Immortal (11 page)

“I am certain,” is all Staysia said.

“I see. Well, I must go to Gnome Hills. I have friends there that need help.”

“Would you like to travel with us?”

“I would love to. You two may need some help getting past the serpent anyhow.”

Staysia was slightly frustrated at the comment. “I believe Jasper and I could’ve gotten on past the serpent on our own. I don’t know why everyone thinks I am incapable of conquering anything on my own. Perhaps it is because I am a woman?”

“Well, it never hurts to have an extra hand around.” He smiled. “Are you okay? It looks to me like you have seen better days. I know
I
have. My brother got killed in Gnome Hills a few days ago. The friends I am going to help were living with my brother in Gnome Hills when it happened—when he was murdered—I mean.”

Staysia wasn’t glad to hear his brother had been murdered, but for some reason it made her feel better. She felt she could relate to Tristen. “You are going to get vengeance for your brother’s death then?” she blurted.

“Ha! Not necessarily, I mean if I were to cross the one who took his life, I wouldn’t let him get by me so easily. There would definitely be a sword fight between the two of us. But no, I am not seeking vengeance. I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else, ya know? I want my friends out of there, and I will do everything in my power to get them out. You know what they say lately about Gnome Hills—they say you can get in, but you cannot get out.”

“Yes, I have heard something like that myself.”

“And you are okay with that?”

“Yes Tristen, I must go to Gnome Hills regardless of what is happening there. My parents were murdered as well. I
, on the other hand—I
do
seek revenge for their deaths.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the tooth. “See this? It was beside my father’s body. I took it as a sign to get revenge.”

“But it’s just a tooth.”

“It is a sign!” she blurted.

“I can’t argue with that.” Tristen replied. “May I ride with you?” he asked.

“With me?”

“Hey! She’s taken!” Jasper insisted.

“I am not!” Staysia argued.

“Ha! Ha!” Tristen laughed. “I just wanted to ride with her, if she doesn’t mind of course.”

“I don’t mind,” Staysia replied.

“Scoot back just a bit, let me ride in front.” He mounted the horse. Jasper glared at him.

“Now, just hold on to me,” Tristen said.

Jasper glared at him again. Tristen half-smiled at Jasper.

As Staysia put her arms around his waist, she smelled peppermints. It was a delightful aroma, and it made her smile.

They rode a short distance before Tristen turned his head to one side and whispered to Staysia, “So, why does the troll say you are taken?”

“He speaks of Gabriel, a friend of ours who is from Gnome Hills. We met him yesterday.” Staysia answered.

“You are friends with someone from Gnome Hills that you barely met yesterday and you trust him?” Tristen asked her.

“Well yeah, I-I do.” Staysia realized how much she really did trust Gabriel when she answered him. She looked down and noticed her necklace was gone. She put her hand on her chest and felt for it. “It’s gone!”

“What’s gone?” Tristen asked.

“Oh no! It’s my necklace! The ogre must’ve taken it!”

“Are you sure it’s gone?” Tristen stopped the horse and looked back at her.

“I’m sure! It’s gone.” Staysia sighed.

“You are probably right. The ogre probably
did
take it. The Mother will still look after you. I am sure.”

“It was special to me because my mother was the one who told me the story of the Mother.”

“Would you like to turn around?”

“No, we must go on.” Staysia replied.

The road was long and tiring. Staysia began to doze in and out of sleep, as she rode with her arms around the man that was not Gabriel. Day light wouldn’t fall short before they reached the Rock Mass. She had heard stories of the serpent. She had sat around campfires, and listened to the stories that had ended in death. Then there were the stories of the ones who had almost conquered the serpent,
almost
conquered the serpent.

The serpent was always thirsty, thirsty for blood. The serpent lived for the ones who crossed him, the ones who were traveling, just as Staysia. He waited for them, coiled around in ball, head tucked inside his scaly body. He could sense them from miles away, but he waited as if he wasn’t expecting them. The serpent didn’t care if they crossed him, he didn’t mind if they made it to Gnome Hills or not. Still, he had picked the perfect spot
, where humans and the general public of immortals couldn’t avoid a confrontation with him.

Sure, there were those who made their way around him, but they weren’t far apart from the ones who didn’t. The serpent was a lazy serpent, if one had gotten passed him, he would only wait for the next. He didn’t have very high standards or a strong knack for defeat. What the serpent
was
, was strong, large, and hungry.

Staysia had mostly worried about the safety of Jasper throughout the day. What if she made it and he became the serpent’s snack? She would never be able to forgive herself. She had decided that unless the serpent could smell him particularly, he would need to stay back while she and Tristen distracted or battled with the serpent.

And Gabriel, Gabriel had crossed her mind a time or two. She felt almost guilty for indulging in Tristen’s scent. She felt guilty for putting her arms around him.

“This horse, he belongs to Gabriel,” she told Tristen.

“Does he now?” Tristen patted the back of the horse’s neck.

“Yes, he does. My unicorn got stolen in the night as Jasper and I slept.”

“Your unicorn got stolen? Oh Staysia, I am awfully sad to hear such a thing. Do you have any ideas of who might’ve taken your unicorn?”

“Her name is Isis.” Staysia didn’t feel it was necessary to tell Tristen about the immortal, not now anyway.

“Well, I certainly hope you get her back. I must ask you, where is this Gabriel you speak of?”

“He was kidnapped by the witches. We tried to go back for him, but they put up a wall that we could not cross. Poor Gabriel, he thinks he is in my company, but it is really a witch who has fooled him into thinking she is me.”

“He must be in a trance, although, being alone with someone he thinks is you probably doesn’t bother him a bit. They are good with fooling with the weak heart, the heart that is in love. They love to take advantage of that.”

“Love? Did you say love? Oh no, Gabriel is not in love with me. Like I told you, we just met. There is no way he is in love with me.”

“That’s not so hard to believe, now is it? A beautiful girl like you traveling alone with a troll, he probably thinks a lot more of you than you think he does.”

“Love is a big word,” Staysia said.

“Love at the first sight of you, I fathom,” Tristen replied.

“Well, I actually met Gabriel and the troll both at the bridge. Gabriel was thrown over the bridge. I-I thought he was dead, at first. They followed me after that.”

“Who would want to kill him?” Tristen asked.

“Oh, they had mistaken him for someone else.” Staysia replied.

“Now I must say, my original concern with the man was the simple fact that he was from Gnome Hills. Now you say he was accused of murder
and
is from Gnome Hills?”

“Accused, he was
accused
of murder,” Staysia said.

“Gabriel is no murderer! He is a beast tamer,” Jasper added.

“Alright, that’s fine by me.” Tristen replied.

Jasper stopped his buggy,
threw his leg over the seat and hopped out. He hobbled to a small lake and began to drink. Tristen got off of the horse and held his hand out to Staysia. She took his hand and let him help her down. She straightened herself and smiled at Tristen. “Thirsty?” he asked her. “Very,” she replied. The two of them made their way to the lake. Tristen stood on one foot to take off his shoes and socks one at a time. Staysia watched him hop around and laughed.

“You think that’s funny, do you?” Tristen asked her.

“M hmm,” Staysia nodded her head and held her hand over her mouth. Tristen ran into the lake. He slowly walked backwards until his shoulders were covered in water. He watched Staysia closely.

“Why is it that you are you watching me?” Staysia asked, brows raised. Tristen said nothing. Staysia shook her head and kneeled down to get a drink of water. She sipped slowly and looked up at Tristen, who kept his eyes on her. “You are a strange person, Tristen.”

“He wishes to have you for his own,” Jasper said.

“Jasper! He does not!” she said.

“Come in the water and see what happens,” Tristen mumbled.

“I will not!” Staysia replied.

“Oh, yes you will!” Tristen swam towards Staysia. She turned to run, but before she knew it, he had a hold of her. He picked her up and carried her into the water.

“Put me down this instant!” she squeaked.

“Bah!” Jasper waved his hand in the air and went back to his buggy.

“Calm yourself!” Tristen told her. “Easy now,” He slowly lowered his arms and let her feel the water.

“Ha! Ha!” Staysia put her head back and wet her hair. “I’m not afraid of the cold water. Put me down!”

“Would you like to have a sword fight once I do?” he asked.

“I’m not carrying my sword,” she answered.

“I have one for you,” Tristen said.

Staysia looked at him sideways. “You do not have a sword yourself, you do not have a sword for me.”

“No?” He gently put her down into the water. He waved his hands around in a circle on the surface of the water. Staysia watched him. The water flowed over his hands. It made a calming sound as a stream. He moved his hands apart and let the water fall back into the lake. Staysia stepped away from him.

“Who-Who are you?” She put her hands up in front of her. He laughed casually and brought the water back up into his hands. He tossed it around in his hands and formed a sword with the water. He tossed the sword to Staysia, but she waved it away from her. He held out his hand and brought the water sword back to himself.

“Sword fight?” he asked again.

“This is not funny! Who are you?” she asked, as she folded her arms across her ribcage.

“I am the son of Cove, one of the many Gods of the Sea!”

“I know who Cove is. How do I know you are telling the truth? After all, the name of Cove’s son is Dylan.”
“So quick to conclude! Dylan is my brother, my half-brother, that is.”

“I-I have never heard of you. Dylan is dead?”

“No, Dylan is not dead. My mother had a son after she moved to Peppermint Pond. It is an interesting story, Staysia. I did not know who I was. I knew I had a fascination with the sea. I knew I was different and that I could do things, things that other kids couldn’t do. I wasn’t like anyone in my family. So, I finally confronted my mother about my powers. She told me that Cove was my father. She told me that she got tired of being a Goddess. She just wanted to lead a normal life. She wanted to keep it from me for as long as she could. That way, she could keep me at home with her until she couldn’t anymore. She just wanted me to be nothing more than her son until it was time. Until she finally had to let go.”

“How could someone not want immortality?”

“He looked down at his sword. “Sword fight?” he asked again.

“Sword fight?”

“Yes, let’s have a sword fight. What is a little sword fight going to hurt?”

Staysia looked at the sword in his hand
, and back up at his handsome face.

He tossed it to her and the sword fight began. They walked in a circle, staring each other down. They glared at one another until Staysia gave in and laughed.

“How do I know you didn’t make your sword better than mine so you could win?” she asked.

“You don’t!” Tristen laughed and took his first swing. Staysia watched the sword come around and dodged it just in time. She struck her sword at him. He hunched over and moaned.

“Did I hurt you? Did I really hurt you?” Staysia asked him.

“Ha! Ha!” he laughed. “Gotcha!”

“I should have known. These are only play swords! I must say, you did have me going.”

“Ha! Ha!”

The two of them continued their sword fight. They gently hit their swords together and simultaneously struck at one another.

“So really, who do you think took your unicorn?” Tristen asked her.

“Was it that obvious that I knew?”

“It was quite obvious!”

“Can I trust you?”

“Of course you can.”

“I believe she was taken by an immortal—a god—I mean, the one that has the-the tongue, the serpents tongue.”

“Ah yes, I know who you speak of. He is not just any god. He is the God of the Night, or darkness. His name is Nox. Why do you think he took her, Staysia?”