Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (6 page)

He brushed the flames out with his
hands and turned to stare at me. The dark eyes narrowed and I felt
the push of magic coming from every direction.

“Hayden!”

I turned in time to see Brice running
at me. I started to run toward him.

He caught me and pushed me behind him
before turning to face Ternach. “Having a bit of fun, are
you?”

Ternach started to laugh. “Braw has no
idea what he is getting himself into.”

“Braw knows exactly what he is
doing.”

I looked up at the back of Brice’s
head. “What?”

Brice glanced back at me then behind
me. He turned and pulled me so that my back was to his chest. His
dagger was placed casually against my throat. “Stay there,
Jasper.”

I looked at Jasper and tried to keep
the tears from falling down my face. I pulled back on my fear, the
hurt of knowing that this time, Brice wasn’t faking his
betrayal.

The transformation on Jasper’s face was
amazing to watch. The shock of seeing his best friend holding a
dagger to his mate’s throat turned to fear for my life, anger that
I had been put in danger and finally settled into a deadly hunter’s
stare.

Brice took an involuntary step
backward.

There was a loud whooshing noise, the
sky lit up, and the air around us warmed a few degrees. Faren came
crashing through the woods. Bryenk flew at Brice’s face and clawed
at his eyes. The blade bit into my neck as Brice tried to pull away
from the small dragon.

Ternach’s voice seemed to drown
everything else out. “You tell Braw I’ll be taking her back when
he’s done with her.”

Jasper’s eyes widened and he started to
run toward us.

I felt the magic nudge me, everything
around me wavered, and then I was standing in a completely
different forest still pinned to Brice’s chest with his dagger
still at my throat.

“I’m going to take my knife away and
tie your hands together. I don’t want to hurt you, Hayden, so don’t
try anything stupid.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and
nodded.

“That was pretty amazing how you kept
up to Ternach.” Brice tied my hands behind my back so I couldn’t
use my color waves. He straightened and looked at me. “You don’t
have to worry. Braw just wants you to do one little thing and he’ll
let you go.” He tilted my head up and looked at my throat. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you.”

I stared straight ahead at a
tree.

“I imagine you’re mad at
me.”

That statement got him a blank stare
from me. I noticed that his face was bleeding from the scratches
Bryenk had inflicted. I thought it was a pity there hadn’t been any
water around for the little dragon to use on my
abductor.

“Ok. Well, let’s go then. The sooner
you do this little favor for Braw, the sooner you can go on your
merry way.” He put a hand on my elbow and led me through the
woods.

We didn’t have to walk very long before
we were within sight of a large city.

“This is Paradin. It is the biggest
city in the human colonies.” The city was surrounded by a rock wall
that stood a good fifteen feet high.

There were two guards at the tall door.
Both of them straightened and saluted as Brice walked me up to
them.

“Captain.”

Brice stopped and saluted back. “As you
were.”

They opened the doors and let us
in.

As much as I was enjoying giving Brice
the silent treatment, I was starting to burst with
curiosity.

“You’re a captain?”

He nodded and looked down at
me.

“For the humans.” I couldn’t keep the
amazement out of my voice.

If he had been going to explain he
didn’t get the chance.

“Brice!”

I looked up to see a blond woman
running toward us. Brice let go of me and pulled her to him. She
laughed and kissed him tenderly.

“Thanks to Braw, you’re home! Come. I
just finished making supper.”

Brice smiled and kissed her again.
“I’ll be there shortly. I have to get Hayden to Braw.”

The woman looked at me intently. “She
doesn’t look like much, does she?”

I tried not to look insulted by the
comment.

“Do you really think she can do what
Braw wants her to do?”

He gave me a pat on the back. “I know
she can. Hayden is amazing.”

Her eyes narrowed.

Brice laughed. “Don’t be jealous,
Sonia. You are the love of my life and you know it.”

She continued to stare at me. I stared
right back. Brice was right, I thought. We had the same
eyes.

Brice stepped between us and looked
back and forth, his eyes narrowed. “Enough.” He stepped toward
Sonia and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be home in a
bit.”

I could feel Sonia’s glare on my back
as Brice led me away.

“That story, about how she saved
you?”

He glanced down at me and looked
apologetic. “Just a story.”

“What does Braw want me to
do?”

He looked straight ahead. “I’ll let him
explain it to you.”

We walked in silence for a few more
minutes before arriving to a stone castle.

“I have to put you in a cell.” He led
me down into the basement of the castle and opened the door to a
small room with nothing in it.

I simply stood in the middle of the
room and watched him walk to the door. He hesitated at the door and
turned to look at me. I was a bit shocked to see the same concern
in his blue green eyes that I was used to seeing there.

He gripped the door frame. “Hayden.” He
cleared his throat and frowned. “Just do what he says and he’ll let
you go.” Brice turned, closed the door, and I heard the lock slide
into place.

My legs gave out and I sat heavily on
the floor. “What the hell is going on?” A hundred different
thoughts were running through my head. Was everyone back at
Ternach’s lair alive? How had a Namael ended up a captain in the
human army? But most importantly, what the hell did Braw want me to
do?

“Hey, Tom! Who’s the unlucky one they
just brought in?” The man’s voice floated into my cell.

“Not sure. We’ll find out tomorrow
night. I heard a rumor they found the Chosen One. He’s going to
test her powers when the moons are at their highest.”

“Man, that sucks.”

“You’re telling me,” piped in a third
voice. This one was a woman’s.

“Why?” I asked. “What is he
planning?”

“What’s your name, honey?” the woman
inquired.

“Hayden.”

“Quiet!” one of the men
barked.

The sounds of footsteps echoed in the
stairway.

“Great job, Brice. All those years have
finally paid off.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The footsteps stopped in front of my
door. I heard the lock slide open and my heart started to beat a
mile a minute.

Brice walked in first, followed by a
short man who looked in his seventies, with long grey hair tied in
a ponytail. He looked like someone’s hippy grandfather. His dark
grey eyes found me sitting on the floor and he smiled. “Hayden,
dear. Please, stand up. You’ll excuse the fact that we can’t untie
your hands at the moment. We wouldn’t want you to start throwing
magic at the guards, now would we?”

Brice bent over and helped me up. “Are
you alright?”

I glanced up at him and was again
shocked at how worried he looked. I ignored him and turned my
attention to Braw.

“Tomorrow night, we will have a small
demonstration of your power. You will help me liberate five beings
from their demons. If all goes well, we will wait four nights until
the moons align with the star of Juns and when the magic of this
world is at its peak, we will channel the power of Laif through the
entire world, whereupon we will rid the world of
demons.”

My jaw dropped. “You’ll kill them
all!”

Braw shook his head. “No dear. We will
free them.”

“You don’t get it!” I could feel panic
taking a hold of me. “The Namaels, the Majs, they’re not possessed!
That’s just who they are! It’s genetic!” I looked up at Brice and
was shocked by the blank look on his face. “Brice! You have to
explain to him. It will kill you!”

Brice turned slowly to look at me, his
eyes wide.

“Now, Hayden, dear.” Braw put a hand on
my shoulder. “You’ll be helping them.”

“No!”

The grip tightened and I dropped to my
knees.

I looked up at him. “No.”

A second guard grabbed me by the hair
and hauled me up.

“I don’t need you to cooperate, dear.
It will simply be much easier on you if you do.”

“Go to hell!”

The guard’s fist connected with my
stomach and I fell to the ground. I tried to suck in
air.

A low growl made its way up Brice’s
throat. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“You did your part, Brice. Go
home.”

Brice seemed about to say something,
but stopped. He nodded and left my cell.

Braw and the guard followed after him,
leaving me crumpled on the floor with my thoughts.

*****

I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep
until someone nudged me with their boot. I looked up and found a
blond man gazing down at me curiously. He looked about thirty
five.

“You don’t look like much.”

I grunted. “Neither do you.” I looked
out of the tiny window, if you could call it that. “What time is
it?”

He was frowning. “Morning. What am I
supposed to look like?”

I started to laugh. You found a bright
one, Hayden, I thought to myself. “Just like you do, I suppose.
What am I supposed to look like?”

He smiled. “I pictured you taller. And
blond with bigger…” He stopped short and blushed. “Bigger
eyes.”

“Well, I’m sorry to
disappoint.”

He shook his head and set a tray on the
ground. It had a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee on
it.

“Thank you.” I looked down at the tray.
“How am I supposed to eat with my hands behind my back?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“
What’s your
name?”

“William.”

“I’m Hayden.”

The sound of someone walking down the
stairs echoed through the cells. William and I both looked at my
door. It opened.

“What are you doing?” Brice came
storming in and marched toward William.

I stepped between them and Brice
stopped short. “He brought me breakfast. What do you
want?”

“I came to make sure you were
alright.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and he
looked at the ground. “Geez, Brice! You kidnap me, tie me up, throw
me in a cell then expect me to help the humans annihilate the
shifters and you want to see if I’m ok?” I kicked him as hard as I
could in the shin. “Of course I’m not ok!” I yelled at him. I
kicked at him again. He dodged to the side and I lost my balance,
which managed to land me on my rear.

He took a step forward to help me up
and stopped when I spat at him. “Go to hell, Brice.” I turned
myself around so that I was facing the far wall and tried to keep
the tears from flowing.

I heard him take a deep breath and the
cell door slammed shut.

William was looking at me with wide
eyes.

“Go on, William. I’ll figure out how
I’m supposed to eat. I’m sure you have better things to do than sit
here and babysit me.” I blinked and the tears made their way down
my cheeks.

William surprised me by sitting in
front of me. He reached across the tray and wiped my face with a
rag. I smiled sadly at him and took the spoonful of cold porridge
he offered me. When the bowl was empty and the coffee was gone he
stood and took the tray.

“Thank you, William.”

“You’re welcome, Hayden.” He started to
leave, but stopped at the door. “I changed my mind.”

I frowned. “About what?”

“You look exactly how you should.” He
closed the door and I heard his footsteps echo their way up the
stairs, leaving me to wonder what in the world had changed his
opinion.

*****

I spent the morning in my cell with
nothing to do but wonder what would happen later that night. I had
the pleasure of William’s company at lunch when he brought me a
bowl of stew.

“How many shifters are in here,
William?”

He looked at the door and back to me.
“Are you a shifter?”

I shook my head.

“Five.”

“Are they Namaels or Majs.”

He looked at me blankly.

“Cats or dogs?”