Earth Too: Hidden Talents

By Kent Stinger

Earth Too is the tale of two sisters, one of Royal Birth, and one Born while her mother is in exile on this Mother Earth. One raised to lead her People against the evil wizard Zeus the third and his Tree Sprits and dragons. The other sister who is raised without the knowledge of her sisters and mothers origin, or the special talents they inherited from Earth Too. Will Kendra change the minds of those of the High Council of Earth Too and change their medieval views of women. Or will she be charged with treason for saving her life by using weapons, a skill forbidden to women. Will her sister MaKayla who at the age of accountability showed no signs for possessing special talents, be able to help save her. Will the members of the Ebo tribe of Earth Too, who we call Big Foot here, except MaKayla as an equal when they find out she is of their mixed breed and know of their great secret? The fate of two worlds lies in the hands of these two young women and If they fail Zeus and his dominion will enslave Earth Two, and move their fight to Mother Earth? Follow the path of the two sisters as they battle prejudice and evil on both sides of the battle lines.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kent Stinger
• Release date: Dec 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310214097

Book preview

Chapter 1

MaKayla looked over the shoulder of the young man she was dancing with at her friends; they all waved and gave her a thumbs up. With a smile she turned her head and kissed him on the cheek, and then thanked him for the dance. He pulled her close, she inhaled his cologne, and for a moment she wished she could just melt into his arms. Let’s go get something to drink. He whispered in her ear.

I’d love to. She replied. But my bladder fells like it’s going to explode.

Don’t be long. He replied with a smile that could melt an iceberg.

For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to remove his arms from around her, and for a moment, she wasn’t sure if she truly wanted him to. Finally, as the last notes of the song echoed through the gym, he took her hand and after kissing the ends of her fingers, let her go.

Dodging her friends, and their dates, she made her way out into the hallway, only to find a long line in front of the restroom door. Since the real reason she was headed for the restroom was to get away from the crowd of people inside the gym, the line didn’t look like it would be a wise choice. Veering to her left, she exited through one of the side doors to the parking lot. She had to get some place where there was some room to breathe; she was suffocating inside the gym. Well maybe suffocating was a little too harsh a word; feeling pinned in was more like it. Looking up at the stars, and taking a deep breath, she began to feel a little better, not so penned up.

She thought about the changes she’d felt the past few years, like how she’d been able to feel anyone who came close to her. How cool she thought it was that when they were within a few feet of her and she knew they were even before she seen them. It was just like a ninja movie. Of course as she got older she knew that the movies were only make-believe. But the changes she was going through were real, or at least they felt real. In fact during her senior year things had rapidly increased to a point that what she once thought was cool, now scared her.

Now it seemed she could feel people from several yards away, sometimes father, even now she could still feel those inside the gym. It was no longer cool, now when she was in a large group of people, those feeling over whelmed her. She felt as if they were crushing her sometimes. Tonight was one of those times, and the feelings frightened her.

To make things even more complicated, last month she found she could not only tell the location of the people around her, even weirder, each person seemed to emit a different sort of feeling. These feelings made it possible for her to identify anyone she’d met before, everyone felt, well, different. --- It was madding.

Even more madding, was the fact that in the last few weeks she found she couldn’t shut them out. It was as if all those around her were closing in on her, crushing her. When the feelings first began to grow more intense, she’d thought about telling someone, but thought it better not to, but now? Maybe she should at least tell her sister, maybe she could help her come up with a reasonable explanation, after all, she was the brightest person she knew, and some even called her a genius.

Looking up at the stars, she hoped she could find away to talk to her sister about it now that they were going to be living together again. However, being with her sister wasn’t the main reason she was moving in with her grandfather and sister. It was because the big house, as the family had always called it, was far enough away from the neighbors to dim all those feelings. There she felt more relaxed, and free.

Feeling more calm now that she was a little father from the crowd she moved away from the building, and the farther away from the crowd she got, the less anxiety she felt from their presence. But even out here she felt a few others; two of whom were coming her way. With an overwhelming desire not to be seen, she headed for the far side of the stairs to the parking lot. What she really didn’t want to do again, was to explain why she didn’t have a date for the party. The answer was simple, well at least to her it was. She just wasn’t sure if she could stand to be around all the other students all night, and she was right. Going single made it possible for her to just leave, a date would have, --- well, complicated things.

When she told her best friends she planned on going to the dance stag, they thought her deranged. After all she was one of the most popular girls in high school. Getting a date had never been a problem for her; with all the requests she received, the problem had always been which one to except. As for dances, she’d always been the first on the floor, and the last off. In fact a class president she was incharge of the committee that planed this dance.

As the two figures in the parking lot came closer, she looked for a place to hide. She didn’t feel much like talking right now, but after looking around, she saw she was trapped on the steps with nowhere to hide. She recognized their presence; they were a couple of the intellectuals her friends liked to call geeks. Having an older sister who also fit into that same intellectual category, she’d always felt a need to be friendly with them. In fact her yearbooks held many a written phrase commenting her on how much they appreciated her friendship, and she was voted the most likeable student for the school year book.

MaKayla moved to the far side of the steps and continued down, she just wanted to get to her car and go home to the big house. Again she felt a strong desire to just hide, more intense now than before. Looking over at the two boys, her vision blurred for a moment and she felt a powerful wave of nausea. Her legs began to shake, and it was all she could do to move down the far side of the steps, hoping to go unnoticed.

Hold up! The tallest one said holding up his hand to stop the other boy with him, and he looked in her direction.

She stopped dead in her tracks, and held her breath, and her bubbling stomach. Great, now I’ll have to at least wish them well in their future endeavors. She thought. That is if she didn’t puke first.

What is it, Carlos? The other boy asked in an annoyed tone.

I could swear I heard footsteps over there. He said pointing at MaKayla. It sounded like those floppy shoes girls wear.

Glen laughed and punched his friend in the shoulder. Do you think it’s your princess? Maybe she’s coming to escort you into the ball! Or are you so hard up for female companionship you’ve started to hallucinate.

Know! Really I did!Carlos stood for a few more minutes staring right at her. She was about to say something, when the gym doors swung open.

Looking back up the stairs, she saw one of her friends exit the gym with her boyfriend. Looking over to Carlos, and Glen, but she ignored them.

Carlos looked in her direction one last time, and then turned and quickly followed his friend up the stairs. Both trying hard not to pass to close to her friend and her friend’s date.

She watched as they ran through the doors, then back at her friend; and saw the boy she was with kissing her on the back of her neck. Stop that will you?

Why? You seemed to like it when I did it while we were dancing.

I told you I wanted to talk with MaKayla.

He stood up straight and looked down the steps to the parking lot. I don’t see her anywhere. He then kissed her on the forehead.

After looking down the steps herself, her friend giggled, and pulled her boyfriend into the shadows.

Dumbfounded MaKayla didn’t move, even after they finally went back inside the school, she just stared up at the doors in shock. She couldn’t wrap herself around what just happened. Why had they been so rude? Slipping off her shoes she quickly headed for her car. She could feel others out here, but they were grouped in pairs, and she didn’t have to investigate to know what they were up to, one thing was for sure, they were defiantly not interested in what she was doing.

As she approached her car she held up her remote and unlocked it, quickly opened the door, and jumped in, tossing her shoes into the back seat. Taking a moment to finally relax, she laid her head on the steering wheel. Her stomach seemed to feel a little more settled.

Tonight was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life wasn’t it? Your High School graduation party was to build a memory that was to last forever. Yeh, well it will most defiantly be one that I will not forget soon that’s for sure. She said out loud to the reflection in the side window as she started the car. By the time she reached the highway she began to ponder on what had just transpired on the school steps. Why did Carlos and Glen act like she wasn’t there? She’d always gone out of her way to be friendly to them. In fact Glen had helped her last year with her trigonometry class. As hard as she tried, to her dismay she couldn’t think of any reason for them to be mad at her. And why had Sally ignored her? Well the way she clung to the lineman sort of explained it, she had always let her hormones run her life.

Saddened and confused MaKayla stared out the window of her car at road. So engrossed was she in her thoughts, she didn’t even realize that she’d taken the turn off to the wooded back road, a short cut to the big house. A road she’d never driven herself, but one she’d traveled on many times in the past with her parents.

She thought again about talking this over with her sister Kendra when she got home, but then shook her head. She’d think I was crazy if I told her about this, not to mention everything else. For that matter maybe I am crazy, after all would any sane person be driving out here alone in the dark talking to their own reflection?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she caught the sight of a small white cross on the side of the road. Suddenly she realized which road she’d taken, and that she was also on the wrong side of the road, at the sharpest curve in the road, dead man’s curve. Over correcting she shot back across the road and into the dirt towards a large tree, quickly making another correction she missed the tree and bounced back onto the road. Then after making one last wild quick correction; she made it around the curve. Panting scared, and shaking all over, she pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the car. Taking a few deep breaths to help her calm down, she opened the door and stepped out. Almost falling, she garbed the door and waited until her legs stopped shaking, then she walked around the car and sat down on a stump.

Holding her head in her shaking hands, she closed her eyes, and practiced the deep breathing exercises she’d leaned from her father and Armithist. Sitting there with the cool night air blowing in her face, she savored the scent of the tall pine trees, and the moss that hung from their branches. Again she relived all the events that had happened in her life lately, especially the events that happen just earlier. So much of her life was changing and most of it she didn’t have any clue what to do about it. Worse her emotions seemed to be effected by the changes too. Even out here she felt as if someone was approaching.

Suddenly she was engulfed in the head lights of a car making the sharp turn. After it past she heard it slow down, stop, and then back up. Are you alright? A middle age woman called out. You’re not hurt are you?

I’m fine thank you. I just needed to do some thinking.

The man driving said something to the woman and she giggled. Boy trouble?

Forcing as smile MaKayla lied. Something like that.

Well you and your friend should get home. It’s not safe out here you know.

Then before she could reply they drove off. My friend? MaKayla stood up and looked around. Who was she talking about? Standing, she quickly walked to the back of her car, MaKayla knew she was alone; there was no one she could feel around her. Concentrating, for the first time to purposely feel for the presence of another person she closed her eyes and waited. Nothing. She said aloud. Great, when I don’t want to feel anything I can’t block anyone out, but when I don’t. Nothing!

Then suddenly she felt a small glimmer of someone, or something, although the feelings she felt were, well, different. She opened her eyes and looked across the road just a head of her car. For a moment she figured she had started to imagine the feelings, then she saw one of the wild rhododendrons move. Tensing up she was ready to bolt for the front car door, when a small doe stepped out from the shadows and timidly crossed the road. MaKayla watched as she turned her head and looked at her as if nothing was wrong, then bounded into the trees next to where she’d been sitting.

Closing her eyes again she felt the doe as she slowly moved farther into the forest. MaKayla felt other; smaller glimmers of things in the woods enter her senses. She watched as a small rabbit hopped out to the side of the road then quickly turned and hopped back into the brush. To her surprise she realized out here, the feelings she sensed made her feel, calmer. She felt at peace, unafraid, welcomed.

She was about to open the car door, when she remembered the white cross. Turning around she walked back down the road towards it, halfway there she wished she’d grabbed her shoes. No sooner had she walked around the bend and out of sight of her car, when suddenly she felt the presence of another person on the side of the road close behind her. She turned quickly taking a defensive stance, one she’d been taught by her father from the time she could walk.

Why so jumpy? A strange tall woman asked her. I only wanted to see if you were alright. You know that was an amazing show of your driving skills you just put on. I’m surprised you didn’t crash in to the trees. As she spoke the woman moved closer.

When the lady stepped on to the road, and into the moon light MaKayla noticed that she was dressed very strange, in fact everything about her felt strange. MaKayla didn’t know why, but something inside her yelled out danger. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t felt her presence until now. A thought she found weird, not to mention the fact that she couldn’t see any sign of a car.

She looked back up the road; the Lady was now between her and her car. MaKayla slowly side stepped farther onto the road trying to find an opening, but her every move was matched by the strange lady as she walked closer.

It would appear you don’t trust me. The Lady said with a wicked smile, one that gave MaKayla goose bumps.

I don’t have any car problems, I just stopped to pay my respects to where my mother and father were killed, so if you don’t mind, I’d like you to move out of my way and let me go home! MaKayla called out, her voice a little shaky. Then realizing what the woman had said about her driving, her fear increased.How did you get here? Are you parked in the woods?

The lady’s smile grew larger. I think you have your mother’s eyes. But that hair could only be from your father’s side of the family.

Startled for a moment MaKayla dropped her guard; --- Suddenly the lady began to shimmer. Confused MaKayla started to move backward off the road, but tripped over the white cross and fell to the ground. Laughter echoed through the trees, terrified MaKayla cried out. Looking for a weapon her hand grasped hold of the white cross and she pulled herself to her feet. As she did, thoughts of her Father and Mother flashed through her mind. Looking at the cross her sister and she had placed here in their memory, her fear turned to anger, anger at herself. All those years of training, all the tournaments she’d won, they all seemed meaningless now that she was faced with a real threat.

As her anger grew, so did a new, but somehow comforting warmth deep inside her, another strange change she was still trying to come to terms with lately. Suddenly the warmth began changing, changing into a burning, a burning that seemed to engulf her whole being. Frightened at first she realized as the burning grew it caused her no pain. In fact for some reason the burning seemed to make her feel stronger, safer, and invincible.

So engrossed by this new sensation, she’d forgotten for a moment about the strange lady until she felt something huge rushing towards her. Looking back to the stranger she saw, not the lady, but a tree, a very large tree, and it was falling atop her. Dropping to her knees with one hand still on the cross, she raised her other hand and screamed.

Farther up the road a terrified Kendra shot up in her bed screaming, staring into the darkness. Well not total darkness, looking around she realized she was in a room, her own room, in her own bed.

With a sigh of relief she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and fell back to her pillows. It’s just another dream about our escape. She said aloud.

No, she thought. Not the same dream, no, this time it was different she realized. This time the dream was interrupted, interrupted by a glowing hand, not to mention a tree, and a very strange, but somehow, familiar woman. This had not happened before, it was not part of the nightmares she’d been having for the last nineteen and a half years of her life.

Bewildered she sat back up, and looked out her bedroom window, out over the garden and up over the trees to the stars in the heavens. I wonder if the heavens look any different from my other home. Slowly she slid from her bed, and slipping her feet into her slippers she grabbed her robe from the foot of her bed then quietly walked out into the hall. After a short pause she turned to her left, and walked down toward the bedroom her sister would now occupy.

It had been five years since they had lived under the same roof. Kendra had moved out shortly after her early graduation from high school and went off to college. Seeking her own space she told her parents. They were opposed at first because she was only sixteen at the time. But the college was in their home town of Salem and she would be staying in an all girls dorm, one whose head mistress was a friend of the family. Besides she had been tired of her little sister following her around. Not to mention her nosey parents getting into her business.

Someday you’ll wish you weren’t so independent and stayed home to go to school. Her stepfather had told her as he held the car door for her.

I’m only going across town Dad. She answered. Not all the way to the moon. Of course it wasn’t like she didn’t see them ever. She was there for dinner on Sundays and here at the big house with her grandfather and her mother three to four nights a week to study the special talents she had been gifted with. If she’d only known then that she’d loose them both in just one short year from her leaving, she would never have left home.

After the car crash that killed both her mother and step-father just four years ago. Her mother’s business and their family home had been sold, her half sister MaKayla had gone to live with her father’s parents to finish school, and help at her father and his partner, Armithist’s business.

Kendra on the other hand had moved out of her dorm, and in with their mother’s father, Grandfather Smith after the funeral. Being on her own just didn’t feel right anymore, and grandfather said he needed some company too. Besides he said it would give them more time for her to spend training on her special talents.

She remembered how excited she was when her talents first started to show. At first the training to control her special talents had been fun, the talents as her grandfather called them, started showing when she reached eight years of age, that’s when her formal training had also begun. At first she was taught by her mother, on not only how to use them, but also on the history of Earth Too, and what her roll there would be when they returned. She’d heard the stories since, well forever, but thought them just that, stories. But her mother kept telling her there was more to them than that.

At puberty her training and studies, became more intense, one of the special talents she had was the Talent of Air configuration, which allowed her to manipulate the molecules in the air. Because of its complexity, she was taught how to handle this talent by both her mother and grandfather, for safety. It only took a couple of mishaps before she realized how dangerous this talent could be. She felt sick for weeks after the last one, but her grandfather kept telling her he didn’t really like the cat anyway. Still she saved her money and bought him another one anyway, but found out later he really didn’t like cats. The poor cat finally ended up at her mother’s shop.

As she entered high school, and then college, it became very hard to train and study. It didn’t leave much time for a social life, not that she ever really had much of a social life any way.

She spent almost all her spare time at the big house where mother and grandfather trained her in her special talents of Discernment, Night sight, Atmospheric Adjustment or Air configuration as it was more commonly called. Discernment was the hardest at first because it allowed you to sense the feelings of others. When this special talent first manifested its self she thought she would go mad, what with the feelings of everyone all around her bombarding her all at once. Luckily for her, it was a special talent her mother had also. So soon, with help from her mother, she was able to minimize the amount of feelings that entered her head.

Adding to all this, her step father, who had no knowledge of these talents, or training, had insisted on teaching her and her half sister the art of self defense, seeing as he owned a martial arts school. In fact that was how he’d met their mother. After leaving the Navy, where he’d been a Navy seal, he’d rented the building next to her mother’s garden nursery. It was a building her grandfather owned. Her step father told her it was love at first sight, her mother never disagreed, and they had gotten married one year later. So it was only natural for him to watch them at the DoJo, after all a nursery filled with plants and other harmful items was not a place for small children.

At first they only mimicked him and his students from the sidelines and played with the equipment. Their dad’s partner, an older man named Armithist, spent a great deal more of his time helping with their training. By the time they began public School they were in formal classes, and tournaments, and they were winning.

As the years went by they went from school to the Do Jo to do their homework, and then do some training, and play with the equipment until mother got off work. As they got older they both started dividing their time between their mothers store and their fathers DoJo, where they also began teaching.

No girl of mine is going to be easy prey for the sickos out there. Her stepfather always said when her mother complained about the amount of time they spent there. That time was filled with many happy memories; she could still see her mom and dad working side by side in the nursery. Summers held the best memories there, for that was a time they all worked, and played together as a family, even more so when grandfather showed up to help.

That training, and helping her mother in the nursery, was the main source of her social life. Although Kendra found that having a father as their sensei made training easier. And she had to admit, she enjoyed the comradely, and winning a few trophies wasn’t bad either. But it was because of all that martial arts training, and the high moral standards she’d been taught at home, that led to her putting the junior high’s star quarterback in the hospital with cracked ribs and a broken arm.

They had just won the city play offs and were going into the regional finals. To celebrate the school sponsored a dance after lunch. Awe struck she watched as one of the schools most popular boys proudly walked across the gym floor. Stopping directly in front of her, he asked her to dance. It was like a scene from the movies; after all she’d not been one of the members of the social crowd. What with being two years younger than the rest of her class.

Because of her age, and grades, the only group she was in contained only two people, Billy Hansen and herself. They had been moved two grades ahead of the others their age in school due to their IQ’s. The fact that she had been born with the Special Talent called Total Recall, had helped put her there.

Things were going great; they had danced to three fast songs then they turned down the lights. A slow song started to play, and he stepped closer putting his arms completely around her pulling her close, she was in heaven, she hoped the song would never end. But it did, and as they turned up the lights, he reached out and gave her left breast a hard squeeze, yelling over his shoulder. Hey guys, they’re real.

Well as they pulled him out of the chairs that lined the gymnasium, one of his teammates gave her the nick name that followed her through the rest of her school days. ---Kendra- the Destroyer. On the bright side however with no social life, it did leave her with more time to study with her mother and grandfather.

Combined with those studies, and her continued success in school, she graduated from high school early, and was named valedictorian to boot. She had also received several scholarship offers from colleges all over the country, as well as a few from overseas. But due to the training with her mother and grandfather, she accepted the one closest to home.

After the dance fiasco she’d spent a lot more time in her grandfather’s library than at her stepfather’s Do Jo, much to his dismay. She did continue to train with him and Armithist alone, and she still competed in the tournaments their school sponsored, but she found it hard to face the boys from her school that her father taught. Besides her sister had proven early on she was a lot better at breaking boards and swinging swords than pretty much everyone else in the school or state for that matter. By the time she reached the same belt rank as Kendra, she had enough trophies, metals and ribbons to fill a whole room at the big house to prove it.

Now with MaKayla graduating High School they were going to room together again. She could hardly wait; Grandfather Smith had let Kendra remodel his quest house in the back by the pool.

So they could have some privacy. He said.

But really Kendra figured at his age he just wanted some peace and quiet in the big house. It would be nice having her around more often again. She’d missed their nightly talks the last four years. Especially since their parents died, Neil was right, she did regret leaving home early.

She didn’t need to turn on a light, seeing in the dark was another one of those special talents she’d been gifted with. She knew the room would be empty, MaKayla after all, was at her all night graduation party, and wouldn’t be home until early in the morning. Unlike her, MaKayla’s social calendar was never empty.

Even though she knew her sister wasn’t there, she felt a strong need to check her room. Opening the door and leaning against the door frame she gazed at the bags and empty boxes scattered about the room that she’d helped her sister carry in and empty the last few days. She’d taken tomorrow afternoon off from work to help her finish unpacking, and get settled in. Hopefully she would be up early enough that they could finish, and have time to visit after being out all night.

As she sought comfort from her sister’s possessions she glanced out through the window towards the big house. There was still a light on in her grandfather’s study; maybe she should go talk with him about her dream. He knew all about her dreams of course, she’d had them for years, but tonight’s dream was different. But yet something about it also felt fairly familiar. It was as though the old dream had been interrupted by another. But this new dream was not so much like a dream, it was as if she’d somehow been transported right there as it happened. There was also something very disturbing about this one, it left her feeling threatened. It activated her protective instincts; is that why she went to MaKayla’s room.

Suddenly it dawn on her. The tree! She cried out aloud. That’s it; I know where I’ve seen that tree, that strange woman before.

Stepping back into the hall she closed the door to her sister’s room, and quickly walked down the hall and out the patio doors. Moving swiftly, but carefully, she moved off the patio, and up the stone path towards the big house, the cool night air felt good. It was filled with the sweet smell of the mint that grew among the stones on the path, giving off their scent as she stepped on them. The moon was full giving off enough light to cast shadows on the ground, shadows that seemed to play tag in the moonlight with her. Always there, but running away when you got close to them.

She entered in through the verandah doors and proceeded down the hall, pausing only long enough for her eyes to readjust to the light. Reaching her grandfathers study she lightly knocked, it wasn’t safe to surprise grandfather. After all he had a few special talents of his own, and she didn’t want to wake up in the morning with a headache or worse.

Yes Kendra; you can come in I’ve been expecting you.

Kendra opened the door to his study. It was a large room much like the library across the hall where she had spent so much of her early years with her mother and grandfather studying and practicing to control her own special talents.

The study had been off limits when she was very young, the books and gadgets here had been for grandfather and her mother’s use only. It had only been over the last few years however that she’d spent most of her time in here reading and learning about the many special talents of the people of Earth Too, and its history. It was not as if the people of Earth Too were much different than those of Mother Earth. Just that, over the years the People of Mother Earth had stopped using the special talents they were born with. True, a few here have been gifted with some degree of the special talents still found on Earth Too. Here though, they were called by different names like, photographic memory, telekinesis, telepathic, as well as other names like mind over matter, and of course, magic. But in truth the special talents were simply the ability to use more of one’s brain. It was a skill that started to diminish in the forefathers of Mother Earth, even before the great flood.

She moved across the room to the small leather sofa next to the fire place, being spring though, there was no need for a fire, but she always found it much more comfortable than any of the chairs. As she settled down onto the overstuffed cushions, she pulled a couple of the large pillows towards her, tucking her feet up under one of them; she hugged the other one close to her chest, savoring the aroma of the leather. Her grandfather came over from his desk, where he’d been working on his computer, probably going over some information on another big investment for his stock firm.

During college she had worked there part-time and quickly discovered she had a knack for it. So after college she went to work for him full-time, and with the aid of her special talent of discernment, which allowed her the sense the feelings of others, she had started meeting with clients, and recommend businesses for them to invest in that fit their personal demeanor.

As he sat down next to her in his big leather chair, he put his feet upon the ottoman, and formed a tent with his fingers up under his chin. You had another one of your dreams didn’t you? I had my window open to let in the cool night air, I heard you cry out. He explained.

What makes you think it was one of my dreams and that I wasn’t being attacked? She teased.

He just looked at her and smiled, she already knew the answer. One of his special talents was the sense of presence; so he was able to sense when others were near, by their aura as he called it. So he knew no one else but her had been in the guest house.

This one was sort of different. She slowly began. I mean everything was the same up to and just after the dragons landed on the rocks and in the meadow. You know just before you pulled us into the cave as father and the others were killed?

Yes, I know all about what happened. He interrupted After all I was there remember.

Yes, well this time it was interrupted by a bright light, it was as if I was on stage under a big spotlight. There was a large tree, a willow tree I think, and it was falling towards me. I raised my hand to stop it, but it didn’t look like my hand, and it was all aglow, when it touched the bark of the tree it burst into flames. This caused the tree to fly backwards with my hand print burned into it.

It had a hand print burnt into it? He asked.

Yes! Kendra replied. And that’s not all, when the tree landed on the ground it began to shimmer then in its place was a lady, a lady with yellow hair in a weird green and brown dress. And that’s not all; the dress had a hole burned through it, and on her chest was a bright red burn in the shape of a hand. She finished speaking and looked at her grandfather. She was trembling again and felt very uneasy. Am I going crazy?

Grandfather sat silently for a short while with a troubled look on his face in deep thought. Leaning forward he asked, How did the hand glow?

What do you mean, how did it glow?

I mean, did the hand shine like the light of a light bulb, or was it surrounded by flames?

No. She answered looking very puzzled. It just seemed to sort of glow with a bright white light, sort of like the sun. Oh! And you could almost see through it, but that’s not what bothers me the most.

Well it bothers me. He said in a loud voice. What you described does not exist anymore except in legend.

A glowing hand exists in legend? She asked more puzzled now than she was before.

Not just a hand but the whole person. Her grandfather replied with a worried look still on his face. But what matters right now is what it is about the hand that bothers you.

Why does a legend bother you? She asked, feeling a little scared by his expression. But knowing her grandfather as well as she did, she knew he was not going to respond to any more questions on what bothered him until he figured it out for himself, so after a long pause, she continued. I’ve seen this tree lady before. She replied.

You’ve seen this tree turn into a lady before in your dreams? He asked.

Yes, well no, what I mean is that the other time I saw her she turned from a lady into a tree, not a tree into a lady.

Why didn’t you say anything about this before now? He asked.

I figured everyone would think I was going crazy, man even I thought I was going crazy, what with mom and Neil dying and all.

You mean to tell me the other time this happened, was when your mother was killed? Grandfather asked, sliding forward half out of his chair with his feet flat on the floor, looking very agitated. Kendra had never seen him this way before. She could sense feelings of fear, worry, anger, and disbelieve, and it frightened her even more. So much, she began to shake, and hugged the pillow even tighter.

Yes, on the very night they were both killed. I saw, not any bright light or hand though, but it was as if I was sitting next to Neil in the SUV where mom always sat. I was looking out of the window. When suddenly a lady jumps out of the dark in front of us and started shimmering. Then bam, we slam into this large tree right in the middle of the road where the lady had been. It was horrible; I could see the glass breaking and heard the crunching and tearing of the metal. The smell of oil, and blood, then I felt sever pain. I felt cold and everything went black. I woke up crying in my bed.

After she finished her grandfather just looked at her for what seemed a very long time, then in a low voice asked. Have there been any other dreams like this before?

No. She replied, fighting back the tears forming at the edge of her eyes. Just that one and the one tonight.

Interesting. He replied, then getting up from his chair he walked over to one of the book shelves and pulled down a very old looking leather bound book. Thumbing through the pages as he walked back towards the couch, he found what he was looking for and held the open book out to her. I believe what you’ve seen was a tree sprite.

Taking the book from him she first looked at some drawings of a man in several stages of transformation into a tree. Then after reading the explanations on the following pages looked up at her grandfather. Was what I saw real then? Did those events really happen? And why did I see them, and what does it mean?

Pausing a moment to sit down by her, and taking the book from her, he took both of her hands in his, looking deep into her eyes. Yes dear, I believe what you saw really happened and were not just dreams.

But I was asleep when it happened. She said felling a little frightened.

I believe that was because the time of the events happened at night after you went to sleep. Squeezing her hands a little and giving her a warm smile he asked. Think hard, has anything even similar to this happened before, even if it just seemed like a flash of a picture in your mind?

Thinking for a moment then smiling she said Well .... Remember MaKayla’s first mixed tournament. When she made it to the final match against that cocky boy who kept slapping his sword on her behind after each pass?

Yes I do. He replied with a smile. He did so to mock her ability to fight him, he wanted to make her mad and lose control so he could win.

Well it sort of worked, she did get really mad, but instead of losing control like some people would. She’s one of those who buckles down and concentrates even more. At one point just before the last combination that won her the match, it was as if I was on the floor looking into the eyes of her opponent, but only for just a moment.

Grandfather smiled. What you have is the special talent of familiar insight. Your mother had it, her mother had it. It happens mostly when someone you love feels great fear or extreme anger. Their fear or anger is transmitted to you and you can see through their eyes.

Pausing and moving his hands to her cheeks, after wiping away a tear, he raised her head so he could look again into her eyes. What you saw in your dream tonight maybe something that happened to your sister. I’m not sure — I hope I’m wrong because what you saw in your first dream was probably what your mother saw just before she was killed! Putting his big arms around her he pulled her close as tears rolled down her cheeks. If what you saw tonight had to do with MaKayla we’d better call the school and have someone look for her.

From what I could tell it happened in the forest.

He pulled her tighter; she could hear his heart beating and sensed his feelings, feelings that made her start to shake again. Then we may need to think about going home.

After pulling back far enough to be able to look up into his face, and in a broken voice she asked. You mean Earth Too?

Yes! He sadly replied. Hopefully what happened tonight was just a random attack by the Tree Sprites. But it’s been years since we left home, as much as I would like to keep you here with MaKayla, safe from Zeus and his dominion. It’s evident from what you’ve told me tonight that he’s getting closer to us. From what you just told me I believe your mother and stepfather were attacked. I believe it was to eliminate your mother from returning to make a claim for the Head Clan seat. I fear Zeus will not stop until he eliminates all the claims to the seat, both at home and here.

What about MaKayla? She asked. She could be hurt, or worse! We need to find her!

Grandfather paused, and then asked. Did you feel the same pains as you did with your mother?

No, but I only saw though her eyes for a moment.

From what you told me, I think she’ll be fine.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Kendra looked up at her grandfather. Why attack her? She’s not a true blood.

Holding her close again, her grandfather softly replied. True, she has no blood claim to the seat, and she’s shown no signs of being gifted with any special talents. That’s why your mother and I decided she was not to be told about Earth Too; even now she still must not know about our special talents. But mostly she must not know about the danger you will be in or why we have to leave. She loves us too much not to want to help. Pausing to compose himself, he continued. "I love you both and it pains me deeply to think I may never see her again. But because I love her, I can’t take her into danger needlessly and unarmed. Besides her grandparents here love her also, and after all, she is all they have left of their only son.

It wouldn’t be fair to them to take her away from them too."

When we leave how will we explain where we are going? If we just disappear she’ll look for us everywhere her whole life. That could destroy her anyway. Kendra said.

You’re absolutely right. I must be honest with you, I’ve given this much thought as of late. I knew our time here was growing short, I just didn’t know how short. I’ve been working on a plan, but we’ll have to convince her that we made some investments for some bad people, unknowingly of course, and when we found out about them. We turned them in, and in doing so put our self’s in danger. He said.

Interrupting him she finished his idea. And the feds are sending us away for our protection. Yea, witness protection.

Her grandfather smiled down at her. Correct! And remember, we’ll still have Armithist here to keep an eye on her and protect her. And she’ll get our share of the business so she’ll be provided for, for life.

Will we ever see her again?

If the Creator wishes, maybe someday you will, but I fear I may not. He answered with tears in his eyes. The war back home could probably last past the time I have left. Besides I feel it best that I not ever return here.

Why can’t you return if I can?

Smiling, he just shook his head.

Reaching upward, and pulling his head down, she kissed his cheek then wiping the tears from them said. I pray that is not so grandfather.

Me too dear. He tearfully replied.Me too.

They sat on the couch together in silence for awhile then discussed what they would have to do to get ready to leave when the time did come. It was decided that the house would stay in the family, after all MaKayla needed to have a place to stay. A place to remember the good times they had there. Besides it was protected ground, and there was more to this house than anyone would ever know, even MaKayla.

The books and papers of Earth Too, along with the lesson books on how to develop the special talents you were gifted with, would have to be moved of course. They would need to be moved to the vault under the mountain where the Tear of Ice was hidden until they could be shipped back to Earth Too.

It was decided that depending on MaKayla’s explanation of what Kendra saw that night, they may not have to leave too soon. Grandfather said he already had the papers written up they needed to turn things over to MaKayla. They just needed to sign them, and have them notarized and filed by their attorneys. Armithist would be the trustee until she reached twenty-one. This would give him an excuse for spending more time around her, other than as a partner and teacher at the Do Jo. This would hopefully keep MaKayla from knowing he was also her body guard. Kendra reopened the book and started to read more about Tree Sprites.

Sometime later she saw a light come on in MaKayla’s room. MaKayla’s back. She said aloud.

She is? He replied, and looked out the window. That’s odd I must have been really involved in my work; I didn’t feel her return, I must be getting old.

Kendra thought