The Legend of the Firewalker, Book #1

Chapter 16.1 (Pneuma Novo)

Author Note:

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Chapter 16.1

Nathan spent most of the day by himself. It was Saturday and almost the end of June, so although it had rained heavily practically all the previous week, this was summer. And not just any summer, but a blistering hot and humid Illinois one, which meant no trace of water anywhere. The moist and muddy ground beneath Nathan's feet had already started to form dry cracks.

Nathan stepped out of the woods and onto the small pebble-and-rock beach surrounding Lake Charleston. The heavily wooded trail leading to the lake provided a much-welcomed shade from the sun, but he got no relief from the evening sun when he walked over to the edge of the lake.

Nathan glanced into a few fire pits; some were dry, but some were still damp. He didn't know how LaDonda expected them to have a bonfire just a day after it stopped raining. He reached into the pockets of his shorts to pull out his cell phone. "Not a single call or text," he murmured. "Lafonda is definitely upset with me."

Lafonda was upset with him for leaving camp the night before. He wasn't surprised that she had kept it secret from LaDonda. Since they were kids, they'd had an unwritten rule to cover for each other if it meant saving the other person from being in major trouble. She had figured out that he had left with Malick and Jonas, but she wanted to know where they had gone. Nathan knew that he had made matters worse when he repeatedly dodged her questions. 

He sighed. Just thinking about having to hide more things from her was starting to get to him, but he was convinced the less she knew the better. He was determined to prevent his dream at Grimm Cemetery from coming true, even if it meant having Lafonda upset with him for keeping her in the dark.

He watched the motion of the water as it made small waves around the lake. Besides the occasional birds and splashing sounds made by fish, it was quiet. Nathan found a dry patch and sat down. He had a little time before Malick would show up to help with the bonfires, and he figured it would be a while before Argus appeared with his wheelbarrow and bad jokes. Nathan looked down at his hands. It had been a week since he followed Jonas into the pseudo stairway and discovered that he too had a power. But he still didn't have answers to why Jonas was in a trance, why he felt his brother was there with them, and who or what those creatures were.

Nathan picked up a rock and skipped it across the lake. But those same creatures were there in the beginning, he thought. They were there in my dreams about Leah.

"What do they want?" he murmured. "What do they want with Jonas and Leah?"

He stopped searching for rocks and paused to look at his hands.

"How did Leah end up all those times in the pseudo reality?" he asked himself. "Does Leah have a power too?" He felt himself becoming more frustrated. "Where are Malick and Argus, anyway?" He looked down at his hands again; they were a little dirty, but they looked normal. He didn't want to admit it, but he was apprehensive about using his powers again. He glanced over his shoulder and then around the lake and chuckled. "I wonder if I can get this to work without my life being in danger"

Nathan stood over one of the fire pits. "How did I get that blue spark to come out of my hands before? I know I set my bed on fire. I just don't know how I did it."