Destined (Completed)

Chapter 6

"Why is it raining?" I ask Freda as we pass the entrance. She furrows her eyebrows and takes out a stick of wood.

"Take this and hold it: it'll protect you from the rain," she says while shoving it in my hands. "And for your information, it's always raining in the Bad region. The Council didn't want them to have sunny days because it would mean that they would see clearer and gather around, which would result in more resistance," she continues, giving me a short explanation. She has her nose furrowed making me think she hates the rain.

I take the stick of wood and hold it in my left hand. I still get some droplets of water on my hair, so I decide to pull the hood of my cape over my head. I see Kyle and Freda both have a stick of wood and they seem to be talking, well, more like arguing.

"We can't possibly walk in the rain for the whole day! Be reasonable Eda!" Kyle whisper-shouts.

"Don't use my nickname when we're on a mission! And yes, we have to! I don't want to stop at a tavern and see you get drunk! It'll reduce the risks and we'll go faster." she concludes.

"And we'll get soaked and sick! I have one tent, but with this rain, we will still be exposed!" he says, his hands moving fast.

"Kyle, no. Final word. I'm in charge, you obey. Let's move." she directs the last words to me and starts walking away.

I glance at Kyle and see him pushing his wet hair back with a sigh. His eyes seem tormented and when he notices me looking at him, he smiles and follows his twin.

Freda pulls down a branch from a tall tree and the ground rumbles. I quickly walk away from her and see the dirt of a small area disappearing to leave a hole big enough for a person the size of a human or smaller to pass.

We take the tunnel and when we go back to the surface, I have to suppress a gag. The air is putrid, the sky is grey, it's raining and the forest in which we are standing is burned. The trees are a dark brown color, there are no leaves on them and if you look closer, you may see faces carved on their trunk.

"We are in the Trees' territory," Freda says. "Be quiet, any noise can wake them up. No talking. We will have to walk for thirty minutes in their territory, so hold it in. It's early, it's seven BOD. We'll arrive at our destination at nine EOD if we walk without interruptions. Move fast and you'll maybe even have lunch." she tells me and starts moving in the forest, quiet like a mouse.

"What's BOD and EOD ?" I mumble at Kyle. He stares at me and says nothing. He puts his index on his mouth, making me remember Freda's words. I nod and walk after her, Kyle closing the walk.

"You were able to shut up! You can understand what I say!" Freda tells me when we get out of the burned forest.

I grunt in response and stretch. I hate not talking, it makes me awkward.

"BOD stands for 'Beginning Of Day' and EOD for 'End Of Day'," Kyle says behind my back making me jump in fright. "Just to answer your earlier question."

"Oh. Well, magicians like to keep it simple."

He laughs at that. "Earth, no! Our spells are so complicated, it takes decades to learn the easiest one. If you think of something else while you're doing one, anything can go wrong. You have to be very concentrated."

"Kyle, pass me your transforming hat. There's an ogre next to the road, I'll talk to him and see what he's doing here." Freda pipes in. Kyle takes something out of his bag, quickly closing it back to hide his other stuff from the rain.

"The pills won't work if they're in contact with water," he explains to me.

"Stay here, I'll talk to the ogre," a deep voice says and I turn around. Freda is no longer her normal self: she's tall, green, has pimples and is wearing a very weird hat."Control the human, Kyle." she says when she sees my mouth hanging wide open. She still has her rude manners.

"What is she now?" I ask Kyle.

"She's an ogre."

We hide behind a tall bush and watch as ogre-Freda stomps over to an ogre who is standing next to the forest.

"Aye, mate!" she greets him. He turns around sharply and relaxes when he sees another ogre coming his way.

"Aye."

"What you doin' her'?" she continues.

"Watchin' forest. Sent her' to watch for magics. Comin' her'." he answers

"Who sent?" Freda is so perfect in her role.

"Other magic her'. Said he get out with us." the ogre seems enthusiastic.

Kyle curses under his breath as he hears the reason. He grinds his teeth and looks at Freda.

She winces slightly and growls a bit. "Aye. Be'er go."

The ogre lets her go and doesn't look twice.

She enters the forest without making a noise, which is impressive considering her height and weight. Freda takes off the hat and soon I have the normal one in front of me.

"Why did you send me this message with such strength? Didn't you learn anything at school?!" she asks Kyle, hitting his arm repeatedly.

I stand by them, staring at their fight and wondering if I should stop it.

"Did you hear the ogre or what? A magician is imprisoned here and he was expecting us. We're lucky he sent an ogre and not pixies. He was slow, physically and mentally. That's why I sent you the message. We have to go back!" Kyle responds, covering his face as she continues hitting him.

After he talked, she stops and stands away from him.

"Kyle, we can't go back. You know that. The only way to go back is to retrieve the Book and teleport. We can enter by the entrance, but we can't go to the Good region by it." she tells him.

"If we could explain to the Door, maybe he could let us pass or something..."

"Stop!" she cuts him off. "We can't. Kyle, this is our last chance. If we fail, master Rick will do to us exactly what he did to the rest of our family. We have to succeed." she states and sits down next to him, holding his shoulder.

He nods slowly and shakes off her hand, standing up and walking away.

"Freda? What happened to you and Kyle?" I ask her softly.

She takes a sharp breath and glares at me from behind her eyelashes. "None of your business, human. Let's continue to walk. We can't take the road, for now, I suppose other creatures are guarding it. But the forest is safe. We're not in the Trees' territory anymore but in the Swamp forest. We'll be safe because we're magicians." she tells me as she follows her brother.

I look at both their backs and breathe in deeply. This is going to be one pleasant walk.