Worlds Apart

Chapter 21

"How are you going to do this?" Jason asked, his head tilted to the side. "And who's behind it?"
I hesitated. "The pages were very vague - I don't know who, or why, and I don't know how."
"But how are we supposed to save Earth and Desridore then?"
"I don't know!" I cried out.
He glanced at me. "Well, what else did it say?"
I told Jason and the King about how I needed to find myself, and harness the Light Powers. How I was their last hope, and how someone's behind this.
"But who?" Jason pondered, a crease in his forehead.
"I don't know... the rest was in a strange language."
The King, who remained quiet until this point, spoke up, "Nubiya."
I glanced at him in confusion. "What's Nubiya?" I questioned, pushing the fruit to the side.
I'm too bewildered to eat.
"It's the ancient language that our ancestors used quite a bit. These days it's only usually found in books or scrawled on slips of papers or written in stone... But I know of a man, probably the last of us, who can read this language."
"Great, lets go see him then," I said, pointing out the obvious as I jumped to my feet.
The King cleared his throat. "Um, there's a small problem with that notion..."
I stared at him expectantly.
"He's been banished to live alone deep in the forest."
"Why would an old dude be banished?"
The King heaved a sigh. "You see, magic wasn't always wanted. There was some sort of petition going around and rumours on the streets were that Nald Landersun, a man who was in his late twenties at the time, was practising witch craft of some sort. A sorceress, if you may. I wasn't the King at the time when they banished him, so I didn't have much of a say in it. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even quite sure if Nald is still alive."
"That's why I'm going to go into the woods and look for him," I told them simply, striding away.
"Ava," Jason called. "Its a wild goose chase! What's if he's not there? What if you can't find Nald?"
I smiled. "Them I'll keep searching."
I whisked away, running up the stairs until I found the equipment room. Sadly, now I have to restock because who knows where my weapons went.
I grabbed another dagger, bow and arrows, and a quiver to put them in.
All set, I thought to myself.
"Ava!"
I whirled around, standing no more than two inches away from Jason's face.
"Oh, um sorry," he said nervously, backing up a step.
I died inside. He's so cute when he's anxious!
"I'm coming with you."
"No," I told him forcefully. "You said yourself, it could be all for nothing. Besides, what if it's dangerous?"
"That's exactly why I need to come with you."
I gazed up at his face, his warm brown eyes comforting me in an instant. "Okay."
He appeared shocked, but tried not to let it show. "Great. We should be heading out first thing in the morning."
"We leave now," I stated, brushing past him. "Armour up," I called over my shoulder.
****
It was dark. The whimsical fireflies buzzed around in the starry sky, and the peacefulness of the night floated in the air. Relaxing my tense shoulders, they dropped and a wave of serenity washed over me.
Jason and I strode through the forest, our footsteps slightly echoing in the stillness of the night. I glanced down and noticed we were walking in perfect synch. Something about that made a smile curve onto my lips, a comforting feeling enveloping me like a warm hug.
"Why are you so happy?" Jason wondered.
"I-it's beautiful," I stammered, staring straight ahead.
He nodded in agreement. "Athosia at night... it's indescribable."
I nodded, a content sigh escaping from my lips.
We silently travelled for about half an hour, but it wasn't awkward or anything - it felt calm and peaceful.
I thought about how I was supposed to save the worlds of Desridore and Earth - just me. How am I going to even do that? Why'd the author of the Book of Prophecies have to make me talk to some old dude about the book?
I rolled my shoulders, the weight of the book making me sore.
"Are you okay, Ava?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know why I needed to bring the whole book, though. It's kinda heavy," I remarked.
"Here, let me carry your backpack for awhile." he grabbed it by the straps, gently taking it off.
"No, really, Jason, I got it."
"You deserve a break - let me carry it," he insisted, and I allowed Jason to remove my backpack.
"Thanks," I said softly, a small grin creeping up my face.
"Maybe we should rest soon, though. We've been walking for, what, an hour? It's late and you need some sleep. You just teleported from world to world! I think that's some jet-lag you've got."
I stifled a giggle. "Maybe you're right," I yawned, smiling sheepishly.
Jason and I had brought some blankets and a pillow each along for us.
We walked for an extra few minutes until we found a decent spot to set up camp. We laid down our blankets and I collected some twigs and branches on the ground, put them in a pile with stones surrounding them, and conjured a fireball.
Now that we had a fire burning and our 'beds', we settled into the blankets and warmed up, watching the flames engulf the sticks, the smoke swirling into the air.
I laid my head against the pillow, staring into the flames as they threw angry sparks at us.
I turned my gaze on Jason, and saw him looking at me. "What?"
He chuckled. "Nothing."
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"...Ava, did you ever seem to disappear before you were transported here the first time?" Jason asked in a whisper, watching my face carefully. "Like, a half transportation, I guess."
I hesitated. "To be honest, I think I did. But it was really confusing and hazy - I don't remember much. Why do you want to know?"
"My dad said that it can happen in different ways, but it's most likely that it was in a dream or something. Has that happened to you?"
I search my mind, and all at once it hit me. Like a wave of realization slamming into me, causing me to stumble slightly. "Yes," I croaked out. "That has happened to me, just like a day or two before I was transported here."
"What was your dream about?"
I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat. "You, Jason. It was about you."