Chapter V-Are We There Yet?

Nothing but clouds and blue skies could be seen from outside the windows of the carriage. Morgan was in the stagecoach directing the marobas to their next destination. Pawn decided to rest in Alan’s lap while he and Jonathan were getting on talking about sports and some other vague topics that Mayu found very boring. Every once and a while Alan would glance over at Elijah; he wanted to look at her a little longer, but he didn’t want to been seen staring. He had the greatest urge to at least talk to her, but shyness was getting to him and just continued to talk with Jonathan.

Mayu was about to doze off until she looked beside her to find the fire soldier still a little melancholy with her head was on her knees. At least she was courteous enough to take her shoes off before putting her feet on the purple velvet seat. Mayu continued to look at the emotionally distraught Elijah who was still a little upset about leaving her parents.

 “Um…Elijah?” Mayu said nudging her out of her daze.

“Yeah?” Elijah said bringing her head up from her knees. It actually looked more like she was asleep.

“Um…you still sad about leaving your parents?” Mayu asked.

“Just a little, now I’m a little more confused than upset,” she replied. Mayu looked at her with confusion. “I mean, aren’t y’all in some way confused about all that has happened?” she said aloud. Jonathan and Alan were brought out of their discussion by her statement. Mayu looked at them then looked back at her; she felt a little immature when she really couldn’t reply to the statement.

After a brief silence and exchanging looks, Alan finally spoke up, “Well I suppose we were a little confused at first,” he said looking at his hands petting Pawn’s head afraid to look her in the eye. “But when you think about it, it all makes since about where our powers come from. If Morgan hadn’t told us of our powers, then we might’ve gone mad trying to find a reasoning behind everything that’s happening not only to us, but around us,”

“He’s right…” Jonathan replied. “Besides, you’re not the only one who’s upset about being parted from our parents,”

“Jonathan, that was rude…” Mayu said in a harsh whisper.

“What it’s true, we’ve all lost ours…but she still has them!” Jonathan started back at Mayu.

“They’re not…my real parents,” Elijah said bring her feet down off the seat. Somehow it pained her to say that.

“Yeah Jonathan, did you forget what Morgan said? She’s adopted!” Mayu scolded.

“What’s the difference?!”

“Jonathan!” Mayu shouted.

“Hey! Easy now!” Morgan shouted back.

“Sorry Elijah,” Mayu apologized for her supposed comrade. Jonathan just looked out the window.

“My real parents left me on Kate and Marty’s doorstep when I was an infant. According to the letter that was in the basket with me, I’m not even from the same country,”

“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” Alan said; he now felt a little more comfortable talking with her.

“The letter was in a different language. I don’t remember what language it was though,” Elijah replied.

“Don’t you still have the letter?” Mayu asked.

“It’s buried in our attic somewhere. It’s been a long time since we went to clean up there,” Elijah responded.

Alan smiled admirably at her as he said, “Sounds like you’ve got a very good family anyway. I’m not exactly proud of saying this, but my mother was pregnant with me at the age of fourteen,”

“Really?” said Elijah. All three of them looked at him with interest as he continued. He was really glad that he managed to attract Elijah’s attention and the fact that he was actually talking with her.

“Yeah, she died shortly after she gave me up. She was involved in a drug ring…and she had gotten murdered in crossfire. Well, that’s what the nuns had told me,” Alan said.

“That’s rotten luck, my mom died recently of mysterious causes. The authorities are leaning toward murder…” Jonathan added slumping back into the seat.

“My parents were murdered also,” Mayu added to the sorrow laden conversation.

“Wait…so we’re all orphans?” asked Elijah.

“That’s what it looks like,” smiled Alan. They all discovered that they had one terrible thing in common; they all had no contact with their real parents. Elijah was fostered, Alan was dumped on an orphanage doorstep, Mayu was robbed of her parents, and jealousy and anger took Jonathan’s mother. Finding just this one thing heightened their friendship. The four began to talk about other things they might have in common to lift the mood a little, when the carriage gave a terrible jolt. The bump sent Mayu and Elijah into the arms of their male counterparts. Both boys blushed as they helped the girls back into their seats. Pawn managed to recover from falling on the floor and found his way into Jonathan’s lap.

“Oi Morgan, what’s the deal?!” Jonathan called through a small window that allowed them to see the stagecoach.

“Sorry, I seem to hit some turbulence. We’ll be landing soon, so be sure to brace yourselves,” Morgan replied. The four held-fast for landing while the marobas came down and landed the carriage on the soft sand of a beautiful beach.

“Alright everyone, we’re here,” Morgan called from the stagecoach. They climbed out and saw nothing but miles of beautiful, vacant beach as far as the eye could see.

“Wow, is this the island?” asked Mayu.

“No, we’re actually on the coast of west Ireland,” replied Morgan. The others looked at him in confusion.

“I thought this place looked familiar, but…um Morgan?” Jonathan said, Pawn following closely at his heels.

“Yes?”

“If this isn’t the island…” he began. “Then what the hell are we doing here!”

Morgan walked calmly to Jonathan after his sass. “Because we cannot reach the island by air. I’ll explain later, but right now we need to get goi…” he was cut off by a short, fat man who dressed like a pirate.

“Morgan my good fellow!” the pirate bellowed. There was something kind of odd about his face.

“Oi, Gally!” Morgan said back as he brought him into a friendly embrace. “Guys, this is Gally Williams,” he said as he brought him forth so they could see him better. Their jaws dropped…this man had a dog’s face.

“Charmed!” he happily said as he came to them, Pawn cowered behind Jonathan as he saw a much larger dog than himself. “So these are the four legendary soldiers of God,” he looked on with a smile. The soldiers looked at him with disbelief; was this guy real? They were so dumbfounded that they could barely even give him salutation. Morgan motioned for them to stop being rude and say hello. They all gave him a much shaken greeting as they gawked at his unusual facial structure.

Morgan sighed, “I’m so sorry for their rudeness, Gally,”

“Ah, don’t be. I’d be pretty shocked myself if I saw something I thought I would never see in a lifetime,” he said as he began to lead the marobas to follow him. “You see kids; I’m what you call a Mayladen.”

“A what?” They said in unison as they began to walk with him.

“A mayladen is an animal with human-like features, such as walking upright, speaking in human tongue, and grow to an average human height, as well as donning incredible animal-like features,” he explained. “We can also be different races, as in being the different animals mayladens can be, such as dogs, cats, deer, foxes and so on,”

The soldiers were still dumbfounded by the person with a black and white dog’s face was talking to them. Before long, they would come up to a dock with a small pirate ship waiting for them. Their fascination then turned to the ship with towering sails that seemed too big for it.

“Welcome Soldiers, to the Primrose!” Gally said proudly. “She ain’t much, but she’s weathered more storms than anyone could ever imagine,”

The ship was decorated with beautiful handcrafted pink buttercups by which the ship was named after. Crewmen that were working on the decks were also mayladens whose “races” included badgers, foxes, and even squirrels all preparing the ship for another voyage. A large port-side gate was open to allow large cargo; such as the carriage, to be loaded on to the ship.

“Wow, fancy pirate ship,” said Alan looking up to take in the ship’s beautiful glory.

“Yes, she is a beauty. Gally said he built it with his own two hands along with his father before he passed. Unfortunate how his father didn’t get to see the finished ship before he died,” Morgan explained. He could still see amazement and near disbelief in their eyes. “Anyway, I’ll go help load the carriage on to the ship, you four can follow Mrs. Williams to the dining room for lunch,” he said motioning to a fox mayladen that was supposedly Gally’s wife. They climbed the stairs that were let down to board their most expected guests. Mrs. Williams came to greet them as they reached the top. The mayladen women behind her appeared to be handmaids.

“My word, if it isn’t the glorious four that I’ve heard so much about,” she said with a smile curving gently across her foxy face. She was dressed in what looked like 19th century attire and holding a tray of cookies for them. “C’mon down into the dining room, I have lunch ready,” she said; she seemed to have a bit of French accent in her voice.

Mrs. Williams led her honored guests to a rather large dining room that also seemed too large for the ship itself. It was bright and colorful; dressed in silver and scarlet. There was a long table with many places set and lavished with an extravagant entrée with several ingredients to put together sub sandwiches along with side dishes of chips and cheese fries.

“That looks fit for a king! Did you make all this yourself Mrs. Williams?” asked Mayu.

“Oh heavens no, I have plenty of help in the kitchen!” she replied cheerfully. “Well, are you just going to stand there and look at it or are you going to…how you say, chow down?”

They all smiled at her and sat down at the table to prepare their plates. A little while later Morgan and Gally came in to join them. “Oh, before we eat guys one of our customs on the island is that we always say a grace prayer before eating our meals,” Morgan said aloud.

“Say grace?” asked Jonathan whose customs were just as lost as his family.

“Oh yeah, we used to say grace before eating at the orphanage,” said Alan.

“Yes, it’s a very noble custom that we are going to inherit, so lets just push our plates up and bring our hands together,” he ordered. “Right then, let’s begin,” he said as they began to recite the prayer.

Bless us oh Lord,

For this our bountythat you have graciously bestowed on us.

We humbly thank you for this

And all that you have provided,

An odd sort of energy was building up inside the soldiers as they recited this prayer. So much so that they began to glow with their respected colors of blue, red, green, and gold. This came as no surprise to the others; the soldiers had their eyes closed so they couldn’t really see what was happening. However, there was no doubt that they were feeling the energy as it filled them up. Morgan just turned back to his prayer hands to give the blessings.

“Lord, we thank you for bestowing us this meal in which we are about to partake, and also…” he paused, he looked deep into his heart for the next blessing in the hopes that God himself would hear it. “Thank you for guiding me to gathering your four soldiers. I promise you that we will do everything in our power to protect and save your most cherished creation. May you bless these four with your awesome power and better their abilities not only in strength but in heart and mind, and in giving all trust and love to you,”

“That was beautiful,” Mrs. Williams said as she looked at Morgan.

“Thank you,” he smiled. “Right now, the sign of the cross…”

Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

As it was in the beginning,

Is now and ever shall be

World without end. 

Amen.

“Here, here, let’s eat!” Gally said like a cheerful drunk. He did manage to bring the soldiers out of their mysterious trance. The four looked at each other confused.

“Uh…What just happened?” said Alan looking perplexed at Morgan.

“This is the first time you four have ever prayed together. The energy you felt is purely that of…bonding” he responded. “This initial spiritual bonding is a reminder that no matter what happens you four will always find a way to work together,”

“Even if we start to argue or fight?” Mayu asked as she looked toward the one who started a heated argument with her earlier.

“Now you shouldn’t be doing that in the first place, love!” Gally said. “But even as having a brother/sister fray can be unavoidable, God wants to be sure that you know that only by working together as brothers and sisters will you triumph,” he said as he began to serve the wine. “So he created a spiritual bond between the new soldiers in the hopes that you four will always work together to the very end!”

“That’s right, you four will be like family,” Morgan continued. “You will eat, sleep, work, learn, and prosper together. You will have to get used to being in each other’s company and it all starts with believing and praying together,” he paused. “That…is the energy you felt,”

A silent “wow” escaped from Elijah’s lips. So much has happened in so little time. Their entire life has been changed in a matter of a couple of days. What was surprising to Morgan was that there were hardly any conflicting or overwhelming emotions were affecting the soldiers despite the life changes he had just put them through. He knew, however, that young adults love to close up their emotions until they run them ragged. So he should only expect to be aware and at their side when their emotions decide to boil over.

They happily ate and chatted amongst various topics for what seemed like a couple of hours. Jonathan’s hand kept going under the table to feed Pawn scraps. One of the crewmen who were working on the upper decks came down to whisper something in Gally’s ear who replied with a nod. He then spoke up to make a little announcement.

“Well, according to my first mate, it seems we’re almost at the island.” Gally announced.

“Wait, we left already?” Elijah asked.

“Sure, we left dock as soon as the carriage was set on board,” Morgan replied.

“Wow, I didn’t even feel the ship shove off…” Jonathan said.

“Well I got to see the “shove off” after we loaded the carriage,” said Morgan. “I guess I should warn you about a rough obstacle we hit before we get to Akira,”

“You didn’t tell them about it Morgan?” Gally said astonished.

“Slipped my mind, I haven’t had to go through it since my first time to the island eons ago!” Morgan whispered to him.

“An obstacle?” Mayu looked a little frightened.

“Yes, you see the Island of Akira is not only protected by a sacred invisible shield, but also by a ring of storm called Torment. This storm is just as powerful as a category five hurricane,” he explained. The look on the soldier’s faces grew a little tense. “This eternal storm was set to deem those worthy of making it to the island,”

“So God doesn’t think we’re worthy? Aren’t we doing this all for Him?” Jonathan said with what seemed to be a hint of anger. Pawn whimpered as began to cower under the table.

“Yes we are doing this for Him, but that isn’t the reason why we’re barred from entering the island unscathed,” Morgan said at this snide remark. “This is a test of strength…for he said that if you can’t survive the storm, you can’t survive on the island,” There was an intense pause; the four looked down in disbelief. “Now I want to make it clear that even though the island is holy and sacred, it isn’t 100% safe. There are dangers on the island that you wouldn’t believe. This is mainly due to the many creatures that inhabit it,” After another long, apprehensive, pause, Mayu spoke up.

“And what sorts of creatures would there be on the island?” a hint of fear rose in her voice.

“Well apart from the mayladen races and marobas, there are animals that have been extinct from the mainlands, as well as a few creatures of whom were thought to be mythical by mankind,” Morgan replied.

“Wait, when you say, animals that have been extinct from the mainlands, do you mean…like…prehistoric species?” Elijah spoke up.

“Yes,” Morgan responded.

“Dinosaurs? T-rex?!?” Elijah said mouth agape.

“Yes, Elijah, and he’s right, most of these animals aren’t necessarily…nice…” Gally replied to the comment. “Except maybe the mayladen races, but even they can be a little grumpy,”

“But just because there are dangers on the island doesn’t mean that there is a massive amount of death,” explained Mrs. Williams said trying to calm the nerves of the soldiers whose expressions were growing edgy. “You four are the incarnations of legendary soldiers for goodness sake! All from whom you gained extraordinary power. So I really don’t think defense or even protection from other animals is going to be a major problem for you,”

“Well that might be true…but, they really don’t understand their full potential yet,” Morgan added. “We’ll just have to see when the storm starts…”

Alan hardly spoke at all in the conversation; if any part of it was unnerving to them, it was bothering him the most. He tried not to think of the negative effect that could cause him fear. This was the first battle the four soldiers would face in a test of strength.

“So what happens if we don’t pass God’s…test of strength?” Alan finally spoke up.

“I think that might be a little obvious, Alan,” Elijah answered gently. “This is another “do or die” battle…” she tried to smile, but the actual realization of that statement brought her down as well.

“Yes, but that shouldn’t be a problem. All you really have to do is listen to my instructions,” said Morgan. The four nodded, but by the look of their faces their nerves were still a little uneasy. “Now the only way you’re going to pass this is to give it all you’ve got. Then, before you know it you will be across the brim and on the island,”

There was a shout from the crow’s nest and commotion was made on the upper decks. “Hmm…It’s time…” Gally said looking at the soldiers. They all followed him onto the portside of the ship. Gally began to show his captain side.

“Everyone brace yourselves! Batten down the hatches! Tie down everything that’s not already nailed to the floor! Men get ready for the ride of your life!” Gally shouted to the crew and got his first mate off the steering wheel and took it over himself. In the distance, massive storm clouds can be seen covering the sky.

“This is it, the calm before the storm has ended…” Morgan said looking out to the storm.

Go to Chapter Six:  Survival