portal prophecies 01 - keepers destiny

by c a king

  Clairity agreed not knowing what to say or do. She could see the pain in her friend's face... the way she was straining not to cry. Reaching out she touched her shoulder. That was enough to make Willow bolt, running as fast as she ever had before, disappearing deep into the forest.

  Clairity for once didn't want to listen to her intuition. It was telling her to leave Willow alone for now, that she would be fine and this was how things needed to be. She hadn't been wrong since developing the ability and hadn't questioned it once until this moment. In the end she decided to let her friend have space for the rest of the night. She headed across the street to return the items and share the sad story of the evening's events.

  Chapter Seven

  Willow slowed her run to a walk and then stopped, bending over to catch her breath. She had been running for sometime, not thinking, not listening, just running. There had been no planned direction to the path she took, ending up near the castle wall. Climbing one of the largest trees, she had a bird's eye view of the courtyard.

  The music was still playing, couples were dancing, twirling in time to the beat, while floating balls of light lit the sky above sending a gentle glow down on the festivities. To one side, a man in a bright red and orange suit was juggling three spheres of fire with his bare hands and every so often a lady dressed in shimmering silver and gold would motion upwards to the sky following which sparks of glitter would rain down from high above in pretty patterns. Those lucky enough to be in attendance were all dressed in fancy clothes, beautiful flowing dresses and crisp suits. It was more beautiful than she had imagined. Her eyes stung with held back tears.

  'First love is always the hardest, time will heal.' It was the female voice she had become so accustomed to over the years trying to console her...worried about her.

  Willow sighed. 'It isn't love. Dezi is a great guy and a good friend, but I don't think I even know what love is yet. I hear other girls talk about a single touch sending shivers down their spines, their thoughts filled with one person, one face. Truth is I haven't felt anything even remotely close to what they describe. No, it's my pride that is hurt. I wanted to be there... to be good enough to be there. I wasn't and Jade was right. She won and it leaves me feeling defective in every way possible.'

  'We are proud of you. Few of your age could see the difference.'

  'That doesn't help how I feel right now,' Willow responded. As a single tear trickled down her face storm clouds filled the sky and, as if feeling her sadness, the clouds wept with her. Rain began to fall over the castle grounds. “Did I do that?” she asked out loud.

  “Yes,” whispered on the wind. This time it wasn't a voice she had heard before but yet it was somehow familiar. She looked around expecting to find someone who followed her from town, but there was no one.

  “Who said that?” she demanded.

  “We did,” was answered.

  She slid part way down the tree with ease, never losing her footing. She never did. For as long as she could remember she had been climbing the highest trees and swinging from branches without ever falling once. She placed one hand on the trunk of the tree she was in and realized it was the trees who were speaking to her. She could hear them whisper to her. The leaves rustled words of pleasure she could finally hear them. As they swayed in the breeze, they sang to her as a mother sings to a child.

  “Trees? Am I talking to trees?” She slid further down towards the ground.

  “Yes, you always have, you just didn't realize it until now. Since the first time you climbed up on our limbs as a young child and almost fell. You called out for help and a branch steadied your feet beneath you. Through the years, we have shared your most intimate feelings. When you were sad, you came to us and we cradled you. When you were mad, we listened to you. When you were happy, we danced with you.”

  Willow thought back and remembered. It was true. Whenever anything happened in her life she would go to the forest, climb the trees, run across the branches, sit secure on the tallest limbs. There she felt safe, protected, loved.

  She slid down to the ground and realized she hadn't been climbing at all. A branch beneath her was lowering her slowly to the base of its trunk. She muttered a 'thank you' and began walking without direction. There was so much to think about, to let soak in. So this was her ability...what she could do.

  'Partly, there is still so much more if you choose to learn,' the familiar female voice returned.

  'Are you a tree too?' she asked.

  She heard laughter all around. 'No, we are not,' the male voice answered.

  She was about to ask another question but up ahead she saw something she had never seen before. She quickened her pace to a clearing around a building made of white stone with intricately designed columns and a flat top. There were no doors, but rather steps on both sides leading up to an open platform with a table in the middle. On either sides of the platform were round semi circular shaped rooms with carved shelves lined with books.

  Stepping inside, the structure seemed far bigger. There were thousands of books, more than she could ever imagine reading.

  'What is this place?' she asked.

  'Home to the keepers,' the male voice answered.

  “Keepers? As in guardian keepers? Like in the stories?” she asked out loud. A shiver in her voice let on she was almost afraid of the answer she would get.

  'The stories are true, every bit, every part. Diana has an unusual talent of recording history in writing and teaching it to others. She was the official historian of our world and used to teach past events in school at the castle. The books here are references keepers felt necessary to keep protected. Some contain the different abilities of every living person in this world, others with maps and languages of all the different worlds. Every question you want to ask, the answer is here.'

  “Why haven't I seen this place before? Or anyone else I know for that matter.” She was astounded by her find.

  'Only a keeper or someone led by a keeper can find it. The forest protects the way, blocking others and changing their course to go around or head back towards where they came from. It's like a magical barrier.'

  'So why am I here?' A sensation came over her that she already knew the answer.

  'Because you are the last keeper of this world.'

  She slid to the ground against one of the bookshelves and brought her knees to her chest. Hugging them she rocked back and forth. This information was so much to process. Only a few hours ago she had been crying like an infant she wasn't at the dance. It seemed so insignificant now compared to what she was being told. “So you, who are you?” It was easier for her to speak her thoughts out loud as if she were having an actual conversation with someone.

  'We are the last guardians of this world. My name is Aslo and my wife is Kiera.'

  “You have names. All this time you had names and didn't tell me. I thought I was crazy.” A look of disbelief crossed over her face, draining it of colour.

  'Perhaps this is too much for you to take in all at once,' offered Kiera.

  “No, I want to know everything. I want to know what happened to my parents,” she barked.

  'Alright,' Aslo responded. 'The other night you heard the basic story from Diana. Any extra details you need are contained in the books here which you can read any time. The world was divided by portals after the blood wars and guardians, keepers, portal guards and friends are the defence to keep all worlds safe. An ancient race found a way to contact men, who could be weakened and easily led. Another war broke out. Teams from here were sent to combat the threat. Your father was on one of the first teams.'

  'The threat was far more extensive than first believed. Weapons which could open up rifts in the space between worlds were being designed. An army had been growing behind our backs. More teams were sent to aid those already in battle. Soon our vulnerability was learnt. Although we guardians are immortal we can not travel the portals without a keeper and keepers are not immortal. Add on top of that only certain
beings can become keepers and it was a recipe for disaster. The enemy figured out guardians could be trapped in worlds or specially made cages. They tricked keepers into worlds where guardians would be most useless and either killed or captured the keepers, leaving guardians stranded. Some were captured and confined in a world which we do not know the location of.'

  “Couldn't another keeper just go through and bring back the guardians?” Willow asked.

  'Yes, in theory, but each keeper could only carry two guardians. Keepers were low in numbers and it would have meant taking a big chance. At the time, losing more keepers wasn't in the plan especially since word had been sent all keepers were needed to join the fight.'

  “How did they send word?” she interrupted the story again.

  'Portal guards are telepathic. Each portal was to have two guards on each side. When a portal is open or active telepathic messages could flow through to the other side.”Aslo paused for a moment then continued. “When a message was received here that help was needed, the remaining keepers had no choice but to answer. Your mother was one of them. She stayed with you as long as she could and then asked Kiera and myself to take care of you while she was gone. Less than a half a cycle after they left communication between the worlds stopped. Silence.'

  Kiera picked up the story. 'Before the wars, there had been a prophecy of the destruction of this world and everything in it. The remaining Council members took it to heart and decided the best thing they could do would be to close the portals so no enemies could use them to travel here. All known portals were destroyed. We don't know who survived on the other side, if anyone. The Council later declared they were all dead. On that day, things changed in this world.'

  'No one knew that Aslo and I existed. We had not taken a keeper because I was pregnant, a rare occasion for our kind. The Council removed all information they could find on guardians. We needed to take care of you and yet if someone saw us, it could put you in danger. Your parents were our friends. We decided to join with you, something that had never happened with a child under sixteen cycles. It worked, but we could only speak at first. Slowly we began to be able to move around and when the time came, I gave birth to eleven. Not only are you the only keeper under age but you carry thirteen guardians, when no one else could carry more than two. The downfall is we can not separate from you until the exact day your sixteenth cycle begins.'

  “My parents, they could be alive? They were just left? Abandoned?” Tears were swelling in her eyes again.

  Aslo answered. 'At the time the Council was trying to protect those who were left here and, in all fairness, there are thousands of different worlds, making chances of finding anyone slim if a rescue was attempted. The Council changed after that from a role of teacher and mentor to ruler. They replaced the keeper spots with family members and removed everyone else outside the gates in hopes that memories would fade quickly, and they did. At the same time, the Council forgot as well. They tasted power and, as in stories you have heard, their appetite grew. The same struggle we were fighting outside this world was taking over here as well. Their own self importance will be the downfall of this world if not from battle within, then as the prophecy foretold. If they had trained people how to use their powers to their fullest potential, perhaps you could have fought back. Most of you haven't even begun to discover the tip of what you can do.'

  “My dream...the attack...it will come from a hole in the sky, not the portals. That is what the dream meant isn't it?” Willow asked.

  'We believe so,' Aslo added. 'We just don't know when. Only the Council heard the original prophecy. We lived here and never mingled outside. That is why no one ever knew we existed. Only keepers had seen us before. The pregnancy was the first in thousands of cycles. We chose to stay put at the time.'

  “You risked their lives, your children, to join with me,” Willow mumbled.

  'We loved you as our own. It was the only way. It was the right choice. All of us are fine and we were able to all be together. Pick a few books then walk to the left.'

  Willow picked a book about the main world and an encyclopedia of creatures the keepers had met in the different worlds, then moved to the left. There was a space between two book shelves. As she got closer, a staircase appeared winding downwards. She followed the stairs to a hallway.

  “What is this place?” she asked.

  'The keeper's living quarters. There are sitting rooms, weapons rooms, rooms to eat in and separate rooms to sleep in. Yours is five doors down on the right,' Aslo answered.

  “Mine? But I'm not even old enough to be a keeper yet.”

  'You were always special. We always knew you would be a keeper, prophecies confirmed it as well and we always knew your abilities would be extra ordinary,' Kiera explained.

  “I talk to trees and make it rain when I cry,” she snorted.

  'In time you will see child, it is so much more than that. We can help you develop those abilities you know you have but, you and only you, must discover what your abilities are for yourself. No one can tell you what you can or can not do.'

  Her room was bigger than the shack she lived in. A large bed was in the centre of the floor, with a body cushion to lie on and warm blankets. On one side of the room there were cupboards and drawers filled with clothes, mainly black and all in her size. They were similar to the uniforms the guards wore and made of a material that could stretch but still protect.

  “They were made for you try them on,” Kiera said.

  Willow was already changing. She pulled on black pants that were tight to her skin but still had incredible mobility and a black vest which was sleeveless and left areas of her back exposed. She became amused with the number of pockets the outfit had.

  Out of the blue she asked, “Can I bring someone here who isn't a keeper?”

  “If the need arises, yes,” Aslo answered. “The boy, Nathan?”

  “Yes, he could help me with all of the reading.”

  On the other side of the room was a desk with hair brushes and ties and a large mirror. She tied her hair back, jumped on the bed and began to read the book on the main world. Her mind swirled with images of tall buildings and metal objects that could move called cars.

  The day had been so exciting and time had flown by. Willow drifted off to sleep with visions of the strange new world she had been reading about.

  She opened her eyes and looked around. There was nothing...just plain white everywhere she looked. It took her a few minutes to figure out why she was there. “Of course, I am dreaming,” she said smiling. “Ashlyn, can you hear me? Ashlyn?”

  “I am here. Everyone is worried about you. Are you okay?”

  Willow spun around and greeted her friend with a hug and a smile. “Yes, I am fine but I need you to do something for me. It's very important,” she said. “I need you to ask Nathan to go to the forest and follow the path. Can you do that?”

  “What path? To where?” Ashlyn's face reflected the confusion she felt from the request.

  “Just ask him to trust me. When he gets to the forest he will find the path I am talking about. He has to come alone. It's very important. I will find him.”

  “Aren't you coming back?” her friend asked.

  “Yes, soon, please don't tell anyone else about this either, just Nathan. We should go now,” Willow said.

  The room faded into the darkness of deep sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  The Sun was already shining when Willow walked back up the winding staircase and replaced the books to the spots from which she had borrowed them. As she walked around the semi-circular shelves, her fingers ran gently across the books that lined them as if taking in every title. Her attention then turned to the stone table. Walking over, she rounded it three times looking at all of its features. In each of the four corners was carved the same symbol that had been on the guards' arms. The corner pieces appeared to be separate from the table yet she couldn't move them. They all looked like smooth rocks, each with a flat top a
nd the carving in the centre. Looking at the table again it seemed to her that it had been built to match the rocks and not the other way round. She wondered if there might be a book that might explain it, but her thoughts were cut off.

  “Willow, where are you?” Nathan's voice echoed on the wind.

  She ran down the steps into the forest and the trees made way for a path which led right to the boy. Taking his hand, she led him back to the building where she had spent the night.

  “What is this place?” he asked.

  “Your Gran, her stories, they were all true. These books contain information on everything, on all the different worlds the guardians visited, maps, information on creatures and beings, locations of portals, encyclopedias of information and even languages. There is also information on us, records of abilities and instructions on how to train to maximize them.”

  His eyes widened in disbelief. “How do you know these books aren't just stories?” he asked.

  She had to decide right then to trust him completely. She couldn't do this herself and if the end of their world was coming, she at least wanted to try to survive.

  “A guardian told me,” she answered. “I need your help, these books, I have to know what each one says. It's important. Things are changing and I think they are about to get a lot worse.”

  Nathan began his scanning of books and, at about the third, he looked at her curiously. “Red hair huh?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Red hair, according to this book, means you have extreme abilities. It's very rare. In fact, it refers to the person as having powers which could make them a saviour of worlds. You must have pretty amazing talents. Do you know what they are yet?”

  “I can talk to trees,” she replied.

  “Not sure how that can save a world but it's definitely interesting.” He laughed a little. “Sorry,” he added. This time they both broke out into laughter.

  “I don't know either, I can make it rain when I cry too,” she said after the two had settled down.