The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One' (46 page)

Gideon finally
turned away from the scene, just as the gateway began to change
again. This time only Thaddrick and Rhoàld watched as the hexagons
moved and danced becoming fluid and settling once more into the
oily surface of soft shimmering darkness at last.

“Oo were ‘e’,
what did ‘e’ say, did anyone unnerstan’?’ Gideon’s father asked
with a look of puzzled bewilderment on his face, Thaddrick waited
for Gideon to speak but young Jed answered, as Gideon’s voice
remained stoically silent.

‘That was the
king, the man I swore loyalty too, King Gath.’ Jed said coldly.

Rhoàld nodded
in agreement adding, ‘he has become strong but he is still
aging.’

‘We must return
to the long hall to discuss what is to be done Thaddrick,’ said
Roidan as she pushed her way between the gathered people having
left Jacob to rest quietly at the bottom of the hill. At once, the
people began to shout once more, Gideon listened as their voices
betrayed their fear, almost all calling for them, for him, to be
gone. Young Jed pulled his friend to one side whilst Thaddrick once
more argued their cause.

Rhoàld moved
toward Thaddrick with Sonal and Varan at his side, he felt strong
and useful at last. The three stood beside the old man and stared
scornfully at the frightened people.

‘You bunch of
hypocrites, you deserve to be bled as I was bled,’ Rhoàld shouted
contempt in every word as he pulled down his collar and revealed
the long scar that marred his skin. The people fell silent as they
realised what it meant, Rhoàld continued. ‘You would send a young
boy and his companions to die in order to remain safe and secure
here,’ Rhoàld paused as he emphasised the vast safe valley before
them with his arms. ‘Yes, stay safe here in the valley that
Thaddrick made for you but think on this... for how long will you
remain safe?’ He paused again before continuing, watching the faces
of the people before him. Finally, he began again his voice
slightly lower. ‘One by one, the Gatherer has taken and bled the
rest of us until there are only a few Arotian people left, other
than those like you of course,
you
who had the benefit of
this valley. Whom would you give to the monster next when Gideon’s
blood can no longer satisfy him? Remember, he knows the way here
now, which of you would give your own child, you?’ He asked, his
voice full of disdain as he pointed at the man who had first been
on the hill with Jacob, his daughter standing behind him. ‘Her
blood is no doubt as ancient and as pure as Gideon’s, what about
you?’ He pointed toward a woman with her arms protectively around a
young man not much older than Gideon himself was.

The people
began to fidget and shake their heads looking ashamed as they
listened to Rhoàld; skilfully he spoke, his voice filled with
passion and love. He encouraged them to think of the good of the
whole, letting them know that although the companions had lived
outside of the valley and had not existed as the valley people had,
secure and safe in their time bubble they still had Arotian blood
flowing in their veins, they were still as one. Thaddrick remained
silent as Rhoàld expertly turned the mood of the crowd from total
animosity with resentment in every breath to support, using guilt,
sorrow and the need for compassion as his tool.

‘We need just a
little more help and we will be gone,’ Rhoàld continued his voice
more reasonable now than angry or contemptuous as he too felt the
mood change. ‘We will be going to fight this monster who wants
nothing but our blood and our lives, he will not be allowed to
destroy this world as he destroyed your home world,
our,
home world. Whilst we have the power within us we will fight back
and this time we will win...’

‘I still want
them to leave Thaddrick.’ Jacob interrupted Rhoàld as he walked
back up the hill. ‘I would not see this planet die and our people
die because of a spell that went wrong,’ he said bitterly,
referring to the gateway that snapped shut prematurely and trapping
his family on the wrong side. ‘I want them to leave… but, but
I
want to go with them, to go with them and fight the
monster that took my family…’ he finished, as a loud bang sounded
from the direction of the gateway. Thaddrick, with fear in his
heart turned to look upon the empty hillside behind him, the
gateway had gone, nothing was visible on the hilltop now but the
silent dead shape of a girl burnt into the once lush green
grass.

As Gideon and
his companions stood before the portal together his father
smiled.

‘Yer still me
own boy Gid, don’t let no king make yer ferget.’

‘No Da,’
replied Gideon, ‘you, Mayan, Jed and Blue are me family,’ he
replied as he took the final step with his father beside him, into
the seemingly molten mass of swirling oil.

‘
My
family,’ corrected young Jed laughing, as he and Lemba joined their
friends by also stepping into the gateway, leaving the world of the
time bubble and Thaddrick behind them.

As they emerged
on the other side of the gateway, it was dark and a bitter wind
blew. They were high up on a cold mountainside surrounded by a loud
hissing noise like air slowly escaping from a balloon.

‘What’s that
noise?’ Gid asked as he looked toward his father. Jed had fallen
awkwardly as he alighted from the portal and he was holding his
ankle, his face etched in pain, blood was also pooling darkly
beside Jed’s bottom as the glass phials he had placed in his pocket
had broken, cutting through clothing, slicing skin and releasing
the spells held inside to expel into the atmosphere harmlessly.

‘I think it’s
broke,’ his father stated miserably, his ankle gently held between
his hands. ‘I’ve ‘urt me ars… bottom again too,’ he said as he
shifted his weight,
so much fer giving Dotty Thaddrick’s
spells
, he thought and despite his pain, he smiled warmly,
thinking of Dotty and her last healing. Young Jed, Lemba and Gideon
himself gathered around the older man attempting to shield him from
the wind. No one noticed as a small figure fell through the gateway
immediately after them and hid behind a pile of rocks.

The ankle was
indeed broken; Gideon could see the bone jutting out at right
angles just underneath his fathers’ skin.

‘Hold still
Da,’ Gideon said as he gently lifted the quickly swelling foot.
Thinking about his past lessons, he looked inside himself and found
the candle Jonus had instructed him to visualise. Keeping the
candle burning brightly he turned his thoughts to his father’s
ankle; in his mind he could see the broken bone, the swollen
tissues and the torn ligaments that normally held the ankle
together. He tried to visualise the joint as it should be and he
sent his mind from one ankle to the other, copying the positioning
of nerves and tendons, he lifted the fragments of broken bone,
fused them back into their original positions, healed, and
reattached the damaged ligaments.

Jed and Lemba
standing beside Gideon and his father felt their skin itching as
the magic worked. The swelling in Jed’s ankle went down and the
colour slowly changed back to a healthy glow seen in the quickly
fading light. Gideon worked on, he repaired and mended the torn
skin on his father’s bottom and unable to pull himself away he
began following the pathways of his father’s veins healing minor
broken blood vessels and clearing clogged arteries. He followed the
sound of his father’s heart as it beat louder and louder and pushed
his energy into the old muscles regenerating as he worked, feeling
the blood rushing in, weak and starved and out again, filled with
life sustaining oxygen. Still he continued on, mending and healing,
deep into Jed’s body aiding damaged tissues and vital organs,
regenerating older blood vessels and repairing damage wrought by
time.

‘The candle
Gideon, watch your candle!’ Gideon heard as if from far away and
looked up to find Jonus looking slightly concerned at the time the
healing was taking. As he looked again on the candle he held in his
mind, he realised he had used more power than he thought, it had
gone out, burnt away as the power increased. Immediately he made it
whole once more and slowly pulled away from his father’s body.

‘The candle
worked Jonus; I don’t feel the least bit ill,’ Gideon smiled at the
young boy who had nudged his mind, thanking him for the help.
‘Wait, by the Journey, what are yer doing here?’ Gideon asked as he
realised where they were once more. ‘Jonus, this will be too
dangerous fer you, yer need to go back.’ Gideon said and from the
ground, his father smiled at his ever-changing speech patterns as
the gateway shimmered and finally snapped shut.

‘Or not…,’
added young Jed staring at the place where the gateway had stood,
‘no doubt he knows we are ‘ere now anyway,’ he added as he ruffled
Jonus’ hair.

Gideon’s father
stood slowly and tentatively attempted to put weight on the now
healed foot. ‘Would yer jus’ look at that!’ He said in amazement
when he found it completely healed.

The wind
continued to blow, pushing dark clouds around in the predawn sky as
the friends slowly made their way up the pass between the peaks
with Gideon leading the way. As they neared the top of the pass,
Jed looked over a small natural barrier of rock between them and
the edge of the cliff face. Below them, the Derovian army were
encamped in their hundreds.

‘I think this
is the Bleak,’ whispered Jed remembering the tales from the
barracks room, ‘an’ that hissing is getting, louder don’t yer
think?’ He asked aloud, turning around to follow Gideon plodding on
ahead of him. He stared in wonder as a wall of shining beauty rose
up from the ground ahead of them. ‘Look, would yer look at that!’
he whispered pointing at a second dome, one similar to the dome of
the valley but duller somehow, not quite as brilliant.

‘That, my
friend is where I think we be goin’, sorry, are going,’ said Gideon
softly, as his father chuckled. Again, he was amused to find his
son still correcting his own speech, even without Blue being
present and in the face of such danger.

Step after
step, one foot in front of the other and always with the hiss
getting louder, Gideon followed the animal track carefully with the
others close behind. Something was calling to him, telling him
where to come to find Mayan, pleading with him for help.

Lemba, more
afraid than ever before kept her fingers silent, knowing these were
probably going to be her last days with Jed. He had told her to
stay behind and stay safe when Gideon and he had discussed what
Gath had said, for some reason he had also heard the king’s message
but Lemba refused to leave him. He was her life and she would if
necessary, die with him as she would most certainly want to die
without him. As the morning sun rose, she began to feel tired and
thirsty remembering they had not yet eaten or drunk anything since
last night. She held her hand to her throat in a vain attempt to
assuage her dry throat.

‘‘Ere girl,’
began Gideon’s father loudly from behind her, ‘I’ve a drop of water
iffen yer don’t mind it warm,’ he said, as she stopped and turned
to take the proffered bottle. Her mouth opened in surprise and she
attempted to call Jed forgetting for a moment her tongue was gone
once again, a raw bark emerged from her mouth causing young Jed and
Gideon to turn.

‘By the
Journey, Jed!’ exclaimed his namesake.

‘Da…!’ grinned
Gideon looking down at his father with the morning sun full in his
face, ‘Dotty will love you…,’ he said as young Jed leaned forward
and closed Lemba’s still open mouth.

‘I’m glad you
‘ave Dotty tis all I can say, because I’d not like ter leave Lemba
around yer on ‘er own,’ young Jed added almost shouting now over
the increasing noise of the hissing as he grinned and turned to
walk back up the pass once more after his friend. Lemba, drinking
from the water bottle kept sliding glances backwards toward her
friends’ father.

‘What’s wrong
with me Lemba?’ Gideon’s father asked, feeling mystified and just a
little cross at both his son’s and Jed’s strange behaviour. ‘What
be wrong?’ He asked again as Lemba unable to answer followed behind
the boys, a smile also spreading across her own face. Jonus also
stared open mouthed but for once stayed silent.

At last, they
stopped before the dome they had seen from the distance wondering
then at its size and beauty but now, now they could see why it was
not quite as bright or as shining as the dome over the spelled
valley, where that one was whole and sound, this one was
marred.

In places,
there were huge gaping holes and the loud hissing noise
accompanying them for the whole of their journey from the gateway
seemed to be coming from these. The shine of the barrier in the
early sunlight belied the fact it was actually rather dull and grey
and it looked almost lifeless. As the clouds passed across the face
of the sun, the real barrier itself was at last visible and what
was once the most beauteous wonder to behold was now dying, with
only threads keeping the void at bay.

‘It’s dying…’
flashed Jonus his fingers flying, as he reached out to the source
of magic, reaching for the roots to sustain the life of the barrier
just a little longer. He rushed through the broken dome and placing
his fingers into the soil next to the fragile wall, he began to
sing softly.

Lemba says, ‘to
help him Gideon,’ said young Jed as Lemba too crossed the barrier
and pushed her fingers into the dust.

‘You know I
can’t Jed,’ Gideon replied sadly. ‘Gath will kill Mayan iffen I
do,’ he added.

‘Your Mayan
will die with the rest of us
iffen
you don’t young man,’
shouted Jacob, using Gideon’s speech to emphasise the severity of
the decision, as he the elder twins with Rhoàld and Thaddrick
emerged from a second gateway close to the edge of the barrier. As
one, they stepped through the broken curtain and knelt before it
thrusting their fingers deep into the dead dry earth beside Lemba
and the young boy and together they joined in song with Jonus.