portal prophecies 01 - keepers destiny (19 page)

“Jealousy, prejudice...I am not sure why you torture any of us or how any person could be so cold as to gain pleasure by inflicting physical pain on others.”

The Prince stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him. There was no question...she had enraged him. A shiver ran down her spine, knowing she would pay a price for refusing to answer his questions. He returned a few minutes later with several men and a case of tools.

“Wrong answer, perhaps your keeper will speak to save you,” he said smiling. “Since you don't want to talk, maybe you shouldn't be able to.”

The men secured her with chains to a rock wall as Joseph removed knives and pliers from the case. Within seconds Willow could only feel pain, so severe she couldn't see. It was everywhere there was nothing else just pain. She begged for it to stop. She didn't know how long she could continue to live with this torture, it felt like cycles had past of continuous pain. Her mind began shutting down unable to handle anymore.

Chapter Twenty

“Quickly, move her to the infirmary.” William motioned to Mike to bring Willow's limp body to a bed where they could give her medical attention. Searching the camp they needed to find both Victoria and conventional medical help. Returning with their on site doctor and nurse, they were greeted by thirteen black cats.

“What has happened? Why have you separated from her?” William asked his eyes bulging.

“We can help more from here. She is weak. We don't know what is going to happen. Right now she is neither awake nor asleep, and comfortable, but soon she could feel all the guardian bird experienced, and share in it. Such torture is too much for anyone to endure,” Aslo answered. “If her body shows signs of pain or stress she needs to be sedated. We must ensure she is asleep, it is the only way to break the telepathic connection between them.”

The door flung open and Victoria ran in followed by her three brothers. Without speaking the young girl ran to the bed side and placed her hands on Willow's arm. Silence fell over the room, no one wanting to disturb the healer's concentration. After several minutes Victoria turned around looked at her brothers and shook her head. Tears formed in the young girl's eyes. Jessie stepped forward putting his arms around his sister just in time. She burst into sobs. Everyone knew there was nothing she could do. Willow's health now rested in the hands of the human medical team which consisted of a young husband and wife, Richard and Mary.

The doctor and nurse proceeded to hook up machines and wires to monitor the patient, took scans and ran tests. It would be hours before any news would be available. Aslo and his family insisted on staying to watch over their keeper, while the others returned to the main house to tell the rest of the camp what had happened.

It would take the next hour for William to try to explain to the others in the command centre the events that had occurred as best as he could. The mood was solemn and the air went stale. Everyone tried to come up with ideas on how to heal the young girl lying in the medical building. Not knowing what could be done was ominous. So many questions need answers.

“How did she manage to bond with an avian guardian when she is a feline guardian keeper?” Diana asked. “That has never done before. I thought cross guardian race bonding was not possible.”

“There are a lot of things we don't yet understand,” William answered. “How could she carry not just more than two guardians but fourteen?  No keeper had ever been able to heal their counter part before. How will she do that?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There are harder questions to ask as well. How could she escape from a broken mind? What will her mind be like if she does wake? Will she carry the same scars as the guardian she is trying to heal?” He paused for a moment. “We just don't know the answers.”

Mike noticed a boy sitting alone at the table in the corner. He was looking at various books, but never seemed to open any and didn't appear to be concerned at all. He nudged William and motioned in that direction. Everyone turned to look at the boy.

“Nathan,” Diana said. “Are you alright? I know you and Willow were close.”

“Yes Gran I am fine, and she will be too,” he answered. “It's in the book.”

“Which book? What do you mean?” Mike asked.

“'
The Portal Prophecies
',” Nathan answered. “Prophecy number twenty-three, although I don't think they are in any particular order.”

Diana walked over and picked up the book. She rubbed the cover as if for luck and then opened it flipping the pages to the exact prediction her grandson had spoken of and read it out loud.

' A race forgotten shall appear again, in need of intervention

one soul so pure shall see the cause and alter what could be,

devastation averted, a world now saved,

one life shall be the reward, within it's mind a soul has been lost

and another shall fall to slumber, the signs on doors to show the way,

with rest and time life shall renew and mind shall mend

all shall emerge with questions answered

life preserved and new hope granted.'

“Once you figure out the wording you can see it applies to what happened today. Problem is figuring out what they all mean before they come true. That might be difficult. It is something we should work on though. Some of the stuff in there sounds pretty bad so if we could avoid them happening it would be beneficial,” Nathan said.

“Problem with prophecies are the future isn't set in stone. They guide you as to what could happen, but we don't know if something we do causes them to happen or stops it. Not an exact science,” Clairity said chewing on her finger nail.

“The ones who wrote this book felt these particular predictions would be something needed in the future. They were insistent that I record them for them. No explanations, just that one day it would be important. They are the only prophecies our world ever recorded,” Diana added.

“You didn't ask what they meant?” Mike asked.

“No, it was before the war. I was just a book maker. It was my job. There was no reason for me to ask.” Diana rubbed her arms as if she were cold, although there was no chill and a fire was raging in the fireplace.

William flipped through the book. “There are a lot of prophecies in here. Do we know if any of them have happened already? Ones that we can...cross off the list?”

“We know the one about leaving our home world happened. It's how we got here. Willow deciphered it.” Diana took the book and flipped the pages again then read out loud the passage.

“When the blue flames engulf the land,

only one whose will is steadied by that discovered

can break that which is set in stone to escape.”

She handed the large book back to the guard, who examined the page. “From that she figured out how to open a portal?” he asked.

“No, there were other things too, like our dreams. They were about the last minutes on our world. Everything was the same except, in the dreams, there was a massive storm over the forest...and I think she mentioned another prophecy. I don't know where she heard about it, but it was about her. Something about being different from birth and needing to figure things out for herself.” Ashlyn had been withdrawn through the whole meeting, as if thinking. “Maybe I could contact her. If she is asleep I mean, in her dreams...make sure she is okay.”

“We aren't sure she is asleep at the moment. If we sedate her...it's an option we are willing to discuss.” William looked around the room for any reaction from the others.

“Is that dangerous?” Diana asked.

“We don't know, but we do know if she seems in pain we will have to induce sleep to calm her.”

“You should make her sleep, the prophecy says so. It is the only way!” Nathan exclaimed not believing they were discussing this. He headed for the door.

“Slow down dude,” Mike said grabbing the boy. “The doctor is running some tests first. We will have the results soon. Aslo and Kiera are watching her. If she looks stressed they will make sure she is sedated. Okay?”

Nathan nodded and sat down again.

“So Nathan, Diana...you two should head up a team to try and figure out some of the prophecies. Look for patterns, or indications of something that could be happening at the moment or in the near future first. There are too many to do every single one at once. Eventually we will need to know them all though. Pick a team to help you...and call a meeting when you have anything to brief us on. Sarah, you continue working on the maps and location of missing stones for portals. I would sleep a lot better if we had them in our possession. Work in shifts so everyone gets some rest and we have fresh eyes. Anyone not on a team please head to bed, tomorrow we start training for your abilities and self defence.” William rubbed the stubble growing on his face. It had been a couple days since he had any time to shave. Looking around the room he could see several of the other men were in the same position. It's definitely going to be a long haul this time he thought to himself.

He motioned to Ashlyn and Mike to join him and the three headed back over to the medical centre. There had been no change in Willow's condition and the test results weren't back yet. Suddenly her body began to shake and twitch. Aslo jumped up, eyes widened and focused on the red headed girl.

“She is in pain,” the guardian said. “She needs sedation now. There is no time to wait for test results. You have to trust me. She must sleep.”

The medical team had seen enough strange things happen in their time at the camp, that they knew better than to argue with a talking cat, who might one day be the only thing standing between their world as it is and complete destruction. They prepared a sedative to make Willow sleep.

Ashlyn lay down in the bed beside her friend. “Could I have a light sedative so I can try to reach Willow in her dreams?” she asked.

Ashlyn had only discovered in the past few weeks she had the gift of dream walker and was still experimenting with what that meant. She knew she could call someone close to her into her dreams if she was emotional, especially scared, although so far she had only contacted her mother. Willow had been able to call her for help once as well. They had shared the same dream, a foretelling of the devastation of their home world. She wasn't exactly sure if she could enter her friend's dreams or not yet. This would be a completely new experience, but she had to try.

Mary handed a tiny white pill to Ashlyn. “This will only help you fall asleep. You will be able to wake up if necessary within a couple of hours.

Richard had already given some form of medication to Willow through what he called a needle. Ashlyn heard them say her heart rate and blood pressure was already returning to normal levels and she showed no more signs of pain or stress. '
Time to go in,
' Ashlyn thought to herself as she swallowed the pill. Her body flopped back on the bed. She was worried her nervousness might hinder her ability to sleep and was considering other ways to help relax enough to drift off. When she opened her eyes everything was white for as far as she could see.

She was asleep. Now to find Willow. She called to her a few times concentrating as hard as she could on her friend, how she looked, how she talked. Looking around, the room was white, the walls were white, her dress was white. She mused at how her hair had just chosen its final colour in the last two weeks and it too was white, although with pastel pink streaks. It was perfectly straight and hung down just above her shoulders, except for bangs which covered her forehead. She was happy that it no longer changed colour with her moods as was the case with all the girls under sixteen cycles from her homeland. Her hair colour now highlighted her facial features perfectly. She was petite with grey eyes so light they were almost silver colour, a small nose, perfectly pink cheeks and small red lips.

Walking forward, she noticed up ahead closed doors were forming before her eyes, hundreds of them. She began turning knobs, but every one she tried was locked. Frustration set in. She ran frantically from door to door trying to find one she could open, but none would. After about thirty doors, she stopped. Bending over at the waist, she gasped for air. Slowly her red flushed face returned to normal and her heart rate slowed. '
Now what?
' she asked herself knowing there would be no answer. She was at a loss. How was she supposed to know which door led to her friend? Her small framed body slid to the ground and she pulled her knees to her chest. She sighed. Tilting her head upwards, something caught her attention. Getting up, she moved close to the door in front of her. There on the knob was a green gem, a jade. The prophecy had told her what to do.

Of course she thought, each door had a sign on them as to who was behind the door. Something that spoke to her, that she could understand. There would be a door for everyone she knew who was currently sleeping. Unfortunately that was most of the camp, so she would have a lot of doors to examine to find the one that led to Willow.

After examining several doors, she came across one with a black bird on the handle.
'I wonder,
' she thought, '
maybe
'...she turned the door knob and it opened. Stepping through Ashlyn found herself in another white room with a single door in it. On the floor was a black bird.

“Are you trying to go through there?” Ashlyn asked.

“I can't. Someone has to open the door and let me through,” the bird answered. “It's the door you are looking for. You can help her. Don't leave her alone. She needs someone to protect her.”

Ashlyn moved closer to the door and examined the symbols on the handle. They were changing so fast she couldn't make out what any of them were.

“What does this mean?” she asked pointing to the signs.