Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 27

“You’re certain that it happened on that day?” Travis asks the woman to confirm his theory. The storyteller woman nods her head. Damen places a hand on his unbruised cheek, stands and turns to the women. “Could you give us a moment of privacy? We have things we must discuss.” he ask courteously to the women who dust themselves off and leave the tent to the three.

     Damen stares at the two with a troubled expression. “I think you both know what caused this plague on these people’s land…” he discusses as Travis takes a seat on the rug next to Vivian. “Damen, what Derrick did with those powers isn’t your fault. You were not in control, nor were you the one seeking it. Don’t blame yourself, please.” Travis assures the young Seer sternly.

     “Travis is right. That wasn’t your fault. For now, we need you to focus on a way to convince their Chief to evacuate the people.” Vivian says as she is seated. “Damen, you’re good at negotiating from what I’ve seen. But, this kid isn’t going to listen to logical reasoning as long as his mother pressures him. He may be their chief, but he’s still just a child bound by his parents.” Travis states, continuing on with a solution.

     “I will try to act as a guiding compass for Walles, just as Vivian encouraged. He shouldn’t have to follow in the footsteps of his father. He can prove himself a leader to these people by leading them out of here.” he finishes.

     “Say what you want. I know you just want to help because you see yourself in him. Both the then and now you.” Vivian remarks with sass. Travis turns to her and smiles. “So what if I do? I am terrified to lead from the throne. I can only imagine how he feels being pressured into leading in such a hazardous situation. But, he’s done an amazing job so far.” he praises Walles’s acts of leadership.

     “Back to the matter at hand… I told them I had faith that you would in time handle the threat. Just to be clear with you…that was not from one of my visions.” Damen explains with a half-hearted smile. “Just my faith in you. I’ll tell you what I remember from the time I was channeling Derrick.” the young Seer continues as he sits back down.

Viewing from the apparition…

 

     “I would often fall in and out of consciousness when his spirit controlled me. We were high above the ground for a moment before we both fainted.” Damen describes to the two. “My mother the wyvern carried you away before she told me about him obtaining the power of Mother.” Travis adds to the story.

     “Ah, that explains the missing part of my memory. When we landed the ground was cracked, similar to how that woman described it here. The more we traveled, the more damaged the surface was. The last thing I remember before blacking out was… Sand, all I can remember seeing was pale green sand scattered as far as I could see on the ground.” Damen expresses, looking at his hands before continuing.

     “The next thing I knew my body was moving in the direction of Baenen’s tail.” he says finishing the story. Travis and Vivian look at each other, then back at Damen. “That doesn’t really tell us anything. We know that whatever it is dries out the land. What we need to know is what is causing the shadows to appear.” Travis adds calmly.

     “The shadows that destroyed the town in Hearth were black. Why are the shadows as they described them here gray?” Vivian asks out loud. “Sorry to say this. But, unfortunately we need to investigate…”

     Travis turns to look at Vivian and then to Damen. “You two should let me take a look. I have my wings that give me a distance advantage over them.” Vivian looks up and laughs at him. “Wings that you don’t properly know how to use! What good will you be if you have a malfunction mid-flight?” she mocks, ending with a sigh.

     “I’ll practice with them. Will that be satisfactory enough for you if I do?” Travis ask her with an attitude. “Trying to live should be your main priority, not pleasing me.” she retorts. Damen watches the two talk with one another. “The two of you are making me feel out of place sitting here.”

     Travis and Vivian stare over at him. The two start to open their mouths to talk back as they are abruptly interrupted by the sound of a loud drum pounding. The group all look around to see where the noise is coming from. Amid the drumming, Walles walks through a crowd of people with decorative bands around his neck, forehead and left and right bicep.

Advancing back to the hopeless battle…

 

     Walles walks to a large stone wider than himself and half as tall. “My people! Hear me! Hear the words of your Chief!” he shouts above the people.

     Travis walks over to join the people as Vivian and Damen push through the crowd to catch up. “We all have faced the threat of the shadowy menace and know the damage it has brought us! We have lost fathers! We have lost brothers! We have lost many faithful sons of VeChrome!”

     “But we have not lost our pride as a tribe of warriors! Some would ask us to run, scurry, flee like cowards! We are VeChrome! We move forward and face our challenges!” the boy shouts to the crowd.

     The young chief stops mid-speech and sees Travis within the crowd. For a moment he hesitates and fumbles for words, no longer certain of the bravado he previously spoke on.

     The middle aged woman that was at the camp with him walks to the stone the boy stands on. “Don’t disappoint your father, Walles. You are a proud VeChrome warrior too. Go ahead and say it.” the woman encourages at a volume that only the young chief can hear.

     Travis thinks to himself. “So that’s what Vivian meant. He really doesn’t want to stay and fight. But her…”

     Walles looks down at his mother and nods. The young boy then turns his attention to Travis. “We will continue our next assault on the shadowy menace in the next two days. We…we will not run from this fight!” he yells glaring down at Travis.

     The people all clap as the two stare at one another. Walles with forced determination and Travis with unnerving worry.