by Kealohilani
Arante stepped backwards. Her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. A split second later she narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw as she roughly sheathed her dagger— glaring at Jharate and Lani as they passed her.
However, she remained close by. Jharate and Lani stopped just in front of the rest of the friends who were still tied up and sitting against the fallen tree.
“I am Prince Jharate Inihma— heir to the stolen throne of Trisakne. Lani has been kind enough to relate all of the details of your arrival. I realize that what I am about to reveal to you will be shocking. Please forgive me for having to tell you so indelicately— you are no longer on your home world of Earth.”
Kara gasped.
“Stellar!” Justin laughed. “One of the best I’ve seen! I’ve never heard of a LARPing convention starting quite like this. You had me going there for a while, buddy. Epic!”
“Right, Justin… They brought us here to come play with them at a convention— from three different places on the planet!” Kendra mocked.
“Well how do you explain how we got here then, Miss Thing?”
“Please don’t,” Lani implored, looking at the two of them with a pleading look.
“Why are you being so serious, Lani? Wait… you’re trying to tell me this is real?” Justin asked as he noticed the look in Lani’s eyes. There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm there… She wasn’t kidding.
“I’m afraid so,” she affirmed.
“How the heck could that be possible?!”
“I do not know precisely how you have come to be here,” Jharate answered, returning the conversation to the topic at hand. “Nor do I know how to help you return. What I do know is that you have come to a perilous place at a tumultuous time. This is the Forest of Kar.
“We are on the border of Trisakne and Kelamosa— our noble neighbors to the east. They too, were conquered by the most evil force this world has ever known. We are on our way to Destavnia— the only free land remaining. We will allow you to travel there— in our company and under our protection— if you will do your share of the work and help to defend against attacks, when necessary. Are we agreed?”
“Booyah! Talk about RPG’s!”
Justin’s face lit up like a kid’s on the night before Christmas. He sat up straighter against the log— eyes glittering with glee— so full of enthusiasm it was palpable. Raoul also straightened up. He looked at Justin— bursting with excitement.
“You’re right, Justin!” Raoul exclaimed. “We can take what we learned from playing Final Fantasy and use it here! Plus, think of all the practice we got fighting with the kendo sticks and my family’s katana swords in the backyard! Yes!”
Lani worked hard to suppress a laugh. She should have known Raoul and Justin would be totally down with this situation. She and Jharate both looked to the three who had not yet spoken, and waited for them to answer.
“Yeah okay,” Erik said, flatly.
“What choice do we have?” Kendra asked with a shrug. “I’ll help.”
Kara was silent a long time. All eyes were on her and even the birds seemed to have stopped their songs, as if straining to hear what she would say. Her countenance fell, her eyes welled up with tears, and the second she blinked they streamed down her face.
“I just want to go home…”
“If I possessed the knowledge to aid you in doing so, I would certainly do everything within my power to return you safely to your homes. However, I do not. Truly, your best chance— and doubtless your only chance— is to come with us.
“If personal safety is not enough incentive for you to join us, you may want to consider what I have come to understand, while listening to what Lani has relayed concerning her book. If our world falls, so does your own.
“All else in the story, which Lani has been writing, has been remarkably accurate— deadly accurate, to be more precise. The lives of everyone on your planet— including the lives of each and every member of your families— are in danger.”
All eyes turned to Lani as Justin asked the question everyone was thinking.
“What is he talking about?”
“He’s talking about the book I’ve been writing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it before— but I didn’t feel like it was ready to share with anyone yet. I only wrote the prologue and one chapter and I had no idea it would be important—”
“Your forgiven, sugar bunny. Now stop apologizing and explain.”
“Thank you, Justin.” Lani smiled, exhaled, and took a deep breath. “Okay so in my book, I wrote that every major cataclysmic event since the Vietnam War has been in direct response to things happening here in Alamea. Life for life.
“The wars, the famines, accidents, assassinations— everything. In fact, no death is natural anymore and nothing is a coincidence. Every time someone dies here on Alamea, so does someone on Earth— someone like that person. Bad for bad and good for good.”
“But you just said it’s a book! If you wrote it, it’s not real! It can’t be real!”
Kendra’s tone was a little angrier than she meant it to be— but Lani could hear the tinge of panic in it, which triggered sympathy instead of returning the anger.
“I wish it were just a book. But every single thing I have written in it so far has turned out to be true in every detail. Apparently I was having visions of actual events and writing them down from what I thought were only dreams and imagination. But it’s all real.”
“I believe you,” Justin assured her, with a calm tone.
“So do I,” Raoul added.
“It’s not possible…” Kendra whispered, in a way that made it clear that she was starting to accept it against her will.
“But what about stuff caused by nature?” Erik asked. “Lots of people die because of floods and fires and things. Even if what you said about accidents and assassinations and whatnot is true— you can’t force nature.”
“Actually, Earth itself reacts to the death toll on Alamea to the point where it triggers natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes— you name it. That’s why there has been so much more of those kinds of things since the Sixties.”
“That’s intense…” Erik said quietly.
“You know what else is intense?” Justin began.
“Don’t you dare!” Kendra barked.
“Camping! Ha!” Justin started laughing hysterically again.
“Shut up, Justin!” Kendra and Erik barked in unison.
Justin took a few deep breaths and worked to stop laughing. Once he was calm enough to talk over, Raoul asked Lani another question.
“So wait, he said that this Destavnia place is the last place that hasn’t fallen?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“So what happens if it falls?”
Lani sighed and then continued with a somber tone. “If Vranah gets Destavnia, that’s over two billion good people who could die here…”
“And two billion good people who would die back home…” Raoul’s eyes lowered and his voice trailed off.
The entire group sat in silence. Only the crackling of a nearby campfire let them know that life was still happening. Jharate watched carefully. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated briefly, before deciding he must continue.
“As you have no doubt gathered by now, your entire planet is in danger. Joining with us to defeat Vranah may be the only way to help your people.”
Kara nodded her head slowly, closing her eyes as a few more large mascara-blackened tears slid quietly down her cheeks.
“Very well then. Arante, release their bonds, return their possessions to them, give them food and canteens of fresh water, and familiarize them with the camp! Assign them their duties and inform four of the other warriors that I wish each of them to take an apprentice, in order to teach the newcomers how to fight.”
Arante stomped briskly toward the captives without saying a word. She placed her dagger in-between the hands and feet of each person one at a time and yanked i
t up in a sharp motion until everyone was freed from their restraints. They rubbed their wrists subconsciously despite the fact that none of them had been injured as Lani had been.
“Well?!” Arante demanded in a highly-annoyed tone, pointing with her dagger to the pile of their stuff as if her next move would be to use their things as target practice if they didn’t hurry.
All six of them scampered to claim their belongings.
“You know, if we were on the run on Earth— the first thing we’d have to do is destroy these phones,” Justin joked.
“Oh yeah! So we couldn’t be tracked!” Raoul chortled.
“Lucky there’s no service here,” Justin grumbled grimly.
“Give me those,” Arante commanded, holding out her hand.
The six friends gave their phones over— with only Justin forcing her to yank it out of his hand. Arante set the handful of foreign devices down on a large flat stone.
“Ja‘el!”
A tall, fit, red-haired man with green eyes and skin turned golden brown by the sun, lifted a rock the size of a large suitcase and threw it down onto the phones without so much as a word.
“Way to go, Justin,” Kendra muttered under her breath.
“My baby!” Justin ran over to the rock and struggled with everything he had to lift it up. It didn’t even wiggle. He slumped to his knees, dropped his arms to his sides, and fell face forward onto the ground next to the rock— laying deathly still.
“Grow up, Justin,” Kendra mumbled.
“Not like they were any use to us anyway,” Erik complained with a sigh.
The man Arante had sent off to look for Jonn returned and Kendra listened carefully as he reported to Arante.
“There’s no sign of anyone else for miles, Princess Arante. Do you wish me to search a wider radius?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary. The six we have were all found together. If he traveled with them, I don’t think he would have been able to wander off too far. You are dismissed.”
The man placed his fist to his heart, bowed, and walked away to another part of the camp.
Kendra sighed in relief as she heard the report and turned to Erik. “Jonn’s probably a lot safer in Hawai‘i.”
“I’m sure he is.” Erik put his arm around Kendra.
“Hopefully he’ll get home okay… We have his wallet…”
“He will. Minors don’t even really need ID to fly if they are with an adult. And I’m sure the airline will listen to his situation and help since he lost his adults. Plus, your parents will help him with any money he needs.”
Kendra nodded and sighed again. Erik gave her a friendly squeeze before letting go of her.
Arante sheathed her dagger and walked a few feet away. She leaned down to pick up an extra quiver full of arrows and a bow. Once in hand, Arante stood up straight, flipped her ponytail back behind her with her free hand, and jerked her head to direct the friends to follow her.
Kara, Erik, and Kendra had to jog for a short distance to catch up with her. Lani began to follow them— but a strong and gentle hand touched her shoulder as if to stop her. No sooner had she stopped than Jharate let go of her.
“Come on, Justin,” Raoul prodded, pulling Justin’s flaccid arm. “Justin! Don’t you go boneless on me now! The prince guy said she’s gonna get us food! I’ve been smelling something good for hours and my stomach is growling! Justin! They’re leaving!”
“Fine…” Justin murmured as he pulled himself up, dusted himself off, noticed Lani was okay with staying with Jharate, and ran with Raoul to catch up with the others. “See you later, sugar bunny!” Justin called over his shoulder as he disappeared.
“Bye, Justin!” Lani laughed.
Soon Jharate and Lani were alone again.
“Don’t I need to be trained?” she asked.
“I will teach you the combat skills you need. I will also teach you how to use your gift— as we are alike in that way.”
Lani felt her heart do a backflip and her stomach beginning to flutter at the prospect of spending time with him. There was no stopping the huge smile that spread across her face.
“Alright. But I should tell you that the only thing I have ever done that even comes close to real fighting is sport fencing.”
“What manner of sword did you use?”
“It’s called a foil where I come from. It is a long, skinny, lightweight blade, no thicker than… than this stick right here.”
Lani selected a stick from the ground about the width of a pencil and approximately three feet long. Jharate laughed before he realized he had done so. He quickly caught himself and attempted to look serious again. Lani flashed a sly smile.
“Want to challenge me with another stick like this one for fun?”
Jharate raised one eyebrow slightly as he regarded her. He nodded his head once in his quiet but definitive way. He found a stick similar to hers and held it with both hands, ready to fight. Lani giggled.
“No, no, no. You only get to use your right hand. And your right foot always has to stay in front of the left.”
She gestured to his foot and then gently took his left arm and showed him how to hold it up and out of the way. She paused before letting go of his arm as she caught his eyes.
Lani felt a slight-but-thrilling shudder within. The corners of her closed lips curved up as she turned her face to hide her blush. She stepped away from him and assumed a fencing stance as he followed her lead.
“Very well then, fair lady. Shall we commence?”
“Now!”
She advanced with cat-like speed. In one quick motion she parried his “blade” away from him and with a touch lighter than a ladybug tapped his chest where his heart was and held the stick there triumphantly with a grin lighting up her face.
“You appear to have won, dear lady.”
Lani was sure she had forgotten more than one breath cycle as a result of hearing his deep voice speak those simple words of praise. She knew her success had mainly come because Jharate was not familiar with this form of fighting. But all that Lani had wanted was to earn his respect, and she got the sense that perhaps she had.
Again she would have given anything to read his mind. She withdrew her makeshift sword, put it vertically up to her forehead, pulled it down swiftly to her side to complete the fencing salute, and smiled brilliantly at him. Jharate smiled in return, lowering his head in a respectful nod of acknowledgement.
“The style in which I will be instructing you is quite different from the one you have just taught to me. The sword will no doubt be challenging and unwieldy for you at first. You must ignore many of the rules of your former training— and ingrain the new training until it becomes instinct, rather than rehearsal. However, if you pay close attention and practice often, I have confidence that you will learn. Here is my sword.”
Lani gasped as Jharate drew his spectacular broadsword from its sheath and passed it to her, hilt first. She was struck by its beauty as she took it cautiously in both of her hands.
The rapier that the character Inigo Montoya had in the movie The Princess Bride was no more awe-inspiring. She had never seen a sword like this in real life and it took her breath away.
The smooth, cold steel of the blade felt powerful as she laid it carefully across the flat of her open palm. The inlaid rubies on the golden hilt in her other hand mesmerized her as they sparkled in the rays of sunlight that reached down through the tops of the trees to touch each gem.
Surely a master had crafted this exquisite object! But it had been designed even more for its practical use than for its decorative appeal.
She loved the weight of Jharate’s sword. It had a balance that was unlike anything she had ever felt. She took the hilt into both of her hands and sliced it through the air, amazed at how it handled. It was, however, extremely heavy, and it was a strain to maneuver it.
Jharate pulled out yet another sword that Lani had not noticed before— and she wondered when he had gotten it. This
new sword was still sheathed as he handed it to her and simultaneously retrieved his own— sheathing it back in its rightful place at his side. He observed Lani as she looked inquisitively at the sword she now held.
“Your sword is made from the rarest and strongest metal known to my world. It can do battle with a sword three times its size without any damage to the blade whatsoever.”
“My sword?” Lani asked, astonished.
“Yes. It belongs to you now.”
Lani’s eyes brightened and her mouth fell open slightly as she looked up at him. She quickly returned her glance to the sword and enthusiastically unsheathed it, halfway, so that she could see the blade.
Its metal was even shinier than the metal of Jharate’s blade and reflected anything near it almost as well as a mirror. Scrolling etchings of delicate leaf and floral patterns made their way down one side of the blade, and wove themselves around a long, thin, twisting dragon. Magnificent and elegant, it resembled a Katana sword in both size and shape.
Emeralds, rather than rubies, adorned its ornate hilt and glistened in the sunlight. Lani marveled at the fact that, though the hilt appeared to be made out of golden-colored mother-of-pearl, she could tell that it was some kind of metal— like swirling pools of solid pearly gold.
To her great relief, her sword was much lighter than Jharate’s. It would still take two hands to control, but it was manageable. Although the techniques for this new form of swordplay would take some getting used to, she loved it already!
“Thank you so much! It’s more than I ever could have imagined! It’s gorgeous!”
“Not as lovely as the lady who is holding it. Shall we begin?”
Heat rushed from Lani’s heart to her cheeks.
“Yes please!”
Excellent Form— But How's Your Footwork?
Chapter Thirteen
Raoul had been assigned as an apprentice to Jaresh— an expert in the use of the crossbow. Jaresh was a tall, fair-skinned man in his early forties who had a deep tan, exceedingly large muscles, and light blonde hair that fell to his shoulders. The word “Whoa!” escaped Raoul’s mouth.
