The Power Within (On hold)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jake

          Her face is so beautiful… even in the stillness of near death she is beautiful… I should have protected her. I should have been there… but I wasn’t. What’s wrong with me? She is a princess and I… I am still trying to live down my past… No. Don’t think of that, don’t think of the pain they put me through, and the way the Niveus first looked at me, with wariness in their eyes.

            No, think of Elenora’s blue hair… the feel of it; so soft and smooth. And long, spread like a halo around her lovely shaped head. And her eyes… those gorgeous eyes. I never thought purple could be so soft, but yet sparkle with humor when she laughs. But now I cannot see her eyes… for they are closed. Just like the rest of her pale, silent face…

            “Jake? Jake!” A voice startled Jake out of his thoughts. He looked up from Elenora lying on her bed to see the elf healer, the one with green hair, looking at him sympathetically.

            He stood abruptly, masking the raw emotions that he had allowed to slip through for a moment, and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah?”

            “Baro would like to see you.” She said, then turned to check Elenora’s vitals.

            He watched for a moment, then turned and walked to the stairs. As he climbed he wondered what Baro could possibly want. He almost grinned at his attempt to pretend he didn’t know what this was about. He knew what was coming, and he wasn’t afraid to meet it.

            The advisors all watched his face carefully as he entered the conference room; he made sure not to give anything away. Baro gestured for him to take a seat, but Jake shook his head.

            “Thank you sir, but I prefer to stand,” Jake declined politely. “This will not take long, I’m sure? I assume it is about what we discussed earlier; I would like to leave as soon as possible.”

            Baro nodded. “Of course you know, you are a very clever boy.” Jake nodded in thanks. “I have discussed the matter with the advisors and we are sure now of our decision. You will depart after darkness falls tonight to take the princess to Medens, the healer.”

            Jake nodded, appreciating Baro’s ability to get straight to the point. “Yes sir. I will prepare immediately. Any additional instructions?”

            Baro stroked his chin once. “None. Only that you be careful. And be wary. The Niger agent may or may not be tracking you. Guard the princess, and the amulet, well. Our Healer gives the girl a fortnight, so hurry.”

            Jake nodded again, bowed, and left. He knew full well that the Niger would be following, but he wasn’t afraid of that. He could handle it. Or at least, that was what he was trying to convince himself of.

            Once he had packed the few things he would need on his “trip” Jake made his way to the infirmary. He approuched Elenora’s bed, where a distraught Mary sat crying over her and holding a pale slender hand.

            Jake knelt beside Mary and looked up at her tear stained face. Her eyes flickered toward him, focusing on his face with barely suppressed grief.

            “Hey, don’t cry,” Jake murmered, “everything will be alright. I’ll go get her healed and will be back before you know it!”

            Mary nodded, sighed and wiped her cheeks. “Okay Jake, I trust you.” She said.

            He smiled at her, touched by the girl’s loyalty to Elenora, “Thanks. I promise I will do everything in my power to bring her back alive and well.”

            She smiled sadly at him. “But will that be enough?”

            Jake’s smile faded into a more grim expression. “It will have to be.” He said, standing to kiss the top of her head.

            He carefully slid his arms underneath Elenora’s body and scooped her up, wrapped in blankets, mottled of course, and carried her outside of the tower. There he whistled a soft, sweet, melodious tune that shivered in the air before being carried into the forest. He only waited a moment.

            His preffered Equus Albus, Ventus, cantered to a stop in front of Jake. He was pure white, powerful muscles rippling underneath his skin, and a flowing mane that fluttered with the slightest breeze. Ventus snorted, shaking his head at the late night calling. Because by now the light was fading from the sky, the stars just starting to be visible.

            After settling Elenora atop Ventus’s back and hopping on behind her he started out. The information he had been briefed on surfaced in his mind, and he began reviewing it as he walked in order to keep track of all of the things he must remember.

            He was taking Elenora to Medens, the ancient being that had inhabited the Cantatis Silva for as long as the elves had been aware of the forest in the first place. She was the most talented healer in the elven land, nothing could not be healed by her. But she was wise; not just anyone could attain her healing. She gave a test to all who wished her help, and what was this test? None would tell, or maybe none could tell, in Jake’s opinion.

            But she was Elenora’s last hope; the poison that was slowly killing her was unknown to the Niveus’s healers, and without her they lost the amulet, for their was one thing that they had never told the princess, to keep the secret a secret.

            If the amulet’s royal wearer was killed with the amulet on, the Niger would no longer find it hard to touch. For the one that the amulet had chosen, that was the only one it would resist separation from. And Elenora was that one. The amulet had chosen her as its new owner, and it would try to stay with her above all costs. That was why it burned the Niger.

            Jake had never approved of the decision to keep this from Elenora, but Rowan and Brunon were adamant in their opinion, and Baro valued his two advisors too highly for him to go against both of them because Jake objected.

            Jake knew that Rowan disliked him, he could see it in her eyes every time she looked at him. And that was on the rare occasion that she did look at him. She had disliked him from the day he had arrived, bleeding and half out of his mind. She had objected to him even being treated, even though he had pledged his life to Baro, even though his body was battered and his mental state far from healthy.  This he knew from Silvia.

            Now Silvia, she was the total opposite of Rowan. She was kind to Jake, he would even go so far as to say she was his friend, and the only one at that, but he partly wondered if that was just because she was sorry for him. After all, she was one of the few who had seen what had been done to him, even if she hadn’t been allowed to know who he was. She had been part of the healing team of elves that had brought him back from the brink of insanity.

            She had once asked him who had done the things to him, asked to know his secret. He had been so close to telling her… she was a good person. He trusted her. But then he thought about what she would think. The expression of horror that would come onto her face when he told her who he was… what he had done… and then what they had done to him…

            His train of thought was turning dangerous. Jake shook his head, focusing on keeping Elenora from slipping off of the saddle. He rode at a good pace that Ventus could keep up for hours until nightfall, and the he set up camp. After tucking Elenora in, a strange experience for him, Jake curled up in his own bedding, a dagger beneath his pillow.

            As soon as he fell asleep the nightmare came.

*Okay, so I love writing from Jake's POV cause it is really fun!!! He is so mysterious isn't he? And it is cool to go inside his head and see/read what he is thinking. Haha, and I'm having a good time being all mysterious about his past! Can you guess who he is? What did you think? Comment!