Awakened: The Story of Maxwell Cain

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

                                                The Wraithgillien

        Today, Max woke up before his friends.  If there were a sun to rise, it would barely have been cresting the horizon.  He went through his morning routine, and then tiptoed downstairs so he would not awaken Chloe and Will.  Since breakfast would not be served for another hour, Max decided to go for a walk through the garden.  He made his way to the pond undisturbed and threw a stone into the center of the pond to watch it skip off the surface, until it finally sank to the bottom.

        After sitting there for a few moments, Max noticed movement out of the corner of his eye near the tracker complex.  When he turned to look, he saw Malachi storming up to the front gate, clearly with an important task at hand.  Max snuck over to the garden to get a better view of him, and by the time he got there, Malachi had arrived at the front gate.  The two guards had apparently been notified to allow Malachi to pass through because he strode past them without even a nod of acknowledgment.

        Max had to force himself to have patience so he could control his curiosity.  Max waited, hidden from view behind the outcropping of rocks, for Malachi to reappear.  His hiding spot was adjacent to the narrow dirt path Malachi would walk when returning to his study.  He crouched down, while peering over the ledge, and tried to spot Malachi’s movement.  His knees scraped along the rock’s surface, and tiny spiders scuttled away from the movement of his hands.

        Max didn’t have to wait long. After twenty minutes had passed, Max saw Malachi hurry out through the tracker’s stone gate and start walking down the path Max had predetermined he would take.  As Malachi was walking past, Max could see anguish in the face of the old man as he muttered to himself, “I can’t tell the boy the truth; it would only terrify him.  He would never accept the quest if he knew what he was up against.  And if he doesn’t accept the quest, then we are all doomed.”  Malachi was now a good fifteen feet away from Max, when he paused in his step and turned around to look in Max’s direction.

        Malachi cried out, “Is someone there?  Reveal yourself!”

        Max thought that he had surely been found, and his mind was racing to formulate a quick explanation.  He flattened himself against the rocks.  Max held his breath and listened for the footfalls that would surely come.  Raising his eyes, he squinted through a narrow crevice in the stony surface. Malachi stood motionless in the center of the trail.  The silence seemed to crackle with an unseen energy.  The hair on Max’s arms rose, and a strange warmth swept through his body.  Suddenly, Malachi raised his hands toward the ceiling, and all the plants around him released their pollen into the air.  Through the mist of powder, Max could see an outline of a shape moving the opposite direction down the pathway.  Suddenly, a massive fireball flew in from his left and passed over him, narrowly missing the invisible being and smashing into a large oak tree next to it.  The oak tree groaned because of the violence and then dissolved into a pile of ash. 

        Malachi appeared as if he was about to give chase, but decided against it, once again mumbling to himself, “Coward.  I will definitely need to reinforce the security defense, and get with Gideon on our roof situation.”  Malachi turned and walked back toward his study again, leaving a stunned Max lying flat, still hidden, and shocked at what he had just seen.

        Chloe shrieked, “What?”  Max had just recounted his morning events with his two friends as they ate at the breakfast table.

        Chloe continued, lowering her voice.  “This facility is impenetrable.  Malachi said so himself.”