Enduring Light (13 page)

I let out a deep breath. “I can do this. I’m the Essence. Dealing with a swamp shouldn’t faze me.”

Calvin chuckled. “That is the spirit.”

“All right.” I towed Calvin along as I stepped into the water. “Ick.” The water quickly penetrated my boots and pants.

“With that resounding response, I’m ready for this.” Liam came over to my other side.

“I am coming.” Henry remained one step behind us as we continued to wade into the waist-deep water.

Green floating algae clung to my clothes, as I tried to avoid the plants that I might become tangled in. The only saving grace was that the water was luke-warm. I’d been afraid it would be cold. We moved forward slowly, trying not to lose our balance on the uneven ground. All my relief over the temperature disappeared moments later.

“Ack!” I grabbed Calvin’s arm with both hands.

He stiffened. “What is wrong?”

I tried to slow my breathing, but I was about to flip out. “Something has my leg. There is something on my leg.”

“What does it feel like?” Calvin asked calmly.

“I don’t know! It’s gross and slimy!”

“Do not move.” Calvin pulled out some sort of hunting knife. I’d had no idea he was carrying it.

I eyed the blade nervously. “What are you going to do with that?”

“Liam, will you hold Charlotte so she does not jump?”

“Sure.” Liam put his hands on my shoulders, his body inches from mine, reminding me of how close we’d been the day before.

“Why does he have to hold me?” The heat from Liam’s body momentarily distracted me from whatever was wrapped around my leg.

“So you do not move and get cut.” Calvin leaned over and grasped my ankle. Moments later, he rose, holding something I could only describe as a half-amphibian, half-fish thing. Green and slimy, it was downright gross-looking.

“Ugh, get that away from me!”

He tossed it a distance away from us.

“What if it comes back?” I asked

Henry chuckled. “It’s not the only—”

Liam punched Henry’s arm. “Would you like a piggyback ride, Charlotte?”

I looked at Calvin. “Uh, I don’t know.”

“I assume that means you want to ride on someone’s back?” Calvin smiled.

“Maybe.”

He reached out a hand, and he helped me on to his back. “That should keep any unwanted creatures away.” If I wasn’t imagining things, he was looking at Liam as he said it.

We continued wading until we came to the first piece of land. The house on it looked rustic, made of trees and other natural materials, but very well put together. Calvin put me on the solid ground. I was just about to examine my leg to check for a bite or bruise when I was grabbed from behind.

“What business do you have here?”

Calvin jumped up onto the floating land. “Let go of her! Do you not realize who you hold?” I half-expected him to grab me away, but something must have stopped him.

“Is the girl supposed to mean something to me?”

I still hadn’t seen my captors face, but it was definitely a male. His arm wrapped tightly around my body above my waist.

“It is the Essence, you imbecile!” Henry stood ready to intervene.

Two men laughed.

Liam pulled himself out of the water. “Look at her eyes.”

“Do you really expect us to believe you?” There was a taunting in his voice—a challenge more for entertainment than anything else.

“Just look,” Liam said.

The man turned me roughly, his arm digging into my ribcage.

Calvin wrapped me in his arms from behind just as Henry and Liam each grabbed a man. “How dare you touch my Essence!”

“
Your
Essence? Do you claim to be her Gerard?”

“It’s more than a claim. He is my Gerard.” I nudged Calvin so he’d step forward with me.

“We have heard rumors of a new Essence, but why should we believe it’s you?”

Fine. If he wanted proof, he’d get it. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried to make the water rise and funnel so that it looked like those soda bottle tornados we used to make as kids. I opened my eyes to a couple of shocked faces.

“Oh, my. We are sorry, our Essence.” Both men bowed their heads
for a moment before meeting my gaze.

I studied the men before me. They had honest eyes set in sun-weathered skin. I could trust them. One of the many perks of being an Essence was having the ability to determine that. “I understand, but we need your help.”

Henry looked at me skeptically. “You understand?”

I gave him a look. What good was it going to do if we made things tenser? If we wanted help, we needed to calm things down. I gestured for the guys to let the strangers go. I was pretty sure my demonstration had done the trick. They weren’t going to challenge us again.

The first man held out a hand. “I am Joseph, and this is Nal. What kind of help do you require?”

“Hi, I’m Charlotte, and this is Calvin, Liam, and Henry.”

“It is an honor to meet you, and we will provide any help we can.”

I nodded. “We are searching for a scroll.”

“A scroll?” Nal asked.

“Yes. A scroll,” I repeated.

The men turned and looked at each other. I could tell they were having an unspoken conversation. “We are the keepers of the scroll.”

“The keepers of the scroll?”

“Yes. Although no one can really
keep
the scroll.” Joseph said the word
keep
in a strange way, as if it was an inside joke.

“Why not?” Liam asked.

Joseph crossed his arms. “You will have to come with us if you want to find out.”

“Where? Where do we need to go?” I asked.

“Not far.”

“Do we have to get back in there?” I glanced at the water apprehensively. I had no interest in meeting that fish thingy again.

“I would suggest we take a boat.”

“A boat? There are boats here?” I turned to my Guardians. “Did you know about that?”

Henry shook his head. “No. None of us have ever been here.”

Joseph looked at my Guardians triumphantly. “We would never want to subject the Essence to those waters more than necessary.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Joseph was really getting on my good side.

We followed the two locals around the house. There was more to it than I originally thought, including several porches. They led us over to a dock. We all squeezed onto a boat that looked as if it should only have held half as many people, and I crossed my fingers that the rickety old boat could hold us. Seated practically on Calvin’s lap, I glanced over at Liam. He was staring out at the water as we made the slow trip across the swamp.

Calvin lifted up my pant leg to examine the red mark. “Does this hurt?”

“Not too much. I’m just glad you got that creature off.”

He kissed the back of my neck. “I wish it had picked me instead, but I guess it had good taste.”

“Lucky me,” I mumbled.

The light faded as we moved into some kind of forest. “Where are we going exactly?” I asked.

“To the last place the scroll was seen,” Joseph answered without taking his eyes off some spot in the distance.

“Where the scroll was seen? I thought you were the keeper? How could you not know where it is?” Henry asked.

Nal laughed. “You will find out soon.”

Calvin stiffened. “That is not good enough. The Essence is entitled to an answer. How could you lose such an important object?”
 

“You really have no idea what you are searching for.” Joseph wasn’t asking a question.

I folded my hands in my lap. “No. I just know I need to find it.” I bumped against Calvin as the boat hit land.

Joseph hopped out. “This is the place.”

“Will we find the scroll here?” I asked as Calvin helped me out of the boat.

“It is doubtful. No one has seen the scroll in years.”

“Then why did you bring us here?” Calvin was obviously struggling to hold his temper.

“The Essence wanted help finding the scroll. This is all we could offer.”

My heart sank. “Can’t you give us any more information?”

Nal smiled. “It is very old, and you will probably find it in the water.”

“Oh no.” I shook my head. “I’m not getting in there again.”

Joseph smiled apologetically. “I do not know of another way.”

“Fine.” I walked into the water, thinking about how badly I wanted to find the scroll and get back on land.

Hello, Essence.

I jumped. “What?”

Calvin grabbed my elbow. “Charlotte?”

“Did you hear that?”

“No. I heard nothing.”

Only you can hear my voice. I am close.

I jumped to the side when something bumped up against my leg.

Do not let me scare you.
I realized where the voice was coming from—a turtle. A giant turtle.

“A turtle? The scroll is a turtle?” I ran my fingers over a set of ornate carvings in the shell. I could feel the turtle, and I knew he wasn’t going to bite me or anything, but still, a giant turtle was pretty scary.

Calvin rubbed my back. “Ruth did say it was a scroll that was not a scroll.”