The Realm Protectors - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The teleporter arrives right on time, opening a gateway in the Atrium. Nile goes first, stepping into the rip of planets and stars before we all follow. We emerge in the most beautiful forest I've ever seen. I gasp as the rip closes behind us, leaving us alone.
"Okay, it's about five o'clock." Nile says, checking his watch. "That means we only have about an hour until the sun sets. We should find a good place to set up camp for the night."
I reach for my ability and look at the green veins of life around us. I spot an area that's not as full as the other areas around us and point.
"There's a clearing over that way." I say. Enya nods and leads us over to it. The trees form a protective circle around the clearing, and their extensive boughs offer a natural canopy to protect us from the elements.
"This is perfect." Enya smiles. "Let's set up camp for the night, and we'll set out hiking first thing tomorrow."
"How do we even know that Tucker is in Dunia?" Ciana asks.
"I have access to all of the intelligence files in every country." Nile explains. "Sources indicate that there were some witnesses in Dunia who saw a man who fit Tucker's description. They said he was buying food items at the grocers."
"There's a grocery store in the middle of all these woods?" Ciana asks.
"There are cities here." I say. "I can feel them." My friends give me a weird look.
"You can... feel... cities?" Nikolina tilts her head.
"I can't explain it," I admit. "Everything here, the plants, the people, I can feel their life like a second heartbeat. Things like cities feel like... like a heavy hum. Full of life."
"Do people feel different from plants?" Ciana taps her chin in thought.
"Yes. It's more complex."
"So if we were to be out in the middle of the woods, you would be able to sense if there was someone nearby?" Enya asks.
I nod. "It's like my abilities are heightened here."
"The woods of Dunia are said to hold just as much power as the elementals who live in them." Lyra's voice is lyrical, almost like birdsong. She's huddled in a deep purple blanket covered in tiny white stars. "The storytellers of Stelluna talk of the wild magic of Dunia. It's said that the wild growth from these woods make better brews."
Enya snaps her fingers and a fire erupts to life in the middle of our little circle. "Do your storytellers say anything about what's best for making food?"
Lyra shrugs. "Depends on what flavor you want." We laugh and start setting up our tents. Soon enough we're roasting hot dogs over Enya's fire and bundling up for bed. I'm wrapped up in more blankets than I can count as I try to go to sleep. When I close my eyes, I see a sky full of stars. I open them again and see the top of my tent.
"What the–" I close my eyes again and I'm digging through the dirt for something. I open them and I'm back in my tent. Open, shut, open, shut.
"What is going on?" I sit up and grip the edge of my blanket, closing one eye. Through my open eye I see my tent, but through my closed eye, I see the outside of my tent. I hear a rustle outside and I crawl over to the zipper. I unzip the tent and peek outside to see a little squirrel staring at me.
"Phew, you scared me–" I mid-sentence, blinking again. When I close my eyes, I see myself. As if I'm seeing through the eyes of the squirrel.
I close my eyes fully and I see myself sitting there in my old high school shirt with my eyes closed.
Hello, a voice says. My eyes shoot open. I stare at the squirrel.
"Did you just–?"
Talk to you?
I blink. Rub my eyes. I see myself through the squirrel's eyes again.
"Yeah, that." I answer. "Since when can I understand animals like some kind of deranged Disney princess?"
The squirrel tilts its head. You're an Earth elemental.
"Yeah, I thought that just meant that I can control plants and animals and rocks and stuff. Not... talk to you. Not see through your eyes."
Well you can, obviously. The squirrel blinks as if to make it's point.
"Can you like, stop it so I can sleep?" I ask my new friend. "Or do I have to run around with you all night?"
It's your magic.
"It's not magic."
The squirrel twitches it's tail.
"Maybe it's magic. I don't know." I admit. "Look squirrel, I've only been in this Realm for like two weeks."
Tabi.
"What?"
My name is Tabi.
"Oh," I pause. "Okay. Do you... uh... want to come in here, Tabi? It's warmer in here."
Tabi tilts her head. If you invite me in, others will follow.
"How many animals could possibly be close enough to hear me?" I ask.
DeleteCreated with Sketch.
I wake up covered in feathers and fur. It's very warm, and I'm covered in a thin sheen of sweat when I jerk awake to a scream. I open my eyes and nudge aside the critters that slept on top of me to see Ciana and Nik staring open-mouthed at me and my roomies.
They follow me around all day. They watch me eat breakfast, they watch me bathe in the stream Nile finds nearby, and they follow us as we tramp through the woods.
Faris starts calling me Princess.
I blink and he's shit on by a swarm of blue jays.
Tabi sits on my shoulder as Nile and Enya lead the way through the woods. My new animal friends chatter to me in my head all day. By the time the sun sets, we've gone quite a few miles, and I'm joined by owls, bats, and other nocturnal animals.
And my head is pounding.
You could just tell them to leave you alone. Tabi suggests as we sit around the fire.
"No Tabi, that's rude." I whisper. My human friends give me strange looks. "Sorry."
"Okay Avani," Enya sighs. "What happened last night?"
I settle down further into the cushiony grass, petting Chit the cat and Darwin the doe, who are settled beside me.
"I went to go to bed, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw something else." I motioned to Tabi. "I was seeing through her eyes. Long story short, I found out she can talk to me, and then I offered her the option to sleep in my tent. Any animal who heard the offer quickly joined."
My human friends blink. Chit purrs with laughter. Darwin huffs.
Tabi chatters to Ciana, who she seems to have taken a liking to. Ciana scratches Tabi's head.
I like this human. Tabi says.
"Tabi says she likes you." I pass on to Ciana.
"So these animals can understand you?" Nile asks. I nod.
"Could you send them out to find Tucker Brooks?" Faris asks. We all stare at him. "What?! It'd be nice to know which direction we're actually supposed to be hiking."
"That's not a bad idea." I let out a shrill whistle, followed by a bird call. I see Nik jump out of the corner of my eye. The moon is blocked out as a huge flock of birds that land around me. Chit arches his back.
I quickly explain to the various birds what I need them to do, and describe Tucker Brooks as best as I can according to Nile's information he gave us. The birds chatter affirmatively and fly off in all directions.
"We should hear back within a day or so." I say to my human friends.
"Do you realize what you sound like when you talk to them?" Faris asks.
"You speak in animal noises." Nile says.
"And then you switch back to Common to talk to us." Carter pipes in.
"Okay." I stretch out the word. "Hopefully we'll hear back from the birds in the morning–" A caw rings out and a crow dives down to the ground, landing next to me and bouncing from foot to foot.
I found the man!
"You found him?" I ask the crow.
Yes, yes! In a cabin! Just north of here!
"Lead us there!" I exclaim. Tabi hops on my shoulder and we quickly grab our bags, running after the crow.
"What's happening?" Ciana asks behind me.
We run for a while before slowing down. The crow caws and I stop. Sitting in a clearing in front of us is a small log cabin.
"Woah," Nik breathes.
We all creep slowly towards the door of the cabin. Lights are on inside, but all of the curtains are drawn, so we can't see inside. Enya steps onto the stoop and knocks on the door.
Silence.
"Hello? Mr. Brooks?" Enya calls. "Is there anyone there?"
"He's in there," I mutter. "I can feel someone in there."
"Mr. Brooks, we know you're in there. We just want to talk." Nile shouts.
We wait a second longer before Enya decides to call it a night. We start to walk away when the door opens behind us.
"Who are you kids?" A man asks, peering out the door. He has an odd look on his face, like he's terrified but trying to hide it.
"Mr. Brooks, my name is Enya Fuego." Enya says slowly, stepping towards him. "Cira Grantwood sent us here as our first quest and High Arches."
Tucker snorts. "You can't be High Arches. You're children. I mean come on, how old are you? Thirteen?"
Enya bristles. "I'm eighteen."
Tucker shrugs. "Close enough."
"Just let us come in and explain." Ciana offers. "We can explain everything."
"Explain what? Why eight kids are interrupting my peaceful night?"
"Why eight teenagers are standing in the middle of the Dunia woods at night." I deadpan. Chit hisses from his spot by my feet. Tucker looks at us all again and sighs.
"The animals stay outside." He says before walking into his house. Chit huffs and curls up by the edge of the stoop, resigned to his place outside with Tabi and Darwin.
The inside of Tucker's cabin is pretty much what you'd expect from a man who's been living in isolation for fifteen years. It's neat but not clean, with a small kitchen in one corner and a door that leads to a bathroom in another. The bed is unmade in the bedroom across from us, and there's newspapers and weights scattered around the coffee table in front of the tattered couch.
"This is... cozy." Ciana notes.
Tucker settles himself onto the couch and looks at us. "What'dya got?"
"My name is Enya. This is Nile, Ciana, Avani, Nikolina, Faris, Carter, and Lyra." Enya begins, pointing at each of us in turn. "We recently just became the new High Arches."
"You've explained that much already." Tucker crosses his arms, and I notice that he's surprisingly fit looking. He's tan, unlike most darkness elementals, but his hair is wild, tied back with what looks like a strip of fabric torn from a shirt. "What I don't understand is why a bunch of teenagers are suddenly the most powerful people in the whole Realm."
"Cira Grantwood thought that we're the next Realm Protectors." Ciana adds. Tucker sits up straighter.
"Cira? Is she here with you?"
We look at one another with realization.
"Mr. Brooks," Enya says slowly. "This may come as a shock to you, but Professor Grantwood – Cira – is... gone."
Tucker looks at her in confusion. "Gone? Gone where? To the Otherworld?"
Enya flinches. "To the Ever."
Tucker's eyes widen as his arms drop. He seems to go limp as he takes in this information.
"No, she can't be..." He mutters. "It's only been... only fifteen... I just saw her the other..." He looks up at us with nothing but heartbreak in his eyes. "How?"
"She was murdered, along with the other High Arches." I say softly. "Just days after she told us that we were supposed to be the next High Arches."
"Why are you here?" Tucker asks suddenly. He's getting angry. "Did she do this? Did she ask you to come all the way out here just to tell me that she's dead? To rub it in my face? Huh?"
"She named you our Grandshield." Nikolina says. Tucker looks her up and down, gathering information.
"Grandshield," Tucker laughs. "Like I want to go crawling back to Capital now that she's gone. She was the only reason that I didn't go to the Ever myself fifteen years ago."
We stay silent as he gets up from the couch. He digs through the trashcan full of newspapers, as if digging for something to prove what we're saying is true. He finally sits back on his heels and hangs his head.
"When?"
"They were murdered about a week ago." Enya mumbles. "The funeral was yesterday."
Tucker chuckles. "A week. I knew this week was different." He turns around and looks at us. "You can stay the night if you want. But you're leaving tomorrow. And I'm not coming with you."
"Tucker–" Enya starts.
"Capital." Tucker purses his lips. "This is final. Find someone else." he gets up and goes into the bedroom, slamming the door. Nik jumps at the noise, and we hear the click of the lock.