Chapter 2

Ledger was feeling rather pleased with himself at thinking up the enchanting of his boots and pack the way he had. He continued thinking of other ways of helping others with magical items when his pack suddenly returned to its full original weight. Then he felt his boots fall away from his feet. He looked down and saw that the different pieces had separated as if the glue and bindings had just vanished. The pack pulled him off balance and he fell backward, landing on his butt and jarring him hard on the packed dirt of the road.

Ledger sat for a moment to clear his head from the fall, then when he felt better, he slid his arms free of the straps and reached down for the various parts of the boots. The leathers and supports were still intact, but the threading that bound the sole to the body of the boot was gone. He could see where there had been glue before it had failed. He couldn’t understand why the enchantment’s had failed and the boot fell apart. He didn’t think he had wanted that to happen. “There is so much I don’t know or understand about my abilities. I have to get to the Cove, and the sooner the better.” He opened the pack and pulled out a heavier set of boots. These would be hot to wear, but he didn’t have any other option. He did pick up the bits from the destroyed boots and put them where the heavy boots had been.

Before he picked up the pack, he tried to feel for the energy he had used to enchant it with in the first place. It was blank, he didn’t feel any of the energy around him either. It was as if all the energy was gone. He waited then after a minute, he felt the faint tug of the power around him. It gradually built up until it was back to were he familiar with it being. “What is going on here,” he wondered silently. “Did I use all the available power around me and it had to build back up?” He picked up a fist-sized rock and concentrated on it to produce and mild glow. As he did so, he could sense the energy drop off a little. “That is disturbing, to say the least,” he said to the world at large. “The power is limited and can be used up. I have to be very careful.” He picked up the pack and carefully put it back on and started down the long, dusty road he was following. He knew that Tarin’s Crossing would be a full month on the road. It was still only First Thaw, but he would need to hurry if he was to make it before the next Mid Winter. He wasn’t sure why he felt it was important that he arrive before then, but that it just was. Ledger started trudging ahead, trying to push his small body as far as he could before nightfall. He was afraid of what lay both ahead and behind.

He had to wonder about his parents. Why were they so willing and eager to send him away as soon as he showed he could do what his mother could do. Worse still, why had his siblings always hated him. He had tried all his life to not cause issues, to stay out of their way. But nothing he did could please them. His father would protect him to a point but never seemed to be totally in his corner. The only one that loved and cared for him was his mother. Yet in the end, even she proved faithless in his moment of triumph and need. Was it his suddenly strong ability that scared her, or was it the fact he was able to do anything at all. The way he was finally able to use his gifts proved strange. He had to envision turning off an enchantment to make it work. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that was not right. He stopped walking and pulled a small pebble from a pocket on his belt. Looking at it, he concentrated and it slowly began to glow. He then reversed the thought and it faded down then went out. He brought it up and down several times rapidly. As he did so, he could feel the energy around him go up and down as he made it brighter and dimmer.

“Mother always told me she had to draw energy from herself to make anything work,” he thought.

“I am not using my energy, at least I don’t think I am. It feels as if I am drawing from the world around me,” he said out loud. “Is that what she could feel and see, is that what scared her?” He wondered. He put the dark stone away in the little pocket and continued walking. He could feel his feet getting hotter in the heavy, down-lined boots. He thought about how far to the first village, two days riding a horse or wagon. “Well, I will just take longer to get there on foot is all.”

Back at the compound, the next morning a fight had started. The oldest son wanted to know where Ledger was. “Mother, the little rat was to be our ticket to wealth once he found his skills.” The man ranted in a red-faced rage. “Did he finally figure out how to get around the little girls trick and you sent him away?”

Minda refused to look up and meet her eldest sons, Grantham’s eyes. He was evil in her view and in the eyes of most that knew him. What scared her the most now was that he might hurt her to gain what he wanted. Her husband wasn’t home and she wouldn’t be able to defend herself against him without killing him. She shuddered and the memories of long years past surfaced and suddenly she realized she did not need help. At one time in her life, she was deadly to any that tried to touch her. Remembering her defenses, she ran her hands down her blouse and across the front of her skirt. As she did so, she made it so if he touched her, he would be thrown away from her violently. She knew he could not sense what she had done and waited for the inevitable.

“Where did you send him Mother?” he yelled at her. When she refused to answer, he reached out to grab her. As his right hand grasped her by one arm, Grantham was abruptly driven away from her by the force of the defense enchantment she had used. He flew across the room and smashed into the hard stone wall face first. He slid down and didn’t move right away. After a minute, he began to regain his senses and tried to figure out what had just happened. He felt several teeth loosened in his throbbing mouth and spit on the floor, something that always angered Minda. He saw blood and several teeth hit the floor. He turned and looked at his mother, white-hot rage now clouding his vision. While he was down, she had reinforced her defenses and added a nasty additional bit. If he came at her again, he would not live long. Part of her power came from something other. All she knew was it was from one family member from the far past that had gained this power.

He charged her with a roar and she allowed him to grab her in a bear hug. He squeezed for only a second then collapsed to the floor lifelessly. She felt stronger than she had in decades. She had just drawn out his life energy and fed on it. She would need to leave her home now. This was the one skill she was forbidden to use, even in battle. All she knew of it, it was not something to be used lightly or often. She now had enough energy to escape her husband’s anger once he returned and saw what she had done. Rather than flee though, she remained, kneeling by the corpse of her eldest son.

In a house nearby, Minda sat and cried. She had, had to kill her oldest son in the dream. She knew for a fact, to die in the dream was to die in the real world. She waited for Baron to join her. She needed to be held and loved after what she had been forced to do.

In the distant crypt, the Vampire felt a faint twisting of power, his power. “Ah,” he thought, “One of my children’s descendants had awoken to their gift I gave so long ago.” He smiled at what that could mean to him. “There must be many out there now, all just waiting to be awakened by the need to feed.” He then returned to his slumber and watching the Blood Queen deal with failure after failure of her own plans.

Ledger walked as far as he could before the sun had set. He looked around and decided that staying in sight of the road at night would not be a wise choice. Looking around the wooded road edge he could see a small clearing to one side back from the road. He made his way through the stiff tall brush to what he hoped would be a good place to stop and rest. He pulled out the blanket that was at the top of the pack, wrapped it around himself and sat with his back to a large oak tree. This done, he slid his pack into one side so he could reach inside to a small pouch that held some dried meats and fruits. He ate and drank from his one water bottle and waited for sleep to come. It didn’t. He waited and listened to the night, hearing bats as they flew around, frogs and bugs as they sang in the night. He heard what sounded light footsteps nearby, then a snort of an animal and the sounds moved away.