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  By

  Jamie Magee

  Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense. ~Mark Overby

  Happy Birthday Amanda ~ your enthusiasm for this story is behind each word…

  Chapter One

  Make peace, not war. That’s what we’re told...if only it were that simple. What we’re never told is that – invariably – throughout the history of mankind, war always comes before peace.

  It’s been one week since we moved through the souls in the city of Delen, since Donalt lost his life...one week...you’d think in that amount of time, the message of Donalt’s death would have spread throughout the dimension of Esterouis, that people would have thrown down their black cloaks and began to cheer.

  Instead, the city of Delen - the largest in Esterouis - is now seen as demented. The surrounding cities are in the process of building a great wall; in their ignorance, they believe that if there is a wall between them and the people of Delen, they’ll be protected. Protected from what? That’s what I wanted to scream at them.

  Rumors led us to believe that Drake was at the estate in which I’d been held, on the other side of the world. People now looked to him for direction, and I could only imagine what he was telling them: that it was I - not him - that had betrayed them. That he would continue to fight for my heart so they could all be redeemed. We’d heard from the people in Delen that, before we came, the world was warned that a false leader would emerge, but that he wouldn’t be powerful enough to move them all; only Drake and I would be, together. I accused Drake of misinforming them, but August, Landen’s grandfather, told us that it was Donalt that had said those words in his last speech.

  Landen I and were sitting on the wall that surrounded the palace; the dark storm in which it had been immersed days ago had diminished. The people of Delen were painting the gray stones white and planting beautiful gardens throughout the court. We could see their intent: they thought that if they made it beautiful, Landen and I would stay there. Neither of us had stepped foot inside since we ran from the roar of Donalt’s death; Landen feared that if we went in, the city would see it as a promise to rule them – which was something we refused to do.

  In the distance, we could see the neighboring cities building their walls as fast as they could. Our first effort to hinder them was to move through the builders, encouraging them to join us; we’d managed to save just over a hundred more people, but now armed guards stood behind the workers – with every intention of killing anyone who even seemed to smile. We held back from helping any others; the risk to their lives was just too great.

  As Landen slowly reached his hand over and gently placed it on my knee, I felt a numbing calm ease through my soul. I looked up into his waiting blue eyes to find him smiling at me.

  “You’re going to wear yourself out trying to calm me all the time,” I thought.

  He grinned and looked into the distance. You know my only intent is to keep you happy, he thought, wrapping his arm around me.

  “What are we going to do, Landen - wait for another planet?” I asked, frustrated.

  “One day at a time; you need to take time to appreciate what we’ve done,” he answered.

  “It's not enough; we have so much more to do. Beyond this world, there are others...I don’t have time to be grateful.”

  “You have to be grateful for what you have if you want to bring more things to you that will make you grateful.”

  “Wise words...did you just make that up?” I asked bleakly.

  “That’s the law of the universe, the law of all faith,” he answered, pulling me closer to him and immersing me in a blissful calm.

  I smiled at myself, realizing that my impatience was ruling me again. I then sighed and looked up at him. “I’m grateful,” I whispered.

  He leaned down and gently let his lips rest on mine. Me, too, he thought.

  Brady and Dane came to the base of the wall where we were sitting and looked up. They were both covered head-to-toe in ash; our family had spent every day in Delen, helping the people begin to build homes that showed their individuality.

  “Are you guys ready? It’s almost dusk.” Dane asked.

  I looked to the West and saw the sun lowering itself into the gray clouds. Dane was like a human clock; he would always appear at my side at dusk. He never wanted me here when it was dark; the nightmares I had as a child seemed to haunt him just as much as they haunted me...maybe it was because he had to watch me suffer growing up. Between him and Landen, I wasn’t even allowed to yawn here.

  “Whenever you guys want to go,” Landen answered.

  “Everyone else already left. Let’s go,” Brady said.

  Landen wrapped his arms around my waist and let us fall. He’d gotten really good at using his energy to move him wherever he wanted to go. As we walked through the streets to our passage, the people all smiled and bowed their heads. Their affection always made us uncomfortable; Landen and I both feared that they’d never really know how to live on their own. They’d rebuilt Patrick’s home, the rusty staircase was replaced by beautiful white wooden steps, and there were usually flowers running across each one, leading our way. Landen had asked Patrick several times not to allow people to mark a path, but the only response he ever get was a bow - and the flowers remained.

  The string was calm; it had been since we’d managed to dismantle the looking glass. As I walked in front of the others, I could sense that Brady wanted to talk to Landen. Brady, who’d always defended our right to do what we wanted to do – which was to help others, no matter the risk – had been wavering lately. He’d never stand in our way, but he feared - just like all of us - that each time we faced the conditions of a planet, we’d risk our lives.

  We stepped inside our dimension, Chara. Landen had driven his Jeep to the passage that morning because we knew we were going to August and Nyla’s for dinner, which was a distance way too far to walk. On our way there, we drove Dane and Brady home. Marc and Stella’s house was just before August’s, and Landen slowed as we drove by; they hadn’t come out of their house since their celebration. I knew they needed time to themselves, but I was anxious to show Stella all of Chara, her new world. As I noticed that all the drapes were still pulled, I sighed and looked at Landen – who was laughing under his breath. He may have teased me about my impatience, but at times I thought it was one of the traits he loved most about me.

  “It won’t be too much longer,” he promised.

  I knew he was missing Marc, too.

  Nyla was waiting for us on the porch, and somewhere in the house I could feel August; he was frustrated.

  “He must still be trying to read the scroll,” Landen thought.

  When we were told that there were eight beyond the sun and the moon, we thought that each time one of the planets orbited, we’d face the trail of that planet’s influences. August wasn’t so sure of that conclusion anymore. It seemed that the time of day that we’d redeemed Delen, in Esterious, was twelve hours before Mercury had orbited. To August, as well as to all of those that were raised in Chara, that was a distance that could span a lifetime; in the stars above, with each moment that passes, the universe moves. According to theory, the five minutes between Landen and Drake’s birth decided who I’d love, who would see through all dimensions. I personally wouldn’t have cared who was born first or last or which dimension in which they were raised - because I knew it would be the soul inside of Landen that I would have loved.

  It was an odd thought, though: what if it were reversed? What if Landen’s soul had been born in Esterious as Livingston’s son? What if Drake had been born in Chara? In that case, in theory, Landen and I would have been able to redeem the entire dimension without even really having to try. In that sce
nario, Drake would have been raised in Chara, without any knowledge of me, and he would soon be searching for his soulmate. It seemed that would have been easier. I mean, if we’re up there free to “choose our path,” then why didn’t it happen that way? Now, with the path we’d chosen, I must hurt Drake, and he must hurt Landen and me. I took refuge in the idea that with great suffering comes great reward.

  Nyla reached up and hugged Landen, then me. “I’m glad you two are here; now maybe he’ll come out of the study,” she said in a lighthearted tone.

  “Has he been in there all day?” Landen asked

  “I haven’t seen him out of there in two days. That’s why I called you this morning; he’ll come out for dinner if he knows you’re here,” Nyla said, extending her arm to lead us in.

  Their house was the most unique out of all of ours. Every single wall in every single room was book shelves; from the floor to the ceiling, row after row there were books. August prided himself on having read all of them. They all told a different history of different dimensions, and he was fascinated with how similar dimensions responded to the same issues - and how differently.

  We made our way to the dining room. Nyla already had dinner on the table, and she left us there to go down the hall to August’s study. I felt his surprise and joy as she told him we were there. He came swiftly to greet us, and Landen and I both stood and hugged him before sitting again.

  “You’ve been in there a while, huh?” Landen said, looking over August. “Any answers?”

  August’s smile faded, and he cleared his throat before he answered, “Only more questions; but I’m most certainly convinced that it’s not the orbit that compelled the trail.”

  “Then what is it?” Landen asked

  “I don’t know...maybe the influences of the planet in the order of the orbit...I just know that the time between the orbit and your action was too great for it to be linked as a source,” August replied.

  Nyla tapped her finger on the table to get our attention. “Now, now, that’s enough. After dinner, you two can lock yourself in the study with him - but right now we’re going to have a discussion without all of this anticipation of the unknown,” she said, looking at all of us.

  She picked up her fork and began to eat her salad. I laughed under my breath; I’d never seen her so bold, demanding. I began to eat my salad, and Landen started a conversation about all the progress that had been made in Delen. Nyla seemed happy to hear about that topic.

  I helped her clean the kitchen after dinner, and Landen disappeared into the study. Nyla had made two trays to take to Marc’s house, and I thought about taking them for her - but I didn’t trust myself to leave them there and walk away; I knew I’d knock on the door and call them out.

  I shuffled through the living room, looking at all the books and wondering how it could be possible for August to recall them as individuals. There was a dark purple book just above my eye level; I reached for its tattered bind and gently turned through the pages. I didn’t recognize the language the words were written in, but every few pages had illustrations of symbols. As I turned the pages, the symbols seemed to grow more evil - so I slammed the book closed and squinted my eyes, trying to block the memories of my nightmares, the weight of the demons on my chest.

  I went down the hall to August’s study, letting my fingers dance across the book shelves. At the end of the hallway, I could see Landen leaning over a table, looking at the scroll with August. Keeping my distance, I leaned in the doorway. When they looked over documents from my first life, I always felt haunted, like there was a voice from then screaming at me - my voice. I reached for the charm on my neck, a sun with a crescent moon. My thumb outlined the star that now rested behind them; this charm had seen more than I’d ever be able to recall. I felt like it was a part of me, that somehow it would unlock the past and help me face my future.

  “Any luck?” I asked them.

  Landen looked up at me, then back down. “No. It’s all symbols and letters, a combination of four languages...it doesn’t make any sense,” he answered, feeling frustrated as he continued to study it.

  I took a deep breath and walked closer. This scroll was with our birth charts, the charts that we’d left here for our family over four million years ago. As I let my fingertips run across the edge of the scroll, a familiar rush of déjà vu came over me, haunting me.

  My eyes searched over the scroll with Landen and August. I didn’t recognize the script or symbols, which were of every shape, mocking man and animal, water and fire. I did notice, though, that surrounding one of the larger circles were what Iooked like numbers. At the top was a one, to the right and left there was a one, and at the bottom there was a nine: 1119.

  “Do you know what these numbers mean?” I asked.

  Landen and August leaned in close enough to see the tiny numbers, and August then ran his fingers around the circle. Inside it, there was an illustration of a flower. The flower was not detailed; just a series of dots. Time had faded them, and some were darker than others. I imagined if someone didn’t have an eye for art, they would easily be dismissed as random marks.

  “What’s today?” August asked

  “Eleventh month, sixteenth day,” Landen answered.

  I took in a deep breath and stepped back; I’d been so lost in everything, I hadn’t remembered that my birthday was just days away - that I’d be nineteen. It seemed impossible that the year had slipped by so quickly, without warning.

  “My birthday is November nineteenth: 1.1.1.9,” I whispered into the room.

  As Landen and August both looked at me, then down to the scroll again, I felt the tension rise and a heavy anxiety growing. I stared at August; he was the one who was full of dread.

  “What is it, August?” Landen asked, knowing that it had to be more than my birthday that had him so concerned.

  “This circle is Venus. There are nineteen petals on the flower, nineteen stems, and nineteen dots marking the ground they’re growing in. It’s your birthday; that’s when we’ll have to deal with Venus,” August declared.

  Landen and I leaned forward and let our eyes rush over the flowers, finding the number nineteen over and over again. August then ran the magnifying glass over the other planets.

  “Each of these planets has an image, a coded number, designed within them - and I’d guarantee you that I’d find the twelve-hour difference in the image of Mercury,” August said.

  “What are you saying? You just found a map of everything we’re going to face?” Landen asked.

  “Not what - when,” August corrected. “This is remarkable. I mean, I have a lot I’m going to have to decode, but this may be a way to navigate away from war,” he said as he filled with hope.

  Landen and I couldn’t share his joy; we were more focused on the fact that I’d be nineteen in three days – and that something was going to test us. Landen walked around the table to where I stood and wrapped his arms around me; I hid my face in his chest, trying to hide my fear. Someone always seemed to get hurt when my heart was tested. I hadn’t had time to overcome my last experience with Drake; I still struggled with the vision of his eyes full of pain and his argument that I’d been taken from him.

  It didn’t take August long to notice that we weren’t celebrating with him. His emotion then returned to dread, and he cleared his throat. “I want to take these to Perodine; if anyone can help me understand the codes locked in this scroll, she’d be able to,” he said to us.

  As I felt Libby and Preston’s excitement, I looked up from Landen’s chest to the doorway. I heard a loud knock and suddenly felt concern coming from Ashten, then my father. August walked to the door, but Preston opened it before he could reach it. His blue eyes shined in the dark room full of bookcases.

  “Are you ready?” he asked us all.

  “Ready?” Landen questioned.

  “Wait just one minute,” Ashten said, reaching to hold Preston back. “I’ve already told you not tonight,” he huffed, trying to
catch his breath. I imagined that he’d chased Preston all the way there.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, knowing that Preston and Libby had the intent of getting us to Esterious right then and there.

  “Preston is convinced that you and Landen need to see Perodine,” my father answered.

  “It's important,” Libby said, stepping forward and pleading with her eyes. I knew that she believed every word she said.

  Landen let his arms fall from around me, then reached for the scrolls and began to roll them gently.

  “You’re not going anywhere tonight,” Ashten said to us.

  Landen slid the scrolls into a long tube, then turned and looked at his father. “We only have three days,” he said, taking my hand and leading me to the door.