'Itna, the Ancient Greek'
Itna, the Ancient Greek
When I climbed out of the carriage,
the castle I saw before me, made my knees weak. Kries gave me a slight push as I started to walk up a pathway of stone steps. These steps were like nothing I had ever seen. They were white, with blue marbling that made it appear as if a flowing river was coming down the steps from the entrance. It was almost a disgrace for me to walk on them, let alone Dumitro. The doors that stood at the top were probably once wood, but at this point they were grown over by, beautiful green mosses, and vines. They stood at least as high as any tree I had ever seen.
As we approached, the doors opened inward.
I could tell that Alex and Kries, and even Dumitro weren’t as impressed as I was, but then again they had probably been here before. Walking inside, at first, all I saw was the ceiling. The entire spread was stained glass. It depicted the world, as it should be, calm, green, blue, and sweet. As I pried my eyes from the ceiling, I noticed halls leading in different directions, on either side of us. There were lit torches of great heights in different spots all over the great hall. I felt as if I were in a different world. There was, as well, a blazing beautiful fireplace, where a large white dog slept on a rug.
Directly in the middle, in front of us,
that I had yet to see were five men, sitting on white, soft, furry pillows. They were definitely older men, but carried with them an air of dignity, that was comparable to a saint.
“Step forth!” bellowed the one in the middle, whom I took to be the leader.
Kries grabbed a hold of my hand, and together we all came forth. As we did, Alexis spoke in Greek as he approached the man in the middle.
“What did he say?” I whispered to Kries.
“Ah, my friend, chief Itna.”
Suddenly, the chief called forth Kries. I felt him pull me along with him, as he approached him. Before saying anything, Itna observed me. I tried to just look at him openly and honestly.
“This is the girl Alexis tells me about?” he asked Kries.
“Yes. This is Clara.”
I bowed my head respectfully.
“She is not a Hatfield. This could be potentially dangerous in our time of war.”
“Yes, but she has a great gift. She has visions, regarding the future of the Hatfield line as well as...the demons’ plans.”
He shot a look at Dumitro. Dumitro glared back at him.
“That is a great gift. Clara, come here child.”
I timidly walked up to where Itna was sitting. He waved his hand, and a man placed a pillow in front of him for me to sit on. I sat down cross legged, the way the rest of them were seated. Then, unbelievably, he thought, 'I can also speak to you in this way, like Dumitro.' I looked at him surprised, but he wasn’t even looking at me his eyes were closed. So I thought back, 'Alex and Kries cannot do this; how is it that you can?' I kept my eyes locked on Kries’s.
He smiled, 'It took me nigh on 400 years to learn, they have not been alive that long. I can hear the ocean breathe, and the leaves speak; telepathy was not a hard thing to grasp, but it does take time.'
'Interesting. Is Dumitro listening too?' I thought.
'No, I have blocked him for the time being. That is also why my eyes are closed, so as not to arouse suspicion. Now let me see what you have seen.'
'How do I do that?'
'Well, because I am able to hear your thoughts and place responses into your head, I can also access your memory bank, where your past visions are stored, as well as your subconscious which will help show me what visions you have yet to come. All that must be done is for you to grant me access. I cannot do anything without permission.'
The whole idea of anyone being able to see into my memory bank or subconscious scared me a little.
'I understand the fear, but as you control the amount of access I am granted there is no need to fear, even if you couldn’t trust me.'
'What do I need to do?'
'You need to think in your mind: I grant Itna and the Ancients’ access to my memory bank, my dreams and my subconscious for the sole purpose of finding only information that is pertinent to the demons. By saying this I may not access any other information; nothing else will be available. Do you understand?'
I was still staring at Kries, who looked confused at this point.
'I...I love Kries, and that is why I will allow this, for him. I grant Itna and the Ancients’ access to my memory bank, my dreams and my subconscious for the sole purpose of finding only information that is pertinent to the demons.'
Immediately upon completing the thought,
I felt my head swim with colors, and voices, and sounds. I felt suddenly so dizzy and nauseous. I could see Dumitro was eyeballing me, also confused, like Kries, wondering what was going on.
'Sir? Why is Dumitro here?' I thought after the voices and colors were gone and silence was prevailing in my head yet again.
'Because he is the leader of the demons; don't ask so many questions. I want you to go back to Kries, and I will ask you two as well as Alexis, to return to the carriage outside. Take them and do as I say. I’ll be in touch.'
He opened his eyes, kissed my hand and I stood up.
'Oh, and Clara, there is a rough road ahead for you... and Kries, if the demons have anything to say about it, so if you want the best for everyone including yourself, you must do as I say, understand?'
I was already almost to Kries when he thought this to me.
'I understand.'
And with that, I grabbed Kries’s hand in one
and Alex’s in the other, and proceeded to head out the doors with a blank look on my face so Dumitro would be left guessing as to what he did not catch. When we got inside the carriage they finally asked.
“You guys didn’t say a word, why are we leaving?” Kries sputtered.
“Oh, we did. He can do the... thought thing, like Dumitro.”
They glanced at each other nervously.
“Anyways, he read through the visions, and learned what he needed to and said to take you guys to the carriage, and that he would be in touch.”
From that point, we all sat in the carriage in silence,
as it wobbled forth. I could feel the brink of doom impending before us, but I was helpless to do anything but wait. I felt horrible, what with this being who Kries and Alex were. I was an outsider looking in, they were part of it, and they had no idea how this was going to end.