The Eclipse: Chapter 3

 

    A man was sitting at the end of a long table. He had my brown hair, my blue eyes, but they were sad, as sad as my mother's was. He was staring dejectedly at a picture. It was a painted replica of a boy who looked about six or seven years old holding the hand of a baby, who looked a lot like me.   “Oh, my children,” he said sadly. “Why won't you come home to me?”

    “Elara! Elara, child, come back to us.”

    “I think she's coming around.”

    “Elara! It's me, Auron! Come on! Wake up!”

    “Elara.”

    I opened my eyes. I was aware that I was in a bed, covered with blankets. There was lots of people in the room, calling for me to wake up, to come back. The back of my head was aching with a horrible pain. Blinking the spots away from my eyes, I looked up into Fabian's eyes. He was leaning over me, his face tight with worry.

    “Fabian? Auron?” I asked, my voice raw. I felt slow, groggy. I struggled to get up. “Where's Kaius?”

    Fabian's expression twitched. “He's gone �" for now.”

    I dragged myself into a sitting position, which was very hard. I felt dizzy and sick. “What do you mean, for now?” I demanded. “Didn't you kill him?”

    Cordelia came forward and shooed Auron and Fabian away from the bed. “Now, now. Elara, child, you need to get some rest. And lay down! You have a concussion.”

    I obeyed, dropping back down again. While Cordelia fussed over me, I thought back to what had happened. “Fabian?”

    Fabian had sat down in a chair next to the bed. “Yes?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

    “What did Kaius mean, that we're going on a quest together?”

    Fabian's eyes darkened. “He was most likely trying to kidnap you, for some dark purpose, I don't really know.” Whatever he had said, his eyes told a different story. He was trying to conceal something from me. He knew what was going on.

    As I watched him, I felt a peculiar urge. “Where's your mother?”

    Sorrow flashed in his eyes. “She died recently.” He got up and swept quietly from the room.

    Auron stood by the bed. “After you got knocked out, Kaius and Fabian were having a huge swordfight. It was amazing,” he whistled in awe. “You know Willis? He tried to help but Kaius ran him through.”

    “Dead?!” I gasped. I remembered Willis. He had always wanted to be a Warrior of Old, fighting his nemesis with swords, and always winning. He had fashioned himself a makeshift sword out of pieces of wood, and would always rush to defend the village from any harm. Especially those pesky squirrels. He was only eleven years old.

    Auron shook his head. “No. Cordelia is optimistic about him getting better, though.”

    “Then what happened?”

    “Well, Fabian disarmed Kaius, but Kaius grabbed you and threatened to kill you if Fabian made a move. It was a stalemate for a while. Then, (this is the best part), then your eyes snap open and this light flashes, and you start saying really weird things, like 'The solar eclipse will come again', and other things. While in the confusion, Kaius disappeared. But after the light ended, you collapsed, and Fabian carried you upstairs.”

    “I what?!” I gasped. “The last thing I remember is hitting my head against the fireplace! What the heck do you mean?!”

    “It's true, all right,” a familiar voice rang out. I craned my neck to see my teacher, Gehn. He stepped closer to the bed, illuminating his grizzled face and grey hair. “You are a Foreteller, my dear girl.”

    I gaped at him. We knew about Foretellers, of course. In the story of the Eclipse, the Foretellers of Old had predicted the sun would be eaten up by a dark shadow. No one had listened to their cries. Until the Eclipse happened, changing humankind forever.

    “But, didn't they die out, like a bajillion years ago?” Auron asked, confused.

    Gehn gave him a stern look. “Three hundred years ago, if you remember. That was your lesson last week, was it not?”

    Auron coughed and shuffled his feet, and muttered something about 'I forgot'. Gehn rolled his eyes, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. “The Foretellers originally were just ordinary humans, on the outside. They were born with the special ability to predict things of prophecy. They were used by King Ersaid the Wise, entertaining him and his Court.”

    “But, they're like, dead!” Why didn't Gehn realize this?

    Gehn turned his probing gaze on me. “You had said, 'the solar eclipse will come again', 'the son and daughter of Wylden will be the ones who will save humanity'. I think that's pretty similar to what the Foretellers said about the Eclipse.”

    I closed my eyes. “This is way too much to process. I...I just want to go to sleep. I have a lot of things to think about.”

    Gehn gave a tiny bow and backed out of the room. Auron squeezed my hand and wished me to get well, and followed Gehn. Even Cordelia left the room. When I was alone, I drifted off to sleep.