Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 27, 2008 23:41:14 GMT -5
Chapter Nine – A Strange Encounter
Chris groaned.
Wyatt pointed in the direction of the invisible zone. “That is some sort of anti-teleportation zone. No teleporting in or out. I guess it worked reverse on us because our orbing was already gone.”
“So in theory,” Chris looked toward the area they had fought thoughtfully, “I will keep my orbing ability so long as I don’t go back in there.”
“In theory,” Wyatt agreed.
“Let’s test it,” Chris suggested.
Wyatt shook his head hard. “You are not going back in there.”
Chris shook his head with a smile. “Not me. You. Go back, see if you get you orbing back, again.” He glanced over at the Prices. Being able to orb would be helpful if we are going to look for a missing whitelighter, but if this doesn’t work, we can’t take the time to figure this thing out.
Wyatt sighed. “If this works, it means what, that we can lose out orbing at the drop of a hat?”
The conversation dropped as they noticed a couple headed their way. Both had black hair. His was short with a slight bit of a wave at the tips. He was waving his hands around, apparently trying to explain something to the young woman with him.
Her hair was longer, past her shoulders, but almost the exact same shade as his. While his skin was light, hers was almost pure white. Her eyes were off, her pupils a little larger than normal, but at this distance, no one could tell. She was laughing as she listened to what her friend was saying. As they passed the picnic table she stopped suddenly. When her friend kept walking she exhaled swiftly and in a commanding voice said, “Freeze.”
The young man stopped moving instantly, not even moving his head to look at her. The move was either one of absolute trust or one of magical restraint.
She young woman looked around. Spotting the four at the picnic table she looked them over. After a few seconds a smile spread on her lips. “You have about six feet so just don’t go any farther.”
Disproving the idea of magical restraints, he relaxed visible and turned around to face her. “So what did you just save me from, Aka?”
The young woman, whose name was Akalia Wilkinson, Aka for short, replied deadpan. “Anti-orb zone.”
Five sets of eyebrows rose at the confident words. Her friend laughed them off. “Then, I’ll just . . .”
“It’s just a name, Toby,” Aka interrupted, not wanting him to finish his sentence. She frowned as she added. “There’s none.”
With an exaggerated sigh at her cryptic words, the young man, one Toby Edmunds, replied. “We’ll just go around.”
“Not if you intend to get home,” Aka rolled her eyes at him. “It’s too big for that.”
Toby looked past her at the group at the picnic table. “And them?”
“All magical,” Aka replied without hesitation. With a grin she added. “Good magical.”
“Fine.”
Not able to stand it any longer, Chris called out to them. “Hey, what do you know of that thing?”
Aka gave him a shrug. “Avoid it.”
“Can’t,” Chris admitted. “Already been in.”
Aka’s dark eyes widened. “Okay, whitelighter. Get back in before your powers are gone for good.”
How does she know? Chris tried to keep his stunned response to himself. “What makes you think I’m a whitelighter?”
She shrugged, again. “Fine.” She looked at him closer, or as close as she could from several feet away. After a few seconds, her already wide eyes, grew wider, realization setting in. “Elder.” The one word sounded almost as stunned at Chris felt. “I’m guessing half.”
Chris looked at her surprised. Does she see that just by looking at me? I didn’t think I looked any different than anyone else and she seems to know I’m half elder. How? Pulling his thoughts together, he inclined his head at the battle field. “What is it?”
“That?” Aka looked toward the zone. Her eyes were unreadable, even to Toby. “It’s an anti-orb zone.”
“What’s that?” Chris wanted more than a name. She’s already said the name.
“Nothing you’ll ever find in a book,” Aka admitted. She looked at him, considering.
“Aka,” Toby called, “I think we’d better leave before you say something you regret.”
Aka raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t regret things I say.”
Toby groaned. “Okay, before you say something I regret.”
Aka rolled her eyes, but after an apologetic look at Chris walked away in the direction they had come from.
“What was that all about?” Wyatt asked, realizing that his brother probably didn’t know either.
“Someone who obviously knows more than she is telling,” Chris retorted, looking off in the direction the couple had gone.
“She knew you were half elder,” Wyatt commented, slightly concerned. “And she knows where the boundaries of that thing are. I’d say she more than know what this is.”
“She’s gone now,” Chris said turning back to the group, “so do we trust what she did say?”
“Considering how little she said,” Wyatt retorted, “why not. A name for this thing won’t make a difference, and you already wanted me to go back in there.”
A thoughtful look covered Chris face as realization spread, “That demon couldn’t leave, could he? He was in that thing without his ability to shimmer.”
Wyatt considered this. “Most likely,” he admitted. He looked over at where the demon last stood. With a sigh he relented, “I guess I’d better check this theory.” Not waiting for a response Wyatt walked back toward the zone. After about six feet he stopped as he reached the branch he had previously orbed. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to orb the branch, but nothing happened. After a moment he reopened them and took a few steps. He stopped again and closed his eyes. Behind him the branch orbed just long enough to hit the barrier.
Chris smiled as he saw the orbs.
Wyatt turned around and seeing Chris’s smile, relaxed. He turned back to face the inside of the anti-orb zone. Looking around he found the branches that the demon had sent at them all in a pile. He blinked and several of them orbed up, hit the barrier, rematerialized, and fell to the ground. He did this again, slowly beginning to create a visible boundary for the zone.
Back at the picnic table Chris saw what his brother was doing and climbed off the bench. “Come on. Let’s go around the boundary line and see if we can find your whitelighter.” Without waiting for an answer he walked toward the boundary followed by Matt and Lindsey.