A Chosen Life

by K. A. Parkinson

  His skin prickled. Deep down, he’d always known that whatever they were running from would eventually catch up to them, but he’d never imagined it’d be something like this. Evil had marked him, an evil that had already captured his father.

  Dane coughed nervously and glanced around. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you as much as you needed me through all this Tolen. I had to follow your mother’s wishes. I’m not allowed to interfere with Blood-Bonds.”

  Tolen caught a glimpse of his mother through the kitchen window, pulling food out of the cupboards and a muscle in his cheek twitched. He wasn’t angry with Dane, but his mother? Yes. She’d betrayed him with her secrecy. He didn’t want to hurt her, but how could she keep something this big from him?

  “She kept everything from me. What I really am, the truth about my father, everything. I thought my dad was a worthless creep who wanted nothing to do with his family. You guessed that my nightmares were about him and yet, because of her, you couldn’t tell me. I want to find him, but because of her I have no idea how, or even why he ended up in that prison in the first place. I’ve been so scared for her health, worrying every day that I might lose her, and all along if she would have told me what I am I could have learned how to protect us from whatever is out there.” He leaned against his mother’s rusty, broken down Honda and propped his feet on the Scout’s bumper. He felt grateful he could finally vent his frustrations to his best friend, but knew he couldn’t feed the anger.

  He took a slow breath. “I’m supposed to be afraid of what’s out there but I’m so frustrated I can’t feel anything else. I can’t get my head straight. I’ve always known I was different, no matter what I have or haven’t been told, but this?” He shook his head and waved a hand through the air. “This is nuts. This is fantasy. You’re some dwarf from a Tolkien book, and me? I’m supposed to be some sort of Chosen one that has to protect unsuspecting humans from monsters, when I’m nearly just as clueless as they are—”

  “Technically I’m not a dwarf. I’m a Doogar—big difference. Very few humans ever get it right.” Dane glanced at Tolen’s clenched fists, seemed to sense his need for solid answers, and gave Tolen what he could. “Sorry, it’s not a good time to joke. My people have been here since this world began. Some of us have Hidden gifts like you. Some of us are simply skilled with our hands. Most of my kind lives in underground settlements. We only come above when our services are needed. I guess that’s where the dwarf comparisons come from.”

  Dane ran a chubby hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Tolen. I wish things could be different. I wish for your sake that you could go to sleep, wake up, and find all this really is another nightmare or just one of our video games. But you can’t. Everything you’ve been told by Bastian is real. The sooner you start to believe it, the easier it’ll get, not to mention it will help you with your gifts. Now that you no longer have to hold them back, they will be a great asset to you. The Chosen are held in very high regard by the Hidden. It’s actually a great honor to be selected by the Light.” He sighed. “It will get easier with time. I promise.”

  Tolen ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to offend his friend, but at this moment he disagreed.

  Macy rushed out of the house with a look of deep concentration on her face. Ignoring the two of them, she began scouring the overgrown weeds in their pitiful garden, occasionally pulling something up to stuff it in one of her many pockets and pouches.

  A few seconds later, Bastian and Areen came out and started helping her.

  Dane nudged Tolen’s arm and nodded toward the others. “I know you’re mad at your mom, but I really believe she was trying to protect you. She loves you so much she has given her life to keep you safe. To live in the Hidden world is dangerous. She was trying to do what she thought was best.”

  “And Bastian, well he’s actually not so bad.” Dane bobbed his head. “Macy’s got a rotten attitude but she seems to be pretty skilled. Truthfully, if I had to pick who to run with, I don’t think we’ve faired too badly. The guy’s a Watcher so he’s the best suited to protect you, and since Macy’s a Chosen she will be able to help you learn your responsibilities.”

  Tolen blew out a loud breath. “Responsibilities I didn’t ask for.” He watched Macy force a rusty shovel into the hard dirt, dislodge a huge clump of something, toss it over her shoulder, reach down into the hole, rip out a bunch of stringy roots, and stuff them into the same satchel she’d put the herbs into. He shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll be asking Macy for lessons anytime soon. She’d probably strangle me like she did those crows, just for breathing wrong.”

  Dane sighed, “It does seem she doesn’t like you much. Just jealous, if you ask me.”

  Bastian stood up, handed Macy something else for her bag and then the three of them walked over to Tolen and Dane. He tossed another duffle bag into the back. “We are nearly ready.”

  “Where will we go if we escape?” Tolen tried not to think about how everyone kept saying if.

  Dane answered. “California, to the Binithan—my real home. The power of my people should shield us until we decide where to go from there.”

  Tolen glanced between Dane and Bastian. “If we’ll be protected there, why not stay?”

  “Um, lots of reasons.” Dane wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Bastian, my father has scouted the route. He said we should be able to draw the legion right to where you wanted as long as we get there before dusk. If we’re later than that, they might head us off. They got pretty far last night.”

  Tolen glanced around. No one seemed to want to look directly at him. Bastian and Dane were facing each other. Macy stood behind them picking dirt out of her fingernails, a sucker sticking out of her mouth. His mother had her arms folded and stared at the ground. If not for the fact that no one would look right at him, he would believe she was just still offended by what he’d said. But that wasn’t it at all. They were hiding something from him.

  “I still think you guys are nuts.” Macy pulled the sucker from her mouth with a loud pop. “We’re not going to outrun the Dark with the kid’s life force acting like a friggin’ beacon the whole way.”

  Tolen clenched his teeth. “You know, I am right here.”

  Macy rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored him.

  “We will break through the western line and head for the Binithan.” Bastian gave Macy a hard look. “We will deal with whatever follows, accordingly.” He looked at Tolen and his pale eyes dilated and contracted so fast it was dizzying. “Are your injuries bothering you at all?”

  Tolen touched the bruise under his eye. He’d actually forgotten all about them. “No, I feel fine.”

  Bastian gave him another once over and turned to Tolen’s mother. “He knows no combat skills, correct?”

  “No.”

  Macy snorted.

  Bastian put a hand on Macy’s shoulder. “Make sure you have everything. We leave in five minutes.”

  Tolen looked at his mother. “So, I’m supposed to fight?”

  Moisture gathered at the corners of his mother’s eyes, but she kept her head down. “No, just stay behind us.”

  Frustration leaked into his tone. “And if something gets past you?”

  “Nothing will.” Dane twisted a small dagger in his hands. The strange blade glinted ominously in the sunlight.

  Tolen bounced uncomfortably in the back of Bastian’s ancient truck. Mashed in-between Macy and Dane, he felt like a sardine trapped in a tin being tossed around in a rock tumbler. Every stone in the road seemed to jump right through the seat and slam into his backside.

  Bastian swerved to miss an antelope and Tolen’s head knocked into Macy’s.

  “Ouch! Watch it kid!” She threw him an angry glare and rubbed the side of her head.

  “Sorry,” Tolen muttered.

  “How much farther to the canyon, Bastian?” Macy continued to mas
sage her head dramatically.

  Bastian’s eyes flashed in the rear view mirror. “Not long now. You know what to do.”

  Bouncing along the highway, Macy pulled various pouches from her belt.

  “Here, make yourself useful. Hold these.” She handed Tolen three small leather pouches blackened with age.

  Tolen twisted the pouches with interest and Macy slapped his hand.

  “Don’t spill anything unless you want to lose your legs. TNT, get it?”

  He held the strings at the top and let them dangle from his fist, fighting the urge to throw them back at her.

  She set several flat squares of some sort of woven material on her legs. From each of the pouches she pulled out bits of multi-colored dirt and crushed leaves, and sprinkled them on top of the material. Then she removed one of his mother’s herb bags from her satchel and added a pinch to the top of each pile.

  He watched in resentful amazement as Macy worked. She moved her hands furiously fast, and yet they remained steady despite the constant rocking of the truck. She seemed to have good reason for her arrogance, but it didn’t stop it from being annoying.

  “Hold on.” Bastian took a sharp turn at nearly sixty miles an hour. Tolen felt the side of the truck lift slightly. He looked down at Macy wondering if she was being serious about the stuff blowing his legs off, but the piles of dirt on her lap were gone. She held out her hand for the pouches.

  “What were those things?” He watched her reattach the pouches to her belt.

  She ignored him.

  “They looked like Glockshaw.” Dane clutched the window handle trying to stay in his seat. “Miniature bombs; Kunamin are famous for them. Very cool.”

  The side of Macy’s mouth twitched.

  Tolen only understood ‘bombs’ but right now he had a bigger concern. “Dane?” He cringed when they hit a bump that sent the springs smacking into his tailbone.

  “Yeah?” Dane leaned into the door as they turned again.

  “Where exactly in California is your home?” He asked wondering how long they’d be sandwiched in the back of this truck.

  “The Lava Beds.”

  He looked at Dane in confusion. “Isn’t that a National monument?”

  “Yeah. You’d be surprised to find out how many colonies of Hidden use national parks, forests, and other protected lands as their homes throughout the world. They are some of the only places left that humans don’t have full access to. It’s a perfect setup if you think about it.”

  Tolen gripped the seat as Bastian slammed on the brakes, slowing from sixty down to thirty as they entered a small town.

  “Macy, the first band will be on the left as soon as we enter the canyon.” Bastian tapped his hands nervously on the steering wheel.

  She nodded. “How many?”

  “I am not sure yet.”

  “Why are we going into a canyon? Won’t that box us in?” Tolen glanced at Dane. His mother glanced over her shoulder but didn’t say anything. The look in her eyes sent shivers down his back. They were filled with fear.

  “We don’t really have a choice.” Dane shrugged, trying to look unconcerned, but some of the same fear in his mother’s eyes was mirrored in Dane’s. “We need someplace we can use our gifts without drawing unwanted attention. Nine Mile Canyon rarely gets tourists this early in the season.”

  Tolen had been to Nine Mile Canyon several times. Its name was a ruse—its rocky dirt roads twisted and curved through the canyon until the total miles was more like fifty. Even driving as fast as they could, it would take over an hour to get out the other side.

  “What about the people who live in there?”

  Dane shifted in his seat. “Let’s hope they’re smart enough to stay inside tonight.”

  Just as the sun began to drop below the horizon, Bastian turned beside a sign declaring they were entering the canyon.

  Tolen took a deep breath. Fifty miles of terror coming up . . .

  Bastian clicked on the headlights as night settled over the desert. Tolen looked out the back window, wondering how far they would make it before they were attacked, when suddenly something slammed into the driver’s side of the truck. Bastian swerved, skidded into the rocks and cranked the wheel, fishtailing back onto the road.

  Bastian glanced in his side mirrors. “Macy, be ready.”

  His eyes flashed to Tolen in the rearview. “Tolen you need to remain as calm as possible. You will see things tonight that will be unlike anything you have ever imagined. Try not to let fear overtake you. Stay with one of us at all times and you will be fine.”

  Tolen had a hard time believing any of them were going to be fine as football sized rocks started flying in like a hailstorm, hitting the truck and crashing into the windshield, sending cracks spider-webbing across the glass surface.

  “We’re not going to make it much farther in the truck!” Dane shouted.

  Macy rolled down her window and ducked. A rock the size of Tolen’s fist sailed past her face and hit the back of Bastian’s seat. She rubbed her hands together, breathed on one of the balls of dirt, and flung it out the window. A huge explosion shattered the air behind them and the rock-storm ceased for several minutes.

  An enormous black something dropped right in front of them and Bastian veered sharply to miss slamming into it. The truck spun and teetered. Sure they were about to roll, Tolen gripped his seat and held on for all he was worth.

  A wall of dirt appeared out of the darkness and the truck crashed sideways into it. The passenger side windows shattered, the truck’s steel frame buckled and they were all shoved to one side in a tangle of arms and legs.

  “Thanks.” Macy muttered as she climbed off Tolen.

  Dane rubbed his jaw. “Anytime.”

  “You did that? How?” Tolen’s heart felt like it’d taken residence in his throat.

  Dane shrugged then massaged his shoulder. “I asked. I didn’t know if Earth would respond. But thankfully she did.”

  Tolen opened his mouth to ask what the black mass was that they’d swerved around, but Bastian began shouting and the panic in his voice drove the question out of his mind.

  “Get out! Get OUT!”

  They all scrambled trying to pry open the dented doors, but they wouldn’t budge.

  Bastian leaned into his door and pushed. With a loud grunt of metal, the door ripped from its hinges. “Everyone up here!”

  They scrambled over the seats. Once Bastian made sure everyone got out, he grabbed Macy and Tolen by the back of their shirt collars and shoved them forward. “Run to that outcropping! Go!”

  Seconds after Tolen started to run, an explosion behind them sent him flying forward to his hands and knees. He glanced back to see the remains of the black thing they’d swerved to miss shooting sparks and debris into the air. A second explosion and the truck ignited into a volcano of fire and metal.

  Chapter Eight

  Change of

  Plans

  “Tolen, come on!” Macy grabbed the back of his shirt and wrenched him upright.

  They stopped at the outcropping. Tolen leaned over with his hands on his knees searching the night, terrified for his mother and best friend. “Where’s everyone else?”

  Macy pointed towards the left of the smoking truck. “There. They couldn’t get across before the truck exploded, so they jumped into the ditch.”

  “What do we do?” Tolen panted. Fear twisted through his gut. His body weak and shaky.

  “First you gotta chill. Fear is a device of the Dark. Bastian wasn’t joking about staying calm. If you let it get to you, you’ll weaken and no matter what I do, you’ll die.”

  “That calms me right down,” he mumbled, trying to ignore that that was exactly what was happening. He could feel the fear literally taking strength from him, but he couldn’t stop it.

  “Shh.
Get down!” Macy pushed on his back. “There are two Raksasha scouts at four o’clock. And I think a Reconn is nearing the ditch.”

  “What are you going to do?” Tolen whispered, struggling and failing in the fight against the powerful surge of fear that seemed to be a real monster bent on killing him.

  Macy closed her eyes and rubbed her palms together. Tolen smelled something floral and minty and wondered fleetingly if she was smashing more herbs, but he hadn’t seen her put anything in her hands.

  She opened her eyes. “I think there are four more Raksasha running in behind the two over there.” She pointed and he could swear he saw a tiny stream of smoke trailing from her finger. “I’m not positive though, Bastian’s better at reading the Dark’s vibes. If we can plan our attack with the others at the same time, we should be able to startle them enough to regroup.”

  “How’s Bastian going to know to attack at the same time?”

  “He’s aware of our thoughts remember. Wait for my signal and then I want you to run back to the others, all right?”

  Tolen nodded, noticing it was getting harder to breathe. “What’s the signal?”

  “When I take down the first two Raksasha.”

  “By yourself?”

  “It’s what I do.” She closed her eyes once more, mumbled something under her breath, and then leapt from their hiding spot, soaring at least ten feet in the air before landing outside the circle of light cast by the burning truck.

  Tolen couldn’t see anything.

  A muffled thump, a bone-chilling screech, and something rolled down the road in his direction. It looked like the blackened head of a skeleton with glowing yellow eyes.

  He scrambled backwards until his back hit into the rock behind him. From the ditch he could hear more thuds and shrieks, but he couldn’t see anything that direction either. Panic gripped his heart like a black dream. Sweat poured down his face and dripped into his eyes. He’d never been more scared in his life. How was he supposed to stay calm when he didn’t even know if anyone was still alive?