The Key Lies Between Both Worlds

Chapter 8

Narrator

  Jack noticed her pain, so did the boy.

  They weren't fools to pain or fear, they had years of experience to deal with it and never show it, she never had that.

   The boy shrugged as he caught up with Amy and walked besides her. "Ma lady, what makes your soul so un joyful and sorrowful?" Amy stayed quiet as she thought only about the way another person did the same thing to her as the boy did to her. Jack shot the boy a look and growled. "Leave her alone, you brat." The boy huffed and puffed as he shot back a look to Jack. "Well least I care about ma lady's feeling, unlike your selfish hog people. They never show emotion, they are simply dead people inside with a stone heart!" Jack roared back. "Your people should talk! Yall are simply smug brats, so spoiled with your own self that you see emotion above everything else. We have jobs to fulfill, emotions just get in the way!" Both boys started arguing again.

  As Amy walked, she felt lightheaded. Every step felt heavy and made her joints burn with pain. Amy tumbled and fell to her hands and knees on the path in a daze. Both boys snapped out of their argument and flew to Amy's side. Jack slapped the boy's hands away from her but the boy snapped seriously at him. "If another one of my masters dies, you know what I will end up as. Even your smug hog people don't deserve that bout of punishment." Jack stared at him but then knew how hard this world was for punishment, he kept quiet about it.

  Jack put Amy's arm over his shoulders and hugged his arm around her waist. "Get the sword off me back. Swing at every mere soul if it means protecting her, you brat." The boy grinned and grabbed the sword from the backpack with the sheath still on it. The boy put it on his back as he was ready for anything to pop out, Jack held on to Amy tighter. Amy mumbled windy. "I can't feel my joints or whole body." Jack held her closer, pain over washed him as he knew why.

He was too blinded by anger at the boy, to pay attention to her mental and physical health.

   Jack begins to say. "You have feared so much that you have used too much adrenaline. And like I told you not to do, you sucked in too much of the ash back in that village. It has gotten to your lungs and is probably moving to your brain now." The boy scowled Jack. "You're being repulsive, for god's sake bout this! Ma lady all Jack has to do it heal you with his people's magical voodoo stuff. But he's trying to kick around thee bucket, to try to scare you up a bit so you forget for when he has to overlap that wicked mark." Jack threw an elbow into the boy's side but the boy had gotten worse before.

   Amy didn't get a reply in when she collapsed into Jack's arms, blacking out. Jack caught her and picked her up in a hurry. "For God's sake no one in this world would be breaking down for some ash to the lung and brain." The boy scowled Jack once again. "Give her a break mate, she ain't a single bit use to this world. I don't think the ash bit into her lungs or brain, I think it's that fear that she expresses so much that is taking a huge toll on that pure body of hers." Jack hurried his pace but kept an eye on the boy as he barked. "You knew she wasn't from this world, and still put such a devilish mark on her? Foolish like your people and yourself." The boy took the insult and didn't mind. "No one is as pure in blood as her, her neck lingers on the smell of pain for years but it's so sweet. She's still a virgin, as well as a sweet girl. I knew it from a mile away, I said to myself. "If I bout get this most magical girl then I get far" I surely did get far, my lips touched such a goddess and that's a blessing. You surely need to overlap it before someone higher up sees and kills us both. If you overlap it, they won't punish you so hard as they would both of our asses together." Jack ignored the boy's comments and turned off the path. "We need to make camp so I can heal her, is this hunting grounds only?" The boy snorted as he replied. "Your hog smelling back stabbers took these lands years ago. How should I know anymore?" Jack gave a look to the boy and the boy sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Fine yes, I come and sneak over these lands to hunt for Pete's sake. These lands are rich and ain't no one's bloody body come through them anymore. Anyways, yes, it's hunting grounds. No one's bastard self comes through it." Jack and the boy with Amy went deeper in the woods till they found a good place to make a campsite at.

  Jack got down on his knees as he laid Amy on the ground, slowly and softly as he possibly could. Jack slowly tucked a strand of her black raven hair behind her right ear, the tips of his fingers lingered against her cheek. Jack was lost in a world of his own as he felt her perfect smooth, pure skin under his hand. Those couple of fingers to tuck her hair, ended as a hand against her cheek. He brushed his thumb over her lips. They were so warm and smooth it made Jack wince back with pain of acknowledgement.

Jack knew he could never be with Amy; it just was how things were.

    The boy cleared his throat as he remarked. "Just take a wince at her, I won't tell anyone and we alone out here. Might as well, though you're in love with ma lady aint you?" Jack re tracked his hand back to his side as he dug through the bag. "You she devil don't know what your watering can mouth is saying." The boy laughed as he put the sword down on the ground next to Jack. "You nearly took my head for touching her, and I can see it in your eyes. Your hog smelling savage like people might show no emotion but love is always that breaker for that dam. Your eyes spark it for her, you wish to do the same as I did to her!" Jack snapped at him and roared. "You speak of no such thing, you idiotic bastard!" The boy grinned and asked. "Then why are you so defensive when I said such a thing?" Jack went quiet and continued to move and get the stuff to heal her, as he knew it was true what the boy was saying.

After half an hour later, Jack finished healing her with the inner healing circle he created with rocks and crystals.

   The boy laid against a trunk, watching his every move. "My name is Leaf, ain't yours Jack?" Jack asked as he snickered a bit. "Whose spoiled parents would name their child, Leaf?" Leaf growled as he said. "My name was after something special to both my parents, unlike your hog people, you probably got your name picked from a bag of names for their guards or soldiers." Jack slowly picked up Amy's limp body, as he softly put her against a tree trunk. "I wasn't born as a soldier; I was selected as one. I don't have parents, they died years ago to a fire. I simply don't remember them, and I named myself. I got my name by my favorite book I got to read as a kid, it was Jack and the Beanstalk. It's a dumb name but it stuck with people and my leaders call me by it so I have to go by it now." Leaf shrugged as he played with the sharp rock from his waistband in his hands. "So, we're both orphans I take it as. Such a fine hot line we have huh?" Jack slowly nodded and both of them left the conversation alone.

    Leaf pressed on about a different matter though. "So, what's her story? Who is she anyways?" Jack knew he figure it out at one point in time, and Jack needed him as much as he didn't want to admit it. "She's the daughter of the Queen and the King, she's the second stolen child." Leaf dropped the rock in shock as his eyes widened the size of both the worlds. "The what!" Leaf scrambled up and rushed at Amy as Jack flew up to his feet, shoving Leaf back down to the ground as he yelled. "What other foolish thing you think you can get away with!?" Leaf roared in protest with pure terror in his eyes. "They have my head at any pity village gate if they see I gave such a royal a mark, let alone the lost princess! They have my head! No having my head is too nice for what I did. You know what they do to me!" Jack laughed in his face as he said. "That's what your spoiled people always do, they do without thinking. That's your own churning end that will come." Leaf got on his knees in front of Jack and begged with his hands together. "I beg of you, please overlap the mark, I take any insult and beg at the feet of you every single day if it means you take that churning mark!" Jack actually had some pity for the boy, he knew what they did to people such as him that gave marks or did a single bad thing to a royal. Especially to someone as special as Amy.

Before Jack could respond, growling came from the other side of the forest. Both boys stood, blocking Amy from the growling.

No matter which boy came from whose people, they knew that growling from anywhere.

Jack drew his sword and Leaf kept his bladed type of rock behind his back. A dark brown back wolf walked out from the trees in front of them. The wolf's indigo eyes stared at both boys as it growled.

Till they fell upon Amy.