Spellbinder Notes (Day 13)

Species (according to Ursa):

13) TruthSeekers

- bodies release a natural chemical that compelled people to tell the truth when inhaled or ingested.

- Unavoidable

o That sucks! And sounds potentially embarrassing

o ? – what in the chemical the give off

- truly powerful TruthSeekers had the capability to peer into people's minds to see the truth without using their hormones

o This idea is even scarier

o ? – does language affect whether they can read your mind or not? We do think in our native languages, so do they need to know those languages or is it different?

- ? – wouldn't it suck to have everyone be totally honest to you all the time?

- ? – does TruthSeeker chemicals work on other TruthSeekers or are they naturally immune?

"We meet again, Ms. Spellbinder," Ark smiled cordially at Chenoa when her time finally came. Gabby was in line behind her, but Chenoa hoped to spare the rest of the student body. She was going to give herself up.

"I surrender," she said seriously to Ark.

"Excuse me?"

"I surrender. Please release the rest of the school. I will go with you or do whatever you want; just, please, let the rest go."

"How noble of you. So you will willingly enter the room and talk with Osiris?"

Fear skittered through Chenoa stomach, but she suppressed it as she told him yes.

"Wonderful, then, please, enter."

Swallowing hard, Chenoa followed Ark's gesture and entered the dimly lit room. Osiris sat in a large office chair in the bare room. At the moment Chenoa could not think what the room had been used for. A spare chair sat across from him. Shakily Chenoa took it.

Forcing herself, Chenoa looked into his eyes and gasped as she felt something grab her from the inside. She felt as if something or someone had hold of her very bones. No effort she could muster would break her free. The world went dark around her and all she saw were Osiris's eyes.

"Welcome, Spellbinder, Chenoa Rose," a voice spoke inside her mind.

It was a gentle, melodic voice. It seemed to wrap itself into her mind, humming among her bones and tissues. Chenoa could not speak herself.

"Your mind is most interesting. So many hidden doors and passageways."

Flinching Chenoa felt her breath leave her chest as an image flashed in front of her eyes. Her mother's face smiling down at her before Chenoa felt herself lifted into the air, the wind whistling through her hair.

"Mommy's got you, big girl," her mother's voice laughed.

Chenoa could hear her own young laughter as the world spun.

"Mommy's got you! Wheeee!"

The image faded and Chenoa was looking into Osiris's eyes again.

"So many doors," the voice continued.

"Osiris," Chenoa finally managed to think.

"Aww, welcome to the conversation, Chenoa," the voice in her mind seemed to smile.

"How can you talk into my mind like this?" she thought.

"I am a TruthSeeker."

There was a long pause.

"You know what a TruthSeeker is, don't you? Ahhh, yes, I see that you do."

Another image covered Chenoa's vision, Ursa standing high above her.

"A TruthSeeker is a creature whose body chemistry creates a pheromone that compels others to tell the truth," Ursa said in Chenoa's vision.

The dragon paced back and forth as she talked. Her massive head glinted in the starlight. Chenoa seemed so small next to her.

"Truly powerful ones," Ursa continued, "can actually look into another mind and see the truth at the source."

Osiris was in Chenoa's vision again. Despite the leather mask covering most of his face, Chenoa was sure that he was smiling. Gritting her teeth, Chenoa did not like his tricks.

"These are not tricks, Chenoa," Osiris's voice echoed in her mind. "This is all real. I am one of the most powerful TruthSeekers alive. I have left my physical voice behind in order to strengthen my mental voice. With it I can search and call forth any part of your mind."

Chenoa's mother appeared again, her face pale and sweating, but smiling. There was the crying sound of a baby and Papa Bear appeared, beaming from ear to ear.

"She is beautiful, Aine," Papa Bear echoed. "What shall we name her?"

"Chenoa," Aine Rose laughed, bending forward and kissing Chenoa. "We shall name our baby girl Chenoa."

The image changed in an instance. Her mother's face was still there but this time it was gaunt with pain and sickness. Her eyes were hollowed and breath staggered from her lungs. Yet she still smiled.

"It's okay, my precious baby girl," she wheezed. "I will not be in pain much longer. This is the least I can do to protect you."

Tear pricked at Chenoa's eyes as she watched her mother struggle to breathe. It was as if her body were literally deteriorating in front of Chenoa. Coughing, Chenoa's mother, covered her mouth but small flecks of blood sprayed out anyways. Chenoa could feel their wet spots hit her face.

"I'm sorry, Chenoa," her mother apologized, quickly wiping Chenoa's face clean. "Forgive me…"

"Mom," Chenoa wanted to cry out. "Don't say that! Forgive me! You didn't have to die for me!"

"Touching isn't it?" Osiris sighed mockingly as his face replaced Chenoa's mother. "How much your mother loved you?"

"Stop this!"

"I'm having fun. The rest of them had such dull minds. And they couldn't handle the least bit of teasing."

"You call this teasing?"

"Oh, yes. You should see what I do when I mean business."

A shudder ran through Chenoa's body. She could feel him walking around inside of her mind and there was nothing she could do to stop him. He hummed in her mind as he explored its deepest parts.

"Now who is this?" he asked as an image of Cor appeared, though his face was blurry. "I am always curious about those who are so powerful their images cannot be caught in memory."

"What?"

"Aww, it matters not. Let's see what else I can find."

Many more memories appeared and disappeared. Some were happy; some were sad. The quickly changing emotions wore on Chenoa terrible and she just wanted it all to stop.

"Don't be so boring, Chenoa," Osiris pouted. "You can't ruin my fun. It's not often I get to look into the mind of a Spellbinder."

"Stop it! Stop mocking me! Stop looking around my brain!"

"Poo, you are no fun! But what is this?"

An electric blue symbol appeared in Chenoa's mind. It was a square with a spiral continually turning in it. Chenoa could feel Osiris touch it, but he yelled, instantly pulling his hand back.

"A challenge…how wonderful!"

There was pressure bearing down on Chenoa's head. She wanted to scream, but the sound would not come out. She could feel him pulling at the symbol. In her mind's eye she could see his fingers wrapped in the edge of the symbol, pulling and tugging as his hands burned from its power. The more pain it caused him, the more determined Osiris became.

"Show me what you so desperately hide!" he ordered, his fingers literally on fire in her vision. Electric blue flames were consuming his hands.

"Stop!" she begged, the pain unbearable.

"Show me!"

Chenoa finally screamed out loud as a tear appeared on the edge of the symbol. A bolt of black and red threaded light shot out of the tear and struck Osiris in the left eye. He was thrown out of Chenoa's mind and back into his own body. Chenoa fell out of the chair, panting, clutching her stomach as if she was going to be sick. Staggering to her feet, Chenoa stumbled towards the door. No more, her mind begged. No more…

Grabbing the door handle in her sweating palm, Chenoa threw the door open and collapsed into Ark's open arms. He looked at her with a mix of concern and amusement. She was conscious but her body was terribly weak. Ark brushed back the hairs from her eyes.

"How did it go?" he simply inquired.

"Please…make him stop…" she panted, her mind pulsating.

Ark looked into the room and saw Osiris still in his chair, but his head was thrown backwards, looking up at the ceiling. For a moment Osiris did not move, but then his fingers twitched. "At least the fool was alive," Ark thought before turning his attention back to Chenoa.

"It is done with, Ms. Spellbinder," Ark smiled kindly. "We shall escort you to another room."

Staring behind Ark, Chenoa saw that Gabby was still there and so were the rest of the students. Confused, she looked back at Ark, who still smiled pleasantly.

"I thought you were going to let them go. I surrendered myself. I agreed to cooperate…"

"And that was a very kind and considerate thing to do, Ms. Spellbinder."

"Then why are they all still here? Why have you not released them or put them back in their classes? You are here for me! Why must you involve them?"

Ark gave a short, harsh laugh.

"Now whoever said we were here for you, Chenoa Rose?"

Stunned, Chenoa couldn't even resist when Ark snapped his fingers and Puck came, lifted Chenoa into his arms and carried her away. The last thing she saw was the terrified look on Gabby's face as she was escorted into the room with Osiris.

And Gabby was terrified. Her entire body shook as Ark led her to the seat across from the muzzled man, named Osiris, who was twitching and jerking like he was having seizures in his sleep. Ark waited as Osiris's body spasmed uncontrollably for a moment. Then his body lurched forward, his head hanging down limply.

"I told you not to pry too much," Ark said flatly. "You are lucky my master had your soul bound. You would have died, I bet."

Laughter floated up from Osiris's limp body. Struggling to gain back muscle control, Osiris convulsed a few more times before he straightened in his chair. Rolling out his neck, Osiris kept his eyes closed. Then after he cracked his neck, Osiris looked straight at Gabby and Ark. His eyes were crinkled in laughter as his eerie laugh continued to echo in the room. Gasping in terror, Gabby backed into Ark, who stared numbly at the TruthSeeker. Running his hands over his face and up into his hair, Osiris rejoiced in the feel of his skin underneath his fingers. His power surged stronger than before as his eyes flashed different colors. Indeed, while his right eye radiated the same neon blue, his left eye now glowed a blood red.

Puck carried Chenoa down the school hall, cradled in his arms like a child. Her body hurt as if she had been in a fight or exercised too hard. In her mind she felt a crackling as if something was leaking. Glancing at her, Puck kept walking until he reached an empty classroom. Opening the door with one hand, Puck adjusted Chenoa ever so slightly before entering the room. Then he set her down gently onto an empty student's desk. For a long moment he just looked at her.

"So you are a Spellbinder," he stated, studying her carefully.

"Yes…" she responded, unsure of where this was going.

"Interesting."

"Why?"

"Your friend smelled of the spells you cast around her, which is normal, but you don't smell of spells. You smell of my home and Velveteen's home. Even now your smell has grown stronger."

"What is this home you all keep talking about? And how do I smell like it?"

"I don't know about Velveteen's home, but my home is in the mountains. It is a small valley with rolling hills that back into the mountains. It has large fields of grass and trees as old as the land itself. You smell like the wind that flows through the valley, carrying the scents of the grass, trees, flowers and even fires that burn in the homes of my people."

"That sounds beautiful…"

"It is very beautiful. How is it that you smell of my home when you have never even been there?"

"I do not know. I'm new to all this stuff. I just found out I am a Spellbinder recently. I don't know about any of this stuff."

"You are just a kid then."

"Excuse me, I am a teenager."

Puck smiled good humoredly.

"I didn't mean it like that. I must go back to work. Be a good little human and stay put."

"I can keep her company!" a voice piped in and Puck snapped around to see Velveteen leaning against the door.

Velveteen was trying to look cool and smooth, his hair and even ears slicked back. He looked at his fingernails as if he were bored. It was a very funny sight. Rolling his eyes, Puck headed towards the door.

"That isn't necessary. I am going to lock the door."

"But if she is a Spellbinder, she will be able to unlock the door."

"I'll put a block on it. She won't be strong enough to break a Satyr's block."

"But…"

Velveteen searched for an excuse to stay, but failed, causing his ears to flop forward and droop.

"But I wanna stay with the human Spellbinder…"

"We have lots of other little human girls you can play with while we wait to leave."

"But she smells so good!"

"So take one more good sniff and let's go!"

Jumping in the air, Velveteen scampered almost through midair to reach Chenoa. He perched himself on her lap, balancing on his tip-toes. She was stunned by how a full grown man could make himself seem so small on her lap. Nose twitching like a rabbit, Velveteen sniffed all around her face and hair as his hands ran through her curls.

"If you are going to do this," she said quickly. "Can I touch your ears?"

Pausing Velveteen looked at her, a little stunned. Chenoa blushed. She couldn't help it. His ears looked so soft and fuzzy. She just wanted to touch them. If he could touch her hair and smell her then why couldn't she touch his ears?

"Sure," he nodded and she reached up timidly and touched his ears.

They really felt like plush velvet to her fingertips.

"Oooh!" she gasped, slowly rubbing them between her fingers.

Velveteen closed his eyes as one of his feet thumped up and down in pleasure. Puck watched amazed at the bizarre pair. The bunny man and the human petting and smelling each other as if they were weird pets. Finally, Puck walked over and grabbed Velveteen by the back of the shirt. Yanking him backwards, Puck started to leave.

"This is just weird," he said, dragging Velveteen behind him. "Let's go."

"Wait! I wasn't done!" Velveteen protested, but they were already out of the door.

Snapping the door shut, Puck waved his hand over the lock and watched as it glowed orange with the fire that sparked from his fingers. Feeling he had placed a strong enough block on the door, Puck went back towards the rest of the group. Velveteen followed, a spring in his step as he fingered his right ear.

"She had very soft hands," he said, trying to start a conversation with Puck.

"What?" Puck asked, not looking at the bunny man.

"Her hands were soft when she rubbed my ears. It was nice. You should have let her rub your horns. I bet you would have liked it."

Velveteen grinned suggestively at Puck, who chose to ignore him.

"Come on, you should just go back there and let her caress them for a bit. I really think you'll like it. Hell, I'd go back if I could undo your block."

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

"What? I'm just saying she's good with her hands. That's not dirty."

Velveteen hopped on top of Puck's head, leaning over so his face was in front of Puck's. His eyes glinted wickedly as he grinned broadly. Puck kept walking, trying to act as if Velveteen wasn't blocking his whole view.

"What were you thinking of if you have the gutter on your mind?"

"Bug off!"

Puck swiped at Velveteen, but he nimbly avoided Puck. Landing softly, Velveteen chuckled.

"Must have been very naughty to make your face match your hair color. Naughty, naughty, satyr."

Dashing off before Puck could reach him, Velveteen laughed, making his way back to the group. He loved giving Puck a hard time. The satyr was always so serious, so it was fun to embarrass him. As he ran though, Velveteen fingered his ears once again. They tingled pleasurably from where the young girl had touched. He hoped that he would have the chance for her to do it again sometime soon.

Back in the room, Chenoa stood at the door, trying to will it to open. Yet nothing worked. Every time she tried, she saw a blazing ram's head in her mind. It must have been the block that Velveteen was talking about. Chenoa couldn't help but smile. Velveteen's ears had been the softest things ever! She wished she could have rubbed them a little longer, strange as that sounded. Puck had been right though, it was weird.

After a while, Chenoa gave up on forcing the lock up and used a chair to break the glass in the small window on the door. It was tall and narrow, so her arm fit through it, barely. The glass scraped her arm, but she bore it by focusing on Gabby. Jiggling the door handle, Chenoa grunted in frustration as it refused to budge.

"Come on! Come on, you stupid lock!" she grunted out loud.

Again, she tried to will it open, but failed. Pushing her arm out as far as she could Chenoa tugged and twisted the doorknob. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her hard. Groaning, her face smashed into the door, so she saw nothing but wood. The hand held firm as she tried pulling herself free.

"Going somewhere, Chenoa," someone she had never heard before spoke.

The voice was masculine but sweet. It was rich to her ears and Chenoa immediately felt a spark of attraction in her belly that she could not explain. The grip was unmoving but did not hurt her.

"Let go, whoever you are!"

"Not until we talk."

"Talk about what? If you want to talk, let me out."

"No. You need to stay there a little longer."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Silence."

Blue woven light spilled from the speaker's mouth, wrapped itself around her arm and flowed up. Panicking, Chenoa tried to shake it off her arm, to blow it off, anything to keep it from coming at her, but it came like a fast-moving snake up her arm and around her neck. Once there it tightened, and she felt the loss of her voice.

"All you need to do is listen."

Chenoa could say nothing.

"Good. I am your friend, Chenoa, though you may not realize it at the moment. We are two halves of the same whole. We have a long history together, but from what I have gathered you remember none of it."

Confused, Chenoa had a mind full of questions she could not ask.

"I have tried contacting you, but you are too well guarded in this realm. I know you know they are hiding things from you. I can answer all your questions, but you must come to me. I have done my share of the work so far. It is your turn now. My men and I are going to leave soon and with us will be something very precious to you. If you wish to get it back, you must come and find me at Gioco's Castle in the other realm. I shall wait for you there. Don't take too long. We have been apart for far too long as it is."

A tender kiss touched Chenoa's hand and fire burned her body everywhere for a brief second before the fire, the grip, and the man disappeared completely. Chenoa still could not talk or move for another five minutes. Yet when full feeling came back, she twisted the doorknob hard and found it open. Bolting down the hall, Chenoa had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ark had said they hadn't come for her. The strange man said he was taking something precious to her. That could only mean one thing. Gabby. They had come to take Gabby. Aside from her father, Chenoa cared for no one as much as Gabby Garcia.

The halls were deserted now. There wasn't a soul around. No! her mind screamed. No! Throwing doors open, Chenoa found small groups of terrified students and teachers, but no Gabby. One door had Chris banging his fists against door. He was so stunned that he didn't say anything as she quickly scanned the room then ran off. Following swiftly behind her, Chris wanted to know what was going on, if she knew anything. But these questions were blown from his mind as Chenoa bolted up the emergency stairs to the roof. As both of them broke through the roof's door, they gasped. Massive animals were shooting up into the air. They had the hind quarters of gigantic lions with commanding haunches and long whip-like tails. Their front quarters were equally intimidating with the legs and claws of oversized eagles, each talon at least a foot long. On top of thick, feather covered necks were sharp eagle heads with murderous red eyes and lion ears peeking through the feathers. Their large powerful wings beat so strongly that they created gusts of winds that whipped at Chenoa and Chris. Both had to cover their faces against the assault of gravel and dirt thrown at them by the winds.

On the lead one, in the arms of Ark, was Gabby. Her mouth was gagged and her arms were bound to the beast she rode. What surprised Chenoa the most was that on the beast next to Gabby's was Nick Lasso, bound and gagged the same as Gabby, with the Firedweller behind him. Ark turned back to look at Chenoa, smiling cruelly and waving a good bye as they disappeared into the sky, leaving Chenoa and Chris watching in stunned horror.