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How long had that been there?
Layell stared at it in disbelief. It was camouflaged perfectly. The colors, lights, and shadows blended so perfectly with the forest. As Layell moved her head slightly to change her angle of view, the camouflage changed to adjust. It was perfectly hidden. The fact that she and Fhuel had walked along this very path thousands of times and never seen it before was not at all surprising. They had probably looked right at it before, touched it maybe. The peculiar thing was that they could see it now.
Or Layell could, anyway.
She glanced at her brother. Fhuel was staring into the spot just as intently as she, and equally frozen with bewilderment. But as Layell looked into his eyes, she knew that he did not see the same thing she did. She knew her twin too well to think that his present wonderment shared the same source as hers. Fhuel turned his gaze on her.
"Do you see the Shalzs?" he asked.
Layell started. The Shalzs? She looked back at the object. Of course that's what it was. She nodded slowly.
"What do you see?" she asked.
"The Charst," came the somewhat obvious reply.
"Why do we see these?" she asked.
Fhuel shook his head. "I don't know."
Layell was too awed to do anything more. The Shalzs and the Charst. They had been lost, or hidden, rather, for centuries. People had searched the world over, always unsuccessful, doomed to failure before they even began looking. By this day the searches had died off, and even belief in their very existence was fading. And here two young humans had stumbled across them, in the middle of a forest they had played in all through their childhoods, on the side of a path they had crossed nearly every day of their lives.
The Shalzs and the Charst. Layell and Fhuel.
What could it possibly mean?
Chapter 2
Submitted by David Carroll http://www.crosswinds.net/~bwrayne/index.html
Reaching down, Fhuel lifted the Charst in his hands. Layell could see it now, and she felt compelled to pick up the Shalzs. From Fhuel's reaction, she knew he could see it too. They stood there, caught up in a spell neither of them understood.
The Shalzs pulsed through Layell, exploring every part of her body and mind. The outside world dimmed as the Shalzs enveloped her. She could feel it trying to control her. Fighting back, she knew if she gave in now the events of her life would be beyond her control. If she gave in now, she might as well be dead.
Fighting back the wave of panic, she stood her ground, letting the Shalzs meld with her consciousness, but retaining control of her mind. Feeling some of the importance of this event, she gave a cheer that shook the trees. Without someone to share its power, Layell was the soul bearer of the Shalzs. She was reborn.
The world refocused, and Layell saw her brother struggling with the Charst. She almost reached out to help him, but the Shalzs forbid it. She knew that if she helped him now, there would come a day he would fail. So, she waited patiently for an hour as he struggled to control the male half of the Power. From the centuries of experience that were now hers she knew that the male half was harder to control. Always had been. Many failed, but there had always been many others to take up the challenge.
Her heart ached as she saw Fhuel failing. He fell to one knee, holding the Charst as high in the air as he could. Then, all a sudden, he stood up, clasping the Charst in both hands and gave a loud shout. It rang through the forest for several minutes. He turned to her with a smile and she smiled back. They hugged, feeling the power within each other, knowing that only the other could destroy them now. Knowing that they must remain good friends, or the world would turn once more to chaos. Knowing that their parents, neighbors and friends were on their way, coming to see why they had yelled.
Chapter 3
Submitted by Anonymous
Suddenly Fhuel pulled back from his sister. "We can’t let them know!" he exclaimed.
Layell looked at him a moment in concern. It was a bad sign if he wanted to keep his Power secret.
Seeing her expression, Fhuel shook his head. "No, think! What would happen if word got out that we were chosen? That the Charst and the Shalzs have resurfaced? We have to act as though nothing has happened. We cannot tell them until the right moment. Think of Daben!"
For a moment Layell was about to argue that they didn’t know any Daben, but before she could open her mouth a memory began to resurface. A strange memory, from long before Layell’s life began. It was very strange indeed to look into a memory older than oneself. It was quite vague, but enough to understand her brother’s warning. Daben had not kept the Power secret, and that had been his downfall.
Quietly she nodded. "But what will we tell them?"
"Nothing," he said.
"But--"
"They will just forget." He interrupted her protest.
"But how?"
Fhuel took her hand and placed it over the Shalzs. "They will just forget," he repeated meaningfully.
The next part is up to you.
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