The Shield Of Broverold (Book 1)

Chapter 4

I had just begun to feel more normal when I heard another sound. More footsteps. I got up alert. There was silence for a few seconds and I relaxed. Then I heard a soft sound of giggles, somewhere near me. I stood up again and looked around to find the source, but saw nothing unusual. I calmed down thinking it must be some small kids playing somewhere and sat back down. Well about to sit-then Lucus and his friends appeared from somewhere and gave me their birthday present.

They placed a huge balloon with as much water as possible just under where I was going to sit. The loud sound erupted and it seemed to echo across the park. I got up and as soon as I found out that it was Lucus who was the mastermind of this trick, anger swelled up once again. It was the same feeling I had felt. But this time, someone had insulted my dignity and making me a fool. It was something I couldn't stand. I felt like I wanted respect and had enough of people pushing me around.

Strength rushed into my blood once again, making me, yet again, blind to the ordinary world before me. My eyes glared at Lucus. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARK! DID YOU LIKE YOUR GIFT?" Lucus exclaimed over his roaring laughter with his friends. A few passer-by who happened to cross by our path just then took one look at my wet pants and joined in the laughter. As my anger took control of me yet again, I heard myself saying "Thanks for the gift, Lucus, but aren't you eager to find out your return gift?" My voice echoed inside my own head as if the old-me was, for that moment just like the previous, locked away in my own mind.

I saw Lucus frowning and his face morphed into terror as I saw my hands punch him on his right cheek. He fell down 2 meters away and groaned. But I was not finished, the new strength I discovered was controlling me, dominating me. I continued to beat him up and I heard the horror of the watchers all around us. A few grown men saw the scene and ran forward to stop me, but surprisingly, I knocked off all of them single handedly. I continued to hit him everywhere possible until I heard the police siren far away. The new strength suddenly decreased as if worn out for the day and I calmed down. I felt myself gaining control and my muscles relaxing. I looked down at Lucus who looked as if he had broken a few bones and has millions of bruises and cuts everywhere. I realized what I had done, I could not believe it! More than facing the horror of what I have done, it was the realization that this was my first fight (where I have actually fought) in my entire life and to get to get the police coming, well, I didn't know whether to be proud or freak out! I did not know what to do; all around me were people staring at me like I was some sort of abnormal creature.

Then behind the crowd that I was surrounded by, I saw Mr. Rowland trying to get my attention. He was gesturing to me to follow him. He went off. Without wasting even a moment, I pushed through the crowd and ran after him, not daring to turn back. If there was anyone in this entire world whom I trusted right then, it was him.

Suddenly my dream came back to me. The voice that had spoken in my dreams had mentioned something about the bench. Come to think of it, it had shown a picture of balloons and water also! Was all this connected? Are the answers I seek somehow connected to whatever is happening?

I came back to reality and saw Mr. Rowland running a few feet in front of me. I had no clue as to where he was taking me, but I was very glad to leave the park. I followed him to the deepest range of the park, where a fence was, separating the park and the woods. Mr. Rowland surprisingly jumped over the fence and gestured to me to do the same. I continued to follow him, not aware where he was taking me still, but anywhere besides the park was just fine with me. For a moment I thought about my step-parents and what they were going to say when I showed my face at home.

I panted, I was getting tired, and suddenly a thought struck me. How can Mr. Rowland, at the age of above 70, run like that for so long. As I was wondering, he told me that we will reach in a few minutes. We were going deeper and deeper into the woodland now. The trees were getting thicker. I once again wondered where he was taking me. Then my thoughts drifted back to the dream, where I remembered the picture of a hill and glowing trees and almost immediately, as if on cue, I saw a huge hill in front of me. I stopped next to Mr. Rowland, panting, and looking at the huge hill in amazement.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The image of the hill was the same one I had in my dream. Standing underneath it was a lady, around the age of 40 or so. She was an extremely beautiful lady with light green eyes - like mine. She had blue hair and she carried a long sword which was similar to the creature's that attacked me that evening except that this one had a greenish glint to it.

"Hello, Mark Crater" The lady greeted.

"Mark, this is Brianna, she is one of our kind." Mr. Rowland introduced.

"Our kind? What do you mean? And how did she know my name?" I questioned very confused.

I somehow confirmed that the dream I had yesterday night was definitely related to whatever was happening here.

"I will explain everything to you as soon as we reach the top." Mr. Rowland promised as he and Brianna started to walk uphill.

I walked with them and on my way up, I saw trees with a special glow on them, it was not visible, but I could sense their happiness. The image I saw last night once again flashed into my mind. I looked around, fascinated and saw birds and little animals staring at us as we walked. The air was also fresher than where I lived and that delighted me.

"I saw this in my dream yesterday." I said out loud taking in the beauty of my surroundings.

Both Brianna and Mr. Rowland looked at me knowingly.

"Yes, I guess that was your first dream?" Brianna asked me with a friendly smile.

I looked at her puzzled. "You mean I'll be getting more of those? Why will I get them? What do they mean?" I asked interested.

"Well they are nothing but a look into the future. But it doesn't tell the entire story, just hints of it. We have to figure what it means." Brianna answered and looked as if she had gone through all of this talk before.

"Don't think it will help all the time, from whatever we see in our dreams, it could mean anything! So it doesn't always help." Added Mr. Rowland.

I nodded in understanding.

"You keep mentioning We like we are some different species. Who are we or-" I gulped as doubts crept into me "-What are we?" I asked.

Both Mr. Rowland and Brianna laughed.

"We will explain in just a while." Said Mr. Rowland with that familiar mischievous gleam in his eye.

I sighed and turned my attention back to the stunning Nature around me as it was the only comforting presence besides Mr. Rowland that existed after all that has happened.

After a few more minutes of walking, I saw a beautiful castle slowly unfolding before my eyes as we got closer and closer toward the top of the hill. It looked blurred at first as if the air around it was trying to hide it from the rest of the world. But it slowly became clearer and I gasped as I saw such a magnificent piece of architecture. It had an ancient feel to it and was made of stone blocks stacked up over the other and I knew in my heart that no amounts of even the strongest super glue would manage to stick such large stone blocks that high.

I looked down to the base of the hill and then wondered how in the world they managed to bring those blocks up the hill in the first place. The roofs, from what little I could see, were made from red bricks. I looked around and saw that there were more buildings, looking exactly the same. Even card castles looked much sturdier than this place! It was when I heard voices, slowly increasing in volume, that I realized that people actually live here. Most were wearing armors and some in casuals playing football. As I looked carefully at everyone, I noticed that all of them had the same eyes as me, light green in color. They all stopped and looked at us, particularly me. I felt a bit shy, like how I always feel when I went to a new school. But something told me this was no ordinary place I have ever been to.