To Hunt A Magick

Chapter Eleven: The Truth Revealed

The march to the Havens was long and slow, so many of the people that they had freed were injured and weak. Most had lost everything, even their loved ones and they wanted nothing more than to lay down and die, but Jack refused to let them. Over and over, he pushed them, he fiercely reminded them that Rainie had given up her freedom and life for them and it would not be wasted.

Dawn, stayed quiet, her tears had finally stopped, but she did not speak to anyone unless they spoke to her. Jack, constantly tried to get her to talk to him about it, but she would just shake her head. The most he could get out of her was that once they were near their old home, she would be able to lead them to the Havens.

Days passed, but at last, they came upon the little old shack that had been home, when Dawn saw the grave for Gran Ivy, her tears renewed, but she kept walking, she knew the way from here. It took them all that day and half of the night before they finally stood in front of three large boulders.

Sighing Dawn placed her hand on the middle boulder and said, "I come in peace, I come as a friend, I come to help, please let me in."

Nothing happened. Dawn frowned and stared at the boulder, looking between Dawn and the boulder Jack asked, "What are you doing?"

"This is how you get into the Havens; it is protected. This is what Rainie did, each time we came to make rounds, I do not understand why it did not open."

Jack looked back at the expectant faces of the people behind them, and then back at Dawn, "Okay, so if Rainie did it, then it is right, but did she do anything else. Has she ever told you what to do if you needed to escape here without her?"

Dawn frowned, and shook her head, "I do not know. Every time Rainie tried to tell me, I would block it out. I never thought I would be here without her. I am sorry."

Jack sighed, "It is okay, we will figure it out. How about we all take a rest, we have walked far today." At his words, everyone nodded and started making little camps around the base of the boulders. Dawn just plopped down and stared at the boulders.

Jack left her alone for a bit and made sure everyone else was okay. Besides being tired and hungry they were all fine. After checking in with Caleb and Saffron, Jack went back to Dawn, she was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, crying.

"Dawn, sweetie, I know this is hard for you, and I know I am not Rainie, but I want to help you. I cannot do that if you do not talk to me. Please little one, talk to me."

Sniffling Dawn shook her head, "I lost my Momma and my Poppa when I was three, Rainie has been my Mom ever since, and now I have lost her too. I do not understand why I keep losing everyone I love. Am I that bad? Am I cursed? I just do not understand."

Pulling Dawn into a hug, Jack shook his head, "You are not bad, you are not cursed. It is this world that is wrong. We reject and scorn what we do not know and do not understand. We isolate the different and ignore its pain. Little Dawn, the fault of all of this is not yours.

The fault belongs to people like me, who let anger and hate rule their hearts, people who fear the unknown, and instead of embracing it, we run from it, and we try to squash it. Please little one, do not blame yourself for it. I am so sorry you are feeling this way. I truly am, and there is nothing I can do or say that will make this any better. However, I do know that Rainie, would not want you to live the rest of your days feeling like this, she would want you happy. She would want you to enjoy the life you have to live. I know it is hard, but for her, can you try?"

Dawn looked up at Jack, tears leaking out her eyes, "For Rainie, I can try. I still do not know why we cannot get in."

Jack shrugged, "It will come, for the moment we are okay. Tell you what, how about you teach me one of those riddles that you and she used to do."