it. The emblem looked like a butterfly with beautiful outstretched wings. It was intricately etched to the finest detail. It was beautiful and intriguing. It was the same butterfly tattooed on Azaz’s hand.

  I think I was in shock because I couldn’t feel anything anymore. It was as if I stood outside my body looking at someone else dying from a gut wound in a smoky blazing barn.

  Suddenly Mr. Becker’s face appeared before me as I was pulled back into my body. “Tristen, you stay with me. You can’t go, you hear me? Don’t you dare leave us. You hear me? We need you!” he demanded. I nodded hazily but already he was becoming fuzzy and my mind was darkening.

  The door to the barn opened again and I could see her. It was my angel, my glorious angel. My whole body trembled in reaction to her presence and I longed to touch her once more before I left the earth.

  Mr. Becker pulled out a knife from his pocket and furiously began cutting at my ropes. I could hear them both coughing as smoke scorched their lungs.

  “No,” I cried. “No.”

  Don’t risk it for me.

  Isolda fretted over the knife in my stomach, not certain what to do. Finally she pulled off her shirt and hesitated for only a second before she yanked the knife out and pressed her balled up shirt against my wound. My blood instantly dyed the shirt a dark red and Isolda held me to her, trying to distract me, while Mr. Becker cut the ropes binding my wrists. She held me so tightly that I felt there was no ending of her and no beginning of me. Her tears fell from her cheeks to my chest, as she cried onto my shoulder.