The Lost Soul (17 page)

"I don't know, but it's warm. Feel," she replied.

All six put their hands on the building, "It's almost like it's heated. Weird," said Lilly, "Let's creep around to the front."

As they rounded the pyramid's edge, all six of them gasped and quickly stepped backwards.

"Did you see that?" asked December.

"How could we not?" replied Lilly, "Oh God... this is crazy. Who is she and WHAT is she doing to our men?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Their journey so far had taken place over relatively flat terrain, an open valley allowing them to continue on foot in safety. However, as Zalea and Jack turned the long winding bend in the river, the flat sandy earth beneath their feet began to change as they faced a multitude of jutting rocks coming at them from every angle.

The two stood staring in silence at what lay ahead.

"It is impossible to pass," whispered Zalea, gripping Jack's hand tightly.

"You're right," he said looking around. "But there is one way through," he said, pointing to the river beside them. "We shall have to travel by water."

"But we cannot swim for such a length of time. We'll drown."

Jack shook his head and released his grip on her hand, "We can build a raft," he said turning back from where they had come. "We passed some trees a little earlier and these reeds will do to bind them together."

Zalea shrugged her shoulders helplessly, "I guess it's our only option."

Several hours later, Jack stood wiping the sweat from his brow, "I'm so glad I kept this dagger tied to my trousers," he said as he held Gwynethea's sharp bejewelled dagger out in front of him, a number of long pieces of wood laying out before them. "It would have taken twice as long to cut these trees down without it," he smiled.

Zalea sat to his side, stripping the reeds apart and producing long strong pieces that would act perfectly to tie their makeshift raft together.

"We shall sleep here tonight and then set off when we wake in the morning," he said, finally sitting beside her to take a long well deserved break.

"You have worked hard today, Jack. I just wish I could serve you something delicious to nourish you," said Zalea.

Smiling back at her, he shook his head. "We'll be fine, Zalea. We'll find food tomorrow. But for now, let's get some rest. Here, lie beside me, I'll keep you warm."

Neither of them slept particularly well that night. Without the soft cotton blanket that had been stowed in their lost belongings, they shivered as they curled up together beneath the dark night sky.

As the day approached and the sky lightened before their very eyes, they prepared to set off through the dangerous deluge of rocky outcrops all around them.

Travelling on the water was their only safe passage through.

Once the raft was strong and bound tightly enough to take their weight, the duo climbed aboard as Jack pushed them away from the river's edge towards the centre. Their makeshift paddles enabled them both to push themselves through the gently flowing water as they watched the unusual shapes carved into the precarious rocks around them.

"Nick would have enjoyed this," said Jack quietly. "He would have been in his element making a raft like this."

"Yes, but I do believe his would have been a bit more impressive," laughed Zalea.

Feigning hurt, Jack laughed and nodded.

"Hopefully this will take us to the Nephilim quicker than on foot, perhaps we should have thought of it sooner."

"I'm not sure I would have been comfortable before. I would have been frightened of Dacius and her troublesome sister," replied Zalea, looking down into the murky depths below. "At least now we know she has what she wanted all along."

"Hm," replied Jack, "I hope he's okay."

After a few hours of paddling through the water, Zalea suddenly pointed to something tall in the distance. "It's a Meliam tree. It bears the most delicious and nourishing fruit. If we can get over there and climb up those rocks, they would keep us fed for days," she exclaimed.

They continued in a straight line for a hundred metres or so, before they paddled to the riverside. Jack climbed off the raft first and held out his hand to help Zalea ease herself onto dry land.

Using a spare piece of the reed rope, he tied the raft securely around a long spiky rock that stuck out of the ground.

"We just need to climb up there," Zalea said, pointing to a rather dangerous collection of jagged rocks.

"Easier said than done," answered Jack as they tried to work out their best way upwards, "Wait a minute, Zalea. Can't you fly?"

She looked at him strangely before erupting into a fit of giggles, "Fly?" she said. "What makes you think I can fly?"

Looking a little embarrassed, he pointed to her wings.

"Oh," she chuckled and shook her head. "Only the Menukian faeries can fly, Jack," she said matter of factly.

"Then why have wings?" he asked sheepishly.

"Thousands and thousands of years ago, my ancestors were able to fly. Their wings were three times the size of mine but over the years the wings of my people have gotten smaller and smaller. We believe nature intends us to eventually have no wings at all."

"Evolution," he replied.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's an evolutionary process. Like me... my ancestors are believed to have looked more like apes..."

Zalea's eyes appeared wide and a look of complete confusion clouded them.

Jack laughed and shook his head, "Never mind, let's focus on the task in hand.... climbing up to that ridge."

Neither had much experience in climbing. Nick had made it look so easy but they just weren't getting anywhere. And the more they tried, the hungrier they became.

"Let's take a break and have a drink," suggested Jack as he bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, Jack, I'm sorry that I can't fly."

He shook his head and smiled at her, "I should be saying the same thing. After all, many of my ancestors were able to fly too... and some of my current family members. I wish I shared the gene to change. Imagine if I could become a raven, I could have just flown straight to those mountains."
"No, you couldn't have," scolded Zalea. "Then I wouldn't have been able to join you."

"I know, I wouldn't have left you behind. But if I could change, I could at least fly up there and knock some of that fruit down."

"Are you absolutely sure you don't have the gene, Jack?"

"I'm pretty sure. If the transformation doesn't happen by the time you're twenty then it usually means it's not going to."
"But did you ever try?"

He raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes for a moment. "Honestly, I don't think I did after I turned twenty. I didn't feel the need to go off cavorting as a raven. I was so happy with my family life, that nothing else mattered," he said.

"So there could still be a chance?" she exclaimed but he shook his head.

"No, if there was ever a time I could have changed then I would have done so whilst I was being kept prisoner by Vivian."

Zalea stood in front of him and smiled, "But Jack, you were under her spell. She would have prevented you from doing any kind of magic."

"Possibly, but how about while I was with the Nephilim?"

Again she smiled, "Your memories were taken from you whilst you were there. You wouldn't have even known you were from a family of ravens, Jack. Don't you see? If you are ever going to find out if you can change, it's now. When you're desperate and hungry and... free from any evil preventing you."

Jack's shoulders dropped backwards, making him stand up straight, he lifted his head and smiled, "You're very good at this, Zalea. You're making me want to give it a go."
"Then do it, Jack, try to make the change. If it doesn't happen now, then at least you can rest assured it never will. At least try... just look up there at that juicy fruit."

He peered upwards and his mouth began to water. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate, thinking of nothing but his family and his raven ancestors.

CHAPTER THIRTY

The small group had returned to Tabitha's car where they'd all climbed in, not saying a word. Zoltan quietly put the key into the ignition, had started the engine and reversed the car away from the pyramid before turning back towards Powell River.

As they arrived back at the house, Carmelo and Jo stood waiting their arrival home.

"Well?" Jo asked, "What happened?"

"Wh...what do you mean? We just went for a drive," said Tabitha as everyone stood, shoulders slumped forward.

"It's quite all right, you know. We are fully aware you went to Ben's. Presumably nothing happened or you wouldn't be back so soon," said Carmelo, patting Lilly on the back.

Nobody said anything.

"Crystal?"

The beautiful young woman brushed her hand through her hair and looked up at her friend before bursting into tears.

"There, there," he said, "Come, let's all go inside and you can tell us what you saw."

It didn't take long for the group to explain what they'd witnessed, much to the shock of the rest of them.

"It was a pyramid... like a real pyramid..." said Lilly before December continued, "and it was warm, when we touched it, it was warm."

"And...?" said Jo.

"All the men were there," added Zoltan. "And I mean, ALL of them. There were hundreds of cars just parked there, left in the middle of the road, doors open and then, when we walked around the corner..."

December coughed, making everyone jump, "...and we saw the men, all of them."
"Well spit it out, we're dying to know what's going on. Come on, do tell," said Ruby who was leaning in with her eyes open wide.

December continued, "They were all, you know, erm, like," she chuckled awkwardly, "erm... semi-naked."

"Did you say semi-naked?" said Ruby with a sly grin as the group all nodded at exactly the same time.

"So who's going back?" she said, "Whoever it is, I'm coming with you!" she laughed but nobody laughed with her. "Well then, perhaps I'll go alone..." she said, hovering away out of the room.

"Mother!" said Moira through gritted teeth as her ghost re-appeared, half out of the living room.

"What?"

"Oh... just go."

Again, Ruby smiled and was gone.

"What else did you see?" asked Gabriel.

"It was like something out of a film," said Lilly awkwardly.

"What do you mean, dear?" asked Rose.

"Erm, the few clothes they were wearing were kind of like, erm, like something from Egypt, like from Cleopatra," she said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"This is so bizarre," said Millicent.

"Bazar... yeh, Millie, yer right there. Is this common wiv them Sarens?" asked Kieran.

"Unfortunately we don't know much about the Sirens, Kieran," answered Jo. "We're trying to track down a Siren expert at the moment but we're not having much luck."

"Which is why we decided not to approach Calliope until we know more. After all, we don't know how dangerous she really is," said Carmelo with his eyebrows raised, looking across at the group that had gone out that morning.

"Perhaps we could have....ouch....ow....oh......" said December, falling forwards onto the thick rug in the centre of the room, almost knocking her head on the coffee table.

Everyone rushed forward to help her as she held her head in her hands.

"It must be Jack," announced Millicent, "He must be trying to get through."

Carmelo took the young witch in his arms as everyone sitting on the sofa stood up to allow her to be gently placed there.

Moira held one hand, Millicent held the other and Lilly hurried to the kitchen to dampen a cloth for her forehead.

When she returned, the room was silent except for Millicent's soothing voice, calming her and helping her to get through to Jack.

After five minutes, it was clear he wasn't attempting to get through at all.

"I don't understand," said Moira, "I thought the headaches were purely to do with the communication?"

Millicent nodded, "They are," she whispered, her own brows knitted together in confusion. "Keep trying, December. He must be trying to get through."

As December winced and moaned at the pain, another person fell to the ground holding his head.

"Wyatt!" yelped his wife, Sonya.

"My goodness, what on earth is going on?" said Rose as Gabriel was the next to fall, "Gabriel!" she yelled.

And then, both Meredith and Lilly succumbed to the excruciating pain.

People rallied around them all, placing dampened cloths on all of their foreheads.

"What's the connection, Carmelo?" asked Millicent, "What connects all these people together?"

"It's Jack. He's Lilly's father, Gabriel's son, Meredith and Wyatt's brother. Jack is the connection. Could he be trying to communicate with them all?"

Millicent nodded, "It is possible, of course, but I think there's something else."

"Awww," yelled Wyatt all of a sudden as he fell off the chair and onto his knees. Everyone looked on in horror as his eyes began to darken and shrink in size right before them.

"Oh My God," said Jo, "It's not what you think it is...he's changing. Dad, you're changing. It's the raven gene."

"B...but how do you know?" asked Millicent in surprise.

"I have the gene, I've been changing for well over a year now. That's it, they're all changing," she said gleefully clapping her hands together.

And soon enough, Gabriel, Lilly, Wyatt and Meredith all sat in the living room looking around at their surroundings from a completely different perspective. They were no longer human, they were stunning large black ravens.

December was still wincing from the pain as she turned to look at the strange occurrence.

"Lilly?" she croaked as one of the ravens hopped up from the floor onto the sofa and sat beside December.

"Lilly? Is that you? she asked as the bird nodded its head. One after the other, people spoke to the family of ravens, identifying each one. Soon the room applauded and excited laughter broke out.

"I..I..I don't believe it, I j..j...just can't believe it," stuttered Sonya as Wyatt fluttered to her side and turned his head from one side to the other. He opened his beak and out came a loud squawk. She and Wyatt both jumped before he tried again, letting out a soft coo as she gently stroked his feathers.