The Place On The Other Side

What's Next

The three of them continued down the road to the next village. It would be their last stop before the big reintroduction of Ma and Dolyia. Jon led them on seeing such beautiful areas, the fields next to the road were similar to the ones in the beginning of their journey, flowers and butterflies trees with leaves falling off and flowing through the wind.

Dolyia was finally fed up not knowing what was supposed to happen, where her man was, and what happened to her. She wanted to know everything right then and there.

“Jon?! What is going on here, where are we going and what happened to my mother.” Dolyia demanded answers.

He was surprised that she was so up front and demanding, but he kept his cool and looked at both girls.

“Ok, let's take a break and sit over under that tree and talk.” Jon said, pointing to a gorgeous willow tree to the right of the road.

The tree was very old, round and the bark was flaking off. There was a small creek behind the tree, pedals from the tiny flowers everywhere on the ground. The grass was soft and felt nice to the touch, the willow branches hung low so low they touched the ground. We all took off our gear and sat down under the tree.

Jon started, “Ok, Dolyia. Your Ma is in the next kingdom at the end of this road. After the next village will be the crossover for the kingdoms. We need to cross over and get to the castle right down the road from the crossover line. That is where your Ma is. She is being held by the guards in the dungeon, but there is a task we have to do before we get there.” He wasn't finished but stopped.

“How are we supposed to accomplish this task and get to her?” Dolyia asked

Shea’ spoke up. “Do you not know of your abilities?” Jon, have you not told her?” Shea’ looked at Jon with concern.

“Dolyia you have multiple abilities. You can freeze time, go silent to the ear. You are a witch. You just didn’t know all of this so you have had no practice or knowledge of the right words or spells.” Jon interrupted.

“What?!” Dolyia said with utter surprise looking at them then down at her hands.

She was in awe, she had no idea…

Dolyia started spewing out questions so fast, none of them made sense. Jon stopped her.

“Hey, hey now calm down, let's practice on our journey as we walk.” Jon said calmly as he slowly stood and started packing his things back up.

The three of them started down the road again. Dolyia now curious as ever about her powers. She wondered what Shea’ was capable of. Dolyia wanted to learn to freeze time first, so they started with that.

“First focus on time in general. Don’t close your eyes, just think about how you want it to stop. When you feel you're ready to do it, blink once and squeeze your right hand into a fist.” Jon instructed her.

She tried and tried several times until finally after about two hundred tries, she blinked and bam she was still walking. Jon and Shea’ were standing still behind her, and within a split second, time started back up. She’d gotten about five steps ahead. The other two looked at her and smiled.

“YOU DID IT!!” Shea’ yelled in excitement.

Dolyia practiced her powers as they walked on. She was stoked and happy that she wasn’t just a normal girl. She was confident she could accomplish anything to see her Ma again.

The next village was coming up quickly. She hadn’t noticed time flying by as she was working on her magic. They were entering a tiny village named Frenage. It only had a small market along the main road and a few farms that surrounded the market. The three of them stopped and searched the market.

There was a stall with meat, where they bought a few jerky sticks and fish. The next stall had breads, wheat, flour they bought a loaf of bread and some flour for later on.

They needed water so they went to the stall that had beverages. They bought several containers of water and some tea leaves to make tea. Shea’ wanted to make sure she had the herbs and ingredients she needed for potions so they stopped at the last few stalls that sold magical and armory items.

They bought the few things they needed. Dolyia got herself a wand that had a shiv at the end of it with a beautiful sheath that was designed with gorgeous pink and purple flowers.

After gathering the things they needed they set off out of the village. It was getting dark so they decided to find a nice covered stop under a larger willow tree this time. In the dark Dolyia could only see so much she decided to work on her magic in the quiet.

Shea’, Jon, and Dolyia set camp up, had a fish and tea dinner, and relaxed in the dimming night light. Jon figured it was time to tell the girls what their task was going to be.

“Girls listen carefully. When we get to the crossover line we will have to pass by trolls. They are not friendly, but they are also not smart. After them we’ll stop in the village to the right of the castle to regroup. We will be going against guards and a warlock of the castle. So we will have to be completely ready and aware of everything around us.” Jon finished talking with a final sip of his tea, sat his cup down and got himself ready to sleep. “Good night girls. Please get some rest tonight.” He turned over and passed out quickly.

Both Dolyia and Shea’ were slightly scared but not worried. Dolyia had now mastered fire from her hands, freezing time, and being silent. She also was getting better at potions that Shea’ had taught her to do. They were ready for bed. As they laid down, they said goodnight to each other and fell asleep.