The Bonding (The Song and the Rhythm) (5 page)

The other person who’d appeared on that side now stood next to the two green-cloaked figures in front of Sean. A dark blue cloak covered this one, also with the hood pulled up. He, or she, had stopped looking around, and now stared directly at Sean, who felt the weight of that forceful gaze. This fourth person was almost as wide as the two short ones put together. Remarkably, he—Sean couldn’t imagine a woman with as muscular or hairy arms as this one had—stood a few inches shorter than the two beside him. Those hands were thick and knotted and brushed at his clothing with a kind of strong grace.

Sean slowly began to process that the story Drath had told him might be true. While it excited him and made him loosen his grip on his sword hilt, it also frightened him. As he considered the cloaked figures before him, he tried to gain visual confirmation of his thoughts. Most of all, though, he wanted the blue-cloaked stranger to stop staring at him.

“Thorne!” Drath’s voice cut through Sean’s thoughts and broke the silence that had been hanging in the air. “Please stop staring our new friend down. You’re intimidating him.”

The person inside the blue cloak shifted his feet and cleared his throat. “Sorry, Drath. I did no mean to.” His voice rumbled from deep inside his chest, like rocks tumbling down from the roof of a cave. Sean could almost feel his eyes pull away from him and sighed gratefully.

The other two cloaked figures, having grown quiet as Sean studied the others, now turned to each other. They spoke quickly and quietly together, then faced Sean. With a last look around, they pulled back their hoods. The deep-voiced man standing next to them noticed their movements and did likewise.

Sean blinked, his jaw hanging open stupidly. His skin grew suddenly cold, and pinpricks danced up and down his arms and legs.

He took a hesitant step back, fighting down the urge to bolt in terror. What he saw dumbfounded him, for it made all his dreams seem suddenly within reach. But rather than elate him, it terrified him. It scared him so badly he wanted only one thing. To get away.

*
*
*

Drath could see the fear building in Sean’s eyes and took a step forward to try to comfort him. Unfortunately, his gesture had the opposite effect, for Sean, his mouth moving rapidly but with no sound, turned and fled. The youth didn’t scream, thankfully, but he ran away nonetheless.

His shoulders drooping, Drath swiveled to face his friends, who only shrugged in incomprehension. It was then Drath noticed Sean had dropped his wooden sword, and the tall man sighed heavily. A warrior who abandoned his weapon was either truly frightened or not worthy of the name.

Now their quest seemed doomed even before it began.

3

Drath and Merdel sat facing each other
. Neither moved, despite the hardness of the ground beneath them. Each waited for the other to speak, to give some reason their plans had gone so suddenly awry. The long months of Merdel’s magical research had suggested otherwise, assuring him of Sean’s inner strength and deep-seated longing for adventure.

The wizard had spent a great deal of time and energy searching this modern world for the right person to join their quest. Looking at alternate worlds was much the same as looking at faraway places, Merdel had discovered. It just took the right concentration and knowledge that they existed, not to mention a good deal of power and a healthy dose of appeals to the Great God. The bearded mage had learned much about this technological world and the peoples who inhabited it, chiefly that they had almost universally abandoned supernatural activities a few hundred years ago. Coupled with the Great God’s prohibition on such endeavors, the people of Sean’s world had little knowledge or belief in things like magic and otherworldly creatures, things that were commonplace in Merdel’s home. Of all the people the wizard had observed over the weeks and weeks of his searching, this dark-haired college kid was the best one he’d found, more because of his inclination toward fantasy than his amateur skill with a blade. Swordsmanship could be learned, but a longing for the kind of world from which Merdel came had to be inborn.

Thorne and the two elves, sitting some distance away on the other side of the fire, did not attempt to enter into the discussion between the tall man and the wizard. They were uncomfortable enough being in this strange world and didn’t have any ideas on how to persuade someone to leave it. And disagreements between the two humans could easily become ugly.

“What’d you say to him, Drath?”

“Nothing!” Drath exhaled. “At least, I didn’t say anything other than what we discussed. I think it was the presence of Thorne, Rush, and Dart that chased him away. Not anything I told him.”

Merdel’s silver-specked black eyes narrowed. “What makes you think that?”

“Think about it. What would you do if you suddenly came face to face with something you thought existed only in your imagination?”

“But with his attitude toward our world, he should’ve been ecstatic, not terrified.”

“Perhaps, but it’s not what happened. Don’t you think that maybe he just panicked? He didn’t know how to react to us, so he did the only thing he could think of. Just get away.”

This time it was Merdel’s turn to sigh. “Well, now what do we do? I certainly don’t want all of the effort that’s been put into this venture to be wasted. We’ve got to do something, even if it means finding someone else.”

“I thought you said no one else had what was needed. You said Sean had all the right characteristics to make the adjustment.”

“I know what I said! But it doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind. I haven’t examined everyone in this world, you know. No matter what I feel the Great God has told me, I still must be thorough so I honor His guidance.”

“All right, all right. You don’t have to yell at me.” Drath sighed as he looked off into the night. An owl hooted, and the chorus of insects halted a mere second before resuming their nightly music. “I just think we need to give him another chance. And we need to return him his sword.”

Merdel chuckled and shook his head, constantly amused at how easily Drath wanted to deny the intervention of the divine.
Just because you don’t see His hand doesn’t mean He isn’t there
.
“You are always the warrior. You think that by giving him his sword back, Sean will calm down and see reason. He might even be so grateful he agrees to join us.”

Drath glowered. “You don’t have to be a horse’s rump about this, Merdel. And no, I don’t think he’ll simply forget his fears and accept us. But I do think we should at least talk to him again. Remember, this was your fire-brained idea in the first place.”

“I know, I know.” The wizard’s smile faded. “I just wish things weren’t so difficult. This would be easier if he’d realize we’re telling him the truth.”

“I think that’s what happened. He almost believed me, and when he saw Thorne and the elves he truly did. But the sudden realization of his life’s dream made him panic. I probably wouldn’t have acted much differently.”

Merdel shrugged. “Maybe so. But whatever is going on in that young man’s head, we need to make a decision soon. Our time here is limited if we want to avoid upsetting the balance.”

“Whatever you say. You’re the wizard.”

Merdel smirked sarcastically. “I’m glad you remember that. But what do
you
think we should do? You are, after all, our leader.”

Drath shrugged. “I guess all we can do is go to his dorm tomorrow and try to reason with him. Maybe if we all talk to him, he’ll see we’re not as scary as he thinks.”

Merdel nodded. “And if that doesn’t work, I can always employ other methods of persuasion.”

Drath’s face hardened. “Absolutely not! Under no circumstances are you to use magic on him. That would be worse than lying to him. I want him to believe us because he trusts us. Besides, I thought you said casting spells here was bad for the balance.” Drath held his tongue on the other reason Merdel had said spell casting was forbidden in this world. It would spark a religious discussion he didn’t want to get into.

“It is. But if it’s needed, I’d be willing to risk it.” He held out his hands quickly to halt any protest. “But don’t worry, I won’t do that. It was just an idea. I like Sean, too, and I don’t want to hurt him anymore than you do.”

Merdel did not say that they also needed the black-haired youth, needed him more than they needed anything else. What he’d seen Sean do today hinted at something he’d read, at something the Great God had revealed to him in a dream. While he didn’t completely believe it, he wasn’t going to take the chance of ignoring it. If it was true, Sean might be their only hope.

*
*
*

Sean grumbled incoherently as he blundered down the hallway to answer the knock at the door. The headache he’d woken up with hadn’t diminished, and the bright sunshine streaking through the windows only made his eyes squint more. Consequently, he didn’t turn wide enough to miss the edge of the door into the hallway, which caused him not only to bang his shoulder but also tripped him.

Sean spent a minute rubbing his shoulder and wondering why he’d bothered to get out of bed in the first place. Surely whoever knocked yet again wasn’t someone important enough to warrant personal injury. He was overcome by an intense desire not to open the door. Right now, he was in no mood for civility.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door anyway. And nearly slammed it closed and bolted it when he saw the five men standing outside. The pounding in his head increased, reminding him of that strange noise that had invaded his dream last night.

Somehow he kept himself from shutting the door, but he couldn’t keep his eyes from widening and his jaw from going slack. A small voice in the back of his head told him he looked like an idiot, but he disregarded it. What occupied his attention was the wooden sword the one called Drath was holding, and the resemblance this whole scene had to his dream of last night.

He’d seen himself standing in a room, or at least it seemed like a room. It could’ve been an open field, or a cavern, or anything, but he thought of it as a room. Drath, that wizard Merdel, and the three non-humans had been there, as had some other thing Sean could only describe as a
presence
. It had felt dangerously powerful, yet also familiar and reassuring. It had seemed almost a part of him. Then again, it could’ve been his imagination. After all, it
had
been a dream.

The five men had been handing him a sword, much like the one they were offering him now, only the one in his dream had been real. He remembered it had been curved, with a white hilt and black scabbard. It wasn’t the beauty of its make that stuck in his mind, however. It was the strange noise he’d heard when he first laid eyes on it. It was similar to the noise he sometimes heard when fighting, and seemed to come from that other presence hovering behind the five men claiming to be from another world. That noise, even the sword itself, had called out to him, making him want nothing more than to take hold of it.

The dream had ended right after that, so he didn’t know what had happened. Either he had taken the sword, or he hadn’t. The consequences of whatever action he might have chosen were unknown, but he did remember feeling that taking the weapon would change his life forever.

Now, though, the only action that seemed appropriate was to stare blankly at the men before him, his ears not hearing Drath’s greeting. He could see the man’s lips moving but couldn’t tell what he said. The pounding in his brain prevented it, as did the noise that sprang to life behind it.

It was louder this time and caused him to grimace in pain. His eyes clenched, and his hands balled into tight fists. He stood like that for what felt like a week until the noise receded, and with it the headache. He sighed gratefully, realizing only then that he’d been holding his breath. Once he was certain his head wasn’t going to explode and that he wasn’t going to vomit, he relaxed and opened his eyes.

The curiosity and concern on Drath’s face touched him, making that voice in the back of his head repeat its assurance that he could trust these men, particularly Drath. Merdel’s expression, however, frightened him, for the wizard stared at him so intently the youth felt like he scrutinized his soul.

Sean didn’t know what to think of the looks the two men were giving him, although they did make him self-conscious. Embarrassed, he tried to cover up his apprehension with hostility. “What do you want?”

Drath shook his head and blinked, as if coming out of deep thought. “Ummm...” Sean’s animosity appeared to fluster him. “We just…wanted to…give you back your sword.” He offered the wooden weapon to Sean.

“Thank you.” Sean took it, then moved to close the door.

Drath held up his hands but didn’t try to keep the door from closing. “Wait, Sean. Please. There are a few things we need to tell you, and I think you’ll feel better if you give us a chance.” Drath’s sea-green eyes peeked around the half-closed door. “Please.”

Sean found himself wanting to let them in and hear what they had to say. But he stopped himself.
I can’t let them do this to me
.
I need to keep my head in
this
world. The time for daydreams is over. I’m not a twelve-year-old kid anymore.

But no, that wasn’t entirely true. He could still daydream; he just couldn’t let it get out of hand. Besides, he wasn’t sure he could trust these unknown men claiming to be from another world. Therefore, he needed to shut the door and get on with his life in the real world.

There, he’d solved his problem. So why did he still hold the door open? None of them had made a move to stop him. Drath only held up his hands in what was more of a pleading gesture than an effort to keep the door open.

He asked himself again why he hadn’t told them to leave him alone and shut the door. Was it because he had no real excuse for running away yesterday? He didn’t know what had scared him…only that he’d been scared. Or was it because Drath seemed so sincere, so trustworthy? Sean did believe the tall man spoke the truth, but he wasn’t quite ready to admit that his fear was all of his own making. Surely there was something wrong with these five men. Or perhaps the reason the door remained open was that the noise in his head urged him to accept Drath and his companions. That seemed to be Drath’s most convincing argument, though Sean had no idea why.