Original Fiction: Heavensgate: Chapter 2 (Final Decision)

[Assassin of Konoha]

PART 1





Chapter 2
Final Decision



For the rest of the day, nobody dared mention the legend, or the plan, but instead, they discussed things that they knew their parents would want to hear, such as decrees or things that they would do to better both and kingdoms. Serenity retreated to her room after lunch, and was rarely seen, except for dinner. She didn’t feel like talking to her father, and even her mother, Aurora, would understand, she still wouldn’t approve.
That night, Serenity lay on her bed and thought about ways to not only get out of the castle undetected, but how would they know where to go? Heavensgate wasn’t on any map. These thoughts filled not only Serenity’s mind, but also Aerandir’s. They didn’t know it, but they had the same thoughts, and they began to fall asleep at the same time. As Serenity drifted further and further from consciousness, she began to dream. In her dream, she saw nothing but white, everywhere she looked. She began to wander around, trying to make some significance out of the dream when she heard the same voice that she had heard in her other dreams, only this time the saying was different. She listened as it repeated over and over, “The King searches every heart and understands every motive. If you seek him, he will be found by you.” Serenity watched as she became surrounded by forest. She turned around several times before she realized that she was standing in the very woods that were only a couple of miles from Naldar. She watched as the trees to her left began to separate, revealing a small deer path. Serenity began to walk toward it, but was unable to reach it, because the ground started shaking. She heard her name repeated over and over, and finally her eyes snapped open and she shot into a sitting position. She looked to her right and saw twelve year old Korriana, her short brown hair tangled and matted, and her grey eyes were filled with worry.

“What’s wrong, Korri?” Serenity said sleepily.

“I was getting up to go to the bathroom and I heard you moving around and muttering and panting and stuff. I thought you were having a nightmare.”

Serenity yawned before she let out a chuckle. “That was very kind of you, but it wasn’t a nightmare, just……..different. Anyway, you need to go back to bed and get some sleep. Mom and Dad won’t be happy if they find out you are wandering the halls this late at night.”

Korriana nodded before she hugged her sister. She smiled and jumped off the bed, tiptoeing to the door. She quietly closed it, and Serenity sat quietly in thought. The King searches every heart and understands every motive. If you seek him, he will be found by you. What is that supposed to mean? The King……it couldn’t be…….could he really be real? Even if he is, is he powerful enough to control dreams? Serenity shook her head. I don’t know what to think anymore. I know my dreams mean something, now I just need to find out what.
It didn’t take long for Serenity to fall back asleep, and when she did she had a similar dream, except the words were different, and this time she could only understand a few of the words because they were spoken so softly. She listened as she heard, “For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds…..” She couldn’t understand the rest. Serenity thought more and more about what it could mean, but the words just kept repeating over and over. It didn’t seem like much time had passed before she was awake again, only this time it was morning. Serenity stood and walked toward the curtains that were keeping the bright morning sunlight out of her room and opened them, allowing the room to be filled with the morning light. She walked onto the balcony and felt the cool summer morning breeze gently blow against her face. The words form both her dreams were swirling around in her head, and she couldn’t stop thinking about their meaning. Could they be sign of where to go? Was she supposed to find the small deer trail she had seen? Her thoughts were cut short when Shayna burst into her room and slammed the door behind her.

“Ok, that is two days in a row. Does the act of knocking before entering one’s bedroom not exist anymore?” Serenity said with a slight hint of annoyance in her tone.

Shayna ignored the comment and ran up to her older sister. “Something freaky happened to Aerandir last night!”

Serenity’s eyes widened as she turned to fully face her fourteen year old sister. “What happened?! Is he ok?!”

Shayna put her hands up in the air, “Oh, he’s fine, but he had a freaky dream. He told me to come get you right away, and I agree that you should hear his dream!”

Serenity turned and walked to her door. She held it open and looked at Shayna. “Tell him to meet me in the garden, and if it has anything to do with the discussion, bring everyone else too.”

Shayna nodded and bounded out the door, her brown hair flying after her.

Serenity grabbed her red halter top dress and put it on as quickly as she could. She brushed the knots out of her hair and quickly walked down to the garden. On her way she saw Kaina and Karnor. They said that Shayna had given them the message, and they asked if Serenity knew what this was about. When she said she didn’t, the three of them went to the garden together. There they saw Aerandir, Shayna, and Addison, all waiting for everyone to arrive.

“Serenity, I think I know what to do.” Aerandir said as Serenity reached him.

They were all speaking in hushed voices, and everyone arrived within the next five minutes. Once everyone was there, Aerandir began to speak. “Ok, I now think more than ever that the Celestial King exists. Last night, I had a dream….”

Serenity’s eyes widened as Aerandir quietly described her first dream. He continued to talk, but when he tried to quote what he had heard, he couldn’t remember all of it. “It was something like, uh, seek and you will find or something, but-”

“The King searches every heart and understands every motive. If you seek him, he will be found by you.” Serenity interrupted.

Everyone just stared at her as Aerandir’s mouth opened. “Serenity, how did you know that?”

“I had the exact same dream last night.”

[Assassin of Konoha]

PART 2




“Man, why couldn’t I have a cool dream like that?” Twelve year old Korin said as he crossed his arms.

Emalyne chuckled as she locked arms with him. “Because you wouldn’t know what to do if you did.”

Korin shrugged in agreement and allowed Serenity and Aerandir to continue.

“I think that deer path is the first part of the journey. Maybe that is the beginning of the trail to the Celestial City.” Serenity said as she glanced around.

“That is exactly what I thought. But how do we find it?”

“Kaina knows the woods like the back of her hand. If we get her close enough and describe what we saw, she might be able to find it.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying.” Kaina said as she stepped forward.

“You really think you can? All the trees look the same to me.” Karnor chimed in.

Kaina mockingly acted offended and chuckled. “I can tell where to go.”

Serenity and Aerandir exchanged glances before describing anything that popped into their mind from the dream. “I remember there was a large oak tree, with a giant hole in the trunk, and an even bigger knot above the hole.” Serenity said, as she motioned with her hands for emphasis.

“I remember hearing a waterfall. It was faint, but I am almost positive I heard water.” Aerandir added.

Kaina’s eyes widened as she gasped. “I know where that is!”

“Really?!” Delwyn said, speaking for the first time that morning. “Are you sure you can get us there?”
Kaina nodded enthusiastically. “Positive. I found that tree, and I remember hearing a waterfall last week when I was riding through the woods. I wanted to try to find the waterfall, so I made sure that I remembered how to get to that point.”

There was a slight pause among the group before Shayna spoke up. “So, how are we going to get out of here?”

“Yea, there is no way the either of our parents will let us ALL leave for the forest at the same time.” Addison said as he took a step forward. “Especially not after what our fathers heard yesterday.”

“Yea, everyone thinks it would be suicide because Heavensgate Isle doesn’t exist.” Young Aien added.

Korriana looked around before countering his statement. “But what if it does? I think we should try, especially after Serenity and Aerandir having the same dream at the same time.”

“Ok, first of all,” Serenity said as she walked over to the twins and Aien and Korin, “you guys are not coming. You are too young for this. It could be dangerous, and you don’t have the endurance that we do. The four of you are going to stay here.”

Emalyne started to argue, but then decided against it because she knew she wouldn’t win. Serenity walked to the middle of the circle formed by the group, and continued speaking. “We aren’t going to get out of here during the day. We will leave tonight, just before the tower watchman’s swift changes to the second. That way he will be too tired to think he sees anything. We will all meet in the stables, ride out and Kaina can lead us once we get into the woods.”

“Won’t they be able to track us?” Karnor said as he pointed back to the castle. “They would be able to follow the hoof prints of the horses. Not only that, the dogs would be able to sniff us out in no time.”

“Not to worry.” Delwyn said as she put her hands up. “We can go along the shoreline. Not only will the hoof prints get washed away, but the horses can go in the shallow water, so that the dogs can’t sniff us out. Besides, if this place is as hidden as Serenity and Aerandir make it out to be, then the guards shouldn’t be able to find it until we are long gone, if they even find it at all.”

“She’s right.” Aerandir said as Serenity grabbed his hand. “There is no way they can find us. Besides, Aien and Korin can cover for us for at least a little while, the twins can too. If we leave at night too, that will give us a pretty good head start.”

“The only thing that worries me is that we have no idea where we are going.” Rowan said as he swayed from left to right.

“Well, the dream said ‘seek and you will find’, so maybe that is all we have to do. But I think that is enough discussion. We all know where we are meeting, and where we are going.” Serenity said as she turned to look at everyone. She focused her eyes on the twins and their princes, “You four are STAYING HERE. Do not follow us, we will be back soon, but you four are to stay here, is that clear?”

All four crossed their arms and agreed, even if it wasn’t what they wanted to do. Serenity nodded in approval, although she saw a glint in the boys’ eyes that she didn’t like. That’s when the group disbanded and each prince went off with his princess, leaving Aerandir and Serenity in the garden. “You know this will work, right?” he said as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

She sighed before she answered. “I want to say yes, but I honestly don’t know. You know how our fathers know everything that goes on in the castle. It wouldn’t surprise me if he and Yassier were in the stables waiting for us tonight.”

Aerandir grabbed Serenity’s shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him. “It will work. Trust me.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand as the two walked back to the castle. There was much to do before the journey.

[Karsh]

Nice. I like that story. Go on.