Yazen (Ponith) (9 page)

“I
really like your hair; you’re beautiful. People admire you for who you are,” I say, winking at her. She goes quiet and some time passes before either one of use says anything.

“Narissa, what is that
up in the sky? It’s a weird lighting that stretches across the sky,” I ask her.

“That’s the
barrier above the clouds. It spans the whole planet. A type of shield to keep everything out. It has different types of lighting to help give our planet light. My dad says that it’s some type of spell that was put on it a long time ago by a powerful traveling mage,” she tells me.

More magic
, then. I wonder what kind of spell it was and who put it on there. Do they get a lot of people passing through? Are there other creatures here from other planets? What is the shield protecting Yazen from?

I roll over on my side so I’m facing Narissa. She’s wearing a brown leather top that comes
up to straps on her shoulders and shows off her curves. She has a very slender physique and is wearing green cotton pants, showing hints of her tattoos on her ankles and legs. She has on a small, low pair of brown boots and she’s wiggling her toes in them, without taking notice of it at all. I watch her spin the ring around with her fingers. She does it when she’s nervous it seems; she did it while she was talking to me about my scar earlier. She wears a yellow sunflower in her dark blue hair that seems alive in the night’s light. I really could lie here all night and stare at her.

“Would you like to do something fun?” she asks while sitting up.
I look down and notice she’s still tugging at her ring.

“Sure, what
’s that?” I reply, watching her stand up. I start to sit up myself.

“Follow me and be as quiet as you can
,” Narissa whispers.

I follow her slowly and quietly through the woods, and we come upon a small pond. I grab her hand and spin her around. She giggles and says, “Do you know what this is?”

“It looks like a pond to me,” I tell her while looking at the pond. It is really clear water, and it has a very dim blue glow to it. It looks almost mystical. Maybe a bit more than a pond.

“This is a healing pond.
If you stay in it, it will heal all wounds and calm your thoughts. If you are hurting physically or mentally, it helps you get rid of any pain or sorrows,” she says, walking to the edge. “Will you go for a swim with me?”

I’d like nothing more but I’m not really hurting, at least not that I can tell
. I don’t have any swimming trunks, either. I guess I could just go in with my clothes.

“I would love to, but I
didn’t take any clothes to go swimming in with me when I came to Yazen,” I say, tugging on my pants a bit.

Narissa gets a big smile. She slowly begins to take her
leather shirt off. I can see her navel as she brings it up. She is wearing a green cloth top below it, wrapped tightly around her chest. She bends over and kicks her boots off, kicking them lightly to the side. She starts to unbutton her pants and slides them down to her feet. She steps out of one side and kicks them off toward her side as well. She’s wearing matching green cloth undergarment that show off her well-formed behind. I can see most of her tattoo now that she’s standing nearly in the nude in front of me.

It reminds me of an oak tree.
The base and trunk of the tattoo is on her abdomen, lower back, and thighs. The roots of the tree spread down her legs and end at the tops of her feet. The branches of the tree go up her chest and back, down her arms and hands, then they reach up her neck to her cheeks. It is the most eccentric tattoo I have ever seen. Her tattoo is a very dark green, compared to her brothers’, which have white flowers in theirs.

I begin to undress myself. I put my boots and socks near hers. I pull my shirt off and then take my pants off. I’m standing in a pair of blue boxer briefs, shivering from the breeze. I hope the water is not too cold. Narissa holds out her hand, waiting for me to grab it. I walk over to her and take her hand. She puts her hand up and signals with her fingers when to jump in. She starts with five fingers up and works her way down to one finger. I take a deep breath in and jump in at the same time she does.

When I hit the water, I realize the water is a lot warmer than I had expected it to be. My skin begins to tingle all over. I look down at myself and notice the blue light makes it seem like my skin is glowing. I feel like I just woke up from a full night’s sleep, my body fully relaxed.

Narissa swims in front of me, touching my face. I wet my hands and put my hair back so I can see her perfectly with no interferences.
She touches my cheek and smiles again. I can’t help but smile with her.

“Zac, your scar is gone,” she says while looking at my face. I put my hand up to my face and I feel my cheek. It feels smooth
and stretched out. “I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I figured it was worth a try.”

“You’re right, I don’t feel it. How can that be?” I ask her. I have never heard of such a thing before.

“The pond knows how to heal and fix things that have been broken or defected. It helps you live longer and healthier,” she says.

“So I guess it would be like a doctor for you. On Earth a doctor is a person who helps make you feel better by giving you medicine or operating on your body,” I try to explain to her.

As we’re swimming in the pond, Narissa begins to splash me with water. I start to splash her back; I end up getting her right in her face.

“That’s it, I’m going to get you for that,” she threatens me and then begins to chase me.

She corners me in a spot where I can’t escape her. I give in and just sit there and wait for her to get me. She swims over to me and stops right in front of me. I really want to kiss her. All of my fears and worries are gone. I’m not sure if it’s from the water or if I just am that comfortable with Narissa. Whichever it is, it feels good. I pull Narissa into my arms and begin to kiss her. Her lips are soft and smooth. She puts her hands against my chest, and wraps her legs around my waist while we kiss. It’s a long, deep kiss.

“NARISSA! W
hat are you doing? You both need to head back immediately. We’ve been looking for you both for a while now!” Calina yells suddenly, interrupting our kiss. She is standing by the edge of the pool, with her back facing us. “Come get your clothes, and let’s go. Zac, you’d better head back go get some sleep; you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow. Your friends are worried sick about you.”

Narissa and I
share a glance and something deep passes between us. We both swim back to where our clothes are and get out. We put our clothes on quickly and carry our shoes with us. We get back to the tree houses and wave goodbye to each other. I watch Narissa and Calina head off, Calina talking softly to Narissa. I walk up the stairs slowly to the rooms, trying not to wake anyone up.

I see Jenn is sound asleep, and
Alex is lying on his bed awake. I wonder how long he has been laying there.

“Glad to see that you have made it back safely. I was really worried about you. What happened? Where did you
head off to?” Alex asks with a worried look on his face.

“I’m sorry about that,” I tell him, genuinely sorry to make him worried. I move over to him, whispering to keep from waking Jenn.
“I got really upset at Jenn when she tried to kiss me while she was drunk and decided to go cool off in an open field. Out of nowhere, Narissa came and sat with me. We were talking for a little while and then she wanted me to go swim with her, so I did. We had tons of fun, and I like her a lot, Alex. She’s very nice,” I say to him quietly, trying not to wake Jenn but I’m so excited and my heart is beating so quick I can hear it in my ears.

“What happened to your face? Your scar
; it’s gone? How can that be?” Alex sits up to closer examine my face.

“
The pond she took me to is a sort of healing pond. It can take away your pains, fatigue, and damage to your body, I guess. It took my scar away. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s true. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life,” I tell him.

“That’s awesome
! I guess you won’t have to worry about your scar anymore. Maybe you can show me this pond some time?” Alex smiles a wide grin at me. He lies back down, staring up at the ceiling, “Well, I’m going to say good night. I’m tired and it feels so good to be lying in a bed,” he says, rolling over onto his stomach.

“Good night,
Alex, see you in the morning,” I reply while moving over to my own bed and laying down on my back staring at the ceiling. I decide to go ahead and sleep, as I have no idea what my day tomorrow is going to have in store for us.

That night,
to my surprise, I had a dream about Narissa. We were in Alaska together and she was at my house eating dinner with me and my grandpa. We were all getting along and laughing at the dinner table, both of us smiling at each other and staring lovingly at each other. It feels like the perfect life with Narissa.

“This is a wakeup call, which means get up
; breakfast is ready,” Laderic announces. I look over at him and he’s standing tall, smiling at us.

“Good morning, Laderic, it’
s great to see you this morning,” I say while sitting up in bed. I rub my eyes and yawn. I’m still tired from staying up late last night. I look over at Alex and Jenn and they’re both slowly getting up as well.

“Good morning,” Jenn mumbles. I think she has a hangover from drinking too much last night
, as she looks pretty rough.

“Good to see you this morning. Why are we getting up so early today?” Alex asks while stretching his arms above his head.

“My father wants to eat breakfast with you and talk business today. So when you are ready, I will have you follow me to my parents’ home,” he says kindly.

“Do you have anywhere where we can freshen up and get clean clothes?” I ask, embarrassed. Right now, I know our room smells of
body odor. We really need to clean ourselves up some.

“After we eat breakfast, we’ll show you around, where to clean up and get new clothing. We have a few different shops around here. Are you ready to go?” Laderic seems to be getting impatient with us.

“Yeah, we’re ready. Come on, Zac and Jenn, let’s not keep the King waiting,” Alex says while walking toward Laderic. I get up and follow Alex, while Jenn’s still sitting on her bed holding her head.

“Come, Jenn, you’ll feel much better once you get some food in your stomach, I promise,” Laderic says to Jenn while waving his hand at her.

“Okay, I’m coming,” she says in a grumpy voice. I’m starting to realize that when Jenn doesn’t put on her makeup and brush her hair, she looks rough.

The King’s home is a few trees away. It is the biggest fort built around the biggest tree, and you can’t miss it. It looks like a mansion tree fort, if that’s even possible. They have flowers in flower pots hanging from their windows. There’s a big, red rug by their front door, which has “welcome” written on it in gold writing. Wooden bird feeders hang from the
branches, and wooden wind chimes are there for decorations.

As we enter their home, it feels like we’re in a huge castle. There are big, royal, wooden chairs with red upholstery that surround a long, beautiful, wooden carved table that
seats about 12 people. The King is sitting at the end of the table while the Queen sits at the opposite end. Calina, Drakoe, and Narissa are already sitting on one side of the table. Laderic sits down with them. Drakoe’s bird is sitting in a cage behind him.

“Please, my dear guests, have a seat and join us for breakfast,” Nytril says while calling for their maid. “Please get drinks for our guests
; anything they would like,” he says with a smile.

I sit next to the King, while Alex sits next to me, and Jenn goes down to sit next to the Queen. The chairs are enormous, and I feel like a small child sitting in them. I look around at all of the decorations in the King’s home – they’re amazing. Many wooden trinkets cover the tables, while magnificent paintings cover the walls. They’re so in-depth, I would consider them masterpieces. I wonder who paints them. There’s a huge wall that looks to be a library; there are books of all sizes and colors.

“What would you like to drink?” the maid asks. She’s young and pretty. She has her hair in braids connecting together in a ponytail. “May I suggest freshly squeezed orange juice?” she asks while showing a pitcher of orange juice.

“That sounds great, thank you very much,” I say to her while watching her pour a glass of juice for me.

“I’ll have some, too. It looks very good. Do you grow your own oranges?” Alex asks her in a curious way.

“Yes, we do. We have a whole grove of orange trees plus other fruits and vegetables. Would you like some orange juice as well, my dear?” the maid asks Jenn.

“Yes, please,” Jenn replies. She’s slouched over, holding her head up with her hand. She looks like she’s going to fall asleep at the table.

After she finishes pouring our drinks, she leaves the room. I look over
and Laderic and Drakoe are chatting with one another. Calina is speaking with her mother at the end of the table, while Narissa is sitting there quietly, watching my every move. I wonder what she’s thinking. She looks very pretty today. She has her hair up in a ponytail, and it is the first time I’ve seen her with earrings in. They’re small, golden hoops.

“So, Zac, please tell me the story of how you came upon Yazen. I’m interested in what you have to say. I hope eggs and fruit are okay for breakfast. The eggs are fresh from the chickens,” Nytril says while the maid brings a bowl of scrambled eggs and a bowl of fresh fruit out.

“That’s perfect, thank you,” I say, watching Alex nod in agreement. Jenn doesn’t respond and is still sitting slouched over at the end of the table.

“My grandpa, George Evans, told me a few stories about your world. He said that he had traveled here years ago. He really had great things to say about Yazen. He asked me to come here and share my experience with him; it seems to mean a lot to him. So he gave me the Earth’s gem to travel here. I brought my friends along so I didn’t have to travel alone. Once we got here, we noticed that the portal here was not active. So our main goal now is to get the Yazen gem so we are able to go back home,” I try to explain to him.

“How did you bind with the Unicorn?” Nytril asks while biting into an apple. I begin to put some scrambled eggs on my plate.

“I don’t know
; I honestly don’t even know what that means,” I really have no idea why they think that I’m with some Unicorn.

Laderic turns to his father with a frown, “He is the one
, Father, we all saw it with our own eyes. We were about to attack them for trespassing when the Unicorn ran between us to save Zac. It walked over to him and let him touch him. There is no record in Yazen that anyone has ever gotten that close to the Unicorn before. It was protecting him,” he says while finishing his plate.

“I see, Zac, and what Laderic is saying is true. The Unicorn’s the one to choose the savior of Yazen in times of trouble and strife. You must have something special about you that only
the Unicorn knows,” Nytril says with a frown on his brow.

He continues
speaking after looking at the three of us again, “I hope you know that your stay in Yazen is going to be for a while. The Dark Leaders and Dark Elves have the Yazen gem, and it is not going to be easy to retrieve. If you go there now, it will end badly, as they are very powerful. Will you please stay here with us and maybe we’ll work something out to help you get to learn more about Yazen? Let us help you prepare for your journey,” Nytril says.

I look over at Jenn, and she’s finally awake and eating. I turn to Alex and ask him, “Is it okay with you if we stay here while we try to find our way back home?”

“I’m okay with it. I think it’ll be fun. I’m not sure if Jenn’s going to be able to handle it,” he says while looking over at her.

“I’m fine with it. I know how to take care of myself,” Jenn snaps while finishing her orange juice. It appears she took offense to Alex’s comment.

“Your liege, we accept your offer and would like to stay here with you. I would love to learn more about Yazen and your ways of living. Thank you for your offer of hospitality and food. We’ll help do our share of work around here to repay you for being so nice and sharing your home with us. It’s the least we can do,” I say to him.

I have to say, this is a bigger adventure than I was expecting. I just hope we make it back home in time to start our sophomore year at Ketchikan High.

“Narissa will show you around; she’ll get you fresh clothes and show you were you can wash up. After that, Laderic and Drakoe will show you our archery range. It is very important that you know how to defend yourself,” Nytril says.

I look over at Narissa as soon as I hear him say that she’s going to be showing us around. She gives me a sly grin, and it is hard to resist smiling back. She’s smiling back at me now, which makes me want to kiss her soft lips again.

Everyone has finished eating and the maids are picking up all of our plates. Korla did not speak much this morning. I hope she’s not mad at me for staying out with Narissa last night.

“You all may be excused from the table. Thank you again for joining us for breakfast together,” Nytril says, leaving the room. Korla follows behind him.

“I can’t wait to shoot some arrows with all of you,” Drakoe says while smiling at Jenn. She’s starting to look like she feels better after eating some breakfast.

“We’ll catch up with you later though. We have some chores that we have to do,” Calina says while Laderic and Drakoe follow her outside.

“Are you ready to go get some new clothes? We have a tailor who makes tons of outfits for us, who is very nice,” Narissa says while getting up from her chair. I think it would definitely be nice to wear some clean clothes.

It’s a few miles down until we get to the tailor’s shop. The shop is at the base of a tree trunk. It
’s huge with shelves of clothing already made. There are a couple of rows of boots that were made already as well. Narissa has us wait at a counter while she goes and gets the tailor.

Around the corner comes an older
Wood Elf with blonde hair up in a bun, walking next to Narissa. I think she’s the owner of this shop.

“Everyone, this is Ariki, our tailor here in the
Deeproot Forest. She makes our clothes and repairs them as well. She’s going to help find a pair of clothes for you to wear,” Narissa says as she sits on the counter.

“Hello, my name is Ariki. What is your name?” she asks Jenn first.

“My name is Jenn. Can you please find me something nice to wear?” she asks nicely.

“Yes, my darling, follow me this way,” she says while walking to the racks of clothes.

“Am I allowed to look around while she’s helping Jenn?” Alex asks Narissa.

“Yes, you can. If you find something that you like, put it aside and then let Ariki know. She’ll make su
re the clothes fit you correctly,” Narissa says.

Alex heads over to the clothes. I need to do the same, but I really want to talk with Narissa.

“So, will you help me find some nice clothes to wear?” I ask her with a big grin on my face.

“I was hoping you would ask,” she says. She grabs my hand and drags me over to some clothes. She’s looking through a few piles of clothes until she picks out a nice pair of dark green leather pants and a brown leather vest. It is similar to a vest I have seen Drakoe wear. It’s open in the front so you can see his bare chest. I know why she has chosen this top.

She hands them to me and takes me to the back area to change. I wait for her to leave until I realize she’s not going anywhere. She begins to take my shirt off over my head and sets it down to the side. She rubs her hands over my abs and all of a sudden I wish they were bigger for her to touch. I have a small six-pack but I’ve always thought about working out more. She hands me the vest to put on. It’s more comfortable than I had expected and it fits quite nicely.

Ariki calls for Narissa, so she leaves me alone for a moment. While she does, I take my pants and boxer briefs off. She had picked out a pair of lion cloth underwear that I put on, and then I slide into the leather pants. I’m not used to the underwear but it
feels better than my dirty, old pair. The pants are a little big, so I will have to have Ariki tailor them for me.

I walk out to see where Narissa went, and then I overhear Jenn complaining, “Why can’t I wear something pretty like Narissa? Why do I have to wear these types of clothes? I don’t like this fabric at all.”

“Narissa did not get her clothes here. She got most of her clothes from the Dwarven trader. That type of fabric is really expensive to trade for. I’m sorry, but this is the best that I can do,” Ariki says as politely as she can.

“Jenn, just take the clothes for now, and we can get you new ones later. At least they are clean clothes, so be thankful for that,” I raise my voice so Jenn can hear. She is being rather rude to everyone. She was lucky to get clean clothes at all.

Alex has picked out an outfit identical to mine. He looks really good in his outfit. Alex and Jenn are ready to go; they’re just waiting for Ariki to finish my pants. It takes her about 20 minutes, and then we are ready to leave.

We follow Narissa through the woods until we reach a rather big lake. This is where the Wood Elves come to bathe and clean up. They keep a stack of clean towels on a big stone near the lake. After they are done using them, they hang them on the tree branches to dry. There’s a small basket of soap that looks like it has been handmade.

We all grab a towel and bar of soap and head to the lake. Narissa sits against a tree to wait for us to finish.

“So we’re just supposed to get naked in front of each other and go skinny dipping? I’m not getting in that water naked in front of anyone
; are you crazy?” Jenn’s protesting against everything. She’s so used to everything just being given to her and having things her way.

“If you don’t want to wash up, then don’t. I’m dying to clean up, and I will do anything for a bath right now. Stay in your undergarments if you don’t want to get naked,” I say to her while I start to strip.