The Drifting (12 page)

“Lucas
,
no
.
”

H
e turns to me at my shock
ed
denial.
“Yes, Lily, it’s all true.  How could I go on?  I thought
maybe
if I was dead they couldn’t use me anymore, especially against you.  I knew what they had planned for you. 
But with like everything else, I failed at that, too
.”

I stare out into the jungle trying to wrap my mind around
all of
what Lucas was telling me. 
Finally I ask quietly,
“When did you kill yourself?”

“On your birthday,” he answers.

“How can that be?  I saw y
ou two days after in the park
,” I reply confused.

“No, it wasn’t me, Lily.  You were at least right about that.  It wasn’t me.” He quickly
takes my hands
, “Listen to me. 
Falsad is powerful, deceitful and evil, and t
here
’s
more
going on than just you trying to find me.  That
doesn’t matter anymore, obviously
.  Your place is beside Tharin no matter what you think or feel
…trust
him.  I can’t tell you
why or how I know, but
…”

“Why not?”
  I interrupt again.

“Just listen
, Lily
.  There’s not much tim
e for me here
.”

I swallow, keeping quie
t so he can finish.  “Falsad and Harlu answer to a demon
name
d
Eathos.  I don’t know much
about
him, but a few times I’ve
heard
Falsad calling and answering to him as ‘
m
aster
.
’
Y
ou’re somehow involved in his plans and he needs you.  Not because you’re the true heir to the throne, but something bigger
– s
omething that will destroy this realm and everything in it.”

“I don’t get
it.  W
hy me?” I ask perplex
ed
.

“Something to do with who Senestra was,” he answers.

“Our mother?”

“No, Lily, your mother.  And, not only that, but Harlu has a role to play in this as well.”

“Like what?”

Lucas looks outward as if listening to something or someone.  He turns to me again and smile
s.
“I have to go.”

He looks over my face as if to memorize it.  “You’
re stronger than you think, Lily.
  Seems everyone knows this but you.  Stop fighting your destiny and start caring about what’s happening around you and what’s happening to you.
”  He moves a loose lock of hair out of my face. “You’re so beautiful.  I always knew you would break hearts.”

I shake my head trying not to lose control, “Why can’t you stay with me?”

“Oh,
Midget…there are r
ules
that both the living and dead have to abide to. 
But I do have a favor to ask.”

“Anything,” I
answer,
no longer caring about
the
awful things he was forced to do. 

“I’m in a place call Demus.  It’s like purgatory in our world.  My fate is undecided and will be so until my body is at rest.  Until
it’s free from Falsad
, I will linger in Demus
forever
.  And, no, it’s not paradise
…f
ar from it.  I’m ready to face my fate
,
whether it’s in the UnderRealm or Eirrell.”

“Eirrell?”

“Here they speak of Heaven as a place c
all Eirrell
.  It doesn’t matter
where I end up, I don’t care.  P
romise me you’ll find a way to
free my body
?”

I reach for his hand and find comfort that it’s solid in my own, “I will Lucas, I promise.”

Once again Lucas looks about him.  He turns back
and
says, “Your betroth
ed
is here.”

I straighten up, my heart beating quickly as I look around me.  I stare back at Lucas asking, “Are you afraid to see him?”

“No,
I’m
not afraid
—
ashamed.  If I could bring back E’leiana, I would. 
Besides, he can’t see me anyway.”  Lucas stands and helps me up.

“I suppose he would be shock
ed
to find that you’re…you know, dead.” I say.

“Nah, he’s known of my death for a few days now,” replies Lucas, looking outward into the distance.

“What?” Tharin knew
Lucas was dead?
  Why didn’t he tell me? 
Because he needed you to leave with him. 
The thought
leaves
me with a feeling of disappointment and anger. 

“My time is up, Lily, I have to go.” Lucas turns to me and gives me
the
smile
I remember so well and have missed so desperately.

I stand looking u
p at him, “Will I see you again?
”

“I don’t think so.  I don’t think I
’m
supposed to be here now.  One minute I was in Demus, the next I
’m
here.  Maybe because my final wish before death was to see you one last time.  I really can’t say.”

I reach out and feel him solid before me
, but
I can see him fading at the edges.  I hug him tightly.  “I love you, Lucas.”

“I love you,
too,
Midget.  Remember, be strong.  There’s no one here to take care of you now that I’m gone.”
  He looks
over to the side and corrects himself, “Well, maybe one.”  I look
toward the general direction
. 

“I can’t see him,” I say unsure.

“That’s because he’s in the
drift
state in order to see you
.”
He looks down at me, “You have no idea how strong and powerful you are.  You have your mother’s blood in you and this world will bow at your feet.  You wait and see, Lily.”

I’m not sure what he’s saying so I stand quietly.  He glances in the direction where he sees Tharin and laughs, “He looks confused.  You should go to him.”

I sigh and move away from my brother, “I will find a way to release you, Lucas.  I promise.”

Lucas smiles and then slowly disappears before me
…
again.  T
his time there is still sorrow but
no pain, just love and forgiveness.  In the distance I hear his soft voice fading,
“Remember, Lily.  Evil is here,
and his name is Eathos.”

~ * ~

Chapter Seven

~ Tharin ~

It only takes me a second to realize that I’m standing on the landing of a kavi tree.  For all I know I could be standing on the same kavi tree I was in only moments ago with Tolan, Julia and Ka.  I look about me and I realize I’m not far from the doorway.  Lily was less than a mile from me.  I turn about in a complete circle taking everything in and put it to memory.  If I get enough detail, I will be able to come here on my own without Ka’s help.  Clever old Sidhe…he knows I will be able to recall this place during the
drifting
.  However, without knowing exactly where this is, I won’t be able to find it physically.  I have no doubt Sema has also shielded this area.

I think of Ka and his wife.
  There are only a few who have the ability to
drift
and almost all of them are within my family…and the Ancients.  There are only two others that I know of who can
drift
,
and they belong to the Methuselah Clan…a secretive clan located at t
he southern
most part of the realm. 
However, the daughters of King L
ynis have never step
ped
foot out of their land
,
and I have only heard of them through father and Tolan. 

And then there is Ziri.  He’s unable to do the actual
drifting
but
he’s
able to see those in the
drift
state, something he shares with our father, Alorn and me.  But none of us, not even the sisters of the Methuselah Clan or the six Ancients,
have
the ability to send someone
else
into the
drifting
state. 
It’s just not possible
.
  I will have to be careful with these two.  Someone who can send someone else into the
drift
state over a long distance is more powerful than anyone or anything in the realm, including my father.

I sense her approach and I turn to watch as Lily walks toward me.  She’s still wearing her jeans, shirt, old boots and the coat I gave her.  Instead of her hair being up in a ponytail, it’s now down her back, but she’s tied it into a knot.  Try as she may, even when it is tied up, strays of locks always seem to escape to frame her face.  Instantly the memory of her lying in the sleeping bag with her hair down comes to mind.  I smile to myself realizing how much I like seeing her hair down. 

I’m startled back to the moment when I realize she’s walking toward me as if she knows I’m here.  Can she see me?  Does Lily also have the ability to see others
in the
drift
state
?  She stops only a few feet from me, but instead of looking at me, she looks about as if trying to pinpoint my exact location.

“Tharin?”  Not until this moment do I realize just how much I’ve missed her voice.

“Tharin?” she calls again.  She gives a small sigh and I notice
for the first time
how tired she looks
. 
“I’m sorry I’m coming to you like this,”
she
starts slowly.  “I mean, you know, not doing the
drifting
thing.  It’s just that I have something I want to say, but I don’t want to look at you when I do.  And I don’t want you to interrupt me, either.”