Chapter Eight:
"Sixth Sense"

Joshua and Jessie continued to take care of Nathan while things were calming down in the town. And I was still certain that the two brothers would probably kill Nathan before that happened.

During the wait, the brothers fed Nathan, gave him a bed to sleep in, and some new clothes. His old clothes were a little worn from traveling in the mountain forest and the encounter with Blaque and his army. That first night I made another attempt to warn Nathan that the brothers were not as friendly as they seemed, and mentioned the wanted poster I saw in their house. “You worry too much. Josh and Jess are exactly as they seem. And I did see that wanted poster, but it didn’t really seem that significant, even if there was a reward. You need to learn how to trust people better.”

“I don’t know how you can trust anyone that knows there’s such a large bounty on your head. Especially a couple of strangers that you only just met this morning. I say you should leave their house and find a better place to hide out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came in tonight to kill you.” But Nathan wouldn’t have any of it. No matter what I said, his trust in the two brothers remained strong. I decided that I might as well just let him sleep. If either of the brothers tried anything, I could have easily woke Nathan up. I didn’t need to sleep, after all. I stood watch at Nathan’s door all night, but nothing happened. The night went on like any other night.

Morning came, and Nathan got up when the sunlight hit his face. We went downstairs, and found the brothers already getting breakfast ready. They were quite the chatterboxes; Nathan barely was able to get a word in. It turned out that because of all the guards around town, all the shops in town ended up staying closed, save for one or two places that supplied food for the guards. So they had nothing to do but sit at home all day. At first I was relieved, since this meant that they wouldn’t have any reason to leave, other than to tell the guards that Nathan was there. But a little bit after lunch, someone called the brothers and told them that one of the shops was re-opened to the public. They were low on food, so Joshua headed to the shop. I was in a dilemma. Either stay at the house to guard Nathan, or follow Joshua to make sure he wouldn’t pull anything. I stayed with Nathan.

While Joshua was away, Jessie was doing some chores, while Nathan sat in his room. I got tired of watching Jessie, and left just as he was getting ready to wash Nathan’s clothes. I stepped outside, and flew around the area for a while, making sure that nothing was amiss. When I saw Joshua get back from the store, I flew back down and into the house. A little bit later, it was time for supper.

Something was wrong. At first I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but then it hit me. Both at breakfast and lunch, neither of the two brothers seemed to know how to shut up. But this time, only Joshua was talkative, while Jessie just sat there with a blank stare, slowly eating his dinner. Joshua quickly took notice. “Jess, is there something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I was just thinking.”

Nathan joined in. “About what?”

“I was wondering…I know you’re fleeing from this General Blaque and his troops. Is there any place you’re fleeing to?”

I quickly told Nathan not to tell the truth about where we were going. For once, Nathan listened. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll just keep going until I come to a safe place where they won’t ever find me.”

After eating, Nathan and I headed up to his room. To my surprise, Nathan locked the door. He looked to me, and I could tell that something worried him. “Did that question seem a bit…odd, to you?”

“No. It just seemed to me that he was trying to get information so he could tell the guards where you would be heading.”

Nathan shook his head. “No, that’s not what I mean. It seems like he had something else on his mind. Like he was hiding something. And, no, I don’t mean I think he was going to turn me in.”

“Well, what else could he be hiding?”

Nathan sat for a minute, trying to think of something. Then he quickly looked at me, with a look that I was sure wasn’t something good. “Aura’s jewel. I forgot to take it out of my pocket when I gave my dirty clothes to them.” I suddenly remembered seeing Jessie throwing Nathan’s clothes into the wash. We rushed down to the washroom, and found Nathan’s clothes. The jewel wasn’t there. Jessie had found it. But did he know what the jewel was? “What are you looking for?” Startled, we turned around to see Joshua. I heard him coming, but was too worried about the jewel to take notice.

“I was just checking to see if my logbook was in my pocket. Guess not, must still be in my backpack.” I’m still not sure how Nathan was able to come up with that excuse so quickly. Luckily, Joshua easily bought it.

“Oh, I see. Well, we’ll have to remember to get your backpack as soon as this is all over.” Then Joshua moved on.

As Nathan and I were leaving, I suddenly felt a strange sensation. A familiar one. “Nathan, hold on. Did you feel that just now?” Nathan shook his head, knowing that Joshua was still within earshot. “I had this feeling before. It was when Blaque was using the jewel to change his form. The feeling is stronger than it was before, but it definitely is the same feeling. Someone just used Aura’s Jewel.”

We started heading back to Nathan’s room to discuss the feeling. As we were entering his room, I felt it again. Nathan locked the door once more. “Where is the feeling coming from?”

“I don’t know. It was a strong feeling, but it felt like it was coming from all over. I hope the brothers didn’t give the jewel to Blaque.”

“Of course not. They’re no backstabbers. I’m sure that Jess just happened to use it by accident. I mean, as easily as Blaque used it, it can’t be too hard to trigger its power by accident.”

Then I heard Joshua and Jessie talking in their room. But with our door shut, I couldn’t tell what they were saying. They seemed to be whispering. “I’m going to check on them.”

“No. You need to learn how to trust people better. Listen, trust isn’t just some word used to describe when you feel that someone won’t let you down. It’s a true sense that you must learn. One much like how you are able to sense your jewel. Believe me, I have a good sense of trust. Those that I have trusted have never let me down.” I would have rather just went and barged in to the brothers’ room to check. There was really nothing Nathan could do to stop me from doing so. But what Nathan said hit me hard, and I felt some shame. It wasn’t just what Nathan said, for he didn’t really say that much and it was rather simply put. It was how he said it that affected me.

I felt the jewel being used twice more that evening.

Another night went by without much trouble. I was again watchful, though not as watchful as the night before. Again, morning came, Nathan got up, and the brothers were getting ready to eat. Now both of the brothers were quiet. The quietness quickly got on Nathan’s nerves. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Yesterday neither of you seemed to run out of things to say, and now you’re acting like I killed your brother. What’s going on?”

The brothers looked at each other, and nodded. Then Jessie took the jewel out of his pocket and set it on the table. “Why didn’t you tell us that you used this to kill King Rechin?”

Joshua joined in. “Yeah, and if you could use this to change your form, why didn’t you use this to hide from the army?”

“Because I’m not allowed to,” Nathan replied. Of course, the secret was out. The brothers knew that we had a jewel that possesses the power to change someone’s form. I told Nathan that he might as well tell them the whole truth about the adventure we’re on. And so Nathan confessed that he didn’t really kill the king, about the battles we’ve had with Blaque, and the quest he and I have been on. He even mentioned me, though at first they didn’t believe him, until we did tests. Each brother did something while Nathan waited in the kitchen, and I told Nathan what he did. Jessie even tried secretly turning into a duck with one eye and three legs, but I had Nathan tell what he turned into right down to the last detail.

“So everything you’ve said is true,” Jessie said. “I’m not in trouble for using the jewel, am I?”

“I guess not. Aside from turning into that duck, you only used it by accident. And you were just trying to test me with the duck form, so it must’ve been okay, too. Otherwise I’m sure Aura would have already come and cursed you or something.”

“Well we promise, we won’t be using it anymore,” said Joshua. “That thing might be addicting if we used it too much.”

“Maybe. Though, I’m a little jealous. What was it like being a deformed duck? And what else did you turn into before?”

I must say, the lightheartedness was a nice change. The previous days were so stressful. The brothers did keep their promise about not using the jewel, save for a couple instances. And aside from that misadventure, the rest of our stay was a pleasant one, and I learned more and more how to trust the brothers. I was so certain that the brothers would end up turning against Nathan, but they didn’t. And let me just say, it felt good to be wrong.