The Valley of Mysteries | Book 1: The Beginning

Chapter 26 - THE FIVE

Alyssia and Bob had set 7 tents in a circle, one for each. Garry had collected firewood.
"It's a weird place! Can't believe it was grilling up there and chilling in here!" Garry sighed after finally sitting down. Natalie sat next to him and hugged him tightly. He kissed her forehead. Edward sat on Garry's other side. Aaron and Bob were standing near a tree. Aaron was telling him all about his childhood and knighthood.
"So you're a knight? for real?"
"Not the kind you must have seen in the movies. I'm more like a protector!" he looked at Natalie.
"So you're a bodyguard?" Bob tilted his head to one side. Aaron laughed as it reminded him of Natalie's stupid yet cute reactions. All the heads turned towards him. Sean staggered at the sight and Alyssia giggled.
"Something is definitely wrong with him!!" Sean said urgently. His brows were furrowed. But his expression turned soft as he saw Aaron's face. He had never seen Aaron so lively and happy before.
"Finding his family has been a blessing!" Alyssia smiled and looked at Bob.
"No!" Sean said softly and looked at Natalie. "That's not it!" he smiled.

"Okay, now! What are we gonna eat?" Bob looked at Aaron expectantly. They were all sitting around the freshly lit bonfire.
"Why are you looking at me?" Aaron asked.
"You're a bunch of... what are you again?"
"OCTAVES!" the rest of them said together.
"Ah! Yes, Octaves. So can't you whip something up?" Bob clapped his hands.
"What? No! We can't make food out of thin air!" Sean chuckled.
"We can multiply it, sure!" Alyssia smiled.
"We have to have something to multiply!!" Edward said.
"Unfortunately, we have nothing!" Natalie sighed dramatically. They were expecting an outrageous reaction from Bob. Instead, he scratched his chin. Aaron smiled.
"You understand what's going on?" Natalie asked.
"I'm surprised, you don't!" Aaron grinned.
"Dumbelina!!" Edward grinned.
"As if you understood. And that's not her codename anymore!!" Aaron said.
"Then what is?"
"Got it!!" Natalie grinned and crawled towards Bob.
"Ah, pumpkin! Aaron! Come with me." he stood up. "I suppose none of you is allergic to mushrooms!?" he asked. They shook their heads. "Good! Follow me, kids!" he smiled and walked away.

They returned with bags full of freshly picked mushrooms.
"Woah! You're a genius!!" Edward cheered.
"I forgot to mention, Edward is fond of cooking!!" Natalie told.
"Great!! I could use an assistant!" Bob winked at Edward.
"I don't get it." Sean crossed his arms.
"Bob is a chef, owner of a bakery and a restaurant. And he's Ahmaaazing!!"Natalie singsonged.
"I saw mushrooms when we were setting the tents. These are edible ones! I don't have all of my special species but I have some in my bag. I can make us mushroom soup!!" Bob said. He walked towards the bonfire and stopped suddenly. "You don't have any pots, do you?" his shoulders fell.
"As so it happens, I do!" Alyssia pulled a big pot out of her bag.

Edward helped Bob in making the soup. Every now and then Bob gave him kitchen tips and tricks.
"That's so cool!!" Edward looked at him, admiring. Aaron walked towards Natalie and sat next to him.
"Hey!" he said.
"Hey!!" Natalie answered.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Oh, your grams gave me this before we left. I've been trying to read it but most of it is in a language I don't understand. Here, take a look." she passed the book to him.
"Wow, I've never seen a book like this."
"What does it say?" she asked. Aaron scanned through the pages,
"Oh, my God!! AL!! ALYSSIA!! WHERE'S ALYSSIA??" he yelled.
"Heaven's sake! What happened?" Alyssia asked.
"You... Chris... Green... LOOK Aaron kept mumbling words like an idiot.
"Yeah, no. We didn't get a word." Natalie said.
"Take a deep breath, son!" Sean chuckled. Aaron took a deep breath.
"YOUAREONEOFTHEFIVE!!!!" he shrieked in a sharp voice no one had ever heard before.
"Huh?" Alyssia looked at him blankly. He cleared his throat.
"You... are one of the... the five!" he gulped.
"Five?" Natalie looked between Aaron and Alyssia.
"You serious?" Sean asked.
"Yes!"
"Five what?" Natalie asked.
"The Fierce Five!" Alyssia said.
"Look, it says it here. See!" Aaron passed the book to her.
"You're... you're right!" she looked at it. "But that also means that I'm turning!!"
"Turning into what? TURNING INTO WHAT?" Natalie panicked.
"Nymph!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah."
"What's fierce five?" Natalie asked again.
"Every 100 years or so, there are five people with certain powers who are chosen to be the furious five!" Aaron told.
"Chosen by...?" Natalie was confused.
"Nature, they just have the powers!" Aaron said.
"They don't have to be of the same age or belong to the same place!" Sean added.
"What are these powers?" Natalie asked.
"One gets powers from the Sun; one gets it from the Moon. One has powers related to fire. And then come those who are stronger than any Living and the last who are stronger than the Dead!" Aaron explained.
"I understood everything else, but living and dead?"
"Like me!" Alyssia said. "What I did in the dark realm was because I'm a nymph, as well as one of the five!" her voice her a hint of terror.
"Why are you scared?"
"If these powers are used wrongly, I can be dangerous."
"But you're not!" Natalie placed her hand on her shoulder. "So she's the Nymph, how do we know the other four?"
"Kids!" Garry said. He was standing a few feet away from them. "I'm no Octave, but I'm one hell of a detective. And my instinct says you know the other four!"
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked.
"Come with me!" Garry walked them closer to Edward and Bob. "Ed! Come here!!" he made them form a circle; Edward, Natalie, Aaron, Alyssia and Sean.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked.
"Shush and listen to me! Caitlyn told me about the fierce five. Everything. She didn't know who the five were but she knew we'd need them to fight Malum. I've been thinking about it ever since we met Mrs Ashton." he looked at Aaron. "Look at each other. What do you see?" he said. They looked at each other. "Oh, come on!! Cate knew Alyssia was a Nymph and told me. I usually don't meddle in Octave stuff but that got me thinking about the other four. And over the past few days... I think I know who the others are!"
"Okay?" Natalie said slowly.
"We have the Nymph... Alyssia!" she took a step back at Garry's signal. "Who draws powers from the Moon?" he looked at Edward.
"Werewolf! Of course!" Sean said. Edward took a step back.
"Who has the powers from the dead?" he looked at Sean.
"Me? I'm not a vampire!!" Sean said.
"But you have some of the powers! I don't claim to be an expert but I'm told a Vampire can't be one of the five. But you have the powers and aren't a Vampire. So that makes you one of the five!! Right?" he smiled. Sean stepped back.
"Well, we have three. We got nothing!!" Natalie said.
"Aaron, I think you know who you are!!" Garry patted his back.
"The Sun?" Aaron placed his hand over the symbol on his collarbone.
"Correct!!" he smiled. "I'm not sure whether Nat is one of the five or not!! But given her drive, I think she might be!!"
"Woah, Garry!! You really are one hell of a detective!!" Bob smiled. "Soup's ready by the way!!"

They ate their soup and sat down quietly, under the starry sky. No one talked until...
"Wait!! This says something about the five!!" Alyssia jumped out of her place. "There are individual tests for each. According to their powers, we can test and practice!"
"Yeah!! We are going to fight him, aren't we? Might as well be prepared!!" Edward said. Alyssia explained the procedure to them. They slept after discussing and started practising the next morning.

After a week, they were sure about their powers except for Natalie. She wasn't able to do any of the spells. But she was brushing her Octave magic with Aaron and Sean. Alyssia and Garry were teaching Bob how to use a sword. Edward was practising his kicks and punches. He had also mastered his shift, back and forth, without a sweat.

*NEXT MORNING*

Bob, Garry and Edward left to fetch water from the waterfall. Aaron, Sean and Alyssia were packing their things to start the long walk back to the valley. Natalie was still asleep.
"Wake up, princess!!" Aaron brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"Mmm." she stirred.
"Wake up!! We have to leave!!" he shook her. She jumped and made faces.

After a while, Natalie was ready to leave as well. They picked up their bags, assigned by Alyssia.

"Let's get going as soon as Edward, Garry and Bob come back." Sean sighed.
"What do you mean they come back?" Aaron asked, shocked.
"They went to fetch water, right?" Sean raised his eyebrow.
"That was two hours ago!!!" Natalie said, worried.
"Oh, God!!!" Sean's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh, no!" Aaron ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"What?" Natalie asked.
"Remember I told you I heard voices?"
"Yes?"
"What if it was someone following us? What if they took Edward?"
"This is messed up!!" Alyssia sat down.
"We can go back and check!! Let's go!" Natalie pulled Aaron's arm. They reached the waterfall. There was no one.
"Run!" Aaron said. His eyes spoke volumes. He was terrified.
"WHAT? YOU. CAN'T. BE. SERIOUS!" Natalie yelled.
"Keep your voice down, Natalie!" Sean tried to calm her down.
"YOU KIDDING ME? EDWARD IS MISSING!! DAD IS MISSING!! BOB IS MISSING!! WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THEM? WHAT IF..." she kept muttering. Aaron pulled her by arms and shook her.
"SHUT UP!!" he roared. She looked at him angrily but fell silent immediately. He didn't let go. She tried to free herself but Aaron pulled her into a hug.
"You need to keep it together! We'll find them. We've done it before, we'll do it again!" he whispered. There was a calmness in his voice. Natalie closed her eyes and tears found their way out. She hugged him tightly and cried.
"I don't think it's wise staying in one place!" Sean said.
"We have to cross the river, the path to the valley and the town to get to the woods." Alyssia slapped her own forehead and sighed loudly.
"Yes, didn't think about that!" Sean sighed.
"Maybe I can help!" a cold voice came from behind a tree. The man revealed himself and it was Headmaster Vincent Dale. They had never heard him sound like that. Sean took a step towards him but Aaron pulled him back.
"It's him! RUN!!" Aaron pulled Natalie and ran. Alyssia pulled Sean.
"Why are we... running?" Natalie asked.
"It was... Malum!" Aaron yelled.
"How... do you... know?"
"Saw those... black streaks? Around his eyes? It means... he has possessed... Dale!"
"God! What... now?"
"Keep... running!!" Aaron summoned all his strength and ran faster, Sean and Alyssia at his heels. They crossed the river and dodged about 9 Orcs on their way. After crossing the path to the valley, they reached the town. But they were surrounded by Vampires, Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Venenatus, etc. Aaron, Alyssia, Natalie and Sean stood in a circle, backs pressed against each other. Vincent walked towards them and took Natalie by arm.
"Finally... I have you all!" he said. "Caitlyn Hale... Edward Harrington... Alyssia Star... Natalie Brown... Sean Mitchell... and... Jonathan Michaelson, at last!" he held Aaron by his chin. "I'll give Allora 10 on 10 for hiding you so well... for so long." he moved towards Alyssia and traced the outline of her face. She shook her head to jerk his hand away. "Ah! A perfect blend of beauty and power!!" he sneered and walked towards Edward, two Vampires were holding him. "Edward Harrington... the wolf boy!!" he smirked. Natalie jumped at the sound. But before she could react anymore, Aaron held her arm.
"Shh. Don't do anything. Please!" he whispered. Natalie looked upwards into the sky and drew deep breaths.
"Sean Mitchell... the ambitious one! Look where your friends are!" he gestured towards the Vampires. He tip-toed dramatically towards Natalie.
"Natalie Brown... look how things work out! It all started with you... and it will end with you!!" Vincent said.