by Mindy Majors
Just then the girls returned from the jewelry shop.
“Who's quick to anger?” Kassie asked Daire.
“Where did you get that necklace?” Daire asked Symarah, ignoring Kassie's question.
“I got it in Spain, when I was on vacation.”
“Where? What was the name of the shop?” Daire demanded, taking a step toward her.
“It was called Noumeina,” Symarah answered, startled by his aggressive demeanor.
It was not like Daire to be so aggressive toward her, or anyone else, unless he was provoked. Daire took another step toward her; he placed his hand on the necklace, closed his eyes, and disappeared.
“What the hell was that about?” Kassie asked, stunned by Daire's uncharacteristic behavior.
“Yes, what the hell?” Symarah agreed.
They all turned to Jareth for an explanation; he just stood there in stunned silence, his normally dark complexion had paled considerably.
“What is it, Jareth? You look like you've just seen a ghost,” Kassie said.
“That is what I'm afraid of,” Jareth said, staring at Symarah in disbelief.
Daire flashed himself to Noumeina, the necklace in hand. The little shop would have appeared to be empty, were he not an Atlantean god.
“I know you're here, show yourself,” he commanded.
Just then a woman appeared behind the counter. She was small and hunched over, plainly dressed in earthy tones. Her tangled gray hair hung just past her shoulders. She looked to be in her mid to late 80's.
“May I help you young man?” the old woman said in a raspy voice.
“Cut the crap, I know who you are; or more precisely, what you are, shauri.”
The woman's appearance began to change. Her dry, wrinkled flesh fading to a soft dewy complexion. Her gray hair was now long and flowing; it fell to her waist in the most beautiful shade of sparkling silver imaginable. She now appeared to be in her early twenties. Even her clothes were different, the dull browns replaced by pure white. She had gone from looking like a mousy old woman to a beautiful young lady of class and sophistication in a matter of seconds, but Daire was not fooled, he had encountered enough shauri in his time to know that this was not her true form either. Shauri were demigods who had the ability to change their appearance to look any way they wanted. In their true form, they are said to be so desirable that neither man nor woman can resist them. No one had ever seen the true form of a shauri and lived to tell about it.
“What is the meaning of this?” Daire demanded, placing the necklace on the counter.
“He said you would come,” the woman smiled calmly.
“Vaiden?” Daire asked.
“He never gave his name, but yes, it was Vaiden,” she answered.
“What did he want with you?” Daire questioned.
“He told me to keep the necklace in back until its true owner came for it, said I was not to charge her for it.”
“Did he put some kind of a curse or spell on it?”
“No, it is pure, it has not been tampered with,” the woman answered.
“Then why did he want Symarah to have it, what was his plan?”
“I didn't ask,” she replied. “I never ask, I simply wait for the rightful owner of the lost item to come in and then I sell it back to them.”
“How do you know if it really is the rightful owner?” Daire asked.
“I am shauri, we see all past lives,” she smiled knowingly.
“Past lives?” Daire asked, utterly confused.
“When a cherished item becomes lost, once the true owner is reincarnated the item comes to me; that is to say that it appears in my shop. I then keep the item safe until it can be reclaimed by its rightful owner,” the woman explained.
“Then how did you know that Vaiden wanted you to give the necklace to Symarah?” Daire asked, still skeptical.
“The item always recognizes its true owner, not just by its physical shell, but by its soul as well. It recognized Symarah's soul, although to the necklace she is known by the name Meissen.”
Daire was stunned.
“Are you saying that Symarah is the reincarnation of Meissen?”
“They are one in the same,” the shauri answered.
“That bastard,” Daire growled. “He knew this would happen, he knew she would start to remember if she had the necklace.”
“That is why he did not want me to charge her for it,” the shauri nodded in agreement. “You see, every cherished item holds memories; if someone loses an item, and it is returned to them, the memories remain, but if the item is purchased the memories are erased.”
But she only seems to remember me, she knows nothing of her former self.”
“You are ayul,” the woman explained, using the Atlantean term for eternal, “it is only natural that memories of her soul mate would be the first to return.”
“No, it doesn't make sense,” Daire argued; “she doesn't seem to remember me from our past, she's remembering things from my past, but long after Meissen died.”
“Sometimes an item can form kind of a psychic link to the one they hold most dear.”
Daire couldn't breathe. Symarah was his dead fiancée, the only woman he had ever loved, and Vaiden was going to make him watch her die, that much was obvious now. That was his plan all along. He had killed Vaiden's love and now Vaiden was going to return the favor.
“This man, Vaiden as you call him, he was not alone, nor did he leave empty handed,” the woman told him.
“What do you mean?” Daire asked.
“He had a man with him. He ordered him to purchase something from me, something very important.”
“What was it?” Daire asked impatiently.
“Something that used to belong to the unden centuries ago,” she hinted meaningfully.
“The dagger?”
She nodded her head in agreement.
“Vaiden's head slave is the human reincarnation of Euenor, Kleito's father?” Daire said in disbelief.
“He must be, otherwise the dagger would not have recognized him.”
“That's why he made the slave pay for the dagger, so he wouldn't remember anything when he touched it?”
“Just as a precaution; it is highly doubtful that he'd have remembered anything anyway, his blood is tainted by the blood of the cursed Atlantean god, he knows only what Vaiden allows him to know,” the woman answered. “Sadly he cannot be saved.”
“So the dagger is real,” Daire said.
“How else would an indestructible Atlantean god be reincarnated?” she reasoned.
“What else do you know of the dagger, can it be destroyed?” Daire questioned.
“I know only its past, nothing of its future. I know who its rightful owner is and that it was designed to kill Atlantean gods.”
“Why would he have you tell me this, it takes away the element of surprise.”
“I was instructed only to tell you of the necklace, you were to know nothing of the dagger.”
“He'll kill you if he finds out, why risk your life for me.”
“I refused to help him so he threatened to kill me. When a shauri is in danger we use seduction as a defense, the desire to please becomes so strong they are willing to do anything we ask, even if it kills them.”
“So why then is he still alive?” Daire asked.
“He tricked me; he is the only person alive who knows how to get past our defenses, and I want him dead,” she answered in a venomous tone.
Daire was startled by her sudden rage, it was the first time he had seen her be anything but calm, and it had ended as quickly as it had begun. Her change in demeanor was so surprising that it took him a few seconds to realize what Vaiden was doing. Now that Daire knew Symarah was his fiancée, there was nothing stopping Vaiden from killing her and he had lured Daire half-way around the world so that he wouldn't be there to save her.
CHAPTER 9
“So what's going on with you and Daire?” Conner asked as he pic
ked up a big greasy french fry and devoured it.
“I honestly don't know; he's been avoiding me ever since the night we found out about the necklace,” Symarah answered. They hadn't really spoken for almost a week and every time she walked into a room he immediately excused himself. She knew that she would have to let him go eventually but it would be easier to do that if she didn't have to see him every day. The past week had been pure torture for her but she couldn't think about that now. She was supposed to be having fun. She had been looking forward to the class trip for weeks and now here she sat at the zoo food court pretending to be having a good time when all she really wanted to do was wallow in front of the TV in her pajamas with a movie and every one of her favorite foods.
“He already knew that Vaiden was using you to get to him, hoping the two of you would fall in love so that he could take his revenge on Daire by killing you.”
“Yes, we knew all that,” she replied.
“So knowing that Vaiden used the necklace of Daire's long lost fiancée doesn't really change anything, other than to prove how ruthless and twisted he truly is,” Conner pointed out.
“Maybe seeing the necklace is just bringing up old memories, feelings that are too painful for him to deal with. Maybe he feels guilty, like he's cheating on her, I don't know, but it's probably for the best, it's not like we could have stayed together too much longer anyway. As soon as Vaiden is gone Daire will be too. No happily ever after for us unless we want to incur Athena's wrath.” Symarah shook her head glumly. Although she would never admit it, she felt utterly defeated. For the first time in her life she had finally fallen in love with someone and she would have to let him go. “I really don't want to talk about this right now, there's nothing that can be done about it anyway.”
“Your wish is my command my lady,” Conner bowed.
“Ms. Symarah, are alligators monsters?”
“Who told you that?” Symarah questioned.
“Emma did, she said that they are monsters who hide under your bed and then eat you in your sleep.”
“No Ella, they are not monsters and they don't hide under your bed. Your sister is just trying to scare you.” Symarah smiled reassuringly.
“Well, there are monsters that hide under your bed,” Emma argued.
“There is no such thing as monsters, now stop trying to scare your sister,” Symarah said.
“I know of some really scary monsters, do you want to hear about them?” Conner interrupted.
“Yeah!!!” they all yelled, as they gathered around the table.
“Well, they only come out when it's dark because the sunlight kills them and they eat people, that's why their breath stinks. They have really sharp teeth and their faces are sunken in.”
“Like vampires?” Logan asked.
“Yes, like vampires but worse.”
“Nothing is worse than vampires,” Gracee argued.
“These monsters are worse Gracee, I promise you.”
“How do you defeat them?” Jake asked.
“You probably can't kill them,” Logan interrupted.
“Uh huh; all monsters have a weakness,” Jenna chimed in.
“She's right,” Conner told them, “all monsters do have a weakness.”
“What is their weakness?” Jake asked.
“Well, just like vampires, their weakness is sunlight as well,” Conner answered.
“What are they called?” Gracee questioned.
“They are called demmic.”
“CONNER!” Symarah scolded.
“What? There's no harm in it; besides, at least this way they can try to defend themselves,” Conner whispered.
“What if it's night time?” Jenna asked.
“Enough of this now, I've heard enough,” Symarah said.
“Silver is another of their weaknesses,” Conner blurted out.
“CONNER MACCAILIN, I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!” Symarah scolded.
“Yes ma'am,” Conner said with a devilish smirk.
“Okay, everybody gather up your stuff, we're going to show Ella the alligators so she can see that they are not monsters,” Symarah said, with far more enthusiasm than she felt.
“If Vaiden has the dagger, then what is he waiting for?” Jareth growled in frustration.
“I don't know,” Daire answered quietly, as he sat at the breakfast nook sipping a glass of orange juice. Truthfully, he had expected Vaiden to attack the night he had flashed himself to Noumeina. It had been five days since he had spoken with the shop owner and there was still no trace of Vaiden or his minions. By the time he'd flashed back home, the girls were already in bed, and the day walkers had gone. Jareth had been the only one there and Daire was very grateful for that. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell Symarah that she might be his long lost fiancée who died centuries ago. He had been avoiding her since that night and it was killing him to see the hurt in her eyes every time he left the room when she entered. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and comfort her, keep her safe and never let her go, but now when he looked at her he saw Meissen, and all the anger and grief he felt when she died came rushing back. Her memory tormented him.
“I still think you should have told her the truth,” Jareth said, sensing Daire's anguish. He had told her everything that happened at Noumeina that night, except for the part about her being his long lost fiancée.
“She's been through enough already, besides we don't even know if it's possible, and if it is true it would only make it harder for us to go our separate ways when this is all over.”
You're kidding yourself if you think for one minute that girl isn't already in love with you and you've fallen for her as well; don't try to deny it, I've known you far too long,” Jareth scolded. “I don't see any reason why the two of you can't be together.”
“It's not that easy Jareth.”
“Actually it's quite simple. It's obvious you belong together, you are soul mates.”
“You don't know that. If we were soul mates then why would she have been taken from me in the first place?”
“You know I can't answer that Daire, except to say that the gods are cruel, as are the fates, but now they've brought her back to you which proves that she is your soul mate.”
“That's just it, even if she is Meissen, which I don't think she is, they didn't bring her back to me, Vaiden did, and only so that he can exact his revenge by taking her away. Am I destined to watch her die over and over?”
“Maybe it was Vaiden that brought her back to you but that doesn't mean she is destined to die. You know how twisted the fates can be, maybe this is their way of making amends for taking her. Look, if we can vanquish Vaiden, there will be nothing stopping you and Symarah from living happily ever after.”
“Except that she is a mortal and I will have to watch her grow old and die, you of all people should know how painful that is.”
“I know the pain all too well, but I also know that if I had the chance to be with Illiana again, to look upon her precious face even if just for a day, I would not hesitate to take it,” Jareth argued. “I understand you don't want to go through the pain of losing her again but life is filled with pain, it is the pain that teaches us to appreciate the good things in life that much more. You can't spend the rest of your life alone for fear of losing someone you love. You knew Meissen was mortal when you met her and yet you still asked her to marry you, knowing how it would end; why is this any different?”
Daire knew his oldest friend was right but that did nothing to ease his troubled heart.
“Why do you always have to be so damn rational?”
“So you'll talk to her?” Jareth was hopeful.
“I'll think about it,” Daire answered stubbornly.
“Well think fast because she and the day walker will be back from the class trip around five o’clock tonight,” Jareth replied just as stubbornly.
“Okay guys, what do you want to see next? There's the lions, the penguins, the reptile house or maybe the �
�”
“The nocturnal house!!!” they all yelled in unison, interrupting Symarah's list.
“It's pretty scary in there, are you sure you want to go? There might be monsters in there,” Conner teased and then gave his most creepy evil laugh.
“Yeah, we wanna see the bats,” they all agreed.
“Okay, don't say I didn't warn you,” Conner said.
“Who can tell me something interesting about bats?” Symarah asked as they headed toward the nocturnal house.
“Bats are nocturnal,” Ella answered.
“And what does that mean?”
“It means they are active at night.”
“That's right Emma. What else can you guys tell me?”
“They can fly up to 60 miles per hour,” Jenna stated.
“Some bats hibernate for the winter and some fly south,” Gracee chimed in.
“Man you guys are smart,” Conner praised.
“Anything else?” Symarah questioned.
“They use echolocation,” Jake offered.
“Yes, they use echolocation; very good, Jake.”
“What's that?” Emma asked.
“Echolocation is when you use sound waves and echoes to figure out where objects are so you don't run into them. Bats can tell where things are by listening to see how long it takes the sound to come back to them. The longer it takes, the farther the object is from them,” Symarah explained.
“That is so cool,” said Jenna.
“Yes, it is very cool. Okay everybody, while we're in here we need to speak quietly and no running,” Symarah instructed, as she opened the door to the nocturnal house.
The first animal was an owl, which the kids made soft hooting noises at, followed by the clouded leopard and then the bobcat. Next was the Burmese python, which the kids loved, and then the aardvark which made them laugh. An hour had passed by the time they got to the bats, which was the last exhibit in the nocturnal house, and they were the only ones left in the building. They spent several minutes looking at the bats and asking questions about them.
“These are vampire bats; that means they suck people's blood right?”
