SWNOVELS Chapter 12: The Beginning of my Past
I laid on a massive, damp tree root underneath a broad canopy. Tall, overgrown trees enveloped my being. I sustained that my strength was regained. I heaved myself from the root. (To my surprise my wrists were not raw. My body had not been injured. No scars to replace the stab wounds. How did I heal so fast? Was it all a nightmare? But this too felt like a dream.)
The trees themselves reached far beyond the sky, into the heavens. I looked below to the ground. My feet resided on wet leaves; they must have made quite a journey to come to the level of the souls of my feet. My jaw dropped from the allure the vast forest achieved.
“What a magnificent forest!“, I announced.
A sound of a branch cracked, retrieved me out of my daydream. A man knelt by an oddly shaped stretch of water; he looked down.
“Hello? Where exactly am I?“, I asked.
The curious man didn’t acknowledge my speech. I quietly withdrew toward the kneeling man. Now I was looking at him. Still, he never reacted to my presence. He was preoccupied with digging a right size hole. (You can get into such a rhythm digging a hole, you do not even notice the people that are right beside you. I understood his rudeness. However, being rude and not noticing someone are entirely two different subjects to ponder. I decided that he simply didn’t ackknowleged me. And you will soon find out my reasoning shortly.)
I stared at his progress long enough to know the purpose of the hole itself. The man was trying to conceal a particular object. He hid Master Jim Hensworth’s father’ s Black Crystal.
“Where did you get that?” I questioned, as I first saw the crystal. Again, he did not answer my question.
A horse’s neigh came from our right. The cry from the animal received both the stranger and I’s attention. A group of horses with riders were standing on a hill only a few yards away from us. Steam was coming off from their strong, muscular bodies. With animosity in their pupils. Their riders had the same hatred in their eyes. The lead rider of the murderous band of thugs was Dylan. Riding on one the vilest horse, I had ever seen.
Then Dylan exclaimed, “Give me the crystal!”
As Dylan started to speak, the man by my side began to stand. When Dylan finished his conversation, the man stood up properly. He then said,” Dylan even if I had the crystal, why will I distribute it here. How well do you know me?”
“I’m tired of this chase Sky-lar. Give it to me, now!”
Dylan proceeded to journey down the hill to reach Sky-lar and take control of the crystal. Apprehension crept inside me; the monster was coming back for me, to finish his work. I backed away, trying to flee. My foot slipped on a slick rock, and thereupon tumbled onto the leaf invested ground, hitting my head on a tree root.
The manifestation was over. The touch of my bed brought comfort to me. Sweat encased my body, although the sheets were dry. Someone changed them in the night. I placed my hands on my clothes; I was wearing one of my nightgowns. I opened my eyes to look at my bright bedroom. My heart raced, compared to running around Master Jim Hensworth’s estate. I gazed over to my left; I found Master Jim sitting by my bedside. When he saw my face, he had a loving smile upon his.
“Hello, Master Andrew. I’m glad you are awake. You have been sleeping for quite a while. Your journey had produced some inflictions on you. Your wrists are raw, and you have welts all over your body. There are gashes on your arm, the palm of your hand and your leg. Ms. Doris and I have been eyeing them for any infections. We are changing your bandages frequently. However, all your wounds will take some time to heal properly. You also just broke a high fever last night. ” Said the master of the mansion.
“How long have I been out for?” I questioned. Confusion was my single friend.
“For several nights now.”
“How did Dylan capture me inside the mansion. Did you let him in?”
" I would never let that monster enter here, not by my knowing. There are other ways that he can get into dwellings without using doors and windows. The powers that Dylan express are intense, to say the least. His minions are also learning this power as well. This procedure was how they interrogated you several nights ago.”
" They were indeed not interrogations. They were the acts of torture!”
" Dylan’s methods are dreadful for the person that he interrogates, then compared to himself.”
“What was he trying to accomplish?”
“He was trying to find the most powerful object that is on Earth that we know. He believed that you had it last.”
" What is this object that you are speaking of?” Combination from a hunch and my dream told me what it was.
" My father’s Black Crystal. Remember what I said to you about the Black Crystal? In the wrong hands, everything we love and is dear to us will be gone forth from us. We cannot let him bring about what he is set out to do.”
“Master Jim, how does this apply to me?” This was the correct question that needed answers immediately.
" He guessed that you would have known the hiding place of the Crystal.”
“I told him I knew nothing of this subject earlier! He did not partake of my news well. ” I uttered. “Besides I am young, why would I get in between the Black Crystal and Dylan and the protector of the Crystal itself?”
Master Jim looked carefully into my eyes then sighed, “You honestly do not know what happened to you.” That was a foolish question, we already been over this. He went on with a sigh, ” Andrew River, you look young at heart, but you’re old in spirit. I do not know how to put this plainly Andrew, but you are much older than you perceive to be. ”