Fire and Dust

Chapter 32 Izelle's Visit

It had been months since I had first moved to Twin Lakes, and Izelle was coming over for her visit today. I had missed my friends so much, and not seeing any of them had been tough. My friendship with Lexie, and my little fish Fizzer had made it enjoyable though. Volunteering at the Arboretum kept me busy too and school had been going well and I was a lot more familiar with my new surroundings. While I had kept in contact with my old friends, nothing quite compared to seeing them in the flesh. So I was absolutely thrilled when we picked Izelle up from the local airport. After arriving at the airport my mother and I were confronted by a stream of faces and announcements. We were early and I noticed the beautiful moments of reunions –  smiles, hugs and tears. Then her flight indicated landed and I stood up in anticipation peering until I recognized hers out of a sea of faces.  When she saw me she dropped her suitcase and ran with her backpack bouncing up and down. She gave me a giant airport hug and for just a moment everything faded away.

“Melina, it’s so good to see you. I have missed you so much.” She handed me a letter from Cassandra and Elisha, which made my heart soften.

“You have no idea how much I have missed you.” I said wiping away a tear of joy.

“Izelle let me help you with your bag darling.” My mother said.

     Once home we settled her in and my brother took us for a drive later that day to show her around. We decided to do some shopping in the town center. On our way there, we got a little lost, took some pictures with funny statues, walked along stone walkways and went inside some interesting artsy coffee shops. Later that night, back at the house, my brother was telling me that he had decided to go take some photos of the most photographed Victorian home in the US for his assignment, but it was a decent drive out of town, so Zaphora had offered to fly him there. He asked us both if we'd be interested in joining them for the trip, we jumped with glee at the invitation. It was something exciting and new, there was even a clear forecast for the next day. It would be perfect.

     The plane’s propeller was loud as it spun round and round. We finally arrived and Izelle said, “See I told you that you would be close to the tallest trees in the world.” All of us took plenty of photos of the Victorian home, it was absolutely breathtaking.

“I will take you to Destello so we can meet up with the other two.” Izelle said. We asked Zaphora and Derrick if we could go see some of the tall trees in the area. Zaphora agreed; she was an adventurer just like Derrick; that's why they matched so well. We set off on our own. There was a calmness surrounding the trees as our voices echoed to the very tops of them. We followed the way that led to the taller trees and stopped by a little French store that was on the side of the road, along the way. It sold an array of exquisite hats and gloves, hair pieces, pins and shoes. The French boutique was really tiny and had abundance of stock in. The high wooden medieval type of building had flags running across, one big ticking clock and a secluded little garden called Ianto, just outside; it was incredibly surreal. Izelle looked at the cashier as if she instantly recognized him. Maybe he was a Custodian, I wondered to myself.

     Izelle turned to me and explained to me, the depth behind trees.

     “People have been expressing their thoughts on paper for thousands of years. All knowledge ever written, lies either on rock or trees. Trees pass on their memory to their offspring, never forgetting what had been written on the paper the very tree had been chopped down for.”

     “I want to show you Alphinia,” she said with excitement in her voice, “It's a very different part of Destello,” she added. The cute little nursery had a hot house in it and the soil smelt fresh due to the light spray of water coming from of tiny misting sprinklers.

     “Come on, let’s walk,” she said, it wasn't a really big nursery. How far was she expecting us to walk?

     Destello always made me feel like a speck of dust. I felt so very small in Turquoise and to know that there were another eight provinces and extras like stars and galaxies, was overwhelming to say the least. It looked like we were about to walk into a wall, but she pulled out her Kaleidoscope and peeked through. And she walked into the wall; no she walked through the wall. I followed and the walkway was scattered with Iron Roses. I thought about the mysterious Dreamer and the promise he made, to find my Iron Rose and a wave of serenity washed over me. I studied the roses and tried to pick which one I liked most.

     “You know this is the dangerous territory, but it looks ok for now.” Izelle said. First I saw a splash of yellow daffodils before larger trees started blocking some of the yellow. The golden fields were moved by the ever-changing wind. The wind was colored with yellows, oranges and exquisite emerald-greens which were most prominent.

     A little further on, I felt something tickling my hands. The yellow daffodils were soon replaced by taller lavender bushes. We came across a tall tree, it was solid and strong, but as to what kind of tree it was, I was unsure. There was a large door embedded in the trunk of the tree. And a sparkling red hunting bow hung from one of the tall tree's sturdy branches.

     “It's a chaser, I'll explain later,” she said understanding its importance. She swung it over her shoulders. “Go into the tree; there is an outfit for you put it on quickly.”

     The outfit laid out, inside the tree room was so comfortable. There were knee length boots that form fitted around my muscles, the laces tied up high at the back. An Earth green pair of stretchy pants that felt as soft as pajamas and were skin tight. The loose beige top was a luxurious, silky fabric and the leather jacket warm. Then I saw the markings on all of the things I was wearing. It was marked strangely with I.F written in capital letters.

     “What does I.F stand for?” I asked.

“Ianto Forest,” she replied. Her facial muscles slightly stiffened after she peeked through her kaleidoscope.

     “Bear in mind this is the borderline.”

     Then she screamed.

“They are coming!”