Chapter Four: ( Folk Lore)

Chapter: 4 (Folk Lore)

 

The car ride was a very long one for me. Every bump sent a sharp pain searing through my brain. I was to busy running through the last few hours in my mind to complain. Questions swirled around in my head like a whirlwind, shredding the last few strands of sanity I had left. How was this possible? What kind of trouble were Mom and Dad into? Who could the Zavion person be? Obviously, the fire was an illusion, but it sure as hell felt real. We hit another bump, and I remembered just how real it really felt.

My thoughts were cut short as Jackson threw the car into park and faced us.

“We’re here.” He announced as he shut off the engine and stepped out of the vehicle.

Addison and I followed suit and looked around.

“The airport?” I exclaimed.” What are we doing here?”

I let out a puff of air. This day was just getting worse and worse. Jackson, who was busy unloading our bags and handing them to Addison, gave me a soft look and said, “Maddy, I swear just trust me and I promise you will understand soon enough.”

I grumbled but I honestly had no other choice. Besides the fact that he apparently knew the key to getting out parents back but visibly knew much more then we did I guess I had to let him call the shots. Plus, the curiosity was enough for me to go along with his plan. At least until I had gotten some answers.

We followed Jackson through the busy airport and through security where we handed over our bags and shoes. Jackson already seemed to have our tickets.

After we had successfully passed through security with no incidents, Jackson turned to us.

“Let’s go grab a bite to eat until our flight gets here. I’m sure you could use it, and it will give us a chance to talk.”

Now I definitely liked the sound of that. Up until now, I didn’t realize how hungry I really was, and I could finally start to piece together this puzzle.

Jackson led us through the winding and rushing crowds to a small café. We each ordered sandwiches and sodas and sat down at a small booth in the back of the shop. Jackson took a giant bite of his roast beef and cheddar sandwich while Addison and I both just looked at him expectantly. After a few more seconds of chewing, Jackson looked up from his sandwich and threw his hands up.

“Okay, Okay,” he swallowed his bite and took a sip of soda to help wash it down. “You two can stop giving me those lost puppy looks now! I’ll try to explain.”

About time I thought. I picked up my hoagie and took a bite as Jackson began to speak. Addison did the same.

“I’m going to start by telling you a story.”  Jackson spoke softly as if he was afraid of being over heard. I instinctively leaned in closer to hear better. He began to weave his story around bites of his sandwich.

“Ages upon ages ago when the earth was young and full of magic, there was a man of great magical powers. He was a dark and malicious man, who would stop at nothing to gain power. Upon hearing that his death had been prophesized by a sight seer.” He stopped momentarily to explain.

“Sight seers were basically fortune tellers, or gypsies of sorts.” He took another bite and resumed the story. His voice cryptic and dark.

“When he heard about his impending death he gathered all of his followers and sent four different groups on four different quests. He sent each group to one of the four corners of the earth. They had been sent to unearth the essence stones, magical gems that each harnessed a different magical endowment. There was the glacier stone to the north, and the vale stone to the west, the abyssal stone to the east, and the strongest of them all the blood stone to the south.”

I didn’t get what any of this had to do with my parent’s abduction but if there was and chance of figuring it out I decided to humor Jackson for a bit longer. I settled into my seat and tried to pay attention.

“After many years of searching and many lost and dead men, the man had at long last finished his collection. He began to exploit and use the magical properties of the stones for his own desires. When our ancestors found out about him controlling the four stones, they decided to create the Hunter’s Guild. They gathered their strongest warriors who vowed to hunt down the four stones and the man himself, until the essence stones were safely put back into their proper place and the world was in balance again.

They then searched far and wide for the world’s wisest sightseers who would each in turn vow to protect one of the Hunters and fight by their side. They became guardians.”

“The next few hundred years became known as the Blood Wars. The guild fought courageously against the evil man and his armies. They were finally able to recover three of the four stones. By this time only a handful of Hunters and their Guardians remained. However, the man became afraid of losing his last stone, the vale stone and he fled to the west, where he has remained in hiding until recently. During this quiet time, the Guild recuperated and decided pick three of their strongest warriors and guardians to each hold onto and protect one of the stones. That vow has been handed down from generation to generation.”

Jackson took the last bit of his sandwich and looked at the two of us. I was still processing my thoughts so before I could reply Addison beat me to the punch.

“And then what?” Addison asked looking confused and somewhat aggravated. “What did the evil dude do? You kind of stopped in the middle of the story.” Addison was never the best with patience.

“I can’t tell you the end of the story because we haven’t gotten to that part yet.” Jackson explained calmly.

“What does that mean?” Addison exclaimed.

There was one part of Jackson’s story that stuck out in my mind.

“Jackson?” I asked biting my nails, a bad habit I have never been able to break.

“What did you mean until recently the evil man stayed in hiding?” Jackson just chuckled a little bit before replying.

“Isn’t it obvious Maddy? Zavion is the evil and malicious sorcerer.” He brushed his bang out of his eyes. “I can’t believe you didn’t pick up on that one.”

As his words sunk in, the events all began to click into place. Zavion had come to their home and kept demanding that their parents give them the stone. He was able to throw fire at them and even disappear into a ball of fire with our Mom and Dad. But why would their parents have the stone? And even better yet why would he kidnap them?

The pieces were beginning to fit together and I was getting close to a solution.

Breaking my train of thought Jackson gets up looking at his watch.

“Time to go catch our flight.” He said pushing out his chair.

I got up and crumpled my wrappers into a ball. Addison got up and while stretching asked. “By the way where are we going anyway?”

Good question I thought as I threw my wad of paper basketball style into the trash can. The paper projectile bounced off the rim and into the floor by Jackson’s feet.

“Ireland.” Jackson replied nonchalantly as he picked up my wrapper and slam dunked it into the can.

“What?” Addison and I yelled in unison.