Chapter 5-1

Chapter 5-1

 

They sat outside for a couple more minutes until Mrs. Tremens exited the house. “Well, boys, don’t just sit there. Come in where we all can see you.” Derrick and Bowden laughed as they walked through the gate. Jeff paused, watching them. Then he walked through, feeling a surge of energy, warm and welcoming yet somehow changed.

Though his body felt strange, it was also strangely the same as when he had walked to the house door. As he walked in, he noticed EJ sitting quietly on the couch; his face etched with worry. EJ could pick things up as if he were solid as Jeff watched him walk around the room. Some things lit up the boy’s face, which Jeff remembered from EJ’s past. It was all here somehow.

Little carvings of a scrapbook of a little boy’s life surround him all in one house, and Jeff, for a brief time, was a part of it. It was good to see him happy as Jeff put his arms around him. They sat on the couch by the fireplace and talked about anything they liked, not caring who was listening because this house belonged to him, and he was the master of the mask. They didn’t tell any illusions or hidden lies, for they saw everything for what it was.

EJ smiles as he looks at Mr. Tremens and his wife, watching them smile back at him as they each give him a nod. For EJ, he was bright for his age because sometimes you did not have the luxury of just being a kid. Sometimes, you had to think things through, like he did as he looked around the room of the house and back at the Tremens, telling him they were caretakers of his farm.

He didn’t even know he owned a farm. Then it hit him: As they nodded back to him and smiled, they could see he had the answer. They were in the Masters of the Light’s house beyond the gate on this farm. EJ knew without a doubt he was safe here, for he had met the master himself as he sat by the fire with him and his friends, and they would be there to protect him on his journey until the end.

It was hard to say goodbye, but even harder to watch. EJ watched his pony in the field, wanting to ride him. He wondered where he was, if not dead or the roosters, as EJ gazed about the farm one last time. Knowing he’ll be back often when he can, he watched Jayden while he tried to instruct him to concentrate. “Now, EJ, I want you to focus on the camp and where you are and repeat these words: ‘tumanver slaka breim.”

Nothing was working or happening as EJ watched Jayden shimmer out and then return without him. Mr. Tremens slowly walked over to EJ as he sat on the porch with the boy, waiting for Jayden to return. “Sometimes you just have to have a little faith in something, even things you thought were impossible, like this place,” Glen said, pointing his finger out towards the fields.

EJ drew figures in the dirt. “It’s just that I feel so helpless every time we go back; I can’t do anything there. But when I’m here or somewhere else, I feel free, as if the world is not on my shoulders anymore. Nobody is trying to kill me or take what I really want away. Here, I don’t have to choose one.”

“Which is?” Glen asked.

“Who do I want to be with for the rest of my life? The problem is down there, and I am up here.”

Glen nods, knowing EJ’s problem sitting down and drawing with him. “What would you say if I told you that there may be a way to have both?” he asked as he watches Jayden enter the gate and see EJ sitting on the porch.

EJ briefly turned their gaze towards Glen. “How? I thought this was just for me and Jeff?”

Glen told EJ that he built this farm for him, and Jayden sits on the other side of EJ. It is up to him who he lets through the gate, providing their hearts are pure. If not, they can’t come in and the gods will force the once not pure in the heart to dwell the in the Darkness until they already to dwell in the Light. For all masks and lies or seen for what they are before they enter.

“If the heart is too black, they shall perish in the Light, for the Light and shadows are one. You cannot have too much of the other to be affected. If you have too much Light, you have never experienced life without knowing the Darkness. If you have too much Darkness, you have no Light to guide you out of the madness. To experience both in equal parts, you are a gambler, waiting to tip the scales to either side.”

Glen stands up. “EJ, see that pile of rocks over there by the tree? I want you to pick as many small rocks as you can carry, one for each person you want with you, including yourself, then line them up here on the porch.”

EJ runs over to the tree where there are many small rocks, counting everyone in his family, including Grandma and Richard, his aunts, and all his friends he ever knew. His hands are full, so he lines them up; Glen and Jayden laugh, seeing the boys' pile of rocks as he lays them out.

“Now, take the rock of each person you want to see the most up here. You can talk with them about anything and all your secrets without fear.” Jayden can see the rock line getting shorter as he counts in his head.

“All right now, if you were to stay here, who would you miss the most?” The rock list got smaller. “Then ask this question: Would I die for this person so he or she may live if given the choice? Think hard, EJ.” EJ took his time and moved each rock over on the line as he looked at Jayden and then back at Glen.

EJ had made this choice long ago, as he recounts it in his mind, then again in Morgan’s Dungeon, but this time, it seemed more real as he looked at Glen and Jayden beside him. In his mind, he had chosen the Downing Family, his brother Danny, Grandma, and Richard every single time. Glen slowly picked up the small rocks in his hands and placed them in EJ’s hands, closing them tight.

EJ felt a gentle warmth enveloping him, as if a soft ray of sunlight was caressing his skin. The energy surged through his body, tingling his fingertips. As he opened his hands, the rough texture of the stones transformed into a smooth, heart-shaped disk of white glass. The sight of them was mesmerizing, each one adorned with a vibrant color. The majority displayed a captivating green center, but one stood out with its fiery red center, captivating EJ's curiosity. He couldn't understand why this one was different, but he felt sure that this particular glass - stone heart was meant for him. The stones glistened and gleamed under the sunlight, casting tiny prisms of light in every direction, creating a dazzling spectacle. Grateful for the master's generosity, EJ carefully placed the glass hearts into a small marble bag, feeling the coolness of the smooth surface against his palm. He clasped the bag tightly, ensuring that his precious treasures remained safe as he prepared to depart the farm. And so, hand in hand with Jayden and the others, EJ embarked on his journey back, the memories of the sparkling glass hearts forever etched in his mind.

EJ opens his eyes, feeling tired as his Ma worried about him because he has been asleep too long, looking at Jayden by his bedside with the surrounding ward. EJ smiles, looking into Ma’s face. “Ma, do you know how much I love you and Pa?” Tears ran down his little wood elf face, clutching a small bag. EJ tries to sit up but is too weak, but Jayden helps him open the bag, lifting him up so he can sit up as he pulls out a small glass heart for her, placing it in her hands and one for Pa as he tells them all about his little farm, that they all get to see with him.

Jayden nods, bringing the rest of the family inside the tent and sealing it off so they can all have some time together as a family. EJ hands each one a heart in return. He gets more kisses and hugs from his sisters, and extra ones from Ma and Pa.

He was beyond happy as his brothers were not afraid to wear the heart around their necks, as they quickly found some strong cord for them, and placed it around each of their necks. It was more than just a token of love. For them, it meant a lot more when they looked at their brother EJ. For them, it meant they would always be together with him forever.

EJ wanted to take them all to his farm that very night if he could, but no matter how hard he tried, or if they tried, it would not work. Jayden stopped by after supper, as promised, with more library books and things they needed to practice. As Jayden looked at them in the tent, he could sense something was wrong. Then, he proceeded to place a ward around them, create a barrier, and cast a new protective spell that bites back if someone is caught listening, while also muffling the sound into gibberish.

“All right,” Jayden said, stepping in the middle of the tent, “we must set a few things straight. First,” as he turned to EJ. “I have postponed our little family outing, making it impossible for you to even try going by yourselves until you are able. For two reasons. EJ needs to get stronger because it takes too much out of him every time he goes.

“Second, you are not ready yet; none of you are. The danger is real. Right now, we are sitting ducks and need to get moving, but I can only do that if things change here. I have divided the company into three groups to ease some of the stress on all of us. You are leaving in the last group with me. I am adding the Whitmores, finishing whatever they can do to help New Downing before we leave.”

“Now that’s settled,” Jayden continued, “Robert, I want you and Will to think of a way to hide your brother once we get going because he is too weak to walk and too old to ride with the rest of the children, yet too young to ride a horse with the menfolk.”

Robert looked at the wagon, thinking for just a moment of the time they had to hide to get back to the house after putting on Mr. Scarecrow’s clothes. “Pa, how many wagons do we still need to build?” he asked.

“Three, why?”

“Well, I think I have an idea,” Robert said.

Robert takes a piece of charcoal on a flat rock surface. Robert draws a small wagon with a box under the seat. Pa could see where he was going, looking at EJ, then drew another wagon a little wider so he wouldn’t feel so cramped for his legs, with a deeper overhang seat to make it look like part of the wagon moving the wheels a little.

Jayden sat about watching three people making plans. Will added this, Robert added that, and Pa added the adjustments to their design. Jayden laughed with them all, a small boy and their mother watching. Martha smiled as she stroked EJ’s hair as he sat and laid him against her comfortably.

It didn’t matter where he was as long as he was with her as she kissed his cheek. She also knew Jayden was right as she held her son; he couldn’t travel without or with his current body. His spirit may be strong and willing, but physically, it was draining him more and more. He needed to rest, or he would die. “No,” she whispered to him. “EJ, you must listen when I say don’t be in such a hurry, son, for I love you too much to lose you,” as she kisses his head.

As Grandma held the little glass heart around her neck and looked at her grandson, she still felt touched. Jayden said he had only chosen a select few as she walked back with Jayden that night to his tent. He recounted to her what took place on his farm, about the little heart around her neck. He said he began with a lot of pebbles, and each question reduced their number.

In her mind, she could see the people EJ knew as they slowly slipped off the ladder, counting and then questioning. “Was his actual mother among the counted?” Grandma looked back at the Downing tent and then back towards New Downing, where she was, not knowing her son was here with them and Danny was just a few miles away.

It was a hard choice even for her, as Grandma slipped through the guards while everyone was asleep that night. Knowing that Linda was so close to being with both her sons before they left for parts of the unknown bothered her, and it ate at her, knowing she had to do something about it.

Grandma was not an idiot as she carefully walked a horse down a dirt road at least a mile long. Then, slipping on her cloak, she made a mad dash with the horse towards New Downing. She figured she had to try, at least, as she galloped into the back of Nathaniel’s house.

To read more you can find it on Amazon.com and other book sites coming soon Spring of 2025.