Ordinary

Chapter 4

I could barely feel my body as I ran. All I could feel was fear. We ran toward the stables. I didn't look back. I faltered as I felt Marcus stop running. "Keep going!" He yelled at me, and I listened. I didn't see whatever was chasing us, but I could hear its growls as it ran after us. After a few yards, I heard Marcus yell some words I couldn't understand, and I saw a flash of light. He had cast a spell on the creature.

He quickly caught up with me. "I temporarily paralyzed him, but it won't last long. We have to go!"

We finally made it to the stables, and he opened the doors to let out the horses. He boosted me onto the closest one, and then he hoisted himself onto another one with ease.

"Do you know how to ride?" he asked. I shook my head. "You're about to learn!" he said as he slapped my horse's rear. It took off sprinting. I clutched onto the horse's neck. I had never ridden a horse, and this was not how I wanted to learn.

After a while, I began to untense my muscles and sit up. I focused on the feel of the wind in my hair rather than the danger we were fleeing from. The gorgeous colors of the flowers lining the path flew past us in an enchanting blur. Eventually I fell into the horse's rhythm, and my confidence grew. I started to smile, feeling invincible atop the majestic creature. For a moment I felt like one of the characters from my books. Powerful. Regal. Anything but ordinary. It was the feeling I had longed for for years.

After about an hour, our horses slowed to a trot, and Marcus pulled up beside me, stressed but smiling.

"How are you?" he asked.

I smiled back. "I'm amazing," I answered him, beaming.

He let out a chuckle. "That's not what people usually say after narrowly avoiding death."

I shrugged. "That was the most exciting thing I've ever done!"

"In that case, you're in for a lot of excitement," he told me. "The road to our salvation is a long one. One that you'll guide us all down." A shiver went up my spine. Before I could respond, he glanced at the low hanging sun. "We should probably set up camp somewhere. We've most likely lost the beast. And we have a really long day tomorrow, and you'll need to be rested."

He pulled his horse to a stop, and mine followed. I admired the way he slid off his horse with grace. He walked around to mine and held out a hand. I shyly took it. He pulled my leg around towards him. My heartrate quickened as he wrapped his hands around my waist and he helped me off the horse. When my feet touched the ground, our chests were nearly touching.

He cleared his throat and stepped back. "Thank you," I choked out.

"Of course," he replied. Maybe it was the way the setting sun touched his skin, but I could have sworn he was blushing. He suddenly made himself busy tying the horses reigns to a tree beside us. He walked back to his horse and unstrapped a leather bag from the saddle. He found a small clearing right off the path and waved for me to follow. He pulled a large piece of cloth from his bag and stretched it out. I realized that it was a tent.

"It's a good thing I packed while you were sleeping, or we would be in a bad situation right now," he explained as he tossed me something from his bag. I clumsily caught it. It looked like an apple, but the color was much brighter, and it had a much sweeter aroma.

I raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I would come with you?" I asked as he started pitching the tent.

With his back turned to me, he replied, "The prophecy said you would come." I sat down on a log watching him work. He moved with such ease, I couldn't help but to stare. "Besides, no one would have chosen someone to save us that wouldn't want to help." He turned towards me. "You do want to help us, right?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" He smiled. I turned the apple over in my hands and inspected it. I was hesitant about trying food from another world, but I was starving. I took a bite, and instantly gasped. Marcus gave me a worried look.

"Are you okay?" he asked, frantically. I nodded. I was better than okay. It was the best thing I had ever tasted. I could never compare the taste to anything I had ever tried in the human world. It didn't taste like anything from the human world. It was sweet, and juicy, but it wasn't just the taste that overwhelmed me. The fruit sent magical tingles through my body. For a moment I felt like I had magic. I took another bite, not wanting the feeling to fade. It was the best feeling I had ever had. In seconds I had finished the entire fruit.

Marcus's laugh brought me out of my trance. Embarrassed, I looked up at him, sheepishly wiping the juice from my chin.

"We don't have food that tastes like that in my world," I explained.

He chuckled and tossed me another one. "Well of course not. They're magical," he said as he sauntered over towards me, taking the seat beside me on the log. Our knees touched, and I tried to hide my flushed face. He didn't seem to notice.

"Show me more magic?" I asked, almost desperately. He smiled. He snapped his fingers together, a mundane gesture, but a few feet in front of us, a fire sparked in the firepit.

I gasped. "That's incredible!" He laughed. "Show me something else!"

He clasped his hands together, as if holding a bug that he didn't want to escape. As his hands folded outward, a white bud folded upward. When he handed it to me, I realized that it was a rose. I took it in my hand and inspected it carefully. I was amazed.

I looked up at him. "And I can do that too?"

He chuckled and took the rose back. Pointing to my hands, he whispered, "Try it."

I imitated his movements. When I opened my hands, there was nothing there. I slumped down in disappointment. Marcus was quiet. After a moment, he rested his hand on my knee, sending sparks of electricity through my body.

"Try again," he insisted. He voice was gentle. "Close your eyes," he whispered, and I did so. He laid his hand on my shoulder, and my skin tingled under his touch. "Concentrate on the world around you. See how everything is connected by an invisible force, everything working together in harmony. Tap into that energy, and use it."

I concentrated on my surroundings, trying to imagine an energy flowing around me, floating through me, through me to Marcus. I felt a burst of energy flow from my core to my hands, and I gasped.

My eyes flew open. Eagerly, I opened my hands. In them laid a single, small white rose. Glimmering in the firelight, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.