Ordinary

Chapter 3

When he finally took his hands off my leg, I could still feel the remains of the magic flowing through me.

"Better?" he asked, taking the seat next to me. I smiled and nodded gaily.

"Wow," I muttered. "It really is real." It was good to know he wasn't just a crazy person.

He smiled. "Well of course it is! I already told you that."

I took a second to process it. Magic was real. There was no way I could imagine a feeling like that. All the books I've read and all the times I longed for a more exciting world, there it was.

"Yes, you did, but what you didn't tell me was why would you bring me to your world?"

He turned serious. "Isn't it obvious?" I shook my head. "You're the chosen one, the girl from the prophecy. You're the only one who can help save our world." The room was quiet for a second.

Then I burst into laughter. They both gave me a weird glance. Me, the chosen one? Yeah right. I was thrilled that magic was real, and that there are other worlds besides my own, but I could never be the chosen one. I don't even get picked for dodgeball teams in gym class.

"I'm not the chosen one," I told them. Even though it would be all I've ever dreamed of since I started reading, I could never save them. I was the complete opposite of all the heroes I had read about it my books. They were fierce and brave, and they had amazing skills and talents, but me, "I'm ordinary," I mumbled, almost sadly.

The boy, Marcus, his name was, rested his hand on my knee. Eyes glistening, he whispered, "You're anything but ordinary. You're going to save us."

Uneasy I pulled away from him. "You're wrong," I said, although everything in me wanted him to be right.

The mother was disinterestedly peeling potatoes chimed in, "She's right Marcus. The prophecy isn't real." She took a break from peeling to look at me. "He heard it from a drunk man on the side of the road when he was younger."

I raised a brow. Okay maybe magic was real, but he was still probably insane. "You went through the trouble of kidnapping me to fulfill a prophecy a drunk man told you?"

He looked embarrassed. "Okay yes, I heard it for the first time from him. I didn't know if it was true or not, but it sounded important. So I went to the libraries at the castle—"

"Castle?" I interrupted excitedly. "That's so cool!"

"—And I looked for any records of a prophecy that sounded like his." He went on as if I hadn't spoken. "It took a while to translate his drunken words to a sophisticated prophecy, but eventually I figured it out." His mother rolled her eyes and went back to her dinner preparations, but I was listening intently to his words. "The king believed me. He even brought the drunk old man back to the castle to live with him in case we ever needed the prophecy interpreted. He wasn't too worried about the prophecy coming true, but just in case, he wanted me to find you." He smiled. "And I did."

It took me a second to process what he was saying. There was a prophecy about me. In a magical world. I had to be dreaming, this was too good to be true. I smiled back at him. "So what do we do know?" I asked.

Leaning back in his seat, and plucking an apple from a basket on the table, he said "We'll prepare for our journey tomorrow. The castle is about a day's walk from here. We'll eat and rest tonight, and leave at daybreak tomorrow." I nodded. "Oh, and if you're going to be saving our world, I should probably know your name?"

"It's Samantha," I said, blushing.

"Marcus," he smiled, holding out his hand for me to shake. When I did so, he looked embarrassed. "This is how humans greet themselves right?" He questioned.

Not for the first time that day, I was confused. "Humans?"

He retracted his hand. "Yes, you're the first I've met, but I've read a lot about them. Well I guess you don't count because you're part elf—"

"I'm sorry, I'm what?"

He gave me a concerned look. "Yes... We're elves, and you're descended from them." He stared at me curiously. He brushed my hair behind my ears, not in a cute way but in an investigative way. "Your ears aren't pointed. Perhaps diluting your blood line with humans has made them go away. And your marks have disappeared as well. Your parents probably had them covered with magic when you were born. I thought once you crossed to our realm they would reappear..." He was mumbling more to himself than me.

I looked at him as if he were crazy. "What marks?" I asked.

His expression grew even more confused. He pointed to his cheeks. "These marks," he answered. When he saw my still blank expression, he questioned, "You don't see them?" I shook my head. He and his mother exchanged glances. He shrugged. "Must be from living in the human realm your whole life-"

His words cut off abruptly and all the color drained from his face. His mother turned to look at him, her terrified expression matching his own. They both tensed, neither one of them moving a single muscle.

"What-" I was cut off when Marcus slapped a hand over my mouth. Slowly, he shook his head, eyes wide with fear. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew we were in danger.

After a few scared seconds of confusion, I heard a low growl coming from right outside the cottage.

"Is that what I think it is?" his mother whispered. He nodded. "Why is it here?"

"I don't know!" he breathed through tight lips.

Suddenly she whipped her head towards me, glaring. "It smells the scent she brought from her world!" she hissed quietly. The growling outside was getting louder. "This is your fault. You never should have brought her! Now where all in danger."

He stood up quietly. "I have a plan." He held a hand out to me. I shakily took it and stood up. "Mother, Sam and I are going to run to the stables. After we leave start putting up the barriers," he instructed. He picked up his sword from the table and put it on his belt.

"We're going to what?" I choked out. "There's no way I'm going outside with that thing."

He pulled me to the door. "It's a good thing you're fast, right?" he breathed out. Seeing my horrified expression, he rested a hand on my shoulder. "Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Not in the slightest."

He kicked open the door and pulled me out with him. "Run!" he screamed, and we both ran as fast as we could.