Free Chosen by Lisa Mears

couch, hugging a cushion to
her stomach; not having eaten much, the wine was beginning to take
effect.
‘What is a singer?’ she asked,
‘I’ve never heard of that before.’
‘So you know about telepaths
and psychics then, that’s something I wasn’t expecting,’ said
Daria, sipping her wine.
‘We have psychics and telepaths
here,’ explained Max, ‘but most people don’t take them seriously,
and some would go so far as to ridicule them.’
‘Ridicule them! In our world
energy workers are highly revered and greatly respected.’ Daria
seemed quite shocked by what Max had said.
Gilster explained about how a
singer works with the elements of nature to change their shape, she
listened, hardly believing what she was hearing.
‘Now we must work out what your
talent is, little one,’ said Gilster. ‘Do you work with energy in
any way?’ asked Daria, pouring herself another wine.
‘Yes . . . yes I do, I suppose,
when I practice reiki I let the universal energy flow through me,
like I’m a conduit.’
‘And what happens to this
energy?’ asked Gilster.
‘It heals.’
‘Well, we’ve found your gift
then,’ said Haven, ‘you’re a healer.’
‘I’m also a nurse,’ said Max,
‘which would be another kind of healer, I suppose.’
‘Thank Minerva,’ said Daria
sounding distinctly relieved, ‘a healer will be very important to
have on our journey.’
The day’s events had finally
taken their toll on Max who had fallen asleep on the couch, her
head resting on Haven’s shoulder; he carefully took the half full
glass of wine from her fingers and placed it on the table.
‘Well, what do we do now?’ he
whispered, smiling down at the sleeping Max. ‘Our host seems to be
. . . indisposed.’
‘I’ll keep watch for the first
few hours,’ said Gilster, ‘we can’t be too careful. Anubis’
followers may decide to return.’
‘That’s not likely,’ said Daria
yawning, ‘surely, if they’d thought this was Max’s home they would
have waited for her to return?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Gilster, ‘ but
I’d rather not risk it, you two sleep for now; Haven can take the
next watch and Daria you can have until the morning.’ Daria was
already snoring softly, curled up in an arm-chair, a blanket over
her knees. Haven just nodded, not wanting to wake Max.
Gilster went outside and sat in
an old, wicker chair on the front porch. The stars were shining and
it would be a full moon in a couple of days, so he could see
clearly enough. The night was cool but not cold; wrapping himself
in his cloak he leaned back in his chair, put his booted feet up on
the railing and thought about all that had happened since their
arrival in this strange world. He wasn’t sure that he liked this
world much, it was very noisy and there were a lot of people, not
at all like his quiet, peaceful home. But that was before Timus
caused the burning of the temple, and death and destruction had
come to Elaxier, no, his home was no longer the same, it had
changed forever. He thought about what was ahead, it was not going
to be easy, in fact, it was even possible some might not finish the
journey; the thought made him sad.
After a few hours of musing he
went back inside. Haven was asleep, his arm protectively around
Max, Gilster smiled as he put a blanket over them. He sat watch the
whole night, listening intently for any sound that may pose a
threat, but the night remained silent.
Morning came and Max was
extremely embarrassed about falling asleep the night before,
leaving her guests to fend for themselves.
‘I cannot apologise enough,’
she said, ‘it was so rude of me.’
‘Please,’ said Gilster, ‘don’t
worry about it, we all managed and no damage done.’
‘Truth be told,’ said Haven,
‘we weren’t far behind you in falling asleep. But good old Gil
saved us and stood watch all night while we slept like babies,
thanks Gil, but you should have woken me, I would have stood my
watch.’
‘Today is another day,’ said
Daria