Chapter 2 (Jared)

The light seared through his shoulder. He wasn’t able to move, able to breathe. He used his right hand to pull hard on his shoulder trying, in vain, to squeeze the pain out. He laid on the concrete, rolling back and forth looking for anything to make the burn go away. He wanted to scream. In fact, he may have already been screaming, but he was too disoriented to tell. The only thing he was actually sure of was that his shoulder was on fire and that he may be nearing death. He struggled to push himself up with his good arm, and he looked up in front of him.

Through his tears and the slight drizzle, Jared saw the twins dragging themselves up off the ground. He tried to yell at them, but it was drowned out by the thunderous sky. Suddenly, he remembered her. His eyes darted around looking for the girl. There she was, under the oak tree. Her body lay limp on the ground, her hair a mess over her face. He almost felt concerned for her, but remembered that she had just struck him with lightning.

He gripped harder at his shoulder. The pain was dulling, and he felt somewhat cold. He could no longer keep his focus. He watched the twins pick up the girl, open a portal, and step through to the other side. The portal closed, as did his eyes.

• • • •

Jared awoke with a jolt.

“You need to get up now,” someone said.

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes to find his friend sitting in front of him.

“Anthony?” he asked groggily. He sat himself up and gazed around the room. It was only then he realized he was back home, in his own bed. “Where… where are the twins? Where is the girl?” He put his weight on top of his left elbow and collapsed, but he strangely wasn’t in pain.

“Lay back down, Jared,” Anthony said. “I only woke you up to talk to you. You’re in no condition to move.”

Before Jared could object, his stomach flipped and it took all of his strength to hold on to what little food may have been in it. He covered his mouth with his good arm and took a deep breath through his nose. The nausea subsided enough so that he could speak.

“How did you find me? I thought I was going to be left for dead.”

“You told me where you thought you’d found her a few days ago,” Anthony said. “When you said you were up to something earlier, I knew what you meant, and I knew you’d be stupid enough to think you could take her on alone. So, I tracked you and found you knocked out with a cauterized shoulder, and I decided I should probably get you home.”

Jared smiled �" half for Anthony’s intelligence and incredible loyalty, and half because he was drugged up on some magical potion. “Well, despite the insult to my intelligence, I’d like to thank you for being my knight in shining armor. I am forever in your debt, good sir.” He bowed his upper body.

“Man, you must be doped up on some good s**t,” Anthony said. “I’ll have what you’re having, minus the crippled shoulder.”

“Glad you’re so worried.” Jared realized it was still a little difficult to take a full breath. He grunted. “When you get shot with lightning, don’t expect any sympathy from me.” He looked down at the gauze wrapped around his shoulder. It was almost worse not knowing what damage laid underneath the bandages.

“So that’s how it happened?” Anthony asked. “A stroke of horrible luck? This is why you don’t go standing out in the open in the middle of a thunderstorm.”

“It wasn’t bad luck,” Jared said. “That witch is a lot more powerful than she looks.”

“What do you mean?”

“She shot the lightning at me, not the storm.”

Anthony’s expression shifted from cheer to worry. “You mean she controlled lightning? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before.” He walked towards his backpack against the wall. He pulled out a journal and pen and flipped through a few pages before settling on an open space to write. “Are you sure you’re remembering correctly? I mean shock does strange things to the human body.”

“No, I’m sure,” Jared said sternly. “I’m assuming that’s the entry wound.” He pointed to the dark spot at the front of his gauzed-over shoulder. “Just think about it. Lightning from the sky would hit me on the top of my shoulder.” Jared moved his hand accordingly.  Anthony continued to scribble away in his journal. Jared continued. “But this wound means that the attack came from in front of me.” He pointed back at the dark center. “It was her for sure. I don’t know where she learned to do that, or if she even meant to do that.” He put his hand down and sighed deeply. He sunk into his bed. “But it doesn’t matter. I’ve officially failed in bringing her to Agartha.”

Anthony looked up and closed his journal.

“You’re right, you’ve failed,” Anthony said. Jared gave him a mean look. “Let me finish,” Anthony said. “You’ve failed in bringing her to Agartha, yes. But I don’t think that means that she’s completely out of our reach.”

Jared raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“There is no question that we need her on our side if we’re going to win this war. She’s much too powerful a weapon for the Greens to have.”

“But?” Jared said.

“But,” Anthony said, “as of now, she isn’t a weapon. The girl is untrained. She’ll be of no use to them if she can’t control her powers the way they are going to want her to.”

“So what do you suggest?” Jared asked.

“I suggest that we �" meaning you �" go to Nysa. You can find her and grab her while she’s useless and can’t fight back. As soon as she’s here, we’ll train her to be the proper weapon and game-changer.”

Jared nodded along, rubbing his chin.

“Okay,” he said. “I like your thought process, but I think we’re missing a few key ingredients in this recipe for disaster.”

Anthony tilted his head in confusion. “Alright,” he said. “Shoot.”

“Well, one,” Jared said holding up his pointer finger. “You know as well as I do that Nysa is guarded by the heaviest of protection charms. There is no way for a Red to enter undetected or unharmed.”

“Incorrect,” Anthony interjected, “but move on.”

Jared scoffed, then continued. “Two: even if I could get into Nysa, how am I supposed to pull her away from the twins and the Queen?”

“Well that is the piece of the puzzle you’ll have to figure out for yourself,” Anthony said. “But honestly, do you think the twins are going to spend their every waking moment with the girl? They serve the Queen, not her. They’ve got bigger jobs to handle other than babysitting. Learn her schedule, and catch her when she’s alone.”

“And that brings me to my third thing. I am in no condition to kidnap anyone, especially the someone who put me in this condition in the first place. How am I supposed to drag her home with one arm?”

Anthony thought on the problem for a moment.

“Maybe you’ll have to use a tactic other than force,” he said finally.

“And that tactic would be…?”

“Trust. You’ll have to gain her trust before you can lead her off the island.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe,” Anthony said. He shrugged. “But do you see another option for you to take?”

Jared didn’t have to think about the answer. This would be his fourth -- and more than likely last -- try. He knew that with each failure, his people came closer to extinction. And with the last failure, his life came extremely close to extinction. But he also knew, that if he didn’t give this last shot a proper try, his people were doomed anyway. This was his final chance to turn the tables on this war.

“I’ll do it,” he said at last.

“Good,” Anthony said. “You didn’t really have a choice anyway.”

“But you’re coming with me,” Jared said. “I’m going to need backup.”

“Of course,” Anthony said. “What are friends for? But I will have to split time between Nysa and Agartha. I’ve been assigned a separate mission.”

“That’s fine,” Jared said. He rubbed his shoulder mindlessly. “Was there anything else that you had wanted to talk to me about?”

“Nothing to talk about, but your dad wants to come see you. He’s leaving early today and is dropping by to check in on you.”

Jared groaned. “He really doesn’t have to do that. He’ll be so disappointed.”

“Oh, shut up. He’s worried about you, not upset with you. You’re lucky to have a dad that cares so much.” Anthony looked as if he was about to say something else when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

“Come in,” Anthony called.

The door cracked open to reveal a broad, older man. He ducked to get underneath the doorway and stepped into the room. He stood proudly, shoulders back, chin up. Speaking of his chin, it was covered in a neatly trimmed red beard. His flaming red hair was combed back, and his eyebrows, though large, held each hair in place. He wore a black suit and dress shoes, and carried a black briefcase into the room. As he set the briefcase down and unbuttoned his jacket, he smiled. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he did so, and Jared noticed just how bloodred the irises of his eyes were. This wasn’t unusual, as red eyes were the one characteristic all residents of Agartha shared. They symbolized passion, ferocity, and a fierce separation from those green-eyed monsters of Nysa. And, it was only fitting that the man have the reddest eyes of them all.

“Hi, Dad,” Jared said.

Jared’s father grinned. “Jared! How are you feeling? Anthony told me you took a pretty hard hit yesterday.” He took a seat at the foot of the bed. Anthony sat down in the chair.

Instinctively, Jared put a hand on his shoulder and grimaced as he remembered the pain. “Yeah, it wasn’t fun. But right now I’m feeling a strange mix of nausea and elation.”

His father laughed. “At least you’re in good spirits about the whole thing. Had I known it would’ve been so dangerous, I would’ve never given you the task.”

“It’s cool, Dad, really,” Jared said as he shifted in the bed. “Anthony has been taking good care of me. And, we’ve been discussing our next move.”

His father stroked his beard. Jared knew that his father only did that when he disapproved of an idea, so he braced for the blow.

“And what move is that exactly?” Jared’s father asked. “Surely you don’t expect to go back out there? It’ll take weeks at least for you to completely heal, even with the potions the healers have been concocting for you.”

“But, Dad,” Jared protested. “Anthony and I have already figured this all out. We’ll be a lot cleverer this time around.”

His father shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Agartha needs you here, and you’re in no condition to go off on another mission. You’d be better off in the library studying up on military tactics, coming up with a way to win this war without any superweapon. It’s time to stop chasing fairytales, Jared.”

That last comment dealt a blow greater than the lightning. Jared’s face flooded with anger.

“That girl I’ve been chasing is not a fairytale,” Jared said through gritted teeth. “I found her this time. She struck me with lightning. She is more powerful than any one of us could imagine.”

“Jared,” his father said as he put a hand on his son’s leg, “No witch or warlock in all of man’s history has ever been able to control lightning. Now, I’m not saying you weren’t struck by lightning. And, I’m not saying you didn’t meet a powerful young witch. But listen to yourself. Lightning has the speed of light, is hotter than blue fire, and strikes relatively randomly. Even the most educated and trained of witches and warlocks can’t come close to handling that kind of power. And you’re talking about a witch who grew up in the mortal world, without an understanding of magic. Young witches and warlocks are found in the mortal world all the time, but, in terms of raw power, none of them tend to be any different than the rest of us.

“The powerful witch you’ve been looking for just doesn’t exist, and I think it’s about time you start accepting that. Three years is just too long to be believing in a fairytale like this.”

Jared took a moment to gather his heated thoughts and arrange them into one cohesive argument. Then, he inhaled deeply twice before speaking.

“Dad,” he said coolly, “I don’t think you understand. I didn’t just hear this story as a child and believe it to be true. I talked to the prophets of Agartha. I listened to their every poetic word and attempted to decipher their meanings. I tracked down every lead until I finally found the right path. This is no fairytale, Dad. This is my last three years of service to our people coming to fruition.” Jared bit his tongue, not saying much more in fear of saying something he might regret. He then cast a glance at Anthony who was on the edge of his seat.

Jared’s father sighed, which for Jared usually signaled a forfeit. Jared’s eyes lit up until he realized this wasn’t his father’s usual sigh.

His father put a hand over his eyes and shook his head. “I should never have let you go to see those con-artists,” he began. He folded his arms across his chest and sat a little taller. His face was no longer the jovial one that had entered the room. “You know as well as I do that prophecies can be interpreted to mean anything,” he said sternly. Jared was a little taken aback. It was rare that he ever saw his father so serious about a topic. “No prophecy ever spoken didn’t come true for someone. It’s just too easy to manipulate the cryptic, vague wording. Say a prophet saw a wild boar rising from the flame. That could mean anything from predicting a glutton will become a hot-head to a gullible man will be reborn into a formidable foe to bacon for breakfast. You just don’t know, and any of these predictions are just as valid as the last.”

“Dad,” Jared interrupted, “that’s fortune telling. I’m talking about a prophecy. This prophecy came from real prophets who didn’t just read my palm or deal me tarot cards. They were actually forced by some higher power to tell us exactly who this girl was and why we needed to locate her. Other than a name or location, and after some deciphering, they gave us exactly what we needed to find her.”

“And that’s exactly my point, Jared.” His father stood up and grabbed his jacket and briefcase. “You interpreted that prophecy to find exactly what you wanted to find, and you did. But, it’s obvious that nothing I say is going to change your mind about this. So you can keep on believing in your fairytales, but if you think that’s how we’re going to win the war, you’re severely mistaken.” His father reached for the doorknob. Before leaving, however, he turned back to his son who was no longer able to contain his ire. “I expect to see you in the library tomorrow morning. Have a good night, and thank you, Anthony, for taking good care of him.”

The door slammed behind him.

Before Anthony could speak, Jared put his palm out. “Don’t,” Jared said. “I know exactly what you’re going to say.”

Anthony sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

“You’re going to tell me to listen to my father and do my duty to follow in his footstep.”

“Wrong, as you quite so often are,” Anthony said. Jared looked at him with disbelief, but he continued. “Do you know the number of hours you put into this mission? I’ve watched you waste nights away decoding that damn prophecy by candlelight. And, you were actually right! You actually figured it all out, but you made one or two mistakes. I say you need to keep at it, and see this through to the end.”

“Are you, Anthony Caldwell, telling me to break the rules?” Jared said with a fake gasp.

“When you’re feeling better, meet me in the library,” Anthony said. Then he grabbed his backpack and left the room.

Jared leaned over to his bedside table and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a book entitled “Non-Fictional Fairytales”, flipped to an earmarked page and began reading.

Author's Note

I feel as if this dialogue and chapter in general is a little rushed. Any comments or ideas?