Picture of Dahlia and Troy again on the side. A different one! :)

Chapter 21

           When Dahlia regained consciousness, she felt like someone was calling her up from the dead or something. She struggled, just wanting to be normal again and forget everything that had happened in the past three days.   

          She just wanted to be back at Camp Forrest with Troy and Helen. Riding horses, paddling in canoes, having water fights... the possibilities were endless.    

          “Dahlia! You’re alive. Come back!”  

          Upon hearing a voice, Dahlia turned her back towards it. She didn’t want to be involved with anything to do with magicians. She just wanted to be mortal again.  

          “Dahlia!”    

           An image formed as she opened her eyes. She was floating on a smoky shadowy black bridge that had Troy’s face. She stared in horror.  

          “Come back, Dahlia,” he coaxed. “Don’t leave me alone. Not after Helen died. Please. Don’t leave me.”  

          Dahlia felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. She didn’t want to leave him. But after everything that had happened, she didn’t want to go back either.   

           She turned aside, brushing the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her eyes, unbidden, flitted to Troy’s face. A memory hit her hard and she swayed slightly.   

           “I think you can turn into shadows, Troy. Shadows are the bridge between solid human bodies and dead spirits.”   

           Dahlia inhaled deeply.    

           “Take my hand,” Troy murmured. “Come back.”   

           Dahlia stared at him again. She placed her hand in Troy’s and he led her back, away from the other end of the bridge, back to the Mortal World.  

           Dahlia opened her eyes. “Am I dead?” she asked shakily.   

           Troy burst out laughing. “Are you nuts, Dahlia?” he asked.  

           A smile slid across her face and then she stopped for her cheek muscles felt stiff and icy. Troy hugged her quickly, on an impulse, leaving her with the tingling remains of his burning aura. This time, she couldn’t stop the smile.  

           “I’m glad you’re alive,” Cedric said, smirking. “Troy was unable to concentrate on anything else whilst you were unconscious.”   

           Dahlia stuck her tongue out at Cedric. But inwardly, she couldn’t help but feel pleased. Hoping madly that she wasn’t blushing, she rolled over. She felt surprisingly well rested despite her icy body parts.   

           Luna meditated calmly on the ground in full Lotus position with her bow and staff crisscrossed in her lap like always. A small smile flickered across her lips.   

            Kayla swung her spear at a tree stump and made them all jump when the stump cracked in half. Excalibur, her sword for summoning spirits, was slung across her back.   

           “Troy, did you turn into a shadow again?” Dahlia asked, slowly sitting up.    

           He nodded. “Kayla and Luna helped show me what to do. They were a huge help. And Cedric, Verne and August were the opposite. They were distractions.”   

           The boys burst out laughing at Troy’s complaint. Dahlia joined in, pleased that there was something to smile about.   

            Kayla turned to Luna. “Has Varmer decided to send any more magicians after us?” she demanded. “If he has, we need to know. Is your sight working?”   

           Luna scowled back at Kayla. The Magician of Earth relied a lot on Luna’s fortune-telling powers and it made things complicated. They believed that whatever her ‘sight’ saw, it would come true.

           Naturally, not all things did, for there were many branches of the future.   

           Earlier, Luna had discovered that her powers had been blocked. She couldn’t quite reach the twisting strands of the future. It was uncomfortable for her to be ‘blind’.   

           “Not yet,” she replied. “I’m trying, but I can’t see them well. They’ve blurred up. It’s all cloudy. My magic is being blocked. It’s not natural.”  

            Kayla’s scowl darkened visibly. “That means Ellie might be involved in the near future. She can block Luna’s magic alright. We’d better go.”   

           “Wait,” Luna said. “Maybe my powers are just being blocked because of distractions. I’ll go in the hut and you guys stay out here. Maybe I can get something.”   

           After a nod from Kayla, Luna disappeared inside the camouflaged shelter.    

          “Who’s Ellie?” Dahlia asked.    

           Kayla looked tense. She didn’t want another fight so she hastily spoke.  

          “I’m going to see if there are any herbs in the woods that we can eat. Do you guys want to come, August, Verne?”   

           The twins both nodded in agreement and followed Kayla out of the side of the clearing. Cedric cleared his throat in the awkward silence.   

          “I am going to, um... scout around,” he said, hastily picking up his spear and staff.  

           Dahlia rolled her eyes. “These guys never give us a straight answer!” she complained.   

           Troy grinned. “It’s like they go out of their way to annoy us!”

           Dahlia sighed, plucking absent-mindedly at the grass. “You know, Troy,” she said. “When you were the bridge and you were talking to me, I suddenly heard voices from the other side of the chasm. I’ve heard those voices before.”   

           “Whose voices were they?” Troy asked.   

           Dahlia looked up, into his eyes. “The warriors that I killed during the war at the immortals’ palace. They knew that they were going to die and they could do nothing to stop it. I’ve become a murderer.”   

           “But, you did what you had to do, in order to survive!” Troy protested.   

          “What if they were doing the same, too?” Dahlia asked. “They might have had families, friends or loved ones. And now, they will never return.”   

            “But so do you,” Troy continued. “I mean, you have your dad, and me and the others!”  

            Dahlia looked at Troy. “You don’t get it, do you? I’ve killed people. People who were just following Varmer’s orders. They want me dead too. When I was on the bridge, um... you, they were screaming at me, wanting me dead.”   

           “But,” Troy protested.  

           Dahlia looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes. “We’re no longer pure. We’ve killed.”  

           Troy looked down, unable to think of anything to comfort her with. It was true, all that she had said, and he had no way to make her feel better.   

           Then he spotted a flower. A dahlia, her namesake. He stretched out one hand and plucked it, carefully avoiding getting the roots.   

            Then he tucked it behind her ear. “You’re still pure in my eyes,” he said. “I don’t care what you or anybody else thinks. You had to do it and I’m proud of you for making the right choice.”   

           “I wish I didn’t know about all this magic,” she whispered. “You can walk away right now and no one will know the difference. But I’ve been branded as one who can control the elements.”   

           Troy looked at Dahlia. “I wouldn’t walk away if I could,” he protested. “I can’t do that. I wouldn’t leave you here.”  

           “But if you wanted to, you could,” Dahlia replied. “You haven’t been claimed yet; you don’t know what it feels like. It’s so different.”  

          “I can still shadow-travel and become a bridge,” Troy protested. “I’ve already done that.”  

           “Yes, but that isn’t for the elements. I’ve been changed forever. I can’t go back. This is one thing that I will have to live with forever. You can still walk away now,” Dahlia said.   

           Troy shook his head. “I couldn’t leave you. Anyway, I want to harm Varmer for all the things he’s done to me. And there are so many things I still don’t understand. What about my memories? Kayla is hiding something about that. Who took my memories? I don’t remember anything about my past. I have to find out.”   

           Dahlia looked up. She still liked Troy, a lot, but he didn’t understand what she was going through now. The looks on their faces! They had been so accusing. She was about to open her mouth to try to explain when Kayla, Verne and August returned. 

          “We should go,” Kayla said, flatly. “Where’s Cedric?”  

          “Um, scouting,” Troy replied, picking up his twin swords.  

          Dahlia slipped her hand into her pocket of her blue dress. It was tattered from the war at the immortals’ palace and burned from the forest fire. To her surprise, she felt her silver cell phone and a lot of cash in there. Had Edith really transferred it to her new clothing after the claiming?   

           Apparently, she had.    

           Just then, Cedric re-entered the clearing. He looked grim.   

           “There isn’t anything around here for miles!” he protested.   

           “That’s why you called for the taxi,” Verne reminded him.    

           “Huh? How did you do that?” Dahlia asked.   

           “Your cell phone. Duh,” August said.   

          Dahlia flushed. Obviously, Kayla, Verne and August didn’t know how to use the electronic items. They had been nomads for a long time.  

          Luna exited the shelter, shaking her head.    

           “Still no visions?” Dahlia asked her.    

            In fact, Dahlia wasn’t quite sure how Luna’s psychic powers worked but still, she was concerned. If Luna’s powers weren’t working, would any of theirs?   

          “Let’s just get out of here!” Kayla said.   

          All the seven magicians made their way to the road that existed near the forest clearing. They must have looked pretty weird: three eighteen-year-olds, one sixteen-year-old, two thirteen-year-olds and a six-year-old.    

           “Where are we?” Dahlia asked Kayla as they started walking briskly in one direction.   

           “Near London,” Kayla replied. “It’s still quite a long walk though. I got Cedric to call a taxi from the city using your cell phone.”   

           “Where’s the taxi?” Troy asked.   

            Luna answered for him. “Around the bend.”  

            “How can you still see that?” Dahlia asked. “I mean, I thought that your physic powers aren’t working.”  

           “Well, Ellie isn’t in the immediate future like around the bend,” she replied. “So I can still see that.”   

           “Oh,” said Dahlia, feeling stupid. 

           They walked down and around the corner of the road. The taxi driver was sitting inside his cab, slurping coffee out of a paper cup. He raised his eyebrows when he saw them. They must have looked quite a sight, Dahlia reckoned.  

            The driver was about to hit the gas pedal when Dahlia pressed her hand against the window pane to stop him.  

            “Sir,” she began, politely smiling at him. “Thank you for coming. We’ll pay you now.”  

            Troy grinned when he felt her magic lacing its way in between her words. The taxi driver became practically putty before her.   

           Dahlia produced a wad of pound notes from her pocket and passed the money through the window. The man stared in amazement at the wobbly stack of money and beckoned to the others.   

          “Hop in, lovey, and your friends,” the man said.

           Verne and Luna slid into the shotgun seat while the others crawled into the back. It was extremely cramped. It was like a game of Sardines.  

           The trouble started when August climbed in next to Kayla. There was absolutely no space for Cedric too.   

           “How am I supposed to get in?” Cedric complained.  

           “Squeeze in more?” Kayla suggested.   

            “I’m already squashed!” Troy protested, his voice muffled against the opposite car door, trying to breathe without inhaling the metal in the car. 

             Luna swivelled around in the front seat to take a look at the back. She grinned when she saw their helpless predicament.

           “Maybe Verne and I can sit in the back,” she suggested. “Two of you can sit in the shotgun. I’m smaller than most of you.”

           “Dahlia, you and Troy sit in front,” Cedric suggested mischievously, earning himself a high-five from August.   

            Dahlia pulled a face at Cedric but climbed out. After reshuffling their seating arrangements vigorously, they settled down and the taxi set off.   

           “Look, love, where do you want to go?” the taxi driver asked as he accelerated down the country road.  

           Dahlia felt Troy shift next to her. She was sitting in between him and the door. He was annoyed that the taxi driver was flirting with her. Dahlia glanced at Kayla.  

           “The London Eye,” Kayla replied.  

           “You’re what, on a camping trip?” the driver continued.  

           Dahlia glanced at Troy. The taxi driver was becoming more suspicious and annoying. It was better to bribe him into keeping his mouth shut. She slid another ten-pound note across the dashboard.   

          Dahlia could tell the others were exhausted even if she herself wasn’t. The others all fell asleep. Troy dropped off with his head against the door. Dahlia glanced around. She had to find a way for them all to look normal again. It wasn’t easy with four sacks of food and weapons.   

          She glanced into the back seat again, trying not to disturb Troy. Almost everyone was asleep. Only Luna was awake, kneeling on the floor, her silver eyes closed tightly.   

          Dahlia gripped her bag. Inside it were her staff and dagger along with some loaves of bread, meat and vegetables. She knew that Kayla was searching for someone to train her but Dahlia herself didn’t know who yet.   

          Heck, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to be trained!

    
   

          The taxi driver dropped them off at the London Eye. It was so crowded that Dahlia couldn’t see how anyone could find them. Unless, of course, they had a tracking device.       

         The sun was rising in the east but it wasn’t that early either.   

          Unfortunately, they stood out a lot in the crowd. A lot of people were giving them a wide berth. A couple of teenagers with a six-year-old, all of them carrying weapons and most some of them splattered in blood or having burnt clothes.   

          Very inconspicuous. Not.   

          Kayla stretched. “Dahlia, how much money do you have left?” she asked.   

           Dahlia reached into her pocket and produced a wad of crumpled bills. She flicked through the very-much-reduced-in-size pile.    

          “About three hundred pounds,” she replied.   

           “Good,” said Kayla, briskly. “In that case, we can buy some clothes and supplies without stealing. Cedric, can you take all the bags?”   

           Cedric nodded and gathered together their sack bags. Kayla glanced at Troy’s plastic watch. She didn’t know how to read it.  

            “What time is it?” she asked.   

           “About six thirty in the morning,” he answered.  

           “Ella and Olive will probably come at seven o’clock if they’re alive,” Luna put in, still standing with her eyes closed.  

           “Half-an-hour to shop then,” Dahlia said, shoving the money back in her pocket.