The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (81 page)

After he’d emerged from
his waking dream, he had fallen, surprisingly enough, into a nice
restful stretch of sleep, deep and without dreams. He had awakened
nearly forty minutes ago and immediately announced to his newfound
friends, he had a plan.

At first, they’d looked at
him as if he were crazy, especially after he had passed out cold on
them the night before. After he repeated himself a few times,
though, they began to ask him about it.

He told them, at the time,
to prepare for the day instead. And, of course, they had looked at
him as if he were in fact a lunatic. He explained calmly once they
heard his plan, they would want to get moving immediately. They
could not do so when they still had to pee, wash-up and eat, and
put things away. With so many of them living in relative close
quarters, they had to keep things neat, and clean.

They had all stared at
each other for a second or two. The cave was suddenly such a
raucous cacophony of noise Joaquin envisioned himself in a train
station instead of underground, in their rocky
sanctuary.

Thus, he did his best at
washing up, brushing his teeth, scrubbing at his face (which ached
mildly now) and combing his short hair. He wished, after he’d
finished, he had a change of clothes or at least a fresh pair of
socks and underwear, but Vons didn’t carried such items in its’
inventory, so he would have to make do for the time being. They
would all have too.

At least, they had some
disinfecting wipes and deodorant to keep their bodies semi-clean.
Otherwise, things would’ve been a little
toastier
around the campfire this
morning than the last. He wasn’t thinking about it being warm
either. He knew eventually they’d have to do something about their
hygiene, especially the girls. He knew how important it was for
them to remain sanitary. Hopefully, they could think of something
to remedy the situation… hopefully. They still had a few days
before things would get desperate in that regard.

After, he had eaten some
long, thick strips of ham Anthony and Sophie had warmed over the
fire along with a chuck of heavy bread. It wasn’t a bad breakfast
all things considered. It had filled his belly nicely all the
same.

Later, he’d helped with
the chores: cleaning up, stoking the fire, gathering more snow and
packing it in between, and on top of, the goods they needed to keep
cold. Lastly, he grabbed a seat atop one of the logs about the fire
pit and waited for the rest of the group to finish up. When they
were all finished, then he would begin to regurgitate what had
happened to him the night before.

Over time, in groups of
two’s and three’s, his companions meandered by to sit around him,
until all of his newfound friends joined him. Last was Garfield,
who had given their surroundings outside a quick once over before
returning to the cave to announce the “way was clear”. The cat
promptly sat down upon the floor and began licking at his
substantial claws, giving Joaquin the impression he could’ve cared
less about what was about to be said.

“
So, Joaquin,” began
Anthony somewhat anxiously, “you said you have a plan…”

Joaquin smiled at the
dude.
Ok, Kring-Hël, let’s get things
rolling
, he thought as he grinned, a kind
of respect he hadn’t felt the night before beginning to take a hold
of him as he peered back at Anthony through the flames of the fire.
“Well, you guys all remember when Mikalah had said that the reason
why we were stolen from our world. She had explained rather simply,
we’d been placed on this new world, because we have some sort of
power within us that could oppose the Lord of the Storm. You all
remember that right?” He got nods all around. “Yeah, well, she was
right. I think some of you, especially Elena, knew this to be true
already.” There were a few chuckles and giggles, but he didn’t
stop. “Ok, so I will start with myself and maybe that’ll help
explain my behavior lately.” He paused to chuckle into a fist. “You
guys aren’t going to believe what I’m about to say …” Then, almost
to himself, “I hope I can at least make you understand.”

“
So
what
are
you
saying, Joaquin?” joked Andrew still bundled in four or five throw
blankets. He’d cut holes in each, so his head could fit through,
making him look like some Mexican peasant dressed in a whole bunch
of thin
serapes
.

“
I’m saying, last night, I
found out what my power was…”

“
Oh good Joaquin and what
is your power!” asked Elena with clear excitement in her voice,
sounding like a bird piping through its’ morning song.

“
Knowledge,” he replied
with a broad grin.

Anthony put his hand over
his mouth and then pulled it down as if he were wiping the bottom
half of his face clean. He pulled at his chin before his hand felt
back into his lap. “Dude that totally explains why you knew the
names of all of crap I was talking about last night!”

At his side, Sophie
gasped. She peered back at Joaquin with an astonished smile on her
face. “Oh my god, I get it…!” She paused uncertain, her face
wrinkled cutely. “So what does that mean exactly,
Joaquin?”

“
It means, last night I
was able to figure out a lot about why things have been happening
the way they have been. And, I think there are some things we can
do to make it better,” he answered, but immediately waved off the
multitude of questions assaulting him. “Let me tell you,
ok?”

His friends nodded,
exchanging anxious glances.

The members of the Fist
never took their eyes from the boy, staying silent, listening
intently.

“
Ok, ok, umm… like I said
my power is Knowledge, but not like I know everything and can
predict everything like some Albert Einstein dude with good hair.”
A few giggles abounded. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
My power works on a need-to-know basis. So, when I see something or
someone says something or does something, my power kinda kicks in
and fills in the gaps. That’s why I knew what Anthony was talking
about last night. That’s why my head was hurting like an anvil in a
blacksmith’s shop, too. I was fighting it instead of accepting it
like Elena has been able to do. I think Elena has already
surrendered to her power on some basic level. That’s why she can
call it. She has accepted the reality of what’s within her. She can
dive into the even-keeled place within herself, make it her own and
tell it what to do. You guys understanding this?”

“
Totally!”, “I think…”,
“Ok”, said a few of them at the same time.

The animals continued to
watch in silence.

“
Good, so here it goes…
I’m gonna get down to it.” He raised his eyebrows imploring each of
them to pay attention, his gaze sweeping among them. “Last night, I
got a message from the Nöhreg.” He held up a hand fast. “Now before
you ask, I will tell you, they are the cousins of the Swüreg, who
we are all familiar with. Instead, these dudes are on the side of
the Lord of the Light, and therefore, they can be trusted… I hope,”
he added with a crooked smile. “They told me some pretty amazing
things.

“
Apparently, this back and forth struggle, we are currently
involved in has been going on for a long, long time. The Lord of
the Storm has been fighting the Lord of the Light for thousands and
thousands of years. All of this time, there were always strict
rules and guidelines that had to be followed, so everything was
pretty much a
quid pro
quo
. Not much changed despite the waging
of this war over millennia until now.

“
For
some reason, there have always been a group of twelve people, kids
really, under the age of eighteen, that, in a given time or place,
were chosen to directly oppose the schemes of the Lord of the Storm
on Earth. It is usually when he or one of his many minions have
strength enough to ‘
will’
themselves into our world. Once there, they’d
begin to cause problems. When they’ve encountered these Guardians,
they have always been cast out of our world.

“
These Twelve, as I said
already, are bestowed powers, immense abilities normal humans would
pay billions of dollars to possess. From what I learned last night,
nine of these powers are corporeal to some degree, because they
involve control of some of the tactile aspects of the world around
us. I think it even might include control on a molecular level, but
I ‘m not completely sure yet.

“
Anyway, these nine
worldly or tangible powers are Weather, Strength, Transparency,
Mind, Air, Speed, Health, Light and the Elements. I think we know
who possesses Speed and Light. That would Mikalah and Elena
respectively. But, as for the others, I couldn’t tell you, because
even I don’t know who possess what, and neither did the
Nöhreg.”

There were a few
frown-filled looks between them, but the silence remained – thick,
brooding.

“
Now, there are two powers
that are a little different. They involve concepts, not elements.
These powers seem to connect with time and space as related to a
given need.” Joaquin received some confused looks at that. He
cleared his throat, quieting the forthcoming questions before
anyone had a chance to voice them. “What I’m trying to say is,
these powers manifest themselves when the need arises, for example,
when I hear a word or see an action that impacts us all, my power
kicks in. Suddenly, I know what it means. I can explain it. It is
no longer the unknown, unvoiced mystery it had been before. Get
it?”

They all gave
understanding smiles and nods. A few glances back and forth, but
for the most part, they seemed to understand Joaquin and were
content for him to continue.

“
Good!” he exclaimed in
mild relief. “So, these powers are Knowledge and Chance, which you
all know I have the first one within me, but, again, I have no idea
what the second one even means, let alone who might possess such an
obscure sounding ability.”

His companions gazed about
themselves wondering at Joaquin’s words, trying to figure out who
might be the one to have Chance at their beckon call.

There was really no way
they could discern who though, not yet.

Joaquin forged on.
“Finally, you guys, we come to the last and most potent of the
powers, which is even more bizarre and radical than the last two.
This Gift - as the Nöhreg call them - is the Spirit of the Light,
possessed by the one who can augment each of the other eleven
powers to an even higher degree of strength. The one who possesses
this Gift can create a great binding of force even the Lord of the
Storm fears. This Gift lies within the person who is titled, the
Kring-Hël, the Bringer of Truth…”

“
I’ve heard that before. I
know I have,” mentioned Andrew, glancing about, a deep scowl
creasing his brow.

Joaquin nodded, letting
the quiet stretch for a bit.

“
I suspect some of you
already know who this person is among our group.”

Puzzlement, uncertainty
passed like wildfire through the cave.

“
For those of you who
don’t, The Kring-Hël, this time around, is Anthony.”

All heads turned toward
the teenager.

Sophie grabbed one of his
hands and gave it a quick squeeze.

Anthony blushed under
their scrutinizing looks, squirmed a little, giving off a nervous
grin.

“
So, what does that –?”
began Andrew, but was cut off by Joaquin.

“
Wait, dude, there’s
more,” interrupted Joaquin gently.

Andrew sat back, his look
disconcerted.

“
Every time in the past,
when the Chosen Twelve were bestowed their Gifts and set against
the forces of the Storm, the secondary power of the Kring-Hël had
always been sufficient to combat the evil into submission.
Everything eventually turned back to normal. The evil had always
been banished. The Twelve were always victorious, though at times,
they’d been tested to the very brink of their grit and
determination.”

“
But this time, it’s
different, right?” bemoaned Anthony, his shoulders slumping as if
he already knew what Joaquin was going to say next.

“
Yeah,
dude, it is
waaaay
different this time,” replied Joaquin, wishing he could say
anything other than the truth. He was unable.

“
How, Joaquin? How is it
different?” inquired Sophie, more than a little concern underlying
her tone, gripping Anthony’s hand. She seemed afraid to let go of
him.

“
Well, Sophie,” he smiled,
hoping he could placate some of her unease, “this time, the Lord of
the Storm, who is also known as, Metohkangmi, has kinda written a
whole new set of rules. This time he has placed almost all of the
advantage on his side of the balance. He has taken the Twelve
Guardians – us - and some natural aspects from our world and put
them here in what we are becoming to understand as the Melded
World. At the same time, though, he has also paved a way onto this
plane of existence for himself, which he could never do in the
World of Man. He intends to come here and deal with us personally,
thus leaving our world with all we know and love, defenseless. With
us out of the picture, he can begin to conquer it… almost at his
leisure.”